Oh Lordy- Are you serious man??

So today was a pretty good day.

I ran some errands this morning (post office, bank, etc). Then came home and had some lunch. Remember the people that originally had Thunder? They called and told me that they had 100 bales of nice grass hay that they needed to get rid of. I asked what they paid for it. $4.00 per bale (so in my head I am thinking ok so it isn't going to be fantastic hay but should be decent). So I ask what they are asking, $2.50 per bale. Ok- reasonable. I ask if it has ever been wet- no. I ask what cutting- 3rd. So I offer them $1.50 per bale and they agree. Yeah! Decent grass hay for super cheap just because someone got transferred to Germany. So I tell them I will be over in about 20 minutes to check it out (I am not crazy enough to trust these people to know what nice hay is).

So I get there and chat to the dad for a bit about his transfer and such then we go to take a look at the hay. When we walked into the barn I honestly did not know it was right in front of my face. I don't know what I thought it was but I wasn't thinking- Yummy Looking Hay! So after I pull a few bales down to check them out I realize that there can't be more than 40 bales- Ok so the guy can't count. It honestly looked like straw. Not only was it completely colorless but it was stemmy as hell! Even when I cut a bale open- no green, ALL YELLOW. There were even corn stalks in it. It did not smell like hay at all. It smelled like yuckiness. I continued to climb around and look as I thought that maybe my neighbor who has cows would want it. As I am climbing I stick my hand in something wet and sticky. It is MOLD. SOPPING WET MOLD. It was SO gross.

So I climb down and tell the guy that I am sorry but I don't want it and that I am pretty sure no one will want it. Not only is it very poor quality but it is MOLDY. I prefer my horses alive thanks.

He goes on to tell me that it is what he fed his horses all winter last year. Oh lordy- Are you serious man? We chat for a bit longer and then I head on my way. Strange that on the phone he failed to mention that it was LAST years 3rd cutting and was being stored in a barn with a big hole in the roof so it had been getting wet for a YEAR. Ick. No. Titan likes his green, soft, nice smelling, non-stemmy, corn stalkless, NON-MOLDY hay.

So I came back home and washed off the nasty moldy hay smell.

J had a great lesson today. I had her ride Rocky as she needs to be used to different horses and since Midnight is for sale and will be gone soon I thought we should work on detaching her from him. She was bummed at first but we did lunge line work and she seemed to enjoy it. I am really enjoying seeing her progress. A few weeks ago she could barely trot (except to bounce around on Sparkle) and now she is posting trot with her arms out to the sides. I think the different mount is making all the difference. Maybe I will take her out on a hack with Sparkle tomorrow as I know she is missing that pony. Her parents decided to keep her pony Sparkle here for her to take lessons on but J has gotten to the point where she just can't advance any further on Sparkle. We spend most of our Sparkle lessons just getting her into a trot (stubborn Shetland and J's short legs don't mix well). She was a great little pony to start on and has built J's confidence but it is time for her to move on. I spoke to J's mom about this and she agreed. Sparkle will be going to J's little brother and we are on the hunt for a new mount for J. Until then J is going to be riding Midnight or Rocky for her lessons and her little brother has started having mini lessons on Sparkle.

Mama has a vet appointment tomorrow and so we will see what happens. I will keep you posted on that!

This is little miss Sparkle. She is old but she is a good girl.