It is so muggy at the barn that the cement walls were literally dripping. All the horses were brought in the for the night around 7pm, but after they finished eating John and I decided to turn them all back out to the pasture. The barn air was thick and hot. At least if they were in the pasture they could feel a nice breeze. The low overnight didn't get below 65 degrees. The body clipped horses seem un-bothered by the heat, but the thick-coated horses are miserable.
The lawn mower seems to always have issues. For those of you that don't know, the mower belongs to the property owner but we pay for all the repairs. Just last week we trailered it to the shop to get a tire fixed. A few days ago it decided not to start. We brought the battery to our mechanic, Clyde's on SW Archer Road, when we went to pick up the PT Cruiser for repairs. The battery was so low on charge that it couldn't be measured by their equipment. We asked if it is safe to jump the battery with a car and they gave us the okay ( The mechanic said, "Well, I don't know if yer s'posed to, but I do it." ). We go home, put the battery back on the mower and jumped it with the PT Cruiser. Viola! Problem solved! For now...
We'll be getting a HUGE delivery of shavings in the next week! I am so excited! These shavings come from our previous producer, The Shavings Bin, and are of the highest quality. A percentage of the shavings are kiln dried making them highly absorbant (when the pine shavings absorb the urine, it helps with odor and moisture. If I were a horse I would NOT want to be smelling my own urine and sure as heck wouldn't want my porous hooves to be soaking in it!). This new delivery will have less of the big flakes and more of the easier-to-pick, small flakes. I made sure that the small flakes still provided plenty of "fluff" for them.
The way I clean stalls is different than most barns. I learned from upscale, large breeding barns such as Churchill Farm (Appaloosas), Kimberwicke Arabians, StarQuarry Farm (Hanoverians) and Hawksfield Farm. Incorporating their management practices with my ethics, I do what's commonly called "turn-over" every time I clean I stall. Turning-over involves removing all manure and urine, and then lifting a tossing every last bit of shavings in the stall. This essentially fluffs the stall every day. The horses pack down the shavings in just a few hours, resulting in compacted, uncomfortable footing. Fluffing the stalls gives them cushion and encourages them to relax, lay down, and be happy.
This morning Betsy, who is typically very submissive, showed her dominant side to Satin. Satin cannot stand conflict and all it takes to make her move away is to pin your ears at her. Betsy simply approached Satin with ears pinned. The funny thing is, Dancer, who is also very submissive, then came up to Betsy to scare her off... and moments later Satin came back and moved Dancer away. An interesting dynamic - no one is really more dominant than the other, it just depends on the individual and what they feel like putting up with at that moment (for those of you that are familiar with birds, you can see the similarity in bird behavior. There is no real hierarchy, just winners and losers that change every day). Shellie is always the aggressor and gets what she wants, when she wants it.
The results are in: Casanova has the littlest winny on the whole farm. It was a close call between Cas and Bodhi, but the final vote went to Cas as he made little baby girl sounds at feeding time. Way to go Cas! You're truly a cutie!
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