First off, LOOK at my orange tree!! This is remarkable. I swear, those worms and worm castings from Black Diamond are awesome! Not only are all of my trees growing like crazy, but now I have oranges! Last year, I had a few. This year, Bonanza! Get yours – worm castings I mean…! (no affiliation, I just love her dedication – all home grown and she works the business herself!)
This is my little orange tree! Can you believe it?! It is loaded with organges! I swear by Black Diamond Vermicompost! (no affiliation)
Do you find yourself daydreaming about ways to harvest fresh, new, yummy, unfenced, green grass for your horses?! I do.
Since green grass is so rare here in CA (if you don’t have irrigated pastures), when the green grass arrives, I find myself coveting it and trying to find ways to dole it out between my horses – before it turns brown.
Right now, I have tons of green grass. It has been raining almost non-stop. (not complaining) So I have fresh, yummy green grass everywhere, except in the main paddocks where the horses have already eaten it away.
The issue with green grass is that it can be harmful in large doses – as you know. Spring Laminitis is a real thing around here. Well, it isn’t exactly Spring yet, but if I let my horses out all day on this grass, they would be sore, for sure. The grass has sprouted and it is hearty because we’ve also had lots of sun mixed with the rain. Great for grass growing! Bad for daytime grazing.
You probably know already that if you are going to put your horses out on rich green grass, night time is the best time to do it. The grass is less rich. When the sun is on it, it is more potent.
I was daydreaming while I was grooming Missy Miss – about how to save all the grass for my horses – . Today, we had a relief from the rain. Sunshine. More grass! (You can see here that I had not quite gotten to her mane or face…)
Anyway, today (during a respite from the rain), I was out trying to get the mud off of Missy Miss. She was being harassed by Annie (because I shut the gate to the 5 acres due to too much grass) who is in a foul mood because I’ve shut the gate to the 5 acres. Consequently, Annie is pushing Missy Miss around. So it was time to separate.
Big, huge Annie was the first to be foot sore last Spring, so I am being very cautious. They will only go out at night.
One can get a lot of thinking done when grooming a muddy mare!
OK, back to the story… so I was grooming Missy Miss and looking at all of the grass. In my mind, I concocted a system of panels where I could let every individual paddock have the grass right in front of their paddock. I’m excited to erect my panel city. I have to keep the areas small because the ground is so saturated, if they get too much speed, they will rip it all up and slide. But, I think I can make little pens outside of each paddock and then shift it to new grass every other day. I like it!
There is grass and wonderful greenery EVERYWHERE! I could erect little panel corrals in front of each paddock and let the horses eat it down, carefully. Not too much at once. This green carpet you see here is almost pure carb. This ranch was a cattle ranch and this was planted for them. It is insta-laminitis if they are on it too long.
These are Wrigley’s hoof marks. He was grazing, got hyped and made a mess. The ground is too soft to hold a horse without ruining the top layer – especially when they pivot. The horses actually sink when standing on it. He needed to be contained in a smaller area to keep him from getting excited and making divots.
Also, I have tons of grass on the hills and valleys around the house (not the front lawn – that is off limits). I can hand-walk Gwen around those. She loves the hunt for grass.
Wow, I deviated again from my story! OK, so, today, while deciding what I could potentially do this year to the paddocks, I hand picked a quarter bucket of fresh greens for each horse. *Note: Never give a horse mowed lawn trimmings! It is too wet and too dense for their stomachs and they will colic. Only give them what they could pull, reasonably, in a short time. OK, so now that we have given the disclaimer, I hand-pulled lots of yummy greens and everyone got a treat. LOVE.
I hand picked a smallish amount of grass in a bucket and give it to them.
Missy Miss also looks better. However, it is just a matter of hours before she cakes herself again. The rain is coming for 5 days straight. (not complaining)
So much grass! I want them to enjoy it, safely, while they can!!
Finished for today! Tomorrow, mud spa again! She sticks her head through the fence and rips off her mane…
-
We still have a few MICHAEL JOHNSON’s The Trials of Joe Ben Black, Confessions of a Rope Horse available! $25! All proceeds go to the Bucket Fund for these donkeys! Click here to get your copy! Free shipping!
JANUARY BUCKET FUND – Let’s help 21 Donkeys!
EMERGENCY JANUARY BUCKET FUND: 21 wet, starving and lonely DONKEYS NEED OUR HELP! All donations are 100% tax deductible. THANK YOU in advance!!
Click here to donate! (Thank you!)
To read their story, click here: https://www.horseandman.com/?p=50420
