Fixing Finessa's Founder

Brett and I have both been wondering if Finessa's founder a few months back is related to the hole she has been chewing in the barn siding.  The hole has been there for a few years and was caused by a horse rolling too close to the wall and kicking it on his way up.  Thanks Strider - we're thinking of you up in horsey heaven and hoping you are rolling in wide open places.

When holes have been around a long time, you forget about them.  You don't even see them anymore.  I didn't notice the hole until the other day when I caught Finessa happily munching away, nibbling the corners, making the hole deeper and bigger.  She didn't want her hay, she wanted the tasty blend of concrete siding and wood.  ...and then she started limping around again.

This morning after chores, Brett got right on the task of covering it up with wire mesh.

 It was 8:00 when we started and already hot and humid.

This gauge says "normal" is 50-75% humidity.  Says who???  We are used to humidity at 10-15% so at 45% it feels like a rain forest.

The forecast says temps around 100F again today.  Ugh.

Brett got all of his equipment out.  Notice that the end of the cord to plug in his air compressor is going into Flash's stall.  No, the electrical outlet isn't in the stall.  Brett was messing with Flash, draping the cord around his neck and otherwise disturbing Flash's breakfast.  Not that Flash cared, he just kept eating with the cord hanging over his face.








Next, we kicked the donkeys out of their stall.  They weren't happy about leaving their breakfast behind.  Tuffy tested the latch and tried to push his way back in.

First step was nailing a piece of wood against the siding so there would be something to staple the wire mesh onto.  Staples don't work too well with concrete siding.  Once the wood was in place, Brett cut the mesh.  Bella and I assisted.

...the helpers.  Bella was eying Brett's bucket of tools.  She was not much of a helper.  We kept hoping she would go back to her herd but no, she wanted family time.

My job... standing on the mesh while Brett cut it to the right size.  Why do I always get the difficult jobs?

Mesh installed.  Time to let the Tuffy and Finessa back into their stall.

Tuffy was looking very closely at the mesh.  We worried that they would grab it at the bottom and pull it off.  So, Brett went off in search of some wood to put along the bottom and hold the mesh secure.

First he tried this big piece.

Bella thought it might work.

Brett tried driving a couple metal stakes into the ground to hold it in place but the barn footing was in the way.  

He went off to look for another piece of wood, one that wasn't so thick so he could nail it on.

Jackson took a break from his morning hay to come out and see what all the commotion was about.

Good job, Dad!