Head tossing as a means of communication

Over the weekend we finally got some sun, and the fields got a bit drier, so the horses were turned out on Sunday. We arrived at the barn mid-afternoon as they were coming in, covered with mud and sort of dozy from their day outside. Well, Bestie was dozy, but Dude seemed to take our arrival as a sign that he'd go back out and handgraze, since that's been the routine all those days they were in.

Katie obliged and took him out while I lunged Bestie. I wanted to ride, but decided that it might be smarter/prudent/more cautious to lunge since I hadn't ridden in four days and given the lack of turnout over the course of the week.

On the lunge line she strolled slowly at the walk like she could barely drag herself around the circle. When I clucked her to trot she looked at me like "Really?" and gave a little sideways head shake - "No, I don't think so." I encouraged her to trot again and she finally started up, doing her Western jog - not the most ideal gait to get out excess energy.

Clucking at her again led to the up-and-down head shake, which is the "I may do what you want, but let's keep negotiating on this" shake. I clucked at her again and gave the lunge line a little wiggle. Up-and-down head shake, snort, circular head shake: "ALL RIGHT ALREADY." And off she trotted in a nice big trot. She was actually pretty good, transitioning well between the trotting and cantering and coming back down to a walk nicely. I thought for sure that she'd have one of her maniacal gallops, but I guess the day out in the sun had tired her out.

Hockey tonight will leave little barn time. Hoping to ride Tuesday after work.

Eating their greens

It's that time of year when the grass and other greenery is beginning to grow, and it fascinates me to watch Dude and Bestie grazing. I spend a lot of time doing that since it's still mud season and turnout comes and goes depending on pasture conditions. After the previous confinement, we had a run of really nice days, but now we're back to a rainy stretch and they've been inside for two days. I try to get them out for at least 20-30 minutes of hand grazing.

Bestie seems less selective than Dude at this time of year. She pretty much wolfs down whatever she can munch on and often seems to be inhaling it rather than chewing it up. I tend to graze them along the path that runs between the pastures since the grass there is pretty lush. Bestie is like a buzz saw making her way methodically down the path.

Dude wanders more as he grazes; in fact, he's all over the place. At this time of year he tends to grab clumps of young crab grass, dandelions and big leaf plantain along the path. He doesn't like anything fine (that goes for hay, too). Pretty soon he'll start avoiding the dandelions and plantain. I've read that those plants tend to get bitter as they age. His choices are interesting, given that you often hear that horses choose to eat certain plants for a reason. I've read that dandelion is rich in certain minerals and that plantain has a calming effect on digestion.

I recently read an article about growing an herb garden for your horse, which I thought was such a fun idea. The article is on holistichorse.com. Of course they suggest working with a knowledgeable practitioner of herbal medicine before treating your horse.

A run of rainy days

The horses have been in all week because we've had a bunch of rainy days that have turned the fields to mud. I haven't had time to ride, but I have been able to get them both out for a graze each day. One day I was out with Dude and a groundhog came out of the woods to graze about 25 feet away - cute (as long as his burrow is in the woods and not the pasture).

A couple photos of the muddy track and the princess grazing. The sun is due to be out tomorrow, yay!

Monday

Monday. Enough said? Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, sometimes it's ok. This particular one was coming off a weekend where I felt I didn't have enough down time. And the day itself was busy. And I stopped at the grocery store prior to the barn so I was running later than usual. AND it's Katie's long day at work, so I usually do both the horses. This is all called "setting the scene."

Turnout has been a bit sketchy lately due to the wet weather making a mess of the fields. The barn folk helpfully send an email when the horses have to stay in. I checked my email late morning; no note from the barn. Got to the barn and - surprise! - found them in; the note had been sent at 2 pm. I had really wanted to ride Bestie, but now was faced with getting both of them out to shake off a day in the stall, and horsey responsibilities were battling with visions of the fillet of salmon I had just purchased for a nice dinner. The whole scene made me very cranky.

I got Dude out first as he is the most vocal about the terrible injustice of being in for the day. We headed out to the round pen, where he trotted around snorting and tossing his head just to make sure everyone knew that really, he should've been outside all day. Then we handgrazed for a few minutes. The grass really hasn't grown very long, so grazing options are a bit slim, but it was enough to make him happy, and how could I not smile at the gusto with which he attacked the new grass? Then I got Bestie out to lunge her, and she trotted around so slowly, it was like she was a thousand years old. I had to laugh at that - you just never know whether a day inside will set up bucking bronco Bestie or oh-this-is-so-much-work Bestie. After lunging, we went out so she could get a few mouthfuls of grass. When we came back in, Dude had his head out over his stall guard like he was waiting for us; once Bestie got resettled in her stall, he went back to his hay.

As cranky as I can be upon arrival, I never leave the barn that way. Making them happy with a bit of grass, cleaning the stalls, and leaving to the sounds of contented hay munching - impossible to be unhappy when all is right in the horses' little world.