Yes, a new barn!

Yes, the rumors are true...I have moved the horses again!

And the horses are now just 10 minutes from my home! I love going to the barn in the mornings again (although Nikki, who came with me, does feed during the week in the morning...she is 5 minutes away!). Now that summer is here (what the hell happened to spring? 98 degrees and it is only April...oh, fall, please hurry here!), I love having the option to ride in the mornings again before it gets too hot.

So besides the distance, why did I move? Well, for one thing, I didn't appreciate finding people smoking in my barn. It is a cardinal sin in my book. Do I need to explain anymore? Enough said!

The barn is adorable...small, but charming with potential! Potential, as in yes, the owner is talking about selling in the near future and it is in our price range. Peter likes it, it is close to town and doesn't need much to meet our needs.

The property is small..smaller than I would like, at just about 2 and a half acres. But it is set up so all land is usable. Most is high and dry. I don't plan on having more than 3 horses on it, even if we do buy it, so it is simply a doable setup.

The barn, as I said, is small! Originally built to accomodate ponies, the concrete barn has a low roof. One stall is small. The aisleway is narrow. We had to build a washrack/grooming area outside of the entrance. But if we should purchase it down the road, it has the capability to be added onto.

The best thing, it is peaceful! Imp, who had stopped eating her grain for 6 weeks at the last 2 barns (did I mention there was a brief boarding barn after the barn in Apopka? We didn't stay....bears and bugs kept the horses on edge the whole time), has now resumed eating. At the last barn, the horses lost it if one of them was out of their sight...that was very unusual behavior for them. Nobody at this barn seems the least concerned if one steps out of sight for a ride. We have no bears here and the bugs (at least the biting bugs that left Nikki covered in welts) are at a minimum. The barn is heavily wooded on one side and heavy brush surrounds most of the other sides, making it pretty private. The barn is on a dead-end road. Only one end of the property has neighbors that back up to us. We decided that Imp prefers a peaceful setting with not a whole lot of horse activity. All I know is, she is happy again, something that she hasn't been in a while.

We have 2 pastures. There is a pond with ducks, herons, turtles and egrets. To enter the property, one has to walk past sweet smelling jasmine lining the front fence. I love taking deep breaths as I walk past them.

Did I mention that the barn is 10 minutes from home? Yesterday I forgot my cell phone. I knew my farrier would be calling me, so I simply returned home and retrieved it. No big deal! Peter, who is used to it taking me a good 45 minutes to get home from the other barns, is slowly getting used to seeing me just a few minutes after I give him my heads up phone call to get dinner started (yes, he cooks dinner!). Possible chance of rain? No problem...simply leave the horses out in the pasture with the barn, and if it rains, I can run out and bring them in...no more leaving them inside because it might rain, only for it not to rain.

I feel like my life is finally getting back to normal after a rough year with lots of changes. I set up a riding lesson for my birthday in 2 weeks! While it is to hot to go to a horse trial until fall, I hope to go cross country schooling soon. My eventing plans did not materialize as I had hoped this past spring, but there is always the fall. I feel pretty confident that it will happen too. The horses are happy. Hobbs, the barn cat, is happy. Everybody is happy and life is good!!