Work Day

Today was a work day in the barn. I had to clean out the 2nd floor to get ready for this years hay. That meant moving what is left of last years hay to the front. I only have 35 bales left so that part wasn't much of a chore but the dust from the sweeping was a bit overwhelming. Marie thought she'd hit the jackpot as food was falling from the sky right into her paddock. There was quite a lot of loose hay I swept out the door so I ended up forking it all into Marie's stall so she could eat it without it getting ruined by being outside.

I also had to do some stall shuffling. Always such a dilemma. Each of my stalls has access to it's own paddock. But, who should go where, I want Lily to have 24/7 access to a round bale, so I want the bale inside.  But she needs to have pasture also so is in the river pasture. But, that stall is only 10x10 so I can't put a round bale in there. I would swap her with Marie as she has a 20' stall but Marie can't have grass. To keep Lily on the river pasture but give her a big stall, I would have to swing a stall panel across the aisle at the back of the barn. I set the barn up so I could do this. That would give Lily a big 10x20 stall with room for the round bale. But that stall door leads into Tinkerbell's paddock. So I now have to set up some panels to change that and make it so she still only has access to the river pasture. But, can I set it up securely with the gates and panels I have. As the house is for sale, I don't want to do any major work. And now the barn aisle will be a little shorter and make it so we can't cross tie two in the aisle at the same time. And so on and so on, you see it's never just a simple thing.

In the end I decided to set up the back stall again. Fred helped me hang a gate, I got a panel and with the use of a second gate already mounted on the back of the barn, I was able to set up the short run I needed to give Lily access to the river pasture from the stall door. She was a bit put off by a change to her living arrangements solely on the basis that it was a change. Mules hate change. But, after thoroughly investigating her new stall, she started to think it might be ok. She went in and out and in and out many times. I left to pick up a couple round bales. When I put one in her stall, that was the deciding factor for her and she decided she liked the new living arrangements after all. And unlike the mules before her that were quite worried about the large green bag the hay was in, she never gave it a single thought and dove right in to the hay.

When I went out to feed tonight. She was happily hanging out in her new luxury suite. After I did chores, I groomed Marie, then I groomed Lily. She just LOVES to be groomed. She does not move a muscle when you are brushing her as if she thinks if she does move, you might stop. And she gets such a soft happy look. She is really a sweet mule.