Honey, we’re home!

 

After Gilbert packed his crap and left without telling anyone (*sigh*), we had to come home for a couple of days to initiate the new guy.  However, once we were home to the disastrously filthy house (again), a few of the horses looking worse than when I rescued them (again), and a warrant for my arrest (thank you for writing that bad check on the farm account, Lee) we finally had a stroke of good luck.  Yes, really!  A friend of ours called us one night to tell us about a local driving job.  The job pays great (more than Glenn was making on the road) and he’d be home every night!  Woohoo!  More importantly, they are so desperate for drivers that they may even stoop to hiring me, even though I only have a few months experience.  Suckers!

Kidding.  I’m a good driver (said in my best Rain Main voice).

So, we’re home.  Home for good, I might add.  No matter what, I just can’t leave this farm again.  Thanks to the losers that we hired, we’ve lost two dogs, have a house that needs major cleaning and repairs, a truck that is drivable but still won’t pass inspection, horses that were once pocket ponies are now skittish, and a couple of the horses have been starved.  When we came home on the 7th, Don Juan was in the main herd instead of in the stud pen, so we’re also looking at Lutalyse shots for all the mares in a couple of months (you have to wait at least 45 days after exposure before giving them the shot).

I thought I couldn’t afford to NOT go out on the road, but it turns out that I couldn’t afford to leave the farm in the hands of lazy incompetent idiots, either!  The horses are already gaining weight and should be back to normal in a few weeks.  Poor Sketches is the worst, so I hug her several times a day while she’s eating and apologize for leaving her.  She seems to understand when I cry into her mane and stands quietly for the extra attention.  Quill and Sky were skittish when I returned, but have already reverted to the pocket ponies that I remember.  Maggie and Matilda still haven’t forgiven me and want nothing to do with me unless I have food in my hand.  Jethro ran away every time he saw me, but today he and I took a nap in the hay together, with his muzzle resting on my shoulder.

Oh, and let’s not forget the 10k worth of tools that are now missing out of the garage.  If you happen to see a tool for sale at a pawn shop with the initials G.W. etched in to the handle, please let us know.  I hope Gilbert got more than the price of his plane ticket home out of those tools.  They were certainly worth a lot more.

Then there’s Timmy, who somehow got frostbite on his penis, of all places.  Doc came out and explained to Gilbert what he needed to do to take care of the horse and said that if he didn’t start right away, Timmy might lose his wanker.  I talked to Gilbert on the phone that day and he said “don’t worry, he’s just like my horse, I’ll take care of him”.  Then he packed his shit and left the next day without taking care of Timmy’s wanker once.  We got Timmy into a foster home within a day or two, with someone that would take the time to take care of him properly.  It’s still up in the air, but he’s finally looking a little better now that the penicillin shots are over.  I’m hoping we don’t have to put the old man down, but I certainly don’t want him to suffer any more than he already has!

And I keep looking for Thor and Xena to come running home from the back pasture.  I look for them while driving down the back roads.  I listen every night for Xena’s whimper at the door, wanting to come in.   Sometimes Heidi sits, gazing into the distance, as still as a statue, and whimpers.  I think she’s waiting for them to come home, too.

Pullin’ Ponies

I’ve made brief mention of this “sport” before, but had never actually seen it for myself until today.  I was driving through town on my way home from picking up feed when I noticed a bunch of horse trailers down at the Fairgrounds.  Enquiring minds want to know, so of course I had to go see what was going on.

After rescuing Ellie, who was used as a pulling pony, what I found today was pleasantly surprising:  impeccably groomed, fit, shiny, HEALTHY ponies who seemed very happy!

 

From what I saw, none of the horses seemed afraid of their handlers, and not once did I see a horse pin an ear back at anyone.

 

They were all incredibly excited when it was their turn to be hitched to the cement block-filled wagon.   Some of them were difficult to control and the handlers had to drop the hook into the wagon hitch then jump out of the way because as soon as the horses heard that “thunk” of the hook, they were off!  But during their down time, they all stood quietly along the outside rail and were friendly to anyone passing by that wanted to pet them.

 

This pair was particularly high strung when they got close to the sled and there was one time when they knocked that poor kid in the purple shirt on his butt because he didn’t move out of the way of the sled in time.

