Equine Beach Bums

This spring, Manitoulin Island is experiencing a bit of a drought and temperatures are already tickling the 30's°C. Also, the biting insects are out in full force and these combined factors have altered the daily routines of the horses. While Altamiro and his family still come up to the house for breakfast oats, Mistral's group has become conspicuously absent, not just in the morning, but all the day long.

I had a suspicion the first day that the absentees had decided to spend their days grazing their way down the bluff to hang out at the beach, where the cooling lake breezes provide a welcome relief from the heat and the bugs.

When I refer to Mistral's Group, I speak of those equines who have joined together to form a herd separate from that of Altamiro and his mares. Here is the member list of this alternate herd at this point in time:

The Domestics:

Mistral / 29 yr. old Arabian gelding

Zeus / 16 yr. old Thoroughbred gelding

The Mules:

Dee / ~15-18 yr. old molly draft mule
Doll / ~15-18 yr. old molly draft mule
Jerry / ~15-18 yr. old john mule


The Primitives:

Animado : 2 yr. old half-Sorraia/half Sorraia Mustang colt

Fada : 2 yr. old half-Sorraia/half-Sorraia Mustang filly

Interessado : 2 yr. old half-Sorraia/half-Sorraia Mustang colt

Encantara : yearling half-Sorraia/half-Sorraia Mustang filly


I had opportunity to spend a little time at the beach with Mistral's group on three different days. During these visits I took many photos documenting how these equine beach bums spend their time on the shore of Lake Huron.


The half-mile of Ravenseyrie beach is referred to as a "cobble" beach and is covered by massive boulders, large stones, a variety of rocks and pebbles as well as several forms of clay.
Amazingly, there are many plants that grow down here and many appear to be enjoyable eats for the equines.

Let's explore some of the lake shore smörgåsbord nature has at the ready for our equine friends...

There is a sedgy grass (I've not yet found its true identity) that is abundant on the beach. It's slender, very stiff and rather coarse to the touch. It must have an appealing taste for the horses and mules spent much time grazing the different regions of the beach where this sedgy grass was prominent.
Grazing Beach Grass:

Discussing an anecdote involving bears, here is an interesting tidbit about sedge grass gleaned from Judith Somner's book, The Natural History of Medicinal Plants:

"Barrie Giblert of Utah State University has observed Alaskan brown bears preparing for hibernation. He postulates that the occasional swallowing of whole sedge leaves (Carex sp.) may serve to remove tapeworms from the bears' intestines, before they settle down to a period of prolonged inactivity during which the parasites could do considerable harm to their ursine hosts. The coarse, sharp-edged leaves of sedges may serve to scrape the worms from their points of attachment in the intestines."

Aside from serving nutritional value, what side benefits might sedge grass provide horses, I wonder?

There is a type of Willow shrub that grows among the rocks and this year is the first time I happened to be a witness to the horses browsing it, with apparent relish! From what I can tell this type of willow is identified as Salix bebbiana or Bebb's Willow. All willows are said to provide the beneficial pain-relieving effect that aspirins contain, in fact the Salix family, most notably Salix alba (White Willow) served as the precursor to the modern day synthesized aspirins made in laboratories.
Herbal Horsekeeping by Robert McDowell and Di Rowling tells me that the actions of willow are: "Analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, astringent, febrifuge and tonic." Common uses of willow are to "relieve pain, inflammation and fever."

Might this lake shore shrub also ease the swelling and itchiness of insect bites?


Browsing on Bebb's Willow:

Another treat for me was to observe the horses sampling the offerings in the cat-tail canal. I was surprised that the horses ingested not only the new shoots stems and leaves, but also the downy seed cotton left over from last year. The Common Cat-tail (Typha latifolia) is a plant consumed by many creatures, with the shoots, leaves, stems, pollen, fruit, seeds and rhizome roots providing nutritional value. Various parts of the cat-tail are also useful in nest building, basket making and as soft-packing material. It's quite an amazingly versatile plant and I hope that the severe browsing the horses engaged in has not caused irreparable damage. There are, of course, other areas on the bluff (specifically in moist road-side ditches) where cat-tail abounds, but I always liked having this section of the old boat canal colonized by cat-tail.
Browsing on Cat-tails:

In between dining courses, the horses engaged in a variety of mutual grooming sessions, and at one point the primitive youngsters blended into a four way grooming/yawning fest:

There also was a lot of napping going on:
Sometimes, with a rock as an unlikely pillow:

Sometimes interrupted by those pesky flies:



Mostly, though the napping appeared sublime:


As you can see, the Ravenseyrie horses have no need of fly masks, or insect repellents or electric fans in a deeply bedded barn--they have learned to make the most of each day, symbiotically flowing with their natural environment, altering their routines and habits and predilections to fit seasonal changes and climatic fluctuations.

Their way of life has much to teach me, and I am thankful to be a student here in this wonderful place in time.