The chicks have arrived!

Yesterday our chicks started hatching. Our's is a mixed 16 hen, 2 rooster flock of buff orpingtons, silver laced wyandottes, black australorps, and araucaunas. The 2 roosters are both aracauna, and only 1 hen is. We have about 3 - 4 eggs from each hen in the incubator. We have an interesting color mix of chicks. As of right now, 31 have hatched out and we are still waiting on the last 3. 2 of those have pipped, but I fear the 3rd one is dead. There's no pecking or peeping coming from that egg.

Here is a sequence of pictures starting from the first chick last night, to the first few in the brooder, then the whole batch that hatched out today. I love chicks. These are definitely imprinted on me. When I cuddle them, they snuggle against my hand and get quiet. When they are older, we'll be eating the roosters, and probably many of the hens, but we'll keep the especially cute ones, so it's okay if I bond with a few.

And the mystery photo is....

....rainwater in a bucket of loose mineral salt! This is one of those green hang-over-the-fence buckets that had a couple cups of loose salt in it. It used to be in the barn so it didn't get wet, but the horses are currently blocked out of there now that we are getting ready for the new horses. So, this bucket is sitting outside.

There is not enough water in it to dissolve all the salt, so you can see the remaining salt crystals at the bottom. However, there is as much salt as possible dissolved into the water meaning that it has reached it's saturation point. Now, as water molecules leave the surface of the water when they evaporate, the salt in the water at the surface precipitates out because the water is already saturated. The salt precipitates in perfect crystalline squares (look at table salt really close up and you'll see this). And the way that it crystallized is in an inverted square crystal, so the salt crystals are floating on the surface of the water like little square boats. The smaller crystals here are probably only 1/8 inch across, but some of them were up to 3/4 inch across! And in some places the crystals met and grew into a mat.

They are so abstract, that when I first saw it I thought "yuck, junk growing in the wet salt bucket" but then I noticed that it was just salt growing.

Since I've started giving my horses loose salt, I never see them eat it. I used to see them licking on the salt blocks all the time. While it's possible they don't eat it at all, I think that they can actually get all that they need in one lick, so they don't have to worry away at that super hard block for hours at a time. And for a while, they were getting plenty of salt in the free choice minerals, which they've decided they like all except for 4 of the 16 now. I'll elaborate on that more later when I feel like typing more about it.

And I had a great time today. We went to my grandma's, which is the farm where we keep the horses. Since we own the place, my dad usually does all the mowing, but since he's still recovering from shoulder surgery, he can't weed-whack, so he just hasn't gotten around to it. My grandma must have told my aunt, so my aunt, uncle, and my cousin came over today to help her with her lawn. We (my mom, dad, and I) were there too, so it turned into a very fun unplanned afternoon of mowing, tilling up my grandma's garden, cutting down old bushes, setting up a new flower bed, and digging and transplanting lilac bushes. Then, we grilled some brats, and grandma made mashed potatoes and we refilled our energy reserves. My grandma's brother and his wife ended up stopping by too. It was a very productive fun day. I really love yard work and landscaping. It definitley puts my soul in touch with the present. It's also something that I just haven't gotten to do for several years because I haven't been around home and I was renting a place in town.

These pictures aren't very good because I didn't think to take some of them until it was starting to get dark. I'll do more later after we get flowers set up in the new beds. I'm also excited about getting the mustang pens finished soon. I planted grass on the bank behind the rear pen and it is growing in thick!

Chico is horrid

I enjoyed Arlene's post about Wildairo being horrid yesterday, because today was Chico's horrid day!

