Treat Yo’self - Farm edition

This is all part of trying to catch up on the past few months! 

We all know buying tack and saddle pads is fun, but buying actual farm equipment is fun too!! Lol

And I have no pictures because I’m still not great at getting pics while I’m doing stuff! And I’m trying this post from my phone and the app lets me see my pics but won’t actually upload them into the post. 🤷‍♀️

Let’s start with the smallest purchase first: a hay fork! Yes, there is a specific pitchfork for hay. It works great for feeding off of round bales or big squares! I actually had no idea this existed until I was cursing about trying to feed hay from a round bale and pulling it apart by hand. I have now been enlightened to the hay fork and will not look back! 

My next purchase was a bit of a whim. My friend and I bought some hay from someone that is selling her farm. While there we used her hay elevator to move the hay from the barn to her hay wagon. My friend and I commented how nice that was and the lady causally mentioned that everything was for sale at this point.

I’ve always wanted a hay wagon to move hay but figured one would be way too expensive. I got a super deal on this wagon and I bought the hay elevator too, as my friend’s new farm has a loft where I will be storing some of my hay for the winter. 

And, I hauled the loaded hay wagon with my truck!! That was the first time I’ve hauled something and it was nerve wracking at first, but I started to get the hang of it. Backing that sucker up is no fun though, let me tell you!!

I feel like those purchases were meant to be - what are the odds that we not only got some hay to tide us over to this years crop AND much needed equipment for a great price?

Treat yo'self - mega edition

I've been trying to keep my horse "stuff" shopping to a minimum lately.   I was able to get away with it over the past year as I wasn't riding or showing much and all the horses had what they needed.

Until Fred grew. And grew. And continues to grow. And stuff gets old and needs to be replaced. And then before you know it, I'm on a full out shopping spree. I even ordered a couple of things from the UK - or at least tried to - one site with a lot of cool stuff didn't ship to North America! (the nerve!)

Started filling this out before I realized they don't ship to NA - they actually have Lord and Lady to choose from! LOL

Fred really needed new blankets this winter - his butt was hanging out of his size 81s from last winter. And he didn't have a rain sheet, so he now has a nice new wardrobe of green and matching blankets! I bought an old green/blue plaid stable sheet from a friend for $20, so I saved some cash there.

winter pjs

I also couldn't find what I was looking for here - green blankets for a reasonable price - so I broadened my search to the US.  Shipping to Canada is super expensive for some reason (it's not like I'm that far away) so my friend and I planned a trip over to NY state to pick up our items at a UPS store that holds items for desperate Canadian shoppers.  (yes, this exists!)  I also ordered myself a new pair of winter gloves, a winter coat and a new stretchy hose from Schneiders.  I'm only about 1hr from the border, so this is a fun option, as we make sure to hit up the TSC and a grocery store for my vanilla coke fix.

so cute.  And there is a heavyweight t/o in green too!

Copper didn't go neglected, don't worry. I got him a nice new rain sheet to hopefully keep his thick coat dry so he doesn't get rain rot again.  The thick coat he gets is a good and a bad thing, it seems.

I'll probably  cave and get him the matching purple winter t/o 'cause I'm a sucker!

I also got a few sweet things from going through all of the used tack at the therapeutic riding centre.  Maybe volunteering to help them re-sell old tack wasn't so smart, since I've been buying most of it!!!  I found Fred a 5.5" bit to tide him over until his 6" ones arrive from the UK.  He wasn't doing great with the copper rollers - too much for him to play with - so I'll try the full cheek snaffle.

Ahem - need to clean this tack at some point...

I also snagged a BoT dressage pad, a rambo newmarket fleece, old woof wear tendon boots, eskadron wraps, two wool coolers (I like to have spare coolers in case a horse is sweaty/colicky/cold) and a few other odds and ends.

Not green and a tad small, but for $20, good to have around.

So, after my little mega shopping spree, the boys should be good to get through the winter.  And while I bought a few things I needed, I still have a long-term wish list that seems to keep growing...but I'll try to hold off until the new year to shop!

BoT pads, coolers and not shown: all kinds of other stuff.  Omg my barn needs to be cleaned out big time!

Oh and since I started this post, I have ordered more from the UK (omg this is a dangerous trend) and I got a new cat!!!  Meet Archie - he is 4-8 months old and is from my friend who volunteers for a rescue and had a bunch of kittens.  Yes, I already have 2 cats, but I could not pass this guy up.  He is very sweet and affectionate and fitting in well around here.    Be prepared for lots of cat pictures moving forward, as we are heading into winter, so reading books with cats on my lap is my main goal  ;-)


Edited to add:  And I have two more big purchases to announce later this week.  OMG  Money floweth like water around here!  LOL

The tongue out kills me...lol





Archie and his ear floofs