The Little Horsey Guys

Blue and Remy have quit their rebellious ways and become perfect (well, almost perfect) gentlemen:

They seem to have decided that their new lives of corral by day, barn by night, are good things:

They do look longingly out at the pasture sometimes, but they'll get their chance as soon as the grass stops growing:

The Box Elder tree is covered with poisonous seeds, so as soon as they drop, I'll have to keep the horses inside the barn until I get them all raked up:

Keeping the boys supplied with good hay is part of my defense against them eating Box Elder seeds. They'll be less tempted if they're not hungry:

Remy goes out first in the mornings and gets tied to the tree while I bring Blue out:

Then I return to the barn, turn on the electric fence and grab a big armload of hay for their breakfast:

When it's hot and not rainy, the boys get covered with fly spray twice each day, morning and night:

I use a sponge to wipe it on their head and ears, then spray the rest of their body. In the evenings, I scrape off any bot fly eggs which have appeared on their legs or sides during the day. Using fly spray in the morning helps reduce the bot fly eggs a lot:

Always the trouble maker, Remy often tries to nip Blue while he's tied up for his fly spray:

It's been a good summer for the horsey boys, and soon they'll have six months of freedom in the south pasture:

Cattle, Horses, Flowers

Autumn seems to be in the air some days, and it feels like summer on other days. The Red Polls enjoyed the idyllic weather this day, spreading farther apart than they do when the flies are more pesky:

And they often come to the stock tank as a group to get a drink of water:

The pasture has lots to eat in it, so the red haired ladies have much spare time for snoozing and lounging around:

Winston sniffed the air when I came near. Should I be insulted?

I find a scene like this each morning when I bring the horses out to their corral for the day:

Remy and Blue seem fairly happy in their corral and accustomed with their new routine:

I had to begin spraying both little horses with fly spray each morning before taking them outside. At first, that prevented the bot flies from laying eggs on their legs and sides, but after a few weeks, the bot fly eggs began to appear again. I now have to scrape them off carefully each time I bring them into the barn and also spray them with more fly repellent:

Blue likes to lie down and then bobs his head up and down. I was worried at first that something might be wrong, but apparently it's just something he likes to do:

And both horses love to roll on the ground:

The first Rose Mallow to bloom was this giant pink one. Notice the abundance of buds behind it - and that's only one of many shoots which will be blooming. I think it will be a good year for Rose Mallows:

I began snapping photos of the various colors and color combinations in the Yarrow patch but there were just too many of them. Instead, I put the photos together to make one big picture of SOME of the color varieties. I find these plants amazing:

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:

Little Horses Rule The Roost

Blue and Remy thought they'd had a setback when they had to begin wearing grazing muzzles, but in reality their health has improved and they get more handling than ever before. The boys are doing just fine:

The grazing muzzles slow down their grass consumption, which is the intent - but they're always a bit hungry and it's difficult for me to photograph them in any position except with their head down, eating grass as fast as the muzzles permit:

Blue was always the shy one, but he's more friendly now that he gets more handling:

Remy was the bold, adventurous, friendly one, the one who loves to play and cause mischief - but he's hungry now and less playful most of the time:

They've been keeping their muzzles on almost every day now, but once in a while I'll find a muzzle dropped in the grass. Luckily for me, this one was right next to the stock tank and I didn't have to go looking for it:


They still like to use the Box Elder tree for shade:

But they don't stay under the tree for long. They're back to grazing in short order:

The two boys were born only ten days apart and have never been separated. They might as well be brothers, and stay within easy reach of each other all day long:

They like to graze out by the big rock pile (which I suspect was once the site of a cabin). There's good grass there plus shade, should they feel the need:

The rock pile is at the far end of the field and offers nice views of the barn and house:

At night, the two boys eat hay inside the barn, another effort to curb their consumption of green, sugary grass as well as give them a break from wearing the muzzles:

And every night this time of year I find bot fly eggs on their front legs which I have to scrape off. It's not easy to dislodge the yellow specks, but it's important that I do it. I also will use an all-purpose wormer on them in December to help eliminate any bot fly larvae: