USEF Amateur Status Vent

I have been planning on getting my USEF Ammy Status back ever since I quit coaching the IHSA team. That was two years ago. There is a one year wait before you can get your ammy status back. Then, you have to send in a notarized letter, two more letters from other current senior members, and a $50 check. Then you have to wait 5 weeks or so for a board hearing. Simple? Yes, and I was happily willing to jump through those hoops.

However...

It seems that coaching aside, I still will blow my ammy status if I so much as clip someones horse (money for horse services), sell tack trunk plans on my blog (because blog is horse related), or even ride Hugo on occasion for EB (because I board her horse). The rules IMO are a bit ridiculous. I really don't think any of those things make me a professional in regards to showing. How does any of that make someone a professional rider/horse trainer?

Despite having gotten the ball in motion, I think I will save myself $50, and those I've asked for letters, the headache of tracking down notaries. I will just keep my professional status. Most shows around here are so small that they do not separate pros from ammy's anyway. Lord knows that I won't be going to Thermal anytime soon anyway (although I can still daydream about it). I guess now I can start clipping horses again and maybe even start training the occasional horse for profit. If I'm a pro, I may as well actually be a pro. Right? So ridiculous.

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•

Re-thinking Feed

The other day I was looking out my window and noticed that Gentry was standing camped under. What! It was utterly reminiscent of how Rose always stood before I put shoes on her. I had tossed that up to mean that Rose just was too big for her feet and needed shoes. Once we put shoes on her, she did indeed start standing correctly within a week or two. She also came sound. She needed shoes it seemed.

Gentry on the other hand, has always been bare and purportedly sound, and did not stand camped under when I got him. To be fair, he doesn't stand like that all the time, but it was enough for me to scratch my head and start to think. So what the heck changed?

I put him on the LMF Super Supplement G that I always had Rose on. They are both easy keepers and do not need grain, beyond balancing out vitamins/minerals with their hay diet. That is just what the LMF is, as ration balancer. You only feed a very small amount per day. That is why I have always loved LMF. Also, it seems to keep dark horses dark in the summer. No fading, yay!

However, LMF has molasses in it. Molasses = sugar. Sugar = hoof sensitivity in barefoot horses. I always knew this, even back when I was struggling to keep Rose barefoot. However, I didn't think it was enough to actually cause any sort of hoof soreness. Now I am thinking otherwise.

I still want Gentry on a ration balancer so it was time to research this whole thing again. So I went the interwebs and I also called around to a few feed stores. I think I have decided to go with Triple Crown 30% Equine Supplement. It has NO molasses and very few carbs in general. Still has a good amount of protein, copper (keeping him from fading), and the much needed selenium.

I am curious before I buy it, do any of you have experience with Triple Crown 30%? Given the lack of molasses is it still palatable? Or do you know of another no/low sugar ration balancer that you use and would recommend?

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•

The Grain Sled

Last week after it snowed I found myself in a slight predicament. I had to get grain for Hugo and when I got home ready to back my car up to the barn, I discovered that the driveway gate latch was frozen shut. I really did not want to haul 150 lb of grain from my garage to the barn. It's not that I can't hoist a 50lb bag of grain on my shoulder and truck through 10" of snow transversing about 150-200 feet. It's that I don't want to. There had to be an easier way. Then I saw it. Junior's purple snow sled.

The Grain Sled

I stacked the three bags of grain on the sled and hoped that I would be strong enough to pull it. Sure enough it was pretty easy. Much easier than carrying them. Remember kids, work smarter not harder! That's my motto around the farm these days.

Moochers...hoping lunch was coming early. They were disappointed.

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•

Merry Christmas!

We woke up to a very white Christmas this morning...and it is still coming down. I think we have near a foot of snow at the moment! After presents, brunch, a rousing game of Life, and lunch, Junior went down for his nap and Hubs indulged me by taking a couple Christmas photos with Gentry.

