Volunteers are everywhere!!!

I apologize again for the break in posts!

Friday was a crazy day! We had over 30 volunteers here to help out. While we are SO appreciative of ANY help that anyone has to offer, 30 people under 18 is really, really, really hard to organize. Ha, ha. There was a group of boys from a local detention center. They also came last Friday and seem to be making a routine of coming by to help. If you're going to have a group of 8 or so workers, teenage boys is the way to go! They helped us unload the beautiful, but VERY HEAVY hay that Stephanie LeVeque so kindly donated. (Our hay elevator is a little hell-ified, but it gets the job done... you just have to push the bales halfway up...)

It also happened to be Senior Make a Difference Day in Athens, so we had students from Athens High here to help out as well. We put them to work with paintbrushes and paint, trying to get the fencing done.
And intermingled within those groups were the girls from the OU Western Equestrian Team, always helpful.

I headed to Columbus Friday evening to attend the Equine Nutrition and Feeding Seminar with Stacy at OSU. Talk about informative! The weekend included a very informative lecture on feeding the orphan foal. There is always more to learn, that's for sure. Stacy and I are going to make some big changes in the feeding program around here, hopefully resulting in healthy horses and lower feed bills. Of course, they gave away a year's worth of free feed at this seminar - and we didn't win! ; ( What luck! Overall, the two days were well worth our time and we learned a TON.

Upon our return Sunday night, Stacy and I made the most of the little daylight left and went for a ride. Stacy rode C.C., our mysteriously incontinent Paint. He has not been ridden in three years. He did absolutely fine, was super mannerly and well behaved. C.C. has done a lot of showing and successful competition in the past, so if we can resolve his incontinence, he will be well worth the effort. He is very lacking in muscle, so we decided to put him out on "the hill" at our in-town farm for a few weeks.

I rode Polar, and I really like this horse! He definitely has been ridden in a HUGE bit and cowboyed around a LOT. He hadn't been ridden in 5 years, supposedly. Although he also was supposedly nearly impossible to bridle - he dropped his head and opened his mouth for me. He was a nervous wreck when I got on. I only had him in a little D ring snaffle, but the second I picked the reins up off his neck he threw his head in the air, expecting to get jacked in the mouth. After a little riding time, he settled down considerably. He is pretty quiet off your leg, but he has a very, very sensitive mouth. A firm "Whoa" and he tucks his butt right under himself and WHOAS, that's for sure! No reins needed. Stacy thinks he was a reiner. I'm not sure. He definitely doesn't have a spin, but he neck reins pretty well. He is a cool guy, and he is soooo appreciative of all the attention he is getting around here!

Unfortunately, that was when our light ran out, but Stacy and I got up early in the morning and rode Henry again, also. He did wonderfully. He walked, whoa'd, and backed on the longe line, and even did a little trotting! What a good pony. We rode him in a halter and reins - I will start longing him with a bit this week and see how he does. He is pretty unfazeable, considering this is the first time he has been saddled. When Stacy gave him a good little kick he did try a little, teeny buck... but he is so darn FAT, it was absoulutely pathetic!! ; )

Today we had another very large group of volunteers - the OSU Horseman's Association. Over 20 volunteers! They busted out the stalls and paddocks in under half an hour - that may be a record. Luckily, we never run out of things to do here at the LCC. The foal barn needed cleaned and washed head to toe to prepare for our Charity Ball on December 6th. They set to work without a break in stride.

By the way, the Charity Ball is an open event! Everyone is invited. If you have goods to donate or would like more information, feel free to email me or leave a comment here.

I mentioned the "in town" farm in this post. For those of you who don't know, we are generously donated the use of a farm in Athens by a very kind donor. The farm has 17 acres of grass, six stalls, a wash stall, the whole shebang. The problem with the farm has been trying to run this farm and keep that farm taken care of, PLUS keeping everything staffed. We have to haul everything over there separately - bag the shavings in garbage bags and take them over, take over hay, take over grain. As a result, the "in town" farm has mostly become a place for starvation victims to be able to graze, or for horses with lay-ups or other issues that just need time to hang out for a while. It's still fantastic. We took C.C., Yuri, and my filly Asti up there this week.

And for those of you who were asking, no, unfortunately, Yuri didn't get adopted this weekend. No one showed up to look at him. Bummer! He is a nice colt who would be a great addition to someone's family.

In better news, I did deliver Suni to his new home on Friday. Also, Lilly was adopted today! She was adopted by a wonderful couple for the young girl who helps them out on their farm. Congrats to all.

I think that mostly wraps it up...