Busy Weekend

Again, I disappear for the weekend. The weather was fantastic up here in New England--no humidity, cool (temps in the mid-70s), and enough of a breeze to keep the bugs away. Just delightful!

On Friday, I had 10 yards of graded base and 14 yards of stone dust delivered.

Earlier this summer, I had a run-in shed built. Originally, I had decided to build the shed so I could have Jeeves and Lance go out overnight and stay in their stalls during the day. Jeeves is especially bothered by the heat and bugs. So, this was ideal for him. He was much happier being in his stall during the day, with minimal bugs, and out in the cooler temps overnight with his buddy. They both did really well this summer and I'm very happy about that.

Then, my friend needed a place to keep her fillies, so we figured they could come here and spend days outside while the boys were in and then spend the nights in the Jeeves's stall while he was out. This was working fine until Cara coliced. :-( Best guess we came up with was sand colic from the base I used in the shed. I had what's called "gravel" put in, but it's really a very sandy soil and on days we had t-storms forecast, i would put the hay inside the shed. So, Cara was probably getting alot of sand nibbling all the hay. Since the girls are going to be living out there and eating hay and grain out there, this needed to be fixed.

I did some checking and asking around, and the best I came up with was to put down 3" of graded bases, topped with 3" of stone dust. My vet has stone dust in her run-in shed, so I figure if she thinks it's safe, then it should be safe.

All I can say is I'm very glad that I have this tractor. It's a life saver around the farm. But, even with the tractor to move the materials, I still had to rake and shovel to even it out. Then, there was the compacting. Ugh!

Last night, I could barely walk up right. Everything from my feet to my hands hurt. But, hopefully, the shed is now a safe place for the girls to live. Just in case, we're still going to feed them psyllium, to keep any sand moving through their gut.

What do any of you with horses in run-in sheds have for footing? Do you bed the shed? I wasn't planning on it, but now I'm wondering what do I do about the wet spots? I'll be digging up all this stone dust and will have to replace it every week. :-( Why aren't things simpler? Sigh.

Oh, and does anyone need any stone dust? I bought waaay too much stone dust. I think I have over half of it left and now will be spending a day moving it from the driveway to the behind the riding ring where it will be out of the way. At least I have plenty left for patches. :-)

The Herd

I figure I should introduce you to the critters here on Transitions Farm. You've already "met" Jeeves, but here he is, last autumn, taking a nap. He likes his naps. I got him 4 1/2 years over and he's the perfect horse for me. I had stopped riding for a few years. The horse I had before Jeeves had really blown my confidence. I had a nasty fall off him and broke my back. I did ride him again, but I never trusted him again. And, he really wasn't a horse that one could really trust. He constantly had to be pushed and kept on top of. I couldn't just go out for a hack, kick my feet out of my stirrups, hold the reins on the buckle and relax and enjoy. He had to be kept marching forward, kept on the aids, and kept going all the time. Otherwise, he would pop up or otherwise mis-behave. I realized I just wasn't having fun riding anymore, so I retired him to a big 500+ acre farm in Virginia. He enjoyed that, living out the way horses should.

Anyway, back to Jeeves, I had started part leasing a horse and found I was getting my confidence back and enjoying riding again. At that time, the company I worked for was publicly traded and the stock price had actually gone up enough that I could afford a decent horse. So, I called my friend/trainer and told her that if the right horse came along, I might, possibly consider it. She just happened to have just heard about a horse that might be a possibility for me. She was waiting for the video and sales info on him, but he was a good size for me, quiet, well behaved, good background in dressage. When she got the video, she was less enthusiastic. He was big and stiff and that showed up on the sales video. But, I fell in love the minute I saw him. Yes, he was big and stiff, but he was obedient, listened to the rider and tried his best to do what was asked of him. I went up to Maine try him out and despite me being a bundle of nerves and it being really cold and windy he never put a foot wrong. My trainer insisted I hack him around outside, despite the bitter cold and wind. The wind blew his quarter sheet right off to one side, flapping in the wind and dragging on the ground. He just stood there, quietly while we got it sorted out. My hands were shaking, I was so scared, but he was a perfect gentleman. Did what I asked, never took advantage of my fear. And, it's been that way since then. I've gained confidence and no longer panic at the slightest thing. We've had great times hacking out, working in the ring and just hanging out while I hand graze him. He's been my rock during my mother's illness and death, and during my divorce shortly after. I don't know how I would have gotten through either without being able to go out to the barn to cry into his big neck or being able to just hop on and go for a mindless hack, not caring where we went, but trusting him to keep us safe.

The grey horse is Lance, he's a 16 yo, Hannoverian gelding. He's been here for a little over 2 years now, as a companion to Jeeves. His owner, Terri, helps out by doing stalls a four days/week in exchange for board. She pays for her own hay and grain. It works out well as he's a fairly easy horse to deal with and I have a little bit of help around here.

This is Cara. She's my friend's yearling DWB filly. She's been here for about six weeks now, along with Em, the chestnut DWB yearling filly pictured below. I had a run-in shed built this spring. Jeeves gets really bothered by the bugs and the heat, so I wanted to be able to leave him out overnight and not worry too much about t-storms coming up. So, that's why I had the shed built. In the meantime, Jenn had the girls stabled at a farm that was very far from her, so it was hard for her to get out to see them. Having them here, she can see them a bit more often. The other theory is that with them here, I should be able to trailer Jeeves out for trail rides and lessons and such and Lance won't be hysterical about being left here alone. That's the theory anyway. We haven't tested it out, yet.

So, the girls spend the night in Jeeves's stall and his paddock--I don't close the door, so they can go in and out as they please. That's his stall that they're standing in front of in the pics. The boys are out in the big run-in shed and big paddock over night. During the day, the boys are in their in/out stalls and the girls out out in the big paddock with the run-in shed. It's added to my work load. I can no longer run out quickly to dump dinner. It now takes about 30 minutes to do the feeding and change the horses around. And, in the morning, it takes me about 20 minutes to clean Jeeves's stall out after the girls have messed it up over night. But, the girls are very sweet and I enjoy having them here.

So, that's the herd. I'm very lucky to be able to have these beautiful creatures in my back yard. I still pinch myself every day to see if I'm dreaming.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. I hope you like it here. This is my first attempt at blogging, not sure how this will be, but here goes...

I've lived here on my beautiful little 4 acre paradise for 8 years and I brought horses here 4 years ago. I ride dressage...well, I attempt to ride dressage. I chose the name Transitions Farm because transitions are important in dressage and in life--how smooth they are, or not; how well we prepare for them, or not; where they take us.

Jeeves is the love of my life. He's a 14yo, 17.1h Cleveland Bay/TB cross. I've owned him for 4 years now and my heart still skips a beat when I look out my window and see him out in the paddock. He's competed 2nd/3rd level dressage. The last year or so, I've been having trouble finding the time and energy to ride consistently. One reason for starting this blog is the hope that if I blog about my riding, I'll be more responsible about riding and making the time again. So, to anyone who might be out there in the ether reading this, please feel free to nag me and help get me back in the saddle consistently.

That's it for now.