Day 19: Take Time to Prepare

Another tip urging taking these slow winter months to do all those little jobs that need to get done before the show season hits full swing.

My trailer is still neat. My horses are boarded until spring. Tack is clean, and no shows are in the immediate future.

So what jobs could I possibly have?

Plenty, trust me on that one.

I need to finish clearing out the horse part of my barn, moving the big boards up to the hay loft probably, just to keep them from getting in the way (nothing is more irritating that having to trip over things or move them several times). Then there’s the old gardening stuff that’s jammed into the corner that I need to go through and either pitch or keep somewhere less in the way.

I need to build a shavings/saw dust containment area. To do so, I need to move the boards that are leaning against the side of my barn and rake up all the loose hay. Then I need to get to designing a good ‘shavings bay’ before I head out and buy supplies to build.

I’d like (maybe not need) to get my plans for a ‘real dressage arena up and running. I’ll need to make letters and design corners. It’s just so different practicing in an ‘arena verses “oh, this is probably 20 m”.

I need to finish the design for my tack boxes. Construction can’t begin until the barn is cleared out, but this way I can plan for everything that I’ll need before the last possible second.

Obviously, I’ll need to put up my electric fence again before the ponies come home. I’d like at least two pastures again, if not to let the grass grow, than in case RC decides not to play well with Tilly.

If I have spare time, I’d like to move the hay out of the hayloft, but I’m having a hard time getting the initiative to shovel 30 year old hay into a sled/wheelbarrow then pulling each load through the thigh deep snow to dump it in the back field. That might have to be a fall project when I can drive a truckload out at a time.

See? So much to do, so little time. And its hard to get excited about these things when its 4 degrees out… (I think I can, I think I can, I think I can….)