It didn't start out so bad. I played with him in the pasture, scratched and loved on him. Then, my dad came in through the gate and left it unlatched. While we were chatting, Chico walked up and shoved it open, waltzing out into the yard to graze. I wasn't in a big hurry to catch him, since I figured he wasn't going anywhere, when suddenly, Cody appeared out of nowhere and shoved her way through the already open gate, too. Then I went and got a halter and lead and approached Cody. She trotted away, but I trotted alongside her and she stopped, like a good girl...she knows she's supposed to stop and face me. I put her back in the pasture, then went to go catch Chico. He trotted away from me and dropped his head to graze in a different location. I followed, and he appeared to wait. I was about to slip the rope around his neck, when he slowly turned away and started to walk off. It's kind of an instinct for me to pop him with the rope on the butt if he presents it to me when I'm trying to catch him. This of course works great when he's in an enclosed space...I chase him around for a while, and he realizes he was naughty and stops and faces up. Well, being that we were outside the pasture, I probably shouldn't have done that. He took off for the back hay field (borders their pasture). By the time I caught back up to him, he was still thinking that he was having way too much fun out there by himself eating the lush green grass and then took off back for the barn area. Once he got there, he circled once, then decided to take off around the pasture going the other direction. Well, this took him onto the road (thankfully a little not busy country road), and around to our neighbor's freshly mowed lawn. My Dad went after him in the Rhino, and Chico came running back (cantering up the road), and into the barn area again. I had him cornered and was trying to engage him and get him to stop, but he just decided to keep dodging me, and then took off down the road to the neighbor's property again. That's where I finally caught up to him (with a bucket of oats as a bribe) and was able to halter him (I didn't give him any oats though). I led him home and let him stand tied for a while. No harm done except for a few divots in the neighbor's lawn, but they were minor. The little turd had company this whole time too...Cody and Catlow were whinnying for him and galloping along the fence line to keep near him. I know I shouldn't have done something so aggressive as pop him when he was avoiding me, but I obviously wasn't really thinking. I was just reacting to him turning away from me and completely disrespecting me. I think I may need to take him to the neighbor's arena now and do a catching lesson so that he will still face up even when I have to put pressure on him.

In better news, I trimmed Catlow's back feet today while she was tied to the hitching post (facing the pasture this time) and she was a perfect angel. Either tying her the other way was key, or she was just more comfortable today.

And now, it is time for a mystery photo. I took this today, so obviously I know what it is...but I wanted to see if there was anyone out there who could ID this from such an abstract photo. It was taken in the barnyard area. That's the only clue. Give me your best guess.

The Nebraska cruelty case

Tracey at Mustang Diaries commented on the animal cruelty case in Nebraska where over 200 horses were seized from terrible conditions (around 100 had already died of starvation). Most of these horses are mustangs and many of them were 3-strikes mustangs taken from the BLM.

I was looking at the horses they have available for placement in homes (called theNebraska 200 horses) and I was struck by the terribly sad look of resignation in the eyes of almost every single horse. All of the horses are thin, although some are more so than others. Many have terribly overgrown hooves and their winter hair is sloughing off in chunks with extremely thin hair beneath. That look in their eyes just makes me want to go and bring one home, just so that I can watch those eyes perk up with interest and life with good food and good treatment. I did see two in particular that I'd bring home in an instant, but I really do not have any room at all...all my space (and time) is going to be taken up by the new mustangs coming in a couple weeks. I apologize for copying these photos from their website, but I figure if it can spark any interest in any of you to go take a look at them, then maybe I helped in a way.

This mare reminds me of Catlow...and she actually looks a little perky compared to the others there.
Horse #3895
Gender: Mare
Color: Sorrel with white blaze, right rear, left and right front socks
DOB: 1992
Other: *Likely pregnant, Mare pen in arena


I really like how this gelding is put together and I think he'd make a really nice riding horse once he was rehabbed and gentled.
Horse #3836
Gender: Gelding
Color: Brown
DOB: 2003
Other: East Arena


They have dewormed, treated for ticks and lice, and Coggins tested all the horses. They ask only a $100 fee to cover these expenses, but of course, the expenses that have incurred to remove these guys from the situation they were in is far more than that.

Catlow photo series and Cody's many colors

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon wandering around the horse pasture and taking pictures of the new leaves and blossoms. The horses have a very diverse pasture and many trees they eat, while others they don't touch. They denuded the little pines, but didn't touch the apples or cherries. I took a lot of pictures, but there's too many to post here...it takes too long to upload them. Instead, I wanted to just show a series of pictures that I took of Catlow yesterday.

After my tour of the pasture, I sat down in the shade to watch the horses graze. Catlow sees me and wonders what I'm doing.

She approaches to get a better look.

But she stops to sniff a pile of poo, pretending that she's really not that interested...I think this might be a submissive horse thing - she's checking out what I'm gonna do with her that close. Will I chase her away? I think she's almost asking permission to come closer. I've seen horses do this when they are trying to quietly ease in a eat hay with a more dominant horse.

Then she finally looks directly at me. If I had stretched my hand out, she would have come forward and touched it to see if I had a treat, but since I didn't move, she only came this close, then turned away.

Isn't she a sweety though? I love her, even though she is such a challenge and can sure make me feel stupid.

