Polka Dot Ponies

Website!

2010-08-17T19:49:00.002-05:00

I know I have been a terrible blogger thus summer/spring heck for about the past year. Anyway this summer every chance I have had to sit down at the computer I have been working on one thing- MY NEW WEBSITE! Check it out and I would love any feedback that you all have!!

www.KyhlwoodFarm.com

No Paparazzi Please video 2

2010-06-23T14:57:00.003-05:00

As you can tell in the videos Love wasn't a huge fan of him following her around on the lunge. He was going a little faster than he does naturally because he was trying to keep up with her.

No Paparazzi Please video 1

2010-06-22T20:54:00.006-05:00

I know they aren't great videos but they give you an idea of how he moves. I was at a loss on how to make a video of a horse that doesn't lunge especially since I don't have a round pen. He follows Love like a puppy so I used that to my advantage. (When I first got him his name was Maynard so if you click the label link below that says Maynard it will take you to all of the blogs that have said anything about him.)

So Sleepy

2010-06-19T22:30:00.003-05:00

But I have been such a terrible blogger that I figured I owe you some pictures!
So much going on right now and so many changes but I will get into those tomorrow when I have a chance to sit down and blog properly. For now here are a few pictures to get you excited for the blog to come!

Who put that light switch there??

2010-04-18T10:08:00.002-05:00

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.

2010-04-16T23:13:00.002-05:00

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

2010-04-15T13:40:00.001-05:00

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.

2010-04-15T12:12:00.004-05:00

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?

2010-04-14T10:28:00.003-05:00

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.

2010-04-13T23:31:00.003-05:00

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.

2010-04-13T15:07:00.004-05:00

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.

Ride Goals.

2010-03-15T20:30:00.004-05:00

I set goals every time I get on any of my horses. If I don't set a goal, even if we had a good ride, I don't feel like we accomplished much. I even set goals for out on the trail ride. I never really say them out loud but having them in my head helps drive the ride forward to a productive place where the horse and/or myself are learning something. If I get on and the horse isn't where we left of for whatever reason the the goals change but generally it works out really well.
Today I only worked from 5:45-10 and it was BEAUTIFUL outside so I got everyone worked and was able to spend time fussing over everyone.
Margo and Mace were first. I lunged her (and of course Mace too since he is part of the Margo package). My goal for Mace was to teach him not to run up at the lunge line. The other day when I lunged her he kept charging the line and even tried to jump it once. Luckily Margo's whoa is fabulous so I just dropped the line and said whoa and a possibly major accident was avoided. I didn't want to stop working her because he was there but more important was him not getting hurt. So today I decided to use a different line. It is a fat round purple one rather than the flat navy one that I normally use. I thought it would be more visible to him and it is much heavier so if he did try something stupid again it would drop to the ground if I let go. The navy one fell to the ground but when it landed it had loops sticking up that could get a leg. Every time he would try and charge it I would very firmly tell him no and wiggle the line. That seemed to get his attention and he very quickly got the picture. Mace goal: accomplished.
With Margo I wanted to get her responding to my voice better for gaits and also learn to walk on the lunge. She likes to go straight out at a trot and then trot and canter the whole time. Her whoa, like I said before, is great so I decided to work on transitions both up and down. She was getting much better at the end and even managed to walk long enough to cool herself out. Margo goal: accomplished.
Tiki and I desperately needed to work on her reaction to my legs. So my goal for her was to become more responsive to my cues rather than just reacting. To me reacting is an automatic response to my cues where as if she is truly responding then she has to think about what I want her to do. So today we worked on leg cues. She is very sensitive to my legs but every time my leg is on her side she thinks it is go faster unless I have pressure on the bit. Today we worked at the walk on lessening the pressure on the bit and increasing me asking her to move her body around. She was getting it but I think it is definitely something that we need to work on over more time. Tiki goal: in progress but better.
Titan and I had a ground lesson today. I have noticed in the pasture lately that he is much more pushy and I wanted to remind him who is boss. So my goal for him today was to get back to we were last fall with him reading my body language and listening to my voice commands. He did get in trouble a few times for trying to just walk over me but in the end we are almost back to where we were last fall. I am sure he will need many more refreshers in his life but for today he accomplished my goal for him.
With Love I worked on moving forward consistently. She prefers to stand still when I am sitting on her back. So we worked on walking with my voice and a little leg pressure rather than having to bump her sides with my legs. She did well but it took a while to warm up and since she is only 2 I only ride her for about 15 minutes at a time. By the time the little light was turning on in her head it was time to get off.
How about you guys? Are you like me with goals for every ride? Or do you just go by the seat of your pants so to speak and let the horse tell you what they need to work on that day?

Not really about horses but...

2010-03-14T21:51:00.003-05:00

I am going to actively start really trying to get ready to take my NCLEX (nursing license exam). I had really put it on the back burner because (if I am totally honest here) I am afraid of failing the exam. There I said it. I am afraid to fail the NCLEX. Kind of feels good to get that out. It strikes me as odd to be afraid of failing at something because I try and fail all the time with the horses and to me that is a huge part of the learning process. But somehow it seems that if I fail the NCLEX I would be not only letting myself down but a lot of other people.

It has taken being extremely frustrated with where I am at now to finally get me to this place but I am there. I am really feeling that I am at a dead end and I am really starting to get frustrated that I can't seem to save up a decent chunk of money due to earning next to nothing. I am really excited for lessons and training to start up again because that is really where my income comes from. I am just frustrated to be working 5 days a week earning what I could be earning as a nurse in 2 days. I would have SO much more time with the horses and I truly believe I would feel better about myself.

Lovely Margo and 4-H safety talk

2010-03-13T21:33:00.003-06:00

I rode her tonight! I lunged her for a bit and then just got on and walked around and am still totally in love with her! She was so good. We worked on leg pressure, neck reining, whoa (which is stellar) and backing. I didn't ride long since I had already lunged her and she hasn't really been worked in about 2 1/2 years. Mace was good though I am NOT a fan of trying to lunge with him in the arena. Most days he ignores us and goes off on his own and plays a little but today he decided her would follow mama along the whole time. He was puffing a little at the end as well!
Quick question- If you could tell people one thing about safety with and around horses what would it be? The leader of the 4-H group called tonight and asked if I would be willing to speak at their meeting tomorrow. I said sure and already knew that the first thing I would talk about is safety. It drives me CRAZY when I go anywhere there are horse people and kids are wandering around barefoot or parents are letting kids sit on horses tied to the trailer (with no helmet and no shoes most of the time). I even had a kid reach through the arena fence one time and try to grab my horse's leg while we were cantering down the rail. Of course said kid's mom was no where to be seen and I had to slam on the breaks to not snap off the kid's arm (there was a horse to my inside). Good old Scottie had amazing breaks and we didn't even touch the kid but then we got rear ended by one of those people that NEVER take their eyes off the judge, "LOOK WHERE YOU ARE GOING!"
Anyway- My biggest thing with all of my lesson kids and anyone that rides with me is safety- which means a HELMET first and foremost!
What are your biggest safety pet peeves when it comes to horses?

So Proud,

2010-03-09T19:30:00.003-06:00

Of Chance that is. Those of you that remember after I adopted him I discovered that he was terrified of anything that resembled a broom handle. That was back in December of 2008. Today by his own choice he came into a stall I was cleaning and curled up in the corner on a pile of shavings. This is the first time he has ever willingly come into a space where I was holding anything like a broom, manure fork or even wrapping paper. We have work a lot on getting more comfortable around items like these but today was the first time he has ever put himself in that position by choice. What a good boy!
(That is the picture from his adoption ad)

Woody Pet?

2010-03-07T12:03:00.002-06:00

So one of the wonderful Margaret's downfalls is she is a HUGE slob in her stall. Because of this I am trying to come up with way to make it harder for her to trash the stall. The first is installing a hay feeder. I do not like metal hay feeders (the kinds with the bars) because not only do they pose a huge safety risk (especially with Mace) but they also have been tied to health problems. So I am thinking of building a box type feeder- I will let you know what I come up with. The other thing that I am trying to change is my bedding. Right now I use just regular bagged shavings and she went through about 6 bags in a week (with me picking out the stall every day). I understand that the stall will be a bit messier due to Mace being in there with her but still.
Has anyone ever used Woody Pet bedding? Does it actually make your life that much easier? It sounds like it would help a lot as it is easier to pick the stalls out and I wouldn't lose so much bedding while just picking out or to wet spots. I don't know. I am a bit of a skeptic. Also the nearest dealer to me is a little over 2 hours away so I would either need to order by the 1/2 truck load or become a dealer myself.
Humm... just food for thought I suppose.

Please excuse me while I wipe the drool from my chin.

2010-03-06T16:47:00.006-06:00

I am totally in love with this horse. I have been working with her the past week but all just grooming and such like that. Today I took her out in the arena and lunged her *drool*. She is almost freaky her legs are so good. She carries herself really well even on the lunge line. This is all in slushy snow as well! I can't imagine how awesome she is going to feel once I am on her back! She is also such a sweet mare, lets me do pretty much whatever I want with her or Maynard (also known as Mace now because sometimes Maynard is just too long). Margaret's nickname is Margo. Maynard's legs are pretty freaky cool as well *drool again*. Naturally really slow legged and has really nice flat knees and some crazy deep hocks. HOW did I get such cool horses at such an amazing price?!?! Also Chance still thinks he is part of their little horse family.
In other fun horse news...
Love had her 3rd ride today. T rode her around at the walk working on bending, turning and actually moving forward. It seems like there are 2 kinds of horses when you first get on their backs, those that don't want to move and those that want to toss you. Fortunately I have been lucky enough that most of the horses I have trained have been 'those that don't want to move' when they are first started. I would rather teach a horse to go forward that to teach a horse to stand still. I also think this may have something to do with all of the time and energy I put into them before I actually get on. I apologize that is isn't a very good picture of Love but it gives you an idea of how different she looks from when she first got here! Fatter and MUCH harrier!!
Gus had his first ride ever. He was great. As you know he is T's horse that I am helping her bring along. He is very mellow and also fell into the category of not really wanting to move when she first got on. After mounting and dismounting a few times I told her to stay on and ask him to turn his head both directions. Then after a bit of that we walked around a little. I say we because although I think Gus is mellow enough for her to handle horses are still unpredictable and so I had the lead on him for her first ride. She wants to do everything herself so with my guidance and support she is training him.
C had her first ride on Tiki today. She spent a while grooming and getting to know her and then just rode on the lunge line at the walk. I am really proud of C because I know she was a bit nervous but she did really well. I don't know if I told you anything about C's horse background? She rode when we were in middle school but never had a horse of her own. The horse that she used for 4-H died (either when we were still in middle school or in the beginning of high school) and she never really found a new mount that she was as confident on. She loved King and Hayley and she got along well with Reno (one of the horses I trained last summer) but she really needs a horse that is here consistently that she can learn on a build her confidence on. Tiki will also be used for her daughter to get rides on. I told her that she is going to learn to ride English this summer and she seemed semi excited/apprehensive. I don't think she likes hunt saddles.
Titan wasn't left out! We went for a ride out on the road and he was ok but a little spooky. On the way back he was much too forward and refused to pay attention to my legs or seat. So we worked when we got back. We worked out in the arena on using his body at the trot and listening to my legs when I am asking him to move his body around. It wasn't a long work but since he hasn't done much since November (give or take) he was puffing. As you can imagine is it hard to move how your rider wants you when the arena is still snowy. As much as I am looking forward to spring I am also dreading not being able to use the arena. Right now we are kind of in between the ground is no longer frozen and there is no ice but there is only one small spot of mud as it is all about 3-4 inches of snow (a few places as deep as a foot). In the next few weeks as everything thaws out there will be lots more mud and less working horses in the arena. Which usually means more trail riding but I am really itching to get back to work in the arena with all of the horses! Luckily I am on the top of a hill and am usually one of the first farms in the area to dry out!

First ride

2010-03-02T18:31:00.000-06:00

I rode Tiki today. Mostly walk and a little jog, since she is pregnant I didn't see the need to push her really hard. She was very good. Moves off my legs well and is very responsive to the bit. It was a little hard in the snow but she was moving her body around well for me. She was a little excited but considering this is the first time she has been ridden in well over a year I forgave her for that. T was in the arena working with Gus and Tiki was still very focused on me. I can't wait to actually see what she knows.

What a day!

