Posts Tagged ‘happy horses’
Being Horses
This morning I am feeling overwhelming awe over my opportunity to live in such a beautiful place and care for these four rescued thoroughbred mares. In a conscious effort to compartmentalize all the ills and angst-inducing news roiling our planet, I am focusing on the peace and tranquility of my immediate surroundings and soaking up the soul-nourishing thrill of it all.
Being home alone with our animals brings on plenty of opportunities for contemplation. Half of me is thinking about which of our unending projects I can tend to on my own –chainsaw use is not allowed when I am alone– and half is wallowing in the bliss of all the pleasantries of solitude.
Partial solitude, that is. Delilah frequently reminds me that I am not totally alone. She also influences which projects I choose to tackle and when because some tasks don’t lend themselves well to having a leashed dog along. I am extremely grateful for her patient tolerance of my extended lingering this morning after tending to the horses.
The completion of the morning routine at the barn is regularly the trigger for returning to the house to feed Delilah breakfast. That she would accept any delay in being fed is absolute generosity on her part.
While the horses were calmly consuming their morning feed servings today, I quietly made my way down to open the gates to the freshly cut hay field. I was dumping a wheelbarrow of manure onto the most active compost pile when the horses took advantage of the renewed opportunity to roam the front field. They were just making their way over the hill and out of sight when I returned to the barn.
Curious about what was drawing them to immediately head to the farthest reaches of the field, I convinced Delilah to walk away from the house toward the high spot in the driveway to see what the horses were doing down by the road.
They were munching on the grass along the fence line as if in a gesture to demonstrate that they could. It was as far from the barn as their confines allow. With Delilah’s generous patience providing me ample opportunity, I just stood and watched our herd of four gorgeous horses being horses. Mix turned first and began to make her way back up the rise in the big field.
She stood at the top for a moment and looked absolutely regal, then moved into a happy trot down to the gate into the paddocks. The other three walked along behind. They appeared to be reveling in the regained access to the full reaches of their current home.
It is such a rewarding honor to be able to give them as much autonomy as possible throughout each day.
Their happiness is contagious.
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Should Be
This is as it should be. The horses are peacefully enjoying the fresh green pasture. Simply idyllic.
I am very happy to report that the horses have been very calm about moving through the gate to the pasture when I open it. They have also been self-policing their minutes on the field. When my timer has gone off reminding me to usher them back to the confines of the paddocks the last two days, I have found they had already returned on their own.
Yesterday they were all willing participants in receiving their spring dose of dewormer medication. By all indications, they have become well adjusted and are at peace with the accommodations we are providing. It is interesting to think back to how they presented in the early days after their arrival a little over one year ago.
It’s been rewarding to witness the slow changes as they began to grow more comfortable with us and their surroundings with the passing of each month. They are beginning to take on a look that says they agree that this is exactly where they should be at this point in their lives.
They must be happy that the close calls with severe weather recently have all turned out well for us. There was nothing visible yesterday morning to indicate a big windy thunderstorm rolled over us the night before. At least, in terms of trees and branches that is. There were plenty of hints we had experienced a flash flood.
The diagonal line through the field in the image above is where the runoff flattened the grass on the way to the drainage ditch along our southern property border. We really need to find our rain gauges and get those set up again. I prefer knowing how much rain falls from big storms.
Cyndie recalls storing one of them last fall in a very smart place where we would be able to find it again in spring. So far, no luck.
Her new milestone of knee replacement recovery for yesterday (just over 3 weeks out) was, taking her first walk on a trail through our woods. She did it without a cane or any supporting devices. She’s not pain free yet, but she is definitely making good progress on using that leg more and more. The machine providing compression and icing is a godsend that really helps the rest periods between all the exercise she is getting.
I think I would like one of those fancy machines with a sleeve that fits over my whole body. I suppose I could always take an ice bath.
Okay, that just changed my mind. I don’t want to take an ice bath.
Although, yesterday’s heat and humidity was rather oppressive…
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Happiness Abounds
Yesterday afternoon I had the most spectacular time granting the horses a special treat by allowing them a token of grass beyond the confines of the dwindling blades available in the paddocks. Delilah and I showed up early and went immediately to work in the round pen while the horses were up near the barn wondering what we were up to. I rigged up some web fence to allow for an isolated alley limiting access to just the pen.
After that, I spent time scooping old remains of manure left from the time we allowed them to be in there over winter. By the time I was done, it was the normal hour for their feed pans to be served. While they finished that and then munched on some hay, I pushed the wheelbarrow across the paddock and scooped manure. When I was near the gate to the round pen, I undid the chain and opened it up to provide them clear access.
Not one of them paid me any attention down there, so I kept making my way around the paddock and scooping poop. Finally, I looked up to see that Mia had wandered away from the barn into the middle of the big paddock. I took a pause from my scooping and walked toward the gate to demonstrate it was open.
I would describe the look on her face as one of surprise as she cautiously approached at an angle to get a closer view. I walked inside the pen and she followed.
It didn’t take Mix long to notice.
She made her way toward the wheelbarrow to make it look like she was only partially interested and then joined Mia in the pen.
When Light figured out what was going on, she immediately ran down to join the other two.
So far, so good in terms of those three remaining agreeable in the confined space. It didn’t take long for Swings to realize where everybody went and show up for the fun.
I stepped away and watched for a while to see if they would continue to be friendly and freely share the new opportunity.
Satisfied, I wandered off to dump the wheelbarrow and rescue Delilah who was waiting patiently in the barn. It was time to take her up to the house for her dinner. As we came out of the barn to get one last look at the horses, they put on quite a show to demonstrate how happy they were.
They took turns at first, running out and back in… because they could. Then they all joined together to do some tight quarters racing from the round pen up to the barn, around the small paddock, and back through the large one into the pen again. Swings came out and stood up on her hind legs, looking about twenty years younger than her age, as the others romped.
I’m not sure who was having more fun at that moment, the horses over their good fortune, or me being able to witness their excitement.
Pure happiness, all around.
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Happy Grazing
Late yesterday, Cyndie captured some great shots of the horses out on the big field as the sun was low.
Mix was walking around with only one fly sock on.
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It was nice to see Mix out there with the others because she has been lingering back under the overhang for a few days whenever the others wandered out. It’s difficult to gauge her reasons so our concern rises a little bit and we watch for any indication it is health-related.
Maybe she just doesn’t want to venture very far in the heat of the day.
The other possibility might be the low value of grazing that is available during the increasingly troublesome drought.
I wondered if she just didn’t feel like walking that far, so I’m very happy to know there doesn’t appear to be any physical limitation keeping her from moving out there.
I ended the day doing some trimming along the back pasture fence line and by the time I stopped, I didn’t feel like walking any further than necessary.
We are prone to repeating an old phrase around our house with respect to how our feet feel at the end of a long day: “My dogs were barking.”
After getting covered in dog shit shrapnel from the power trimmer upon inadvertently hitting a poo Delilah had previously deposited, I had a strong interest in doing just enough walking to get myself into a shower as fast as possible.
Living a privileged country life isn’t always a glamorous endeavor.
At least our horses maintain a pretty respectable sense of decorum when they are out grazing on the big field by the road.
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Relative Something 