Friday, February 7, 2014

Comtemplative Stall Cleaning

Ha, How's that for a title?

With all the weather we have been having, stall cleaning is one thing that can still happen. We are lucky to have the facilities to allow the horses to stay out as much as possible, but there are times they need a break. I decided to have M and K bring them in since the forecast showed freezing rain. They all were just fine getting off of the bog like fields and slippery mud.
I know some people dread cleaning stalls, but I am weird in that I like the activity. Maybe because cleaning stalls paid for my shows and lessons when I was younger, I can feel positively toward them. I use the time to do a lot of thinking. Sometimes random. Other times specific.
Example of random would be how bad the Appie's owner's hair looks. I feel bad because she donated it to Locks of Love and ended up with the WORST cut for her face ever.
Example of specific would be actually thinking about writing this post as I was cleaning stalls.
Cleaning a stall is one of those activities you can let you mind wander. I figure it is time saving, multi tasking. Cleaning and planning :) The five stalls take me about an hour to clean, giving me an hour contemplation.
This round of cleaning brought up the topic of exercise for me. My brother is big into P90X3 and is even a coach. He has been pushing another program at me for a little while. I told him since I had to pay for car repairs, I could not pay for this program. He said he would pay part of it and crazy me said OKAY. My biggest hope is that he will get something out of me signing up. Next would be that maybe this will motivate me to do the exercise. I really don't like to exercise, but I can't deny the positive effects on my riding. I just need to get in practice and then it won't be so bad. I do need to be able to keep up with Roscoe. We shall see in two weeks.
Other thoughts were, "I can't believe anyone would leave dirty stalls for days, even if the horses were not in them." The QH lady said it was too cold to clean, after leaving her horses in for 3 days, eek. That barn stunk like crazy. Thankfully a different one from ours.
"Hmm, is that a scratchy feeling in my throat?" Turns out that yes it was. I am sick for the 3rd time in 4 months. Just colds, but they keep bouncing between my parents and me. Though this time seems to have hit my sister too.  So over feeling sick.
Mental checklist of things to get done before going to work: Hay tossed outside, check water, drop hay for tomorrow, prepare Rosemary's Med ball and on and on...
Most of the time, my thoughts are interrupted by ponies wanting attention. They come over and start doing tricks or checking my pockets. So I just have to stop and give scratches. Like I could resist those big brown eyes.

Anybody else find stall cleaning enjoyable? I will say that some stalls are a pain to clean, but all of my horses are easy which helps.

We have more weather heading our way this weekend and that means no hope of fields drying out anytime soon. Ah well the days are getting longer, so there is hope for future rides.

1 comment:

  1. I used to clean 20 stalls once a week. I really enjoyed it for the most part, except for when the barn owner left all of them in. . .then I always felt bad and took them out a couple at a time to run around in the arena.
    I know clean 5 stalls a couple times a week, which I like too. It's easy work, keeps me warm now, and I get to drive the 4 wheeler to dump poop out back.

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