Awareness of the outside world. CDC, National Wastewater System: State and Territory Trends. Hat tip Your Local Epidemiologist: A Summer Covid-19 Wave, Jetelina, Jul 18. 2024
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Both horses have turned their noses up at the current load of 80/20 alfalfa/timothy hay. Yes, you read that right. 80% alfalfa and it’s not good enough for them. (We don’t feed straight alfalfa because $$ and it’s too hard to handle.)
Anyway.
It’s perfectly nice hay, recently purchased. They’ve been on this meal plan since early 2023. It’s not the idea. It’s this particular load. We’ve tried several servings from the same semi. It’s the back bales in the recent hay photo.
Nice looking hay, right? The front bales are 20/80 alfalfa/timothy. We mix & match as we go. Or, at least, we used to.
Milton will eat the 80/20. Eventually. Under protest. Rodney doesn’t so much as disturb squareness of the flake.
Massive eyeroll. 🙄
Gourmet chocolate is nice, but we don’t feel that this batch is quite up to our standards.
However.
We are reluctant to play chicken with their diet. Milton because of his tum. Rodney because he’s a skinny senior citizen.
So, we are waiting for the new load to come in.
🙄 🙄 🙄
Update [Hay Update]
Onwards!
Katherine
Virtual Brush Box 
Sheesh!
But the thing is, they may be aware of an “off” element that we are not. Dog whistle. Canaries in mine. Goldfish in earthquakes…..
Jane
Yah, have to consider “Jane’s” suggestion above. At first I thought – how temperamental and entitled can they be? Then, I remembered one time, when “Slim” suddenly refused her horse treats, just a half hour since, since gobbling a handful. Then, I was informed that perhaps my hands now smelled like liquid hand gel, which is the same as medicine — and Slim really, really doesn’t like the smell of medicine. Unfortunately, hay is a lot more $$ than horse treats. Plus — 80/20 alfalfa / timothy ???? Geesh. MM.
They definitely sense something. Reputable store, so I’m assuming safe and decent hay. It feels more like not liking cilantro, or the way this batch was dried, or ….