Sometimes, things just happen

Manny has been thoroughly enjoying his new home. He even made friends with the two bossy Arabian mares and they allowed him to eat with them. He greets his human at the gate every day and follows her around the pasture in play. Just yesterday they were out playing together in the cold and mud, but neither one would have had it any other way. Manny is loved.


Early this morning, Manny's legs folded beneath him for the last time.


He hadn't gone off his feed, he wasn't sluggish and didn't seem sick. Doc had just checked him out in his new home a few weeks ago. There were no injuries and no cause for concern. There wasn't any sign in the mud that he had struggled to rise.


I think Manny's heart had just had enough. Megan is heartbroken and I can't blame her at all. But I hope she realizes that she gave Manny what he needed in his final days... a kind and gentle human all his own.

Spring in December

After weeks of frigid cold, rain, and snow, today was the perfect day to fly a kite. It was 70 degrees and sunny, with a warm breeze blowing from the South. It would have been an incredible day for a ride. Or to finally finish the chicken coop. Or to work on several of the million or so other projects that we have going on in the great outdoors.

Of course I was on-call for work. Do you even need to ask?

But all was not lost! I dragged phone and laptop out onto the porch, threw caution to the wind, and went out to the garden. On December 27th. What was I thinking???

I was thinking that those four bales of straw we bought two months ago weren't going to spread themselves out. I was thinking the perennial herbs weren't going to prune themselves. And with all of the seed catalogs that have been pouring in lately, I was simply in the mood to get dirt under my nails.

#567 on the list of things that I suck at: guesstimating how many bales of straw it will take to put the garden to bed for the winter. Four bales weren't nearly enough -- I need at least five more.

Before I spread out the straw I cut back the herbs. The hyssop and catnip were still not only green, but actually growing. How dare they. Once I cut back the catnip it wasn't long before Woogie took up residence in the bed to roll about in the catnip and purr contentedly in the sun.

At least while I was working in the garden I got to do some horse-watching. After the main herd finished up their morning hay, they all took turns napping in the sun. At first Hunter tried to do the macho thing and stand guard while Meghan and Jewel slept...

but eventually the warmth of the sun was too much even for him and chivalry died right then and there.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! I cleaned house (finally!) and Glenn butchered a few more of the roosters. I think I've said before that we do things a little backwards around here, right? :)

A Jake Update

I simply don't know how to say this. So I'm going to come right out with it and you guys can do with it what you wish.

When April took Jake to the vet on Friday the vet at first thought that the distended belly was from worms. When the vet couldn't find any evidence of worms in the stool, he took an x-ray.

Rocks. Stones. Gravel.

Jake had been eating whatever he could find to ease the hunger pains in his belly. Whatever he could find to just survive. It seems the only thing his chain allowed him to reach was the gravel in the driveway.

When April told me, I was stunned. Shocked. I sat in disbelief for hours. The vet says that the gravel will pass in the coming weeks and Jake will be okay. That didn't stop me from entertaining myself by coming up with all sorts of ways to punish, torture, and starve the scum sucking idiots that did this to him.

I still can't look at one of my dogs and not think of Jake. And tear up just a little.

Saving Jake

Jake is a dog. He's a black lab something or other that lived on a chain in a yard in Wyoming. Jake had no shelter, little food or water, and no attention. His owners didn't love him. They didn't want him. But they kept him anyway and fed him when they felt like it.

April is a friend and coworker of mine and her parents live down the road from Jake. On Christmas Eve, April drove over to inquire about the dog. Did they want him? Could she have him? His owners were too lazy to try to find a home for him on their own, or even take him to the pound. But when opportunity knocked and they were able to get rid of their "problem" without having to put forth any effort of their own, they jumped at the chance. April drove back to her parent's place with a very happy and mud caked Jake in the back seat.

Jake, after some grooming to remove all the dried mud. Note the distended belly, atrophied muscles, and visible back and hip bones.

April has been feeding Jake tiny amounts of food and water every couple of hours. The first time he ate he turned around and threw it back up. The poor guy just wasn't used to getting food. He had to go out half a dozen times during the first night because his intestines and bladder were still unused to having anything to process.

Yesterday, April let him off the leash to see what he'd do. Jake ran. And ran. And then ran some more. Imagine being free to run for the first time in years! But the best part... the absolute best thing ever, was that he came back to April. Isn't it amazing, that only after 12 hours he already knew where his new home was? He didn't go back to the chain and yard that he'd known for years, he went back to April. The human that had shown compassion, love, and more importantly, fed him.

After only a day and a half he's turned into a ravenous and energetic dog, happy to be alive and loved for the first time in years. And he'd really really really like to play with Ralphie the cat, but Ralphie has other ideas. Like hiding. For the rest of his nine lives.

Jake goes to the vet today to get checked out and wormed. Once he's healthy again April will be looking for a new home for him. As much as April would love to keep him, she lives in a townhouse and Jake deserves the room to run. And run. And then run some more.

Battered and bruised

Is there a doctor in the house?


Can you get tennis elbow from hammering? I must have hammered hundreds of nails over the weekend, in all positions and from all angles possible. It was like Twister with tools. I did learn one very valuable lesson -- I'm not ambidextrous when it comes to hammering. Not unless you call it talent that I can hit the nail 1 out of 5 times with my left hand. And I have bruises all over my arms with no clue how they got there. And my right elbow aches. And I think I'm done whining.


We finally got a roof on the new run-in shed. It's a temporary roof, but it will keep the bachelors dry until we can bring in more plywood and tin. We also got the truck very stuck in the mud while hauling the rafter materials. And I am being incredibly generous in the use of the term "we", seeing as how I wasn't even in the truck at the time and was yelling for Glenn to stop before he got past the point of no return. Not only did he reach that point, but kept on going. Poor Bertha truck now has one less tail light and a huge dent in bed on the driver's side. Cattle Baron had to come over yesterday with his tractor to pull Bertha out of the hole Glenn had put her in. Now I'm really glad I didn't get too vicious over the cows in my yard.


