Farm Days II

What is it with Farm Days being held on really windy days??  We had 40mph gusts today and were constantly chasing around papers and trash, but had a ton of fun regardless!  Even though Anne and I both left our homes without our cameras, Anne was able to take a few pictures with her cell phone. 

There were cute and cuddly little Alpacas next to us and I want one.

There were cute, cuddly, and needy little billy goats across from us and I want two.  One of them tried climbing the fence just to be closer to me and get more attention than the others.  If I had a better fence around my garden, he would have fit nicely in the front seat of my truck.

 

There were also these incredibly docile and lovable water buffalo and I want five.  There was an adorable three week old calf and I kept trying to sneak her away, but her owners had a sharp eye on the little one.   Dang it.

 

Now, I’m sure you’re wondering which horses I took.  The plan was to take Mick and Cinnamon, but neither one of them cooperated when it came to getting on the trailer.  Cinnamon broke her lead rope and took off back to her herd and I was running late already so I let her go.  Mick didn’t even want to walk down to the gate away from the rest of the herd and I wasn’t in the mood to play tug of war with him, so I left him as well.  As I was walking around the pasture trying to figure out who else I could take, Summer kept following me around. 

Mom?  You can take me, right?  Maverick says I might get cookies all day if I get on the trailer… please take me?  I’d love lots of cookies.

Yeah, ok.  You can go, Summer.  Any other volunteers?  At that point, Milo walked over to me and said howdy.  Well, ok then.  Guess you’re going too, Milo. 

I put a butt rope behind Milo and he hopped on the trailer after a little fussing.  I didn’t even need to lead Summer, I just let her go and she walked on right beside Milo.  I guess she really wanted those cookies that Maverick promised her!  They both rode like pros and never even broke a sweat.  When I got to Tractor Supply they both exited the trailer with ease and followed me dutifully past the overturned shopping cart, flapping black table cloth, water buffalo, goats, and alpacas.  The only thing that even gave them a little pause was the shopping cart.  Once they were in their “stalls”, they both stood there calmly looking around and checking out their surroundings. 

 

On one side of us was a newcomer to Farm Days, an equine dentist who calls himself Mr. Ed.   Ed just happens to have studied under my old vet/dentist in VA, Ray Hyde.  I haven’t seen Ray since Kita was born 13 years ago and he was still doing a little general vet work on the side of his dental practice.  Now he runs an incredible equine dental school and sends instructors world wide!  Like Ray, Ed is also very passionate about horse welfare and is more than happy to give discounts to rescues for dental work.  Woohoo!  I took one of his cards and promised him many mini teeth to look at soon.  I’ll be sure to take many pictures to share for educational purposes.   You know, cause I’m all about the equine educating here on this blog.   And pictures of the pus coming out of Shortcake’s tooth abscess will be cool.  Kind of like the pictures of Marbles’ testicles.

Brannon, my farrier, was also there again this year.  He wanted to do another demo on one of the horses that I brought and Summer was due again so it worked out just fine.  He adores Summer because she’s always so well behaved for him and today was no different!  Unfortunately, Anne wasn’t able to get any pictures of her pedicure, only the aftermath…

 

Apparently, eating a bajillion cookies and getting a pedicure is tiring work.  She was passed out and dreaming by 11:00 while about 10 people stood around the outside of her stall watching and laughing at her.   Once she woke up, Milo took his turn for a quick cat nap.  They were obviously both very nervous and upset about being surrounded by so many strange people in a strange place.  

 

Yeah.  Right.

It was another successful day at Tractor Supply and both Milo and Summer may have new homes soon, thanks to their eagerness to please everyone and take whatever cookies were offered.  It was a tough job, but I’m betting they were really happy they got on that trailer this morning!

I need you

Remember Farm Days at Tractor Supply last year?  We’ve been invited to participate again, this time in the Spring version on May 8th.   And since I really have nothing else to do, I said sure, I’ll be there.  With bells on. 

Would someone please shoot me now?

The first thing I had to do was find someone to feed the quarantine farm the morning of the 8th.   That was easier than I thought it would be.  Thanks, Michelle!

The second thing was to get Anne working on the flyers and handouts.   That was also easy.

Now comes the hard part… deciding which horses to take!  I only want to take horses that still need a home and I don’t want to take any of the Fairmont horses since there’s a chance they may still go back to the asshat that starved them.

So here’s a list of the potentials to take to Farm Days this year.  I’ve narrowed it down, but need help in making the final decision.   Traveler, Thunder, Mick, Quill, Cinnamon, Milo, or Maggie.  I can only take two, and I think I REALLY want to take Mick.  He’s turned in to such a hunk and I just love him like crazy.

