Perks

The new barn owner is super chill and so easy to deal with. Since I have moved in, he has agreed to let me make a few changes in the barn. 

He doesn't mind if I bring in mats for the aisle at the front of the barn where I have my cross ties. If I want to put some down in the stalls- he's fine with that too. One of the ladies I used to board with has a lead on these for a good price. I may have to buy them a couple at a time, but so be it. 

One of the other boarders recently moved out and left behind a weed eater. When the BO went out of town for a few days, I used it to mow down a bunch of stuff around the front of the barn. I also grabbed the nippers and trimmed what I could in the arena. 

He also doesn't mind if I take the truck into the arena for something to stand on/in the bed of and trim the lower hanging branches. No more ducking and dodging when I ride. Before I could do that though, last weekend he had a few loads of sand brought in and dumped in the arena. 

 Looking to the west in the arena

While I was in Hell seeing my girls for their birthday, (they are 12) the power company came in and cut back about 90% of the tree growth on the north side off the arena- the right side of the pic above. BO also worked the footing in the arena. This end had some deep spots that dried a little hard with holes from footprints in the mud- the other end had a few spots the same.  About 2 days after he worked the footing I was able to ride on it. It is so nice riding in a freshly groomed arena! Still a little squishy on the east end but a shit ton better than the arena at the last barn. 

I also have the front stalls so getting shavings brought in is super easy too!  A bag like this, fine grind, almost like sand is only $25. If you want a coarse grind then they also have a bigger bag for $35. 

Katman gets about 3/4 of the bag in his stall. He's a relatively clean pony- poops in the back corner so no shavings there, and he has one pee spot so that's easy to clean. 

The other pony however, can be a total slob. Her stall is stripped, his stall is stripped and the barely used shavings from his- goes into hers.  Then she gets the other 1/4 the bag of new stuff on top. These shavings make it super easy to clean stalls. The wet stuff clumps almost like kitty litter and the dry stuff? Well it falls thru the rake without even a shake leaving just the manure. 

Mice/ rats in the barn- every barn has them at some point.  At the new place the barn owner routinely puts out bait blocks to keep them at bay or at least somewhat under control. I like this better than the last barn where they relied on some semi-feral cats to do the job, which they didn't. What they Did do instead was breed indiscriminately and were always popping out kittens here there and everywhere, besides climbing on tack and leaving deep scratches in the leather of 2 of my saddles- thru the saddle covers. Not cool! 

Lights and fans are included in the board at the new barn. Each stall has them, as well as a window off the back that can be left open or closed.  

Drama free zone- absolutely!