We also built three more standing stalls in the big barn yesterday. Now Gentry, Willow, and Meghan have a place to eat where they can't beat up on anyone else once they're done. This leaves Mandy (who goes home tonight now that everything is frozen and we can get to the trailer), Hunter, Jewel, and Radar out loose with their own buckets. Three more standing stalls and I won't even have to tie up the brat pack while they eat and life will be good. Or at least feeding the herd will be easier.


Anastasia came over this weekend to show Glenn how to butcher a chicken and to show me how to "disassemble" the chicken. I'm honestly curious as to how Glenn did the deed, but really too much of a wimp to ask. I can live without the details. Really.


And what was I doing yesterday evening as the wind was whipping through our hollow at 40mph with the temperature in the teens? I was in the garden. Clipping spinach and collards. Then I canned the greens (7 quarts, thankyouverymuch). Have I mentioned I don't even eat canned greens??


It's extremely cold today and I've had to break the ice in the troughs twice already. With another hammer. Cause I seem to have a thing for hammers lately. All the critters are cuddled up in the living room around the kerosene heater. I really wish we had a toilet in the living room because the bathroom feels like -30 right now. And I have to pee. But that's another story. Heidi and Cody are sharing the dog bed, Brie is under my feet (of course), Zeus is taking up his usual spot right in front of the door, and Thor, well... Thor is just Thor.

Delight's Reigning Gentry

Meet the latest addition. His name is Gentry and he's a 7 year old registered Tennessee Walking Horse. Gentry sold for a good deal of money last year, but has since come up lame in his right front, but usually only when going downhill. The owner had tried to donate him or give him away, but no one wanted him. He had an appointment to be euthanized this morning, which is something that upset his previous owner enough to call me. So he came here instead.




I swear he was clean and shiny when he got off the trailer. He didn't drop and roll in the mud for at least five minutes.

Gentry is a very sweet guy who loves the ladies. Meghan, Jewel and Willow were the first to greet him and he trotted off into the sunset with them. Later when I went up to feed I found him hanging out with Hunter, Kita, and Sadie. After dinner he shared his hay pile with Mandy and Hunter. The owner said he was an alpha in the herd, but I guess one look from Semi can wither even the most macho of men and make them want to hang out with harmless dwarves.

Due to his lameness, Gentry will be taking at least a few months off with massages whenever I can find the time, and maybe some chiropractic care for good measure. The owner had a vet examine him, but they couldn't find anything specific that would cause him to be unsound. He didn't start going lame until he had gone to the trainer this past summer, so I'm hoping it's just something that will get better with some downtime and homeopathic care.

Breakfast at the OK Corral

It's been raining for the past two days. This morning we woke up to a winter wonderland, complete with snow, icicles, and about a gabillion tons of mud. Everywhere. But if you don't let the mud bog you down, it's kinda purdy.







Now that we have four standing stalls and two box stalls, feeding has become a lot easier -- no more tying up the whole herd! Indy and Dolly go in the box stalls to eat unmolested. Junior, Semi, Kita, and Sadie go in the standing stalls. The Brat Pack get tied up with their own buckets in the left section of the barn where they can't beat up on anyone else. Eventually, we'll have four more standing stalls over there. It's just a matter of finding the time since there's already a nice stack of wood in the barn just waiting to be used. Meghan, Jewel, Radar, Hunter, Mandy, and Willow are the easiest keepers and also the lowest on the herd totem pole. They all get the same amount of feed and eat it in just about the same amount of time, so I just spread their buckets out and let them have at it.



Once everyone is done eating their grain, they follow me down to the small barn for their morning hay. The big herd gets five square bales twice a day and I like to spread it out over a huge area and have at least 10 more piles than I have horses. This way there is plenty of small piles of hay and no one gets beat up over it.





Mandy heads back home as soon as we can free the trailer from it's mire of mud. The fence at Hunter's new home will hopefully be finished soon so that he can move on as well. But I'm going to miss the little guy! This will bring us back down to 13 horses in the big herd plus the three bachelors in the back. Woohoo!






Since Manny left Radar has buddied right up with Indy and now the two are inseparable. It's nice to finally see Indy have a friend.






Dear old Dolly. It's really not too cold out today, the troughs aren't even iced over, but I keep blankets on Indy and Dolly if it's below 45. Dolly has also developed cataracts. Doc says it could take anywhere from six months to two years for her to go totally blind. She is also acting like she's losing her hearing. Every morning I have to go searching for her because she's waaaaay in the back pasture by herself instead of with the rest of the herd hanging out close to the barn. I can call and call and call, but she typically doesn't pick up her head and react to my presence until I'm within 50 feet or so. Then she gives me a nicker and follows me back to the barn for breakfast. Poor old girl. She's really put some hooks into my heart recently and it's going to be tough to say goodbye when the time comes.








I sometimes have to remind myself that Junior is also getting up there in age. He'll be 23 or 24 in March, I can't remember exactly. I'll have to dig out his registration papers one of these days and take a look.






I do know that Semi is one year older than Junior, but she's in much better physical shape. The queen of the herd may outlast us all just for spite.






The token Maverick picture. What horse post of mine would complete without Maverick? I think he's going through a bit of a growth spurt, what do you think? Grow, Mavvy, GROW!!

Hunting for Hunter

A day or so ago, Ree over at Pioneer Woman said she "longed for boring". I hope when she finds boring she'll share her secret to success. I'd even settle for a little dullness around here.


When I went up to feed the main herd this morning my headcount came back one shy of a full herd. Where was Hunter? Why wasn't he up Mandy's butt as he's been since she got here this past weekend? There was food to be had, where was the food face? Sometimes the horses go into the back pasture and if there's any wind at all they can't hear me call if they're on the other side of the hill. So Thor and I walked to the top of the hill, expecting to find Hunter on the other side grazing. We did find three deer, which Thor decided to chase in hopes of catching breakfast. He's an eternal optimist.


