Crickhollow Farm

Green Grass

I have managed to get the horses out on grass a couple of times this past week.  They haven't been allowed out on it for very long -- we need no colic or founder here -- but they were very excited about getting out at all. 

Merry knew what was going on as soon as I started shifting the temp-fence panels around and got himself quite worked up.  It was particularly hilarious that first time, because Rocky had no idea what was going on.  Poor guy just stood up in the door to Zahr's stall and watch in confusion as the other boys went bolting out into the green as soon as I opened the gate.  I actually had to call him down and talk him through the gate.  He's an odd one, is Mr Rockmeteller.  (This is where I have to admit that, in my mind, he's not Rocky after the fictional boxer, but after Rockmeteller "Rocky" Todd of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves & Wooster stories.  He's just that sort of hapless goof that populates those stories.)

Getting them back up off the grass is always a challenge -- I can usually get Merry & Zahr running & wound enough that they'll barrel up into the paddock & I can shut the gate behind them.  Rocky & Gimli I have to go fetch with a lead rope.

The girls all had to be fetched with the lead, too.  Although, I didn't nearly have the battle with Morgana that I sometimes have in the past.  Once I had the rope on her, she came along well enough.  No tricking her by backing her towards the gate this time.

Unfortunately, with all the rain we've had in the last day, & look to be getting over the next few, it'll probably be a while before I can get them back on the grass again.  I don't want them tearing it all up because the ground's too wet.

While I didn't have the camera when the boys went on their big tear their first day out, I did get some photos of them out grazing (and one of Rocky pacing the fenceline, looking forlorn after I locked them back in the paddock -- I won't post that one 'cause he'd just rolled in the mud and looks entirely too gross in it).  I'll post a few of the best here.

Almost Like Spring

The weather here today is downright pleasant.  Sunny, with next to no wind (those who have visited the farm will understand what a rarity that is), it was a lovely day to be out doing barn chores.  I swapped into one of my not so heavy-duty winter barn jackets and still ended up taking it off for a while.

Yes, I was mucking in jeans and a long-sleeve t-shirt for a while today and we're not yet out of February.  It's weird.

Annie is starting to shed now, not a day after I was telling Bonni that she hadn't started yet and that normally she would be doing so by now.   Animals do love making liars out of us.  I should try to go after them all with some grooming implements tonight.  Knock some mud off of them (for a brief time, anyway) and work the wind-knots out of Merry's mane.  He's terribly prone to them.  I should keep him in braids, but it just seems warmer to leave it loose in the winter.  He probably wouldn't notice the difference so long as I was consistent.

The horse all were being pests today whilst I was mucking.  Zahr kept trying to open the outer door to his stall and Myf was even poking at the outer door in Annie's stall.  I was using the Deere & spreader today (no snow!) and that was inciting Myf & Morgana to riot, the goofs.  It was entertaining to watch them tearing around the paddock as I'd drive past, though.  I think they're all getting a little stir-crazy.

I also took advantage of the weather & lack of snow to bring up a couple of loads of hay with the Deere.  It makes me feel all productive, even if it wasn't a lot.  Still, I should have enough up now that I won't have to go drag any up through the rain/snow mix they're predicting for most of next week.  I'm not looking forward to that.

Horses at Play

The horses were being quite wild & playful this afternoon.  As I was getting ready to go out to give them their evening hay, Myf & Morgana were being goofs on one side of the barn whilst Zahr and Rocky were being goofs on the other. 

Myf was on a rope twirling binge, which seemed to make Morgana jealous.  Myf would buck and run a bit, but mostly she just twirled and twirled...  Morgana stood nearby at one point, looking like she wanted to have the rope, but getting her face too close would have meant getting hit with it.  It was hilarious.  Myf did eventually drop the rope and they went careening around, bucking & hopping.  The jolly ball was even put into play at one point.

