Barn #2

I left Barn #1 and drove the 10 minutes to the next place with my head in the clouds. I ran through the seemingly endless possibilities that Barn #2 had: cross country course, miles of trails, arenas. Gem would never be bored!

As drove down the steep driveway, I saw a bustle of activity on the property. People were bringing horses in, others were hand grazing, some were even riding in the slop. I hadn't noticed during the pace just how big this place really was. It was in stark contrast to the small private facility I just left.

The BO met me at the barn and we went inside. I stand corrected on one thing: this was designed for Michael Pollard, not Phillip Dutton. Anyway, the barn was as magnificent as I remembered, but at $600 a stall it was well outside my price range. There were boarders everywhere and the one thing to note was how extremely friendly everyone I met was. They were nice and friendly and even though it was obvious that their riding clothes cost more than my entire wardrobe at home was worth, they didn't come across as snobbish at all.

She then took me on the kabota to tour the 95 acre farm. I was anxious to see the pasture that Gem and Pete would occupy. So far all I had seen were the individual turn out paddocks for the stalled horses. She informed me that there were two pastures open. The first was a hill side. A very steep, very rocky and very small hill side. Smaller than the pasture at Barn #1. I was confused. How could this be it? We then drove to the opposite side of the property and saw the flat pasture. It was a postage stamp. Smaller than any pasture I had ever seen. It was more like my corral at an endurance ride. I double checked that these were in fact the pastures for pastured horses and she confirmed it. My heart sank a little.

It was still workable though with everything they offered. I went over with her everything I had been told on the phone. $350 included the pasture, grain twice a day, hay twice a day, use of tack room, use of all the grounds. I asked how many miles of trails they had with obvious excitement.

Trails? We don't have trails here.

What? I could feel the disappointment as a throb in my ears.

She clarified that while there were miles and miles of trails accessible right from the property, they didn't have permission to use them except during the hunter pace if they paid to enter it. Damn.

Ok...but looking at it realistically there was still more room to ride and more to do here even without the trails. Yes, it wasn't the dream I had pictured, but at the same cost was it better?

Then she drove the nail in the coffin: the barn hours were 8 am - 6 pm. Unless there is a special reason to get permission to arrive earlier or later. No wonder at 5 pm it was so busy. Everyone was trying to get everything done before the barn closed. No way that would work with my schedule.

Darn. Barn #2 just died a horrible death.

I went home and mulled over our options. We could stay put and keep looking or move to Barn #1 which was a beautiful facility with a nice BO who knew her stuff. We were put on a wait list at two facilities that did truely have trails. One bordered Croft State Park where I do most of my conditioning but is at the back entrance putting it a solid hour from home. The other has about 15 miles of confirmed trails but is $400 a month and does not offer pasture board. Horses must be stalled during the night in winter and day in summer and the wait list is massive.

In the end we decided to move to Barn #1 and after we made the move (a post is coming on that) I can honestly say that we have never boarded at a place so lovely with a BO so wonderful.

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Barn #1

Friday afternoon I drove up to check out Barn #1. I had a pretty clear picture going in and felt like my expectations were pretty realistic.

 

The drive took 40 minutes and was 90% highway which made it pretty easy. The barn was tucked back on a side road and the entry was pretty and inviting. I didn't take any pictures, sorry, but it felt awkward taking pictures while looking at a potential new boarding barn.

 

The BO met me at the barn and was really nice, open and talkative much like when on the phone. She had moved in a year before and shared the property with her parents who lived in a second house. The property is 14 acres and was pretty run down when she moved in. She does eventing at the prelim level and quickly got to work making improvements that included a new 4 stall barn with insulated tack room, new fencing, an arena and a jump field. She is currently working on getting lights in the arena.

 

Everything about the place was clean and well organized. At the time of my visit the only horses on property were her two, but she informed me that the two stalls were spoken for and would be occupied come the weekend by two boarders.

 

Gem and Pete would get their own small pasture that was attached to a two stall barn with 11' X 16' stalls and storage room, but she said to store tack in the insulated room in the main barn. She just planted rye grass in the field for winter grazing and the green shoots were already up.

 

There is a 1.5 mile track to ride on, a brand new outdoor arena and a jump field. Her backyard neighbor owns 200 acres and has a trail head that spawns from her own track. The last owner had access to ride on those 200 acres, but this new BO hasn't been able to talk to them yet about it.

