Post by tierra madre on Jul 27, 2008 5:02:12 GMT -8
7/27 - Waterworld Sans Costner
What? What the hell kind of title is that?!?
Well, it's about horses & water & not about Kevin Costner, that's what.
It's funny - some horses are genuine water babies & some couldn't care less about it other than to wet their whistles or wash down their hay or just get a bellyful of it. By the way, did you ever notice where a good-sized horse can drink exactly as fast as the water comes out of the hose? You'll be standing there directing water into the bucket, the horse is drinking & the water level doesn't change an iota. Those are some pretty big gulps!
What I mean by water babies is that some like to get sprayed all over, splash in it, play in it, spill it, throw it around - whatever. It's water & it's fun!
In the field, Suze, John & Solo fit that bill perfectly. Well, not quite - Solo does NOT like to get sprayed, but he loves to play in it. John & Suze - whatever's wet is great with them. And I've written here how amusingly annoying it can be when John & Suze decide to pull the hose out of the tank - when you're far enough away from it that you have to tear-ass back to it to save a flood. Uproarious.
M'Stor's like that, too. He's all by himself in a real large pen (30'x60'), between Charlie & Min on one side & two pens holding Mr. Bernie Rivers & Charlie 2 on the other. Because of the layout, M'Stor has his choice of drinking out of four big tanks. And he avails himself of each, especially Charlie 2's. Actually, Charlie 2's must be pretty compelling, because not only do Charlie 2 & M'Stor drink out of it, Mr. Bernie Rivers would rather reach through & drink out of it, too. Anyway, M'Stor's always from & center when those are being filled & you can't spray him enough.
Guess loves playing in the water so much she has her own "pool". It's really a water tank, but she doesn't drink out of it. Her game is to splash ALL of the water out of it, whether there are four inches in the bottom or whether it's full to the brim. She has another big bucket sitting on the ground that has a couple of uses, neither of which is to drink. Sometimes, she'll dunk her hay in it & sometimes she'll dunk her hoof in it, turning it into instant swamp water. She has two drinking buckets, both of which hang from the railing, which is not to say that she doesn't grab 'em with her teeth & spill them, too. I've noticed that most of her aquatic activity happens when she's in heat. Interesting. I figure maybe she's trying to cool off her belly.
Heighten. I mentioned the other day that he has a pond in his stall. Not a planned pond - not by me, anyway. I'd originally named it Heighten Pond, but I've changed the name - now it's Loch Mess. He slops water out of his automatic waterer into a pool that we've attached underneath it to try to keep the Loch to a manageable size. He has another bucket hanging from the railing that he uses to dunk his hay. He has another bucket on the ground that's used for who-knows-what: dunking, drinking, splashing, spilling.
Moose loves his water. Drinks it by the gallon, which is fairly indicative of a Cushingoid horse. Good, Moose. Drink up, my man.
Ted-d-d loves his water, too. It gets pretty hot out there in the round pen, even with the shade structure. Oh - I put a second large bucket in there yesterday - in the shade. He thanked me. And he loves to be sprayed down every afternoon after I've doled out the grub & am filling everybody's water again. Sticks his face right into the spray & likes to have his teeth sprayed. It wasn't always thus, though. He kind of shied away from getting wet there for awhile, but he's now loving it with a vengeance. I think his old race track days came back to him & he remembered how good it feels.
Loch Mess.
Get it?
Jim
What? What the hell kind of title is that?!?
Well, it's about horses & water & not about Kevin Costner, that's what.
It's funny - some horses are genuine water babies & some couldn't care less about it other than to wet their whistles or wash down their hay or just get a bellyful of it. By the way, did you ever notice where a good-sized horse can drink exactly as fast as the water comes out of the hose? You'll be standing there directing water into the bucket, the horse is drinking & the water level doesn't change an iota. Those are some pretty big gulps!
What I mean by water babies is that some like to get sprayed all over, splash in it, play in it, spill it, throw it around - whatever. It's water & it's fun!
In the field, Suze, John & Solo fit that bill perfectly. Well, not quite - Solo does NOT like to get sprayed, but he loves to play in it. John & Suze - whatever's wet is great with them. And I've written here how amusingly annoying it can be when John & Suze decide to pull the hose out of the tank - when you're far enough away from it that you have to tear-ass back to it to save a flood. Uproarious.
M'Stor's like that, too. He's all by himself in a real large pen (30'x60'), between Charlie & Min on one side & two pens holding Mr. Bernie Rivers & Charlie 2 on the other. Because of the layout, M'Stor has his choice of drinking out of four big tanks. And he avails himself of each, especially Charlie 2's. Actually, Charlie 2's must be pretty compelling, because not only do Charlie 2 & M'Stor drink out of it, Mr. Bernie Rivers would rather reach through & drink out of it, too. Anyway, M'Stor's always from & center when those are being filled & you can't spray him enough.
Guess loves playing in the water so much she has her own "pool". It's really a water tank, but she doesn't drink out of it. Her game is to splash ALL of the water out of it, whether there are four inches in the bottom or whether it's full to the brim. She has another big bucket sitting on the ground that has a couple of uses, neither of which is to drink. Sometimes, she'll dunk her hay in it & sometimes she'll dunk her hoof in it, turning it into instant swamp water. She has two drinking buckets, both of which hang from the railing, which is not to say that she doesn't grab 'em with her teeth & spill them, too. I've noticed that most of her aquatic activity happens when she's in heat. Interesting. I figure maybe she's trying to cool off her belly.
Heighten. I mentioned the other day that he has a pond in his stall. Not a planned pond - not by me, anyway. I'd originally named it Heighten Pond, but I've changed the name - now it's Loch Mess. He slops water out of his automatic waterer into a pool that we've attached underneath it to try to keep the Loch to a manageable size. He has another bucket hanging from the railing that he uses to dunk his hay. He has another bucket on the ground that's used for who-knows-what: dunking, drinking, splashing, spilling.
Moose loves his water. Drinks it by the gallon, which is fairly indicative of a Cushingoid horse. Good, Moose. Drink up, my man.
Ted-d-d loves his water, too. It gets pretty hot out there in the round pen, even with the shade structure. Oh - I put a second large bucket in there yesterday - in the shade. He thanked me. And he loves to be sprayed down every afternoon after I've doled out the grub & am filling everybody's water again. Sticks his face right into the spray & likes to have his teeth sprayed. It wasn't always thus, though. He kind of shied away from getting wet there for awhile, but he's now loving it with a vengeance. I think his old race track days came back to him & he remembered how good it feels.
Loch Mess.
Get it?
Jim