The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread 11

[HairOfTheDog]

The FreeRepublic Saddle Club - (very out of date) Who's Who *pics*

This is a horse chat thread where we share ideas, ask for input from other horsemen, and talk about our riding and horse-keeping. We have a lot of different kinds of riders and horses, and a lot to share. In the previous threads we have had a great time talking through lessons, training, horse lamenesses, illnesses and pregnancies... and always sharing pictures and stories.

I always have a link to this thread on my profile page, so if you have something to say and can't find the thread in latest posts… look for it there and wake the thread up!

I also have a ping list for horse threads that are of interest, and MissTargets will now be pinging everyone most mornings. Let MissTargets and/or me know if you would like to be on the ping list. As FreeRepublic is a political site, our politics and other issues will probably blend in…. There are many issues for horsemen that touch politics… land use, animal rights/abuse cases that make the news…. Legislation that might affect horse owners.

So... like the previous threads, this is intended as fun place to come and share stories, pictures, questions and chit-chat, unguided and unmoderated and that we come together here as friends. There are lots of ways of doing things and we all have our quirks, tricks and specialties that are neat to learn about.

Previous threads:

The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - thread ONE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread TWO!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread THREE!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FOUR
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FIVE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SIX
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SEVEN
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread EIGHT
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread NINE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread TEN

New folk and occasional posters, jump right in and introduce yourselves, tell us about your horses, and post pictures if you've got them!

[HairOfTheDog]

Check out what my other neighbor, is up to.... this is when I first noticed him... see that dark line and the bulldozer?

And this is later...

He's pushing all the sod and topsoil up into this big berm along my fence.

I moved the horses out of there, into the back forty, just in case he pushes that berm a little too far and pushes the fence over. Went and talked to him, and he's a hired guy.... said he was supposed to scrape all the sod off and make a big flat place for them to build a big greenhouse. I guess the plan is to smooth and finish that berm a bit, but leave it there as a "windbreak". Hmmmm.... well, OK then :~)

[FrogInABlender]

Dang, that’s gonna be one helluva greenhouse then! Looks to be close to 100 feet, judging by the length of that pile of dirt and the size of the dozer. But there’s worse things that they could build right on the property line. Buildings that size around here are generally commercial chicken houses. So you’re getting off easy. The only thing worse would be hogs. Peeeee-eeeeew!

Do you know if they’re planning on raising plants commercially, or just for their own use? Maybe they’ll give you a neighborly discount on bedding plants. ;o)

[HairOfTheDog]

I don't know... It looked like he was done, so I went over to check it out again and talked to the lady.... I guess she's actually going to be moving into that little grey farmhouse... it's been vacant awhile. She said she was a little taken aback by how big the berm is when she arrived... when she hired the job done, she was picturing a little mound she could plant a good windbreak hedge in, not a five foot tall earth pile that looks like this:

Heh... not sure what she plans to do with it now.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Looks like a mess to me. Sounds like she may not be real happy with it either.

Becky

[FrogInABlender]

Well, maybe he’s just done for the day. You would think that he would run the dozer back and forth across it and pack it down all around so that it would be nice and smooth and could be seeded with grass. And if he’s building a pad for a building, he’s probably going to haul back in some kind of packable dirt to make it with. Around here they use a red clay/chert type of dirt. Surely he’s not planning on leaving it like THAT!

[FrogInABlender]

And if he IS going to leave it like that, then it’s going to make it real hard for you to mow the other side of the fence to keep the weeds off of it. :-/

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah - if it stays like that, then I have a mess on my hands keeping that grass mowed off the fence. I’ll be back to doing it with the weedwacker. I can’t get my mower in there like it is now.

[FrogInABlender]

It looks like there’s small trees and every thing else in those big ol’ dirt clods!

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah - that scrubby looking shrub there is scotch bloom.

It seems it’s a study in “how to create a really big mess really fast with a big machine”.

[Beaker]

I don’t know how it is in WA, but in MA, you can’t build anything less that’s less than 10 feet from the property line. One of the people at my barn is having a huge issue with their neighbor because they’ve 1) built a garage that so big that it has ended up on part of her property, and 2) planted trees and bushes on her property, even though the property lines are clearly marked on the deed.

[Beaker]

???? Pardon my french, but what the hell is that?! :-)

[HairOfTheDog]

It's a big mess, is what it is.... I just went out to lunge Bay a bit... a report on that in a minute... but I had to take Bay over there and take a good look at that berm before he'd work out there. ;~)

[Beaker]

I like the halter, it’s one that becky gave you isn’t it? Very thoughtful. :-)

[HairOfTheDog]

Yup. :~) That’s the halter he wears to work in, or when we go in the trailer... I actually think, because it has that very thick leather noseband that is quite stiff, that if gives a better correction. :~)

[HairOfTheDog]

....better correction than a regular halter, I mean. :~)

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Hmmmm....I never even thought about that.

Becky

[Beaker]

Well it makes Bay look very dashing and patriotic. :-)

[HairOfTheDog]

That it does :~)

[AnAmericanMother]

Wow.

Tell her to take action right away, or adverse possession is going to catch up with her and the neighbor will OWN that property. . . .

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, I lunged Bay a bit today, during a break in the weather, I quit just in time, because a few minutes after I got inside it started to ~hail~.

I've loaded 4 videos to my photobucket account, if any of you can watch and compare them.

They're pretty well labeled, and here's the significance... Two are from January of this year, wearing the old shoes. One is on the line, and the other is 'free' lunging on the same day. He's always more animated in his movement free. (rolls eyes)

Then I posted two from today also, with the NB shoes on. One is on line, and one is free.

I don't want to say much, because I don't want to pass on any presuppositions, I'd like your honest opinion of what your eyes see.

Here's the link to the page: They're the four videos at the top: LINK