Happy Anniversary

So I realized yesterday that it was Mike's and my 4 year anniversary. I didn't get a chance to blog about it (not that there's much to say). But I wanted to add some pictures from that lovely day.

We had bad weather (including tornadoes) yesterday. There must be something about June 5th because four years ago, we had a couple storms roll through but at least they held off until AFTER the wedding.

(our engagement picture)

Good Reads

Read two good posts this morning....


With so much talk about California Chrome, it's nice to read about other horses that have been rescued and are thriving in their new careers.
http://thetdnblog.blogspot.com/2014/06/chrome-is-new-black-zodiac-zar-kens.html


And I hate to say it, but I'm a "Follow the book/rules" kind of gal. So it's a pleasure to hear that FINALLY there is justice being served for at least two horses that were wrongly sent to slaughter.
http://rtfitchauthor.com/2014/06/06/auctioneer-1st-man-charged-under-california-law-to-protect-horses-from-slaughter/

El Nino

If you've been a reader of this blog for very long, you'll know that I follow weather patterns. What can I say, I'm a nerd. I'm weird and believe in old wives tales, including the 90 days from fog is precipitation tale.

Of course the weatherman has been wrong up until yesterday when he said that rain would start at 2pm. Sure enough, the skies opened and it started raining at 2pm. They were wrong the weekend before when they called for rain and we didn't get a drop. But that's a whole other story.

But what I'm getting at is, maybe the weathermen are starting to get it right because we are shifting back into an El Nino pattern (or so I've heard). If that's the case, the old wives tale of 90 days from fog is precipe. If that's so, we had fog yesterday so come September first(-ish), we'll get some type of moisture. I'm figuring that the first of September means we'll get some type of rain. But starting in August and September I'll start watching the skies (and ground) a little closer for fog. If we are truly in an El Nino pattern, we will hopefully be able to track the weather a little closer.

Here's to hoping this year (the year of the horse) is also an El Nino year, so we can plan ahead for bad weather.

Winter Mode

It's summer. The grass is growing. The corn and beans are shooting up making the black earth turn green. The trees are all leafed out and the flowers are blooming. And what do I do? I hear that there's bad weather and I put the mares and hard keepers in for the night.

I apparently am still in Winter Mode. Ugh!

I have no idea what I was thinking last night. Sure it was going to rain. I saw the big green blob on the radar but ... it's not snow. And the temps weren't bad. What was I thinking? It wasn't even a bad storm with hail, or the radar wasn't showing the ominous yellow or red blobs either. What was I thinking?

We had such a long and hard winter that I think I'm still in Winter Mode.

The geldings are on pasture now for about 14 hours a day. I'm working on getting the mares on pasture for the same amount of time. I'm also working on the ponies. I let the mares out on the lawn but left the ponies in the pen. I don't want the mares or ponies sneaking in to the hay shed and devouring a bale. I don't think the mares would but I bet the ponies would. But I won't keep my fingers crossed either way. I'm hoping to walk the pasture tonight and then put the mares out in their summer pasture tomorrow.

After the  mares are settled in to their normal routine, I'll start the ponies on their summer routine. I've been letting them out on the lawn and they do more running around then any of the other horses. It's actually rather fun to watch. Tommy and Skippy were trying to get Mayhem to play with them but since Rabbit was out, Mayhem decided it wasn't worth it. Although a couple of times the ponies got Mayhem riled up enough to lope around.

The only downside to putting horses on the lawn (especially Mayhem and the ponies), is that after it rains, I have skid marks everywhere. The love to buck, rear, and come to a sliding stop in the lawn. I wish I would have had the camera last night. The ponies were running for the shear fun of running. Oh to have that type of enthusiasm.

Lets hope that we don't have any severe weather and that I can get out of Winter Mode and get into Summer Mode quickly!

Pasture Pictures - June 1st

Pasture pictures from the first day out on pasture (finally... June 1st)

Bo, Zeke, Ivan, and Brego

 

Ivan and Brego

King, Chaos, and Dude

Dude and Chaos

Ivan

Rain

Tommy, Skippy, and Mayhem

Horse of the Month

It's June 2nd already and that means another Horse of the Month.

Who does everyone want to see? Leave a comment and we'll see who gets the most votes!

