I thought it would be easier...putting up some horse fencing behind the house here in Michigan. Last summer when I had the horses over here, they got out and were heading down the road. We found them over a mile away at about 6 a.m. If they do come over here to the house, I just have to make sure they cannot get out.
I got a lot of help from one of the salesmen at Tractor Supply here in Traverse City. I went there to buy some corral panels but walked out with the supplies to put up wire fencing. I had wire, tighteners, ceramic fence wire holders, an electric fence charger, a grounding pole, etc.
After I got back here to the house it occurs to me that I try to do too much myself...without help. I mean some of this is hard to put up. I did one line of wire-- then tightened it. The wire came loose somewhere. I reattached it, then re-tightened. If it won't stay up on its own, it is unlikely to stay up when a horse is pushing against it.
I put the second strand wire up...tightened it then decided it was time to jump in the lake to cool down. It was really hot and I needed a break. I was frustrated. I think things will be easy to do and they aren't that easy sometimes. But "easy" is a relative concept. The salesman at Tractor Supply thinks putting up fencing is easy but that does not mean it is easy for all people-like me...
I even feel like giving up on getting a fence up over here. But I don't like that concept of giving up. Maybe there are other options out there that I can look in to but just flat-out giving up isn't going to be one of them.
I remember learning in one of the OK Corral workshops the idea of stepping back and looking at our resources. Here is what I see as my resources.
I can:
- Continue building the fence on my own.
- Find someone who knows how to put up fencing and have them put it up.
- Keep the horses at the local stable where they are now.
- Put up corral panels in place of wire electrical fencing.
These are my options. Basically I am trying to put horses on a property that really isn't horse property. But the horses will just be here for a short time and I have so much fun riding them behind our house and up on Alligator Hill that I want to bring them back here again. So I am going to somehow make it work.
