One Year Review: Stable Comfort Stall Matts

We've been using the Stable Comfort stall matts for about a year now & it's time for a review.

I originally had Joey & Mack on them, Joey is  TB gelding weighing about 1150 and Mack is a huge Appy gelding weighing about 1250. The matts held up to their weight FINE but Mack was terrible on the stalls. He broke the dividing wall between the stalls, chewed the doors and demolished the runs. It was easier for ME to keep him in the arena at night.

But then he would whinny at all hours if the others went out to the runs & he couldn't see them so Joey went into the arena with him.

Now its just Wifi (900 lbs) in one of the stalls & I use the other one for hay.

Here is her stall. Its standing up GREAT to the use. Shes in it for about 12 hrs every night and currently we have the run door closed (due to the gutter leaf protector being down from snow). In the mornings I always let her out first so shes much less likely to pee in it.

This is the stall right after I cleaned her poop & stripped it of shavings. I still have to use 

EXACTLY THE SAME AMOUNT OF SHAVINGS 

that I ever used before to absorb her pee but I don't have to put in enough to make it soft. But I NEVER DID bed to make them soft because they have the attached runs to go outside.

Here is the front door area and its holding up well. No matter who the horse is, they bang their front hoof on this rail as they walk out but all horses are lazy. The stall fronts we used have a metal bar across each door to hold them rigid and strong and they are the perfect height for the matts.

This is the section just to the right of the above door, under the water buckets. When we installed it the wood on the wall was rotten so Lan used the wood strip to help. It I were to replace that wall wood right there we wouldn't need to use the strip along the floor.

The robber matt top is holding up quite well. There aren't any holes or indications of them at all. They hold all the pee just fine. The pee does puddle and its a bit harder to clean up compared to a flat stall with regular matts where the pee would go underneath when I use regular shavings.

The ONLY PROBLEM I have is 

that Wifi's shedding hair sticks to the rubber matt and won't sweep off very easily. I sweep my stalls every day so there is no dirt/sand/hair where their hay falls out of the hay nets. This hair just wants to stay on it.

But this is a problem that doesn't bother me too much since horses will eat hair as they groom each other. 

A Few New Things

The front fence is new because the assholes took to wandering in the frikkin road. They've been contained in the back pasture this last month while this was put up.

Notice the fake gate at the far end? There is an old easement there that we want to maintain so even though there isn't really a gate, it looks like there is.

This is what this section of fence looked like, it had old rotten posts, barbed wire, field fence, hog panels and rotten boards, all being held up by the plethora of weeds & bushes.

Today we gave these boards to a guy who is going to put them up on his fireplace wall. 

This is NOT the section the horses went through, that was the field fence 

between us & the neighbors.

What it looks like without any fence.

What else is new? Hoka One One has brought back the original Clifton 1 running shoe & these are the ones that made running fun & not a chore. I'm going to have to go buy a pair & if I still love them I'll get a few more, before they decide to upgrade them again.

And this is new. I won a contest & this is my prize.

Then and Now

Haaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

There is just such a satisfying feeling know you're going to have enough hay for the entire winter well before winter sets in. Our second load, alfalfa/grass mix, 

all from the same grower in Naches, Washington.

We pay $8.25 per bale plus $1 per bale for fuel. We leave home at 8am & get home at about 5pm. About 300 miles round trip.

There will be 1 final trip next weekend for a total of about 250 total bales.  I've already been feeding it, have no idea how many bales but if I have 220 left and feed 1 per day, I'll have enough hay to last until May 7 of next year. That's plenty of hay.

Finished Halters

I got the www.haltertags.com name plates in the mail, couldn't wait to get them onto the halters. 

Definitely need to oil the halters too.

Here is Gus with his new halter & doesn't he look SMASHING? 

Here is Joey

They spelled his name wrong, just like the guys in Kentucky did with his halter 20 years ago. 

I'm OK with it this time.

This halter was $5 at a barn sale & had RED on its old plate.

And Wifi.

She was more concerned about getting to her dinner than showing off her new halter plate.

I chose the Chicago Screws to attach them instead of rivets so that I can use them on other halters in the future. Wifi's halter is the crappy old one that wasn't stolen when my others were (and that's why I'm pretty fucking sure it was Sarah Goathouse who stole all my stuff).

I'd really like to get each of them new halters made of soft leather that's also strong, triple stitched, like the ones I had before. Maybe I need to make a trip to Kentucky to pick some up myself. I don't particularly care for the throatlatch snaps & all of these halters have them. They  more a grooming aid than anything else. I'd rather use the crownpiece to buckle it on and off than by slipping it over their ears and using the snap.

We've been putting Joey & Wifi in the stable comfort stalls every night and in the mornings both have looked like they aren't in pain. Wifi's shoulders/withers, where she took a tumble or something in spring 2017. Each horse also has their outside run available to them & sometimes they actually go out there to poop.

And this cart is for sale in Enumclaw, $250. Tuesday is my payday & I'm hoping the person who has it will sell it to me. I'm not even sure it will fit Gus but maybe, if it doesn't, it can be adjusted/altered.

In The Stalls

This hay elevator looks like a roller coaster

Also known as haylivator

This is inside Joeys stall this evening. He's got 2 buckets of fresh water, a big bag of hay and tomorrows hay hanging on his door. Lan said they will all eat through their doors but I don't think they will get much.

This is what it looks like outside his door. Wifi's hay is next door

And here is Gus's door with his grass hanging on it

A little electricity to lighten things up

Lan removed the heavy duty pallets, this is all the chafe from 4 years. There were 2 big dead rats and another live one. It was bright green alfalfa, not this nasty brown color.

Barn looks nice without the chicken coop in front

This was last week, I've put some of these items away and cleaned a few times since this was taken

Life in the barn

Gary came out to trim hooves

Gus was a ROCKSTAR!!

It certainly pays off to work on picking up hooves

Joey was good too. I kept wondering why he was so perky, it was a Unicorn balloon in front of him

I paid $5 for this halter at a sale, its a really nice one. The other night I ordered halter tags for my horses, RED will be going on the wayside

I took this right after I had to get after Wifi for nibbling on my shirt. Shes never done that before.

She's still pouting

Gary likes her feet, its been 8 weeks and they still look fantastic. One reason is genetics, one is that shes never had shoes on before, one is that I try to keep them on a good schedule for trims. I started her trims when she was a month old, never too young to learn about the farrier

Mack was a turd, pulling back, leaning on Gary, pulling his hoof away. Sigh.

I ordered him a halter name plate also, just going to put it on his halter,, not going to tell Meghan till she comes out to see him.

I ordered Gus a new leather halter and found this at Stateline Tack for less than $12, its REAL NICE and adjust able so fits him well. I'm pretty happy with it and his name tag will look good on it.

TRIATHLON NEWS:

I have signed up for the December 30, 2018 Yukon Do It half marathon so I better get my ass out there and run, at least walk. I'm so fat right now so I'm dieting and walking every day. Have lost a few pounds, mostly food I haven't eaten so I'm not full of poop. We shall see how I'm doing in a week. I plan on getting out to walk every single day and start running soon.

Tomorrow is the VERY LAST  Tri Turtle Tri and since we won't be racing, Lan & I volunteered to help with parking. Neither of us want to be out there all day so I made sure to let her know we need to come home at noon. 

It rained last night so there is a bit lest dust, I hope it doesn't rain on the race.