Fall starts with a large delivery from our hay guy. Above anything else I will do to prepare for winter, having a barn full of hay is the one thing that eases my mind. Only a horse person can appreciate the feeling of walking into a barn that has been stacked to the rafters with this year's hay crop.
Before the days grow too cold, we have to set an entire day aside for checking our fence line to make sure everything is secure before the first flakes begin to fall. Pulling fence in the snow or trying to replace a post after the ground has frozen are among my least favorite chores as a horse owner. And when you are married to a non horse person, asking for assistance on fence work in the winter is one of the things I try to avoid.
You wouldn't think this wouldn't take an entire day's commitment to just check the fence line on our forty acre property. But these are the horses I am working with...
When the hay is stacked, fences are mended, and the gates are all in good working order, I venture into the tack room to dig out my water tank heaters. Every year I have to replace at least one heater that has been chewed, trampled or simply has decided to kick the bucket. As a horse owner, it seems like I am always buying these heaters, but the alternative to breaking ice makes the annual thirty dollar purchase well worth it - if only I could by thirty dollars worth of stock in the tank heater company... I would be a very wealthy woman.
All of my horses have been on pasture since this spring. After having Mr Blue Eyes in May, I still haven't been back in the saddle. The stall runs off my barn were so overgrown that even my horses would need GPS to find their way from the shelter to the water tanks. During nap time one Saturday afternoon I finally climbed on the ridding lawn mower to hack down the forest.
Behold my arch nemesis this year.
This little bugger is known as the Puncturevine Weed (a.k.a Goatheads) This plant is designed to thrive. The plant will continue to grow and produce seeds until the fall when it unleashes its wrath of pain and misery.
They easily get tracked into my house on a daily basis by our dog and especially my husband who likes to forget to take his shoes off at the door. (This is one of the reasons I have this rule at my house) Nothing makes me hotter than a hornet than walking across my living room, barefoot, and stepping on a goathead.
This is a result of just walking the trash out to the barn.
My mighty little lawn mower and I tackled the stalls, chopping down every weed in our path. I am pretty sure I should have done this a month ago before everything got so dry. My mowing venture kicked up a lot of dust and had me sneezing and venturing on an allergy attack in no time.
My mighty mower took the brunt of our battle.
She needs a bath now.
And I wouldn't be surprised if she needed a new tire the next time I take her for a spin.
Curse you Goatheads!
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