It rained early this morning, but then cleared out, so after breakfast I kept Cody in for his ride. It became obvious when I groomed him that he needed a bath more than a ride, so I got the shampoo in the wash bucket and let him graze while I soaped him up. I spent an hour or so soaping and rinsing and checking for ticks. I always clean the brushes when I give a bath, so I got sidetracked doing that while Cody dried and munched on hay in the barnyard.
Meanwhile, no rain. Keil Bay got wind that I was hanging out in the barn doling out attention (not to mention hay), so he came back in from the field and got a flake for himself.
Salina and Rafer Johnson soon followed. More hay.
Then Apache Moon came running too. Everyone wanted to hang out at the barn.
My daughter and I mucked all the stalls and paddocks and decided to switch things around today. We let Salina have the main paddock and access to stalls along with Rafer Johnson and Keil Bay, and put the pony in the barnyard with Cody where they had access to the barnyard, barn aisle, and Salina and Rafer's stall/paddock.
I like to mix things up once in a while, so that no one gets too dependent on a certain way of being turned out or stalled. Periodically I separate everyone into different spaces for a few hours, just so they don't forget how to be apart.
They seem to do well with this musical stall game - in fact, they rearrange themselves if left to their own devices out there.
I've been writing and doing laundry and making lunches most of the afternoon - now it's time to go see if I can squeeze in a Cody ride before the rain hits. If it hits - it's cloudy but thus far no wet stuff.
And we're getting in a load of hay today, so it will be nice if the rain holds off until it's in the barn.
billie hinton’s camera-obscura:
life and lessons on November Hill Farm
It sounds like everyone had fun with the musical stalls today, and it's a good idea to switch them up once in a while. We do that too, Donnie and Blue were just switched. We like to give whoever is next to Mellon a break once in a while. He is normally slightly neurotic, but since Erik died I think he seems to be worse. Erik was his calming effect,they were together since they were 3yrs old, so we are hoping now Blue will help him calm down, because Blue just doesn't care about anything. He used to make Donnie crazy. Hope you got to ride and also got the hay in the barn before it rained. We look like we are going to get a storm any minute here.
ReplyDeleteArlene, it really struck me when I read "since Erik died." Aside from the sadness for you, the effect on the herd must have had its own ripple effect.
ReplyDeleteWe did get the hay in the barn but I did not get a ride on Cody because we had a Donkey On The Run. :0
Rafer Johnson squeezed through the fence and then proceeded to have his evening wild spell as Kenzie and I tried to keep him corralled safely in the front yard while not teaching him bad things about halters and lead ropes. Whew.
Tomorrow we are keeping fences hot all day AND we are doing some work on halters and lead ropes once again being good, friendly things that don't in any way mean applesauce antibiotic.
Plus the split rail perimeter fencing with no-climb wire just went up a few notches on the list.