Today our renovation crew had a day off from Anita’s house, so they worked on fixing up a shipping container and a portable shed to be the new Hermits’ Rest hay loft and tack room.
Leveling
It wasn’t the easiest task in the world, but by gosh, the team got it done! Leveling the portable building we’d brought over from our church building wasn’t too bad. With enough concrete blocks and shims, it ended up looking great. And they made me a step to get into it.
They plan to cover the blocks.
Getting the container level was an ordeal. At first not even the backhoe could lift it. So the team had to take all the dang bags of concrete back out, the ones you faithful readers might remember were a problem a while back. Then the backhoe could raise it up.
Lee supervising.
Everything is way up in the air, at least on one end. That will encourage drainage, since it’s all on a slope. The plan is to add some siding to make it look better. But to me it looks great.
The back side, which is the high side.
Once they got it all level, they started to insulate it, beginning with the ceiling. I guess they had some insulation left over from another project. They also began to put the old ceiling tiles from the church over the insulation, but it’s rather fragile.
Insulated loft.
Tiny mom brag: my kid did a good job cutting all the pieces up! The future will probably include inexpensive paneling on the walls. It will look rustic.
All cleaned up and ready for the next phase.
It’s sure looking better, and I feel much closer to tack and hay storage! The tack room will have air conditioning and a little refrigerator for medicine and drinks, plus lights and lots of shelving. Of course there will be saddle racks, hangers for other tack, and a desk. Plenty of space for feed and supplements, too. For me, there will be a chair.
Scenic back of hay loft. Hopefully we will paint our containers to match the tack room.
None of the activity bothered the horses at all. Drew and Apache got their feet trimmed with no problems. Both just enjoyed the attention.
Vlassic enjoyed hoof trimmings. Apache has such good feet now. So thankful for Trixie!
I’m grateful for all the hard work of our team. I’m grateful to be here, enjoying the beauty of spring, listening to the swallows, and loving my family. Peace.
I had a little extra horse time today, so I decided to groom Dusty, the Buckskin Buddy that Kathleen rode the most. He’d been looking lonely. Plus they are all shedding.
Look at me go!
We groomed a long time. He is much lighter now, and his mane and tail are all shiny. He is even growing some forelock back in after it was just a nub for a while. I could tell he enjoy it.
See, I have a mane!
Just for fun, we went on a walk and into the round pen. He immediately picked up a nice trot and kept going until I asked him to stop. Then he went the other way, also just fine.
Thanks, Suna!
To my surprise, when I encouraged him, he picked up an easy canter, not the uncontrolled one I sometimes get from Drew. It was fun to watch him looking so good and enjoying himself. I think he likes his current rations.
After I put him away, Drew came out to play. His mane is so pretty. More important, so is his behavior. His jumps looked great, and he stopped when I stopped, then trotted when I jogged. Yep. He’s great at home. Even sidepassed both ways.
Mmm. Grass.
When we were done practicing things, we went for a nice, relaxing walk around the property. I let him have a grazing break near the arroyo and just enjoyed his shiny hair above his hooves. The walk back was just great. We had a great time.
I’m glad I’m not a horse. Zzzz.
Apache was thrilled not to have to go trotting in circles again today, so we were all happy!
Flower love. Did you know our florist grows flowers for other florists? No wonder these seem so fresh.
In spring news, the swallows are back, swooping around. And I’ve never seen or heard so many cardinals. So pretty.
Chirp
And to end the day, here are some pretty flowers Dusty and his friends sent yesterday, just to brighten your evening or day.
Flower arrangement fun. Enjoy whatever is on the side of your road.
Today we went to our first live horse show. All of us lived. We each have things to work on, but hey, that’s the idea! I enjoyed putting on my fancy, if unflattering, outfit and showing off Drew’s cuteness.
Cowgirl and friend.
Sara and I enjoyed taking out Tillie the Trailer out for her first spin. It went great. The facility was gorgeous. There was a beautiful covered arena and actual bathrooms.
Drew and I did two tests, functionality and trail. He did well on the first, though I messed up some. On the second one, he would not trot. That messed up our score, but it was good to not keep pressuring him.
Here we are not trotting to pick up the jug.
He was sweet, though, and was not phased by all the new sights, sounds, and people. He seemed to be having fun. How about that? He liked the fancy stall I rented for him lot, too. Mostly he liked all the food.
Mmmm.
Sara and Aragorn did really well, too, and won their group. There were some ups and downs, but I was impressed with their performance. And Sara looked really good!
Looking good!
