Warmer weather in the future

Although the low for tonight is about 25 degrees, the high for the day was a sunny 55. The horses' blankets came off around noon and everyone got to feel the cool breeze on their fur. The ice around the troughs is mostly melted away and it's actually kind of NICE outside instead of dreary, icky, frigid cold.

Yesterday morning and evening everyone got a hot bran mash mixed with their grain. I added salt and minerals to everyone's food (except Bodhi who is eating a supplemental feed high in electrolytes already). In theory the salt should encourage the horses to drink more. Added salt in addition to mushy, sloppy, warm wheat bran will help with smooooth digestion of all that coastal hay. Fingers crossed that every remains healthy and doesn't have impaction issues! We are doing everything we can to avoid colic during this awfully cold spell.

JW is feeling his oats now that he's back on the farm! For those of you who didn't know, JW made a 5-day trip to Springhill Equine (at their new facility!) to have minor surgery to flush his sinuses. The vet okayed him to go straight out into the pasture when he arrived home, so I turned him loose after unloading him. To say he was happy to be home would be an understatement! He bucked and crow hopped and caprioled, farting all the way. He hollered like a stud, telling everyone at Greener Pastures that the King Had Returned! Of course Tie was the only one in his pasture and he just stayed out of JW's way. The girls met him at the fence, especially the flirtiest of them all, Shellie.
Each time we have let him out in the morning since his arrival home JW has bucked and farted in pure joy! He is definitely feeling much better without all that snot in his skull!

Tav and Pokey are an adorable match. Pokey has recently been dealing with some emotional issues. It seems he may be missing his true love, Goose, who left us in late December. Pokey seemed fine next to the pasture of mares with his two pals JW and Tie. When JW left for the vet Pokey was alone with Tie and his neighboring girls. Tie is not too fond of conversation and the girls always play coy, so I think Pokey was beginning to feel pangs of loneliness. When JW returned and took his best friend, Tie, for himself, Pokey probably felt abandoned.
In his emotional state he did not want to be played with or have fun and sort of threw a tantrum, not allowing his poor mother, Ashley, to catch him. It was as if he was saying, "I don't want to talk about it! You can't make me!"
It's hard to say what is really going through Pokey's head, but by his actions we can certainly tell he's nervous. Perhaps it all the changes on the farm - Goose leaving, JW leaving then returning, the cold weather, and things unseen to our human senses. Poor Pokey need some undemanding, quiet time spent with his mom. It will take time and patience, but he will eventually let his mom comfort him.
In the mean time, John and I are giving Pokey his space. If he immediately walks away from us when we enter his space, we recede.
Now Pokey has a new pasture mate, Tav, and they get along wonderfully. They share their hay and munch nose-to-nose. They play dominance games all day and you'll often see Pokey standing very close to Tav as he sleeps lying down in a patch of sunshine.
Pokey dressed himself:

As I was walking through pasture 4 today to remove Molly's blanket, but also to survey the fence line, look for fallen limbs, and make a mental note of the grass status, the three oldies (Molly, Jedi, Ufir) came galloping to me. Molly was feeling very playful and stood almost on her tiptoes, nose in the air, tossing her head. It's sweet to see the old horses with so much energy!

Blankets will be back on tonight and I will be feeding another hot bran mash with their grain this evening.Tav napping.

The Cold Front Continues in Florida

Last night was a record low at 18 measly degrees. All our hoses were left dripped to keep from bursting. But we quickly learned over this past freezing week that taking the hoses off the spigots is the best strategy, otherwise your hose freezes and can split.
Luckily, none of our hoses split before we learned this little detail, but many of our hoses were funkily frozen in the mornings. You could pick up the S-shaped hose from one end and the entire length of hose would lift into the air, retaining whatever shape it was in. Funny! You can see in the picture below just how thick the water on the trough had frozen -- and this was taken at 1:30pm in the day!
You may notice excess water around the troughs, some of it may still be frozen if you get out to the barn before the sun melts the ice. All this extra water is from keep those spigots running.

It was an awful 15 or so degrees when John started feeding at 6:30am this morning. We keep the barn windows and doors closed up at night, hoping that it will keep some of the chill out. We weren't really sure it was working and didn't feel a difference in temperature, but now we have proof! Our little thermometer inside the barn read 30 degrees. John took it outside the barn and it immediately started dropping! It as 10 degrees warmer inside the barn! Yay!

I kept everyone's blanket on until about 12:30pm - as soon as I got back to the barn. It was still a nippy 48 out, but the sun was shining and everyone was munching on hay. I figured those furry bodies needed a break from the blankets after keeping them on for days! I did end up taking everyone's blankets off yesterday at about 3:30pm. It was still very cold, but those horses were dying to feel the soil on their backs.

Here's an adorable shot I snapped today. Like any mom, I was snapping pictures of my baby when Betsy stuck her nose in the shot. I just assumed Satin would pin her ears like usual... but instead I caught this cute picture!


