Here in southwestern Idaho, we’ve been lucky to enjoy many sunny, dry fall days only occasionally interspersed with wind and a little drizzle. Matt and I have been able to squeeze in regular trail rides on our sagebrush steppe landscape as well as in our outdoor facility at Sweet Pepper Ranch. But as daylight shortens and increasingly colder days set in, we start riding indoors and face the reality that winter is just around the corner, getting closer by the minute.
Fingers crossed that the good weather holds out a while longer as we tackle our annual to-do list of fall land management chores—we are late getting to them this year. I’m looking forward to doing these (seriously, I am!) and it feels good even to just get things written down. If you’re curious, here’s our current list:
- Winterize the footing in all 12 paddocks and fill low spots in front of stall doors with fresh footing. (In our case, that means using up extra sand from spots in our indoor arena where the sand is too deep.)
- Replace yucky urine spots with clean footing.
- Straighten out stall mats that have shifted after a summer of horses running hither and yon across them.
- Replace stall mats with worn out corners and edges with new ones.
- Move those old stall mats under paddock hay feeders to help prevent mud in our high traffic areas.
- Spread compost on our 6 acres of pasture. We will do this during dry periods when the soil isn’t soggy or saturated. Spreading compost now will make our soil healthier and our pastures more productive next spring.
- Wage war on the mice in our barn, which seem to be showing up in droves. I’ve seen them brazenly pausing to sit on the counters and stare at me—the nerve!! Since we already have barn owl and kestrel boxes outdoors, my plan to tackle this in indoor areas is to clear out the clutter in our tack room, vacuum up copious amounts of mouse dirt, and strategically place non-toxic mouse traps. And when we do trap a mouse, we have one specific post where we place them and they magically disappear—eaten by a bird of prey!
- Clean out gutters and downspouts and check for leaks that need to be repaired.
Once completed, fall chores create a much healthier place for horses, a more chore-efficient place for us over the winter months (when we need all the help we can get!), and a nicer picture for all. And I am sure our clients will appreciate it, so it’s good for business, too!
Whether you board or take care of horses at home, Horses for Clean Water has a great lineup of classes and materials to help you with horse keeping and land management practices. The Horse Keeping and Land Management Masterclass is set to run January 6 to February 10, on Monday nights from 6 – 7pm PT. Join us for live, practical advice on getting a handle on muddy paddocks, composting those growing piles of manure, controlling weeds and improving soil health in your pastures, becoming firewise (yes, there are specific techniques for us horse owners!), finding creative ways to conserve water (like outdoor wash racks and trail courses), and much more! Don’t forget to use the code HCWMC25 for an extra $10 off when you register by December 4th!
This is an excellent opportunity to invest in your horsemanship skills as you learn to better care for your horses and land. At Horses for Clean Water, our goal is to be a valuable resource in helping you create healthy spaces for your horses, your neighborhoods, the eco-system, and yourself.
Fall is the time to prepare for an easier winter. See you down the trail!
Alayne
