Desert Horses

Welcome to my horse blog, Desert Horses. We live in the desert southwest, near Palm Springs, CA, but board our horses up in our local mountains where it is cooler in the summer. I have 4 horses, all rescues. Here is the ranch up the mountains where the horses stay.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Dirty Sunni and Beauty





























It rained for two days up in the mountains and I didn't go visit the herd due to our Thanksgiving plans, so yesterday I FINALLY drove up to see them. They were all dirty! I grabbed my grooming kit and began with Beauty. Then I took her down to the arena. Boy, did she enjoy getting out! Next, I did Sunni. Brought Beauty back to her corral, turned him loose. He kicked up his heels, went running off, and farted! If I turn them both out together, Beauty chases him around and he just stands there like a dork, so now I do them one at a time. They enjoyed their brushing and time in the arena yesterday. Today, hubby will drive up with me and we'll do Gigondas and the two babies. Phew! It was a gorgeous, crisp, clear day yesterday and I'm hoping today will be the same so we can get some work done. My leg has been better, but this morning, when I woke up, it is sore again. DARN! My feet are still numb and I can't even feel them, so I trip over things. I go visit my back doctor on Tuesday and I'm sure it won't be good news.
I see that over the next week, nights will be freezing. I give them corn oil and some sweet feed with their shredded beet pulp. Is there anything else I should feed them when the temperatures get down to freezing? I don't have any blankets and last year they all made it through the winter with their shaggy coats. And, Gigondas is the only one with a shelter. Any ideas/suggestions?

3 comments:

Mrs. Mom said...

As long as they have shelter from the rain and a bit of wind block, the kids should be fine. They all look in great shape, with good heavy coats. Put maybe some extra hay out for them on the colder nights, and I bet all will be well!

What a beautiful trot your pretty chestnut has!!!

Cactus Jack Splash said...

Mrs Mom is right, they should be fine with a wind break of some sort as long as there is no freezing rain.
I use hay pellets, senior equine or NW horse feed, PGR when it is cold. When it gets real chilly I add a cup of Hess to the mix. We have large wind breaks, the horses are all in herds, and I do blanket the older guys when needed.
Your horses are all fuzzy so it looks like they are set for the weather.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Bucking and farting! NOw those are some happy horses. :)

All of our snow melted so the ground is saturated and muddy. Baby Doll looks like a mudpuppy. She loves to lay down in it and roll. gah :P

I don't have a blanket for my horse either. She's so shaggy, I know she'd overheat. She did fine last winter and we were below zero for 2 weeks at one point.
If I clipped her I'd use a blanket, though. I just ordered a nylon turn-out sheet for wet and snowy days, just so her coat doesn't get wet and then she gets chilled.
I feed her alfalfa pellets in the winter, though I might add some corn oil or crfacked corn this winter if we get into the single digits.

~Lisa
New Mexico