peaceful pastures

Hello Blogger friends! Long time no type. I hope you are all enjoying your respective Springin' into Summer. It has been quiet here at Hidden Cactus Ranch.

In April, we took a chance and introduced Koda and Hope without barriers. The first indoor meeting was so non-eventful they have been turned out together with Harmony ever since.

4/25/24

Instant love, even with a mouth full of hair
(21 secs)

Hope says "I am a big girl now!"

We are thankful to not be doing half day turn-outs. Swapping one boy out for the other is a thing of the past. Someone was always in the barn alone. Letting us know they were less than happy, although both boys were good sports in general. It wasn't fun for us either. Cleaning stalls dragged on all day and it is hard to go most anywhere.

Nemo and Koda are still not pastured together and at this point never will be. I still find it very odd after being inseparable for so many years. They are stalled next to each other, but we plan to move one of them.

Cierra continues to be possessive with Hope, so she is Nemo's pasture mate. Our horses really all want to be together. At times they operate as a herd, even with a fence between them. 

Harmony, Hope and Koda are very happy sharing a pasture. Their herd interactions are funny to watch. They do most everything together and seem to have zero issues. I couldn't tell you who rules, but I can tell you who is the fastest. Hope by a landslide. She outruns everyone. That girl is fast! She also continues being sweet and level-headed. Hope seems to have calmed Koda down. Significantly.

Peaceful pastures are pure bliss. So are rainbows.

view of our barn from the house deck
 6/5/24

wide angle

(my old phone didn't pick the second one up very well)

Be well, until next time.

hope and her herd

This set of mid-February photos look more like Winter, but were all taken on the same days as my last photo post. Let's start with Cierra. Without her, there would be no Hope. 

Cierra still keeps a watchful eye on Hope.

If we were younger and knew a second foal would turn out to be just as precious as her first, we might breed her again. We aren't getting any younger and Brad plans to un-retire Cierra and show her. Hopefully this year. Besides, Six family horses is more than enough. 

What is the most number of horses you have owned at one time?

 

Just curious. We get a shocked look from non-horse people who ask the common question "how many horses do you have" and we respond with "we have 6 horses". Always followed by "Wow!". It is really not that many. I think. Technically 3 are Brad's, 2 are mine and 1 horse belongs to our daughter. 

Still such a good Mama

As for Hope, she has everyone's attention. All the horses are well aware of where Hope is at all times. One of her favorite things to do is stir the pot, 'er herd. It is almost guaranteed to happen when the dogs and I reach the end of the pasture path, and Hope can no longer walk with us.

end of pasture path (22 sec)

Cierra is at the top of the pasture hill

Many times she takes off at a full run to the top of the pasture, and races Cierra (and sometimes Nemo) back to the shared dry lot fence. Other times she runs by herself, takes the corner into the dry lot and busts out into silly moves. Trying to get others to join her. Sometimes it even works.

Hope and Cierra


2/12/24

Hope out runs everyone

Perhaps the full grown horses allow Hope to outrun them. Knowing it is not worth the extra effort. 

Other times, Hope takes a peaceful accompanied stroll back to the herd.

Hope and Cierra heading back
(Nemo waiting far right)

Our herd frequently hangs out together, split by a hot fence. Mostly in the sunny afternoons. Koda usually misses out.

Nemo & Cierra, Hope & Harmony

Our oldest girl is doing a commendable job of being Hope's pasture buddy. Hope is frequently glued to Harmony's side. She shares every.single.thing with Hope in the pasture, even when she would rather not. She is very patient with her. I've never seen Harmony get mad at or be mean to Hope. Even when she tries to stir Harmony up. Which is hilarious!! Harmony usually replies with "whatever" and sometimes gives Hope an occasional ear pin. Rightfully so. 

Harmony (24 yrs young)
2/17/24

We are fairly confident Hope will eventually rise to the top of our mare pecking order. Time will tell.

musical horses

No, this post is not about the all too familiar horses musical tootin'. It is about switching horses around to find peace. You know ~ musical horses. 

Putting Cierra in with Hope and Harmony went well the first couple days. Until Cierra turned into an over protective Mama. It was not unexpected, but we had to try. 

Clapping, whistling and yelling "don't let her do that" could be heard, when we noticed Hope trying to nurse. One would think Cierra would tire of this normal baby behavior, especially if/when it hurt. I watched Cierra position herself, even when Hope wasn't asking.