But then, Hubs really surprised me and asked if I would take a photo of him on Gentry! This is Hub's first time ever on him and Gentry was a good boy, standing nice and still.

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you and your's are having a wonderful day.

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•

Cross Ties

Gentry has made huge strides in the cross ties. After the third time in them he finally stopped attempting to paw at all and just stood quiet from the moment I put him in the grooming stall. I've been putting him in there after he eats his grain at lunch time, while Hugo finishes his up (he has a lot to eat). This gives me a chance to groom Gentry, even if he doesn't need it, and for him to get conditioned to the grooming stall. It also negates me having to play grain referee while we wait for Hugo to finish up. At this point I feel completely comfortable with him in the cross ties, and my farrier even trimmed him in the ties the other week. Such a good boy!

He's so chill I can even leave the throat latch open on the halter for grooming.

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•

Portrait Contest Painting Complete

Those of you who have read my blog for at least the last year may remember that I held a Horse Portrait Contest last December. The winner got a 8x10 acrylic painting of their photo. The winner was Dom from A Collection of Madcap Escapades. This is a photo of her standardbred gelding Oz.

Photo provided by Dom

I was really excited to make this painting and had planned on pumping it out by the end of January. Then work got in the way. I figured February. Then more work, and life got in the way. Then we listed the house and I couldn't ever leave a painting mess laying around because of showing it. It seemed, every time I planned on having time to sit down and paint, something got in the way.

Well, I've been on a bender lately, finishing up all my unfinished projects from the last year. Dom's painting was the last and final unfinished project. So, yesterday, I said enough was enough, found my paints (still boxed up from the move in August) and got down to business.

Getting it Done!

A few hours later I had finished the painting. It seriously only took me a few hours, which makes the fact that the painting is 11-months late, really sad. However, I feel that it turned out quite well and I hope that it was worth the wait for Dom. Now all I need to do is get it packed up and shipped off to her.

Finished Painting: Cold Smoke, 2014, Acrylic on Canvas

Merry Christmas Dom. Thank you for letting use your beautiful photo to create this painting.

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•

Gentry Gives Pony Rides

This past weekend, before it snowed, we had great weather on Saturday. It would have been the perfect morning to ride, except that we had planned a family Christmas related outing for Junior that morning. It was a great local community event/fundraiser and we even met up with a couple of other families that we know. Later that day we even went to a White Elephant party with Junior. It was the MOST social day we've had since Junior was born! I digress..afterward the morning festivities one of the families we met up with came back to our house and we had a bit of a play date.

This was also the first time they had been to our new house or met our horses. Everyone wanted to meet them and feed them carrots, so off we went to the fenceline. I am so glad that we have some post and rail fence for this purpose. Electric fence is not so kid friendly!

The boys were so enthralled with Gentry and Hugo, I randomly asked if they wanted to sit on them. I was not quite prepared for the enthusiastic "Yes's", but was oh so happy to oblige! So, with Hugo standing tied and out of the way, one of us leading Gentry, and the other holding the boys, we let them sit on him and even walk a bit (always holding onto the boys for immediate dismount if needed...given the lack of helmets on hand). Gentry was a perfect angel and this was (with me anyway) his first "pony ride". His ears are not pinned by the way, he was just intently focusing on us and the boys on his back.

There isn't a photo of Junior because we were not as with it to ask our friend to take a photo while he was up. Next time!

***
You can see the storm brewing in the background of the photos. That should of been my first clue that it was about to start snowing and there was no way that I was going to get to ride that day or any time soon. And snow it did, literally the moment our play date ended and our friends headed out our driveway.

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•

Gone

Tuesday morning I couldn't take it anymore. Those stray horses were begging me for food when I went out to feed breakfast to the boys. They had done so Monday night as well. I had noticed that no lights had been on in that house since Sunday as well (the day they got locked in to the paddock). So, I decided to walk over to our fence line and do my best to search for evidence of water.

