We had been talking gardens and compost and fertilizer and manure with Sylvie, a neighbor of ours who it so happens volunteers at the local horse rescue organization on Sundays...cleaning up the barn yard of manure.
She suggested I come with her on Sunday last and I could help her shovel manure and then get some manure for my garden. Sounded like a good idea.
The Barn Yard
I took the truck, anticipating a large haul even though Leon said that horse manure will likely be full of hay seeds and the garden will then be full of weeds. Sylvie said there was lots of well composted stuff to take.
But there wasn't a lot of well composted stuff and what there was, was rather difficult to dig up as it was all around the perimeter of the stables and very compacted. Most of the barn yard was covered in fresh manure.
Which we shoveled, and shoveled and shoveled...into one wheelbarrow which we had to wheel to a manure pile on the far side of the barn. And we shoveled and shoveled and shoveled...for two hours.
I am not one of those people who love animals. Like they are nice creatures, they are large, they are quite pretty. I'm not sure "pretty" is a good word to describe them, but you get the idea.
I will use a stereotype: it seems that horse-lovers, the ones that have to save the planet one horse at a time, are usually women. Leon's two sisters both have/had horses. The woman who runs the horse rescue fits the look. There were at least four or five other women who were either boarding their horses at the farm or who just came to "visit" the horses.
Several of them walked down the dirt road to see the herd of "wild horses" that were also being cared for by the rescue woman. Actually they are probably "feral" rather than wild, but what do I know.
Wild or Feral Horses
I do know that I see wild or feral horses whenever I drive along Rt. 16. I've taken pictures on occasion. Really no big deal - unless you are a horse-lover I guess.
For my part, I couldn't get out of there soon enough. Like zoos, this farm with all the penned-in horses and mules and donkeys kind of made me sad. They had no real life. They just stand around all day and munch on hay, looking bored.
Two of them were very curious and were snooping in the bed of the pick-up truck. I think that was their thrill for the day.
Anyhow, the dirt, the dust, the manure, the fallen and deteriorating Cottonwood tree in the barnyard, the rusted fences, the adobe barn, the metal gates, piles of junk along the road...were just so depressing. But that's me.
I guess if you're a horse-lover you might find it all charming and quaint.
I didn't get much horse manure for the garden. I think I'll just stick to buying compost in 40 lb bags at Lowes.
3 comments:
Well, at least you did your good deed for the year, LOL, shoveling all that manure!
And here I was expecting an idyllic description of your day with the horses (although maybe not the manure).
That's some mighty pretty horses there. When I was very young, there were horses and lands, riding lessons and trail rides and great gallops across rolling fields of green grass. One would have liked to become, if not a cowboy per se, at least a good rider, an equestrian of some kind.
But then things changed and all that went away. Haven't ridden a horse in fifty years now, and would be afraid to try. But they are lovely creatures. Like human beings, probably happier when they have a proper job to do, rather than standing/sitting around looking bored.
At least you had a day of good exercise in the fresh air and sunshine! There are worse things.
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