After a busy week, it was a quieter weekend. Carrie hopped in the gator and dragged all the fields while I stalled the horses for feeding and morning chores. We rotated fields (Carrie came in concerned one afternoon when Sam had enlarged lymph nodes. Research said that it was his saliva glands working over time from a lush new field!).
I caught Nibs laying down and relaxing in all the nicely smoothed poo.
What's the attraction? Is it cooler? Or warmer? I couldn't say.
Farming is cheaper than boarding.....over time. Building a barn and buying all the related toys cost a chunk up front.
Carrie found some deals after Thanksgiving that have been locked on the trailer. I like shoveling snow, but with our massive driveway and the hope of boarders I asked for a snow blower.
I broke it out of the crate and wheeled it off the trailer instead of lifting it. So far, it hasn't looked like I'll use it much this year.
Our well is electric and we're a little out there, so Carrie found a deal on a generator, as well. This wasn't solely a barn purchase, but the automatic waterers for the horses factored in.
Once the trailer was empty, we loaded it up with all of our trash (about 6 cans worth). The cardboard is what took up 80% of the floor space.
Saturday was gorgeous. It made it much more pleasant to change the oil on the riding mower. I worked on it while Heidi and Carrie were out riding. Shane was inside playing Final Fantasy II.
Random horse observation of the day: I've developed an opinion on horse blankets. It started off where Carrie was afraid to let me change them, and now she's happy to stay inside and avoid the cold while I do it!
Annie's blanket is my least favorite.
But first, a quick explanation.
Blankets help with the cold, but not all horses need to be blanketed. Wet weather increases the chance blankets will be needed.
Sam and Maddy are examples of horses with thick winter coats and are less likely to need blankets. There was one night when I brought them all in and Sam had started to sweat under his blanket (which is a no-no). Annie and Nibs have much thinner coats while Eddie is in between.
Blankets normally have Velcro and some sort of straps to secure in the front. It's much easier to do when the horse's head is up or at least not snout down scrounging on the ground.
There are belly straps that require reaching under the horse to the other side. Twisting the hooks just right took me a few nights to get down pat (the cold didn't help), but practice makes perfect.
Some blankets have leg straps, but Carrie bought simpler blankets or removed most of ours. Our last step is pulling the trail over the butt strap.
And voila! You have a blanketed horses. Thanks for posing, Maddy!
When removing the the blanket, I remove the belly straps first and the chest straps second. Then it's slide off the back in a downward motion to clear the tail.
Annie's blanket is my least favorite, because her butt strap rides too high. I feel like I have to be careful not to accidentally give her an enema. She must have grown.
Saturday evening, I headed into town to meet up with a fellow math teacher to hang out and maybe play a game.
To keep the trip productive, I donated a bunch of Shane's old clothes at Goodwill and stopped by the recycling center to offload our plastics, metals, papers, and glasses.
I drove up to a new brewery to meet my friend, Scott. His friend, Mark, was the head brewer. Google took me to a locked gate, but it was a fun night.
I only stayed for a couple of hours to make it home for evening horse chores.
Bonus dog update: Loki loves cardboard boxes as much as any cat.
Carrie put a pillow in the box and Loki had a Grade A playpen. I threw him a chew to preserve the box for an extra night or two.
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