Ponies Enjoy Pasture Time

Before we headed out on our vacation, I had to create a new pony pasture that would hold Tommy and Skippy. I think the ponies really enjoyed their freedom to come and go as they pleased.

The pics are the first day out in their new pasture.

The pasture lasted for about two weeks and now it's completely dried up. Since I've pulled the ponies off, it does seem to be coming back. But since it's all in trees, I don't think the grass will come back quickly. I'm fine with no grass. Now we can get some trees cut down. My goal is to mark the dead trees so that we can remove them and make room for smaller trees to grow.


A typical view I get with the ponies.
Happy Friday!

Face Flies

Last night when I pulled the ponies out of their new pasture I noticed Tommy breathing hard. I'm not sure what the deal was. I'm petrified of founder since I've never dealt with it before and neither Tommy or Skippy have ever foundered. So instead of putting them in the pasture I threw some hay. I'm thinking tonight I may pull them out and let them graze for just a few short hours. I'm wondering if that pasture is just too lush for them since the previous two pastures weren't really all that great.

I pulled Zeke out of his drylot last night. He was more interested in grass than sniffing around. He seemed much more relaxed this time out. I need to start messing with him more so that he gets used to everyone. I led him over to Maverick to see how they would react to each other. Zeke did his arabian neck crane and Maverick just stood there. I think both are a little lonely. I want to let them meet again and see how they behave.

The face flies are TERRIBLE! I've lost half of my fly masks out in the pasture. Either Chaos or King keep pulling them off everyone. I had the dogs withe me so I couldn't do a thorough search of the pasture. But I did find two fly masks. I think there's only three left missing. Both of King's masks with ears and then Dude's. I'm hoping to find them tonight. I don't wish for a hard freeze but I sure do wish for no more face flies.

Since I've lost half my fly masks, Maverick has been without a mask. I feel SO bad for him. Poor guy is standing in a drylot with no mask. I left his mask on while we were gone on vacation and it left a rub mark so I'm pretty hesitant to leave his mask on very long.

Maverick is NOT fond of his food ration. He really powered through the round bale. Now that I'm on to the small squares he doesn't get as much. He's starting to slim down. He was pretty fat after a full week of gorging himself. I also noticed that Zeke is sliming down too. I may need to put those two in together and just toss the round bale out and be done with it. I'm not used to feeding small squares so I have no idea what proportions are necessary. I know Maverick eats more than others. I wonder how I'll handle winter feeding with Maverick.

Nothing exciting really happened yesterday. When I went to look for fly masks Brego walked up to me to see what was going on. I think he wanted a mask on. He's such a doll. I need to get new pictures of everyone. I want to get pics of Maverick and Brego and show what a year's worth of good care does to a body. I also need to get updated pictures of Sam to compare. He's been with us now for 3 1/2 months and looks pretty good. It usually takes about six months to make them look ok. But since Sam has been on pasture 24x7 I think it didn't take as long to put the weight back on. And he wasn't half as bad as Maverick and Brego. But I really do need to get some more pics. This blog is just too boring with out pics!

By the Light of the Moon

The days keep getting shorter and shorter. I'm finding it harder and harder to get all my chores done before darkness sets in. I'm afraid I'm going to have to change my work schedule soon so that I can actaully do some chores in the daylight.

I'm finding I'm doing most of my chores by the light of the moon. All morning chores are done with the yard light and moon, if it's present. Evening chores I still have the sunset glow up until about 8:30pm. After that I better hope that darn yard light either comes on or I can get it turned on. I realized last night, I couldn't even tell what color certain things were because it was so dark out. I am getting in earlier at night but there's still so much to be done.

Last night I decided I would move the pony pasture. I think they could have handled another day or two in that spot. But they'd been grazing on that part of the lawn for four days. The good grass was eaten down to the dirt and the other grass I guess is less tasty than others. So I decided I would sacrifice some of the new mare pasture (if it ever gets done) to the ponies. No sense in letting good grass go to waste because we can't get the fencing done.

I decided after the pony pasture was set up to take the pups for a walk. Farley and Gypsy are turning into really good dogs after I take them for a walk. They like sticking around the place instead of wandering off to investigate.

Farley decided that once dark set in to stay right by my side. There was a storm coming. It was pretty far off but by the reaction I got from Farley I figured it was going to be a doozy!

I pulled Zeke out to let him walk around and stretch his legs. He had his nose to the ground smelling everything. I've had the ponies in the grass everywhere Zeke went so I'm guessing Zeke was smelling out the ponies. I thought I had a hound dog at the end of the lead rope instead of an arabian. He was a bit skittish but I'm guessing it was because of the pending storm and finally getting out. I want to take it slow with him to not stress him out. I'm hoping to spend some more time with him outside of that drylot.

