Spoiler Alert: Horse feed storage is critically important

 Specialty feeds for horses come with all sorts of intriguing extra ingredients, mostly for added vitamins and minerals and other nutritional bonuses. Sometimes equine grain formulations are aimed at easier digestibility, or even better taste.

 

Horse owners pay extra for all that good stuff.

 I was all-in for my horses, willing to shell out extra dough-re-mi to obtain the optimum feed choices for each of them. And we were basically happy with our feed supplier, who was generally pleasant and dependable. Also, he was local and accessible and convenient, storing his inventory in a big airy outbuilding not far from the horse farm.

 So I bought bag after bag after bag from him. And all was well.

 

Then I found a surprise inside a bag of pricey grain.

 Fuzzy, stinky, damp, decaying horse feed was not exactly what the equine veterinarian ordered. My horses wouldn’t be likely to approve of it either. 

Most horses will reject moldy grain (or moldy hay), if possible. But if they consume the offensive feed, it can cause digestive troubles (even colic), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (heaves), reproductive problems and other issues.

 Avoiding this exact situation was one of the main reasons I bought our horses’ feed on an as-needed basis, rather than stockpiling at the stables.

 

I was a little steamed. Maybe more than a little.

 I schlepped the bulky bag back to our animal feed guy. He blamed the unseasonably humid weather we’d had for the moldy grain. He offered to credit me for half the price of the product.

 Let’s see … how much of that fungus-filled feed was I going to be able to use?

 

Hey, sometimes ya just gotta break the mold.

 Or at least, sometimes ya just gotta find a new feed supplier, if the grain comes with mold.

 Ever since that moldy mishap, I have purchased our horse feeds from merchants with climate-controlled feed storage. They’re a little out of the way, but worth the trips.

Feel free to follow on Twitter. Don’t miss the The Mane Point page on Facebook. You are invited to visit my Amazon author page as well.

 

Image/s: LAN photo/s – All rights reserved.

Foaling in the Field: A Natural Nativity

 

Our grandest plans were subverted.

 We waited eleven months for the exciting event, but we were surprised. We had every intention of bringing our beloved warmblood mare inside to a cozy breeding stall, softly bedded with fresh hay, when her time arrived for foaling.

 Of course, the mare had another plan altogether. In fact, she had a completely different timetable than the rest of us.

 According to the calendar, she was not due to foal for another few weeks. So much for modern science!

 

NOTE: Written by this author, this copyrighted material originally appeared on another publisher’s site. That site no longer exists. This author holds all rights to this content. No republication is allowed without permission.

 

Surprise in the Pasture!

 A friend went out to the pasture around 11 a.m. to collect her quiet gelding. He refused to exit through the gate with her. Instead, he practically dragged her to the three-sided shelter, across the pasture. There, she saw an amazing sight.

 Inside the lean-to, she found the entire herd. About a dozen horses huddled inside the shed, guarding and watching the mare and her perfect newborn filly, like an equine nativity scene.

 An hour earlier, the mare had been peacefully grazing outside. When she was ready, she simply entered the shelter and delivered her offspring on her own. Her pasture mates gathered and observed.

 Perhaps they were protecting the blessed event, or possibly, they were simply curious.

 My friend left her own horse in the field and bounded over the fence to herald the news to the barn staff. All hands came running to collect the horses from the pasture. When the coast was clear, they led the mare and her brand-new, full-term, bouncing filly into the barn.

 

That’s where we came in.

 Around noon, my kids and I drove through the barn gate and noticed the parade, headed for the foaling barn. We leapt out of the car and raced to the stall.

 Usually, a mare will guard her newborn foal attentively. She will place her own body between others and her offspring, making herself the physical boundary to keep others away.

 However, this time, it was somehow different. We’ve been together nearly ten years, and this was her third foal. The sweet chestnut mom quietly stepped behind her baby and welcomed us into their world. It was as if she wanted to tell us, “C’mon in. I trust you. Share our happy moment. Look what I have!”

 

“Please allow me to introduce my pride and joy.”

 A sturdy fawn-colored face, with a huge, crooked white stripe, fairly grinned up at me and my children. The friendly filly accepted our attentions eagerly, as her mom nuzzled her own baby and my human children as well.

 In that moment, I caught a glimpse of what it must feel like to become a flesh-and-blood grandmother, to watch your own daughter deliver a child. Pride and affection, adrenaline and tenderness, all mixed together.

The vet arrived several hours later and pronounced everyone exceptional.

 

What a day!

 

Feel free to follow on Twitter. Don’t miss the The Mane Point page on Facebook. You are invited to visit my Amazon author page as well.

 

Image/s: LAN photo – All rights reserved.