Serene Sunday

Their debut album cover:

Daenery's and the Eunuchs

Project Anti-mud-Phase 1

We've been wanting to do it forever and I finally decided yes, let's start phase 1 at least of the anti mud project. Mud season is the worst!  I ordered 10 cubic yards of gravel, it's called Chapel Hill gravel and is a great substrate that packs down a little and also drains well.  We use it in our bee yard and it's been a a great product.

The ground was hardened up after being so rainy for weeks and then now pretty dry.  The problem is that clay hardens up hoof prints and then the potholes are a danger as much as the mud is a health and function issue.  The aisle of the barn had areas that were washed away so it made some areas of the aisle very narrow.  I had my farrier often have issues trying to trim since she would be several inches lower than the ground my horse was on!

One big washed out area right where I have the cross ties

So what we did was dig a trench from up the slope down to where the water collects naturally by our shed.  Phase two will be taking that area and making a french drain out towards a lower part of the property.  Currently this is a dip in the property and water just sits with no where to drain.

The area in the picture below was always the worst area to push a wheel barrow through.  The mud would be nearly 8 inches deep at the end of the barn and filled with hoof holes that deep.  In the winter if we got a freeze those would turn into holes that were ungiving and could easily twist an ankle or worse.  I would have to close gates to keep the horses off that area until the ground unfroze and was a little safer.

So once the trench was dug and all the mucky mess moved out, I dumped all the substrate into the low areas, in the aisle, into the trench and into the mud pit area at the end of the barn.  The aisle is now one level for the most part, all the potholes and gullys are filled in and packed down.  The trench is happily filled and today...being a rainy day, we have seen that the water has indeed flowed down this trench unseen; it's working as planned!

I will certainly have to get some more of this substrate as it will get more packed down over time and we wanted to have more area in the barn yard covered with it.  I also have other boggy areas that I will get to in time as well.  The next big project will be a french drain to move the water that drains into the shed area.  It's a process but I'm glad we are finally one step closer and there will be that much less mud for the horses to stand in.

The standing water is away from my horses precious hooves....and Dani approves!

The Mud Season

This time of year we don't have a lot of snow.  I don't mind that so much since snow causes a lot of issues in the south!  What we do get is rain.  Rain means mud at my barn.  The drainage is still an issue with the barn area and this year is the year I will finally tackle it.  I will take one step at a time. 

I'd had one person come out to assess the drainage and they were not hired obviously since they were thinking that we should drain one direction (aka into our leach field) while I was saying we needed it to drain the other direction....though it would mean more work of course.  For those not familiar with leach fields they are an underground system that the effluent from a septic tank (on-site wastewater system) drips.  The septic tank fills with all the waste water from the house.  Solids fall out of the water and have to be pumped out of the tank once every couple years.  The liquid then trickles under ground in a series of pipes (or other devices) to percolate over the dirt where good bacteria will break down the waste and thereby clean the water so when it enters the ground further down there are no bad bacteria.  Having extra water from your house or some other area drain into this leach field is a bad idea.  It needs to stay as dry as possible to only deal with the water from the house and of course rain etc.  I tried to explain it to the excavator guy but he didn't get it.

I worked in public health for 8 years and one of the things I did was inspect leach fields, so I know what I'm talking about and know that I don't want to make a really expensive system fail if I can prevent it!  So I'm working out the detail myself.  My first task will be an area where I normally like to hang the horses hay bags.  It's a muddy mess.  That will just need some scraping and sloping using our front loader and then the addition of good draining substrate.  That will hopefully be done in the next couple of months.  The next step will be at the end of the barn where the horses enter the aisleway.  It just sits muddy most of the year from November until May.  Again that will be scraping and moving in better substrate.  

Look at this old pic from before painting the barn! 
Shows the "pond" in the low area

Later I will try to make the aisle more even and dig a trench where the water naturally goes and pools and back-fill with good draining substrate as well.  The final step will be in between the barn and the storage shed, I'll need to construct a type of French drain to move the pond that forms there.  I literally have standing water there for weeks until it finally dries up. If I can get all of this done this year that will be great.  I will be happy with getting a couple parts of it done.

One section of our fencing has poly rope fence...something we want to move to for the rest of the electric fencing.  I was noticing a weird bump on one part of the rope and upon closer inspection I saw lichen.  Oh my goodness, you can't stop anything from growing in North Carolina it seems!  I wonder if that will degrade the fence in time if I should treat with vinegar or something?  How funny!

