What's Up Wednesday: The one with the new barn!

 

Holy moly what a week. I feel like I've lived five lifetimes since last Wednesdays. This current one seems a little dark... But this isn't a political blog. So while I'm HUGELY disappointed, sad, and a little scared of the antisemitism I'm likely about to encounter more frequently... Let's talk about horses instead!

We did our best to continue horsing through the end of last week, and then I planned a day off for everyone when we moved on Saturday. Because I wanted to give them a chance to just get settled. Plus, I had a lot of unpacking to do! At the old barn I had things down to an easy science, but I wasn't totally sure where everything went and/or fit at the new place. So that took some extra time. Also, I made two trips. I could stuff all the horses in at once, but not along with all their stuff because I'm too lazy to unpack the show stuff from the tack room only to repack it again. It's a 22 minute drive in the car, but a little longer with the trailer. It's all back roads, which around here means very winding and very narrow. 

So far everyone seems to be settling in well. I could tell they all were a little edgy initially, but I think they're pretty happy at this point. Is the new place perfectly perfect in every way? No. It's not. But no place is. And they're really trying to be, so I give them props for that! The staff is really nice and they all care so much! Everyone keeps asking great questions and just wants to do things how I like. Even when I insist that I just want to fit in, and whatever works for them works for me just fine. 

I will say, not all of the staff is as educated as I might have expected. But they try, and they ask questions, and if they're not sure they let me know. None of the other horses there where boots in turnout other than bell boots, so the staff is having to learn which way they go on. I've seen them backwards a couple of times, but they aren't tight, so I'm not too concerned about bowed tendons. The only other whoops was that one evening the horses got fed breakfast grain instead of dinner grain, so the supplements were messed up. Not the end of the world, but Al did get a double dose of Omeprazole that day. (Once at breakfast once at dinner, which normally it's just breakfast.) Not ideal, but not the end of the world. The breakfast worker doesn't normally feed dinner, so he just grabbed the thing he was used to in error. I'm sure it won't happen again because he was VERY apologetic and seemed pretty upset about it. I wouldn't have even known if he didn't tell me though, so I appreciate that they don't try to hide things. 

The place overall is really nice. There's a grass ring that we haven't made it out to yet, tons of property that we're allowed to ride on that's not part of the rings, an outdoor sand ring, and an indoor with Travel-lite footing. There's a course set up outside currently, and indoors we are allowed to set stuff up if we want. Last weekend one of the girls had a really fun pole/cavalletti course set up. I didn't get a chance to do it with the move and all, but I think she does that pretty regularly. So looking forward to next time! I haven't gotten photos of everywhere just yet, but here's a quick tour:

Sorry, I should have taken this from the other side. 
This is the barn and the indoor. It's just 14 stalls
so much quieter than the last place!

This is the indoor. It's pretty small, but honestly, it's rarely busy there. 
I've only shared the ring for two rides so far.

There's a trunk room and hayloft over the barn. (I don't love a hayloft, much prefer hay kept stored away from the horses, but that's one of those things that sometimes you can't be picky about.) The trunk room looks over the indoor.

View of the indoor from the trunk room

My stuff upstairs in the trunk room. 
I have the one black trunk, the tool box, and there's
a clear rubbermaid tub next to that.

They have a really great layout for the tack room. It also doubles as the lounge and thirds as tack cleaning stations.

There are two of these tack cleaning stations, 
this one, and one behind me. 
The saddle racks are also the left and behind me. 
I forgot to take a photo of them.

Each horse gets a shelf area, two bridle racks
and then that little bench under the bridles opens for more storage.
In this photo are Al's and Eros' spots. 

That little bench area holds a TON of stuff.  In each of mine 
currently is the following:
Heavy wool cooler, back on track mesh sheet with neck, combo scrim
regular scrim, waffle cooler, a wash bucket with scraper and sponge inside, and grooming 
halter with lead. And there's plenty more room!

Just behind the barn and indoor is a little hill and up on that hill is the outdoor ring.

