Wonderful Weather

This morning was cool and foggy, clearing to blue skies and comfortable temperatures.  Our high was around 74 which was very cool for July - we are usually in the 90s.  I did not complain.

Yesterday morning when I rode Jackson, he was trying to manure but just couldn't.  It was rather strange and a bit concerning.  He did finally manage to go but Brett kept a close eye on him the rest of the day.  This morning when I went down to the barn to feed, he greeted me wearing a coat of greenish browninsh manure all over his legs, his sides and his face.  He looked awful and he smelled even worse.  Looking in his stall I could see that he had made a huge mess in the straw and then slept in it.  He doesn't normally mess in his stall so I knew he was still not feeling great.  After feeding and mucking and completely changing out the straw in his stall, I gave him a bubble bath.  I used whitening shampoo and even then wasn't able to scrub out all the stains.  I put him back in his stall to eat his hay while he dried and went up to the house to get my coffee.  Half an hour later I returned to the barn so I could braid and bag his tail.

He wasn't in his stall.  He was in the pasture playing with Kalvin.  And he was a mess.  But it was dirt, not manure, so I didn't care.  And his tail was still sort of clean.  He was happy to see me, running and bucking and sliding to a stop.

I noticed that the donkeys had invaded Jackson's stall.  The hay always tastes better in someone else's stall.  Jackson chased them out.  The donkeys were unconcerned.

Passage was enjoying the sunshine.  Perfect for a dust bath.

I finished bagging Jackson's tail and then watched Brett and Flash work in the arena for a few minutes.

I mentioned a few posts ago that Bella has been jumping out of the goat area.  She jumps close to a corner so Brett tried tying some caution tape across.  So far, its working.  She hasn't jumped out in two days.  You can see Bella in the second picture -- she's just a tiny little thing -- with springs for legs.

We had to cut down one of the cottonwood trees because the roots were buckling the pool deck.  Brett dragged part of the trunk into the goat area to create another toy for them.  They approve.

Whiskey and Cowboy are settling in well.  Little Bear and Thistle don't mind them joining the herd.  Bella is still busy ensuring that they understand that she is the boss lady.  She can be a bit obnoxious about it but I figure we have a mare-ish doe.