Barns, Mules and Granddaughters

The "boys" (Prize and Louie) were funny last night when I went to bring them in for the night. Tracy and I have been putting the two boys together in a pasture and Marie in a separate pasture alone. There are horses beside Marie, and she can watch the boys from where she is. She seems to be content with this situation. Without a woman to fight over, the boys are getting along well and seem to enjoy each other's company and having a buddy to play with. I brought Marie in first as usual last night. Then went down for the boys. They were both at the gate very eager to come in neither one liking to be left behind. Of the boys, I've been bringing Prize in first since I already know from experience he can and might come through the fence if left behind. Louie seems to have a deep respect for electric fencing and I trust him more to stay on the right side of the fence. And so far he has. He run, and paws and bellows but he has not yet challenged the fence.

Anyway, when I went down to get them, they were both right there at the gate and when went to put Prize's halter on him, he eagerly shoved his head right in.........and Louie sidled right up and tried to shove his head into Prize's halter at the same time! It was pretty funny. And it was good to see that the boys were showing no irritation with each other at all. Prize seemed perfectly willing to share his halter. Silly boys. The strange thing about all their eagerness to be caught at night, once up in the barn, neither one wants to go in their stall. What's with that......

My granddaughter Madison spent this weekend with us. So, on Saturday, Fred gave me a free pass away from barn building so Madison and I could have a girls day. I took her shopping in the morning. Where did we shop you ask? Well at the tack shop of course! We went up to Adams Horse and Pet Supply to buy her a riding helmet. Madison has not ridden much up to this point. But, she is 7 years old now and showing some interest in riding. The few times she has gotten on a horse or mule here, she's just worn her bike helmet. But, I told Fred if she is going to ride more, she needs a proper equestrian helmet. And would have to have one to ride at Upper Pond stable. When we got to Adam's Supply, I was very pleased to find an old friend, Halla,  I haven't seem in a long time working there. It was so nice to see her and we got the very best of service in finding just the right helmet for Madison. I also bought some "buddy" stirrups. This is a pair of stirrups made for children that hang off the saddle horn of a western saddle when their legs are too short to reach the regular stirrups.

Later that afternoon, I took Madison over to Upper Pond Stable and she had her first riding lesson on Marie. Marie is SUCH a wonderful girl and just perfect for teaching Madison. And what is kind of neat is Madison's mother, Holly, learned to ride on Marie. Though Marie was young then and not such a good girl as she is now. Madison did wonderful. She listened to everything I told her. I did keep her on a lunge line but she was steering and controlling Marie pretty much on her own. Madison noticed the dressage letters on the arena wall and I would call a letter and have her ride to it. Madison learned to stop and back Marie. We even did a little trotting. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait until our next lesson!!

Sunday was back to barn building. Not so much fun for Madison (or me) but she was a very good girl all day hanging out with us as we worked. She entertained herself well with the help of Zephyr, Shiloh and the guinea hens. Fred and I got all of the floor joists for the 2nd floor and up ready to be nailed. Today we got about half of them nailed in place. The weather, after the stupid snow storm, has been great. Today was very warm and most of the snow is melted now.

Floor joists in place!!!! Yippee!

Snowy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I so much enjoy the family time. We have been having such good weather for November so I should not complain that we had a whopper of a snow storm yesterday. I do believe we got 8 inches or so. So, I spend this morning shoveling out the barn so we could continue with the construction work tomorrow. Fred put the snow blower on the lawn tractor and tried to clean up the driveways with that. The snow blower was not being cooperative at all and Fred didn't get much snow removed for so much work put in. Thankfully my brother let us borrow his plow truck and Fred was able to plow later in the afternoon. 

I had the evening shift at the barn today. Louie was actually very quiet tonight. He led in very nicely and he went into his stall with no fuss and stood pretty well for me to get the halter off without any attempts to exit the stall. Then I went to get Prize........ when I got out to his turnout I see his halter is not hanging on the hook. So I assume it must be in the barn and I go back in to get it. No halter in the barn...... hummmmm. So I then guess that it fell off the hook and I just didn't see it in the snow. Back out I go but I still don't see his halter. At least not anywhere near the post. So, I start looking further afield. Well, I finally found it out in his turnout well tramped into the snow. I pull it out of the snow, shake it off and it falls apart...... ACK!  I look it over and see that it's not actually broken but it looks like he chewed on the end of the nose piece strap. So, it is not swollen with water and ragged from being chewed so it was a bit of a challenge feeding the end through the buckle. I eventually managed and got his halter on. He was a good boy leading in but when we got to his stall, he locked all 4 feet and said, "no thanks, I'd rather not go in tonight".  Apparently he's been talking with Louie. We had a small discussion about this and he finally agreed to go into the stall. And once in he was just fine. 