And I also need to show my horse of many colors...the dark sooty buckskin, Cody. She's listed as bay on her papers, but she was such a strange color (and her mama is palomino), that I wondered if she had the cream gene. I had her tested through Animals Genetics in FL, and indeed, Cody IS a sooty buckskin. When she was 3, I sent her to a trainer and when she came back, she had shed out and faded to a very deep golden color...I think she sweated more than usual while she was with him! Every year since then, though, she's been pretty dark (see the photo in the side bar). I think that she might actually shed out a tad lighter than normal this year. Check out the photo below. You can see her light colored summer hair coming in where she's shed out already in her flanks and underbelly. Compared to her faded, dull, but still darker winter hair over her back. She might be lighter in her flanks and sides this year, but her neck and chest will stay a very dark brown.

Today I went out to check on them. It rained and thunderstormed on and off most of the day. This is Cody's wet look. She's only wet on the top, so her flanks and underbelly are dry...but check out those dapples! Those are coming in with her summer coat.

New BLM incentive - New Mexico region

I was searching the BLM website for info about vaccinations that adopted horses have received (I know they get West Nile, but I'm not sure about anything else - and I didn't find it either - guess I'll have to call them), when I came across this incentive program that the BLM is offering for horses in the New Mexico region - on a trial basis apparently.

$500 Wild Horse Adoption Incentive Program

Get paid to adopt a wild horse? Yes! Receive $500 when you adopt an adult wild horse from BLM. The offer is designed to help defray the initial cost of keeping a horse. Payment is made after one year when you receive title to the animal.
This adoption incentive is being offered on a trial basis in the BLM-New Mexico region only (which also includes Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas). The idea behind the incentive is to increase the number of mature horses (4-10 years old) placed into private ownership through adoption. This, in turn, can reduce the number of older horses that BLM must care for -- at considerable taxpayer expense! -- in contracted pasture facilities. If successful, this program could reduce the pressure on BLM to sell or euthanize excess horses, and it could free up critical resources needed for on-the-range management.

Under this program, all standard adoption rules and fees apply (click here for details). At the end of one year, simply return your title application (which you'll receive in the mail) along with your incentive voucher (which you'll receive when you adopt), and in a few weeks you'll receive title and a check for $500! It's that simple! The only additional requirement to receive payment is that a licensed veterinarian must attest to the animal's fitness on your completed title application.
If for some reason you must relinquish the animal within one year (that is, return it to BLM), the allowance cannot be paid. The same is true if the animal dies before title is issued.

A limited number of horses eligible for this incentive will be presented at each BLM adoption in the New Mexico region (click here for a complete adoption schedule). You can adopt up to four adult horses under this incentive program. Younger horses (under 4 years old), burros, and trained animals are not eligible for this incentive.

Help BLM preserve these "Living Legends"...Adopt!

Call 866-4-MUSTANGS (866-468-7826) for more details.

Catlow humbles me and makes me think

Well, Catlow never fails to make me feel like I don’t know what I’m doing with horses. She can sometimes be the most gentle, calm soul, but the second she gets nervous, she turns into a stiff over reactive freako horse. And she gets nervous easily.

Today, I brought her out of the pasture and tied her to the hitching post, immediately on the other side of the fence from the pasture. Well, Cody and Chico wandered out of sight and Catlow became very nervous, pacing back and forth trying to get a look at them. I had tied her facing away from the pasture and possibly she might have been more calm if I’d tied her facing the opposite direction. I don’t entirely understand why she would get so nervous down in front of the barn because that’s an area that they frequent often and a comfort zone. Plus, Catlow is an outsider in the herd and she is often off grazing by herself out of sight of the others. So why would she be so nervous just because I brought her out of the pasture and tied her after the others moved off out of sight? She definitely doesn’t “trust” me like she trusts the other horses….she trusts them to keep her safe and alert her to danger. Perhaps her distrust of me is because she has problems communicating with me…and vice versa…so she feels like a foreigner when she’s around me, stuck some place where no one speaks her language.

I bought her out to trim up her feet. Her fronts were getting long looking. She was not very cooperative at first, trying to take her foot away and swinging around to try to look where Chico and Cody were. When she’d lean on me, or step toward me, I’d smack her side to get her attention, but that seemed to make her worse. So I went and got a bunch of treats and started doling them out as she stood still and paid attention to me. Even with the treats, her attention would come and go. She’d be still and calm for a while, but then suddenly remember that she was “alone” and get nervous and need to move. Then she’d settle again. A couple of times I just stood back and watched her when she was nervous. My only rule was that she couldn’t step into my space or swing her butt toward me as she paced. She respects that, but I did have to assert myself a couple times as she was pacing into me.

