Stay Calm and Locate the Channel Locks

Stayed home sick from work yesterday, only the second one I've used since April of 2013.  I made it through morning chores with a splitting headache and one emergency run to the house for the bathroom, and decided crawling back into bed was the wisest course of action.  I hate being sick.  Divine providence at work, though. 

Because when I finally crawled out of bed at noon feeling much more human and less like body parts above my neck were going to fall off, I counted only three horses clustered together in the orchard.  Thunder, Sunny, and Rufus.  Hmmmm....  Not the normal trio (Sunny, Amyra, Thunder) plus one (Rufus) that's the usual make-up of the afternoon sun worshipers.  But the boys didn't look fussed so, I thought, she could be over eating hay at the feeder by herself, which has been known to happen.

About 1 o'clock I went out to hang a load of laundry and again counted the same three horses.  And there was whinnying, which I hadn't been able to hear from inside.  Okay, the whinnying was Sunny, who does whinny pretty much whenever the house door opens because, hey, there's a slim chance it means he's going to get fed.  But still.  And when I looked, Amyra wasn't by the feeder, and she wasn't drinking.   A quick survey of the orchard didn't turn her up; she wasn't hiding behind the pecan tree or dozing by the barn.

When I did finally spot her, my stomach flipped over.  She was up in a corner of the creek pasture, not that far from the barn geographically speaking, but definitely not somewhere she would stay of her own volition with the boys down in the orchard. And in that stationary horse position that screams, "I don't want to try to move, because I can't move."

All four feet were solidly on the ground, she was alert and looking my way, so my first thought was she'd somehow found a tangle of old wire to get stuck in.  (Despite my best efforts, every now and then one seems to roll magically out of nowhere.)  But no, it was better than that, at least marginally.  She'd managed - in that incredibly how the H-E-double-hockey-sticks??? fashion that horses do - to get one hind foot stuck in a loop of wire cable. You know, the thick kind that gets used to anchor power poles? Yep.  That kind.

Stapled to a big fence post just below dirt level, and why it was left on, I haven't the faintest.  I didn't see it when I walked the fences earlier this month (or last year, either, 'cause it surely didn't just now materialize) and Amyra caught her foot in the very end of a 15' stretch of it.  She must have stepped into it somehow, and then like a rabbit in a trap, pulled, and the twist that formed the loop tightened down until it wouldn't slide back down over her hoof.  And of course, right in the corner where two sections of barbwire meet.  Yes, I know, barbwire  + horses = bad news, but it's a COW pasture I keep being told.  Sigh. 

She wasn't panicked, thankfully, just ticked to be stuck.  And not best pleased at being deserted by the boys.  I ran back to the barn after a halter & lead, channel locks (because no way were bare hands or light pliers going to do the trick), and the wire cutters just in case she decided now was the right time to back into the fence, start kicking, and get tangled up in it, too.

Oh, and treats and the clicker.  And that proved to be the trick.  Once she determined that standing still while I untwisted the three-times-wound-around end, one twist at a time, with the channel locks so she could step out got her a clicker-reward, she was stationary.  No kicking, no fussing, just the occasional butt-sniff to see what I was up to.

Five minutes - that felt like 50, let me tell you - and she was loose.  I led her back, let her get a drink, tied her up and examined the damage - completely superficial, thank you, thank you, thank you! - and applied some topical wound spray to what basically amounted to a rub mark and one scrape on the opposite leg from the cable end.  Tolerating me poking and prodding got her some more clicks/treats, which she definitely didn't mind.  When I put her back in with the boys she had another drink and headed over to the feeder without any more fuss and no trace of soreness.
 
And THEN I spent the next five minutes sitting on the well house with my head between my knees until my stomach decided to behave.  So grateful I was home sick.  Not to mention that:

1. We've done rope work, so she didn't freak out when her foot wouldn't come loose
2. If she had to get stuck in something, the cable was nice and thick and left a few surface scrapes, but no worse damage
3. We've apparently established enough of a rapport that even though every time I pried on the cable it dug into her, she tolerated it because she trusted that I was helping.  Well, that or she just really liked the treats...

Saying my Thanksgiving thank-yous a bit early this year, that's for sure!

Four wide

Clip-clop-snort-clop clop clop...  It's about a 1/4 mile down the road from the end driveway to the pasture gate.  The five of us have been making the trip up and back every day for the last few days.  The ponies are thrilled to be out on pasture - especially since there's some green to it.  It's just shy of 10 acres that hasn't been grazed for the last two years, so there's considerable old stuff there, too - a nice prairie mix of buffalo grass and some longer stuff.

