Baby, it's (getting) cold outside!

Digby's moved to his new self care boarding situation, aka a field to live in 24/7 except to eat his grain, in nasty weather and when the temps go below 25ish at night. He's still not having an excellent time. It's no ones fault. He's just the worrying kind and two of the other geldings are quite dominant. They'll figure it out soon hopefully. He's definitely getting his butt kicked and has already lost weight! Grr. How does a horse lose weight in, like, three days? Not a ton but a noticeable amount if you're paying attention which I am.

I'm sort of liking the "self care" part of it. I never have to worry about what he's eating, if he's getting his hoof supplements, if he's ok, if the barn is going to take his blanket off or not, if they're going outside. I make up his feed, supplements included. I take his blanket off or put it on depending on the weather. They're always outside. Of course, I do have to worry about getting there every day, making sure he has hay to eat, that I get grain delivered to work, and that I can find someone to get me shavings. I also need to PAY for all these things. But all and all, it's almost relaxing to go to the barn after work. I've already got a routine down. Wake up, stop by barn to remove blanket if necessary, go to work, back to barn, make up grain for AM and PM, clean stall, fill up buckets, throw hay, bring Digby in, groom, apply corona ointment to his "battle wounds", throw on blanket if necessary, usually feed around this time, give kisses and treats, leave, go to bed. Lather, rinse, repeat. I'm sure eventually I'll get sick of it but I'm kind of enjoying the quiet solitude. It's relaxing to not have to worry if he's sound or not. It doesn't matter if I'm not in the mood to ride. I don't have to feel guilty about only riding 4 days a week. I can't ride. He's not going to be sound. He just gets to enjoy the attention that I smother him with. It's quiet. The barn is clean. The owner is nice. I'm really hoping it works out. 

As for life in the field, Digby's not friends with anyone yet. Two of the mares, both are young, seem to tolerate him fine and occasionally eat next to him but when I came today he was all the way by himself. Poor kid. Find some friends, Digby! And for the love of god, START KICKING THOSE MEAN HORSES BACK! You're going to give me an ulcer. Thanks. :)

Otherwise, life is fine. Work, Digby, sleep. Getting over a death cold/flu of epic proportions that caused nearly half of my works employees to feel like death for several days. I guess that's fall/winter though. What else is new?