Zahr, meanwhile, was trying, semi-successfully, to get Rocky going.  He did run and buck a bit, but mostly it was Zahr hopping about, trying to harass him into action.  He had his tail flagged and was looking quite handsome, as he does when he gets revved.  He almost got Merry going good, but I think he was more concerned about his (woefully empty, just ask him) stomach than playing.  He kept going back towards the barn and poking around for any bits of hay that might've escaped from lunch.

I would have liked to get pictures but, as it was dinnertime, I knew that all action would stop as soon as I opened the back door.  I just stood and watched from inside for a while, until it looked like Rocky would appreciate the rescue.

Napping Horses

I got a shot of the boys napping after breakfast this morning.  Gimli, Merry, Rocky were standing in this perfect three-spoke configuration & Zahr was off on his own.  Of course, they were behind the tree from where I was, looking out the back door, so it's hard to see.  I didn't want to go out for a different angle because they would have heard me and all turned to stare.  They do it every time.

 

And on that theme, some shots of nap time a few weeks ago.  There was no snow then, so it's not as pretty.

The Farrier Visit and New Part-bred Welsh Registry

The farrier was out yesterday.  No one needed much trimmed off their hooves (and this after a nine week interval!), but there was some shaping & filing to be done.  Everyone now has nice, tidy little hooves again. 

Most of them were quite good.  I actually had to bribe Zahr to leave the aisle.  He was ready to just plant himself there for attention.  A nice change from how terribly suspicious he used to be (not that he isn't still wary, in general, but he's much, much more relaxed & happy than when I got him). 

Morgana, on the other hand, was a complete terror.  She did not want to sit still.  It was wiggle, wriggle, poke, poke, hop the whole time.  Considering that during her first time standing for the farrier all by herself she was the best behaved of any of them, I'm considerably less than pleased with her behaviour of last night. 

Probably, she just needs a chance to run and work off her excess energy (this is where an indoor arena would be nice -- give her a chance to go on a tear without hitting ice and hurting herself), but that's not really an option right now.  She was so naughty I found myself wishing for the lead with the stud chain to slip over her nose to get her attention.  I don't even use it that way on Merry, but she was just so fidgety and distracted.  I didn't have it to hand, though, so I spent the time she was getting her feet done trying to brace against her and keep my face out of the way of her head tossing.  I really didn't fancy ending up with a broken nose for my trouble.  Needless to say, she did not get any treats for that performance.

 

In other news, the Welsh Pony & Cob Society of America has opened a Part-bred Welsh registry.  This will allow breeders to register their ponies with the WPCSA when at least one parent is registered Half Welsh.  It certainly opens up some possibilities for breeding programs that are, like warmbloods, more focused on producing a particular pony-type than in purity of bloodlines.  Granted, there is the Sport Pony section of the American Warmblood Society for that to some extent.  For really tracking the breeding of a pony (or horse), being able to tie him or her to a specific breed registry (or registries, plural) is really nice. 

Whether or not it truly makes a horse or pony more saleable in the grand scheme of things, I myself certainly like having registered stock, whether or not they're breeding prospects.  Zahr, for example, is a gelding.  Totally useless for my breeding programme, on hold though it may be, but I'm proud of the fact that I can say that he is a registered, purebred Arabian.  I can look at his pedigree and see horses in it that I like (and yes, some I don't care for as much).  Maybe that makes me snob that I personally value him a little bit more because of a piece of paper, I don't know.  It didn't really factor into my decision to buy him.  He needed a good home, looked to fit in with my circumstances at the time better, and was just plain a better horse than the (unregistered) mare up for sale with him.  Him being registered was incidental, but it's still something I appreciate, now that I have him.

So I'm excited about the new registry and look forward to seeing how it pans out in the long run.  It's definitely nice to know that, once things pick up and I can start breeding again, if I breed Merry to Morgana, for example, that their get will be able to produce registrable ponies in his/her own right, not just if s/he is bred back to one of the parent breeds to be half- arab/welsh.

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.

The Zahr & Gimli Exercise and Weight-loss Programme

Success!  After mucking stalls this morning, Diane & I pulled Rocky out of the paddock to use the weight-tape on him.  I've been thinking he wasn't looking as fat as when he arrived, but I was unsure of whether that was because he really wasn't as fat, or if I'd just got used to his fatness.  It's hard to tell when you see a horse every day.  Diane thought he looked less pregnant this morning, though, which was a good sign.  The tape told the real story, however.

