Sunday, March 14, 2010

Still around Sunday

Short weekend.....lots of work.........hmm......you know the list never gets shorter.........we don't see daylight yet but we still get a lot done.
Saturday it's just me, Ryan and Carrera for a while........then just me and Ryan. We get stalls cleaned, waters filled and then we groom a few horses. We start with the worst.....Mercy and Promise..........the sun is out for a little while and we take advantage of being able to hose/soap/rinse Madam Mercy's legs, back end and give her a good brushing. I will give her this...........she was SLIGHTLY better........she kicked at us a couple of times, screamed but the biting was at a minimum.......she is very hairy and shedding like crazy. It looked like we had a snow storm in her paddock, we had that much hair! We also groomed Promise.......and she was much better than last week....she is still stall walking, tooth grinding, generally neurotic.....it is a concern.........she stall walks like she is in a trance. The stall walking is bad because she burns too many calories........and does not eat enough to keep up. For those of you thinking it........she is not locked in a stall,,,,,,,,,, she is living in a loafing shed and has free access to her paddock. I also gave her a toy to play with.......and she has the wonderful Beaver sharing her fenceline for company.........but she is still neurotic about the walking and grinding of her teeth. She is not much for grooming either but so much better than Mercy. I am giving her Mare Magic along with Madam Mercy.......I hope it will kick in. It cannot be much of a life to be so worried. I feel badly for this little mare.......she is homely.......she is sickle hocked, she has a broken sesmoid, MULE ears, little eyes.......badly set on neck....bad fur........skinny...............so many strikes against her at such a young age. We, of course, never hold looks to be of importance, but you know as well as I do, that many people do. We want to give her a chance because she has had so many humans fail her. She is not yet four.......very tragic, isn't it? You know, Breeze is the same age, and was at the track the same amount of time......it is simply the difference in how a horse is treated by the trainer, grooms..........the owner. Breeze has no bad habits....great manners......while poor Promise shows the evidence of how she was treated.
The rest of Saturday afternoon, we load manure, work on electrical items in the barn. (two new light fixtures, a new receptacle, a new switch).......go get coffee at Starbucks, marvel at the tool section of Lowes buy some electrical items..........come back, work a little more, feed every one, talk about next week............and then go home. Ryan.........again...you are such a help with the projects............Thank you. This week Ryan has spring break and has offered to work on some barn projects..........siding, electrical........manure.......plumbing......as I said, we have a million things to do.
Sunday I go to the barn by myself, we have a little sunshine in the morning..........I feed and clean paddocks........drink coffee..........gather eggs, clean stalls........go see my mom.........and then I put up a bird feeder, move the bird bath........hang up a bird house........and it is noon.......already? I head home..........drink coffee.....then go outside to tend my gardens.........weed and prune, then rake.........wash the sidewalk off........play with the dog.......take a shower, feel ready for a nap,,,,,,,,,,,but I need to go to the store..........Fred Meyer.........dog food, cat food, prescriptions, bath mat...........and a few other things that I don't really need. Socks.......why was I lured into buying socks?????? and of course, some more Starbuck's coffee.....sushi for lunch..........
then back to the barn to meet the hay man...........three tons of orchard grass.........I helped unload it............VERY heavy bales....which gave away my age.........and then I raked up loose stuff and fed it to the inmates and they LOVED it.........much better than the last stuff which was rather stemmy.......I fed dinner like I was a gourmet chef.......rice bran, sunflower seeds, oats, senior grain, beet pulp........hot water.......everyone is happy.

Pony UP fortune for tomorrow:

Can you afford not to?

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