Big Red Polls, Little Horses

Jasmine has been looking healthier than ever before and I am encouraged to think she might become productive again. Formerly, her obesity prevented her from coming into heat. I suspect she's begun cycling again, though. I've been keeping notes on my calendar:

Winston is happy, healthy and curious:

The herd is often found all in a row, ideal for photos:

Winston in his frequent pose, watching me with curiosity. This time he had poop on his head:

It's almost as if they line up for photos, but I think the real reason is that they like to press against each other to brush off/crush the flies:

Winston and his Aunt Jasmine came in for a drink of cool water. He seems to hang around with her more than with the others:

I always lead Remy in and out of the barn first, so in the evening Blue has to wait, tied to a tree, until I return for him:

They spend their nights in the barn, protected from too many flies and with plenty of hay and water:

In the morning, I spray them both with fly spray, then lead Remy out and tie him to the tree while I fetch Blue:

When both horses begin their day in the corral, they play briefly and then begin searching for grass to eat. I bring hay out right away, but they'd rather have green grass:

In the evening, I go out to the corral to bring them in. This night, Winston and several cows were just outside the horses' fence:

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:

The Red Poll Girls

Jasmine (on the left) and all the red haired ladies move to the east side of the barn when cold westerly winds are blowing uncomfortably:

But it is winter and they live in the north country, so being out in the cold is part of life:

A highlight of their existence is any time I bring out a new hay bale and drop it into the feeder:

I move the bale feeder each time so that frozen waste hay can't build up inside and cement the feeder to the ground. It also leaves a patch of scattered hay, providing a new place for the cows to bed down at night:

On some mornings, the girls come into the barn for a bit of sweet grain, sometimes with added mineral supplements. But most mornings, they are not interested:

After a breakfast of grain, they walk back out to the bale feeder and continue to munch on hay:

But a bovine has four stomach compartments and has to spend time chewing her cud, so they also spend time relaxing and digesting:

If it is unusually cold, the cows sometimes collect at the barn door, apparently hoping I'll let them in. I used to do so, but they just pooped all over everything and then went back outside in the cold to sleep anyway, so now I leave them outdoors:

Eating hay is their main interest, their main activity. It provides nourishment and keeps their bodies warm:

They can get pretty intense when scarfing down the hay. If I want to move in front of them, I have to push them out of the way (they don't seem to mind):

Amy has the biggest udder and I worry sometimes that it will freeze, but apparently cattle have evolved with enough blood circulation there to keep their udders warm:

And when the little horses join them at the bale feeder, it seems that all is right with the world. Life is good, the animals all get along, and my own little peaceable kingdom is functioning properly:

Around The Farm In Chilly Weather

I go out to do the morning chores as soon as there is enough light to see what I'm doing. That often means seeing glorious dawns in the eastern sky:


And on some late afternoons, I see amazing sights in the sky. This full moon was moving across my north field:


The bantam hens seem happy with their cloistered lives:

One hen kept laying occasional eggs but she finally gave it up for the winter. I eat so few eggs, though, that I've still got some in the refrigerator. It's a good thing eggs keep so long:

The white fantail pigeons get all excited when I top off their water. Maybe they think I've put vodka in there:

Our weather has been a wild roller coaster ride, swinging between sudden thaws and sudden winter storms. The herd has handled it all with aplomb:

Remy and Jasmine, the two friendliest animals in the herd. When I walk out to say hello, these two are always glad to see me and they enjoy being stroked - Remy likes the top of his face petted and Jasmine likes me to rub her neck, under her chin:

The little horses and big cows seem happy and content. I never see any dominance displays over the hay supply:

Every morning with new snow, I find an abundance of wildlife tracks. Usually they are cottontail and fox tracks as in this photo, but I sometimes see other tracks which I think are bobcat, coyote and snowshoe hare:

My Amish neighbor is also the horses' farrier, and he usually arrives very early in the morning. On this morning, the sun had not yet risen above the barn roof, which is why the north field is brightly lit but the horse and buggy are still shadowed. The good news is that he said both horses' hooves are healing and looking good:

The sheep farmers up the road brought another load of stemmy hay. Their sheep eat the leaves but leave the stems, which my cows are happy to eat:

This time I was able to position the bale feeder over the top of the stemmy hay:

Blue And Remy In December

We had a December thaw which melted almost all the snow in the pasture and made Remy happy:

Blue also liked the winter thaw, and together they roamed the pasture while looking for edible grass:

But snow soon came again, meaning their diet was just hay:

They don't seem to mind the cold and snow at all:

I pull off the frozen outer layer of each new hay bale, tossing the icy chunks, good side up, outside the hay bale feeder. Both little horses (and sometimes the cows) often seem more excited by these than by the big bale of good hay in the feeder:

Remy is looking pretty spiffy in his new, bright red halter:

And he seems immune to winter's blowing snow:

Blue moves more slowly, but he too has a brand new halter to show off:

When the snow is deep, they paw at the ground to expose the grass:

Blue stopped his pawing to watch me:

When the neighbors brought over another load of hay stems which their sheep wouldn't eat, Remy was right there to "help" and try to grab some hay. He had a full bale of fresh hay ten feet away, but stolen hay is always better:

Both little horses seem to be experiencing hoof problems again, and I am calling over the farrier to have a look and trim them. The vet may be the next call: