What Do Wednesday: Fix It

Its been quite some time since I last posted a “What Do”; all my previous posts are up ^ there in the tabs section linked up!

One of my favorite things about blogging would be the community and I always love getting sound advice and picking everyone’s brains when it comes to horsey problems. Everyone always has so much experience and things I’ve never heard or thought of and I must know it all.

This week, because winter, I have a wintery question. I actually have several, but I will only ask two and save the third for next week!

I am not sure if I have mentioned it before, but Bacardi has a special talent for destroying blankets. Actually anything in general. I don’t just mean tearing them, like shredding, destroying, snapping past any repair. Last winter he killed 2 heavyweights and 4 stable blankets. Absoulutely SHREDDED. I alsost wasn’t mad, more thoroughly impressed. In his defense, the stable blankets were well past their time and I had only kept them because I can’t really afford to have a whole team of Amigo’s. To dream a dream.

I replaced one of them with a BRAND NEW Weatherbeeta, which he promptly snapped the front buckels on. Awesome B. I also had found a lovely lightly used Lightweight Amigo on Ebay that he shredded within a few weeks and I still haven’t sewn it back up. He also tore off the stomach circingles on another heavyweight and also snapped the front closures on his medium weight.

Therefore, I have a troop of jerry-rigged blankets with tears up and down the sides and ONE good blanket left (it is currently on him, pray for its safety).

So far, my improvised buckles have worked but I know its dangerous and wont hold much longer.

I literally cannot afford to replace 2-4 blankets so before you even give me the line “If you buy from Smartpak it has a warrenty”

I FREAKING KNOW. Wouldn’t it be nice to have about a grand to buy brand new coats for my Prince.

Alas, I do not and have been scavenging ETT and Ebay but either not finding one for my budget or finding ones in my budget that have the snaps he can break.

Also sidenote sidenote, I know most of you are dolls and adults, but lets please leave the “don’t clip your horse” lectures off of here as well. And yes, his blankets are the correct size for him, I’ve measured.

I’ve decided that I would really like to replace all of his eventually with Amigo or Rambo’s since the front and belly closures on those he hasn’t been able to completely destroy, only tear the material (COOL).

So. He tears them, but that’s my question.

Have any of you ever sewn blankets yourself to repair? If so, what thread do you use? I know you can’t use normal person thread. Where do you get it?

I know we have blanket repairmen in town, but last time I checked it was $50/blanket and up depending on repairs and I have 4 murdered. That’s a brand new blanket. Three of them need new buckles and my Amigo needs to be sewn up.

I can sew. I cannot replace buckles. Eventually I will replace everything with Amigo’s most likely, but first I need to find the elusive Money Tree.

My second part here kind of goes along with my dear horse and his ability to destroy all things (blankets, his own body, things near him, etc).

At our barn, there are two ways to communicate to staff what you want. Things like, “Please leave my crazy beast in, I have a lesson/farrier is coming” or “please only feed in corner bucket hanging on the wall, Smartpaks and grain are expensive and he WILL flip the tub on the ground” or “please change blanket Sunday, its going to be much warmer” etc.

One is to write it on the white board and hope they see it. Two is to text the BO on her personal phone and hope she gets it to them in time. Neither work well because the workers don’t always see the notes and the BO is always giving lessons-not her fault by any means. Love Supertrainer.

So I have TRIED to keep one of those tiny whiteboards on his door. I’ve put it on the actual front of the door. Should’ve known he would tear it off. OK, move to the side of the stall. It somehow also fell off the wall. I’m thinking B did it SOMEHOW  (freak neck) or his neightbor did OR the stickies didn’t work very well.

I’m thinking of finding something at Walmart and finding a way to get a rope on it/through it/attached to it and CLIP the rope to a ring. Super well thought out obviously.

So, second part question here is, how do you boarders get instructions to your staff? Do you have a stall board? Whats it made out of? How do you hang it? Please tell me.

So, dear readers, feed me your secrets. I need to know.