None.

At this point the horses were begging for hay, so I felt fairly certain that they hadn't been feed at all either. Their only source of food has been digging through 10" of snow for the grass on the edge of the barn driveway. I  guess it was a good thing for the snow, or they wouldn't have had any source of water at all. The whole situation seemed just bizarre to me. Why lock horses into a paddock and not feed/water them? At least if the gate was open they would have eventually wandered home in search of food.

I decided the best thing to do was to call the person who I suspected of being their owner, the lady caddy corner to us down the hill. I dug through the christmas rush project mess that had accumulated on what I would normally call my desk, and found the list of home owners in our neighborhood.

Taking a deep breath and reminding myself to stay switzerland-esque, I called the gal's number and was sent directly to voicemail. I left a really nice message letting her know that I thought they were her horses, where they are if she was looking for them, lack of food and water being my concern, and to call me if she needed help with anything. I received no call back.

However, within fifteen minutes she was at the paddock and the horses were gone. Yea for those horses. If they were still there this afternoon with no return call from the gal my next call was going to be to the sheriff to notify them of the lack of water/food issue. It was really hard for me not to throw them hay...but I know that is the last thing you want to do if you plan on calling the authorities over animal neglect.

Now, here is the deal.

You can see her house from the paddock those horses have been in, so I assume you can see the horses from her house. Also, you can see the horses from the road as you drive by. Has she seriously not noticed that her horses had been missing for going on three days? Do people that feed round bales seriously never do a daily horse check?

Weird.

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•

Snow

I had plans to go on a ride Sunday. The ground was beautiful and dry on Saturday, and temps were in the 60's. Then we woke up to what eventually topped off as 10" of powder. Yea for snowsports; Boo for riding. At least it is picturesque.

P.S. You might notice the two horses in our neighbors yard. Not his horses I assume. For some reason, all our neighbors horses are constantly getting out and they come to our house or our neighbors. People around here seem unconcerned with their lack of quality fencing. Anyway...they have been there since Sunday morning...and well they are still there tonight (Monday night). I think they belong to a neighbor caddy corner to us...but why hasn't she come to get them? As far as I can tell they don't have food or water and the gate seems to be closed, so it's not like they can wander home. It is a big mystery. I'm not quite sure if I should become the overly concerned nosy neighbor (and thusly potentially hated) or just let it all be. At the very least Gentry and Hugo are enjoying the extra company.

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•

WILSON!

I had grand plans to ride Gentry this morning. My farrier was scheduled to come at 8:30am, Junior is at preschool for the morning, the ground has dried out pretty well to make it safe, and the forecast high was 50ºF! Then I woke up to a wind tunnel. Seriously crazy wind today. Now, if I had a horse in serious training and a nice dry sand footed arena, I would totally still ride despite the wind. But I have none of those things, which equates to "I don't HAVE to ride, so I'm not GONNA". Bummer.

What did I do instead? I did some work, and checked Facebook. For some reason I found myself lurking on Gentry's breeder's facebook page. We aren't FB friends, but most of her stuff is public, so I thought I'd go way back and see if there were any baby Gentry posts. Not so much. However I did find a post on her page from another gal who own's Gentry's full brother, who I believe is one year younger than Gentry.

Everyone, I give you Wilson!

2012

2012

As a two year old - sale photo

OMG! I could just die. Clearly they have different coat colors, but otherwise they look so much alike in build and expression. All the info I have about him I found on this website months ago, before today's FB discovery. http://horseonsale.com/horse/6681/. Immediately I realized it was the same horse.

So now I am at a social media cross roads. Wilson also lives in Montana and it would be fun to meet him at a show in the future. Do I friend his owner? Should I friend Gentry's breeder? I don't generally friend people I haven't met, so I'm thinking no...that would be weird and creepy. Maybe I will just wait and message them both when I have Gentry entered in his first show, incase either will be attending. That is less creepy right?

