Category Archives: horses

January 20, 2012 · 5:53 pm

Wow, how time flies!

I can’t believe that my last post was on November 21st! It feels like 14 million things have happened since then. Although, realistically, it’s kind of amazing to me how consistent it is there each week. My duties pretty much stay the same, with an added blanket or an extra scoop of grain mixed in. Gulliver continues to be one of the most amazing beings I can imagine and cuddling with him is excellent every single time. That’s really no excuse not to write though, so I’m going to sit here eating gummy bears and try to fill in lost time.

One Monday, I spent a while walking around the corral with Lunar, my arm slung over her back. I’m not sure how adequately I can describe how cool that was.

The pheasant has continued to plague me. He is such a jerk! On the same day as the walk with Lunar, he made the mistake of trying to attack me with her at my side. She stomped after him with such force, neighing loudly, that it even scared me! Score!

A few weeks ago, I went down to the barn to collect Gulliver and there is a maze of gates to get through on the way back. He was so impatient that he didn’t wait for me to open one of the gates all the way and he got stuck. It took a while to stop laughing before I could free him.

Opie, the little piggy who spends most of her time snoring under a blanket, was out and about while on my way to collect Gulliver. I squatted down to say hello to her. She had food all over her snout and she kindly shared some with my knee. It was just about one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. I scratched her head for a while and then continued on my mission.

Right about when the cold weather was kicking in for the season, I was given the task again to put on the horse coats. A little out of practice, Spirit’s snort of derision after I finally got his on said it all. Oh well, practice makes perfect, right?

Another day, I walked passed the regular gaggle of roosters (you thought I’d say “geese”, didn’t you? Nope. They just wait until I’m walking through and try to eat my coat). Standing among them was one of the peacocks. I don’t know why it was such a “wow” moment for me but it caught me off guard. There he was, going about his business, just hanging out, and yet he’s fluorescent blue. So normal and out of place at the same time. Majestic. I thought, “Yup. I get to spend time at a place where walking by a peacock is just a regular Monday. Awesome.”

Recently, Spirit and Cloud (the mule) have fallen in love. Hard core – don’t ever leave me – I’ll just scream on the top of my lungs until I see you again – love. When one of the kids brings Spirit up to the barn, blood curdling cries of anguish can be heard down by the lower barn as Cloud pierces the air with her mournful song. And no matter how much food and comfort I try to give him, Spirit yells at me for a solid five minutes in between bites of his dinner. Cloud has even been known to use her powers by breaking down fences to get to him. Now that’s Love.

Speaking of love, here are some videos of my friends being awesome:

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August 19, 2011 · 5:00 pm

Rain, rain, rain.

The last two weeks have been all about rain. I’ve spent much of the time dashing around from barn to barn, waiting for the drops to stop and hiding out in the big barn. Since there’s not much to say about the rain, here are a few pics.

Sudden downpour…

that lasts forever…

All the animals are driven inside. Most are far enough away from the rain. Not Miss Athena, though.

Little Bailey, sopping wet.

Captain Oblivious chomps away at his hay.

And just as quickly, the storm is gone.

Back to the grind.

Buddies!

Kitty in a box!

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May 19, 2011 · 4:18 pm

New Friends!

I just started a job at a nursery where they have a handful of ponies that were rescued. I know, perfect job, right? Don’t worry, I’ll still be going to Winslow every week. As I adjust from waking up whenever I feel like it to being at work AT 7:30am, I’ve been passed out drooling by 9pm for a little over a week. As I adjust, I’ll be able to write these on time. Until then, double posts it is!

Taking it a step farther, I’m going to rely on my pictures to catch you up:

I love that birds can sleep standing up. I love even more that these geese all hunkered down for a nap together.

I also enjoyed that this emu went back to sleep while I fussed around him getting camera angles. And it never ceases to fascinate me how these giant birds fold into themselves like this. It’s just so bizarre!

Look at this beautiful girl! I took this while Little Miss Peahen was on a date with the albino peacock. They walked around their yard in circles while cooing at each other. Adorable.

My, what great hooves you have, Gully!

Athena keeps topping herself in the great photo department. “Don’t you just LOVE my manicure??”

Aside from the fact that having tons of cats around is awesome to begin with, I love that I meet new ones all the time. This is Me Lord (I know, right? Great name!). He seeks me out every week now and accompanies me on all sorts of visits. Ultimate affectionate spewing from this cat here!