And the white chipmunk...
And the boys...

Frozen troughs and frosty pastures

It is cold.
We head out to feed at 6:30am. Troughs are frozen solid, water buckets are filled with chunks of ice, ice patches form from the dripping hoses. Yes, it's freezing. Well below freezing!


We get the horses out of their stalls as early as possible to stretch and move and warm up. This morning the girls went out first. For some reason they all followed Fatso-Satin into Pasture 2 (normally where Pokey and Tie live). John tried to encourage them out the back gate of that pasture but they wouldn't willingly budge from the hay. So he just left them there and put Pokey and Tie in the girls' pasture. Get their brain juices flowing from the pasture change!

It's almost 1:00pm and the temperature hasn't risen above 39 degrees, so I can't in good judgment take anyone's blanket off! But they need to be brushed and roll, so if you can come out and give your horse a break from their blanket, please do! I may take their blankets off for an hour if the wind dies down... Or maybe only 20 minutes! I am sure everyone is feeling cramped and restricted in their blankets.

Stuff for sale!
I am personally selling 3 Wintec saddles. A friend of mine dropped off a pair of leather english riding boots to see if anyone is interested. I think they are size 8. They are in the tack room if you want a look. Just make an offer and let me know.
If you'd like to sell something and want me to advertise, just shoot me a note. Or, you can just post a note in the barn for everyone to see!

Stay warm!

Snug as a bug

We've closed up all the stall windows and barn doors. Shellie, Betsy, Satin, Dancer, JW, Pokey, and Tie are snuggled up in their thickly bedded stalls, blankets (or wooly coats!) on. Tonight is the first of almost a week of very cold nights! All the pasture horses are blanketed and actively warming their bellies with hay.

The rains that fell heavily on Greener Pastures brought this frigid front to our farm. It rained for nearly 12 hours, and it was no drizzle! It came down hard through morning feeding so we kept everyone dry inside their stalls, picked out the manure, gave them more hay and fresh water. We had Tie tucked away in a stall and had one more stall empty. We chose to bring old Molly up to the barn to get her out of the downpour. We towel-dried her, brushed her down and combed her mane to help her dry more quickly, knowing the cold weather was on its way. Finally, around noon, the rain came to a stop and the sun began to peak through the dreary clouds.
The horses were itching to stretch their legs and run!

Pokey, JW, and Tie trot off into their pasture, heading straight for the hay. Nothing too exciting. But the girls always give a show. Shellie is very much the instigator of all happy horse behaviors and that day was no exception. She first got Dancer to race with her across the pasture, kicking and bucking and galloping, showing off their Thoroughbred genetics! As Dancer absentmindedly ran around the pasture (showing off the dumb-blond Thoroughbred stereotype), Shellie would rush past Satin and Betsy to try to get them going too. Satin finally left her hay to canter around, BUCK and REAR (Satin stores up her energy so that she can make her explosions count!), then trot back to the hay. Betsy sometimes followed at the trot, just to appease Master Shellie. Shellie then finished off the fun with 3 nice rolls in the damp dirt, and big snort and shake, and a toss of her head. Time to graze.

With all this moisture comes thrush, so be vigilant with hoof picking. Several horses on the farm had thrush when the farrier trimmed them just a week or two ago. The horses who get stalled have a slight advantage in that their hooves get a relief from the damp grass and hay in the pastures when they get to come into the dry stall. So for the horses that don't get to stand in dry shavings, I recommend picking their hooves as frequently as possible (obviously daily is ideal). Also, with the weather being so cold, horses' coats should stay curried and clean of crusty mud. If their coat is matted down from sweat or dirt, they have a more difficult time fluffing up their hair to keep warm. And the horses that wear their blankets for long periods of time should have their blanket removed and their coats brushed at least once a day if possible, especially if their blanket is staying on all day and night.

Consider offering your horse T&A or O&A hay through the winter. For an additional fee we can provide a grass/legume hay to keep their weight on when the nutrient-rich grass is gone. A legume hay is also prudent not only because it provides higher protein content, but the more "stemmy" the hay, the less likely your horse will experience colic or impaction from the finer coastal grass hay. Adding a legume/grass hay in addition to the coastal can help avoid this. But, because we know not every horse should eat this higher protein hay, we continue to supply mineral/salt blocks in every pasture to ensure (we hope) adequate water consumption - again, to avoid impaction.

Cheers to happy, healthy horses!

The boys

Yesterday at morning feeding time John and I walked out to Pasture 5. We refer to this heard as "The boys". Magic, Tav, Dusty, Bodhi, and Cas. As we approached the gate we expected to see the boys hanging out awaiting their breakfast like usual. But there was not a single horse in sight.
John poured Tav's grain in the feed stall and I called to the horses. Still nothing.
Peculiar, I thought. The only explanation could be a fence down and everyone escaped. Before I took one step to begin my search, I looked up and saw a very funny sight. I elbowed John and whispered, "Look, look, look!"
Just peeking out from around the bend of woods was all 5 horses abreast in a row. All looking at us like WE were the aliens sent to eat them. They stood like statues, every one of them, staring directly at us. Magic took about two steps forward and stopped. The other 4 followed his lead, just taking a few steps. Brave Bodhi walked a few more steps, followed by Cas. But they were still hundreds of yards away! They kept this up for several minutes. Finally I called out, "Hi boys!" Reassuring them that we weren't the monsters in their game.
They blew snorts of relief and came up to eat their grain.

