{"id":5255,"date":"2011-11-14T04:00:21","date_gmt":"2011-11-14T11:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/?p=5255"},"modified":"2011-11-13T18:09:08","modified_gmt":"2011-11-14T01:09:08","slug":"litterbox-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2011\/11\/14\/litterbox-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Litterbox Love"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"DuncanHorse is not going to appreciate this blog.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Duncan:<\/strong> Litterbox!<\/em>\u00a0 I heard that!<\/p>\n

When I moved here, I had a mighty geology\/climate lesson.<\/strong>\u00a0 Because when I lived in Flagstaff at 7,ooo feet, I was on caliche ground and natural volcanic cinder.\u00a0 We got a ton of snow (many feets of it!), but rarely did we see mud.\u00a0 At that altitude, under that sun, the snow sublimated before it melted.\u00a0 And when it did melt, it ran off the hard ground in sheets.\u00a0 Only in a few select places did it create squishy spots.<\/p>\n

So as I prepared to move to new high foothills<\/strong>, here on the windward side of the Sandias in New Mexico, I planned my horsekeeping accordingly.<\/p>\n

Duncan:<\/strong>\u00a0 Me.\u00a0 It is all about me.\u00a0 And that is as it should be.<\/p>\n

Wow.\u00a0 No caliche here<\/strong>.\u00a0 No indeed.\u00a0 What we have here is adobe mud.\u00a0 And there’s a reason people made houses from this stuff.\u00a0 It will suck the shoes off your feet, send you sliding away on the slightest slope, and swallow you up to your knees.\u00a0 It will especially do this if new construction has disturbed the soil.<\/p>\n

Duncan:<\/strong>\u00a0 What an incredible mess you’ve discovered.<\/p>\n

Right.\u00a0 So says the horse who happily rolls in said mud<\/strong> and then makes faces at me when it dries to concrete in his mane.\u00a0 (And who also seems to be a fan of the original Star Wars movie.\u00a0 Imagine.)<\/p>\n

We made this discovery shortly before we moved in.<\/strong>\u00a0 In a panic, we bought several loads of coarse wood shreddings from the local transfer station and had them spread–in the back yard where the dogs would have otherwise disappeared until spring, and in the paddock directly in the immediate barn area. The shredding packed down, created a mud buffer, and also did a stupendous job of sponging up all but the most profound application of monsoon rain.\u00a0 (Not that we’ve had much of that in the past year, it is grim to say.)<\/p>\n

The side paddock remained naked,<\/strong> although in the time since, we’ve tossed some token shreddings along the fence to make better footing for the pacing zone.<\/p>\n

Duncan:<\/strong> The pacing zone is important.\u00a0 Speaking of which, feed me now.<\/p>\n

But the shreddings take a beating over time-<\/strong>-they drift away, and they’ve been under hard use in a year when Duncan had no pasture time due to the drought.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Duncan\"

Duncan: I would much rather be on my PASTURE!<\/p><\/div>\n

A couple of weeks ago, we got another load of shreddings.<\/strong>\u00a0 And I commenced to haul and spread and haul and spread and owwwwww.\u00a0 Ow.\u00a0 Ow.\u00a0 Give me ibuprofen!<\/p>\n

\"What's

This is about a third of the original pile, which spread out into the driveway.<\/p><\/div>\n

So this past week,<\/strong> we hired a strong back to help, and he<\/em> hauled and I spread, and…<\/p>\n

Lo.\u00a0 The entire paddock is full of thickly layered shreddings.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And when it was done<\/strong>, I stood in the middle and surveyed Duncan’s domain, and realized what I’d done.<\/p>\n

Yes.\u00a0 It’s a giant litterbox.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Duncan:<\/strong> It is NOT.\u00a0 Feed me.<\/p>\n

\"Feed

The giant litterbox, with winter-hairy horse and the Feed Me Foot in action<\/p><\/div>\n

Yeeeeah…<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It kinda is.<\/p>\n