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•

The Solo Loop

This past Sunday was a particularly nice, warm, sunny day. Unfortunately that meant the melting snow and slush turned everything promptly into mud. That of course translates into crap for footing. However, I managed to convince myself to put my big girl panties on and still go for a ride around the neighborhood walking on the gravel roads (and the 5% of the road that is asphalt).

Up until this point I have only ridden Gentry down to the mailbox (1/4 mile) and back solo. I have only ridden him to the arena (1/2 mile) once and that was with EB on Hugo.  The whole loop is 1.5 - 2 miles long. I figured that I need to start setting out more and more on my own. Not only to continue building my confidence and trust in Gentry, but also I think it is good for him to get away from Hugo once in a while and realize that Hugo will be there when we get back.

Most of our ride, I'd say 90%, was very enjoyable, on the buckle and relaxing. We made it around 75% of the neighborhood loop riding on the buckle with floppy ears.  Then we got to the asphalt section of the road, which still had a bit of ice on it, and also happens to be occupied by some run down homes (not actually part of our subdivision) that have rather unfriendly off leash dogs.

It didn't occur to me that we would have to pass this house and those dogs when I decided to go on the ride. I briefly considered just turning around and riding the long way home, but then once again decided to suck it up. Mostly I was concerned that those dogs would come after my dog, not so much Gentry and I. Luckily their owner pulled up in a truck just as we came to the house, so the dogs were pre-occupied while we passed.

Right after that house is the park and the arena. I quickly got Gentry into the park/arena and then that is when he turned into a royal pain. He got tense, head up, and started calling like a fool. I decided to walk circles in the arena until he calmed down. That never really happened, and he just seemed to be getting more and more worked up, on bad footing. Then he even tried a little mini-rear pop. I quickly smacked him with my hand between the ears and he got the picture that it wasn't okay to attempt to rear. At that point I felt like I was loosing ground with him and just wanted to go forward, so we headed out of the arena, through the park, and down a trail that popped us back out on gravel road.

The moment we were back on the road he was completely chill again and great for the rest of the ride home. In retrospect, I think perhaps he was initially worked up from me being tense about the sketchy house and the dodgy dogs.  Despite the dogs, I will have to make sure that I stay calm and cool next time we pass that house and see if it makes a difference. I might just bring a spray bottle with vinegar in it too, just to have some personal protection if I need it.

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•

Registration

Gentry is half thoroughbred, half clydesdale. When I bought him he was unregistered. A lot of horses like him go unregistered and are just called "grade". Those horses end up in a kill pen far too often. No matter what my horse's breeding is I think it is really important to have some sort of registration papers for the animal. Despite my best intentions for a fairytale life for my animals, one never knows what will happen in the future. So I think it is the responsible thing to do, to register them. Even if the breed registry doesn't have all that high of standards or that great of a reputation. At the very least the animal has proof of age and lineage, which may be just enough to keep it out of a kill pen. Sometimes the only thing that saves OTTB's are their lip tattoos.

When I first started looking at my options for Gentry, the American Warmblood Society (AWS) seemed to be my only option.  Side note: I think the AWS would do themselves a huge favor by changing the name to the American Sporthorse Registry, which is what they really seem to be. Then less people would have such a poor opinion of the registry. For those of you wondering what the difference is between the two...the American Warmblood Registry (AWR) does not allow draft crosses. The AWR does have a better reputation than the AWS, I think because they are really trying to develop an american warmblood breed. That is the reason they don't allow draft crosses. Still even the AWR doesn't have a great reputation.

I more or less resigned to the idea of going with AWS, and told myself I really didn't care so long as I got him registered somewhere to prove age/lineage. However, I couldn't swallow it easily and desperately continued to debate my options. Mostly because the AWS does not have an inspection (required) anywhere near us. I didn't want to have to drive that far to get him registered just for registrations sake. I started to have a glimmer of hope that I had more options when I found out that there is a Draft Cross Registry of America (DCROA), which he would qualify for. They seemed a little easier to register with than the AWS. Still, I had never heard of them and that made me question the reputation of the registry.

