My Second Home

Through last fall, the ranch was actually my third home, but thankfully, we finally sold our cabin. As it is, I now officially have everything but a kitchen sink out at the ranch. When and if I ever have to leave, I'll need a moving van or three to get everything out.

A dressage court ...

Not only do I have a lot of stuff/junk, it's spread around the ranch from north to south and east to west. I have at least a dozen poles up in the arena, not to mention another dozen letter markers. Yes, I know they're just water jugs, but it wouldn't be polite to just abandon them. Behind the barn, I have several feed/water troughs, and behind the round pen is stored my horse trailer.

Couldn't leave this either.

Of course I also have a table and chairs and some other accessories in our newly constructed Equestrian Lounge. Now that we have a new set at our house, I am not sure I'd want to take the table and chairs, but you never know where you might end up.

It wouldn't seem right to haul off the table and chairs.

Then there's the mountain of stuff living in our combination feed/tack room. No matter how hard I try to limit what lives out there, I end up failing. It seems that I add something new each day. Sometimes it's a piece of tack, more often more grooming equipment, or occasionally some device designed to make my life seem easier.

Left side - saddles.

Moving right - feed storage.

A little more to the right - tower of stuff.

Far right - storage containers, cart, buckets (underneath the muck bucket) and more buckets but with lids.

Yes, all of that is mine. In my defense however, I have two horses, and I do most of my own doctoring and feeding. I also travel with my horses. Of course, most of what I need for traveling already lives in the trailer - the grooming supplies, buckets, lunge line, spare halter, whip, and a boatload of other stuff. The only things I actually take from the feed/tack room are my saddle and bridle, shampooing bucket, and the muck bucket/cart combo.

A recent addition.

Last week, the ranch owner dove in and cleaned the heck out of the other side of the feed/tack room in preparation for a new boarder, DG. DG has been riding one of the ranch's horses for the better part of a year, but she recently asked if she could bring her aging, less-than-sound mare out to the ranch to live. Room had to be carved out in the feed/tack room. When I saw an opening, I quickly loaded up an old wicker table and my refrigerator and promptly filled in the "hole."

DG has already added some equine medications that are temperature sensitive, and of course I shoved in some beverages. This is the cleanest it will probably ever be. Like I said, the only thing I am missing is a kitchen sink.

Our ranch owner is probably regretting that she ever gave me a key to the place.