Snowmageddon 2018 NC

We received more snow in NC than they have had in years, at least in the Piedmont area.  Our snow measured about 10 inches on average.  Coming from Colorado I was thrilled!  I was working the day it started snowing and was able to leave early as soon as my husband texted me that we already had 7 inches.  Bernini, my little Fiat 500, did fine in the snow until I got to our unplowed road.  I basically drove and pushed the snow in front of me until it made a wall and then the little car was stuck.

Steve was home working so I could call him to get the tractor out and rescue us, otherwise I would have had to walk to our house and do it myself but I'm glad I had the option either way.  He came down with Kevin, the Kubota, and plowed the snow from around the little car.  Then I followed him home as he made a path for us and a path up our driveway.

Once home I had the pleasure of watching the ponies play in the snow.  I don't know what it is about snow but they love it!  Chance was running around while Daenerys was nuzzling me in hopes of treats.

Chance loves to put his lips on everything!  He plays with water and hoses, humans he tries to groom etc.  It wasn't a surprise that he wanted to lick the snow off the nearby pine tree, he was so cute and acted surprised when the branch eventually dropped a ton of snow on his face.

Dani like to roll in the snow but also just followed me around while I was out there.  She was very much wanting the love.  It was still pretty warm considering so later that night we had to dry the horses and blanket them for the colder temperatures that were to come that night.  Leave it to NC to have rain and then snow fall followed by very freezing temperatures to make the roads lots of fun!  Luckily I was done at work for the week so I could just stay home and enjoy the pretty snow.

The next day was gorgeous!  The sky was so blue and the barn was it's pretty red color, I love where we live!  

The barn roof had some neat patterns on the snow from the wind.  Look how pretty it is!  I'm so glad we finally painted the barn since it looks so nice!

Loki had fun helping us take care of the horses and he enjoyed bounding in the snow but also keeping to our path out to the barn.  You can see how deep it was!

The ponies were toasty in their blankets and looking for their morning feeding.  After a couple days the snow did mostly melt away and we have been enjoying the mud and muddy ponies.  What fun.  I'm glad we got the moisture, it will be good for our pastures.  I always enjoy horses in snow though!

New year and freezing rain

Happy new year!  It's been a busy year and I'm sure the next year will be too but we are better prepared and know what to expect...plus heavy equipment purchases this spring will assist greatly!

I write this as the freezing rain and sleet begin to pour outside with hope for snow to come later making my Sunday morning work commute potentially crazy as we won't have much melting until Monday.  NC is not known for their winter weather preparedness but then again, they don't get much snow.  I groomed my very muddy ponies and got them set to wear their blankets to protect them from the freezing rain.

I tend to be conservative with my blanketing now, unlike when I first got Dani.  I think nature makes them well prepared for the weather and since they always have access to shelter they tend to take care of themselves.  Generally if it's cold I'll tend to throw them a little more hay.  If it's rainy but not too cold their coats have ways of shedding the moisture quite well.

Even snow is no biggie really but freezing rain, sleet and ice.  I would rather keep them dry and warm when it's really icky like that.  I also have to restrict them to the barn yard and shire since there is an area that is deeper mud and will freeze hard, I don't need a twisted ankle in a frozen hoof hole.

Staying warm and relaxing with the hubby and critters.  Wish I could have the ponies on the sofa too!

Problems with Mud

Horses, precipitation and dirt....that means lots of mud.  I've mentioned on this blog that we have a drainage problem around the barn and stable yard.  First off there are no gutters on the barn.  Who would build a barn and not put on gutters to move the water away from the building?  The barn has been here probably since 1997 so maybe it just wasn't an issue then?

A north facing area of the "wormhole" as we call it creates a very muddy path and the water doesn't drain easily at all.  The muddy path is through the riding area towards the barnyard

Our plan when we finally have time, it's not raining or snowing and the ground isn't frozen solid is to start the French drain here along with removing much of the muck and replacing it with pea gravel and some sand.  The adjacent area, the "riding area" will be a project for another day.  I want to grade it slightly (there is hump right in the middle) and add rock and then sand to make it a decent large round pen area with good footing, it's mostly flat so will work well I think.  Plus when I get sand footing in there I'm sure it will be a favorite rolling spot for the horses.

Once the water does start flowing a little bit from the muddy path in the riding area it creeps around the higher ground of the barn walkway.  Then the water makes a path along the edge of the barn overhang.

It veers to the left of the trough and forms a "quagmire".  Some water drains to the right and some is starting to drain towards The Shire pasture but also towards where our septic leach field is located in the lawn...not a good thing.  Where you can see the fence corner there is a human walk thru and this is about where the lowest lying area of the barn yard is located, we'll need to build this substrate back up at some point.  

