Now that Riley is back in work I need to adjust his feed. He gets a concentrate, a fat supplement, and Smartpak wells that I want to be divided across his three feedings a day. The Smartpak part is easy, but I have separate measuring cups for the concentrate and fat supplement, plus I want the concentrate amount gradually increased. And it doesn't help when you change your mind in the middle of the note. Two more drafts, and I finally arrived at the one that captured every nuance Riley's feeding regimen. Yes, I wrote the perfect instructions. Then I left them at home....
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Sometimes the easiest thing is to prepackage all his supplements--if you can...or even each of his feedings every day yourself. If you can't get there every day, then package what you can and leave the notes.
ReplyDeleteYou could do the supplements in baggies, each with a date and time. It can make is less complicated for whoever is doing the feed, at least until they get the hang of your unique program.
But I have to laugh. I've left similar notes home in the past myself. The ones you work on the hardest are often most forgotten....*sigh*
Oh my goodness, does that look familiar! LOL I don't do the SmartPaks, but Miles is now on 3 supplements plus beet pulp plus his regular grain and hay. oy oy oy...
ReplyDeleteYou've clearly never worked in a barn. Instructions like yours mean that each meal has to be pre-bagged by you, the owner, if you want it done the way you want it (unless you're paying $2k/month for board). At any barn larger than 8 horses, it's unfair to expect the barn workers to do anything other than feed a set amount of grain and a single SmartPak/supplement ... anything beyond that needs to be bagged by the owner.
ReplyDeleteHah! Sarah, I've worked at barns since 1996 (mostly on weekends), and have blogged extensively on the subject of barn work and labor and management. I'm paying less than a quarter of the board figure you give, and I don't pre-bag. I work at that barn on Saturdays and Sundays so I see both sides of the equation -- boarder and worker.
ReplyDeleteYou have no idea how much I can relate to this!
ReplyDeleteWith my mare it took me ages to figure out the right feed for her (Ulcers, chronic colics ect, ect.) Our barn owners were and are always willing to do "special needs" but with +40 horses to feed things can get just a little complicated.
After a while I changed the plan and went Tupperware. That was one of the best ideas I've ever had!
In fact, this works so good that I'm still doing it for The New Welsh aswell.
Wow, that sounds exactly like the kind of plan I would execute flawlessly! I have finally learned to go and PUT IT IN THE CAR the moment I am done with whatever it is that needs to go with me somewhere. It may not be a foolproof plan, but it works 95% of the time anyway (the 5% represents those times I get sidetracked on my way to the garage...sad, but true :o)
ReplyDeleteLunch? I know that you have mentioned it before, but I am still drooling over three meals a day.
ReplyDeleteMy barn is small, but we still use a large grid on a white board to organize feeding. Each row is labeled with a horse name and the amount of grain, beet pulp, supplements, and hay they get for morning and evening feedings. Really important additions, like medications, get a separate chart with the dates to be administered and a box to initial so we know the horse got his meds.
This white board grid works great at the larger barn next door (10+ horses). If someone has to feed in a pinch, all the information is available for each horse.
I think Riley needs some more supplements, ROFL. I hope you give your barn workers Xmas presents! ;-P
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