And So It Begins

That's right....it begins. We are officially playing musical pens. Usually I start musical pens the first of May but everything has been pushed back because my time is so limited.


But I finally put Rabbit and Junior into the pasture yesterday morning. That left Mayhem by herself. She was not happy but she really does need to gain some confidence. She's always been with someone so we need to fix the whole herd bound issue.


Last evening I put Lace in with Mayhem. I wasn't sure how well that was going to go. When we first got Lace, she was hell bent to destroy anyone that came near her. When I put her in with Mayhem, she stood still for Mayhem to sniff her all over. I really hate introductions. They are so stressful (probably more so for me than anyone else). Mayhem was still on alert after being alone all day but you could visibly see that she was much calmer with someone else in the pen even if it was Lace (who tried to beat the tar out of her the last time we introduced each other). Lace ignored her this time around.


Lace was more interested in Dude and Chaos who were hanging on the fence. I forget what it's like to have a mare. Rabbit doesn't often go into heat and if she does, she doesn't show the signs of it. Mayhem hasn't really ever shown too many signs. Lace on the other hand was flaunting her stuff. I hope that after a year or so, she'll understand that she's not going to get any and there's no baby making allowed on the place.


But Lace settled down pretty quick too. I thought maybe she'd try and attack Mayhem but she actually seemed like a totally different horse when I put her in the pen. I knew she was low man on the totem pole at her previous home (which she was at for only two months) but she's been top dog ever since she got here. I had thought of putting her in with the geldings but if she's going to be strutting her stuff all the time, I'm not sure Chaos can handle it. And I thinks she'll be fairly low on the totem pole. With the ponies, she was definitely top horse (but then again Rabbit did the same thing when she was in with the ponies).


Chaos was hanging on the fence even after Dude lost interest (which was pretty quick). Maverick wanted to check out Lace too but wasn't interested in her other than to make friends. Everyone else didn't care and didn't bother rushing the fence like I thought they might.


Last week Chaos cut his leg. I'd been tending to hit and thought it was healing but he tore it back open yesterday messing around with Lace. Hopefully we can get it patched up quick. I'm afraid it's going to leave a scar now.   It didn't warrant a vet call the first time around but last night I wondered about calling the vet but I'm not sure that they would have been able to do anything now that it's been a week even though Chaos ripped it back open. Hopefully Chaos will settle down and the cut can start to re-heal.


I didn't put the ponies in with Lace because I wanted to give her a day to settle in with Mayhem. Skippy was unimpressed. I figured he would have been happy to be rid of her but he kept whinnying. Even Tommy was whinnying for her. Odd. But I will put them all in together tonight or first thing tomorrow morning. We are going to be doing a lot of running around in the next two weeks so this will help cut down on chores.


Rabbit and Junior were pretty content in their pasture but I didn't want them staying out all night (at least not on the first night). I know they've been on grass but I want to make sure that they didn't over eat. So I pulled them into the barn for the night. I was worried that Rabbit would get stocked up but she did ok. She's moving around a LOT better now than even a week ago. Maybe being on a pasture will help but I'm afraid if I don't get it checked out, it'll only get worse again.


Junior and Rabbit were ready to get out of the barn this morning. I may leave them out tonight but I'd rather have 12 hours on and 12 hours off but we'll see. Maybe after I get the big herd adjusted, I can come up with something.


My hope is that tonight or tomorrow morning I put the ponies in with Lace and Mayhem and then I can start pulling down corral panels so I can put them up in a different spot and get the big herd out. This morning Bo was hanging over the gate asking to be let out on grass. He DESPERATLEY needs to be on grass to pick up weight. I don't think I have enough corral panels to make it all work but I'll have to get crafty if I don't. There's two options for putting up corral panels. We'll see how it goes. If I leave some extra tall grass for Mayhem and Lace then maybe I will move corral panels around to a different way. It's all such a guessing game.


The days are getting way longer but I can't seem to take advantage of the extra time because I'm with the kids (not that I'm complaining just struggling to get everything done). Next month has the longest day of the year and I need to take advantage of it. Seems like once July hits, I'm thinking winter again. So I need to get really focused and get the herd out on pasture and then focus on getting stuff done so we can be ready for winter. Seems I'm always working through the summer and focusing on winter.


There's just so much to get done and so little time to get it all accomplished. I have some fundraiser ideas that I'd like to pursue but I need some help with that too. Anyone want to help? You don't even have to be close. I can put all my ideas on paper and we can converse through email. I just need another brain or two to bounce ideas off of. Otherwise I just listen to the voices in my head and they seem to be in constant contradiction these days.