The tubs of water in the paddocks needed to be changed, they were slimy and green. The hay was dusty and smelled rank. I plodded on, taking notes and trying not to make suggestions or give my opinion, although this was something that I was not only trained to do, but had years of experience and schooling to back it up. The feed buckets were everywhere, and filthy. They had not been cleaned in who knew how long. The old food was crusted on them, and of course, this is a great place for bacteria. The stalls were another matter. The wet sawdust was thrown in on top of pounds of manure and urine and smelled terrible. Instead of rubber mats in the stalls, the preferred covering was free heavy vinyl sheets or hemp from the local lumber mill. The vinyl was slippery, and the hemp just absorbed the water and urine making it all but impossible to breathe in the stall. I could not imagine how the horses did not have lung infections. The water buckets in the stalls were left in there for days without being changed, so the water was never really fresh.
There was one small spigot by the feed room that didn't freeze. There was a TWO GALLON water heater in the bathroom of the main barn. That was the only warm/hot water available, and it took 15 minutes between the first two small feed buckets full to heat the water again. The spigot by the main barn was at a 45 degree angle by the front door, and froze quickly. The spigot at the back door continuously hooked up to it, so that froze quickly as well as the hose(s). Each stall had a small 1 1/2' x 2' window with a fan in it that turned as soon as it was windy. There were no top doors for the open stalls. Three of the horses in my shed row barn had electric buckets which kept tripping the breaker. I was uneasy at night leaving them plugged in. I continued to give Harry warmed water from the bathroom.
It was never a consideration during the Winter to mix the feed for the horses with a bit of warm water, and since I had the morning feed for the three barns, I made sure everyone got warm feed at least. I made mountains out of the hay in their paddocks and fields mainly to get the dust out, and make sure there were no hidden critters in the flakes.
Did I mention that I also had to throw down 4-6 bales of hay from up top each morning and stack in the aisle? These bales weighed about 75 lbs. I had to lift and push them end over end to get them out the door, and then strain to lift them into place in the aisle where I cut the strings and took flakes to all the paddocks and fields.
I got 8 bales of shavings from the owner and was told if I wanted any more I'd have to pay for it myself. I was already providing my feed and hay, and thought, this is a lot of hours of work that I'm not being compensated for. I used 2 bales for the old horses stall that was in at night with Harry.
I worked 5 hours on Tuesday non stop, with another 2 in the afternoon.
I worked 5 hours on Wednesday, 5 on Thursday, 6 on Friday, and on Saturday I was left with the whole place to myself, and both am and pm feeds as the owners were spending the day away. The first thing that happened was the owners young Shire draft cross stuck his leg through the rotting paddock fence, getting stuck half way, and then got his shoe caught in woven wire on the ground. Their solution was to bring up a chain saw to remove the boards. I worked 8 1/2 hours that day. On Sunday I worked 5 hours taking 1 hour out for Church, for which I was admonished and threatened. Since I fed everyone and gave them hay and water before I left, and they weren't being turned out because of rain, they could survive for an hour while I went to church. I thought. Shouldn't think. All the hoses and spigots were frozen, and I had taken water from the bathroom for everyone. Monday I arrived at the barn to find my big Rubbermaid trolly had TWO split rims. I then had to use my muck tub on my carry all frame to clean all the stalls. TSC ordered two for me to replace the ones that were split, at no charge. Despite the comment from my slightly loopy 'boss', that the people at TSC were morons, I found them to be most helpful and pleasant. They are 40 miles away round trip. Nothing is easy. The laundromat is 30 miles round trip................One of the horses in barn 3 left on Monday to go to another facility.
The boss lady, a very unconcerned woman, who alternated between cackling and swearing loudly and telling me that a whip is the only way to keep horses in line, and telling me she wanted to dig a large hole and throw all the horses in, was becoming increasingly disturbing to me. Since I live in the basement, and it's right under their living quarters, and I have no privacy or a door that locks, I was serenaded by screeching birds and parrots and barking dogs well into the night. I was promised an air card for my laptop which is the ONLY promise I've seen actually happening. I was told there was cable tv, but when I got here, I found an antennae and one channel, and it sure wasn't Fox News or Lifetime.....
Tuesday, my day off, was spent at the laundromat in the town 15 miles away, in the company of the largest women I've ever seen. Next to Hogs Gone Wild BBQ, and across from the Lumber/Paper mill, I spent two hours waiting for a washing machine and spent most of it in my truck.
By the time I had finished my first week, I had worked 36.5 hours. Had I been in Southern Pines I would have taken home $365.00. I suddenly got this sick feeling that the hours I was working-oh it had to get easier, and I could go faster, but try as I might, I could not seem to get the work under 5 or 6 hours a day. The deal was 4 hours 5 or 6 days.
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