November's notes

It's been a pretty nice Fall as far as the weather is concerned. The colorful leaves came down quickly in the last rainstorm.

The horses are getting furry. I was worried about Bo, who seems to grow no winter coat, but he is finally getting some hair. he hates wearing blankets or sheets, so I hold off as long as I can. They are all looking very gleamy in their shiny new hair. Pavi still grows an arctic-worthy coat, so I will shave part of it off when I return from my upcoming trip. It's hard to ride him since he gets hot and sweaty just standing around. Then his coat stays wet underneath and it gets chilly at night.

The weather channel is always a favorite...especially as the season changes. Will it rain? How cold will it be? Do they need a sheet or blanket? Do they need to stay in if a storm is coming? If I keep them in, it won't rain or storm....Murphy's Law.

Vicki Kirsch (owned by Pepper) and I will be going to Equine Affaire in Springfield, MA, to work in the Ansür Saddle Booth. We always have fun and since Vicki used to live in Boston, she has friends who will stop by to chat. Having gone to the MA Equine Affaire for several years, I see people I remember from the area who have stopped to check out the saddles and bought saddles in years past. I'm sort of glad that we are usually pretty busy since I don't have any shopping money this year. It's a huge equine trade show with several buildings of things to see, demos to watch, breeds of every type horse, and well-known horse people from all disciplines teaching, talking or riding. It's like going to the circus!...without the elephants.

During these nice Fall days, I have hired some workers to paint the wood trim on the barn and outbuildings. It's amazing how a little paint can spruce things up. That inspired me to repair the run-in shed before they get around to painting it. Maybe all the newly painted wood parts will last a few more years.

So the latest excitement has been the skunk in the hay room. I spent a ton of money and filled up on hay for the winter and Peppy Le Pew moved right in! He has very attractive marking, but stinks without doing anything.  So far I haven't been sprayed, but I have opened the door and he was standing right under the hay cart looking at me. My husband repaired the lower part of the door, so that if get him out, maybe he can't get back in.

I've used up all the flour I had, pouring it out in front of the hay room door. I left it open since they are nocturnal. So I have to go out at 1 or 2 am to see if there are tracks going out of the hay room, then I shut the door. I think he is finally out now! I was panicking at the thought that something or someone would trigger him to spray on $2k worth of hay!!!

I did encounter him when I went back through the gate on the way to the house that night. We gave each other a wide berth, but I think I made him mad. There were lots of tracks in front of the hay room door the next morning. Peppy wafted his perfume (just the regular body odor, no spray) through my bedroom window all night for the next two nights. Our cats, Joey and Zoe were hiding under the bed...probably with their paws over their noses. We finally shut the windows!