I walked back to the house, let work know that I'd be MIA for a bit, then grabbed a halter and went out with Thor to search for the Hunter pony. I don't even want to tell you about all of the horrible things that kept going through my mind, especially as I heard gunfire come from the 1000 acre place behind ours. But somehow, I knew I'd find him safe and sound, maybe just a little battered and bruised from some misadventure.


Before I go further, I should explain the layout of our property for those that have never been here. Our 40 acres is shaped mostly like a long rectangle. The bachelor pad starts behind the house and stretches back to about 4 acres of woods that border the 1000 acre neighbor. Running from road, past the house, and along side the bachelor pad are the other two pastures where the rest of the herd roams. It's a good little hike to get from the house to the far reaches of what I call the top pasture (the highest elevation on the place).


My original plan had been to walk up the hill of death and start my search at the barn and work my way back. If I had done that, I would have never found the little guy. Instead, I started in the bachelor pad and worked my way back to the mid-way point where there's a gate going into the top pasture. As I turned to trudge up the hill to the gate, I spotted something white in the woods behind the bachelor's pasture. It looked a lot like Hunter butt. I called and heard a very faint whinny in response.


But why was he standing in one place and not at least turning around to see me? Why was he even in the woods in the first place? As I got closer I kept looking for injuries, blood, swelling, anything that might tell me why he was just standing there and not coming to me as usual. I crawled through the fence and made my way through the briers to get to him. Other than a couple of scratches on his legs there was nothing wrong with him. He gave me a happy little nicker as I put his halter on, then gently made his way between briers to follow me out to the gate. Once we got to the barn he ate his breakfast then meandered his way down to the hay where the rest of the herd was busy munching.


I think I forgot to mention that it's been pouring down rain all morning.


I should give up hoping for dull.

There goes the neighborhood

I'm feeling rather irritated at the moment. Why? Because the cows are back again. Cattle baron came and led them away Sunday night, but they were back yesterday morning. Cattle Baron's younger sister came over with her dogs and traipsed around my yard this morning trying to push said cattle back home... again. This set my dogs into a protective frenzy while I was on the phone with a client. Five barking dogs trying to get through the window to kill the interlopers can be quite loud. Eventually, the cattle left, only to return an hour later. Apparently, no one around here knows how to repair their crappy barbed wire fence. And it's not that the Cattle Baron doesn't feed his cattle. He feeds them plenty. In fact, they have about 30 old, moldy, smelly hay rolls sitting in their driveway. The cattle march right past those rolls to get to our grass.



When the cows were here on Saturday the very hefty bull decided to break into our little shed where we keep hay for the bachelors. Not only did he eat all the hay and poop all over the building, but he put a rather large hole in the top floor of the two-story shed. Now, there is a heifer with a leg stuck in this hole.






And please note the mud in front of the shed. That was grass a couple of days ago.







And lest you think I'm being unfair to the Cattle Baron, let me show you a pic of this little heifer. She can barely walk because her feet are so long and curling up at the ends like elf shoes. Cattle Baron says she's been like that since birth and its a defect. I agree. But he's the defect. And the way he cares for his animals is defective. I tried to get a better pic of her feet, but Thor thought I was getting too close for comfort and caused her to shuffle away on her knees.




I called Cattle Baron's little sister today and told her to get her brother over here to get these cattle out of my yard and shed, and to keep them home this time. I tried to be nice because I really don't want to make enemies of people that I will have to live next to for the rest of my life. But enough is enough.


We learned something about our own crappy barbed wire the other day as we were walking down the road to go get the horse trailer. We have two spots where a tree has fallen and taken down the fence. But you know what?? Not ONCE have our horses escaped. NOT ONCE. Gee, I wonder if it's because we actually FEED them??

It's never dull around here

Today was going to be hectic, busy, and hectic. Did I mention hectic? First we had a 9AM appt at the lumberyard to pick up 1000 feet of rough cut wood. Then we needed to unload the lumber in the barn, hitch up the trailer, then run over to pick up Mandy from Anastasia's for the parade. I really wanted to have a lot of pretty parade pictures to show you. Pictures of Quest all dolled up in red and gold with battery operated lights in his mane and a big Horse Haven Holler sign hanging on his butt. And he was really looking forward to it as well. Honest.

By the time we got back to our place with Mandy it had been snowing for about 30 minutes and the roads were just starting to whiten, but it had been a dry snow and the roads were still fine. We threw out some more hay for the herd and loaded Hunter in with Mandy, then I headed to town going the opposite direction we had just come from. I left Glenn at home to take a shower and break the ice on the troughs. Anastasia and friends were meeting me to start work cleaning and decorating the first two horses while I went back to get two more.

About a mile from our house is the infamous S curve where many hay bales have been previously lost. The S curve is downhill when headed to town and fairly steep. I put the truck into first gear and crawled down the hill at 5mph. On the left side of the road is a steep bank down, and on the right side is a deep ditch then a steep bank up. The trailer started to fishtail dangerously behind me and every time I tried to apply more brake it would go further to the right side. Another sharp curve was coming up and my speed was picking up. It was at this point that I began to worry. Seriously worry.

I shouldn't have worried. The trailer saved me by sliding into the ditch and slamming against the right bank. Oh yay. I heard a horse body bang against the side the trailer, but I had no time to think about it because I really had to get the trailer upright and out of the ditch before it took the truck with it. I gave the truck a little gas and it pulled the trailer back on to all four wheels and out into the road. Somehow I managed to slow the truck down to a snails pace and made it to the bottom of the hill without any more incident.

I turned around in a driveway, then got out to check on the horses. Mandy was fine and diving into her hay and Hunter was unscathed, but trembling. I suspect his little body was the one that slammed against the side of the trailer. There was no way I was risking anyone else for the parade, so I headed home only to find that Bertha Truck was NOT going to get that trailer up that S curve hill. Once again the trailer fishtailed behind me and Bertha struggled to gain some ground and find purchase on the icy pavement. We made it as far as the pull-off halfway up the hill. I parked the truck and trailer off the road, got the horses unloaded, hopped on Mandy bareback and ponied Hunter all the way home.

