Tuesday.......we have a tractor!

Pony Up North bought a tractor today! A John Deere 770, used, but just the right size......with accessories! A good friend of mine picked it up for me and took it home to give it some "maintenance" and a once over. YAY!!! We really needed a tractor and got a great deal (I think and my friend thinks so too)

Sunday I had a quite a scare at the farm. I was feeding breakfast and Beaver was anxious. He hates it when Sully gets his hay first......he does his best to reach over Sully's stall and bite him, so Sully kicks at him and I yell at both of them and so it goes,they eventually settle down.........usually. This morning was no different........Beaver bit, Sully kicked, I yelled and Sully kicked again...and then I heard it. THE NOISE. The noise of wood pulling back and forth.........no more kicking. I was headed back into the barn, but heard THAT NOISE and turned around.......quick stepped back to Sully's stall. I expected to find that he had kicked through the plywood siding.....and THAT would have been bad enough.....but what I found was that he kicked the plywood siding and the 2 x 4 brace away from the post......and his leg slipped through the space he created when he kicked........the plywood flexed, his leg slipped through and then the plywood went back into place........holding his leg against the post. He was pulling against it and it would not budge. Enter ADRENALINE.........enter the thought "there is no one here to help me"........Run for the tack room for tools........door is locked.......run to the truck.........run back to tack room, unlock the lock......throw open the door, grab the hammer with the long claws........all the while calling to Sully to be a good boy...........easy does it.....run back to his stall and consider hitting myself in the head with the hammer.......I am going to have to pull the whole wall out.........I am on the outside of the stall, holding Sully's hoof in my left hand, telling him it is okay.........if he freaks out I am toast......there is NO HELP......I have to do this, no time to call anyone........Sully could break his leg or mortally wound himself. I am now Arnold Schwartzeneger........I take the hammer in my right hand and I put the claws under the two by four and I RIP it off of the post............voila.......I push Sully's leg back and down. My heart is pounding. Sully is such a good boy......he continued to eat his hay all the while that I held his foot. I go around and back into his stall. He is bleeding, his leg is scraped up......nothing deep enough for stitches. I halter him and he gets a cold hosing of the leg. Then I apply ointment, then pressure wrap it. Then he gets some bute. Then I sit down..........collect my thoughts..........then I replace the wall with a better wall. Two hours later..I am done. Fortunately I bought extra 2 x 4's the other day....wasn't sure why but thought I could use them for something ...!

I really always try to be safe......I try to have an eye for "things" that look dangerous. I am conservative where other people throw caution to the wind. I am a grandma mentality sometimes. Honestly.......Sully came from a farm that was a danger with a capital D......sheetmetal exposed, barbed wiring, jutting pieces of metal, broken boards........you name it....but he never got hurt and yet he gets his leg caught in his stall. Perhaps I should be drawn and quartered.......turned into the ASPCA .......who would have thought he could kick that hard? Not me. He is little. He is like a pony.

All that being said, it is a testament to his good and brave nature that he did not struggle and break his leg or pull skin off or tear muscles or some other atrocity....he was calm, he was eating hay and waiting for me to "fix" it. Some other horses (not named here) would have FREAKED out. Winston???....he would have taken the structure down and maimed himself..........with certainty.

I am happy to say that today (Tuesday) Sully's leg is fine, no swelling and he is no worse for the wear. I , however, am now looking for things.......dangererous, critical things........objects, rough spots.......divits.......you know there is something, right?

With all that being said..........one of the most dangerous things on any farm...........electricity.....I mention this seriously. Winter is coming and we will use electricity to keep ice out of troughs, to provide light in the dark hours..........make sure your circuits are GFI (ground fault interrupter) protected so that your horse or yourself cannot be electrocuted. Horses mess with things.........like de-icer units........and the added feature of water will make a really dangerous combination.....don't take a chance! Also exposed extension cords are an attractive and dangerous nuisuance..........cover cords so that they cannot be chewed........replace extension cords with frayed or cracked insulation........keep light fixtures mounted where lips cannot reach them.........barn wiring should be covered with conduit in areas where horses have access........you should have tube guards on fluorescent lamps so if they fall, they will not shatter all over the place. Horses will mess with light switches (just think about Beaver....my pony). The first thing he did when he got to my barn is to learn to flip the light switches, then break the switch cover off.......exposing wiring..........I had to block his access with WOOD. I could never figure why someone would put switches in harm's way? Get a qualified electrician to fix electrical issues. Electricity can kill.........don't take a chance

Friday....going to be sunny again

Friday......I love Friday...I don't work on Friday....Okay, I work, but I don't GO to a job, I work at the farm. There is always work to do at the farm. I wonder sometimes if anyone gets caught up on the work at a farm where there are horses? I am thinking NOT.

One of the reasons for not getting ahead on projects is that new projects always seem to pop up. Let's take the french drains we have been working on for example.....you know you dig a ditch, put some gravel down, put a pipe in the ditch, cover with some gravel, put some fabric over the top.....then pile the dirt back in.
You admire your work and think you got a lot done. Then several hours later as you are feeding the horses you notice that you did not cover a part of the fabric for some reason, so you go back over there and put more dirt on it. Then the next morning you see that the fabric is sticking up in another area and you get suspicious....and then you look over in another paddock and you see that a certain un-named pony is digging into the dirt, grabbing the fabric and pulling it up.....little ears forward and looking at you the whole time. Then you notice that a huge Holsteiner cannot walk anywhere in his paddock except for making a trail right over the new drain and so HIS fabric is everywhich way and then HIS neighbor horse sees the fabric and he too pulls it up, except he is also a huge horse and when he pulls it up, he PULLS it all up.
Sigh.
extra sigh.
I am now thinking these drains must be done with a backhoe and much deeper.........more dirt on the top or heavier gravel.

