Lights

I confess I don't like doing chores in the dark, especially in the mornings. When the moon is out it does make morning chores in the dark bareable if not pleasant. I typically turn on the outside yard light by the house and always have the trusty large yard light. I've taken to carrying a flashlight because of all the varmit that are now starting to appear. We caught a possum the other night. Those little buggers need to disappear.

The hayshed is pitchblack in the mornings and it's nice to have a flashlight handy for two reasons: 1) so that I can see any little buggers running around and 2) to use as a weapon if a varmit decides to attach. I can toss and run the other direction!

This morning, like other mornings, I scurried around to get outside to do chores. I let the ponies out to find their hay. I waddled on over to feed Maverick and Zeke. I decided to toss some hay to the mares this morning too but they weren't up close to the hay shed. When I went to feed Maverick and Zeke I noticed Babe was just on the other side of the fence. I climbed the fence and Queen was again flirting with Bob. Bob and Queen really do like each other. I think Bob would prefer to be in with Queen.

I tossed the hay in front of Babe and called for Queen who promptly left Bob for the hay! I decided I'd go give Bob a pat and that's when I noticed the bright, almost full moon. Each of the horses cast a shadow. I love doing chores when I can do them by the light of the moon. I sometimes forget how easy to navigate around the pasture without any type of light except the moon. The yard lights seem to make everything else feel and look so much darker than it really is.

Yesterday was pretty uneventful as far as horses/chores go. The horses have decided to start finding every cocklebur bush on the place. The horses are coverd in cockleburs: mane, tail, checks, belly, feathers... EVERYTHING!

The night before last I braided Rain's mane and tail. Last night I pulled Brego into the barn while Sam and Bob ate their warm mash. I braided up Brego's mane and tail. He was good for about half the grooming. I need to start spending some more time with him to make sure he has good ground manners. I hate having to deal with horses that have no ground manners.

I finally got Brego finished and decided I would tackle King. He's gotten really bad about having his head handled. He's not head shy really. It's more ear shy. He has ear plack. I need to figure out how to get that fixed. I dont' know why I didn't have the vet look at him when I took him in back in August. I think I didn't want to push my luck but he's had the ear problem from before I bought him back in April of 2007. I think if I spent more time with King he'd be back to the way he was before as far as handling and not being overly naughty or spooky. The less I worked with him this year the more spooky he got. That'll teach me.