[Andrew]

Jen, Thanks for mentioning that earlier conversation. I’ll keep working on it.
Andrew

[Andrew]

I don’t want to derail the topic here, but your discussion on rope halters reminded me of an issue that my horse and I have with being tied up by the head. This horse desperately dislikes being tied, to the point that we’ve had some close calls. Once he realizes that he is tied he immediately hauls back with all he’s got. He does this with a traditional nylon halter or with the adjustable nylon cattle halter that I sometimes use under his bridle. If he is secured from behind (as in a chain snug against brichen ) he feels comfortable enough to accept restraint. How do I safely get him to accept being tied? The two of us often work alone in the woods, and while I try to have everything set that we can just hitch and go, sometimes I find an ominous looking branch I missed or some other thing that needs tending to before we twitch that log. Tying him up may not be my best option here, but he won’t yet stand untended either( we are working on this too). How can I best acquaint him with being tied safely?
Andrew

[Andrew]

This is interesting, because we just had a horse come down with a bit of a bellyache early last week. We’ve been grazing our second cut of hay here, as first cut was a bit late given the wet weather this summer. pretty lush stuff. I had been cautious in turning the horses out on it with the cows, but for the past month everything was ok. Then last week when we moved them to the next paddock one of our horses started to get sweaty and irritable. This was just after our first few hard frosts this fall. I had been wondering if the frost had been a factor? So, we moved the horses back a paddock ( really hadn’t been eaten down completely) for a few days while the cows topped the fresh paddock for a few days. We’re pretty new to the ins and outs of grazing horses, but I have heard of using them as cleanup behind cattle. I guess this is why. I think the difference may be that this grass is still very succulent and has lots of alterable sugars still available( if that makes any sense?).

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