Both horses were wonderful! Mandy spooked at a large snow-covered pile of weeds and as she was sidepassing past it and giving it the evil eye, Hunter was trying to get to it to see if it was edible. Mandy blew and snorted several times and acted like there were monsters in the woods, but Hunter just kept going in his deadheaded way like there was nothing in the world that would bother him. I just love that little guy.

Once I got home Glenn and I walked back to the truck, but I told him there was no way he was getting that trailer home today. He got it 100 yards or so. When the truck wheels started spinning forward and the trailer was sliding backwards we both had a serious pucker moment and I wasn't even in the truck. I'm a big wimp, so had told him I'd follow him on foot and he could wait for me at the top. He did manage to get the trailer backed up to the pull-off again where we unhitched it and left it. We may be able to bring it home by Spring, but with what the weathermen are calling for, it isn't likely.

We had to turn around and go back into town because all that was left in the horse troughs was ice. We passed numerous vehicles stuck in ditches and heard from one of the adopters that there were 2-3 car pile ups everywhere. We eventually made it home, never going over 25mph and getting a lot of use out of Bertha's 4x4 low range. As we were pulling in the drive, there was a truck that had just pulled out of our drive. It stopped and backed up to us. It was Anastasia and her brother and his family. They had come over to make sure we were OK and to help out with the horses if necessary. They had already found the hay and fed the herd a few bales of hay.

They had also removed the 21 head of cattle that had been in our yard stomping through my gardens since yesterday morning. The cattle "barons" next door hadn't bothered to come and get them yet, of course. The neighbors that own the cattle are cousins to Drunken Neighbor on the other side of us. Are you picking up on a theme here? Anastasia's brother and his kids chased the cattle out of yard, across the street, and back into their own pasture. Then they fixed the friggin fence! They are coming back tomorrow to help us stack all the lumber we got today and build a couple of stalls in the big barn.

I just love that family.

Laci did make it to watch the parade and we heard from her mother that it lasted about 10 minutes. The kids were disappointed, but mostly just happy that their horses were safe. So am I!

Fishing for Deer

By now you should know that we do things a little differently around here.

While I was coating some butternut squash with maple syrup, pats of butter, and brown sugar I heard Brie outside barking and growling at something. After I shoved the squash into the oven (oh my, the smells... mmm...) I opened the door and peeked out to see what she was barking at. Apparently, I have superhuman powers and can see in the dark. Glenn is a mere mortal so he had to grab a flash light to see what was going on.

We found Brie down at the pond barking at a deer that she'd chased into the pond. The poor thing was already wounded and wouldn't come out of the water. It was then my job to hold the flashlight while Glenn aimed his incredibly LOUD gun and pulled the trigger. I was in a panic because I was worried he'd hit Brie instead. It was dark, the flashlight was shaking in my frozen fingers, and I really didn't want him to shoot the doe while I was standing there watching. I knew it had to be done since she was already injured, but I didn't want to be a part of it.

One shot, the doe was down in the water. A split second later Brie was on the doe trying to make sure it was dead. In her excitement she managed to shove the doe out into the middle of the pond. Brie likes to swim, but that water is cold and even Brie isn't that stupid. So now Glenn is standing there staring at the doe wondering how he's going to get it out of the water. I watched as the light bulb above his head started out as a dim glow, then grew quickly into a brilliant spotlight. He had to add extra weight to the lure, but it only took five casts to hook the doe and drag her in.





Because we know what's in that pond we vowed never to eat anything we caught from it. Yet he's out there gutting and hanging the poor thing now. If he thinks I'm going to eat it, he's got another thing coming!

Manny goes home

We delivered Manny to his new home today. It rained all day, but once he met his new friend he didn't seem to care. Neither one of them did, actually. Megan put his brand new halter on him, fed him some grain, then the two of them walked and trotted around the pasture in the rain. Manny has two Arabian mares to charm, chickens to sniff, dogs to play with, and a human who thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread. Manny's new humans would also like to adopt Classy in the Spring. Okie dokie.




Manny's humans raise all sorts of chickens and have chicks all over the place. Of course, they are all adorable and friendly. They sent us home with six roosters for Glenn to butcher at his leisure. If he knows what's good for him he'll do the deed before I get too attached. I haven't named them... yet.




Oh! When Glenn was out hunting on Friday he saw the other four guineas that disappeared so long ago. They were full grown and happily sitting in a tree looking at him. Bonus!!

Back to work tomorrow. Ugh. I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend!

Can we have another? Please?

Romantic Quest

We put aside all of our pending projects to take Quest to the North Bend Trail today to see how he reacted to bridges, tunnels, underpasses, and anything else that we came across before the parade this weekend. Glenn had the camera today, so be prepared for lots of pictures of my back.

He took the lead over Willow right from the trailer with this ground-eating walk that quickly left Willow moseying along way behind. He went over the first bridge and thought maybe the two cars coming towards him were going to run him over, then seemed astonished that they went under him instead.

He had no problems with the rock formations on either side of him. No problems with the squirrels running around in the leaves next to the trail. I think I spooked a few times, but he never did. The first time we cantered I let him blow a bit and go as fast as he wanted until he slowed into a nice comfortable canter. When we stopped, we had to wait quite awhile for Willow to catch up. Slowpoke.




Then came the true test. The first tunnel is 377' long, but luckily the sun was still low enough in the sky that none of the tunnels were pitch black in the middle. I thought we'd have to wait for Willow to catch up and lead us in, but Quest surprised me by just walking right in without any hesitation. He either doesn't know how to hesitate or he just doesn't see the point. We walked right into the first tunnel and he was a little nervous when he heard his own footsteps echoing back to him, but never tried to take off, stop, or misbehave in any way. He walked into the next two tunnels the same way. On the way home, one of the tunnels was pitch black in the middle and I couldn't even see his ears right in front of me. He didn't care, he was headed back to the trailer and hay - no way was he slowing down!

