New Day Challenges

Saturday, February 01, 2025

I must clock in at my part-time job by 8:30 this morning. That means I’m out of bed ultra early today and on watch for the first light before heading outside to feed my horses.

Yesterday, my short working hours prevented me from coming home to feed the horses at midday. I’d have done it anyway, on unpaid time, but the store is short on employees, and nobody was available to cover my time away.

Throughout my shift, I worried about missing that feeding and felt guilty.

Equines are large outside, but their stomachs aren’t because they’re grazing animals. Horses aren’t built for big meals but are designed for consistent food to trickle through their systems. A horse’s empty stomach invites colic (and other debilitating possibilities). Domesticated horses, fed regularly and having the needed trickle, can stay healthy without grazing.

I am tense and unhappy if my horses miss a feeding.

Fortunately, they are healthy and were excited to see their hay arriving last night. Today, I will feed them before leaving for work, and my shorter working hours will allow for appropriate horse-tending.

Dear Friends: I need to get moving; you have a wonderful day. Diana

Outing

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

My donkey Pimmy looks better every day. She’s lost weight, and her Cushing’s Disease has done a number on her coat. What had been a “harsh donkey” coat has softened into a touch-inviting plush velvet.

Yesterday, I introduced Pimmy to a grazing muzzle. I led her on a short walk, but that was inadequate preparation for her to follow her horse friends freely and comfortably. I would be riding horseback that afternoon, and experience has taught that Pimmy would follow her horses but also nonstop try to rub off the muzzle. She needed more practice in the muzzle, so she stayed home. As her friends passed by en route to the horse trailer, Pimmy objected noisily.

My friend Anna and I had an enjoyable ride. She was on Rosie, and I was on Sunni, with my dogs running alongside. The horses hadn’t been ridden for a while and started off slightly jiggy. Anna rides beautifully, and soon, Rosie was moving quietly. My Sunni is easy to get along with, and her walk quickly became pleasant.

I’ve been too busy with various demands to work enough with the horses. That must change because great horses deserve proper exercise. I will make time to lunge and ride them and also work with Pimmy.

A surprise visitor arrived while I was out in the evening darkness to give the horses a last feeding. I wasn’t pleased about the happy visitor—my dog, Chase! After making yet another escape!

Dear Friends: On horseback and the dogs running alongside…a super outing. Diana

Wild Horse

Thursday, June 27, 2024

Early yesterday, I was walking to the barn and saw a horse nearby free and grazing. Because of her color, I thought at first she was one of mine. I didn’t see familiar markings and realized she was a stray. As I approached, she trotted away; I moved toward her, and she moved on.

I hurried to grab a halter and lead rope, found a carrot, and went onto the quiet street that fronts my property. I saw her again; this time, she moved away more quickly and disappeared among the junipers. I phoned as many neighbors as possible for someone available to help hunt for her. Johnny down at the corner said her owner was searching the neighborhood, and they’d be right over. John across the street said he’d hurry out and help.

As I learned, that mare was a five-year-old formerly wild horse, adopted two weeks previously and not yet halter-broke. We became a group and actively tracked her; her trainer on horseback, her caretaker driving a powerful all-terrain vehicle, John and I riding in a golf cart, and Johnny on foot. After an hour or so, I had to give up.

I needed to attend to a worrisome break in my horse fencing. Its cause was Sunni’s frequent episodes of butt-scratching with her entire weight pressuring the fence fabric. I was hammering away when a strange vehicle came onto my property, its driver saying my horse was loose. Knowing that was incorrect, I looked to where she pointed. That mare had returned, drawn to be near my horses.

Just then a searcher showed up, and the mare, sensitized now to being sought, galloped off, and fortunately, away from the busy street, toward areas of trees and brush. I didn’t rejoin the trackers for having to keep repairing my fence.

Before having to leave for work, the last I saw of the chase was a searching group, still confounded. After work, I called the mare’s caretaker, who said they had contacted Kate Beardsley, our local expert on everything horse, including lost horse tracking. Around 7 p.m., Kate’s team rounded up the mare as she trotted eastward along the highway. By 8 p.m., the mare was captured, corralled, and home safely.

Today’s header photo makes it obvious that the young mare is drop-dead gorgeous. She’s worth all the attention, is smart, and is a fabulous prospect for the right person.

Dear Friends: I did manage to resecure my fence against Sunni’s scratching. Diana