Drought

Large parts of New Zealand are currently locked in drought. Unfortunately one of those places is where I live. There is no grass. Anywhere. Some people have been feeding out their winter hay rations for months now. I only started feeding out a month ago but already I'm finding that the quarter of a bale Fox is getting just isn't quite cutting it. And the price of hay has gone up. Only one dollar a bale but it adds up.

Now I'm thinking maybe taking on that second horse wasn't such a good idea. I've figured that with my extra hours I can budget for a bale a day for the both of them, maybe a bit more. Is that enough? Don't know, we'll have to find out I guess. And it all depends on rain. We're supposed to be getting a bit this weekend but likely it will pass us by. If we do get rain, it's still warm enough for some grass growth so fingers tightly crossed.

Luckily we've had a good local hay season but likely by the end of winter, things will be getting tight. And I buy my hay as I need it rather than in bulk so that puts me at a disadvantage. I'm thinking that it may be a good idea to look at buying bulk next year.

I'll also probably add hemp and eezybeet to Fox's feed for the extra boost. Smurf is an easy keeper but if he needs extra then he'll get it too. I can just imagine the look on my partners face! I may end up having to work more than four extra hours a week.

And there is a clause in my lease contract that if for whatever reason, I can't keep Smurf, I can take him back to where he's been boarding. I really hope not to have to do that but I like having it there just in case.

It's only four months till September, only four months till Spring, only four months till new grass. Can I do it? I really hope so.