Building a road

In case you were unaware, I am posting about building our farm house over here:

http://mamamullholland.blogspot.com/

Anyhow, if you are too lazy to click over, I'll post the updates here for a while too.  

Here is how we built a driveway in a weekend!

First it was like this

 and then he

 used this

to do this

then this happened

 and now we have 775 glorious feet of this

Making our farm dreams come true!

We have always been looking for the right house on the right property in the right location.  After years of searching (and almost buying a place that was too far away) we have found the perfect solution!  

We recently bought 20 acres of land on the south side of the lake near the town we live in!  Great location, only 15 minutes to town!  It is still in the school districts where we are currently.  The land is about 3/4 mile down the road from a trail head that has access to 50 MILES of equestrian trails!!!  About 3-5 acres of the land is treed, the rest is brome pasture.  

We hope to build our dream home there next spring!  Until then, we plan to get busy doing whatever improvements we can with our sweat equity!  

I am standing in the north central part of the land, looking West.  This is a small treed area with the 'gate' being just to the left of the trees.

Here is the north tree line, looking NE.  Our fence runs along behind these trees.  Our North 'neighbors' are 60 acres of unbuildable land owned by a trust.

Looking East- we have about 3-5 acres treed.

Picnic Cutie!

John coming out of the NW treed corner.  He had to chase off the neighbor's dog.  

 To the South.  Our property goes back a ways and then we have two neighbors to the south. 

 Hi!

Proud!

 Happy to be on our very own land!

 Yay!!!

Family picture time!

Here we are parked along the East tree line in the NE corner of the pasture land.  We are about to start exploring the woods!

Love them!

Here we have the north property line- expressed by a barbed wire fence and a rock wall.

Very overgrown with brush.  We will be clearing out as much as possible so that walking will be easier. Not sure yet if we will clear trails or just try to methodically clear out the whole underbrush.

I just LOVE these old rock walls.  It makes me feel so connected to the past and the history of the land.  Someone, ages ago, picked up these rocks by hand, carried them behind a horse, and placed them right here.  I love it.  This one runs north/south for a while.

You can see here that the land has a bit of a slope to it.  It slopes down towards a creek that runs through at least 2 neighbor's properties.

 Explaining to Paisley that someday, this will all be hers!

I am hoping that this is a dry creek bed.  

Oh, it would be so awesome to have a creek!  

We are somewhere between the south property line and the middle of the land here, looking north.  

Checking for ticks.  Blech.

Looking NW.  We will probably build the house up on this hill in the middle of the property with the front facing the road and the back porch facing the NE corner looking into the woods.

Facing West, the road runs along this way over the other side of the hill.

I am so excited to share this news with you and 

want to thank all of our friends and family for supporting us!  

Catch riding?

I am looking for people with too many horses and not enough bodies...  

I would like to catch-ride for anyone who needs their horse to get some competition time.  

Now that Paisley is no longer a nursling, I am able to leave her for longer periods and am willing to travel to do rides.  

I will ride your horse, with your equipment, and your feed setup.  I will follow your rules and ride along with you or at whatever pace you think is appropriate for the horse.  

I have a very modest, but good record with AERC.  100% completion for 7 rides with finish times ranging from 7-10 hours.  Contact me for more information on how to search for me on the AERC results page.  

Please feel free to pass my info on to your friends!  I am getting my 'horse time' in bits and pieces right now and it would be amazing to have the chance to ride some amazing horses in a few endurance rides!  

Yard Sale!!!

Not sure if anyone reads this blog anymore, but I thought I would post some items for sale. If you are interested, contact me and we can negotiate prices. I will continue to add items and pictures as I get to them.

 Circle Y Expedition saddle. 15" rough out seat. Lightly used, great condition, has light scuffing on right side. Includes rigging and *nice* dark green carry bag. $1300

 SOLD!!! Zilco endurance bridle- dark green biothane, headstall snaps onto halter. Great bridle, brass is no longer shiny. Arab sized. $60

SOLD!!!  Biothane sponge leash and natural sea sponge. Sponge is brand new in package. leash is silver. $20 for both

SOLD!!! Easycare cantle pack. Dark Green, holds 2-20oz water bottles, included. Brand new, never used. $50


SOLD!!! Toklat cool back saddle pad. Round shape, 30x30. Dark green with suede wear leathers. Nice. $50

Reinsman Tacky Too saddle pad. 28x33, shaped/contour pad. Fits tucker and endurance type saddles. $75


SOLD!!!! Renegade Hoof Boots- barely used. dark green. Pair. Size 1. $120/pair

Hay bags, really nice.Fabric with 'grid' window in front, velcro closure, and wood at the top to hold shape, straps are nylon with buckles. Dark green. $20/pair

Blankets/sheets/cooler- 70"-72". most are used, some are new. Price varies.  All are from Schneiders.

