The GoodHorsekeeping Seal of Approval...
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Posted on 10/04/2005 9:56:41 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
Close, Ohio. Rain here again today. Snow is predicted for tomorrow. At least it is not bone chilling cold.
The GoodHorsekeeping Seal of Approval...
Becky, my place looks identical to yours. The tank completely dried up so we had some people come out and dig it deeper ( it was so shallow that we couldn't keep it clean). Hopefully, it will rain soon and fill it up. All the dormant grass and weeds are gone, replaced by dirt, sand, dust and rocks.
That looks like it will improve footing!... I wish I had that tractor to push some of our own mud. I really hate mud!
What a very good idea. I have trouble sometimes with in front of my gates turning into mud holes, obviously not now:). We've put gravel down but it just seems to disappear. Puting that stuff down under it should work great. I've never thought of that.
Are all those your horses? I didn't realize you had that many.
Becky
She does seem like a good rider. Sits good. She rode all the time as a kid, but she says she never took a fall then. So those two horses she was looking at to buy that bucked her off just really destroyed her confidence. I can relate, it's so hard to build and so easy to lose.
Becky
You know what I'm afraid is going to happen is when it does rain we're going to get a gully washer, that washes even more soil away before it can soak in. Altho I'm loath to say it is what we need is about a foot of good wet snow, that melts slowly and has time to soak in.
Becky
It was 85 degrees here yesterday, smashing the old record for that day. It's gonna be cooler today, high 72 but the fire danger is higher since it's gonna be windy. Not much wind yesterday.
My mud trouble spot now is right at the entrances to the lean-to. Everywhere else is not too bad. It gets naturally muddy while it's raining but it dries fast when it stops. This piece of ground is real sandy and naturally pretty good. Better than the areas that are clay. And really, the area outside the lean to wouldn't have been too bad either if it wasn't deep with spent shavings. That's where I dump manure and shavings, and it just stays thick.
I think we got to 76 yesterday. It's suppose to be 61 today. When I went to feed the temps weren't bad but the wind is cold. It's from the north:(. It may turn out to not be as nice a day as I thought it was going to be.
Becky
That stuff works wonders. I found out about it from a guy here at work who is raising cattle and is enrolled in some kind of farm program where you agree to follow certain land management practices and they help pay for a percentage of it. The Soil Conservation Service recommends this stuff for all high traffic areas around barns, gates, water and feed troughs, hay rings and roads. It's called Geo-textile fabric and it's like a thick felt. It's the same stuff the road crews use between their gravel and asphalt. It's tough but it lets water go through. It comes in rolls that are 15' X 300'. I bought it at one of my local Co-Ops. You can buy the whole roll or you can buy it by the foot. It's about $1.75 a linear foot. I bought 30' for about $56, tax included. If it keeps $250 of gravel from disappearing into the mud, it's a pretty good deal if you ask me.
And yes, those are all my horses, plus 2 more expecting brood mares that stay at my FIL's. Am I crazy or what?!
LOL...I'm not going to answer that:)
Mack uses that stuff being in the parking lot business. I don't know why he or I never thought to put some down. We actually haven't put any gravel down in years. It just disappered, so why bother. I just slop around in the mud, altho I can't remember the last time I had too....
Becky
Well ladies, I'm going to go walk....I've been getting my head geared up to start my walking program again. I bought a pedometer this past weekend and have been pleasantly surprised that I'm already walking the 10,000 steps a day they reccommend for good health. I didn't think I'd get close. But that is a bit discouraging too, I'm going to have to walk even more then to get any results. I'm not necessarily looking to lose that much weight, I just want to feel good. I was doing good till we went on vacation last year. I finally got back to eating healthy in Nov, but now it's time to start doing some type of exercise and walking is my favorte.
This post is like Hairs, when she needs to clean her barn. If I tell you all about it I'll have to do it:). Back in bit....
Becky
LOL - I've been meaning to start walking again too.... I want to lose weight. And I think my feet finally feel good enough. It was rough to need to exercise most, when my feet hurt to even walk at all.
