Stocking up

I’m writing this as I wait for Louie to digest his breakfast so we can have a ride on this frosty morning. There’s no wind at the moment and I’m anxious to get out there while it’s calm. It’s been an exceptionally windy year. It goes with the COVID theme I suppose? Whatever the case, the blowing, rustling leaves make fall riding a bit sketchy. I pick and choose sensible days to ride my big, young horse – sadly aware 2020 rides will soon be cut short by frozen ground and lack of daylight. The summer flew by like it always does and spring feels like eons away.

The last of our winter supply of shavings has been delivered and pushed indoors onto the floor of the hay mow. The big doors have been tightly fastened shut for the winter. The loft of our century barn is packed with square bales picked up off local fields, and our own dales. An un-forecasted Sunday summer storm dumped a couple of hours of heavy rain on our fields the afternoon before the “made” hay was to be baled. As unlucky as the heavy rain was, we were just as lucky a hot dry wind arrived the next morning and stuck around for the next two days. The fine meadow hay got an extra tedding and was raked up and square baled that Tuesday. It’s not beautiful, and the food value is likely poor, but it made up well and smells good. The heavy-set girls in the barn will take care of it through the winter. Another year we might have had the farmer round bale it for cattle feed, but not this year.

Food security is on a lot of minds in 2020, and not just for humans. There was a marked move towards sustainability during this pandemic – with people planting vegetable gardens and making bread. The demand for flour in the spring, and canning jars this fall outstripped supply. However, stocking up on even a tiny piece of our horses’ food supply is much more complicated these days, with fewer horses kept on home acreages.

Many of us board horses out at large facilities with limited summer pasture and space for hay storage, creating a four-season requirement for quality hay to be delivered as needed. Drought conditions have created a shortage throughout much of the Maritimes. Yields were down, and fewer cuts were made. Those of us with pastures had less grass to work with, creating a need to feed hay earlier.

Maritimers have proven themselves to be a resourceful bunch through this difficult time, but it’s safe to say COVID-19 may not be the greatest concern this winter for those of us with livestock to feed.

I’m thankful for my old roomy hay barn and I’m hopeful, with only three to feed, we have enough put away to get us through to next season, even if some of it is less than perfect. 2020 has been full of lessons. Certainly, the summer has reminded me of the need to do better managing our pastures to increase grass production and maximize our precious hay resources. It looks like 2021 is stacking up to be another year of steep learning curves.

Take care, and all the best this winter.