After her feet were finally done, I took her out into the field to do some lunging. First, I tossed the string all over (the initial couple tosses she tried to take off lunging because she thought that’s what I wanted, but I just wanted her to stand still). Once she understood that, she stood very well, and lowered her head. I was pleased with that. Then I asked her to move out and lunge around me. She of course kept looking toward the pasture, so her circles around me were bent, then counterbent, then bent, then counterbent, and she was completely over reacting at first…also trying to go the wrong direction after I’d stopped her (treat reward), then asked her to go out again. It took a while, but being calm and just calmly asking her to stop and change directions got her calming down and trotting more slowly around me. Then of course, something got her nervous again, and she started overreacting again. When she’s nervous, she tries to cut in on me with her circles (back toward the barn). I started to tap her when she did that, and she respected it and moved back out….so initially, she seemed very calm, but then suddenly she got quite nervous and overreactive about the fact that I was “hitting” her with the stick.

I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing wrong with her. I guess I had this issue last year when I first started my training journal. Last year, I was confused about whether I wasn’t being firm enough, or if I was being too firm. I have to be very firm with Chico and Cody…it gets their attention and their respect…but with Catlow, I’m not so sure what to do. Last year, I decided that I was being too firm and too inconsistent in my body language. She gets upset when she doesn’t understand what I’m asking. And I really did get good results when I tried to be super consistent and backed off on the intensity of my commands.

And for the most part, Catlow does respect me, but when she’s nervous, she loses a lot of it. I also don’t chase her at all, because she’s so sensitive about it, but I’m always chasing Cody and Chico. Usually, I’m chasing them away from Catlow…like after I give them grain in three buckets and the two piggies can’t seem to keep their noses in their own buckets. I have to “protect” Catlow from them. So because of that, she will let me run around and move Cody and Chico away, but she won’t move away. She’ll stand there…she knows. But then today, I was shooing them out of the barn so I could close the gate (I had let them in so that they’d clean up some left over hay). Cody and Chico left immediately, but Catlow stood there, continuing to eat…I wonder if she thought again that I was protecting her. I had to shoo her a little more forcefully than usual to convince her that she really was supposed to leave too…it wasn’t just the other two. Or maybe because I never move her away from her food, she’s taking that as a sign that I’m not her boss? I don’t know.

This horsemanship stuff is complicated. I just want to be able to ride out alone and I want my horse to trust me. I think I just need to spend more time and start working with them more consistently than I have been. As soon as physics is over….

Sorry Linda...I posted in comments on Andrea's blog about Todd's mom's accident. Here it is...this happened last Wednesday.

"And speaking of head injuries, my boyfriends mother (who has about 25 head of quarter horses - breeds and rides) just suffered a severe head injury today. She was out in the pasture trying to catch a horse for the farrier when one mare chased another into her. The one that collided with her had wheeled and his mom and this mare knocked heads. She was out cold for a bit, but then came to. They rushed her to the hospital because she has had a lot of head injuries (all involving horses). She has severe bleeding on the brain and they had to put in a drain to relieve the pressure in her skull. They think she'll make a full recovery, but at this point it's still uncertain. The doctor said she can never ride again because if she gets one more head injury, it will kill her (she has had bleeding on the brain at least one other time and at least 12 concussions). Too bad this one happened when she was on the ground. They are going to sell all their horses (they going to sell a lot of them anyway because it is not economical to be a small horse breeder right now). I'm sure they'll keep a few horses, but I don't know what his mom is going to do...horses are her life...her whole life. Her head injuries are not all that she's suffered around horses. She also has torn ligaments in her knee. I can't tell you how many bruises I've seen on her in just the 5 years I've known her. She is very accident prone. The only accident I've been involved with occurred when she was riding with me (her horse got tangled in a barb-wire gate and scratched my horse up too. I was unhurt, but his mom was pretty cut up and bruised - horse drug the barb wire over the top of her). Scary stuff. I feel very bad for her, and her husband and son"

More pond fun - Catlow this time

My sister got a new camera - a Canon digital SLR. She's been going crazy taking pictures. I don't mind, especially since she captured some really cool shots of Catlow this weekend.

On Sunday, the kids came out and we all went down to the pond (3 neice and nephews, my sister, her husband, and our 5 combined dogs). I rode Catlow down, since I'd not gotten a chance yet to ride her through the pond. She really liked it, but did not offer to roll in it at all. I think she'd have to have Cody along to feel comfortable enough to do that.

Aren't these great shots that my sister took?






