Ned's weight gain regime

Last week we started Ned's weight gain program to try and fatten him up before winter. It consists of being fed twice a day - he's having fibrepro with 3 scoops of hard-feed and oil. We've started with just 1/4 of a cup of canola oil and are slowly working up to a cup. Hopefully this works and he puts on a lot of condition before it gets really cold. He's also covered now, just with his autumn cover which is a jute lined canvas one. He's already seeming much happier and more energetic which is great. All the horses are loving it actually, we always make sure to give Mickey and Maddy a few handfuls, but everyone else gets some too. Well not all the small ones, but all the biggies get a little bit, not as much as our Mickey and Maddy, but they all get some. It's a bit of a feeding frenzy out there at feeding time. We get Neddy in and he eats in the house paddock while they all clamber around the fences willing us to give them some. I stupidly didn't take any before photos! ARGH!!! But I'll try to remember to take some soon, as soon as it stops raining.

YES! We have rain!!!! It started in the weekend and is still going. It's sooooo awesome and will be so good for the poor parched paddocks. Wahoo!

We currently have 7 big horses (4 grazing and our 3) and 8 little ones. They're all together in the massive paddock next the house, we're letting the front grow for winter. We're about to move them all to the back - but still have fencing to do! Just bought some more fencing wire to hopefully get this done in the weekend. Last weekend we fixed up the back boundary fence which was great - just gotta tighten one side of it and then it's all done. Have to get some electric fence tape, an energiser and probably more standards for one area. The rest we'll be fixing with wire and battens (which we're seriously running low on and have to buy more. EEEKKK!).

Ohhhh AND for the last month or so Toa has been having oil added to his food. It was my desperate attempt to get some weight on him and my god it works! He's looking better than he's ever looked, no more backbone showing through and good coverage over his ribs. He'll be looking fantastic soon - wa-fucking-ho! We've also found out about a good working dog feed from the local horse and stock feed shop. It sounds really similar to the Pro Plan Performance for working dogs that we used to feed him. But at $117 for 17kg that had to stop shortly after we moved here, we just couldn't keep it up. But this food is apparently just as good (I've compared the ingredients and nutritional information and that's on par) and the dogs like it as much. Soooooo that's what we'll be buying once they've finished what they're currently eating.

Mawhero has had her operation (a couple of months after Toa's one) and her recovery isn't going as well. She had to go back in last weekend (op was on Wednesday) due to swelling and ripping the drain and some stitches out. Well it continued to swell and she had to go back in today to get put under again to have it drained out and another drain put in and more stitches. Crickey this has been an expensive exercise but hopefully this works and she is on the road to recovery.