 

Board is $300/horse and includes the field, use of the barn, hay twice a day, blanketing if needed, holding for vet and farrier if needed. What it doesn't include is grain. She will feed it, but won't provide it.

 

I left and immediately called Dusty. How much would providing our own grain cost a month? Would it account for the extra $100 per month that Barn 2 would be because if so, then Barn #2 just got even better. We figured that it would be pretty darn close.

 

After seeing Barn #1 I left with the following perceptions:

1) the whole place was very clean even with all the mud and rain

2) it is a smaller facility, feels almost private like with only 3 total boarders. That would hopefully translate to minimal drama.

3) the BO was very knowledgeable and would provide excellent care

4) minimal on site riding opportunity with closest trails 40 minutes away. Doesn't save on my driving at all and in fact makes it worse to get to real trails.

5) higher cost with us providing own grain, but benefit would be that for the first time ever I would actually be in control of their nutrition.

 

There was a lot to think about, but my main focus was seeing Barn #2. My only con for that place was the cost and if it was now the same as Barn #1, I saw no reason to not go for it. Since I was already in the vicinity and it was only 4 pm, I called them and asked if I could come on over. They said sure. Stay tuned....

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Barn Shopping

I liken this to saddle shopping, only worse.

The problem I am running into is that I have already checked out all the close facilities and they didn't fit the bill a year ago and don't now.  The next layer of barns are all about 30-40 minutes away, but if I find the right place it could actually save me time in the long run.

Here is the math:

Barn: 5-7 minutes from house
Arrive and hook up trailer - 10 minutes
Load up Gem - 10 minutes
Drive to trails - closest set is 45 minutes away
Unload and tack up - 15 minutes
Untack and load up - 20 minutes
Drive to barn - 45 minutes
Unload, put Gem out and unhook trailer - 15 minutes
Drive home - 5-7 minutes

Total time for a ride of any duration on trails (not including riding time): 2 hours 55 minutes

So...if I pick a barn that is 45 minutes away, but has trail access from the barn with no need to trailer at all:

Drive to barn: 45 minutes
Tack up: 10 minutes
Untack and put back out in pasture: 15 minutes
Drive home: 45 minutes

Total time for a ride of any duration on trails (not including riding time): 1 hour 55 minutes.

This would save me at least an hour plus all the gas to trailer.

Problem is finding all these magical mystical barns with trail access. They seem few and far between.

After a lot of internet research and contacting some friends, I found a list of 7 possible barns. I called them all and was able to talk to 4.

Barn #1: Personally recommended to me by a fellow hunter pace rider. $300/mo for modified pasture board. Basically the Dynamic Duo would get a pasture (not sure of the size) and a two stall barn to themselves. They would be out except for really bad weather.  Lighted arena to ride in during the dark days of winter. BO was super nice, is a highly accomplished eventer and a saddle fitter. Cons: Only 1.5 miles of current trails with the possibility of maybe getting access to a neighbors 200 acres to ride on. This means I would still have to trailer, but I also need to talk to my pace friend and see where she rides. Maybe there is something close by that I am not aware of. Bonus is that my friend lives literally next door. Going to see the place on Friday.

Barn #2: $350/month. Pasture only with use of run ins per a long wait list. Horses pared up per personality not by some strict mares versus geldings only. Hay and grain as they need. Absolutely beautiful facility and hosts a pace each year. This is the place Phillip Dutton, of eventing fame, built. Numerous arenas, full blown massive cross country course and more trails than I could ever ride accessible right from the property. Biggest con is the price. We currently pay $200/horse so it is a big jump for us. Seeing it Saturday.

Barn #3: Lady was crazy. Seriously, bat shit crazy.

Barn #4: $275/horse. Gem and Pet likely to be kept together, but may need separated based on interaction with the other mare they would be in with. Honestly, the crazy lady fried my brain a bit and I am a little fuzzy on all the details on this one. They have an arena with lights and host events throughout the year. Lady was really nice, seemed a bit unprepared for two pure pasture horses and prefers stalls, but willing to work with me. No trails on property, but right across the street is a city owned equestrian park that we get free access to. Only thing I can find online is that it sits on 65 acres and offers trails. I called and left a message to find out more info. Seeing them on Saturday as well.

