Otter Creek Stables

Otter Creek Stables is a small Western Ranch in the South-West of the Netherlands. We are a rustic, privately owned Barn and Riding school, mainly housing stock horses like AQH and APH. The focus of OCS lies on bitless riding and natural horsemanship.

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❖ Cant wait to be gray!

Cara is not taking any time waiting for her grey coat it seems. We already kind of knew she would grey out with how her goggles and slight dapples on her rump were showing just a few days after birth, but its become really apparent now as she started her first foal shed.

I am also not sure if its just her foal mottling, but her shoulder looks suspiciously dark, with a complete lack of dapples or signs of grey hairs. But we will see how she grows out.

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❖ RL Memory Bank!

With the help of Cas, one of our new riding students, this little colt has now recieved a name too. Through the connection of Jazz being musical connection, he was suggesting his favorite song, Memory Bank. And I dont know exactly what it is about that, but it just fits this little spotted wildfang very well! We are having record heats in spring, and with everything blooming, we already decided to bring both, Jazz and Shimmer out into the pastures for the year. Here they will be able to spend the whole summer til it gets stormy and cold in fall again. This will give the foals time to develop on their own and together (once the mares allow it, haha), and we will start handling and that stuff over fall and winter, just like we did with the past foals too.

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❖ LWB Carasynthia!

I am also very happy to announce that the little spotty colt wont grow up playing alone.

Last year, Sandra had decided she would love to see a foal out of Shimmer. Combine that with the once in a lifetime chance to get her covered by the one and only "The Mandalorian NK" owned by Nova Kneib and Sandra was sold!

And about 3 weeks before the little Appaloosa colt was born, this litte chestnut filly has dropped into the world after an uneventful and healthy pregnancy. From the beginning shes shown adorably strong grey goggles, so we are pretty sure shes gonna grey out, but her start into life was a bit difficult.

Her legs are incredibly long and she wasnt able to stand on straight legs at all in the front. So Shimmer and her filly were spending two weeks at the clinic, with casts to stretch the fillies ligaments and strenghten the correct position. Those casts came off two days ago and shes now successfully standing and walking well, so she was allowed to return to us today!

Her name, fitting for Mandos lineage is Carasynthia, lovingly called Cara as well, and so far shes a true chestnut, very stubborn and loud about her own opinion, but she ADORES cuddles. You cna always win her over with those.

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❖ Little May Baby!

After over two weeks of on and off movement, he is finally here! A little very spotty colt has been born early morning on this first of may.

Jazz really did play with us, baged up two weeks ago already and her pH was low for three days, then jumped back up so that we were already worried and called the vet for a checkup. Apparently some first time moms can very well be oddballs and he foal was still strong on heartbeat and health so we should'nt worry too much.

And when I went to feed the horses this morning, she was already done and licking the little spots dry. I had to do a doubletake on how many spots there were in her stall, but hes so unbelievably cute!

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❖ Is it time yet?

Jazz has kept us guessing and panicking the past months. Since we have no idea on when she was covered or when her due date might be, we are in constant surveillance of her.

Its now mid april, and the past weeks shes been really rounding out. My mind wants to tell me it cant be much longer, but I have seen mares carry these huge bellies for up to two months longer without showing any urgency. So this could be an April foal... or a june one.

One thing is clear, Jazz does not care and is otherwise very healthy. And thats the most important part for us!

In terms of finding the father to this mystery foal, we have been keeping up with the barn we bought her from and they have furthered their investigations to single out a few potential stallions as well as two studs that were only at their ranch to cover a few mares. Once the foal is born, we will do a few genetic tests to fully determine the father so we can make sure the foal can get its proper papers too. I am so grateful that they are positive and helpful in the situation, no matter if it was their fault or not. I've heard horror stories of the exact opposite. It gives me a bit of hope in people.

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❖ Just some mares!

OCS Iota Chic Shine, OCS Little Miss Mango, and Iotas daughter OCS Boon To Shine

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❖ RL All That Jazz!

