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The ponies |
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Our three ponies keep the grass down and recycle it into
first class organic fertilizer. It doesn't cost anything, but we have to pick
up the manure and cart it to the various garden beds. That's really a year
round ongoing project and a lot more work than it seems. The plants like the
horse manure and grow well. The ponies are Australian miniature ponies and very
small, less than a metre in height. They are very sturdy animals. They are
happy in their paddocks in all sorts of weather. We never give them blankets,
not even in the midst of winter. We built a shed for the ponies, so that they
can shelter from the worst of the weathe, but it mainly is the warm sun which bothers them. Even in winter
the ponies will get tired and lie down to rest when the sun is out and no cool
breeze blows. We trim their hooves every few months and worm them regularly as
per instructions on the worming treatment. And that's it! Happy ponies, and
really cute as well. When we work somewhere in the paddocks, we are never
alone. There are always a few friendly faces close by. So close in fact, that we
have to be really careful not to throw anything anywhere without first checking
that there isn't a pony in the way. So far the ponies have been very healthy,
no vet bills at all. During the cold months we feed a bit of hay in the
evening, one small bail lasts three or four days. A few kitchen scraps
sometimes find their way to the ponies and occasionally they get a handful of
horse pellets as a treat.
We now use complete organic fertlizer in our garden in addition to horse manure. More info about complete organic fertilizer here.
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