But, the fun didn't stop there. Magic has this "thing" he does at feeding time, mostly in the evenings, where he acts like there is a ghost in the woods to the South of their pasture. He'll be eating, then abrubtly lift his head as if something scary just whispered to him. And he'll even take it to the next step and trot a few steps away from his food. None of the other horses notice the thing in the woods, but it does stir up excitement.
So I moved Magic's bucket further from the woods a few weeks ago. He still sees and hears the ghost (maybe a raccoon family?) in the woods, but since he gets to eat closer to his herd he feels safer. Perhaps it is the alpha horse keen senses that distinguish him from the rest. Bodhi just calls Magic a big baby and threatens to kick him.

Gotta love the boys!

Officially winter

You know that it's truly winter when the temperatures don't rise above 60 degrees and the lows dive down into the low 30's.
Well tonight we are expecting a low of upper 20's with windchill estimates in the mid 20's! Everyone who has a blanket will be wearing one!

In the next month we will be attempting to gain access to an adjoining 20 acres of gorgeous property. This property is currently unoccupied but is only partially fenced. There is areas of pasture and areas that are heavily shaded by massive oaks - a nice place to take a leisurely trail ride. One side of the property backs up to the West side of Greener Pastures (behind the mobile home). The property stretches out into a square shape and opens up on SW 75th St.
The owners live in another state and plan to one day retire on their property, but for now it sits vacant. We would love to utilize this wonderful space for our boarders, whether it be pasture, cross-country field, or just for trail riding.
We will keep you posted!

It's been fairly quiet and chill out here the past few days. We'll be staying home with the horses on New Years to make sure everyone stays calm during the fireworks.

See you at the farm!

Tis the season

Happy Holidays from everyone here at Greener Pastures!

Since my last blog a few days ago Greener Pastures has received 40 cubic yards of custom blended shavings, 16 750lb coastal round bales, and many e-mails from horse parents looking to board with us.

We wish we had a hundred acres this close to town and could offer board to everyone who was interested! But in the last 3 months we have had to turn away 12 horses. Some of our current boarders are waiting for pasture space to open up so that their stalled horse can be pasture boarded instead. This is a beautiful, convenient place to spend time with your horse - no wonder people are banging down the door!

We are just entering winter and everyone is tolerating the cold very well. It's those warm days that throw them off!

Bodhi and Casanova are enjoying their new herd which consists of head-gelding Magic, easy-going Dusty, and picked-on Tav.
This morning Magic was feeling frisky and chased Bodhi. But Bodhi doesn't tolerate being picked on (take notes, Tav!) so he kicked up, double-barreled, three times in a row until he whacked Magic in his massive chest. Magic, annoyed, gave up and walked away. Poor Mag just wanted to play!

Our wonderful farrier, Lana, has recovered from her car accident and over the course of 3 days got our barn all caught up. She trimmed Tie, Bodhi, Magic, Betsy, JW, Satin, Dancer, Jedi, Ufir, and Molly. Lana is a nurse specialist at the ICU at Shands VA hospital. She's been a nurse for 30 years and a farrier for 27 years. Lana is highly educated and firmly believes in continuing education (she's forever going to conferences and getting CE credits to keep up with the latest). Lana has tremendous patience. For example, when Karma the donkey arrived and was diagnosed with white line disease, Lana asked me if I minded if she take a look at Karma's hooves. I was thinking "Of course! But who wants to volunteer to do an angry donkey?" Karma has a sketchy background and was not trusting of humans. Lana strategized the best plan to get Karma's hooves trimmed quickly, safely, and with the least amount of stress possible. You can imagine how frustrating it is to handle a mistreated, naturally stubborn donkey jenny with painful feet. With soothing whispers, gentle patting, and a snug rope attached to a cement wall, we trimmed Karma's feet, opened up the nasty areas and treated them. Karma recovered quickly after Lana did her magic.
Jedi is a stud at heart. The kind of stud that has no manners and thinks only of himself. Lana patiently dealt with his overgrown hooves even while he fought and struggled against the cross-ties. She gave Ufir time to stretch her arthritic legs before asking her to pick them up, and helped Molly find just the right height on her hoof stand that was most comfortable for her arthritic, popping hock.
Lana doesn't advertise, doesn't have business cards, and doesn't gossip like a farrier. She's a great friend, does a great service, and we are very lucky to have her as our hoof podiatrist!

I hope you are having a great holiday!

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