Projects

Part of the perks at the new barn is a wonderful owner who appreciates a low key, no drama atmosphere and takes pride in his property. Now that he has put concrete floors in most of the tack rooms, he repiped the water lines giving each stall a faucet of its own to make filling water tubs easier. These are all now underground which meant my mats had to move for a few days. Not a big deal since I really don't get to work ponies during the week with the time change. 

Mat #1 is the right front, #2 is the left front, #3 is the left rear and #4 is the right rear.

The barn owner sends me a text the other night that the water lines are done and the old ones overhead were all taken down. When I got there that night, he had moved the mats all back inside. "I know they aren't how you had them but I felt I should move them back in since I moved them out."  I can certainly appreciate that since they are heavy ass mats! I let him know that with the long weekend I would be moving them around, leveling the ground under them and cutting them to fit the aisleway.  I needed to bring my good knife home from work to make the job a lot quicker and easier and he replied with this- 👍👍👍 Monday night I got the front right mat (#1) leveled for the most part and cut to fit. That was an easy one!

Mat #2 was a bitch! Tuesday night I got the ground leveled but had to cut the whole end of the mat at an angle to fit the front of the stall and the wood protecting the spigot. I was able to get the notch for the spigot box done pretty easily, but the rest was going to take more time and more effort than I had that night. Wednesday night I got Mat #3 leveled and cut. That one went pretty quick and easy. Once I had the edges on the long side up against M#2, I could lay the short end on top of the base board and use it as a guide to cut along, pushing the mat down into place as I went. 

Mat #4 needs to be leveled and turned, then cut to fit and it should will drop into place pretty easily. Since there is enough room, I may get 2 more mats to put across the aisle in front of the gates. This would make it easier to sweep the shavings up and back into the stalls. The farrier is coming on Friday and will get to see and use the newly matted aisle to work in/on. I'm sure he will appreciate it! 

Some of you may have noticed that the way I laid out the mats, the seam down the middle is staggered or offset. It's more to the left in the two front mats and off to the right between the back two. If or when I put down 2 more, this one would also be more to the left. This is so that not only it has the appearance of brick or tile work but also the seams aren't all together. If a horse was to flip out and sit back in the ties, they would be less likely to get a hoof or shoe under the edge of the mats. The fewer edges in one area- the fewer places to get caught up and things to come undone. Since there is a covered area over the door of the barn, I may level that and put a couple mats down so the other boarders can use the cross ties too with their horse outside so the ponies in their stalls won't be interfering with them if the farrier or vet is working on their horse. 

The next project will be to get some plywood to put between the bottom 2 rails, cut to fit and trimmed to make a nicely finished look. This will keep the shavings IN the stalls and also help protect the box and spigots from any stray hooves of a down horse.  I'm sure the BO would be happy to have it done and can see that I take pride in my work and having things neat, making it a nice place to work. 

He is also thinking to install a wash rack and I let him know I can get more mats for that when the time comes. There is a space right off the front of the barn that has ample drainage which would be perfect for it. It would also face the south so there would be plenty of daylight for warmth in the winter months. If he would like, I have contacts and could get a water heater relatively cheap for that added bonus in winter months. Talking to him a while back, his daughter showed horses back in the day and they boarded at one of the other barns I had looked at. In all honesty, his place is much nicer. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing everyone a Happy and safe Thanksgiving, how ever you choose to gather and celebrate it. 

Things I am thankful for- the various horses and people who have taught me so much in life. Those still among us and those whose loss I have grieved. 

RIP- Tess, Izzy, Punkin, Abby, Dooley, Pi, Mo, Mommy Mare, Solis, Berry, Fred, Shelly, Kodiak, Timber/Roo, Howie, Buzz & Holly Mooo

Perks 2.0

I got a couple of the stall mats the other night.... 

I got two of them to start. When I get two more I will turn them and cut off the excess so it will be solid mats all the way across. When the other boarder showed up the next night he was asking how on earth I had wrangled those suckers into the aisle? They're Heavy! He's a tall, stronger guy and I guess he didn't figure my size and grit too well. Lol 

Ummm getting them Out of the truck was the easy part! Gravity and backing the truck up to where I wanted them made it simple to move them. Just slide them out and they're already in place for the most part. Getting them up Into the truck was a different story. Because they're so freaking heavy.

The barn owner decided to fix up the floors in the feed and tack rooms. He had started at the other end of the barn since its empty. That meant I needed to move all of my stuff so he could fix the floors. Last week I moved my feed. I thought I was down to 4 bales of hay and it turns out I have 5. Bonus! But I had just bought alfalfa pellets the night before so I had to move them- Again. Wish I had known before buying them. Lol 

But this? This is Totally Worth It! No more wood floors. This is my feed room. Just gotta wait for the concrete to set up and then I can move it all back down to the front of the barn. 

This is the tack room next to mine. Concrete has set up a bit more already. 

It would have been nice being able to just move everything to the next door down, but it's all good. I got everything moved and the BO will be able to make the changes needed. Some are getting concrete and others are getting the wood floors fixed up for now. Besides, with what's to come- it's a Good thing I didn't move everything one space over. 

I'm feeling kind of spoiled at this barn. It's nice having a barn owner who takes things seriously and not only has a clean facility, but puts work into it and takes care of everything. While it's nice to have other boarders to talk to and people to ride or maybe show with- its just as nice Not having their damn drama.  It's so nice being drama free. Such a difference! 

This is my tack room the night it was poured waiting for the concrete to set up. I'm looking forward to putting everything back in and already have an idea of how I'm going to rearrange it. Then I got a text message saying I could move everything back into my tack/feed rooms.... But there were ants in my feed room all across the back and half way down the wall. So I sprayed them and got their nest. The next night there were several dead bugs in there, not just the ants. 

I figured- why not knock down all of the spider webs and have everything clean and ready to go. In the process I found 3 big, dark colored spiders. Not black widows as they were thicker and meatier built with a silver butt. They got sprayed too and as a friend used to say- "it knocked 'em deader 'an hell". 

This. shit. rocks! Kills on contact and keeps killing for up to 6 months. I don't remember which store I bought it at but holy crap. Totally worth the money. This stuff is why not only the ants were dead but the other bugs in my feed room were too. So I decided to knock down the spider webs and spray my tack room also. Why not? There's nothing in either one right now so it's easy peasy. 

The webs weren't all that bad but I must've found a roach nest because when I sprayed along the back wall.... They started coming out of everywhere and hiding anywhere they could find. I ended up spraying all around the bottom of the walls, up the corners, behind any studs going up the walls and the inside bottom of the door. I let the barn owner know I would be letting things air out for a couple-few more days and he's cool with that. 

As I was feeding and cleaning up, putting things away, etc. I kept seeing roaches coming out of my tack room. It's like there's a Mass Exodus going on in there. I counted at least 10 that had already fled, another 4 or 5 that made their way down to the other boarders stalls before we left and who knows how many more will come out of the woodwork while I'm not there. At least they won't get the idea they're welcome back any time soon. Lol