National Ice Cream Day!

It’s National Ice Cream Day!  And while our four legged friends might not be able to chow down on Ben & Jerry’s or Baskin Robbins’ latest, they can enjoy some frozen treats!  Here are a few short ideas for frozen treats for our equine & canine family members.  Stay cool out there!  

Horse Popsicle 

For this recipe, you can use whatever horse-friendly fruits and veggies you have on hand. Examples include: apples, celery, carrots, bananas, watermelon, grapes, lettuce, or squash. 

Directions: Thoroughly wash all your fruits and veggies. Dice them up into small pieces (the smaller the better) or alternatively, you can put them in the blender. Using plastic cups or popsicle molds, add your fruits and veggies, then fill with diluted apple juice, unsweetened applesauce, or water. Freeze overnight and feed the next day (sans cup)!  You can also use smaller silicone molds for hand held treats.  

Frozen Lick Treat 

For a little larger treat, use a bundt cake pan and follow the same directions as above. You can add a spoonful of molasses to sweeten it up if you prefer. If you’d like to hang this frozen treat from the fence, simply insert some twine on each edge before you freeze it. This frozen lick treat is sure to keep your horses entertained for a while!

Note: If your horse is insulin resistant or suffers from Equine Metabolic Syndrome, make sure to only feed low sugar treats in moderation

For Fido:

For our pups, you can use a wide variety of dog-safe foods in popsicle molds or silicone molds.  They can be sweet ingredients, like pumpkin and banana, or savory, like beef broth.  Always make sure that if you include foods like peanut butter or yogurt that they are safe for your dogs.  Keep your dog’s digestive issues in mind as well.  If they have sensitive tummies, you want to feed treats in moderation.  

Check out this article from the AKC for more insight: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/nutrition/diy-frozen-dog-treats/

Best DIY Frozen Dog Treats

Spare a moment?

When was the last time you looked at your spare tire before you needed to pull over on the side of the road? 

It isn’t something we normally think about until we need it, but it should be a part of a routine inspection.  A spare tire can be the thing that gets you home late at night.  Remember to check your spare when you are heading out on the road before this holiday weekend.  It should match the tire size, rim size, and load limit as the other tires on your trailer. 

Also take a look at where your spare is located. Is it on the outside or inside of your trailer? Most of the trailers we see have spares on the outside.  When the tire isn’t in use, it is heating up, and flexing, and can dry rot much faster than we might think. Using a spare tire cover on a trailer that can’t be housed internally is a great idea. These covers aren’t very expensive and sure do beat replacing a spare tire earlier than you need to. If you have the room, an internal spare tire mount is highly effective at preventing dry rot. When mounted correctly, they don’t take up as much room as you would think.

At Allison Creek we include the spare tire check as part of our Annual Inspection, but you should certainly be looking at it more than once a year.  Send us a message & schedule your Annual Safety Inspection today. We can also replace your tires, your spare, or install an updated spare mount, on your camping, utility, hunting, boat, or horse trailer!  We do them all!

Protective Trailer Floor Liners

Have you looked at your trailer floor recently?  Our horses and other livestock often have to stay in the trailer for extended periods of time. Over time, the urine and manure can deteriorate the aluminum or wood floors in trailers. How do we prevent this from happening?  One way is making sure to thoroughly clean your trailer on a regular basis. This involves removing all bedding and pulling the mats to clean under them. Another way is to use a floor coating specifically designed to protect trailers from corroding.  Inspecting the floors thoroughly should be part your annual inspection, and is included if Allison Creek does your inspection.

Take a look at this gorgeous trailer floor. In this picture the wall and floor mats have been removed. We spray up the sides of the walls to prevent build up reaching bare aluminum. After the liner dried, we installed the wall mats and put the floor mats back in. This liner is designed to be used under floor mats.   

Allison Creek can perform your annual trailer inspection.  We can replace, repair, or install a protective coating on your trailer floor if it is deteriorating or already deteriorated. Interested in getting a quote or have questions? Shoot us a message today to schedule your inspection or your floor liner installation! 

New Volunteer Opportunities

Donating money isn’t the only way to give to charitable organizations, many of whom rely on volunteers for various services. If you find yourself with free time on your hands on your weekend, or during the week, you could consider putting in some community service. Not only will you help a good cause, but it can also be a way to meet people and learn new skills.

Celebrate Microvolunteering Day

You want to get involved and give back to the community, but can’t fit another big commitment into your busy schedule? Then microvolunteering might just be the thing.

Microvolunteering is a small, bite-sized task or project, that is quick and easy to perform. Best of all there’s a range of things you could do online, in as little as 30 minutes. Donating processing time on your computer, signing an online petition, or promoting a charity on social media are all examples of microvolunteering that you could do today.

2021 Play Dates

We are excited to offer some play dates on our Confidence Course this year! Bring a friend, load the horses on the trailer, and come play on the obstacles!

  • March 17 – Wednesday (St Paddy’s Day!)
  • April 17 – Saturday
  • May 5 – Wednesday (Cinco de Mayo!)
  • June 26 – Saturday
  • July 7 – Wednesday
  • Aug 7 – Saturday
  • Sept 21 – Tuesday
  • Oct *9th – Sunday *this has been changed to avoid conflict with local Kelmac show
  • Nov 6 – Saturday

Cost: $15/horse. Negative coggins required.

