We had several people come out to our work day on Sunday, and with their help we were able to get a LOT done!
First, we put in two yards of gravel and sand underneath Quixote and Lou Dillon’s stalls to help level them out and raise them a little. There is an underground spring that will sometimes bubble up after the rain, and while they are on stall mats with shavings, the stalls have gotten a little cattywampus, and our hope too was that we could raise the stalls just above the water table so they didn’t flood. We had to clean the stall, pull out all of the mats (the smell! Ugh!), level the stall, then add the material, level it again, tamp it all down, put the mats back down, and then put the shavings back down on top. It was so much work, but everyone worked so hard that it was done relatively quickly, and looks great! Quixote and Lou Dillon spent the time in the arena running around and playing while all of the humans were doing this backbreaking work, but we think they appreciated it!
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- After leveling the stalls we put in some rocks to raise the stall and create a solid foundation.
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- Then we put some sand in on top of the rocks and leveled it, then tamped it all down.
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- We had to drag the mats back in after we had tamped it all down.
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- Trying to remember how the mats were supposed to go was also a chore!
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- We finally figured it out, and brought them all back in!
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- Quixote says, “Thank you for making my stall look so nice!”
Secondly, we cleaned out some of the excess dirt and mud that was in Jesse’s stall so he would be able to walk around more easily. We put this mud into the huge gap in the driveway that had washed out during the rains, and also put in the gap some rocks that had been dug up when a water line was put in. The driveway was becoming almost impassable for a time, but we spent a long time getting it fixed up, so it is now useable again! We’re just crossing our fingers that the rain doesn’t destroy it again- but the rocks and packed dirt should help keep the area more secure.
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- Digging out the excess mud.
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- We filled in the gaps in the driveway where the rain had rutted it all out with rocks and dirt.
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- The driveway is ready for the *next* rainstorm!
Thirdly, and finally, we did some basic brush cleanup by cutting back some of the pepper trees that had been encroaching on our neighbor’s driveway. This way when cars and trucks pass by they don’t have to worry about the branches hitting their cars.
It was a LOT of work but everyone did a wonderful job, and worked so very, very hard. A great many thanks to all of our work day volunteers for spending their day out at the ranch, and for helping to improve the area for the horses!