Wild Horses

One of the oldest and purest breeds, Norwegian Fjords were first domesticated in Europe around 4,000 years ago.  They are still very similar to the last true wild horse, Przewalski's Horse, with small yet strong confirmations, and primitive markings with faint stripes.  But as far as farm animals are concerned, horses were brought under human husbandry rather late in the history of agriculture, with sheep, goats, pigs and cattle all being domesticated more than 6,000 years earlier.

Of course, given the general temperament of  horses, it is easy to understand why it took so long for humans to tame them.  The animals have inherited a strong fight-or-flight instinct, with natural selection clearly favoring the latter. As Ryan likes to note, even our big Suffolk draft horses still see themselves as being only three feet tall in a world full of saber-toothed tigers.  But despite their close ties to the past (or, perhaps, because of them), the Norwegian Fjords are some the the most gentle and helpful workhorses to be found anywhere, even if they share a certain willfulness with their ancient ancestors.  

On the left are three horses drawn by a Paleolithic artist on a rock wall in the Chauvet cave in France.  On the right are Sven, Josie and Ole getting ready to do some harrowing.  In between are almost 30,000 years.  Apparently, when it comes to horse breeding, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. 

Clear Blue Skies, Eight(teen) Inches of Rain

According to the folks at the National Weather Service, we've had eight inches of rain in the last two weeks, but it sure feels like a lot more than that.  We've been wading through standing water and mud since the last of the snow melted, and there's been some form of precipitation every day (and usually more at night).  The Stillaguamish has been under a daily Flood Watch or Flood Warning, but it hasn't spilled it's banks and run into the pastures (yet).  Which doesn't make much of a difference since the pastures all have full-fledged streams of their own simply from the rain water making its' way down to the river.

Stangely enough, the forecast calls for clear skies tomorrow...for one day...followed by more rain.  

Master of the Barn

Depending on the season, we may keep horses, cows, pigs and a goat in the barn, but the the only year-round nightly resident is the orange tom cat who (as far as I know) doesn't really have a name other than the "Barn Kitty." We got him as a kitten from a garage sale a couple of years ago along with an identical brother. Unfortunately, the brother disappeared after about six months...probably something to do with curiosity, cats and coyotes...but the Barn Kitty has become the nimble and ferocious master of his domain.
Before his arrival, we had quite a few rats in the barn, especially burrowed under the pen where we usually keep pigs. Now the barn is pretty much rodent-free, and Barn Kitty has to make due with chasing the stray bird that wanders in.  He eats and sleeps in the loft, and is waiting at the top of the stairs every morning knowing that he will get a scratch behind the ears as we come by to toss down the hay.

Breaking the Ice

With more icy cold weather hitting just after Christmas, water, which is usually more than abundant around the farm, has become a scarce commodity.  While most of the faucets at the barn are frost-proof, the automatic watering for the pigs and the chickens does freeze when temperatures stay cold for more than a day or two.  Fortunately, the outdoor water sources for the horses and cows had only a thin layer of ice that they were easily able to break through to get a drink.  Here are the horses in the loafing yard, just after being let out of the barn in the morning, heading for the small stream and pool that supplies their water during the winter months. 

Winter Work

Here's Clark relaxing in the winter loafing yard after a long morning of dropping off hay for the cattle.  There's less work for the Fjords during the winter months, but Clark and his fellow Suffolk teammate Fred stay pretty busy almost every day. Along with the feeding and manure spreading, there's also the random odd job like hauling firewood or harrowing.
While Clark is as steady and dependable and they come, all the horses benefit from some kind of work as often as possible.  It's no surprise that after a few days of laying around the barn and eating hay, some of the younger horses like to pretend that they've forgotten how to work when duty calls.

Out to Pasture

We have six different pastures we use for grazing and haying here on the farm and we've informally given each a name loosely based on some physical feature. There is the "Mailbox" pasture, the "Upper" pasture, the "Shire" pasture... things like that.  Here we have Ryan driving Fred and Clark back from dropping off hay in what we inventively call the "Waterfall" pasture.  This particular nook is one of the most remote spots of the farm, and due to its' northern exposure and the tall maples, cedars and hemlocks on the hillside above,  it gets very little direct sunlight. At the moment, it is the home of Big John (the Dexter bull) and his harem and attendants.  

Winter Feeding

We've been feeding hay in the waterfall pasture for a few weeks now even though there is still some grass, but the animals seem to appreciate the extra feed, and it allows the pasture to rest and recover over the winter.

The young heifers and steers are being kept outside, while the milk cow and the new mama and calf stay in the barn.  At feeding time, we toss a few large forks full of loose hay down from the loft, load it up on the wagon, and head out with Fred and Clark.  It didn't take long for the cows to figure out that the approaching wagon meant chow time.  Here Ryan is hauling the hay out to the far side of the pasture so that the same spot of ground doesn't get trampled day after day. Moving the feed around also utilizes the animal's natural abilities as self-loading manure spreaders.

Lilac's New Calf

Lilac has been as big as a house for a couple of weeks, and we moved her into the barn a few days ago before the cold spell.  This morning while I was mucking the stalls, I noticed that she stopped munching her hay, laid down, and about 15 minutes later... 

Stormy Weather II

Winter came early to the farm this year with about 8 inches of snow falling through the evening yesterday, followed by clear skies and sub-freezing temperatures.  We usually get these kinds of storms in December and January, but hardly ever, according to the long-time locals, before Thanksgiving.

The cold probably finished off the mangel tops, which were providing good feed for the chickens and the pigs, but there are still plenty of the roots themselves which should have weathered the cold without much trouble.  The carrots are likely finished, but the collards should be fine.

We spent some time this last summer getting the barn more warm and snug for the winter months.  Mike finished all the doors and windows, and we have plenty of good hay and straw.  

Ed Mowing with Fred and Barney

Here is a nice picture of the early days of the farm. Ed is hooking up Fred and Barney, neither of whom are still with us, to a McCormick-Deering #9 sickle bar mower. The #7 and #9, along with the John Deere Big 4 (see photo on previous post), represent the apex of horse drawn technology. Thousands of these mowers were manufactured from the late 30's until 1945 or so when tractors began to displace horses at a rapid rate. These mowers are ground driven, taking power from the wheels and transferring it, via the pitman stick to the sickle itself. These late model mowers feature an enclosed gearbox in which the gears run in an oil bath "just like an automobile." There are still several thousand of these gems doing good work on farms all over the country, a testament to the good workmanship and sound engineering of the farm machinery of the this era.