Who's the Boss??

I took hay out to the girls for their pm feeding.

I put one pile down, and Joy got to it first. I walked about 15 feet away and Heddy came up and pushed Joy off the first pile, so naturally she walked over to the second pile.

I walked anoth 20 feet or so and put down the third pile. Honey Bunny Boo Boo Bear (ack - I know...sorry) met me there and stood munching while I pet her and looked her over.

When I walk back to the gate, she followed me and pushed Heddy off pile #1.

Heddy went and pushed Joy off pile #2.











Joy went and pushed Honey off pile #1.












Honey pushed Heddy off pile #2.

Heddy went and pushed Joy off pile #1 (with a little nip to the back side, I might add)

Joy went and pushed Honey off pile #2. At this point, Honey said "screw it" and went over to pile #3.











That where they were when I left them, and despite all the round and round hay pile switching, I still don't know who's the boss.

Back to pasture....

Everyone has been locked off pasture and to honest, they have been hating it! They don't get to eat whenever they want, they have to wait impatiently for mom to get to them, they don't get a whole lot of exercise, and it has pretty much just sucked!

Remember...I had drug the pasture and spread the poop. I wanted it to water in for a couple of days...

Anyway, last night, I took Honey and Heddy out to the neighbor's pasture. Of course since it was 5:00 pm, they were DYING of starvation! I put the halter on honey and led her out. Heddy followed only as far as the haystack (like 6 feet). I decided that I didn't want a replay of the run-around-the-house show, so I returned to the barn door with Honey and called to Heddy. After a couple minutes, she called for Honey and I heard her trotting in my general direction. After that, she followed right along and they were turned out together.

Then I went back in to get Joy. No problems. The girls were happy to all be together again and ambled off in search of grass.

The Herd

Honey


ANGEL


DOBBS


Jazzy


Heddy

FLY!! We're free!!!!

Saturday morning we brought all the horses back to the barn so that we could fertilize the pastures.

NORMALLY...when I put a halter on Honey or Heddy and lead them somewhere, the other one follow right behind. I mean, we don't have far to go, maybe 50 feet.

Mike was taking him time, so I put the halter on Honey and let Heddy and Joy out to come along with her. It went fine for about 30 seconds.

Joy, with her limited eye sight, walked past the barn. I didn't worry, because she would realize that she was alone and turn back, right? WRONG!

Heddy followed as far as the hay stacked inside the big door, but after grabbing a bite or two, she follow Honey to the stall, right? WRONG!

Joy contiued away from the barn, and Heddy, instead of following Honey, decided to join Joy. They went over to my neighbor barn, pooped in her driveway, and started eating her hay.

I ran them out of the barn, and they trotted back to my barn, right on target! They'll go into the barn, stand outside the stall and desperately want to be let in. Right? WRONG!!!

By this time Honey is screaming and hollering and racing up and down the pasture. Not good, because if they tried to get to her, it would take them to the road. All the other horses joined in the fracas and were running and squalling too!

About the time the mare rounded the house for the second time, Mike decided that I might need some help. We took down tapes, opened gates, and between the two of us, ran them in to one of the pastures. Then we locked them off the pasture and put them into their stalls.

We took no chances with Shyanna and Dobbs, put halters on them both and Mike helped me lead them into the barn.

We got to work on the pastures and when we came around, there stood my neightbor with Shyanna. We'd forgotten to put the tapes back up and close the gates.

...and then there were seven

Kaci, my hunter/jumper rescue, has a new home with Kimberly Hogue in Yelm, Washington.

I came to own Kaci's Friend when I responded to a dreamhorse.com add for a free TB gelding. His owner had a new horse, and Kaci needed to go. He had been taken from the show barn where he'd live for almost 7 years and taken out to the owner's ranch in the middle of nowhere. This sensitive show baby had his shoes pulled and was turned out on 160 acres of tick infested sagebrush.

I picked him up on May 17 - my birthday! He was skinny, clingy, depressed, insecure, and cover in tick and old tick bites. He was a MESS!

Over the last 4 months, he's eaten his fill of grass in his very own pasture, next to his favorite mare. He's gained weight and confidence. He's healed mentally and physically. He now needed to go back to work. But I am not the person to put him to work. His training, and my style of riding, didn't match and never would.

He need a kid to teach. I told Cathy, who told Shelley, who knew that Kimberly was looking for a horse to show and jump. After weeks of e-mails, phone calls and questions, I decided that Kimberly would be a good fit.

So yesterday, we loaded Kaci and drove to Yelm. He was a complete gentleman, calm and "old pro". Kimberly fell in love with him. I left with a little bit of money, to cover my gas, and a sad but quiet heart. I'd gotten attached to this "tossed away" horse and had nursed him back to health. It's now up to Kimberly to put him back to work. He will be well cared for in his new home and I anxiously await photos of Kaci and Kimberly.

The Herd

We brought the other horses back home to the barn today. Honey and Heddy are sharing a stall/run. Joy is in the small pen at the back of the barn, sheltered from the wind. Dobbs and Shyanna are side by side, in their own stalls.

The countdown to good-bye for Joy continues.