I didn't think we were ever going to get the fence finished, but the weather finally cooperated and it's up.

We've had rollercoaster weather here lately, but I had managed to get the small piece of grass north of the driveway sectioned off with temporary electric fence and they'd been getting an hour or so a day on that, so getting out on grass wasn't a complete shock to their systems, and I've been gradually increasing the amount of time they're out. They're up to six hours on the big pasture now.

I haven't gotten a water tank in yet, so for right now I fill two big plastic tubs for them.  Thursday and Friday we had 80's, and they drained them.  Today we had a high of 41' - the high was lower than yesterday's low.  They weren't nearly so dry.

Currently we have to walk all the way up the road to the southeast corner of the pasture to get to the gate.  On the plus side, there's a grass shoulder wide enough for all of us 90% of the way, and I can see clear to the stop sign in one direction and almost as far in the other, so we stop, look and listen before starting out and if I hear anything coming in any direction we wait until I see which way the driver's going to turn.  (So far there's been a sum total of 1 car to wait on.)

The plan is to put in a walk-through gate on the north side, and then I shouldn't have to take them down the road at all.  I'm looking forward to that.

Coming in for the evening trip down the hill

It took them all of one trip to figure out where they were going every morning, and now they meet me at the gate and stand in a row to have their halters put on.  I'm a little slower; I haven't quite gotten the perfect twosomes down yet.  The only one I'm sure of is Rufus.  He walks on my heels, and he has shoes on, therefore he's an outside horse.  Other than that, they walk along politely whoever they end up next to and they've even figured out the four-wide swing at the pasture gate so that I can hook the line behind us, and the swivel-to-me at the barn gate so that I can take their halters off and block the way back out at the same time.

Speaking of the line at the pasture gate...  The existing pasture gate is one of those multi-strand wire things.  And it was a miserable pain to start with.  I can't open it one handed.  (It's tight, heavy and awkward, and I have to literally hug the fence to open and close it.)  I didn't want to leave it wide open, but I couldn't get it open easily once I had them all caught without one of them - or me - stepping in it on the way out.  And I surely did NOT want to open the gate before I had them all caught.

I woke up in the middle of the night with the solution: I tied a strip of polywire decorated with a few strips of orange surveyor's tape to the gatepost on one side, tied a gate handle to the other end so I could hook it on the other gatepost, and viola, a gate I can get in and out with four horses attached.  They respect the polywire, because it generally comes with electricity running through it.  They can also see it much better than the brownish wire gate.  The best thing is, I can unhook it one-handed, walk in keeping it snug, swing them around, and then hook it again.  Once they're all in and turned loose, then I close the wire gate and they're secure.  It will work until the walk-through's in, and/or we get a regular steel gate up instead of the wire.

See the house & barn roofs behind them?

When I walk up to get them in the late afternoon, they've been great so far about heading my way.  They get a drink, I halter and flip leadropes across their backs, collecting them one by one once I have the last one haltered.  Then it's back down the hill.  Today it was chilly with a stiff northeast wind, and I was wondering if I'd have my hands full.  Thankfully they were only a little lookier than they've been on the warmer/calmer days. 

Other than that, Cat 1 and Cat 3 have been hauled to the vet, tested negative for feline leukemia and FIV, and had their respective reproductive bits removed. Cat 1 has forgiven me.  Cat 3... not so much.  Cat 2 will hopefully cooperate and catch himself in the livetrap Sunday night so that he can take his trip Monday morning.  And that's the news that is news from around here.  Now I'm off to catch up on what everyone else has been occupied with while I've been incommunicado.

"Hoss high, pig tight, and bull strong..."

The ponies are annoyed with me.

I cross-fenced the orchard.  The snow has almost entirely melted off, and the grass needs some time to recuperate so... they're now restricted to a narrow strip along one side that leads down to the pass-through to the creekbed.

They spent the last couple days staring longingly over the new fence and loafing by the barn.


I've been thinking a lot about fence lately, mostly because we have a lot of fencing to do.  But also because out walking I pass a lot of it.  Mostly barbwire.  Some of it's horse-high, pig tight and bull strong - the kind Louis L'Amour wrote about in The Rider of Lost Creek (the phrase stuck with me, but I had to go look up which book is was in).

Some of  it's hanging on by a few shreds of rust and the grace of a line of creaky, weathered posts.  Most of it's somewhere in between.