I had to wait for Bob, Sam, and King to polish off their grain and then I decided I would bring the mares in to the barn. I don't have any open fronts for the girls to get out of the bad weather. The weatherman was talking a 40% chance of rain and if a storm would blow through, it would be bad (strong winds, downpour of rain, and possibly hail). I didn't want to risk my girls getting soaked and cold so I decided to stall the mares.

Babe and Queen weren't fond of having to wait for the evening grain but I think once they were in the barn with a dish full of grain they didn't care. I'm a bit worried. This morning Queen was really stiff. Stalling her on concerete with straw is too hard on her arthritic legs. I need to go to TSC and see what types of joint supplements I can use on her. Queen also didn't really touch much of her hay. Babe on the other hand polished off every bit of hay and grain. This morning she was facing the wall. I find it odd that she will put her face to the wall and just stand there. I guess maybe that's her starting off point so she doesn't get lost when she wakes up from a nap. Poor girl.

This morning chores were a bit hectic. Good thing I woke up early. I had to put Queen and Babe back into their pasture. Queen was all stocked up so it took a bit to get her back to her pasture. Babe, as always tromped along with no problems whatsoever.

I threw some hay to Maverick, who eats every whisp of hay possible. He's a good boy and always "cleans his plate". I wish all the horses would eat everything like he does. Although he does eat a lot! I've never seen a horse eat as much as Maverick.

I threw some hay to Zeke. He is always excited to get food. Like every other arabian I've owned, Zeke tosses his head. Toss or flip, it sort of depends on how you look at it. But I wasn't surprised when I saw him toss his head. I thought it was sort of cute. Ace used to toss his head when he felt good. Rain tosses his head when he feels good. Zeke tosses his head when I bring him food.

After Zeke's morning chores I had to halter up the ponies in the barn and lead them out to their new pasture. I was a bit worried that it wouldn't go well. They haven't been in this part of the yard before so who knows how they will react. I wish the yard light could shine over to that part of the yard. I had to get the fence secure and the electric fencer turned on in the dark. Luckily the skies were clear so I could do some of the chores by the light of the stars. I'm not sure if the moon was out this morning or not.

I miss watching the sun rise while doing chores. But I guess I get to enjoy the predawn morning show while driving to work instead.

Not sure what the plans are for tonight. I'd really like to ride Maverick tonight and mess with Zeke. We'll see how far I get before the darnkess sets in again. I sort of wish I could have the red shed so I could start riding indoors. Maybe some day I'll get my indoor riding arena (although like that would get me more motivated to ride.) I am just happy messing with the horses. But I really do need to fiddle around with Maverick. I haven't ridden him since last Friday and that was at a slow walk because his drylot was muddy and greasy. I need to figure out some type of riding schedule/regime so that when I go to ride him we can actually focus on something besides just riding around in serpentines in his drylot.

Maybe tonight I'll groom Zeke down and try my saddle on him. We'll see though. I may just be happy grooming him down and letting him graze and get used to me. I've had Zeke now for five days and I really don't know that much about him. Other commitments keep forcing me to spend my attention elsewhere.

Zeke is Home!

Just a quick post to say Zeke is HOME! I love him already! Needed to come in and get some stuff done in the house so he's standing in the pony pen just chillin'.

I'll post more later but wanted to say my Zeke Boy is home!

Counting Down

T minus 17 hours before I pick up Zeke. Getting a bit nervous. Weatherman called for fog tomorrow morning. I hope it lifts before 8am when I leave to pick up Zeke.

I really am lacking in motivation. I decided last night, that even though there was pending rain, I would stay in and make supper. Of course I had the brainiack idea to make supper for tonight too so I was in the house for more than an hour watching the dark clouds roll in.

About the time I finally went out to do chores (in the dark), it started to rain. I barely finished my minimal chores before the skies opened up and it poured out. Luckily I was in the red shed working with Gypsy, trying to teach her to walk up a plank since she won't jump into the farm truck. I was able to sneak back to the house inbetween rain showers without getting too drenched.

I really need to get myself organized and motivated so that I can get stuff done. Fall is already here so I better get myself organized. If you go by the old wives tale, 90 days from fog is precipe, than the first storm will be Oct 10th. I'm almost 100% positive it will storm that day becaues that is the Worthing Horse Sale. I missed that sale last spring because of a snow storm. Hopefully it'll bypass us. But I need to start preparing for a longer winter.

Fall is In the Air

I saw the most gorgeous sunrise this morning before the clouds took over and the sprinkles started. Some days it doesn't seem worth it to get up in the dark to do chores but seeing the sun rise on my way to work makes it all worth it.

The day s are definately getting shorter and the evidence is very clear that fall is in the air. I've started watching the leaves change and now the beans are starting to turn also. We've had cooler temperatures and rain all during July and August, which helped save my pastures. Unfortunately the pastures are starting to dry up anyway.