Have you thought about building a compost pit for it? If you've got a little bit of a hill or gully close by and can dig out the down hill side enough to make a level bottom and line it with cinder blocks, you could dump it there. Even if you didn't want the compost, people will almost pay you to let them come get it. Just an idea. I'm planning on setting one up when I finally move to our own place.
I wouldn't mind looseing weight:), of course, but I have trouble with my legs, maybe poor circulation, I don't know. But I know exercise will help. It's just so hard to get started. But I get tired of feeling bad.
I just did a walk of 2000 steps, so hopefully tonight the pedometer will read 12,000 total for the day:) The book that I have recommended for you to read for good nutrition and health reccommends, especially if you're just starting a walking program is to shoot for 2-3 short walks a day rather then one long one. Walk an hour or so after eating your meals. That keeps your matabolism at a more level pace rather then low spots and spikes....Makes sense to me and that is what I was doing before I fell of the wagon:), and I was seeing good results and felt better.
Becky
I've thought of a lot of things.... and in hindsight, I never should have started putting it there. I did it for a couple of reasons, one, the area was low and I wanted to fill it. Two, it's close to the barn and I didn't have to trudge far with the barrow, and three, that when I moved here, there had been a garbage pile and burn barrel out there, and no matter how many times I went out there with a magnet, I still found nails. I decided to just cover it. And most of it is OK. But there's a bad patch at the end of the lean to that gets the worst of the traffic.
I've often said, and I hope I follow through, that when we get our own place that will be the boarding stable, that if we invest as much as it takes on good french drains and water/mud management before one structure or fence ever goes up, and that we'd appreciate the payoff later. And gutters with runoff diverted... Your mud hole would be reduced by 90% with a gutter on that barn. It's taking all the runoff from the barn and putting it right in the worst place. If you dug a ditch that could drain somewhere, right where the dripline hits, it'd dry right up soon after the rain stopped.
The timing tip is good, I need to take the first step today too :~D
I really hate structure, but it really does help. And some kind of measurement goal is good. When I was really feeling best was when I was losing weight for my first meeting with ecurbh, and I was up to 5 trips around my pasture each morning and feeling great.
My goal now is to start out with one or two laps, see how my feet hold up, and I'm taking my fat dog with me. :~D
Well good luck, I know how hard it is to get started. Maybe we can inspire each other. Get a pedometer, it was only 7 bucks. It's kind of interesting to see how much you walk. I was surprised that a round trip to my barn was 200 steps. I wouldn't have thought that much.
Maybe start out with one lap now, one lap at noon, and one this evening. If your feet hurt, don't do the evening one. I'd try that for a week then increase a little. I walk down our property line to the back. There is a really long fairly steep hill back there. Man a hill will kill you, I'm really puffing by the time I get to the top.
My dogs went with me this morning, well all but Nikki. She was sleeping and I was quiet so she wouldn't wake. Scary thing, for the first time, the neighbors Rotweiler came out and followed us. They have told me he is very friendly but it's still scary to come face to face with one in the woods. Susie was very scared, which surprised me and makes me think she is smarter then I thought. She's really bad to pick a fight with Nikki. But with this Rot. her tail dropped and she got real close to me, and when when we had to pass him she speeded up. He start to walk towards her and I said NO, and he turned and left. There were two other dogs with him that I've never seen. They followed us to as we passed them, that's probably the only reason the Rot. came too. He usually just watches us pass by.
Becky
You're absolutely right about the gutters on the barn. I'd never build one myself without them. The place we dug out and refilled with gravel is basically a ditch like you said. It slopes off to the left and hopefully will drain the gravel bed.
I need to put some gravel around the water trough too. It's mostly hard red clay around it and it's sloped pretty well away from it to boot, but when it rains or I overfill the trough, or drain it to clean it out, it gets a little soft, and it gets packed in the horses hooves and a small depression is slowly being dug right in front of it. It'd be nice to not have muddy feet when I get done cleaning the trough.
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