Old Man Winter is treading heavy on the turf while winter coats thicken. Surprisingly, colder temperatures actually only play a minor role in this process. The lesser-known fact is that winter coat growth is triggered primarily by the change in photoperiod or the day length. The reduction of light causes increased production of the hormone melatonin, which in turn prompts additional coat growth. Innately, using shelter to keep dry and ingesting lots of hay is essential for efficient biological heat generation.
As Thanksgiving quickly approaches, we give thanks to all the volunteers, contractors, and donors whose faithful efforts and contributions enabled these recent successes. Numerous board feet of pressure treated lumber was hand crafted into three stout loafing shelters. Also, a chute was fabricated to improve the caretaking management and close handling capabilities for the mustangs. Several addition cross fences were installed, and sand was added to the circle training field. In addition, several semi-truck loads of hay were acquired to keep mustang and burro bellies stoked for the winter.
A special thanks to our new friends at Burro Basecamp located in Kiowa, Colorado. They orchestrated the adoption of eight adorable burros pictured in the feature photo. They are very friendly and adore human affection, and the burros do too. In summary, being basically busy beavers bustling burros, boards and bales, we can rest assured that we will be ready for Old Man Winter’s arrival.