I did walk the mare pasture last night. I put rubber caps on fence posts. I still need to do a bit of fencing in that mare pasture. But I feel better knowing that I have caps on the posts. I need to do that to all of the fences, especially those that Babe are in. I wish that I could afford better fencing and not force her to be in wire fencing. I'd rather see her in board fencing. I did notice that after having the mares out of that pasture for almost three weeks, the grass is growing back, which is a good thing. The pasture was about done for before the vacation. I need to get the mares back home and was worried that I wouldn't have a place to graze them. I bet after a week of grazing though the pasture will be done.

I had to lock the ponies in their pen. They finally discovered a way to escape if they really wanted to.I guess it's a good thing because I needed to move the corral panels so I can bring the girls back home. So last night after I got the temporary pony pasture set up (just two strands of electric) I started hauling corral panels out. I wanted to get them out anyway since they were behind the garage. The weatherman was predicting rain today so I didn't want to have to lug those panels through mud and run the risk of potentially hurting myself again. The last time I set those panels up required a trip to the clinic to get some tree bark removed from my eye. ouch!

The ponies did a fantastic job of eating down the grass in their pony pasture. I can actually walk around in the trees and not trip and stumble. I'm hoping that we can get in this fall and do some cutting and get the dead trees cleared out of there. It was always such a tangle of grass, treese, and branches we never tackled it. But it's actually a pretty clean shelter belt.

My hope at one time was to combine the mare pasture with the tree pasture and make it all one. But now that I have as many as I do, I'm thinking I may want to keep them separate so that I have options.

And for the last two days Maverick has been whinnying to me. I thought maybe it was because he was excited to see me. No. I realized last night it's because he's polished off that entire round bale and is hungry. The bugger ate an entire round bale in 2 1/2 weeks! There's still some hay and I figured he could eat that but I think that portion is the outter shell that was rained on and is no good. So for now I will toss him some small squares and he won't get to gorge himself on hay. He's fat now so I guess I'm happy he's fat enough going into winter.

Speaking of winter, I heard on the radio that the Farmer's Almanac is out and that for this area, they are predicting frigid weather with more snow. So really it means it's going to be stinking cold (I'm betting below zero for weeks on end) and blizzards or at least lots of snow.

And it also makes me think about my hay supply. My hay for this year is not yet baled. I'm still waiting. I may actually try to buy some extra small bales or round bales. I've had an emergency stash in the past but now I don't have anything. So I'm starting to really worry. I think maybe I better stock up if it's going to be "frigid" this year! I'll have 12 horses for sure this winter (will have to euth Bob before winter). But I'm not sure how much I'll need for Brego and Maverick since they eat so much and I'll have never had Zeke through a winter.

There's also nothing saying I won't pick up another horse at the upcoming Worthing Horse Sale which is set for Oct 10th. Every time I go I find a horse that I want and the ones I want typically go VERY cheap. I've also seen a lot of culling going on in CraigsList so I'm betting with the economy, hay prices, and bad weather there will be tons of horses going for very cheap. Which makes me think I better get myself in gear.

I am now starting to get a tally of all the things that need to be done in the near future (before fall). I need to actually get it written down so that I can start tackling the big projects before it gets too late. I need to build an additional stall in the barn and at least one additional stall in the hay shed (prefer to build two additional stalls). I'm also thinking I need to modify the runin/leanto to make that into a stall too in case the weather gets really bad. I just had an idea on making stalls for the ponies but that might not fly.

There's so much to do and with the days getting shorter it's tougher to get everything done in time. I find myself exhausted by the end of the work day and that's not including the four additional hours of home time where I really need to squeeze in about eight hours of work. Does that make sense?

I'm hoping tonight to get the corral panels set up, if it's not raining. I want to bring the mares home this weekend. If I can bring the mares home this weekend, I'll have 13 horses on the place. Yikes! It's going to be a crazy weekend!

Picking Up Zeke Friday!

I made arrangements to pick Zeke up this Friday!! YEAH!

I've already got the truck and trailer hooked up and cash in hand so I'm ready for Friday to roll around.

I'd like to pick him up tonight but I have too much to get done. Wed and Thur are supposed to be rainy and I hate hauling horses in the rain. With the weather we've been having lately I'm afraid Zeke will get a chill. I am starting to slowly look for a slant load enclosed trailer. The stock trailer works fine but I haul a lot in the fall/winter and I'd like to have something that would keep the wind of the horses.

I also don't want to tear the guy's yard up. So Friday between 9 and 9:30am. I doubt Mike will be able to help pick Zeke up.

Maybe we can also sneak in picking up some more fence posts. They are up in Baltic putting in new state fence so maybe, just maybe, we can swing by and pick up a bunch of fence posts on Friday too. We'll see how that goes though.

But the date is set and I'm anxiously waiting. I need to definately get some fencing done before hand but I'll be ready and waiting for Zeke bright and early Friday morning!