 

There were times when I wondered how these horses are trained… to have that level of fear/excitement/anticipation when being hooked to the sled could mean that they’re training involved something that may have been unpleasant.  I hear that Ellie’s previous owner used to take his pocket knife and stick his ponies in the rump.  How nice.

I’m not saying all competitor’s use harsh methods, but it does make me wonder what methods are used.  Either way, some of these ponies actually looked like they were having fun. 

 

And some of them were just way too cute!

I only stayed for about 15 minutes… long enough to see what all the fuss was about.  I’m just glad it was a good experience instead of what I was expecting!

Morning Chores

Last September I posted about what it’s like to get all the horses fed and at that time, there were only 13 horses here – ah, the good old days!  Things have changed quite a bit since then and I’m sure there’s someone out there wondering just how the heck I manage without a real barn.  If there isn’t anyone wondering that, I’m going to tell you anyway.  So there.

Right now there are 27 horses here.  Maggie over at Ponies in Med School is adopting Synergy and Holly in a few weeks, so they’ll be leaving soon.  I’ve already had interest in Jacob (what a hunk!), so hopefully he’ll be moving to his new home shortly.  But for now, here’s how the morning chores go:

Feed and water meat chickens, laying hens, and rabbits.

Feed Synergy, Holly, and Kisses. 

Feed Jacob, Stride, Quest, and Maverick in the bachelor pad.  I let Stride out to eat since he’s the slowest.  Mav finishes first, but he’s also lowest on the totem pole so doesn’t steal anyone else’s food.  Jacob finishes next, but doesn’t dare come near Quest while he’s eating.

Meg, Dolly, Junior, Sadie, Duchess, and Semi are usually waiting at the small gate by this time so I let them out into the yard and feed them.   While they’re eating, I head up to the main barn to feed.  We have 10 standing stalls and one box stall in the barn now and here’s how that plays out:  Gentry, Ellie, Kita, Frisky, Abbi, Maggie, Quill, Jewel, Willow, and Classy all go in standing stalls.  Jasmine and Sky go in the box stall.  Kenzie and Marbles eat on the left side of the barn behind four of the standing stalls.   Once everyone is done eating I turn them loose, then head back to the house to round up the old fogies in the yard and put them back in the pasture.  Sometimes I’ll leave one or two out in the yard to graze, but only if they don’t decide to go walk about around the countryside.

Since my pastures are crap and need to be burned and reseeded this Fall, I’m still feeding round bales to everyone and have no more need of square bales (whew!).  All of this only takes an hour and a half.   Then I start my job at 7AM, taking quick breaks twice throughout the day to feed the new girls.  When I get off at 4PM, I start the process all over again and include grooming, trimming, or riding once everything is done.   That is, if I don’t have to run to the feed store or drive into town for water.  Or run to Walmart for dog and cat food.   Regardless of what I find myself doing after work, I usually finish up shortly after 9PM when it’s starting to get dark, grab some dinner, jump in the shower, then fall into bed.

So that’s my day and I love it!   The only thing I miss is the yoga I used to do in the mornings, but I just can’t picture me getting up at 4AM to get it done.

Nope, can’t picture that at all.

Equine Photo Overkill

I have a new volunteer and her name is Amy. She’s 18 and wants to be a vet. She has long blonde hair, legs up to her neck, and if I was half as beautiful when I was that age I would have been dangerous. Glenn is not allowed to meet her.

Amy loves horses. So much so that she wants to smell like them. All the time. Except for the beautiful part, she reminds me a lot of me at that age.

Amy’s mom has an awesome camera, even better than my new toy. She even knows how to use hers, unlike someone else I know. They both came out on Thursday morning to take pictures of the horses in the rain. Not only that, she took one hundred and fifty pictures! And I thought I was crazy for taking 50 pictures of a rabbit!

Well yeah, ok. Maybe that really was crazy.

So here are the ones that I really liked. Yes, there are a lot of Kita pictures. So sue me.

Somebody help me, these mares are nothing but trouble, especially with Willow in the lead.

Beet pulp nose. Kind of like a milk mustache, but even cuter.

Oddly, out of all of those pictures I didn’t see Jewel, Duchess, Maggie, Marbles, Frisky, or Kenzie. She did get a couple of pics of Ellie, but they were very far off. It turns out Ellie was terrified of the umbrella. Did you know umbrellas can eat small ponies? I didn’t either, but it must be true!