I learned a lot from the other competitors, too. Some of the folks from last week were also there today. I found them smart and brave, especially the ones who put their horses’ needs first.
Saragorn in the beautiful arena.
I’m fine with how we did, though I know we could have done better. But now we have an idea of what we need to work on. I sort of feel silly having a bunch of ribbons even though I’m the only one in my category at the moment.
Oh, geez.
But, hey, I did well. I could have chickened out and not gone, because it was cold. Or I could have messed up so much I’d have disqualified! So, I won. And so did Drew.
We are lucky to have had the opportunity. Tarrin and her family sure worked hard on the show. And the host was very kind.
They got banners. But they were ready to go home and not cooperating!
I have to say my favorite part of the whole day was spending time with Drew, watching the others, and bonding. It feels so good to be with his sweet spirit. I think I’ll do another show at some point.
It does feel like we have a clue when we are in such a nice spot.
By the way, I never won a ribbon for anything before. Probably that’s because of never entering contests. You gotta enter to win. Ha.
Yow! I’ve had a whirlwind of horse stuff since I got home from my Master Naturalist meeting last night! Everything is fine now, but there sure were a lot of emotional peaks and valleys.
My only morning moment of Zen.
Apache Drama
I got home from the meeting and shut the door to the chicken coop. I heard some noises from the horses, so I went upstairs and asked Lee if he’d let Apache and Fiona out from the pens like I’d asked him before I left. He said he’d forgotten, so I went out with the teeny tiny flashlight to take care of it. I hate going out at night, since our skunk friend is always out there, too. I could smell the evidence of that.
Fiona was letting me know she was trapped, quite vocally, so I let her out, but then I noticed a distinct lack of spotted horse in the other pen. It was clear that Apache had barged his way out, thanks to the pen he was in having a short chain that’s hard to fasten. He enjoys chains.
I appreciate all that love and kindness last night.
I thought that it would be fine to just let him out with the other horses overnight, since they have the same grass and hay as in his pasture. But, I kept hearing a noise. So, I reluctantly set across the poop minefield known as the pasture to look for the source of the sound. It was coughing, I was sure.
As I walked, the usual suspects came up to see what I was doing. The Buckskin Buddies always want to know. Neither of them liked the flashlight, however. They were not coughing. Mabel floated by in the distance. I was relieved that she was not sick (though she is finally putting on weight and looking better other than all the places she’s been nipped by the other horses).
Way near the back of the pasture I saw a ghostly shape and a pair of glowing eyes, so I knew where Apache and T were. I plodded toward them, all the while hearing a great deal of coughing. When I got there, T was guarding Apache, who was not only coughing but farting vigorously with each cough. If I hadn’t been so worried, I’d have laughed. There was evidence of a fresh and healthy bowel movement right behind him, which made me feel a little better. But he sure looked miserable.
Evidence that everything ended up all right. WHEW. Obviously, I got no photos in the middle of the night with just a teeny flashlight to help me.
I texted Sara to see if he’d ever done it before or if she had any ideas, but she was equally baffled. So, I decided to try to get him back to the pens where I could see marginally better before asking Tarrin the trainer questions at 9 pm. I was concerned that I’d have a hard time getting to go with him, but happily, all that training walking beside me at liberty came in handy. I clucked to him and held his neck for a moment, and Apache calmly followed me to the pens, stopping only to cough.
My heart was breaking. What a good, sick boy he was! When we got to the pens, I told him to get a drink of water, and he did. Or he just did it on his own. My thought was that maybe he had a piece of hay stuck in his throat. He drank for a while, then came over to be petted. I stood with him and stroked his neck for the next ten minutes.
I realized that he had not coughed since he had the water! I’m glad I brought him to the trough, because that seems to have done the trick. I heard no more coughing as I walked carefully back to the house, vowing to check on him as soon as I got up. I handled it myself with only ONE panicked text. Not bad!
And Now for the Rest of the Horses
This morning I got up and went out into the drizzle and cold to check on Apache. I did spot his spotted self in the pasture and breathed a sigh of relief.
That didn’t last long. I looked over at the chickens and lo and behold, there were four horses also looking at the chickens. They had exited the pasture.
Blondie says hi to her horse friends who make that nice poop she enjoys pecking at.
Argh. I saw that the small gate out of their pens was open. No doubt I’d forgotten to shut it after the Apache adventure last night, though I swear I remember doing it. Maybe I just didn’t latch it well in my worried state.
I had to go to a meeting, so Lee went out and parked the Tahoe at the end of the driveway just in case they headed over there and wanted to take a stroll. Our gate has stopped working again, so it is no help at all.
