Wednesday, October 03, 2007, 17:45
A Muddy Mess (!)
Carrying hay and water out to Isabelle has now become an adventure. Over the past month, we have received a little over 7 inches of rain, and the top part of her pasture by the gate has become a muddy mess.
I can hardly believe it -- 7 inches of rain! And Isabelle's pasture (Kajun's, too) has become a muddy mess!
The last time we got 7 inches of rain in a month was 5 or 6 years ago. In August of 2006 we got a little over 6 inches of rain. But then the precipitation stopped, and we had a dry fall and a dry, cold winter with very little snow.
When I go outside now, I automatically put on my tall rubber boots. If I'm not slogging around in mud, then the grass is wet, and I would just as soon keep my feet dry.
The weather on Wednesday, after being cloudy and rainy Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, is sunny with a clear blue sky. It is a welcome change after the days of cloudy, dreary and WET(!) weather. More of the trees are starting to turn. The sumac is bright red, and some of the maples are bright red or bright yellow. If I ever start feeling better, I would love to take the dogs for a walk up the dirt road.
Anyway, carrying hay and water, as I said, is an adventure. Since Isabelle's shelter is on somewhat of slope, when I take hay out, I very carefully inch my way around the corner of her shelter through the quagmire. There's just enough slope that it's very slippery at that point, and I would like to avoid ending up face down in the mud, if I can.I am always ready to grab the edge of her shelter if I feel my feet starting to go out from under me. So far it hasn't happened yet.
Maybe it's a good thing that I have been sick for the past two weeks. I'm not moving that fast in the first place. I would imagine if I zipped out there and wasn't really thinking about what I was doing, I'd run more of a risk of going down in the mud. As it is, moving very fast is out of the question.
This morning when I carried a fresh bucket of water out, Isabelle had just finished her grain. As I walked past her, she turned and walked right beside me, matching my footsteps, step for step.
"We have to be careful, Isabelle," I said. "It's slippery out here."
The little black mare walked shoulder to shoulder with me until we reached her shelter. At that point, she spied the flake of hay I had put on the grass for her where it was out of the mud, and she went to investigate. Thank goodness. At least if I fell and tossed the bucket of water, Isabelle wouldn't get caught up in the whole thing.
I am hoping that it continues to rain this fall. The growing season is pretty much finished, so the water will have a chance to filter down into the subsoil instead of being taken up by the crops and the grass and the trees. It has been so horribly dry the last three years, and the rain coming now is just what we need.
Of course I have no way of knowing if this is a glitch or whether it means the drought has ended. If it keeps raining this fall, and if it snows this winter, then maybe we really might be on the way back to more normal precipitation patterns.
Which reminds me. We really ought to get the snowblower fixed before it starts snowing. . .
LeAnn R. Ralph
Tuesday, October 02, 2007, 04:20
Another Repair Job
And here Randy *thought* he had sunk the posts far enough into the ground to keep my little black horse from pushing them over. The posts were meant to act as a windbreak instead of the piece that used to be on the east end of Isabelle's shelter.
But no. The posts are not immune to the power of Isabelle's rear end when she's got an itch. If there's anything she can push against, Isabelle is going to scratch her tail. No matter what.
One day a while back as I was putting a flake of hay inside Isabelle's shelter, I thought it looked like there was a little more daylight coming in than there ought to be.
I went around to the front, and sure enough, I was right. There *was* more daylight because Isabelle had pushed the flap on the west end loose and was trying her best to tear it off.
Isabelle's shelter is an old turkey shelter with hinged flaps on each end. When the shelters stood out in the open fields for the turkeys, the flaps could be pushed up to make more room for the turkeys and to make more shade.
During cool, rainy weather, the flaps could be put down to make a better shelter from the wind and the rain. We took the roosts out and one wall off and put it up on blocks so Isabelle could have her own little barn. She enjoys being in there, snug from the rain and cold weather -- and in the shade when it's hot and sunny.
Learning Curve
I must say, though. For a horse who didn't have the foggiest notion she could back up to something to scratch her tail when she came here two years ago -- she sure does have it figured out now. This past summer, Randy had to fix the fence in three different places because Isabelle has destroyed it backing up to rub her tail.
Well, actually, the first spot he had to fix was because she got her foot caught in the brace wire and tore the fence to pieces trying to get her foot out. Fortunately she did not suffer any serious injuries from her little escapade.
The other two spots needed repair, however, because Isabelle had found places to back up and scratch. If Isabelle would stop rubbing it off, she would have twice as much tail as she's got now. She would have a thick, impressive, luxurious black tail. The way it is now, her tail is rather thin and pathetic.
The flap on the west side of her shelter is actually the second flap Isabelle has broken. She started destroying the flap on the east side a while back. Sometimes at night when I would take Pixie outside before I went to bed, I would hear this horrible creaking and crashing and screeching noise.
I'd go around to the front of the house, and there would be Isabelle, backed up the flap, putting all her weight into scratching her tail. Sometimes I think Isabelle is part pony. She's supposed to be quarter horse and paint horse. Dusty, the pony I had when I was a kid (and who appears in my books) used to like to rub her tail on everything and anything.
Rebuilding
After Isabelle tried to dismantle her shelter, one Saturday morning first thing, Randy went out and started taking the flap off on the east side. I did not go out to help him. I did not feel like being in the hospital for a few days. There's a dandy patch of healthy-looking ragweed and pigweed right around Isabelle's shelter. I am allergic to ragweed and pigweed, and even the temperatures in the 20s earlier in September didn't seem to hurt the plants too much. I keep thinking I ought to take the mower in there to chop them down, but I haven't gotten up the courage yet. Maybe after there's snow on the ground.
No, wait. Once there's snow on the ground I won't have to worry about the ragweed and pigweed. The snow will do a better job of getting rid of them than the mower. Until next year, I guess.
At any rate, Randy got the flap off and nailed a piece of plywood over the east side. Then he found enough plywood to replace the piece that stuck out on the south side. The extra two feet of the flap gives Isabelle a little more wind break when the wind is from the west or northwest or southwest in the winter.
That's another thing she didn't know when she came here: where to stand to get out of the wind. She's got that figured out now, too. She's very smart about knowing just exactly which side of her shelter is going to provide a break from the winter wind.
Sunny Winter Days
I watch to see where Isabelle likes to stand outside on a nice and sunny, but windy, winter day, and then that's where I put her hay.
She doesn't always like to stand inside and sometimes wants to be in the sun. Can't say as I blame her. I would get bored, too, standing inside all of the time, and I, too, would want to take advantage of the winter sun. Since she is a black horse, she gets toasty warm standing in the sun, and many times I have taken off my gloves to warm my hands on her black hair. I like to put my face against her shoulder, too, to enjoy the warmth.
Unfortunately, Randy didn't have enough plywood for the extra part on the north side, so he sunk four posts into the ground to provide a little more wind break. He calls it Isabelle's Stockade. Isabelle thinks the posts are just the cat's meow for scratching her tail.
I asked Randy about it at the time, and he said he had sunk the posts several feet into the ground and that if she could push those over, he was going to give up and she could just go without the extra windbreak.
The posts are leaning at a 20-degree angle now. With any luck at all, they will hold out until the ground freezes. Then Isabelle won't be able to push them over any farther, I don't think. Then she will have that part of her windbreak for this winter.
But only probably for the winter, because when the ground thaws out next spring and her tail gets itchy. . .well, let's just say I don't think the posts are going to be in the ground for long. Then we'll have to try to figure out something else. If Randy is willing. If he's not, then I'm on my own.
LeAnn R. Ralph