I say goodbye, you say hello

I said goodbye to Glenn today at the bus station when I dropped him off to head to Iowa for his first truck driving job. I’d like to say it was very tearful and romantic, but how often does that really happen anymore? The sun was shining and I wanted to get back to the farm, durnit! Besides that, on our way in we noticed three horses in Cattle Baron’s pasture – the same three that were supposed to be coming to us. They were from the same people that turned over Maggie, Marbles, and Frisky and they were going to call us when they were ready to bring over the other three. The guy assured me that he knew where we lived.

Apparently not. And the phone never rang.

He brought the horses over last night and went right past our place with all the horses and dumped his horses off with all the cattle. My mind is still boggled.

We stopped by and talked to Cattle Baron to find out what was going on and he said that he didn’t mind keeping them because he wanted a well-broke horse for his wife. Let’s review here: 6 yo mare, her 1 month old foal, and her yearling colt. None of them are even halter broke. But I’m sure you already guessed that.

Now trust me, I felt no great need to bring in three more horses. And if Cattle Baron knew anything about horses, I would have considered leaving them there. Or if he took care of his cows. Or if he spayed and neutered his dogs and cats. Or if he didn’t leave dead cows lying in the pasture for weeks. Because of all the previous evidence of his lack of animal husbandry, I felt obliged to whip out my power of persuasion. I barely had to twist his arm before he told me to go get them and take them home.

Let’s do a little math.

20 acre pasture + 3 untouchable horses + going 1/10th a mile down a gravel road + just little old me = DISASTER

So who ya gonna call when life deals you lemons and you have no sugar? Anne to the rescue!!!! It took about an hour and a half, a bucket of sweet feed, and more patience than I thought I had left in me, but we did it! Mama and babies are snoozing peacefully in the quarantine pasture as I type. I can get fairly friendly with the yearling and he lets me scratch him all over, but as soon as I try to get a lead rope around his neck he’s gone. I was able to scratch mom’s shoulder for a brief second, and rub her head while it was in the bucket eating, but that’s it. Baby wants absolutely nothing to do with the scary humans and spends most of his time sandwiched between the other two.

Since it seems that they’ve just had a lack of handling, rather than bad handling, it shouldn’t take too long for them to buddy up to the food lady. Marbles and Maggie are coming around quickly and Marbles now shoves his back to me in an effort to get a scratch. Maggie still lays her ears back when I reach for the halter, but at least she’s no longer biting or striking. We actually got all the little monsters wormed last night, which was an adventure in itself!

Your turn to say "hello"!

Jasmine, Sky, and ? I need a name that fits that adorable pointy blaze on his face. Help!

Check out the divit in mama’s face. It looks like someone left a halter on her when she was younger and her face was forced to grow around it. Poor girl!

They didn’t know what apples or carrots were, but after Anne threw some pieces on the ground for them, they quickly realized that apples were worth almost overcoming the fear of humans.

For horses that have never had their feet trimmed, Jasmine and the colt have incredibly good feet.

Those ears… I really want to play with those soft, furry, curved, uniquely colored ears.

I’ll start ground work with Jasmine once Sky is weaned and hopefully have her broke and adoptable before the end of the year. Sky and his big brother will spend the Winter in the back pasture with Maverick, Marbles, and Stride.

Oh, and OF COURSE Jasmine originally came from the Krazy Kolor breeder down the road from us. ARGH!

THIS IS IT! At least for this year. Tabby, Meghan, and Abby are headed to their new homes soon. Genesis is heading over for pony training with Anastasia next month. Once everyone finishes shedding out and don’t look like they have mange, Anne is coming over for photography day and we’ll get new pictures up on the rescue site. Once all the colts are halter broke, Doc will have a field day out here gelding them all. Let’s hope none of them are shy about dropping that second dangly like Maverick was!

Ponies in the Mist

These are the scenes that greeted me this morning when I went out to check on the horses.

 

 

 

I think the newbies are settling in just fine.   That’s Willow the Welcome Wagon in the foreground.  Maverick has done nothing but whinny at them all night long.  He’s very much in love with the two new paint mares, Abbi Road and Genesis.

