Today was a pretty full day. The farrier came this morning during turnout. He was supposed to show at 9, but instead arrived around 9:45-ish. It didn't really matter though since the horses got turned out and those that needed their feet done, got them done. We got a new horse yesterday, so we turned him out in the arena with one of the top geldings to help get him acquainted outside. They got along great, and he eventually got to meet the rest of the group. No problem.
While Paige held horses for the farrier, I continued turning out horses, swept the aisle, dusted the stall doors, and started loosening the sawdust pile for the stall cleaner. Mondays and Tuesdays are my days off for stall cleaning and another girl, who otherwise does half the stalls on Wednesdays and Thursdays, cleans all of them after her classes are done. About halfway through the job, Paige got me to turnout the last horse of the morning once he was done getting his feet trimmed. After that I held the rest of the horses for the farrier and let Paige take a break. After that, Paige and I switched horses, then I went in for a late lunch. After lunch, I cleaned a couple stalls, as in those on the dirt side, which is occupied by 2 horses. Then I did the evening feeding, swept, and finished loosening the sawdust pile so the stall cleaner could finish her job a bit easier.
The day was complete when the boarders started coming and I joined one, Jolynn, in giving another, Brian, a hard time. You see, Jolynn has a big Quarter Horse, YoYo, whom she likes to bring a container of sweet feed and smarties every day. He is a pretty spoiled boy and she only gives him 3 little packages of smarties a day. Brian gives her a hard time and has tried to get me to side with him, telling her that it is not a healthy diet for a slightly overweight horse. Instead, he suggested she should take her farrier's advice and try giving YoYo peanuts or black sunflower seeds as a healthier treat. She humored him today and bought some shelled peanuts and tried feeding them to YoYo. He didn't like them. So Brian took them out of the shell, he still didn't like them. So Jolynn decided to just give YoYo his smarties, which she gave some to Brian to give to him so YoYo wouldn't hold a grudge. Haha. I joined Jolynn in saying that there is nothing wrong with giving her horse a few goodies...seriously, a 1500lb horse is NOT going to be affected by 3 measly packages of smarties and some sweet feed. He pointed out to me that as a horsewoman who has gone to college majoring in Horse Science, I should know that it is not healthy for a horse to be fed that much sugar...vets, farriers, and trainers would say that it is just not right. That was a good point! I have had my education, too much sugar is bad for a horse, especially since the winter months are over and he won't be burning a lot of extra calories to keep warm. But in the end, we know that Jolynn will still end up giving her horse whatever treats she wants to give him since she loves him and wants him to be happy. I still think it's cute that she gives her horse some candy every day. :-)
Well, I have another day free of cleaning stalls tomorrow. It is supposed to be yucky outside, so I hope I can squeeze in a ride or two in a free arena! Later, readers!!
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