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Living in Balance
Written By: Sue Blair - Carpe Diem Farms | Issue: 2020/09 – September
Life on a farm is all about balance and rhythm. We do our best to work with Mother Nature, the seasons, the weather, the cycles of the animals. All of this to provide for and keep the herd of nine horses safe and healthy.
Last year, our Percheron Paint gelding, My Kaleb, was out of balance in the herd of eight mares. The problem followed the loss of our boy Promise, which shifted herd dynamics. Kaleb started acting out when the girls were in season each month, using his eighteen-hundred pounds of brute strength to run through fences and run the herd. He needed a job and I was traveling too much to ride and exercise him enough to keep him in balance, which made things unsafe for the mares.
Fortunately for me and Kaleb, my wonderful friends in Bulls Gap, Tennessee, who have a small herd of gelding drafts and draft crosses in their vaulting and lesson program, were looking for a smaller draft.
So last November I loaned Kaleb to Arielle Blackstone of Renaissance Vaulters to see if he would enjoy the work and make friends in her herd without upsetting the balance of her herd.
It worked!
On August 4, I went for my first visit to see for myself just how Kaleb was getting along. Pictures speak volumes, so, rather than words, see for yourself.
Arielle said that all the little children ask to take their lessons on Kaleb. He’s the head of his little herd band of four, jumping and beginning to do some vaulting, though he’s too friendly and wants to greet the vaulters when they mount and dismount! He was happy to see me. I know he’s happy with his work. When it is time to retire he’ll come back to Carpe Diem and live out his life here on the farm.
