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Rain, ponies, and cats. Oh my
Sep. 8th, 2008 11:22 amSo this morning, we discovered that the much-touted roof repairs in my office building did absolutely nothing. As happened the last time there was really heavy rain, a number of the offices on this side of the building had roof leaks and were covered in wet, fallen ceiling tiles.
Just like last time, the carpet in my office is wet but at least the ceiling tiles are dry. I snagged an old box fan from the more secure room that I oversee and have it blowing away. Unfortunately, the fan had been sitting unused and gathering dust for years and you can smell it. It has that 'old electric motor' smell. Not really ozone, but an odd sort of smell that always reminds me of a 50's era stand mixer my mother had well up into the 1980s. That gets added to the wet, musty ceiling tile odor that's all up and down the hall.
In more enjoyable news, it was quiet at the barn yesterday. It seems most everyone thought there were going to be trail rides as usual, but Sandy decided that those won't resume until next weekend. Since Don's place is no longer available for the annual horse vacation, the school herd is still at the barn, they're just spending 90% of their time turned out in the pastures.
Mickey, the ancient pony, is still going strong. He actually doesn't like being turned out much nowadays, though. In the past, he was one of the top dogs in the herd. Now that age is getting to him, he gets pushed around a bit. Some of the older horses still respect him, but most of the herd is younger and weren't around when Mickey was one of the tough guys. He was turned out beside the barn when I got there yesterday. He wasn't in an official pasture, but in an area with some grass and the parking area for the tractor attachments and horse trailers. There's a chunk of grass there right next to the barn and the area is bordered by pasture fences and some gates. At first I thought maybe Bonnie was turned out there with him and went to see if she was on the far side behind the trailers. Turns out Mickey was alone. When I was in there with him, though, he followed me around like a puppy dog. It was kinda cute.
Another of the old timers, Wheatchex, has had some foot issues for a long time. The farrier was in last week and had some fancy (and very expensive) new shoes he'd gotten hold of and really wanted to see if they'd work well on a horse with her problems. He donated them to the barn just to find out. The change is amazing. Wheatchex was trotting and cantering around the pasture like a whole new horse. She's obviously a lot more comfortable and happy with the new shoes. I told Sandy she should see if she could get some kind of deal to get the shoes free or at a discount by letting the manufacturer use her as an example in their advertising.
The barn also now officially has a barn cat. I've been kind of not sure how I felt about having one ever since Sandy mentioned getting one long ago. On one hand, barn cats are cool and can help with the mouse population. On the other, the barn is in suburbia and there's traffic around it. There are also lots of visitors and lots of chances for somebody to claim a cat'd bitten them and stuff. Eh.
But as of last week we've got us a black cat named Luna. For now, she's living in the barn's office. She's on the smallish side, overall. Actually, she's not much bigger than my Katie was. She is, however, exceptionally well fed, meaning she's a pudgy girl. Soon she'll be allowed out into the barn to get her bearings. Assuming she learns to avoid hooves and such, we'll see if she starts making a dent in the resident rodents.
Just like last time, the carpet in my office is wet but at least the ceiling tiles are dry. I snagged an old box fan from the more secure room that I oversee and have it blowing away. Unfortunately, the fan had been sitting unused and gathering dust for years and you can smell it. It has that 'old electric motor' smell. Not really ozone, but an odd sort of smell that always reminds me of a 50's era stand mixer my mother had well up into the 1980s. That gets added to the wet, musty ceiling tile odor that's all up and down the hall.
In more enjoyable news, it was quiet at the barn yesterday. It seems most everyone thought there were going to be trail rides as usual, but Sandy decided that those won't resume until next weekend. Since Don's place is no longer available for the annual horse vacation, the school herd is still at the barn, they're just spending 90% of their time turned out in the pastures.
Mickey, the ancient pony, is still going strong. He actually doesn't like being turned out much nowadays, though. In the past, he was one of the top dogs in the herd. Now that age is getting to him, he gets pushed around a bit. Some of the older horses still respect him, but most of the herd is younger and weren't around when Mickey was one of the tough guys. He was turned out beside the barn when I got there yesterday. He wasn't in an official pasture, but in an area with some grass and the parking area for the tractor attachments and horse trailers. There's a chunk of grass there right next to the barn and the area is bordered by pasture fences and some gates. At first I thought maybe Bonnie was turned out there with him and went to see if she was on the far side behind the trailers. Turns out Mickey was alone. When I was in there with him, though, he followed me around like a puppy dog. It was kinda cute.
Another of the old timers, Wheatchex, has had some foot issues for a long time. The farrier was in last week and had some fancy (and very expensive) new shoes he'd gotten hold of and really wanted to see if they'd work well on a horse with her problems. He donated them to the barn just to find out. The change is amazing. Wheatchex was trotting and cantering around the pasture like a whole new horse. She's obviously a lot more comfortable and happy with the new shoes. I told Sandy she should see if she could get some kind of deal to get the shoes free or at a discount by letting the manufacturer use her as an example in their advertising.
The barn also now officially has a barn cat. I've been kind of not sure how I felt about having one ever since Sandy mentioned getting one long ago. On one hand, barn cats are cool and can help with the mouse population. On the other, the barn is in suburbia and there's traffic around it. There are also lots of visitors and lots of chances for somebody to claim a cat'd bitten them and stuff. Eh.
But as of last week we've got us a black cat named Luna. For now, she's living in the barn's office. She's on the smallish side, overall. Actually, she's not much bigger than my Katie was. She is, however, exceptionally well fed, meaning she's a pudgy girl. Soon she'll be allowed out into the barn to get her bearings. Assuming she learns to avoid hooves and such, we'll see if she starts making a dent in the resident rodents.