And THIS is Bailey. She lives in the barn and was pretty shy at the beginning. Once she gave me her seal of approval, she revealed how cuddly she is. And what awesome markings! It’s a bit hard to tell from the picture, but her face is split right down the middle of her nose. One side is calico and the other half is solid black, minus the stark white whiskers that spring out of her face.

Oh, how I love this girl.

Speaking of the felines, I discovered this hut for the cats this week. It is located right in the middle of everything! (Insert snarky comment about my awesome powers of observation.)

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And now a couple of introductions:

Here is a gaggle of the geese at the nursery. They are usually in a giant penned in area that I can’t see from inside – disappointing! – but that morning, they were out and about among the flowers. “HONK!”

I’d like for you to meet Bear.

He is one of the ponies at the nursery and we took to each other immediately. On my first visit, all of the ponies came forward to say hello (and “I’d like some food, please.”) which was a wonderful start. For animals who clearly had a rough time before they ended up at the nursery, as evidenced immediately by their lack of body fat and brittle mane hair, it felt great that they all sniffed my hand. Three let me pet their heads, one allowed me to scratch his rear, and one wouldn’t let me make contact at all.

Over the next few posts, I will introduce them fully, but now, a bit more about Bear. This incredibly soft guy (most of the ponies have amazingly soft almost angora-ish hair – I’d go as far as to say fur) stood apart from all of them. Not only did he like being pet, but he allowed me to put my forehead on his. He allowed neck hugs. He even stared into my eyes. Our connection was immediate and every time I’ve visited him since, he’s just as affectionate. Lunar does not stare into my eyes even though I know how much she loves me, so having Bear just gaze and gaze at me is a whole new level of connecting. Instant love.

What had the most impact on me, though, was when I mistakenly moved my arm abruptly, a few visits in, and he literally jumped backwards. I had no idea that he had a history of abuse. While devastated about his past, I was overjoyed that he’d trusted me from the start. With a bit of coaxing, he came back to the fence for more hugs and I have been careful since that moment about keeping my animation in check.

Every day, I spend half of my lunch break with the ponies (and Jeffrey the goat!). I discovered on my second or third visit that they LOVE dandelions, so on most days, I pick a bunch on my way to see them. I think they are all fantastic munchkins and am enjoying learning about each of them, but Bear certainly made a beeline into my heart.

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April 14, 2011 · 3:01 pm

Oh, the plumage!

After I was done at the barn on Monday, I stopped in to see the turkey. He apparently has lice or another invasive bug and a volunteer had caught it. But I could always see the little buggies crawling all over his head during our visits, so I’m assuming that someone went in for kisses. He had been sprayed down so his colors looked duller than usual. He looked a little sadder too, which made resisting my urge to pick him up and hug him even tougher. But I still pet him and purelled right afterwards like usual. While I sat with him, I could see one of the peacocks from the donkey barn standing outside the little house staring at the birds inside. I think it was a mixture of strutting his stuff to show up the two peacocks and a little “hey, there” to the peahen. I left the birds and wandered outside to the geese.

Ah, the geese. They are, by far, the loudest animals on the farm. They stand around squawking at absolutely everything. Giant arguments full of big bodies and little heads waddling around in fury. Their conversation style is right up my alley so after being shouted at I yell, “HI!” back. They’ll run up to me, expecting me to flee and when I don’t, they veer away really quickly. I decided it was high time we became friends. So, I squatted down and probably because of the new height difference, I was approached and contemplated face to face. Geese have VERY intense stares. One hand motion and a bitey reaction back though and I made the decision to be great friends without petting.

I moved to sit on a short barrel – as squatting is not a long distance activity – and as the goose sat in front of me staring and staring and staring at me, I noticed that off in the distance the peacock had decided it was high time to show off his beauty. I don’t remember ever having seen a peacock with plumage flared in person. I was far away and it still looked big. But what I thought was even better was when he’d turn his body and show his hind-feathers. They’re tan and black and the backside of each looming feather was plain and ordinary. What an exquisite dichotomy!

In every photo of a peacock I’ve ever seen, it shows the larger than life plumage swarming with radiant colors. And all of the sudden, I get a glimpse of the other side and I’m left just as astounded. The idea that this bird swells with pride showing off all this crazy color and instead of giving a 360 view of these punch-you-in-the-face blues and shimmery greens, turn him around and all of the sudden he becomes his ugly duckling ancestor. I’m so fascinated by this! Is the rooster snickering behind his back thinking, “who does this jerk think he is?” Does the peahen go, “He is SO HOT!” only to change her tune when he turns around by mistake? And his backside is large and fluffy! Flip him around and you see a skinny little neck! Of course I know there are biological reasons behind all of this that I haven’t delved into yet, but wow! What a cool discovery!

