The weather, while windy cold, has been mostly beautiful with clear, crisp looking skies. This makes for a not so pleasant wind chill but the sun is a welcome factor to make working outside a pleasure with the proper layers! The routine at the stable is almost a perfect machine. When the horses are out, the stable is cleaned and everything prepped for dinner. If you’re like me, you just love the look of a freshly cleaned, watered and swept stable. I snapped a shot to admire the view! I am just SOOOO happy with this stable from J&N Structures. Those guys really do craft a fabulous product! Ex is talking about a garage or area he can park the car and change his oil and I’m going to highly suggest the J&N Structures garage. It would be a perfect match to the stable and setup in an hour or so!!!



Ex is finishing up a sawhorse for me to help make set and tear down for training easier. While it’s not as fancy as the molded, tongue and groove (likely teak wood) sawhorses that holds Anky’s saddle pads and saddles in between tackings, it’s functional and it’s a perfect fit for the stable since it’s custom measurements for the stable and for me! Thanks again Ex! Here’s Ex and Zita finishing it up.



As soon as it was ready I was eager to start staining it to match the stable.

The wash station continued yesterday with finishing off the corner posts. Next the side cross braces will be put in then the concrete will be added to the existing circle concrete pad/drain. At that point all it will need is the cross ties and a horse! Looks great! It’ll be quite functional and I really like the idea of having it away from the main barn as when it has a roof over it, it will make a nice private station for the farrier and vet! Thanks Ex!

Do note the horses in the background. They both kept looking on as if there was something special related to feed going on over there! Haha!

Ex started this project while I was over training with Anky. He prepped a 12×12 frame around an existing round slab of concrete with a drain and the plan to add a bit more to the concrete pad and the back posts as a cross tie area. It’s evolved a bit more and he came up with the neat idea of lining the sides with brick so we save the amount of additional concrete we’ll need to add. I suggested moving the 6 mats to take up a 8 foot by 12 area thus saving us two mats. You’ll get the general idea with this picture. I like the red bricks matching the red roof on the stable with the black mats matching as well. It should be quite nice when phase 1 is complete! Phase 2 is building a three sided shelter around it so the farrier and vet have a station apart from the stable that’s covered, flat, and dry to work in!

I forgot to post this cute picture of Ex and I at his battalion Christmas party. The 3/9 family readiness folks did a GREAT job of throwing a fun Christmas party for the guys and their families! They held the event (for nearly 1300!!!) in the field house and did a fabulous job of turning the gym like facility into a Christmas festival! I meant to take pictures of all the decorations and other people but in the midst of just visiting and enjoying the time there I completely forgot. At the last minute we did take a picture in Santa’s corner where Santa himself spent a great deal of time taking little kiddies on his lap to hear their Christmas wishes!



Now onto the New Year and training, training and more fun HorseGirlTV shoots!

A currently an un-named 2005 Sir Donnerhall gelding out of a Bolero mare is ready to start rocking and rolling in the sandbox here at my stable! He a super cutie-pie and a total in your pocket kinda guy who just arrived from The Netherlands. I’m looking forward to getting to know him!

Ex suggested we name him Salvation since he arrived around Christmas time and perhaps I could refer to him as Sali for short?

It’s the little things they say that make all the difference. I daily admire the craftsmanship of J&N Structures as I walk out to in the brisk mornings to feed but it was cheese and coffee that made my day this time! It was a normal morning of walking out at 7 to feed and muck stalls but during my mid morning preps the USPS country vehicle pulled up to the gate and honked bringing what I thought was my moms homemade nut cake surprise. Instead a box from J&N Structures and I was baffled. I thought perhaps they were sending some additional hinges or something I’d forgotten we talked about from last March BUT I opened the box to find shredded red and white confetti covering a bounty of ALL NATURAL cheeses!!! They all said “Made in Lancaster County” so it’s my guess they were made in truly all natural Amish processes and that is what made my day! In the light of all our recent talking of how we can work to make our little farm self sustained using wind and solar power, getting hens that will actually lay, perhaps an annual pig or goat (or perhaps a buffalo?) and really getting to this “off the grid” that is growing in popular talks with our mainstream society, it’s the original “off the grid” folks that remind me on Christmas eve the importance of simple, self sustained, all natural living.

Now this is not to negate any of our other amazing sponsors in any way. It was just so neat to receive cheese from Jake and the folks at J&N!

Here’s a couple pictures of the bounty!





If you have a second, check out their webisode online at https://blog.horsegirltv.com/?p=484 and if you’re in need of a barn (shredrow or even complete alley barn!!), a chicken coop, or an amazingly crafted garage or shop check them out online at http://www.jandnstructures.com/!

Happy Christmas and Winter Solstice (or whatever holiday you might celebrate this time of year)!