Who put that light switch there??

So my sister and brother-in-law were going to built a house but found one that they really liked to buy instead. My uncle said that was good because then in 2 years you won't think 'What dummy put that light switch there?' Oh yeah it was you.
Titan and I had a moment like that yesterday. I would ask him to do one thing and get a totally different response than I was looking for. I would ask him to put his haunches in and he would canter. I thought who taught him that?? Oh yeah- me.

My bleeding heart strikes again.

So on my way home from work tonight I passed 3 middle school aged boys throwing rocks at what looked to be a cat. Being the animal lover I am I pulled over and yelled at them to knock it off or I was calling the cops. They ran off a little ways but clearly were just going to wait until I left to continue torturing the cat. I went over to shoo it away and it came running up to me and rubbed on my legs and purred and purred. Needless to say it ended up in the car with me because it was skin and bones and was not going to be shooed away. It is currently in the back hall having what seems to be its first meal in days. I put some towels for it to sleep on and a litter box along with a bowl of water. I am going to try and find it a home otherwise I will take it to the no kill shelter. I don't need another cat right now and I think Fiance would kill me if I told him that I was going to keep her. I will try and post some pictures tomorrow. Any of you want a new cat?

Face Lift

The blog got a bit of a face life today. I was sick of it being so dark and sick of the teeny tiny white writing... Let me know what you think as it is still a work in progress.

Maybe I am mortal.

So you know the feeling when you are in high school or even college/university and you just know that nothing can touch you? That feeling of immortality, you know logically you have just as much of a chance as anyone else of falling ill or getting in an accident but for some reason you never think it will happen to you.

My immortality is wearing off. I went in and met with my insurance agent today and we discussed life insurance policies. Also I discovered a new wonderful little blog called A Process of Learning about 2 days ago and have been thinking ever since. I will let you read Ashley and Ella's story because I couldn't write it better than she does but I just wanted to throw out there that sometimes reading someone else's blog really gets me thinking.

If something were to happen to me tomorrow what would happen to my horses? I know that Fiance, my sister and my brother would take care of everything to the best of their abilities but none of them are horse savvy. I have been thinking and thinking about what I would want to happen and it is very difficult because I would definitely want my ponies to stay in their home but I know T and her family can not afford to suddenly have 5 more horses to feed. So in the past 2 days while grooming and cleaning stalls and other horsey tasks that are perfect for thinking I have come up with a plan for each horse.

Titan. Now you all know that as much as I love the others Titan is a piece of my heart and I can't imagine him ever not being with me but knowing that may not always be a possibility forced me to think. If something were to happen to me Titan would be headed to Canada. Now all you crazies that think I am sending my baby to slaughter of course I am not. Titan would be headed to Newfoundland to be with Leila. Leila and I worked together in NY when we were camp counselors and riding instructors. She is an amazing person and a great rider. She would bring him along and train him right. She is soft and kind and I know I could trust her to always do what is right for him.

Margo. Margaret has only been here a short time but she is already a lifer. She would be going to Indiana (or where ever Ada happened to be living). Ada is my best friend from IWU. She would have so much fun with Margaret and would learn loads with her as well. I have no doubt in my mind that Ada would care for Margo the same way that I would and love her just as much.

As for the others it will be up to T to know what I would want to happen with them. She and I talk every day about the horses and about my plans for each of them. She would know how to go about selling them and the money would be split to help Margo and Titan's new owners get started. With horses coming and going as I try to better each of their place in life there may be horses here that I haven't mentioned but T would be in charge of figuring that out. At the moment Mace would stay with T, Tiki would go to C and Love would be sold. All of Titan's equipment and my English tack should go with him to Canada and Margo's equipment and my western tack should go with her.

Do your families know what to do with your horses if something should happen?

Who says you can't buy Love?

She is officially for sale so I say you can buy Love. I have accomplished what I wanted with her. I rescued her from the KB at the auction and she now has a solid start. If I could keep her I would but I can't keep everyone. With Tiki's foal due in May I am looking to free up a little space. If you know of anyone looking for a super minded 2 yr old BS paint send them my way.

Some Happier Updates.