There's nothing really surrounding it which is so wonderful for Al. No trees, no scary neighbors. There is driveway on both sides but it's not really used much. We park in front of the barn. To the left of the ring (facing away from the barn) there's a big downhill slope and some grass field turnout. They're working on getting auto waterers down there, so only one is in use at the moment, but that should change in the coming weeks. Shiny won't be able to go out there because no grass for her, but the other boys probably will. Once those are done being re-fenced and irrigated the horses will be out for more hours each day. Currently they're getting four hours which is like double what they had at the other place. Even more would be lovely! To the right of the ring is more grass, which actually doesn't belong to the barn, but to the town. And I think they hay it? Not sure on that. But it's just an empty field which is nice. Directly behind the ring are the paddocks. They're really pretty small, but big enough that the horses did some playing out there on the first day. So they're definitely big enough. I showed Al how to use the auto waterer and he was AMAZED by it. Couldn't get him out of there for awhile. Lol. I need to make sure the other two have then figured out. Al I think really likes having the paddocks right by the outdoor because he was pretty relaxed out there when we rode yesterday and today. More on that later. We'll finish the tour first!

The boys in the paddocks!

And Shiny in another one.

I think there are seven dry paddocks and maybe four fields? Some of the horses can go out together, so I'm pretty sure once the fields are ready they can all be out all day. They were digging the irrigation today, so it's definitely in progress and not just something they tell people. Lol. I have such trust issues.

Anyway, this part I don't have photos of yet. But past all the dry lot paddocks is the grass ring, and then beyond that is a big field we can ride on too. I'm not sure either of my boys will make it that far out... Lol, they hate nature. But Shiny will at some point. I took her for a walk around yesterday, but I could feel her getting nervous once we got to the grass ring. We'll explore another time with a buddy. No need to stress anyone out!

All of the boarders are really nice and friendly. It looks like the majority ride dressage. There's one lady with a hunter (and he's adorable!) and then another lady who used to do jumpers but does dressage now. I knew her a little bit from long ago, but never well. She made sure I knew she used to jump high and has gone up to Intermediate in dressage. Lol. She has two horses there, and the other one is ridden by a man who it turns out I used to know somewhat well back when I was in high school. When I first introduced myself to him I knew he looked familiar, but couldn't immediately place him. But when I got home I remembered how I knew him. When I was in high school, during my junior years as a rider, I showed quite often with an amateur that shipped in to ride with my trainer. Her mom had a farm nearby. And this man who looked familiar rode at their barn. He used to come to all the horse shows to help out and support his friend. So I used to hang with him a ton. They were all in their twenties then, and I was just like 15 probably? My trainer at the time eventually left my barn, so that amateur stopped showing with us (stayed with the trainer that left, it's a long story). So I saw less of them the last few years and then I went off to college. So I haven't seen this guy in almost 30 years. Makes sense we didn't recognize each other at first! But Sunday I went up to him and was like... so we know each other... And he absolutely remembered me and my horse Bud. It's nice to have a familiar face when you're somewhere new. 

I've been very impressed with how they do things at this place as far as care. (Like I know there were the couple of things above, but those aside.) The stalls are picked out constantly. The paddocks are fully cleaned out everyday. The horses always have hay. (Except Shiny because #fatponyproblems) I think the hay soaking for Shiny is causing some distress, but they're determined to figure out the right system for their program. I know it's a pain in the ass. I appreciate the effort tremendously. It took me awhile to get to where it was just part of the routine, so I get that! The waters are cleaned everyday. It's basic stuff, but you never know what you're walking into until you get there ya know? 

So how have the horses been? Weirdly good. Even Al. Sunday I just did light hacks with Eros and Shiny. I did everyone inside because it was cold that day and quite windy. And I've had enough of riding out in the cold wind! They were both perfect. Eros really seemed to like the fancy footing inside. For Al, I lunged him at both ends of the ring before getting on. He wasn't really wild at all, and wasn't terribly spooky either! I got on and just did about ten minutes with him since he'd already lunged for awhile. He was great. No spooks, even with some creaking from the wind. They have mirrors in the indoor (LOVE!) and I honestly think that helped settle Al. He loves having another horse with him. He seemed to understand that was his own reflection, but still I think he found it reassuring. 