The plan is to create a French drain along the water pathway past the barn, towards this puddle near the trough and then towards the right away from the leach field and out to the other fields.  In the picture below with Dani this is the area to the side of the trough where we want to direct all of the water, between the barn and shed, and then that would lead the water to the other fields.  The eventual goal is to lead all of the water off to the natural slope of the land where it flows to a gully off our property.

You can sort of make out a line that goes between the barn and shed in the property aerial below.  The line moves across Gallifrey and Westeros.  It's hard to make out the topography but the barnyard has become the lowest area of this part of the property (even though overall everything slopes away from the area).   It's probably from years of horse use and inevitable compaction just in that paddock.  It's just what happens when heavy animals are concentrated in a smaller area.  Substrate needs to be added regularly but water should have been directed away from these buildings with gutters and downspouts.

When we had freezing temperatures for a while the muddy pathway had become even more hazardous when it froze solid.  It wasn't just hard and solid, it was pocked with hoof holes that were at least 6 inches deep and could pose a threat to bones and tendons.  When we had our Jonas experience I kept the horses off this area for fear that they wouldn't see the pock holes with a covering of snow.  When summer comes this could become a breeding ground for insects we would like to prevent from breeding rather than encourage.  

 I'm hoping here in the next month or two that we can get the drainage project under way, to also include gutters on the outbuildings shortly after we install the French drain.  We haven't had the time to really deal with this since moving in, unpacking and having family over often with the holidays. The weather issues have not allowed us to trench the area for the French drain either, so we've just made due and dealt with the mess.  I've kept a close eye on the horses' hooves and fetlocks and have been proactive in preventing Scratches and Thrush with my arsenal of No Thrush and MTG.

I want to get this project done so badly!  Steve and I plan to start measuring and figuring out a supplies list.  Here's hoping that weather wise we can get this done in the next month or so. I'll post before and after photos when we finally get this worked on.

Steve in the Lead

Steve and I gave both horses a good grooming on Saturday and then took them for a walk around the neighborhood.  I was riding Dani and he was leading Chance.  It was best for them to start on the ground and since it'd been another couple weeks since the fall and little work done with Chance we figured it was best to do some groundwork.  The weather has been colder and then there has been some rain and even some snow flurries.  It hasn't bode well for the riding area footing, the muddy Wormhole or for giving us a moment to work with either horse.

I rode behind Steve and Chance and sometimes in front of them.  Steve asked questions a couple times about what to do when Chance was pulling in front of him or circling around him.  I told him to snap the lead and make Chance back if he didn't listen and that seemed to work for them.  Chance was excited to walk out of the road and see some sights.  When we walked past a neighbors house things went awry rather quickly.  Chance decided to prance, toss his head and lift his tail.  Gorgeous as he was Steve looked like he was showing a silly yearling in a halter class and Chance wasn't listening very well.

Steve brought him back to the barn since he was afraid of getting out of control.  I didn't realize that and thought we were going to walk around the back of the property away from the horse Chance seemed to want to impress.  Dani started getting a little agitated now that Chance was gone but I wouldn't have that.  I made her circle and turn her hindquarters and then made her walk behind the house and by a plum tree to the easement on the north of our property.  She glanced at the large heating unit monster on the side of the house but I wasn't going to let her feign spookiness...nope.

We walked around the back of the house and then up the south western side by the wooded lot adjacent to our property.  A loud clicking sound got Dani very agitated and I noticed that a line of the fencing from Westeros was broken and laying inside the field.  There was nothing in our path to hurt her so we walked past the scary spot.  All this time that we were riding around the property Chance was having a fit and galloping around the paddocks and into Gallifrey the pasture we were using at this time.  He gets really upset and tears up the ground with his antics but I made sure Dani kept calm and didn't act up with her own shenanigans.  I don't know what to do about Chance but we'll figure out something.  We'll also have to see how he is if ridden off alone.

I eventually rode Dani around the front of the property and back to the barn where I dismounted to untack my mare.  We ended on a good note, not so sure about Steve though.  I think I need to work on him one on one with Chance, that way I can show him what to do when Chance acts a certain way.  We do plan on taking some lessons soon, possibly together since I'm not against going back to basics anyways.  Always good to work on your seat and the feel of riding since that is sooo much of what it is.  I think a weekly lesson on Chance could do wonders for Steve and I, it would be good for us both to ride Chance and Dani.  