 

 

Once the sun comes out I’ll get some better pictures and tell you their stories.

What a night

Since the death of Bertha truck, we've not been hauling water from town for the main herd anymore.  We opened up the electric fence so they could share the spring-fed tank with the bachelors in the back, and so far it's been handling all 20 horses just fine.  In the Winter we have to worry about the line to the tank freezing, which usually doesn't happen until the temps get below 15 degrees.  In the late Summer and Fall, there sometimes isn't enough water flow to keep it full for just three horses.  But in the Spring and early Summer, the spring is overflowing with water and the tank is typically overflowing as well.

Not anymore.  Either the line is clogged or busted at some point because after we brought home more hay rolls yesterday I checked the tank and there was about an inch of water left in the tank.  It was so low that only the long-necked giraffes like Junior and Kita could reach it.   We loaded the water tank onto the trailer, hitched it to Bessie, and headed to town.  Since Bessie is only 2wd, we kept the water tanks right beside the gate, up near the road for ease of access when it rains.  However, in my ultimate wisdom, I had decided since it was so dry, to take the hay rolls up the ridge to the barn and unroll them down the hill of death earlier -- my thinking was that they hay would be closer to the spring-fed tank.

We tried calling the horses to the water, but it was dark and they were more interested in standing at the spring-fed tank pawing at the mud around it.  So while Glenn took a flashlight and tried to fix the line to the tank, I took a couple of halters and lead ropes and started leading the horses to the water.   Two by two. 

I had gotten everyone in the main herd to the water by 11pm.  Glenn had gotten enough of a trickle out of the line to the tank for Quest and Stride to be able to reach it, but not Maverick.  Back into town we went for another load of water.  This load went to the boys in the back and fortunately, they came when I called them and drank their fill. 

We fell into bed by 12:30.   You'd think I'd be able to sleep after all of that, right? 

I love being an insomniac.

Spreading the Word

Fugly posted this link on her blog today and it's something that I'm passionate about, so I thought I'd share for those of you that don't read FHOTD.

http://www.kaufmanzoning.net/foiaphotos.html

These graphic photos are of horses that went from backyard, to auction house, to double-decker trailer on the way to slaughter. For those that don't know, double-decker trailers were built for cattle, NOT horses. The height of each level is too short for most horses so they are forced to stoop or lie down during the long haul to Canada or Mexico. The horses are packed in like sardines and those lying down typically get trampled, kicked, and mauled by those still standing. Not to mention the foals, the sick and lame, or the very old horses that can't stand for long periods of time. They have no choice but to lay down and take their chances.

Hauling horses in double-decker trailers is illegal in a lot of states, but enforcing that law is difficult at best. The odds of getting caught and the fines if you do are not enough to discourage the practice.

I can't look at those pictures without remembering the horses that were whipped onto meat buyer trailers that day at Sugarcreek, without thinking of the racehorses still wearing racing plates, or the frightened young Belgian that stole our hearts. But I also think of Sadie sitting out in the pasture munching on a hay roll right now. How, when I took off her blanket this morning, she rubbed her head against my arm to scratch the itchy places, then followed me back down to the gate hoping for treats. How she runs around the field with the herd on warm Spring-like days and doesn't show any signs of lameness at all. How she and Junior nuzzle together after dinner. How she and Kita sleep side by side in the sun.

And I think about how I can't wait to do it all over again.

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? :)

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.

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!

A wonderful way to spend a Sunday

Yesterday was a day of beautiful views and great riding. Anne, Glenn, and myself all went over to Anastasia's for a three hour trail ride. First let me say that Kita and Classy are becoming AWESOME in the trailer loading department. Both just walked right on yesterday and pleasantly surprised us all. Usually there's a couple of minutes of "Really? You want me to get on that? Why?"



Willow and Glenn, ready to hit the trails.







Mid-way through the ride we stopped at the river to let the horses (and our butts) rest. We're all very old, you see, and us ancient people can't ride forever without getting off to stretch aching muscles and complain about the pain in our joints. It's just the way of things and you youngins out there should be prepared for it.

You're welcome.



If you want to know how Classy did on the ride, check out the Training the Unwanted blog.







One of the views from the trail...




One of the trails. Nice and wide, little rock -- this is truly trail riding heaven.

