March randoms.. I miss the snow.. far too much mud now.

This is what Eko thinks of the mud.


I think Ikeda feel sthe same way..














Everyone having a treat...










Shadow checking out the small stream to cross to get to the hay...


He decided to take the long way around...




Dessert...


The pups were enjoying the afternoon sun as well...

A few more... with lots more mud...

very nice pictures moonshadow, your equine's alway's look great..

amazingly they all do look good in pink!!!!!!!!!!! :cowboyhound.gi

I feel your pain about the mud. I agree with the horses! How do you get them to go into their own feeding area? Do they just know which one is theirs or do you have to put them in one at a time?

Tammy wrote:

I feel your pain about the mud. I agree with the horses! How do you get them to go into their own feeding area? Do they just know which one is theirs or do you have to put them in one at a time?

My horses are so food driven.. ha.. here is how it goes... even if they are in the woods.. I just have to call out thier names.. hold the white bowl in the air, that contains the chopped carrots and apples. Shadow will make his way first, as he is first to enter and has the first stall, the other two will do circles in the yard till he is in the barn, then Eko makes his way in.. he takes the middle and largest of the stalls. While I am dishing up, Shadow leans his head over the stall to make sure I hand out things evenly and in the correct order and dishes..lol.. Eko keeps Ikeda at the door, he will not allow her to enter until all the dishes are ready, and he has his, then she enters her stall. They all do this on there own. I don't use halters, only voice and body language if they don't follow the correct pattern.
When they are finished.. Shadow usually finishes first, then Eko.. they wait in thier stalls until Ikeda is finished, and she eats slower..lol She leaves first, then Eko, and Shadow stays behind to clean up..bits and piece that got missed.

They all take turns at the salt and mineral licks, and with the water. There is no apparent head to my herd. Shadow bosses Eko, who bosses Ikeda, who bosses Shadow. Eko will step in and protect Shadow if Ikeda is getting to nasty with him, and Shadow asks for Eko assistance. Eko and Shadow will eat hay together and play gelding games. Eko will also eat hay with Ikeda, even when she tells him to go away, he just ignores her. Shadow and Ikeda will eat together if and only if Ikeda approaches Shadow and doesn't chase him away. Shadow can not approach Ikeda.

So in answer to your question... hmmm seems I took the long way around.. they come in to the feeding area on thier own and enter their own stalls. They don't get fed until they are in thier own stalls. I don't have to lead them in or out.
This area is a part of the run-in, so they have access to it all the time. The only thing I do have to do on some occasions, is make sure they stay in their own stalls, as they are not all fed the same or the same amounts. Ikeda has been caught on occassion squishing her buttercup in Shadows stall with him, and he will just let her eat his food.

Its a wonderful set up, and requires little work on my part, and it is not dangerous if we need to have some one feed the horses for us. There is access to the heads of the stalls with an alley way.

What an awesome setup. I find it so interesting to see how they work out who does what when. The dynamics of our two little groups always seem to be changing - depending on the situation.

One of my favorite pass times is watching the herd interact with one another, and watch the body language.. it can be very subtle to down right in your face stuff.
For the most part I try not to interfere with the dynamic. Only time I interfere is when I am in the mix.. then I want them to listen to my body language... not that I don't pay special mind to what is going on around me.

I rarely have to lead my horses, just sort of direct them, in the direction I want them to go.. they are pretty good at following me, or comming when called. I do however use halters when it is work time, or when the gals come to do thier feet, or the vet is comming. I will also halter and use a lead line if someone is visiting an is not familiar with horses.

If I want the horses in the barn in a hurry I only have to lift the lid of the old freezer which houses the feed, and BOSS..it squeaks... and they come running... bwahahahhaa..

I will have to video a meal time for JJ blog.. just to show you how it works.

They all look great! Ikeda looks like she's came through the winter nice and round, I love her facial expressions. Your run-in must be quite large? Someday I'd like to have 'feeding stalls', but for now my run-in is too small.

My piece of land stays fairly dry. We are on upland marsh that has good drainage so we don't really get mud, just soft ground. What I hate is all the poop! Everything is so nice and white all winter and now my small turnout which is about 1 acre in size looks like a big toilet that hasn't been flushed in 6 months. Picking it up is a waste of time, plus its still frozen to the ground so you can't really clean it at this point. I can't wait for it to be warm enough so my neighbour can bring in his tractor and scrape it again, I feel your pain!

Yes Ikeda had a good winter.... i may have heard her cough twice all winter.. whooo hooooo!!! She looks rounder in the photos than she is. lol

We do the same here, come spring when all the ground has thawed we hire a fellow with a bob cat to come and clean up into one pile. This spring if we are still here we will be adding another couple of loads of gravel to the run-in and surrounding area.. drainage sucks here ... its very boggy in places. Yes I love our run -in, it is large 26ft x 30 ft. It was a building that at one time was used to house a lobster boat. So it has high ceiling as well, so we added a loft on top of the stalls for some storeage.. not hay. We keep a bit of hay to the side ally. We have to get a truck load of hay every 2 weeks. The building had cedar shakes, but the horses have riped off most of them, and we have been plywooding in bit by bit.. never seem to have the time to just go at her and get it all done at once.
Here are some pics of the building inside and out.