Autumn Notebook

Both Ruby and Winston enjoyed hanging out near the horses:

And Rosella tried to touch noses with Remy, though the electric fence prevented it:

The very last flowers which went to church. It was communion Sunday and all three vases were placed on a small table with a white cloth underneath. The vase on the left held pink Morden Blush roses. The vase on the right held neon red Emily Carr roses. The vase in the center held yellow Heliopsis, red Yarrow, magenta Rugosa roses and Peony leaves which were turning red:

The trees bordering my north field began to show some gorgeous color:

And I purchased a lifting harness for Seamus. He hasn't needed it much yet, but I know he has periods of lameness when it will be helpful for both him and for me:

My sister brought a new toy for the cats, and both Sammy and Daisy like it very much:

Caspar, Clover and Bugsy like to sleep together on the big, green floor pillow:

Blue claims the morning hay and won't let Remy have any, although he softens once his belly is full:

Remy likes to sneak a bite of vegetation from beneath the bottom electric fence wire:

The Box Elder tree finally began dropping seeds, so I've had to spend much time picking them up twice each day. There is still too much green grass in the pasture for me to let the horses out:

Blue and Remy, my mischievous boys:

I finally got a buyer for Winston, so the next morning I was able to trap him inside the barn. He bawled for his mother and his herd, but was not as upset as previous calves. The buyer also wants to buy Ruby when she's old enough:

Two Little Horses In Their Corral

Despite their initial rebellion, Blue and Remy have settled into their new routine of days in their corral and nights in the barn:

They have slimmed down, shed their winter coats and begun to shine in the sun:

They always seem hungry in the evening and are anxious to get into the barn and eat more hay:

Of course there is not much grass left in their corral - except for that patch just above and to the left of Blue's head in this photo. I believe they won't eat it because they've been pooping there:

They wrestle, run and play - and then they nap:

And return to the barn each evening for fresh hay and clean water:

Sometimes I see them looking longingly at the green grass outside their corral, but too much of it will kill them, so I must restrict their access:

There is a nice Box Elder tree in their corral for shade and I use it to tie them to while moving them, one at a time, between the barn and corral:

Alas, I've discovered that it's a female tree and full of seeds, which are extremely poisonous to horses:

A horse woman said I'd be better off leaving the tree but providing more hay during the day so they won't be tempted to eat the seeds. Apparently they don't much like the seeds, but eat them when they're hungry and bored. If the seeds begin to accumulate on the ground, I'll leave the horses in the barn and rake them up:

She had another suggestion which I took - to enlarge their corral a bit. I moved the south fence line about eight feet over, putting the posts in the ground during the day and then moving the wire in the evening after the horses were in the barn:

You can see the strip of longer grass in this photo, though it was all eaten and the new section no longer visible by the end of the first day. But for now, the little guys are behaving well, looking better than ever and living a happy, healthy life:

Little Horses In Their Corral

It's taken a few weeks to get Blue and Remy accustomed to spending their days in the new corral and their nights in the barn:

Remy was especially rebellious and our walks between the barn and corral (in both directions) became frightening for me as I thought he might accidentally (or intentionally?) hurt me:

But over time, both little guys have calmed down and seem now to enjoy their new lives:

I throw a brick of hay over their fence each morning because they have almost no grass left in there to eat. That is, after all, why they're in there:


My Amish neighbor trimmed their hooves the other day and said it was obvious they'd had laminitis (grass founder) but were healing nicely:


And sometimes their friends, the cows, come and lie down just outside the fence as if they want to keep them company:

It may be anthropomorphism on my part, but I really think both cows and horses enjoy these closeness sessions, even though separated by an electric fence:

Remy, being the most clever and mischievous, is the first to be led out in the morning and first to be led back to the barn in the evening. In the morning, I tie him to the Box Elder tree while I go to fetch Blue from the barn:

I tie Blue to the tree in evening so I can safely lead Remy back to the barn for the night - but that doesn't stop Remy from being mischievous:

I took this shot from the road one day while the cows were visiting the horses. It seems to have become a ritual:

And I took this picture from inside the horses' corral just as the cows were moving on. Things have been blessedly peaceful recently:

Blue And Remy

The little horses are enjoying life now that they're accustomed to the new routine and wearing their grazing muzzles. They happily eat grass all day long. They just can't eat it as fast as they used to:

Hot days are few and far between this time of year, but the shade of the Box Elder tree is available when it does get hot:

There was a section of long neglected pasture near the fence by the gravel road and the little horses recently discovered it contained a lot of good eating:

"Remy, your butt stinks!"

And the little guys don't hesitate to roam far and wide across the south field:

I said they were accustomed to their grazing muzzles, but that doesn't mean they can't shuck them every so often. Well, actually it's mostly Remy who gets his off his head now. If I don't see it right away, I take the tractor out in the field so I can search from a seat high up and with an unobstructed view. It can also cover a lot of ground in a hurry:

  This time Remy managed to shuck the entire apparatus intact, and he did it behind the old silo base where it was difficult to find:

Every day I bring them into the barn for the night. If it's been a hot day, they are covered with bot fly eggs which must be scraped off lest they ingest them. On cool days (which, thankfully, are now more common), the bot fly eggs are either few or nonexistent:

The little horses seldom get this far apart and I was surprised to find them away from each other:

I had just cleaned the barn floor when I took this photo and was driving the tractor. Blue was not impressed:

Remy used to like to bite the soft tractor parts when I wasn't looking, but the grazing muzzles have spoiled all his fun:

They live a happy life, but I just noticed that Blue was eating next to a cow pie in this picture. I'll have to speak to him about that and get him to mend his ways:

Red Poll Ladies, Preparing For Winter

Violet is by far the biggest cow, and she is hard to miss as she grazes near the county road:

 The day was hot and the flies were bothersome when I took this photo, and the cows collected beneath the Box Elder tree for a bit of relief:

 Scarlett's udder is still a bit swollen, even long since her calf was sold. She seems happy and healthy, though, and has been artificially inseminated again:

 Jasmine's hooves are getting long again and I've taken to walking up to her when she's lying down like this and trying to clip off the tip of the longest one. So far it hasn't done any good, but I'll keep trying, at least as long as she'll let me:

 Scarlett, relaxing and chewing her cud:

 Gracie is definitely a full figured gal:

 The recently lush grass is looking shorter and sparser now. It won't be long before I start putting out the hay bales:

 Up on a sandy rise, the cows have created a couple of dust baths. They can stand there and kick dust up onto their bellies to shoo away the flies:

 A blue sky, white clouds, green grass and red cows make for an idyllic scene:

 The herd covers a lot of ground during the course of a day. They don't want to miss any green edibles:

 And the Pennsylvania Smartweed which they rejected all summer long has suddenly become a favorite edible. It happened when the plants bloomed, so my theory is that the flowers sweetened the taste:

 That's Jasmine on the left. I can see on her face that she is engaging with me. The other two, Amy and Gracie, are mostly ignoring me. Jasmine is exceptionally friendly and easily my favorite: