Meet Pearl, New Horse

[thistlebloom]

I took this one in August. She is still on the thin side, but has come leaps and bounds from where we started.

She does look a lot better. Her coat looks really healthy.

She may be a hard keeper like my Luke.
His weight drops off quickly if he isn't on alfalfa, and he's kind of a primadonna when it comes to hay. Fortunately Huck and Syringa are happy with good ordinary hay so they get Luke's picked through leftovers.

 

[bobm]

diversity in plantings. as many different species you can find that will survive the broadest range of conditions.

in areas of high sand content you can make seed balls out of clay/manure and seed blends and toss them around as you walk through. the little clumps of clay will hold enough moisture from a rain to help get a seed established and then you hope it will survive on what rains come.

That method may work where you are .... but out here in the WEST where the temperatures get over a 100* for most of late spring to late fall. the seeds may germinate, but die shortly thereafter.

 

[flowerbug]

That method may work where you are .... but out here in the WEST where the temperatures get over a 100* for most of late spring to late fall. the seeds may germinate, but die shortly thereafter.

i'd never suggest spreading seeds before summer, but to wait until about this time of the year or a bit sooner (depending upon elevation). some seeds need a bit of cold to get them to germinate, others will start right up. anyways what you end up planting will be influenced by your local conditions and climate and that will select for those plants which can survive. a bit of coddling may be needed if you want certain plants to survive until they can get roots down deep enough. like when i planted the alfalfa and trefoil patch out back, i made sure to weed it and give it some water until the plants were large enough to survive on their own. just depends upon what you want to put into it and how much fiddling you want to do.

spot planting of potted plants can also be one way to get an area recolonized. it is easier to get a plant going in a pot and to keep them watered than to have to find all your marked plants out and about, but then the nice benefit of having any larger plants out and about is that they act as both seed sources and refugee areas for bugs and the smaller birds.

i would hope anyone would do a bit of research before taking any suggestions too seriously or putting a lot of time and $ into something.

 

[bobm]

For my 20 acre ranch in Ca.... several years ago , I got unsold barley seed ( for free ) from a seed supply warehouse for 3 years strait since the new seed was just shipped in . Enough treated seed to plant 3 times over. I planted them a couple days after the first seasonal rains came. Then we normally have a month long fog anywhere from Dec. to March. At least a half or more of the seeds germinated, grew to about 2-3 " tall then started to wither and die. The farmer that is a half mile away planted his barley on 240 acres from the same seed warehouse just a couple days before I planted mine. His grew just fine. I talked to the seed producer as well as our local Ag. rep. ... they could not explain this happening .

 

[seedcorn]

Can be a lot of reasons. Really need to be there when it starts the wilt. As you know, no 2 fields are the same even if they lay side by side. This year, I saw ears devastated by ear worm. Another field across the road, zero damage... go figure.

 

[digitS']

No updates in 3 months ...

Or, did I miss one?

How is Pearl?

Steve

 

[canesisters]

I took this one in August. She is still on the thin side, but has come leaps and bounds from where we started.

OH MY GOSH!!! She is SOOO BEAUTIFUL!!!!! You have worked wonders with her! When this picture popped up I just gasped - wow! What a gem!

 

[baymule]

Thank you @canesisters Pearl continues to be on the thin side. We have worked very little on preparing the mulched land for spring planting. That is mainly due to DH's cataract surgery and limitations on what he could do. He was released 2 days ago, we have a list of projects! We will push up the wood chips to form swales and plant the strips in between in bahia and Bermuda grasses in the early spring. Then next fall we'll plant clovers and rye grasses for winter/early spring grazing. We will have to build a new fence to keep the horses off until the grass can get established. Right now they have the run of the "horse pasture" and the pipeline pasture. We placed the hay ring on the pipeline, each time we get another round bale, we move the hay ring, so they are stomping the wasted hay and manure into the ground, increasing the fertility and humus for future planting of grass seeds. SOME day, there will be grass and pasture on this place!

Pearl is a sweetheart. She is still a little stand offish, no telling what mistreatment she suffered, but she won't have to worry about that now. I do believe she will stay thin until she gets grass. It doesn't matter how I feed her, she has hit a plateau and doesn't gain any more. All the horses have been wormed, twice for the winter and will be wormed again in early spring, when the parasites wake up from their winter slumber. Grrr……. Sheep too!

We spread dropped sheep hay on the newly cleared land up close to the barn, to keep from washing out. Rye grass has sprouted up from that. One of our projects is to rake up ALL the loose hay from the sheep barn, spread in the horse pasture, clean out the sheep barn, till into the garden, and start over in deep litter in the sheep barn.

 

[baymule]

I sure am glad that Pearl is a calm horse. Whether that is from age, been there done that, or just her personality, where ever it came from, I am glad. When we have our two little grand daughters, ages 3 and 4 (almost 5) they go with me to feed the horses. they pet the horses and chatter incessantly. I give them safety cautions and am trying to teach them proper behavior. I was setting out some square bales yesterday, both of them were petting Pearl. I told them to stand at her shoulder to pet her.

I turned around and two giggling girls said "We walked under her tummy!"

Before I could react, the 3 year old said "Watch!" and she took off. I barely got NO out of my mouth and it was done. She charged at Pearl from 5 or 6 feet away and scooted under Pearl's belly shrieking with delight.

Pearl startled, ears laid back, hind foot raised and just as quickly, she realized it was a small child and dropped her foot, ears forward and continued eating her feed.

Thank you Dear Lord for a good horse.​

 

[Carol Dee]

I sure am glad that Pearl is a calm horse. Whether that is from age, been there done that, or just her personality, where ever it came from, I am glad. When we have our two little grand daughters, ages 3 and 4 (almost 5) they go with me to feed the horses. they pet the horses and chatter incessantly. I give them safety cautions and am trying to teach them proper behavior. I was setting out some square bales yesterday, both of them were petting Pearl. I told them to stand at her shoulder to pet her.

I turned around and two giggling girls said "We walked under her tummy!"

Before I could react, the 3 year old said "Watch!" and she took off. I barely got NO out of my mouth and it was done. She charged at Pearl from 5 or 6 feet away and scooted under Pearl's belly shrieking with delight.

Pearl startled, ears laid back, hind foot raised and just as quickly, she realized it was a small child and dropped her foot, ears forward and continued eating her feed.

Thank you Dear Lord for a good horse.

God Bless Pearl. She is A GEM .