What's the Scoop on Poop?

 We live on just under 2 acres in the city.  Our front yard is probably about 1/2 acre or a little more and the back yard and horse pen take up the rest.  Our 3 horses stay in a dry lot that measures 75' x 225' and are turned out on the back yard for a couple of hours at a time when the weather and grass permits.

 That leaves me with a lot of poop to scoop.  I use our Newer Spreader to spread the dried up manure in the yard, but after a while the yard can't take anymore.  Daily I have to use a regular wheelbarrow and dump two loads a day in a manure pile or dump the manure along the fence line where are hedges are.  I drag the horse pen after the manure is picked up to break up any leftover clumps and to even out the pen.

 Here's Stylin and Maybe sunning during the winter with their picnic house

 in the background.

This is their stall set up.  It originally was a boat shed built on the back of the garage.  They have 24/7 turnout and are only separated at meal time to make sure that Dixie gets her share.

Another view of the horse pen.  During the rainy season, this "dry lot" turns into a muddy mess.  Another reason I have to manage the poo.

You can see the edge of the manure pile on the left of the picture. 

So how does everyone else manage the manure?  I might have to start spreading manure along the roadside soon.

Life on the Farm

OK....so it's not really a farm but it is almost 2 acres and it's the closest we'll ever get to a farm.  .:-)

We've been tackling the yard beginning last weekend. Cutting down little oaks that had started getting out of control, cutting poke weed and stinging nettle off the fence line, pulling vines from the feed shed and generally cleaning up our place.  We created a burn pit around a large pine stump that we burned and got rid of all the yard waste from our clean up efforts.

Hubby feeds the fire

Down to the last larger pieces

I had a load of sand delivered on Friday to fill in some low spots in the horses' dry lot.  So.....today I started tackling the job of putting sand in the stalls and under their shed.  Boy I sure could have used a Bobcat or a friend with a front end loader.  I'll get it done one wheelbarrow at a time - just have to get it done before Tuesday when some rain is due.  I sure don't want to try to move wet sand.  The official hurricane season started today so I'm trying keep from having Lake Zambito in my horse pen this year.

From the pile

Starting under the shed and stall

Stylin stomps thru the finished area

I stopped after a couple of hours - didn't want to overdo it and throw out my back.  It always feels good when I work hard and can seem some results.  I'll do some more tomorrow.  

Had to grab some hay string to make a stampede string for my yard hat

Moving sand is sweaty, hot work.

So after a productive day and a cool shower, hubby and I relaxed on the front porch and enjoyed the afternoon breeze.  Won't be long before it'll be too hot to sit outside except in the evening.

This and That

I've had a great May so far!  Went camping with a couple of my "girls" for a quick weekend.  Went to McCulley's on Saturday and came back home Sunday afternoon.   It rained ALL day on Saturday, but we had a blast hanging out in the barn, chatting and then riding our horses bareback in between showers.

Gotta love my sexy get up, huh?

Cathy and her big boy Busta

Shelly said to heck with riding bareback and she took pictures of us playing around instead,  

Stylin and I having fun cantering around the barn area.

Staying out of the rain and solving the world's problems

The rain finally quit late Saturday night and we woke up to a cool, perfect day.  We got a good 4 hour ride in along some of our favorite trails.

 Shelly on Willie, Cathy on Busta

 Stylin stepped out the whole ride

 Along the pink trail

This bridge on SR 6 is pretty scary for some of our horses when the big semi trucks go overhead !

Last weekend for Mother's Day, my daughter and I went hiking at Goldhead State Park with our dogs, then hit a great little farmers market in her town and had lunch at her place.  It was a perfect day except for the dang red bug (chigger) bites that I got.  

Her pup Teak is growing every day

I'm a Grandma ! :-)

She's a beautiful, smart, mean little green eyed girl!

Her name is Teak.

Video of first time swimming.... duck dog in training.

KD's Day Off

I've come to really appreciate a good vacation day.  Started off this morning with an early morning vet call for spring shots and then spent an hour shooting the breeze with him.

Got a little housework done, then picked up a round bale for the girls.  I use a Hay Hut to protect the round bale and try to keep them from wasting so much hay.  It's a little unwieldy for me to tip over by myself, but I can still do it.

My two little hens are laying well again and I found a dozen eggs in the soft bed of hay pieces left in the Hay Hut.

After sifting thru the hay for the eggs, I rolled the new bale out of my truck bed and with much grunting, tipped the  Hay Hut back over the new bale of hay.  Then I noticed that I forgot to cut the twine off the dang bale, so had to reach through the windows to get that done...didn't want to flip the hut again.  The horses still pull hay out of the windows and stomp on it, but much less is wasted than with a traditional hay ring.

Next in line was to meet my daughter to go check out a wedding venue at one of our favorite places to ride...Diamond D Ranch.  Jenny and I used to rent horses there when she was just a little kid, and during her teen years she worked there as a Summer Horse Camp Counselor.  The Griffin family has always treated her  as part of the Ranch "family".  They've built a wedding pavilion that is really lovely and we are considering it for Jenny's wedding this year.  Here's what it looks like at night.....you can go as casual or as fancy dancy as you like.

A quick sandwich from a local Subway, then Jenny and I went to pick up her new Lab puppy.  Jenny has been involved with the pups since they were born  - the bitch belongs to a good friend of hers and the male is a proven working duck dog from GA.  My new grand pup is soooo cute and smart too!  Now she has to get a name to suit her.

After saying good bye to Jen and the pup, I headed home to feed the crew and relax for a while.

This is Dixie, my 26 year old Appy that gets prettier every year.

Stylin had to work for her alfalfa cube treat and performed for the camera.  I was a little close and it was a little hard to fit her in the frame while I asked her to lie down, but we got it.

What an awesome day !   

New Photo

While I was at McCulley Farms Spring Withlacoochie Trail Ride, their in house photographer, Yvette Palmer took this nice picture of me and Style.

Riders4Helmets - Courtney King-Dye

I've been following Courtney's blog off and on since her traumatic brain injury 3 years ago.  I started wearing a helmet every ride over 9 years ago.  Courtney's horse just tripped while she was working in an arena.

Below is her video for the Riders4Helmets symposium.  Here's her blog if you are interested in following this brave woman's struggle with rehabilitation and riding again.   Ckd Dressage