Horses, goats and trailer tires! Oh my!

We took a break from construction this weekend to trek to San Angelo and La Vernia to pick up our horses and my son’s goats.  We bought a 2-horse, straight load, bumper pull trailer several months ago for a great price on Craigslist.  We checked it over pretty well and were confident it would make the trip.  (In retrospect, a good tire inspection would have been wise.)  

The day my daughter has been anticipating for the past 7 or 8 years had finally arrived!  We made it to San Angelo safely, stayed the night in the Holiday Inn Express (my favorite road trip brand), visited with our dear friend from whom we were getting the horses, loaded up said horses (after a little sedation for my daughter’s paint) and were on our way to La Vernia to get the goats my son bought.  

Just on the south side of San Angelo on our way out of town we heard a noise.  I looked out the passenger side mirror and realized that one of the trailer tires had just shredded.  Great.

We pulled over and had to decide a course of action.  My daughter’s paint horse, Paisley, is not an easy loader, so taking her out while we changed the tire was not an option.  We would just have to jack it up with Paisley and Dr. Pepper in it.  My husband got the spare on only to discover that it was flat.  

He's a good man!

About that time, a sweet older gentleman pulled up and offered to go get a compressor to air it up, and our friend from San Angelo came to meet us and help us figure out what to do next.  With the tire aired up, we decided to limp to the nearest Discount Tire and get a new tire (or 4).  (Our friend had called to see if they would be willing to change the tires with the horses still loaded and, horse town that San Angelo is, they said they do it all the time.  They even got us in line via that phone call so we wouldn’t have to wait so long once we got there.  We also offered our compressor toting rescuer some cash for his help, but sweet Texas gentleman that he was, he refused.)

We arrived safely at Discount Tire and waited our turn.  (My husband, our friend and the kids went across the street to Mr. Gatti’s to eat while I waited with the horses.)  In no time, they backed up the trailer, jacked up both sides, replaced all four tires, and with very little fuss, we were on our way again—only delayed by about 2 hours.  

With two slight detours to retrieve two adorable baby goats, we were nearing home by dark.  Our progress was once again impeded, however, by runners participating in the Texas Independence Relay which happened to be following the exact same route as us.  Our final few miles home were spent driving about 20 miles an hour alongside several determined men and women who would be running for the next 20 or so hours.

Safe and sound at home around 10:00 that evening, horses were unloaded, goats were introduced to their new home and four exhausted travelers (my youngest stayed behind with Grandpa and Nana for this trip) took showers and crashed. 

Our animal count is now up to 9: 3 horses, 2 dogs, 2 goats and 2 cats.

My son meeting his blue-eyed goat, Pablo for the first time.

Pablo and his little buddy Paco the morning after arriving at their new home.

Paco still takes a bottle in the morning.

Dr. Pepper in front enjoying green grass for the first time. 

Paisley and Dr. Pepper have spent their entire lives in West Texas.  They are in awe of this delicious green stuff that covers the ground in our part of the country.

Angel (who really needs a bath in this picture) is definitely the mama of this pasture.  She is so happy to have her new friends, Pepper and Paisley, join her each day.  When horses go to their stalls for the night, they call to each other for several minutes just to make sure everyone is still here.

Time for siding

The addition structure is complete, but it needs siding before we can open up the wall between the existing house and all that we have added.  The existing house still has its original wood siding that was put on in 1938.  It’s cute but really needs to be replaced so that we can get some insulation in the walls (they are so drafty and do not keep out the cold) and to make the insurance company a little happier.  They are not fans of wood siding for fire protection (I can see their point), so we really need to go with a cement board product.  I really hate all things faux, so I just couldn’t bring myself to get the cedar look Hardie board and the smooth Hardie is special order only and about 25% more than the cedar look.  After some research and a trip to my friendly neighborhood Home Depot, I discovered Maxi-Tile siding.  Despite it’s funny name, it’s a great product—basically the exact same product as Hardie just without the name brand and at about 1/3 the price.  Done.

My husband, father-in-law, uncle, friends and a few hired helpers spent the better part of Spring Break and every spare after-work moment in the month of March getting siding up.  As soon as it is all up and eaves are sealed, we can get moving on the interior.  Siding is almost all done!

We are so grateful for friends and family who have come to pitch in and ease the workload.  We are praying for opportunities to return the favor.  In the meantime, it's really fun to share these experiences with loved ones. 

With the peak of the roof at about 30 feet up, we have run quite a network of scaffolding and ladders around the house to gain acces to the highest points.

Getting ready for horses

My youngest, although not the equestrian her sister is, has a huge heart and is a hard worker.  She couldn't wait to get out and help dad put up the fence.  She knows that showing responsibility is the first step toward getting her own horse.  Smart girl!

One of the things we looked forward to most about our move to the country was the opportunity to have horses and other livestock—but mostly horses.  I have wanted a horse since I was a little girl, and one of my girls has dreamed of having one since she was 3.  At 11 years old, she is already quite the equestrian.  She has a knack with all animals, but horses are her first love for sure.  We started planning an equine addition to our family long before we ever considered making this move so that she would have her own to love and train on.  Now, with over 9 acres, we have room to spare for a horse or two.  Or three.

First things first though… Our 9+ acres are beautiful but unfenced.  In order to fix this issue, we had to take a few short breaks from home construction in order to get the front pasture ready.  Thankfully, a quality fence is something my husband can build in his sleep.  He has hung miles of fence around our area for several years now leaving hundreds of happy customers in his wake. 

Although I realize our present project seems rather large, I really am a simple girl with simple tastes.  I wanted a fence that was “non-ugly” and functional (that meant no t-posts or scraggly wire).  We decided on a simple 1-rail fence with two rows of barbless wire underneath for the three sides that face the road and within the property (you never want barbed wire for horses—dangerous injuries would result).  The property line fence is just posts and wire.

In addition to having relatively simple tastes, I’m also a budget conscious bargain hunter.  Fences are really expensive.  (I’m so happy I don’t have to pay regular price!)  We opted for a half-new, half-reclaimed fence.  All of the street facing posts and all fence rails are new—bought at McCoy’s.  The remaining posts that line our 800 foot driveway, those that face the house and those on the property line are reclaimed posts taken from job sites where an old fence was being removed.  Instead of having crews toss the old posts, my husband loaded them on one of his trailers and brought them home.  Now, there is less waste AND these used posts have already cracked and warped as much as they ever will, so we don’t have to worry about shifting.  BONUS!

Due to the recycled nature of the project, not all of the posts matched, so we decided to paint all the wood.  All ~2000 feet.  Front and back.

Thankfully, like John, Paul, George and Ringo, we get by with a little help from our friends.  And we put our kids to work.  A dear family from church with whom we have been blessed to spend a lot of time with lately thanks to our shift in lifestyle offered to come out and work with us for a day.  Husband and wife and their 4 children pitched in with my husband and I and our 3 kids, my father-in-law and an uncle, and we got a TON of work done.  The 5 girls (their 3, my 2) were the designated painters, and they did an amazing job!  And they enjoyed each other (and got REALLY paint-y) in the process.