Update on Todd's mom - it sounds like she'll be coming home from the hospital tomorrow. So, she is not supposed to have any contact with the horses for 6 months, since she can't risk getting a bump to the head. Todd says she will not be allowed to step foot inside the barn. It does sound now like that no riding ever again rule is not so hard and fast. I think she can risk something like riding after a year of letting her brain heal. But, even then, she is going to have to be very careful. So, in a few weeks, she'll be heading to the doc to get her knee fixed up too. I think it's an opportune time, since she will have no choice but to sit around and let her knee and her brain heal. The knee is an ongoing problem that she's had and actually had fixed before, but she didn't give it enough time to heal properly, so the ligament tore again (kinda like my dad with his shoulder - you just can't keep active determined people inactive enough to heal up tendons and ligaments). Also, the language/speech problems she was having seem to have cleared up. She's pretty much back to normal and giving everyone hell again. They are still selling off many of their horses (was happening anyway). They had around 30 head through the winter, but it sounds like for sure, 20 of those are going (some have already been sold, and some others are being send to major sales in May).

And Ms. Turkey is laying eggs again. I actually got to watch her lay one. She had her tail up and was straining, so I stopped to see what she was doing. She kept straining and chirruping quietly and I start to see this whitish thing poke out, and then, plop, a wet shiny new turkey egg! It was one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen. So, I think Ms. Turkey's zest for life will give her a pardon for a while longer yet anyway.

Farm work and bareback bridleless fun

Well, I'm finished with the first physics course and I got an A!!!! Yay! I've already started the second course and I take my first test on Monday. I plan to take my fourth and last test the day before we pick up the mustangs (May 22nd). I have to take it that soon anyway so that they have time to send it to my instructor for grading and recording the grades before the end of May. If I don't get them in on time, then I can't go to vet school this fall...although I would sure hope that if I was just a few days late, they would cut me some leeway...but maybe not. They were pretty strict that I had to have all my coursework done by the end of spring semester and could not do any required prerequisites over the summer.

So we are hurriedly trying to get the farm set up for the new horses in between times when I'm working on physics (it's taking up most of my time). Today, we set up the second mustang pen. I got to do all the heavy work, since my dad is still one-armed. The mustang pens are not quite completed yet. For both of them, we want to dump a load of sand in the middle so they won't get muddy when it rains, and we need to bolt a board along the bottom of the raised panels so that there is no gap larger than 1 ft between the ground and the top of the panels at 6ft. We also need to put a gate on the back side of the barn. We'll use a panel in the middle of the barn to separate the two horses. I will post a good picture after they are all finished.

The 2 year old is still a stud, so he definitely needs to be separated and gentled as soon as possible so we can get him gelded. I've never actually had one of my horses gelded before (they were always done before I got them). I've seen it done though and I know that they leave the wound open so it can drain and then it heals up from the inside. How bad is it to geld a horse during fly season? And do you have to rinse them at all? I suspect it might not be very easy to treat a recently gentled mustang. I'll be reading up on all this before it gets done...I was just wondering. I would like to have it done as soon as possible rather than wait until after the flies leave in the fall because he'll have to be separated the from rest all summer long if that's the case.

During a break while we were working on the pen, we had some nosy visitors from the pasture. They were quite curious about what we were doing, and they wanted some treats. Chico and Cody are shameless beggers. My dad shared his apple with them.

Chico has a tick bite on his chest and he developed a large itchy welt around it. He kept following me and asking me to scratch it for him. He REALLY enjoyed it.

Then I hopped on Cody. I had to show this picture of me hopping on because it was so funny looking! By the way, I only made it most of the way on, and had to clamber the rest of the way...Cody was a saint - she patiently waited while I scrambled on.

Then we went for a little bareback bridleless ride around the pasture. Cody responds to voice and legs cues pretty well, so I could get her to go where I wanted...for the most part. Sometimes instead of turning with one leg cue, she sped up to a trot, but a firm "Walk" brought her back down. I've never done this with my horses before, so I was glad that she was well behaved. I've ridden bareback before, but usually with a bridle, sometimes with a halter, but only around the yard then.

Then it was Catlow's turn. She was also very patient because my graceful leap onto her back was really not very graceful at all - more of a grunting struggle as I pulled myself the rest of the way after the initial leg over.


Catlow is very sensitive to leg cues and voice cues. I had her spinning in each direction with body and leg cues and then backing with voice and gentle leg pressure.


It's fun when my mom comes out because she always mans the camera. I often forget to get it out when I'm playing with my horses.

Here is the picture of the Turkey Shack with the attached Kitty Kennel, as promised.

The kitties will be able to go in and out. I need to vaccinate them for distemper and rabies, then they'll be moved to their new kitty haven. I do think they'll like sitting outside and watching the goings on, but they won't so much like that they don't get to follow me around everywhere and hang out with me like they do in the house.

And here is how the door side looks from the inside with Ms Turkey in the background.