Why bother?

I went to all this effort to measure and weight tape the babies over the weekend--caused a big fight between BS and me as usual. I wrote down all the info and then promptly lost the paper. That was hardly worth it, was it? I will have to start over, but part of the goal of that project was to track the results of the new feeding plan.

I do remember some things. Hemi is the tallest and weighs the second most at 426. Riot is a couple inches shorter but weighs more, around 450. I did Cricket last nite and she is a bitty monkey (which I knew) at 10'3" and 299 pounds, but is also much younger than them. Phoenix acted an ass and got no measurements. Hammer has not been measured either for the same reason. Vixen is smaller, and weighs around 340 pounds.

Last nite, I measured some hosses in the front pasture, with my new handy dandy measuring stick with a level instead of that stupid tape. Squeaklet is 14'1" and 856 pounds. Snap is dead on 14 hands, and 868 pounds or thereabouts. Aries needs a pair of shoes, which would make her a hair over 14 hands instead of a hair under, and weighs 899 pounds. That number does my heart good knowing how she has struggle with her weight.

The two year olds were deathly afraid of that stick, so did not get measured...what a bunch of pansies. I can see Target is every bit as big as Squeaklet though, probably taller. Radar and Slygirl will get done tonight after we ride.

Something else has changed over the last few days. The newly weaned folk are in the bull shed pen and are being fed their 8 pounds of Strategy a day, as well as the new fancy hay. They are getting WAY more exercise than when they were stalled of course, so surely their fat bellies will be going away soon. Coco is having a ribby day or two, so she must be on a growth spurt. She seemed so big to me when she arrived, but not anymore and she is on the same thing everyone else is, and was wormed on her arrival. She is due again this weekend. I would not care about this, but since she is not mine, I am watching her more closely. I think she misses her family.

The yearlings are in the sand pit pen, where they were on a round bale. Midget is in with them, since she looks like a yearling anyway, I am going to feed her like one and see what happens. In the last four days, they finished their bale and have been put on flakes of this new fancy hay, and I am not kidding you, I am already seeing a difference. The bellies are going away, and they were so fat from all that hay, they looked deformed. It is amazing how quickly it can happen, when they get the proper amount of hay instead of eating 1000 pounds between the three of them in one week (that comes out to 47.45 pounds of hay per day, which is absurd when you weigh 600 pounds). This is a much higher quality hay, fed at a rate more compatible with their size and the number of calories they are taking in from the Strategy, and within a matter of days, they are getting back the nice figures they should have.

If I was not so deathly allergic to hay, it would be totally worth it to me to feed everyone like this, but I would end up in the hospital. As it is today, my eyes are bloodshot and itchy from hauling it around, and I itch from the inside out.

The farrier comes tomorrow night, I need to make my list of who needs done. I also have to give PK1 shots, so I need to get out my book to see who is due, and I might as well correct all the shots I screwed up last time he was here. Another busy night ahead of us to get ready for him---and I would do anything to just go to bed right now.