Fence buster

I love this horse, but sometimes she can make me so mad! Catlow is quiet and cautious, but she is also the one that tests the fences. The burdocks have grown up into the electic fence and so it wasn't very powerful. Of course it didn't take Catlow long to figure this out and crawl through the fence again. She doesn't go anywhere - just grazes the lush grass just outside the fence and walks through my grandma's garden once in a while, but she doesn't really want to get caught, so I have to persistently follow her around and cut her off from where she wants to go. And of course, she bags out the fence, so we had to fix it AGAIN!


Needless to say, we cut the burdocks down today using a saw attachment for the weedeater. It worked awesome. I was so impressed with my wild horses for how they handled the noisy saw. Kachina especially was right on our heels investigating the cut foliage and as I pulled it out of the fenceline and tossed it behind me at her feet, she didn't flinch or shy at all! She's really calmed down a lot since we got her.


And hasn't she filled out? You should go back to this post if you want to see what she looked like when we first got her. Of course, she is still a small petite horse, but she is a great weight. And I daresay she has grown a bit. She's 5 years old this year.


Kachina's dorsal stripe is thin and light brown, compared to Griffin's whose stripe is thick and black (not pictured).


I really do love my horse. Today I rode Chico again and this time we went to a new area I've never ridden on before. We walked, trotted and cantered and aside from being out of shape, he was great. And he loved walking along the field of oats and snatching mouthfuls as we went.


It sure is nice to ride a horse that is not herd bound. It makes a ride very enjoyable when the horse's mind is forward with your's instead of back home (always wanting to turn around and speeding up when aimed toward home).


In this picture you can see the scar on his hindleg where he was cut all those years ago. You can see the old cut here in this post, and this post, and this post. And then this post shows it starting to actually heal up.

News from the BLM and pasture time!

Today we strung the wire and I tied strips of fabric on the wire to make it more visible while they are learning the boundaries. We didn't get the electric hooked up yet, but I was itching to let them explore their new pasture, so I haltered Cody (lead mare), and opened the panels, hoping the other two would just follow as I led her along the fence line. Well, for the most part they followed, but they also took off and galloped around and around the hills before I even had a chance to take them to the other side. They saw the fence right off, but I was still worried they might jump it in their excitement (althouth they've never jumped a fence before). They didn't jump the fence. Cody didn't appreciate them leaving her to zoom to the other side of the pasture, but I made her behave (it's good for her). When I completed the circle with Cody, I caught Chico and did the same thing (even though he'd been all over, I still thought he might not have had a chance to get in the corners). Meanwhile, Cody and Catlow continued to zoom all around. Catlow was really digging in and galloping. It was so fun to watch. Then I took Catlow around, but this time, Cody and Chico felt they had explored enough and it was time to eat, so Catlow leaving didn't faze them a bit (although it bothered Catlow...poor horse at the bottom of the pecking order). Then I let them all loose to graze for a bit.

This weekend is the opening of the 9 day deer/gun season in Wisconsin. It is only 9 days long, so this weekend will be PACKED with hunters which means I need to wear orange even if I stay on our own land. It also means that people are target shooting right now, just down the road from us. The gunshots didn't bother them when they were in the paddock area, but out in this new area, it would cause them to gallop to a new spot to graze everytime they heard one.

Then I gave them each a little scoop of grain in buckets in the paddock area and went out to bribe them in. They came eagerly, but after their grain was gone, Cody went to pacing the perimeter where I had closed the panels back up. They had enough fun (and grazing) for today. They can have a bit more tomorrow. Tomorrow, I'll take my camera and get some video/pics of them zooming around!

Oh, and here's the burdock bouquet, as promised. Somehow, Cody found one I'd missed (of course) in her exploring escapades, so I had to pull a few from her tail. I've never seen burdocks in northern ID. They grow where it's wetter, so perhaps it's too dry out there. They are an infestation in old pastures here...



Chico's abcess really seems to be healing up. It's not draining anymore, the hole has scabbed over, and there is still no heat, so I think it is time to let it heal up.


