I thought I would share for non horse owners
what a typical evening after work is
at the barn. I go out
at least 3 days a week. I drive straight
from work. It's a 30 min drive.
I board her at a private stable in the country.
My dream was always
to have horses at my home, but there are
also advantages to boarding.
First off ~~ it is ALOT of
work caring for these big animals and
when you work full time so you can afford them its
nice to basically pay someone to
clean up, feed and care for where your
horse lives. That way I can come out and
spend quality time with my horse. I can also go on vacation
and not have to find someone I trust
to do that for me.
As I drive out I notice
the neighbor has baled his
alfalfa for his cows.
This is the beautiful driveway
to the barn.
This is the owner's pretty historical home.
They had it moved here from another location.
I change out of work shoes to my barn boots.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Before I get her, I go refill her supplements.
I measure out her supplements into plastic containers
with a tiny bit of oats to keep them from clumping.
The barn care taker then can just take
one of my containers and add it to her morning
grain. It's easy and there are no mix ups on what
she gets everyday.
Horses basically eat Hay or fresh
grass and Grain- Horse food
resembles Rabbit pellets.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Then I go get her outside.
Oh and in case you don't know that thing on
her face is...it's a fly mask. She can see through
it like sun glasses but it keeps the flies
and mosquitoes off her eyes and ears.
She is hot, grimy and sweaty.
I always put her in her stall and give her a treat,
but here she is being a bad girl trying to
help herself. She always has to pee when she comes in.
Don't ask me why but she doesn't
like to pee outside.
She looks a mess so I take her braids out.
It is too hot to ride. Her coat is
sweaty and crusty from sweat and dirt
mixing.
I lead her out to hose
all the grime away and
cool her off.
I have to spray constantly to keep the
flies off. The bugs are terrible. Hottie
has super sensitive skin. I feed her garlic
supplements to help keep the biting bugs
away and she gets doused in
a good fly spray.
I do have a fly sheet I put on
as a last resort if its really bad.
It's just when it's hot as heck
would you want to wear
a giant sheet over your back??
I then squeegee off the water
and take her back in.
I put her in cross ties so she will stand still
while I braid up her mane to keep
her cool tomorrow. I spray her down good with
fly spray from neck to hooves.
All done! She is totally antsy
and wants to get in her stall
to eat her dinner like all
the other horses are doing.
When I put her in her stall I notice her buckets
aren't as clean as I liked so I scrub
and dump and refill them.
All Clean!
We have a small indoor riding arena at this barn
which comes in handy when it's raining or
with Michigan winters.
Hottie's stall is the front left stall
on this isle.
She is happily munching dinner all
clean and cool in her stall.
As her fan blows on high, I
am happy she is comfortable.
She does live a pampered
horse life but she has given me
so much more. I can't even
remember my life before I owned her
or what I did with all the extra
time I must have had.
I am so grateful for my Blessings.
I head home at 6:30
relaxed and thankful knowing
that my husband,
Matt has taken care of all
animals at home while I was
here with Miss Hottie.
~~~Natascha~~
