When people ask me if I am a morning person, I want to say yes. I love seeing the sunrise & drinking coffee; plus getting started early aids in the making of a productive day. Getting out of bed early is hard, but once I am up and going I am always glad I got up early…. Especially when feeding my horses is the reason for the early rise!!
If you’re an equestrian, you know that early hours is just part of owning a horse. And as the school year begins again my morning routine takes a big push back in time. For me, however; my horses are not the only animals that get their breakfast at 6:10! My not so equestrian morning routine also involves feeding three bovines, with my dog Zeus tagging along.
I haul two buckets to the pasture, one for my horses and one for my cattle. I feed grain to one bull, Franklin, and two calves, one of which is my bottle calf named Ruby. *You’ve probably seen pictures of her on a post here and there!* (The other calf isn’t as friendly and is still getting used to being fed grain so he didn’t make it into the pictures.)
Penny is the horse I feed! She’s on a high calorie diet, as she has respiratory issues and is a senior. Her breakfast is soaked and consists of cracked corn, bean meal, & beet shards. She prefers the sweet grain I feed Franklin & Ruby, so I have to stand by her and “encourage” her to eat her own food.
Horses are social, herd animals so I am glad Penny has the company of the cattle and my four boy horses in the next field- who get visited but not fed in the mornings.
I may not be a true morning person, but once I get my boots on and hop in the Ranger to buzz down to the barn and feed my horses, I enjoy the cool air, colorful sky, and the peace & serenity of the nature around me. I love getting to start the day off by saying “good morning” to my horses & Zeus, the dog, making the early rising worth it! Most of all I am thankful to have animals to care for and love! *I would love to hear about the ups & downs of your morning schedule? Anyone else greet their horses first thing in the morning?*
Tails & trails,
Reese
Awww, that is a super sweet up close photo of your dog, Zeus. I can see that you’d enjoy seeing that face every morning! I also enjoy seeing all my critters first thing about the time that the sun comes up. A special time of the day for sure.
Morning definitely is! Thanks for reading?