Hitching Post vs Wash Rack

All summer Francis has watched Marina and I struggle to shower the horses after they have been worked and are all hot and sweaty. You see the challenge is getting them to stand still while we spray them with the hose-- it is rather like washing hair on a 2 year old ( or at least my boys when they were 2). So we came out one day to find the previous day while I was at work he had solved our problem. He has built us a hitching post/wash stand right next to where the hose is! He repurposed an old telephone pole that was lying along one of the fence lines... they certainly won't be able to break it if they pull on it. It even has a sprinkling of moss along the top....looks like its been there for years which is so important ( esthetics you see, I have a vision..... the cozy quaint old-fashioned  style barn-- but of course with modern amenities lol). Lately, with the nice fall weather I have been using it as an old fashioned hitching post when I tack and untack before riding. My saddle fits perfectly on it and my bridle can hang on the hooks in behind where the sweat scrapers are kept. It also works great for rinsing off the saddle pads after each ride and letting them dry in the sun.

He says that it is not finished and he wants to put down paving stones so the grass will grow in between and it will "look nice and the grass won't get churned up or get too muddy". He says he needs it to be done with something that he can go over with the lawnmower-- yes he mows the whole area around the barn with the lawnmower; he does the field with the "bush hog" but the barn area, around the round pen and shed are all done with the lawn mower!

Marina and I hope to get burgundy Hollyhocks growing around the barn next year- not sure Pippa won't eat them but we will try. Marina has already given me the seeds...

Inaugural use of the wash stand- or should we say Christening with all that water flowing lol
 

A New Coat for Fall and Pippa Takes a Nap ( sort of)

 If you are a fan of Winnie the Pooh this posting could also be named - " The Day in which Francis the Gallant rescued the Pony Princess"............( PS I love Winnie- "thuh" Pooh!!)

If you've been following my blog, then you will know that earlier on Francis removed all the old barn board from the exposed side of the barn in preparation for constructing the new support wall for the barn. He then put up new plywood  and covered it with "barn" wrap or waterproof membrane (can't call it house wrap on a barn lol!). Well summer has come and gone and now Autumn is here and so Francis is busy tidying up final things on the barn before winter (urrgh) sets in.

One of the things to finish was to put back up the old barn boards onto the new wall. He had been dreading it as it meant dragging all the boards he had placed in his workshop out of there, and place them on the ground so he could sort them and figure out how to make them go back on to the wall again( rather like doing a life-size jigsaw puzzle). Also, the wall had consisted of two layers of boards- one inner layer and one outer layer.The outer layer boards have been weathered by elements for over a hundred years and yet the inner ones were not worn at all. So how to make the boards match when he was using them again? You see some were damaged when removed and he would not have enough of all one type. Well,true to Francis style, he came up with a great solution- turn the boards over and use the inside surface as the outside! Now all the boards are the same colour and wear pattern! Genius I say.

And so in under 12 hours the barn was transformed yet again from a bit of an ugly duckling that looked like it hadn't got all its adult plumage, to the regal and elegant swan I knew was possible. He still has not finished putting the "frame" around all the windows, but the two closest to the barn door are done. These are also made out of the old barn boards.The boards don't match the top part of the barn as those have been weathered for over a hundred years, but in another hundred years no one will be able to tell the difference- or who knows with the wind and storms we get it may not even take that long!!

My hero at work!

Autumn sunset and glow

New wall with window frames!

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On Thanksgiving Monday, I took Raphi somewhere for an couple of hours off property. This left Pippa at home alone to amuse herself. And true to her inquisitive nature and as most small children will do when left to amuse themselves, she got into a tad of mischief. She decided to check out the new fresh dirt next to the barn now Francis had raked it all nice and flat and smooth after completion of the wall. You see Pippa  just loves to find a patch of dirt to roll in-- which is a challenge with all the grass fields, but leave it to her to find a nice spot of dirt for just that purpose.

