My husband and I are slowly getting Dolly use to being haltered and walked again. She seems to only want to walk and won't break into a trot. She is broke to ride and has been a trail horse for many years. But we think she has not been ridden since her foundering last year. The vet cleared her to be ridden. She will need rear shoes before she hits the trails again. And only after Maple is weaned.
I grew up in New Orleans. I know the gifts of food, jobs, nature and family the Gulf of Mexico has provided her people. And now our nation, its people and our government just ignore the unfixable destruction laid upon a unique part of America. My heirs will never know about gulf shrimp, oysters, white alligators, blue fin tuna, sea turtles and crawfish. They will never see a flock of white pelicans landing on the lake at sunset. They will never see the shrimp boats coming into port after a long night of trawling, heavy with a good haul. I am disheartened and sad that my culture and heritage are dying with each passing day. The Gulf is being killed by greed, sloth and fear. She is being killed by the United States and nobody seems to give a damn.
Maple pushed her mama away from the bucket to eat some grain. She enjoyed the sweet grain and brushing. And later she followed mama for a stroll around the pasture.
Poppy was enjoying the romance of horse tack on the fence. He is trying to put on a brave face and hang out with the horses. But they are much bigger than he is and he is taking it slow. He loves what they eat and the hay, just not the giant size. I am sure as winter comes he will enjoy their woolly backs and blankets. It's a lot of new stuff for this Ozark laid back cat to learn.
Maple is now investigating the other creatures around her new world. There are people, hens, cats, dogs and roosters. Our red rooster put up a good show until mama came by and shooed him away from Maple. She is learning that people mean good scratches in hard to reach places and tasty sweat bread.
Nothing is as tasty as a watermelon on a hot June evening. Our chickens got to enjoy the rinds as the sun was setting. The baby chicks are almost adults and will be laying eggs by September.
Today my husband was able to get a brush on Maple and give her a grooming. She was stunned but tolerated it and had a snack after thanks to her mama. She is growing fast into a young horse.
One of our friends came over to help us catch our new mare. She was playing the"don't touch me horse" game. Being a novice we did not know the secret of getting a horse to come. Use a bucket of sweet grain and a slice of bread under your sweaty armpit. Take the sweaty slice and put it in the feed bucket. The mare will smell the bread (your scent) and eat it. She remembers your scent as a good feeling and will come back for more. We were able to pet her and get her into her stall. She is an older mare and a mama. So there is a lot going on in her head, new baby, new owners, new pasture, but she is a good mare once she trusts us. She was just testing us and protecting her foal from the newbies.
It has not rained here in the Ozarks for a long time. So it has been hot and very dry with no breaks except for evenings. Poppy was overheated while supervising the watering of the gardens. He was panting and seeking any shade he could find. The heat has provided energy for the sunflowers to bloom. And the bees and spiders worked hard pollinating the seed heads.
Our vet dropped off our mare, Dolly and her newborn filly, Maple yesterday. Maple was happy to be running all over the paddock. Dolly is avoiding the halter and being caught as an evasive mama horse. We are working on retraining her to trust us. She has had a lot of changes before coming home to our farm. Horses, dogs and the chickens all share a space in the paddock. It is a small and full happy farm.