2010-02-28T19:22:00.000-06:00

Today was great!
I'll start with the pictures in the last post. The pictures of Chance and Mo I just thought were cute. Then there are pictures of when I got Margaret and Maynard home yesterday. They settled in well. I spent a little over an hour just fussing over Margaret. She needed to be groomed SO badly and she loved it! I fed her and then grabbed brushes and went to town. She was so dirty. She is shedding a lot already and since it is only about 28 outside I blanketed her. I don't want her hair going back in just in time for it to get warm (which it is supposed to starting this week!!). I also haltered and unhaltered Maynard about 10 times and started working on handling his legs (he isn't a fan). He is starting to like to be scratched on the neck so he really struggles with whether he should let me catch him or not. Then today I got up and went out and fed everyone. After they were done Margaret and Maynard went out in the arena and Tiki went out with Titan, Love and Gus. I hung out with them for a while and debated taking his halter off but in the end I left it on since I was going to be out there the whole time anyway. Chance has decided that Maynard is his new best friend. Margaret won't let Tess go into the arena with them but she let Chance hang out with them the whole day.Chance and Maynard became fast friends and were playing most of the day. Except when Maynard or Chance needed a nap. I wonder if they each realize that the other isn't also a horse or dog. Titan and I went for a trail ride and we got stuck in a snow drift. It was totally my fault and I am super lucky that Titan is so mellow. There is one section of the trail that dips and then goes up a hill. We were going along and I completely forgot about the dip. The snow really piles up there and we walked straight into it. Titan is game for anything so he plowed on through until he couldn't move. Then my brain kicked into gear as he somewhat tipped over. He just kind of lay sideways into the snow (that at this point was touching my stirrups). I climbed off onto the snow and pulled his reins over his head. He had to think about it for a minute and then he decided that yes he would get up and get himself unstuck. After we got out of that self made mess we headed back to the barn and rode around in the yard.
Love had her first ride today! Normally I would put this in the 'her' blog but I have decided that I don't have the time or energy for 2 blogs so hers will be smushed back into this one. I mounted and unmounted for a while and we practiced bending and giving to the rein. Then we walked around a little bit and she was so good! Never offered to buck or run off. Since she was so good I put her away after that. I wish there was more time in the day and that I never had to go to work. That would be nice.

Pictures!!

2010-02-28T17:30:00.000-06:00

Maynard

Margaret and Myself

The 3 of us

Chance and Mo sleeping

Business Mode

2010-02-26T20:23:00.000-06:00

Tiki enjoyed her first day here I think. She went out in the lot by herself so that she could get to know the others over the fence. She seemed like she was having a good time when I went out to get her, though she was happy to come into her stall tonight. Her old owners told me that she could be a little hard to catch but she practically haltered herself. On the way into the barn we did a little showmanship and she rocks at it. Stuck her piviot on the first try and she hasn't done it in over a year. Sets up well, follows your shoulder for walking, trotting and stopping. It was funny because we started doing a little showmanship and it was like she switched into business mode- was no longer looking around or watching the dogs, wasn't trying to sniff my gloves or pockets- she was all business. Then when I gave her a pat and told her that she was a good girl she switched back into play mode and nuzzled my hat. Cool horse.

Picked up Tiki!

2010-02-25T21:17:00.000-06:00

She is lovely. We went to get her tonight after I got off work. She climbed right on the trailer, didn't even look at it. When we got her home she climbed right back off. Let her check out Titan, Gus and Love over the fence then put her in a stall for the night. I put Love in as well to keep her company.
She looked around a bit but never acted the least bit nervous or excited. Was happy to settle down in her stall with a big pile of hay. C came over to meet her and we groomed her for a little while (she needs a serious scrubbing- maybe tomorrow). Tiki leaned right into the brushes and closed her eyes. She was perfectly content. Seemed quite happy to have a nice soft bed of shavings to lay down in since she has been out in a pasture for the past year.
I think tomorrow I will tackle the huge tangles in her mane, more bonding time.

I did it!

2010-02-21T20:59:00.000-06:00

I bought both mares. I will be picking them up this week. I am super excited to start working with them and the one baby that is already on the ground. Yea! YEA!

I need some advice.

2010-02-20T21:50:00.000-06:00

So I have been horse shopping for a while now. Not super seriously as I am in no hurry but I would like another horse to work with over the summer as well as a lesson horse. I found 2 awesome mares and need your opinions on them. I went to see them today and love both of them.

Miss Tequila Brook (Tiki-pictured above) is a 10 yr old red dun AQHA mare. She is 15.1. She has been shown in English, western, showmanship, halter, and trail by an 11 yr old boy. She has been trail ridden quite a bit and has a very level head and isn't spooky. She has no health issues and is completely sound. She is up to date on everything (though could use a good trim- I trim every 6 weeks and some people around here trim every 10). She has great ground manners. Good for the vet and farrier. Easy to load and haul. She doesn't really have much on her papers but since she would be for lessons I don't really care. She did seem a little herd bound but we pulled her out of a pasture that she has been in for the last 4-5 months during dinner time. She wasn't naughty about it just whinnied twice and kept looking toward the pasture. She seems like she will be a super horse to have around for lessons and for friends to ride when they come out. The only downside to her is that she is pregnant. She is due in early May. She is bred to a nice registered stallion whom I also met. He is well mannered and very nicely built. He has done well shown in halter at shows around the state.

Margaretta Ville (Margaret- pictured above as a 2 yr old) is a 5 yr old sorrel AQHA mare. She is 14.3. She was shown as a yearling in halter and lunge line and did very well in both. She was also shown as a 2 yr old in halter, showmanship and walk-trot and did very well. Then her owner was unable to show because of health reasons. They bred her at the beginning of her 3 yr old year. She is VERY well built. Gorgeous little baby doll head. Great manners. Great to load and haul. SUPER friendly. Up to date on everything (again needs a trim). She is pretty impressive on paper as well. Again no health or soundness issues. Needs some finishing at the lope to show western pleasure and would need to get into a bit as they had shown her in a bosal. Yet again the downside is that she has a foal at her side. Early January foal. He is by the same stud that Tiki is bred to. He is very nice to look at- good legs, very muscled, nice head and neck, pretty cute little mover. Will probably be easy to sell come fall. He is her second foal, they sold the first at an auction for $400 or $500 last fall.

I REALLY like both mares and think that they would be perfect for what I need. I do have some experience with foals. When I lived with my trainer I was 'in charge' of the babies and did all of the work with them. I do not have any experience in actually foaling a mare. I have been reading up on the Internet for the past several hours trying to see if this is something that I am ready for.

Just because a horse has a uterus does NOT mean they need to be a mom! Even her current owners (who I really liked and actually know from about 8 years ago when I was showing on the same circuit as their daughter) said that they think Margaret is sick of her baby already. Of course she is! She is only 5! I truly think that neither mare should have been bred in the first place. Margaret because she is too young and Tiki because she is average and there are too many average horses out there!! Don't get me wrong some of the best horses out there are just average Joes but does that mean when the economy sucks and there are tons of horses out there being sent to auctions that we should make more?! NO!

Ok I am going to climb back down off my soapbox for a little while and ask what you guys think. Neither mare is super expensive and both are pretty much exactly what I was looking for (minus the babies). I will have the time to work with both babies and T has already asked to help with them. I do have space for both moms and babies. I do have a client that I trained for in the past that has a breeding barn that I can call with questions/concerns and she only lives about 6 miles away if I need her. I also use the same vet she does and she said he is great about being 'on call' when the foal is due.

What do you guys think? Do any of you have experience foaling? Is there anything that I am not thinking of that would be a big factor in considering the mares?

Love's first trail

2010-02-20T20:04:00.000-06:00

Love was a tag along on the trail ride today. First I worked with her on standing to be saddled/bridled and with clippers. She was great for all three. I think she actually kind of like the buzzing of the clippers against her lips. We have been working with the saddle for a while but today was the first day for the bridle. I was standing next to her with it with the bit in my hands to warm it up before putting it in her mouth and she kept licking the side ring of the bit. She accepted it with no problems and was perfectly happy to stand there and play with it for a while.
I lunged her with the saddle and bridle on for about 5-10 minutes, mostly walking and trotting. Then we went back into the barn and I left her tied up for a bit while I went to groom and tack up Titan. T was there and worked with Gus and then rode Rocky on the trail with me. I ponied Love along and she was really good! Jumped a few times when Chance came flying out of the timber or when a deer ran across our path but never tried to spin around or run off. She really seemed to enjoy herself.

On a good note.

2010-02-07T21:28:00.000-06:00

I totally forgot with my rant on Vickey's totally irresponsible old owner about my lovely ride with Titan yesterday.
I have been dying to get in the saddle for the past few weeks but with the amount of snow/rain we have gotten it just wasn't possible. We kept getting snow then rain then snow then rain. So everything is in layers of ice and snow.
I couldn't take being on the ground any more so I decided to take Titan out in the woods for a little trail ride. We stayed off to the side of the normal path where the grass was long when it first snowed so I knew he had some traction. He was SO happy to be out! I actually can't remember if I have ever trail ridden him alone but he was a perfect gentleman. We got up into on of the fields and since it is on the top of a hill there wasn't much snow. We did some trot work but didn't canter since the ground is frozen.
After leaving the field we made the trek down into the woods and around the pond. We scared up LOADS of deer. Probably close to 50 in total (Chance was along and helped scared up the deer, much to my dismay) but Titan didn't bat an eye, was actually much more interested in following the deer that were running around him than shying away from them.
He was happy, responsive, quiet and we had a good ride. So the weekend wasn't a total loss at all.

Dumb Horse People

2010-02-07T20:20:00.000-06:00

So I called the owner of Vickey to get directions and to let her know that I was on my way and her response was, "Oh someone already picked her up."
Was she not going to let me know before I drove 3 hours to get Vickey? So I asked her about the new people that picked her up. The new owners are new horse people. Vickey will be their first horse. She is for their 8 yr old daughter who has never taken any lessons. BLEH! Who thinks that was responsible of Vickey's old owner?? NOT ME!
I told her that if Vickey didn't work out for them to let me know and I would go pick her up. She said that she doesn't even know their last name and she told them not to bring the mare back.
Prediction: 8 yr old girl is going to break an arm or leg (or both) and then Vickey is going to get the lable 'crazy', she will be sent to auction where no one will have a clue of her breeding, training level or potential. She will be led into the auction ring exactly how she was pulled out of the pasture (because no one can handle the 'crazy' horse) by 8 yr old girls non-horsey dad. She will be sold for next to nothing and shipped to Canada. I think I just threw up a little.

Saddle up!

2010-02-03T20:03:00.000-06:00

I saddled Love for the first time last week. We have been working on getting used to the saddle pad and everything for a while now but this was the first day with the saddle. She could not have cared less.
I did our usual routine with the saddle pad. On and off on and off for a while. She was visibly falling asleep. So I brought out the saddle. She pricked up her ears and sniffed it. Then closed her eyes and continued napping. I rubbed it all over her and she didn't open her eyes once. So I set it on her back. Still- eyes closed. It wasn't until I shifted the weight left to right a few times that she finally opened her eyes. Even if only to give me a dirty look for interrupting her nap.
On and off and on and off- still no response. So I tossed it on and pulled the girth across her belly. Nothing. So again. Nothing. Finally I gave up getting any response and cinched the girth. Tight enough that the saddle wouldn't slide if she bolted/bucked (not seeming likely at this point) but not tight enough that someone could mount. At this she did open her eyes and crank her head around to check out what I was doing. Sniffed the girth and saddle, nuzzled me and then just stood there.
I asked her to walk forward and she did, no problems. I asked her to trot on the lunge line and she did, no problems. So I asked her to go into the lope. You guys are all getting excited thinking 'here come the fireworks!' but no. Sorry to disappoint you. She loped off just fine. We stopped and reversed and did the same thing in the other direction, again no reaction.
I decided that was enough for the day so we stopped and I unsaddled her. She nuzzled my hands and my cheek and then proceeded to go back to sleep while I groomed her.
What a weirdo. A very good weirdo but a bit of a weirdo none the less.

Vickey Update

2010-02-03T15:05:00.000-06:00

I am going to see her/possibly pick her up this weekend. I am taking the trailer. She is healthy and up to date on everything and if I really like her I don't want to have to leave her there another week or two because I didn't bring the trailer. Since she is free the owner says that the first person to pick her up gets to take her. Which also worries me because she isn't by any means a beginner horse but people hear free horse and their common sense goes out the window.
I'M COMING VICKEY!!
PS She needs a new name. I am not a person that likes horses with people names. Notice the other horses I have named are called Titan and Love. I don't mind if it comes from their registered name but when it is just a random normal person name I'm not a fan. Love was actually Jody when she got here. Also there is a woman in town that is called Vicky and I can't stand her. Any suggestions?

