Saturday, April 1, 2023

Oats

Either one of my horses would gladly leave me in the deepest part of the wilderness if I lost a rein. However, they would both sell their birthright for a bucket of oats. 


So funny. If I show up without a bucket in hand they run to the other end of the corral. But anymore, when they see Whitehorse and hear a honk of the horn, they come running. 


CHS grain combo with molasses is the candy of choice. 


It's got a little bit of everything. Growing up, we just used straight oats. They seem to like this better. 


Some folks oat their horses everyday with just a cup full or so. But I'm only around a couple times a week so I give them a pretty good dose. 


Patience is a virtue. 


I always feed them in the catch pen so when its time to go to work, I close the gate and they are easy pickings. Oating them also gets them out of my hair while I throw them some hay. 


Happy campers. 

The trick to good horsemanship is to make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard. I don't press my luck anymore. If I have a bucket of oats or their lead rope in my hand, these horses are my friends. If not, they're wild mustangs. I set us both up for success by oating them every time I can. Then when it's time to go to work, no problems. 


2 comments:

  1. That's an awesome saying that the great horseman Ray Hunt used to say. I do the same thing in the high school class that I teach.

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  2. So good. Horsemanship is easily translated into human relationships, especially with kids. Keep up the Good work!

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