Kim Lemmon has been a member of the Ohio’s Country Journal staff since 1999.
Kim graduated from The Ohio State University with a major in Agricultural Communications and a minor in Equine Science. Kim and her husband, Mark, reside in Morrow County.
If you are reading this blog, hopefully you’ve ready the original story and the follow up. Today, I’m reporting the results of this two-month long journey with my silly little pygmy goat Little Bunny Foo Foo.
Earlier this week, I decided things just weren’t looking right so I took Foo to the vet a few days earlier than my self-imposed Memorial Day deadline. I didn’t want to spend the three-day weekend wondering if she was still indeed pregnant or not. The last couple of weeks, she had looked like maybe things weren’t going so well.
The vet sort of smiled when I drug my darling little Foo back for his examination. We both agreed we would be happy if I was the crazy one that was overreacting. He gave her a physical exam and then decided on X-rays this time.
You haven’t lived until you have helped X-ray a goat.… Continue reading
Sometimes while attending horse and livestock shows it can be difficult to determine if you are attending a livestock show or a dog show. Dogs of all shapes, sizes and dress codes often steal the show at events that are actually held for other species of animals.
Recently, I attended the River Ridge Charity Horse Show at the Ohio Expo Center, and I can assure you that this group of spectators and exhibitors had great love for their dogs. It was often hard to concentrate on watching the horse show with all the distracting well-dressed and colorful dogs marching up and down the aisles as they accompanied their owners — or babysitters if their owners were showing — to the seating area.
Some of the dogs seemed to enjoy watching the show. Some seemed to take naps on their owners laps and some seemed interested in greeting every dog that went past their seat.… Continue reading
If you read my blog in March about immaculate conception, you are aware that I own a pygmy goat doe that has managed to become pregnant through mysterious circumstances. I thought I had the how, when and where figured out in March so I was confident that she would kid no later than April 12 and most likely before Easter.
Late March and early April were hard times for me because I tried to stay home with Foo as much as possible — pygmy goats can need help with kidding from time to time. I also had the baby monitor on in the barn 24 hours a day so I could hear Foo if she needed help.
By Good Friday, I was out of my mind. During the next seven days, I was supposed to attend two kids’ birthday parties for my niece and nephew and an Easter dinner.… Continue reading
In this modern age where technological advances have permeated nearly everything, there is constantly something new to learn in order to keep up with these new advances. This is especially true if you are like me and graduated from college more than ten years ago. It seems to me that the longer I am away from school, the harder it is to learn things.
We often discuss these advances in technology at work as we all try to keep our skills current. One person’s answer to almost everything is, “Just Google it!”
I admit that when he first started proposing this line of thought, I was skeptical and kind of shell shocked. Was I really supposed to advance my job skills by just Googling what I needed to learn?
As it turns, out this was good advice. I have learned many new computer and computer software skills by Googling what I needed to learn.… Continue reading
Every spring when I have my equine vet visit to give the horses their vaccines, I invite my equine dentist to come at the same time. The combined visit isn’t cheap but it is necessary.
My equine dentist uses the latest equine dentistry power tools so it is necessary to tranquilize the horses for the procedure. That is why I have the dentist and the vet visit at the same time. Unless an equine dentist is a vet, they are not legally allowed to tranquilize a horse themselves.
It is not just young or just old horses that need to see the dentist. All ages of horses can experience dental problems.
This year, we looked at three of my miniature horses’ mouths.
Ike is 14 years old. He had only minor sharp points so he was the best off of the three and required minimal but important work.… Continue reading
Equine Affaire is an unique horse event that incorporates shopping, seminars and demonstrations all into one large event for horse lovers. Most folks attend to shop or watch some demonstrations or learn something, I attend to check out all the breeds of horses represented.
I like to see types of horses I do not normally have a chance to look at up close. I have included a few photos so you can share my experience and take a sneak peak into what Equine Affaire has to offer.
Equine Affaire takes place at the Ohio Expo Center in Columbus on April 12-15. Its schedule includes 230-plus educational sessions in eight venues, acres of exhibits to browse, and special events on Thursday through Saturday evenings.… Continue reading
So if you read my blog last week, you are aware that I have started allowing the horses to graze again. It is nice because it keeps the stalls and paddocks cleaner, but I doubt it is less time consuming as I am still regulating the time they spend on pasture.
It is pretty easy turning everybody out on pasture. I just lead the draft mare to her pasture; I open a gate for the bays; and I lead the appy mini to the pasture with the bays. Taking every one back to the barn is another story.
The bays and the appy mini are all in the same pasture. The bays do not like to be separated and are hard to catch separately so I have to always lead them back to the barn together. The appy would have no problem staying in the pasture by himself but the gate is a problem.… Continue reading
What a relief it is to both critters and their human caretakers when they can finally return to grazing if they have been confined to stalls and dry lots during the winter.
We only own a handful of acres so we have to take great care to manage our pastures carefully. This means that the horses do not see grass all winter long. We use dry lots for winter turnout.
