Farm life keeps on chuggin along at the still unnamed farm. I see my kids each day, and while I love having control of every inch of their lives, it's also a little stressful...
After lots of bad luck since the move, we're part of the way through a drain tile project -which means that the horses' paddock got done and nothing else. The drain tile has made life a lot better in the mud category, and looking out, I can start to see things come together. With the help of the neighbor, I was able to get ALL of the 8+ inches of residual poo banked up under the barn shelter (vs the regular shelter; we have an overhang off the barn in to the paddock) scooped out and started replacing it with sand. We continue to work on mowing our way out of a jungle and have plans to rent a brush hog to take down the high scrub that has taken over one of the pastures. We also plan to have the rest of our land tilled and planted for hay/pasture; the previous owners tilled under the hay the year before they moved and planted soy beans, so we need to take care of the field that is currently growing some impressive weeds.
So we spend a lot of time mowing; I haven't spent a lot of time riding, but my rides since Arya arrived have been great. Bailey has been a lot more focused now that Foxie isn't screaming her head off, and despite being kind of fat and out of shape, she's throwing down some very nice flatwork. I haven't jumped her yet because of the weird footing, but may set up some jumps on the grass so we can still play. Arya lunged over the weekend in tack and a rope halter; she knows how to lunge, but doesn't really get ground work and personal space yet, so I'm trying to lay the good ground work now. She was particularly stuck sending to the left, but by the end of our first session, she understood how to send in both directions, though she was still thinking hard. I'm interested to see what sticks - I haven't had the chance to work her again, and am currently blogging from a work trip to Salt Lake City. I won't have a chance to play with her until Friday :(
I'd like to get back into a riding routine and get everyone lunging or working under saddle rather than sitting in the pasture. It's been hard to balance doing work and chores with also doing fun stuff; we need to get better at that.
Here are some photos; I'm better at taking pics than I am at blogging rn.
Goals into July:
1. Finish the drain tile.
2. Teach Arya to ground work
3. Sit on Arya and see where we are at.
4. Ride Bailey more
5. Lunge Foxie at least 1x a week.
6. Get the horses seen by the farrier; we had a gap to match up with the neighbor's farrier and their feet look like crap.
7. Buy and store hay.
Barn Back Log Work:
- Patch holes in the roof and barn shelter roof to prevent drips
- Figure out a shavings supplier or plan
- Figure out a round bale supplier/storage/plan
- Figure out a baled hay stockpile/storage
- Set up tack area
- Problem solve a way to tie horses safely in the barn - xties? tie?
- Wash blankets or find someone to do this.
- Finish putting sand into the shelters
- Finish removing manure from shelter
-
After lots of bad luck since the move, we're part of the way through a drain tile project -
So we spend a lot of time mowing; I haven't spent a lot of time riding, but my rides since Arya arrived have been great. Bailey has been a lot more focused now that Foxie isn't screaming her head off, and despite being kind of fat and out of shape, she's throwing down some very nice flatwork. I haven't jumped her yet because of the weird footing, but may set up some jumps on the grass so we can still play. Arya lunged over the weekend in tack and a rope halter; she knows how to lunge, but doesn't really get ground work and personal space yet, so I'm trying to lay the good ground work now. She was particularly stuck sending to the left, but by the end of our first session, she understood how to send in both directions, though she was still thinking hard. I'm interested to see what sticks - I haven't had the chance to work her again, and am currently blogging from a work trip to Salt Lake City. I won't have a chance to play with her until Friday :(
I'd like to get back into a riding routine and get everyone lunging or working under saddle rather than sitting in the pasture. It's been hard to balance doing work and chores with also doing fun stuff; we need to get better at that.
Here are some photos; I'm better at taking pics than I am at blogging rn.
Goals into July:
1. Finish the drain tile.
2. Teach Arya to ground work
3. Sit on Arya and see where we are at.
4. Ride Bailey more
5. Lunge Foxie at least 1x a week.
6. Get the horses seen by the farrier; we had a gap to match up with the neighbor's farrier and their feet look like crap.
7. Buy and store hay.
Barn Back Log Work:
- Patch holes in the roof and barn shelter roof to prevent drips
- Figure out a shavings supplier or plan
- Figure out a round bale supplier/storage/plan
- Figure out a baled hay stockpile/storage
- Set up tack area
- Problem solve a way to tie horses safely in the barn - xties? tie?
- Wash blankets or find someone to do this.
- Finish putting sand into the shelters
- Finish removing manure from shelter
-
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