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Draft horses are big…..

Everything is over-sized…they are tall…they have big hooves…big barrels…big heads…and big butts…..

…..and even when they do something small…it ends up big…..

All horses rub and scratch…to one degree or another…(especially in the summer months)…..

You always need to look for the cause of any excessive rubbing………….the weather…skin conditions…bugs…and yes…worms…..

There are lots and lots of potential causes…..

When they rub their butt cheeks or tails…your first go to…is usually intestinal worms…..

TMI?………….You bet ‘cha…..

But worms are a fact of life…controlling them is what we do…..

…..and no…you shouldn’t walk around barefooted…..

And no…I definitely shouldn’t go into the chicken coop barefooted…and no one should Ever go into the pig pens barefooted…(I haven’t done that one…yet…or…maybe I have(?)…..

And so…regular wormings are important…..

 

~~~~~but in the meantime~~~~~

Why do horses always have to rub their butts on gates?…..

…..well…to itch and scratch…because worms are itchy…..

But why gates?

More importantly…why not something less expensive than a gate?…..

…..I do not know…..

And it both perplexes and irritates me…..

Recently…our big butted ladies started to rub their voluminous draft horse backsides on the gate to the breezeway in the barn…..

Oh!…No…No…No…No…No!…..

One night of scratching and rubbing was enough…..

The next morning…I noticed the gate had an ever so slight bend in it…(it’s supposed to be straight)…..

And I knew from past experience…that once they discovered a good place to rub…they’d keep going back…..

Therefore…the mares got immediately wormed…..

And I had to figure out some way to discourage them from returning to the scene of the crime…(so they wouldn’t destroy it)…..

…..(I put my thinking cap on)…..

My fat bottomed women would be persistent…and return…I knew that for certain…..

There is little that they respect as a deterrent…but they DO respect electricity…..

So I went to work…..

I put up one of my trusty electrifiable spring gates…..

They are easy to use…easy to install…and easy to spark disrespecting livestock…(and me)…..

They are always guaranteed to zap you if you aren’t patient/calm/& careful with how you connect and disconnect them…..

I had to get it up quickly…because…one more night of rubbing…and the gate would be a goner…..

There were a couple preliminary attempts that I installed (that weren’t ideal) but would hopefully temporarily save the gate…..

So I worked in stages…and as the days passed…I came up with a fairly permanent version…..

One that wouldn’t short out…or electrify the gate itself…but still hold up to any persistent attempts at butt rubbing…..

…..and I think I finally found the perfect combination of jerry-rigged techniques that would last (a little while)…..

I’m proud of myself…for thinking outside the box…(I usually live outside the box)…..

And I now know this version works too…..

How do I know this?…(you might well ask)…..

Because soon after it was “installed”…I was outside after dark…..

…..and I heard the ladies bolt and hysterically gallop away from the front of the barn…..

…..(heh…heh…heh)…..

Sometimes you find contentment and happiness in the oddest of places…..