Rocky has lost about 27 pounds since he arrived here about a month ago.  We "weighed" him with the tape that first day and, averaging the results, he was 895 lbs.  Today, the average result was 868 lbs.

Keep in mind that this is a 14+ hand pony.  Zahr, who is 14.2+ hh, is usually around 730-740 lbs, and Merry, at 15 hh (and a lot more actual muscle mass, if not as much as he could use to have), is generally around 900 lbs.  (I need to weigh them both again soon; it's been a while and they're really looking good, so what they're at now is what I'd like to shoot to keep them at.)  Rocky obviously has a ways to go, but between burning fat to keep warm this winter, the other guys keeping him moving more, a better tailored diet, and just not being stuck standing in a stall for 13+ hours every day there's some hope that he'll be at a better weight by the time spring rolls around. 

That will help when it's time to start riding again.  Less excess will make it easier to get him fit (or fitter, anyway), since there'll be less working against us.  It'll be much healthier and more comfortable for him, too.  Imagine what it must feel like to have a person get on your back when you're already carrying an extra 150 lbs on your frame.  Not fun!

So, yes, whilst Rocky still has an impressive hay belly, blubber-butt, and fat-rolls behind his shoulders, he's making progress.  He's also making progress on his manners and is learning to back away from his feed bucket when I tell him to and that I'm not a head-scratching post to be rubbed on whenever he wants.  Yay, Rocky!

Rocky Makes a Change

Today, Rocky got properly introduced to the rest of the boys.  Winter is fast approaching (it's snowing as I type), and he'd been hanging out near the others for a while now, albeit with a fence between, so I decided to move him over to the other paddock.  I'm not working for once, so it gives me a chance to watch what's going on, though I try not to stare obsessively.

Wednesday & Thursday this week, these are the sights that greeted me when I went out at lunchtime to toss everyone their hay:

 

This is what happened just before lunch today...  (seriously image heavy)

Farrier Day

The farrier came out this evening to trim the herd.  Everybody is mostly good, or not really bad anyway, though certain individuals can get a bit squrimy.  Zahr is surprisingly the best of them all.  He always has been really, though nowadays he's relaxed as well as well-behaved & spends the time in the aisle angling for treats.

Merry always gets a good grooming on farrier day.  Since he goes first (I long ago learned that he's best behaved for vet or farrier if he doesn't have to wait for others to go first), I pull him out into the crossties to groom whilst we wait.  I got all the tangles out of his mane, tail, & forelock and even clipped his muzzle.  He looks like a proper beauty again instead of a hayseed.  Everyone else still pretty much looks like a hayseed.  Cute hayseeds, but hayseeds nonetheless.

Muzzles and manes may not be tidy, but everyone does have trim little hooves again.  They weren't too misshapen this go around; the ground wasn't as hard or something.  They got long, but not all chippy.  We'll see what they look like in seven weeks when it's time to do this all again.

Happy Autumn

Now that it's actually autumn, the weather is turning sunny again, just to be perverse.  We did get some rain for a few days, for which I am grateful, but it's nice to see the sun again.  It should be a good day to do some work in the barn.  It's cool enough that I'm hesitant to spent much time outside until my hair is at least mostly dry.  (By the time I'm done typing this, it should be close enough that I can braid it tightly and shove a hat on my head, at least.)

Barn agenda for today involves mucking stalls (big surprise there), washing everybody's blankets & hanging them to dry so they'll be fresh for the coming winter (I've had them hanging in the barn & then out under the overhang since their last use and they've become somewhat dusty.  I'm sure there are cobwebs, too.  Yuck.), and shifting a little more hay up.

