The Herd at Moondance - Part 1

It's time to introduce the critters of Moondance Ranch, starting with the biggest.

Boomer

Bob's horse Boomer is the biggest guy at Moondance Ranch. He's an 18.2 hand Clydesdale and weighs 2,200 pounds. Here he is back in his Bud days. He's the lead horse on the driver's right.

The Bud Days

These days, Boomer enjoys pleasure driving,

First drive at Moondance - Bob, Boomer, Dave

parades,

Bob, Boomer, and Diana at Parker Christmas Parade

and even dressage.

Dave and Boomer at Rocky Mountain Dressage Society Show

Boomer is an all around good guy, and a ton of fun. Get it? Ton of fun?

The Daily Routine

We're starting to get in the groove. First thing in the morning, we weigh out the daily hay allotment. The boys get 1.5% of their body weight in hay every day. For Boomer, at 2,200 pounds, that means 33 pounds of hay a day. The other boys all weigh around 1,200 pounds, so they are getting 18 pounds each. We divide their allotment into 4 servings, and feed around 7am, 11am, 3pm, and 8pm. The hay is first-cut timothy, very high quality. Here's Bob and Dave unloading hay off Bob's new truck -

The daily routine includes pasture turnout. Our city boys aren't used to grazing, so we are slowly increasing the time in pasture, trying to avoid colic and founder. Right now, they are at an hour and a half in the morning, and half an hour in the afternoon. Morning turnout is way more popular than afternoon. They like to run in the morning, but in the afternoon, they kind of hang around and ask if it's dinner time yet. Here's Paj enjoying a morning run -

He always runs back to his buddy Zan. Zan is the best friend a horse could have. Here's a better look at Zan -

In between the daily routine, we're trying to finish setting up. David has made a good dent in the gravel pile, and I am 1/5 done priming the runs. We love it!