What's Next?

All things worth doing take time and hard work and dedication to the process. That little phrase has been in my head for about four weeks now but today it really hit me that we are at a place at H&W Stables where we can see what we have done. In fact, Saturday we will be hosting some horse industry folks at the barn to show off what we have been doing. We cannot even total the man hours we have put in, the hours of sleep we have lost, the terribly bad diet we have maintained for the past month, but we can see that the work has paid off. Since Thursday the entire mood of the crew has shifted to a more achievement mentality versus the mentality of completion. That being said, we are not satisfied and have begun setting our sights on the next set of goals. Some of those are what we want the final product to be, some are management issues, and others deal with the day to day operations of the facility once Michelle and I go back to our real jobs next month. The other cool part of being this far along is that normalcy, whatever that is for me, is beginning to be something I can actually see in the not too far off distance. My normal summer consists of training, hanging with the family, and golfing on a regular basis. This summer has not been that but it has been quite an adventure. We did get to compete in the obstacle course race at Dirty Foot and I have been able to play golf on rare occasions but I am really saddened that I will not get to compete in the Scenic 17 Triathlon this year. The past four weeks of no training has put a damper on that part of the summer. I cannot be too upset though because after a year of not racing I am excited to say that in just over one month I will put the helmet on and line up in Senior B in Lake City to race my first harescramble in over a year. I have decided to act my age and race in the 40+ class but I still get to compete. The bike is prepped and ready and I think Michelle and Brianna are just as excited as I am to be on the bike again. I started my preparation for the first race today. I didn’t get to workout but my diet was much improved over the past month. See, I have now seen what can happen in a four week time span and sometimes you need to see things with your own eyes to know that it can be done. I may not get as much bike time but I will be in the best shape physically and diet wise that I can be when the horn goes off August 26. I have heard that in order for change to take place you must be willing to commit to it for 21 to 28 days depending on what you read. Most of us never allow the process to be seen because we want things quickly and if we don’t see the change fast enough. After this experience I now realize that if you are under pressure to make changes you will. Maybe we should not allow ourselves the option of backing out. If we buy the change we are less likely to just quit even when things get difficult or the changes don’t happen fast enough through our eyes. I never realized that buying a barn would change my perspective on allowing a plan to take hold but I bought into it and was damn sure I wasn’t going to lose my investment. The pain of failure was greater than the pain of the schedule and the monotony of the work. With about one week of vacation left I would normally begrudgingly be getting ready for the year ahead but this year I am truly pumped for the year ahead. I have an awesome new barn that I am a part owner of, I have a great family who is massively supportive, a great team at FSC to get ready, and did I mention that race season is right around the corner. I guess this summer really hasn’t been that bad when I think about it that way.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel

Seven days, one week, and a lot of time on 8.5 acres must mean that we have been busy at H&W Stables. Actually, the last week has bought a bunch of closure to much of the work at the barn. Last Thursday we decided to make a big push and I vowed that the front half of the barn would be fully operational by the following Thursday. Well, after today’s work we have accomplished that. Friday was golf day and man was it fun. The actual golf was not one of my best but the fun had with Tyler was really good. We played at Diamondback which is a tough tract and you don’t go into the woods to find your stray balls. We didn’t see any real rattlesnakes but we did run across two snakes just chilling on the golf course. After the round we decided to stay at the club and enjoy a good clubhouse lunch. I indulged in an ice cold beer and invited my brother, newly 21, to have one as well when he informed me that he didn’t have his ID with him. Seriously, how can you be 21 and not have your ID with you? More importantly, you drove around without your license for