Life When Lindsay Leaves..........
There's been a lot going on on this Arabian horse breeding farm this week. Delilah returning home is not the only thing important happening. My daughter, Lindsay, is on vacation. Gone to her annual NorWesCon convention.
Someone was lined up to clean stalls during the time that Lindsay was gone. I was ok with this arrangement as long as Dave would be here to monitor things. Then Dave got called for a job interview. Since I was off working horses, the kids cleaning the stalls were on their own.
By the time I returned with my first trailer load of horses, the stalls cleaners were gone. A brief inspection of the barns confirmed my initial thoughts. This wasn't going to work without someone here to keep track of things. Some of the stalls looked great, some were so so, and others were just plain bad. Not only that but none of the horses had been watered nor where the aisles swept., all of which was part of what these kids were hired to do.
When confronted about this the response was they had some place to be. There's not anything that makes my blood boil faster than someone not taking responsibility for their actions. I probably could have dealt with things if they had stepped up and agreed to make it right, but shrugging it off like there was nothing else they could do just wasn't cutting it for me. By the end of the day, the original crew was fired.
There was no way I could leave horses standing in such filthy stalls. I went home, after working three loads of horses, and cleaned some of the stalls. I also showed around the next kid wanting to make a few bucks cleaning our stalls.
It was 9:30 pm before I got into the house for dinner. Dave was gone on his night out playing Texas Hold em and I waited up hoping not to have to crate Delilah. I gave up around midnight and put Delilah in a crate. She howled most of the night until Dave arrived home sometime around 4:30 AM. His car had broken down on the way home and he hadn't called not wanting to wake me........what a laugh that was. I hadn't been to sleep yet.
The following day was smoother but still rocky. The new stall cleaner did a nice job but had some problems with the horses. At least Dave was there to show him how to deal with them. It was interesting the horses that were problems because they weren't the ones one might think. All we can figure is he was unsure and the horses were equally unsure and the two feed off each other leaving both feeling insecure. It didn't take much to get things worked out but the fact it happened just added to the stress.
To be continued......................
This picture is Lindsay with Delilah at 5 weeks old......and yes, she's grown a bunch since then. It's hard to believe she's was once that little.
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Some of my horses cause problems as well. If they see one little ounce or split second of hesitation in someone, they take advantage and misbehave. Not that they're bad horses or anything, they're just too dang smart and now when they can push things lol. The minute someone comes along that doesn't take it, they're just fine. Hopefully, your new stall cleaner will do much better tomorrow having been shown the ropes today.
ReplyDeleteGood workers can be hard to find, but the ones that are willing to learn are worth the hassle of finding them. :)
I can sympathize with you. It's really hard to find good responsible people to work in the barns and do things the right way. Other that my daughter and myself, I have found only two people over the years who can do it right and who actually 'get it'. Hope Lindsay comes home soon.
ReplyDeleteIs that a UU Con? If so Lea is going next weekend.
ReplyDeleteDarling is looking for a stall cleaning job. She knows to water and sweep up. Stalls would fall in the okay to good range. All you need to do is transport her so she can do the job :)
ReplyDeleteHi MiKael, I have just caught up on the past eight or so days that I have missed ... visit my blog for the first instalment!! ... Lots happening in your world for sure, I am glad the mares are home and Delilah and that she is behaving better. I think I have finally given up n ever getting someone who actually does a good job at cleaning stalls and doesnt take all day to do one. Stan has been out of work and when I asked him if he knew anyone who would take what we paid to clean stalls he stepped right up, saying I'm not earning anything sitting on my butt at home, that was better than nothing at all. I just hated paying him a lower wage, he is worth a lot more.
ReplyDeleteHave enjoyed catching up, hope we can talk soon, I have made some decisions that are not going to be met well with L but I am going to carry them out and live with the consequences because I think I will be better off overall at the end of the day. ((((Hugs))))
Lori
Yes, it is so hard to find responsible people to work in your barn. I am so lucky to have two neices in their 20's that work for me and they are sooooooooo good. I don't know what I would do without them especially when we have to be away on business.
ReplyDeleteHope you have a wonderful Easter Mikael!
Funny, those outside of the horse industry wouldn't think simply cleaning stalls would be an issue. Yet, it is, when common sense such as watering is not done.
ReplyDeleteHope things go better the rest of the week.
I dont know if Holly offered you the advice for crating the puppy of covering it, but that will definately help. My Ozzie (Affectionately known as Spotty Bastard) took about 2 weeks of consistency to crate train. Making the crate smaller and super cozy, as well as covering it made a HUGE difference. Remember a tired puppy is a good puppy!!!!!
ReplyDeleteLet me know if I can help as well.