Crickhollow Farm

Happy Christmas

Well, I was vaguely planning on taking advantange of the no-snow-or-ice plus 40-some degrees this to have a ride on Christmas here, but the wind is blowing and, not only is it bloody cold, it's kicking up something vile.  I spent the first half of the day fighting off a sinus headache.  When the pills I took for that finally kicked in, I decided that it'd be better to spend the time dragging hay up to the barn.  Given their distain for the stemmy first-cutting bales I'd had to break open earlier today, I'm sure the horses would agree that it was a better use of my time. 

I got about 25 bales up.  That's one benefit of the "brown Christmas".  I can use the Deere & its little trailer to bring up 5 bales at a time instead of hauling a couple at a time up over the snow in a plastic toboggan.  A little more efficient, that, and less exhausting.

Free Horses

I know I should not be dwelling on this, but yesterday I went to the free horses listing at the Horse.com and saw this listing for 18 registered Arabians, mostly mares.  Problem is a) they're in Georgia, b) they need to be gone by the end of the month.  You got it, there's one week left to find them homes.  The listing was only posted on 12/21.

I went and looked at the photos on the website the listing directs you to at http://dbruce.homestead.com/Index.html, and there are some lovely horses there (sport Arabs!).  It makes me sad because there are a couple of mares I would jump at the chance to have, but I can't get to them.  Even if I could get someone down there to pick one or two up for me, I have doubts as to whether they'd have current Coggins tests, without which they could not legally be transported accross state lines.   The Coggins usually takes a little over a week to get back, though one can get it rushed.

I hope they can find good homes.  I'm going to be driving myself nuts this week, wishing there were a way I could bring one or two back to Crickhollow.

Pony, not Hippo

When Bonni stopped in for her Christmas Eve visit, we pulled Rocky in so that he could say hi without interference from the other boys, get a couple treats, and a brush-down.  We also took the weight tape to him again.

He's averaging about 806 lbs now!  It takes a fair bit of poking yet, but a person can find his ribs finally.  There is a chance that I will not be humiliated over his weight come the spring vet visit.

Happy Christmas Eve

I hope everyone is having a lovely Christmas weekend thus far.  I, for one, am happy to have three whole days off from work.  Some of that time will be spent in the barn but, sadly, some will have to be spent cleaning the house. 

This morning, though, is barn-time.  I have apples to stuff the horses' stockings with, as well as a couple of lick-it "apples" to hang in a couple of lucky equines' stalls.  Merry for sure will get one, as he loves them, but I'm not sure yet who will get the other.  Possibly Myf, as I think she's been getting bored in her stall at night & needs a new toy.

I will, of course, be mucking stalls this morning, as well.  Bonni will be stopping in to see Rocky, so there will probably be some pony-grooming going on as well.

All of what little snow we'd got so far this year has melted in the "heat wave" of the past week, so it's a sadly brown Christmas this year, and not all that picturesque.  I have brown horses in brown paddocks, set on a backdrop of brown fields.  Yuck.  (And yes, I'm counting Annie as a brown horse.  When the paddocks were sloppy mud, she had to wallow in it and, while I got the worst caked mud off, it will take either a bath or multiple rolls in the snow to get rid of the stain on her.)

In the festive spirit, I do have a picture of my horse trailer that I took Midwinter's Eve.  No snow, but there are snowflakes.  Giant, lighted ones.

Sleight of Hand

I got my  copy of the Welsh Review (2011 vol. 3) today & there's an article in it about Morgana's (paternal) grandsire, *Slight of Hand.  Haven't had a chance to read the whole thing yet, but it will definitely be going in the folder with her papers.

 

ETA:  After I finished reading the article and started really going through the issue, I discovered a full-page ad that not only offered several half-sibs of Morgana's for sale, but her daddy, as well!  Colour me surprised.  It's definitely going in Morgana's folder now.

Stockings hung with care

As promised, pictures of the barn decorations, such as they are.

 

Updates to links

I updated the links page with links to various farms (some that I have a connection with, others that just have horses I like).  Have fun browsing! 

Deck the Aisles

Stockings have been hung in the barn and tackroom.  All horses, excepting Morgana, got a new one this year since the old ones were looking a bit ratty and Rocky didn't have one anyway.  I'll take pictures when there's some sunlight about so that they come out better.

New page

You might notice a new item on the right sidebar of the blog here.  It's a page list.  Right now I only have the one -- a whole page of links to various horsey things on the web -- but I may add more as time goes on.  We'll see.  They'll appear in that list on the side, if they're added.

It's a cold day out, but at least it's sunny. I have some shopping to finish up (wish me luck as I brave the mall today ::shudder::), so I'm going to try to get that done this morning and then tackle the barn chores when I get home. Since the sun is out,  I'm hoping it will be warmer by then, even if it doesn't much feel it because of the wind.

Friends After All?

Rocky and Zahr might end up as friends after all.  Rocky's been learning how to fit in with the herd (like figuring out what I call the "Merry-go-round" -- Merry decides what pile of hay he wants to eat from and everyone else shifts from there, often multiple times in one feeding; Rocky was getting stuck with no hay while a pile went spare just because he'd been ousted from his initial pile.  He's learned to make a break for whichever one is left open now), and isn't as scared of the others now as he was.  A couple of nights when I've been doing the evening feed, he's practically been in Zahr's stall while waiting for me to get to his bucket.

A couple times now, I've seen him and Zahr standing and playing that "duelling muzzles" game that boys are wont to play.  They poke at one another's faces and sometimes heads get tossed around, but it never devolves into the full-on battle (mock or otherwise) with rearing & striking.  It's just poke, poke, poke...

Before, Rocky would not have stood still for this.  He would have run from Zahr at any sign of confrontation.  Now, he's relaxing into the herd dynamic.  He's still bottom of the heap, but he can interact with the others rather than just trying to stay the hell out of their way.  It's taken him a bit longer than normal, but he's getting there.

Got Merry and Zahr weighed. Merry is at 798 lbs (so, yes, I'll admit he was a bit fat the last time I weighed him, since he was nearly 900 lbs then instead of 800 lbs). Zahr is at 744lbs. Both weigh less than Rocky currently does. Pony has a ways to go yet...