NOT a nice surprise for me this morning. I got up at 5:00 poured myself the first cup of coffee and heard a stallion talking and a mare screaming at him. It was light enough to see there were horses in the stallion pasture where the wedding was going to take place this afternoon. I threw on a sweat shirt over my nightgown and took the golf cart up to grab a bucket of grain and found out exactly which horses were out and why. The gate to Raven's old paddock which yesterday housed Rosalie, Rosaleigh, Blueberry and two fillies was WIDE open. This gate had been shut and chained shut last night when I went up to the barn to check on Aiken. How the gate chain was removed and then how it was wide open was a real mystery. It is a very heavy gate and to open it I always swing it in not out as the gate is low to the ground and must be lifted over the ground to swing it out. Thankfully the mares heard the golf cart and came running back to their paddock for their morning grain. Once all 5 were inside the paddock the gate was shut and the chain put back on. Then it was time to go to work. Since I didn't know how long the horses had been out I took the golf cart into Evan's pasture to see if they had left any manure and WOW not only did they leave manure in that pasture, they had also gone into the barn parking lot and left piles in the grass next to the drive. I took the golf cart back to hook up the manure wagon and then started working.
These were huge piles, above was just one of many. They started by Evan and grazed all the way to the far South end of the pasture leaving piles the entire way. Then they came back and checked out the chairs set up for the wedding leaving just 2 piles by the chairs. Thankfully they didn't knock any of those down and step on them.
They must have been out all night.
I worked hard and fast just hoping no one was awake to see me out working in my nightgown. Once I was sure all piles were picked up the manure cart was taken back to the manure pile and unloaded and only then did I head back to the house but on the way back saw 3 piles in our yard and one on our drive by the breeding shed. Those were left until I went inside to properly dress for the job. After finishing that breakfast was made and then I was going to mom's when Marie sent a text that she was bringing the bouncy house back and she was on the way. They had it loaded in their big van and Ryan is taking that van to Chicago tomorrow to pick up Ruth's family at O'Hare. They have been visiting Romania and Austria for these last 2 weeks. We unloaded the bouncy house in our garage. Gary did most of the work but both Marie and I helped. I threw a tarp over it then drove to mom's.
Mom has hummingbird feeders on the front window and on the back. We watched the humming birds feeding.
As soon as it warmed up we went out on the deck and watched the birds from there enjoying the sunshine.
At noon we came in for lunch.
They were served chicken teriyaki, fried rice with vegetables, peppers, and biscuits for lunch with strawberries for dessert.
It was so nice outside, not too hot and not too cold that we went back out to the deck after lunch. I left for home when Karin came back and on the way home snapped the picture of the wedding decorations in Evan's pasture.
The guests from the foaling apartment had left and it is booked again for tomorrow so that was cleaned next. I'm thankful for 2 washers and 2 dryers as it makes flipping that apartment easy. I washed the towels at the house and the sheets at the apartment. While I was at mom's Mark moved a new bale in at the cabin field so as soon as the apartment was finished Mark helped me move Rosalie, Rosaleigh, Blueberry and the 2 fillies over to the cabin field.
They galloped all the way down to the bottom of the field then came running back up and posed for pictures. Below Rosalie is pictured left and Rosaleigh is standing next to her.
They were both born in 2013. My Rosalie is one of Raven's last foals and the other Rosaleigh we bought and she came with that name. Next Sheena and Dancer and their foals were moved over to Raven's old paddock.
That opened up the last paddock for Titus and Aiken.
At 4:00 pm the wedding guests were arriving and some of them came in busses.
They had 2 busses drop off guests. There were about 100 guests invited and it looked like all of them showed up. It was a perfect day for an outdoor wedding and it seemed like everyone was enjoying themselves. They were in no hurry to go back into the barn for the reception. A few couples even came walking over to check out the horses. As soon as I had the stalls ready Titus and Aiken were brought inside for their grain. Titus was tied, all 4 of his hooves picked up. I want him to be good for the farrier. Speaking of the farrier he is actually coming now tomorrow afternoon after we get home from church.
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