Duncan:<\/strong>\u00a0 Kiss my nose anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DuncanHorse is not going to appreciate this blog. Duncan: Litterbox!\u00a0 I heard that! When I moved here, I had a mighty geology\/climate lesson.\u00a0 Because when I lived in Flagstaff at 7,ooo feet, I was on caliche ground and natural volcanic … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[40,39,54],"class_list":["post-5255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-duncanhorse","tag-barn","tag-duncan","tag-land"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb2lc3-1mL","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1115,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2010\/04\/26\/the-hills-are-alive-with-the-sound-of-hoof-beats\/","url_meta":{"origin":5255,"position":0},"title":"The Hills are Alive…with the Sound of Hoof Beats","author":"Doranna","date":"1004.26","format":false,"excerpt":"Monday... Duncan has always had a weird presumption about the ground beneath his feet, which is that it won't dare to vary without his consent. Let's just say that unlike my cat-footed young gaited mare in the Appalachians--who occasionally saved my life with her sure-footedness in challenging ground--I don't make\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DuncanHorse"","block_context":{"text":"DuncanHorse","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/duncanhorse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Valerian Mist","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doranna.net\/blogs\/images\/dee.mist.SM.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1166,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2010\/05\/07\/horses-do-stupid-things-in-the-cold-damp-dark\/","url_meta":{"origin":5255,"position":1},"title":"Horses Do Stupid Things in the Cold Damp Dark","author":"Doranna","date":"1005.07","format":false,"excerpt":"...Friday Sequel to The Horse in the Cold Wet Dark We've had some...interesting...weather lately, that's for sure. Enough to try the patience of DuncanHorse, who found himself closed in the paddock and denied his time under saddle. There have been temper tantrums. Snortysnortysnorty. So the other night, deep into the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DuncanHorse"","block_context":{"text":"DuncanHorse","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/duncanhorse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/1005.01santafe5.SM_-150x101.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8320,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2013\/04\/18\/a-snow-snit\/","url_meta":{"origin":5255,"position":2},"title":"A Snow Snit","author":"Doranna","date":"1304.18","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doranna Ahh, yes.\u00a0 April weather.\u00a0 Actually, this whole winter has been like this.\u00a0 Achingly little precipitation of any kind, and going into what they're calling a neutral year.\u00a0 No La Ni\u00f1a, no El Ni\u00f1o. When we do get wet stuff, it's invariably somehow on those days of \"zero percent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DuncanHorse"","block_context":{"text":"DuncanHorse","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/duncanhorse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1555,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2010\/06\/21\/the-call-of-the-wannit\/","url_meta":{"origin":5255,"position":3},"title":"The Call of the Wannit","author":"Doranna","date":"1006.21","format":false,"excerpt":"...Monday Or, in Duncan's case, the call of the modest fenced pasture. He. Wants. It. Duncan loves his pasture. Doesn't matter how scarce those grass blades or how studded with prickly pear. He has a south flat shared with agility equipment and junipers and one gorgeous pi\u00f1on, a north flat\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DuncanHorse"","block_context":{"text":"DuncanHorse","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/duncanhorse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/1005.14flirt.head_.24.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":698,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2010\/02\/24\/note-to-duncanhorse-its-still-winter\/","url_meta":{"origin":5255,"position":4},"title":"Note to DuncanHorse: It’s Still Winter","author":"Doranna","date":"1002.24","format":false,"excerpt":"posted on Wednesday Except that yes, the days are getting longer...and DuncanHorse knows it. So what's he do, as the wet snow continues to roll in and, these past two nights, as the temps flirt with zero F? Why, yes. He starts to shed. 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One day, for instance...I might head for the barn to discover he's been quite busy--and creative--indeed. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "DuncanHorse"","block_context":{"text":"DuncanHorse","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/duncanhorse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"stacked water troughs","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/0401rally.duncan124.SM_.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5255"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5263,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5255\/revisions\/5263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}