Feeding the crew

Ah, what I wouldn't give for a 16-stall barn! Right now we have a huge equipment shed that we've cleaned out so it acts as a large, segregated run-in shed for the horses. This works great for giving them shelter, but not so great when it comes time to feed. Last night I realized why it takes me an hour to feed 13 horses. First I have to worry about herd dynamics and make sure everyone gets fed in order descending pecking order. The pecking order is as follows:


1. Junior and Semi
2. Kita
3. Classy
4. Megalia and Tabby
5. Indy
6. Jewel, Willow, and Meghan
7. Stride and Dolly
8. Manny


The first thing I need to do is get the full feed buckets out of the back of the truck and into the barn behind closed gates without being mauled. Then I tie up Semi and Kita, and Junior usually just stands between his two women at his feed bucket waiting for the good stuff so I don't bother tying him. No one else tries to steal their food since they are the top rung of the ladder so I go ahead and feed them. While they're getting started I tie up Meg and Classy. I used to just spread out their buckets and let them sort it out, but Classy is a food face and has started to chase Tabby away from her grain. Because it's MINE. ALL MINE. Then I get Stride, Dolly, and Indy into a separate area of the barn. I don't bother tying any of them up because they respect each other's buckets and generally take the same time to eat anyway. By that time Meghan and Jewel are waiting at their gate. I let them in the same area as the hay since there's only two of them and it doesn't take them long to eat. Once everyone else is eating, I give Manny his bucket outside the barn, away from everyone else. He's the slowest eater, so I try to "hide" him where no one else will find him once their done stuffing their faces. Willow is the last to eat because fat girl only gets a handful and can sometimes charm her way into Semi's bucket if I don't tie her up. By the time Willow is fed, it's time to go back through with the alfalfa cubes and dole those out to my hard keepers who are mostly done with their grain at that point: Junior, Indy, Stride, and Dolly.

Alfalfa cubes disbursed, it's time to start throwing out square bales of hay and strategically spreading out the piles so that no one clique is too close to another. The brat pack is easy -- once I throw hay in front of their faces they don't move until it's gone. Everyone else is usually a challenge because they all want to play musical hay piles. Someone inevitably ends up on the wrong side of the pasture as the unoccupied hay piles and can't figure out how to get to it. Then I feel bad for them and throw out more hay.


By the time an hour is up, everyone is fed and eating hay, the buckets are all rinsed out and back in the truck, the barn is closed back up, and it's time to go feed my baby boys in the back pasture. This is the easy part. I take two buckets of grain out behind the house, call in my boys, enjoy the view as they come running, and then they each help themselves to a bucket. No one chases anyone else away, there are no fights, dirty looks, or name-calling, and I get to stand there and scratch them as they eat.


Speaking of baby boys, Anastasia is doing a terrific job on Hunter! Go check out his training journal over on Training the Unwanted. And she tells me his butt is growing like crazy and is even higher than it was when I saw him over the weekend. Talk about your awkward teenager! Not only does he look silly, but he moves pretty darned funny as well. Let's hope the front end catches up soon.