I'm a big believer in letting horses live as naturally as possible, namely space to move. I had my last horse Ellie out in pasture with a herd as much as I could for the 14 years I had her and I think it helped with keeping her fit, sound and happy into her 20s.
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| Love this photo |
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| Thick as thieves |
It took almost 2 years but this week I was finally able to realize the dream of being able to get Kachina into a pasture.
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| Getting acquainted |
We did a very careful introduction of Kachina into her new herd and it went very well considering, though Kachina went into crazy mare in heat mode for the one gelding. The pasture is now inhabited by Kachina, another mare, a gelding, a minature donkey, and an injured bull.
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Kachina and her new boyfriend
She was glued to his side for most of the first day |
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| Crazy mare mode - apparently must inspect geldings junk at every opportunity |
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| Herd complete with miniature donkey |
I would have been happy with almost any size of pasture, but Kachina hit the jackpot. She and her herdmates have more than 120 acres of green prairie to graze and run. Kachina will have to return to her old pen for the winter once the cows come home (literally, it's a working cattle ranch), but that's okay. Now that she's part of the herd, she should be able to go back into the pasture every summer.
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| So much space, and so green! |
Getting to see her open up and really run made me so happy!
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| Going... |
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| ...going,.. |
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| ...gone! |
It is so nice for them to get out and act like an idiot (if it's mine)...
ReplyDeleteThe pasture is bringing out whole new sides to Kachina's personality! As long as she's not enough of an idiot to injure herself out in the pasture it's all good lol
DeleteI think horses are so happy living in big pastures! My older gelding gets stiff when he's in a smaller pen. Looks like Kachina is having a blast :)
ReplyDeleteShe seems to have settled into pasture life well! Especially because I only ride a few times a week, I love knowing that she is able to lubricate her joints and keep moving even when I'm not there to give her exercise.
DeleteI love having them out in pastures. 120 acres is amazing (especially if she comes when you call)
ReplyDeleteShe doesn't come when I call, but at least she doesn't walk away! So far they've been pretty good about being near the gate when I go to catch her, but really, some extra walking would probably be good for me :)
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