I have not seen Houston, the deer in over a week. I hope he just wandered off and is finding a new life. I miss him. He made the morning chore rounds with me. He had become skittish / leary just before he disappeared. I hope no one took him. We have some real rednecks in out area.

I had decided to cut the upper pasture for cow hay. I was obligated 2 weekends in a row to working on the new playground at school and an early killing frost came. I did not get the hay cut. It was more of an after thought anyway.
I had not considered the drought having an effect on the winter rye grass we plant every year.
Normally our winters are very wet. We had a light rain and the grass is sprouting. I hope it is enough to help. I am not sure I have enough hay for the stocker calves with out the rye help. I can always sell them if things get tight with hay.
I filled the feeders in our little wildlife area. They go off at dusk and dawn. There are no ag crops anymore to help the wildlife make it through the winter. The horses have access to that area but have never figured out the timers and are here at the barn eating hay at dusk and dawn. The critters have the corn cleaned up before the horses know any had been put out.

Cutter, my older Ranch horse likes a stall. He is low man in the hierarchy. He once was a working horse on a feedlot in Oklahoma. He was kept in a pen his entire life. He feels secure in one. He is the only horse that gets feed and free choice hay. The other horses will stand around his stall as he eats. That is as close to being part of the herd as he gets. Kind of sad. But when he sees me going to the barn he is waiting at the stall door wanting in. He knows he will be fed and protected in a stall. Funny how every horse is different in some way.