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:

Little Horses With Big Personalities

Blue and Remy spend each night in the barn, a respite from bad weather and biting flies - and there is plenty of hay to eat:

Each day, good weather or bad, they spend in their corral. It's surrounded by electric fence but they are talented at carefully reaching under the bottom wire to nibble at the greenery:

But I also throw hay in for them so they won't go hungry:

The yellow flagging ribbon was to help them notice the fence when they were first put in their new corral. I was afraid they'd eat it, but they haven't - probably because it carries the electric charge:

They come and go through that section on the right, next to the wooden fence posts. Remy began freaking out and rearing dangerously each night when we walked through it, but seems to be getting over it now because I tie him briefly to a wooden post and give him about 30 seconds to calm down. Then I cover his eyes as we walk through the open gate. He has no problem, however, entering through it each morning:

 Blue is mild mannered and of compliant personality - until there is food. Then he's the boss, and Remy has to wait to eat:

 Remy prefers to steal nibbles of green grass anyway:

 And they both get three open stalls with fresh hay each night. No one is going hungry around here:

They are a beautiful sight from the county road and lots of people admire them:

 I only lead one horse at a time to and from the barn. Remy is always first, so Blue has to wait, tied to a tree, at night while I lead Remy in. Then I come and get Blue. He's very patient now that he has fly repellent on him. Before I started spraying him, the flies bothered him and he wasn't so patient:

Once Blue is tied to the tree, I tie Remy to this fence post temporarily. I have no idea why or how it calms him, but it works:

A Horsey Emergency

The pasture grass has been gradually turning green, but I didn't think it was yet anything to worry about:

Nevertheless, I did notice that Blue was lying down more than normal:

 It appeared that Blue's hooves were already going bad, a case of Grass Founder, caused by too much high sugar, green grass. I was loathe to put their muzzles on again this year and begin the same daily battle with the horses which I had last year:

  The grass kept greening and then Remy began lying down much of the time also:

 One cold afternoon I put out a new hay bale and all the cows came over to eat from it. The horses were nowhere to be found:

So I drove out to the farthest corner of the field and found them both, standing still in the sleet and driving winds, looking miserable:

 Worse, Remy's hooves were badly tipped, a sure sign of painful Founder (laminitis):

It seems that the front of their hooves becomes painful, so they tip them back to relieve the pressure. It was obvious that I had to do something immediately and couldn't  put it off another day:

 So I drove back to the barn and parked the tractor. Then I grabbed two lead ropes and walked out through the driving sleet and snow to where I'd found the horses. I led them slowly back to the barn and locked them inside. Remy seemed happy to get out of the weather and to lie down on soft hay:

Blue did likewise, and I determined to keep them in the barn, eating only hay, until I could come up with a better plan:

I got moveable posts and set up a small corral for them inside the main fence (in case they escaped the new fence, they'd at least be inside the big fence). The Box Elder tree was inside their new corral for shade and I tied yellow flagging ribbons on the new wires to help make sure they noticed them. They've spent a few days in there so far, and I've brought them into the barn at night. It may get more difficult when their grass is all gone but just outside their fence is lush, green pasture. Time will tell:

Around The Farm

There are still three baby fantail pigeons in nests, though it won't be long before they join the rest of the flock as adults. These two are in a high nest, away from the squabbling birds on the floor:

 This youngster was born and raised on the floor and knows how to defend itself by slapping an attacker with its wing. Its parents are still feeding it but it will soon be on its own:

 The bantam hens have reduced their egg laying to almost nothing at this point, which I admit is a relief to me. I simply can't use many eggs and hard boiling them for the dogs is a hassle - although the dogs love the results:

 Their coop needs cleaning, but all the bedding must be hauled out through the pigeons' room and I won't do that until the pigeon babies are fully raised and on their own:

 This is the eastern version of "big sky country" and I am constantly amazed as I watch the heavens above. This mackerel sky might have indicated rain on its way and, in fact, that's just what happened:

 Sunrise in the northeastern sky:

 I walked around to the other end of the barn for a better view and the sun had just broken above the treetops when I got there:

 With the grass in the far south field mowed and baled, I had no excuse left not to replace the kill-switch for the electric fence which had broken. It was an easy job. That's the new one, all connected on the left, and the old, broken one on the right:

These tiny flowers were growing right next to the barn door. I saw them last year and got the genus name but couldn't identify the species. This year, I noticed the hairy stems and pegged it as Galinsoga ciliata. Notice the five three-lobed "petals" with spaces between them:

 And I've long believed I had two or more species of Smartweed by the barn door. This year, I noticed that some had white flowers and knew they were not the Smartweed I was familiar with:

 I took a close look and decided they were Pennsylvania Smartweed:

 The more showy, red flowered kind with a black smudge on each leaf is Lady's-Thumb Smartweed. All Smartweeds are members of the Buckwheat family:

The Horsey Boys

When my sister visited, she made it a point to stop and say hello to the horses. Blue, as usual, was shy:

But Remy never had a shy day in his life. He's a love sponge:

The two boys are so bonded that I can't imagine them ever being separated:

They spend all day out on the pasture, sometimes staying with the cows, sometimes going off on their own:

Sometimes they separate from each other, but not too far and not for long. They always keep an eye on each other:

The muzzles have by now become routine and I haven't had to go searching for a shucked muzzle in many weeks:

Each night I give them a tiny bit of grain (too much would be bad for them) and then they spend the night in the barn with hay and water. I put the hay down in four spots, separated by bars to keep them from fighting over it:

The vet said they both look extraordinarily healthy except that Blue is still a bit too fat:

On the day I did fence repair, both horses came along to "help" me:

And they make a pretty picture for folks driving by on the county road:

Remy likes the company of his cattle friends. They tolerate him but don't seem to return the affection he feels for them:

One morning I went out to the barn and discovered that they'd opened some gates and raided the hay supply. They keep me on my toes: