Pasture Time, New Stalls, and Joe

I need to get pictures of Tommy and Skippy when I let them out to grab a few bites of grass. The expression on their faces tells it all. The way I have their "pasture" set up right now is long and narrow. It pretty much gives them a straight race track to gallop full out from one end to the other. Skippy loves to run. Tommy prefers to buck and kick up his heals and then run. I've had to keep them in a smaller pen so they don't always get to stretch their legs as fast or as much as I'd prefer (or they would prefer). Letting Tommy and Skippy out into the lawn pasture makes a big difference. I do like having happy ponies. Happy ponies means a happy pony caretaker.

I also pulled Joe out last night so he could dine in the barn. I'm always switching things up for these poor horses! Last time I put Joe in Sam's stall but last night I put him in a different stall. I do think Joe prefers being in the barn! I wasn't sure and I'm still leery of leaving him in the barn all night but that might be the way I go for the summer.

Thor does not appreciate this short seperation. He spent the entire time Joe was in the barn pacing and trotting all over the pasture. The only issue with the barn is that it gets stuffy and a little hot (but better than outside with the hot air and mosquitoes). So I'll have to wait and see what I do. I can't decide. But I know Joe likes being in the barn. I just don't know how hard it will be for him to stand on concerte for the evenings. I still can't tell if he's gaining weight, maintaining weight, or losing weight. I know it's only been a few days on this new grain/beet pulp mash but I'm so anxious to see weight on him. I'm sure it will be six months before he's where he really should be and another few months before he's fat where I want him.

And then I need to look at Sam. When he came home more than a year ago, he was thin. Once out on pasture he gained weight but then got sick in the fall, lost a ton of weight, and looked terrible. After figuring out the correct grain mash concoction that would work for him, he gained some weight and looks to be about the right weight now that he's on pasture. So it's taken an entire year to put the right amount of weight (although I'd prefer if he was a bit chunkier but that wouldn't happen). It also took Brego six months to gain back the correct amount of weight from when he was starved. So I'm guessing that could be the case with Joe too (six months until he's to the right weight)! Oh for easy keepers like Thor.

Dad was also down working at Borderlands yesterday too! I didn't see any tire tracks but once I opened the barn door I definatley new Dad had been working his magic on the place. Last week he'd brought supplies to build a sliding stall door. We discussed the best option and decided to go a different route than what Dad figured. The current stall set up requires one stall to be secured with chains and I'd prefer a different method. But with the number of horses currently at Borderlands, it's more important to simply have enough stalls than having stalls that function easily. I'm content with securing a stall with chains if it means I get a new stall out of the deal.

With this new additional stall I'll have six stalls and now that Dad knows what I want for stalls, I'm sure he'll squeeze in that seven stall. I've also got an idea for a stall in the hay shed, which would give me a third permanent stall. Last year I used corral panels but I'd like to reserve corral panels (in the winter) for emergency stalls instead (probably in the big red shed).

And I know what you're thinking. There's 15 horses and only nine stalls (six in the barn counting the new stall and three stalls, counting the temporary stall, in the hay shed). The rest of the horses use the leanto off the barn. I prefer keeping the less aggressive horses and the "delicate flowers" in the barn and keep the bossy horses outside where they will push to get into the leanto.

So we'll see how things progress. There's so much to do and I simply can't seem to get up enough energy to do more than simple chores. I hope that I'll have energy tonight to get something accomplished. I need to feel like I've done something more than just minimal chores these days. Maybe I'll look at Dad's handy work and that will motivate me!