Moving

Well, Louie and Marie have been moved while we complete the barn project. I just hated to not have shelter for them this time of year. I was not sure what I was going to do as I could not afford to board both of them. But thing have a way of working themselves out.

My friend Tracy emailed me to let me know she'd seen an ad from Upper Pond Stable looking to rent out a block of 9 stalls at $100 a stall. Their barn manager had moved to Aiken, SC and taken quite a few horses with her. The barn owner moved all her boarders to one side of the barn and decided to rent out stall on the other side. Renters would be responsible for taking care of their own equines. As Upper Pond Stable is only 4 miles from my house, this was a very reasonable situation for me. And me being there made it a viable situation for Tracy. She is not that far away but still about 15 miles. So for her to travel to the stable twice a day every day is a 60 miles of traveling. But with both of us there, we could split the chores. Tracy and I couldn't take 9 stalls but the barn owner, Karen, agreed to let us rent 3. Between rock picking, ditch digging and helping Fred with the barn building, I was not able to move Louie and Marie until yesterday.

It was a fabulous day, sunny and in the high 60's. I hauled over to Upper Pond about 8:30 am or so. Louie and Marie have a nice big pasture for their turnout. There are obstacles in their pasture as it is used for Versatility Challenge competitions occasionally. There is a water crossing, bank jumps, ditch, bridge, log jump, tires and a sand hill. Both Louie and Marie were very excited when I turned them out. They ran, jumped, bucked and ran some more. Louie a bit more then Marie but she did her share. They got pretty sweaty with their winter hair and such warm weather. Louie was quite curious about all the obstacles and had to check each on out. And he was quite curious about his neighbors in the next pasture who shared his curiosity. The electric fence is at least 6' high which I like since it keep them from fighting or playing over the fence line.

On a sad note, a dead horse was being removed when I arrived. A horse has coliced and died during the night. It is so hard when we lose them. Karen showed me where I could store my hay and where I could put my grain and tack. Louie and Marie had nice stall on the outside wall with windows. I was happy about that. I set up their stall with hay and water for that night.

I came back to the barn that evening right around 4:00 pm. Though I THOUGHT it was 5:00 pm, I'd forgotten to reset my watch for daylight saving time......duh...... I brought Louie and Marie in. Marie had been boarded at this barn before so she was relaxed and happy to go in her stall. Louie, on the other hand, was not impressed AT ALL. The stalls have solid walls and even solid doors. So they can only see out the 8 foot grilled section into the barn aisle. A prison cell as far as Louie was concerned. He did walk right into the stall, but then promptly spun around and tried to mow me down in an effort to get back out immediately. I was kind of expecting this so was ready and convinced him that running over me was a worse idea then spending the night in a prison cell. He paced around the stall, reared up trying to look over the wall at Marie. The wall is too high and that didn't work. So, he stood at the wall between them and pawed. and of course he immediately developed diarrhea. He did eat his grain in bites between pawing. There was really nothing I could do for him so I went home hoping he would be ok.

I brought my dog Zephyr to the barn with me this morning. He was very confused by the change to his routine. When I walked to the truck instead of going out back, he just stood and looked at me like I had two heads. He likes to ride in the truck but this just what now how the morning routine was supposed to go. I did convince him to come with me. When I got to Upper Pond Stable, I asked Bart, the owner, if it was ok to bring Zephyr and he said that would be fine. Zephyr was very happy once he was out of the truck. So many new things to smell and so many thing to mark. Karen told me they had made an extra check on Louie last night as they had noticed that he had loose stools. I was pleased to hear this. It's nice to know they are keeping such a good eye on the animals. Though Louie had not been happy about being stalled, he had eating every scrap of his hay and emptied his water bucket. Marie too but that was no surprise with her. I fed them their grain and then put them out in their pasture. Louie wanted to get out of the stall pretty badly but he behaved quite well. He pawed at the open door just a little but didn't attempt to come through me. Louie ran around just a little when I turned them loose. Marie went straight for the hay.