In which we make more fence, and unearth something very unusual

Another day of fence-building. The perimeter fence posts are in, and all the t-posts are now capped for safety. We still need to attach the web mesh and then run electric fence tape...which sounds like a lot of work, and it is.


Fortunately, the electric part is very quick and easy to install, and I decided tonight that if necessary to make our "move out" deadline at the other barn, I'll run three strands of electric tape around the perimeter as a temporary measure, and we can mount the web mesh as soon as we can.


The mares won't be allowed to be in the entire field at first anyhow, because they have been living in a place where the grass is sparse, and our place is lush, which is a recipe for founder if we are not very careful to ration their exposure to grass at first.


I'm preparing them for the move by grazing them in the grassiest spot at the boarding barn for 2-3 hours each day. When they move home this weekend, we will keep them in the sacrifice area at night and during the middle part of the day, allowing them an hour or two of grazing in the "grazing strip", a small portion of the pasture, in the morning and evening, building that time up gradually so that in a few weeks they will spend all day in the pasture.


Today Willy and I built the first grazing strip. These step-in posts are MUCH quicker and easier to plant than T-posts and railroad posts, because they are designed to be temporary fencing. When the mares have eaten the grass down to 3-4" in this part of the pasture, we will uproot the step-in posts and enclose a different portion of the pasture.


Luna, OITF as always, watches Willy stringing the electric tape.


Mimsy admires the new fence. It took us about an hour to install this whole thing.





Then, Jim took down a big portion of it so he could get Tootles in-and-around the pile of hogsfuel to level out the sacrifice area. It took us about 3 minutes to put the fence back when he was done.

Geez that's easy.





I also moved most of our tack and stuff from the old barn to the new place today.

Our temporary "hay barn" is too small, and located in the wrong place...but it came with the property and it doesn't leak. So we've brought in some hay, and stacked up our stuff. We have all the blankets and extra tack--an inevitable accumulation of more than 15 years of horse-keeping--stashed elsewhere on the property, and we'll usually keep our saddles in the trailer as we've done for years at the boarding barn.


The stuff in the hay barn is:

* stuff we need immediately (fence-building gear, for example)

* stuff we'll need every day (the manure barrow, grooming kit, riding helmet), and

* stuff I hope never to use but don't want to hunt for it if I need it (the emergency kit).





It smells so nice in the hay barn now--an evocative blend of sweet hay, turpentine and coppertox.

I sold the 2 plastic ponds in about 2 hours, for $50 cash. (yay, Craigslist).

That left the remaining pond, which was constructed in a very curious way....


Can you tell what they used for a pond?


Do you know how difficult it was to excavate?

And yet, Willy and I perservered.




At last, we unearthed it: the Ugliest Water Tank in the Universe.


Undeniably ugly, but totally useful. It will be the mare's new water tank.


Perhaps somebody has suggestions for making it slightly less hideous? (Please, don't suggest burying it in sand again. It was REALLY hard to get out of the ground!)

I have an idea! We'll make it into an Objet d'Art. Now we just need ideas.

G'head everyone: PIMP MY WATER TANK!

Send me your suggestions (and sketches)? Nothing poisonous or dangerous, please--remember that a horses are endowed with an amazing talent for troublemaking. Glue-on rhinestones and strings of xmas lights just won't work.

I'll do my best to implement whatever y'all suggest.

'Cuz I'm just that kind of a person.