I took the opportunity to ride Marie tonight. I wanted to make sure I hadn't forgotten how to ride. She was quite full of it! She was not behaving badly she was just wanting to zoom around the arena at about 100 mph. And Marie of course Marie leaving her stall ended Louie being quiet as he had a minor panic attack about it. Poor Louie. I did go into his stall after I was done with Marie and groom him. He totally sucked up the attention and was giving a big dose of "poor me". 

Yep, boys will be boys......

Yesterday, my friend Barbara asked if she could borrow Marie to go riding with Susie. Of course that was fine and they planned to pick her up at 1:00 pm. So, I decided to put the boys out together in the big turnout and Marie alone in Prize's turnout. I knew Marie wouldn't care one way or another as long as there was hay involved. And I thought the boys might get along without their woman to fight over. Sure enough this was so. I was around the barn for a while this morning and the boys spent quite a bit of time standing side by side at the fence line gazing longingly at Marie. Silly boys! And the interactions they were having with each other were low key and playful. Marie's shoes have been pulled for the winter so I dug out her Easyboots and put them on so Barbara wouldn't have to fuss with them. When I left, all was quite. I emailed Tracy to let her know what I had done and told her I was not sure what would be the best plan for bringing them in. Marie is not an issue herself as you can bring her in first, last or middle and she would be fine. Though bringing her in first would get the boys riled up. Anyway, I left it up to Tracy to decided how to handle this as she is an experienced handler and would figure it out. Below is the email I got from Tracy later that night.......All I can say is where is the video camera when you need it! BOYS!!!!

Well, I guess my plan of attack as far as bringing in our two goober heads needs to be refined, LOL. I had quite the time. I know that Prize can be a gate-bully and always, always always wants to be first at anything. I was worried Louie would panic at being left alone in the field and since it was dark I didn't want him getting too riled-up so...... I led them both in at the same time. Repeat after me, "I will not lead in two young john mules at the same time". Repeat this sentence 500 times until it is fully ingrained in the gray matter.

We lead into the barn. Then we quickly exited the barn. Back in. Now out. In. Out. In. Out.

I didn't know my arms could possibly stretch that far, ha ha! You would not believe how FAST all of this was happening.

Finally, help arrives in the form of a 13 year old girl who could not possibly weigh more than 80 pounds soaking wet. However, she is bold and brave and quickly zooms in on Louie whom she has a sweet spot for. "I'll take Louie for you!" she yells. I was dubious but in no position to negotiate as I had dropped Prize' lead shank earlier ( when I almost had him 3/4 of the way into his stall) and was gripping him by the halter only. I didn't think she could handle him without a shank. Happily though, she leads Louie back into the barn. I tell her to just hang on, I'll get him into the stall (while I was quickly pushing Prize into his stall). But she is quite confident and says oh no, she'll put him in. I step out of Prize' stall very fast now, knowing that Louie just might......... yup, drag her out and down the hall. Almost out of the barn. So I made a dive for him, got him turned around and back into his stall, closing the door very, very quickly. He was simply having a panic attack about Marie. I ran out and got her and let her stop and nuzzle him at his stall for a bit. This helped his attitude immensely. After graining them all, I went in and had special Louie-time so he wouldn't think ill of me. Brought him some dehydrated apple slices which were well received. This was the first time since being over at the barn that Louie has relaxed for me and seemed to enjoy having his ears rubbed. So, I think we are on friendly terms!

So, tomorrow night I will first lead in Prize and put him into his stall. Then I will get Louie and walk over to Marie's paddock and get her so they can walk in together (I've lead them in together a few times now with little problem). I will let you know how this goes, it seems like a much better plan than tonights!

I checked Louie over for bite marks. I found the broken skin/dried blood from the other day when he was in with the two of them. Happily, there was no blood anywhere else. So they appear to be getting along and hopefully will start playing and burning off excess energy

Boys will be Boys....

