New hay arriving
Horses eat a lot of hay. What seems like an inexhaustible supply when you first fill your hay mow is whittled away, day by day, until before you know it, it seems, that mountain of hay has disappeared and you need more. Friday was hay day. A new supply of 150 bales arrived to restock the hay mow. It should last until the new hay is cut in June. The first hay of the summer is a wonder. The glorious scent of it! Good enough to eat! Lovely, grassy green. By midwinter, the scent has mostly disappeared and the hay is beginning to brown.
Stacking is heavy work. I’m not very good at stacking above my waist level, but I schlepped my third of the bales into the barn and worked on the lower levels. Good exercise. One hundred percent of the unstacking will fall to me. That’s the easy part.
A good quality of hay is important for horses. They have more delicate digestive systems than cows, having just one stomach to a cow’s four. When something goes wrong, it can result in colic, a potentially life-threatening emergency. Dust and mildew in the hay can also cause respiratory problems.
Here is Louie accepting a sample from Ponygirl, while Mousie looks on. Another satisfied customer.
Willow House Chronicles 
Even without having to swing it overhead, 50 bales is still a lot of hay to move!
At least in the winter, it isn’t the hot, sweaty job it usually is in summer. So there’s a positive side!
[…] When we arrived back at the point on Milkmen’s Road that we had earlier skipped, I was doubly glad we had detoured. It was solid ice. Nevertheless, instead of going offtrail to the right to repeat the detour, I decided to go offtrail to the left, climbing straight up the side to the recently leash-free dogpark. (Perhaps on our next walk I should bring water for myself, crazy old Coot hen.) Fergus lost his footing and slipped once, but I never did, and not once did I let go of the double leash. When we got to the dog park we were about 20 brambly paces from the side entrance. So I skipped over the low fence, grabbed one dog by the harness and then another, and popped them into the park with more ease than moving a hay bale. […]
I love donkeys and hay together!!