The new digs.... Haha, get it?

Yesterdat was the big move! This is going to be a short, not well written, photo packed post because I wanted to update you guys but I'm a wee bit busy today. :) So anyway, I packed up all our stuff, loaded Digby into the trailer, and off we went. 

Digby is the ever cautious loader. (BTW - I've never actually used shipping boots before until this time.)

We made good time (ie: Digby loaded pretty quickly and we didn't hit a shit ton of traffic) and threw Digby into his stall to settle in. I unpacked my stuff and explored while he munched on hay.

The most handsome hony in his new stall.

The pond on the left, some fields on right.

Some of the turnouts. Look at all the grass!! Woods in back contain trails.

Ring. We have jumps but they were removed for the drag.

View of the far, far turnout entrance

Later in the day when the bugs weren't so bad, I put Digby out with a nice gelding named Simon. I knew Simon as a kid, believe it or not! They got along well and happily grazed next to each other for a while. Digby can go out with anyone, mare, gelding, one other horse, huge herds, whatever. It's the one very easy thing about him.

Simon and Digby

We introduced the two mares (Loca and Tinker) who typically goes out with Simon into the equation and things did not go so swimmingly. Digby ended up being cornered and kicked in the stifle by the one. He seemed ok, just a scrape, and we let them run around to see if they'd calm down. They did not. Eventually the barn owner and I said, ok this isn't going to work with all 4 of them. At the BM's suggestion, we tried Digby with another group, a pair of two older geldings who were laid back. They did not care for Digby in the least. The one gelding is the barn owner's and she was worried because the one gelding, Buster, was being a bit aggressive (weren't kicking him but would chase after Digby a bit if he got too close to them) so we eventually cried "uncle" and put Digby in an individual pad for the night. It wasn't what I wanted to do, ideally, but he was within several feet of 2 groups of 2 horses and I knew he'd be safe for the evening.

I was honestly pretty upset after all this. I think most of it was because I was tired and stressed but it was disheartening to have moved to a "better barn" and watch my poor horse get his butt kicked... twice. I had to text a friend to get some reassurance. It's definitely the right decision for me to have moved, but it was hard to watch. Most of the horses at this barn have been together for years and have already formed good pairs or groups. 

The plan for tonight is to put him back with just the original gelding, Simon, and the mares will have to be alone in one of the smaller pads. We shall see! Fingers crossed. :)

Ughughugh, life changes.

The hony and the "throw in a field" barn, 2012. 

Ugh, moving barns. My least favorite topic. I feel like I've been to more than my fair share of barns with Digby. I bought him when I lived in NY so he moved up there with me. When that job didn't work out (I was working 65-90 hours a week and getting paid for 40, yay for salaried jobs, yay burn out, yay so stressed all my hair was falling out), I moved back to PA. The barn I was originally at didn't work out because he was lame, we couldn't keep him sound, and financially I couldn't get away with dropping that much money a month on a horse who I couldn't ride. Add to it, the vet said to pull his shoes and throw him in a field for 6 months to a year and see what happened. 

The "throw him in a field" barn's turnout.

I LOVED that barn. He lived out 24/7, except for feeding times and in bad weather. It was a self care barn so I fed him exactly what I wanted to feed (read: Triple Crown Senior plus hay in his face all the time), he was out all the time which is exactly what we (the vet and I) wanted, it was cheap, the fencing was well maintained and it was super close by so I could see him every day. Sadly, it was not meant to be because the barn was leased. The lovely couple who was the BM's were buying their own home (not near this current barn at all) and not going to be leasing it anymore. The woman taking over didn't give me a good gut feeling AT ALL so I left and went to another local barn. A few months after, I moved to MA for what I thought was going to be "THE BEST JOB EVER."

One of my favorite Digby pictures of all time.

I was at two barns in MA. The first one was a good barn, I had a lot of coworkers there, it was in my budget (mostly) and well respected, but it just wasn't right for Digby. I was probably there for less than  6 months. I moved to a backyard barn which was lovely. Good with turnout, good with hay, quiet and laid back. Thought it was great! Yeah... but maybe not the best job ever. Turns out I didn't like working in an office, even if it was for a horse company. My inner introvert didn't like working in customer service/sales. Some things happened internally at the company that I didn't love. I didn't like how expensive the area was. After a couple years, I came back to PA.

Enter current barn. Alli from Ponytude used to board there. It's nice. It's just time for us to leave. I hate moving barns and feel like a serial boarder every time I do. That said, it's best for me and Digby to leave our current barn. I've been reminding myself of that for the past week or two, after I made the decision and gave my notice. I've needed a few pep talks from friends as well. I found a barn that is 2 miles away from my home (versus my current 35+ minute drive) that an old childhood friend boards at. She's been there for a while now and loves it. 

Pros of new barn:

- Quiet barn, seems very low key with no drama. Most horses are retired and above the age of 20.

- Feeds Triple Crown Senior already, which is great since he's doing so well on it right now

-  He'll have a 12 x 14 stall. He is able to see all the other horses in the barn from his stall. The stall will be nice in the cold winter months and has a fan to escape the flies in the heat but they're...

- Great about turnout. Horses go outside from 7 pm to 7 am in the summer, unless there is going to be severe storms. They go out in rain. No one melts.

- Turnout field Digby will be going out in with 2 other horses is 4 acres of grass. LOVE.

- High quality grass hay that they're happy to put in a small hole hay net in his stall. 

- A round pen plus an outdoor with decent footing.

- a 45 mile loop of trails right on the property, plus access to the neighbors 100+ acres. 

- My friend boards there so hopefully I can have a riding buddy PLUS get more media for the blog!

- Did I mention 2.0 miles from my house!?

I'm planning on moving Digby next Monday, the 29th, so I'll be sure to get some pictures of the new barn then! While I didn't technically give my current barn 30 days if I move on the 29th, after speaking with my vet and discussing Digby's ongoing ulcer issues, she said it's best to move him now while I'm still treating him with the full dose of omperazole, rather than treat him and move at a later date. What I'll do then is pay for the 2ish weeks at my current/about to be old barn that would make it 30 days. I'll also have to pay board at my new barn as well and financially, this does not please me at all, but it's really for the best. I need Digby's ulcers to have the best opportunity to heal while on the omeprazole and if the vet thinks a move is better sooner, then so be it. (Just please no major expenses for a few weeks!!)

Bonus picture from "throw Digby in a field" barn:

Not much has changed from this picture in 2012 to now. I'm still an idiot, Digby and friends are always adorable.