I am missing my pony boy already! And only because it’s been raining all day long and I had work to do.

Of course, I’ve been out there 4 times already… haha…. he’s far from being neglected.

I even turned him out for a bit while it was drizzling, and we sat out there and just bonded a little bit. I was Cody’s hero because I took off his old dirty halter and gave him a goooood scratching all over. He loves to be scratched, so much so that he rubbed himself a little round spot with no hair on a post yesterday!!! Lucky for him I had a tin of Bagbalm and I rubbed a little in the raw spot and it looks just fine today.

When I took off his halter, oh, he shook his head and just had himself a big old happy happy happy pony wiggle! He turned off and did this little victory lap around me and whinnied so cute! Then he came back over for some more scratching. He’s quite the little gentleman, but with spunk!!! I love him so much already, it’s scary.

We even played a little game of chase in the rain, around a big old tree. I looked one way and he would turn away, and around the try to catch me on the side. I would turn back fast and come around the tree and he would shake his head and whirl to the other side! If I could reach out and tap his velvety nose he would grunt and flip about to the other side fast! I am certain by his perked up ears and continued attention that he was playing and enjoying this little flirty fun around the tree. When I was tuckered, and getting a bit too wet, I offer a niblet of a carrot as a truce and he came right over to snuffle me and submit to a bit more scratching. I love his spunk!

He is SOOOOO cute to watch as he trots around the yard. He follows the sheep paths and weaves through the rough side on the west and back around to the fire pit. He moves so nicely, even Bill said so, as we watched him on Sunday. He’s such a nice little stud that I got to thinking, when I get a little free time, I’m going to find out if there is a way to check on him to see if he is registered. Being a pinto with fairly distinct markings and knowing where he came from and the age, I MIGHT be able to find out if he is registered. Of course, it might just be folly, but hey, why not send a couple emails and pictures.

I have been sneaking in little bit of web surfing to learn more and more about Shetlands and all. I have also come to find that there are some in the horsey world that really don’t like them! Pooey on them… I can never understand how people can be so mean about some breed of animal or some type of computer or car or clothing bit. I mean, if we all liked only this and that, the world would be a pretty boring place. Oh I’m sure that there are plenty of mean and nasty little ponies in the world… but I would wager to bet that the majority were made that way by the failings of humans in training and treatment.

I was so pleased to find this wonderful site that just loves and cherishes the true Shetland pony! And I read through all the helpful articles about training and harness work and all that. I just can’t wait to get a little training harness and see if Cody really is cart trained! I know it will be awhile and may even be the spring before we can work on brush up training and all, but I’m excited about it and will be learning all I can about it. A Shetland stallion can pull a lot of weight, twice their own weight! We estimate Cody to be at least 300 pounds, perhaps more. Surely, we wouldn’t be putting him under a cart with 6 people in it and all that, but I think he would handle a single person cart with ease. He’s a tough little dude and sturdy as heck.

Click to visit the pony site…. http://shetlandponyeverything.posterous.com/

There is no doubt in my mind that he more traditional than the more modern horse-like American Shetland ponies. He’s thick and short and stocky. I’m so sure he’s going to grow out a wooly winter coat like his wild forefathers. What I think is so cool, is that when you are sitting and looking at him, his head and all, he’s all horse. Not some delicate little thin pony or mini horse head, you could envision his noble head on the top of a nice sized horse! He’s just not some kid’s play thing. He’s a hardy little working companion and intelligent, smart and really mellow. Yet with a little cheeky spunk in him, apparently!

He broke down our little cheezy latch on the barn down last night. I heard Evee barking and thought, Hmmm…. everyone is in bed only to find Cody standing at the screen porch door, whinying for someone to come out and hang with him. He already knows that the two-leggers live in the big yellow barn! haha…. I went out there and he followed me right back to the barn as we inspected the situation. I believe he just did not approve of that inside yard door being solid, without a view to the busy part of the yard! Silly man… So I got one of the extra cattle tube gates out that I won at auction and wired up one side and made it to pivot out and back. Actually, it works pretty good. And then I used his lead rope on the other side to sort of secure it to the door. Now he can see out in the yard just fine. He trotted back in and I gave him a little hay to pass the time. He was fine. I’ll rig it up a little nicer when it stops raining. But it was awesome to be able to see out the kitchen window and see him nose out and watching the yard activity. Of course, with it raining all day, there was really not that much to watch, but he was happier and more secure. He’s got a big open in the back, but all that gets him is a big pasture that he can’t go into yet on his own! Sorta like living right next to a chocolate shop and you can’t buy anything!!!