Excuse my absence, I've been sick, its flu season, so I did the bare minimum to work the horses but had no brain to actually take pictures for the blog.

Today, introducing a new, little shy, addition to the Riding School. RL All That Jazz is an Appaloosa mare that has already successfully been trained and active in the schoolmaster career. While I do have my youngsters, I really needed a reliable working partner for beginners, and when i saw her for sale I knew it would be the perfect fit. Plus I always wanted some spots in my herd, so it was a win win.

Jazz has been out of work for about a year now, so shes a bit out of shape, since their riding school had closed and they wanted to repurpose a lot of their horses and sell some others, but werent sure on which ones yet. Jazz was one that fell into the category sale and so shes with us now. She will need some time to acclimate to us and then I will start working her into shape again and I am sure she can soon fire up the riding school with her knowledge. Now sure, shes been out of work for about a year, with only casual rides and the usual workout to keep her fit, so I was expecting to at least need to work her back into the routine, but over time she became suspicious to me. She had a slight haybelly, understandable if you dont work as hard as you used to do, but I assumed under my first month of work and the right feed we would see progress in her shape. But on the contrary, she grew. And that made me worried. With everything going on, of couse a vet visit was due and she got a full plus extra checkup, and the results: Shes absolutely healthy, and carrying a foal. Yay! Or not?! I dont know to be honest. I did not plan for any foals this year, I really needed a break after my excitement for foals. At least the foal will not grow up alone, since Sandra has had her own plans with Shimmer this year. We also contacted the seller and they were as suprised as us. She had not been purposefully bred, stood under regular care and checkups and nobody could recall any pasture accidents. They were very apologetic and asked if we wanted to return her, but I said no. After all, I fell in love with Jazz and just because shes gonna be a momma thats not a dealbreaker for me, just some extra work. We are still in contact and they are running a small investigation, asking around, checking up on their stallion schedules for the last year to see if anything can be found. They are also open for gene testing once the foal is born, to make out who the baby daddy is, until then we will just have to see.

So yeah, shes coming in hot and quite litterally heavy! We have no idea about a due date, since nobody knows anything atm, but she only now looks to gain proper roundness, so we suspect it might still be another month or two minimum, this might be a summer-time baby. Well, so much about Jazz' arrival and backstory! Shes definitely leaving her mark on our Ranch and we are excited!

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❖ Winter Wonderland!

I am so excited that the snow is currently staying around for a bit longer. Most of the storm is however over and we are awaiting muddy times again soon. Just the more we should enjoy the snow while it lasts.

Now, I dont dare to ride through the snow at the moment, cause theres also a slippery ice-layer underneath, even with sturdy horses thats danger calling.

Instead of that, we have finally merged the youngsters with the weanlings! Boony, Skip and Prism are now 4 years old and I plan to see how their backs and bones are doing to maybe start light work with andunder saddle. They all filled out well and developed nicely mentally too, so we are ona good direction to becoming riding school and allrounder horses.

Ginny and Wendigo were heistant at first, even though they already knew the trio from through the fence, it was a bit intimidating for the 9 month olds. But the two boys warmed up to each other over the day. Among the ladies we still have a lot of squealing and I need to keep them on watch the next days of repeated testing them all together, for now, when I am not around we have them separated by fence again, but next to each other so they can accustom more.

So enjoy some snowy young horses playtime!

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❖ Mystery Solved?!

For all those questioning what was wrong with Skip, we finally have results. Over the summer til last week we had him out with the other 3 year olds to be just himself and develop his body and mind. He was just brought in every other month if he had a vet appointment.

After being sent to a trainer with 1 year of age, he was returned with 2 years due to coordination problems with his hindlegs. X-Rays have not given any clues and nerve tests also showed that hes fine, if anything he had a small inflammation that might have come from (for him) wrong training. Hes got some meds for the inflammation and we were supposed to keep an eye on his movement. Now, over the Summer he had a good growth spurt and now that we have him back in stall and on the paddocks I cannot see any coordination issues any more. Its as if he never had troubles at all. So the one assumption that vets went with... he was an exceptionally fast growing youngster and basically grew too fast for his own liking.

