Friday, February 14, 2014

Chocolate Horses

           
( www.redbubble.com )


      Most of the time, having horses is a lot of fun. This is the first time, however, we have had horses through a severe Winter storm with freezing rain and then fourteen inches of snow.  I wasn't really sure whether to leave their entry to the barn open and let them play as the blizzard continued or to feed them early and put them in their stalls with the radio set to classical music, as the snow and ice was loudly hitting the barn's metal roof at intervals.  I chose a compromise.  I let them play in it together until it started to get deep, and then I fed them in their stalls.  They must be fed separately as two of the four will eat the feed of the remaining two more polite horses.  Then, I closed the stalls for the night and went on to care for the other animals. In the past month or so in the cold weather, they all have grown very thick Winter coats. One of the younger ones looks more like a wooly mammoth than a horse !  They also have long fetlock hair (legs) which I am having to brush and trim.

           In the morning there was fourteen inches of white powdery stuff with a half inch crust of ice.  I did notice the ice overhang on the barn roof sides, but in order to open the upper half door of the stalls to let them out to the pasture, I would need to stand under the gutter and all that ice for just a moment. As I did, a large heavy block of ice and snow fell from the tall pitched roof hitting me on the right shoulder and then slicing my hand and index finger through a thin glove.  I let the horses out and proceeded to muck the stalls with vinyl gloves over my cut hand.  Normally, I remove dry horse manure to a wheelbarrow I call the "muck truck". Then I sweep out any urine and pine shavings, which I only use in one corner of the stalls. (Because they don't defecate anywhere else)  The pine shavings are then scooped out and placed in the muck truck also.  Then, every day, I mop the entire concrete stall floor with a small amount of pine cleaner and water.  Since the bucket was frozen solid today, I could not do this.  Instead, I placed a couple of tablespoons of Pinalen on the floor and used a half a shovel full of snow.  I swept it around as it cleaned the surfaces much better than I had anticipated. Then I swept it away, also into the muck truck.  I refilled waters buckets, and gave them all hay despite the fact that some had been left overnight.   I was concerned about how they might behave in the pasture. Horses need to avoid any areas in which they might slip and fracture a leg, as it is most often fatal as it will result in their being euthanized.     I was very surprised to see that they were all quite sure footed in the pasture and that they truly enjoyed the Winter wonderland.   After the cleaning and feeding was done, I went inside to have an oatmeal breakfast and to better investigate my shoulder and my hand.  The shoulder is bruised and the hand is cut and a little swollen. I put Apinol on it, and continued with my busy day.

         This afternoon I returned to the horses early to see how they were doing.  They were eating the snow. Interestingly, the water buckets were at the same levels as they had been after I filled them in the morning. They had flattened a great deal of the snow in their pasture, and were truly enjoying their romp in it.  The alpacas on the other hand, chose to stay inside their stalls and to venture out only to urinate.   By then, the rest of the snow on the barn roof had slid down to the ground, and two of my sons were needed to shovel the snow near the barn exterior stall doors so that I could close them when it was time to put the horses away for the night. As we shoveled and I unburied the muck truck, the smallest horse rolled  as if to itch in the powdery snow.

        Before dark they were all back in their stalls and ready for another quiet night.  I think my shoulder will ache in the morning.  Tomorrow I will check hooves and perhaps place a protectant on them since it's likely to be wet for a couple of days. If the wind picks up, I may place their fly masks on them to protect their eyes.   Still, I enjoy caring for these creatures. They are grateful for everything I do for them. They come when I call them by name, and sometimes they will play with me. I think the best way to spent the early morning and late afternoon is with chocolate horses on Valentine's Day.



10 comments:

  1. You had a time of it! Our horse can go in his stall or stay out in the weather, much of the time he stands out in the snow or rain. It is almost as if he gets too hot inside, hard to figure. I had to do more cleaning today as he tracked snow into the stall area and made a muddy manure mess. Still waiting for spring.

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    1. Yes, one of the books I have has said that horses prefer to be outdoors and that they do become hot inside sometimes. We have had a much muddier year than normal and I have had to pay a lot of attention to hooves. I have been fortunate that they are all fine, but I know mud dries MY hands, so it could certainly create problems with hooves. This might be the most welcome Spring I remember. Thanks for posting.

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  2. I used to have a horse and sometimes wish I still did. They're a lot of work, though (as you know).

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    1. Yes, they certainly can be. I have enjoyed this horses immensely though.
      Thanks for posting, Gorges.

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  3. Horses eh?

    I will just say.... Happy Valentines Day!!!

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    1. They actually have a lot of uses, in addition to keeping their owners fit !

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  4. Do you have a stick to loosen the ice before it hits you? How about a little two foot deep and four feet wide roof for protection as you open the door? That is too bad about the shoulder and hand. Could you have gotten a concussion if the ice hit your head?

    I am thinking about "Spotted Horses," a story in which a horse stood in the weather and died. Maybe he was tied outside.

    Horses poop in only one place?

    Now, I have to find chocolate.

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    1. This is an extremely large western style barn which is actually larger than the house by square footage. Horses live on one side, and alpacas the other. The rooms inside include stalls, a vet room, a medical room for dogs, and on the second floor a lot of storage for lights, hay, and articles used for animals only seasonally. The top of the first floor is much higher than I could reach with any stick. I just misjudged how quickly the heavy ice would slip. Also the upper half of the exterior doors which lead to the small pasture on that side of the barn can only be opened from the outside because they are latched there. I could indeed have had a concussion had the ice fallen at precisely the moment I was opening one of the exterior stall doors. In future, I should perhaps on days as snowy as this, exit the horses, not from the pasture doors, but from the sliding doors
      I am thinking that over the Summer, if cash permits, I will ask the builder to place hooks on the metal roof which will catch the ice until it melts, the way they do on farms in Nova Scotia. If left, snows like this will eventually tear the gutters off the side of the barn and be a hazard to both me, and to the horses.
      Horses like to be clean. Many of them will defecate in one general area, particularly if you, the owner keeps everything else very clean. This certainly makes clean up for the four of them much easier. Alpacas ALWAYS defecate in their own dung pile. This makes their clean up easier also.

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  5. Jane - you are doing an incredible job of keeping Daniel's memory! i hope that your shoulder and cut hand will heal up really well -you poor dear! i wish i was there to give your shoulder and hand the attention it needs but i am talking to a very strong and stubborn nurse - what the heck do i know - bahahahahha!

    your story makes me remember when my dad retired harness racing horses for a friend of his. my dad's favourite horse was named whiskey jersey. my dad fed the horses (sometimes we had 5 or 6 at a time) 3 raw eggs each morning. plus other normal food. they all got an apple each afternoon. but each afternoon, whiskey jersey got a bottle of beer. and he would get drunk out of his mind. he loved his bottle of beer!

    i have been thinking of you often out there in the snow, ice, mud, and i have been worried about you. i know that you are tough as nails but i also know that this has been a crazy winter for you. i hope that you heal up tickedy-boo. i know how much you care for your animals, and i know that they, and Daniel, appreciate, and love you for it. but i worry about my friend.

    your friend,
    kymber

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    1. I am so glad that you and your father had the opportunity to know and to connect to those horses.
      This morning my shoulder is better than I thought it would be, and the cut is already healing. I will wear a vinyl glove over it before I place a regular glove over that to work. Thanks for your concern. Usually, I do pretty well and I do have the boys and my husband to help if the going gets really tough. Most of the time, I enjoy doing all I can myself. Just think of all those suburban women who pay for an exercise program at a gymn, and all I have to do is go outside !

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