But then...

I discovered the Performance Horse Registry (PHR) which is run by the USEF. That I decided was my ticket. The registration is open to any horse of any breeding (or lack there of) and is affordable at $75. All you need to do is give them as much info on the pedigree as you have, birthday (use January 1 if you only know the year), your horses breed registration (if it is registered), USEF, USDF, etc. numbers. Then BAM! Your horse is registered, has paperwork, and even qualifies for year end silver stirrup awards through the PHR which of course are tracked by the USEF without any extra effort on one's behalf. Best yet, you can optionally pay more for DNA registration if you have a mare or stallion. I suppose you could do it for a gelding if you wanted to, but I felt that the DNA part was a bit pointless on a gelding that is microchipped.

So there we have it folks. As of this morning my USEF membership is renewed, Gentry has a lifetime USEF card and USHJA membership, and his PHR paperwork is in the mail. It feels good to have it all taken care of. Merry Christmas to Gentry...too bad he doesn't know just how much he should appreciate the security blanket I just concocted for him.

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•

Thanksgiving Fun

We got pounded with five more inches of snow two nights ago followed by warm weather...which means melty slush. Slippery melty slush. Then the wind picked up. So very windy. Apparently another cold front is blowing in. As such, I'm not really inclined to go for a ride today, despite the warm weather.

Right about the time I started lamenting lack of riding on Turkey Day, I heard about a barn fire at fellow blogger's barn. Luckily her horse got out okay, but others did not. I cannot imagine what those horse owners and the barn owner are going through right now. So despite not riding today, I am so thankful that our horses are safe, sound, fat and happy.

Despite the melt and the wind, the sun was out and I decided to pick up my camera and take some photos. Unfortunately, it has been so long since I used my SLR I had forgotten about some focusing issues I had been having with one of my lenses. I promptly remembered after uploading them to my computer. So, sadly some photos that would have been awesome ended up being deleted. Se la vie! I still got some fun ones to share.

Napping in the sunshine

Fat and happy...coming down to search for treats see me

All my boys

Mid chew...looking good in his winter chub

Because...this photos is just awesome!

Wishing you all a safe and fun Thanksgiving!


Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•

Learning to Crosstie

Although Gentry ties like an angel, the first time I brought him in the barn it was pretty apparent that he had never been in cross ties before. Having PTSD from Rose learning to cross tie, I decided to think through my approach to cross tie training this time around.

In the grooming stall I have my super safe and sturdy panic snap cross ties. However, it's never a good idea to just put a horse in cross ties the first time and expect all to go well. So, I decided to hang up two blocker tie rings and two lead ropes to ease him into the the idea of being tied from each side of his face. Truly a new idea for the little man.

Gentry in the blocker tie-ring cross ties.

First thing first, I put him in a super durable leather halter and kept a lead rope attached to the lead ring on the halter for backup. No rope halter's when it comes to cross tie training (or cross ties in general if I can help it). The first and second time I had him in the cross ties, I attached one of the ropes to a blocker tie ring, and actually just held the other one, eventually just looping it through the ring of the other blocker tie ring and held onto the end of the rope. This gave him more slack and me more room to work with him should things get western. I also kept these sessions short and didn't do anything but praise him and give him lots of treats. He as a little nervous, pawing a few times, and concerned with Hugo's whereabouts, but otherwise he was a good boy and all went well ending on a positive note both times.

Gentry in the panic snap cross ties, post ride and cooling off.

The third time was charm. I started out with him attached to the blocker tie rings. I alternated between praise, treats, and asking him to stand, insisting that he not paw. This time I kept him in the blocker cross ties until he completely settled down and relaxed. Then, because I was feeling comfortable with his expression of acceptance and relaxation in the blocker cross ties, I switched him out to the regular panic snap cross ties. Then I groomed and tacked him up. He was terrific! I am so excited to be able to take him in the barn on cold days and at least groom him even if I can't ride due to ice or to let his long winter coat dry in comfort after a sweat inducing ride. Hurray!

