Monday Morning Ramblings

I can't believe today is the first day of summer and as such is the longest day of the year. I better make the best of it and get a ton done. This weekend again was a "bum around" weekend and I didn't get anything accomplished. Everything was on hold until the wedding but now that it's been two full weeks I still can't seem to get into the swing of things.

Poor Rain. I think he's feeling a little neglected. This morning when I went to let the big herd out, he just hung out by me for a few minutes. If the weather clears up I'll have to go out and catch him this afternoon and go for a short ride. I think he's feeling a little neglected and forgotten. I also need to start him on his scratches cream. I think the herd is down in the flooded area of the pasture and is causing everyone with white socks to get scratches.

Last night when I went out to do chores, everyone was coming up. I love that they are getting so trained. I can't go out earlier to convince them to come in sooner. But they all come in on their own accord to hang out for the night near the barn (and away from the mosquitoes). I thought everyone was up and shut the gate. I went in to feed Sam and realized I was missing a horse! My biggest fears started to run through my head. Jim was missing from the herd. Was he dead, was he down and colicy, did someone cut the fence and steal him? I've had this happen before where one of the horses is so engrossed in a grassy patch that they don't notice the rest of the herd. But I'm always worried that because they are old, that they've died out in the pasture (not a bad way to go but still a shock to me if it would happen). So I trotted on out to find Jim. There he was, happily eating away. I realized I didn't bring a lead or a halter to convince him he needed to come in for the night. He may be standoffish and hard to catch but luckily he knows the routine enough to come in and went straight to the drylot. What a good boy!

And speaking of good boys, Joe is really sneaking into my heart. I tried beet pulp on him the other night and although he turned his nose up for the first bite, he licked the dish clean. So last night I grained him and add beet pulp and a joint supplement. When Joe saw me, he let out a huge whinny. I wasn't even carrying the grain yet but he was so excited to see me that he whinnied. I know it's only because of the grain but I'll take it! I don't think he's yet packed on the pounds like I'd like but I've only been graining him soaked senior for a week now. And now that Joe has discovered beet pulp I'm hoping to pack on more pounds faster. Once he gains his weight back, I'll have to tackle getting his feet trimmed and then on to the vet for an evaluation of that hip. His feet are rather goofy. I know the angles are off because of the bad hip. But his hooves are also not right. I'm not sure how to explain it other than there are rings. Typically I'll see rings on a horse when I switch pastures or when something traumatic happens but Joe has rings going all the way up his hoof. It's rather odd. I'll see what my farrier thinks when I get him out to trim up Babe, Thor, and the ponies.

I'm itching to get some riding time in so we'll see how that goes. But it seems like there's so much to get done and I have no energy to do anything but bare minimum chores and absolutely no housework. So hopefully I'll find some energy reserve and go like crazy to get everything done.

Dad came down on Friday to drop off stuff for the barn. He's going to make me a sliding stall door so that I can add another stall to the barn. It was actually for a different stall but since that one is functional, I'd rather put it towards creating a new stall in the barn. I have it figured out that with the 15 horses and the new stalls I want to build, I'll still only have ten stalls (of which the ponies go together into a stall). So that leaves me with four horses that have to stay in the lean too of the barn during the winter and I'm not happy about that idea. I'll have to come up with some idea this summer to figure out how to resolve my stall issue. Sad that I'm thinking about winter already and today is only the first day of summer!

The weatherman is saying that soon the rains will stop and we'll have nice dry weather. I've so enjoyed the past few days of clear skies and sun. But I'll be sad to see the rain go. I'm afraid the pasture is already starting to dry up in spots. I've over grazed it and need to fertilize and spray for weeds. Yet another project that was put on hold until after the wedding and seems to be low on the priority list. Although the thistles are getting so big now that we have to do something or I'll lose the entire pasture to thistles.

I need to download some of the latest pictures and post more of the herd. I also need to get better pictures of Joe and Thor. I want to evaluate Joe's weight gain. Always something to do these days!