Well, today I turned Prize out with Louie and Marie. He is used to living with another gelding, a mare and molly so Tracy and I thought he might like being turned out with my two. And he and Louie are both very playful so we thought they might enjoy each other's company.

The farrier came this morning and took shoes off Marie and Louie. Louie was very good for the farrier. I was pleased as the barn owner was there and it's nice when they behave when there is an audience as that is when they usually do something embarrassing. Anyway, I put Prize out in his paddock until the farrier left. Then I put Louie and Marie in their pasture. I did notice today that Louie did not hesitate or make faces being led out. So, I may be right in my thought that his behavior is from not wanting to leave Prize behind in the barn. I then got Prize and put him in with Marie and Louie. Well, as suspected, that stirred them all up. Marie went into instant heat and both boys had to act a bit stupid about that. Louie was quite interested in Prize but feeling a little bit possessive of HIS mare. Prize was very interested in Marie and not so much in Louie. He made a few attempts to drive Louie off but Louie pretty much stood his ground. They didn't carry for more then 4 or 5 minutes then settled down to eat hay and seemed to be fine. I hung around for 15 or 2o minutes to watch them but all was quiet so I headed home to help with the barn building.

My friend Bonnie texted me that afternoon and and asked what time I was heading to the barn. She wanted to come over and meet Prize. I wasn't heading over until around 4:00 pm so she decided to over just a little bit earlier so she could see Prize while it was still daylight. She texted me again when she got there to tell me that Prize was very persistently mounting my mare and Louie was standing alone in a corner appearing to feel very sorry for himself. Louie wanted to visit with Bonnie but when he tried to approach her, Prize came right over for the attention and Louie wouldn't come near him. Poor Louie! When I got there, sure enough Prize was acting very studdish with my mare. He came right to me though when I came into the pasture with his halter and he led up to the barn like a complete gentlemen. As soon as Prize was out of the pasture, Louie went right up to Bonnie to suck up some attention. I brought Louie and Marie in and for once Louie did not fuss about going into his stall. And once in he was quiet and not looking for Marie but went right to eating his hay. Hummmmmm. Quite a change of attitude. He had a bit mark on his hindquarter. It was bloody but not deep or serious. So much for the playful boys enjoying each others company. They might be fine without my mare in the mix. Karen and Bart, the stable owners, said they had checked on them a couple times during the day and they had been quite and doing fine each time. I was relieved to hear that they hadn't been driving each other around all day. But I'm not sure if I'll put them together again tomorrow or not.

Settling into Upper Pond Stable

Tracy's mule Sir Prize



Everything is going quite well at Upper Pond Stable. Karen and Bart, the owners, are very nice and create a very relaxed atmosphere. They take an interest in everyone and their equines. I hauled Tracy's mule over about a week ago. He was quite nervous about being being in my trailer but he was a very good boy about it. When we got to Upper Pond, he was sweating and shaking but behaved very well. Prize is a nice mule and Tracy has raised him well.

Louie continues to have anxiety about going into his stall. He HATES that he looses sight of everyone. When brought in, he tries to walk right on by the stall. Then he resists going in. Once in, he will try to come right back out. He does settle down fairly quickly. Though sometimes he will go to the wall between him and Marie and bob his head up and down trying to look through the cracks between the boards. He is, however, eating and drinking very well and he is not having any loose stool so I know he's he's doing ok. I've been doing morning chores and Tracy the afternoon chores. Prize had been such a good boy to handle. He did take a "walk about" the first morning I put him out in his pasture. He scooted right between the 2 strand electric fence. It was not on and it was amazing to see a mule as big as he is scoot through such a small space so easily. And he was very impressive as he moose trotted and galloped around the stable. Thankfully, the stable is was off the road. I did have to wait for someone else to arrive before I could catch him. He's been a perfect boy since that first morning.




Strangely, Louie has now started to hesitate when being led out to his pasture in the morning. I thought this very strange because I lead him and Marie out together so he is not being separated from his pasture mate. And I am sure he does not want to stay in his stall. And once out to the pasture, he is quiet and relaxed. It's just when being led out, he is poking slowly, stopping and giving me very disgusted looks. Then today as I was leading them out, he stopped right by Prize's stall. And I realized he started this after Prize arrived. I think he dislikes leaving Prize behind in the barn as I always bring Prize out last.



Work on my barn is progressing. Fred has been working soooooo hard on it. We have been blessed with such good weather so far this month and we are thankful for every good day we get.

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.