Triple Delight

A couple of weeks ago a thoroughbred breeder in Florida gave me a call. He said he had found the website and wanted to know if we'd take his horse, Joma. Joma is seven and the trainer doesn't want to race him anymore because he came up sore after his last race. Rather than ship him off to the nearest auction, the trainer convinced the breeder to try to find a rescue home for the gelding. After talking to me for a few minutes he gave me the name of his trainer at Mountaineer race track where Joma was being raced. Mountaineer is only about 100 miles from here, not far from Pittsburgh.


If I was a TB race horse, I'd want this woman as my trainer! Unlike most race horse trainers, she allows the horses turn out time and doesn't keep them locked in stalls 24/7. She also keeps them at her own farm where they have their very own pool for exercise and therapy. She doesn't pump them full of steroids. And she doesn't race them when they aren't physically capable of racing. Through another trainer at Mountaineer I hear that "P" is one trainer that definitely takes care of her horses.

I'm thinking that this is one trainer that I wouldn't mind getting a TB from. I gave her a call and we talked for awhile about Joma. Then she brought up Imperial, which is her personal horse that she no longer races. Imperial had a joint infection awhile back, and although it's healed and he's sound, his one knee is still large and "ugly". Sure, bring them both.

The next week P calls back to make final arrangements for bringing down the horses and mentions a three year old black gelding that's also looking for a home. He's not built for racing, he's too over at the knee and came up sore after the last race. He's only raced five times. Can I take him too?


First let me say that I have wanted a black horse ever since I could say the word "horse". Isn't that what every little girl wants once she's read The Black Stallion or Black Beauty?

Three horses showed up at the end of my driveway today. Three BEAUTIFUL thoroughbred geldings. I put them in the back pasture with Maverick and Stride so they wouldn't have to fight the herd for social position and worry about being in a new place at the same time. I was worried at first that they would be aggressive and domineering TBs, with a side of totally wacko thrown in for good measure and that they'd beat up on poor old Stride. This is what I'm used to in a TB fresh off the track. What I ended up with was three very gentle geldings who spent the first few minutes trotting around the pasture, and the rest of the time playing bite-face with Maverick or grazing quietly next to Stride.


How about I just shut up now and introduce you to the new men in my life?

This was P's personal horse that had to be retired from racing because of the "ugly" knee. Judging by the way he was trotting around the pasture today, the knee doesn't bother him at all. Imperial Alydeed is seven years old.





Romantic Quest is the black three year old who's just not comformationally built to withstand the rigors of racing. He's gorgeous and has claimed Stride as his new best friend. Glenn has decided that Tabby is no longer the horse for him and I'm allowed to adopt her out now. Quest is now his new horse, whether I like it or not. Glenn is still at the "it's pretty so it must be a nice horse" stage of his equine education. I suppose we'll find out if the two will make a good pair once I get Quest under saddle for evaluation.




Joma is one of those hunks that you see on the beach who fills out a speedo in all the right places and is reading Atlas Shrugged while sun bathing. I fell in love with him instantly. He's built like a tank and has the greatest personality that makes me want to just cuddle up with him.





Apparently, Maverick feels the same way.









The two of them were inseparable and thoroughly enjoy playing bite-face. Let's just hope they don't wrestle, I think Joma would have a distinct weight advantage.






David and three Goliaths. But Maverick is just another man that doesn't think size matters.





By the way, I'm not the only one that fell in love with Joma. Once I've ridden him and deemed him sane he goes home to Anastasia to be her new trail horse. What a lucky guy!

Founder on the Agenda?

Saturday was full of fun and sun. I spent time in the garden, pulling out spent tomato plants and white bell peppers that just weren't producing, pulling a few weeds, and planting the garlic that finally showed up on Friday. I also spent time cleaning the house.

Ok, so not so much on the house cleaning part. But I did wash the dishes and clean the stove top and counters. I think that counts towards house cleaning and validates my statement above. Maybe. Since I then dirtied everything right back while canning.

