It has been a while since I wrote anything on the blog. This is because major transitions have happened. Gus has moved back to Texas, and Molly has two new little companion Miniature horses. This arrangement is now 6 weeks old, and I think enough time has passed to safely say that it was the best decision I made in a long time, to make that change happen. Everyone involved is so much happier. The Mini's arrived at my little farm the day before Gus left. So Molly did not have to spend a minute on her own. When Molly and Gus first saw the Mini's they were totally surprised. Somehow they had never seen such tiny horses. Gus ran away, but Molly was immediately very interested (they were in a stall next to her initially).
In any case, I am no longer responsible for Gus' hoofcare. He seemed to transition without any problems into his new life being out 24/7 on a grassy pasture in Texas, from having eaten pretty much only hay for 6 years. It is amazing to see how a healthy horse can handle such an abrupt change. He also has his old companions back, happily grazing side by side. I am so happy for Gus. His mind is finally at rest, he feels secure around several other horses and not always pestered by a grumpy mare. I am very happy for him.
Molly did not seem to miss Gus at all. In fact, if anything, she has gotten much more relaxed. Molly was never difficult to handle or anything, but she would kick the stall wall often, and often had very extreme heats when Gus was still around. She has not kicked the stall wall once and I have not seen her in heat since he left. I don't know, but I feel that these two horses just did never really clicked. Now there are only 2 Mini mares there for Molly, which she accepts as companions and especially Stella, the 8 year old mare, she feels very drawn to. I can find Molly now often resting with her head over the stall division and right under her head stands Stella. Some people strictly keep mares separated from geldings and maybe that is best for Molly too. At any rate, I now have 3 black mares and I am very proud of all of them!
At this point, the Mini's and Molly are still separated in their own paddocks and open stable. Harmony may be pregnant for a potential August foal and I don't think it makes sense to try and integrate them before. Plus some of the fences on the big paddock are not yet ready to prevent the Mini's from crawling under..... So I will wait until autumn to maybe see if I can open up everything (stable and paddock) and allow the three of them to spend day and night together. But since everything works so perfectly well right now, I am in no rush to change things up.
Now I am in for a new challenge, trimming miniature hooves. I must say, I find it surprisingly hard. First, Harmony at first was very badly behaving. This issue we quickly got under control, though trimming Harmony's feet are still somewhat like trimming a moving target, so being precise is a different matter. Also, those Mini hooves are so small, everything is so low down, and worst of all, Mini hooves are so hard, it seems they are much harder than big horses hooves. Even this comparably ridiculously thin hoof wall (compared to Molly's for example) is so hard, I almost need nippers to get it off. Plus, the Mini's had not been trimmed since last November, so had quite some hoof to get rid off when April came. This is my first half way satisfactory trim on Harmony's front right. Harmony wears her feet very weirdly, she lands over lateral and then flops over onto medial, she is base-narrow. She does not wear her toe and her heels at all. So a lot of toe and heel had to come off.
I think the next couple of trims I'll get my professional to do. Just so that I can see how he would address those feet. After that I may keep going by myself, or I may just find it too exhausting :-)!
In any case, I am no longer responsible for Gus' hoofcare. He seemed to transition without any problems into his new life being out 24/7 on a grassy pasture in Texas, from having eaten pretty much only hay for 6 years. It is amazing to see how a healthy horse can handle such an abrupt change. He also has his old companions back, happily grazing side by side. I am so happy for Gus. His mind is finally at rest, he feels secure around several other horses and not always pestered by a grumpy mare. I am very happy for him.
Molly did not seem to miss Gus at all. In fact, if anything, she has gotten much more relaxed. Molly was never difficult to handle or anything, but she would kick the stall wall often, and often had very extreme heats when Gus was still around. She has not kicked the stall wall once and I have not seen her in heat since he left. I don't know, but I feel that these two horses just did never really clicked. Now there are only 2 Mini mares there for Molly, which she accepts as companions and especially Stella, the 8 year old mare, she feels very drawn to. I can find Molly now often resting with her head over the stall division and right under her head stands Stella. Some people strictly keep mares separated from geldings and maybe that is best for Molly too. At any rate, I now have 3 black mares and I am very proud of all of them!
At this point, the Mini's and Molly are still separated in their own paddocks and open stable. Harmony may be pregnant for a potential August foal and I don't think it makes sense to try and integrate them before. Plus some of the fences on the big paddock are not yet ready to prevent the Mini's from crawling under..... So I will wait until autumn to maybe see if I can open up everything (stable and paddock) and allow the three of them to spend day and night together. But since everything works so perfectly well right now, I am in no rush to change things up.
Now I am in for a new challenge, trimming miniature hooves. I must say, I find it surprisingly hard. First, Harmony at first was very badly behaving. This issue we quickly got under control, though trimming Harmony's feet are still somewhat like trimming a moving target, so being precise is a different matter. Also, those Mini hooves are so small, everything is so low down, and worst of all, Mini hooves are so hard, it seems they are much harder than big horses hooves. Even this comparably ridiculously thin hoof wall (compared to Molly's for example) is so hard, I almost need nippers to get it off. Plus, the Mini's had not been trimmed since last November, so had quite some hoof to get rid off when April came. This is my first half way satisfactory trim on Harmony's front right. Harmony wears her feet very weirdly, she lands over lateral and then flops over onto medial, she is base-narrow. She does not wear her toe and her heels at all. So a lot of toe and heel had to come off.
I think the next couple of trims I'll get my professional to do. Just so that I can see how he would address those feet. After that I may keep going by myself, or I may just find it too exhausting :-)!
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