Month: June 2015

I was beginning to think this day would never come. After postponing bringing the horses home for two months, they are here at last!

We finally set a hard deadline and committed to it.  We just had to make some decisions about what was critical to get done before they could come home and what could wait until after they were here.  Once we did that, it was a little easier to focus on what needed to be finished.  Of course, it still came down to the wire – I had a full blown panic attack the night before I went to get them because we didn’t have power hooked up to the fence yet.  Gator was his usual, laid-back self  and not only calmed me down, but guaranteed he would have the fence hot before I got home with the horses.  And he came through!

The day didn’t go exactly as planned – I don’t know why I expected it to be any different than any other day.  I had big plans to go to the barn on Friday morning, ride both horses, bathe them, get everything packed up and be home by early afternoon.  Hah!  I must have forgotten I have a job, because that tied me up until the middle of the afternoon.  By the time I got to the barn it was in the mid 90’s and was almost feeding time.  So instead of the nice leisurely morning making memories with my horses that I intended, it ended up being a race to get things slung into the trailer and get them loaded up and home before we cooked.  Oh well, some day I will look back on this time and laugh – possibly.

It  took them a few days to settle in and it has taken me a few days to develop a routine as well.  Instead of getting up at 5:30 to go work out, I now get up at 4:30.  I know it sounds crazy, but by the time I get up, get out the door and drive to the gym which is 20 minutes away, work out, drive back home, feed the horses, chickens and dogs, shower, eat breakfast and get my computer fired up for work, it’s 8:30!  Gator had to travel the whole first week the horses were home, so it was up to me to get everything done.  Now that he is home a couple of days a week, we are getting a shared routine figured out.

I can’t complain though – this is what we’ve been working toward for years.  I just love being able to look out my office or  kitchen window and see them out in the field!

The last couple of months have been grueling.  In April, the weather was so cold and rainy that we couldn’t really work outside.  We were able to take advantage of that time to get the interior of the barn finished.  May rolled in, it dried out and we went from temperatures in the 50’s right up to the high 80’s.  It was time to get out and get things finished up outside!    I have been out of town two of the past three weeks (OK, one of those weeks I was on vacation) and every daylight hour that I’ve been home has been heads down, working.  I’ve taken on new responsibilities at work (when it rains, it pours!) and trying to get the barn finished up for the horses has been overwhelming.  Actually, the barn hasn’t been that hard – the fencing, on the other hand has been brutal (see my previous post on the Sucking Vortex!).

Things are starting to come together, though.  Gator and I spent a couple of long days setting fence posts.

There was definitely a learning curve that took place, but once we got everything laid out and we figured out a process, we got into a  rhythm and things started to move along pretty quickly.

From there, we got the corner bracing done, the gates in, the wiring up and had stone dust delivered for the dry lot.

A few finishing touches and we’re ready for horses!