Relative Something

The first project of the day yesterday was to replace the broken board from the paddock fence. We still have all the old boards taken from the deck when that got redone, so I rummaged through the stack in the hay shed for an 8-foot board that was in reasonable condition. Cyndie came down to help and we worked to push the end post back toward vertical while pouring rocks and lime screenings into the void to hold it.

The wire had simply pulled out of the ratcheting tensioner so re-threading it and cranking it tight again provided the finishing touch after screwing the board to the posts.

One fix down, one remaining…

We moved to the bent gate and started by unthreading the webbing that Pam and John had used to temporarily secure the mangled gate. I loosened the clamp that secured the “hinged” end to the posts.

We laid the gate on the ground and debated our next move.

While talking it through, we started putting our weight on it and found that was enough to slowly return it toward flat. Next, we brainstormed ideas for prying the crossbars to close the widest gap. Using what we had immediately available, we found the webbing worked well to pull the bars closer together. After making extra wraps to hold it, we tied off the ends and declared it “good enough.”

The whole process went surprisingly smoothly and the fix was completed with relative ease using minimal additional tools beyond what we had brought with us. How often do things go as well as that? Rarely, in my experience.

It doesn’t look pretty and it’s not very sturdy, given several kinks and broken welds, but it closes the space and serves as a visual barrier at the very least. I’m rather pleased we aren’t forced to buy a new one to replace it right away. If a horse decides to run into it again, I suspect the result will be beyond repair.

For some reason, the horses showed total disdain for our activity and left us alone the entire time. Maybe they were embarrassed about the original incident and were distancing themselves from the evidence.

As soon as I finish mowing around the fence, I will energize the wires again and re-train the horses to avoid the fences at all costs. It’s probably not that big of an issue for them since they’ve now turned their attention to abusing the feed buckets instead.

When it comes to owning horses, it seems there is always another new fix awaiting attention around the next corner.

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