These pics of the peacock were taken from my far away perch with the goose, but I just had to get some images of it. He’s definitely going to be an interesting subject in the upcoming months.

It’s hard to see that the back of each long feather isn’t colored because of the blues seeping through, but try to imagine it all dark brown from the tan feathers up. He showed his feathers by turning back and forth for about ten minutes and then he folded them in one fell swoop and it was back to business as usual.

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This one was taken from the barrel so he was right at my knees. While squatting, he was even closer to my face. I was tempted so many times to pet him, but the foreboding chomp fest held me back.

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This is a common site at the farm, as of late: flaming piles o’ doody.

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I’m sure that all of these photos of Athena look exactly alike, but this is my favorite yet!

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It’s hard to see his troubled side when looking at his sweet, sweet face.

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Somebody found a snack! And look at those awesome nostrils, flared with the exciting smell of a found treasure.

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Roof Kitty! Surveying the scene. Ready to Pounce. Merowr.

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April 6, 2011 · 4:34 pm

It’s the little things

Just before I was about to leave on Monday, Deb asked me if I wanted to brush Lunar. Um, Yes? So I spent an extra half hour following the contours of her sinewy body. My favorite part (twice!) was when she propped her head and all its weight on top of mine while I brushed her neck. I found out after that the brush I was using was  intended for manes and tails but I can officially report that she loved it as an overall massage.

I knew not to groom Spirit since Deb didn’t mention him, but I did get in some quality petting time with him. Since I don’t do it very often, I forget that he is really soft. Much softer than Lunar. But Lunar got jealous that I was paying attention to Spirit and so she set him off in a barrage of teeth baring and frustration. Since I knew biting was next, I went into cease and desist mode. Oh well. It was nice while it lasted.

When I’d arrived at the farm, I saw that the pheasant was inside his cage. “Uh-oh”, I thought. I asked him if he’d attacked someone. He responded by pacing back and forth while making cooing sounds and louder insistent ones simultaneously (a distractingly cool combination). He was not happy to be back in the cage. It turned out though that he was just put in it for the day due to a giant easter egg hunt that had happened earlier. Not only that, but his cage door was unlatched. “He’ll figure it out,” was Deb’s quote. But when I passed him on my way to the car, he was still fretting away. I even showed him that the door was open but he was too busy stressing out. Seriously, on a scale from one to get-me-out-of-here, he was at least on “I-said-RIGHT-NOW!” Here’s to hoping that he freed himself.

A still of the little guy fervently wishing he’d be released from his prison. (Note how the latch is open…)

Speaking of grooming, Lunar appears to have done a bit on her own.

While working in the barn, I noticed that the alpaca ladies had come out of their corral to sit and stare at us, only to evacuate when I left. Sigh.

And I just can’t get over how adorable Athena is. She’s such a squish munchkin!

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April 1, 2011 · 8:04 pm

Another beautiful day on the farm

I have mostly photos to share today. The only big thing that happened off camera was that Lunar was super agitated about food. She even went after Niko! Watching this giant animal chasing a small cat certainly was an experience.

I was greeted this week by Wizard the wonderful pug. He’s not usually outside of Deb’s house when I’m there so it was really nice to spend a few minutes with him. And how adorable is his blue sweater??

While cleaning the back corral, I looked over and saw Waterford basking in the sunlight in his pen. All throughout the winter, once he finished eating, he went right back into his little house. It was nice not only to see him outside but also to see the smile on his sleeping face.

I snuck up on him trying not to wake him but it turns out that I probably could have banged pots by his head and he wouldn’t have stirred.

This is Edwin. He followed me around all afternoon and was so affectionate. He climbed in with the alpacas after me and they were very curious about him. They kept trying to sniff him, but he kept running away. Later, another cat friend named Maddy joined us but even though all Edwin wanted was to be best friends with him, Maddy started stalking him and trying to take swipes.

Edwin appreciating the sunshine.

Who can resist this face?

Have I mentioned Gulliver before? No?

True love.

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March 19, 2011 · 10:51 am

Can’t wait until Monday!

