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| Naughty, adorable B |
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| Hardest slogan ever |
Which brings us to this week's What Do episode.
When you leave for an extended period of time what do you do with the babies? Do you ask someone to ride for you? Do you give them the week off? If they're at home do you stress over who to ask to feed/care for them? Do you make best friend do it? Hubby?
Whenever I leave I generally resort to
I cant afford to pay anyone, so I have to be scrappy.
In MO, it was rather easy because we had a self care barn and I would just ask various self care peoples to feed the Yankee in exchange for me taking over feeding duties the week after. I still felt bad about it, but it got me where I needed to go.
Here, if I'm ever gone I usually just beg (literally, beg on my knees) my mom to feed, hoping she doesnt make my horse colic again -_- OR I ask my boarder to feed for me.
ITS SO STRESSFUL EVERYTIME. I have NEVER had the freedom of just being able to leave with no worries.
I hate hate hate this aspect of not boarding ata full care facility. That, and no arena.
I dont trust many people with the care of my horses though (secondary reason I dont board) and dont want to ask just anyone. PLUS its really annoying to feed twice a day everyday, I would know. You literally have to plan your days around that. So asking someone to put themselves out for my enjoyment gives me crippling anxiety. Throw in that I cant pay much and I'm just like PLEASE DO IT, LOVE ME.
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That being said, they really are easy horses. They have round bales in their pastures and can be left outside if inexperienced horse peoples are feeding. They have smartpaks which require zero measuring and I draw lines on the scoops for grain. I fill up the water tanks and clean the barn really well before I leave, and top off grain bins. So easy.
I am seriously anal about stalls (for monetary and health reasons) and after too many times coming home to layers of terribly cleaned bedding I'm just like, no. Dont even bring them in.
LET THEM BE WILD.
I also look ahead at the weather ahead and blanket for the warmest temp. I'm nervous if I blanket for the coldest and a warm spell comes 'round, B might die. Not the best execution, but I'd rather not risk people getting hurt changing the blanket of a rowdy 5 year old than him being a little cold. He has free access to hay and his stall.... Kills me inside though.
I dont even bother with asking anyone one to work the babes when I'm gone.
In MO, people would line up to ride Yankee, so that was easy, and I trsuted all of them. Excellent riders, great friends.. Here though, with no arena its a bitch. Plus again, I just dont trust people, even with Yankee (when he was here). I would NEVER let anyone on the baby without my supervision so he gets time off. Also, kills me.
Basically going anywhere kills me.
So dear readers, tell me your secrets...What Do??
Mine are currently at a full care barn that's run by a friend I trust (she is WAY more anal about their care than I am), which is a HUGE RELIEF.
ReplyDeletePreviously at the self-care arrangement, I had to pay the other person who did chores to do mine when I was going to be away. It suuuuucked, especially when I broke my arm and couldn't lift anything. I paid her for like a month, which was awful. (And my horses still didn't get their SmartPaks!!)
Growing up, my horses were at my house, so on the rare occasion my family went on a non horse show vacay, we just had the neighbors check on them. They had a lot of pasture and round bales, plus they were never clipped, so no blankets to fuss with. The barn was left open for them to get in and our water tank was parked directly under the spigot.
I think you definitely have the right idea to make it as easy as possible! And probably for the best to not have anyone ride ponies while you're gone- that's just asking for trouble!!
yea this sounds like a serious conundrum - definitely not jealous of your situation. not sure if there are really any ways to improve on it that you haven't already thought about... but depending on the financial situation maybe you could kick off some of your boarder's costs for the month if they cover the work? that way you won't have to feel guilty about asking for help - and it isn't totally exactly the same as paying out of pocket... anyways good luck!
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky enough to be a full-care place, but even so, I worry the whole time I'm not looking directly at my horse (like, even now). If I'm out of town, Eli gets a vacation from under saddle stuff. With horses I've had in the past, I was always okay with other people riding them, but Eli is so freaking weird and every one who rides where I ride that's been on him before I bought him had god awful terrible melodramatic disaster rides on him.
