Denim Deb Hay, hay, hay. Thank the Lord!

[frustratedearthmother]

Sounds like a great ride!

 

[Denim Deb]

It was! I'm looking forward to doing more riding in there. There's so much area to explore. There's 2337 acres to explore, so it will take awhile to really get completely familiar w/it.

The amazing thing was we saw no one else on a horse, or any evidence of anyone else riding there.

 

[Dawn419]

Sounds like you had a great day, Deb!

We used to ride my aunts' ponies in the Barrens behind her place and I miss it! You could ride all day and never see another person. We used to pretend we were pioneers and the first ones to ever explore those woods. Well, the fire roads that we rode on said someone was there before us but it was a fun dream, all the same!

 

[Denim Deb]

Were you in the Wharton Track when you rode? This wasn't quite the Pine Barrens, but close. And we did see other people-just not on horseback. We saw a few vehicles, a couple of people on bikes, and 3 guys running. The guys running almost freaked out Misty! Maybe because they were topless and skinny? Everything else she's encountered B4.

And I know what you mean about feeling like you're the first ones there. Last year, after Hurricane Irene came thru, we were able to get past the beaver dams over at the Nature Center. As far as we know, no one had been there for years! We felt kind of like Lewis and Clark.

I guess that's one reason I like this area, in spite of being one of the most populated states, there's all kinds of large tracts of land that are undeveloped, or being allowed to go back to nature. W/my love of horseback riding and canoeing, I have my choice of several places to go that are near me. I have mixed feelings on leaving the state. On one hand, I'd love to because of the taxes, number of people and regulations. But, on the other hand, there's so much to see and do in the area. We're not far from either the Delaware Bay or the Atlantic Ocean, so it's unique in that aspect as well.

 

[Denim Deb]

For once, I'm ahead of schedule! It's supposed to rain today, so I decided I'd just do what I had to at the farm this morning, then head home. And, if at all possible, I wanted to get the wood holder in the basement done B4 hubby got done work. So, I started as early as I could.

I had to wash a load of clothes this morning, and thought about putting them on the line. They got done, and I changed my mind. Didn't want to take a chance. I'm ready to leave, walk out of the house, notice the bunnies have no water (DD fed the animals yesterday and never checked their water. ), so I went to fill up their water bottle and realized we had water leaking! So, I had to go back in the house and shut off the water at the pump. So, until hubby gets home and we get this fixed, I have no water.

Get my horses fed, get CL's horses fed and got hay out. RU is still away, so I figured I get her horses fed early. Plus, I needed to put out hay, so I was hoping to get that out while they were eating.

Get back to where the RBs are stored and was able to start the tractor! (It wouldn't start the other day.) But, horses had gotten into this area, and there was only 1 RB intact! And, I needed to put out 2. So, I decided to put out 1 for CL's horses, and put out sbs for the other horses since it's easier to get them out for the others.

I also was able to push my manure into a pile, and get another RB out of my area and put it on a pallet and cover it up.

Got sbs out, for the other horses, and decided I'd be then long enough to give Stormy his 2nd feeding. So, I got him fed, bagged fed, fed the chickens, swept my tack shed, put him away and left.

Went thru a shower on the way home (since I was on the bike, I'm glad I had my rain suit on!), got home and started on the wood. I have the wood holder in the basement filled. I have a 5 gallon bucket filled w/stuff for starting the fire. And now, I'm sitting back and relaxing B4 I start doing some cleaning. So, for once I'm ahead of where I'd planned on being at this time!

 

[Denim Deb]

Got to the farm this morning and learned that RU was home! I wasn't expecting her until later today, so that meant I didn't have to feed her horses! That saved me quite a bit of time.

Went to the hay auction. Wasn't able to buy anything-it all went for more than I was willing to pay. But, there was a guy there that I've bough hay from in the past and he's just recently baled a bunch of RBs. He asked if I wanted to come over and look at it, so I did. It's beautiful hay and he wants $34.00/bale. That includes delivery. So, I'll be getting 20 RBs from him. I now no longer need to go to the hay auction every week hoping for a good deal! It's a pain to hook up the trailer-then come home w/it empty. Now I don't have to worry about that. I want to find some sbs for just in case I can't get to the farm, or I'm away to make it easy on whoever feeds my horses, but I know where I can get it for $4.00/bale if I have to.

Talked to RU today about putting Honey back in w/her horses and giving her more money every month. She thinks that's a good idea, so come November 1st, Honey will be out of my field!

All in all, it was a pretty good day. The only bad thing that happened was I got kicked by a baby mini. And of course, she had to get me right on the right leg near the knee. That's the knee I had operated on. I hope she didn't mess anything up. The mini belongs to LF. She got one of these hay huts and the only way we could get it into her field was to take apart the fence, so of course the baby escaped. And once loose, she didn't want to go back in the field. But, we got her in-finally!

 

[Dawn419]

Were you in the Wharton Track when you rode?

Hi Deb!

Where I grew up at wasn't far from Wharton Track at all. It was a bit to the east of us. Went to Google Earth and took a screen shot of the area that I grew up in and used to ride or just spend the day out hiking in.

I miss the Pines, a lot, sometimes but I don't ever see myself giving up the hills of the Ozarks to move back there. I would love to take doc up there and drag him through the woods that I grew up in, though.

Congrats on getting those RBs! You'll save abit of money and time not having to go to the auction now, won't you!

Hope your knee is okay!

 

[Denim Deb]

So, it was near the racetrack. That's close to where we go when we stay in the one guy's field for overnighters. It's just off Jackson, and we can hear the racetrack from his house.

And yeah, I'll save time and money not going to the auction. I've always said that if I could find a reliable source for hay, I wouldn't go-or I'd go just for the fun of it. I wish the person I had gotten sbs off of last year had called me back when she had more, she said she was going to, but never did, so I still need to get some, but that's it! It means I no longer have to take my truck on Tuesdays that I don't have my doctors' appointments, plus it means I can get more done both at home and at the farm!

My knee feels much better today. It only hurts if I touch where she kicked, so that's an improvement. It was interesting to watch her though. She was basically acting like a horse would in a RP-w/out being in one.

 

[Dawn419]

Grew up less than 2 miles from the racetrack! We used to be able to see the flames from the jet engined cars from our bedroom windows!

Glad your knee is feeling okay! I was worried about ya!

 

[Denim Deb]

It hurts a bit, but not too bad.

Today was the day I decided I'd had enough! I jumped the mower yesterday and got it to run. Did some work in my field, but not as much as I needed to do, I just didn't have the time. Normally, when I jump it, it will start up easy-unless I let it sit for a few days. Well today, it wouldn't start again. So I got out my jump box, and jumped the dumb thing. I got it started and did a lot of work in my field. I'm so behind on the cleaning due to working for the summer, the weather and having problems getting it to start. And, I'm wasting a ton of gas since I have to keep it running while I'm working. So, B4 I left for the day, I yanked the battery. I have to go to Wally World (I'm almost out of coffee, and that's the only place I know of where I can buy a large container of it), plus I'm low on goat food and chicken food. So since I have to have the truck and go into TSC, I'm going to get a new battery. I'm also going to go and buy about 1/2 a ton of quarry blend. It's something I can use in front of Misty's and Stormy's stalls to help firm up the ground for when it rains. I put a ton of sand in there, but it's still not quite enough. I need something more solid.

Oh, and if I had any doubt as to whether or not the horses like this hay, I sure don't now! I had Misty and Stormy in the parking area for awhile. That's where I have the RB I'm pulling apart. And, rather than grazing on the grass, they were eating the RB!