Flooding Hazard

I thought we might flood due to all the snow we received this winter. Now with all this extra rain, we will for sure flood! I didn't get a chance to really do anything with the horses again last night. Work has really stressed me out and I fell asleep before going out to the chores. Least to say, the horses were a bit grumpy.

The weatherman is now talking a potential for snow. So now I'm perplexed. What if I have to put the horses in the barn to dry out from the soggy snow? The barn is soaked too so it won't really help any, other than they won't have rain/snow falling on them. But they will have to stand in wet straw.

If I had more corral panels and more time before/after work, I'd set up some stalls in the shed at the top of the hill. But I'm out of corral panels and don't have time in the morning to halter and lead all 13 horses out to the pen. As it is, I'm cutting it short doing chores in the morning.

I need to figure out a new system for chores. Although after this weekend daylight savings time will kick in and I'll have an extra hour to do chores and possibly get more done outside (even if it IS wet out)!

I guess I'm just stressing. Maybe if I can get some stuff done this weekend I'll feel a little less stressed. Or if it would stop raining and there wouldn't be any chance of snow I'd be less stressed. But I guess I wont' complain. The weather is in the 30s instead of below zero. I do like warmer weather even if it reaks havoc on everything!

Shanna's Ark

I'm considering turning the barn into a boat. I think we are just about ready to float away. The only catch is that the barn doesn't hold 13 horses. Oh, and the fact that if I did turn the barn into a boat, I'd have a considerable leak to contend with. I'm starting to think we are going to float away. Maybe the two rounds of alfalfa bales will float away and we can use them as rafters.

The barn is completely flooded now. Every stall has water in it. I'm going to have to buy a number of additional tubs to keep the grain dry. Right now they are all sitting on pallets but I'm not sure how beet pulp handles in wet conditions. I don't want to experience a beet pulp explosion.

I didn't get a chance to clean out the barn this weekend so now everything is starting to get soggy. I need to work on cleaning out the barn and get everything moved over to the tack room. I'm sure that everything is going to start rusting soon if I don't move it over.

I just hope that we dont' get a cold snap. Then I'm going to be in a pickle. I'll have to set up stalls in the big shed instead. That's about the only place that's dry right now. I don't even feel comfortable running horses in the barn because of the water ice.

And speaking of pallets. Sunday we had a skunk decide to take up residence in the hay barn. I was rather distraught. I hate dealing with skunks. I can handle coons and possums a little bit better but skunks are just awful. So every time I'd walk into the hay barn on Sunday the hair on the back of my neck would stand up straight. Awful feeling.

Mike baited the trap but still nothing. Last night we had to run into town so I was late in getting to chores. Luckily Mike was with me, carrying a pistol just in case. We investigated the hay barn but nothing. So I went out to go start getting the hay ready, and THERE HE WAS, THE LITTLE STINKER! The skunk was in the small pen waddling away out to the pasture.

Thank goodness Mike had a pistol on him. I absolutely hate doing chores in the morning when I know there's some type of varmit around. Now all we have to deal with is the skunk body. It's been raining non-stop for 12 hours so I'm hoping the skunk spray will wash away. The smell wasn't too bad in the hay barn but since the skunk sprayed, I'm sure the hay shed will stink to high heaven. I think we'll leave the body in the pen for a few more days to help wash away the stench. It's supposed to rain from now until Saturday morning.

Aaah, the joys of country life: flooding barns, mud, and skunks.

Sleepy Queen

This morning when I went out to do chores, Queen was curled up on the hay/alfalfa. She looked so cute. I'm sure I disrupted her nap.

I do love a horse all curled up, napping. They make me want to curl up next to them and just enjoy their company. I didn't have a lot of time this morning but I couldn't resist sitting down with her for just a few minutes. I love to listen to them breath while they are curled up. It's such a calming sound. They are so relaxed, it simply soothes my soul.

Queen grazing last summer.

Woolly Mammoth to Sleak and Sassy

I'm so ready for the woolly mammoths to disappear.

And have my sleak and sassy beauties back!

Oh for greener pastures!

Flood!

With the warmer weather, the barn is now flooding. It's not too bad at this point but if we get the rain the weatherman is predicting, I expect the entire barn will be flooded. For the past two days I've had to feed Sam in a different stall. His stall is starting to flood and there's no where for the water to go.

Unfortunately the water runs right into the barn. Rain and Sam's stalls are going to get the brunt of it but I'm sure that the entire barn will have water in it. I'm not exactly sure how to keep the water out. Everything was built on the downslope of a hill. It's not very noticeable at first, until you realize that water is running into the barn, garage, dog house, chicken coop, and house. Yeah, that's right, I said the house. I'm sure that over the years, the ground has heaved, the buildings have sunk, and more dirt has been brought in, so that's why I'm having problems with water in the buildings.

