Compost Conundrums

Howdy all!

Me and Christi in the snow!

I hope everyone is staying dry and toasty in your home (and barn!) these days, and that you have all a fantastic start to the New Year! The snow was piling up just in time to celebrate all the winter holidays, and it hasn't stopped since! Christi and I had a blast playing yesterday, making Pegasuses in the snow, seeing who could race to the other end of the pasture quickest, and shaking tree branches to drop an avalanche of frost on each other's backs.  Despite the snow and ice everywhere I look, it does remind me of a question that I received from Claire, a 9 year old budding scientist...

Summer, Storms and Mold

Happy summer my fellow science-seekers! I hope everyone is enjoying the new leisurely change of pace that this season brings; although, I have been known to lounge around the farm all year long! Now, I know the saying goes, “April showers brings May flowers,” but what happens when June and July are super-soaking stormy months also? Did you know that in June alone we had almost 10 inches of rain? That is more than double the monthly average! Like most horses, I love to splash in puddles and roll around in mud baths! But, all of this rain can have some negative effects on pastures and forage for horses.

If You Can't Stand the Heat...

...get out of the sun!

While most of my human friends can enjoy the air conditioning on a hot and humid day, I seek the shade of a tree or run-in shed to keep cool. This heat is tough on any horse, and since I'm (a little) older than most, I have to be especially careful to be sure I'm consuming enough calories to keep my body functioning and maintain a healthy body weight. Some horses may lose as much as 7 to 10 percent of body weight in sweat per hour in extreme temperatures. That's about 9-10 gallons of horse sweat...gross! Dr. Malinowski keeps my diet high in calories by increasing my grain, adding corn oil to my feed, and feeding me a wide variety of...doughnuts!

Horse go to Camp in the Summer, too!

Summer is just around the corner and I'm sure you've probably started planning some adventures over break. But just because school's out it doesn't mean that you should put your brain on a shelf! Summer camps are a great way to have fun while learning new things at the same time...especially when they involve horses!

Have you ever been to the Meadowlands Racetrack or Freehold Raceway and wondered what goes on behind the scenes of harness racing? Although it's not necessarily my forte, some of my best buddies, including Hugme Christi, are harness racehorses and I know that there's a lot of hard work and dedication behind every race held. One of my friends here at the Equine Science Center let me know about a great opportunity for young people hosted by the Harness Horse Youth Foundation. Participants at the week-long camp will be responsible for exercising, caring for, and even racing their own Trottingbred horse. A Trottingbred is a pony-sized horse that is a cross between standardbreds and ponies, and races on either a trot or a pace - Who knew! Dr. Karyn Malinowski, director of the Center, will also present a workshop about my favorite topic: Equine Science 4 Kids!

The camp runs from July 26th through the 30th from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm at Gaitway Farms in Englishtown, NJ. If you're between the ages of 12 and 14 and this sounds like something you would be interested in, log on to www.HHYF.org to sign up!

Next week, my friends at the Equine Science Center will be in Murfreesboro, Tennessee for the Equine Science Society symposium. I'm excited to learn that Equine Science 4 Kids, my favorite place to go on the web, will be presented to the equine science community during the four day conference. Be sure to check out the website to see what the buzz is all about!

Your Buddy,

Lord Nelson