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Post by here to stay on Jul 2, 2015 15:05:09 GMT
I have a small place. The grass I can grow is never meant to supply their nutritional needs. It's more a hunt and seek recreation for them.
Due to no moisture, those fields are nothing but brown peach fuzz. The horses are fat on the hay they get but are bored, bored bored.
To reduce their frustration, I have been opening small areas like pathways or my garden for the occasional afternoon treat. And it has lead to a cascade of destruction. Just in the last week, one of the girls decided to strip the leaves of the whimpy peach tree that has struggle for years. Mind you there are lovely, vigorus apples on both sides of the peach, in easy reach but no, the peach tree just called to be strpped of it's few leaves.
Then a day or two later, the girls ambled over to my patch of astilbes and mowed them to the ground. I was out checking on them much of the night as the gaseous explosions of horse sized farts was warning that, while apparently tasty to the horses when not even deer eat them, astilbes did not agree with their insides.
Then they decided to both climb up the stairs to the hay storage and broke the steps- both each step, then the whole thing altogether off the porch. Luckily they did not get injured. But every morning and night I am leaping the gap of the missing stair, wondering why, oh why I keep these creatures.
Nothing like a pair of bored thousand pound pertpetual adolescents to wreak havoc. Someone needs to invent a virtual pastures game with hoof size controlker. And fast.
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Post by WindyRidge on Jul 2, 2015 15:32:00 GMT
Oh my - it's easy to laugh at stuff like that when it's not happening to you!  It's amazing how much trouble they can get into isn't it?? |
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Post by gracielagata on Jul 2, 2015 18:23:08 GMT
Oh my gosh! The image of the busted stairs as they decided to go up for a snack is awesome! Glad to hear they didn't get hurt. We have the same problem at our house- no chance of year round grazing on our 6 acres for 3 horses here in eastern WA.  They stay in an area of about 1.5 acres nearly year round, with 4-5 hour forays into the 3 other fenced pastures that we rotate. But we are done with rotating for the year. And then when I let them loose to graze everywhere else that isn't fenced, what do they do- go to the yard. And when I want them in the yard, eating nice lush grass- where do they go?! But the dry crud, of course, lol. Oh, and let's not forget the donuts they like to spin on the lawn! Our 3 definitely need some hoof sized controllers to play with as well! |
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Post by aoconnor on Jul 2, 2015 21:43:48 GMT
Yup, happens a lot here. Although I have a ton of grazing acreage, my guys seem to like my feed room for grazing the best. This is a yearling filly, Eise. She was the first horse to climb on in.  And this is my red brangus bull when he was a yearling. Sigh.  |
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Post by WindyRidge on Jul 2, 2015 23:16:52 GMT
Awwwww, how nice you put a step there just for that bull!  Edit to add: what a nice meaty butt that bull has! |
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Post by wolfmom on Jul 6, 2015 11:31:15 GMT
Cute story.
If they are bored - work them. Ground training, ring work, trail riding - ride one, pony the other. Do it daily.
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Post by bergere on Jul 6, 2015 12:06:26 GMT
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Post by here to stay on Jul 6, 2015 12:50:57 GMT
The girls already have slow feeder hay nets. It takes them about 2 hours to go through their hay. If they just picked at it, it would last longer but they have developed a shake system where one grabs the bag and shakes vigorously for a few second while the other picks up what falls. Then they switch off.
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Post by bergere on Jul 6, 2015 13:15:29 GMT
Sounds like they are stinkers! Maybe you need to get one with the tiny 1" holes!!
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Post by here to stay on Jul 6, 2015 14:49:22 GMT
Actually one, the younger, is a very clever girl. You know- the type who learns to open latches or you don't get to conveniently leave the gate open for a second because she has her eye out for the good opportunity. A born trick horse because she is ever curious and willing to oblige.
The other one- if she has food in front of her, she is in essence tied to it as she never thinks to direct her attention elsewhere.
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Post by aoconnor on Jul 6, 2015 16:14:33 GMT
Actually one, the younger, is a very clever girl. You know- the type who learns to open latches or you don't get to conveniently leave the gate open for a second because she has her eye out for the good opportunity. A born trick horse because she is ever curious and willing to oblige. The other one- if she has food in front of her, she is in essence tied to it as she never thinks to direct her attention elsewhere. Oy, I have one of those as well, the trickster smarty pants girl that gets out of everything. I have arrived at the barn on many mornings only to see horse poop in the aisle way...hmm, had to be Ivy got out again! She knows how to get out of, or into, everything. She LOVES my chicken coop, it has fun stuff in it. I have had to actually TIE the gates shut that lead into my chicken coop area or she helps herself. She thinks their food is yummy, and the shade is better than a tree. Sigh. |
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Post by mollymckee on Jul 6, 2015 23:45:35 GMT
Once or twice when the kids were still home I let the horses mow the lawn. The kids left the door open to the deck, there were two steps up to the deck, one more to the house. Two of our mares came in the house. Luckily they had been around in many different situations and were calm. It is not a good thing to hear giggling, " I'm going to tell" and hoof steps on wood from the kitchen!
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Post by aoconnor on Jul 7, 2015 0:35:33 GMT
I was just saying about my minis getting into the coop...well, a few minutes ago I was coming up from the barn to the house for a little break before closing everyone in for the night. I saw a chicken feeder on the ramp outside one of my side doors...curious. I looked in the main door...there was my little stallion happily slurping up chicken food from the other knocked over feeder. And true to form, Ivy was on the other side of the coop with her face in the other big feeder, happily munching away. Water was spilled everywhere, chickens were cautiously sneaking out whatever crevice they could. Sigh. Ivy, Ivy. Ivy.
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Post by here to stay on Jul 14, 2015 20:31:03 GMT
And the evil of bored horses continues.......
I rounded the corner of the house to check on the girls and they had knocked over the compost bin where I had dumped the last of last year's apples last week. So it will another night of colic watch as I have no idea how much and for that matter what the idiots ate.
I can't say I have ever chased my horses before but I did today. I picked up a branch, screamed at them, waved the branch madly as I ran towards them. They scattered.
That's it- they are now stuck in their desiccated paddocks- before they either kill themselves or I do it for them.
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Post by mollymckee on Jul 14, 2015 21:05:50 GMT
One thing to think about in drougt conditions is the mildly toxic plants under normal conditions may be quite toxic under the stress caused by the drought. It's probably a good idea to keep animals away from decorative plants unless they are watered regularity. Every list I've seen recently has more toxic plants on it than the last one I saw.
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Post by aoconnor on Jul 14, 2015 21:29:40 GMT
One thing to think about in drougt conditions is the mildly toxic plants under normal conditions may be quite toxic under the stress caused by the drought. It's probably a good idea to keep animals away from decorative plants unless they are watered regularity. Every list I've seen recently has more toxic plants on it than the last one I saw. That's something that I really hadn't thought about, but you are exactly correct. We were in a severe drought for several years here in Texas, but this year we've had a ton of rain and plants I never knew existed have come up in my pastures. The USDA calls a lot of them "Rescue Grass", it is grass that lies dormant during a drought, then grows substantially during rainy years and tends to bind the soil and keep the ground from washing out. Very clever, but I hadn't thought about the danger so much. Hmm, that could explain a few things. Good post mollymckee! Thanks! |
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It's amazing how much trouble they can get into isn't it??
They stay in an area of about 1.5 acres nearly year round, with 4-5 hour forays into the 3 other fenced pastures that we rotate. But we are done with rotating for the year. 