Francis heard some banging while he was working on the other side of the barn. He thought he had left the barn door open and Pippa had gone in to check things out ( ie get into mischief). Well into mischief was right, but not in the barn. Instead she had managed to get herself "cast" against the barn wall. A horse gets cast when they decide to lie down and roll too close to a wall or other immoveable object. This means they get stuck and can't get back up. If left long enough a horse can die from being cast. But the universe was with us and Francis the Gallant came to rescue the maiden in distress ( PS its usually me he rescues---hmm should I be jealous??). Pippa is such a lady she let Francis grab hold of her back leg which was against the wall and use it to roll her over.... after which she promptly righted herself, shook herself off and went back to grazing none the worse for wear. Can't quite say the same of the poor wall-- it has a few quite large scratches from her back feet where she was kicking trying to rolled over and up again. Just thankful she plonked herself between the windows so no windows were broken and she didn't cut herself ( that could have been very ugly!). You can see how close she was to the window.... In fact she looks like she's having a nap, but in fact she was exhausted from trying to get up.

Poor Pippa "cast"against the wall- no she is not napping

Anyway, Francis maybe upset about the marks but like I told him, it adds character, reminds us to tell the story of when "Francis the Gallant Rescued the Horse Princess" and in a hundred years when the boards are
weathered we won't even notice them! 

Enter at "A" or "Why I Ride Dressage"

Update on the dressage ring.... it is completed! It even has letters ( as per my previous post). 
Francis and I decided to make a "border" for the ring with railroad ties. He had some and I tracked down some more on Kijii.... the ones I bought were not as good but we put them on the far side and far end of the ring so they are not so noticeable. If we find other nicer ones later they are easily replace. Again budget was a factor and these were a bargain.

Originally I was just going to put a fence around the ring to keep the horses out that would also mark the 20-40 perimeter. However, after we decided to put the railroad tie border, we still needed a fence to keep snoopy horses out, so they don't decide its their own personal sandbox to roll and play in at liberty. So Francis spent the weekend digging post holes and putting up a perimeter fence. He used two strands of yellow rope that had made up the temporary fence we had initially. Yes, I want white fat rope but do you have any idea how much rope is???? Seriously spending almost $1000 on white rope or plastic chain ( which is what I really wanted) is just ludicrous and so we settled for the rope we had bought on sale at the local Canadian Tire store  $10/roll and I think it ended up using about 5 rolls... hmm easy decision.. $1000 versus $50.

The letters are temporary as Marina and I plan to make bigger painted wooden ones over the winter. With my age, I need the letters to be a bit bigger but this is all we could find for now. White rubbish bins from the Dollar Store with black stick on stencils........hey presto dressage markers!

And here it is already to be used this week..... so excited. Marina's friend, Claudia, is visiting from Germany this week and so we get the privilege of riding with a high level German rider and try out the new toy ( dressage arena) while "playing dressage". What an end to a great summer of riding and building a dream...........

It is hard to see but all the letter markers are in place ready to guide as as we practice geometry figures- 20, 15, 10 meter circles, diagonal lines, 3 and 4 loop serpentines, straight down the sides, and where we practice precision, transitions, lateral movements..............all in the name of improving our riding, our horses way of going and most importantly building a relationship with the horses we so love and admire. To many people and even riders, dressage is "boring", but when you suddenly achieve for the first time a transition, or figure or movement that was elusive for so long.... the slow burning ember that is your soul, and hope and dreams, bursts into flame and you suddenly want it again, and better than before. For one thing riding has taught me is that you NEVER arrive at your destination... it is all about the journey and the challenges and moments of despair and glory along the way. One day you are ready to toss it in, sell your gear and your horse,and then you have a fleeting moment of "YES, this is it!!" and you are committed all over again to hours of practice and patience as you persevere to find that elusive thing......improvement... You hear Olympic level riders tell people that one day can be magnificent and another not so good, that they continue to practice and strive for improvement.... and I am no Olympic level Grand Prix level rider.... just a girl and her horse, forming a relationship, built on trust, understanding, patience and yes trying to "play at dressage" along the way.  Don't get me wrong, I love just hacking out in the fields and woods around home, and going on excursions, but I still love "boring flat work".... the nuances, that one thing that is suddenly there that wasn't yesterday, be it a trot to canter transition, a shoulder in, or just getting a relaxed walk on a loose rein................and then I want it again, and again, and again, ....I don't even have the "independent seat and aids" established and I have been riding for years, but I keep hoping one day I will get it...it sure is not for the lack of trying on my part. I have no desire to compete..and maybe I shouldn't call  what I do "dressage", but hey I like the fancy word and my dear Francis is French and "flat work" sounds boring!!!  I mean it even has the word "work" in it for gosh sake.  Doesn't Dressage make you think of princes, magical steeds, Avatars? and dreams? and so I do "dressage"............