I found a new hay and straw dealer, only about 3 miles from the farm! Yeah!!! I was going to go into Archbold to the Monday hay and straw auction, but I was pretty sure that the solid rain would make it a no-go day. So I called the feed store and just asked them if anyone was in the area… Sure enough, there was. Ron was a great guy, a retiring lifelong farmer with a lot of talking in him! Haha… I don’t mind. I like old guys and their stories. I play bluegrass… and it’s an old guy music. I learn a lot from them. He knew all about his hays and I learned a lot today, sitting in his old hay mow and watching a couple little kittens play while it lightly rained. We talked about hay, and medical problems, and the county fair and the cost of the turnpike, and his grandsons and his farm. It was charming. I’ve bought cheaper hay, but his grass/timothy mix was nice looking and $8 later, I had 100 pounds of hay for my hooved companions in the back of old Blue. I promised to come back soon and get a few more, but it was just too rainy to really try and load the wagon to the max. And him being only 3 miles away and in need of someone to visit with, I’m sure he won’t mind if I have to stop again in a week or so.

I still can’t get over how cheap it is to feed big animals. Durn, we pay more for the guinea pig I think than the sheep for sure!!! Pound for pound, livestock is a pretty reasonable deal. Since we feed Edward a lot of greenery and carrots, and all that, I think I am going to switch him to bunny pellets that we get in the 50 pound bag. He’ll be just fine with that. I know piggies need vitamin C and that bunny pellets don’t really offer that, but he gets so many fruit and veggie treats, he’ll be just fine. He probably gets better feed than we do! I do think that consolidating some of the various animal chows would be a good thing. I would like to see if Santa can bring me like a thousand pounds of various feeds so that the locals don’t think I have a fling going on with the feed store fella…. though he is a very nice guy! (gg) I’m sure his wife wouldn’t really approve.

I guess there is a fine line between having enough feed and then, loosing feed through spoilage. We have already invested in three nice steel galvanized trash cans for chicken feed, chick grower and bunny pellets. I need another for goat chow and maybe one for sweet feed for the sheep and pony. I’ve already been warned by my feed store fella that sweet feed can get rancid, so that’s best a bag at a time especially since my gang is small and we don’t need to be bulking everyone up too much. Tractor Supply has a good sweet feed that EVERYONE can eat, no copper so the sheep are safe and I think it even comes in 25 pound bags… that will be a good thing for the winter when I want to make sure everyone has a little extra fuel in their tanks when it gets too cold. Just a handful will help to keep them cooking.

I can’t wait to be able to go out in the cold winter day and just sit inside the pony barn with Cody and his buddies, just standing around in the sheltered barn, all sweet smelling from the hay and crisp with the little bit of cold air. That has been one of my most favorite things… a barn in the winter. To hear the content sighs of the livestock, the crunch of hay in their chewers, the steam from their exhaled breath. I can so totally understand why Jesus was born in a stable, it’s a most delightful place to be. If you close your eyes you can almost smell summer with the hay and straw. It’s heaven on earth, if you ask me. A nice warm stable with some hooved friends about.

Well, Maggie soaked and washed Cody’s old halter for me, and she did an awesome job. It’s actually blue! We set it out to dry and in the morning, if it’s ready, I’ll slip it back on. I hope he enjoyed his evening without, going naked so to speak for a while. I’d love to just run out and buy him all new stuff, but you know, that’s just not in my cards right now. I want to focus on getting stock in place for the holiday rush. And I want to bulk up our savings a bit more. Not liking living day to day at the moment. A summer full of projects and moving and buying the place has certainly made it a little on the tight side! But by being resourceful, and having a little patience to rework things and make what you have work, I think we’ll be in the black in no time! In honesty, Cody really has all he needs at the moment… a halter and lead rope, a collection of brushes from Bill’s stash over the years (Thanks Bill!!! You’re so sweet!!!) a warm, dry big barn all for him, a water bucket and a hay holder… and of course, a ton of love and attention! What more could a little stud want??? He’s my new main man!