Just based on descriptions, I'm torn between Barn #1 and #2. Barn #1 has everything I would ever hope for in housing. The Dynamic Duo would be together again and kept privately with a barn in case they need it. If Gem were to get hurt again, she would have a place to rehab for no extra fees. My friend lives next door and the BO was super nice, chatted away and could look at my saddle for me ;)

The downside is riding. 1.5 miles isn't enough. I'd have to still trailer out somewhere which makes going riding a drag. To have to drive 45 minutes just to pick Gem up and then drive even more would take up my entire day which is something I am hoping to limit. I just don't know if I can do it.

Barn #2 has all the bonus amenities I could dream of: full cross country course with water complexes, lighted arena with fancy footing, at least one other arena I saw when I was there and, oh, lots and lots of trails. No trailering unless I just want to go somewhere new. But, the expense is killing me. To jump from $400 to $700 a month on the horses is really hard to swallow. I can counter it a bit with the money saved in gas hauling the trailer to the trails, but that would only account for like $100 a month.

I don't know. Maybe some mystical barn with everything I could hope for at a price I want to pay will suddenly appear. One can hope.

Moving On

The problem began the moment we moved in. We were too nice. Too easy going. Too amenable. It is a habit we have and the scenario has played out at pretty much every single barn we have been at.

It sets up the relationship between BO and us, the client, all backwards. Makes it seem like everything they do is a favor to us and not like we are owed it because we are paying for it. 

Example: The second barn we were at in WI gave a very nice tack locker to every boarder. When we moved in there was only one open because someone was taking two when they were only supposed to have one. We said "No problem, we can share."

Except it was a problem. We were paying full price for both horses. We were owed two tack lockers. Thats what was in the contract and what were were paying for. We should have demanded the locker except we aren't that type of people and so we let it go. 

But then I began to accumulate more stuff and we needed the room an extra locker would provide. When we approached them about getting it, they made a big deal out of it. Made it seem like they were doing us a big favor. Going out of their way. 

It created a bit of bad blood like we were all of a sudden becoming demanding, PITA boarders. 

At our current barn, we did it again. Said things weren't a big deal and we would adjust which sets up the relationship not as a business transaction where we are paying for certain services, but instead one where the BO is doing us a favor by providing the care we expect and deserve. Little things like not having access to the tack room because we use the trailer when we should be able to use it for our stuff. 

Is that why Gem has lost weight and coliced? No, but had I been a more forceful boarder it may not have happened. At each barn, there is always that person who's horse is treated like gold. Who gets everything they want just how they want it. And do you know why? Because from the very beginning they laid out the expectations and demanded they all get followed through on. Because they keep the interaction a business one, as it should be. 

Now, I'm not saying to be an obnoxious drama queen, but if there is a basic level of care you are needing and it is agreed upon prior to moving in, then you have every right to demand that it occurs. 

So, as we begin barn shopping I plan to go in with a more strict attitude. Lay out what I require and if it matches up and we decide to move in, then make sure from day one that everything is being followed through on. 

No more bending over backwards to make the BO's life easier when I am paying for this service. No favors are being done when it comes to basic care. I am paying for that and by golly I will get it!

Recipe For Colic

Hindsight is 20/20, but that doesn't make the pill any easier to swallow in the here and now.

At 4:50pm, my phone rang  - it was the BO. "Its your mare. She was down in the field and not eating. I put her in the round pen. "

I'll admit to being a little overstressed with life recently and a little quicker to ignite than normal. In all my years of boarding, I have never once lost my temper or become angry with a BO. If something can't be resolved, we quietly leave with no hard feelings just a realization that what we want is not available at that barn. This time was different. I snapped. 

"Are you feeding her? Is she getting any hay? This is ridiculous!"

He hung up.

I called Dusty who called a vet and I headed to the barn. Gem was in the round pen with the largest bucket of grain I have ever seen. Seriously, I think he dumped an entire bag of grain out in it. There was a tiny little pile of hay. She was eating neither, but was standing bright eyed staring at me. 

I got her halter on and began walking her, hoping she would just pass some stool and this would be a false alarm. 

An hour later the vet pulled up and she hadn't passed anything, but wasn't looking in overt pain. A quick exam revealed good color to the gums, a good resting heart rate, and quiet but still present gut sounds. She was tucked up and uncomfortable.

