Poor Mojo

Tonight, we put him out in a pasture where he can see the mares. I'm sure he'll be hoarse by morning (yes, pun intended :) He galloped up and down trying to look impressive, he started a manure mountain (must be a horsey thing) and he called to the girls with a toss of his head.

Some of them were absolutely smitten - they're probably coming into heat soon. Some of them just ate grass - they're not in heat.

We're also experimenting with having one larger herd of horses for the summer so they can use teh pasture more efficiently. We'll see how that goes.

Boy, oh boys!

Early this morning - I had just stepped out of the shower at around 6:50 a.m. when I got a call from our neighbour. He wanted to know if we were missing some horses because a bunch had just gone thundering past his house.

He lives about 1 km away as the crow flies, so this was no early morning meander...

I jumped into some clothes and went to find my husband - who had already noticed the horses were gone. He had ridden out on the stallion to try to find the errant boys. They were no where to be seen.

I flagged him down from the four wheeler - my hair was now completely dry and had that wind blown look - and we set off to the neighbours with a bunch of halters, lead lines and a saddle - and a half-baked plan.

Our wonderful neighbour had managed to corral the boys in one of his pastures and we were able to get halters and lead lines on the six of them. Then we started the trudge home. WAY more excitement than I needed before breakfast.

Thank goodness for good neighbours. :)

This is a picture of the sainted mare herd that stayed home.

Bitless bridles - Pepsi's verdict

I bought a bitless bridle at an auction sale in Listowel. Brought it home and eventually tried it. The first time, I tried it with a young horse that I've been riding and frankly, he was really confused. Going from a very simple western style headstall to head bondage was a little overwhelming for him.

So, tonight, I tried it with my faithful mare Pepsi. Pepsi was born on the farm 17 years ago - our first baby here. Her mother was a sorrel grade quarter horse type mare and her father was a bay coloured registered Appaloosa. We got a small black mare that has the energy of the Energizer Bunny and is willing to try just about anything - at least once.

She waited patiently while I got the bridle adjusted properly and really liked the fact that it's black, like her. She enjoys matching accessories. It took her a couple of turns and stops to catch on and then we were off on a trail ride. She loves the fact that when it's time to stop for a rest break and some grass, there's no bit in her mouth to limit grass consumption ;)

I actually bought the bridle for DeeDee, our minimal white overo mare, but she hasn't had a chance to try it out yet. DeeDee acts like her feelings are being hurt when you use a bit, so we often just attach reins to her bridle when we ride. (No, it's not her teeth - we have them floated :)

Anyway, I'll let you know how the next experiment goes :)

First turn out of the year!

The horses have been on winter paddocks up until now, but this weekend they are having a great time tearing around in the big fields, eating dandelions until their faces are yellow and playing games.





Here's Mojo posing for the camera between gallops up and down the field. He's pretty sure that this would be more fun with a mare to keep him company ;)










You can tell this is a real blog because there are dirty horses in it :) These guys have been rolling in every available mud puddle - and with the weather we've been having, there are lots of them.