My Texas Boy

Born in 1991, he's now 22 years old....originally from Texas, Ft. Davis to be exact.  He's stocky, very muscular and a super sweetheart....we should all be so lucky as to have one just like him.  

These days Joey is out to pasture.  He has some health issues and can't be ridden {by an adult} but who doesn't have issues once reaching that older age?   This boy is my pet, acts like a dog at times and comes trotting up when he sees me.

Like a child, he enjoys chewing on things he isn't supposed to be chewing on.  He likes to test his owner to see how far he can take things before I stop him.  

He's well behaved when placing him in 'solitary confinement' is necessary for his health.

And just a week or so ago, I learned something about Joey that no horse owner ever hopes to experience.  Joey listens in an emergency situation.  The 12 years that I've owned Joey, he's never been in an emergency situation, until a couple of weeks ago.

He was tied, where he is in the photo below, with me standing at his side waiting for the farrier to arrive.  I have always tied him at this spot, for years but never did I notice the small bolt pointing down under the wooden platform at his nose level.  On this particular day, Joey decides to scratch an itch he had on his face by rubbing it along the wooden platform.  His rope halter was caught on that small bolt, pinning his face up against the platform without an inch to spare.

Joey pulled all 1200+ pounds of his body weight backwards to try and escape the frightened feeling he was experiencing.  My heart was racing, beating out of my chest.  I didn't have a knife on me to cut him loose so I just firmly and loudly said "Whoa"....and you know what?  He froze.  Just like he was supposed to.  He trusted me enough to think I might be able to get him out of this situation he had gotten himself in to.

Trying hard to remain outwardly calm, I carefully, being sure not to get my fingers pinched off in the process, pulled the rope halter off the bolt it was stuck on, and it was like nothing ever happened.  He just stood there, stared at me for a moment and went about his business waiting patiently for the farrier to arrive.  

This situation could have ended oh so different....he could have not listened to me and broken his neck.  He could have pulled so hard to where something snapped free and landed on me.  But instead he trusted and listened.  

I love my Texas boy.

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TT w/Linky: Obliging Mama/Farm Pic

This morning was one of the coldest mornings thus far in this late fall/early winter season.   Thirty-one nippy degrees on the way to school drop off, all I wanted to do was get back home and plant myself in front of the wood stove to warm back up. 

But then I remembered Joey was due for his eight week mani and pedicure.  So after catching him in the pasture, I gave him a vigourous brushing which he thouroughly enjoyed and it helped me to warm up while waiting for the farrier to arrive.

Alongside where Joey was tied stands one of our barns with some Mama cows who happened to be enjoying this brisk morning, cozy in their rice hull bedding and basking in the sunshine chewing their cud.   

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Invasion of the Dry Cows

If you've been following along with my horse, Joey's story, you then know he tends to founder when his pasture has grown rich, green grass and that he's in 'lock down' right now.

Joey's pasture is huge.  There's a ton of green grass that he looks longingly upon from the confines of his barn and small paddock.

This green grass must be eaten before Joey's let back out......enter, Dry Cows.  Dominic let a group of dry cows into the pasture to eat down some of the grass.....rich green grass has no adverse affects on a bovine.....they have four stomachs after all and can handle it.

Well on day two, the dry cows must have felt a bit of sympathy for poor ole Joey because they trompled down that hot wire fencing and busted him out of his confines.....oh yes they did! 

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A Girl And Her Horse

Paige is my horse lover in the family.  Girls and horses, they just go hand in hand, it seems.  Maybe it's their long mane and tail that initially attracts a girl to ponies.  What ever the case, the attraction was immediate for Paige....immediately after the first time she laid eyes on a horse.

We had some bonding and grooming time with Joey yesterday.  We were waiting for the farrier to arrive for a scheduled manicure/pedicure for Joey, and Paige helped give Joey a much appreciated grooming.

Most of you know, Joey has been in 'lock-down' for over a month now.  He's not allowed to have this rich, lush, green grass because it causes him to founder.  But to get Joey from his paddock to the area where the farrier trims him, we had to walk knee deep in the stuff. 

Not an easy task to lead a food obsessed horse through knee deep green grass.  I won't lie,  he did nab a few bites without permission. 

So after a 20-30 minute lesson in ground manners to 'refresh' his memory, he was much more calm and relaxed.

But not much later, he was done with the photo session.

His evil eye was telling me 'enough already!'

Joey is doing much better since almost foundering over a month ago.  His soreness has seemed to totally disappear.  After he loses about 100 pounds, we may even get a ride in.

Thank you to Verde Farm for hosting Farm Girl Friday!

 

I love to hear from you! Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to leave a comment. You can click on the “Post a Comment” link below to do so. Have a peaceful day.

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Fat Tuesday for a Fat Boy, year two

I'm kicking myself for not catching this sooner.  If I had only looked back on this blog one year ago on Fat Tuesday, it would have clued me in. 

Joey, our quarter horse, is 20 years old this year and is prone to founder.

When a horse founders, there is an increase of blood flow to its hooves. The extra blood puts pressure on the bones in the horse's feet. If the pressure is strong enough or goes on long enough, the bones will shift, leading to permanent lameness.

In Joey's case, all that lush green grass and early spring we experienced in January here in California, caused him to founder early.  It's my own fault, I should have taken him off the pasture and locked him up in his paddock earlier in the month of February instead of waiting until March.  But my vet assured me, I was not the only one this has happened to this year.

I think Joey will be okay and will get through this.  He's on medication, eating low-carb food and resting in his paddock.  He's also getting visits from us at least three times a day, which I'm sure he really likes.  Paige has been a huge help in giving Joey attention.  She and I brush him every day, clean out his hooves and give him a ton of petting.

Here's last year's post on Joey and Fat Tuesday.  It also has some fun Mardi Gras recipes too.....Hurricane cocktail and a fun dessert recipe; Bananas Foster.

What are you doing for Fat Tuesday??

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Pelted

This is about as close to snow as we get here in northern California.  Hail.  It comes down hard and fast, though it's not the golf ball sized hail balls the Midwest seems to get, but everyone still runs for cover.

The cows are sheltered in their safe freestall barn,  Joey was too lazy to walk to his barn and decides to take cover under the huge oak tree in his pasture and Chloe gets the urge for a potty break at this very moment and as I open the sliding glass door to let her out, she decides against it.

As for Dominic, he still goes about his work on the dairy; feeding cows, scraping barns all while getting pelted by hail and soaked by the rain.

The rest of us; Bryce, Paige and cousins, Cam and Leila, who are here for a play date and sleepover found indoor activities to keep entertained......

Trouble x's two....

What is it with boys and video games?  Does this love of video games carry on into adulthood?  If I allowed it, they would be on this Nintendo 24-7.

What do you do to keep entertained on a stormy day?

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Busted!

On the way to Bryce's school in the morning, I noticed we had an escapee and his name is Joey. Joey can not be out on pasture until the green grass dries out. He's been in 'lock down' since February and will remain there until June. You can read more about the reason why HERE.

This is what I believe he was thinking............... I'm So Busted!!

You're not really going to lock me up again, are you?.......

Maybe if I ignore her she'll go away...... But I'll keep my eye on her, just in case she gets too close...... Life is good amidst the green grass..... Here's the escape route, downed hot wire fencing. So easy to step over. What is she doing in the barn? Maybe she'll give me some food. I'll do anything for food. Jackpot! (but a little afraid of the flash on the camera) Happy Wednesday!

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