I rode the whole way on a loose rein. When we came to the creek crossing he plowed right in and immediately started pawing at the water while Willow took a drink. It took some convincing to get him out of the creek because he was having so much fun.

Most of the North Bend Trail is flat, but the last little bit on the way to the lodge is a ridge trail through the woods that is fairly steep in places. I noticed his saddle had slid back when going up one steep incline and he started swishing his tail and acting annoyed. I was hoping to make it to a flat spot before dismounting and fixing the saddle, but he had given me fair warning and I wasn't acting fast enough for him... he swung his head around and bit me in the leg! I hopped off, fixed the saddle, then just walked him the rest of the way to the lodge since it was only a couple hundred yards away. After lunch, he was fine and there was no more swishing or biting. I just love a horse that gives fair warning before misbehaving! And I really don't blame him for being upset with me since the saddle had slipped so far back.

On the way back we actually found something that scares the beast. A kid on a bicycle was going to EAT Quest, he was just sure of it. But all he did was throw his head up, stiffen up, and quiver a little. I asked the kid to stop and then Quest was able to walk quietly past the horse-eating bicycle. We then came to the walking parents and Quest wanted to stop and chat, maybe see if they had any treats or knew where his itchy places were located.

I guess since Glenn saw how well Quest behaved today my "he's a wild untrainable beast, so it's not safe for you to ride him yet" mantra is down the drain. I'm going to have to let Glenn ride him eventually, whether I like it or not.

Tag, I'm it. Again.

Maggie over at Mounted Archery tagged me again with that 6 Random Things meme. Don't you guys already know everything there is to know about me??

Six random things about me that yawl don't know yet.

1) I do an awesome Valley Girl imitation.
2) I used to work for Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus.
3) My mom entered me in a local beauty contest when I was knee-high to a grasshopper. I actually had to wear a dress. It scarred me for life.
4) I was the class spelling bee champ in 8th grade.
5) My maternal grandfather's family comes from Bari, Italy.
6) I've had 11 concussions, only four caused by horse-related incidents.

Wow, that was really tough. I was even trying to get Glenn's help on coming up with six random things about me that I haven't already told everyone. And here I thought that I was a chatterbox that couldn't shut up and everyone already knew everything there was to know about me.

I guess now you do!

I'm not going to tag anyone, but feel free. This meme has been floating around forever and a day, so I'm sure just about everyone has done it already. Oh, except maybe Moon Ponies! Tag Moon Ponies, you're it! :)

Random Lunch 11/25/08

As most of you who have read my blog for awhile are aware, I am not the clothes shopping type. I abhor shopping for clothes and have worn the same pair of stretch jeans for the past three years. This last year I've been pulling them up every couple of steps and feeling like a big fat plumber in the process. I've pulled them up by the belt loops so often that the belt loops have all busted. And yes, I'm sure I could sew them back on if I had another year or two. But as I was telling Anne just this morning, put a needle and thread in my hands and I'll likely stitch a couple of fingers together.

So it was time. Time to toss the stretched out stretchies and get a real pair of jeans (or three). The weather here lately has made me lust for a pair of those fleece-lined jeans from L.L. Bean or Cabellas. Every time I hike up to the barn and top the ridge, the wind blasts at me and my thighs take hours to thaw. But what size am I now? I know I've lost a ton of weight since buying this farm (imagine that), but had no idea what size I was down to. Of course it would have made sense to go to a store and try things on. But that would have required going into a clothes store. So I just took a guess and ordered a pair of fleece-lined jeans from Cabellas that were three sizes smaller than what I was a year ago. At least I didn't order three pair all at once. What a pain it would have been to return them all, right?

I wish I had ordered five pair! I can't believe how wonderfully these fit! They're comfy in the waste, not too baggy in the hips or thighs, and absolutely toasty warm! I also bought them with a 34" inseam so they wouldn't ride up my leg when sitting or riding a horse. Can I say again how perfect they are?? Now I can't wait to go out into the driving snow and 28 degree weather to feed tonight.

But most importantly, do you know what this means? It means I don't ever have to set foot in a clothing store again! Somehow, I've mastered the art of clothes shopping on the web and will never need to try on another article of clothing again. Which means I can spend my shopping time in more functional places, like Lowes, Home Depot, Tractor Supply, and any tack store I happen to find.

Life is good.

Something wicked that way goes

Drunken Neighbor's friends finally showed up just now to take Appybutt and his little filly friend. They told animal control that they were coming out last night to get them. Of course, no one ever showed up. Meanwhile more fence needs to be repaired and my strawberry bed is totally stomped.

According to friends, Drunken Neighbor is incapable of handling her own horse and shouldn't even own him. They were shocked to hear that she never even knows when he's missing and doesn't care. They did say she was pretty upset when she heard from AC last night that he had escaped again. She got off work at 7pm last night. Apparently she wasn't so upset that she could come over and talk to us about him. On second thought, staying away from me was probably a darned good idea last night. Especially after Appybutt kicked me in the leg while trying to get to the feed I was carrying out to Quest and Stride. Glenn went out with me this morning to protect me while I fed. It's pretty sad when you live out in the styx like this and can't even walk through your own yard without getting mauled by your neighbor's food aggressive horse with no manners.

Drunken Neighbor's friends brought a horse trailer to move the horses several hundred yards. I kid you not. Appybutt loaded after a few minutes, but the filly would have nothing of it. Let me set the stage for you. Blond friend has horses of her own and thinks she is the only person in the world who knows anything about horses. Brunette friend knows nothing about horses and is terrified of them. Male friend is completely useless and chose to sit in the warm truck while the women tried to get the filly in the trailer.

