Dead or alive ....

As many of you may have noticed, insects are out in full force this year. Although managing these pests can prove challenging.

Not only here in Europe , even the United States Farmers and their animals do suffer tough this humid summer. 

Amazing how a tiny insect can cause serious problems for a 1000-pound horse, but mosquitoes can do just that. 

They are in their habitat the perfect predators.

Not very helpful the the following statement but some of them are called "social stingers"

Bees, wasps, hornets and fire ants will vigorously attack in defense of their nests. The instant burning sensation from a sting is the insects’ foremost weapon in driving foreseen enemies away.

This is not valid for the horsefly and mosquitos.

But this picture shows the right way to show insects what horses think of them ;-)

Those pesky mosquitoes are more than just annoying.

This horse tries to catch a horsefly with the mouth ...

In most sting scenarios, pain and inflammation are primarily limited to a small area around the sting site, although dramatic swelling might occur if your horse receives a sting around the muzzle or eyes. 

In general, horses rarely exhibit serious reactions to a single insect sting.

 In fact, very often you will only learn that your horse has been stung when you stumble upon the small, soft swelling during a grooming session.

A smart horse shall come to pass in a group of people ...

People will do the work and fight the annoying and pesky insects in the name

of the horses ...

There are numerous reasons why a clean water supply is important for your horse,

 and just one of those is insect control. Keep your water barrel clean on a regular basis to avoid that the larvae of insects can develop in the warm broth. If you have a very big water trough an other  method of creating a clean water supply is to introduce a few fish into the water.  

That does not mean, that you have to implant a 10 kg pike in your 40 liters water barrel

That´s more something for farmers ...

One area of insect control that is often overlooked is the utilization of natural predators. 

Believe it or not, maintaining a population of bats on your farm can be a very effective way to minimize flying insects, such as mosquitos.

Bats will consume up to 1,000 flying insects in just one hour.

Maybe the Lapland climate is to tough for this little predators.

Hälsn R@CR

Without some dog hair I do not feel properly dressed ...

... that´s also a position to handle a dog-hair problem ;-)

A simple proof, that everything is a matter of the viewpoint and consideration.

A famous actor mentioned once: 

"You can live without a dog, but it is not worth."

So what is the advantage to have one, more or all dogs as your friend ?

 Dogs have all the good qualities of the people, 

but at the same time they do not have all their faults.

And a happy dog needs his active dog's life.

This will keep you young as well 

And here comes the story why the dog is called dog. 

*****

When God has made the earth and sky, the flowers and trees,

when he made all the animals and all the birds and bees

and when his work was finished,  the earth was no longer the same.

He said, "I`ll walk this earth of mine and give each one a name."

And so he travelled around land and sea and everywhere he went,

a little creature followed him faithful, 

 ...until his strength was spent.

When all were named upon the earth and in the sky and sea,

the little creature said, "Dear Lord, there`s not one left for me."

The father smiled and said softly, 

"I`ve left you to the end."

"I`ve turned my own name back to front and

called you DOG, my friend."

Dogs have a soul and thoughts, 

They analyze and watch attentive.

They are high social and faithful unto death.

They have somehow a personality 

That´s what you can maybe see in the picture above ...

There are a lot of good things around dogs. One for example is that a 

well-behaved dog will not insist that you share the meal with him, 

he will simply ensures that your conscience is so bad,  that it no longer tastes good for you.

Very smart creatures ... 

I have great respect for the human knowledge of my dogs, 

they are faster and more thoroughly than I do. 

 Finally you should not forget : Scratch a dog and you have a secure job ;-)

Hälsn 

R@CR

Imagination is more important than knowledge ...

The horse is your mirror. It'll never flatters. It reflects your temperament. It also reflects its volatility. Never get angry over your horse. You could be even angry about your own mirror image ...

Here some latest impressions from a horse summer in swedish Lapland ...

Intellectually not very sophisticated, but full with emotions, instinct and feelings -  and a piece of freedom ...

Impressive to see how animals can communicate very clear by using not one single word ...

A horse only needs himself, if it communicated the truth.

Sincerity is their nature ...

With humans it is different ...

We need a fast and saddled horse, if we publish an inconvenient truth ...

In an ocean of golden flowers ...

His hair stylist is on vacation ...

A lot of space for a big portion of snus under his lip ...

Clear sign ...

Remove the color, adjust the shadows to dark brown and your brown horse becomes even browner ...

Siesta ...

The ancestors of the Icelandic horse were probably brought by the Vikings 860-935 AD after Iceland.

Iceland horses have developed a very thick winter coat. They also have a thick mane and tail, which is set quite low.

When white angels appear ...

...comes everyone in motion ...

Ohh, a luscious steak ... time for BBQ

In the 19 century about 3000 Iceland horses were  transported to England, where they went in coal mines based.

Thousands of them were shipped abroad as a powerful and good-natured horse due to their characteristics, where ...

... many became blind as a pit horses in coal mines or died of exhaustion. 

But fortunately the little Viking horses found today again the recognition they deserve ...

Nothing else is better than a competition ... 

Keeps the mind and the body in the form.

Competition is a good motivator ... even in the economic world.

Anyone who thinks, that the Indians have always rode wild mustangs is wrong. 

It looks so, that the Indians have never done anything else than riding, but ...

In the 16th century, the Spanish conquistadors brought their horses to Mexico.

The Indians had no word for the strange animal that they got from the white man. So they called it 

'sumka Wekan' -  holy dog. 

Funny but true :-)

A friendly open boy and a bad-tempered lady ...

Her hair stylist is on vacation as well ...

The black and white connection ...

We have detected that white attracts the flies and black the heat ...

What is the lesser evil ?

The sudden and right event and even fat and lazy horse 

become within seconds running machines again ...

In this case scared by a motor sound ...

After the uphill journey its good to figure out the current situation ...

A horse is by far more beautiful with adrenalin in the body ...

Nice weekend
R@CR