{"id":5608,"date":"2012-01-30T00:04:10","date_gmt":"2012-01-30T07:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/?p=5608"},"modified":"2012-01-29T13:30:36","modified_gmt":"2012-01-29T20:30:36","slug":"go-soak-your-hay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2012\/01\/30\/go-soak-your-hay\/","title":{"rendered":"Go Soak Your Hay"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve finally figured out the big secret to feeding Duncan.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It wasn’t any single discovery…it was sixteen years of observations<\/strong> coming together at year twenty.<\/p>\n

The particulars:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
    \n
  1. Like most Lipizzans, Duncan is an air fern.<\/li>\n
  2. At random intervals, Duncan has the worst diarrhea ever.\u00a0 White horse, beautiful long tail…a power scrubber would take days to undo the mess that results.<\/li>\n
  3. Times 5 if he has a blanket on; blanketing clearly contributed, though who knows how.<\/li>\n
  4. At other times, he’s far too dry.<\/li>\n
  5. Those other times have contributed (but not caused) both of his colics–the one he survived only by a miracle, 2 1\/2 years ago, and the one a year ago that we caught early and was precipitated by a nasty virus that weakened him for months.<\/li>\n
  6. None of that happened when he was in Flagstaff on Bermuda hay, which is an unusual kind of high-protein grass that I can’t easily get here.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    In the meantime, after the first colic,<\/strong> I started soaking his hay a few moments before he ate.\u00a0 I didn’t soak it longer, because I had read that the hay loses nutrients in that case.<\/p>\n

    About six weeks ago, I read (in the online source The Horse<\/a>)<\/strong>, an report on a scientifically conducted hay-soaking study.\u00a0 And it turns out that lengthy hay soaking doesn’t reduce the nutrients per se.\u00a0 It reduces the sugar<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    \"\"So, sez I upon reading this study–great!\u00a0 I must try longer soaks,<\/strong> because I don’t care if my air fern gets less sugar and the grass will soak up more water.<\/p>\n

    Now, one of the things that changes pretty significantly between hay cuttings<\/strong> and even hay bales is the amount of sugar in the grass.\u00a0 Environmental circumstances during grass growth, how long it lays after cutting…blah blah blah.\u00a0 There’s no easy way to predict it, and you sure can’t tell by looking.\u00a0 And if my air fern were off grazing as horses evolved to graze, he wouldn’t be facing these abrupt dietary changes.\u00a0 He’s not a digestive hothouse flower so much as he is displeased with the changes man has wrought to his manner of eating.<\/p>\n

    Do you see this coming?\u00a0 He hasn’t had a digestive upset since I started doing soaking the hay.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Not that they came so often that it was obvious at first.\u00a0<\/strong> But a siege of bad weather and blanketing drove the point home.\u00a0 And not that it’s easy.\u00a0 It means an elaborate set-up in the garage, hay strewn where we don’t want it, and–wuh–hauling nets of soaked hay down to the barn.\u00a0 But we’ve gotten it down to a pretty good science at this point, and after all these weeks, I am still smug–SMUG, I tell you!–to have stumbled over the food management that overcomes issues old and new.<\/p>\n

    So we’ll continue to refine the soaking routine, and I’ll probably feel smug<\/strong> for a good long while, and meanwhile, just for fun, here are some Photos of AWWWness.<\/p>\n

    \"The

    I was going to 'shop out Connery's evil glowing eye, but decided...nahhhh...<\/p><\/div>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"Dart's

    For those of you who wondered about Dart's outfit for the Weather on TD test day...<\/p><\/div>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"Sun<\/a>

