Expect More Of The Same...

Well as much as July was a write off, August has been wetter yet. :-(

This is the state of my yards...

and this is the driest spot outside them! The yards themselves aren't quite so bad but OMG! just try getting to them!

So, it's just been the same, the boys have remained turned out in the paddock & get fed every night. They both politely queue at the gate at 5.30pm & they both call out excitedly as soon as they see me coming with their dinner. I stand, holding Whorl's bowl for him while Mojo sidles up to his own bowl & snatches mouthfuls of his feed, the whole time, hoping I'll ignore him.

Mojo has fallen in love with the only females on the property, Chloe, Frankie-Lynn & Moon (my sheep) & spends much of his time kissing them over the fence. Whorl doesn't like to be left out so all five of them do relays up & down the fenceline, taking turns to greet & 'kiss' each other. When they get bored with this, all five of them lay down for a nap. They've become GREAT friends!

Here they are today; the ONLY sunny day we've had in AGES! We only had one shower of rain. Hehehe. It was still wintery cold though in the wind. These five certainly know how to make the most of the sun!

As I got closer, I wondered how long it would be before they got up. I didn't think they'd be comfortable staying on the ground with me approaching with the camera in hand.

Oh...so this close is fine then...

Yes, I AM coming closer...try not to look ssooo scared you two! *cough, cough*

Oh yes of course, I COMPLETELY understand that an itchy fetlock is of WAY more importance than a predator approaching.

Good on you Whorl! Any self respecting 'wild' horse should be on high alert at all times & ready to flee to safety at a moment's notice. Just give him time to rub his eyes & haul his ample caboose out of bed, eh Mojo!

Crikey! All that yawning going on...there's high stress here today!

I'm sure the only real reason they bothered to get up was because Chloe came bounding over, bellowing at me in the hope of cuddles & sheep nuts. (Not necessarily in that order.)

The husband had a wee niggle the other day about me not doing anything with these two. He promptly changed his tune after wading through the quagmire that is the yards, to give Whorl his feed on his way hunting. I wish I'd had the camera then! Picture a guy in camo with a gun slung on his back, feeding a wild pony. Whorl REALLY doesn't care 'who' is attached to his bucket as long as it has food in it!

So meantime, while the weather has been hideous & I've been hibernating, I've had a breakthrough in treating my TB horse, Manny. His symptoms all fit those of a 'grass affected' horse according to Jenny Paterson of Calm, Healthy Horses so we're embarking on her diet regime in an effort to reduce his pain & improve his quality of life.

While going through the Healthy Horse Checklist, I noticed that some of my other horses also display symptoms of being 'grass affected', particularly my Kaimanawas! Everything about them screams 'insulin resistance' going by the symptoms for such on this list. It has certainly given me food for thought anyway! I urge all of you with Kaimanawa horses to have a thorough read of Jenny's website. I have also started another blog for me to document Manny's progress through his lifestyle change. Hopefully, this will help me identify times when he is most affected so I can be proactive in managing his condition. Feel free to peek at Manny's Diary to see how he's doing while you wait for my yards to dry out a little. ;-)

Don't forget too that Mojo & Whorl are both available by tender NOW! If you would like a Tender form for either of them, please email me. We've had a few enquiries already so hopefully, we'll find the PERFECT homes for these boys!

KWHWT Inc. also has these wee lovelies looking for homes...

See the website for more details if you'd like to adopt one of these young mares. They have been handled & are ready to go.

'The Ranger' is another older stallion like Mojo, who will be ready for adoption at a later date. If you're interested in offering 'The Ranger' a home, please either contact me or email Marilyn Jenks via the KWHWT website (link above).

What Happened To July?!

HUGE apologies to those who have been following! July was a bit of a disaster for me with contractors onsite, a death in the family, computer problems & absolutely FOUL weather! Mojo & Whorl have spent the whole month just chilling & relaxing in the paddock which doesn't seem to have done either of them any harm. I've managed to catch the odd photo or two so here's a quick update...

14th of July

Mojo & Whorl are now living permanently in the paddock. They'd previously been coming back into the yards at night. Whorl has filled out nicely & Mojo is really starting to relax & look happy. They're quite respectful of electric tape & have made absolutely no attempts to test it, not even when the post rammer was ramming 3m posts right next to them in the same paddock!

Mojo has 'claimed his territory' with an impressive poo pile or two. I think he likes it here. He's sharing a 3 acre paddock with Whorl & is surrounded by other horses & all sorts of strange animals he's never seen before.

Not many 'strange animal' encounters have been planned. Well...not by ME anyway! Chloe Lamb & her wayward girlfriends had been planning this encounter for weeks I suspect.

The busy body Ballet Lamb! She just can't help herself, she HAS to know everyone & everything! 

Chloe looking rather concerned that there is yet ANOTHER horse eating her much loved grass. And he doesn't even have the decency to give her the time of day! Mojo & Whorl have since moved to the other side of the electric tape in the background & posts are now standing 2 metres high around the roundpen. I thought the boys might be worried by the large tractor, post rammer & strange people but no, not really. They had a bit of a hoon around when everyone first arrived but all the rearing & playing gave it away that they weren't really concerned.

23rd of July

And this is how it's been since, WET!

As you can see, the boys have plenty of grass but they're still either waiting or come running, yelling their heads off, when they hear the bike coming with dinner. Whorl gives me enough space to get in the gate & then he needs no invitation to dive straight into his feed while I hold it. He's learned that he has more feed than Mojo & that as long as I'm there, Mojo won't push in & steal his feed so I'm his best buddy at dinnertime! Well actually...it turns out ANYONE who is attached to the bucket is his best buddy. As long as you stand quietly & use similar posture to me, he's happy to be served dinner by others. Hehehe.

Mojo sidles up & will eat quite close but he's not keen to let me hold the bowl for him in the paddock. He's only getting enough feed now to keep him in a routine as he's rather rotund!

To Date...

Whorl is turning into a handsome little man! He spends a LOT of time flat out, snoring his head off as he's growing. When he's not sleeping, he's harassing Mojo to play with him. The two of them have lengthy play sessions of rearing, sparring, galloping around playing tag & another game which Mojo has recently suggested Whorl plays...Mojo is obviously missing the ladies & will soon need to be separated from Whorl. 

Mojo will need to get used to being on his own a bit anyway as Whorl will be ready to go to a new home as soon as the weather improves. I'll really miss my chocolatey sweet little Whorl. He's just the nicest wee man! He's super inquisitive & is happy to just hang around with me after he's eaten his dinner, unlike Mojo who prefers to wander off to a slightly safer distance, to graze. When Whorl's not sure about something, he wrinkles up one nostril & thinks hard about what he should do before he reacts. He never gets defensive & he's not scared of people, in fact he actually quite likes them! Whorl will make some very lucky child's best friend, he has the potential to be one of those 'one in a million' ponies. He's also very clever!! I recently started turning one of the switches off on the electric fence to climb through the double gate tape. Whorl watched me do this twice before I caught him slyly testing his whiskers on the electric tape in his paddock. So far, he remains convinced that it WILL still bite him, he hasn't felt the need to test the theory fully & is giving it the benefit of the doubt after the whisker test. He still takes great interest in my ability to climb through without getting zapped & with his thinking face on, he does his whisker test on his own fence each evening.

Well there ya go! Mojo & Whorl currently think they're at holiday camp & all they have to do is turn up to the buffet each evening. All is about to change! Just as soon as the weather forecast does!