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•

Over the River and Through the Woods

Due to the arctic weather, it has been a couple weeks since I've ridden Gentry. However, in the last few days we've had temperatures in the 30's & 40's and a lot of the snow has melted. This of course has resulted in a lot of slippery ice, but for the most part we now have bare ground.

EB and I decided that we would tack up the wooly mammoths and head out for an afternoon trail ride down to the arena. This was the first time for both of us and the ponies riding down to the arena. It was also my and EB's first trail ride together...ever! We had a great time. Gentry is a natural lead horse and really walked out well. So much so, that I had to stop and wait for long legged Hugo to catch up with us.

The cows that I had been dreading for so long have been moved to a winter pasture somewhere else, so I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get to see how Gentry would do with them. I am guessing he'd be fine. There will come a point that we will find out about that sooner or later. Definitely not something to fret over.

On our way to the arena we had to cross a small vehicle bridge that the creek runs under. Both horses were terrific about the partially frozen bubbling brook. So, bridge creek crossing check! To get into the park we had to ride the horses through a small, yet horse sized, pass through. They both did great with that as well.

Riding in the park arena at last!

Once we got to the park we rode around in the arena for a little bit. I was pleased to see only one gofer hole that I will need to fill. Otherwise the grass footing was surprising good and even. It was actually weird riding on level ground. I am already hooked though and I cannot wait until spring to mow and/or till it all up! I also have grand plans for mowing a track in the big open field area and build a couple simple cross country jumps.

EB and Hugo in the distance.

After playing in the arena we rode the horses through the woods along the creek following some deer track "trails". Gentry seemed to be having a grand time and was such a good boy. I can't remember having such an enjoyable and relaxing trail ride in years!

Smiling ear from ear, but sadly with frozen fingers (must get winter riding gloves) we headed home. hopefully we can keep these winter trail rides going until spring returns and we can seriously ride again.

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•

Thinking About New York

I am grateful that the ponies are warm and safe and loving the current 30 degree high temps. Mother nature didn't hand us anything that we don't normally get (albeit a bit early), so it was business as usual around here and continues to be into the extended forecast. However, upstate New York is a whole other matter.

If you haven't heard they've had six feet of snow and have a few more feet expected this weekend. Cars are buried and people have been stranded on the highway and can't get out of their homes. I even read a story about a poor Dorito truck being ran-sacked when it got stuck and nearby residents got hungry.

I feel for all those people, but it also got me thinking. What about their horses? Are they also buried under six feet of snow? Are barn and arena roofs collapsing under all that snow? What would I do with with our horses if a storm like that hit us?

I have always thought about how and where I would evacuate the horses if there was a forest fire. It seems half of Montana is always on fire every year, and we live very near forest service and state land with a lot of beetle kill, so this is a legitimate concern. However, it never occurred to me to think about what I would do if an honest to goodness legitimate blizzard hit us. I guess I would just put them in the barn, move the feed tubs to the tack room, put a few boards up to keep them out of the hay, and just let them poop the place up, and then pray the roof holds.

Seriously though, what do people do with their horses (and cattle, llamas, alpacas, goats, sheep...etc) in blizzard conditions like that?

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•

Arctic Blast

It is old news. Kim Kardashian's backside Crazy early winter storm. Everyone that lives in what we consider to be "tropical" areas of the US, those that have these things called "snow days", have been lamenting the early freeze. I don't blame them though. No one in those areas is used to this weather, so it really does wreak havoc in their lives. Here? Well, the cold snap came about a month late, but also about 20 degrees colder than normal.

