Moving Pastures

Yesterday evening was more productive than I had hoped for. S and E came out to check and repair fence in the early afternoon. I felt guilty for not being able to stand the heat (even when it was only in the 80s). I wasn’t sure what the weather was going to be like when I went outside to do chores but it was surprisingly nice out.

That little bit of cool breeze helped motivate me to get a few extra projects accomplished. The mare pasture is completely dried up. Oh sure, they are making an attempt at finding the last morsels of grass but there’s nothing lush out in the pasture. I had hoped to haul Rabbit to Mom and Dad’s but it was too hot and I was too tired. Instead, while S and E were here, they volunteered to help set up a few corral panels so that we could run the mares in the grass between the hay shed and the red shed. There’s not a lot of grass but more than what’s out in the pasture. This morning only Queen was willing to come out right away. It took a bit of coaxing to get Rabbit out and of course then Mayhem followed. I put Mayhem back with the mares last night so that I could have everything set up and ready for this morning. Rabbit went to town chowing down on the grass. There’s shade and access to their other pasture (to get water and possibly catch a breeze) so I’m not too worried. I don’t know how long that little patch of grass will last but I may have an idea that will work in a week or two if I can get help moving more corral panels around. If we can do some quick fencing in the blind pen and use those corral panels and the light weight corral panels we recently bought, I might very well get to use the other mare pasture that I thought was lost. We’ll have to wait and see how things progress. If the weather stays out of the nineties I might actually be able to get more done outside.

I also wormed all the mares, Thor, and the ponies. I know I’m out of rotation for worming but I’m playing catch-up right now. With the hell that broke loose last September/October and being sick for the first six months of this year, I haven’t been able to get as much done. So now I’m trying to get caught up and possibly get ahead (although that’s almost impossible these days).

I have a meeting in town tonight so I won’t be able to worm the big herd but the goal is to get everyone wormed again this week. Bo is going to give me a workout but everyone else should be fairly well-behaved. Whoever messed him up did a really good job of it. He’s head shy and will be that way until I can work with him on a consistent basis. I’ve had other head shy horses and with consistency and patience, they came around. I know Bo will come around too. I can’t imagine what type of abuse he had to suffer to be so head shy. I can swat him on his nose when he tries to snitch a bite of grain from the little yellow grain bucket I use to call the herd in and he doesn’t have any issues. But when it comes to actually putting a bridle on or giving him wormer, he gets very upset. I am always shocked and amazed at how cruel people can be.

Also, mark your calendars July 21st for the Colton Jubilee Days. A very good friend is hosting a trail ride with a free will donation. Those donations are going straight to Borderlands to care for the horses. We are greatly honored and privileged for this opportunity. I can’t explain in words my gratitude for this kind offer. I won’t be able to ride and chat with everyone during the ride but I will be there before and after the ride, possibly with ponies in tow. I’ll be the one sitting in the shade. I would love for you to stop over and chat. Just be warned. Once I start talking horses, you might not get away from me for awhile. I do love talking about the horses of Borderlands and sanctuary life. I promise I won’t rant about the horse industry or some of my other opinions. I’ll just chat it up about the sanctuary horses and if I have Tommy and Skippy along, I’m sure they’ll butt in on the conversation and demand some attention too!