As long as nothing returns, hes now clean and healthy and can follow a normal and hopefully eventful life with us, being ridden and shown and everything included!

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❖ The final MMO Update!

Here is the third and final update on our Mustang mare. It took quite some time to recover and heal from surgery, but she survived and is doing well. So well in fact, that the vets definitely can see her live for quite a very long and happy life. And after this endeavour she also has gotten her name: Lucky Clover. Now, in terms of training status, we were all the way back to the beginning. Besides Stable and Roundpen rest, there wasnt much I could do until she was healed up well enough to get the go for training. But her overall character, alertness and character have seen so much change for the better since shes no longer under pain. The MMO organisation and I have settled on an agreement for her, that we do not in fact partake in the classic MMO any more. With her history it would not have been possible to get her ridable and ready for a final show on their show-grounds. Instead, we have been given a month longer to get her safe and sound into groundwork and basics. Even if this MMO did not turn out as I wouldve imagined, I want to give Clover the best possible start into her permanent home. So with the time that was given to us, we focussed hard on groundwork, trust and manners. And shes been doing amazing! She can stand tied, she lets herself get brushed, she leads well and we have started working on the Trail lot for her coordination. Only cleaning the hooves is a thing she is picky about. Only men, mostly my dad are allowed to even touch her there, so I think a future home would need a male main companion for her. Next week she will already leave OCS, being collected by the Orangzation to then go into the adoption line. I wish her all the best for her future!

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❖ Winter and Weaning!

Quite some time has passed. Yet again I was busier than ever! But we finally made it into the Winter-Break. My Mustang Makeover is almost finished and yes, the mare has survived and is doing well. An update on her will follow next time. Ginny and Wendigo are now in the middle of their Weaning. With how they are behaving tho, one would think they have never been dependant on their moms in the first place. They are doing well, and I want to get my 3 year olds in from the far pasture soon (where they spent the summer and fall just developing their bodies, being their feral selves). If all goes well, I want to combine them into one herd of youngsters, but that remains to be seen. Lola has also left OCS after finishing her weaning. For those that dont remember, I sadly will not be able to keep her, as her temperament is not suited to become a ridingschool horse. The more excited I am that shes been bought by a fellow friend. Sandras Ex-Boss, the woman who bought Smokey from Florian a while back this summer, has shown interest in taking over Lola too. Both fit well into her field of riding, and so they are able to spend their time together as well. I've gotten this lovely picture sent from her, a week after Lola arrived. They live in Mid-Germany and had snow already, while we are still sitting in frost and mud here. It is lovely to see that they are doing well!

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(repost from Oct. 8th 2025 - Fixed Content Label to mature topic.) Content Warning: Mention of Veterinary Action, Tumor/s, Surgery.

❖ MMO update - Clinic Time!

The last few weeks I worked closely on getting comfortable around our Mustang mare. Any free minute I had I spent around her, with good progress.

It was hard getting her to trust, understandably, if you can only see on one eye and potentially even have diverse pain areas too. But a routine around feeding and just being around her showed her that I am not threat. Its a small step, thinking about the progress of a normal MMO, but I also decided that with a probably very sick horse I have to take completely different milestones than a healthy horse.

At the moment I want to focus on her health and get that eye checked out, so thats my first goal before I plan anything in terms of groundwork and readying her for riding and circus tricks.

We are at a point where I can halter her and lead her around the Ranch, but she feels safest in the roundpen as her domain still. Even our Vet is involved now, so that the mare can build trust to her too, since we wanted to get her checked as soon as possible. And that was super important. Two days ago we had X-Rays and closeup checks for her eye and it turns out we arent any moment too late.

