Nope To HGTV

We decided to not use the HGTV lady to sell our home & not have it on the show. She was too pushy and didn't know enough about equestrian properties. She had zero interest in the Comfort Stall matts, didn't care about the quality of the stalls nor the barn itself. She looked at it but didn't 'care' about it. I want someone to sell my farm that loves it for what its worth and brings a buyer that will also love it for what it is, an equestrians dream.

Today I had an appointment in Woodinville for the deposition for the accident that happened 5 days after IMAZ when I was in the back seat of the car, an innocent passenger. We spent ALL DAY getting to & back from Woodinville & the fucking attorneys didn't have any record of my appointment. FUCKERS. This is the second time they have screwed up; last time was March 29th & they called me while I was in Idaho & said the attorneys were all there waiting for me to show up. The letter they sent me said MAY 29TH and when I got home I found it & called them back. Fuckers didn't even apologize for screwing up. If there is another screwup of any kind, I'm going to get another lawyer & if they try to make me pay them 1 red cent, I'll sue them for being incompetent. Fucking idiots.

The kitchen tile work is all finished, now we're finishing installing the plug ins & dimmer switch. We still have the hood fan to install too and then it will be finished.

Since my niece is here there have been a few changes. Shes got the cool room with the nice barn door closet. Now her son, my great-nephew, is coming soon too. She hasn't done a damn thing for him, she thought he would just sleep in her room with her in her bed. But hes 7.5 years old & boys that big don't sleep with their moms, they need privacy and a place of their own to play. She hasn't gotten him any toys nor bought him any new clothes. She seems to think his dad is going to bring ALL his toys & clothes here with them in an electric car with the step mom & step sister but I am thinking he going to have a grocery bag of dirty clothes & thats it.

I found this free captains bed & went & picked it up, then last night Lan & I put it together. He had to fix a bent nail & glue a broken piece of wood. I also had to go pick up the mattress. I spemt $287 on Spider Man sheets & a blanket, plus another blanket, Spidey beach towel and several more shirts & pants. I'm got about 10 toys for him, a few cars & trucks, some legos, a couple other things.

He needs a lamp, a toy box, more toys, new undies and I NEED to remove that window blind & find something different. Kids & blinds with strings don't go together.

I'm trying to make arrangements for him to go to a week of summer day camp. My friend Tina has a horse day camp for kids & that might be fun for him. 

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. 

Christmas Eve

Lan put up the tree and I'm only putting the new ornaments onto it, so far thre are 2.

I picked up this awesome wreath at Wilco for free, using it as a center piece on the table.

Here is the Santa TAPESTRY that's really not much more than tissue thick

And the stockings were hung...

Picked this up at Wilco too, its on the front door

Got home from Wilco & Lan was putting this up. We never put up the HUGE chandelier that I purchased so when I found this last week at Habitat for Humanity for $10, I insisted that we need it. $10! Or course the lights were quite a bit more, about $26 more.

Horsey news:

Mack got a puncture wound on his head, bled like crazy. This happened Sunday morning and I found it when I got home from work at 8:30am. I was so tired that all I could do was call Meghan & let her deal with it. I had to sleep. But we're keeping a very close eye on it. 

She came & cleaned it out then put medical ointment on it. 

This morning Karen and I checked it out; no pus but swollen. Put T-Zone on it.

This evening I gave him apple flavored SMZs in his grain and put him into the stall so I can check it out before they are turned out to pasture in the morning. 

Tonight hes spending in the Stable Comfort stall, hope he feels better in the morning.

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

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.

Stable Comfort 10 Day Review

We started using the stalls with the Stable Comfort stall mats about 10 days ago and I want to do a short review.

What I've noticed the most and is super important to me is that Joey hasn't been stocked up in the mornings after being locked in the stall all night. We don't have outside runs ready yet so its just the stalls. I do not know if he's sleeping a lot or just standing around but I do know he's not making laps in it. So not stocking up is a SUPER DUPER PLUS. He has laid down a few times, I can tell by the shavings in his tail.

Wifi is the same as always in her stall.

What I do not like is that the pee goes wherever it wants and in both stalls that's right to where their hay bags hang. No one likes to eat hay that's been sitting in their pee. I'm thinking I might need to hang the hay nets on a different wall or have several spots so at least the floor can dry before using those spots again. I even switched the horses to each others stalls last night to see if it would make any difference but it didn't.

The only thing we did not do when installing was crown the concrete in the middle but it was poured before I ordered the mats. On flat floors with regular mats if Joey pees in the middle it stays in the middle.

Once we get the runs completed both horses will stop peeing in the stalls at all and it won't be an issue. I use plain pine shavings and should be getting some pellets to use instead but can't right now due to short pay checks (I love my job).

This morning Wifi didn't go out to the back pasture to eat when Joey went out, she stayed behind the arena and when I went out there she came back in and wanted lots of attention. I removed her blanket and groomed her, noticed her hair on one side looks nappy, wonder if its from having the blanket on at all??

It seems to fit well enough. I also noticed her withers seem fatter/wider.

Then a bit later Lan noticed her rubbing her butt on the fence, maybe because she's shedding so much? Or needs to be dewormed? If she's not feeling well I don't want to deworm her but I do have them on hand and they are due on March 1st. I'll wait until then and we're keeping an eye on her.

I've got enough hay nets that our house sitter won't have to worry about filling them while we're gone, it will just be remove the empty and hang a full one. We're not going to have Tina put the horses into the stalls, just leave them in the arena. One hay net on each side and they are set. I'll make sure the trough is full and then it should all be fine. Terry will check on them too.

Beginning Loft

The loft supports

About half of them are up

Today the remaining supports go up and floor begins.

And I have commissioned my first piece of artwork. I saw the painting of her own horse, it was the first art painting she had ever done, then I saw a fox the next day. So I asked her to paint a picture for me, offered her $100 and sent half a dozen images and gave her the choice. 

He's not finished but this brought tears to my eyes.

A dream come true.

And my Wifi, in the snow, (see the flake on her nose?) such a nice girl, love her so much.

Stable Comfort Stall Mats DONE

Horses will be sleeping in here VERY SHORTLY.

Stable Comfort mats are finished, all nicely trimmed. Boards on right will be divider supports, being installed this evening.

Weathers going to be in low 20's this week, these are done just in time.

Isn't it beautiful? I LOVE this barn.

Wish I Had Photos!!

The barn this morning looks

AMAZING!!

Too bad I have to work or I'd go out and take photos of the change overnight. 

The Stable Comfort stall mat is completely finished and looks to good, no, GREAT.

The aisle way was swept.

All the working tools, wood and debris from these last few months is cleared

And it's all bright and clean.  

Still a lot to do but I'm thrilled with what we have.

Dutch Doors

This barn is beautiful, inside and out.

This is without paint, I have no idea what colors to paint it yet.

I've had a traditional red & white barn, it was so hard to find the correct BARN RED and then when I moved the new people just painted it white a year later. All that hard work, down the drain.

This section was finished today, right after we hung the final outside Dutch door. A lot of rain and leaves were coming in this part so it will be nice to have it closed up. We're planning on getting the horses into these two stalls soon and I don't want Joey getting rained on.

Next is the big back door where the truck is sitting. We're probably going to go 10 or 12 feet high but there is always the arena opening if we need to get something real tall inside. Like a hay delivery.