Hay Snob

Last night as I was coming home from the paying job, the skies darkened and snow started to fall. I hadn't expected snow. We'd had wind out of the south, which is always a bother when I have horses in the back pen but then it started to snow. Can you tell I'm ready for spring?

I was able to get out to do chores fairly early (at least before the sun set). I decided I better put the horses in the back pen into stalls for the night. I debated but figured with the wind out of the south that I better. The night before I'd debated on putting them in but the wind was out of the north and they are more protected out of the north.

I'm sure glad I went with my gut instinct. Oh sure, it was a big pain in the butt. I had to maneuver hauling water to fill their water buckets while walking over hidden ice patches. Not an easy feat mind you! By the time I got Junior and Mayhem haltered and into their stalls, Rabbit was more than willing to go in. I'd thought maybe I was over reacting but when I put the halter on Rabbit, I noticed she was shivering. She could have been faking me out but I don't think she knows how to fake being cold. I didn't want to throw a blanket on her because today was supposed to be warm. And I figured the wind would cut through any blanket anyway. The minute Rabbit was in her stall, she was hanging over Junior's stall door trying to get to his grain.

And I can't for the life of me figure out if I'm over feeding the horses or if they simply don't like the hay that I'm giving them (can you say hay snob). All the hay comes from the same field, cut and baled with the same equipment. Nothing is different but I expect that the hay in different parts of the field are different. I personally don't care for this "type" of hay. It's thin and course and the baler can't chop the hay to create nice clean "slivers". So when I pull off one sliver, I tend to pull half of the next sliver. It wouldn't be a big deal but  I'm dealing with 3x3 foot bales so its' not as easy as it sounds. And this last bale, the slivers were huge.

With the nice weather in January and then the cold weather in February, I guess maybe I started over feeding the horses as well. I'm not really sure. I guess I felt sorry for them being out in such cold weather but maybe they dont' think it's that cold. Even the ponies have turned up their noses at some of the hay and it's not even the course hay I've been dealing with. So I'm guessing that I'm over feeding but I also figured if I was over feeding, that they would just gorge themselves on it and not stop until every leaf was gone. So I don't know.

What I dont' understand is, it's not bad hay. In fact, I keep trying to talk my hay guy into doing a little bit more paperwork because it would qualify for certified hay. So, I'll call it dairy quality because dairy farms have to have high quality hay to produce decent milk. So the horses are used to high quality hay. When we buy hay that's not directly out of this field, they may gorge themselves (because it's a round bale and there's no stopping them from eating) but they don't always look the same (at least in my mind).

So now I don't know of the horses are simply hay snobs or if there's something wrong with this hay. It's not like I can pick and choose which bales to use. I have to use what's in front because I can't get to the next bale and we don't have any spare bales because the horses are being picky. We have a lot of space limits at the Sanctuary. So I am just hoping that the weather will warm up, I don't have too many more bales of this course hay, and the horses stop being hay snobs and go back to polishing off every leaf of hay.

Cold Front

The last few days have been a blur. I've been meaning to write a post but get lost in the paying job, caring for horses, caring for a toddler type stuff. The other night right as I was finishing chores (late and in the dark), the wind really picked up. The weatherman had warned that the cold front was coming. And it sure did. That evening while we were sitting in the house, Mike mentioned that it sounded like a plane was flying over head because it was that windy.

I'd actually contemplated putting blankets on some of the hard keepers because of the wind but the weatherman said the temps were supposed to get into the 40s and I figured having blankets on would be a hindrance.

Wednesday morning I stepped out to do chores and was lost in my own thoughts. When I walked out of the hay barn, I noticed that we had flurries. I hadn't expected snow! Luckily it only stayed at flurries and nothing  more.

Last night I was again late getting out to do chores. I'd debated long and hard about putting the mares and Junior into stalls to keep them out of the wind. But that was before I'd actually gotten out to do chores. The wind was out of the north and the temps were plummeting into the subzero temps so I was worried that they'd be dealing with subzero wind chills as well. But the wind seemed to hit the trees on the north side of the Sanctuary and create a buffer for all the pens.

And I can't figure out if I'm over feeding everyone or if the horses simply don't like the hay I'm throwing out. I'm using two different bales. Both bales come from the same field although that field I'm discovering has different types of grasses/hays within it. The ponies were the first to stop eating everything I threw out but I assumed it was because I'd been over feeding with this cold front that was supposed to blow through.

But then the mares and Junior also didn't polish off everything. But I sometimes over feed them as well. But this morning, only Bo and Zeke were nibbling at a pile of hay while everyone else stood by the barn (acting like there was wind when there wasn't). I threw out more hay and only a couple of the herd decided to come out of the leanto. I guess they are disgruntled with me at the quality of hay. It's not my favorite type but its' all I have at the moment for them to eat. I knew I had hay snobs but I didn't realize it was that bad. Of course the amount of hay I was throwing out for the past couple of days was a bit more than I normally do so maybe everyone is full. I don't know. It's so hard to figure out what those horses are thinking.

