New home

[Fi]

wow Debbie!! the place is amazing! So much space! Congratulations on your move, and good luck getting everything set up. It must be such a relief to be away from the hurrucanes, I'm sure you and Eldon and the critters will be very happy there.

[dollylanedales]

Congratulations, Debbie on your move!! Your house looks amazing - lovely setting. But what a long way to take everything - the horses especially. Thank you for showing us round your new home.

Wishing you all the best in your new house, and hope you get your mushroom growing up and running very soon

[zeldalithgow]

Oh Debbie that's fantastic,what beautiful countryside it looks very like Argyll,I'm so pleased for you. How long did it take to travel the horses there, did you transport them yourself.

[harveydales]

Wow Debbie, it looks amazing! What a fantastic place - I'm thrilled for you and Eldon and wish you many happy years there.

That's quite a distance to move. LIke Zelda I'm curious as to how long the journey took and did you tranpsrt the ponies yourself?

28 acres - that's a lot! WHat plans do you have for the land?

[maggie]

Many congratulations to you both, what a lovely new home in a stunning setting. Hope you will all be very happy there.

[cassey1988]

I think I know what she saw, and my guess is the stove! :-D
This is turning into a mystery novel, isn't it? LOL

Well, I suppose seeing fish tanks that aren't there is better than seeing dead people :-P

[charliedales]

Congratulations Debbie!! Wow, love your new house, so lovely, hope you're all really happy there

[Debbie]

I agree, that's almost got to be the wood pellet burning stove in the sunroom. I've heard about them, seen them in stores, but this will be a first time for us having one. It's a pretty spiffy little unit that keeps that room warm.

We purchased a 2 horse slant load bumper pull trailer for the ponies over winter. It's nice, solid, built of steel and already had rubber mats installed for the flooring and walls. The lady I bought it from had towed it home from the dealership and had only taken her horse Sam five miles down the road to the vet and back, so the trailer was like brand new when we got it.

Before we headed out, we took the truck and trailer up to a place that specializes in trailers and towing and had them go completely over both truck and trailer for us, and we'd already checked with our dealership that the truck was capable of towing them safely. We had a brake controller installed and away we went.

I bedded them down with three bales of shavings. It was too much, but I wanted them heavily padded for the journey. I did give them tail guards but left their legs unbandaged since neither of mine are used to it and the day we left was 90*. That's too hot, they would have been terribly uncomfortable.

Oogway and Mister got bedded down in the cab of the trailer. I placed styrofoam boards down atop the rubber mats (just for extra precaution against road heat) Mister was in the big carrier in the back next to my saddle, and then Oogway went into a littler carrier towards the front. Eldon towed the whole way. I tried to volunteer, but he wouldn't let me. We did encounter deer three times, and he's right, his experience really showed. He was able to skillfully dodge the deer, but also angled the trailer and slowed down well enough that the ponies weren't thrown about either.

We stopped to rest them as we refueled, but we decided against offloading and staying a night anywhere. The ponies were much happier onboard and didn't appreciate when we had to stop even for gas. Blossom especially would stamp her feet if we slowed for traffic lights or had to stop fully. Unfortunately I forgot completely about her locking stifles since she hasn't had an episode in so long. Her left hind locked out on her when we reached the end of Wyoming I think it was. Within a minute of offloading and being in a stall, she'd done her little turn around and put it back herself.

I gave the ponies both arnica and ruta tablets for the journey. All of us were tired when we arrived, but I think we made the right choice. We did stop to give Eldon a couple of hours to sleep and I didn't sleep, neither did the ponies. They didn't want off...they wanted to be going ~ NOW!!!

Little Oogway and Mister rode wonderfully in the front. I didn't offer water the first night, just let everyone doze as we went. I offered water to the ponies in the morning but they weren't keen other than swishing their mouths out. We brought along bottled water for them, that worked out really well. Mister had to learn to drink from a water bottle. I'm sure he knew how to, he just didn't want to. He was furious with me for not opening the carrier. He wanted out! Oogway is a pro drinking from the water bottle and he drank the most of anyone on the trip. We also brought along grapes for him to eat. I would have offered Mister, but I couldn't remember if grapes were safe for cats? I decided better safe than sorry.

Long about Wyoming both ponies took a really deep solid drink but that was pretty much it. I kept offering the water during daylight hours, but they weren't interested. Mostly they wanted reassured and were impatient to go.

I'd have to check with Eldon but I think we did the whole journey in 44 or 42 hours. I'd actually stayed awake for 44 hours before I dozed a little when we reached the eastern Oregon border. I'd gotten up at 7am that Tuesday morning to pack, packed all day long, loaded the horses in the evening at 7:30pm I think it was and we rolled out and was underway by 8pm. We reached the beach Thursday morning at 7:00 am. I kept expecting to crash out, but it must've been too much adrenaline because I didn't fall asleep until much later in the day.

[jay]

Oh wow Debbie, your new place looks great! I hope you get settled in soon.

[harveydales]

OMG Debbie, what an adventure. You both must have a lot of stamina. I'm not sure I could have stayed awake that long. Getting the ponies to keep hyudrated must have been a huge worry. So glad you all arrived at your new home safe and sound.

[zeldalithgow]

WOW you're tougher than I am Debbie, I was stressed when we towed for a couple of hours lol. that's an amazing journey

[jap]

really pleased for you, I thought moving 2 hours away was stressful enough ,I don't think I could get my head round 42 hours

[Debbie]

I did the best I could by reading a book by Cherry Hill about trailering horses, had long chats with my vets and others who have hauled horses long distances. The commercial carriers will do a layover overnight at fairgrounds and the like, but we found Blossom and Dundee were so agitated to simply be at their new home, I don't think they would have appreciated being taken off, even for a few hours.

At first they were very impatient, doing the "Are we there yet?" expressions. Finally 1/3 the way across Nebraska, I explained where we were, and just how far they had to go. Blossom's face fell a bit, and Dundee looked plain shocked, but at least they quit being impatient

I was soooo panicky about them staying hydrated, but they also didn't eat nearly as much as I expected. Blossom inhaled an entire hay bag meant to last a day within the first few hours of the journey, but even she decided eating wasn't so fun. Dundee didn't eat and then must've gotten hungry because within a few hours, he did the same. I kept doing pinch tests, especially through Wyoming which is a high desert state, but both remained well hydrated. I was relieved when they both showed an interest in the water. Beyond the big drink, though they only swished the water from their mouths.

We could see them easily in the mirrors and when we had to go through tunnels, I was able to slide open the rear window for our pickup truck and talk to them as we went through. They settled right down.

[Debbie]

*tosses confetti... it's official! We just signed the papers for the farm

We also get as part of the farm....drumroll.... 7 more horses So all those childhood blowing out candles for my birthday cakes and ferverent wishes to Santa have landed me a windfall

I've kept quiet about the horse trekking and herd because we weren't at all sure if we'll keep them or not. We'll let the trekking business run this summer and see how we feel about having that responsibility. Our income has always been the mushrooms, and I have lead horse rides in the past, so I guess I'll see where that leads.

I'll try to get pics of the herd tomorrow... if I can get my new fangled camera to behave. And Blossom and Dundee aren't a part of the herd. I've kept them in a pasture as far away as possible. It's not that the herd is bad or anything, it's just that they're a working string and I don't want my two harmed either.

[dusty]

Debbie I am so coming to move in with you. Your new place looks absoluetly amazing.
*cough* Room for more dales ponies in that field.