how long? After some lunch it was time for me to head back to the barn where I was met with a small water leak. One of the pasture waterer’s decided that it didn’t want to be attached to the hose anymore. This was a relatively easy fix and once it was handled it was back in the barn for some wood cutting. Saturday, although unknown by the rest of us, was the second to last day of major work on the barn. Ken framed out the office door, I started working on moving air through the back stalls with Michelle, and Ruthie painted. The barn was originally set up to handle stallions but since we will not be boarding any of those we decided to get some air moving through the stalls. This meant that we had to remove seven walls and then put them back up with slats put in to allow the flow of some air. Each wall was ten feet wide and was made with steel supports with 2x6’s as the actual walls. Michelle and I cut up 2x2’s 2 and ½ inches wide to put between each 2x6. After that process we then secured the 2x6’s with a 1x4 across the entire stretch. We got three done on Saturday along with the other work. Sunday was the day of celebration. The only bad thing was that by the time we finished on Sunday and realized that we were done with the big projects we were all too tired to actually party. Michelle and I finished up the airflow panels, we started mowing, and the painting wrapped up and all of a sudden we were done. Monday would bring a new process to the barn, clean up. Monday came and with it brought a new step in the renovation process. We started by loading up all the scrap metal and heading to the recycling business. We dropped off around 500 pounds of scrap metal and claimed our massive booty. Well, it wasn’t much of a booty but at least the trash was being moved off the property. More mowing took place, this will become a pattern over the next couple of days, and the pace of the day was decidedly slower. Tuesday was dump day. Michelle and her mother took a fully loaded truck over to the lovely county dump for the things that that didn’t get us paid the day before. One day you get paid and then the next day you are paying. That’s the way life is. I mowed more and then Ken came over and started the weed eating process. This particular process would take one solid day if we started in the morning and went until late in the day. There are fences everywhere, sprinkler heads, and bushes and trees throughout. After the first round of weed eating we will be employing gallons of round up to handle the issue for all the areas except the trees and bushes. Today was waterer Wednesday. We finished the last three waterers and spent the rest of the day shopping for other supplies that will be needed for future days. Tomorrow we will mow some more and set up the office. The week was a blur but it really looks like we will be open and beautiful in just a couple of days. Bring on race season, it’s about that time.

Roofing, real cowboys, and an easier pace

Wow, five days goes by fast. It is already Wednesday evening and the last time I posted any update was on Friday. The big projects are beginning to reach an end so now the little projects are taking over. This means somewhat easier days but still fairly long. Saturday was one of the last busy days of heavy lifting. Ken and I tackled the back of the barn with the hanging of a little more Hardy board. This project really wasn’t too bad minus the fact that we had to fashion some backing panels so we could secure the boards to the wall. We also finished last bit of trim boards to the hay barn when we realized that we were going to need to add some corner trim to finish it off. Those boards have been obtained, painted, and are ready for the barn. We will probably finish that off tomorrow which will pretty much finish the main barn and hay barn as far as big outside projects are concerned. Sunday began some slower more meticulous days at the barn. This is a huge relief because we have really put a ton of sweat equity into the facility up to this point. I had the great task of slinging poop from the poop pile to the pastures. This is not a bad process and isn’t nearly as gross as it sounds. Horses eat grass, grain, and hay so their poop is really pretty natural and only stinks at the initial drop. Speaking of little jobs that are now being done is the blue tape removal task. We have painted nearly every inch of the exterior of the barn so blue tape is everywhere. This isn’t a hard task but it means moving the ladder and getting all the tape from the nooks and crannies where the ladies put it to get that nice straight line. Monday wasn’t that hard of a day because we had some great help but damn it was hot. Monday morning at 7:30 I was on the tin roof of the barn to help repair the one major