Bunnies

Jim is definately working my skills and patience. He doesn't like to be caught so I have to be stubborn and force the issue. I'm trying to teach him that getting caught or going into the barn doesn't always mean work. In fact, since getting him December 5th, I have not done anything with him other than let him be a horse. Of course that's mostly due to the weather and my schedule. I don't think he'll ever come around to be an overly friendly horse. But hopefully he'll learn that when I walk up to him it's only to give him a pat and say hello.

Nothing else too exciting going on. Since the snow started flying around Christmas we've been over run by rabbits. Mike's been working on reducing the numbers. I get so irritated when I walk into the hay barn and there's a nice pile of bunny poo sitting on one of the slivers of hay I have ready for the horses. Those damn bunnies have even taken to eating my small alflafa bales. I've had to cover them to ensure they dont' destroy them. They've even hopped up, two bales high, to demolish my alfalfa.

Now that I have three supposedly alfalfa hay bales (which are actually straight alfalfa) the bunnies have started chowing down on those too. Every morning those darn bunnies are at those three alfalfa bales. The bunnies will be plump this summer! But Mike did decide to come out this morning and take one out.

I'm not one for erradification but I do believe in "thinning the herd" when it comes to bunnies. It is also teaching the horses to be less skittish. It usually takes them by surprise the first shot but after that, they settle down; everyone except Babe.

Poor Babe. She really has adjusted to being totally blind. I just feel terrible. I don't believe in leaving halters on horses (even if they are hard to catch). But I'm thinking that it might be a smart idea to leave a breakaway halter on Babe with sheepskin padding. That way when she bumps into something, she'll pump into it with the padding and not directly with her head. I always feel so terrible when she bumps into things. I'm not sure why I didn't think of it before (probably because I don't leave halters on). But it may be something I try at the very least.

The horses of Borderlands are always making me think outside of the box and also make me use a different thought process to ensure they are happy.