Who's Who....Part 7

I often get the question...

"Which animals take the most time to care for?"

The answer to that is easy...no thought necessary.

The horses!

Cleaning up their manure three times daily...

plus cleaning the pastures,

feeding (in the winter time, they need lots of hay...often),

grooming, bathing, cleaning sheaths, clipping bridle paths,

and trimming hooves every few weeks.

And what do they give back in return?

Not that much!

Love? I won't delude myself into believing that.

Hours of entertainment, for sure.

But, still, I love having them.

There is nothing more satisfying to me than driving by my pasture 

and seeing them peacefully grazing.

Moonbeam is our only full size equine.

He is a Haflinger (originally from Austria) and a carriage horse.

(not so much of a riding horse to my chagrin)

Donnie Brascoe and Scarlet are brother and sister and are

Shetland sized ponies.

Sweet natured, and very easy to handle,

Donnie is perfect for pony rides for small children.

Red and Ollie are mini horses.

Ollie came to us first...

an orphan at three weeks of age.

We added Red a few months later as company for Ollie.

Red is actually Ollie's half brother.

These five equines share a dry lot and pasture and get along wonderfully.

Moonbeam is the alpha horse, with the ponies second in command.

This works out beautifully, and has made the minis 

very submissive and easy to work with.

All five of them are easy keepers and require minimal feed...

they get fat just breathing air, I swear!

Over the past year we seem to have found the right formula

for keeping them from getting too fat...

just a few hours of grazing in the morning

with supplemental hay in small quantities throughout the day.

Their feed is basically just a vitamin/mineral supplement.

What fun Sammy has with the horses!