leak we had in the facility. It isn’t real high and the pitch isn’t that bad but for all those that know me know that I am not fond of heights, ladders, or roofs. Well, I tackled all three and spent most of the day on and off the roof to finish up the fix. We added 40 feet of flashing and some more Hardy board panels to block off the leak. Michelle and I had the realization that roofers just don’t make enough money. The funny about fixing a roof is that you don’t know if it worked until it rains. Since we had to wait for the afternoon rains we did some general maintenance things around the barn and got prepped for our light day we were going to have on Tuesday. The rains came and the roof worked pretty well. We found some small leaks not related to the repair but we now have a much drier barn area. After the rain I threw more poop and Michelle and her mom hung a new light out by the wash racks. We got home around 9:30 but that was okay because Tuesday was going to be our theoretical off day. Tuesday morning brought the normal feeding schedule but then it was time to load up the trailer and head to Mrs. Kathy’s for Brianna’s lessons. Yes, that is right she was going to have three lessons during the morning. The first started at 9 am and we finally pulled out of her barn around 1:30. During the time in between Michelle and I thought we would sit back and relax basking in the fact that we were off from our new normal tasks. Well, that lasted about 10 minutes and Mrs. Kathy asked if we could help her with a few projects. Being a good barn buddy you help each other out so of course we went to work. We took a fence off that two horses had run into and straightened it and then we tackled some waterers that had seen better days. After Brianna finished riding it was time to load up and bring Brianna’s new project back to the barn with us. We showed up with one horse and left with two horses. Brianna and Mrs. Kathy had made a deal with a little pony named Lady J. Mrs. Kathy wants her trained a little better and Brianna needs to work with a horse that isn’t so well trained. We stopped at Wendy’s to get a quick bite, we got it to go, and then got the horse and pony show back to our barn and got Lady J somewhat acclimated to her new surroundings. Brianna scurried off to spend some time with my mom and her two cousins. Michelle and I decided to spend the rest of our off day doing work for the barn just not at the barn so we headed to Home Depot to get some more pipe so that we could add another pasture waterer since we are turning our obstacle course into an alternative pasture. After getting done at the first stop we then landed at Tractor Supply to get the actual waterer and 40 gallon tub. Since Brianna was spending the night with my mom and her two cousins Michelle and I decided to have a romantic dinner at Fat Boy’s before heading back to the barn for the evening feedings. We were home before dark and just vegged at the house thinking that off days will never really be off days again. Today Michelle and I had the barn to ourselves, kind of. We took care of the morning feedings and then went and got some breakfast. I told you the projects were becoming smaller. We got back and immediately started working on the new waterer. We were slightly interrupted when Gramma Welch and Grampa Welch bought us out our lunch. They had prepared us some incredibly good tuna salad that we devoured and then headed back out. We did some pasture maintenance and then were interrupted by the farrier. It was time to get all the horses hooves done so we spent about 2 hours holding horses and talking with the farrier. He was really cool and still runs cattle and ropes in competition even though he is not a young guy. We got back to field maintenance when we were interrupted again with some more grandparents stopping by to drop off drinks for us. After this delay we got back to working on the pasture and then it was time for the evening feeding. When finished our peaceful day alone with some more interruptions. Michelle’s grandparents came out to the barn to have ice cream, yes we have lots of ice cream at our barn. My mom bought the kids out to see the horses and then they left and finally, Jim came by to show us a cool video. This was an awesome distraction. He bought us a DVD of an 80,000 dollar cutting horse doing its thing in competition. We spent about twenty minutes watching some different runs and even though I don’t know anything about horses I can tell you that that was an unbelievable horse. We finally shut the gate about 8:30 and headed to the house to wait on Brianna. Man, these slow days are really cool but they are still long. It is really exciting to be working on some other things and makes going to the barn fresh every day now.