I picked another large basket of tomatoes that I cored, cleaned and froze. I also picked up a ton of pineapple tomatillos, but did a little experiment with them this time. I pureed them for starters, then dumped them in a saucepan and simmered for a bit with a few cloves, almond extract, 1/2c honey, and 1/2c sugar. Then because it wasn't thickening up quick enough for me I added fruit pectin and let it simmer for another 45 min. What was I trying to accomplish you ask? I have no idea. Maybe a spreadable product of some sort for toast and biscuits? Maybe something to pour over vanilla ice cream? Beats the heck out of me. But I ended up with 6 half pints of this somewhat thickened but not quite spreadable yellow goo with a really strong flavor. Time will tell, but my guess is that 5 of those pints are still on the pantry shelves next April.

Then I had to get started on the humongous basket of pears that I harvested the night before off of a friend's tree. I ended up with 15 pints of pears in light syrup and the basket still looks full. If you've got any interesting canned pear recipes, please share! I don't want to freeze them because our freezers are just about full as it is. I'm contemplating pear butter, but really, how much pear butter can two people eat??

After all of the canning was done and I was sick of looking at the kitchen, it was time to feed dinner to the horses. As I moseyed up the hill of death I heard banging on the barn gates and thought they were just getting a little antsy since it was past their normal dinner time. NOPE. Someone, and I will not mention any names (WILLOW!), broke into the barn and found the feed that we had just moved up from the house on Thursday. By the time I got there, Junior, Kita, and Semi (the ring leaders) were standing over the cans of feed with very satisfied looks on their faces and bottom lips hanging low in contentment. Willow had been chased to the back of the barn and was standing belly-deep in loose hay that used to be in nice neat bales. The brat pack was standing at the entrance of the barn looking in with twinge of regret that they were not the ones in charge.

Loose hay was everywhere. A stack of 50 bales had been toppled and trampled. Grain was dribbled and spread all over the floor. The nice neat bucket of hay twine that we had behind the feed bins had been picked up and flung, leaving hay twine everywhere. About 300 lbs of grain was gone. The container of Mineral Ice that was on a shelf had been knocked down and stomped on, leaving globs of bright blue goop all over the floor. One of the feed bins and all of the feed buckets were strewed out in the pasture in front of the barn.

If you've got the mental image in your head now, then you can probably imagine how angry I was. I know I had chained the gate after breakfast that morning. I've been very careful about it since we moved the feed up there, and even before that after the hay had been put up. There's no way I left it unchained! So here's where Willow comes in. Willow is a crafty little hussy. And unfortunately, she's too smart for her own good. See, there's no way that someone else broke in the barn and wasn't immediately chased to the back by either the brat pack or the ring leaders. There's simply not enough room for the more aggressive horses to go through the one 10' gate with ears pinned and teeth bared and let the passive cat burglar escape. The evil gate opener would be chased to the back instead. And Willow was the only one trapped in the back of the barn. And she's, as much as I hate to admit it, the smartest horse in the herd. Not to mention her reputation as an escape artist.

After counting to 10 I shooed everyone out of the barn and took stock of the situation. The pellets were gone. There was maybe 10lbs of senior feed left. The rice bran was untouched. They hay... well, they hay is going to stay as it is. I'll just feed the loose stuff first, and hopefully by winter we'll just have stackable bales left. I was pretty sure that the more passive horses, like Manny, Radar, Jewel, and Meghan didn't get any of the food, but since they are usually right with Willow, I couldn't be positive. Since there was no way to tell who got how much, I didn't feel safe feeding that night (good thing we left the bulk of the grain at the house!). I did throw out some hay, and the only ones that ate were Dolly, Manny, Indy, and Radar. Everyone else just hung out napping. Except Megalia.

While I was cleaning up the mess, Meg decided to act colicky. She was pacing, pawing, sticking her upper lip in the air, and generally acting distressed. However, her gums were pink, there was gurgling going on in her stomach, and when I took her for a walk she passed two normal-sized piles. So there obviously wasn't a intestinal obstruction in there, but maybe some gas buildup or just a "mom, I ate too much" kind of tummy ache. When we returned from our walk she parked herself next to her sisters and took a nap with the rest. I spent the rest of the night and all day yesterday checking on everyone every couple of hours and making sure no one else was going to either colic or founder on me.

So far, so good.

