Finally the spring thaw has come, and our underground river
has finally reached our pump again. Granted it’s a third of what our previous
flow was, but hey I’ll take what I can get. Unfortunately since we didn’t get
much snow this year I don’t know if it will last long, but for the time being I
get a little break from hauling water. Right now the tank is about ¾ ‘s full,
hopefully by tomorrow morning it will be all but full. That means I can
actually finish my laundry, you know sheets, blankets, rugs, jackets all the
things that don’t get washed on a regular basis, and most of which I can put
away till next winter.
Today was a really nice day even though it started off kinda
dreary, and cold. Ok downright dreary, and cold. I had to go to Capitan to get
a bale of alfalfa, and by the time I came back it was still a little chilly,
but the sun was out with only a gentle breeze. We decided to move horses today
instead of tomorrow since the first wave of storms (meaning wind, and cold) is
supposed to start tomorrow. First we put Sere into the pasture, and brought
Penny out. I put her in Sere’s stall next to Marina. Next I put Sadie into the
pasture, and April brought Star. Star was higher than a kite so she took a
little longer to move. After we got them settled, we took LBM, and Lizzie out
to the arena so they could play, and we could clean Lizzie’s stall. For the
most part she is over her bout of Pigeon Fever (I swear she’s going to ooze
forever). We took all the manure, and dumped it far, far away (like that would
make a difference). I was actually very proud of LBM. I picked Lizzie because
they’ve been stalled next to each other since he was weaned also she’s an old
broodmare who has raised many a youngster. It’s been so long since he’s been
able to run, and play in the arena he doesn’t quite know what to do. Lizzie got
him running, and let him know when he was doing something wrong. He’s got to
learn mare manners, and she’s just the one to teach him. She’s also too tall
for him yet. I’m not stupid after all (at least most days). If I put him out
with one of our smaller mares I would be taking a chance, this way there can be
no surprises, and no hurt horses to doctor. I also want to put him out with
Stormy, and maybe even Ibn. He gets along great with Ibn, but there is a fence
between them. If I ever want to show him he needs to be able to get along with
mares, geldings, and stallions too. This is a first step. He’s still young
enough for the other horses to treat him like a baby so I’m not that concerned
about safety. Once he understands herd behavior training him to play nice when
I’m on his back, and there are other horses around won’t be as difficult, or so
I keep telling myself.
April, and I had almost finished Lizzie’s stall when she
left to go get Jetta, and Shazam (her mom & dad’s horses). They want to
sell Jetta, but she’s only green broke, and she’s still too thin. Shazam is
well trained so long as he’s in the round pen or the arena. He’s way too thin,
and too spooky. It’s not that they don’t feed them enough it’s that all three
of their horses are in pasture, and Shouda takes her share, and some of
Shazam’s, and Jetta’s too. Shouda looks fantastic. She’s an old off the track
TB who has had more than her share of health issues. Shazam’s a lowly gelding,
and Jetta’s just young. Needless to say Shouda puts every one in their place,
and they are stuck with leftovers. They’re also feeding them sweet feed to put
weight on them. Naturally Shouda gets the best parts of everyone elses goodies
as well as her own. What they manage to scarf down before Shouda barges in is
too hot a feed especially for Shazam who’s a hot Arabian. I know I’m no expert
so if I sound a little snooty forgive me (or not). I also know all the things
I’ve done in the way of trying to keep our horses happy, and healthy. I do what
works for us, and our horses.
It was getting late by now, but still a little too
early to feed, so we took a little break before feeding everyone. For now
Jetta, and Shazam are getting one flake of grass, one flake of alfalfa, and one
pound of Safe Choice. It’s still 14% protein, but it’s a cool feed. Once I like
their weight, I’ll start backing off on the Alfalfa, and then the Safe
Choice. They shouldn’t need the extra
calories even when we start working them (at least not till next winter). They
won’t be worked that hard. I’ll leave them alone for a week till they get
settled, and (Shazam especially) settle down. Poor Shazam was a nervous wreck
by the time he got here. Then on top of everything else there was this huge
cave. He’s never been in a barn or a barn stall. Rather than stress him out
even more I put him in his stall the back way through a gate. I also put his
feed right at the door of the barn stall. April said he would nibble a piece of
hay then run out side to eat it. I told her once we left he would settle down, and
eat. I’ll slowly bring the hay further into the barn. Of course I put his
goodies in the feeder so if he wants them he will just have to go into that scary
cave. I’m such a mean person. He’ll be fine, he just needs time to learn that
he won’t be attacked, and killed. He’s skittish with dogs too. It seems that he
was once attacked by two Rotweilers, and you know Arabians they never forget.
He’ll get over it. Our dogs are used to horses, and unless I’m chasing them
they leave the horses pretty much alone. The only reason they have for even
going into the stalls is for horse cookies, or maybe a little hoof leftovers. We’ll see how everyone is tomorrow morning.
What you wanna bet everyone survives just fine.
No comments:
Post a Comment