I just hope that the weather stays warm so I don't have to have the horses in the barn. I can deal with Sam in the barn but having half the herd in the barn with water in it is just a bit too much. I still need to haul everything out of the barn. It's amazing how much stuff accumulates in the barn over a year. The barn flooded last year too but it wasnt' this bad this early.

I figure I better move everything out of the barn so it doesn't get wet and when the humidity sets in, nothing will rust. I had that same problem last year with all my hardware rusting. Very annoying. I have to dig out the snowdrift in front of the tack room so I can start moving everything into there for the next several months.

And to top it off, the weatherman is predicting rain. Yes that's right. Rain. So on top of the three to four foot snowdrift in the yard (which covers the entire yard), we'll be dealing with up to a half inch of rain.

I think I may have to move the mares into a different pen. Their pasture takes the water run off. Unfortunately I have the three alfalfa bales sitting right where the water runs off. So now I'm really in a pickle. I don't have a tractor to move those bales. Luckily I'm almost done with one of the bales but that still leaves me with two bales to content with during the spring thaw. I have increased the mares alfalfa intake and reduced their hay intake. I'm sure it's completely wrong but I don't want to let the alfalfa go to waste and I'm not sure what else to do with those darn bales.

As always, there's something going on here at Borderlands.

Appreciating Warmer Weather

Life seems to be so much easier when warm weather arrives. I'm excited to be able to open the darn barn doors finally. Mike worked at getting the regular barn and hay barn doors open. The main barn door had been frozen shut for over a week. There's still about a foot and a half of packed snow in front of the door so we'll be tackling frozen doors yet again. But until that time I'm enjoying not hurting myself opening doors. It's the simple things in life that I enjoy!

The mares are also enjoying the warmer weather and drinking a lot more. Having never used a big water trough through the winter, this year has been a learning experience. Poor Mike, I'm sure he'll be happy to see summer when he doesn't have to haul water and I'll fill the tanks with a hose.

Nothing much else exciting other than enjoying warmer weather. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the warmer weather is here to stay. I'd sure like to watch the sun set over the horizon instead of the big ten foot snow drift at the end of the driveway.

Sam's New Blanket

Last year I bought Bob a blanket because of his weight. I wanted to make sure he was spending his energy eating not trying to stay warm. The closest draft blanket I could find was two inches too big. So I had to order a size 96. Not a big deal. It fit Bob, not the greatest but it did the trick. I only had the blanket on Bob a few times last winter but had it on him all of this past October to keep the rains off of him.

When Sam got sick and Bob was gone, I used Bob's blanket on Sam. Unfortunately Sam is taller but shorter in length. Whereas Bob was shorter but longer in lenght. So the size 96 blanket was way too big. I've done everything I could to shrink the blanket down with pins and duct tape but it was just too big.

I've had that blanket on Sam since the end of November when I wanted to make sure he was spending all of his energy eating. I didn't want him to spend all his energy trying to stay warm to gain weight. Poor Sam has allowed me to mess with that blanket from day one. I dont' believe he's ever worn a blanket prior to coming to Borderlands. He's very patient with me. I dont' know if he really likes it or not but he tolerates it.

I decided that since Sam will be around for years to come (knock on wood), that I better buy him a blanket that actually fits. We measured him out as size 90 but I couldn't find any draft sizes that were in my price range. Sam has already half way trashed the other blanket. I wasn't too inclined to spend big bucks on a blanket he'll end up trashing no matter what within a year.

I found a couple of deals on smaller blankets but by the time I finally got around to ordering, they were out. I did find a deal at Jeffers. I dont' know why I didn't look at that site before. I found a size 87. I figured the blanket would be about three inches too small but it would be better than six inches too big. So I went ahead and ordered it last weekend.

The blanket came this Friday but I didn't get a chance to try it out until yesterday. It was so nice out that I decided to pull Sam's blanket and let him enjoy some sun on his back. I'm sure that today will be warm too but it was too chilly to pull his blanket when I did chores this morning.

I really like this blanket much better. I figured it would be too small but I think it fits him WAY better. The only place that might be too small his around his neck so I'll have to keep a super close eye on that. In the past I've always had to shrink the blankets down to be as small as they can go, but Sam's new blanket isnt' like that. I had to adjust everything. It's so nice to not have to duct tape things together to make sure they fit. I also prefer two belly straps, which this one does. The only thing it doesn't have is velcro on the two chest straps. I never thought about velcro but it really does help reduce the strain on those chest straps.

I think Sam likes his new blanket a lot better. I can actually see his cute Belgian butt! I'll have to get some pictures of Sam in his new blankie.

Last night while doing chores, I watched the sun set into the clouds and watched the moon rise. The moon was absolutely goregous red, turning to orange. I was glad to be out doing chores in the moonlight, to enjoy the view. This morning I watched the moon set and the sun rise. Daylight savings time is just around the corner so I wont' be enjoying the sunrise on my way to work. But I will enjoy more time outside playing with the horses.