Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Just Because...

This is what breakfast time looks like around here...
And supper time! They line up and combine their efforts to 'will me' to feed them. LOL

(Oh yea, and I have been trying to be a bit productive, even if I couldn't ride...I'm getting that area cleaned up and will be hauling out the last of the junk as soon as I can)

I got a new load of mountain grass hay...
I thought it looked very nice. Green (barn stored) and fine-stemmed. You'd think the ponies would love it.

Yea...Well, the ponies seemed to prefer the last load I got a whole lot more...
When I bought that last load, I thought it was a little coarse. I didn't want to buy a bunch of it, if the horses were going to leave the stems. They never left a scrap of this hay. They licked it up like it was candy. Unfortunately, when I called the guy back, he had just sold the last of his available hay, so I had to switch suppliers...again! The good news is, I will be purchasing at least one semi-load from the supplier with the hay the horses really liked. If possible, I may very well buy an entire year's worth (about 80 bales). He said he would give me a good deal if I bought semi-loads out of the field. Perfect!

The ponies are going to have to survive on the hay from the new supplier for the next few months though. Just because...he's the last one I've located that provides mountain grass hay. I don't think they like the fact the big squares have conditioned hay. They are flipping through their hay piles looking for the seeds heads that were on the last bales.

This was a mess this morning...
I needed to hook up to my old trailer because I want to ride across the Interstate at one of the trailheads. There is plenty of parking over there, but the accesses to the parking areas are too narrow to get my big rig in and out of. Unfortunately, the ground did not freeze hard last night and the mud on top of frozen ground was slick. Every time I would get backed up to within a couple of inches of the trailer ball, the butt of the pickup would slide over and I couldn't get lined up. Talk about frustrating! Yea, wasn't I smart parking the trailer so it was on the high ground?

I finally got it...
There was much cussing and kicking, but I was bound and determined...I WAS RIDING TODAY!

And I did!

9 comments:

SunnySD said...

Re: hay - no accounting for what they'll like, is there? We got about 35 small squares for travel & tractor-emergencies this past fall. Gorgeous, sweet-smelling 2nd cutting prairie hay/alfalfa mix. Picked it up off the field, no dust, no mold no anything icky, as far as I can tell.

They'll only eat it if they have no other option.

The big rounds that look (to me, at least) fairly coarse and stemmy they plow right through. Go figure.

Allenspark Lodge said...

Hey, a little frustration just makes you appreciate the ride more, right? Hope we see some pictures of said ride.

CSU did a study on hay a couple of years ago and proved that horses and people do NOT pick the same hay. It was pretty funny, but like with you guys, the horses always picked the less green and stemmier stuff. Mine do, too.
Juanita

Shirley said...

We are fortunate to have a supplier that lets us pick up 2 big squares at a time and he keeps his hay stored under his barn, so we get good quality hay-that our horses love- all year round.

Anonymous said...

From what I understand, horses prefer a more carmel-y colored hay.

I've learned here in GA that Casey doesn't do so well on Bermuda, which everyone here swears by. I've settled for fescue instead. I miss the local orchard mix we had in Oregon.

Rising Rainbow said...

I'm glad I don't have that crew lined up looking me. I'd be buried in guilt.

It always gets me when the horses decide the hay I liked is beneath them. There just seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.

I'm glad you finally got the trailer hitched up so you could ride. I've had that same experience except it was ice and not mud. The end result was the same and when that ice melted, I'd created a mut pit underneath.

cdncowgirl said...

Your ponies need a donkey so he can page you to come feed lol

Crystal said...

I have seen that look before! Im sure they know when I look out the window and they give me thier sad Im starving look!
The weather looks so warm there! Glad you got a ride in.

Anonymous said...

I had to look extra close to make sure there was only one paint in the group!

We contract our hay in advance and our hay guys know exactly what our horses like and don't. The learning curve was a bit steep though!

Danielle Michelle said...

Hay! I mean Hey! That's what it looks like around here every morning too! And evening! And any time anyone is outside! lol