Apart from high and tight or old and disintegrating, it pretty much comes in two varieties: 2-5 wire barbed, and single strand electric.  Farmyards and lots might have continuous pipe fence or panels, but not fields.

Once you get off the paved roads, nice straight, factory-milled posts are a rare commodity.  Hedge posts - weathered, weirdly warped, spindly or thick and knobby with bulbous burls - are cheaper and just as durable. 

They're set to last, too - 15 yards apart, with a wood post every two metal stakes.  A good, tight fence might last 40 years or better.  Here and there you can even find a barely listing line of World War II-vintage metal posts. 

Further south is limestone post country, but I haven't found any within walking distance yet.  

Which reminds me - I met some more neighbors out walking.  The four-footed kind...

They've watched me from across the pasture, but yesterday they finally came over to see what I was up to.  The old grey mare (she really is) was skeptical... two-footed people type critters might mean she'd have to work.   But the gelding was friendly.  

And stout.  He's supposed to be a barrel horse... he certainly has the barrel part covered.  He liked getting scritched enough to trot down the fence after me, but once I hit the corner of the field he took off like a shot back to the bale feeder at the other end of the pasture, the mare trailing behind him. 

I've been itching to ride, but had to settle for giving all four a good brushing tonight and a few minutes each grazing on the narrow patch of green grass by the granary.  I hopped on Sunny really briefly to test the footing, but everything's still squishy and slidey.  Not safe.  The moisture's great to have though, so no complaints.  Well, maybe just tiny ones...

Zap!

Well, not actually, but the potential is now renewed.  Sunny is much too prone to oozing his way into what he sees as greener pastures. The ground was finally thawed enough that I could get the ground post in, so I put new batteries in the portable fencer today and hooked it up.

It's making noise...

The boys were jazzed anyway - the wind was whipping around out of the northwest, and the fence clicking made a great excuse to kick up their heels and bounce around.

Run away!

Run back!

Time was also spent sniffing and staring at the fence accusingly.

And staring at me accusingly.

That's bad!

And making faces.

We do not like it!

I couldn't get the fence tester to register, but since I could hear the fencer clicking - and so could they - I think I may need a new tester.

Snort!

Just to be sure, I did the hand to fence test... zap!

Quiet night

Last night was gorgeous. I wish I'd though to grab the camera from the truck earlier, but didn't have it when they were all (including the cat playing tag with the dog) looking cute and photogenic. By the time I fetched it the ponies were all ears deep in the hay bunks, the cat was back to barn duty, and the dog was rolling on part of a dead, flat, dried-up snake she'd dragged over from the sheep bale. So not cute!

So you're spared the gratuitous "Awws" this a.m. :)

I did go back up and grab the camera to catch a couple quick shots of Thunder's scrapes from his run-in with the fence Sunday evening. As I'd suspected he'd be, he's a bit puffy where he dragged his leg across the sucker rod, but he's certainly not favoring it at all.

(Pardon the mud!)

As you can see, a bit swollen, but no lumps, bumps or punctures. Both legs were about the same temp; warm, since he'd been standing in the sunshine. He didn't object to my feeling it or flexing it in various directions at the hock or the fetlock, and he didn't mind standing on it while I did the same to the other leg. So... bruised, but nothing too terrible, thank goodness. I'll keep an eye on him, and maybe apply some liniment the next few nights.

Weekend update

The mud is drying up, which means it's time for another round of snow. Winter is planning to descend on us again tonight, but in spite of that the weekend was fairly nice. Unfortunately, other than a stint of fence-fixing and the usual feeding routine, I didn't get much horse time in this weekend.

T and G and I spent Saturday morning identifying the trouble spots in the electric fence and making sure that all wires are appropriately tight and hot. The horses weren't real pleased to be locked in the upper lot for the duration, but after three of them made repeat appearances in the pasture next to the one they were supposed to be in (with no gates open or down) it was pretty apparent that some of the stinkers have discovered and embraced the fine art of fence crawling.

Since that just isn't acceptable, and the spring grass is just too darn tempting for them to stop on their own, it was time to get serious about zapping their sneaking noses. They're now much safer, and although not pleased about it, much more respectful of the fence. Having the current back on should keep the deer out of it, too.

Other than that, it was a fairly uneventful weekend. I spent much of it working on a presentation. PowerPoint is such fun....

Saying thank yous....

