T has been living life to the fullest. Daily activities include:
Sharing hay with Leo (he's only stalled at feeding time and at night so he can eat all his alfalfa, but he likes to share hay over the stall door so he can visit)
Hanging with Paddy.
Looking snuggly AF in his Canadian winter wardrobe while nomming hay.
Licking the manhole cover in his pasture. Weird horse is weird, y'all.
I don't even know where he found this mud puddle but I washed this blanket THE DAY BEFORE.
Testing out the heated water trough. He definitely approves and I've notice overall water intake has gone WAY up for everyone, so if you can heat your trough in the winter, DO IT (1)
And of course, grooming with Paddy at every opportunity! I love watching herd dynamics and these two make my heart melt. So cute!
I know lots of the US has had really bad weather this last weekend... if your horses are on vacay, what are they up to?
1) No seriously, heating water works. http://extension.udel.edu/equine/2012/12/05/winter-water-for-horses/
Awww I loooooove them. So wish I was getting my annual Austin trip this year! Heated water is a must. Our auto-waterers are insulated and heated, with a generator behind them so an ice storm doesn't take them out. Very essential.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a great system with the heated water! Even though we live in the south and it rarely freezes, I have definitely discovered that a tank heater is a must-have!
DeleteGlad everyone's getting to hang with Taran. He and Paddy are adorable. Val incessantly licks a cast iron tub (formerly a trough) in his field. Glad to know he's not the only weird one lol.
ReplyDeleteThere's got to be something about the taste of it that they like!
DeleteFirst of all, I'd like to come live there, please and thank you. Secondly, I got a HUGE kick out of licking the manhole cover because.... JR DOES THE SAME THING!!! What a random thing to have in common LOL
ReplyDeleteDom, the door is always open and we have plenty of space! And I feel SOOOO much better that I don't own the only horse in the world that licks manhole covers. Because that's just weirdo.
DeleteOMG, I love my trough heater. I can't do all of them, but I put a drain-plug heater in a 100 gal trough & use a heated muck tub in the runin. Not only do the horses drink better but NO ICE BREAKING for me. I do only buy heated drinky things with thermostat controls & grounded plugs & since it's not possible to burn your barn down if you don't have a barn, it's worked out perfectly!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I suspect the iron licking has something do with oxidation. Like the faint sweet taste if you put coins in your mouth (what, didn't you do weird things when you were a kid?).
Haha we originally bought the tank heater because none of our horses knew how to break ice *insert eyeroll*. Paddy's a pro at it so nobody would go without, but heated is clearly better!
DeleteYeah I'm guessing the iron has a sweet taste, but T is the only one who does it. Maybe he needs more iron in his diet? Or more manhole covers, I'm not sure which...
They are so cute together! Awwwww
ReplyDeleteThey are! <3
DeleteDo you think he identifies as a haffie?
ReplyDeleteI think he's the CEO of the Haffies. They are just there to groom him and clean up any scraps he doesn't want.
DeleteThat muddy blanket 😂😂
ReplyDeleteOMG I have no idea how I'm going to clean that thing because if I put it in the wash like that, I'm pretty sure it will choke my washing machine. I can't even.
DeleteA big part of my barn planning involves locating outlets so both the trough and every stall bucket can have a plug so they can be heated in the winter! I HATE dealing with icy buckets/troughs.
ReplyDeleteHeated everything is definitely a requirement up where you are! Ping me if you want to discuss barn planning... can tell you what we learned, what we really love about our place and what we'd do differently.
DeleteWe have hot water in our barn so I add some hot to their buckets to warm them up. They definitely like it better. We have plans to install automatic heated waterers but apparently plumbers are in super short supply around here. I can get one for emergencies, but not for a project like that. I think we're going to have to do it ourselves.
ReplyDeleteOh man. Heated water makes such a difference. And not only heated water but other things heated make a difference, too. Horses who get hay soaked seem to appreciate that being warm. And Bast looooooves his alfalfa pellets steeped in warm water. I'm honestly with the horses. I prefer drinking slightly warm or tepid water. I can drink a lot more a lot faster that way.
ReplyDelete