Horsekeeping
Lucky enough to have a horse.
Awareness of the outside world. Donation to the ACLU. If that constitutes virtue signaling, so be it.
~~~
Well, that didn’t take long.
We are back on two bags of feed. Milton is back on ProElite Performance. We have ended the experiment to switch Milton over to Rodney’s feed. [Milton Joins the Senior Set]
He was doing great. Fat, shiny, bright-eyed, working well.
Except.
He pulled back during grooming. He does this.
He misbehaved and got smacked by the blacksmith. This happens.
He hopped with a rider (not me!). His go-to move, but not recently.
Momentary disobediences. Nothing usual. Statistically higher frequency.
We had three options:
Option 1) Stay on Senior. It was a calorie issue. Cut down the amount. Might have worked. However, if Milton and I are ever to work together, we need everything as harmonious as possible at the onset. Given our history with Rodney on the wrong feed, I would be suspicious of Milton being on rocket fuel. A self-fulfilling prophecy. [Square One]
Option 2) Switch to another feed. The feed industry does not lack for choices. Within ProElite, low starch feed? Diet feed for easy keepers? A lot of these were soy-based. While we never definitively ruled on Milton being allergic to soy, beet-pulp has been good to us over the years. [Feed Adventures]
Different brand? Nutrena alone has seven types of feed, with two to ten varieties within each type. Thirty-five different bags of feed. Welcome to overwhelm city.
We chose option 3
Option 3) Go back to what worked. Reestablish a baseline. Then consider what, if anything, to try next.
Note to self. Reducing the herd to one bag is a lost cause. It has never worked in the past. It’s not going to work in the future. Don’t even try. Be happy that two horses only require two bags.
Re Milton’s hop. Milton has been doing great with mounting lately. Out of an abundance of caution, I am in the habit of putting Rodney in park and heading Milton. Usually no need. This time, rider on. A few steps. Head down, shoulder up. Fortunately, I had a grip of the cheekpiece. I yelled and hauled. Rider yelled and hauled. Milton stopped.
It was a half-hearted hop, but that is easy for me to say. I wasn’t aboard. After 10 strides, horse was over it. After 20 strides, rider was over it. I choose to blame the feed.
Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott
Virtual Brush Box 
Horses are not an easy pastime, it seems.
I’ll stick to knitting.
OTOH, Knitting may not as rewarding as horses.
To each her own.
With as many types of needlework I’m good at, I’ve never learned to knit of crochet. I keep meaning to. I had a lot of knitting needles and crochet hooks (a ‘legacy’ from my late mom) but they got lost when I moved here.
I wish I was in a position to deal with the horses.
Katherine, your posts give me a bit of respite from the world. Thank you.
It would probably be easier if we didn’t keep fiddling.