Watchful

Yesterday, I walked up to the north pasture to get some pics of the Fab Four. There is no sneaking up on Rose. She was the first to notice something different in the area. She must be the look out for the herd. This morning all 6 were standing together at the gate, a first! Tessa and Sandy on the south side of it and the rest on the north. Sandy was standing with Tessa between her and the rest of the herd. I was happy to see this as it means Tessa is moving around pretty well and of her own accord.

Redhead

Rose loves to roll in this red dirt! I call her my redhead now. Her mane and tail have taken on the orange/red color of the ground. One evening, she looked like a firey red pinto. I didn't have my camera in my pocket then to record her spots!

Hope the link works:

http://picasaweb.google.com/hawkmommy/July152008

More on Sandy

I didn't realize when we brought Sandy home that she was so much smaller than the gang. When they went to check her out, it became clear that even though she is a QH, she isn't very big. Now she does need some groceries which she is getting but still she isn't a big horse. We put Rose in with her and Tessa at night and things went fine. We left Rose out the next night and put Star in with them. Things went fine. The next night, we put Sonny in with Tessa and Sandy. Things seem to go well. Sunday morning, we figured we could put her out to pasture with the four. It didn't go well. Hawk would not accept her and bit her badly on the right hip. I'm still putting Tri-Care on it. He also ran her until she was out of breath. So we moved her back in with Tessa. There she will stay. We are re-thinking our fencing plans so that Tessa and Sandy will have their own area all the time. Sandy has learned that treats are great! She also has learned that fly spray doesn't hurt. She continues to be the sweetest little gal and we have fallen madly in love with her.

Harley

This is how a Harley travels when there is lots of muddy dirt roads! Sis and BIL came to visit for a couple of days and we had 4-5 inches of rain last night. Gary hooked up the horse trailer to the tractor and sis and BIL rode in the trailer with the bike the 2+ miles to the paved road. There everything was unloaded and hooked back together and away they went. I will miss them greatly. We enjoy their company. Even when there was no electricity due to the storm last night. We played cards by lantern, lol.

New Girl

Meet the new girl, Sandy. Sandy has a fancy reg QH name but we just call her Sandy. Papers don't matter to us as we are not into breeding horses. There are enough needing homes now. Sandy came to us as a gift. Pretty great huh? Her owners felt she deserved retirement as she is 26 years old. She is sweet. She leads and loads like a dream. She has been a broodmare most of her life. She tried to make up with Tessa but Tess would have none of it. When we let Rose in to stay for the night, she got between Tessa and Sandy with her ears back. Rose is protective of Tessa. Hopefully at some point, Sandy will be accepted enough to turn out with the Fab Four (Hawk, Sonny, Star and Rose). We are glad to have her.

Freedom

The herd loves the new pasture. We still keep them up by the house at night just for safety. Rumors of mountain lions being released in this area have us worried.

Hot

We are finally moved in. Still putting stuff away, or at least trying to, lol. Horses, goat, dogs, and cat are doing fine. Smokey the dog is much happier now that his "stuff" is in the house. Familiar things make you feel at home. I think we are going to turn the horses up to the north pasture today for their summer grazing. Tessa will stay here by the house. The wooden shoes had to come off because they were creating problems with the souls and frogs of her feet. Probably due to the wet weather we had a few weeks ago. She has been seen by a natural trimmer and is sore on her front feet. It will take time but I think she will come around and be OK. It is very hot now in Oklahoma but guess that is natural. Will try and remember to take the camera when we turn the rest of the horses loose up north. They will still be feed twice a day so they will wander up to the barn morning and night for their feed and check ups.