2007-2010 March 31st

March 31, 2007

Beautiful, sunny day with a chill wind, but still too nice to spend indoors.  Rode Phoenix bareback in the lower ring; we worked on stopping on "whoa" and I tried the 4-leaf clover pattern at the walk because the footing is still choppy.  I let Phoenix graze for a bit after (while Dave took Onyx for a walk) then put him back in his stall while I lunged Onyx.  He did much better today than Tuesday night and he backed up on the wiggling lead when I hit the lead with the lunge whip.  Rubbed Onyx down with baby oil and trimmed out the matted fur on his belly, then brought Phoenix back out and let them both graze while we sat and watched.  Also started Phoenix on vegetable oil with his grain to help with digestion and his dry coat/mane.

March 31, 2008

Lots of mud and water standing in the fields tonight, but still snow, too.  It was misting when we got there and real heavy fog, so I went and got Onyx while Dave fed the pigs to make the most of the daylight.  Groomed the boys and I gave everyone in the barn a flake of hay plus Onyx, too, of course!  After, Dave, Elsa and I slid our way down to the paddock with Onyx and a bale of hay for his group - thank God for wellies!

March 31, 2009

The snow has been gone for weeks, but the threat of flooding is ever-present these days, and the temps are still below 0 at night.  Dave forgot his farm boots tonight, so I mucked both stalls and he did wheelbarrow runs.  The horses were absolutely filthy from all the mud, so they were huge sucks during grooming - it took almost an hour to get them semi-clean!  I flexed them both by the ear after and did some "changing sides."