Cold? Who's Cold? It was a balmy 29 degrees when we went out to feed the horses this morning. Balmy compared to the last few days when temps toped out at 10 or 11 degrees that is. Yesterday we started out with -4.
The footing was so bad that even Indy was reluctant to venture out into the field. It was so warm and so wet just a few weeks ago that the ground was unusually torn up - and then it froze that way. Indy just doesn't like it, but poor Ami gets foot sore. She always did that. I've had her since she was a yearling, and her soles always gave her problems on broken, frozen ground.
It will be better for them today though. Not only is it a bit warmer, we're getting snow. It's surprising how much cushion just an inch or two of snow can provide.
Besides, Indy especially loves snow, and not just to romp in either. He eats it. I've watched him at his outside hay feeder take a few bites of hay and then a mouthful of show. It's just like the sip of water he takes every few bites at the inside feeder. Well heck, hay is dry stuff.
We all had an interesting adventure on that -4 morning though. I was preparing the inside portion of Indy and Ami's breakfast - couple of soaked alfalfa cubes and their Omega 3 supplement - when I glanced out the kitchen window and there was a deer in the backyard! Actually, there were two deer in the backyard, just a few feet from the window. I got my Mike's attention, and we started watching them.
I know they could see us in the window, but they didn't seem to care. They just looked around, occasionally munching a bite of grass. Then one of the barn cats started coming to the house. When she saw the deer, she stopped short and hunkered down. She stared and the deer and they stared back - ah, predator and prey! Well, not exactly.
In fact, one of the deer started toward her to check her out. The deer wasn't worried, but the cat was. She hunkered down even further, but the deer stopped, distracted by something more interesting.
I peered around toward the barn to see if Indy and Ami were catching any of this. They hadn't been there the last time I looked, but they were there now, standing side by side at the fence, ears forward in interest but hardly alarm.
Finally, the deer got bored and wandered away. I'm sure this scenario has happened before, even if the dumb humans didn't see it.
Like I always say, never a dull moment!
I know what you mean about those frozen moon craters. My girls hate walking on them, but that's what we've got too. Have you heard of Keratex? It's a hoof and sole hardener that I swear by. You can buy it from their website. Siete would love Indy - the snow-eaters. When she sees the deer in our "way back", she snorts really loud at them to tell them to stop eating her grass.
ReplyDeleteYes, I've heard of Keratex, and have thought of trying it on Ami, but this is the first year she's had a problem in a while. And this is the FIRST time Indy has seemed bothered at all. Crazy weather all year.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Indy just cracks me up eating that snow. ;o)