My car decided that it was tired and had had enough. So after driving the remaining three miles home while it yelled at me all the way – no thank you to me being stranded somewhere – it was towed away on Saturday. And due to their schedules at the auto shop, and my schedule (well, Matt’s really), I didn’t have it back until Friday. I think this is my fourth cancellation at the farm (three snowstorms and now this) and every time, I feel terrible. Terrible that I’m letting down the animals, worse that I’m letting down Deb and even a little bit worried that I might be replaced, although I didn’t replace someone when I started volunteering…

But mostly, I miss interacting with the animals.  These little moments weave their way through the rest of my week, saturating me until I return. I only spend about two hours on the farm each week, so missing a day leaves a giant hole in my psyche. I’m hoping that once I have a job (anyone need a theatrical/creative writing/animal fanatic/photographer employee???) and have a regular schedule that I’ll be able to devote more time to being ensconced in fuzz (the delightful combo of fur and feathers, of course). But until then, I’m sending out a plea to my car to knock it off; I really need my Monday afternoons on the farm.

 

Don’t keep me from this little lady!

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March 8, 2011 · 7:13 pm

The bittersweet fusion of rain and sun

After having such a wonderful afternoon at the farm, I was deeply saddened to come home and find out that one of my good friends, Chance, had been put to sleep. I battled with feeling the joy I’d just experienced at Winslow and the devastation of losing a loved one. Grief is never an easy process and memories of frolicking with Chance will continue to weave their way into my world. My new memories at the farm intertwined with those emotions and while I am mourning the loss of a great being, I can appreciate my other companions as well.

I started out the afternoon giving Lunar bear hugs and kissing her on her soft cheeks. Kissing her fuzzy face is a new step for me and a lovely one. It’s an adrenaline rush to wrap my arms around her, so different than with a smaller animal. She responded with lots of headbutts. When she does that, I really have to brace myself. I’m pretty sure that I will end up in the mud at some point, but I still take every opportunity I can to shower her with love.

I think I mentioned that I am responsible for feeding the lovely alpacas now. YAY!!! Nothing exciting to report on them. They still won’t let me near but just spending extra time with them is good enough for me.

Another wonderful addition to my time was my pit-stop in the bird house. I walked in and spotted the turkey and he sort of started on the other side of the room, a bit of a bump and feather movement. I slowly approached him and squatted a few feet away. Very slowly, he side-stepped his way toward me until he was close enough to pet. I reached out my hand and he kind of tilted his body into it. Then he started making tiny noises of what I am assuming was joy. Last week, when I was petting him, I used extremely tentative strokes, barely touching his feathers. This time, I leaned into them more and pet him for longer. I even pet his bumpy little head while he continued to coo. I can’t wait to see him again.

The other major highlight of the day was Gulliver. After our petting session last week, I wasn’t sure what to expect from him. When we’re in the barn, he usually watches me from his pen while he waits for his food. Other than that he’s pretty self-contained and focused on eating. Most of the time, he won’t even turn around if I enter his pen. (A bit of “Maybe if I ignore her, she’ll go away”?) I noticed, however, that he was watching me a lot this week. I nonchalantly went over, chatting quietly and slipped an arm over the door. I started scratching his head without facing him and felt him lean into my hand. I started focusing my attention directly at him and he continued to offer his head to me and even started gazing up at me. At one point, I got distracted by Athena who was right behind me being beautiful and Gulliver chewed a bit on my elbow to regain my attention. He even licked my elbow once! The way he tilted his head to the side and leaned into the petting reminded me of a cat or a dog. In all honesty, I was surprised (and, of course, delighted) by that behavior. And he never stepped away to let me know he was done.

Whereas last week, I wasn’t sure if he was just putting up with me or if he actually liked me, there’s no question in my mind now. While I appreciate all of the relationships with animals that I am lucky enough to be a part of, there is an extra bit of gratification that comes with winning an animal over. I welcome Gulliver into that club.

Well, hello there, lady!

Karlina!

This time, he wasn’t just watching me because he thought I was a weirdo!

Handsome (blurry) man!

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March 3, 2011 · 2:05 pm

The Coop

Yesterday, the barn was flooded, so Deb took over caring for them. I spent a bit of time with Lunar before I headed over to the big barn. I’d be heading from there to “the safe side” (I still have no idea what exactly that means, but I’ll get to who lives there in a second).

I spent a few minutes with Gulliver since he was in the big barn. Because of the flooding, he would have a sleepover there as well! I can only imagine how excited his goat buddies would be about that! Usually when I look for him to bring him up to the barn, I find him sitting on a ledge in the back. He was there on Monday as usual so I took another few minutes to hang out face to face. His reaction of “oh no” was emphasized by shoving his head against the wall. Never one to give up easily, I petted him and spoke softly to him for a while. Eventually, his head came back forward. I went for his ears though (I love, love, LOVE ears!) and he, like most of the animals, rejected that notion. This time he shoved his head into the corner, but I petted him some more and he came around again soon. One of the great kids who works there (one of my original trainers, in fact) came in and said, “I’ve never seen him being so affectionate.” Sweet!!