3 days brings a new perspective

Another three days have come and gone but the work is still the same. I really cannot complain because the past three days have had some great diversity so the work is not as monotonous as the past two and a half weeks. On Wednesday, the 4th of July we had all decided that we were going to shut down early enough to actually enjoy some fireworks from the porch at GGMa’s house. During the day we started working on some of the different projects. I began the process of reworking the automatic waterers and how they will be hung within the stalls. More work was done on the hay barn and discussion began to occur on how to handle a leaking roof joint. We made another trip to Home Depot and to Lowe’s to gather the waterer supplies and more odds and ends. We did shut down and enjoyed a variety of fireworks and a couple of cold beers. This one event has changed the perspective of all of us involved in the large project we have undertaken. We have all realized that as much as we have dedicated the vast majority of our waking hours to the ultimate goal we have forgotten to sit back and enjoy life. Thursday was back to the grind but with a renewed purpose and insight. I worked on installing the waterers and got two of them all hooked up. I probably could have gotten them all put in but there were some distractions that took place. Some of them were work related and others were just simply enjoyable. Brianna had one the horses out in the arena going through her paces and one of our boarders had her horse out as well putting it through a good workout. The bathroom finally is done thanks to a new toilet seat, a fresh coat of paint on the mirror frame, and some trim board on some panel that the ladies didn’t like. Yeah, one thing is done. Hey, I’ll take it. We also got some advice on how to repair the roof and will tackle that project on Monday. It was a little weird because it was so hot, like before the 4th, but the work didn’t seem as tedious as it was previously. Last evening was really cool because we wanted to test our arena lights so we opened up for a night ride. Brianna, Michelle, Ruthie, and one of our boarders came out and rode from about 8:30 to 10:00. Even though that put us there really late into the evening it was cool to see that we have the option of opening our facility for more convenience for the boarders. Friday, ah Friday, came and this was a complete change from our past three weeks. I still got up and headed to the barn for the morning feeding and stall mucking but that’s where the normal changed. Finally, after a two week hiatus I got to play golf again. I headed to River Greens in Avon Park to meet up with the Webber crew and we teed it up to continue our summer competition. After 17 holes Brad and I were tied so the 18th was going to decide it all. After the round, which I did win, Brad and I were amazed at how well we both shot. Normally we are in the low to mid 90’s but today we both shot under 90. I actually shot an 84 which is my best round in a very long time. Since the day was kind of an off day from the barn I headed back to the house to meet up with my loves’ and actually just hang out at the house. We did run to Frostproof to pick up the roofing needs from Bagwell Lumber but other than that it was a good lazy afternoon at the casa de Heath. Around 6:30 we headed back to the barn for the evening feeding but did nothing more. Once we got home Michelle crashed and Brianna did my hair. During the summer I let it grow out and she gets a kick out of putting as many hairclips in it as she can. She has been doing it since she was a very little girl. She went to bed around 10 while Michelle is still passed out on the floor. It was almost a normal day from our past. Tomorrow we will hit the floor running and see how much work we can get done. I think we will start taking some breaks and my goal is that we work harder but also take some rest days so that we can maintain the positive feelings we have felt from our little break. When you train hard you must balance your work load with your rest periods. I also think this is true when it comes to work projects as you need to sit back and actually realize you are accomplishing things. If you just keep pounding out work you become engrossed in continuing projects instead of finishing each goal. Just my perspective.

Slowly getting there and funny observations

Hey, I only missed two days this time. The last time I put words to paper it was Saturday night. Sunday at the barn started as a normal day but it appears the heat is getting to all of us. We began by finishing up the final trim boards on the front and the side of the barn. We also began remodeling one of the stalls for Brianna’s big boy because the stall we initially chose just doesn’t seem to match his size. Some of the paneling that we had installed now had to be disassembled for airflow purposes. Sunday was also a day to see strange things and revel in the fact that individuality is such an awesome thing to admire. We had to make a trip to Lowe’s and while we were there I saw one of those sites that just make you scratch your head. Picture a guy about 6’4” and 260 with a great grey mullet with a pierced ear with a nice dangly lion head earring. Okay, now add to that he is wearing a Harley-Davidson T-shirt and Harley-Davidson jeans. At this point you are thinking a real bad ass. Hold your horses because the bad boy points are about to go away. As you continue down to his footwear notice that he is wearing, not squared toed leather riding boots but Sketcher’s