Meanwhile, back at the ranch

[labelwench]

Looking for my gloves as the water buckets were filling, I remembered leaving them just outside the door, as the afternoon was wondrously mild, and to feel the sun on bare skin was seductive pleasure.

A pleasure for which there was going to be a price, for as sure as night follows day, I had forgotten to retrieve them........

Opening the door, I looked right. As expected, the gloves were gone. Twenty feet up the trail, the right glove was found, it having been repaired once before with red electrical tape. Damaged goods were not to her liking, it appeared, for she had left her scat upon it, as evidence of her disgust. The left glove never did turn up......carried off by Vexin' to her secret trove of collectibles, gathered from other unwary neighbors.

Let's see now......one lunge line (chewed in twain), one saucer (retrieved) and one glove (missing)...... exchanged for one set of earmuffs (also chewed in half) and one glove (too small).

Wondering what, where and when the young vixen would strike next, I turned my attention to the fresh tracks and droppings of the two moose that were likewise frequenting the neighborhood....

[labelwench]

Madelaine is now 285 days along with her pregnancy and has a minimum of 40 days to go for a 'full-term' foal, although mares have a wide window of opportunity. This is her first foal and so we have no history to work from. From 300 days one, we watch closely, and if the weather is inclement, the mare will be put into the small barn, now retro-fitted for foaling. Previously, the 10 x 14 foot structure had been divided by a wall, which allowed for two horses to be accommodated, one standing stall and one small box-stall. Other mares have foaled in the structure as it was, but Madelaine is a bit larger, so the other day, I grabbed pry-bar and hammer and tore out the old manger and dividing wall. Although the building was built 20 years ago (by me, lol), it was resistant to my efforts, and I had to lean into it, to pull down the supports and planks. My step-Dad was a carpenter and I learned considerable from the old cowboy, about building and about horses, though we didn't chat much. Mostly observation, with questions when relevant. Language is highly over-rated as a means of communication. Too many words. Just watch and pay attention.........generally good advice, I have found......

[labelwench]

Caramel is my endurance mount, and we have logged 225 kilometers this year, the weather being mild and the footing decent. Today, we rode 16 km, over varied terrain with plenty of hills, scampering along at an average 11 km hour, which means that in some places we were booting right along, then walking to cool her out. The afternoon was warm and she is just starting to slip her winter coat, so heat was something to monitor.

Caramel lathered up slightly on her cheeks where the bridle rests, the front of her chest, and down the back of her front legs, a light streak. I found an interesting scientific article related to the lather of equine sweat. There is a component known as latherin, a protein, which brings about this lather.

The old cowboys also acknowledge that a horse in excellent condition, and well hydrated will lather very little, only where there is a bit of friction from headstall and reins, and some horses have very meaty thighs which rub and lather while performing collected movements, as in dressage. Excessive lathering is an indicator of lack of fitness, mild dehydration or extreme exertion, conditions which can be exacerbated by weather, stress, nutrition, and the work being performed.

Latherin: a surfactant protein of horse sweat and saliva.

McDonald RE, Fleming RI, Beeley JG, Bovell DL, Lu JR, Zhao X, Cooper A, Kennedy MW.

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biomedical and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom.

Horses are unusual in producing protein-rich sweat for thermoregulation, a major component of which is latherin, a highly surface-active, non-glycosylated protein. The amino acid sequence of latherin, determined from cDNA analysis, is highly conserved across four geographically dispersed equid species (horse, zebra, onager, ass), and is similar to a family of proteins only found previously in the oral cavity and associated tissues of mammals. Latherin produces a significant reduction in water surface tension at low concentrations (< or = 1 mg ml(-1)), and therefore probably acts as a wetting agent to facilitate evaporative cooling through a waterproofed pelt. Neutron reflection experiments indicate that this detergent-like activity is associated with the formation of a dense protein layer, about 10 A thick, at the air-water interface. However, biophysical characterization (circular dichroism, differential scanning calorimetry) in solution shows that latherin behaves like a typical globular protein, although with unusual intrinsic fluorescence characteristics, suggesting that significant conformational change or unfolding of the protein is required for assembly of the air-water interfacial layer. RT-PCR screening revealed latherin transcripts in horse skin and salivary gland but in no other tissues. Recombinant latherin produced in bacteria was also found to be the target of IgE antibody from horse-allergic subjects. Equids therefore may have adapted an oral/salivary mucosal protein for two purposes peculiar to their lifestyle, namely their need for rapid and efficient heat dissipation and their specialisation for masticating and processing large quantities of dry food material.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...ubmed_RVDocSum

[labelwench]

The barn that I have is a small shelter, 10 x 14 feet, with insulated walls and roof and an earthen floor.

Over many years, the soil has been compacted and pawed, and lost to clean-out, resulting in the surface being several inches lower than originally. During the spring of the year, water collects in this depression and I lose the service of the barn for an interval, until the surrounding snow has melted and the heaviest of the runoff is done.

A load of sand had been brought in for a variety of purposes, one being to fill this depression, and this was sited 50 feet from the barn, to be out of the way of established paths, yet near to barn, garden and corrals when needed. A heavy tarp covered the mound, so that the sand could be reached, even in winter, if needed for traction for icy trails and horse pens.

For some reason, Vexin' found the tarp of interest, and dug through the snow with sharp nails, and teeth, and made tears in the heavy tarpaulin, through which water trickled into the sand and froze it like cement.

Joy.

Spring being slow to arrive this year, I have been forced to bide my time to the pace of the thaw in moving the sand to the barn. The 50 feet between is still covered with snow and ice, water in the afternoons, and mud is now starting to show. Though I own a wheelbarrow, the current footing is not amenable to it's use. A simple solution employed, an 8 liter pail, which holds 25+ lbs of sand, or approx. .75 cubic foot.

As I need to raise the floor an average of 8 inches, I worked out the math just for fun and came to the conclusion that approx, 116.20 cubic feet of sand would be required, lol. Thus far, I have moved 85 pails, hampered, as mentioned above, by the need to wait on Mother Nature to release her hold on the sand.

Let's see now, 116.2 cubic feet is equal to 3.42 cubic yards, or 154.93 pails at .75 cubic foot per pail. Only about 70 more pails to go......piece of cake, now that the sun is doing it's job.

85 pails x 25 lbs totals 2125 lbs of sand moved to date.

I wonder how many foot pounds of energy are being used in the shoveling and carrying over the 50 foot distance?

No matter.

This carbon based unit is energy efficient and environmentally friendly, lol......