Stalling

It seems things may finally be settling down after almost a month of on-the-go. I'll be glad to settle down a little and get some things accomplished at home. I've really noticed in the last few days that fall will be setting in quickly. I want to take advantage of every outside opportunity I can get. But there seems to be so much to get done.

I was trying to figure out stall space for everyone and how to arrange everyone this winter. It seems everyone has a best friend or a buddy they hang out with. Unfortunately I don't have enough stalls to meet the needs of everyone's friendship. What I would give for a 20 stall barn.

Because the mares are old, I insist that they go in the barn. It's fairly well insulated and keeps the heat in from the horses, so no stalls in the hay shed for them. I'm figuring stalls with the addition of the mare we looked at last week. So in go the new mare, Babe, and Queen. That leaves me with four spots. Since Rain and Zeke are such "delicate flowers" they must go in also. Sam is a hard keeper (and takes for ever to lick up the last bit of his grain) so in he goes. That leaves on spot. I'm thinking I'll put Jim in the barn since he's getting up there in age and he's a picky/hard keeper during the middle of the winter.

The problem: Sam is friends with Brego. Jim is friends with Maverick. Jim has to be in a stall next to the wall away from other horses. Rain picks on Sam. Jim picks on Zeke. It's a vicious circle in the barn but I don't think I have any other options.

As it stands right now, I have two permanent stalls in the hay shed and will put up the temporary stall once the leaves start falling from the trees. So who to put in the hay shed? It's not very well insulated but it's at least out of the wind. Since the stalls are fairly spacious I'm planning on putting Thor in. Since Ivan is a Thoroughbred (and having never dealt with a Thoroughbred in the winter), I'm putting him in too. Maybe Thor and Ivan can be friends. That leaves me with one stall free. Brego seems to not handle the cold temps very well even though he's only 5. So in he'll go.

The problem: I'm not sure how Thor will handle the switch. I'm thinking of putting Thor with Ivan for a few days. Thor is the type to protect his buddy. Ivan and Brego are friends when Sam is in the barn.

The other problem? This arrangement leaves Dude, King, Chaos, and Maverick outside. Luckily there's the big leanto. I know Dude and Chaos will stay in it. King is claustrophobic and I have to push the issue with putting him in the stall (just during the winter months...bribery with grain works well right now to get him his meds).

The only other questions is: Will I have the ponies for the winter? I haven't yet talked with the trainer to make that decision but we have a few months. I'm thinking if I run through the alfalfa quick enough, it will leave a big enough spot to stuff the ponies in the hay barn. The hay barn would be perfect for the ponies.

My only other option with the big herd is to build temporary stalls in the red shed. The only advantage to this option would be getting the horses out of the wind. The red shed is not insulated and wouldn't provide them with any potential heat since it's so large.

So I'm going to be doing some brainstorming. We need to get some major fencing done in the drylot before winter sets in. The way it stands now, they'll fall over the fence. :-) If we're in the middle of putting in fence, we might as well throw together a quick and small shed for a couple of the horses. That way I could lock in two and that would leave two in the leanto. It's still an idea I'm tossing around and nothing is formalized just yet.

But this weather change has me thinking about winter and struggling through yet another cold and blustery winter season. (Todays high is only supposed to be 68). I want to make sure everyone is as snug as a bug in a rug. Going to do some research on blankets this weekend also. I need to get more blankets for the herd if this winter will be anywhere close to the winter we had last year.

I guess fall is in the air. I better start preparing.