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Follow me every step of my journey across America, 'wwoofing' on ranches and farms to explore what life is like for those who choose to live a little bit different than we do.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Shoveling Shi.....Manure

Hi Guys,


Today was a very long day for me! I was awoken very early by the stupid rooster. He crows all day long, and he starts at about 5 or 6am so I usually can't sleep once I hear him. So I got up, made breakfast with my roommates, and then we were outside by 7:30 or 8am. We started our day by catching a few horses that needed to be re-shod. That took a very long time because they didn't want to be caught. But we were able to catch them, and they got new shoes put on. Then we had to shovel a ton of horse poo out of the stalls. They hadn't been touched in weeks, so we had to clean all of them out. That took a very, very long time and it was extremely hot. Then I had to go with Bo, the ranch hand, out to the far pasture to drop off salt and mineral blocks for a few of the horses, and we had to take care of one of the donkeys. He was fly-bitten very badly all over his legs, so we had to spray him with a solution and spread vaseline on his legs to stop the fly's from biting. He felt better after we took care of him. Then Bo let us have a break, so we went down to the creek and stayed in the cold water for a bit to cool off. It felt amazing! Then we had to get back into our sweaty, hot jeans and boots and continue to clean out the horse stalls. After that, we groomed horses. Then I had to fill 16  buckets full of old horse manure and take them up to the house so that Jim could plant his vegetable plants in them. Then I had to take a few buckets full of manure down the road to his mother's house, so I could replant her vegetables. After that, Bo let us ride the horses in the arena. I chose to ride a beautiful Friesian draft horse. She was a very slow walker, but very smooth to ride. I worked her through the obstacle course a couple of times and she did very well. We practiced our turns a lot, and she got a lot better. I really like the draft horses because they are so big and captivating. It is amazing to me to see such a large animal that can move so calmly and gracefully. After that, we groomed the horses, put away our saddles (which weigh 70 pounds each!!!) and got to have the rest of the night off. So I put in an 11 hour day today, and it is supposed to get much hotter this week! But the French girls, myself and Joey are going to go to Nashville on Saturday night to go dancing, so I am very excited about that! I really hope we  can find a good line dancing  place with great music and a good atmosphere. I am just excited about seeing the Nashville nightlife! So far it has been very hot, very humid, but very fun. I am learning a lot about how to handle the horses and train them. The girls I live with are both very experienced riders, so they teach me a lot! We have a great time together, and Bo and Joey are very nice. I feel comfortable around them, and I am eager to learn a lot.

I am going to shower now, and I am dead tired. Goodnight all!!


Love and miss you,

Samantha

1 comment:

  1. Samantha! Have fun i Nashville! I just caught up on your BLOG and I am sooooo jealous! You have to do it all again one day with me ;)

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