Yep, I am becoming an expert on drainage..........I just actually haven't seen it work yet.

Horses.

Did I also mention the wood part of the fence was painted, looked great and then I noticed chew marks? Nobody chewed on it before it was painted.
Well and then there is my arena fencing. Four by four posts with cyclone fencing and now there are at least four of them leaning......leaning out...why you ask? Because some big horse needs to lean against them, scratch against them, hang out along the fence line to visit other horses and well, big horses tend to loosen posts when they lean.

So you see, I wonder how when I have visited other places and they are pristine pictures of horse farms.........no leaning posts, no chew marks, no curtain drains with wadded up loose fabric........how do they do it? 24/7 help?

well, off to farm work. Lots to do today. More hay to order. I need to buy beetpulp.....clean stalls, fix posts (don't I always write that one?) Kimis coming to ride Sully this afternoon.

enjoy your sunny day!

Monday and the holiday is over..........

A weekend that allowed us realize that FALL is almost here.......Fall means cooler, damper weather.......okay Fall really means the begining of RAIN season........and lots of rain for several months. It is how our landscape and scenary stays so green. Mother nature reminded me that mud is part of the fall scenary here in Washington, at least if you have horses. After this weekend, we have mud. We had some minor roof leaks too. So on Sunday we hauled some gravel, we bought more roof patch, we dug some more drainage ditches. I am hoping that it will dry out enough so that we can have the tractor spread the gravel over the geo tech fabric.........keep your fingers crossed for that. I hate to see horses slog in mud.

At least everyone had a dry place to stand.......thanks to loafing sheds and stalls. We are hock to hock...........hoping for another adoption before October so that we have some extra room. We are working on more wind blocks for the loafing sheds......which means more plywood and more paint to protect it.

Back to work tomorrow for most of us......but a short work week, right?

Kim helped feed and water tonight while I cleaned. Great to have volunteers and especially experienced ones. Kim used to ride hunters and will probably work one or more of the horses for us....she is working with Sully right now on lungeing and some ground work. She already knows the way to his heart is a carrot.

I saw beautiful pictures of Briann and Rio........he looks happy, she looks happy......and I am sure he is glad to be in his own stall with his own food which he doesn't have to share.........plus he has an extra large pasture to go out in.......he definitely traded up!

I have my hired hands coming tomorrow........gutters need to be cleaned, fence posts need to be straightened, paddocks cleaned, retaining walls built and oh, yeah........more GRAVEL.

enjoy your week!

Saturday.......volunteers rock!

Here it is, Saturday on Labor day weekend and we still have lots to do. Rain is upon us and there is mud to be managed, lean to's to be built and our volunteers get them done.
Sharon, Kim,Darlene and I built a lean to today off of a loafing shed. It will temporarily house "evil on four legs" aka Beaver, but eventually will be used to store a few bales of hay for those horses in the lower forty. We got the framing up, the metal roofing up and all we need now is ROOF PATCH for a few previous nail holes. Tomorrow..yes, tomorrow, I will get that chore done. I hope the weather will cooperate.
Kim groomed Hamilton and Sully, then helped Briann with Breeze. Ollie got a nice grooming and head rub..........poor Ollie has been lonesome since Rio left. Tonight he has a next door neighbor..........Beaver...so he won't be too lonesome any longer, although he may regret exhibiting lonesomeness! Also Bubba groomed Beaver....they are getting quite a friendship.......Beaver has not bit him even once!

I have hired a couple of very nice teenagers to do some work around the farm......great boys.....really great. Well mannered, polite, sense of humor and a great work ethic. Did I say I really like them? I do!!! Tomorrow they will wheelbarrow gravel and dig a few more drainage ditches....mend some fence posts at the arena, help me move some hay.....so nice to have some muscle!

A big THANK YOU to the Stroh's girls/women who sponsor Breeze! They are a huge help and asset to us and we so appreciate it! They take their sponsorship seriously and I know they will help find Breeze a great home! We have had a couple of good referrals from Strohs. Might I also mention that if you need some plants or some plant advice........go to Strohs. My whole yard is comprised of great finds from Strohs, who helped me chose landscape items.

Also a big mention of Cenex who lets us put a pallet out for donations! A great and friendly crew.........Johnny, Jeff, Bill and Susie. THank you! and thank you to the customers who have donated items for us to use at the farm. We have received lots of wormers, some medical supplies and miscellaneous goods!

Last but NOT least..........thank you to Emily, the hairdresser, who cuts and styles our hair and allows a Pony UP donation box at her station!!! Not only do you give great hair cuts......but you support Pony Up! If you want a great hairstylist...email me and I will give you Emily's number.

This next week I will try and finish the paddocks.......such a long project, but such a worthwhile one. We almost have the drains finished and next will come stretching out geo tech grid, followed by crushed rock, then sand and pea gravel. I am saying NO to mud this year. Any anti mud suggestions will be appreciated......yes, send them my way....I want to hear how you keep mud at bay and your horse hooves dry.

Please enjoy your long weekend and be safe!