She was given banamine and, per Dusty's request, I asked her to draw blood for a panel just in case. The vet confirmed her weight loss was not my imagination and we opted to tube her with mineral oil and water. 

After the procedure, I continued to hand walk Gem around for another 2 hours. The temperatures dropped with the sun to 25 degrees and I was not prepared: no gloves, no hat and tennis shoes. I was a popsicle when Dusty came by to check on us.

At that point she was trying to stop to snag some grass and we decided to put her in a stall for the night with plenty of water to see if she would relax and we would check on her during the night. If she looked worse or was laying down we would continue the walking and call the vet again. 

At the 2 am check she had finally passed some hard stool and so we gave her a small flake of hay and said goodnight. This morning she was back to herself. 

A mild case, for sure, and caught early, but the big thing here is why did it occur and how do I prevent it from happening again?

The recipe for colic can be simple:

Low forage

High grain

Dehydration

Sudden change in weather

Check to all the above.

When I pressed them about the lack of visible hay in the pasture, I was told that they get 2 1/2 bales of hay once a day. For 14 horses. With no other means of forage. And somehow I am supposed to be applauding this? Wrong. That is not enough. 

The BO has always overfed grain, simply because it is easier to store and cheaper to feed. This is fine when there is also enough forage and water to go with it. A lot of starch and sugar with no fiber and no water is asking for trouble.

When the mares kept pouring into the pasture, he added a second water trough which is great. Except it was put right next to the other one. A mean mare can easily guard both. If you are going to have two troughs, they need to be separated. 

Gem is the lowest of the low in the herd. She dropped about 100 pounds over the course of a month or so and the reasons are simple: she was getting run off her food and had no access to any hay that was being put out. 

Not enough forage, too much grain, dehydration.  

Then winter decided to show up and the highs dropped 30 degrees overnight with lows in the 20s. Gem is a hardy mare, having lived in the north most of her life, but she needs the sustenance to get her through. 

 It was foreseeable and I am angry with myself for not seeing it. For not doing something. So now I am doing something. I will write about that in the next post. 

Picture a Day Challenge 2016

Way back in 2010, classmate in pod school started a challenge to take a picture every single day of the year. Back then I didn't have a blog, kid or phone with a camera in it and I rarely took any pictures. It was the last year of school and I started the challenge on my birthday in April planning to capture each day of that year in my life.

Then we moved to WI in May and I lost my camera for a while and just let the challenge go.

Once January of 2011 hit, I decided to try again. Being a busy first year resident made some pictures really stupid. Like when I took a picture of my tea at 3 am as I prepared for another emergency surgery. The dogs, cats and horses took up a lot of the days and some days it was just really hard to snap anything. I managed it though and my mom turned it into a scrapbook for me.

I did it again in 2012 and then stopped because I tended to flood everyone with Wyatt pictures on a near daily basis anyway.

However, when I was looking for Bones pictures to write my farewell to her, I really loved looking back through those years where I posted a picture to capture each day of the year. It was tidy, easy to look through and brought back many memories. Even the stupid picture of the glass of tea made me smile.

So, I am doing it again. Those of you who are my FB friend will see them posted every Sunday night and then I will do a post here as well the next week. Be prepared to be flooded with the monotony of my life :)

01/01/16: Went out to lunch at Outback Steakhouse and walked over to Bruesters for ice cream after. Wyatt was wearing his new favorite shirt from The Good Dinosaur movie which was his first ever movie theater experience.

01/02/16: Impromptu family dinner at Frank's Pizza. Front left row: Dusty, Dino,  my Dad, Luca hiding behind his arm, Nathan (my brother), Maria (my sis-in-law), Theresa, my Mom, Wyatt.

01/03/16: Trying out the trails at King's Mountain State Park with Sheree. Great ride, great company.

First ride of 2016

I edited the post after initial publication. While I love my Mac at home, the key board sticks something fierce and creates odd words. My apologies to anyone who attempted to read it yesterday.

After a week of heavy rainfall the world around SC is mucky, slippery and soggy. Not ideal conditions for a trail ride, but I needed to get out into my clear headspace, breathe deeply that wonderful horse smell and see the world fresh again.

