Corral panels are in!

I'm pooped. On Thursday, Bob picked up the corral panels for the south end of the arena from Farm and Fleet. $411. Yesterday we put them up.

Today we finished raking the ground. Then Bob leveled the ground wtih his skid steer. This project has taken so long and has been a lot of hard work. But now I have a safe place to train and ride!

Almost an arena

It's taken some time, but between Sam and I, we've gotten the plywood panels up in the arena. Little by little, I've been raking up straw, nails and other debris from the entire space. All this has left no time for Sparkler, poor baby.

No trip this week

I called Cindy today to verify our trip to Missouri, but she says there’s a couple of really nice black and white registered Walkers that will be available due to a divorce so we should hold off coming until next week. Tom will call us either Monday or Tuesday with details. Luckily, I'm flexible with my job.

No Spanky

I talked with Tom and Cindy in Missouri today, who told me Spanky was sold. Dangit. They have another Fox Trotter named Charlie that we might want to consider. We are thinking of making a mini-vacation of this and going Thursday or Friday to check out Charlie and another horse they have.

Could Spanky replace Red?

Suddenly, the perfect horse appeared online. His name is Spanky and he's a trail ready, black and white spotted saddle horse in Missouri. But we have a trip to Janesville planned for this weekend. I hope he’s still available on Monday.

Plywood is on sale!

The 4 X 8 sheets of plywood finally went on sale. We bought enough for the sides and the north end. $450

Stringers up

It's taken more than a week, but the stringers for the arena panels are up. Thank you, Sam, for your help! We need to make sure we have them high enough so when the plywood is attached, they won't sit on the ground at any point. So we had to do some digging and leveling.

Traffic cones

I've been wanting some of these for a long time. They were on my Christmas list, but no one took me seriously. So I bought some orange traffic cones myself. I got Sparkler groomed, then walked her around and in between, forward and back, then around and through them from a distance using a long lead line, directing her with the long whip. It was fun.

Hydrant fixed

Back in February during a cold snap, the mechanism that moves up and down (don't you love the technical terms?) in our water hydrant in the loafing shed broke, probably when too much pressure was used trying to turn the hydrant on when it was partly frozen. Here it is July and we finally got it fixed. $75. Could have been worse.

Lilies galore

I came back from the cabin by myself Thursday night since I had to work on Friday. It was too hot to ride Friday night, so I just cleaned the stall and waterer and did a little sweeping. I woke up at 5:00 to a glorious morning. The lilies are blooming and making a beautiful display in my round garden.

I started by brushing my baby, picking her feet and brushing her mane and tail. She is so shiny. She does not seem to mind being a solo horse and in fact is extremely calm. We have bonded!

We saddled up and went to the arena for starters. I did a little ground work, then mounted. She is so goofy near the door I couldn't get in one good lap. We don't have the siding up so am afraid of hitting my knees on the posts if I get her too excited. So I got off and led her to the front pasture, closing the gate behind. She did wonderfully even though she wants to stop and eat. She was gaiting in the arena, but trotting outside. I'll need to straighten this out but don't know what to do.

Then I headed back to the cabin for the rest of the holiday.

Hoof trim for one

Kate, our farrier, came this morning to do Sparkler's hooves. I told her the sad news about Red. she will swing by to do Art and Vicki's horses plus the horses of a friend of theirs to really make it worth her while. I cleaned the loafing shed a bit (We've moved the boat out to the pole shed where my arena will be).

Then we left for our traditional Fourth of July stay at the cabin so I had no time to ride.

A good ride

Today I closed the arena and loafing shed doors so Sparkler couldn't get back indoors, to see if this helps. But she still resists going anywhere but toward either indoor spot. I even put more treats out in different corners of the pasture, but that doesn't seem to be enough. To help me get past the arena, Bob called her toward the front pasture and it worked.

We had a good ride in the front pasture, just walking, reversing directions from time to time. The shorter reins are doing the trick.