Mace is a good little boy. He can lead without mama around, picks up all four feet and holds them for you to pick them out, will stand to be groomed. He is a cool little guy. He is changing color to a VERY dark chestnut color. Not sure if he will stay that color? He looks a little scuzzy now because the patches that have shed out and are dark make him look like he has bruises or something all over his body. I will try for some pictures tomorrow so you can see what I mean. T is really falling in love with him and I am feeling a little guilty that I will be selling him. I really like him but don't have the resources to have a gazillion horses of my own right now. Once I win the lotto that will change and I will build my dream barn and rescue career broodies and give them a real job rather than a baby incubator but for now I will have to find him a new home sometime this summer.
Titan is fabulous. I have been riding him bareback almost every day (for my benefit more than his). I can now go two rounds posting bareback without stopping (proper posting where my a** gets up off his back, not the silly stuff some people do when they have to post with no stirrups and they just bounce about). I can only make it one round in 2 point (my legs aren't that strong yet). It is better than when I started and could barely do 1/2 a round posting! He is getting more confident and more consistent at the trot and we could probably go out and show in walk-trot and clean up right now but I don't have the 'horse show itch' just yet. Not with him anyway. I am having too much fun training on him.
Love is great. We walk and trot now. Still no canter. She has a super smooth little jog that is very natural and also has a very natural low headset. I wish I could find her an advanced 4-Her that wanted a project for the summer. She would be perfect for that since she is so freaking sweet. She can make nice round circles and pays attention for the most part. We are still keeping our rides very short because I don't want to lose her attention and don't want her to stop enjoying her work.
Tiki is still pregnant and I suspect she will go late. She is due beginning to mid May but I have a feeling she will hang on until the end of May or even into June. I have stopped riding her since she is getting uncomfortably big. She has a new pasture pal. After Margo was attacked I wanted her out alone with Mace so that she didn't have to worry about him so much so Tiki and Rocky got turned out in the arena for a while to test them out. I didn't think Tiki would take any of Rocky's crap and sure enough she set herself up as the alpha mare right off the bat. So long a**hat Rocky. Since they have been out together his manners have been better (read: he isn't a rude jerk anymore). He would still pick on the youngers but for now I am happy to have someone in with him so he isn't all alone.
Gus is doing well. I have T working with him on ground driving with him now as I don't think he is physically mature enough to have someone on his back consistently. She has been on him once for about 5 minutes but we have decided it is in his best interest to pull back a bit for now.

Dog Attack.

I have been so crazy busy that I haven't had a chance to sit down and post. Things are a bit of a mess right now. Well, let me start at the beginning...
The day before Easter (April 3rd) I had an AMAZING ride on Margo. Her jog is like and old pro and her lope was getting better each time I got in the saddle. She seemed to be getting a little bored so we were working on flying changes as well. Every time I ride her I feel like our bond gets stronger and stronger. It is so strange as I haven't felt a bond like this with any horse since getting Titan (and with training I ride a lot of horses). Sometimes you just click you know? Anyway I even called T and had her get out of the shower to come over and watch Margo and myself. She was pretty excited about the progress we had made in such a short time as well.
You may have noticed the jumps between past and present tense, sigh. There lies our problem. That was the last time I have ridden Margo. The next day (Easter Sunday) I was invited to go with some family friends to their family Easter since I have no family in the area and so I joined them. I first made sure that we would be back well before dark so that I could get a few rides in. We ended up getting back around 7 and I was beat from the long car rides so I decided to give the horses the day off. When I drove up my drive way there was a black pit bull that jumped on the car door until Chance chased it off. I came in and called a few neighbors trying to find the owners to no avail. I didn't really think too much of it because there are often neighbor dogs that wander up here and then they always go back home. I figured that Chance must have scared him off because I couldn't see him anywhere around the house. Around 8 I went out to feed horses and bring the mares in.
I walked into the pasture to get Margo and Mace. Margo knows when it is dinner time and came straight over to me. As I was about to halter her the pit bull seemed to come out of no where and attacked her. I booted Mace in the belly to get him to run away as Margo spun around and tried to jump the fence to get away from the dog. He grabbed her back right leg just above her fetlock and was hanging on for dear life. Margo did not make it all the way over the fence and ended up dragging her back legs down over the top rail pulling the rail down. I had to kick the dog to get it off her leg. After I kicked it, it ran off while Margo stood huffing and bleeding. I got her haltered and grabbed Mace and got them into the barn as quickly as I could as I was worried that the dog would be back (she did not want to move at all). Once I got her into the barn I was able to see the damage done. She was bleeding mostly from where he had bitten her (lower cannon on the hind right) but also from many of her other wounds.
I cleaned her up and then called the sheriff and vet. While I was getting her cleaned up the dog came back into the yard and I was able to get a rope around it's neck and get it tied up. The sheriff came and took my statement and took pictures of Margo's legs. He then loaded the dog into his truck (it tried to attack him while he did this). He said that any dogs that attack livestock are disposed of. At first I felt a little guilty sending the dog off to its death but then I looked at Margo's legs and didn't feel bad any more.
Here are some pictures. I don't have any of the night it happened these are a few days later but they give you an idea.
She is still very sore and when she jumped the fence she did some damage to her right front. I have consulted a few vets and it is mostly a waiting game now. There is a chance that she will end up being just a trail horse or even a broodmare for life. No matter what she ends up being she will be here for life, she is just one of those horses that I have a special connection to and I won't sell her.