I Can Make This Work

Given all the uncertainty in life right now, the small wins really feel great!

Happy ponies.

This past weekend, I moved Sophie and Bridget down to their summer field. The weather has been absolutely perfect, and the grass is already looking pretty lush. It gives me peace of mind knowing that they don't need feeding while they're down there and that we're that much further separated from the other boarder and the owner's spaces. Although I'm certain feeding my horses and picking paddocks counts as an essential trip, should things change or if there were any confusion, in a worst case they'd be just fine missing a few meals and with the property owner keeping an eye on them and filling waters.

This about sums up day one - Bridget: "Nom nom nom nom"  Sophie: "Ahhh there is a stick on my head! Look at me!"

Currently, my only outing is to the barn once a day at dinner. My tack and hay lives separately from the other boarder and I have my own tools, my own buckets, my "own" water tap and hose at my paddock.. The only shared place the three of us use is the main gate at the entrance, and we've been leaving that open in the day to minimize risk. I think we've got a good system.

I tried keeping the horses exercised using the trails near the barn, but they're VERY busy right now and I'm uncomfortable with that, so I'm ruling out trail riding (or walking) there for now. As far as I know, the equestrian club grounds I normally use are closed. I've been hacking Bridget around the neighbourhood, which works ok but Sophie gets left at home as it's not overly safe to pony a second horse on that route.

Utilizing the round pen near the barn pre ride. Sadly there's no ring on site.

I was chatting (at a distance!) with the farm owner yesterday, and she said she's not going to use any of the bottom fields this year, so I'm free to rotate mine through them. That's such good news! If we have good weather, I can make those fields last until fall if I'm smart about it. Last year I was a bit too busy with work, so I ended up erring on the side of caution and keeping the grass to a small amount and supplementing with hay (because ponies!) This year, I've got time to properly manage the fields and pony grass intake,  so that's a win.

My current grooming and tacking up area is this tree :)

Helping

To help with the exercise issue, the fields are all fenced into approximately riding ring sized or bigger squares, and as long as the ground holds up, I've got permission to use them as such. There are 4 total so I'm hoping I can rotate 1 to work in, 1 for the ponies to be in, and 2 in various stages of regrowth. I'm not going to ride Sophie, but I think longeing and long lining are low risk activities. To keep it interesting, the ground is of course not perfectly level and there are ditches and trees here and there, but I'm pretty sure we'll be able to make it work - I'm not ruling out eventing with her, after all.

Sophie showing us there are ditches to jump

But it's usable, I think

Sophie: "Are you sure?"

I know I'm very lucky. I know a lot of you aren't able to be at the barn right now, and that could very well happen here eventually too. For now, I will continue to make the best of things, try to keep the ponies (safely) exercised, and enjoy every small win.

So far, so good!