joflasher | not quite dead yet

My mega-cold is still holding on but its slowly loosing its grip. Last night was the first night since last week that I didn't wake myself up coughing. Amazing how much a full nights sleep helps. My voice has almost returned to normal as well. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better yet.

Also, I have to take back the "dumb work" part of my last post seeing how they gave me two days of comp time over the holidays to make up for me working Sundays and 14+ hours days while in New Mexico.

I ended up caving in and buying Tisa a set of blankets. She just didn't put on a nice thick winter coat this year and she's apparently been coming in from the pasture shivering and cold. The barn help went to the owner begging for something to put on her the other week when it was in the teens. Monday night it was supposed to get down near zero, so I went and got her something(s) warm. Now my horse is outfitted the same way I am for winter. Water/windproof shell and a fleece jacket underneath. Here's hoping she doesn't destroy them. Oh, and the barn owner gave her an old blanket they had as well. It fits a bit too snug, it is a pony blanket, but it definite kept her warm until I got the new ones for her.

I guess I haven't really said here how much I LOVE the new barn. Its amazingly different from the old one. I'm kicking myself for putting up with that mess for so long. Tisa has a stall every night. She's staying incredibly clean now that she no longer has to sleep in a muddy paddock. She has hay in front of her constantly and is down to almost no grain at all. Carol was feeting quarts of grain and very little hay. She's up on a good 100 lbs since I moved her. Tisa used to get fed out with the herd and be very protective of her food. Now she doesn't even bat an eye if I pull her away from it because she knows it'll be there when she gets back. The cracks in her one hoof have grown out and don't seem to be returning now that she no longer has to stand in mud all the time.

Its wonderful to go up the barn and not come home exhausted and covered in mud . They never ask us to do anything except pay the board bill. Every few weeks Carol was bugging us to help her build something or fix something or was on me to get another horse started under saddle. Here, I just go up and hang out with my horse. The only down side is that I no longer have Doug as an instructor. The new barn's instructor, Marty, is pretty good but she's just not the task master that Doug was. Tisa likes her though.

The other ladies at the barn are all very polite and considerate. There is an astounding lack of drama. No one is gossipy, no one is catty behind the others backs. They are just all friendly and helpful. I don't carry my tack around anymore since I don't have to worry about it walking off. I haven't lost a single thing since I moved, whereas I was constantly having stuff disappear at the old barn. Oh, most of it would show back up after a week or two of me screaming on the barn's bboard but now its a non-issue. People at the new place just don't "borrow" things without asking. All in all, I have to say moving here has been the best thing that I've done horse wize in a good 3 years.