The New Fence

I have probably mentioned in previous posts the condition of our horse fencing. It is the Heinz 57 variety, consisting of roundpen panels, chain link, wood, electic wire and tape, and stone wall. We even have sections of  very dangerous stock panels, and a few feet of the equally dangerous barbed wire. For posts we had trees, metal posts and plastic step-in posts. The electric wire and tape sections have been broken and repaired so many times that I considered changing our farm name to Half-Ass Acres! In additon to the fencing, the solar charger had been dropped, broken, and was taped together with Duct Tape. What did people ever do before Duct tape! Needless to say, I was also spending a lot of time chasing horses down the road, or searching through our back woods. One of  the many projects I had planned for this year was to take down all the missmatched junk fencing, replace all the step-in posts with metal posts (yes, they have the yellow plastic safety caps), run 2-1 inch wide strands of electic tape, and buy a new solar charger. Fortunately my son-in-law had some down time at work so he and his father, were able to spend 2 entire days tackling this enormous job. In total they put up 2/3 mile of tape, and pounded in at leat 30 posts. We did still use many trees for some of the insulators. The new fencing looks wonderful, the solar charger is providing a good ZAP, and the horses aren't escaping so long as I don't leave the gate open!

Spring has Sprung and the Bees are Buzzing

After a long, aren't they all, winter, it is so nice to get some over 50 degree weather.This weather makes me want to forget about housework and go outside to "play" in the barn, yard, and most importantly spend time with the horses. My definition of spending time with and playing with the horses is doing anything related to my horses. It can be cleaning out the horse trailer, or doing an inventory of the items in my 3 tack trunks. It never ceases to amaze me all the stuff that has been acquired for the horses. Every horse needs his own "everything, from bucket to blanket. Due to the years that Mark was here with his horses, and the fact that he still sometimes stops here for a couple of days enroute to and from South Carolina,  I keep extras of just about everything that might be needed for his 6 TB polo horses.  Buckets, blankets, halters, stock tanks, extra fencing, fly sheets, saddles and  lead ropes. Now that there are 3 minis living on the farm, I have big and little sizes of everything. Special stall doors were built and installed so that Char-Lee, Delilah, and Scooter can peer over the tops of  the doors. Is there anything cuter than 3 littles faces anxiously awaiting their feed in  the morning? All of this equipment adds up to a lot of stuff to keep track of, and care for, so I feel that a yearly inventory is important. Knowing what I have, and where it is stored saves not only time, but money. New fencing is being put around the paddocks, the barn needs painting, storm windows need  to be removed and we are building a new run-in shelter this year. Of course, there is training, riding and driving of the horses. So much to do and so little time, but I'd rather be "playing with the horses" than doing anything else in the world!