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Monday, May 30, 2016

Location, Location, Location

We noticed this nest inside of a bucket in the barn. 
When this bird had time to build a nest and lay 3 eggs while the barn was open, 
is a mystery to us.
We've left the door open so she can raise her brood.
Looks like she picked a nice safe dry location.


 

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Everyone Loves a Parade

Memorial weekend in Indiana means the 500 race & festivities.
Saturday was the parade and I volunteered with the horse units.

The Wells Fargo Stagecoach was first to arrive.
Horses were unloaded.

And the stagecoach

Volunteers got to help groom the horses.
This is Rowdy.

The team gets hitched.
The team is comprised of 2 pairs of brothers, each one is a Quarter horse/draft mix.

 

 I escorted the Culver Black Horse Troupe in the parade
and managed to get a shot of them as they circled the monument.

 Also in the parade was the Indy Mounted Police.

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This year, the Boy Scouts weren't there to be pooper scoopers, 
so guess who got drafted?
 
 We took our job seriously!

But we had some fun with the Colts mascot, Blue too!

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Migrating Songbirds

The songbirds are back.
Here's just a few I've captured over the last few weeks

Yellow Warbler
Common Yellowthroat

White crowned Sparrow
Evening Grosbeaks

I've seen several more, most notably a Baltimore Oriole & Indigo Bunting, but not photos yet.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Saturday, May 7, 2016

Muzzled

The grass is growing furiously and becomes a hazard for our horses.
You'd think lots of rich grass would be great for them, but not neccessarily.
When the grass is rapidly growing it produces lots of sugar (fructans)
which stimulates an overgrowth of bacteria in the horse's large intestine. 
The bacteria produce and release toxins (endotoxins) that are carried by the bloodstream
 to the foot where they cause damage leading to lameness.
Many horses are euthanized for this condition, called laminitis.


So if you see a horse with a grazing muzzle on,
the owner is not trying to starve the horse, but actually trying to keep it healthy.
They can eat through the small opening in the muzzle, but not over eat.
Sorry Rocky.