Chronicles of a Stable Owner: The Never-ending Series of Unfortunate Events

Chronicles of a Stable Owner are real-life stories about caring for horses and their people
Written by Dr. Gwen Donohoe, Owner/Manager at Sagehill Stables

​It had been a beautiful 10 days of no rain and hot weather, and I finished baling all the hay.  The tractors air conditioner quit working the last two days of baling, so it was like driving around in my own personal Thermea spa; hotter inside the cab than outside!  I tried to keep reminding myself that people pay a lot of money for this experience...

The air conditioner break-down was nothing compared to the last month's series of unfortunate events however...

It started about a month ago...  I started up the tractor to feed some hay, but something sounded not quite right. I turned around to park the tractor, but as I did the noise got extremely loud!  I turned off the tractor.  Smoke started coming out from the engine! I grabbed the fire extinguisher but there was no fire... The tractor was dead right in the middle of the parking lot... ​

Turns out it was the starter.  Luckily, we had great service from the dealership and were up and running again in less than 24 hours.  Amazing really!  Replaced the ignition switch, batteries and a relay switch while we were at it... (insert eye roll and money emoticons here!)

About two weeks had gone by, and the tractor had been working great.  I went to start the tractor one morning...  Nothing.  Stone cold dead, with brand new batteries...  Alternator needed to be replaced.  This could not be happening.   Must... Think... Positive...  Another huge repair bill that I was going to have to sacrifice something else to pay for... But, trying to look on the positive side, once again, they were able to get me moving again in less than 24 hrs. 

It was a few days later, and I had successfully cut some hay over the past couple days. Everything was working great!  I started the tractor to feed some hay before heading to the field bale hay...  I could hear something didn't sound quite right. It was a familiar sound... I couldn't believe it.  The starter... The smoke...

Then my husband walked up... "I hate to tell you this now..." is how the conversation started.  The lawnmower wouldn't move... and the front-wheel assist on our other tractor was not working... Seriously, how is this even happening?  How much bad luck can we possibly have?  I thought it only came in three's...

The third service call and the third time they came out the next day in less than 24 hrs.  This time they were able to find out the root cause of some of the issues at least... A hard to find, little relay switch... The serviceman gave it to me and told me maybe I'd like to run it over with the tractor to feel better... Another company came to pick up the lawnmower a few days later... 

Unexpected bills and breakdowns like this are never what anyone needs.  The timing is always inconvenient.  The feelings of "why is this happening to me?", "poor me", "can't things just go smoothly for once?", can become all encompassing if you let them.  It's important to be able to take a breathe and say hey, I can figure out how to get this fixed.  Keep moving forward is all you can do in these situations that seem overwhelming.  I had made commitments that I needed that particular tractor for.  The tractor had to work.  The lawn mower was still on warranty at least... So what, the grass was going to not get cut on time?  Not cutting your grass is trendy now apparently... The other tractor was still useable... just not through any mud!

I successfully made 400 bales over the past week, with no major break-downs besides a malfunctioning air conditioner, and that I could live with.  There could have been baler and haybine breakdowns of all kinds, but there was nothing.  And hey, I love the spa!  Making some of my own hay will eventually pay off the tractor repairs.  Short term cash flow was another issue of course, but that is the life of owning a business and a challenge every business owner deals with. Something else will not get done on the to do list, or I will have to take on more work myself, prioritizing and planning is key.  To think everything is always going to run smoothly like you've outlined in your business plan is just not reality.  People, weather, equipment, everything changes constantly.  And these things happen to everyone, it's not just you. I hope sharing my story will help you feel like your not alone in dealing with your bad luck, whether it's personal or business related...  How you turn your unfortunate events into opportunities is what makes you a stronger and more resilient person...

​Despite being finished making hay for the year, I don't feel that overwhelming feeling of accomplishment that I remember enjoying when I was younger.  I have a million other things on my to-do list that I've been putting off to make hay.  And I still have to arrange to haul them all home... But on to the next thing on the to do list... which is calling the dealership about the lawn mower they just brought back. After two hours of cutting it won't move, again... and getting our other tractor unstuck out of the mud...