I heard back from the BLM about Catlow and Chico's dams. They said they were rounded up already weaned so they didn't have mares assigned to them, therefore, there is no way of knowing who Chico and Catlow mother's were...makes me sad. I feel like they are orphans. Knowing what I do about horse bands and when foals are naturally weaned of their mothers, I highly doubt that they were "already weaned" when they came in (they were rounded up in August!). What that means really is that the BLM decided they were old enough to be weaned and it also meant less record keeping for them, so they separated out all the foals from the mares upon roundup. What an awful time that must have been for those mares and foals! To be rounded up by helicopters, then separated and thrown into pens, when all they had ever known previously was freedom and security in the herd. I sound really sappy, and usually I am very scientific about these things, but when I let myself really think about how each of those animals felt, it really makes me sad...although most of them seen to get over it and I know it is a necessity in today's world. And I do appreciate the opportunity to work with these animals. I have a new perspective on Catlow's fear of new places though...

Fencing in the cold

Wow is it cold here compared to ID! Apparently it was in the 70's two weeks ago, but now, the high's have only been in the upper 30's. Brrrrrr! When we left ID, it was in the upper 40's and lower 50's with barely freezing overnight. I'm just not used to this cold where the ground is actually hard in the morning! ID just doesn't get as cold (at least not where I live).

Today, we snapped the insulators on the T-posts to get started on the fencing. My dad had driven the posts before he came out to ID because he was worried that the ground would freeze hard later in Nov. So far, it is softening up during the day, so we are able to drive new posts. Half of the fencing is barb wire which we will string with electric as well (I know, barb wire is a no-no for horses, but we've always kept them in barb wire and we never had an electric fence before now!) And I've never had a horse with a wire cut until these horses. Both Catlow and Chico have pawed fences and cut the back of their pasterns. Cody just likes to lean over and graze if she can. For the half that is currently barb wire, we are putting electric fence on insulators that extend about 6 inches off the fence to keep them away from it and from leaning on it. For the other half, we had to replace the old nasty barb wire and old bent T-posts. For this half, we are putting three strands of hot-wire. I think it will work nicely. Today, we only managed to get the insulators on the posts and cut away the baby trees that had grown up in the fenceline since we last had horses around these parts (3 years ago I had an old thoroughbred named Taz who lived quite happily (and safely) in our substandard fencing, but he found a new home with a friend because I was in ID). I also walked the scrubby hill in their pasture and pulled all the burdocks (cockleburs) out. I hate pulling burs out of forelocks and tails. It mats them completely! I tossed the bur plants into the burning barrel and it made a "bur bouquet". I might try to snap a pic tomorrow, but I didn't have my camera on me today. Tomorrow we will string wire and introduce the horses to their new pasture.

This evening, my nephew came over after school and wanted to ride a horse, so we saddled Cody up, and I worked her on the ground a bit. I also showed him how to wiggle the rope and ask her to back away from him. He is being very good about listening to safety rules and being careful for himself around the horses. I led Cody, and my mom walked behind me with a hold on my nephew's jacket in case of any problems (I don't completely trust Cody...she's pretty confident, but she can also be stupid and spooky and she is in a new place right now). We walked all around the field and all was okay (Cody was walking fast, and pulling on me a bit, but she stopped whenever I asked her). At one point, she did get worried about the house across the road and the dog running up behind her, so my mom pulled my nephew off and I worked her on the ground for bit. Then he got back on and we walked back to the barn.

Then, since Cody was saddled already, I bridled her and took off for a quick ride before it got too dark. She was a little spooky and whinnied back for the others a couple times. She walked so fast and we also trotted and cantered. That tired her out a bit, so she was much calmer by the time we got back on top of the ridge heading toward the barn. I was pretty happy with how she did. I have to remember that she's only 5, she's in a new place, and I haven't ridden her in a few weeks. I'm excited because my neighbors stopped over today to see our horses and said I can use their arena (outdoor arena) whenever. I've never had an arena to work in unless I went to lessons! My neighbor's are retired and have 8 Tennessee Walkers. They breed on a small scale (don't have their own stallion) and their horses are all black or smokey black. Apparently they've been hoping for a palomino, but they keep getting smokey blacks. They are also very into learning new training methods and are doing the barefoot trimming as well.

Several of my family members (aunt, sister, mom...) have gotten hooked on watching this "puppy cam". I have seen it, and must say it is addicting. It has quite a following! At any given time, there might be 15,000-20,000 people watching it! Here's the website if you want to check it out: http://cdn1.ustream.tv/swf/4/viewer.45.swf?cid=317016 It's good if you have sound too...the puppies howl a lot! The site freezes up or goes off every once in a while, but they get it back on line.