ReplyDeletetotally agree with blanketing for the warmest temps--horses are way more likely to get too hot than too cold, I think.
This is one of the [many] reasons I board at a full care facility -- I know no matter what at least the basics will be covered while I'm away!
ReplyDeleteWe do self care and we travel fairly frequently without spending a lot of $. We have leasers though. Some already do a clean/feed in exchange for riding so they keep doing that. Then I ask others if they want extra days of riding in exchange for cleaning/feeding. Finally, we pay one of the leasers to do a few extra days. I have to create an elaborate schedule that covers every day, each of three horses, who is riding whom, who is feeding whom, and who is cleaning stalls. I do it in Google Docs and let the leasers add/exchange days in a live document so that everyone can always know the schedule and have each others' contact information. I wrote a post in this: http://diyhorseownership.blogspot.com/2014/12/how-to-go-on-vacation-when-you-diy.html
ReplyDeleteI compensate by being too poor to travel as well. ;-) Ha!
ReplyDeleteI do board at full care barns. At our last place, I would beg a friend to do a ride or two if I was gone for 4 or more days. In the current situation, I'd like to think I'd have the trainer get on, but with the whole "poor" thing, it's not likely.
... I never really got to go away hahah. But in the little coop barn it was easy because we'd switch off even though I'd still get consistent text messages about the ponies. Being back at my childhood barn is a god send. My BM is fantastic and handles my B so well. About someone riding him... I have A who will work with him but is really great because she doesn't push him outside HER comfort zone haha.
ReplyDeleteTo add to that. CONGRATS tbeventerBrother! That's friggin' awesome. Tell him thank you for me :) You must be so proud.
DeleteWhat about a solid Pony Club or 4-H kid who wants to do barn chores in exchange for riding (on their horse) or stable management/wrapping/braiding lessons?? I board, but I used to be one of those kids who would have liked a deal like that.
ReplyDeleteI have my parents keep an eye on him. They have access to a barn, are not clipped so don't need blankets, have a pond for water and have round bales of hay, so they literally don't need anything. I'm lucky mine are easy keepers because the donkey doesn't get grain and Chrome gets fed a ration balancer once a day that it's okay if he misses it a few days. So I just ask my dad to look at him at least once a day, preferably twice a day to make sure there are no gaping cuts, swollen legs or limping. He grew up with horses so he knows what to look for and they are literally in our back yard so I don't feel too horrible about asking hehe. Good luck finding someone to feed B!!!
ReplyDeleteWhere I board feeds for me and since we're related it's no big deal if one of us needs something. When they go out of town I'll feed for them and do whatever they need (if anything) and if I'm gone they know enough about him so that I don't have to worry about him (blankets, something happens, etc). I give him the week off if I'm going somewhere because he's always good for our rides and deserves a good break every once in awhile. He's pretty low maintenance.
ReplyDeleteUrgh. I'm in the same predicament. Trying to organize going home over X-mas, and failing to find someone worthy (and cheap) enough to care for my children.
ReplyDeleteI'm also a bit worried because my 2 yr old colt has figured out he's a stallion, and WILL push the boundaries. *cries*
I've asked my long suffering horsey roommate to care for them (on minimum wage). They may not get spoiled or fed every day, but they will survive. They have a butt-load of grass in their paddocks anyway, and not being rugged at the moment.
Still sets my teeth on edge thinking about it.
I never go anywhere. Problem solved. (Other problems created . . .)
ReplyDeleteI usually get a boarder or a pet sitter - my mom also has horses and isn't far so she will take over if need be, if my husband is away which he is a lot. I always pre make all the grain and label it AM/PM/night so they just have to dump it in their feed bowls. Finding a boarder or a friend to ride with your who has good horse care skills can be beneficial this way!
ReplyDelete