Procrastinating

 I'm sick of the weather, you're sick of me posting about the weather. If the sun ever does come out it will be a momentous occasion and you can be sure I'll be soaking up every bit of vitamin D and telling everyone all about it (so, I guess rain or shine, you'll be in for a weather update ;). For now, it's absolutely pouring out there again today and the conditions continue to make riding and owning horses difficult. 

B looking ever so impressed.

Friend S's ring hasn't been handling the excessive water well (really, no one's has though!) but it sounds like they're going to dig it up and redo the base in the spring. My worries about wrecking her footing are no longer valid and we're fine to do what riding and/or longeing we can in there.

G and I were talking about boarding last night. I have always felt like I am a good boarder, paying on time and respecting the property, but this winter I'm a whole new level of trying to be a good addition to the place - with it being a private property and S and her husband living there too I'm treating it better than my own and very reluctant to do anything that might speed up maintenance needs on the property or inconvenience them in any way.

Been procrastinating clipping this super hairy yak because I can just imagine the amount of hair blowing across S's property and all over her barn in this wet and windy weather. But, every time I am sure she can't be fuzzier and I can make do for the winter, I pull her blanket off and BOOM. The weird lines on her back and hindquarters? That's how plush she is, her blanket flattens it into waves.

While I'm a little frustrated to not have our own place further along, I'm also grateful for the extra time to plan things out and try to get the small details right. Last weekend I spent a silly amount of time trying to locate the gates perfectly and have them all open in the same direction. Not from some ingrained need for neatness, but because being able to take the most efficient route with the wheelbarrow and while leading horses will probably be appreciated by future me. My little tack room area is ever evolving - it's a bit of an awkward space and just when I decide on a layout or a piece of furniture I seem to change my mind :)

'Tack room is long and narrow - about 7' wide and has some awkward door and window placings.

In other news, I hit the feed store jackpot and managed to score a couple of bags of the ration balancer I needed, plus some timothy cubes. Supply issues and people panic hoarding are still a thing here so I was pretty happy/relieved to get the girls their feed for another month and to not have to change their diet or resort to feeding them even more hay between truck arrivals (hay is also a fairly precious commodity here at the best of times)

Did I ever post a pic of the finished hay storage? It was originally a 12x16 stall, and huge clean up job - someone had been living in there and there was garbage and broken glass everywhere. I put new doors on (with locks) but left the gravel floor. I have about a 12x12 space for hay. To the right of the camera is where the wheelbarrow and grain bins fit, behind it is a door to my tack room to be.

Finally, I did manage to score an appt with the vet for this Thursday so we'll get Sophie double checked and make sure all is well (bloodwork and checking for ulcers), then we have a clinic on Friday and Saturday. Should be interesting given the limited amount of riding I've been doing :)