Babe Time

Poor Babe. I really haven't been around her much other than to make sure she has food, water, and shade. I did end up putting Mayhem with her and she's been enjoying the company. Just last night I saw her push Mayhem around. I could see the expression of delight when she pushed Mayhem out of the way. When Babe was in with Queen, Queen pushed her around and when Babe was in with any other horse, she got pushed around. For whatever reason, Mayhem knows her place and lets Babe push her around. I really do like having the youngsters in with the oldsters. It makes the older ones feel young again and the young ones learn a lot from the older ones.

But I digress. Last year I didn't do much with Babe. I was too pregnant by this time last year to do anything with her except feed and water (and it was too stinking hot). The year before we tried shaving her much to my chagrin. It was a learning curve and that's all I'll go into detail about that topic. This year my time is very limited on what I can do with the horses.

Luckily the Bear went down early so I had a little bit of extra time to hang out with the horses. I decided to grab a brush and see what I could do.  Otherwise, I was going to put a call out to see if anyone with horse experience would want to come out and groom her (of course that offer still stands). But when I started brushing her, huge clumps of winter hair started coming off. I was so excited. Babe stood absolutely still. I think she really enjoyed the grooming. I have groomed her earlier without any affect to her coat. I guess the hotter weather is finally making her shed out. I was able to get the majority of her winter hair off of her but there's still a little bit more I want to get off. We'll see how it goes. I do believe she has cushings disease but I haven't tested her and at this point, I don't want to put her into any undo stress.

While I was grooming her, Mayhem decided to come over and supervise. I think all the bad habits she was picking up from Rabbit are gone. I really do like this pairing combination. Babe has a calming affect (on pretty much everyone). I have a feeling my parents were hoping I'd bring Babe up for the summer instead of Ivan and Brego. Everyone that ever meets Babe falls in love with her. She's just one of those hard to find, awesome horses. I know that she has a daughter that is almost exactly the same temperament as Babe. If/when the time comes that Chase needs to retire, we will open our doors for her also, even if we are full.

I let half the big herd out onto the lawn last night. I was surprised to find Bo right there at the gate, even with Dude and Chaos near the gate. I am surprised that Bo isn't more bothered by Dude but I guess when it comes to food, Bo doesn't care who is in charge. It's nice to know that Bo will push in when it comes to food. Although  I know Ivan does push him around. It's a weird herd dynamic. But I was able to get some of the harder keepers out on the grass. It is so nice to have horses on grass. I know they are happy, except for when the mosquitoes start coming out. Hopefully I can pull the hard keepers back out so they can eat down the grass more. I am anxious for next week so that I can let the big herd out onto the pasture and then focus on getting the  mares and ponies used to grass.

No rest for the wicked...or wait, is that weary? Either way...