(Lilly: Just set out the hay and no one gets hurt)Today it was our turn to help out at the barn and do a morning feeding.
We get a slightly reduced board since we have two horses (well, we did, but now we don't, but soon we will...) and the deal is that we help out on occasion.
Our BO must have had grave concerns assigning us this task because she walked me through the feeding three times.
So off we went, Sierra and I, to feed at 7 am.
Our barn has a complex series of feeding rituals. The least complex is that everyone gets a wide variety of feed and supplements. Much more complex is the line up.
Some horses come in. Some stay out. Some are fed in ground pans. Some in buckets. Some in hay containers. Some have to be shooed away, others have to be drug back out.
I've been in Shakespearean plays with less stage direction and fewer strong personalities.
We did pretty well except when Sierra forgot to close the gate and the Paso Fino escaped into the aisle when he found his door inexplicably open.
Smart horse.
I swear he was chuckling under his breath as we yelped and began shooing him back into his pasture area. He was the calmest one in the aisle, that's for sure.
It's a good thing we're just planning on having our own horses - I think my management skills are barely enough to handle two...
4 comments:
We have 11 and it's not too bad - I think it's always harder when you don't do it everyday - at this point I think I could make up feed in my sleep - supplements and all! A very amusing story!
lol! Kudos to you! I'm learning a little bit of the multiple horse feeding experience, too.
My mare is over on the leased pasture down the road with four other horses. Three geldings and one other mare. They are loose on over 200 acres, so to talk a horse into coming to you, a little grain, a horse cookie or some alfalfa is helpful.
Except ALL the other horses think the treats are for them, too.
The other day, I had a bucket with grain and the other horses were so pushy, that I decided to just stay on the other side of the fence, and just let Baby Doll handle it on her own. And that she did. lol!
When another horse tried to move into her bucket, she turned tail and gave 'em some 'whoop ass'! gah!
It was scary how violent horses can be, but it only took one or two times for her to enforce the fact that the bucket belonged to her only.
~Lisa
I say ditto to Lisa's comment about how scary it can be to have feed in a field of loose horses!
Lol, we feed 15 at the moment, and it's all kinds of nuts. Supplements, grain, who gets what hay where... it's a lot to remember. That's why we rarely go anywhere, it's hard to find someone who's willing to even attempt feeding. My hat's off to you!!
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