Daily Journaling for January 9th and 10th, 2024

Is there ever a time that I have looked forward to the short and cold days of winter? I think not.

Tuesday, January 9, 2024, and Wednesday, January 10, 2024

This is a double journal entry because, well, not a lot has happened. The weather is still crappy, wet, and cold. And sometimes I just can’t find the motivation to brave the cold and get out and do something with my horses. I know I should, I just did not have it in me for the past couple of days.

One good thing is the days are getting longer. Even if it’s only a minute a day, I’ll take it!

With subzero temperatures being forecasted for the upcoming week, I had to get the horses taken care of in anticipation of a long spell of temperatures well below zero – even during the day. I am glad the farrier is coming before all of the cold weather nonsense gets here.

Looking at the Glass Half Full? Maybe?

And even though Wednesday was a warmer day, and when I say warm, it was about 30 degrees. Still below freezing. The wind was here. All I could do was communicate with my husband and farrier via text messages. I guess Jesse’s lack of work has allowed him to decide it was time to act up. When I texted Dale and asked how everything went afterward, he said “Jesse was an asshole.” I promptly texted my farrier and apologized. He said “we’ll blame it on the wind.”

I promised him he would be better next time, and I will be there. I already requested that day off from work, and I will be working with Jesse daily up until that day unless the cold weather doesn’t go away!

Turning the Negative into a Positive

When I got home from work, I was frustrated with the situation for sure. But that’s not Jesse’s fault. He hasn’t had a job for the last 3 months, so who could blame him for acting out? And it isn’t Dale’s fault either. He doesn’t know what is acceptable behavior for the farrier. Not anyone’s fault. And next time will be better.

But he got his feet trimmed, so I call that a win. And I have decided to keep him barefoot for the remainder of the winter. I am not doing anything with him that will put pressure on his feet. And with the ice and snow, there is no reason to keep shoes on him, especially when I am not there to supervise him when the farrier is working on him. I am not even sure that I will have his shoes put back on in March. Time will tell, but I think he will remain barefoot until May. And maybe even then if he is doing well.

New Treasures Arriving

And I did have a moment of happiness over the past 2 days, the rest of my orders came in. So I was able to assemble my bridle

And my saddle as well.

I have never used a Myler bit before, so this was interesting to put on my bridle. The entire bit seems to be jointed so it can move easily. That was a challenge to keep everything the way it needed to be when I assembled the bridle. But I like it, and I hope Jesse does too.

And the Professionals Choice girth is incredible. I am familiar with the workings of that, so no issues there. And then the stirrup leathers, now these are nice. They are very lightweight, and THIN. They are supposed to have a nylon core, which I hope they do, otherwise I can see these breaking. But they are nice, and they are grippy.

So I have my tack situation under control and ready to go. Now all I need to do is try everything on Jesse, to make sure it fits. I’m sure it will. But there is no safe palace for me to tack him up right now. 

Wintertime Woes

My hitching post and grooming spot have snow and ice covering the mats. So until I can clear this area, no grooming or tacking up here. I have been grooming in their stalls, I should say lightly grooming because there isn’t a lot of grooming going on. I am just happy to keep their stalls tidy so they can lie down to sleep.

Their pens, well they are a disaster because of the frozen manure. It’s going to take me a week to get them cleaned out once the ground thaws. But I will gladly spend the time outside once I can. Hopefully, the snow will be gone soon. The ground looks like the surface of the moon, only it’s covered with snow and ice. Grrrrr!

Ok, trying to stay positive now…. I guess at least the winter weather is keeping my focus on being prepared and using this time to get ready for better weather. I know it will come soon enough. And when it does, if I use my time wisely now, I will be ready to go when the better weather does come!