Vickey

2010-01-29T14:09:00.000-06:00

Found a new girl that may need some help.
Black, 5 yr old, 15 hand, TB mare. She is about 3 hours from here. Her current owners are giving her away because they don't have time to actually have people come an dlook at her. I have seen pictures and videos. She is well broke for an experienced rider. Has the basics in dressage and is jumping 2'3" courses. Hasn't been shown. Very sweet mare.
The reason she is being given away is because she is too short. Her owners breed/train/sell horses that are in the $50,000-$80,000 range. All of their horses that they keep to train are over 17 hands. If they don't find her a home in the next few weeks she will be going to auction.
She sounds fun... she would be a great project to get now and start working with and then find her a good home this summer.

Meet Love

2010-01-24T20:02:00.000-06:00

This is Love (aka Love Bug, Lovely, Lulu).
She is a 2008 APHA filly out of Shes My Pick by Rock Four. I was at an auction in October and she was the last horse in the ring. Since she was the last horse (there were about 5 minutes between her and the horse before her since her owners weren't paying attention) there were pretty much no bidders left. I was only sitting there because we figured we would let the lobby clear a bit before we made our way out. A known kill buyer in the area was there and maybe 10 or 12 others. They started the bidding at $800, then dropped to $600, then to $400, then to $100. The KB bid at $100. I really was just at the auction to help some clients but I couldn't let her go to kill. So I bid. He bid against me for a bit but I ended up getting her for $300.
She has a killer little jog, is slow legged and driven at the lope.
I am pretty excited to see what our spring and summer bring. Depending on how she does I may end up finding a new home for her or keeping her for myself. She does have a slight diviation in her right front that will prevent her from ever being an over fences horse but I don't think that is what she wants to do anyway. If nothing else she will be a fun trail horse.

Oh Mylanta! UPDATES!

2010-01-24T15:37:00.000-06:00

I have been gone for a while!! Not actually gone but gone from Blogger for one reason or another. I am really going to attempt to get bakc on track this spring and summer with writing as I loved reading everyone elses blogs and getting all of your feedback!!

Quick update on all the horses:

Titan- He is still mama's favorite and totally knows it. He has been doing really well under saddle (at least until I had to take the last 2 months off due to the weather!

Gus- T still has him and is really excited to start working with him this spring. Though it is looking like he isn't going to get very big and since T is already close to 6' she may have to fine something else in the future.

Rocky- He is still a big jerk and is in a dry lot alone 24/7. He is next to the other horses but I am trying to avoid him bloodying up anyone else!

Lexy- Back up at her owners for the winter but is coming back this spring. Is doing REALLY well and is going to be an awesome little show mare for them.

Missy- Sold in August at a sale for $171. Broke my heart to see such a talented mare go to auction. But the lady that bought her seemed really excited to start working with her. I asked her to keep in touch with me but haven't heard anything.

Reno and Stacey- Both sold to the same lady in AZ. She is totally loving both of them. She also bought another horse I trained called Daisy and she can't decide which of the 3 she loves more.

Blue- Sold to a college guy in TN. Seemed to be the perfect match. I even checked refrences and everything but he turned around and sold Blue for about double what he paid for him about 2 months later. That was a huge bummer as well.

Biscuit- Still owned by the same people and they plan to bring him back in the spring I believe. He is an awesome little pony for me and my more advanced lesson kids but is too much pony for J. He is constantly taking advantage of her. I truly think that they should sell him and his brother (just a year younger) and buy J something that she can really learn on and not be afraid of. But who listens to thair trainer/instructor? I don't know anything I guess.

I don't think I forgot anyone...?

Oh LOVE!

My new girl! I rescued her at an auction. She is such a sweet girl. She has a registration application that came with her (she is out of Shes My Pick by Rock Four). She is a cute little bay and is the most level headed 2 yr old I have ever met. Nothing seems to rattle her. Now that I have said that I am sure to be dumped from her many times this summer. I started another blog just about my training her "Adventures with Love"

Missy Ad.

2009-07-08T18:37:00.000-05:00

Missy is a beautiful black 7 yr old, 14.3 h, registered quarter horse mare. Do to time constraints and other horses she has been left out in the pasture for the past several years. I started her under saddle early this spring and she is doing very well. She is a very pretty mover with a soft, floaty trot with flat knees. She can slow down and shorten up for western but really prefers to stride out for english. This little mare can JUMP! Cleared 3'6" easily when she was free lunged in the arena. She has been started on ground poles and really enjoys it. Seems like she would do well in dressage as well. She loves attention. She is calm and quiet on trail rides. Good for the vet/farrier/baths, working on clippers. Loads well. Her coat is a bit faded in the pictures- since no one was planning to show her she has been out in the pasture during the day and the sun has faded her from a jet black to more of a mahogany. She will be in training until sold and her price will go up with training. We are planning to haul her to an open show this weekend just to get her out to see everything. E-mail for more information or pictures! $1800 OBO- good home is a must!!

What do you think? Anyone want her??

More Pictures

2009-07-08T13:58:00.000-05:00

T and Blue

Huge thunderstorm from a few weeks ago

K and Missy

New girl Lexy

A's horse Buddy with Hayley and Biscuit

Titan and Gus- little bit of a size difference :)

Missy

Advice Please.

2009-07-08T13:38:00.000-05:00

I need advice on two things.
First is a horse that I am training called Lexy. She is a very nice little 2 yr old mare that I am training for western pleasure, trail and showmanship. Eventually she will be for a 12 yr old girl (next summer sometime). Today during our showmanship lesson she was doing very well but will not stand with both back legs on the ground. She is constantly resting one. So I started working on that but then noticed that sometimes both feet ARE actually flat on the ground but her fetlocks buckle forward. only one at a time and she can stand with it correctly but prefers to have it buckled forward. I will work on getting some pictures of it today. It looks almost like she is resting her foot but her hoof is completely flat on the ground. When she does put it back in place it looks like it pops back into place. Very strange.
Second- I have a building that is about 30'x50' (maybe a little bigger) and originally I was going to put some stalls in it and use it as hay storage. However I am getting more and more frustrated with not being able to do anything when it rains and then not being able to do much for a few days after while things dry out. I was thinking today that maybe I would just turn it into a small (very small) indoor arena for a while until I can actually afford to build a bigger barn with a big attached indoor. I am figuring that I wouldn't be able to do much, if any, canter work in there but I could lunge, do walk/trot, showmanship and other ground work. It would allow me to at least do something in the winter as well as right now the horses get from December to February off since the ground is so frozen and everything. Also it would mean that I don't have to cancel lessons for 2 days every time it rains. My outdoor is dirt and gets slick really fast. What do you guys think? Is that way to small to even consider putting the work into it? It already has a roof, electricity, and 1 side with big sliding double doors. So I would just need to add 3 sides, lights, footing (it is just dirt right now), and a 1/2 wall all the way around. Then if I ever decided to turn it into a barn I would just have to pull out the footing and put in stalls. I just don't know if it would be worth it for that small of space.

Missy Pictures!

2009-07-06T22:19:00.000-05:00

Yes that's right! There are pictures!! Thank you to the Sony help page!

Here are some of the shots I got of Missy.

NOOOOOO!!!!! (eventually turning to tears...)

2009-07-06T10:30:00.000-05:00

I accidentally deleted ALL the photos on my camera. I am SO mad. I have pictures of Fiance's visit and LOADS of other pictures. There were 856 pictures on the camera and now there are ZERO. We had just finished taking some AMAZING pictures of Missy free jumping to post on her for sale ad. They were freaking AWESOME and I am an idiot and now they are gone.
I do blame it all on K.
Does anyone know if there is any way to recover pictures that you have inadvertently deleted????? PLEASE?!?!?!

Brick Wall

2009-07-05T14:37:00.000-05:00

Today has been frustrating so far.
I feel like Titan and I have hit a wall and with my knee I really can't push him very hard. I don't want him to learn to get away with things but I am fairly one sided with pretty much no right knee. I REALLY want lessons again but am struggling to find someone that is at a higher level than me in the area. It seems that every one that offers lessons around here has pretty much the same experience as I do or in some cases less. I will keep up my search because I feel like I am not really learning anything right now and I don't want my current level to be where I am at forever. I am constantly looking for ways to become a more well rounded and better rider. Any ideas if I can't find any instructors/trainers around here?

17 year olds and pretty black mares...

2009-07-01T22:38:00.000-05:00

Fiancee left on Monday- very sad. I hate when he goes back to England- plus it means I won't get a decent night sleep for at least a week.
On a positive note though I have a girl from NJ living with me for the next month. She was one of my students at the camp out in NY. It was in the works for a while for her to come out but I wasn't sure if it was going to happen so I was trying not to get my hopes up. Lets call her K. K is 17 and was at camp for 3 of the years I was there and teaching. She is a great little rider and I think riding everyday and riding so many different horses will be great for her. M is bringing back SeaBiscuit for K to ride. It works out well for both sides as K will have a project and Biscuit will get some extra time under saddle. I will keep you updated there.
Missy came back tonight. She has a potential buyer coming to see her on Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed that they are as nice as they sound and that they love her. Because if they are nice and don't love her they won't buy her and if they are crazy and do love her I won't let them buy her. Even if they don't end up deciding to buy her K is very excited to get on her in the next few days and already decided that SHE should buy her. 17 year olds and pretty black mares... I tell you. Well, Ok really 17 year old girls and any horse.... who am I kidding I want 1/2 the horses I see too. Hmmm. Night!

Rest in Peace Coach

2009-06-24T10:20:00.000-05:00

My high school football coach was killed today. He was in the weight room with approximately 50 students when a former student (I won't name names since nothing is confirmed) walked in and shot him at point blank range, at least one time in the head. He was airlifted to a near by hospital and died soon after.

Coach,
You will be missed more than you could ever know. You touched the lives of thousands of students over the years. You were more than a coach, teacher and athletic director. You were a mentor and the motivation that allowed so many to succeed not just in sports but in life. Your passing has left a huge void in our community and in so many lives. We love you and you will never be forgotten Coach, Rest in Peace.

ENGAGED!

2009-06-22T16:26:00.000-05:00

Yes that's right I am engaged! It happened last week but I wanted to tell family before posting it on my blog for the world to see. I am crazy excited. I love him so much and we fit so well together. We are thinking next spring. Sister is almost as excited as me I think because she gets to help plan (rather she gets to plan and I get to help- like I said if I am in charge you all need to bring blankets to sit on). So from here on out Boyfriend will be referred to as Fiancee.

Oh yes-

2009-06-16T17:45:00.000-05:00

I almost forgot to tell everyone that I hacked off all my hair today. Well not all but 12 inches which seems like a lot to me. Yesterday I was telling Boyfriend how annoying my hair was getting. It was hot and was so heavy that it was giving me a headache if I wore it up in a ponytail (my favorite hairstyle). Also I was just feeling the need for a change. So I decided to chop it all of and donate it to Locks of Love. This is the 3rd time I have donated my hair. I did it in 2004, 2006 and now 2009. Boyfriend took some pictures so I will be sure to post them once I get them on the computer. It is just barely at my shoulders and so far I like it. I will let you know if I still feel the same way in the morning.

Good old Fugly.

2009-06-16T17:15:00.000-05:00

I was reading the post on one of my favorite blogs, Fugly Horse of the Day, and loved today's post- if you haven't read it check it out.
I was also thinking that with the new 28 acre pasture we have just finished I have more of an ability to help than I had previously thought. I only have 6 horses on the pasture now and would be more than willing to take on a few more to help someone out. It would be a huge bonus if it was a horse that would be suitable for lessons but definitely not a requirement.
If there is anyone in northeast Iowa who needs an inexpensive place to keep their horse or even needs help in finding a horse a new home I would be more than willing to help out. Just post a comment and I will get you my phone number so we can chat and you can come check the place out!

Yesterday was LOVELY!