The horses are always happy to return to their pastures in the spring, and I’m always happy to see my hay use go down as I rely more on grass for a large part of their diet. As most livestock owners know, it is never a good idea to go from feeding only hay and grain to unlimited turnout on grass — especially for horses. Colic and founder are a real danger to horses that aren’t used to eating much grass.… Continue reading
About 7 years ago, I started breeding pygmy goats. I’ve always done plenty of research and listened to advice from breeders and veterinarians.
Over time, I have developed my own methods of breeding and caring for my goats based on experience and the advice of others. Anyone who knows much about me knows that I take my goats and their health pretty seriously. I call myself “the crazy goat lady” and, to be honest, I’m probably one step away from actually being one.
I try very hard to relax and go with the flow but I’m pretty militant. I keep accurate records of all vaccinations, de-wormings and hoof trimmings, and I take great care to make notes on my calendar every time a doe is exposed to a buck. I may not know the exact dates my kids will be born — the bucks usually enjoy at least a month-long stay with the does — but I know the windows of time when they could kid.… Continue reading
In December, my husband, Mark, and I bought another miniature horse. The reasons behind the purchase and the entire horse search experience are a story for a future “Horse Sense” article. Nothing at our house is uneventful.
The mini’s name is Harley and Mark has liked him from the beginning. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that Harley is smaller than our other minis so he costs less to feed and he makes less manure to clean from his stall.
We didn’t have a harness small enough for Harley so we had to buy a new one. We finally accomplished this last weekend, and I was excited to try the harness and perform a test drive to see if Harley is still as “bomb proof” as was suggested when we purchased him.
On a beautiful Sunday, I harnessed and drove Harley with very little assistance, and he was a really good boy.… Continue reading
Three times a year, masses of horse folks gather in Mt. Hope, Ohio, for the Mt. Hope Draft Horse Sale. The sales take place in June, October, and March and feature several days of auctions of all types of horses and horse equipment and tack. The most recent sale was March 6-9, 2012.
Tuesdays of the sale week are generally reserved for carriages, tack and ponies. Wednesdays are crossbreds which is just about anything you can imagine from light horses to grade draft horses to pricey Friesians to Spotted Drafts. Thursdays are reserved for Haflingers, Belgians and pulling horses. Fridays include Percherons and uncataloged horses.
It is an amazing event. Parking is free but scarce and there is certainly plenty of entertainment.
I attended the sale on Tuesday. Inside one building, there were three auctioneers selling tack and there were two more auctioneers in other buildings for a total of five rings at one time.… Continue reading
People who knew me in my youth would have never guessed I would have babies of any species born on our property let alone assist with the births. I never had a strong stomach for blood or body fluids.
About 7 years ago a friend from college was buying pygmy goats at the same time I was and she talked me into sharing a buck and starting a breeding program. I had originally planned to just buy a couple of wethers to serve as pets. It has been an adventure ever since.
As all livestock caregivers find out eventually, there are many things you need to learn to do yourself. I love my vets but there are only a few of them in the county that handle large animals, and it seems that usually when I have a kidding emergency, they are all out on other emergency calls.… Continue reading
For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been helping my neighbor, Patricia, with her barn chores. She is recovering from surgery and has lifting limitations so her daughter, Liz, and I have been working together to make sure her stalls are cleaned and her water buckets are full.
Patricia is a good friend and I like her horses so it really isn’t work; I enjoy visiting with her and her horses. She has also helped me chase loose minis and deliver newborn baby goats many times in the past. We make a good team.
The only drawback to visiting Patricia and her barn is her stallion, Ace. Ace is an aggressive stud and to make matters worse, he seems to particularly dislike me. His hatred for me is kind of funny because he really doesn’t have a reason. I’ve never touched him, let alone hit him, and I have always talked nicely to him.… Continue reading
At this point in my life, I’m never really very surprised when I find some kind of problem or disaster in the barn. I will admit that I did reach my breaking point last spring, when the barn flooded and my pregnant goats where standing in three inches of water but that was a pretty extreme problem.
Most of the time rotten mini horses, Mike and Ike, create the little surprises I meet randomly during my morning feedings.
I wasn’t really very surprised when I saw Mike and Ike munching on several bales of hay they had managed to pull into their stalls one morning last week. Really it was only a matter of time until it happened.
Last summer, in an effort to cram as much hay into the barn as possible, my husband, Mark, and I filled two of our three horse stalls with hay.… Continue reading
At this point in my life, I’m never really very surprised when I find some kind of problem or disaster in the barn. I will admit that I did reach my breaking point last spring, when the barn flooded and my pregnant goats where standing in three inches of water but that was a pretty extreme problem.
Most of the time rotten mini horses, Mike and Ike, create the little surprises I meet randomly during my morning feedings.
I wasn’t really very surprised when I saw Mike and Ike munching on several bales of hay they had managed to pull into their stalls one morning last week. Really it was only a matter of time until it happened.
Last summer, in an effort to cram as much hay into the barn as possible, my husband, Mark, and I filled two of our three horse stalls with hay.… Continue reading
