November 22, 2013

I Hate Darkness

What my horses are doing right now.  Why the mud pillow?
The time change:  it's what every working horseperson dreads.  You come home from work, it's dark already and feels like the day is already gone and it takes all your willpower to layer up, saddle up, and mount up.

And I'm wishing that was the only thing I had to worry about!

I apologize for being an absentee blogger so much this fall.  It feels like someone flipped a switch in my life:  I was hanging out all summer, my horse was lame so I didn't have much to do outside of work and I had all this free time.

Now I would give my arms for a little boredom -- is there a happy medium??  It will take me considerably longer to put together the horse trial story, so will some photos of an awesome OTTB trying his heart out do?

Let's see, what else have I got:

This happened:

Yes, that is a Shed-In-A-Box full of my boys' winter supply of hay.  I ran about in a panic once we finally had time to assemble the shed on the farm (it is just a simple ShelterLogic thingy from HomeDepot, since I am poor and in a hurry) because I wanted to buy decent hay before the price rocketed to winter levels.  So if their shelter ever arrives, the boys will have a selection of either a slightly sun-faded but still quite good orchard/rye mix or a leafy green timothy/orchard mix.

We crammed my horse trailer and another small truck with as much hay as they would hold (which turns out to be 75 bales) and sprinted back to finish the shed and fill it before that evening's forecasted rain.  I already had my moisture barrier and pallets from my house construction site, so after we got the shed walls on, we started stacking.

Watching skeptics swore I would never fit it all in, but I had done very careful math (even geometry, for cod's sake) with volumes of hay bales and sheds so I held the faith.  DANGIT, IT FIT!!  Vindication feels good.  Although now I am annoyed that I forgot to turn the bottom bales on their sides, but I'm not taking it all out to fix them.  So far it's nice and cozy and dry and I'll add a few pieces later to critter proof it.

OH!  And this happened:
I am fostering BFF's tractor because she is awesome and we had a chat (she previously owned a farm, but the tractor has been mostly sitting in the woods since they sold the farm).  It took me approximately...42 seconds to become obsessed with it.

It's had a lot of time off, but still runs beautifully and it brought its good friends, Bush-hog, Harrow, Augur, and best of all, Bitey Bucket (yeah, yeah, 4-in-1, but that sounds boring).  So I am hoping I will able to beautify it again over time and will certainly be able to keep it from being bored.  I completely confess to squealing with glee when I picked up an 8' telephone pole with said bitey bucket and moved to a different location.  Bonus:  bucket can also open up and be used a box blade or light-duty dozer or backgrader.  Theoretically.  I need to practice more before I am any good at that!

What can I grab next?
Because of work and house and farm duties, I haven't been able to see the horses much, aside from quick visits.  I purposefully did not touch Encore for a week after his horse trial; he had gotten a bit work sour and cranky and was looking a tad ulcer-y.  He's getting a few weeks of ranitidine (already gets U-Guard and alfalfa pellets), but when I visited yesterday, he was already looking happier!

So the young'un gets some time off for now, then he will spend the winter getting strong on the trails and fine-tuning some skills.  He showed me he had the scope and was ready to attack Training Level, so a-schooling we shall go!

Next week, I hope to hop on Solo and play around.  He needs something to do too this winter, so once I get tractor and fence put together, hopefully I will have earned some more weekend time to myself!

12 comments:

  1. Congrats on the on site hay storage. Did you ask the skeptics to put their money where their mouths were?!

    Super jealous of the foster tractor + attachments. Auger tool will come in very handy.

    I have some experience with grading and moving piles of stuff. It is definitely harder than it looks, especially if you have perfectionist tendencies. ;D

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  2. Nice looking tractor. Nothing beats a tractor.

    I think the only drawback to owning your own property is the lack of an indoor arena. Too bad Home Depot doesn't sell them in a box. :)

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  3. Bitey bucket! Love it!

    Do I see an aeration tunnel in your hay shed?

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  4. I totally agree regarding the darkness. It's so hard to get anything done or be motivated. Too bad we have to work!

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  5. OMG. Google just ate my long comments response. Arg.

    Well, fine google, I will just say, I agree with everyone!!!

    Although here, we don't really need indoors, even when I did board at a facility that had one, I rode outside anyway.

    Oh, Val, that IS an air tunnel. Or a hibernacular for me!

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  6. The one time a drove a tractor I broke it and a rafter in the arena. Don't ask.

    So never again.

    But the hay storage is legit.

    I remember the 10 years I spent drogging through mud in winter because I didn't have an arena. Honestly, trying to decide if its worth it boarding. Sometimes I prefer having my own place, no rules, no drama...but no arena.

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  7. I am living vicariously through you. Love the farm prep!

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  8. Tip: buy land next door to pro trainer who has all weather lighted arena. ;-) Actually, since I was soil nazi when I was shopping, I have beautiful soil that drains wonderfully and I have driven on it the day after a tropical storm. Yes, I am such a geek that I am in love with my soil.

    SB, I think I am living vicariously through myself since I don't have time to actually DO anything, LOL! But hopefully someday that will change...

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  9. Riley literally lies face down in his own pee and poop every night. These special chestnuts!

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  10. Love the tractor...who doesn't love a good tractor.

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  11. I don't know, T Myers, but it would probably be someone I wouldn't want to be friends with!!!! ;-P

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