Every time they would get the filly close the trailer she would rear up and back away. This is when Blondie would give her some grain. HELLO?? Here, let me reward you for rearing and not getting on the trailer. Maybe she was trying reverse psychology on the filly? When grain didn't work the filly was beaten. Blondie has apparently never heard of the three second rule. Punish the horse for no more than three seconds because after that they have no idea what they're being punished for it. Blondie decided that going totally ballistic on the poor filly for a couple of minutes would convince her to trust Blondie enough to get on the trailer. No really, it hurts me more than it hurts you. Trust me.

I was putting on some warm clothes and boots and preparing to go up and either beat someone up or get the filly on the trailer. Then I saw Glenn go up instead. He had been out in the garage working on his truck and I had forgotten he was even home. I decided to hang back and watch for a minute because I knew he wouldn't put up with abuse any more than I would. He got up to the trailer, took a lead rope and wrapped it around the filly's neck, then lead her quietly up to the trailer and let her stand there for a minute to calm down. One smack on the butt and she jumped forward and stood still. The second smack on the butt sent her front feet into the trailer. He took a minute to praise and relax, then wrapped a lead rope around her butt. He pulled one side and Blondie pulled the other. Up on the trailer went the filly!

I'm so proud of him! Especially since I got to stay in the house where it's warm. Now it's time for a nice warm lunch, then out to get started on the run-in shed for the bachelors. Yesterday the weathermen said it would be 45 and partly sunny. Today it's 30 and overcast. Please forgive me if my fingers are too frost bit to type for the rest of the weekend.

Intruder Alert!

Abbybutt is back and this time he brought a friend. The friend that they got so that Appybutt wouldn't get wonder lust again. They are trying to dismantle the fence as I type. The more squealing I hear, the angrier I get. I've called animal control, enough is enough.

The snow is coming down so hard I can barely see the top of the driveway from the house. The vet is due to come back out for Classy again this morning. She's not doing much better so it's time for a blood panel to be done. She's still eating and drinking and seems to be putting on a little weight, but she still isn't her normal self.

Glenn is fixing the 4 wheel drive on his truck tonight so we can get the trailer out of the pasture and deliver Manny to his new home this weekend. Did I mention that before? The owner of the feed store is adopting him as a companion animal. He'll have a pasture with two primadonna Arab mares who hate being caught. The young girl that lives there will just love having an attention whore like Manny to dote on! In the Spring they'd like to adopt two rideable horses. I think being adopted by someone who owns a feed store is probably the best stroke of luck Manny has ever had.

We're also getting supplies tomorrow morning to build the loafing shed in the bachelor pasture. We're hoping to at least have the posts and roof up by Saturday night, then I can work on nailing up the sides during the week after work and on lunch breaks. Saturday night we're headed over to Anastasia's so she can give me the "Barbie" treatment for the parade in a couple of weeks. The Christmas parade went from two riders to seven, including me. They want me on Quest with a red and gold Aussie type theme. I've just been sitting back and letting this happen since everyone else seems much more into it than I am. I think it's a great idea, but I'm more the sit back and watch it unfold type, than the be in the spotlight smiling for the audience type. I'm just hoping Quest is a spotlight type of horse and doesn't decide to trample the highschool marching band into little bits and pieces. I also hope he likes red and gold.

Let the winter festivities begin!

The first of the seed catalogs arrived yesterday! I read the Pinetree catalog cover to cover last night. Stokes can wait, I rarely ever order anything from them since they're geared more towards hybrids and mass marketing. When the catalog is sleek and shiny and filled with color photos you know you're not getting the best deal on seeds. But I keep getting the catalog so I can enjoy looking at all the color photos. Ooooh, aahhhh, pretty eggplant...

I know, I should seek help. At least the first step is admitting I have a problem, right? I had to look up the 12 step program on Wikpedia to get a basis for my 12 step plantaholic program outlined below.

1) I admitted that I am powerless over my urge to plant way more than I need.
2) I came to believe that a power greater than myself could restore me to sanity (Baker Creek!)
3) I made a decision to turn my will and my life over to seed catalogs as I understand them.
4) I made a searching and fearless seed inventory.
5) Admitted to Thor, to myself, and to April the exact nature of my wrongs.
6) Am entirely ready to have Thor eat all seeds if I leave them out where he can get them.
7) Humbly asked Thor not to eat the seeds.
8) Made a list of all persons I had harmed with an overabundance of maters this year, and became willing to bury them in zucchini instead next year.
9) Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others with overly large zucchini.
10) Continued to take seed inventory and when found something lacking, promptly ordered more.
11) Sought through many seed catalogs to increase the veggie bounty next year.
12) Having had a rude awakening as the result of these steps, I will try to minimize the amount of new garden beds Glenn has to build in the Spring.

What do you think? Do I have a chance at recovery or am I doomed forever to plant way too much and complain about all the canning in the Fall?

Random Lunch 11/17/08

It's been snowing on and off all day. While very pretty it does make trudging up the hill of death to the barn a treacherous undertaking. I have visions of me slipping and rolling back down the hill becoming a large snowball and taking out the chicken coop in an avalanche of snow and mud.

I'll try to have the camera with me. Just for you.

At least the spinach and collards are still doing well under their protective covers.

I wanted to fertilize with fish emulsion last week, but never got around to it. One of the many vacation tasks on my list that went unchecked.

Four letter words

Wind
Rain
Cold
Snow

These are the reasons there were not many training updates posted last week. When I tell you I'm going to take vacation next year, will someone please remind me to take it during WARM weather?? Apparently, I'm not bright enough to figure that one out on my own.

We did have a wonderful ride on Friday though. Anne and her friend Michelle and I rode the North Bend Trail, which used to be a railroad.

There was much chatting.

And many smiles.

And dark and scary tunnels that both Willow and Meghan marched through without problem.

I was the only one taking pictures and Willow was feeling left out. To make up for that I took a picture of her ears. You can see how absolutely thrilled she was about the ride.