Honestly, I would take this weather at this time of year anytime if it meant that I got to have such warm and glorious fall weather (aside from that weird early September snowstorm) every year. October was wonderful and I am still smiling thinking about it.

Now however, winter seems to be here for the long haul. It is snowy and cold. While everyone else in the lower 48 was trying to grasp how to move on with life, I was blanketing and feeding horses in the dark in -15 degree weather. Alone. With a toddler. Because Hubs was gone on his annual hunting trip with my Dad and Uncle. That's how we roll in the winter here. Cold weather? Throw another log on the fire and continue on.

The horses did just fine. I discovered that Gentry has likely never had a blanket on before, and I had to do some (extremely easy) desensitizing work with him at first. However, he seemed to be partial to it, didn't destroy it, and after the second time of putting on his blanket, he let me do it in the field without haltering him. Good boy! As soon as the temps came above 0 degrees, the blankets were history though. The horses are wooly mammoths already and do not need blankets when it is that warm. Yes, 0 degrees is warm. I live in Montana, but I think I covered that already.

Today was glorious though. Night time temps are staying in the teens, so that means no more blankets on the horses for the extended forecast. Yay! It was sunny today in in the 20's. Junior and I got some outside time at long last and he insisted on skiing around the yard. Of course I indulged him and managed to find is baby skis in the garage for him to play with.

Future Olympic Skier in Training

While Junior was showing me up with his skiing abilities (seriously, he has skied all of 20 minutes his whole life and is probably better than me), I noticed Gentry sleeping out in the pasture. I couldn't resist the urge to go out there and see if he would let me approach without getting up. Remember, Rose only finally trusted me enough to let me do this after three years of owning her.

True to form, Gentry let me approach and sit on him. So, I guess I technically rode my horse today. I am hoping to actually ride him tomorrow while Junior is at pre-school. Here's to hoping the weather remains warm and sunny!

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•

12' Stock Panel Run-In Shed

One of our pre-winter tasks was to put up a windbreak on the run-in shed.Given our limited budget for this project and deciding it was best to match the existing barn siding, we used really inexpensive, one might say "Ghetto", plywood siding. Please don't judge. Someday I will have a barn with heavy wood timbers, with a combination of natural cedar siding and dry stacked stone facade. I will darn it! For now though, I have inexpensive, weathered, but fully functional plywood siding. It works, and I'll take it.

Our dilemma with this project was how to attach the siding to the existing stock panels. The 12' stock panels came with the property and we have no other use for them, so we decided to just keep using them the way the previous property owner's did. Hence our "inspiration" for this getup.

On the two existing plywood panels that the old owner put up, he attached them with home made steel brackets. That guy really loved his welding and steel fabricating machines! We don't have the ability to do that though so we needed another solution. After perusing the shelves at the hardware stores and coming up empty handed with anything that would provide a tight fit around the stock panel bars, I randomly suggested zip-ties. To my utter SHOCK Hubs actually thought that would work okay. So, that's what we did folks.

Here is the DIY step by step to our ghetto fabulous stock panel run-in shed walls. Enjoy!

Before: Stock panel mounted to barn and post

Sizing up the plywood panels

Snapping temporary line and cutting plywood panels

Drilling holes on top and bottom, of top and bottom stock panel bars, on left and right side of  each plywood panel. 

Drilling holes

Supervisor, doing his job well

Install the zip-tie around the bar

Installed zip-tie, exterior view

Pause to re-hydrate and appreciate the finished product

Finished! Interior view

Finished! Exterior view

Now we need to put some primer on these babies, and wait until we figure out house paint colors. It might be ghetto fabulous, but it will look much better once the barn has fresh paint and matches our house!

We had one more to do on the other side of the barn. Gentry donated some more horsepower!

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•

Grooming Stall Complete-ish

There has been so much going on preparing the farm for winter (which is arriving today apparently), that I haven't had much time for blogging. Given that outside the storm is on it's way, evident from crazy wind right now, I am hiding out inside my house with a nice warm fire burning and zero desire to go ride my horse. Gentry is fine in the wind, but I really don't like riding when I have a false sense of speed do to the wind and zero ability to hear anything that may potentially be life threatening, like vehicles driving down the road. I digress.

