State of the horse people's horses.
Jan. 21st, 2023 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickThere are still too many, but we're doing better. I checked my notes from 2017 so that I could see how much headway we have made since then.
Usually, the humane society shows up and cites you (or your heirs) when they discover fifty ribby horses in your field standing up to their knees in muck with nary a wisp of hay to be seen.
But there are other ways out of the situation. You can, for example, decide to STOP putting so many horses on the ground, break the existing horses to ride, get them some job skills, and actively sell or rehome them so that there are eventually a reasonable number in the fields. Also you must put on your big girl panties and cull the very old and the very frail every year before the ground freezes because this is RESPONSIBLE and the BETTER WAY to behave than waiting until you have a downer horse on frozen ground in mid-February and no way to bury it.
Taking this off-ramp from horse hoarder territory takes discipline and work. It isn't fun and it requires addressing things that had been let slide for some time, which is how folks got into that sort of mess in the first place. But it can be done and we are (slowly) doing it.
In 2017, this was the state of affairs:
So there’s Martini, Proof, Cheops (the black horses) = 3
And Mariah, Saguaro, High Tide, Skoal (the pintos) = 4
And Ceres, Thyme, Taku, Keystone, Brizon, Oasis, Peake, Nick, Tank, Genie, Snap, Switch, Copenhagen, Beretta, Moon Rhea (the bays) = 15
And Talon, Elklin (the buckskins) = 2
And Tin, Bird, Chenille, Chantilly, Zipper, Mora, Roxy, Whimsy (the greys) = 8
And Punch, Cuervo (chestnut) = 2.
And Casper (chocolate silver) = 1
for "about 36 horses". It's possible I missed one or two that were loaned out or otherwise not in plain view and easily countable. "About 36" was a pretty fair figure for 2017.
As of today, we have the following:
Martini (black)= 1
High Tide, Saguaro, Sailor (pintos) = 3.
Elklin (buckskin) = 1.
Bird (mine), Chantilly, Vamp (grays) = 3
Ceres, Keystone, Oasis, Peake, Tank, Genie, Snap, Switch, Beretta, Moon Rhea, Nope, and Finn (mine) (bays) = 12
Punch (chestnut) = 1
Casper (chocolate silver) = 1
So, about 22 these days. I'm PRETTY SURE that this is a firm number, but I'm not sure enough to call it a permanently firm and exact number.
This is still too many. We all agree that it's too many. However, coupled with the sewage sludge project to improve the quality of the hayfields, the farm now makes enough hay to support the horses WITHOUT having to buy thousands of dollars of hay in the winter and has for the last two years.
We know that the only way that "about 22" looks anything less than terrible is that there used to be seventy-five. AND ALSO in this freaking long-term project, no horses were ever knowingly sold for meat or "dumped" at auction. So yeah, not ideal but better than it used to be. Progress!
How's the age profile looking? Not too shabby. The youngest things in the herd are as follows:
Bird is 12 in the spring. Genie, Snap, Switch, and Chantilly are all 9. Sailor is 5. Nope is 4. Finn will be 1 in the spring. 8 horses are under 15 years old, 14 are OVER 15.
Time is on our side.
What happened to the horses that are not listed this time around?
Proof -- died
Cheops -- at Trys's friend's house in semi-retirement, permanent home
Mariah -- sold
Skoal -- given away
Thyme -- Cass moved in with her boyfriend and took Thyme with her
Taku -- at Theron's, permanent home until she dies
Brizon -- died
Nick -- put down
Copenhagen -- died
Talon -- died
Tin -- sold
Chenille -- swapped for Vamp
Zipper -- perma-loaned to a lesson program
Mora -- put down
Roxy -- permanent loan
Whimsy -- put down
Cuervo -- put down
Where did the net-"new" horses come from?
Nope -- Ceres baby, only one she ever had.
Sailor -- Proof baby that Olivia claimed she wanted, but hasn't touched in two years.
Finn -- I bought him.
Vamp -- we swapped Chenille for her.