I now have Bo on my watch list. I think his right front leg is bothering him. If he's coming up lame, I'm going to have to find him a soft place to stay for a little while. I'm not sure if he stepped down wrong because some of the other herd was chancing Bo and Zeke last night or if he has an abscess working out or what. But with the ground as hard as it is, he's showing signs of discomfort. It happened a couple of years ago as well so I'm wondering if he simply stepped down wrong but I just don't know. Bo always seems to put me into a conundrum over one thing or another. If it's not his weight, it's his legs, if it's not his legs, its' his weight. I swear I simply have no luck with any bay horse on the place. Call me superstitious but I don't think we should take in any more bays.

Tuesday Ramblings

The one beautiful day we had fell on Saturday. Unfortunately, I couldn't take advantage of the nice weather because I went to Empowerment Ventures. It was a good opportunity to learn but it's hard to sit in class when you know the temperatures are in the 40s and you won't get to see those again for another month.

Sunday we had family stuff to get done so no Sanctuary work. I've been really bad about keeping the water tank full for the mares and Junior. I'd wanted to get it filled using the hoses on Saturday or Sunday but ran out of time. I think the weatherman was off on his prediction for the weather on Sunday. The temps might have been nice but it was damp, which seeped right into your bones.

Monday rolled around and we had fog. For those that know me, I follow the old wives tale of 90 days from fog is rain/snow. Well, we are pushing in to May now so I doubt that there will be any blizzards headed our way from all the fog we've had over the past two days.

I'd debated on what to do for the horses last night. The weatherman was calling for rain and freezing rain. Normally I'd be pretty quick to blanket a few of the harder keepers. Except the temps weren't supposed to be that cold and all I have are blankets for polar vortex type weather. I dont' have any light weight blankets. If I hadn't had to go to the paying job, I probably would have put blankets on until the sun came out and temps started to rise. But not having that opportunity, I opted to keep blankets off. Well, now the weatherman is saying we are going to have freezing rain until noon. I wonder if anyone wants to take bets to see if we'll actually SEE the sun today. I'm guessing not.

I'd hoped that the sun would come out so that we could get the drylot scrapped. It's getting a little gross in there and the only nice day we had I was at class. So hopefully the sun will come out and we can get the drylot cleaned up before the temperatures plummet back into the single digits at night.

The ponies seemed a little off this morning. I'm not sure if I felt bad and over fed them or what. I'm going to keep a close eye on them today to make sure that this weather isn't causing problems.

I'd had high hopes to have a contest in February to celebrate Valentine's Day but that doesn't seem to be in the cards. Maybe next month. The rest of this week is looking pretty quiet at the Sanctuary so I doubt there will be much to report other than the day-to-day activities.

Junior Update - Three Months

Wrote a blog post about Junior on the Senior Equine Care blog that I manage (http://seniorequinecare.blogspot.com/2015/02/chronicles-of-junior.html).

We've now had Junior just shy of three months. It seems like we've had him for years. We are truly blessed to be able to say that we are the lucky ones to care for him in his final years.

Strides for Success - February Photo Challenge

I wanted to participate in the photo challenge last month but sickness got in the way. But we are all healthy again so my goal is to tackle February's photo challenge from Strides for Success!

 

 

Herd Update

We had a quiet night last night to do chores. The days are getting longer which is a blessing when the temperatures are in the single digits. I was able to get out to do chores and get back in before the skies went dark (not before the sun set but at least before the skies turned pitch black). It was rather refreshing to see the herd in the daylight. Life has been so chaotic as of late that I don't get to see them until well after the sun sets, which makes it difficult to do a thorough check on everyone each evening.

It does look like Bo and Junior are losing weight so I'm upping their grain intake. I know some might not agree with that type of method but it's what has worked in the past. Now that we are entering the second half of winter, I need to keep a closer eye on the herds. March is when the weight loss begins on Brego and Jim. I want to head that off now. I can grain and hay those boys the same all winter but it doesn't matter when March rolls around. I'm wondering with a grain supplement if that will help with their weight loss.

Zeke looks fantastic and so does Rabbit. Rain may be losing a little bit of weight but it's hard to tell. Age is starting to show on him, although he's only 17. Mayhem is going through a growth spurt so she's really starting to fill out and look like a well muscled, big boned mare. Ivan looks like he's pregnant. And no it's not a wormy belly. He simply carries his weight in his belly and not on his topline. King is always fat, as is Maverick and Chaos. I'm keeping a closer eye on Dude to make sure he doesn't lose any weight. Luckily there's no ice in the drylot or I'd be worried about Dude. It's usually about this time of year that his hip flares up and he starts to have problems. But I think that's all due to the melting snow and ice.

