Barn-Sitting

Jenny went out of town for the weekend and asked Carrie to barn-sit. Carrie was happy to oblige.

Nibs and Armour are pasture mates now. Carrie moved Nibs to Jenny's barn last Wednesday, so Carrie can see both her ponies in a single commute!

We handed Shane his DS when we showed up Saturday morning. "Play in the car while we move the horses," Carried said. He was happy to comply.

I handled Nibs, while Carrie led Armour and "Fred" (That's not his name, but Carrie says he's a Fred, so she calls him Fred! Who am I to argue?).

Once the three were in stalls and fed, Carrie and I went to feed the seven horses who stay out during the day. Carrie did all this with me along to chronicle. She dropped feed in eight buckets, so that the horses could shuffle and shift between them. "I don't get it, but the feed always tastes better in the next bucket!" She said.

Shane played with the dogs and then parked in the air conditioning while Carrie and I worked on the other chores.

I sneezed plenty. The barn is allergy central to me.....and no matter where I go cats seem to find me.

We made two trips every day: Morning and evening. I saw a big wolf spider hanging out with the dogs. Lots of horses equals lots of flies. Lots of flies equals spiders.

Shane got to muck out his first stall Saturday night. "Pretend it's a giant litter box and you've got the idea!"

"What if cats were the size of horses?" Shane asked.

Shane got in some trouble one day. He's not good about reacting and stopping on the first command. If anything, he wants to tell you why what he's doing is right and keep doing it. That doesn't work with Mommy when you're walking up to the pile of horse shit in sandals.

So I figured it was best to keep him out of sight or engaged with a task when in sight.

Shane shoveled bedding for me on Sunday.

Unfortunately, I had to dump it all out after he ran around the corner. We needed the wheelbarrow to shovel out the poop before we could drop fresh bedding in the stalls. Shane was none the wiser and I thanked him for being helpful.

Shane really did a decent job of entertaining himself. Shane played some DS, read books, played with the dogs, or watched the cats. There were no new scars or doctor trips earned.

Carrie got a big surprise when we were leaving one day. Shane pointed out a cat. "He's in hunting mode," Carrie said."

"What's he hunt?" Shane asked.

"Moles, mice," Carrie replied.

"Like the dead mouse I threw in the woods earlier!" Shane exclaimed.

I lost it. I cracked up. Carrie's eyes bugged out and I laughed even more.

You know Shane took a shower when we got home that time!