Mick – 3yr old Quarterhorse gelding.  Can be sweet, but still a little shy.

 

Traveler – approx. 2yr old gelding mutt.  Absolute pocket pony who loves attention (and cookies).

 

Cinnamon – 8(ish) Arabian mare.  Very shy, but warms up to people quickly when cookies are present.

 

Thunder – 8yo TNW cross gelding.  He’s very friendly, but was only castrated five months ago and still thinks he’s a stud.  He’s very herd bound and may be an idiot when taken away to a strange place without Lakota.

 

Maggie – 2yr old QH filly.   She can be rather rude and I’m not sure I trust her not to bite little fingers when faced with so many cookies in one day.   And geesh, talk about a growth spurt!

 

Quill – 2yr old TB/Arab cross… maybe?  Very sweet and mannerly and would undoubtedly adore every little human that came to see him.

 

Milo – 3yr old QH gelding.  Sweet, mannerly, and not likely to take anyone’s fingers off.

 

So tell me… who should I take??  Please make my decision for me, I am completely incapable at this time. :)

Welcome to Spring

Yup, I’m a day late.  Story of my life.  But yesterday, it was as if Mick and Milo both knew it was officially Spring.   They spent about 20 minutes just running back and forth on the ridge, bucking and playing, trying unsuccessfully to get the other horses to run with them.

 

 

 

 

 

I think they’re happy.  But it’s so hard to tell. :)

Spring Fever

Spring fever is starting to hit the herd and there’s been a lot of running around and play fighting.  Even the long-eared beast is getting into the fun.

 

 

 

Mick and Milo did a little play fighting yesterday, pretending that they were big bad wild mustangs fighting for their herd of mares.

 

 

 

When in reality, they’re just a couple of dirty little geldings that get bossed around by the mares on a daily basis. 

 

Just keep dreaming, boys!

Updates

Marilyn the pig was killed in her pen last Tuesday.  She had long clean gashes in her sides and her haunches had been chewed on.  There were no wounds around her head or neck.  I’m thinking our friendly neighborhood big cat that attacked Sadie last year is back.  Something had to have jumped the 6’ dog kennel panels that had surrounded the pigs.  Bacon Butt escaped by breaking one of the boards on their shelter.  I found him loose with the main herd on Wednesday morning.  Until yesterday, he’d been hanging out in the yard with Timmy.  Then I came home from town yesterday to find the neighbor’s starving inbred pack of dogs surrounding Bacon Butt, who was lying on the ground grunting, twitching, and bleeding out.  The dogs took off when I got out of the truck and I used one of Glenn’s rifles to put poor piggie out of his misery. 

 

I have still not been able to get any answers from Marion County about those horses in Fairmont.  Has anyone else called the sheriff’s department and had any better luck?  I’ve asked PETA to get involved by putting pressure on the sheriff’s department and hopefully that will make a difference.

 

 

Crazy breeder down the road is keeping blankets on her horses in this beautifully warm and sunny weather, just to hide the fact that they’re starving.  Maybe I should throw a blanket on Jolie to hide the fact that she’s filthy.   Damned grays.  They always have to roll in the mud.

 

Doc is coming out next Tuesday to castrate Maverick and Sky, even if the weather sucks.   Mav is getting a little too horny with the warm weather coming on.

 

Traveler and Timmy finally have some updates over on Rescue Recoveries, so please go check them out.  Those will probably be the last updates until they shed out in another month or so. 

 

Better Late Than Never

I finally got around to taking pictures of the other two youngsters that came in with Summer and Traveler.  As you can see, they’re not nearly as bad off as the other two.  If it weren’t for the winter coat you’d see a big wormy belly, more ribs showing, and not much topline.   But at least these guys have some meat on their bones and are much stronger than the other two.  Both are supposed to be two years old.  Neither of them had sores on their faces from growing into halters that were too small, and they were obviously in charge of the herd and got most of the food.  These two boys have been together since they were babies and don’t like to be far from each other.

Meet Youngster #1, a cute little chestnut who loves attention. 

 

 

Youngster #2 is a plain bay gelding with not a spot of white any where on his body.  He was skittish when he arrived, but this morning at breakfast he decided I wasn’t quite so evil after all. 

 

 

There you have it… it’s time for you to come up with some good names for the two munchkins.  As usual, leave your suggestions in the comments and I’ll make a poll for everyone to vote.   If anyone suggests “Brownie” for Youngster #2, be forewarned that I WILL beat you with a bag of bricks.