Riding Fence

It's amazing how over the span of a winter, what damage can be done to a fenceline.  The weight of the snow on top of the grass that grew up and over the bottom wires can pull and stretch a wire more than you think. 

The heifers are getting anxious to get out there on their pasture to take in some of that nice green grass. So while we're waiting for that grass to get busy and get growing, there's plenty of fence that needs to be checked.  This weekend, I threw the saddle and saddle bags on my mare.  The saddle bags were loaded up with plastic T-post insulators, small slips of wire, pliers, and clips for making any repairs that we may come across.  Starting at one of the corners posts, we made our way slowly around the pasture, pulling up wire and replacing clips that had been pulled off by the weight of the snow.  My mare is happy to join me on projects like this.  I have her in a grazing bit - which makes it easier for her to munch grass without getting her mouth pulled on - and unsnap the reins.  They get tied around the saddle horn.  With a lead rope snapped to her halter, she walks along behind me, munching on grass as I do my work.  No complaints from her!  Every once in awhile she'd get to the end of her rope and reach for more, nearly pulling me off of my feet.  But she was happy just to be out and enjoying the warm spring day along with plenty of tender green grass.

Everything was going rather smoothly with only a few repairs when we came across a rather long stretch of fence that was missing a wire.  After looking closer, I found that the field on the other side of the fence had been in corn last year.  When harvested, the driver must have gotten too close to the fence with his combine snout and caught one of the wires, dragging it quite some distance across the field.  There was also alot of water in the pasture in this area, so I sure was glad I'd wore my knee-high boots!  This fix-it job took awhile - looking for the lost wire, clipping it on posts, and generally making it look more like something that would hold the heifers in.  But, thank goodness, our neighbor came along and put in a new stretch of wire later in the day.  That was a good thing because the wire that I found and was working with was rather rusty and often broke when I was trying to work with it.

So, after a few more clips were replaced and gates closed, my old mare and I headed for home.  Now, all we need are a few more warm sunny days to encourage the grass to grow a little more, and we'll be hauling heifers over to the summer pasture - kicking and bucking as they exit the stock trailer - and heading out to fill up on that sweet green grass!