I have noticed though that Chance is slowly getting more responsive to Steve and I at feeding time.  He's nickering more and not acting like we are the mean boss mare like Dani.  Sometimes Chance will move away fast from us as if he's afraid he'll get nipped.  The more we work with him he'll realize we are boss mares but a little more fair than Dani!  He and Dani are definitely different.  He's on the lower end of the pecking order and she's higher so there is a bit more of that "oh my god!" freak out reaction vs. Dani's "um...why should I?" reaction.  It will just take time and as the weather and El Nino cooperate we'll get more time in working with him.  It's a slow process when I have so much I need to do in order to make the substrate safer. 

Oh plus I need to find a job, there is that whole thing, I'm trying to find something biotech/lab related and since I haven't done that work in a while I'm taking some refresher courses at a local college.

Mud and Muck....Welcome to the East Coast!!!

The barn yard has some drainage issues we will have to work on.  It didn't take long for the area to turn into a mucky mess.

Standing water in the storage shed leanto will most likely be where we install a french drain to get the water moving away.  The out buildings all need gutters too.  I'm also researching gravel, sand and grids that can help with drainage in heavy traffic areas.

The east has had a lot of rain lately and more to come with the hurricane out in the ocean.  At least it's showing our problems early so we can get a hold of them before icky winter weather comes in with ice storms.

I've been letting Dani on the pastures since they have good drainage at least and are dryer than the barnyard.  Once this truly become a sacrifice area it will be good to let her hooves dry out when it's icky like this.  The stalls are staying pretty dry at least but she doesn't want to stay in one for too long.

One of the fence posts had little yellow fungus growing.  Oh the joy of being back on the east coast where there is more moisture.  We'll get the situations solved and I'm keeping an eye on Dani's hooves.  There isn't much we can do at this point since the rain just keeps coming.  At least it's only one problem area thus far.  The rest of the property seems to drain quite well.  

PONY HAS ARRIVED!!!!

On a dark and stormy night a large rig pulled up to my house around 9pm.  It was filled with ponies neighing away but there was only one on there my heart pounded with anticipation to see.

With snorts and wide eyes my girl came off the ramp.  The driver was happy to be rid of her since she had been a pain the entire trip.  They had to put her in a large stall and separate from the others.  Yes, she doesn't travel well but she's a good horse but he'll never know that.  He was happy to hand her off to me and be on his way.

The barn yard was muddy from rain for the past day and half.  Dani was full of neighs as she called out to horses up across the little valley from her.  She ate some beet pulp, hay and drank some water.  She wasn't in bad shape at all so I was pleased.  

The next morning she ate her supplement and still nibble on hay and bits of grass.  The mud seemed worse with equine pock holes throughout.  Dani moved in and out of the shelter, unsure of what to do.  She seemed less nervous and stressed this morning which is good.  She'll settle in.

And though it's yucky outside it's nice to have a view with a pony from my back windows!

Trimmings

A few months after you trim the tree it's time to trim the pony!  I went out on Saturday, after we'd had some  warm days and some snow melting, to address her feet and overall coat.  After nearly two weeks blanketed I'm sure she was itchy like crazy!

Dani's fetlocks grow very fuzzy over the winter and due to all the mud and snow of early spring I want to keep her feet tidy to be able to treat any issues with scratches or mud fever.

I have a 4F blade which does a decent job but I think I need one just a little shorter to get her fetlocks looking ever more tidy. I'll have to go again in a couple weeks once I find the blade I need.  

Since this is a once of year thing I always make sure to desensitize her to the noise and vibration.  I start while standing near her and turn the blade on. We rest and she gets love and scratches. I then move it around and wiggle the extension cord too so she doesn't get freaked from that.  We rest and she gets love and scratches.

Then I start around the shoulder and work back to her rump and then back near the base of her chin to get her used to the sound closer.  We rest and she gets love and scratches. I also rub the clipper on her so she can feel the vibration.  We rest and she gets love and scratches.  Next I run down her legs and move the clipper all around her legs under her belly and also run my hands there too.  We rest and she gets love and scratches.

She's very calm about it, the only hint that she is paying attention is that her ears turn towards the noise.  Sometimes she even turns her head to look at me but with a calm look in her eyes.  I had trouble with her jaw line because of the halter.  I think I really need to just invest in a simple grooming halter or have a helper to retain her with a rope or something like that.  I missed some hairs but will go back when I do some shorter fetlock cuts.

I didn't do her ear this time since it was a long grooming session already.  She only has a tiny tuft sticking out at the bottom that I'll just trim with the scissors.  She does have some issues with the clippers up near her ear so I can work on her with that but I really find the scissors easiest for the tiny area of the ear.  Just FYI I NEVER trim inside the ear since that hair is there to protect from dirt and bugs!  My mare is starting to sleek up with her coat.  Within a month I'm sure she'll be silky as satin and shiny like crazy.  Love those summer coats!