There was no need to worry about the horses heading out, because they were way too interested in the green grass near the garage and whatever is interesting to a horse inside the garage. When my meeting was over, they were all at the fence leading to the house, saying hi.
I think there may be some food in that barn for cars, says Remington. Suna wants to point out the nice, new tires on Tillie the Trailer, ready to go somewhere tomorrow.
They did seem very pleased with themselves. Luckily, I knew that one thing would make them go back into their area and that would be food. I went into the tack room and got a bucket of their feed. I waved it under the nose of Dusty, and that’s all it took. He wanted that food, and so did everyone else. They all followed me quite briskly over to the pen area. Mabel even glided over to get in front, but was thwarted. No food until inside!
Apache says he’d like some food, too, after all, he is convalescing.
They were thrilled to get an extra portion of food and I was happy to have only lost ten minutes of my day to horse wrangling. That was enough, though! I hope the rest of the day is less crazy.
I plan to be indoors working and watching the temperatures go down, down, down. I will wear many clothes to my outdoor event tomorrow.
Drew is a young horse, so he has his moments. He can be pushy and disinclined to pay attention. And he’s had a couple of challenges with his health and scary trucks. But, this morning he had his turn to give me a birthday present.
Show time!
We went over to Sara’s new dressage arena area again today. The first two times we went to practice at her location were not too great. I did a few things to help out this time.
First, we walked through the pasture rather than over by the cabin. That way, even if a loud truck went right by him it would be further away. I also made sure to warm him up in the round pen with a lot of cantering before we headed over.
He still doesn’t like the tree corridor but did better today. Apache also always disliked that area, even before the trees. I think the electric poles bother them.
After the scary trees came green grass!
It was time to do the second part of our Working Horse Central Spring Virtual Show. It was really windy as usual, but my hat blowing off in our practice pattern didn’t phase him. We did our Functionality test in one try. It had its flaws, but he didn’t run me off the course or refuse to walk like he did last time, and he trotted most of the time he was supposed to trot. He backed up crooked, though. Still, we did it!
Sara and Aragorn did great, too. It sure is nice having her Peavo to video us.
When we got done and I was getting out of my fancy boots, Sara tried an experiment of ponying Drew behind Aragorn. It went pretty well! Once I clicked to tell Drew to move, he followed. They even went through some obstacles.
They look so cute.
The idea is that Sara could ride over here and then I could ride Apache and she could pony Drew so we could all three practice. I think we would need a hitching post or something for the inactive horse, but it could work
I did a video!
She is going to do stuff with Sully, the beautiful mare she’s borrowing to have her colt. So that would be another horse friend to hang out with.
Now I plan to rest a bit and have a belated birthday meal this evening with my patient husband. A fine weekend!
Horses don’t know about calendars or birthdays, though I guess they are aware of seasons. But I’m going to choose to believe they can give gifts! So, thanks to Apache, my American horse, for the gift today!
Seconds earlier, he was trying to taste the flag. Guess that doesn’t spook him!
My birthday gift to myself this year was a Working Horse Central clinic, which happened to be at Tarrin the trainer’s place, quite familiar to my guys. I decided to take Apache, to see how much he’s improved. By the way, a clinic is like a group lesson, where you get to see how others are doing. You can learn so much.
Apache paid careful attention.
We went with Sara and Aragorn, which made the day that much more fun, and Trixie also added to the birthday friend fun with her very lively little stallion, Archie.
The sun shining on my friends!
The clinic was fantastic. We learned a lot from the advanced people, who included a young girl who’s also a trick rider. It was fun seeing how the cantering crowd had stuff to learn, just like us.
Practice with the dreaded pole.
Our group had a very young woman, too. I was so impressed with how much she wanted to learn, even when her horse gave her trouble. She just got on another horse and kept trying.
I missed the dang birds.
She was a great role model for not giving up. My favorite thing that happened with her was that I heard a familiar noise in the sky. It was the Sandhill cranes migrating. I told her to look up. It was such a tender moment to introduce a child to this Texas wonder. She was enthralled. For many reasons, she won’t forget today!
I won’t forget this hay.
Well, you don’t need the details, but I was so happy with how well Apache and I did with all these new things! We learned to try trotting. We will score better. And I learned he backs up well.
Having a great birthday.
We learned so much from everyone else, and from what we tried and realized we could do. There was a lot of trotting. It went well and I got better and better, but I sure hurt now.
I was really tired, too. So much trotting.
