In this episode, Jec visits with Alayne Blickle of Horses for Clean Water. Alayne is a former Best Horse Practices Summit presenter based in Idaho. Here, she talks about many strategies we can use to address best practices around horse management. Got ticks? Got mud? Got mice? Got flies? Got wind? There are great insights here. I hope you enjoy the show.
Watch her BHPS presentation on Sustainable Solutions here.
When I first heard the word biosecurity being used in horse-related conversations, I thought it applied to strictly vet hospital settings. But even if we are trailering or trail riding with friends, we should be aware of simple biosecurity protocol. I am thankful, too, for Alayne’s ideas around working with nature to create better environments for our horses, and, of course, for the wildlife with which we interact – knowingly or not.
Jane and Stuart Myers also do a great job of breaking down and meeting environmental challenges, among other horse-owning details. Check out their site here.
Alayne Blickle
A few additional show notes:
We’ve heard from listeners around a few very interesting topics which we are going to address in upcoming episodes as we round out our second season:
— Julie in New Mexico wrote in to ask about cross training. In particular, she’s wondering how running and riding can get along. So since Jec and I are both runners and since our friend Katrin Silva is an accomplished runner, we’re going to talk together as a trio. Just to be clear: Jec and Katrin are quite good. I am a solid walk/run/walk runner who is just happy to be out there on the trails.
— Ellie in Zimbabwe, Africa, asked about the various forms of bitless bridling, including using a rope halter, a hackamore, or a bitless bridle. We’re going to visit on that with Ben Longwell, who I interviewed for early in Season Two and who’s recently moved from New Zealand back to the States.
So stay tuned!
Watch Alayne Blickle’s BHPS presentation on Sustainable Solutions here.
Our title sponsor is Lucerne Farms, producers of quality forage feeds. Lucerne is this outstanding little company in northern Maine. Forage is chopped hay, an excellent option when you can’t have your horse on pasture or when you need to add calories and nutrients to your horses’ diet.
We also thank Redmond Equine for being part of our sponsorship family. Redmond rocks and other offerings come straight from their mine in Redmond, Utah.
We thank Kate’s Real Food and Patagonia WorkWear for their continued support. Did you know? All ya gotta do is comment or suggest a podcast topic or send us a training question here and you’ll be automatically qualified for our monthly Patagonia WorkWear giveaway.
Thanks for listening y’all!
Really appreciated Alayna’s information and resources. Much needed as the climate change is affecting EVERYTHING.
As a small outfit (14 horses), we have trouble finding and buying quality forage on a consistent basis. We are in the Ojai,CA area. If y’all have any tips or thoughts on a solution, we’d love to hear it.
Appreciate what you do.
Thanks for your comment, Trinity. I have been supplementing my hay with alfalfa cubes lately. Compared to grain, this is far better for the horses and less expensive. I do this for two reasons: because my older horses need more calories than my grass hay can provide AND because it cuts down on my hay use. Also, I must soak them to avoid the oldsters from choking. So it is an option, albeit a time-consuming one especially for your size operation.