Our gelding Ernie demonstrated his need for help by repeatedly laying down and getting up. He wasn’t thrashing and he would nibble grass when he was down but still he was demonstrating discomfort. After finding his water tub was very full, I assumed he wasn’t drinking so I gave him some tube electrolytes. He was up and grazing in 10 minutes and drinking water in an hour. Still I kept him in a small pen for observation until morning. It was fairly full of manure piles by morning demonstrating that he had been "backed up".

His water tub was moved to a more accessible location and also the heater was turned on in case the water was getting too cold for comfortable drinking. This is a perfect example of "preparing for winter"—providing for the horses need for comfortable drinking water.

The mare herd needed to be moved to larger quarters and hay was placed in two locations so that all eight head could eat without being isolated from hay, something the dominant mares like to do. There is at least 50 yards between the hay piles so they can’t both be patrolled by the boss.

The deer are in our pastures and the horses are watching there coming and goings, something we won’t see once deer hunting season starts. It lasts for 3 weeks here in Minnesota and I have been selling Blaze Orange Halters to horse owners who are concerned for their horses’ well-being during rifle season. I also recently found a supplier that sells Blaze Orange winter stable blankets. The first one is on its way so that I can see what we are getting for our dollars. I prefer to check out new products before offering them to my customers; especially stable blankets. Stable blankets are not all created equal, quite often they are sized differently. One of my mares takes a size 78 from one company and a size 69 from another company—very interesting!!! I personally prefer the closed front style (less buckles) but my horses and ponies don’t mind my throwing the blankets over their heads. All my stable blankets in stock are open front right now and I believe the new Blaze Orange one will be also.

I still need to purchase a new snow blower before the snow starts flying around but if I procrastinate long enough that should ensure a good snow storm some time before it is purchased!!!!

The wood pile has grown to a huge size and still growing as Luke piles it higher and higher. I wonder what kind of a winter he is anticipating? We got the chimney cleaned and the wood stove ready to fire up. Thanks, Josh!

The October deworming is done and now we wait for permanent freeze-up before the next deworming which will be Ivermectin. This time around I used Safequard and it went well and everyone looks in fine shape for winter. It is very enjoyable to put away all the bug sprays and flyswatters and sticky tapes. Bug season ended fast up here in cold Minnesota since our first killing frost was August 31.

So we are using our heavier jackets and the ponies and horses are getting real fuzzy and the barn cats are eating food again like it is going out of style—oh, yes, here comes winter!!!