Saturday night was spent scouring the internet for trails. I have grown tired of the local trails that I ride consistently and two were not even possible with the wet conditions: both are centered around lakes and/or rivers which have all flooded. I found a wonderful sounding trail system at King's Mountain State Park only an hour and 15 minutes away.

I sent Sheree a last minute text to see if she was game. She was, but her truck was dead, so I told her I would pick her up and drive us all up there.

Sunday morning was cold: 28 degrees Fahrenheit, but the day promised to be sunny and 50 degrees eventually. Even in the cold, pre dawn hours I knew this was going to be a good day. The trailer hooked up on the first go in the dark and Gem met me at the gate. I was loaded up and heading to Sheree's place in record time.

We arrived at the trail head around 9ish and I was really excited to get going. The online description said that it was a 20 mile loop, starting and ending at the trail head and was mostly within the Sate Park borders, but had a short section that went into the bordering King's Mountain Military Park with a Revolutionary War battlefield.

The trail head itself was really nice with a big open lot, picket areas, a bathroom and a nice large map.

We were the only ones there that early in the morning

 Dusty and Wyatt had driven up with us to go hiking while we rode and I planned on trying to do the entire loop. If the trails were not traveling well, we would turn around at the 1 hour 30 minute mark for a nice 3 hour ride.

We hit the trails with Gem leading and at first they were extremely muddy. We began to worry if we would be able to ride much at all as the horses kept sinking farther and farther and we could go no faster than a crawl.

Oh no! There is a stump in the forest!!! Must be on high alert!

Mud. Lots and lots of mud. 

 Just after the first mile, the trail hit an intersection where you can go straight or right. It is a long circle that brings you back to where you started and we looked both directions for which appeared to be the most dry. We went straight and began to find brief sections where we could trot.

Sheree on Linen leading

 The trail was my favorite type: narrow single track twisting through the dense trees. At times we were riding along the edge of a hill as we snaked along the mountains.

Eventually we came across another intersection with a map. Reading the map there appeared to be three trails converging here: one that went off to my right and across the road to continue along the large circle, one straight ahead that created a small mini loop and ended back at the intersection where we were, and one off to the left that circled back towards the trail head running parallel to the main trail and eventually joining it about a mile from parking.

The blue arrows show the way we travelled on the trail heading toward the three way intersection in the red circle. My paint skills are improving :) 

We were at about 1 hour 30 minutes and just shy of 4 miles out (I told you the going was slow!). We knew we wouldn't make the entire loop without any water or food on us, but weren't ready to back track just yet either. We decide to take the far left trail and parallel the way back to the trail head. In the above map we thought we were going along the blue arrows. This would create a parallel loop heading back to the trail head without actually back tracking on the same trail.

The area had a picket line for you horses and picnic tables for the humans. A great place to stop and have a  lunch on a nicer day. 

We headed off left and made a steep descent.

The trail was really fun, but super technical. There were several short, but near vertical ascents and declines along the trail and we felt like we were all twisted around as the trail never stayed straight. The girls were working hard though this section.

The technical trail was well worth it when we came across a cleared green space with a picturesque creek running through it. 

About a half mile or so later we ended up back at the intersection we had just left along the trail that was straight ahead. We were both very confused.

What we did in reality was to take the pink arrows to a small loop and ended up right back at the intersection in the red circle. We looked all over the place and never found the way to the larger loop above the one we took. 

Oh well. We made the choice to turn around and head back. My GPS read just over 4 miles and I knew it was a little off because the trail had beautiful mile markers which we reached soon than my watched beeped the mile.

The way back was much quicker. The trail had dried out considerably in the short time we had been out there and we were able to trot most of it. The only thing I didn't like were the very large, sharp rocks that littered the ground. Some sections of the trail were smooth and great footing, but those tended to be the muddy areas. The drier sections were extremely rocky and I let Gem decide when she was comfortable enough to move out and when she wanted to walk. It felt really good to be able to trust her like that.

We made it back in just under 3 hours and covered 8.14 miles per the watch, but closer to 9 in reality. The entire time we rode, we both kept saying how lovely it must be when the leaves are on the trees and in the fall when they turn.

I had a truly relaxing ride with good company and will be hitting those trails to do the entire loop again in the near future. It was a perfect way to calm the spirit and bring in the 2016 ride season.