I went over to “the safe side” and met another young trainer. This section is where Athena hangs out with the sheep and roosters during the day. What I didn’t realize is that a small “building” that I walk by each time actually houses a bunch of different birds. I walked in and was immediately overwhelmed with excitement which I had to stamp down quickly because birds are really sensitive creatures. And if you’ve read my posts on Clementine and Noella, you already know how much birds fascinate me. If you haven’t, please let me elaborate: I LOVE BIRDS!!!!

In this dwelling live a whole mess of roosters/hens, ducks, the peacocks (who apparently live there and not with the donkeys), a peahen (so cute!), a golden pheasant (who looks like a parrot and a regular pheasant), a few doves (who peck if you try to pet them, I was told), a silky white bantam (really fluffy white rooster), and then there is the turkey.

He stayed far away as I walked around examining the room and birds alike. And then I realized that somewhere along the way, I seemed to have picked up a shadow. Sure, it was about four feet away and round and white but a distinct one nonetheless. I tested my theory by continuing to do rounds and wherever I stopped, he stopped, several feet away, looking at me out of the corner of his eyes. Instantly and completely in love with him I fell. And the best part? He let me pet him. The first time, he lurched a few steps away. I waited. He moved back. And the petting resumed.

Lots of photos from this week’s visit!

A little blurry, but she’s a beauty no matter what.

Spirit in the ice.

I used the “twilight portrait” setting on Gulliver to see what it would look like. Not what I expected but still pretty cool. Also, please imagine him putting his completely flat face against the wall…

Commence “birds”!

This is a blurry photo of the silky shite bantam. He couldn’t stop pecking for a clear shot.

 

The albino peacock with one of the other peacocks and a couple of roosters behind him. With all the mud on the floor, I am amazed that he’s so clean!

 

Outside, a gathering. A gaggle, if you will.

 

And last, but not least at all, my new turkey friend.

 

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February 25, 2011 · 2:39 pm

Hoping for the Best

It seems that I may have been fabricating a friendship between Lunar and Spirit when in actuality Spirit is pretty mean to Lunar. Since I hadn’t witnessed it firsthand, I was naively attributing kinship when I’d watch them walking around the corral together. But because of his food aggression issues, he lashes out at her.

I finally witnessed his attitude on Monday after Deb put him inside the back corral to separate the two horses. She wanted them apart earlier than usual to avoid conflict. Apparently, he’s getting worse. At this point, they were separated by the thick wood that divides the front area where Athena stays at night and the back of the barn. There is a door in the low wall that allows people and animals to pass through. Unfortunately though, horses have long necks that can reach far over this wall. As I went about my preparations, Spirit became more anxious about getting food. Whenever Lunar got too close, he’d lunge at her and bite her, sometime successful, sometimes not. My experience with correcting animals comes from doing it to dogs, using the guttural growl to dominate them. I’m not sure what the proper correction is for a horse, but this strategy worked on him.

I put him in his pen with no problem and fed him first. Then I made a mistake. Instead of bringing Lunar around the barn, I just opened the door in the low wall to let her through. From that entrance, I can access each of the pens through side doors. Putting Lunar in her pen is an easy task unless an angry horse thinks his food – that’s behind a thick barrier – needs protecting. Spirit started kicking at her through his walls and tried to bite her, neighing loudly. Lunar panicked and began to fling herself around. The space, though bigger than either of their pens, is still awkwardly small when an animal as large is in a frenzy. She was facing away from me, i.e. easier to kick me with if so inclined. Getting past my nerves, I calmly turned her around while Spirit continued to act out and successfully got Lunar into her pen.

I feel terrible that someone in Spirit’s past turned him like this, and that even though his new(ish) surroundings are idyllic, he can’t let this angst go. Someone used food as a way to control him or punish him (possibly withholding it in response to behavior or simply not feeding him with regularity or some other messed up reason) and his brain is forever connected to that insecurity. As long as there is food in his life, which obviously is going to be forever, he’s going to respond with difficulty. And I also feel sorry for Lunar. After being with a moody but calm blind horse, I can only imagine the feelings of confusion that Spirit stirs in her.

Here are some cheery pics from the day.

May I introduce the Welcome Wagon from the big barn that often greets me?

Claudius AND a rabbit buddy! I get really excited when I see a rabbit. This one’s even got a carrot!

In the Cat House…

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