Game Of Thrones

I wasn't always a fan

In fact, I resisted watching until I couldn't take the hounding Brandan gave me.

So we sat down & watched the first episode 

& we were hooked.

Binged watched all 8 seasons in 2 months.

Last night we went to a GOT 'tailgating' party so we got dressed up

I was an old Kaleesi

Lan was whoever.

But everyone there LOVED him!

I made dragon eggs

In horsey news:

I've let them out on the front pasture a couple times, in the mornings, 

for an hour & NO LONGER.

this morning I headed out to bring them to the back pasture (where their hay was put out) and Gussy ran from the back of the field to the front, where these guys are. He's got his muzzle on because with the grass coming in so well, he doesn't need to be eating it and foundering.

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.

He Could Be Mine

Mack

He has been offered to me

He is one amazing animal

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.

A little Laugh

I ordered a new blanket for Gus online and it came yesterday, just before I had to leave for work and I didn't get off till midnight. Then today I had to work at 9am & was supposed to get off at 2pm but had to stay until 6pm.

Finally got the chance to go see how he looks in it & this is what I find..

The Freakin tail flap is sewn on crooked. 

FUCK.

Last week the big horses (Mack) pushed down the fence in the front pasture and left. They were out on the road, which is an extremely busy thoroughfare with a speed limit of 45, so everyone goes 60. Fuckers are lucky no one got hit & killed.

I got a call at work from my neighbor, 'hey, your horses are in the road'.

Luckily the neighborhood came together and got the assholes back in the arena.

This is what they knocked down.

This is where we cleared it out, removed all the old crap & put up new field fence.

Because of tree roots its not possible to put wooden fence up here, or we would.

There was about 200 feet replaced.

Worlds best ladder.

Stretching the new fence.

Front fence Sunday

What it looks like right now across the front along the road, with NO fence at all. We mowed all the weeds & bushes down & now I'm surprised how shallow the ditch is, it felt/looked really deep before.

From the road.

And because the horses were locked in the barn a bit longer than normal, I went outside to feed the next morning & Mack had redecorated. FUCKER. So he stayed in the arena every night now, I don't care if those boards get chewed, I DO care if the stall doors get chewed.

This was the 2nd time Lan & I came to the farm, we brought Tank over. He wasn't feeling well, not one bit well. He died a couple days later.

And here is Gus, learning to lunge. Two weeks ago he couldn't understand to even walk forward at the end of the rope.

The Good & The Bad

This is what Gus and I did yesterday. He didn't know what I was asking but he did OK in the end. 

I sure do love this little guy.

I absolutely LOVE this barn.

So when I see someone doing this shit, I decide that they will have the arena instead of a stall to spend their nights in.

Asshole.

He isn't even mine.

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.