Spring Is Here!
Happy Spring! Ok, in Colorado spring has sprung, but it’s still a little chilly outside. But with a stay at home order in place for our state, I decided to take the weekend and clean up my little red barn as well as clean out the stalls, and tidy up my riding arena. Spring is here, and so are the catch up chores.
And all week long I have been plotting and planning on how I will be making the most out of the 2 (and 4 hours) days off that I have.
In Colorado, you never know when the next snowstorm will come. And March is our snowiest month of the year sadly. So I know I am not done with winter yet, but it’s almost done. I think.
Cleaning the Stalls
My horses stalls are in desperate need of a deep cleaning. With all of the snow, and manure, and now mud. There is dirt everywhere. And this may be a bad horse mom thing, but it is what it is. When their stalls get dirty, and their paddock are full of snow, the manure gets shoveled from the stall to the paddock.
My wheelbarrow can’t make it through the snow, and I am trying to get the pens to dry out. So the manure, and shavings end up in the pens. Their stalls stay relatively clean, and manure free. But even they are in need of being stripped.
And while it may not be ideal for some, I find that the stall mess does absorb some of the moisture in the paddocks, so it goes to the paddocks. I keep moving the used shavings, etc down to the entrance of the pen, and probably within the next two weeks I will be able to have the old bedding completely out of the pens. Well, that is if it doesn’t snow a lot, again.
I typically start the cleaning process on Friday night, after I get home from work.
This way I feel like I am getting a jump start on the weekend. Which, lets face it, is a good thing for this weekend because of the time change. So with losing an hour, which is totally worth it because of the longer days, I want to make the most of the time that I do have. And then when I come out to the barn in the morning, the first big part of my barn cleaning is done.Then I can feed the horses, turn Frisby out in his pasture (my arena) and clean his stall thoroughly.
Cleaning Buckets
And with the weather being warm enough for the hose to thaw, it was also a good time to wash out buckets.
I started with the feed buckets. Mixing up Plezant’s mush twice a day takes a toll on feed buckets. So I cleaned all of them. It’s such a good feeling to have clean buckets!
The the task of getting the green algae out of the big water trough that my horses share. It’s hard during the winter to get the bucket out, and then the hose thawed, and then scrub an 85 gallon tank. So while I can’t do it as often as I like in the winter, I can do it now!
I don’t use fancy cleaners, just a scrub brush, and some liquid dish soap. Mrs. Meyers is my favorite. And after a lot of scrubbing, presto! I have a clean water tank, and my horses have a clean water source. Now, if I can just keep it this way!
And yes, I do still have a tank heater in the tank. Even though it’s spring, it will still get below freezing. So I keep the tank heater in until there is no chance of freezing.
Tidying Up The Little Barn
So even though I try very hard to stay organized, during the winter my tack room is a mess. But I have been working on getting rid of the excess while keeping things organized. But I am in the zone this weekend, and the little red barn is getting cleaned up!
I even broke out some towels, and cleaning spray to wipe off all the dust that has accumulated the past winter.
All of my empties were taken out, and the remaining horse blankets that have been pushed to the back of the barn either because they were Ethan’s, or just extras have been moved to the ‘official’ tack room which is attached to my horses stalls.
I also moved all of my cleaning implements and the large barrel that they go in out there as well.And because most of my feed stuff has been moved to my garage, the only thing that is really left in my barn is tack, hay and hay nets. It’s funny how things change.
Filling Hay Nets
I also took the time to re-organize my bridles, halters and saddle pads. But I did this AFTER I refilled all of my hay nets. Filling hay nets is dusty work!I didn’t realize just how many hay nets I had until I made this video.
40. 40 Hay nets! That’s enough for about 10 days of feeding both horses. And there is just something awesome about having all of the hay nets full, and ready. I love that. And I have 2 different types of hay nets. One that works best for Frisby, and one that works best for Plezant.
For Frisby, I use the Shires Deluxe Hay Nets. They hold a lot of hay, and the smaller holes make Frisby eat slower. The top opens really wide which makes it very easy to fill the hay net, especially because I use a trash can to keep the hay net open for easy filling.
For Plezant, I use a more traditional hay net. He has dental issues, so I try to keep it easy for him to get to his hay. And he isn’t a pig like Frisby. So I don’t have to worry about him emptying the entire hay net in an hour. The hay net that I prefer for Plezant is called a Regular Poly Hay Net. And you can find it on Amazon for around $6.00.
Both styles of hay nets have metal rings that connect the hay net to the string that you tighten. And I have found the metal rings help make it easier to fill the hay nets. Which is why I now only buy hay nets with the metal rings.
Muddy Grooming
And with all of the melting, Plezant has become a mud monster. I wish it was warm enough that I could give him a proper bath. But it was only forcasted to be around 45 degrees. So I had to make due with my waterless concoction that I made.
He is getting much more calm with our grooming sessions, but taking off the mud can be challenging. So I work slowly around him, to make sure I keep building his level of trust with me.
He is getting better about everything, but I have to do things in small doses with him, and not overwhelm him with everything all at once.
But today, it was all at once.
He got a sponge bath, and a thorough grooming. And when that was done, we went for a little walk around the property and his reward was to nibble a little bit of the barely there grass in their back pasture.
Welcome to Springtime in the Goodwin Family Plezant!
Now every day will not be like this. But after being cooped up all winter long, I have been looking forward to this since I brought him home.
And unlike Frisby, I have found that Plezant actually looks forward to working. I think that was a part of his life every day while he was a show horse. Ao I owe it to him to keep him in some sort of work, each and every day.
Even if it is only going outside of the confines of his pasture, and taking him for a walk to nibble on some grass.
By the end of the weekend, I was exhausted, but it was a good sort of exhaustion because I got so much done! And during the week I can spend a little more time on my Masterclasses that I have been working on via Noelle Floyd, and then I can actually put these things into practice with Plezant, and maybe Frisby too.
Weekend Spring Cleaning
While I look forward to springtime, the first week or two can be brutal. Especially when the time changes. But like I said, it is worth it to be able to spend time with my horses every evening.
How about you? Do you have any spring cleaning rituals you do when the weather takes a turn for the better? No time like the present right? Especially if you are lucky enough to be healthy, and have your horses at home with you.
