On Wednesday, Dude and Bestie went out from 7:30 am until 3:35 pm. Wow, amazing. We figured out a field arrangement that I could live with until it's shaken up again when Laura brings a few horses home. Dude, Bestie, Jake and Ben are all in a big four square configuration, with Dude and Ben in the top two squares and Jake and Bestie in the bottom two squares. The walkway to the barn runs right up the middle.
I was still a little worried about putting Dude in that field because it is the furthest from the barn with no "cushion" from the road. And there is a hill. Bestie was getting turned out in that field, and I had just joked to Laura that Bestie would have the best rear end in the barn with all the hill work she was doing. So maybe Dude will get his big ol' Quarter Horse butt back now that he's there. So far he seems to like standing on the knoll at the top of the field and surveying his domain. He watches the old white horse across the road and can also see three horses down the road a bit.
I got to the barn at 3 and at 3:45 he started getting antsy, so I brought them both in and cleaned them up.
When I got to the barn today Laura told me Dude had spotted the cows across the road. She said it was kind of funny but also kind of scary because she was afraid he was going to get everybody off and running, and it was pretty mushy in the fields today due to the rain last night. I guess he did his long considering snort, which means "Hmmn, this doesn't look good but I'm not quite sure what to do yet." Then he did a bunch of snorts and pawed, meaning "Hey whatever you things are across the road, you'd better not come over here because I'm ready for you." She said he trotted around the field trying to get the other horses going ("Guys! Cows!!"), and apparently Bestie obligingly trotted for a bit, but no one else had the slightest bit of interest in the alarming cows. So Dude settled down and parked himself back on his knoll.
Laura jokingly said that she might call the farmer to see when they plan on trimming the cows' feet, because that might cause a bit of excitement. I guess so ... I didn't know this, but apparently they put the cow in some sort of contraption that flips it on its side, and then the farrier trims the hoof. I'm sure there's all sorts of bellowing going on during the process. Dude would probably have a heart attack, and I'm sure Bestie wouldn't be too happy either. Note to self: remind Laura to ask farmer when cow hoof trimming day will be. :)
Lunged Bestie (first time in a week and a half) and brushed her and Dude outside so they could graze. It was a beautiful sunny day. I'm thinking they probably took a nap after I left. After yesterday's first day of extended turnout, they came in positively exhausted. At some point they'll make it until later in the day, but at this point, they seem pretty fried by 3:45/4 p.m.
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