Feeding the crew

Ah, what I wouldn't give for a 16-stall barn! Right now we have a huge equipment shed that we've cleaned out so it acts as a large, segregated run-in shed for the horses. This works great for giving them shelter, but not so great when it comes time to feed. Last night I realized why it takes me an hour to feed 13 horses. First I have to worry about herd dynamics and make sure everyone gets fed in order descending pecking order. The pecking order is as follows:


1. Junior and Semi
2. Kita
3. Classy
4. Megalia and Tabby
5. Indy
6. Jewel, Willow, and Meghan
7. Stride and Dolly
8. Manny


The first thing I need to do is get the full feed buckets out of the back of the truck and into the barn behind closed gates without being mauled. Then I tie up Semi and Kita, and Junior usually just stands between his two women at his feed bucket waiting for the good stuff so I don't bother tying him. No one else tries to steal their food since they are the top rung of the ladder so I go ahead and feed them. While they're getting started I tie up Meg and Classy. I used to just spread out their buckets and let them sort it out, but Classy is a food face and has started to chase Tabby away from her grain. Because it's MINE. ALL MINE. Then I get Stride, Dolly, and Indy into a separate area of the barn. I don't bother tying any of them up because they respect each other's buckets and generally take the same time to eat anyway. By that time Meghan and Jewel are waiting at their gate. I let them in the same area as the hay since there's only two of them and it doesn't take them long to eat. Once everyone else is eating, I give Manny his bucket outside the barn, away from everyone else. He's the slowest eater, so I try to "hide" him where no one else will find him once their done stuffing their faces. Willow is the last to eat because fat girl only gets a handful and can sometimes charm her way into Semi's bucket if I don't tie her up. By the time Willow is fed, it's time to go back through with the alfalfa cubes and dole those out to my hard keepers who are mostly done with their grain at that point: Junior, Indy, Stride, and Dolly.

Alfalfa cubes disbursed, it's time to start throwing out square bales of hay and strategically spreading out the piles so that no one clique is too close to another. The brat pack is easy -- once I throw hay in front of their faces they don't move until it's gone. Everyone else is usually a challenge because they all want to play musical hay piles. Someone inevitably ends up on the wrong side of the pasture as the unoccupied hay piles and can't figure out how to get to it. Then I feel bad for them and throw out more hay.


By the time an hour is up, everyone is fed and eating hay, the buckets are all rinsed out and back in the truck, the barn is closed back up, and it's time to go feed my baby boys in the back pasture. This is the easy part. I take two buckets of grain out behind the house, call in my boys, enjoy the view as they come running, and then they each help themselves to a bucket. No one chases anyone else away, there are no fights, dirty looks, or name-calling, and I get to stand there and scratch them as they eat.


Speaking of baby boys, Anastasia is doing a terrific job on Hunter! Go check out his training journal over on Training the Unwanted. And she tells me his butt is growing like crazy and is even higher than it was when I saw him over the weekend. Talk about your awkward teenager! Not only does he look silly, but he moves pretty darned funny as well. Let's hope the front end catches up soon.

As the world turns

I was just told by my friend April that the world revolves around her and she relies on me to produce a new blog post more often than I do. Apparently, she hasn't noticed the Friday then Tuesday post pattern I've fallen into and insisted on having one today. Doesn't she realize that my weekends are CRAZY and I need a day to recuperate before becoming organized enough to blog? So here goes a very unorganized post with a hodgepodge of everything (no change from normal, really).


I do have one thing to mention... I have potential adopters for at least two horses, Classy being one of the two! Wooohoo! One adopter is coming out on Wednesday to try out Classy. The other adopter is looking for a well-broke older horse just to mosey around the yard on. Megalia may fit this to a T, but I've been waiting for her to put on more weight before I evaluate her. She's gotten to the point where you can still barely see her ribs, but her butt, chest and shoulders have filled out nicely so I'll start working her tonight and see what we've got. They may also be interested in adopting Hunter for their little girl once he's broke next year. He looks a lot like the little mini that she rides now, but she'll outgrow him by next year. Both adopters currently have very fat, sleek, shiny, trimmed, HEALTHY horses. This is a big fat bonus when checking out potential adopters!


Guinea update: I realized that I left you guys hanging on the guineas. I believe I last told you that we had one left in the coop, the one that Thor dropped at my feet. The next day, one of the remaining five made it back to the coop and was trying desperately to get in with his buddy. They've been together since and are doing well and growing quickly. We're going to leave them in the coop until we either have more adult guineas to release with them, or until they've bred and raised some keats. This is going to be impossible if they are both the same sex, but I'm using the ignorance is bliss theory and continuing with my happily ever after scenario.


