God Given Farm

08/04/2025

A big welcome to our two newest residents, Winnie and Rainey. Both are in to receive training and be started under saddle before heading back to their homes. They are two BLM Mustang mares from very different backgrounds. I look forward to watching them progress and am sure they’ll have plenty to teach me!

07/27/2025

Since Blossom and Journey have made the official move into the big barn, they got some brand new stall signs today! They posed for a few quick pictures while they are their supper before slowly wandering back to their pasture. Now that this barn can connect to every pasture, it’s hopefully going to get a lot more use!

07/17/2025

Today makes 30 days since we met and rounded Blossom up onto our trailer. In these past 30 days, she has exceeded every expectation I’d had and quickly become a personal favorite training horse. Not only is she intelligent beyond her years, she is also level-headed, kind, curious, brave, and so so willing. I still remember the first time I touched her, just days within her arrival. I remember her realizing just how great a brush felt on those itchy spots for the first time, and from there she just chose to trust.

Here is what Blossom has accomplished within just 30 days of domestic life:
🌷Can be touched and brushed all over
🌷Free-lunges W/T/C very respectfully with smooth stops and direction changes
🌷Will take a nap and can be handled in the middle of 4th of July fireworks
🌷Stands quietly to be haltered, fly sprayed, hosed, and for a fly mask
🌷Leads very respectfully all around the pasture, roundpen, arena, and up and down our driveway, still working on staying to the side rather than following behind
🌷Picks up and holds front hooves for cleaning
🌷Lunges W/T on a line
🌷Stands well for vaccines and bloodwork
🌷Stands for any wound care needed

Next on the list is her first farrier visit, followed by obstacle introductions and hand walking all over our vast farm! I truly can’t emphasize how peaceful this training process has been thus far. I couldn’t be more grateful to Appalachian Legacy, Inc for choosing me as her trainer and foster and can’t wait to see where life takes this filly!

07/14/2025

Another mini-course through UT! These are such wonderful, affordable, and educational opportunities! They are completely virtual and can be completed on your schedule. We highly recommend!

Registration

07/06/2025

🎆Happy late 4th of July from Blossom and Journey! Blossom has learned how to lead and led to our hosing area for a bath this evening. About halfway through, a large firework went off at the property directly behind her. I’ll admit that I jumped a little, but Blossom didn’t even bat an eye (and of course Journey’s only concern was whether or not she’d get to have a bath too).

I have several videos showcasing Blossom’s halter breaking process, but due to some technical difficulties it may be a few more days before I can get those posted. Stay tuned, because it is wonderful to watch her thinking and decision making come together exceptionally well!

07/04/2025

A few reminders on how we can help our new horses stay safe and calm during fireworks this weekend:

•Finish feeding or handling sessions early so you can be out of the pasture and have your horse settled into their designated area well before fireworks start. (We aim to have everyone ready by 5-6pm).
•Don’t enter the pasture with a panicking horse. While we don’t want to see them injure themselves, we can’t help them if we get ourselves injured too.
•Be a calm presence. Don’t panic or run around when the fireworks begin. If you treat it like a normal day, your horse will notice!
•If possible, set up a spot with some lawn chairs to stay comfortable that places you between your horse’s enclosure and the fireworks. Again, stay out of their enclosure, but if you’re closer to the fireworks than they are, that helps!
•Make noise early! Set up a loud radio (or music on your phone), have fun, and talk a lot! They’ll get used to a safe but loud presence before the big booms of the fireworks start.

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY‼️
•Have an emergency vet and your regular vet’s number ready. Keep in mind that they’re going to be overwhelmed with calls during this holiday, so be patient and kind, even when things get stressful.
•God Given Farm’s non-emergent number is: 304-531-3422. Our phone will be on 24/7 for the remainder of the week, especially in the evenings. We are NOT veterinarians, but if you have a non-emergency that has you worried, call or text us! We are here to help you and your horse get through this week as stress-free as possible and are happy to help talk you through as much as we can!

Stay safe and have fun! Happy 4th of July!

07/01/2025

For the upcoming July Liberty Clinic, Janet has been kind enough to share her YouTube channel and a few lovely videos of her Liberty Work with her geldings! You can see her Liberty journey and check out some videos from her TIP Mustang Challenges as well. I promise you do not want to miss this opportunity to work with her!

Contact us to reserve your spot for July 12th!

https://youtu.be/s2iFKqgzw4w?feature=shared

https://youtu.be/ze6vKNp53Ko?feature=shared

07/01/2025

Happy World Female Ranger Week to our favorite Ranger, Chelsea, and her mounted patrol horse, Rowdy!

06/29/2025

Blossom update! With the recent evening storms, photos have not been high priority unfortunately as I try to work her right as the temperatures begin to drop, but here’s just a few pictures from these last couple days!

Blossom was a bit nervous about my bulky, jingly breakaway halter, so we started with a soft, light weight rope halter to get her used to sliding the noseband on for the first session. For her second session we were able to go back to the breakaway halter and she let me slide it on and off calmly and consistently. Yesterday evening as I was feeding, she was very adamant that she wanted some extra attention, and let me braid most of her mane before she was ready to go eat. She has her own unique way of utilizing our hay bags😅

After church we resumed our haltering work for session three. She picked up right where we left off, never hesitating as I wiggled the nose band up and down a bunch, and allowed me to buckle the halter behind her ears/cheek as well. We got super consistent about haltering, buckling the halter, unbuckling the halter, and removing it several times, all while she stayed very relaxed and willing. Next on the agenda is wearing the halter while moving around a bit, which I’m sure will be funny-feeling for her, but we’re right on track to getting her necessary farrier and vet work done in the near future!

Tuesday will officially make 14 days since she made the trip to our farm, and I definitely didn’t guess we’d have progressed so quickly!

Things Blossom can do now:
•Come when called
•Walk/Trot/Stop/Back/Direction Change on command
•Stand to be hosed everywhere except the very top of her rump (she just wanders away uncomfortably for that spot, but she’s still so far ahead of most horses!)
•Can be brushed everywhere (legs, tail, everywhere🎉)
•Can be haltered and unhaltered
•Is extremely respectful during feeding and waits for permission to approach the food and will back up from the food if asked