2009-06-15T12:43:00.000-05:00

So yesterday I got to pick Boyfriend up from the airport!! I am so happy he is here as I have missed him so much. Since I can't drive C & E picked me up around noon and we went to Carlos O'Kelly's (don't know if I spelled that right) for lunch. Then we ran to Wal-mart to pick up shampoo and such for Boyfriend. Then we drove to the airport (about an hour) and E fell asleep in her car seat. C and I had a good long chat. I see her all the time but I still feel like I miss her because we don't often just sit and chat. It was good to spend some time with her. We were early to the airport so we ran over to a near by show grounds where a palomino show was just finishing up (it wasn't very impressive). Then back to the airport! Boyfriend was just walking out to get his bag when we walked in. Yay!!
Oh and the horses are thrilled about their new pasture! I don't think they totally know what to do with themselves! I will get some pictures of them out there once I am a bit more mobile. Off to lunch with Boyfriend now!!

Pasture is almost done!

2009-06-13T21:41:00.000-05:00

About a month ago we started putting up new fence for a new pasture. It is 28 acres and is awesome. Needless to say when I hurt my knee I was no longer able to work on the fence but my amazing and lovely neighbors have continued working and it will be done tomorrow!! I can't wait to let the horses out. Will need to go slow for the first week or so as it is much more grass than the lots and pasture that they have now. It will be awesome for them to have more space to play and explore! I will take pictures and such when we let them out for the first time. We are going to take the 'leaders of the pack' and lead them around the perimeter first so they have an idea of where the boundaries are but with 28 acres and only 6 horses I think they should have plenty of space!!
ALSO I get to pick boyfriend up from the airport tomorrow!! I can't wait to see him. I haven't seen him since the end of Feb. I am getting really sick of this long distance thing and just want him to move over here already!!

Cosmo.

2009-06-12T15:27:00.000-05:00

So today's post is going to be about a horse that holds a special place in my heart. He is a horse that was rented by the camp that I taught at in NY for the past 4 summers. Each year the camp rents 14-18 horses from the same owner. It breaks my heart that the horses don't have families and actually don't even have names. The owner has about 200 horses that he rents out to camps/trail rides/ranches/etc. The horses that we had would spend the summers at camp and then would be shipped to Texas to be used on a ranch for the winter. We were never guaranteed the same horses back but since we took such good care of the horses the owner was usually willing to try and keep our 'herd' together for us. There were a few that would come back from their winter as a totally different horse. A horse that was previously a trusting child's mount would come back as a terrified, nervous wreck with new scars. Unfortunately being a children's camp there was little we could do but try and help them trust us again in a very short period of time. If that didn't work the owner was called and we were brought a different horse. I remember this happening on two specific occasions- Jet and Peaches, but I will save their stories for another post.

My first year I bonded with most all of the horses but none more than a little pony that I named Cosmo. Looking at him he wasn't anything super special. Nothing severely wrong with his conformation but he wasn't anything fantastic. His chest and front legs had scars all over them and he was clearly not trusting of humans. I think that it took me that entire first summer to actually get him to eat a treat out of a bucket. Luckily for both him and I, he was returned to camp for all 4 years that I worked there. Each summer we would spend a few days at the beginning getting to know each other again and getting to be friends. Then anytime I had free I would take him out for a hack to a huge field at the top of the trails and would let him run for a few minutes. I would spend many of my nights off in the barn grooming him and fussing over him (other horses too but he got the most of my attention by far).

The thing that worried me more than anything was the end of each summer when we had to load him on the trailer and say goodbye. I couldn't guarantee his safety and couldn't even guarantee that I would ever see him again. I would bawl my eyes out year after year and then hope and pray for 10 months that he wasn't hurting and was safe. For 3 summers after that first year I would head straight for the pasture when we got to camp from the airport and hold my breath until I saw him again.

It is that time of year again- and although I am not going back to camp I am holding my breath. Waiting and hoping to see that he is still OK. There were other horses that I worried about to but none like Cosmo.

I didn't have much money but I actually tried to buy him off the owner last year and he didn't really respond other than to say, "Why would I sell him when I make that much each summer renting him out?"

I wanted to scream, "Because he deserves better than this! Because he deserves to be loved on and spoiled! Because he needs me! And because to be completely honest I need him."

You see the first summer I met Cosmo was the summer that my mom died. I know all of you non-horsey people won't understand without me trying to explain the bond I formed with that horse but all of you horsey people probably have tears forming in your eyes right now. No matter all the love and support you can get from family and friends, the support and unconditional love you get from a horse is different. I cried into that pony's mane every night and although he did not understand he would nuzzle my hip and let me cry.

I actually thought that this summer would be my chance to try and buy him again. But since I hurt my knee and am off work all of my savings will be going to bills. I suppose I will have another 10 months at the end of the summer holding my breath and saving my pennies to hopefully give sweet little Cosmo the rest and retirement that he deserves and that he has earned.

I have a confession.

2009-06-11T12:48:00.000-05:00

So being stuck in the house for a week I am quickly running out of things to do.

I lay out on the porch every day and read so I have a nice knee immobilizer tan line (I have finished 4 books- will post one for the Book List sometime this week).
I attempt to clean (difficult when you can't even bend over to pick stuff up).
I vacuumed the dog bed- easily done because I could sit on the floor to do it (did I tell you all I got a new vacuum? It is little but freakishly powerful- and green, I like it).
I watch at least 2 episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210 (the original) everyday, I wasn't allowed to watch it when I was younger and always felt that I missed something. Now that I am watching it I'm not so sure I did miss much but it is entertaining (and on twice a day on SOAP net).
I crutch out to visit the horses at least 15 times a day (I am going to have freakishly strong arms when I am off the crutches, also I think the horses are getting bored of me).
I check Facebook (and now blogger about 10 times a day).
I still don't e-mail the people that I should because I am far too lazy not because I don't miss them
I feed the dogs 4 or so times a day (it is OK Chance still needs to put on a little weight)
I try to load the dishwasher- I have almost fallen into it several times but loading is still way easier than unloading.
I do laundry- this one will keep me busy for a while as I don't think I have done laundry in close to a few weeks. I have A LOT of clothes and despise laundry, or maybe I have a lot of clothes because I despise laundry. Never really though of it that way...
I constantly shop for horses that I can't afford, along with trailers, barns, tack, show clothes..... all things I can't currently afford.
I make decisions like that I want to move the stupid broken TV out of the office and tidy up in here a bit- but of course I can't carry the stupid broken TV anywhere.
I was going to scrapbook a bit but then realized I haven't gotten my pictures from last summer printed.
I hard boiled an entire carton of eggs.
I let Chance and Tess lay on the bed because I am bored and lonely.
I folded the huge pile of clean clothes that I have had sitting on boyfriends side of the bed for about 3 weeks now (probably from the last time I did laundry). There wasn't much there because I was wearing things straight from the pile. Hey they were clean.
Here is the kicker though, the actual confession- this one will excite my sister as she loves anything weddingish. I have never been the type of girl that liked to look at wedding dresses or such because I had no reason to. I never saw the appeal in finding the dress and then not even having the ring. But the past few days I have been lured away from Facebook by wedding sites and have spent more than my fair share of time going through dresses and such. Which I suppose is fine since Boyfriend and I have been together for just under two years and I do see us getting married someday. I just still felt a little silly sitting here at a computer with my leg on the chair next to me looking at dresses when chances are that when I actually need to look at dresses I would much rather just go to a store. It was fun and entertained me for several hours, though I have to say I am quite picky and didn't like a lot of what is out there. Especially the bridesmaid dresses- are they designed to look bad so that the bride looks better? If so that is dumb. Every dress I saw was pretty ugly- maybe I would just let them pick their own dresses. I have always told my sister that she will be in charge of the planning. I want to help with big things but I don't want to deal with stuff like what color the chairs are- who cares? Bring a blanket as you will all be sitting on the ground if I have to do it myself.

Pictures of the week... er.. um- last 2 months?

2009-06-10T21:20:00.001-05:00

M, A and T at the show

A jumping Buddy- she has only just started.

Buddy, M, Blue, T and A. Buddy had his entire head in the trough at one point.

T and A learning their courses.

M and Twilight.

T and Blue.

A and Buddy.

T and Blue.

Myself, M and Twilight.

Myself, Hayley and J.

Sorry I am so awful at this.

2009-06-09T15:09:00.000-05:00

I apologise to everyone for how horrible I have been at posting in the past few (maybe more) months. Things have been crazy busy around here- well that is until last Wednesday. Let me back up a bit.
May was lovely, crazy busy but lovely nonetheless. I worked at the hospital 5 days a week and then was training horses every day after work and on my days off. I took T, A, J and M (all lesson girls) to their first hunter schooling show at the end of May. It was so much fun. I am very proud of all of them- they all did very well. Notice the 'cult' haircut. My trainer used to make us wear our hair in these horrible buns and I vowed to never make my girls do that but they did need to have their hair out of their faces and thus the braids. I will put the pictures in another post because I have loads.
June started out great. I taught a clinic for the local 4-H club. I think I got several new potential clients out of it so that's awesome! But then last week I went off a training horse and messed up my knee. I am in a knee immobilizer and on crutches. I started physical therapy yesterday and my therapist is worried that I have actually torn the medial collateral ligament- which would mean surgery. I am continuing therapy and we as going to kind of wait and see how things pan out. They would like me to have an MRI but I am putting it off for a bit if I can because Boyfriend comes on Sunday!
I am bored out of my mind here at the house. I went from working full time at the hospital and training horses/giving lessons 6 hours a day to not being able to do ANYTHING. I can barely do laundry because I can't carry it up and down the stairs. I have taken to throwing it down the laundry chute and then convincing unsuspecting guests to carry it back upstairs for me. T has been great as she stops in and helps with dishes and such. C has been great about coming to get me to take me with her to the movies and last night to the parade. If I failed to mention it is my right knee so I am not supposed to drive. I did drive with my injured leg on the passengers seat and controlling the pedals with my left foot to PT but I don't think I will be doing that again as it didn't seem like the safest thing in the world.
Titan is great. It is killing me not to be able to ride him.

Pony update!

2009-04-30T19:16:00.000-05:00

Ok so there has been a load of changes in the horse pasture during the 2 months I have been 'internetless'.

Titan is as lovely as ever. I am riding him. For those about to freak out that I am riding a 2 year old we are just walking. We work on stops, turns, moving away from pressure, etc. I plan on taking it very slow with him as there is no point in rushing a baby. We don't do very long rides- about 30 minutes 3 times a week. He is a bit of a giant as he is already 15.2 (at the withers and is still a bit hip high) and that was about a month and a half ago that I measured him so he may have grown a bit more since then. He is an absolute joy to work with I completely love him and I don't know if I will ever be able to sell him like I originally planned to do. He still does the 'why mama' head tilt and I haven't managed to get of a picture of it to date.

Blue now belongs to T. The more I worked with him the more she fell in love with him and so they bought him from me a few weeks ago. He is going to continue training with me until sometime this summer. He is doing very well. He has an awesome floaty, flat kneed trot and extends like I have never seen. His canter needs some collection work but he is now picking up his leads correctly 90% of the time and without cowkicking! We have had him over some low jumps and he really seems to enjoy that and it keeps his attention quite well. He is still a bit pushy on the ground (generally just trying to itch his face on you but he is huge and so that is not ok). T is looking forward to taking him to the open shows in our area this summer and eventually seeing how much talent he has over fences.

Biscuit is doing great! He lunges and we walk/trot with no problems. His ground manners are pretty fabulous most of the time. He gets a bit frustrated with me at times I think but I get annoyed with him as well just because he is a stuborn pony. He is actually quite a cute little guy. His owners are looking forward to this summer when I have a girl coming out from NJ to train with me. She is 16 and I will refer to her as KP from here on out. Once I get Biscuit settled at the canter then he really just needs a lot of time in the saddle but their daughter is not strong enough or advanced enough to put that time on him. So owners have asked if I thought KP would be willing to ride him for them for the summer to earn a little extra cash. Will be a bit cheaper for them than my training fee and will give KP a project to work with a bit while she is here as well.

More on the rest tomorrow.... I need to go to bed.

I'M BAAAACK!!!

2009-04-29T22:49:00.000-05:00

Hello all!
Sorry I have been missing for the past 2 months! I was changing internet providers and things got a bit messed up. However I am back online and have LOADS of pony updates that I need to fill you all in on! I have to run to bed now but should be back to blogging tomorrow night!!

Advice Again Please.

2009-02-19T11:19:00.000-06:00

Thanks for the advice on Blue- I added electrolytes and also blocked off the auto water and sure enough he drank about 3 buckets yesterday afternoon. I was getting a bit worried about colic.