This is definitely a trail that I'll be utilizing more often in the training of some of the rescues. If they can go through dark tunnels and over scary bridges without fail then they are ready to move on!

Vacation? Where???

I know, I know. I said I'd be doing most of my posting this week over on the training blog. But the only horse I've had a chance to ride yet has been Quest. I rode him for about 10 whole minutes on Sunday and he was a dream. Next time I ride him, it will be with the dressage saddle. He's got such huge motion, especially at the canter, that I felt like a fish out of water in that synthetic western! I couldn't get my legs right and my seat was equally useless. Now if the rain that they are calling for for the rest of the week holds off, I'll get on him again before the weekend and really see what he's got. Maggie was here at the time taking pics with her camera phone, but she hasn't had a chance to send them yet. So you'll just have to make do with this one that I took today.




Saturday was spent with Anne picking up blankets and other tack from a woman who just happens to be very interested in the 4yo TB filly coming from Mountaineer. Lucky me.



I picked up Lady's Mandolin, aka Mandy, Saturday afternoon. A little girl is coming to try her out this afternoon. This is the 20yo QH mare that has been there, done that. She's a real sweetheart that I haven't had a chance to get on yet, but I'll get on before I let the little girl on. Mandy, Meghan, and Steel have become the three musketeers. They have developed their own little clique where Meghan is in charge. She is so totally happy with finally having someone to boss around! Jewel can't stand Steel, so she has buddied up with Indy and Radar.









This is Steel, the 10yo (not 8 as I thought) gelding. I picked him up early Sunday morning before the volunteers started rolling in shortly after 10. A friend of Anastasia's is coming over today to try him on for size. She just told Anastasia yesterday that she was looking for a horse and asked her where she got her two TBs from. The next thing I know I'm on the phone with B and she's telling me how excited she is to come out and see Steel. Okie dokie then.








Mandy and Steel. Adorable, ya?

This is for those of you going through Maverick withdrawal. Here he is in all his fabulous fuzzy fatness.

It's official!

I am now on vacation. I'm already sitting a bit straighter, my headache is fading away, and Stride is calling me from that back pasture wanting dinner. Not that the third thing has anything to do with me being on vacation. Stride just has a way of crashing through my happy thoughts with his "hey human, I'm hungry!" nicker.

I've warned Glenn that the place will be rife with estrogen on Sunday and he's already making plans to find something to fix somewhere far away from home. Three new volunteers are coming on Sunday and we'll be spending the day grooming, lunging, and riding everyone. Maggie may also make it over on Sunday if she can escape her studies. Anastasia also warned of an impending visit on Sunday if she can get away. Those horses won't know what to think!

Check the training blog daily next week for updates on how everyone is doing. My goal is to finally ride Quest over the weekend and put some time on him next week. I also want to ride Tabby and Megalia, since the vet didn't find anything wrong with her the other day. Meghan certainly needs some exercise now that we know she's just a beached whale and not pregnant. Radar and Jewel will be worked with and I can't take a week off on vacation without riding Kita! Glenn also wants me to work more with Willow and her gaiting issues.

We have a new horse coming tomorrow who already has a potential home. She's a 20 yo QH mare who has been there, done that and spent many years as a roping horse. Her owner had to give her up due to divorce and just wanted to make sure she went to a good home. Another QH gelding also comes to us over the weekend. He's 8 years old and owned by a pregnant friend of mine who's husband can't ride him much anymore due to his bad back. She has several horses of her own and with current pregnancy issues she can't ride either. Steel gets a bit pushy and aggressive when not ridden enough, so he's coming to me for mileage and manners, then to find a good home.

There's a 4yo TB filly at the track from the same trainer as the others. She's waiting for a spot here, but is in no rush. She's totally sound, just not fast enough for racing. She's a plain bay, about 15.3h. If anyone is interested, please leave me a comment or shoot me an email.

I think that covers it. I'll try and post here as often as I can next week, but most my posting time will probably be spent on the Training blog.

Have a great weekend!

Lovin' the new vet

Yup, I love him. First, he was smart and made sure I was the last appointment of the day because he knew he'd be here awhile. He was here for three hours. Second, he didn't just rush through everyone. He took time with each horse and discussed different treatments with me and the reasons behind the treatments. He also talked about why he came up with the diagnosis that he did. It wasn't just a vet visit, it was Veterinary Medicine 101.

Third, and most importantly, he actually spent a little time petting the horses as he was talking to me about them. A lot of vets I have used before simply do their thing and walk away from the animal when they are done. The whole time he was holding up the saline IV for Classy, he was petting her, stroking her neck, or picking burrs out of her mane. When talking to me about Manny he was doing the same thing. Same with Dolly. He seemed amused instead of irritated when Junior took every opportunity to shove his nose at the doc and investigate all pockets for treats.

I'm tellin' ya, I'm in love. Completely in the platonic sense, of course.

We started with Classy first because she's in the worst shape. We think she found a hornet/wasp nest somewhere in the pasture (and we did find a HUGE hornet nest in a tree the other day) and was stung multiple times. All four legs were swollen and the next day her nose was also swollen. I put her on bute for the swelling and that helped a bit, but she proceeded to drop a lot of weight, act depressed and lethargic, and hasn't left the barn in days. His main concern was that the anaphylactic shock from the stings caused her immune system to go down the drain and now she's sick with something else. He didn't think a blood panel was necessary at this point, but gave her a saline IV, a shot of something (sorry, can't remember the name of it and it's up at the barn right now), and gave me some banamine paste for this weekend if she's not any better. He expressed some concern about EPM, but at this point it's a waiting game to see if she gets better or not. If she's not better by next week he'll come back out for more tests. The good news is that by the time he left, Classy was out in the pasture grazing with everyone else for the first time in days!

