Arrival Wrapup

After their 4:30ish arrival Saturday, I put both horses in their stalls for about two hours to let them relax a little and eat hay and drink water. Echo had not drank well on their 20 hour journey so she was eager for water and drank about 15 gallons. I watched the most boring Belmont Stakes I can think of in recent history and then went and decided to groom Echo some. 

Both have lost weight but it could be worse. Dakota doesn't look AS bad since he had more weight on him to begin with. Echo's ribs are showing way too much, but I'm confident that even after just a week of green grass, awesome hay and starting grain again she'll look better.

After their arrival and being turned out.

Some of this stuff I'm sure I've mentioned but no clue what so it may be repeated. I found great hay last week that's a good grass blend and both horses seem to love it. Grain wise, I'm feeding Hallway's Fibrenergy. Hallway is made fresh just up the road from the barn. It's so fresh that it was bagged the day before I bought it, which is almost 'old' for how much grain that place makes and goes through. It's a newer feed in their lineup and I can't wait to see how the horses do on it. Before, Triple Crown Complete was the closest thing to my 'ideal' levels of everything. Now I'm feeding 12% protein, 20% Fiber, 12% Fat and all with a NSC level of only 7.3%. Eventually I will have to fortify Dakota's portion with their Stamm 30 since he's an easy keeper but he won't eat a pellet grain (go figure).

They're turned out together in two one horse paddocks. There's a gate between them so I can either open it or close it and let one side rest. On the diagram I've added I kinda circled the gate between them. They're stalled in the Tobacco Barn which is where Dakota was last time at this farm. The diagram is a little off because there are way more fence lines and paddocks than I have the ability to sketch out but it gives a general idea. 

The farm itself basically has 2 barns - both have tack room and feed room and wash stalls. Indoor arena, outdoor grass jumping field, round pen, LOTS of trails and creeks to ride through. The driveway is super long and one side is grassy with tree line so it's good area to ride. The one field has a 'track' around it. The pasture itself use to be the outdoor arena but was changed back to a pasture. The track I believe is 1/4 mile or so around so you can get some great conditioning in on it - everyone from the driving people to dressage riders seem to use the track.