Now I need advice on something totally different. I have one horse on my property (a boarder) that is nice to people, most of the time, but VERY nasty to all other horses. He is the one that chased Gus over the fence and through the fence. I currently have 2 pastures. One has 3 run in stalls and one has 1. The one with the single stall is actually the bigger pasture. Nasty horse has been over on the larger pasture side alone for the last few months because he can't be trusted with any other horses. That stall has a lot off of it and that is where Blue has been. Blue spends the night in the stall and Nasty horse spends the night in the pasture and then they switch for the day. Well to switch them I have to put a chain under Nasty horse's chin because he will try to attack Blue when he is lead by to go out to the pasture. Today I was getting ready to switch them and Nasty horse came THROUGH the fence to attack Blue. Blue jumped sideways to avoid being bitten and jumped basically on top of me. I am not hurt and Blue was really struggling on how to get out of that position without crushing me or getting hurt by Nasty horse.
So anyway this is the 2nd fence that the nasty horse has destroyed. I don't have the facilities yet to have a horse that attacks every other horse on the property. Nasty horse did get along with Midnight but when he left Nasty got even nastier (is that a word...?).
I love his owners to death and also love having Gus (they also own Gus) here but I can't endanger every horse that comes on the property because I don't want to offend them. What should I do?

Advice Please.

2009-02-18T12:44:00.001-06:00

So Blue is not drinking much. In his stall he has a heated bucket and in the pasture he has automatic water. His bucket was full to the brim last night when I check him before I went to bed (around 11) and then this morning was only about an inch below the lip of the bucket. I thought about turning off the auto water in the pasture and putting out a bucket so I can be sure he is drinking. I aslo added some warm water to his grain this morning just so he would get something in. My older QH King used to take about 24-48 hours to really drink if we were at a show. I always ended up hauling water with us because I would stress about it.
Any ideas of how to 'lead Blue to water and make him want to drink'??

Pony Eyes....

2009-02-16T13:57:00.000-06:00

So I have this weird thing for taking pictures of horses eyes. I just think they are so expressive and interesting so today I hung out in the pasture and took pictures of Titan and SeaBiscut's eyes. Some of the shots actually turned out really cool. Also I really liked this shot of Titan's ears- he was watching Chance try to play with Blue. The first two eyes are Titan and the 3rd is Biscut.

New Pony in the Pasture!

2009-02-16T13:31:00.000-06:00

This is 'Blue'. He is a new project horse that I picked up yesterday. He is a 17hh, grulla appaloosa gelding. He is registered (Code Name Blue is his registered name) and has some alright breeding pretty far back but nothing in the recent past. He is fairly well built. He has decent ground maners but will need a bit of a refresher there. He has a few issues under saddle but they seem to stem from people issues not his own brain. He is in desperate need of a trim as his hooves look like dinner plates so when I rode today we just walked around and worked on whoa and turning/stretching/bending. I am having the farrier out this week. He was a bit nervous but did really well. He played with the bit quite a lot so I am going to have the vet out to check his teeth as well but it could also be that it was just a plain fat D-ring snaffle and he was ridden in he past with a french double twist something or other, she couldn't remember the actual name of the bit. He was fine in the snaffle so I don't know what the point of putting anything with a twist in was, maybe they were just intimidated by his size...? I was told his teeth were done this fall but who knows- never hurts to have the vet take a look in there. He really wants to please and just hang out in your pocket and be loved on so hopefully with some training and experience under his girth he will be able to become the center of somone's attention. I will keep you updated as we get on in his training!

Pony update!!

2009-02-13T12:55:00.000-06:00

So I haven't actually posted anything about the horses in a while! This blog should be called Polka Dot Chance or Polka Dot Crazy Cat Mo.... who by the way has started trying to nurse on Tess, who is not impressed- anyone know how I can nix that??
Anyway the horses are all doing well. Titan is growing like a weed! I swear he gets bigger every day. Gus is doing much better as you can tell from the recent picture of his leg. Rocky is still fat and still has to be kept seperate from everyone else because he is a big jerk. Though him and I went out on a trail ride the other day and had a good gallop which we were both dying for. Boyfriend also took him out for a ride and said that Rocky was a good boy.
Then the newest addition is a little paint pony called Seabiscut. He is a cutie and is actually a very quick learner. When he got here he struggled to lead and now he takes cue from my shoulder and is moving away from pressure very well. I will post more on him later.
On Sunday I am going to check out a prospective called Blue. He is a 17 hh, blue roan, appy gelding. He is 5 and has some training issues but seems like he would be a really cool project for me. I have to run but more on him later tonight as well...

Pics of the Week

2009-02-13T12:33:00.001-06:00

Gus's leg this week. Looking MUCH better, don't you think??!!
(My first picture of his leg on this post)

How do you make your cat stop trying to nurse on your dog...???

Those Who Save Us

2009-02-03T17:09:00.000-06:00

Those Who Save Us

It has been almost 2 months since I have posted a Book List book... I haven't been on the computer as much because Boyfriend is around and I don't want to waste my time with him sitting on the computer for hours. ANYWAY- I just finished this novel, Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum, about 3 weeks ago (I have read 2 1/2 other books since finishing it but this one was the best of the bunch). It makes me want to read more and more about World War II. It was an interesting look into the other side of the war as most books are written from a Jewish perspective and this novel is written from the prospective of a young German girl. Read it- you will like it.

From the Back:

For fifty years, Anna Schemmer has refused to talk about her life in Germany during World War II. Her daughter, Trudy, was only three when she and her mother were liberated by an American soldier and went to live with him in Minnesota. Trudy's sole evidence of her past is in an old photograph: a family portrait showing Anna, Trudy, and a Nazi officer. Trudy , now a professor of German history, begins investigating the past and finally unearths the heartbreaking truth of her mother's life. Those Who Save Us is a profound exploration of what we endure to survive and the legacy of shame.

Pics of the Week

2009-01-30T16:22:00.001-06:00

Little Miss Ella with Chance- They look each other straight in the face when they are both standing (Chance on all 4s)

Chance and his Mo. Just taking a nap.

This is how Mo feels about the weather... I think he is planning to hide for the next few months until it gets warmer....

Some Nice Shots

2009-01-20T13:29:00.000-06:00

Last fall some family came to help me with redoing my bedroom and my aunt took some pictures of Titan and I. I had had him for almost a year and didn't have a single picture with the 2 of us. So here you go! (He is only about 16 months old in these pictures and I am 5'5" so you can see he is a BIG boy!)

PS Thanks Peg!!

Gus update. (FYI- Bloody Pic of Horse Injury)

2009-01-19T20:23:00.001-06:00

So I have been missing lately. Things have been a bit crazy around here.

So let me start off with the drama the week before Christmas with the Gus-Jumping-The-Fence story. Gus was out with Rocky and I got a call from neighbor- he just said that one of my horses was out, turns out it was Gus. So I piled on clothes (it was freezing) and rushed out there. So I grabbed a halter and slipped it on him. Then as I was leading him to a dry patch where I could check his legs over I noticed some bloody snow. Oh crap. So I get him to the dry patch and check all of his legs. All were fine except for his left front. It basically looked like someone had tried to slice off the back of his fetlock. So I called his owners and we got the vet on the phone. Then we loaded Gus up and took him into the vet. He got 7 mattress stitches after a lot of cleaning, it was wrapped, we got him back in the trailer and headed home. That was the Wednesday before Christmas. So on Sunday per the vets insructions we pulled the bandage and all of the stitches had popped. So we called the vet again and he headed out. A ball- no kidding a BALL of granulation tissue had formed underneath the top flat and had grown so quickly that the stitches were ripped out. This is a picture taken that afternoon:

As you can see as you look at the flap on the back something it pushing it away from the leg and that was the golfball sized ball of granulation tissue. So Gus ended up having surgery on Christmas Eve morning and they put in stitches with buttons. That wrap was to stay on a week but by Friday it had slipped down and we had to cut it off. The stitches had popped again and so we had the vet out yet again. He just cleaned it up and trimmed the tissue that was no good and it is to be kept wrapped with rewrapping every day. It is looking MUCH better and I will get some new photos soon.

Hats

2008-12-31T17:58:00.001-06:00

In January of 2005 my mom was diagnosed with AML, a form of leukemia. She passed away from it in July of 2005. In her memory I knit hats. I have been doing this now for about 3 years. I donate many of the hats to patients in the hospital that are suffering from different forms of cancer. I also sell some and donate the profits to the Leukemia Research Foundation in my moms name.

I have never before listed the hats on Ebay but I have about 300 hats at my house and although I am going to make a hospital run soon, I can usually only take about 60-75 to the hospital at a time as they have no where to store them. Also I am running out of friends and family that want to buy knit hats as many of them now have several.

I decided to list some of the hats on Ebay and see how they do. If they sell well I am going to continue to list them on Ebay, if not I will go back to selling them privately.
I know that nothing can bring my mom back but I enjoy knowing that I can do something for people that may be diagnosed with this and similar diseases in the future. I also like imagining the look on peoples faces when the hats are brought into their hospital room and they are told they get to pick one.

My favorite hats to make are girls hats. I can't even guess how it feels to be a young girl and on top of everything else going on to have your hair fall out. I mostly knit very bright and fun hats and they are all very soft.
Some are very thick and warm while others are fairly thin so that they can be worn inside.

If you are interested in seeing the hats I have listed you can just follow this link.

I am also getting rid of some of my extra yarns as I have more that double what is for sale from donations and splurging on yarn sales. That money will go to the research foundation. Once I am able to use all of the yarn currently taking over my house then I will purchase more. I probably have about 100 hats worth of yarn sitting around and I am just not that fast at knitting.
If you are interested or know of someone that may be please pass on my post or the link. If you know of someone battling cancer and would like to have a hat sent to them I am more than willing to do that if you pay postage and the address is a hospital address.

Happy New Year!

My 'Horse' History

2008-12-29T19:00:00.000-06:00

I have been asked how I got into horses and how long I have been riding. Well here you go- the whole story from 2 years old until today.
Ever since I can remember I have loved horses. I have been told the story of the first time I rode a real horse many times but I don't actually remember it. I was at a friends birthday party, I was about 2, and they had pony rides. I got on one pony and when my turn was up I refused to get off. I held onto the saddle and cried for the man to let me stay on the pony. There were 2 ponies and only like 10 kids and since most kids had already had a turn he let me stay on. I aparently spent about 2 hours aboard that pony.
From there I bugged my mom and dad to take me riding. My mom got a morgan mare named Moondrift's Esprit. She boarded her at a stable in Fort Collins, CO and so I finally got to start taking lessons at about 3. I first started riding saddle seat. I showed in my first show at the age of 4 and I was upset because I wanted a pink ribbon and I got all blues. I asked my mom if I could trade with the girl that got the pink one and she told me that I could ask if I wanted to but that girl's mom wouldn't let her trade. At the time I didn't understand that the colors ment something.

I am on the right in the white shirt.

Anywhere we went I was on the looking out for horses and was constantly asking strangers (much to my parents dismay) if I could ride their horse. I figured if they were on a horse they couldn't be a bad guy. This is a picture of me at about 4 on a trail ride up in the mountians. It took my mom a while to convince the trail guide that I was fine to be on my own horse and not on with my dad.

By 5 I was showing regularly and was loving every minute of it. This is me on the horse that I showed called Cedar's Firelight. Just after I turned 6 I was offered the chance to show Firelight at the Morgan Grand Nationals. They had to custom make my saddle suit since I was so tiny. In the end it was still too big and they had to fold under and duct tape the sleeves to my arms so that I could hold the reins. Just after the Nationals my trainers got a divorce and the whole barn fell apart. Not too long after that we moved from in town to an 11 acre farm with an 8 stall barn and a huge outdoor arena. I got my pony Jasper and started riding hunt seat and learning to jump. My friend Sara boarded her horse at our house and so we rode together daily.

I am on the pony.After living in that house for about 4 years my parents decided to move us out to the midwest. When I got here I was heart broken because there were NO english or jumping classes at any shows. So the spring after we moved I got King (Skips Kings Champ). He was a 10 year old QH gelding that did western and trail rode. I quickly turned him into an all around horse and we did extremely well at all of the local circuts and county/state fairs. King put up with a lot considering I used him for 4-H and we played crazy games like cock-on-a-rock and had tandem bareback classes.

King is the second horse down. I have the purple helmet on. Brooke and I were trying to switch places.

