Shavings…and more shavings

The boarders are gone, so it’s time to clean the stalls…again. :-)  It’s actually pretty soothing work. You just do your thing, listen to music or make up mucking songs (don’t ask) and get into the rhythm of the work. In between stalls I’ll take a break and say hi to more horses. This week I got to meet Lola and Doc, and I started working on taking pictures of the horses for the website. One of my skills is doing websites, so part of my volunteer effort is updating the site to add more content, this blog being step one of that process.

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I’m looking forward to adding horse stories to the site, so people can see the horses and get a little of their history. It’s fascinating to find out where the horses come from and what they’ve been through. No matter what their background, it’s obvious that they are well-loved and very well-cared for. All of the people here, staff and volunteers, are looking out for the animals - and for the rookies!

I was cleaning shavings the other day, moving them from four stalls to two other stalls to keep them dry and ready to take outside to be spread in outdoor shelters. I was shoveling shavings into a big tub and then carrying the tub to dump it in the waiting stall when Sherry came in and suggested I use the four-wheel hand cart to move the tub. Brilliant! I ended up being able to move three tubs of shavings at a time. Why didn’t I think of that? :-)  Sometimes you just need someone to point out the obvious, I guess.

That same day I was out in the pasture trying to get pictures of some of the horses, and although it was sunny there was a cold, biting wind blowing. I took it as long as I could and then said goodbye to the horses. Cold wind has always been a challenge for me and I’m used to having trees act as a windbreak at my house. I’m looking forward to the warmer winds of summer!