Yay! Time for the move! My new bo (barn owner) came to the teeny farm to pick us up in her gigantic dually and gooseneck trailer. Tiki was now going to be 10 minutes from me instead of 1 minute, but the extra 9 minute drive was going to be worth it since my boy would be taken care of every day, without me worrying about having to do it myself. My new arrangement was to work 3 days a week in exchange for a break in board. I hadn't cleaned stalls in over 10 years. I was actually looking forward to it.:)
David and Kody (husband and son, respectively) helped me load mine and Tiki's stuff in our truck, and we followed Tiki over to the new barn, Spotted Valley Stables. I ducked under the partition to untie and back him off the trailer, and he was DRIPPING sweat. Poor guy! It had been a 10 minute ride, but it had been his first time in a slant trailer; I think he likes the straight load better.:( I unloaded him and let him graze for about 10 minutes so he could cool down since it was dinner time. I checked his chest, found it cool, and led him to his very own stall! After feeding him dinner, we left.
Next day, I turned Tiki out with Billy, the old appy gelding. They ignored each other for the most part, which is better than beating each other to a pulp. I then got to work cleaning stalls. Wow. That is some freaking physical labor. Total trial and error. And out of 12 stalls, easily half the horses are PIGS!!! 3 hours later, I forced my exhaused butt to rake the dirt aisle, then drove home and collapsed in bed. Only 3 days a week for the rest of my horse's life left to do this, lol.
Congrats on the barn move :) The other BM didn't sound so great. As for the piggies, perhaps you will be lucky enough to figure out a better way of managing their stalls. Good luck!
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