Prior to Hugo's arrival, with the help of my Father In-law, I finally got the grooming stall in the barn all finished up. It is finished "for now". I would like to add rubber mats to the floor and more boards to the half wall, but that will require digging up the few remaining pressure treated boards in the second garden bed. We are not planning to remove that garden bed, which will be come a gravel parking area for trailers, until next summer AFTER I have harvested my garlic and shallots that I JUST planted. See my farm blog (Fast Forks Farm) if you want to hear more about that.

Without further adieu, here are the before and after photos:

Grooming stall - before. 10' o.c. pole barn posts.

Grooming stall - after. 

I wanted a good separation between the horses and the hay stack, to avoid them trying to desperately spin around and eat the hay. I also wanted a half wall on the other side to separate the grooming stall from the "feed" area and also to keep the horses from spinning their bums out the other way. Once that was complete, I finished the area out with a cross ties, collapsible saddle rack, and a bridle hook.

The boards came from the garden bed that we demolished last month, to convert to more lawn area. I do not wish to spend that much of my time in a garden. At least not at this point in my life.

The saddle rack was built by Hubs years ago when we were dating, and when he was desperately trying impress me. The fact that I had a saddle with which I needed a rack, yet no horses in my life at the time, should have been his first indication that he was in trouble!

I found the bridle hook in one of my many plastic tubs which hold my tack hord, and has been laying around unused from some tack sale at some point in history. As for the crossties, I built them last month. They actually did cost money to build, and you can click here to read the post about that.

For this project I was on a budget that consisted of $0. If I wanted a grooming stall I was going to have to use what we had on hand. Why you say? Simple; buying an old farm that has been vacant for over a year and hasn't had much maintenance in the past five/six years, requires a lot of things NEEDING to be fixed prior to winter and thus unexpected expenses. Luckily, I was able to do this project mostly within my budget. I did have to pay about $17 for the materials to make the cross-ties.

However, for now I am looking forward to having a warmer and wind-free location to play with G-love during the winter!


Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•

Log Jump

Yesterday I decided to get a ride in on Gentry before the predicted arctic blast hit us. Prior to and during our ride we were graced by what looked like a hay fire over the hill. I couldn't ride at any other time during the day, so we just had to bear breathing the smoke. It passed rather quickly though, and luckily the fire appeared to be out and not headed our way.

Smoke cloud building behind Gentry

The smoke cloud blew our way; Hugo standing along the fence

Gentry, doing what he does best; looking cute waiting for tack

Gentry was a good boy as usual. I am struggling to get used to riding on uneven terrain though. It is hard enough to fine tune a young horse's ability to keep a consistent tempo and rhythm, throwing hills into the mix makes it far more complicated. I need to get the courage to ride down to the arena by myself. I am just weary of those cows! Plus I would like to do it on day two of riding, not on day one. Lately I have only been able to ride once a week, due mostly to weather and lack of evening daylight.

Riding once a week also poses other problems. Despite being a level headed and all around good boy, training doesn't exactly progress much if you only ride once a week. So, that is also a bit frustrating for me, but I am trying to take it in stride. Despite that we did get some W/T/C in and even went over a little log jump (which I am in the middle of building).

First x-country jump!

Junior, jumping the log for size comparison...and cuteness!

I haven't tried jumping Gentry yet, due to lack of jumping saddle. I am not a fan of jumping in a dressage saddle, but I couldn't resist and figured I could walk/trot over a little log in my dressage saddle. He did just that. Walked and trotted over it without missing a beat. Didn't even attempt to jump it. I guess we will have to make it bigger. I will need a jumping saddle at that point though!

Trail ride cool down around the "hood". I am loving this!

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•