The Little Horsey Boys

A peaceful scene:


 Remy acts as if he's anxious to return to the barn each evening. I am guessing that he's looking for some fresh hay plus a respite from the sun and pesky insects:

But he also seems to enjoy going outside each morning:

That's Blue and Remy in the background, standing at their confining fence and watching the cattle, just out of their reach. They'll all get to be together again in November when the fresh, green grass is gone:

Rosella grazed just outside the horses' corral:

As you can see, the boys have devoured every blade of grass in their corral except for that patch just past the tree. That's where they poop, so they won't eat that:

I had to trim some long grass by the dogs' yard, so I tossed it over the fence for the horses. They were ecstatic:

Giving them grass was so successful that I gave them more the next two days;

Blue preferred the grass which was in Remy's mouth. It was fun and made them happy, but after three days, they began to limp again, so I discontinued bringing them grass:

Remy:

Blue:

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:

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:

Blue And Remy

It's early spring and Remy is finding lots of green grass to eat, probably more of it than he should eat. In this photo, it appeared that the cows were watching with amazement as he binged:

Both horsey boys are eating well and enjoying the slowly improving weather:

Gracie and Blue found a soft, dry place to nap in the afternoon sun:

And I continue to bring out hay bales, though the end is in sight:

Blue's hooves seem to be getting sore from eating too much fresh grass. He lies down too often and doesn't seem to want to get up. I will have to do something soon:

Are you talking about me?

But they are a happy pair, enjoying springtime:

Nobody needs to walk to the stock tank for water:

And nobody is going hungry:

As you can see, the pasture is greening up rapidly:

One morning I found Blue on the east side of the barn, looking wistfully across the road at the north field, which was even greener than the field he's in:

Remy was there too, but he was busy gobbling up grass by the old silo base. I need to find a way to limit these boys' grass consumption. Stay tuned for how this turns out:

Spring's Sudden Arrival

Just one day after a snowstorm, we were warm and snowless. Spring was in the air, so I walked around the yard, searching for anything green. The first signs of growth I saw were the Bearded Iris coming up:

And to my surprise, I had a Crocus in bloom:

And one Crocus almost in bloom:

The Daffodils were emerging:

And the Magnolia had one green bud which looked promising. This happened last year, though, but the bud fell off when I touched it. This time I kept my hands off of it:

Jack, Daphne and Clover watched my every move from their back yard run:

Seamus and Fergus watched from the other side of the yard:

The Lilac beside the barn had buds which were very swollen, as sure a sign of spring as the blooming Crocus:

In the field, the cattle were lounging comfortably and didn't want to move. When I brought them a new hay bale, only Jasmine had the energy to walk over to it:

Blue was sleeping with the cows, but Remy walked over to see me:

And the most important miracle of all was the appearance of some green grass. Grass is an important crop here, the basic feed of much livestock - not to mention its function as lawn:

One of the apple trees by the road lost a major limb and a second big limb appears dead. Both of them have been stripped of bark, probably by porcupines. This will be a big job for me to take care of soon: