Hay, Up Here

Wifi, look up.

HI!

Hay, Mack, up here!!  Look up!

Shedding

People are posting photos of 'extra' ponies that have made from the hair that's shedding off their ponies and I could totally do that with Gus, he is a shedding fool. Today I didn't get as much but he is enjoying it and since he is food motivated he is behaving very well, till he starts nibbling at my hand.

Today I put a little Cowboy Magic into his mane and maybe tomorrow I'll try brushing it a bit.

Last night we took them for a walk, Gus was fine for Lan and walked calmly the entire time,

about 10 minutes.

Shadow, on the other hand, is a bit more difficult. He was pulling and running so I let him run and then made him run/work a bit. He finally settled down to graze and it was a bit better. Shadow needs a lot more work and time should do it.

This morning while I worked Gus he was excellent and I turned him loose in the arena so I could work Shadow. As I lead Shadow around, Gus came up behind us. I turned, walked over to him and he let me catch him, easy peasy. Very exciting.

Both mini's need to learn to stand tied so I can use both hands to groom and touch them.

This girl has my heart.

Tonight our first AirBnB guest arrives, I'm very excited. Better get off my butt and clean house.

Grooming Stall

Today I groomed all the big horses in the grooming stall for the first time. Wifi first and forgot to take her photo. Then Joey, my handsome boy. I had their halters on each other wrong so this one was snug on him. 

Wifi wasn't impressed with her grooming since I always comb her tail and mane and they were snarled. I can't wait till there is water so I can bathe her, get that beautiful tail all nice and clean again. 

I groomed Mack too because he needed it and he was a very good boy. I don't like to give treats by hand but he was so good that I did, then Wifi got one too. Joey was already heading out to roll when I got the treats out. Mack already looks SO MUCH better than he did when he first got here.

All 3 of these big horses didn't shed as much as one little mini did. Gus left another pony in the stall. 

Both the mini's took treats out of my hand today, stood there and ate them, then took another. They are coming around.

About 9 months ago I leased Sunshower to a gal, she wanted her for herself  and the kids to ride. I agreed because she had just bought her property next door to my friend who has TONS of horse experience and I knew Sunshower would be OK there. But after living there for only 10 months, the gal has bought horse property in Tacoma and wants to take Sunshower there. 

I told her I want to see the property before I agree to it and she DEFIANTELY has to sign a lease agreement, since she didn't do it already.

I do not want Sunshower to go.

I miss her and she's my good riding horse, I don't know what the fuck I was thinking when I agreed to lease her out. All last year I had no one to ride because Joey is retired and Wifi had that back injury. This year Wifi is better and she looks FANTASTIC now but she's never been on trails and she wont ride through mud so I'd be stuck if she had a fit out on trails.

So what to do?

Lan said he doesn't want her back because he didn't build this barn for me to fill it with our own horses. I could bring her home if I got rid of the mini's. I wouldn't need to keep a mini if she were back here because I could take one horse to ride somewhere and Joey would still have the other girl with him.

Mandoor, Barn Door, Aisleway

There is the big back barn door all the way shut

Here it is with the 4 foot wide man door open, barn door shut

And here it is with both open, 12 feet wide. The doors are 11 feet tall so a truck with hay can fit inside to unload into the loft.

We are beginning the planning stages for our summer trip to find a future home. We're definitely going to go back to Colorado and check out the house in Saguache again but other places we need to check out are in Idaho, Montana and Utah.

Final Outside Barn Doors

We got the big back door to the barn up today, its 11 feet tall and 12 feet wide. Sort of. 

The opening is 12 feed wide but I asked about getting a man door in it, so its got a 2nd slider on it, for a man door. 

A slider on a slider.

Its not finished in this photo.

Shadow is so cute!

Gus is too

And Wifi, Oh My God, shes so freaking good looking.

Shadow

When I get photos you will see a bit of a difference in the minis. Shadow ate a treat out of my hand today. In fact, he ate several out of my hand. Gus doesn't like me as much but will come close. They are learning we are their friends.

In the guest room I made cowboy curtains, I think they are cute.

The bed has the new bed skirt and sheets, I've got 4 new pillows and several throw pillows to add once the comforter is on. I also need a night stand, think I'll just put on of the cowhide stools beside the bed, set the lamp & clock on it. 

Got this lamp, added old spurs.

AirBnB

Last night I put our spare room on AirBnB and today it has been booked for one night with our guest arriving in a couple weeks. With the low price I asked and the fees I have to pay out, I will get about $30.

Today I went shopping and spent $185.28 on things for our guest, including this beach shower curtain. Its not horsey or western at all but the bathroom is light green and there is already a beach watercolor painting in there.

I DID purchase totally westerny material to make curtains for the 2 big windows in the room. I've got leather scraps to use as tie-backs. There is also a new small lamp that I'm going to put spurs around it to make it westerny.

In horse news:

This horse is Penelope, sporting a home made grazing muzzle & I'm going to get a couple for the minis from the gal who makes them. I have real fleece that I will add as padding so there will be minimal hair loss. Instead of having one long piece around the crown of the head it will have snaps on each side to attach to halters.

Stable Comfort Six Week Review

I'm so happy with the Stable Comfort stalls, if we ever build another barn I will DEFINATELY add them again.

Right now the two mini ponies are each in a stall but only to contain them, not for added comfort. Their little hooves barely make an indent in the rubber tops.

But the big news is that this big guy, Mack, DID need the soft mats and they saved him a lot of pain. When he came here he had pads on his hooves and less than a week later he was lame. Pulled the pads & shoes and he was DEAD LAME. So lame his owner contemplated putting him down. but we put a bunch of straw in the stall and left him over night. In the morning, he as good as new; no limping and looking great.

The size difference between the minis and Mack is HUGE and all the horses like the mats. 

Prices that I paid were $789 for each 12x12.5 stall plus $300 each for delivery. But I decided on one 12.5 X 24 mat so it could be used for foaling or layups in the future. 

The price plus delivery was TOO MUCH but since I live in Washington state and these Stable Comfort mats are produced in Canada, right across the border from me, I decided to spend $100 on fuel & go pick them up myself. 

We bought new regular 4 X 6 stall mats for the other two stalls, costing $250 per stall so for the Comfort Stall mats it was only an additional $500 each stall. Not a bad price for the good feelings we get when we see Mack walking easily and the ponies happy.

Ordering

I need one of these inside the arena to hold the gate closed; currently we're using an old rope tied around the gate & a post.

I was at Coastal & Wilco yesterday & neither had them but we checked online and local Ace stores have them for $12.99. After going through my email I saw Chicks had a sale on manure fork heads & since Wifi broke a tine out of mine last week I decided the $5.99 price was good enough for me. And I ordered 2 gate latches, a few dewormers, a little cowboy stationary set & a small decorative key hook with a horse on it. 

The ponies are stubborn but we're sticking to them. Shadow is about 33" tall and easier to catch and handle but he hates being touched on his off side.

Gus is harder to catch and tough to work with because he is stronger. He is about 37" tall. 

Both the boys are super duper cute and some day should be productive members of society.

We catch & lead them around, touching every part we can get our hands onto then we let them loose in the arena to run and play while I clean stalls. Today its POURING rain so they are stuck in the stalls but at least they are soft stall floors, they have plenty to eat & drink and the stalls are big.

I worked last night midnight till 4am & will do it again tonight. I was lucky this morning to be able to sleep till 2:30pm, something I haven't done in YEARS. 

Yesterday I went with a friend to haul her mare over to a friends place, her friend has a pregnant mare that lost its companion a month ago. Someone else loaned her their 32 year old pony and sadly he got colic and was put down early yesterday morning. When we arrived with our mare he was still lying dead in the barn aisleway. Sad, but they were still waiting for the renderding man.

The mare we took over there is a great mare, its Reign, the mare I had here with Joey for the first summer. Shes a fantastic horse.

Cuties

This is Gus

This is Shadow

They are 8 year old gelding mini horses

I think I'm in love

These two guys came down from Canada the other day, mostly untouched and terrified. We are working with them to calm & train them so we're spending at least a couple minutes with them every time we go into the barn.  I do NOT like leaving halters on but we'll never catch them without them on and now we have catch ropes attached also. Little Shadow is easier to catch and I'm hoping he doesn't need it after tomorrow.

I'll be keeping track of them here.

Littles

These little hooves might be here Wednesday.