Facebook and a Close Call

Jason has started a Facebook page for the farm. If you type in Paradigm Farms in the search box on Facebook you will find the page, and of course you will want to become a fan! The Paradigm Farms fan page is far from complete right now but each horse has his or her own folder for pictures. Right now there are only a couple of pictures per horse but we'll be adding and updating pictures regularly. The world's cutest fainting goats also have their own folder of pictures as does Sparky the donkey.

For the most part the last few days have been very routine and very pleasant. Our gorgeous fall weather has continued on, with lovely days of 60 degrees and sunny. My horses have been ridden so much lately I am sure they are hoping for some cold, rainy days asap!

I say for the most part the last few days have been pleasant because I had one of those scary reminders of how easy it is to get hurt around horses on Saturday. Jason and I were out getting the hay feeders ready in the pastures, and we even put hay out for some of the horses this weekend. I always know winter is officially heading our way when it is time to start feeding hay. Anyway, Jason was driving through one of the pastures on the tractor and I was walking to the gate to open it for him. He changed gears on the tractor and sped up, and the noise and the change in speed spooked one of the horses (I'm not going to give a name!).

I heard the tractor and looked up and saw the horse spook. He started running and never even saw me (he was looking behind him with his head turned and not ahead) and slammed right into me, head on, at a gallop. I tried to jump out of the way but it happened to fast and I didn't have time. Thankfully he only had a couple of strides to get going. Jason, who got to watch the whole thing, said that as soon as the horse realized he had hit me he basically did a tap dance trying not to step on me. He hit me head on with his chest, of course I was slammed to the ground and then I rolled on impact, and unfortunately wound up underneath him. The next couple of seconds I don't really remember clearly as I had the wind knocked out of me, I just remember seeing horse legs and hooves above me. I did get stepped on once on my leg and maybe on one of my arms judging from the bruise, but that might just be from when he initially ran into me. Luckily I have nothing but scrapes and some impressive bruises to show for it, and of course every muscle in me hurts - a lot.

I always shudder when someone says something along the lines of "my horse would NEVER . . . " because I know from experience that it can happen any time, with any horse. Anyone who makes such a naive claim about a horse simply hasn't spent enough time around enough horses. In the years we have been running a retirement farm this is actually the second time I've been trampled by a horse in the pasture, and that was also an accident that would be next to impossible to replicate again. I do believe there are many quiet and bombproof horses in the world, and I would even put this horse in that category. However, no matter how much we work with them and how much training and exposure they have, they are, in the end, still horses.

Thankfully that whole incident was less than a minute of time out of an otherwise great holiday weekend. The bruises will go away and although right now the aches and pains are still getting worse, those will go away as well. I have no hard feelings at all towards the horse, it was an accident and the poor guy tried hard not to make it any worse after he realized what was happening. Although I wasn't moving nearly as sprightly as usual for the rest of the weekend I still enjoyed every minute of it. I hope everyone had a nice weekend as well. This week is shaping up to be a busy one around the farm. Have a great Monday and remember to find Paradigm Farms on Facebook!

Clay and Chili; Clay is a Quarter Horse who raced on the QH circuit before becoming a trail horse. Snappy is a Polish bred gelding who competed through the four star level in eventing under the guidance of Mark Todd. He was later sold to someone in the states, and after a cross country crash he converted to a new career in the hunters.

Slinky, a large pony who specialized in pony equitation

Lucky, a Quarter Horse cross and retired trail horse

Lightening, an Arabian and also a retired trail horse

The pet cows enjoying a quiet afternoon

Two very dirty grey horses, Lily and Cuff Links. Lily is a Quarter Horse/Warmblood cross and retired jumper. Cuffie is a Welsh Pony and retired pony hunter (medium)

Ivan wins the dirtiest grey horse in this post hooves down. Actually he wins the overall dirtiest horse award, period, the other side was equally as bad if not worse. Gross! Ivan is a Thoroughbred and retired Grand Prix jumper. Maybe he should go for a second career in mud volleyball or something.

Some of the big boys walking through the pasture. Thomas is the one cut off on the left, Trigger in the center, Apollo is mostly hidden behind Trigger, Homer is the grey hiding behind Apollo, then Ivan, and Baby in the very back behind the tree. Thomas is a Holsteiner and retired dressage horse. Apollo is a Hanoverian and also retired from dressage. Trigger is an Appendix Quarter Horse, Homer was bred and born in Ireland, and Baby is a Warmblood/Thoroughbred cross, and all three are retired show hunters.

Same group of horses. Thomas, Trigger and Apollo in the front with Homer and Ivan in the back. Levendi is the horse somewhat hidden behind the tree. Levendi is an Oldenburg and retired show hunter.

Apollo, Homer and Ivan

Faune is a Selle Francais and retired show hunter. He is affectionately known as the Big French Guy.

Winston and Trillion grazing together. Winston is a Thoroughbred and Trillion is a Dutch Warmblood, both are retired show hunters. Trillion was consistently one of the top horses in the country in the 4' hunters and was circuit champion at the Winter Equestrian Festival. In the back Ogie and B-Rad are grazing. Ogie is a Thoroughbred and retired eventer, B-Rad is a Belgian Warmblood and retired show jumper.

Sky and Norman grazing together. Sky is one of my horses and Norman is a retired pony hunter.

MyLight is a Thoroughbred and retired dressage horse

Baby is one of the fanciest hunter movers I have ever seen, and I look at a lot of super fancy horses every day! When he is relaxed and does his big, swinging, toe pointing trot across the pasture it is really something to see. Baby is a son of the well known hunter stallion Jupiter.