Hay, Hens, and Horses

This was a week. A LONG week. Sometimes no matter how much you prepare and plan, it just doesn't go well. My man Sparky has not gone well. We are all extremely attached and love this pony but he is not currently ready for Chelsea to ride. I don't know what happened but he is just not the same as the days we rode him before buying him. He is a lovely pony and is great for an intermediate rider but he is not forgiving enough for a beginner like Chelsea. The amount of tears and sleepless nights over buying your child's first pony and it being a disaster have been plentiful. The only real options are sell the pony we have grown to love or I learn how to ride him well and he settles down. I took my first riding lesson on a different horse and I was able to post in a trot so everyone involved is hopeful I can ride Sparky confidently soon. Despite having a pony Chelsea can't ride, she still loves him. She goes over and cares for him and she told me today she prayed to keep him. What a resilient little girl. It's easy to love a horse that is fun to ride but it's another level to love one you can't get on. I don't think I would have that level of commitment or maturity especially at her young age of 8.

A true testament to her character that she is committed to the ups and downs of horse life and I will do what I can to support her...even if that means learning to lope to help her. It's worth mentioning that I'm no spring chicken but I guess it's never too late to teach an old dog new tricks. I've really enjoyed learning the ins and outs of horses and riding is a heck of a workout. I also love that I can finally bond with Chelsea over something she has been so passionate about for so many years. It's taken me a long time to get here but I finally get it.

Things I have learned about owning a horse so far:

1. There's an art to catching them in the pasture. Go in hot and those horses are not coming in. I'm not against a little bribery with feed to make the task easier.

2. Know where their feet are and where your feet are. Chelsea and I have both been stepped on twice and 900 pounds on a toe isn't pleasant.

3. Stand to the side of your horse while cleaning their feet. Don't squat because if they decide to put their foot down on your leg, they could break it.

4. There's a million different types of bits and tack sizes. And I do mean it seems like there's a million.

5. Never spray your horse in the face when washing them.

6. They might be 900+ pounds but they can spin around pretty quick so you need to be very aware of their body language and your body position.

Heavy Load

In anticipation of getting a horse (or possibly 2 at this point 🤪), Farmer Dave bought some old square bailing equipment. That too was a bit of an adventure. We had to bail hay on Saturday to beat the rain. The first time he used the hay rake, it broke...in half. One piece was in the field and the other attached to the tractor. Thankfully he was almost done when it happened and I think he managed to Macgyver a welding fix but more use will tell if it will hold up. There was also a learning curve on how to adjust the bail sizes. Some were...huge. We ended up bailing a little over 100 square bails of hay on Saturday.

That was my first time bailing hay and I learned some things. Wear long sleeves because my arms were pretty torn up. Wear jeans because it sticks to everything else. A bail of hay is heavy... especially after lifting upwards of 50 into a wagon and then unloading them into a stack. Wear gloves because the bailers twine is rough on your hands. Dave wanted to stack out bails pretty high to save space but finally we had to have a heart to heart. He only has the help he has and it's me and his 3 little kids. I can't throw giant bails of hay in a nice neat stack to the ceiling and 3 loads of 2 high in the wagon is going to have to work. Gotta work with what ya got and get it done however you can.

Bye Bye Smokey

Because Saturday wasn't exhausting enough, we also decided to butcher birds on Sunday. I got totally fed up with having so many chickens and decided to compromise with Dave and split our butcher days up. We needed to cull Smokey and the bandits (our Mystic Onyx chickens) from our laying flock in order to throw our pullets in with them, half our Cornish Cross were big enough to butcher, we were running low on feed, and butchering 25 chickens is a much easier day than 50 so it made sense to put some birds in the freezer. I was very curious about what butchering the Mystic Onyx chickens would be like. In an earlier post, I mentioned they are completely black...even their meat. This is what they look like!

Also, I got to use my new scalder and let me tell you it was a GAME CHANGER. That was an investment worth the money. I could scald 2 birds at a time PERFECTLY and it reduced our processing time by at least 50%. Money well spent! On the fence about a scalder...buy it.

I'll be running around all week like a chicken with my head cut off (if you butcher your own chickens, you know this is a real thing 🫣). We have another weekend planned of butchering if our birds fill out enough, the horse stall at our barn needs a door, and the garden needs some serious attention. See yinz next week for our wild and crazy adventures!