Hoofprints

Rising from the ashes: After nearly dying in barn fire, Neville Bardos up for Horse of the Year, Olympics

What are the chances of nearly dying in a barn fire and coming back to be a contender? Not just a contender, but on the short list for Horse of the Year, and the Olympics? If horses could talk, you could ask Neville Bardos, a Thoroughbred who has done just that, what it's like to be a hero. Whether Neville wins Horse of the Year will be announced tonight at the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) convention. Click here to read the New York Times story on Neville's near-death experience and recovery. Click here for the Horse Junkies United story on Neville's fiery and crafty personality. Above, the Neville Bardos Syndicate's video update, includinging one of Neville's dressage workouts (about 3:30 into the clip). Below, Neville performing at the 2010 Rolex.

Poll: Will Neville Bardos win Horse of the Year?

Design begins on $5-million Shields St. corridor project

We received notice last week that design has started on the Shields Street Corridor Project, a plan to widen Shields adjacent to our stable, and replace the bridge spanning the Poudre River.

Interwest Consulting Group and King Surveyors have been chosen to head up this phase of the $5-million project, according to the notice. Larimer County plans a spring open house to showcase design concepts, and construction is slated for 2014.

Click here for the letter and Shields Street Corridor Project update we received from Larimer County.

Click here for the Larimer County North Shields Street (County Road 17) Corridor Improvements web page.

Previous post: Larimer County, Fort Collins team up on Shields St. project

All I need to know I learned from my tractor

1. If at first you don’t make the grade, try, try, again -- faster and faster.
2. For drop-dead control, drop the bucket. (Gates and fences can be rebuilt.)
3. Regular oil feedings are as important as knowing the oil hole from the hydraulic-fluid or say, the fuel hole.
4. Gravity is a powerful force -- especially going downhill backwards on ice, in the dark.
5. Make more than one copy of the tractor key.
6. Red farm diesel spilled on fresh snow gives the place that festive touch.
7. Black smoke and spewing, yellow liquid are bad.
8. A plugged-in tractor is a happy tractor.
9. Plow Job #1: The rescue truck.
10. Based on my 950's long life and ability to multi-task, John Deere was probably a woman. OK, not.

Check out: New life for old axes, mauls! or Manure happens, and it's good stuff! Also, do-it-yourself tractor and other farm vehicles maintenance checklist.

Fert-igation, value-added farming, chickens at home, fruits, nuts - and more!

On the heels of talking about the upcoming Colorado State University Extension energy workshops, I found this little treasure among the pounds of junk mail the Post Office sees fit to deliver, the annual Colorado Agriculture "Big and Small" and Small Acreage Conference, Wednesday and Thursday, February 15th and 16th.

Lately, all I have time for is the occasional one-hour webinar, but if I had time to travel, the following look new and interesting: Building a Value-Added Business, New Fruit and Nut Trees for the Front Range, Fertigation with Drip Irrigation, Backyard Chicken Production, and (hopefully something new on manure management), Manure Utiization.

One-day ticket: $125; two-day ticket: $175. Gasp, I know, but I've been to this conference several times, and it pays for itself in tidbits that make farming, ranching and stable ownership easier. My only suggestion would be that they add speakers pointing out ways to deal with ever-evolving land use rules and increasing government regulations.

If you are a non-profit vendor, you can have a booth if you register for the conference. For-profit "sponsors" can get vendor booths for $250, $500 and $1,000 sponsorship levels.

 

 

Fert-igation, value-added farming, chickens at home, fruits, nuts - and more!

On the heels of talking about the upcoming Colorado State University Extension energy workshops, I found this little treasure among the pounds of junk mail the Post Office sees fit to deliver, the annual Colorado Agriculture "Big and Small" and Small Acreage Conference, Wednesday and Thursday, February 15th and 16th.

Lately, all I have time for is the occasional one-hour webinar, but if I had time to travel, the following look new and interesting: Building a Value-Added Business, New Fruit and Nut Trees for the Front Range, Fertigation with Drip Irrigation, Backyard Chicken Production, and (hopefully something new on manure management), Manure Utiization.

One-day ticket: $125; two-day ticket: $175. Gasp, I know, but I've been to this conference several times, and it pays for itself in tidbits that make farming, ranching and stable ownership easier. My only suggestion would be that they add speakers pointing out ways to deal with ever-evolving land use rules and increasing government regulations.

If you are a non-profit vendor, you can have a booth if you register for the conference. For-profit "sponsors" can get vendor booths for $250, $500 and $1,000 sponsorship levels.

 

 

Workshops: Ag (and horse stable) energy-saving strategies

Attend one of five regional workshops to learn about agricultural energy audits, efficiency, and renewable energy.

Farmers, ranchers and stable owners looking for ways to save on energy costs may want to follow this workshop series. The Colorado State University Extension Energy website is also full of resources to help us horsey types save energy and money. Thank you to our stable client, Dr. Ragan Adams, CSU Veterinary Extension Coordinator, for this heads up!

'Big butt' saddles find home on the range

With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that a third of U.S. adults and 17 percent of children are obese, Western wranglers and outfitters say they are doing all they can to accommodate the widening of waistlines and other anatomical areas.

via www.reuters.com

I grin when I think of these giant saddles. At least they are using upsized horses to do the job. I thought it would be neat if all the draft foals produced while generating Premarin hormone therapy for women found a home in dude strings.

According to TheHorse.com however, the Premarin industry, under fire in 2004 for mass-producing low-value draft-cross foals as a byproduct of pregnant mare urine, switched to mostly breeding purebred draft horses and sport horses. These babies fetch a hefty price. (The only PMU draft-cross filly ever boarded at our stable had OCD, which limited her athletic ability.)

The height of the Premarin controversy: A 2004 MSNBC video investigates the use of pregnant mares to produce urine for the hormone therapy drug Premarin: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3995076/ns/dateline_nbc/t/hrt-horses/#.TwCc2tSvKSo