The type of hay you should feed depends on the nutritional requirements of your horse--their body type, metabolism, age, and job description should dictate if they need a high-protein hay like alfalfa, a mid-quality such as Timothy or orchard grass, or a low-value such as round bales from a pasture. The place where I board my pony (which is primarily Saddlebreds, with several different breeds of lesson horses, too) feeds round bales in the winter. They are stored inside, and are baled from their own pastures during the summer. The main thing about round bales are that they are much more prone to being moldy, and you do not want to be feeding moldy hay to your horses. It also takes them longer to eat the round bale, there will be more waste from it, and it's harder to spread it out to avoid crowding when the horses are eating. If you only have a couple of horses, I think you'd get more value for you money finding some orchard grass hay for them. If they are not breeding/growing/or working hard, they do not need alfalfa. The horses out where I board stay in good condition from eating the round bales, but honestly, it's not what I would choose if I were the one in control of the hay purchasing. Of course, my pony just looks at the hay and gets fatter, so I really don't have to worry much about her getting enough nutrition! The place where I work is all Thoroughbreds, either growing foals/yearlings or pregnant/lactating mares. We sometimes feed alfalfa, but it is usually because that's all we can get our hands on, not because the horses need it. We prefer orchard grass or timothy for them. Feeding a horse too much protein--which alfalfa has a lot of--does no extra good for the horse. They excrete any protein their bodies can't use as ammonia in their urine, so effectively you're just making their pee smell worse and wasting your money. The reason I don't keep the pony at the T-bred farm is because of the difference in nutritional requirements. If my pony were eating the alfalfa and grain and good pasture that the T-breds are getting, she would founder in a heartbeat.

I agree, Phil! I think it's a terrorist plot to keep us always wanting more!! The same with computors, cameras etc.! The more we have the more we want and just about the time you think you have the "best" of "whatever"--there are more "alluring" ones being introduced for us to drool over and go on the mad "hunt" to obtain! Last year, and again this year, I had a moment (very short) where I said, "okay, it's enough!" Then, thanks to the "professional enablers" on this forum, I see a pic. or discussion about one I don't have, and my list just gets longer while square footage diminishes! Oh, the "temptations"!!!! janice (from the "light" side)

You'll like the vinyl fencing, Susie. We had one installed 7 years ago. Wood is just too difficult & expensive to maintain here...needs repainting every 2 years. Now, each spring when we power wash the house, shed, concrete sidewalk, patios, & outdoor furniture we also power wash the fence. Gets that green slime that covers everything here off in a flash! Looks like new again. Same problem with wooden screen doors. I LOVE the Victorian styled wooden screen doors that are prelevant here but they only last 2-3 years & rot. Gets expensive. Five years ago, we bit the bullet & installed a powder coated stainless steel with brass trim storm/screen door with leaded glass insert (plus screens). That baby is heavier than beejesums but will last for years! Wood is a great material but in some climates it's a real bear to maintain. Since I grew up on property being operated as the largest pressure treating wood facility west of the Mississippi & the resulting Superfund Site...I refuse on principle to purchase pressure treated wood for fencing, outdoor furniture, doors, or anything else. That stuff is BAD, IMO, for both people & the environment. And, even if you are inclined to use pressure treated wood it still looks best painted &, hence, back to the wire brushes & paint. You'll like the fence. Ours is white because all coastal NE houses have white fences & we weren't inclined to rock the boat, so to speak. So, just getting out the power washer instead of the wire brushes & paint brushes is really great! /tricia

The best costume I ever had was last October for FSD's carnival, I was Marie Antoinette's head on a plate. All it cost was a wig, a plastic serving tray (looked like silver) and a plastic tablecloth. First we cut out one side of a large box we had, leaving 5 sides in tact; then we cut out a horseshoe shape in the top of the box and glued the tablecloth around it and slightly over it; then we cut a horseshoe shape out of the plate and glued it to the top of the box. I put TONS of makeup over my white grease makeup so I looked very made-up, but had a bluish-grayish tint to my skin, painted a mole above my lip and put on the wig I had bought (from a Marie Antoinette costume set). I sat a stool inside the box and placed my head all the way in the circular part of the plate and box. FDH put a feather boa around my neck so no one could see where my neck met the plate. It was so hillarious! I'd close my eyes and the girls would come all the way up and start poking me in the face to see if I was real. I would open my eyes and they would almost pee their pants! I even scared most of the adults! The best thing about it is that it wasn't gory at all. No blood. Very tasteful. And I just wore a t-shirt and jeans since no one could see the rest of my body.