I’d forgotten how well Apache does in clinics. He is like a learning sponge. And he was so patient waiting for his turn. He was calm and didn’t do one squirrelly thing. Nothing the other horses did phased him, even when a horse rolled onto its rider. I was so proud. What a great birthday gift.
Patiently waiting. All these guys were so good.
I can’t believe we did so well at things we’d never tried before. This sure makes up for Drew just not wanting to do anything yesterday. If he messes up tomorrow, so what? We will just keep learning. That’s the fun part.
Yee haw! It looks like I’m pulling on him, because I’m trying to get him to look at Sara.
I hope that Drew learns to enjoy clinics and shows like Apache does. In any case, my horse gave me a good birthday. No need to worry about people, parties, or presents. Perfect.
We all have our ups and downs. Today was a down. Reached out in friendship to someone and was told they were too busy. Heard too many sad things about international news. Bullies. They are everywhere.
I’m worried.
I’m concerned about the health of a family member. And Drew was just plain ornery today when we went to try to practice at Sara’s. Eh. He is a very fast galloper when he’s scared, though.
Chickens were happy. I let them out.
Things aren’t all bad; I’m just exhausted. I was so tired at one point today, when I still had to keep going and going that I was about to cry.
On the other hand, Anita’s house is almost done. Love her bathroom.
This is exciting! Sara and I rode our horses around our pastures and it was uneventful! Woo!
Who me?
I promised I’d just write about horses for a while. So yep. Aragorn and Apache were good guys and checked out lots of stuff with a minimum of acting up. It wasn’t perfect, but it was way better. I’m so glad to be able to have fun with our horses again.
Aragorn did great opening gates, too. What a guy. He’s so much calmer. We are all developing our partnership.
It’s happy for me, in the horse department.
The yarn came for my next baby blanket project. It has sparkles.
It was a good Sunday, but it did feature a lot of lifting and toting. That’s because Lee and I moved everything from the new horse trailer to the red shipping container. There was also a lot of disgusting stuff in the container that had to be removed. Much of it was mouse droppings from when it had gotten left open in its previous location. Sigh.
In progress.
But before that we went to get Apache after his two weeks of training. I hate being late, but Lee forgot we were going and then we were out of gas…but we made it. We brought Drew, who also was disinclined to go anywhere. But we had to look at his foot with the sarcoid on it.
Gotta clean that mud off
He was all muddy, so Tarrin washed his leg so we could see how much the tumor had grown. After he got clean, we were pleasantly surprised.
Can you see the mass? Me either.
It turns out what we saw yesterday was mud with blood on it. Tarrin says she’s pretty sure it’s smaller, not larger. What a relief! It will be a lot easier to treat at that size.
Treatment applied.
I’ll have to put some stuff that’s sort of like glue on it every four days for a few months, but this treatment has been effective for lots of horses. And I don’t have to go to the vet, since it’s a small sarcoid. I’m sure glad I didn’t have to deal with this alone!
Now I can relax with my little friend.
As for Apache, he apparently was a real good fellow all week, even with the bad weather. Plus he got to stay in a stall. Cushy! I got right on him and off we went. He did everything I asked out in the pasture, even trotting. I now feel equally fine walking and trotting. What an improvement!
Take us home!
I enjoyed looking at birds all the way home. Even from the car I got a couple of pictures. I missed a harrier and a bluebird, but these guys were fine.
Red-tailed hawk. Turkey vultures.
It’s good we got a break, because we then spent 3 hours on the trailer-to-container move. This involved many dust and dropping particles.
I’m tired. Proof we did wear masks. It’s so handy we always have masks around. Perhaps I have too many colors.
There was a little oopsie when Lee picked up a pallet of concrete by piercing one of the bags of concrete he was moving rather than the pallet. But, we did it. So many heavy objects, most of which will get moved to the tack room once it’s set up.
Before All clean-ishFilled back up. Concrete is heavy. So are horse supplies.
I gotta say we will be styling once we can use the trailer with the Tahoe. So coordinated. All a coincidence, of course.
So lucky the trailer is black!
There’s a lot to look forward to. I’m glad I have help and a team to keep things fun and safe.
I can’t wait to go for a ride on Apache! And next week we are going to a clinic. We haven’t done that in so long. right now, though, my back really hurts and the hot tub beckons. That thing is a godsend.
There have been developments! There will be more! So, I’ll start with Drew. Once Drew’s trainer started texting me after I posted yesterday, it came back to me that when I picked him up, she’d mentioned that he had a spot that might be an injury or might be “a little sarcoid.” That had slipped my mind. Here’s his lovely leg.