Finally, Pasture Time!

Apparently we are exhausted. So much so that we slept through two major storms that swept through the area. Sunday morning Mike and I looked out the window and asked each other if it had rained. Neither of us had heard the storms blow through. In the afternoon we all fell asleep and I woke to a torrential downpour. Who knew! Guess it shows that we are all exhausted and need a little bit of downtime.

But on to more interesting news. Saturday I let the big herd out onto the lawn. We ran in to town to run some errands and stopped at TSC to see Gentle Spirits Horse Rescue and Sanctuary. They were holding a meet and greet and introducing their new spokes horse Prince. Prince looks great. He’s definitely grown a bit since we had him at our Sanctuary. His one eye is still sunken but now clouded over and actually shows that he’s blind. The other eye doesn’t look like he’s lost his sight but he is now 100% blind. At least he’s landed in a fantastic place and he’ll be a great spokes horse because he’s super friendly.

While at TSC we picked up some calf manna, fly spray, and a fly mask. All were on sale and if someone would like to donate more of any item, that would be fantastic. We are definitely in to fly season and the horses are stomping at the flies. I’m afraid this year the flies will be terrible, even with the wind and spray helping.

When we got home Saturday the horses needed more water, so I pulled the hoses back out and started filling the tank. Chaos came barreling through and demanding his water. I decided to give him a cooldown and sprayed water on him. He stood there enjoying the shower. He actually turned his butt and cocked a leg, relaxing in the water. Everyone else scattered. They aren’t thrilled with a bath. Maverick came over after a little bit to play in the water and splash it all. He tried to tip the water trough over. And he decided he would drink from the hose. Chaos came back over and decided he wanted to drink from the hose as well. Those two geldings. They really are such instigators.

Once the tank was full, I went for the fly spray since the flies are already biting and mean. It’s going to be a long summer. Not everyone appreciates flyspray. Three didn’t get any flyspray. I’m going to have to start running those three into the barn to put anything on them (Zeke, Jim, and Maverick). Everyone else stood fairly still while I applied the spray. We don’t put the flyspray on through a spray bottle, we wipe it on. It’s a pain but this way we know the horses are covered. Some don’t like spray bottles so we just go with the flow and apply the spray with a rag.

After a bit, I put the big horses into the drylot and let the mares and ponies out to graze. They were out for a few hours and seemed to enjoy themselves.

On Sunday I decided that because it was June 1^st, it was darn time that the horses get out on pasture. Last year we couldn’t because we had re-seeded the pasture and needed time for the grass to get established. I was afraid the grass wasn’t tall enough but some of it was already seeded out so I guess it’s time. I don’t want it too tall where all they do is knock it down and don’t eat it. So I let the horses out and instead of running around, they went to eating right away. I did take some pictures and will post them…someday.  

I also let the mares and ponies out on the lawn. They seemed pretty content to wander and eat. Of course the ponies had to do some hot laps but they settled down right away. None of them went far from each other. Power of the herd, I guess.

After letting the horses out, I went in to do some chores and fell asleep. When I woke a few hours later, we were in a down pour. I looked out the window expecting the mares and ponies to be under cover but they had their butts pointed to the wind and were happily eating. I figured there was no point in me going out and trying to convince them to go into the leanto. They were happy and I was dry.

In the evening after the storms blew through, I went out to take more pictures of the horses. I guess they though me coming was their sign that they needed to come in for the night. Maverick actually started it. He decided to wander away from the herd. I think he really just wanted everyone to run. So he took off and got the rest of the herd to finally follow. They made a pass around the pasture and then ran in to the drylot. I don’t think they expected me to close the gate behind them. But they all seemed rather content. I threw a little hay to keep them content for the evening and that was their night.

In the morning Dude was pushing at the gate and practically ran me over once I started pushing the gate open. Tomorrow the whip will come out so that I can remind him of his manners.

Last night I also decided it was time to put the mares and ponies to bed. I grabbed some grain and they all decided to follow. Amazing what a full belly of grass will do to perk their spirits and make them listen. All very well behaved horses for a day on the grass.

Let’s hope that with all this rain, we can get out of the drought. The pasture still showed cracks in the ground. So we aren’t out of a drought just yet. Nice straight down showers and warm temps would be lovely.