Wednesday, July 30, 2008

The Best Laid Plans

Today I had what I thought was a brilliant idea. I decided to use some of the compost out in the gate area in one of the pastures. My reasoning was two-fold: it would make the horses stop constantly over-grazing the area by the gate and water trough and keep them from turning it into dust and mud; at the same time it would provide some fertility and enable the grass to grow back more quickly.

With the help of our incredibly useful Kubota utility vehicle (complete with dump bed, towing hitch, and hyraulic cylinder) I loaded up several loads of compost and dumped them out by the gate, and then spread everything around. It was hard work!




I had gotten about three loads spread around when the horses in that pasture came wandering up. I stood there and gloated as they went over to the water trough and drank, and then wandered back out to the tall grass instead of standing right there and attempting to graze the very short grass by the trough. Don't you just love the deep satisfaction of a well-executed plan with perfect results?

I turned to leave and decided I had done enough work with the compost for the day. I drove the Kubota through the gate, and as I went to close the gate I saw Ivan wandering around in the middle of my newly spread compost. He had "the look" of a horse on a mission, nose down, sniffing, circling, pawing . . .


Going . . .



Going . . .



Gone!
<>

The final results

A compost-covered horse was not the end result I was aiming for - especially on a gray horse!


8 comments:

Amy Bennett said...

Very cute Ivan! He's a sweet boy!

Amy Bennett said...

So....have you moved these guys to where the "oldies" used to be? I bet they enjoy it down there with the woods!

fuglyhorseoftheday said...

You should be used to that fashion statement by now - I KNOW Harmony displays it frequently!

Melissa-ParadigmFarms said...

Yep, Ivan & company are now in the field directly behind where they were. I actually think the field they were in before has even better wooded areas, but they both have plenty to explore.

Melissa-ParadigmFarms said...

Aaah, yes, I bathe Harmony, beautify her, turn her out - and WHAM - filthy horse.

Amy Bennett said...

Haha....yeh....Harmony is a piggie piggie! You know....Sebastian is the cleanest & fluffiest horse ever! :D Do you still have that cute pic I took of him?

AliFromNY said...

Did someone say Sebastian is the cleanest horse ever? I think the only reason he wasn't in that compost pile is that there was food to be eaten nearby. I'm going to have to share that with his friends back "home". I will agree, though, that he gets quite fluffy.

Melissa-ParadigmFarms said...

Sebastian is one of those that has the amazing ability to roll in the dirt/mud and be filthy, and then the next day he is clean again. His coat is always super soft, it is like he is a plush toy.