Welcome to spring and all the work that goes with it! This is the time when most responsible breeding is done, so the next year’s foals will have the benefit of as much growth as possible before going into the winter months. The gestation of most horses is 300-340 days, but the gestation of Longears is roughly 365 days. Breeding later in the summer and fall should be discouraged.

When breeding for mules, mares do not generally show heat to a jack, so part of the preparatory process is to tease them with a stallion before breeding to the jack. Teasing is an essential part of the breeding process—a “teaser stallion” did this important work at Lucky Three Ranch. The teaser stallion should have selected mares to breed each year, if he is to be expected to perform his duty successfully. Teasing indicates where the mare is in her cycle and ensures that she is in true heat and ready to be bred. It also makes her as receptive as possible to the jack.

Breeding should be a calm and deliberate experience for both the jack and the mare. The stud manager has several decisions to make, all dependent on the personality of the mare. If she is calm, she might be fine in the breeding chute and she and the jack can breed safely. Some breeders do not have breeding chutes and will dig a long pit to put her in that allows the jack a higher approach from behind. Pastures today are often not expansive enough to promote safe breeding and should be discouraged. Teaching your jack to breed in hand is not only safer for the jack and mare, but also promotes good manners and responsible hygiene practices, minimizing the chance for the spread of disease. Assess animals carefully with regard to conformation and deformities so you will produce strong and healthy offspring. Males that are not suitable for breeding should be castrated and mares unsuitable for breeding should not be used. More details are covered in our Equine Management & Donkey Training manual and DVD #8 of our Training Mules and Donkey’s series.

Spring is also the time when we need to think about doing vaccinations. Find out which vaccinations are recommended for your area as there are differences from one area to another. We generally vaccinate in April after the weather has begun to warm up and follow up with boosters in November after the first freeze. If you have any Longears that are “needle shy,” there is a restraint method that can be used safely and humanely when employed properly. This is covered under the Training Question section in this newsletter.

I hope you and your equines weathered the winter well and enjoy the warmer weather that spring will bring...along with the mud. Here’s a quick tip about mud and grooming. If you don’t need to remove the mud to ride, just leave the animal for a day or so, and they will generally remove badly caked mud all by themselves.  Lightly sprinkle Johnson’s baby oil in the manes and tails during weekly grooming to minimize tangles. Most mud can be removed fairly easily with a shedding blade and a plain old plastic, multi-bristled human hairbrush!

Don’t forget to book your tour of Lucky Three Ranch for 2019 and if you are going to Bishop Mule Days 50^th Anniversary Celebration, be sure to visit me and Bonnie Shields at her booth in the Home Economics Building just outside the main Arena entrance!  

Best wishes and Happy Trails,

The 2019 Hearts & Horses Sweet Hearts of the Year

Hearts & Horses is a therapeutic riding center in Northern Colorado that serves people who have disabilities. Our programs are tailored to meet the needs of individuals who have physical disabilities, at risk youth, the elderly, veterans, and others who have special needs. Hearts & Horses currently serves 180 riders a week with the help of about 250 volunteers who commit their time to our program, riders and equines weekly. 

Each year, Hearts & Horses hosts the Sweet Heart of the Year Competition. For a $10 donation each, anyone in the community (riders, volunteers, donors, etc.) can send a “Valen-Quine” to the member of the herd who “makes their heart gallop.” Voting is open from the end of January until mid-day on Valentine’s Day and the member of the herd with the most Valen-Quines wins Sweet Heart of the Year!

This year, we had a last second tie! The competition was fierce and not one, but two, emerged victorious…our 2019 Hearts & Horses Sweet Hearts of the year are Prince Raymond, our donkey, and Princess Xellie, our smallest pony!

The goal of the Sweet Heart of the Year fundraiser is to help provide exceptional care to our amazing, hardworking 30 member herd of horses, ponies, donkeys and mules! It costs about $20,000 a year just to provide hay for our herd. The $5,290 that was raised during this year’s Sweet Heart competition goes a long way towards keeping our herd happy, healthy and well cared for.

Meet the Winners:

Raymond: Raymond is an 11 year old mammoth jackstock donkey gelding who has been at Hearts & Horses since September 2018. He has the distinction of being our only donkey (although we do have two mules as well, Allie and Sadie). Raymond was rescued as a 5 year old from an auction and sent to a rescue in New Mexico, where he was adopted and trained to pack (even on busy highways!) and then trained to ride. He enjoys trail rides, ear rubs and tail scratches. He adores small children and is very sweet. Sometimes he gets nervous of new things, but with a little reassurance, he will do almost anything you ask. When he is hungry, he will let you know with a loud bray.

Xellie: Xellie is an 11 year old bay pony who has been at Hearts & Horses since September 2017. She has the distinction of being our smallest horse at 11 hands. Xellie is taking up a new career at Hearts & Horses, having been outgrown by her "children". She has impeccable ground manners and a lot of experience with Western Horsemanship. She has spent many hours on the Trail looking after her younger riders.

Join us next year for another round of fun!

Emmy Soyka, Volunteer Manger, Hearts & Horses
emmy@heartsandhorses.org

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