I am in the white shirt.After a while of only having Jasper, King, and the donkey Ting my parents decided to buy 2 more horses for trail riding. We got Lady and Petals. Lady was a great horse. Smart and solid. My dad rode her a few times but then lost interest. So it was just my mom and I with 3 horses and a pony. So we decided to sell 1 horse and sadly we chose Lady because I was starting to train on and show Petals (who was a bit of a nut). This is Petals and I at a show.

Petals wasn't much fun to show because she was a bit of a nervous wreck. So I went back to showing King. After 1 show season where I did not place lower than 3rd in ANY class (halter, showmanship, trail, walk-trot, english pleaure, english equitation, hunter hack, western pleasure, and western horsemanship) my mom told me I needed to move on to a harder horse. So we sold Petals and bought Scottie (Scotch N Zip). He was a 5 year old breeding stock paint gelding that had a little western pleasure experience. Our first summer we did well but I was missing doing the all around stuff. So I started training on him to do english and jumping. He was a ROCKSTAR. I loved showing that horse. We showed in every class we were allowed in and did well in each. We even went to some hunter chooling shows and cleaned up.

I felt bad for King just hanging out in the pasture so I started giving lessons on him and taking him to shows to do lead line with T. They would not allow her to show him in 8 and under walk-trot because he was a 16 hh horse and not a pony, even though he was much better behaved than 95% of those ponies. Like the old school vests??

I showed Scottie until the summer before my senoir year in high school when I made the tough choice to sell him. I wanted to learn new things and although Scottie and I made a great team neither of us were learning anything anymore. Scottie when from here to his new family in Texas who promised never to sell him. They actually sold him less than a year later to someone in North Carolina. I lost track of him after that.

So I bought a 2 yr old Zips Chocolate Chip gelding called Chip Proof. He was at a major training barn in Texas and was constantly bucking everyone off so he had been sent to a sale so that the owners could just get rid of him. At the sale Chip and I just clicked and I made the barn manager that had brought him to the sale an offer. He accepted but still took Chip through the sale ring. He ended up selling for $2100 over the offer I had made and I was devistated. But the barn mamager no saled him, came out of the ring and told me that the horse was mine. Aparently he knew who the high bidder was and that trainer was well known for abusive training techniques. So I got him and took him up to a trainer about an hour north of me. We turned him out in a pasture with the yearlings for almost 2 months (after finding out that he had been in a stall since he turned 2, only coming out to work). No wonder he was bucking everyone off. Once he turned 3 we pulled him out of the pasture and started him all over again. I was driving up every day (it was my senior year and I had taken most of my senior classes as a junior, so I was getting out of school at 11:30 every day). By late that spring he was doing extremely well in walk-trot and could be ridden by anyone. I remember once being on him with S and A on with me (they were 7 at the time). Chip became know as the barn puppy dog and we often found S sleeping in his stall on top of him while he was laying down.
I spent that summer living with some of my favorite people ever. The barn owner, her husband and daughter as well as another girl about 4 years younger than me. We worked our butts off in exchange to be working with this trainer and for having her help us with our horses. We usually ended up working from about 7.30am until well after dark. We rode everything from unbroke 2 year olds to several world champions. We were at a show almost every weekend and in exchange for being grooms we didn't have to pay training fees. The plan had been to keep Chip for only about a year as I knew I would need to move on to university but it still broke my heart to sell him. He went on to be an all around horse in Chicago.

After I moved to IL to go to school I started on the equestrian team at my university. I didn't ride much my first year but did a few shows. I was placed in the novice division because I had never shown in Pony Club or something like that. My second year I had a car and became the Vice-President of our team. These are a few pictures from IHSA shows.

I am in the blue shirt.

This horse was calld Finn. He was 17.1 hh.This was my second IHSA show and I drew a pony called Nala.

I showed IHSA through university and then after graduation took on several training horses and gave lessons. I planned to move to Kansas City and so was out of riding for about 6 months and was miserable so I moved back to the farm and bought Titan. This brings us to present day. :)

Quick Post

2008-12-18T09:01:00.000-06:00

Just a quick post before I head off to work. My internet is down at home because of the snow storm on Monday night so I have stopped by a friends to check e-mail and ebay;).
Chance is doing better with the broom but is also terrified of the cardboard tube that wrapping paper is on. He has certainly become a one person dog. He loves Boyfriend but gets upset if I leave him inside when I go out or if I leave him out when I go in. Boyfriend says that Chance checks the front door and driveway about every 20 minutes when I am gone like he is waiting for me to come home.
Bit of a horse emergency yesterday evening. Gus (T's weanling) jumped the fence and sliced his leg open. I meant to get some pictures before it was stitched but forgot right after the thought entered my head. It is a 3 rail wood fence and no boards are down but we figured out he jumped by the hoof prints in the snow. It looks like he jumped and then slid on the landing catching his fetlock on something under the snow. He got about 6 or 7 mattress stitches and is bandaged up for the next few days. When I found him it was gushing but thanks to the cold and the fresh clean snow I packed onto it I was able to slow the bleeding fairly quickly. T's dad grabbed the trailer and we hauled him into the vet for his stitches. Never a dull day on the farm!
I have to run to work but I will post again as soon as I get near a computer with internet that is working!

Poor Chance.

2008-12-15T21:08:00.000-06:00

After today I can say with certainty that Chance has been more than neglected, he has been physically abused as well. We weren't really sure if he was just severely neglected or also physically beaten. Today we were hanging out upstairs. I was sitting on the floor with Chance in my lap (or as much of him that fits) watching Mo play with one of the plants, which drives Boyfriend crazy because Mo spills dirt everywhere. So after Mo spilled a considerable amount of dirt Boyfriend went to grab the broom to clean up the mess and when he came back around the corner Chance yelped and ran over by the couch to hide while shaking all over. I went over and cuddled him and talked to him and he calmed down a little bit. Then I asked Boyfriend to bring the broom over and lay it down about 5 feet from Chance and I. Chance started shaking again and buried his head in my lap while making a terrified throaty noise almost like a little kid crying. We sat and loved on him telling him he was ok. He continued to shake for several minutes.
I had noticed in the past that if you move too quickly he would duck to get away from you or if you shouted, even just shouting for Tess to come inside, he would cower. So we had been moving slowly and whistling for Tess instead of shouting, etc. Doing that has seemed to help and the broom today must have just brought out some horrible memory.

To whomever abused Chance:
I hope that someday you are at the mercy of someone who does not give a rats ass about you. I hope they treat you the same way you treated my poor defenseless dog. I hope they forget to feed you or water you; I hope they chain you up in a yard with a 50 pound chain around your neck and a dog house that is nothing but plywood in a state where the winters drop to -30 and lower; I hope they smack you around with a broom handle and who knows what else. I hope that someday you know how he felt when he saw you coming. Tonight he has a full belly, a warm bed and a loving family; all you have is the guilt over what you did to him.
Sincerely,
His new loving family.

A few shots from this week.

2008-12-15T11:18:00.000-06:00

Since it is so chilly outside and I am waiting for the washer to be done to switch over a load I thought I would entertain you all with a few pictures from the past week. They are all of the cats and dogs as I keep forgetting to take the camera out to the barn with me and I can't be bothered to trek out into the cold just for pictures.

This is how we feel about the cold. Chance- just being Chance.

Snuggling up to sleep (Tess and Chance)

My old girl Murphy.

Just one of the many attempts to take a decent picture.

Mo's 2 favorite things are ping pong balls (which he can only play with when we are watching so that Chance or Tess don't swallow it) and Chance's tail.

In need of a heat wave (or even a warmish wave)

2008-12-15T08:46:00.001-06:00

So I checked the weather again this morning and it is actually -33 with the wind chill. OH MYLANTA. What is wrong with my state? My sister over at Grace's Birdcage Wedding was complaining this morning on her blog that it is 15 in Kansas City. Well at least it is ABOVE ZERO!!

FREEZING NIGHT

2008-12-14T20:14:00.000-06:00

Here in the Midwest I went from pulling blankets yesterday because it was above freezing to re-blanketing (with fleece blanket liners) tonight. Yesterday it got up to 42 degrees, right now it is -15 with the wind chill and it will go down to -25 before the night is over. I bedded stalls down with some extra shavings and gave everyone an extra slice of hay. I will go out again about midnight and give them each another slice to keep their tummies a little warmer.
I have recently discovered an eventing blog called Eventing-A-Gogo! which I LOVE. I have been learning loads. Although most of the time I think I know a decent amount about horses I always love finding things I don't know. Last weekend she posted a blog about bran that I found very helpful, Baby's First Tummyache. I always knew that just throwing a big bran mash in wasn't the brilliant idea that many people think it is for all the obvious reasons but Andrea actually goes into detail on why. Check out her blog- you won't be disappointed.

WARM day! (Well it is for December!!)

2008-12-13T19:39:00.000-06:00

Things are melting a bit. Titan even got to spend the day without his heavy winter blanket!! He wasn't so sure when I took it off and actually grabbed it and tried to put it back over his back. But soon he shot off across the pasture bucking, farting and having a grand old time. After the bucking and farting, he dove (almost literally) down in the snow for a good roll. Then came flying back over and shoved the blanket with his nose as if to say 'HA! I don't need you today!' It was all pretty amusing. Rocky also got his blanket pulled but he didn't seem nearly as impressed just looked at D like 'Yup- take that off it's warm.' Too bad I had to work most of the day as I wanted to do some barn work- I suppose there is always Monday when I am not at the bookstore at all. Anyway way the horses are enjoying some sunshine and above 30 degree weather. Off to check them now... Sorry my my absentness (is that a word? probably not), I will try to be better this week.

PS Chance just jumped against the window and scared the daylight out of me!

Christmas Cleaning.

2008-12-09T12:54:00.000-06:00

So the house I live in has not be regularly lived in for a while. January to March of last year it was just my 20 yr old brother, then April to May it was both of us, then June to August it was my Aunt, then September to now- Me. So needless to say the house hasn't really had a regular cleaning in a while. As of January 1st the house will be mine (I am thrilled as I LOVE this house and have lived here since I was 11). So I have been slowly trying to clean things up but catching up a 5 bedroom house on months of cleaning is a daunting task. Also, I HATE cleaning- so when I do try to clean I always find better things to do, like clean stalls, play with Titan or the dogs, etc. So anyway I had it somewhat clean when Boyfriend got here. Well Boyfriend's definition of clean is a little different than mine. He doesn't like clutter at all (I don't mind it so much). So for the last two days we have been CLEANING. Yesterday we tackled the upstairs (where his biggest complaint was the breakfast bar where I pile-um-everything. Like mail, magazines, papers, etc. I ended up with 2 bags of unwanted magazines that I took out and burnt. I have to agree that the upstairs looks 10x better. Today we are heading downstairs. So far we have completely cleaned the family room (including moving couches and everything), and put together a bed frame and set that up in my old room. We are working on laundry (I also don't like doing laundry so it piles up a bit). We just had a break for lunch and now are heading back down to work on everything else- including shampooing the carpet. Fun day... but at least we can say we did something at the end of the day.

Advice Please.

2008-12-08T12:25:00.000-06:00

I need advice about my older cat. She is 16 (we found her at 3 as a dump cat). She has been losing weight for the past few weeks and no matter how much I feed her she can't keep the weight on. She often throws up her food even though it is the same food she has been eating for years. She doesn't have worms or anything like that. She has started going to the bathroom in the basement instead of the litter box. I have 2 other cats and I wanted to make sure it was her so I followed her downstairs today and even with me standing there she went on the carpet. Last year she had 1 of her large front teeth removed because it had died (they don't really know why). I talked to Vet today and they asked if I wanted to put her down. I said I didn't know. Vet said it sounds like kidney failure and they can do some tests and such but that if that is what the problem is then there is nothing they can do short of dialysis for a cat. Which will cost a fortune and will not cure her. So basically I need to decide if I should just put her to sleep or make her go through tests and such with the possible outcome being that she needs to be put down anyay.

Christmas Wish List

2008-12-07T09:42:00.000-06:00

Gift certificates to Home Depot/Lowes/Menard's (not sure which would be best... for when I need to buy things for my new fence this spring)
Cool picture frames- I would like to do kind of a collage above my bed but need neat frames.
Barnes and Noble gift cards! Yes seriously! I want to stock up on books while I have my employee discount and I won't work there after I have a nursing job! I already have quite the list of books that I need to read.
A 3 step mounting block. I prefer a 3 step but a 2 step would work as well. You can find it here
I need new brushes and love this little set.