He actually seemed impressed with the way Dolly looked at her age. She's fairly sound with some minor arthritis, but other than that he said she looks pretty good. She's still thin, but after hearing her history he said to just be patient because it may take her as long as a year to get back to the weight she should be. He actually felt like I might be feeding her too much right now, but since she's gaining a little weight I should keep it the same for now. The lump that I felt on her neck the other day is a hardened and irritated lymph node. They are easy to find on very thin horses and he wasn't concerned. At this point he didn't see a need for blood work, but if she doesn't continue to gain weight or starts to lose weight he'll come back out and get some blood. As suspected, Dolly's teeth need to be floated, but he doesn't have all of the necessary equipment yet. He'll be coming back out at a later date to start getting everyone's teeth floated.

He's pretty sure that Manny's on again off again lameness is arthritis and I should keep up with the MSM/Chondroitin supplements. He's actually been fairly sound so far this week, probably due to the warm weather we've been having.

Because of the severity of Indy's laminitis it's questionable whether he will ever be sound enough for light riding. He may never even be comfortable and may always have ulcer issues. This is just a guesstimate on his part since he hasn't seen any x-rays yet. We gave Indy until next Summer to either get better or not. If he's still uncomfortable at that point then we will have to consider putting him down and out of his misery. But that's a long ways off, and with the changes I've seen in him recently I'm still hopeful for at least a partial recovery.

When I pointed out Meghan and said I wanted him to palpate her, his first words were "Soon. She's as big as a house." But during the palpitation he couldn't find any foal. In fact, he said she had recently ovulated. That big and not preggers??? What a relief!!! Darn air ferns. I wish they could all be easy keepers like that! So next week while I'm on vacation from work I'm going to doing a lot of Meghan riding to get her ready for the Christmas parade that Emilee wants to ride her in.

When I took him to look at Maverick, Quest became a raving lunatic. I had the halter on Mav when Quest decided that tearing around the pasture at a full gallop was the way to make us let Mav go. The whole time Quest was being an idiot Maverick stood perfectly still for the vet and let him get quite intimate with his danglies. Doc even commented on how atypical Mav was and how most stud colts weren't that gracious about the treatment. Mav made me so proud! When Doc was done feeling Maverick up Quest came galloping back and stopped right beside Mav and rested his head on Mav's back, all the while staring at the Doc. It was like he wanted to protect Mav from imagined ills, but was well-behaved enough not to eat the vet. I'm pretty sure Doc appreciated that. He did say that the second nut still hasn't dropped and at this age there's only a 5% chance that it will. So once Doc's new building is up Maverick will be taking a little field trip to be gelded. Doc also said that Mav probably would only grow a couple more inches, which makes me incredibly sad because I really wanted him to be big enough for me to ride. I guess this means that when the time comes he'll be headed over to Anastasia's for pony training. I'll miss the little guy!

All in all it was a pretty good day. Doc said that the horses seemed happy and healthy considering their history and was impressed that everyone got along so well in that large of a herd. Now maybe I can breathe a little easier and stop worrying so much!

Random Lunch 11/4/08

I'm doin' the Happy Dance. I have a little celebratory dance that I jump up and do whenever something incredibly wonderful happens. I just finished entertaining the dogs with the dance and now I have to share.

THE NEW VET IN THE AREA IS COMING OUT TOMORROW!!!!!!

He just started making appointments yesterday and I am in like Flynn!! I just spent 15 minutes on the phone blathering on like an idiot in my excitement to finally have a vet that is taking new clients and isn't too far away. LIFE IS GOOD! He doesn't have all of his equipment yet, but has enough to do what I need done for now.

Whew, I think I'm calm enough now to post the random lunch pictures.


This will be a common occurrence in my yard during hunting season. Oh, yippee.




The guineas! I know you've been losing sleep at night wondering how they're doing. It's ok, you can admit it.

Egads, they're ugly.

Looking Back - Cody & Brie

Read the history on Cody and Brie here. I just wanted to share some old photos with you. Because, be honest now, wasn't Brie the most adorable puppy ever???

It took three year old Cody about a week to warm up to the annoying little puppy wanting to play with him constantly. Once he got over himself he figured out that Brie was actually a nifty little chew toy.

And no matter what kind of abuse Cody inflicted, Brie still loved him. More than Cody was sometimes comfortable with.











When Brie got to be 4 months old she started wandering the farm hunting groundhogs. But when she wasn't busy ridding the world of gophers, she could be found chillin' out in the hammock. I used to sit next to her and swing the hammock for her. Can we say "spoiled"?






Cody with one of his sisters, shortly before I took him home. There was a time when I wondered if he'd ever grow into those ears.

That's it for now, because I'm sure you don't want to hear me whine about how it's dark already and not even 6pm. Is it too early to say I can't wait for Spring??

Playing Tag

And I'm it. This is the first tag kind of thing I've done, so bear with me here. First of all, I had to cheat. Just a little. The idea is to grab the nearest book, flip to page 56, go down to the fifth sentence and post the next few sentences. I believe the idea is to share a little bit about yourself, which is why I had to cheat. These are the books I can currently see from where I'm sitting:

Gun Digest 2002
Driver #8
The Earnhardt collection
Dale Earnhardt: Rearview Mirror
American Hunting Rifle



... and the list goes on. Obviously, these aren't mine and just listing them should give you insight into Glenn. I hope you feel enlightened now.



If I hop up and hang a right into the kitchen I find my "china" cabinet which is filled with recipe and herb books. Since no one probably wants to have only part of a recipe, I reached for the first herbal I came to: Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs. On flipping to page 56 I have to chuckle. This is a picture of Jewel that I took today at lunch, her forelock tangled up with burrs.





On page 56 of Rodale's, I find this:

Burdock, Arctium Lappa

Two species came to the New World where they quickly escaped to become hardy, widely dispersed weeds. A fast-growing biennial with large, wavy, egg-shaped leaves, burdock has been distinguished throughout by the burrs it sets after flowering, but it is burdock's long thick taproot that has made it a boon to herbalists and an implacable enemy to other gardeners. Yanking a misplaced mint out of the garden in one thing, but burdock roots just don't yank.



Perfect timing.