Moved!!! In which I write about something the same day it happens!

This will be a picture heavy post... one because I am wiped out and too tired to write a full report, but also because I took a million photos!

The day started early, with everyone meeting at the old barn to make a plan for the day. We still had a little clean up to do at the old place and we had 7 horses to move to two different properties.

heading out

We started off by moving the boys to the new farm, they were expecting us between 9-9:30 so we aimed to load up around 8:30. As usual, loading the guys up was completely uneventful (have I mentioned how grateful I am for the zero-drama horse hauling) -- they seemed to know something was up because they were both moving around a lot and were quite sweaty by the time we arrived at the new barn. It was only about a 15 minute ride, but they seemed to get themselves a more worked up than usual. When we arrived to the new barn (keep in mind I hadn't seen the place at this point) the atmosphere was bustling. Like I mentioned before, this farm is home to an animal rescue so I knew there would be more activity on the weekend than during the week, and I had mentally prepared myself for volunteers, kids, and lots of foot traffic (of the 4-legged kind and otherwise). It was a bit of a zoo (literally) when we pulled in and we were directed to the back of the property by the grass jump field...


To get to the jump field, you have to pass the barn and detached stables (which are on the right) and then the farm animals that are in a little sanctuary area that fenced off (pigs, goats, guinea hens, turkeys, swans, and a lamb hang out in here). We parked the trailer near the manure pile and unloaded them to let the boys look around for a few minutes before we turned them out. They had removed all but one of the geldings from their field to make things a little less stressful all around. Both horses came off the trailer like sticks of dynamite snorting, bug-eyed and completely overwhelmed! The grass jump ring is also flanked on two side by dog kennels and the dogs were all on high alert with the new arrivals! I have never seen Riley so lit up since I've owned him. Luckily, once he got to look around, he quickly dove into some grass for comfort. Once they had a little time to settle, we decided it was time to let them meet their new herd and Riley bravely led the way past the scary cat house and a giant pile of old shrubs (very scary indeed). They both took off meeting their first new friend (an older Tennessee Walking Horse) and proceeded to gallop around for awhile in unison. *I should mention here that Riley looked remarkably sound throughout all of this! They carefully let back in two older older geldings one by oneand after a little bit of trotting around and checking everything out they settled and started grazing like they had been there forever. Phew. I hung around while E went back to grab the mares so I spent my time walking around the property to get a feel of where everything is. Some highlights:

View of the barn from the ring

Ring with nice footing and lights (there are no time restrictions on when we can ride)

Some of the farm animals

Happy goat friend

Sheep! There are two pot-bellied pigs too.

Back/front of the barn, the tractor is parked where some cross ties are and a hot/cold wash stall

I was told there was a xc course all over the property so I walked around a little (and probably only saw half of what was there). Basically they put up varying xc jumps in all of the aisles between paddocks and around the perimeter of the property. The footing looks well maintained and they seem to vary in height and difficulty from field to field.

Baby xc jumps (there were about 8 in a row on this aisle)

Fun real ditch/trakehner option (with the option to alter the height)

Getting a little bit bigger (the cross rail looking thing is actually two telephone poles)

Uphill to more jumps (I didn't get to see those), nice post and rail oxer

Ummm, upon further inspection of this oxer... EMUS!!!!!

Jumps around Riley's field, mostly log-type stuff

Even more jumps (on the other side of the Riley's field) -- there were more like this including a hanging black pipe jump!

There were so many others and I'll have to take a full tour (on horseback) to see them all! I saw a couple of hunt-type jumps and a nice looking coop too! The best part is that they're all on undulating terrain and there's enough room around them to do trot/canter sets too.

The girls arrived a little while later and the atmosphere had settled down a bit. Again, they moved all the mares but one from their field and we tossed the girls out. They both took off with tails flagged, showing off for the retired old mare they met. The property owners stood with jaws dropped and immediately asked if they were for sale! Ha! As they turned out the rest of the herd (I think there are 9 total) there was some squealing and romping around, but nothing too bad. Oh, and the mares are turned out with the emus! If there's one thing this place will be good for it's desensitizing!

By the time I left, Riley and Henry were quite settled and I was able to walk out to say hello and put Riley's fly mask on. They even managed to set a precedent among the herd and got use out of the shed by the end of the afternoon.

I was shown where our tack spots would be (they gave us huge rubbermaid lockers) and let us get unpacked and settled in. Our tack is right next to a room called The Puppy Palace... um, it's a climate controlled room for the mommas and their litters while they're not old enough to go outside. There were three litters and their mommas and a couple of weaned youngsters. Outside there were a few other litters too! Too many puppies!

Resident guard dog (ha!)

Puppies!

 A few parting shots before I left for the day.

Riley's new herd mates

Henry and Riley trying to figure out a way to get inside the shed

So my plan is to let him settle in tonight and tomorrow and Monday I'll go out and ride! I'm super excited. I'm hoping if he's quiet enough I'll do a little work in the ring (which means walking by ALLTHESCARYTHINGS) and then take him out for a hack around the whole property. Stay tuned!