I am also a big fan of this set as Cowboy Magic is on of my favorite things ever.
I am loving these boots. I can't put the picture up as it is copy righted. 7 1/2 regular ;)
I need a new English bridle. The last one I bought was for Scottie and that was when I was a freshman in high school. Needless to say it is pretty tattered.
A GPS!! I know nothing about them but I know I never have a clue where I am going. Something that told me where to go would be LOVELY!

Super Scrabble! It is TWICE as big as a regular scrabble! I have always thought that the house needed a scrabble game and what better one that a super scrabble!

Umm... I need to keep thinking... I should probably apologize to my sister as she won't be happy that there are mostly horsey things on here.

Funny Cide: How a Horse, a Trainer, a Jockey, and a Bunch of High School Buddies Took On the Sheiks and the Bluebloods... and Won.

2008-12-06T12:36:00.000-06:00

I haven't done a book list book in a while and I don't think I have ever put a strictly horsey book up. So here you go. I bought this book, Funny Cide: How a Horse, a Trainer, a Jockey, and a Bunch of High School Buddies Took On the Sheiks and the Bluebloods... and Won, about a year ago at a discount bookstore in an outlet mall. I actually bought all 3 copies they had and gave 2 as gifts. It was written by the Funny Cide Team and Sally Jenkins. It is a story of the underdog, who wins your heart and keeps you cheering until the end. I remember watching Funny Cide race. My mom, brother and I sat in front of the TV and we each chose a horse. My mom chose Funny Cide because she liked his name. Read it- you will love it, everyone love a good fairy tale- this one just happens to be true.

"They had no business being there. They were up against million-dollar horses owned by patricians and oilmen and Arab sheiks and Hollywood producers. They were 10 working class men, and all they wanted was to win a race. Instead, they won the hearts of America."

From the inside flap:

In 2003, a three-year-old with an irrepressible personality and the unlikely name of Funny Cide became "the people's horse," the unheralded New York-bred gelding who- in a time of war and economic jitters- inspired a nation by knocking off the champions and their multimillionaire owners and sweeping to the brink of the Triple Crown.

Trained by a journeyman who had been kicking around racing for more than thirty years looking for "the one," but refusing to compromise his standards; ridden by a tough-luck jockey fighting to regain his position after years of injuries and hard knocks; and owned by a tiny stable founded by a band of high school buddies from Sackets Harbor, N.Y. (pop. 1,386), who tossed in a few thousand dollars each to follow their dream, Funny Cide became a blue-collar hero with a bit, his story crammed with colorful characters- only one of whom happened to be a horse.

Kitten Clarification.

2008-12-06T09:29:00.000-06:00

Mo is actually from the litter that was born this summer.
Full Story:
Last year when I was in England T called and said there was a 'dump cat' living in the barn. Dump cat is what we call cats that have clearly been family pets and suddenly show up at the farm because people will literally drive down the road and dump their unwanted pets in my ditch. It is how ALL of my cats came to be living with me. So anyway- T asked if we could keep the cat as a barn cat and I said no because I couldn't really afford another cat at the time. So T talked to her parents and they agreed to pay for dump cat (who became known as Cleo) to live here. That included shots, food and getting her spayed. Well by the time I got home from England she had not been spayed yet and was pregnant. So when the vet came out to geld Titan I had him give Cleo her shots and he confirmed that she was indeed pregnant. So the kittens were born about a week before I left for New York for camp (5 of them). You aren't supposed to spay a cat right after it has kittens so we had to wait a few weeks and I was going to be in New York. T was supposed to get Cleo (now known as Mama) spayed ASAP but she didn't. By the time I got back from New York Mama was pregnant again. She had another 5 kittens. I found a home for 1 from the first litter and 1 from the second litter but was not having much help from T and her family in finding them homes. Last week after asking T to come over and clean up the mud room about 10 times (this is where the 2nd batch was living since it was too cold for them to be outside) I lost it. I cleaned the room myself and left T a message that they needed to come and get the kittens. I had even begun billing them for the cat food since they weren't providing enough. They came to pick them up and I kept one from the 1st litter (since I figure the little ones will be easier to find homes for at the shelter). So they ended up taking 4 kittens from the 2nd litter, 3 from the 1st litter and Mama to the shelter. They decided not to keep Mama because it was going to cost $70 to spay her. If they had decided that in the beginning I wouldn't have had to clean up after 11 cats for months but I suppose then I also wouldn't have Mo and Chance wouldn't have his best friend.

I have been scolded.

2008-12-05T22:15:00.000-06:00

I have gotten in trouble by those who know me about not blogging this week. I am sorry. I will catch you up on everything.

I picked up Boyfriend on Monday. So happy to see him! His plane was delayed by about an hour due to snow but he has finally arrived. We have been hanging out for most of the week. I worked on Wednesday and Thursday but other than that we have just been bumming about.

Chance is good. He is getting very good at sit and is getting better about lay down. He still thinks he is a lap dog and should be allowed on the couch and bed- we are working on that. His new best friend Mo (the kitten I kept) has been following him around all week since the other kittens left. Mo sleeps on the dog bed with Chance and Tess. He also 'hugs' the dogs as much as he can by putting his front legs around their necks and 'kissing' (aka licking) their faces and ears. I will try for a picture of that but for now you will have to settle for pictures of them taking a nap together. Mo also loves Tess but she doesn't seem to feel the same way about him and is constantly getting up and walking away from him when he tries to cuddle her. She really hates it when he goes up and tries to 'kiss' her- Chance loves it, any good attention is apparently readily accepted whether it is from a human or a cat.

Titan is good. We have about 3-4 inches of snow on the ground and Titan and Gus are enjoying it more than the mud that we had before. Titan still seems like he is getting bigger everyday. I thought that maybe his growth would slow a bit in the winter (you know like how their hooves slow a bit) but I think he is going to continue to grow at this ridiculous rate until he is 3 or so... he is going to be a freakishly large giant but I love him dearly.

I am still working at the bookstore and I still love it. I got all of my Christmas shopping done today and I am THRILLED about that. I do NOT like shopping- especially with huge crowds and all that jazz. I am also still looking for a 2nd job but have not found one as of yet since I am over qualified for every position I apply for. However I can't apply for a higher position because I haven't taken my boards yet and I haven't taken my boards yet because I can't take the review class yet and I can't take the review class yet because it isn't offered until January. I should clean out the take room again- I always have stuff in there I can e-bay... I know I have 4 brand new stable blankets just sitting there...

Kitten Update.

2008-11-29T10:28:00.000-06:00

The kittens are all gone. Except Lucy who is sitting on my lap right now but her new family is on their way to pick her up. I am keeping one and found homes for 2 but the others are going to a no kill shelter. I don't have to room or money to take care of that many kittens and the neighbors that actually own all of them don't want them. I think they will find homes easily as they are extremely friendly and get along with dogs really well. They are also good with kids. Maybe someone will pick one out as a Christmas present for a little girl. That would be nice.

BEAUTIFUL Day

2008-11-28T15:38:00.000-06:00

Today has been interesting so far. I had to be at work at 6:45 so was up around 5. Then after work I got home and played with Tess and Chance. The plan for the afternoon was to CLEAN the house. It isn't super messy but I don't dust or anything like that often (ok- almost never) so I was going to really clean the house today. I started cleaning the kitchen and got a call from some friends to go to a movie. I decided that was more fun than cleaning so I changed my clothes and got in the car. About a mile and a half down the road I turned around. I didn't want to go to a movie. I didn't really even want to see that movie. On top of that it was BEAUTIFUL outside today. Who wants to sit in a movie when it is nice outside? I had gotten so used to it being FREEZING that I automatically agreed and should have thought about it a bit more. So I came back home called to say I wasn't joining them then changed my clothes again and headed out to the barn. No need to waste a nice day cleaning when I could be out working Titan.
So out I went. I got Titan out and gave him a super hard grooming- got lots of dirt and such out. Why is it when you groom a horse that has long winter do they always get dirtier before they get cleaner? By the end he was looking somewhat clean. Dust is dust and there is no use in stressing over it I think. So I wrapped his legs and we headed into the arena. We just did a short lunge session working on transitions and whoa. He did very well and seemed very happy to be back at it. For the past few weeks it was so wet and then it froze then if it was warm enough to work him it was muddy. So this is his first real work in about 2 weeks. We have done grooming type things and stuff like that but hadn't been able to get into the arena. He is still growing like a weed. His rump is now just about an inch or two shorter than me (I am 5'5").
You know when you ask someone to do something and they don't do it for days, then when they finally get to it after you harping on them they do a halfass job? That is very annoying.

No dice.

2008-11-27T09:24:00.000-06:00

So it has been quite a while since I have put up a Titan post. I have been working with him it is just that nothing significant worth a post happened- until last night. So as you may recall back in October we had to put a wire in Titan's jaw to try and save several of his teeth. It looked like he had been chewing on the chain that holds the gate closed and got one tooth stuck then jerked back and did a lot of damage. So we had to put in a wire that went through his top jaw and around his front teeth- think of it like a yearling with braces.
So anyway the wire was to come of in mid November but since 2 of the teeth were still quite loose we decided to leave it for another 3 or 4 weeks, with me checking it every day, in hopes that those teeth would become more solid. Last night I went out to feed and everything seemed normal until I went to feed Titan. The wire had somehow been pulled down over his teeth so it was just a loop of wire going into his jaw. Obviously if he were to get that caught on anything he would have done even more major damage. I called vet but he was unable to make it out until this morning. I contemplated calling the other vet in town but he doesn't know much about horses in my opinion and I would worry that he would make it worse. So I decide that I need to at least cut the wire so that it is no longer a loop and then twist the ends so they aren't pointy. Easier said than done. Neighbor and T come out to hold Titan while I cut the wire and in many attempts to bend the ends I was not overly successful. At least for the night there was no danger of him getting caught on anything and the ends were short enough that he would not be able to poke himself.
Vet came out this morning, he sedated Titan and checked things out. It turns out that even with our best attempts we were unable to save 2 of his front teeth. Vet had to pull those teeth out. The only good news is that Vet doesn't think Titan had much use of those teeth since they were just being held tight with the wire and he has been keeping his weight really well. Which is saying something because he seems to be in the middle of a growth spurt as well.
Now it is just a waiting game as we won't know if we successfully secured his jaw to support his adult teeth until he is 3 or 4 years old. For right now he is happy to have his 'braces' off and is sleeping off his sedation in his stall.

I've Been Tagged

2008-11-24T21:46:00.000-06:00

So I was tagged by Alissa at grace's birdcage wedding and thought I would play along. I am supposed to tell 6 random, boring and quirky facts about myself.

Here goes:
1. I do not like pizza. I never have. I like cheese, I like tomatoes and I like the crust but when you put them all together it turns into something not very yummy. When I tell people this they don't believe me- why would I lie about pizza? I usually explain it by picking 3 foods most people like- lets say ice cream, chicken and orange juice- you like all those but do you want to eat them in the same bowl? Probably not...

2. My grandma doesn't know how to spell my name. I know that isn't totally about me but she has never spelled it correctly and I don't have the heart to tell her now that I am 24 that she has been spelling her granddaughter's name wrong forever. (She also currently spells Boyfriend's name wrong).

3. I was 6 or 7 when I realized that there was no Santa. We were in the car just after Christmas and something just clicked. So I knew but I was afraid to tell my mom because I didn't want to hurt her feelings. I wasn't sure if she was in on it or not but Christmas was one of her favorite times of year and I didn't want to ruin it for her. I didn't tell her I knew until almost a year later.

4. I probably cry at least once a week. It isn't always a really hard cry- maybe just a tear or two but at least once a week I cry about something either happy or sad.

5. Sometimes I pick fights with people. Not fist fights or anything just little spats. It is some weird thing I developed in a not so great college romance where I would pick fights and I thought that if he still cared he would fight back. How messed up is that? I subconsciously do it to Boyfriend but he knows me too well and just says 'Do you really want to fight with me?' I always say no and that is the end of it. Boyfriend and I have been together for almost a year and a half now and we have never actually had a fight. That has got to be some kind of record for me.

6. I really like my nose, my calves and my ankles. When I was in high school I stressed about the same things that everyone in high school stresses about but one of my biggest things was that I was super self conscious about my legs. I have been riding horses my whole life and that of course means I have very muscular legs (read- not thin). Although very toned my thighs always bothered me. So one day when my mom and I were shopping I commented on how no jeans fit because if they actually fit my thighs they were way too big in the waist. I don't remember the entire conversation but in the end we decided that I had great calves and ankles- none of this 'kankle' nonsense. Also I have broken my nose 3 times and had to have surgery to reset it twice. It is straight and looks normal but if you feel it you can feel the ridges and breaks. It is kind of cool. That seems weird when I actually type it out....