Yuck.
It is not enhanced by the fact that it has been raining all day. That means it’s above freezing, which is dandy, but it’s still pretty darned cold, and wet, cold horses are pretty miserable. Fiona and Dusty seem particularly unhappy. I’m looking forward to it warming up and drying out tomorrow. The icky weather also makes Drew’s leg look worse. I can’t see the issue very well for all the mud, wetness, and blood.
I think the area has grown since I made it bleed a few weeks ago. I read that it is a possibility.
So, Tarrin said it’s not an injury, but a sarcoid tumor. You hear the word tumor and get all scared, at least if you’re like me and the daughter of someone who died of lung cancer. But, she kept telling me there are resources, she is there to help, and we can deal with it. I did my best to believe it.
Sara reminded me that her horse, Spice, has been dealing with sarcoids the past couple of years. She kept putting stuff on them, as I recall. The good news is that it’s not deadly, just not pretty.
Of course, I went off to the internet to read up on equine sarcoidosis. Every article repeated that only very rare ones are deadly, and that it’s the most common form of cancer in equines. I read about all the different types, and figure Drew has the kind that spurts when disturbed, because, well, his spurts when disturbed. The article I linked to here is the best one I read, and the most updated. It talks about lots of new therapies and treatments that are under development, all of which made me feel fetter.
Tomorrow, when I go to pick up Apache, I’ll take Drew so Tarrin and I can look at the foot together and figure out a plan. I assume veterinarians and money will be involved, but that’s fine. He’s my buddy, and I want to help him. We do have an immediate plan, which is to separate him from the other horses. That’s because they are big on kicking and biting and are also biting his poor coat all over. I’m going to put Apache and Fiona in with him, since they are pretty chill. Let’s hope that remains true.
I’ll get them some hay and give them half the shelter, so each group of horses will have shelter and their space as the grass starts growing and they have more to eat. The smaller area will be good for Apache, anyway. I’m sure glad I had Tarrin’s ideas to help me figure this stuff all out! And I’m glad I have Sara as a resource, too, since she has some leftover medicine. I need to remember I’m not alone and have help and support nearby.
The horses better love me, since I went back and forth feeding them and getting their troughs refilled with water this evening. It was a big ole mess, so I am glad we have the water back on. The fish will be glad, too.
Unpacking?
I did say there was an unpacking part 2. Yes, since it was raining, I forced myself to do more unpacking and organization, this time in my closet. I still had a bunch of clothing to sort through and clean clothing to hang up. I also hate doing that. But, I did it! I got rid of the hangers I don’t like and gave them to Lee, who does like them. And I labeled all my boxes that I’d recently put stuff in.
I’d had a lot of trouble organizing my jewelry, but at last have it all done, too. I didn’t realize how much I love costume jewelry until it was all in one house! Eek. I know there will be more organization needed as I bring more things in from the other house, but I think I have a plan. Wish me luck.
Closet, all walls but the wall o’ shoes.
I shared this photo of my closet on Facebook and got everyone all in a tizzy at its size. I probably should not have taken one of those wide-angle photos! It does make the room look immense. Please note that it is not luxurious other than the slab of marble on top of custom cabinets in the middle. That IS nice. Everything else is simple stuff from particle board.
Allow me to remind anyone who’s new and didn’t follow us building the Hermits’ Rest house that there are reasons that the closets and bedroom upstairs are larger than in a usual house. The original plan was for a house with a reasonable sized bathroom, closet, and bedroom on the second floor. But, we decided to build the house more like a “barndominium” than a standard house, with a steel frame. The people erecting the frame said it would be way easier, and more structurally sound if the house was more rectangular and the second floor the same approximate size as the first. We said okay.
That widened the second floor and allowed us to turn three knee-wall closets into three big ones, so Lee has two closets the size of most normal main bedroom closets. I had the kitchen enlarged by the architect, because I wanted an island. That added 6 feet or so to the kitchen. Guess what is above the kitchen? My closet. So, with four extra feet on the exterior and six extra feet on the inside, my closet ended up the size of a normal bedroom. I do know I am lucky. But I didn’t plan the house to make the closet big, it just benefited.
I hope you enjoyed my excuses for the hugeness of my closet. Our bedroom is equally huge, but I guess that’s good since it is now also Lee’s office and a sitting room. As I mentioned in my “Trapped” post, I only have 1/8 of the bed and a side table. But, hey, I enjoy the coffee in there. I’m trying to cope better.
The Hermits' Rest 