Feast or Famine

In good news Ed and I were able to get hay in on the weekend. Saturday Mrs. Hay Guy asked if we could take 200 bales.  Of course I said yes. This is essentially two loads with our truck and trailer. The down side? We couldn't get it until around 5:00. The second downside? After so much cold weather we actually had a heat warning.  The thermostat read 37 at one point (or 98 Fahrenheit). Given that it was 10 degrees last weekend (or 50 Fahrenheit), no one was ready for this level of change.

I rode really early and we were both still sweaty at the end.  Carmen was nice and forward and we played with some trot poles.

so many options with this configuration

My goal was soft transitions and suppleness. We had a few discussions that she didn't get to counter flex by the trees when we were working. I am being quite insistent on her attention and listening. We finished by working on the stretchy trot. If I have her honest in the bridle and going to the bit then she will stretch down and carry herself. If I don't have that then it all goes to pot.

In some ways it was nice to go to get the hay later in the day when it was starting to cool off a bit. The field was by a lake so there was a nice breeze. When we got there there was another truck and people there so we drove down to the far end away from them and started to load. The bales were all stacked in groups of three or four and I honestly didn't think anything of it. About 10 minutes in to loading the trailer and a man came down to us and said 'now I don't mean to be a bad neighbour'.
'uh oh' I thought. When someone starts like that nothing good is going to come next. I had noticed them all looking at us when we drove in but dismissed myself as being a bit paranoid.

It turned out that he had some people with him who he was paying to pile up the hay bales to be picked up. We apologised and said we hadn't realized. He went on about us not taking the bales. I looked down the field and said 'okay, but you have them all piled and some of this hay is for us as well so you can't claim all of it. I'm not going to wait for you to get your portion and pick up what's left'. 

He stalked off and then drove his truck down where we were. In the end, Ed and I basically followed the baler picking up the hay. When we were loaded we left and stacked it in the barn.

I was worried that the quality be less because it's so late but it's great.
I am so relieved.

We debated going back, wondering if there would be any hay left. Ed called and left a message asking if we were wrong about how much we were supposed to get but didn't get a call back. In the end we drove back and saw that there were some bales left (not 100 though). We decided to take them and then call our hay guy and tell him how many we got. As we were stacking our hay guy drove in. We explained what had happened and he said to not worry about it. He also said that there was a small field across the road that we could take. We took some of it then and left the rest for the next day. We left all of that load on the truck and trailer and decided to devour eat supper instead. We let our hay guy know how much we had taken. He shared that the other guy had come to him bitching (well that's my word) that we took his hay. Mr. Hay Guy said that we wouldn't have done it if we'd know because we're not like that. Also, that this guy was wrong to pile all of it like that and expect us to wait for him. So I'm glad we told him what happened.

The next morning I had to drive to the airport to do my Nexus interview (scheduled because I was sure that I would have hay by then!).  When I got back we went and got the last of the hay. By then it was stinking hot again. I wanted to ride so I tacked Carmen up and we just schooled the walk. There's a lot you can do at just the walk and it was a good session.

I was looking forward to sunday and having a day of 'rest'. Which I filled with riding in the morning, ring maintenance, barn chores and tack cleaning. But it was a great day anyway. Carmen was less inclined to argue during our ride and settled in to the work.

sunshine, beer, tunes and tack cleaning. What could be better?

While I was cleaning the tack the neighbours walked their steer down the road. I wanted to see if Irish was any better. He was. For him:

Irish: OH MY GOD. They are coming. Wait, where'd they go? 
Carmen: They went into the woods. It's good now. Maybe I should roll.....
Irish: Get behind me! I'll protect you! 
Carmen: *chomp*sure thing. 
Irish: I'm watching!
Carmen: *chomp* yes *chomp* I have never *chomp* felt more *chomp chomp* safe. 
Irish: are you paying attention? We may need to flee at any moment. 
Carmen: of course *chomp* you stay right there *chomp, chomp chomp*

So after a total lack of sun, hay and riding, I managed to get a surplus of those things this weekend. I am dirty, tired, sweaty and you probably shouldn't be downwind of me.

And  I am very happy. 

Quietly Panicking

You all have, by now, seen my whiny posts about the weather.

Canada day was cold, wet and windy. 

It's been a horrible spring/summer with lots of cold weather and rain. Not only does that make it difficult to school, it's making it really hard for farmers to get the hay in.

I am literally down to four bales of hay.

As a horse person that is basically a cause for a nervous breakdown.

I am fortunate that my pastures are lush but I don't leave them out 24/7. And to be honest, I don't want to. I don't trust that they won't get spooked by coyotes (which are quite large here).  My fields are also not large enough to leave them out that much. I would end up with no grass, just a field of weeds by September. I use my paddocks as part of the feeding program and manage them carefully.

That said I am leaving them out as late as possible. Which, if you have horses that are used to a schedule is causing some consternation.

um, excuse me? My reservation was for 5:00 and it is now past 6:00

The feed they are on is essentially hay + vitamins (fibre nuggets) and can be fed as a hay replacer. So I've upped that too. But that is not a good fix, especially when you have an ulcer prone horse that you want to keep a slow trickle of food into the gut, not all at once. I semi-joked to my husband that I needed something that would drop a few nuggets every hour to keep her going.....

I have been putting them up into the riding ring after supper which has the dual purpose of them eating the grass that is trying to encroach and feeding them at the same time. This morning I plotted out where I can put some temporary fencing. I can't go anywhere with Carmen because I don't have the hay to take with me.

finally, some ring work Carmen can get behind....

This means that I only need to give them some hay overnight. But I look at my dwindling supply of hay and feel anxiety starting to rise. Normally I would have at least 2 loads of hay by now.

truth

The problem is that there hasn't been enough of a stretch of dry weather to cut,dry and bale the hay. At this point if you deny climate change I'm just going to call you stupid, k? I'm done trying to convince anyone that their google search does not actually make them more qualified then scientists who study this issue. 

I called my hay guy this morning and his wife called me right back. She said that he hasn't even been able to get onto some fields with the tractor because they are too wet. That said, she informed me that he was planning to cut a field tomorrow that he normally reserves for his animals and giving some to his customers to tide them over until he can cut the rest. 

This is making me feel a bit better but now I'm watching the forecast obsessively and it might not be safe to mention the words 'rain', 'cloud', 'rainfall warning' to me in the near future. Please keep your fingers crossed. 

Because I am out of options.