Usually, the humane society shows up and cites you (or your heirs) when they discover fifty ribby horses in your field standing up to their knees in muck with nary a wisp of hay to be seen.
But there are other ways out of the situation. You can, for example, decide to STOP putting so many horses on the ground, break the existing horses to ride, get them some job skills, and actively sell or rehome them so that there are eventually a reasonable number in the fields. Also you must put on your big girl panties and cull the very old and the very frail every year before the ground freezes because this is RESPONSIBLE and the BETTER WAY to behave than waiting until you have a downer horse on frozen ground in mid-February and no way to bury it.
Taking this off-ramp from horse hoarder territory takes discipline and work. It isn't fun and it requires addressing things that had been let slide for some time, which is how folks got into that sort of mess in the first place. But it can be done and we are (slowly) doing it.
In 2017, this was the state of affairs:
So there’s Martini, Proof, Cheops (the black horses) = 3
And Mariah, Saguaro, High Tide, Skoal (the pintos) = 4
And Ceres, Thyme, Taku, Keystone, Brizon, Oasis, Peake, Nick, Tank, Genie, Snap, Switch, Copenhagen, Beretta, Moon Rhea (the bays) = 15
And Talon, Elklin (the buckskins) = 2
And Tin, Bird, Chenille, Chantilly, Zipper, Mora, Roxy, Whimsy (the greys) = 8
And Punch, Cuervo (chestnut) = 2.
And Casper (chocolate silver) = 1
for "about 36 horses". It's possible I missed one or two that were loaned out or otherwise not in plain view and easily countable. "About 36" was a pretty fair figure for 2017.
As of today, we have the following:
Martini (black)= 1
High Tide, Saguaro, Sailor (pintos) = 3.
Elklin (buckskin) = 1.
Bird (mine), Chantilly, Vamp (grays) = 3
Ceres, Keystone, Oasis, Peake, Tank, Genie, Snap, Switch, Beretta, Moon Rhea, Nope, and Finn (mine) (bays) = 12
Punch (chestnut) = 1
Casper (chocolate silver) = 1
So, about 22 these days. I'm PRETTY SURE that this is a firm number, but I'm not sure enough to call it a permanently firm and exact number.
This is still too many. We all agree that it's too many. However, coupled with the sewage sludge project to improve the quality of the hayfields, the farm now makes enough hay to support the horses WITHOUT having to buy thousands of dollars of hay in the winter and has for the last two years.
We know that the only way that "about 22" looks anything less than terrible is that there used to be seventy-five. AND ALSO in this freaking long-term project, no horses were ever knowingly sold for meat or "dumped" at auction. So yeah, not ideal but better than it used to be. Progress!
How's the age profile looking? Not too shabby. The youngest things in the herd are as follows:
Bird is 12 in the spring. Genie, Snap, Switch, and Chantilly are all 9. Sailor is 5. Nope is 4. Finn will be 1 in the spring. 8 horses are under 15 years old, 14 are OVER 15.
Time is on our side.
What happened to the horses that are not listed this time around?
Proof -- died
Cheops -- at Trys's friend's house in semi-retirement, permanent home
Mariah -- sold
Skoal -- given away
Thyme -- Cass moved in with her boyfriend and took Thyme with her
Taku -- at Theron's, permanent home until she dies
Brizon -- died
Nick -- put down
Copenhagen -- died
Talon -- died
Tin -- sold
Chenille -- swapped for Vamp
Zipper -- perma-loaned to a lesson program
Mora -- put down
Roxy -- permanent loan
Whimsy -- put down
Cuervo -- put down
Where did the net-"new" horses come from?
Nope -- Ceres baby, only one she ever had.
Sailor -- Proof baby that Olivia claimed she wanted, but hasn't touched in two years.
Finn -- I bought him.
Vamp -- we swapped Chenille for her.
no subject
Date: 2023-01-23 03:29 am (UTC)Also, I love that one of them is named Nope.
no subject
Date: 2023-01-23 01:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-01-27 05:12 pm (UTC)