Shape Ups. Yep, the bad ass points just got wiped clean. That was enough to make a hot day more enjoyable but there was one more special moment while on the way home. We stopped by our favorite convenience store, Race Trac, to get a drink and when we hit the line it happened. The woman in front of us was talking with a friend about the fact that she was struggling losing weight. I really wanted to ask her if I could help her with her problem but figured it would have led to a confrontation that would not have been enjoyable. I think the problem with her weight loss struggles may have been attributed to the 52 ounce Coke Icee she was proudly holding while having the in-depth conversation with her friend. Work at the barn gets spotty because we have had lots of guests. Some are family and others are friends but most of the time we welcome the distraction. Sunday finished with some positive progress and the realization that much work was still ahead of us. Monday rolled in and we all overslept. We got to the barn around 7:45 and rushed to get the horses fed and moved out to the pastures so we could begin our work. We had a nice session until about 10:45 when we headed to Circle R Ranch and Livestock Supply. We went there to look at entrance gates and openers and of course other items on our wish list. Once we finished it was lunch time and just plain hot. After a nice break we started back to the tasks and Tyler showed up so he and I headed to Home Depot to pick up all the parts and pieces to reconstruct the front water supply. We got all of our stuff, of course we forgot a few things that we will have to go back and get to finish completely but we did obtain enough to get the shut off valves all installed. We stopped at Tractor Supply on the way home because we needed some supply lines that we couldn’t find and while there we ran into the interesting story for Monday. While looking for hose a nice lady happened by and began conversation. To make a long story really short she was aware of our barn, in fact she used to run it, and was somewhat negative on the former owner. No big deal, everyone is entitled to their opinion and I will listen and move on. She also knew Yonka, she owned him at one time, and had determined that he had been stolen from her a few years ago. I don’t know anything about that as he is registered with the American Paint Horse Association legally through my wife. Well, she was just too curious so about 20 minutes after I got back to the barn, without supply lines, she and her husband showed up to snoop about and check on Yonka. This interaction with Michelle was entertaining and in the end the lady and her husband were very nice and appreciative of what we are doing with H&W Stables. That pretty much ended the work day since by the time they left a massive storm came in and we were running around dodging lightning to move horses for the night. Tuesday was kids’ day at the barn. Mother-in-law and father-in-law Welch needed to do their real jobs so we were left to our own devices. We did our morning duties and then loaded up our trailer with Yonka and headed to Brianna’s lesson with Mrs. Grinstead. While Brianna rode and rode Michelle and I just sat in the shade and tried to rest. We also went and played with the little foal. He is really growing and has quite a personality on him. Finally about 1:30 we were heading back to our barn but first we had to grab some lunch. Horse in tow, we hit Micky D’s and it is amazing the looks you get from little kids when you show up at McDonald’s with a horse. It is fun putting a smile on people’s faces and Yonka is a good looking Paint so people just want to check him out. We got back to the barn, moved some horses around and then got down to business. We had one minor distraction with an out of town family member that hadn’t seen the barn so we gave her the $5 tour and then got down to business. Michelle and I started connecting all the front water pipe back for the watering system. We added a shut-off valve, and drilled two holes through the front wall for drainage pipe and water faucets out front by the wash racks. The two holes really weren’t a big deal but during one of them we had a couple of funny moments. The drain hole goes through a 6x6 post, two panels, and then exits out of a 2x6. No big deal except that while drilling the final portion the bit fell off and disappeared in the wall. How do you lose a 1 ¼ inch hole drilling bit? Quick answer is you let me mess with it. To get it out we had to remove the outer trim board and snake it out of the wall. Awesome, it worked so we tried it again. After the second failed attempt I just decided to drill from the outer wall and miraculously hit the existing hole perfectly. Once that debacle was completed we motored along and got all the front stalls completed minus actually installing the waterers. Hey, I need something to do in the shade tomorrow. The reason for all this work really hit home today. As Michelle and I were working today Brianna went out and worked both of her horses. She put Johnnie in the arena and rode him bareback for almost an hour and then went out and got all the horses to bring them in for feeding time. Even though the work at this time is tiring and somewhat frustrating watching your child enjoy her horses anytime is becoming worth the effort. Have a great 4th of July and please take a moment to remember why we actually celebrate the day. It is also okay to have a BBQ, drink some beer, and watch fireworks. If you are bored and in my area, stop by and check out the barn.