    A sunset and crescent moon in the same pic. Can't see the moon? Clickie the piccie...<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I’ve finally figured out the big secret to feeding Duncan. It wasn’t any single discovery…it was sixteen years of observations coming together at year twenty. The particulars: Like most Lipizzans, Duncan is an air fern. At random intervals, Duncan has … 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":[13,109,70],"tags":[40,39],"class_list":["post-5608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connery","category-dartagnan-beagle","category-duncanhorse","tag-barn","tag-duncan"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb2lc3-1ss","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8845,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2013\/07\/02\/hey-hey-hay-the-advertent-adventure\/","url_meta":{"origin":5608,"position":0},"title":"Hey, Hey, Hay! — The Advertent Adventure","author":"Doranna","date":"1307.02","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doranna In our previous episode, I spent all of my reviewing time running around like a crazy person with the smell of mold stuck in her nose.\u00a0 But eventually I got to the good stuff. PLAYING WITH DUNCAN'S FOOD! Even without the cubes, we had cookies, pellets, compressed grass\/alfalfa,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DuncanHorse"","block_context":{"text":"DuncanHorse","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/duncanhorse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The newly opened bag. No mold! Smelled yummy. Dunno why it smells that good when eating it really kinda sucks. Duncan says, \"More for me!\"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/s.pellets.bag_-300x164.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":69,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2009\/12\/16\/desperation-the-mother-of-invention\/","url_meta":{"origin":5608,"position":1},"title":"Desperation, the Mother of Invention","author":"Doranna","date":"0912.16","format":false,"excerpt":"It just came time to move the feed barrels out of the barn, yes it did. Due to certain logistics of the property, the barn set-up has always been untenable. Every possible factor added up to the certainty that the hay stall would, at some point, be left open. \"Come\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Miscellaneous!"","block_context":{"text":"Miscellaneous!","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/miscellaneous\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"0905.Duncan.12.SMM","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/0905.Duncan.12.SMM_-116x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":595,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2010\/02\/15\/in-which-duncan-horse-has-a-noble-tantrum\/","url_meta":{"origin":5608,"position":2},"title":"In Which Duncan Horse has a Noble Tantrum","author":"Doranna","date":"1002.15","format":false,"excerpt":"posted on Monday In recent days here at home... Duncan Horse: My paddock is too small. It is too muddy. It is too icy. It is NOT RIGHT. Mind you, it's a paddock of quite a decent size, plenty of room to move. But it is indeed too muddy, too\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DuncanHorse"","block_context":{"text":"DuncanHorse","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/duncanhorse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Duncan with annoyance face","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/1002.14paddock.TN_.5.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8825,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2013\/07\/01\/hey-hey-hay-the-inadvertent-adventure\/","url_meta":{"origin":5608,"position":3},"title":"Hey, Hey, Hay! — The Inadvertent Adventure","author":"Doranna","date":"1307.01","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doranna When Duncan lived in Flagstaff (well, I was there, too!), he ate bermuda hay.\u00a0 After years of irritated digestion on grass hay in the east, he settled in to digestion of a robust nature, and we were happy. Then came a dry year, so I started raising my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DuncanHorse"","block_context":{"text":"DuncanHorse","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/duncanhorse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"1002.17dashing.TN.29","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/1002.17dashing.TN_.29.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":368,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2010\/01\/20\/horses-do-stupid-things-in-the-wet-cold-dark\/","url_meta":{"origin":5608,"position":4},"title":"Horses do Stupid Things in the Wet Cold Dark","author":"Doranna","date":"1001.20","format":false,"excerpt":"The Wednesday Post Duncan wouldn't want me to give away his little secret, but it's true. Take an ordinarily clever--nay (if \u00a0I may pun)--stupendously intelligent horse, and give him a nice dry barn. \u00a0 Even a modest little shedrow barn. \u00a0 (I still haven't found my camera. \u00a0Instead of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Miscellaneous!"","block_context":{"text":"Miscellaneous!","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/miscellaneous\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5255,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2011\/11\/14\/litterbox-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":5608,"position":5},"title":"Litterbox Love","author":"Doranna","date":"1111.14","format":false,"excerpt":"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 cinder.\u00a0 We got a ton of snow (many feets of\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\/03\/1002.17dashing.TN_.29.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\/5608","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=5608"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5739,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5608\/revisions\/5739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}