Friday, July 31, 2009

Friday Favorites ~ the green, green grass of home

The monsoon season has been good to my patch of the desert. We've gotten about four inches of rain since late May, and the pasture grass grew noticably greener and taller while I was away.


I love to watch the boys graze, and my favorite sound on earth is when they're chewing on grass that is fresh and still wet from an afternoon shower – it squeaks a little when they rip it with their teeth. Behind the din I can hear the cha-ching cha-ching of the cash register, ringing up all the money I'm saving from not having to feed them hay for the next few months.


This desert rangeland is hardly a thick and lush pasture. There are about six different types of grass they can choose from, and the blue grama appears to be their favorite. The grass grows in clumps among all the other green stuff, and the boys have to work a little to find it. This time of year, they can work a lot less, and I find myself wanting to shout "come up for air!" when I watch them graze. It's a non-stop chewfest.


Here's a fun fact: a horse turned out on pasture 24 hours a day will spend about 17 hours of that time grazing and will walk 8 or 9 miles in the process.


I took these pictures last night as baseline evidence for the boys' growing girths. When their sides begin to bulge out in grass-fed happiness, I will have to restrict their turnout time and they will not be pleased. But for now, we'll all just enjoy our green acres.

18 comments:

  1. Oh those lazy, hazy days of summer!
    Enjoy them for sure.
    Best always, Sandra

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  2. I'm so glad you're back and haven't skipped a beat! The pic's are great!
    Nancy in NC

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  3. It's interesting seeing/reading about the difference in pastures between your area and mine. I was wondering why we were seeing 'butt shots' of the boys, but your last paragraph explained that ... HA!

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  4. Love the butt shots! We have a "lawn" of bermuda grass growing in front of our horse pens. I let the old guys out to graze every day...saves me from having to mow the lawn!

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  5. I like the butt shots too. Very clever along with the grass shots. Luscious grass = happy boys.

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  6. Love your boys in all their grass-fed glory!

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  7. Love love love the butt shots! I love horse butts! Glad you have lots of grass! How is that tomato doing?

    Hope you had a great trip!

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  8. Oh grazing on grass!! The green smell on the breath, the stains of green on the teeth, and the smatters of gunk when they sneeze!
    My sisters Appy got out shortly after my poppy finished laying out fresh sod grass...and he pulled up a chunk of it! He also ate poppy's primroses, left a hoof print on the fresh cement and all this in 20 minutes! Fortunately, I was able to "french braid" the grass back together before Poppy got home; it was Poppy's fault he got out, he left the garden gate unlatched!

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  9. Lucky fellas. Everyone loves something fresh from the garden!

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  10. George and Allen are showcased in the header picture. They really are best buds. So cute!
    You have so many wonderful subjects to choose from and we love them all. Hi5 you take such good care of your amazing creatures. They all look happy.
    Best always, Sandra

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  11. I LOVE all these pictures, my dear....I truly understand why you are taking these pictures from behind---You can get a better look at whether they are getting a bit pudgy or not....
    I just LOVE the way you write about your dear dear Animals. Your love of them and for thm comes through "Loud & Clear", and touches me deeply.....

    Oh, I know they are ALL happy to have you homE....And so am I!

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  12. I love your new Header picture...SOOOOO Very Very Sweet...
    Thanks so much for your visit...(I was sure I commented on this post...Hmmmmm. Well, what I said was I thought seeing these dear ones from behind you really can tell what their tummies look like better than from the front....!

    BTW: Hope you enjoyed The Beach...!

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  13. I just want to snuggle up with George and Alan!

    I'm glad you all got some rain so they can eat while the hay sits untouched for later in the year.

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  14. ** strange, dear..........but true,dear, when I'm close to you, dear, the stars fill the sky, so in love with you am I**
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Call me a sentimental fool, but that's what I started singing when I looked at George and Alan's
    embrace just now .....sigh......

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  15. Great post, as always, but that header photo is too adorable! George and Alan are totally irresistible! I was thinking about your comment about limiting the boys grazing time if the grass gets any thicker and I got to wondering, are donkeys prone to laminitis like horses?

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  16. They are such beautiful animals!

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  17. Love so much your new header picture! Both burros looks adorable!

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  18. Good idea to take those "baseline" shots...instead of weekly "Sky Watch" photos, you can start posting "Girth Watch" pics! lol :-)

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