Paige’s Page

Who’s going to be Boss Mare, is it going to be Paige or Cassie? Much to my surprise, Paige seems to have assumed the role for now, but I won’t be surprised if the tables turn at some point in the near future.

A little entertainment at feeding time:

The view from my upstairs window this evening:

Cassie got home safe and sound, albeit a little late. She arrived at 3:45 a.m. this morning. The shipper ran into a delay, but otherwise it went very smoothly. He took excellent care of her on the trip, and he was a nice, laid-back guy.

Paige was locked in The Avenue and The Pasture, and Cassie spent the remainder of the night in the stall, which I had all nice and clean waiting for her. They were both very quiet, although they could see and smell each other.

Here’s a pick I snapped before turning in for the night:

This morning I closed Paige out in The Pasture and let Cassie out in the paddock. She was excited, trotting around and calling to Paige because she couldn’t see her anymore. She was a little stiff at first, but she worked it out pretty quickly and seems fine now.

Here she is intently looking back toward where Paige was. She is such a gorgeous color, and her eyes almost have little glints of amber in them. I’ll try to get a good close-up of them–they’re very pretty.

Mom came over and helped me introduce them to each other. Better to have a second set of hands for that. Mom held onto Cassie while I put Paige in the stall. We let them touch noses over the stall door, and of course they both squealed like pigs. Then I walked Cassie around the perimeter of the field. You can tell she has the personality of a leader, because she wanted to lead the way. I had to make her back up a few times, but she was very good otherwise.

Then we let them out in The Pasture together. Paige was very eager–she clearly wants to be friends. After a quick squeal and a kicking gesture from Cassie, Paige was more cautious. She clearly understands how to live in a herd, which is understandable since she lived in a pretty big herd for most of her life.

Cassie was all about the grass, and Paige followed her around like a smitten puppy. They were pretty funny to watch. They would graze toward each other so their heads were really close, then squeal, then keep eating. They’re being nice and mellow for the most part. LOVE the Belgian personality. I think they’re going to be very compatible.

We hung out in the pasture with them for a bit, and I got some videos I’ll post a little later. Unfortunately, though, Cassie went right up to the cherry tree brush and took a bite of the leaves. They’ve been down for a week now, so they’re not toxic anymore, but I’m not taking any chances. They’re confined to The Avenue and The Paddock for now. Mom’s coming back over a little later to help me get the burn pile going so I can get those branches burned. I seem to be burn-pile challenged, as I couldn’t get it going this week. She’s much better at it than I am!

I love this picture–what a beautiful sight, eh?

I spent the day chopping down cherry trees!  OK, so I had a chainsaw rather than an ax, and they were wild black cherry trees.  There are a number of them in the pasture, and they are poisonous for livestock.  They are only poisonous for the first couple days after a limb falls, because the leaves emit cyanide during the time that they are wilting.  The cyanide breaks down quickly, though, so they become harmless after the leaves are done wilting.  So I’m erring on the safe side and just getting them cleared out so I don’t have to worry about it.

I’d say there are about two dozen of them in the pasture, so this is a pretty big job.  Right now I’m just focusing on getting them cut down so they can get past that dangerous period, then I can start the big job of cleaning them up.  I allow Paige to be out there while I’m out there so I can keep an eye on her, and she doesn’t seem interested in the fallen cherry trees.  I’m not taking any chances, though, so she gets locked out of the pasture when I leave it.  I took down about 1/3 of them today.  Hopefully I can get the rest of them down in the next couple days so I don’t have to worry about them anymore when Cassie gets here Friday!

I hate cutting down live trees, but thankfully there are a number of other trees out there that will remain.  There are mostly sycamores, elms, and cottonwoods, with a few mulberry and walnut.  I considered cutting the walnuts down as well, but there are so few of them and the research that I’ve done on them is that live trees in the pasture aren’t so much of a problem as walnut shavings mixed in with bedding.

Paige needs a feet trim, so I am still persistently working with her.  I am working on her front feet for longer periods of time.  She has to let me clean them out completely before she gets her treat.  If she pulls it out of my hand, she has to pick it back up and let me finish, then let me place her foot down.  Then and only then does she get her reward.  For the back feet, she has to let me hold her lower leg without kicking it around, and place it back on the ground nicely before she gets rewarded.  I don’t like to use punishment very often, especially since she has a completely justifiable fear about her feet being handled.  Tonight, however, she was throwing her back foot around when I was trying to hold it, so I smacked her on the butt and sternly told her to cut it out.  Then I calmly asked for her foot again, and she was very nice about it.  I guess sometimes you have to be stern, just as long as you don’t overdo it.