Thankfully, Cierra stayed dry. However, she frantically tried to keep Hope by her side. Key word try. When Cierra wasn't doing that, she was keeping Harmony away. Not only from Hope, but the feeder too. It was a non-stop job. Cierra was going to run herself ragged, cutting between Hope and the world that surrounds her. Even Hope got tired of Mama's possessiveness and threw one of her baby fits. Wish I could predict them and capture a video to share. They come out of nowhere and are so funny!

water tank gossip
(Cierra, Nemo and Harmony & Hope)
10/17/23

While all this was going on Nemo was busy in the neighboring pasture, keeping Koda away from the girls. Our split herd hangs out together where the water and gates are. He was not allowed to cross an invisible line, but kept trying. Not ideal for a horse recovering from lameness. I could see Koda was stressed around Nemo, when we brought him in. 

Cierra cannot be in the same pasture as Hope for now. We don't need a possessive mare, so Cierra went back in with our boys.

The original 3 sharing
10/14/23

Nemo, Koda & Cierra

Everything went well, until it didn't. Now that Cierra has release her hostage, Nemo is less concerned with her. It is all about keeping Koda away from HIS girls! Needless to say, we are currently back to half day turnout. Chores 3X a day it is. Alternating Koda and Nemo daily. What. A. Pain!!! Meanwhile Hope hangs out with Harmony in the neighboring pasture. 

Harmony & Hope in lower pasture
10/17/23

I will be the first to say I am a bit surprised. Koda and Nemo have been together their whole lives. They were born one day apart (same breeder) and have lived together for 15 years. WTF. Excuse my acronym, but we were expecting our happy herd to be reunited. Our horses let us know they want to be together. If only they checked their opinions at the gate.

Nemo & Koda indoor reunion test
10/14/23 (16 sec)

Nemo has always been herd boss, but has become very possessive. Our third pasture behind the arena is coming in nicely, but will not be ready for horses (er' maybe just one) until next year. 

There are times over a horses life that requires a switcharoo. We humans do need to let them work things out. Let them be horses. Within reason. We refuse to throw horses together and watch vicious behavior. Like the horror story a local acquaintance recently told me. "A young four year old mare was purchased and put into a pasture with the resident herd. The nicest calmest gelding beat the crap out of her. She stood shaking in the corner. You could see him take chunks out of her. It went on for days. Eventually it stopped and the young mare was brought in. Bloody and bitten all over both sides."

Who knowingly allows this?!! That poor horse. Not us. Instead, we will continue playing musical horses. Even if it is added work for us.

ohhhh, look

Changing weather tends to make horse eating monsters more active. You know, the ones that lurk in the woods and ride a wild cool breeze. Horses catch wind of them, and shenanigans follow.

If I am outside, I hear thundering hooves and often say "well, ya know there is a geomagnetic storm brewing". I promptly either get an eye roll or a "yesss, dear". Or both.

If I am inside, I notice our horses running while walking past our windows. "Ohhhh, look the horses are running". I stop whatever I am doing, and watch them full of curiosity and awe at their powerful beauty. Always followed up by "I wonder why they are running?". More often than not, the action stops as fast as it starts, and I continue whatever I was doing.

Sometimes, I grab my camera. Sigh, and end up putting it away without a single photo taken. Other times, I am really really glad I grabbed my camera!! The best action is always in the beginning, but when antics linger in our pastures they look something like this:

99% of the time the running/play is started by Nemo

he tries to stir everyone up, and usually succeeds

Koda & Cierra frequently hang together on high alert

Koda's long thick locks make every move look dramatic


Nemo keeps Cierra in check, always 

She is after all Brad's other horse.

 If you think horses don't care, you haven't met Nemo.

Cierra tries to stay out of Nemo's radar

She could kick all their butt's if she wanted to, but it isn't in her sweet nature

I've noticed these two are frequently sent out to survey the scene
(Cierra left, Koda right)

I thought all the fun was over. Nope.


tail raising begins again



Harmony gets in on the action

Harmony & Cierra

Harmony heading back up to the shed area by Nemo

(she is very attached to him)

Cierra & Koda making a move

no clue what herd messages are being given behind the shed

I just watch for the horses to reappear into my field of vision.

Nemo running his herd

Nemo & Harmony making the rounds

Harmony on alert

these two, are sooo sweet together

I missed a shot of Cierra resting her head on Koda's back

The silly play ended and the herd settled back into grazing. Guess the wild breeze died down and the lurking monsters moved on.

 

weekend observation

It appears there is a shift in our small herd, and Koda is now low man on the totem pole (other than the resident pony). I guess I'm not surprised, Harmony is bigger, older and wiser, and Mare-ish. I'm missing my happy-go-lucky boy, he didn't seem quite himself this weekend. No, they aren't beating up on each other - just herdin' around. Harmony has more or less switched places with Koda. Nemo is Nemo and he doesn't share with anybody, ever. I'll be curious to see if this shift holds, or changes depending on circumstances.

We got our crew more grain, gave them fresh bedding, and counted bales. We'll need more hay, and soon - that'll be fun in the snow...hopefully we get more while the weather is still decent (high's around 30 this week).