Fire Breathing

I didn't capture the golden light shining through Hickory's tail quite like I wanted, but I do like his frosty breath.  T-Bone in the background.

You'll have to look for Gato in this picture.  Magic sunbeams :-).

A Couple Of Cute Stories

It was actually supposed to be Three Cute Stories, but by the time I walked from the barn to the house, I've forgotten one, so here's two.

Late yesterday afternoon I walked up to Stella's to see her last batch of honey - 48+ jars!  She and I sat and talked for awhile and as the sun went down I said I needed to get back down the hill and do my evening chores.  As we walked out onto her back porch, still talking, Peabody heard me from all the way down at our barn and started yelling at me.  I was late with his supper.  I hollered back.

"Pea-body!"

"Baaaaaaaa-a-a-a-a!"

"Pea-body!"

"Baaaa-a-a-a-a-aaaaaa!"

And Stella and I laughed ourselves silly.  It was amazing he still had the strength to yell that loud in his famished state ;-).  Poor silly Peabody.

This afternoon a friend came out to ride with me.  As we led Hickory and Gato out to the arena I had to explain why all the white buckets I use for riding markers were set out all over....not on purpose.  Well, not on my purpose.  

I'd picked up all the buckets when I mowed last and stacked them next to the extra jump standards just inside the arena gate.  A few days later I found several of them out in the arena.  Not a tooth mark on them, so I assumed the wind had tossed them.  I picked them up once again and the next day...back out in the arena.  No wind, but again, not a tooth mark on them.  

Usually if Hank hauls off something plastic there are plenty o' tooth marks ;-).  He likes "treasures" and if they are small, like a McDonald's coffee cup, he buries them in his Treasure Area aka the creek bank.  If they are big, he makes them small enough to bury.  The bucket situation was quite curious, but by that point, I felt like it had to be Hank.

Tonight, as I was finishing up evening barn chores, I caught him.  One by one moving each bucket back out into the corner of the arena.  I'm not sure what he's thinking as he unstacks each bucket and carries it where he wants it, but he definitely has a purpose.  And when he got them all set out, he walked away.  I wonder what he's doing...

Shenanigans

Some more pictures from the foggy day last week.



Among T-Bone's many "skills"...grazing muzzle removal. Here he's working on Gato's, with Hickory watching.



Starting to get a little too shenanigan-y.



And this is where Hank (who hates those stupid horses thank you very much!) runs over to break it up and all the sheep ran back to the barn.



A few minutes later. On the other side of the fence. It's Hickory's turn.

Note the sheep grazing under the bottom board even though they have five acres of good grass on their side. Sheep...



Love the grass falling out of the muzzle.



Victory. I mean Victory!!! Horses... :-/



And everyone (including sheep) graze on.



This would be a really nice shot without the muzzle laying there, boys.

Horses...

Every Night

Gato and Handy spend a few (or quite a few) minutes every evening scratching each others itchy spots. I've started collecting pictures while I sit out while Blossom runs around and eats clovers and it's become something I really look forward to seeing :-).



Somehow each horse lets the other know where to scratch.



Usually by itching the same spot on their buddy.



Or not.



Handy has it worked out so Gato uses his grazing muzzle to scratch fly bites on his stomach.



Yep, that would be a pretty good itcher.

The grazing muzzle is a life saver. Literally. With just a small hole in the bottom to really slow down their grass intake, the horses are able to stay out on the super lush spring grass without (usually) foundering. They still get plenty to eat; they just aren't able to over-eat.

I'm not saying a word...

Does This Picture Make My Butt Look Big?

Yes, Gato, it does.

;-)

Muzzled Mouths...Not

This is a picture I took a couple weeks ago. I've been saving it for a busy(ier that usual) day when I am going to try to get a lot of work caught up so I can go snorgle some more lambies ;-).

Saint Tim was cleaning out the sheep barn - think several trips out back with the manure spreader through a couple of gates, and trust me, these punks are not. helpful. It's easiest to just throw them in prison. This also gave me a good opportunity to fit the three fatties (Hickory, T-Bone and Gato) with grazing muzzles.

The super lush green grass can be very dangerous in the early spring and sometimes again in the fall. Overeating, while not good for any of us (unless it involves chocolate ;-), can kill horses by causing colic, founder... In the past I've had great luck using grazing muzzles - like a plastic and web bucket with a hole in the bottom that slows down their eating. All the horses wore them and stayed safe.

Now that Handy's gotten up in years, he actually needs all that grass. Which means he doesn't wear a muzzle. Which means he takes it off his best friend T-Bone. Who then takes it off his best friend Gato and then rips it off his new friend Hickory. Rinse and repeat.

I've tried adding tape to all the key parts. Tim wired up something on Hickory's last night. It's off again this morning. We're using the popular Best Friend Grazing Muzzle. Any suggestions?

In the meantime, I'm headed out to see if my saddle still fits an "I can't believe I ate the whole thing" bloated, lazy, fat piggy. And then I'm going to get a lot of work caught up so we can return to our regularly scheduled programming of more cute lambies :-D.

