Mud Season

We have entered mud season around here. Actually mud season doesn't usually start until mid October, but it started early this year, back in the beginning of September. Almost the entire month of September it rained and rained and rained. My horses were literally swimming in mud. The last week we have had unseasonably warm temps, so the pastures have been drying out a little. But it won't last long. We really need to put gravel down in certain areas of the pastures, but I have already spent my "backup" money on sand for the arena.

In order to better prepare my horses for the nasty muddy weather that has already started and will last until at least May, I brought Brandy out and shaved her lower legs. Last year we struggled with Mud Fever (Scratches) all year long, which was the first time I have ever had to deal with that with my own horses. What really helps is keeping the hair shaved really close to the skin all winter long. That way when they get out of the mud, their legs dry so much quicker then if I left the long winter fuzzies on their legs. I also will treat the heels with Betadine, once I see any redness and swelling. I will bring Fritzy out and shave her legs when my OH is home to assist. She has a tendency to kick, and I am not too comfortable crawling around down by her back legs unless I have some help.

One of the other things we did, was purchase a hay feeder from a friend of ours. We got it really cheap so I couldn't pass up a deal like that. I actually prefer feeding my horses on the ground, BUT when it gets as muddy as it does here, A LOT of hay gets wasted by being smooshed into the mud. During the worst of the muddy season, there isn't a dry spot in the pasture, except in their shed. We only feed hay in their shed if it is snowing or really raining out. We usually throw the hay out under the trees in wet weather, or in really nice, dry weather we throw it wherever. So by feeding the horses in the feeder, it will save us on hay because it isn't getting wasted in muck. Once it dries out again, I will go back to feeding hay on the ground.



Walter stays by his best friends side at feeding time. He has to eat by Fritzy, which is quite funny, because Brandy use to be his best buddy.



Rowdy has always preferred eating alone. So I make sure to throw him a flake on the ground somewhere far away from everyone else.



It started out being a nice day today. After I shaved Brandy's lower legs, I decided to do a little training with Chance. I don't have much time left before I leave for Oklahoma, so I figured I better get out there while I could. I just groomed her, worked on moving her hindquarters away from me, put her on the 12' line and just concentrated on walk and whoa.



I also pulled out the spray bottle of show sheen and worked on desensitizing her to the spray. She is fine with plain old water, but when I have a spray bottle of fly spray or show sheen, she isn't too fond of that. She reacted just like I thought she would and went backwards and in circles while I continued to spray until she stopped. Once she stopped, I stopped. I did that a few times until each reaction got better and better. Once I switched sides, she didn't even react to it at all at first. Then after I had stopped and praised her, I went to spray again, she said "no way!". But she finally calmed down.



We had a very good training session. I am hoping to get out one more time before I have to leave for Oklahoma. When I am gone, she won't be handled. But my OH does pet her, and he will probably turn her out to graze. I am not worried about her. She won't turn wild while I am gone. If anything, it'll give her some growing up time! And I bet she will go through a growth spurt while I am gone!



Just to give you all an idea of what I have to go through every winter. This is actually mild compared to what it was a week ago. Chance paces the fence line, and she has dug a trench, so it just fills up with water and turns to mud. It doesn't help that we have a really muddy piece of property to begin with, and if I could afford it, I would turn every pasture into "gravel" pastures.



I have so much to do this week. I will be busy getting together all the clothes I need for a month. I suppose I should be getting my packing list started!