Last night watching Tommy and Skippy was the highlight of my day. They would rear and bite at each other. Then Skippy would take off and roar through the pen. When I was getting their water, I watched Skippy body slam into Tommy. Those two really do play rough.

I'm hoping the worst of winter is over but there's still a lot of winter left. I need to get into the barn and figure out how to fix a stall door. Dude had gotten in awhile back and managed to mangle the door so I'm down one stall. So lets hope that there aren't any subzero temperatures or blizzards to deal with any time soon.

Winter Returns

I really must pay more attention to the weather. We ARE in the middle of winter, no matter what the Ground Hog says. I'd been enjoying our January thaw for the past few weeks and apparently I got really spoiled. So did the horses!

No blankets, no extra worrying, no snow, no nothing. It was great. In fact, the only snow that was left had been melting.

But then winter reared it's ugly head and now we are dealing with 5-6 inches of new snow, the melting snow turned into a sheet of ice (which I did fall on yesterday during chores), and sub zero temperatures. Yup, I'm ready for spring.

I guess I shouldn't complain. We didn't get that much snow. 5-6 inches is good enough to cover most of the pasture and help keep it covered and provide much needed moisture come this spring. The snow starts falling Saturday late afternoon. When I went out to do chores Saturday morning, the wind was out of the east, which is never good for the horses. So I opted to put blankets on Rabbit, Junior, and Bo (Rain wouldn't let me). By evening chores, I decided I'd fight Rain to make sure he had a blanket on. These swings in temperature are hard on him. Bo doesn't ever get a chance to go into any leantos and Rabbit and Junior's pen takes the brunt of any east wind.

I opted to stall Junior, Rabbit, and Mayhem since the wind was out of the east and have to deal with the accumulating snow. I think they were more than happy to get in out of the wind. I left the big herd out but I debating long and hard on weather I should have put some of the harder keepers in.

By Sunday morning, everyone was anxious for their breakfast. I threw out an extra bale of alfalfa because I felt bad for them having to deal with winter returning after such a nice break. By evening chores, the winds had died down and the snow had stopped falling. The snow drifts were in really weird places this time around. I guess that's what happens when you get wind out of the north or north east.

Junior had me a little panicked last night during chores. I apparently have gotten lazy with him. I've taken to putting a halter on him and simply opening the gate. He loves his grain so much that he goes straight for it. Except last night. Of course I didn't put a lead rope on him either. He started wandering but after I called for him he headed for his stall. But instead of going into his stall, he saw the open door to the hay shed (which is normally closed). I figured I better grab his grain bucket to catch him (since he's hard to catch without grain). But by the time I got to the other side of the building, he'd disappeared. I should have looked closer for his tracks. I knew the barn door was open so figured he might have wandered into the barn. Mike was out pushing snow so I thought maybe he would have stopped and gotten Junior but he kept on plowing (which made me think maybe Junior hadn't gone that way). He wasn't in the barn but the red shed doors were wide open and we have a few bales of alfalfa in there. So I tromped up the hill to see if he was in the red shed. Nope, I took a quick peek into the pasture thinking he may have wandered in just to investigate but didn't see any tracks. I should have paid more attention. I figured I'd better go back to his stall on the off chance he was there. Sure enough, there were the tracks and there was Junior. Enjoying his grain mash. He simply wanted to do a quick investigation of the place and get down to business with his grain. That'll teach me to leave the shed door open!

Mayhem seems to be going through a major growth spurt. I've always viewed her as small and petite. But in the last few months I've noticed she's really filled out and looks much thicker. I'm over feeding the back pen with Rabbit, Mayhem, and Junior.  Junior is such a hard keeper I want to make sure that he's getting food without getting pushed out. But he's so slow that I'm not sure the extra hay isn't getting snatched up by Rabbit and Mayhem. Mayhem seems to be full of herself these days and I'm wondering if she's finally filling out and growing up. I'm guessing that anyone that sees here wouldn't realize that she has a heart murmur. I'm starting to think that her heart won't affect her at all. She's full of vim and vinegar these days. I think some of that has to do with Junior.

I am so proud of Junior. He's such a passive horse but last night Mayhem came up on him and he turned around and let both hind feet fly at Mayhem. He even made contact. Now I don't normally agree with that type of rough housing, but Junior is finally confident enough to put Mayhem in her place. That makes me happy. If he can put up with Mayhem's antics and Rabbit's crankiness, maybe he can handle the herd of geldings this summer. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

But for now, we're going to hunker down and try to stay warm against the sub zero temperatures and winter returning.