Sometimes, I feed at the back gate. There’s a few reasons why, but I’m sure they think it’s because I’m just inconveniencing the horses. That’s only part of the purpose, though.

Exercise

When the grass isn’t actively growing in the field, they’ll stand by the gate all day long after breakfast buckets and wait for suppertime hay.

Except for going down to the creek for a drink of water, they get no exercise at all. Unless swatting their tails at flies counts.

So I’ll feed them in the mornings at the front gate if they’re not already there. And then in the afternoons, I’ll bring the hay through the creek and over the hills to the back gap gate.

Once they think they know the game and are waiting for me on either end, I’ll swap it up.

Status Check

How quickly they arrive on location for the food tells me a lot of information about how they’re feeling.

I know they’re feeling really good if they come in kicking and bucking. They’re feeling good enough if they’re at least prompt.

But if one is lagging behind too much, then something is wrong. I might not have noticed if they had been waiting for me at the gate, so it’s a good diagnostic tool when I’m inconveniencing the horses.

Hoof Maintenance

It’s hard to find farriers who will travel to where we live for only two horses, and when they do, it’s expensive.

So having the horses travel through the rocky creek and over the hills to go to food, it helps keep their hooves naturally trim for a lot longer than otherwise.

Problems Arise

Sometimes I have to move them back to the small paddock by the house. There’s a few reasons why I do that.

Injury

Inconveniencing the horses sometimes results in inconveniencing myself. They seem to find all kinds of ways to get hurt. When that happens, I bring them both up to the front paddock and keep the hurt one stalled if it’s really bad so I can treat it.

This last time it looked like Shasta got her front right foot stuck between two rocks somehow. A scrape and depression from top to bottom of her hoof was a clue. It was warm and she was in pain.

She was completely off of that foot and I found nothing stuck beneath and no abscess on top anywhere. I treated it with a cold soak. After that, an oil infusion of frankincense, myrrh, and dragon blood compress overnight. She was able to put some weight on it the next day, and within a few days all was back to normal again.

Once, it was snakebite – Commanche had a run in with either a copperhead or rattlesnake. Left hind hock, this time, with lots of swelling. That one took more time to completely heal, but once it began to drain it went much faster.

He got a poultice of clay and the same infused oil wrapped on with vet wrap. Within a couple of days he was able to put weight on it again, but I kept the clay poultice on it without wraps after drainage started just to keep the flies off of it. He was all better by the end of the week.

Weather

Ice storms, hail, and floods are the main weather issues. When it’s going to have very low wind chills or prolonged snow, they appreciate the windbreak the stall offers. So I’ll bring them up for that.

Grass Schedule

If they’re in the paddock, the grass in there doesn’t last long and it becomes more of a dry lot if I keep them in there for long. I can’t just turn them back out on the the pasture after that, so have to break them in to eating fresh grass again.

Inconveniencing the Horses

Overall, it’s better for them when I cause them the inconvenience. But sometimes it’s more of a hassle for me than I like. Sometimes I need the extra running around, too, though.