Motel Miguel: Farm life is not easy work....

My stay at Dojea Stables has been an amazing experience so far. Let me tell you about just one of those learning experiences.

Being from Los Angeles a scene like this is magical. We don't get to have views of rolling fields full of beautiful mares and their foals. The sun shining all day long helping the alfalfa grow before being cut and bundled.

I have learned that the work never ends and that there's no days off when the livestock depends on you. Everyone wakes up early in order to feed the animals that need feeding. There are horses to be worked out....

Repairs to be made on the spot. This one early morning I wanted to see the young two and three year olds so I went around the back of the barn and when I came around the corner I noticed this....

These two young mares had knocked their gate off of the hinges. So that needed immediate attention. I called my friend Jeanie, the lady of the house, and told her what had happened. Her husband Doug was off the ranch at the moment and the farm hands were busy doing other farm stuff. So she came down and between her and I we did a temporary fix. I'd show you pictures but I wouldn't do that to my friend because she was in her pajamas and I don't do that to a lady. Let's just say that this beautiful grandmother isn't afraid of doing any job a man can do!

This is my view every morning..... So while the corn grows in the warm sunshine other crops need to be taken care of.

The alfalfa fields need cutting several times a year in preparation for winter and the cold weather, freezing temperatures along with the snow that comes with it.

Once it is cut, the alfalfa needs to dry out for a few days before being tied into either the rectangle shaped or the large round bales. It needs to be dry in order to do this, you can't do it if the alfalfa is wet or you run the risk of mold.

There's a piece of machinery for every task. Once the alfalfa has been cut down it needs to be fluffed and turned to dry and then prepared in rows to prepare for bundling.

Then they come along with the tractor pulling the bundling machine along with the hay wagon where the guys pick up the bales and stack them neatly in order that none fall off as they go along.

It's not easy work. Depending on the size of the field there can be hundreds or thousand so bales to stack and put away. Normally they are stacked five or six high and each wagon can hold a couple hundred bales.

Then it all needs to be stored in the barns, so it also has to be unloaded from the hay wagons.

I got to ride along in the tractor when some of the 1300lb round bales were done. It's hard work riding in the tractor and at the end of the day your back will be feeling it.