It was really cold on the walk this morning, 18 degrees with a stiff wind. None of us dressed warm enough. We took a short cut on the last round and just went through Rachel's yard to Joan's house before heading back. Mike left for Middle Grove early this morning to move in bales before the snow hits later this week and took the two pictures below.
The horses know how to stay comfortable, up against the hill side out of the wind and soaking up the sun. Most were drowsing but a few were grazing.
After the walk the truck was hooked up to the two horse trailer and I left right at 9:00 am to pick up the first load of horses. When I arrived they were still in the same area. Anna was next to the gate so she was haltered, led out of the pasture and tied to the trailer before I went back to find Jenis. With this many black horses sometimes it can be hard to find a particular horse but I yelled out "JENIS", her head popped up and she came down to meet me. She really is a special mare. I was back on the road heading home by 9:34 am. The second load didn't quite go as well. This time I had to hike half way up the hill to halter Ayanna and big Rosalie and both of them are kind of balkers. I had to convince them they must go down the hill and into the trailer but even with that I was still on my back home before 11:00 am. When I arrived to pick up the last load the horses were gone from that area. I drove down to the far gate to see if they were by the hay bales but there wasn't a horse in sight. The trailer was turned around and the truck parked next to the first gate and I started hiking up the hill. When I reached the top the herd was spread out mostly grazing but a few horses were laying down enjoying the sunshine. I snapped the pictures below with my phone and sent a text to Karin that I was picking up the last load of mares.
When I arrived back at the farm, the 3 weanlings in the middle paddock were moved to the far weanling paddock joining the other 3 weanlings. If I have time tomorrow I'll move a new bale in the breeding shed and put 3 in there as 6 in one paddock makes it hard to grain and make sure they all get their fair share. The 6 mares brought home today were put in the middle paddock as that has 2 hay bales and 3 shelters.
Karin arrived after she got off work and brought all of those 6 mares inside for training. They all did very well.
Above she is working with Rosalie while Ayanna in the red halter and Indy in the blue halter watch. Below the mares not being ridden settled down to graze on hay. The far right mare is Jenis. I'm not even going to try to identify the other 4 from their rear ends.
I had a problem when picking up the mares identifying Indy, I had actually haltered Rosaleigh thinking it was Indy. Both have lots of hair but Rosaleigh's mane lies on her left side while Indy's on the right. Rosaleigh had a growing spurt over the summer and this winter and she was much taller than I expected is why I even made the mistake. Good thing I caught the mistake before taking her home. Karin would have thought I was crazy. Below Karin is working Ayanna.
The mares were all put back in the middle paddock after their schooling session and I went into the house to work on the pictures. Suddenly I heard something very scary, a stallion snorting and mares squealing. All 6 mares were out of the paddock visiting Valiant and Galena. I threw my coat on, jammed on the boots and went flying out to the golf cart. They were all surprised to see me back so quickly and none of them ran so they were all put back in the middle paddock. Turned out one of the 4 gates in the front of that paddock hadn't been secured enough for Oksana. She knows how to lift that latch and she let everyone out. Tonight it was tied shut.
We needed to leave by 5:00 pm for church tonight picking up mom first. Joan, Diane, Mackenson, Faith and Berlica also came early to help with the meal. Tonight was family night, we had a nice meal together then got to hear Craig Stickling give a message. It was a good crowd and a good message.
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