Terry Golson

I have had Tonka for four years. I am now on our fifth saddle. I bought my first horse, a three-year old appaloosa gelding, back in 1976. He was untrained when I met him, and I backed him myself, using the barn’s tack. Later that year, on vacation in Scotland, […]

Saddle Shopping for a Goldilocks Horse

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It has been so bitter cold, that this morning, when I woke up and checked the outside thermometer and saw that it was 10°F, I thought, It’s warm! It was, compared to yesterday, which was -10°F (that’s -23°C!) when I did my morning barn chores. The hens don’t mind the […]

The Animals in the Deep Freeze

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This is what we’ve been waking up to. Some days it warms up to 12°F. The animals need to have full bellies to cope with this. At Tonka’s barn, they’ve been getting extra hay. Even more important than hay is water. If horses don’t drink, they get colic, which is […]

Boring is Okay

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Steve gave me the most thoughtful Chanukah gift. He tracked down Tonka’s family. I purchased Tonka in December of 2013 from Amy, a horsewoman in Maine. For a couple of years Amy lived in Texas, and while there she saw Tonka, and knew that he was the one for her. […]

Tonka’s Family

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I’ve had requests for an update on the animals that live with me. For ten years I wrote about the goings-on with my hens and other creatures that I’ve shared my home with. (You can find that blog here and the bios of critters here.) Everyone is showing signs of aging, […]

Little Pond Farm Faces

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I used to recommend giving animals Christmas trees. The goats loved to use them as head scratchers and they nibbled on the bark. My rabbit used hers as a hideaway and chewed patterns into it. The chickens appreciated the windbreak. But last year I heard from a friend. Elizabeth had […]

Poisons on Christmas Trees

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Yesterday Scooter went to the veterinarian.   He has gnarly big teeth in a little mouth. I confess to not brushing them enough. Scooter needed dental work. He was sedated, the plaque scraped off, and one loose incisor was removed. The bill was $380. My first reaction? That’s not much! […]

Horse Math

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I think that Tonka has been moonlighting as a Breyer Horse model. Yesterday I was in a tack store and spotted :   I believe that this photo shows Tonka practicing for the artist: Tonka does have cutting horse in his pedigree, but the moment captured in this photo Tonka […]

Tonka, Breyer Model?

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Before I head out on the trail with Tonka, I always put horse cookies in my pocket. Along with a few boring hay stretcher pellets (Tonka likes these, but they don’t thrill him) I take a few yummier cookies, and also peppermints, which are rare and highly valued treats. Yesterday, […]

Cookies In My Pocket

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