Merry and Zahr (particularly Zahr) acquired some truly spectacular wind-knots in their manes during the recent windy, stormy days.  I made an attempt at untangling them last night whilst they ate their dinner, but more needs to be done.  Show Sheen or Cowboy Magic will definitely be needed on Zahr's.  I brushed Gimli a bit, too.  They all seemed to enjoy the attention, and Gimli would poke me in the back while I was working on Merry, looking for more attention.

I have a bad feeling that this is going to be a cold, cold winter.  It may be selective amnesia on my part, but it seems like the horses are all much fuzzier much earlier than usual this fall.  Myf isn't looking like a goat just yet, but Gimli's red beard is definitely in evidence already. 

I've been debating getting Annie a new turnout blanket or sheet for this winter.  The one I got her when she was pregnant ended up being too big for her otherwise, and is now Zahr's.  I've been using Toad's old stable blanket on her when it gets super cold, but it wasn't designed for turnout, and there are a couple of little tears.  She probably could use something a little more weather and Morgana-proof...  (Morgana is a pest and likes to tug on other people's blankets.)  I've been keeping an eye on the sale stuff in the tack catalogues.  Mostly, the ones I like are either expensive even on sale, or don't come small enough.  It won't be the end of the world if I can't find one for her, since she has the one blanket & it's not in tatters yet, but it'd be nice if I could.

Morgana herself has a turnout sheet for this winter.  Brand-new, I picked it up at the Expo tackswap for cheap.  Hopefully it will actually fit her considering I was pretty much guessing on how big she'd be by winter.  I should try it on her today/tonight just to see how close I was.  She and Annie don't need blankets much -- they hide in the stall when the weather is bad & get pretty fuzzy anyway.  Hardy ponies, don't ya know.

Hay Stacked

Here's what I accomplished today:

I also shifted around what's left in the shed so that the more alfalfa-rich bales from the second cutting would all be basically on one side of the shed.  This enabled me to uncover the rest of the stemmy first cutting so I can work on getting it up to the barn before third cutting.  I'd like to get the first cutting up so that I have mostly second & third for over the winter.  Save the best for last, what?

Best laid schemes o' mice an' men (and horsewomen) gang oft agley

I'd planned on schooling Merry over jumps today.  Had my wee jump course all set up out back.  I pulled him out to groom and tack up at about half-past noon, probably got down to the arena for our warm up a half hour after that.  We'd just started going 'round the arena when, back in the paddock, Zahr went, well berserk probably isn't really the word I want, what with the connotations and all, but that's about what it felt like to start. 

Merry startled and I looked up to see the idiot careening around the paddock, harrying Gimli, and generally flinging himself about like a mad thing.  Then he stopped, head & tail up, and let loose a blowing snort, before taking off again. 

I think he was pissed that he'd been deprived of grass for lunch (they got hay since I was planning on riding Merry after) and jealous that Merry was out in the arena (grazing-land) without him.  Never-mind that Merry was working and not eating. 

Whether it was, in fact, a temper-tantrum, or just high-spirits, it went on for quite some time, with both Zahr and Gimli flinging themselves about, into the air, etc.  Meanwhile, my planned jump-schooling session turned, instead, into a session on the art of remaining calm whilst your friends act like goons.

To be fair, Merry was really dashed good.  I just wasn't prepared to go out into the great wide open or attempt jumps with the Flying Gelding Show going on, being a distraction.  We did a lot of trotting, some cantering, and left the arena after the two twerps settled down.  By then we were both tiring, so only the cavalletti were attempted.  At that point, the girls were ready to be riled up, so they were being a distraction, and after a few wobbly passes over the two cavalletti, I called it a day and took Merry back to the arena to walk out.

It was my first ride in my new paddock boots and half-chaps, and I have to say I'm quite pleased with them.  They're much more fitted, so I have a better "feel" through them than the old boots.  Definitely better ankle support, and the grip of the nice rubber soles is a huge improvement over the old boots' cruddy, hard rubber (I really shouldn't have been surprised that they cracked the way they did; it wasn't nice stuff).  I'd definitely recommend them to anyone who's looking for a new pair of boots and either has a hard time getting the pre-made tall boots to fit properly, or who wants something a little more cost-effective than the good tall boots usually are.