Moving Day

No, I haven't fallen off the map - just moved south a couple states.  We got the last of the household stuff packed in our trailer last Thursday, then drove it out to J's and parked it.  The plan:  he'd bring our trailer down, and we'd load the horses, horse stuff, hay, etc. in his trailer (which is bigger) and pull it down.

Rufus and T head for the trailer

 

J had cleaned out the trailer, but there was still a bit of splat-art-by-cow decorating the walls.

Unsuspecting victims

We had everything loaded, good-byes said at Eric's and at the farm, and were on the road by 11:09 a.m.  The ponies, bless their hearts, all hopped right in.  And the weather cooperated by being above freezing when we left and getting progressively warmer the further south we got.
We stopped for short breaks every hour or so when we needed a stop for fuel, coffee, or a bathroom, and they seemed to be riding comfortably when we checked on them.  Traffic was light, and after the rest of the trips we'd managed to scope out the smoothest route.

We pulled into the yard in the dark at 6:30 p.m.  Since there's no light at the barn yet, just up by the house, that's were we unloaded.  A chance to drink - which they mostly ignored in favor of peering around at everything - and then we left them at the trailer while we grabbed a quick bite.  (T's mom met us out there with a hot supper, bless her!)

We'd planned to fill a couple of big tubs for water and get hay out for them in the corral for the night, but when we got down to the corral we discovered T's cousin had stopped by, cleared a bunch more weeds, reset the panels, hauled out his cattle chute and hauled in a big oblong water tank - and filled it - for us.  (T's cousin has some of the ground rented, and his cattle overwinter across the fence and water using the same hydrant - they use the corrals for loading the cattle out in the spring.)

It was a lovely surprise, and I owe them some baked goods ASAP!  We spread a couple leaves of hay per horse out in four different piles, doublechecked the gates, and then walked the horses down.  They checked out their new digs, tested the water, and then dug in.  Sunny was, of course, his contrary self moving the other three from pile to pile until he'd located the one that met with his approval.  I warned him, if he kicked at or bit anybody, his butt was going back in the trailer for the night!  



We got a few things unloaded, checking on the horses periodically - they were fine - and then called it a night.

The next morning my eyes popped open at 4:30.  Okay, so the cat that landed in my middle crying to be fed probably had something to do with it.  But I had horses to check!  All was quiet - at the corral, Thunder was lying down, and the others were dozing, hips cocked.  We divided another half-bale of hay for them to munch on until daylight.  I wanted to check fences and make sure everything was good to go before we turned them out.

After coffee, T made a run to the dump, and by the time he was back I'd had a chance to walk the fence and check the current to make sure the electric was up. 

Of course they ran around like idiots at first, but it didn't take too long before they'd settled down to the serious business of eating, interspersed with more exploring.  Since none of them have been on grass for a while, we didn't leave them out for too long.

Naps all around

They seem to be settling in pretty well.  It's sure wonderful to be able to look out the kitchen window and see them!