Yesterday, Larry and I rode up to the therapeutic riding center to take BJ back. Abby was absolutely crazy in the truck, and we threatened to throw her in the "living quarters" of the trailer. To be honest with you, she'd probably have been in the best part of the entire truck and trailer. Larry bought a normal four-horse trailer with a decent gooseneck and storage area, and he basically turned it into a living quarters trailer. He has a fridge, a microwave, cabinets, cedar paneling and flooring, custom trunks, a lamp and nightlight, and a big comfy mattress (I speak from experience--all those naps and nights in the back of the trailer have been wonderful.) with lots of pillows and blankets. It's really amazing, and he did it all himself. I digress, as usual.
I got to see Nancy again and watch a few of the instructors and volunteers school the horses. Larry also schooled BJ, which was nice to watch. Abby was crazy out in the arena and barn because so many people were excited about petting her. It was fun, even though it was really cold out.
I also helped Larry with the barn after we got back from our little trip. We cleaned lots of stalls and fed the horses. We also learned just how retarded Stella is. Stella and Sydney live in a separate barn (They aren't bad, they just happen to be the two who live in the "extra" stalls which can convert to a foaling stall if we need that sort of thing.), and they both have double doors instead of sliding doors. I opened Stella's bottom door while the top door was closed and locked. I left it open so that I could bring a wheelbarrow up to the door and pick her stall. Stella noticed the opening, put her head down, and proceeded to try to walk under the door. She approached at a good Stella walk, bumped her withers on the top door, threw her head up, backed up, thrashed around, almost fell, and then regained her composure as if she were saying, "I knew that door was there. I was just testing it." I laughed at her a lot, even though I had been very scared that she was going to fall.
I went to the barn again tonight and had a pretty good time. I cleaned some more stalls, estimated Stella's weight with a height/weight tape (She's about 950 lbs.), and... Aggh. I fail epically at pushing wheelbarrows up the ramp and into the manure spreader. I've got the bruises to prove it. I had a fairly heavy wheelbarrow full of wet sawdust and manure, but I managed to push it all the way up the ramp. Then, the stupid old wheelbarrow started tipping over. I slipped a bit when I tried to keep it from toppling off the edge of the ramp, fell down the ramp onto my butt, and the wheelbarrow came down with me. I thought I was either going to get hit in the face with the wheelbarrow, which would have hurt, or have the whole thing flip on me, which would have been pretty gross. I survived, though, and Larry happened to miss the whole thing :)
That wasn't my first time falling down the ramp, either. That thing is dangerous...
After we finished up in the barn, we went inside. I had some hot chocolate while Larry and Jean drank coffee, and then we made some more horse cookies. Larry is hysterical in the kitchen, in case I haven't already said that.
I'll end this with two inspirational Larry quotes:
"There ain't no such thing as try!"
"There ain't no such thing as can't!"
That's what he always yells at me when he either tells me to do something and I say that I'll try or that I can't do it. There is nothing less than success at Larry's barn!
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