I decided to put the three yearling stud colts out into the big field today. I had put orange tape on most of the fence and knew that it would be visible. Eb (the Black and white) and Blaze (brown) know the field well because they spent all their time in it when they were born with their mothers and Blaze spent two months with the other two mares and their babies after he was weaned because his momma was going to a new home. Dream the brown/black/white colt is from the babies that were born in Iowa (his momma, brother and daddy were the horses we lost a little while back in a five day period). He had a ball as did the other two as well. It was a bit hot so I only left them out for a few hours. You can see how dry it is here, all of that green isn't grass, it is weeds. Amazing how they flourish and the grass dies with no rain. I left their halters on because this was the first time that they had been out of the front end of the barn and I was a bit worried that I would be able to catch them when it came time to come in. They were very good and considering they have had very little lead training (except Blaze who I trained well when he was weaned so that I could put him out without his mother to follow).
Nothing much else to report. I am getting worried that we are not going to get some of the horses sold before winter, I just dont have enough space for 20 horses!!! The next cutting of hay which I am going to start getting on Monday has gone up in price again to $5 a bale (from $3 to $5 is quite a hike when you are going through 4 or 5 bales a day). I am going to have to cut their hay back and start feeding shredded beet pulp which is high in calories and fibre. The only problem is that horses are browsers and they like to forage all day. When they have nothing to chew on then they get bored and develop bad habits in their stables, like cribbing and wood chewing or weaving. I will explain those if anyone would like to know what they are.
Hope you all had a great Saturday. (((((Hugs)))) to you all.
Lori
xx
Nothing much else to report. I am getting worried that we are not going to get some of the horses sold before winter, I just dont have enough space for 20 horses!!! The next cutting of hay which I am going to start getting on Monday has gone up in price again to $5 a bale (from $3 to $5 is quite a hike when you are going through 4 or 5 bales a day). I am going to have to cut their hay back and start feeding shredded beet pulp which is high in calories and fibre. The only problem is that horses are browsers and they like to forage all day. When they have nothing to chew on then they get bored and develop bad habits in their stables, like cribbing and wood chewing or weaving. I will explain those if anyone would like to know what they are.
4 comments:
They all look like they are having lots of fun in the photos!! Sorry to hear about the price hike! That is quite a lot when you have to buy so much!
{{HUGS}} xx
Oh man, if I could talk my husband into it, I'd buy Dream in a minute, what a gorgeous boy he is.
Those horses are just so beautiful. If we weren't on different continents I'd be fighting Donna for Dream!!
I feed beet pulp to my halter filly....but I also add some soy meal in the mix. Because the beet pulp is so high in calcium it's important to provide more phosphorus to offset....otherwise the higher calcium can cause contracted tendons in young horses.
Quality alfalfa is going for about $4.00 a square bale here in Eastern Nebraska.
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