Farm Friends And Family Friday With A Giveaway

I've had a recent brush with fame! Two of my photographs were used in a catalog produced by Saint Tim's brother and sister-in-law, Peter Dunham and Linnea Gits. Peter and Linnea are the Chicago based designers behind Uusi (pronounced oo-see) and we frequently get "mom calls" that something of theirs is being featured on the Today Show... Very exciting!



One of their latest projects is a set of beautiful wooden animals in a collection called Moderne Farm. Moderne Farm? Featured in The New York Times. Two of my pictures? In their catalog. I think that's kinda cool. I think the animals are very cool.



They are simple, yet elegant wooden cut outs.



With a handy assembly guide included.

"That's how sheep are made?"



Along with the requisite sheep, there is a Hank dog watching over everyone.



Or is that Iris chasing the horses?

"IRIS!!!"




Gato was super curious, but wouldn't come in. I think because of the cat. How a horse gets named Gato and is afraid of cats...we are afraid to even ask. Betsy? Do you know anything about that?



"Why no. I'm just sitting here minding my own business."



"Please pick me up and give me some kitty food."



Now here's something we don't have on our farm. And besides laughing at 300 baby piglets running up and down a big hill at a friend's farm a couple years ago, I really have never even given much thought to pigs. They are pretty cute though and I've heard they make great pets...



And they have such funny little tails :-).



Sadly there are no cows behind us anymore :-/. I miss seeing them back there and I'll miss the babies in the spring. I know Stella misses them too. I wish I'd been able to take a picture of this bull with some real cows in the background. He looks a little lonely.



Until you put him back with his farm friends family.



Linnea and her cat are blog readers. She calls it "Patchin'" and I love getting her Monday Morning Patchin' pictures. Gunky is a big Comby fan. Betsy? Apparently not so much. I think it must be a calico thing.

Linnea and Gunky sent us this Moderne Farm first edition box set to be given to a lucky blog reader who loves to "Patch" as well, so I reluctantly disassembled everyone and put them back in their nifty box...with the sheep on top ;-).

To Enter:

Leave a comment telling us who your favorite Equinox Farm character is. If you haven't left a comment before and need some directions, drop me an email at thecrazysheeplady AT gmail DOT com.

On Monday Morning, Linnea and Gunky will use Random Number Generator to pick a winner.

Fun!

I'll Scratch Your Back...

T-Bone and Gato...and a couple bird friends.

"Ai! You birds quit pooping all over the fences!"

"Gato! Keep your fat butt off there!"

Sigh.

"It's a good thing the fence guy stopped by last week."

Really, at the time (and all the other times) I just stood there and watched the boys scratching on each other and really enjoyed it without noticing all the disarray.



Kind of like that.

The Good, The Bad And The Clueless

You don't get much past a Saddlebred. Not much food gets past a Paint horse ;-).



Handy (the good) and T-Bone (the bad) immediately know something's up.

"Oh, this can't be good..."



Yep, while Handy has more than earned his pension, T-Bone and Gato have yet to clock in more than a couple bucks. Which didn't even cover the first two bales of the over 100 bales of hay we fed them this winter.

Since I'm mostly riding by myself, I'm quite a bit older, way less in shape and don't bounce near as well as I used to, I've been hesitant to throw a leg over these two young, green horses. I think having a smaller (60'), enclosed area to work - on the ground and under saddle - will help.



I still have plenty of room to ride and drive around the outside of the round pen...when I'm ready to take off the training wheels.

Cowgirl Up!

And stay up ;-)

Sunday Not Stills

It's been a long week and I wasn't sure I could come up with something original enough for this week's Sunday Stills "Landscapes" assignment. Landscapes, no. Lawn ornaments, yes.



At least every now and then they do something entertaining. Here everyone is worried about something up the road. T-Bone - you gotta love him - fearlessly mugging for the camera.



"Run away!"



"Follow Aria - she'll save us!"

Of course they spend the rest of the time picking on her. Boys.



Swinging back around.



And around. She's stepping out pretty good for an old lady and looking good for 28.



Down across the creek...



Showing some nice form there, T-Bone!



Well, until the landing...on all four feet at one time. Ouch!





And moving on to greener pastures.

That's the purpose for the black muzzles on the three boys. Too much lush, green grass. The muzzles limit (there is a hole in the bottom which slows them down) their grazing to a safe level so they don't over eat in the spring, founder and suffer a horrible death.

They make these in all sizes, including for miniature horses. I'm seriously thinking about trying one on Buddy and Woolliam. They are so fat I'm worried they might founder. Green grass is pretty, but...

Anyone out there with horribly fat sheep? Any suggestions?

Let Sleeping Cats Lie...

...'cause they're just going to do what they want anyway ;-).



It's apparently an epidemic.



Head count - okay, there's T-Bone. Aria must be hiding out from the boys.



Gato: Wha? Whoa, I'm awake! Really.



Gato: Maybe not.

Hope everyone has a sunny spot to nap today.