We found a tumor behind her eye. Her visual nerves are encapsuled and damaged and probably wont be able to be rescued and the mass is large enough that it probably also puts pressure onto the rest of the heads innerds. So we were urged to get her to surgery. Lightly sedated we got her in the trailer and to the clinic, where she now resides, waiting for surgery.

With that, the MMO for us is on a halt. I want her to survive the surgery and have enough time to rehabilitate from it. I am also planning in trust resets after this procedure, but I will assess the situation when shes out of the dangerzone and back with me, healing.

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❖ While its still warm!

Autumn weather has hit us fast and I thought before it completely pulls us into the cold, windy and stormy days, I use this time to take one more beach ride for the year.

This picture is my entry for "Monochrome Moments" Event on EQ.

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❖ 6 months mark!

These little ones have grown like crazy this past half a year!

Ginny and Wendigo havent seen as much attention as I wouldve liked to give them, but this year was busy with lots of changes to OCS.

Now, I have been training and handling with them, but I didnt take as many pictures I wouldve liked to to take you all with me on their growing up. And I hope I will have some more time now.

The 3 year olds are on summer pasture, Skip gets more vet care

I only have the foals and my Mustang mare on active training at the moment.

Until Florian has found a new horse, he is currently focussing on cowwork training with Mango.

Lola and Iota are on a summer rest until weaning and then we will sell on Lola and I can take Iota into my training roster again.

I cant wait to have some sort of routine again after this busy year. While its a load of work with two years in a row of foals, yes i regret it a bit, but I also adore all the babies I have now and I wouldnt want to change it either. It taught me a lot about owning horses and I definitely have a better understanding of all the work associated with it.

I am excited to work more towards the riding school again, wanting to push Iota and Mango there so I can focus on the careers for the foals more.

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❖ Goodbye Smokey!

I hope we see eachother again one day.

Today Smokey has left OCS. Florian has found a nice place from a friend of Sandras, who has been looking for an in-sport Reining horse to bring to higher levels. Shes living close by, so we are always able to visit Smokey and might plan some rides together in the future.

I am sure Smokey will thrive with her and we have a positive look on the far future. If the new owner ever decides to part with Smokey, he can come back and enjoy retirement with us, maybe become a little riding school pony, but at this point in his life he has a lot of energy left to fuel his career.

Until next time, fancy man!

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❖ Week 1 update - MMO2026!

I've given my girl a week of getting to know me and used to her surroundings. While only coming in contact with her whenever I brought hay and fresh water or keep watching her, I did not directly interact with her yet.

I can definitely see that shes mostly exploring her environment with her left side and turning her right side inwards as much as possible. I am looking forward to get her handled and shown to the vet. From what I told my vet, shes also highly suspecting damage to the eye.

Tomorrow I will start on basic interactions, going in to get her attention and making sure she can see me as a neutral, if not positive, figure.

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❖ Youngster herd!

Skip has been at his first vet visit at the clinic. While it wasnt the big x-ray and spine check (the apointment is still a month away, cause the clinic seems very booked at the moment), we got a first sensitivity and behavior check to particularly note down what hos symtoms are.

He particularly seems to have issues coordinating his hindlegs in normal movement, anything faster than a casual walk. However he has no sensation loss and reacts well to tickling, poking/manipulation from hips all the way down to hooves, which tells us that the nerves are mostly fine, maybe inflamed at best. So it points towards some sort of bone/vertebrae issue that potentially squeezes the nerves but doesnt fully block them.

Vision and hearing as well as other senses see no problems at all so its most definitely no brain infection/issues either. Lots of these things point towards Wobblers or general spine issues.

Until the appointment in a month, I have decided to merge Skip and Boony with Prism. They are all about 3 years of age, so I thought a Youngster herd is a fitting thing to do. I can keep a watch on Skips behavior while none of the three is truly alone and I can let them develope their body together until 4-5 years old before I start them under saddle.

They are weary of each other, but slowly warming up. I have them on a small pasture atm so I can quickly intervene if theres issues, but I have a good feeling about the Trio.