Spring? No, just January thaw :(

This week Mother Nature has given us South Dakotans a small taste of spring - and after -20's, it's that much more appreciated, let me tell you!

When I got to the farm my first job was to throw some hay to the crew, and then to shoo these two escapees back to their own side of the fence.This is the second time they've been in with the horses - not that the horses mind - but luckily it doesn't take much to get them back where they belong. Cute faces, but there's not much upstairs!

Speaking of cute.... This is Mama Kitty - so dubbed because when she first appeared at the farm she promptly proceeded to have a litter of kittens in the market lambs' feed bunk - a very bad spot for newborn kittens, as the lambs tend to dive into their alfalfa with all four hooves, no matter how loudly it squeaks. They really like to play king of the hill IN the feed bunk.

We moved the kittens. She moved them back. We moved them again. She moved them back. Ultimately and unfortunately, none of the kittens survived being jumped on by the lambs.

Mama Kitty is most happy when people stay at least one arm's length away. Preferably farther. So she was content to pose for her picture against the bale, as long as it involved me not touching her. Drop-off-kitten was also sunning, but he came running as soon as I stepped out of the truck, and wouldn't hold still to have his picture taken. Stinker! (Actually, literally he's a stinker at the moment - he's been sleeping in the barn with the sheep, and he's a little rank....)

Cats aside, I had intended to actually throw a leg across Sunny today, but it wasn't to be. I ended up doing some pruning instead. Poor Foxy - of the across the fence adventures in December - is bottom mare. She gets chased a lot. Her usual evasion is to scoot around behind this big old tree that stands in the lower lot. Over the years it's turned into almost an umbrella, which is great for shade in the summer, but since it's also fairly close to the fence on one side, it makes squeezing past difficult if you're say, being chased for sport.

So today I dug a bow saw out of the barn, and tackled some of the hanging down limbs. I can definitely feel my arms at the moment, but I managed to get most of worst limbs trimmed up to an acceptable level. Now Foxy can escape around the tree rather than being run into it when she's evading menacing teeth.

After that, I got them all de-mudded again, which took a while. One thing about spring, even mock spring, it sure is WET. And dirty - LOL. I basically stripped when I walked in the door on getting home. Between rescuing a stuck sheep and hauling the trimmed branches over to throw across the fence, my jeans were wet nearly to the knees with mud & manure, and I had hay in places better left unmentioned. (Although that's normal, and at least hay doesn't smell bad!)

Still, it was absolutely wonderful to get chores done in a sweatshirt & tank top. And mud washes off, right?!

Good-bye, Lace, Hello, Mr. Chainsaw

Lace has a new owner. She leaves (unexpectedly) this evening. She's Colorado-bound, but in the meantime will be collected tonight by a friend of her new owner who lives west of here and has a Colorado trip planned later in the month.

ASA Onyx Lace

I'm sad to see her go. She's a lovely little mare with a sweet disposition, and she carried me cheerfully on many a trail ride while I waited on Sunny to get big enough to ride.

Her new owner is quite excited to have located a mare with her bloodlines (she's an ASA Ebony Turk daughter). From what I understand not too many of them are still around. (And since J is determined to downsize the herd before winter, I believe her asking price was a pleasant surprise, too.)

Pick up was originally scheduled for this weekend, but plans changed last night. J called to let me know in case I wanted to say good-bye (of course!) and to ask if I'd mind catching Lace and leaving her in the lot this afternoon when I was out. J doesn't like dealing with the whole herd in the pasture, and was afraid Lace might prove hard to catch if she waited until the trailer was in the driveway.

So... I interrupted the herd's peaceful grazing and brought them all in for a good brushing, just in case J wanted to show them off later.

Star - looking star-like

Not wanting to leave Lace by herself in the lot for 3-4 hours, I left the three senior mares in together.

Foxy, Lace, & Pennie

They look terribly enthused, don't they?

Ordinarily I wouldn't worry about leaving Lace in alone, but no one was going to be around this afternoon, and she'll be calmer and less stressed if she has company. J is comfortable enough dealing with the senior mares, and leaving all three means that when Lace is loaded up to leave, the other two will, hopefully, not panic at being alone and go tearing up through the mess in the alley.

Which brings me to the mess in the alley....Monday's fencing plans were aborted when we arrived at the farm to find see dead trees toppling along the section we'd planned to work. The aftermath isn't pretty.

Thankfully, the guys did drop the trees away from the fences. But they didn't cut them up or haul them away. Which means there are six or seven large tree skeletons in the alley and one of the pastures. And of course, several of them landed smack across the horses' preferred track in to the lot for water.

But did the fact that they are walking into and through Deadfall City phase them? Nope. Rather than walk around the trees along fence where there's a perfectly clear aisle left open....they prefer to walk smack through the middle of branch-land.

J was afraid that they wouldn't come in for water through the trees. Huh. Yep, they look terrified.
When I turned the rest of the crew loose they headed straight up into the thick of it to see if they could nibble any grass from underneath.

So now I'm the paranoid one, thinking about one of them poking an eye out on something. Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow evening and this weekend? Yup. Tree debris clean-up. I broke off some of the nastier limbs this afternoon, but it's going to take more than one pair of hands (and fewer four-footed assistants!) to make much progress.