To let us know you are coming or if you have any questions, please reach out to me on my cell at 706-338-1358 or my email is amanda@allisoncreekfarm.com. – Amanda

Learn more about our Confidence Course.

We have a great mix of obstacles – an Irish Bank (aka a Texas-Two-Step), a trench, fallen logs, a cowboy curtain, and more. You can

Check out our Confidence Course.

See details about our 9/11/21 Hunter Pace!

We are pleased to host an AAHC community ride this fall on well established trails through wooded areas and open fields.

Visit Athens Area Horse Community site.

Need maintenance, repairs, or upgrades for your horse trailer?

Our Farm Services division wants to help ensure that you and your horses are happy, healthy, and safe.

Learn more about our trailer services.

For Sale: 16.1hh 2013 Registered Oldenburg Chestnut Mare

Calypso is feminine, correct, and a powerful mover with three quality gaits. Granddaughter of Contucci.  Sensitive and soft, extremely bold/game, willing, and honest. Smart, smart, smart and willing. She WANTS to jump and figures out the technical stuff faster than I can. Both natural and confirmed lead changes, nice transitions. Plenty of scope – she’s currently schooling 2’9″ courses but has done 3’3″ and has plenty of room for more.

Calypso schooling 3’3″ with Ava.

Her personality is people oriented, meet you at the gate, and she likes to work. Calypso is the type of horse that wants a true partner to take through the levels and explore the world. Good enough brain and temperament for an amateur, enough talent and ambition for a pro.

She is extremely brave under saddle and loves hacking. She foxhunted this season – third over rough terrain and then stood calmly on a loose rein waiting for the huntsman to gather the hounds. Crosses water and ditches. Was great with the hounds. In December I rode her from the farm to a schooling show – 6 miles and it was freezing cold. She won her class (2’3″).

On the flat, she is forward and elastic, and extremely soft in the contact. As she builds more topline she gains strength and balance. She still comes up often for the canter transition, but starting to relax with really nice and easy transitions. She works well off the seat and wants a rider who won’t try to hold her in a frame with the rein.

Videos

2’9″ course at Ashland Farm with Amanda: https://youtu.be/L7BAx-nG3MY

2’6″ course at Ashland with 13 year old: https://youtu.be/XG3tu_MoUXc

Playing on Confidence Course (XC jumps, Irish Bank, works gate, over teeter totter) – https://youtu.be/11CC6tfEKBo

Hacking with Freckles and Piper – https://youtu.be/26uaBxDgzww

Playing “ball” – https://youtu.be/JfLjtr-mHo4, https://youtu.be/jQsbnFiG150

For up-to-date flat video, send me a text or email.

Sale price will increase as showing, outing, and training increases her value. Contact Amanda (706-338-1358 or amanda@acf.runruffian.com) to inquire about Calypso.

Playing on the banks and coops at Shakerag Hounds Clubhouse

SOLD 16hh Blue Roan QH Mare

“Pumpkin” is a barn favorite. She is calm, patient, and well- behaved while being athletic with plenty of get-up-and-go.

The pictures do not do this mare justice. In person, she is absolutely stunning. She has a striking presence about her, and she’ll definitely get you noticed. She’s a big mare with plenty of substance and flash.

She is athletic and forward with excellent manners in the field and on the trail. No spook. She will happily lead, follow, or go in middle.  She’s one of those versatile horses that could go in any direction what you want.

Her age is in the mid-teens. She is Waggoner Ranch branded, but her papers lost have been lost. She was a broodmare with several years off and is now coming back into work. Prior to becoming a broodmare, she was used for roping so she has experience with cattle.

Not mare-ish, even in heat. Easy to catch. Stands on a picket line and quietly for mounting. Stands for everything – grooming, farrier, vet, etc. UTD shots and floating. Sound barefoot.

Contact Stacey at 706-318-5827 to inquire about Pumpkin.

Confidence Course Play Dates!

Whew! May has been a busy month so we weren’t able to squeeze in a play date. Scroll down for a list of the dates for the rest of the year. Be sure to put them on your calendar!

What IS a play date? Over the years we have built a fantastic obstacle course on the farm. It has giant tractor tires, an irish bank, fallen logs, cowboy curtain, trenches, teeter totters, and more. The play date is an opportunity to come and hang out with all of your closest (or newest, lol) horsie friends. The cost is $15 for the day and you get access to the (obstacle) confidence course, arena, round pen, and trails. Bring your horse and a friend!

The dates for the rest of 2019:

  • June 19 (Wednesday)
  • July 20 (Saturday)
  • August 21 (Wed – this is also Stacey’s birthday!)
  • September 14 (Saturday)
  • October 24 (Wednesday)
  • November 16 (Saturday)

November 16 will also be our holiday party. All dates are weather permitting. No registration required but please present valid coggins upon arrival. For questions please contact Amanda via email (amanda@acf.runruffian.com) or cell (706-338-1358).

March Pony Baloney!

Class topics for our inaugural month of Pony Baloney! are basic anatomy, skeletal system, digestive tract and care of digestive tract, and coat colors and markings. Curious about what exactly Pony Baloney is? More information here.

Classes start Tuesday, March 5th!

Please register using the below form. Registration not complete until payment received. Registration limited.