Horses Afield!

 Carrie took a stunning picture of the rising sun.

One of the things that's made the past couple months in barn management more difficult has been closing down our fields. They were seeded mid-October and we've kept the horses in the dry lots since. It's meant more work. 

December 9th, Carrie let the horses back on the fields for the first time.

    

It was a supervised visitation. They had 1 hour to frolic and eat as much as they wanted before we pulled them in for dinner (Except for Eowyn and Eddy. The pig-quines on diets had to have muzzles).

As long as the conditions are dry enough, Carrie's let the horses out for an increasing amount of time each day before dinner. It's 12/24 as I'm writing this and the horses had 5 hours on the pastures yesterday (and they'll have none today since it's rain, rain, rain!).

Most of the time, dinner is enough to lure the horses in. I've definitely had to wander off into the field in the dark to grab Eowyn, though (She and Eddy are the least likely to choose to come in on their own!). 

We worked hard to time it in the beginning so that we'd kick the horses out with enough light they'd see we restrung the lines. In the beginning, they weren't happy about it! Ernie wouldn't eat all his food and would just gaze out longingly, hoping the grass would still be in reach. Abby ran out and kicked at Eowyn once, because she was pissed!

The opening and closing of the pastures has become part of the routine. Everyone runs out, rolls, and eats their hearts out.

I caught Ernie eating while lying down the other day. That was a new one!

The horses take midday naps, but I guess he couldn't settle in to sleep while he had access to grass.

Hopefully, the baby grass had enough time to set roots and establish and the horses aren't killing off all the progress made. The goal of the seeding was to have healthy pastures for the next decade. We don't want a high-quality salad bar that lasts for a couple months before reverting to what we had before!