Snow Day

Another snow day, so we are left to reminisce, plan for the future, and stare out the window at the horses finally eating their hay as the snows comes down. Surprisingly, this snow is coming straight down, which is a rarity in Wyoming. But, unfortunately, we're trading our winter storm warning for a high wind watch. So, it goes here.

The hay drama continues today. We have a three-year-old who is still in the process of learning his “street smarts”. He's been hanging around the edges of the hay watching everyone. Of course, when the hay is free, he leaves to go graze or to crib. He might need to come in for storms, but, so far, he's holding his own as far as body condition. If he tapers, he can come inside. He typically hides beside one of the older broodmares, who also has decided it's too much work to go for hay. The difference is, she has been here for four winters and done great. Maybe she'll teach the young'un.

The search for round bale feeders also continues today. The regular ring feeders have quite a bit of loss, at our Cheyenne location, due to horses pulling hay over the feeder then bedding down in it. We estimate about an eighth to a quarter per bale of loss depending on the herd. Some of them clean up their hay pretty well, so loss is due primarily to wind or small amounts pulled over the edges. Other herds pull copious amounts over the feeders, bedding down in thick layers of rich hay. They look comfortable, but we are none too pleased about their choice to do that.

The last few years, we fed the range ponies with a Hydrabed, which worked great but inevitably had loss due to wind. The loss was still less than the round bale feeders, however, because the horses sat at the line of hay and ate until it was cleaned up. Not this year because they apparently have decided to go on a hay fasting diet much of the time, but in previous years we had little loss. But, it was quite a bit of time every day, difficult to do during storms, and we lost a lot due to wind just going from point A to point B.

The last two weeks, we have tried round bale feeders, which have worked well. We have very little loss, since the horses circle around, take turns, and pick up everything. It hasn't been so great during this storm, though, as not everyone ate. One more feeder would probably do the trick, but everyone seems sold out.

We're looking into different options and types of feeders now. We found a neat design that allowed for controlled feeding and kept the hay out of rain, but the maker isn't making them right now. We might have to try something a little different. The local store has one that is expensive but a different design. It's basically a basket with a tray underneath. Maybe it's worth a try.