Tag Archives: horses

The Baboon Congress

Managing the Menagerie Part I : Houdini Horse

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Today’s guest post comes from Cynthia in Mahtowa

Fall 2012

October 10: Brush of snow on the grass, loose horses in the yard…oops, guess they found the weakness in my fencing system…never good when the animals are smarter than their keeper.

October 15: So if you spend most of the weekend fixing fence and the horse still is loose in the yard on Monday morning…

October 16: All horses (2) stayed in their proper pasture for a full 24 hours…and counting.

October17: So,the proper pasture didn’t hold the big brown horse. Leaving the goat barn after milking this evening, I opened the door to the dark and a big, darker form standing in front of me. Hallo! Her saving grace is she followed me into the horse barn…where she is now locked in. We walked that damn fence three times, fixing and straightening and tightening…where IS she getting out now????

.October 18: It’s confirmed: The horse is indeed smarter than I am.

October 19: Now she’s really messing with my mind…she wasn’t in the yard last night when I got home. She didn’t come when she was called. I worried she was caught in wire somewhere in the pasture, so I took my trusty flashlight and went looking for her, only to return and find her standing in the barn calmly eating chicken food. So was she waiting so she could freak me out or did she respond to the Icelandic’s call? Think like a horse, someone advised. Ja, sure, you betcha, no problem!

Horses in the pasture where they belong.
Horses in the pasture where they belong.

October 20: On Saturday, I stalked the horse at sunset, hoping to see where she was getting out. As she stood at the fence gazing across the road at the neighbor’s clover field, I thought, “Aha, I’m going to catch her at it!” Then she turned around and followed me back to the barn.

Oct 22: So, to update on Monday morning: four of us walked the fence line again with new posts to reinforce the height of the top line. Then we worked on the goat fence that still had an opening. Turned the horses loose in the goat pasture…this morning all animals were in their proper places (did I mention the goat who was escaping her pen overnight?). Final installment of the ongoing saga, finally?

October 26: Horses stayed in their pasture. The goat stayed in her pen. All is as it should be.

Have you ever been outsmarted by an animal?

The Baboon Congress

Love’s Labour’s Cost

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Today’s guest post comes from Reneeinnd

One of the highlights of our trip to Brookings, SD at the end of June was the Dakota Royal Draft Horse Competition. I love seeing those gentle giants.

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The competition involved about 12 teams of Percherons, Shires, Belgians, and Clydesdales in various rigs and numbers. Each horse weighed at least 2000 pounds.

The teams were comprised of either all geldings or all mares, and were evidently matched as close as possible for size, color, and gait. The largest teams were comprised of six horses. My favorites were the Shire horses.

I’m not sure what criteria the judges used to determine what team was the best. I imagine it had something to do with the way the drivers handled the horses and the uniformity of the team and the way the teams moved. The wagons they pulled were shiny and beautiful., and the horses looked to be pampered and well cared for.

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There were some pretty impressive semis in the parking lot that carry these teams all over the US for competitions. I can only imagine the cost of this hobby?, passion? I can’t imagine that anyone makes much of a profit off it.

We live in a semi-arid part of the country, and gardening involves liberal use of soaker hoses. Our water bill gets pretty high in the summer, but I think it is worth the cost to have home grown veggies.

I would hate to calculate just how much more we pay for our home grown garden produce compared to just buying it in the store. Our farmers markets aren’t much to brag about, and I get a sense of accomplishment starting plants from seeds and ushering them to harvest and then putting up the produce for the winter.

I recently ran across The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden by William Alexander. The author calculated that every Brandywine tomato he harvested cost $64. I sure hope that isn’t the cost for our tomatoes.

I suppose there are more expensive hobbies, like draft horses or collecting rare musical instruments or sailing vintage sailboats, and at least the vegetables are healthy for us.

What hobby or activity do you pursue where cost is not the main concern?