Miscellaneous Monday 8-30-10

The weather continues mild, loving this summer as we've only had a few days in the triple digits.  It really feels like Fall weather, so I'm wondering if we're going to have an early winter.  Many of my older horses have been 'hairing up' since early August.

I did take a few photos of the foals over the weekend - not very good as usual -  lots of blurs, half horses and noses! 


Here is the boys -

Wesco Farms World Cup Chaos FF

(sired: Wesco Farms Frangelico Flashback x dam: Wesco Farms LM Buena Baybee Blues)

Wesco Farms Twist of Fate 

(sired: Wesco Farms Buckerowdyroo x dam: Las Doradas Blazing Beauty)

Chaos and Bruiser playing

I didn't get a photo of Rose, or at least not one that I would post!  

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Earlier today, I had asked on Facebook how many people weigh their hay?  I use to when I had less than 10 horses, but now that we feed in groups I don't, it doesn't make sense.  So our actual amount can vary depending on the overall weight and quality of hay.  The hay we have now is very dense, thin stemmed and just lovely versus the end of season that has been stored can be a drier and less leafy.

Most of the hay we get is really high quality alfalfa as it's locally grown and our feed store knows what I like in hay - heavy, leafy and not overly dry.  My feed distributor tends to buy the hay stored for winter a bit drier than I like, but it's easier for him to store (less risk of mold or combustion, etc).  If I had the storage, I would buy in the summer and store, but we can only store about 90 bales of hay - less than two months worth for us - so long term storage has never been a factor.

The other hay we feed is grass hay.  Generally mountain pasture, but we do vary it based on the quality available.  Again our feed store knows my questions - good quality and soft grass hay for the horses.  So we do get rye and orchard grass when mountain pasture isn't available.

I use to buy a mix alfalfa/grass, but as it was all over the board as to percentages, I prefer to buy them separately and feed the mix I want.  As we just opened up the former stallion pasture (20 acres), that's been closed off since January, to the mares, they have a quite a bit of busy feed.  At least that's what I refer to our pasture as it's pretty crappy at this time of year!

With all the new hills to explore, the mares are only showing up for water anyway. I'm not running water to that pasture, so they're forced to take the hike back here, which gives me the opportunity to check them a couple times a day.

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Saw this on ultimatehorsesite.com Check it out for some wonderful equine humor!

If horses were software.....
A letter to tech support

Dear Tech Support,

Recently I purchased and installed Horse 1.0. I soon noticed that this program appears to have numerous glitches. For instance, every time my computer boots up, I have to run Feed 5.3 and Water 7.1. Many times I've been in the middle of writing an important document, and a window will flash telling me to run Clean Stall 2.0. This program also contained applications I did not wish to install, such as Manure 8.5, however they auto-installed with Horse 1.0. Applications such as Vacation 2.7 and Free Time 10.1 can no longer run, crashing whenever selected. Possibly the worst is that Horse 1.0 has attached itself to programs like Finance Manager and MS Money, with folders added such as "Monthly Shoeing" and "Winter Blanket". Periodically, I'll get a reminder telling me to send a check to the manufacturer of Horse 1.0 for the aforementioned items. I have tried to uninstall Horse 1.0 numerous times, but when I try to run the uninstall program, I get warning messages telling me that a deadly virus known as "Withdrawal" will infect my system. Please Help!!!!!

THE REPLY:

Dear User,

Your complaint is not unusual. A common misconception among users is that Horse 1.0 is a mere "utilities and entertainment program." It is not - it is an OPERATING SYSTEM and is designed by its' creator to run everything! A warning will soon be imprinted on the box. Since you have already installed Horse 1.0, here are a few tips on how to make it run better. If you are annoyed by the applications Feed 5.3 and Water 7.1, you may run C: \HIRE HELP, however this will cause another folder to be added to financial applications, labeled "Staff". Failure to send payment to "Staff" will result in Feed 5.3 and Water 7.1 being run again on startup. A note of caution: NOT booting up your computer for several days isn't the solution to avoiding Feed 5.3 and Water 7.1. You will find that, when you boot up your computer again, a nasty virus called "Colic 4.2" will have attached itself to important documents and the only way to rid your computer of Colic 4.2 is by purchasing and installing "Vet 10.1", which we admit is extremely expensive, but crucial. Otherwise, Colic 4.2 will cause irreversible damage to the operating system. Finally, it is important that you run C:\Carrots and C:\Scratch Ears on a fairly regular basis to keep the application running smoothly. If you have any more questions, please call our toll free number.

Sincerely, Tech Support