Proliferate

Sunday June 19 2011

Every spring, we seem to have some plant that runs so riotous as to become memorable.

One year it was the Indian paintbrush. Last year it was the globemallow wildflowers.


This year it's the cheat grass. Proliferating beyond all sensible proportions. Thick carpets of it, sometimes knee high. The horses like it when it's green; but as soon as it turns reddish brown, they aren't much interested in it.


Which is a shame, because that's when the seeds start sticking to everything. They get in your socks and shoes, and drive you mad with their irritating skin poking. I've heard rumors it can get in a dog's ear, pierce its eardrum and go all the way into the brain. I wouldn't doubt it because it's wicked stuff, able to work its way around to places unwelcome - I expect it has barbs that anchor it from going backwards.

It's an invasive species in many places - sometimes you'll see it called an "infestation". Rapid elongation of the root system and prolific seed production help it elbow out the native grasses. It can germinate in the spring or fall and is very adaptable to new environments.

It comes up earlier and uses up the water and nutrients needed by other perennial native grasses, and it has a short growth period and therefore is highly flammable earlier than native grasses. And it's so thick in this part of the country now - even more reason for me to be afraid of lightning.


And it gets into and sticks to your Easyboot Gloves like crazy. Judy had warned me of it. "I spent HOURS getting the seeds out of my boots yesterday!" Carol had put duct tape over the velcro straps of her horse's Gloves. I did the same, but the duct tape failed and slipped during our ride, making the velcro a super magnet for the seeds.


After some experimenting, where Steph found that taking a scissors blade and scraping it back and forth over the seeds is the best way to remove the worst of it, followed by tweezers for the individual near-impossible-to-get pieces, it still took me over an hour to clean the boots.

Judy suggested I try vet wrap around the velcro straps next time. Anybody else had this problem before?

What's For Dinner

Saturday November 20 2010

Hay is, of course, the number one choice. The alfalfa hay is for special horses or occasions (like skinny ones who need weight, warmth, or who get crowded off the hay). Anybody who can scam some grain is thrilled. The salt licks are popular.

The herd really isn't interested now in going up the canyon, but when I do coax them up there, they spend a few hours picking around.

They'll choose a bit of cheatgrass,



but they particularly go for the greasewood. I can't fathom why - it's prickly stuff and one of the reasons why cowboys around here wear chaps, and it's not something you'd choose to land in if you got tossed off your horse.

It's known to cause oxalate poisoning in sheep if eaten in large amounts, but it doesn't seem to adversely affect the horses. The plant absorbs large quantities of sodium salts, which must make the greasewood taste salty, though I can't detect it.

It's not so easy to eat, either. The horses curl their lips back and carefully strip off the minute leaves with their teeth.

I expect they still get some prickly stems that must poke holes in their tongues and cheeks while chewing, but they seem to think it's worth the effort.