It's pretty here

I've chosen to stick with my Mondays off schedule for the time being because I really like my Mondays off. It's nice. So they had that day off, but at this barn they're open seven days a week. So I popped in at the end of the day to put Eros' wraps back on and make sure they were dressed as I wanted them to be. (They were!)

Yesterday I planned to flat everyone but also start Al on the lunge again. It's been unseasonably warm here so we ventured to the outdoor. Eros and Shiny both acted like they'd ridden in that ring their entire lives. Which was really nice! I think if I ever do show them, they won't be too difficult about new places. Lovely to find that out! The wind has been ridiculous (that's the trade off for the warm weather I guess) but the horses were wonderful. It's really nice not having a scary tree line right next to the ring on windy days. Apparently, wind is 99% unscary when the ring has nothing around it. Who knew? I was feeling a little... apprehensive about how Al was going to be out there. I started him on the lunge and he was mildly spicy to start, but just a little bit. He settled right in though! I lunged at both ends of the ring, just so he could see everything at all three gaits (because it all looks different at each gait according to Al) and he was just fine. I think the horses turned out by the end was nice for him. I got on and was walking a bit to start when some of the workers pulled in near the ring. One guy approached the digger with a key in his hand... and I wasn't sure what was bout to happen, but I decided not to find out. Lol. Pulled the ammy card, I did! Al has lunged for 20 minutes already so I didn't feel too bad about bailing out. It was in the 70's he was already huffing and puffing. No harm done. 

Today I was ready to get to work with these free loaders! I mean somewhat. Haha. My horse day started a little late because I had my annual eye dr appointment this morning. Did I mention my eye doctor owns this barn? Ha! Small world. Anyway, it was 75 degrees today and I was ready to enjoy it with all the horses! Shiny goes out in the first shift, so she was back in by the time I got there and opted to start with her. She was great! I set up two cross rails on a figure eight and cantered her over them a few times. I didn't work her TOO hard for a couple reasons. First, she is really fuzzy and I didn't want her to overheat. It was downright cold here for a couple weeks and now it's warm again. So that's weird for them. And secondly, the sand in the outdoor is a little heavier than the sand at home, so I like to take it easy at first while they get used to it. Just better to be cautious at first than to go all out and cause a tendon injury, ya know? Obviously these both apply to all the horses, but the boys are significantly less fuzzy than Shiny. So I was less worried about the heat part for them. Still aware of it, but less concerned.

I did Al next. Today I jumped right in with no lunge to start. I let him walk for awhile to see everything. They were digging the trench while I rode him, just down the hill from the ring. So you could only kind of see the top of the digger. But it was surprisingly not noisy and he didn't care at all. They're also doing something out behind the field. Not sure what, might just be manure removal, but a big dump truck was in and out a few times, driving right past the ring. And Al didn't care. Not at all. I just flatted him somewhat lightly today, but was thrilled with his behavior. Maybe tomorrow I'll put on my big girl pants and pop him over some little jumps. We will see... You never know which Al you'll get until you get on. But for today he gets a gold star.

Eros was last. He was actually a little bit spicy today, but not in a spooky way. Just really forward and a little heavy. I let him trot a couple crossrails, but didn't do more because he's not ready to torpedo in this heavier footing yet. 

Now you're all caught up on our move! So far so good. I'm also in talks with an old friend/trainer about some help with Al and he's on board!  Operation get back in gear is officially underway!

In other news, Rita and I dressed up as Care Bears for Halloween. 

She hated it.

We had hoped to hand out candy while we were working on the barn packing. Alas, there were no trick treaters. There never are here honestly, but someday there could be! And I'll be ready!

OH! I did something random but fun the other night. I have a small group of friends that we used to call a book club, but honestly we never read anything... We still get together here and there for a meal or something. Friday we got together and had a lady come do Tarot readings for us. I've never done that before and wouldn't call myself a believer in such things. But I also know better than to assume they are complete nonsense. You know, just in case. Haha! Anyway, I had a positive reading that suggested this move will be really good for us. So I'm going to take that and hope it's accurate!

And that's it for this week. You're all caught up! How are all of you doing? Ready to fast forward four years? I am.