Glenn has been picking on me because my picture has not yet made it onto the blog, but his has. Especially the one of him in his boxers. Hey, that wasn't my fault, I warned him! And because I believe the camera can steal my soul, I hate HATE HATE having my picture taken.


Ok, so that soul part isn't true, I'm just camera shy. REALLY camera shy. I have no current pictures to share with you. So to make Glenn happy, and because I'm twisted this way, I thought I'd share a wedding picture taken back in 1995 when I married some other guy. This is one of the few wedding pictures I even kept, simply because Junior was in it. And I'm far enough way that it's hard to really see me. This alone makes it a keeper. :)











I leave you with a picture of the Jilly Bean (aka Jelly Belly) and a picture of Thor eating her brother, Jack. And a promise that someday soon the allergies will stop stuffing my head with boogers and I'll be a little more coherent.

BDD Jr.

Yes, we got another dog. Before I introduce you, please don't think that this is Rocky's replacement. If Rocky is ever found, we will still take him and give him a home. He just won't be going out in the truck with Glenn. His hands are still sore and swollen from all the bite marks and he's not such a big fan of little dogs anymore.

Now let me tell you Thor's story. Maybe I should start by proclaiming yahoo groups are dangerous! Or maybe it's just my inability to say NO to an animal in need that's dangerous. No, that can't be it.

One of our soldiers was headed overseas and couldn't take Thor with her. She was heartbroken and tried for a month to find him a good home. When the day came that she had to leave, her husband took matters into his own hands and took Thor to the all ready overflowing county shelter where they euthanize surrendered dogs before strays (this would have been grounds for divorce in my book!). Fortunately for Thor, the woman at the shelter knew him and his owners, since that's where they adopted him from in the first place. She decided to give Thor a stay of execution for a day or two in the hopes that someone would want to take him home. That's when someone on this yahoo horse riding forum that I subscribe to cross posted about Thor. I contacted the rescue that was trying to place him and Glenn picked him up yesterday. And that's a bit of a funny story as well... Glenn went to get him in my Wrangler and had the top down. On the way home he stopped at Taco Bell for some lunch and while cruising down the highway afterwards he gets pulled over by a state trooper. The cop walks up to the door and tells Glenn he pulled him over for littering. Then he noticed Thor in the passenger seat with a big wad of taco bell paper hanging from his mouth. The cop smiled, shook his head, and said "Nevermind, I understand".

I call him BDD Jr. for now because he's going to be huge. He weighs in at probably 65-70 lbs now and isn't even a year old. He may not make it to BDD size, but he'll be awfully close. The previous owners think he's black lab and mastiff. I don't see much mastiff, but maybe pitbull? What do yawl think?

And of course I can't have a post entitled BDD Jr. without pictures of the original BDD. I actually noticed some smidgen of intelligence in that stare tonight.

No matter how dumb, he sure is purdy.

Thor and the BDD are both in love with Brie. Who wouldn't be? Especially with groundhog intestine breath? That's right, she found the dried up intestines from the dumbest groundhog in the world and chewed them right up. Mmmmm, groundhog jerky. That dog is not licking me in the face for a month.

The herd has been spending most evenings in the top field, so it's been a rare treat that they all come down towards the house. Tonight was one of those nights. This is Junior, Stride, Dolly, Willow, Classy, Meghan, and Semi. Kita and Indy weren't far, but just outside the picture. Manny the wonder horse and his little buddy, Chief were far to the right, by themselves as usual.

Megalia and Tabby up on the ridge. Their sister has found a place in the herd, but these two prefer to stay apart. Which is probably a good thing, because they are beating the hell out of Stride and Dolly. When Manny isn't picking on the poor old fogies, the girls are. Junior and Semi have taken the ancient ones under their wing, so they usually defend against the two Troublets. But both Stride and Dolly have scrapes and bite marks all over their butts. I've started locking them in the barn in the morning so they can eat in peace and stay out of the sun and away from the bugs. Hopefully, that will help keep the girls off of them.

Have a great weekend. And if anyone is bored this weekend, come on over. I have plenty of things for you to do! :)