Have you ever had something happen that really made you stop and think and count your blessings? Well, the past few weeks have been a lesson. I've started slowly packing up my office and begun the process of training my already swamped colleagues in exactly what it is I do to keep the students & faculty happy in the library. It's not fun, but there are worse things.

Take last night, for instance....

The evening started normally enough. We arrived at the farm - T was to move a bale, a matter of a few minutes work with the tractor, leave me there, take H to get whatever it was that was on her "have to have it tonight" list, and then return to pick me up - only to find that 7 of the 8 horses were making an unchaperoned excursion around the mile section.

Seems they'd spooked through or knocked down a gate panel somehow, and rather than staying in familiar territory, gone exploring. The two pastures & gates that would ordinarily have stood between them and the open road weren't closed as with the recent spring weather, G's been in moving things around with the tractor.

J had gotten home only moments before we pulled in, to discover only one - slightly frantic - horse pacing the right side of the fence, and a message from a mile-neighbor saying that she thought the horses racing through her yard might be J's. J wanted to hook up the trailer, but I figured it might faster to locate & corral them first, or at least determine the situation before we started messing around with transport.

I grabbed a couple halters, gloves & my nail apron with clicker & treats, and with J in her car behind us, we headed out to see if we could track down the fugitives. When we did find them, they were scattered out across the gravel road looking confused. T pulled up to around a 1/4 mile back, at which point they started heading away from us, so I yelled stop at him, hopped out and hollered.

We've yelled "Come On-n" to bring the horses in for at least three generations in my family. No matter how far back in the woods they'd be, we'd yell and pretty soon hear pounding hooves heading our way.

I've instilled the habit in J's horses since I've been here, and thank you God, it worked this time, too.

They stopped trotting away, milled around, I hollered again, and then Sunny whinned a greeting and the whole bunch headed in my direction at a lope. In seconds I was surrounded by anxious, sweaty noses, and you can just bet all those whuffling muzzles got a treat as quickly as I could dole them out.

Sunny was more than pleased to be haltered, and as we were only about 3/4 of a mile from the house at that point, I just started walking in that direction with the whole herd clip-clopping around me. The only bad spot, and I think the reason they hadn't ended up back in the front yard earlier, was passing the pheasant operation directly to the south of the farm. They have a whole pack of kenneled hunting hounds which were, of course, howling and barking their fool heads off at the unexpected entertainment we provided. But with Sunny in the lead (and on one) we trotted right on by. They were back in their pasture, gates ALL closed & fastened, in short order.

None of them - again, thank you, God, were any worse for wear beyond a layer of sweat. Definitely tired, though. I let them drink after they were cool, and passed on feeding the evening's grain - just plenty of hay.

I've been grateful before for the farm's location down a relatively untraveled gravel road. I was even happier that the horses made their escape before 5 PM, when everyone would have been on the road home. Tracking them, they'd run the entire mile section, north, then west, south, and east. The direction they were headed when we caught up with them was on to the east - straight toward another oil road. The mile they did travel down the oil (blacktop, for you easterners) includes a large hill where they would have been practically invisible until.... well, bad endings with cars will be recurring nightmares for a while.

We checked fences last night, and I walked them again today to be sure we knew exactly where they got out. They won't be getting out there again. Did I sleep well? Not really. But I spent a lot of my night saying my thank yous.

Fuzzy Ears

I took my own advice and enjoyed some beautiful fall weather with Sunny this afternoon.


We poked around bareback in the bigger pastures today, soaking up sunshine. He checked out the pheasants scuttling for better cover, cars passing on the road a mile over (amazing how far away they can spot something moving!), and leaves rustling down off the trees in the light breeze. I looked for holes to fill, fence to fix, and anything else I'd need to walk out and remedy later.

One small spook at who knows what had me clutching for mane and wrapping my legs a lot tighter, but he wasn't in the mood to take advantage. Good boy!

The scenery wasn't the prettiest, especially since I spent a lot of time looking at the ground, but it was definitely time well spent. I let him graze in the greener driveway verge for a while when we were done.

This is what remains of the swelling on Sunny's back leg. The swelling is gone, and it doesn't seem to be sore at all. A few patches of hide are sloughing off, and it's looking more as if he wrapped it in something. I'm guessing a loose piece of fencing wire, which is one of the reasons we were moseying this afternoon, looking for anything likely.
I did find fence stretcher/tightner thingy & about 15' of fence coiled like a slinky in the middle of one of the big pastures, but not one the horses had access to. So I'm missing something somewhere. Or he caught it in something else.