The Spring Tease

We've had a few "spring teaser" days, as I call them - warm sunny weather - where all the mud almost thinks about drying out. Of course, it's all very short-lived and the rain and mud are always just around the corner. But I'm getting hopeful!

For now, my anti-mud device is my own invention: sheets of plywood. You see, I don't like horse feeders. I don't believe the health risks are worth feeding in a hay rack that requires a horse to eat with its head up. Horses are designed to eat off the ground. I've used feeders designed with this in mind, but they're so enclosed - I wouldn't want to eat with my head down a dark hole! Inhalation of dust aside, horses are too easy to sneak up on when they can't see their surroundings. So, I don't use them anymore.

A horse's long head is designed to eat off the ground and still have a field of vision.

The problem mud creates is where to feed the horses. The rest of the year I can throw hay on grassy areas or at least in a large water trough that can't easily be tipped. But throwing it in the mud is gross. It gets wasted when mashed down and even with a trough, the ground around it is turned to soup by the next day. I don't like my horses standing around in soup.

So, I've layed out sheets of smooth plywood over about 20 square feet. Stall mats would work too, but my husband gets the plywood free from work. My horses can stand with their feet dry and eat off a flat surface o the ground; and basically, no hay gets wasted. On windy days a trough on the boards can keep the hay from blowing away, and I don't worry about them breathing in dust on windy days.

So, just because my babies are pasture-bound during the "spring tease" doesn't mean they have to eat with their hooves stuck in the mud.