 StormShield New Briton Bellyband turnout blanket in Navy.  These are the midweight blankets and have been torn and repaired several times.  Still work, would be perfect as an indoor blanket or under a waterproof sheet.  I wouldn't rely on them to be waterproof anymore.  I have a 70 and a 72 inch.  The 70 has "Sabumi" embroidered on the bellyband.  $20 each

SOLD!!! DuraTech Tekno-Fleece Contoured Cooler- 70", black, has "Sabumi" embroidered on the bellyband.  Great condition, Great cooler.  $25


Dura-Tech Viking II turnout-midweight blanket and sheet- both are 72" and green with black trim.  These were used for less than one winter season.  Were worn indoors for majority of the winter.  Very good conditions.  Practically brand new!  $40 for the sheet, $50 for the blanket.

Truckbed Tent- really cool tent.  Fit our F150 6'6"bed perfectly.  $100

SOLD!!! Vibram 5 fingers Bikala LS- ran in them for one mile every other day for two weeks- less than 8 miles total.  Sz 36, which is about a 6.  $75

2006 F150.  74k miles.  Super Cab XLT.  4x4 high and low, Tow package, B&W turnover ball, break assist in cab.  Great condition.  $15,500.  Check link for ad on cars.com. 

Awesome Boomer Update!!!

I just checked the AERC horse records and saw a great update on Boomer! His new owners took him to NJ for a 50 mile ride in mid-November and he did AWESOME!!! Our of 34 starters, 28 horses finished and Boomer finished 12th with a ride time of 5 hours and 14 minutes!!! I knew that he could be a rock star with the right owner! I am so proud of him!

New blog!

With this new stage in my life comes a new blog!  

Join me over at Mama Mullholland to keep up to date with our life!!!

Perfect Match!

Well, friends, I am SO happy to tell you that Boomer has found the perfect home!  

I am so glad that this story has a happy ending!  

I posted Boomer on endurance.net classifieds and got several replies.  The one that stood out was from a couple from Iowa.  They have several decades of arabian and endurance experience.  They have thousands of competition miles.  They do FEI rides.  They travel to Florida in the winter and do rides year round.  

They came to meet Boomer and were very happy with him.  They are aware of his behavior issues and did not seem phased by that at all.  

This is the perfect situation for Boomer and I am able to move on with a happy heart!  

Thank you all for being so understanding and supportive during this difficult time for me!  

***

Horses will always be important to me.  I hope to take frequent riding lessons and continue to learn and improve.  I also hope someday to own another horse.  But, for now, I am endlessly happy to spend my days with this little joy:

We Need Help

Fellow readers, you may have noticed that the blog was closed for several days. I have been in a period of deep thought while trying to cope with the situation of finding Boomer a new home.

I am at a point where I am emotionally ready to rehome him. Unfortunately, the horse market is not active right now. Especially not for a horse like Boomer who has a behavior problem (ie. pulling back and chinchyness).

I need help finding him a good home. This is not about money or making a profit off of him. He just deserves a good, understanding home.

Currently, he is starting his second month of training. He has not pulled back in over 3 weeks and is riding well. He needs someone who wants to work with him regularly to hold him accountable and have high expectations for him. He needs someone who is confident and strong on the ground.

I do not have the kind of time he needs and can't justify having a horse with his needs as a mother to a young baby.

I need him to find a good home by the end of this month. We can't just keep him in training indefinitely.

In the past, Boomer was a wonderful project for me. My perspective has changed since having a baby and Boomer and I are no longer good partners. When I was working with Boomer daily and getting him regular exercise, we were a great team. Now, with only two days a week to see him and a new baby at home, I can no longer invest the time and attention that Boomer needs to thrive.

Please, if you know a person or a rescue organization who would take Boomer, contact me. He is a wonderful riding horse if you can just work through his ground manner issues.