Now, with Shetland sheep… and a Shetland pony… gosh what is left? A Shetland mini-cow? A Shetland sheepdog? Oh, sounds good to me! I’ve always been a fan of the Scottish! I have a little Scottish heritage in my bloodlines myself.

Well, I better get back to work before Jessy catches me loafing about and wandering the web. I’m just about done with my two work cards, and then a bit of a DVD before bed. Tomorrow is out big city town day and Maggie has a dental appointment, and I have practice and the girls are going to hang out with their dad for the afternoon and evening. I’m glad that they enjoy doing that… some kids when they get older, they don’t always want to “hang” with their folks. But they do and that’s great. He’s coming out on Friday to put up a set of motion sensor lights out in the back… one in the middle yard, near the goats and pony barn, and then one way out on the chicken barn. That is really going to be nice. It’s really really dark out there and getting darker earlier as the winter comes creeping in. And I think it will be a good thing to keep any predators confused a bit. Thank goodness, we have had only that one hawk attack on the turkey poults, nothing else. I have seen the kitties bring in a few field mice and have also seen their scat in the feed room, but everything is locked up good and tight, so I think they are learning to live elsewhere, what with Jack and Luna on the prowl. I’d like to keep it that way, and a motion sensor light will add to a little bit of confusion against anything big like a coyote or fox, or even feral dogs and coons.

On the chicken front… we have a batch of eggs in the incubator… all home bred and mostly Marans and our Americunas. Since we only have one breeding rooster (the banty roo Josh is just really not a fav with the ladies! ) all our homegrown halfbreeds will be at LEAST half Marans… and we made sure to save up some of the Marans eggs… so we will have full blood Marans hatching! Blues and Cuckoos… We are going to call the half breed Americunas…. Maranacunas! Haha… Windhaven Maranacunas… a new breed in the works! Our first batch are growing up beautifully… fluffy grays and rich blue/blacks… I’ll have to take some pictures of them all in thier pullet beauty! No eggs yet, but I suspect soon…. sooooon….

The first batch of nuggets are going to finishing school this Friday morning. Thursday morning they have to be weighed and sorted out to go to our holding pen. No food before finishing. They can have water, but it’s better if their gullets are empty and less messy and less possible contamination from the butchering if their systems are flushed of waste. I think we are going to do a dozen first, probably all the cockerels. They are definitely the bigger of the birds. I have good feelings about it all, as I suspected, as near adults, they are less attractive then when they were little chicks. And they are really starting to get big and just not really active. They really just sit around and eat. I thought we were doing something wrong, since their underbellies are kinda messy and not very clean, but then I realized that all the heritage pullets in there are beautiful. They actually groom and preen. The nuggets don’t. The pullets roost up off the ground and walk all over the yard and all, the nuggets don’t. The nuggets could care less if they are sitting in the damp areas where everyone poops. If it rains, they sit in the mud. They are really pretty dirty little dudes. They just really don’t seem to care. Kind of sad, but well, that’s their job I guess. To grow fast, eat a bunch and then go see the giant chicken at their finishing school check-in. I’m sure I will feel a little funny about dropping them off for their first and last day of school. But I will feel good that we did everything in our power to give them very wonderful chicken lives. Just got to keep that in my mind…

Well, that’s the news that is fit to print. Jessy and Maggie both have colds… I am hoping that I will be passed over, but well, that’s probably just wishful thinking. I haven’t had a good cold for a while now, so I suppose I’m overdue. Been popping the vitamin C and drinking lots of good citrus drinks when I can. We’ll see if that works.

I kind of hope that tomorrow is rainy too… that way I won’t feel as bad being away from Cody for most of the day. I’m going to stop in and get him a nice little poop rake for his barn. Oh boy… you know I’m a goner when I’m excited about one of those little thin tined pony poop rakes from Tractor Supply!!! I’m adding to my spring time compost pile for sure!!! Can’t wait! With chicken, goat, pony and sheep poo in the mix and good straw and hay and grass and leaf bagging, Windhaven is going to have some fantastic compost for the spring garden!

Night all!!!

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