So there you go.

I am going to tag-
Jean at Horses of Follywoods
Claire at Molly- Bitless, Barefoot, Treefree
Melissa at Diary of a Mad Horse Woman
Caroline at Smartie'sDiary
Daun at The Eventing Percheron
Cass at Shut Up, I'm Counting

The rules are:
* Mention the rules on your blog.
* Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.
* Tag six other bloggers
* Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they are tagged.

Something Borrowed

2008-11-23T20:26:00.000-06:00

So I am usually not really a 'chick flick' book reader but a few weeks ago I was at the bookstore working and kept thinking that I needed a new book. Then I rang up 3 people all within about 20 minutes all buying this book. They all said that friends had recommended it to them. They were all similar in age to myself. Then I went back to the break room for my break and had a text on my cell phone from C. It said "Hey look up Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin". To top it all off just 2 days before that a different friend was going on and on about how she loves Emily Giffin and that I should read her books. Plus this past summer I remember Yabo reading them as well and saying how good they were. So I caved and bought it and finished it in 3 days. Then I bought Something Blue (the sequel) and finished it in 4. I am not one to recommend sappy dumb romance books but these were witty and entertaining not to mention surprising! It was also very funny and it even had me cheering for the main character when what she was doing seemed totally wrong (i.e. sleeping with her best friends fiance!). Somehow she rationalizes it and you want her to win out in the end- only the end has a twist that I never saw coming! In hind sight I probably should have seen it coming but I was too wrapped up in Rachel's problems to consider the other side of it! So if you are in the mood for some light beach reading this is the one you should start off with.

From the back:
Meet Rachel White, a young attorney living and working in Manhattan. Rachel has always been the consummate good girl- until her 30th birthday, when her best friend Darcey throws her a party. That night, after too many drinks, Rachel ends up in bed with Darcey's fiance. Although she wakes up determined to put the one-night fling behind her, Rachel is horrified to discover that she has genuine feelings for the one guy she should run from. In her wildest dreams (or worst nightmare?) this is the last thing on earth Rachel could ever have imagined happening. As the September wedding date nears, Rachel knows she has to make a choice. In doing so , she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk it all to win true happiness.

Then if you like that one move right on to Something Blue which is Darcey's side of the story and what happens after Something Borrowed.

Christmas Cookies on Crack

2008-11-22T22:54:00.000-06:00

So today has been interesting. I am babysitting J and K (2 lesson kids) for the weekend. Last night we had dinner and watched a movie then they went to bed. Then today I was at quite a loss as to what to do with them. So we hung out and watched Harry Potter this morning (they got up WAY too early for a Saturday!) and then headed into town for lunch. We had subs for lunch then went over to the library for a bit where they each picked out a movie and a book. Let me now say that it snowed this morning and their mom sent no warm clothes other than their coats so we really couldn't do anything outside. After that we headed back here and stuck a movie in and listened to it while we made cookies (the kind you roll out and cut and stick in the oven, I am only so brave when it comes to a 7 yr old and a 5 yr old). After making cookies while they cooled we took Chance and Tess for a walk (or rather we did for about 3 minutes until they were both complaining about the cold that I sent them inside and cut the walk way short.
Then we made frosting. This was an event in itself. While trying to get the red and green food coloring out to make the frosting J discovered that I had neon colors as well. So of course we had to make those. Throw a 5 year old with sprinkles into the mix and our Christmas cookies look like they are on crack. There are neon green Christmas trees, purple snowmen, bright pink bells, and blue stockings. All in all it wasn't a bad day.

Happy News and Sad Tears.

2008-11-20T23:15:00.000-06:00

So tonight I found out that one of my very close friends is pregnant! I am thrilled for her and her hubby. I think they will make fantastic parents and I already told her that I get to be an honorary aunt. I was with her and 2 of our other friends when she called hubby to tell him and then when she got to call her mom and dad to tell each of them. It was so exciting and so life changing but also for me it was a bit sad. As I sat there among the smiles and speaker phone congratulations and screaming I couldn't help but be sad at the things I will never be able to do. You never think about the small things like telling your mom and dad they are going to have a grandchild when you lose them so early. I think that this all may also have a bit to do with timing as yesterday would have been my mom's 56th birthday. I usually try to be a very happy and positive person but tonight as I sit here with tears streaming down my face I think about all that my mom and dad will miss. Sometimes I miss them so much I think my heart physically hurts.

The Learning Curve

2008-11-18T21:38:00.000-06:00

Lessons I have learned in the past 24 hours about living with a Great Dane

Do not make a bowl of popcorn and set it on the coffee table and then go to the bathroom. When you come back it will be ENTIRELY gone.

Keep a towel on the floor by the water dish. Big tongue = Big mess.

Apparently the closet is a better place to sleep than the nice soft dog bed.

Letting a great dane on the couch even once is probably not a good idea because then he will think he can get up on the bed and even your lap when you are in a chair. You know 'if you give a mouse a cookie' syndrome?

A walk to the barn that should take 2 minutes in freezing cold weather will take 20 because he needs to stop and sniff EVERYTHING so please dress in lots of layers.

It IS funny when he gets really excited and races around the breakfast bar only to see a cat and try to so a sliding stop on a rug and knock over 2 dining room chairs.

Do not straddle him to put on his collar. When he stands up your feet will not touch the floor and you will fall over backwards.

Chance is SMART. He already knows he is not allowed in the U part of the kitchen at all (a great ground rule because he would be able to take things off the counter). If he tries I just say "Chance back up" and he backs out and sits down.
Danes are 'leaners' which I think loosely translates into 'lovers' as they just always want a cuddle!
When Chance thinks he has done something wrong he lays down and puts his head flat on its side without laying his body over at all. It is a strange position.

This is Chance's "I think I did something naughty" position.

I am totally loving this dog. He is fitting in perfectly and loving the attention. I am trying to pay Tess a lot of attention too because Chance automatically gets pet a lot because he is at hand level and I don't want Tess feeling left out.

PS I called the shelter today and told them that I was keeping him. He is all mine now!

CHANCE!

2008-11-17T17:37:00.000-06:00

So I was supposed to go and visit Chance today and the lady that runs the shelter called this morning and told me that she had checked my references and that I got a 'glowing' reference from my vet. She also said that I was at the top of their list to adopt Chance (I was so excited). Then she told me that if I wanted to take him home today on somewhat of a trial run I was more than welcome to.

I went over to see Chance and took Tess with me. He is such a sweetheart! He thinks he should be a lap dog that can just cuddle with you all the time. After picking him up we met C in town to go to PetSmart to pick up an elevated bowl, a gentle leader (basically a halter for a dog just because he is so big) and Lots and Lots of food. I also got them each a chew bone. Since it is PetSmart the dogs got to come in and shop with us and Chance was thrilled. They were both thrilled when the cashier asked if she could give each of them a treat. I also ran into a guy that used to breed great danes and he gave me his name and number and said that if I ever had any questions to just give him a call and ask. Some people are so nice.

He was great in the car but since he is so big he takes up almost the entire backseat so Tess sat up front with me. When we got home we played in the yard for a while (with Chance on a leash since I don't know him that well yet). He met the horses and tried to lick Titan's nose. Titan wasn't sure how to respond to that so he just snorted and then went back to sniffing Chance.

Chance had a big lunch and is very quickly getting used to the fact that he can help himself to food when he is hungry, No more skinny dog! He and Tess are getting along great and he is learning to play gentle since she is so much smaller than him (his shoulders are almost to my hip).

He is slowly starting to listen to me a bit better. I think at first he was just too excited. We will be doing some refreshers on all of his commands. But for tonight I am content just to hang out with him and Tess on the floor and watch a movie or something as of right now he is in the living room on the floor pillows with Tess enjoying his chew bone. He seems happy to have a new family. I think that this 'trial' is going to turn into forever pretty quickly!

Foot in Mouth

2008-11-14T11:02:00.000-06:00

So have you ever had one of those conversations that totally goes the wrong way? Of course when you try to explain things everything just gets even more twisted and confused. I had a conversation like that with Boyfriend this morning. I was trying to explain something and it just wasn't coming out right. Maybe I have a newer version of foot and mouth disease where you just can't stop yourself from saying stupid things... or when you say something and then try to explain it you just twist it around in a big mess... What do you think? Does tht exist?

New Discovery!

2008-11-13T21:26:00.000-06:00

So recently K and I were watching last seasons One Tree Hill (thank you Netflix) and discovered a new artist that we LOVE! Her name on the show is Mia but in real life her name is Kate Voegele. She is only 20 years old and has a great fresh new voice! She is very original and on her CD Don't Look Away she even includes the mandolin and accordian. She has been described as the female parallel to John Mayer. Check her out!! (the title of this blog is a link to her page- I don't know how to make links in the text yet!)

Grey's Night!!

2008-11-13T21:15:00.000-06:00

Thursday is one of my favorite nights of the week! The girls get together every week and we make or order dinner and sit and gab until Grey's Anatomy comes on. We catch up on each other's weeks during the commercials and chat about our up coming weeks. It is great to have a standing date and one night a week I know I will get to hang out with the girls. I love you girls!
(We agree that the whole Denny thing is weird but we are glad Hahn is gone. Next week looks crazy!!)

The Secret Bride

2008-11-10T22:31:00.000-06:00

The Secret Bride is an amazing book for all of you historical fiction fanatics. It was written by Diane Haeger (who also wrote The Ruby Ring which is fantastic as well). The main character is Mary Tudor (King Henry VIII's youngest sister). It has drama, love and pain. Just read it- you will like it!

From the Back:

Mary Tudor, the headstrong younger sister of the ruthless King Henry VIII, has always been her brother's favorite- but now she is also an important political bargaining chip. When she is promised to the elderly, ailing King Louis of France, heartbroken Mary accepts her fate, but not before extracting a promise from her brother: When the old king dies, her next marriage shall be solely of her choosing. For Mary has a forbidden passion, and she is determined to forge her own destiny, through her own cunning, courage, and passionate boldness.

The Secret Bride is the triumphant tale of one extraordinary woman who meant to stay true to her heart and live her life just as her royal brother did- by her own rules.

Dog update!

2008-11-10T09:23:00.000-06:00

So after some e-mailing with different shelters and 'foster homes' I have narrowed it down a little bit but also added one. I still really like Max, Bear, Amity and Goliath. (Boyfriend likes Bear and Max the best). I went to see Myles and although he was sweet he dragged me all over creation when we went for a walk outside. There were a few at the shelter that I liked but they were all younger except one called Kate who is a 3 year old lab and like 10 other things mix. She and I got along quite well and she was sweet but there were 3 other families that took her out for walks just while I was there and so I don't think she will be a the shelter long.

I only added one more to the list and his name is Chance. He is a great dane/lab mix. He is 4 years old and has great manners. He knows sit, lay down, stay, shake, etc (his foster mom says he is very well trained). He gets along great with dogs, cats and horses. He had a rough start and for the majority of his first 4 years he was chained out in someone's yard.

It really does!!

2008-11-04T10:37:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to send out a quick reminder for everyone to get out and VOTE today!! I am getting ready to head out and do so myself. Vote for who YOU believe in! My choice is Barack Obama. Get out and make your voice heard. If you don't vote you are chosing not to use your power to impact our country. Also if you don't vote I don't think you have a right to complain for the next 4 years if you don't like whoever wins.

Lovely day.

2008-11-02T21:42:00.000-06:00

So this morning K and I really did nothing. I spoke to Boyfriend on the phone but besides that and doing chores we just sat and read. It was a lovely Sunday morning. Then at 2:00 K, C and I went for a trail ride out around the pond (I love this place more and more everyday). C rode Hayley, who was a doll, K rode Rocky, who was a bit of an ass, and I rode Midnight (now being called just Night), who was pretty good over all but we had some issues jogging instead of walking once we were headed back in the direction of the barn. I really wish I would remember to take my camera out with me as there would have been some fun pics. We saw several deer and the horses couldn't have cared less. C was a bit nervous on the bigger hills but Hayley took good care of her.
There is a chance of me getting in another training horse soon which would be good because Joe and Hayley won't be here much longer. She sounds like she would be fun. She is little- only about 14.2 and is 7 but only green broke. I'll see what comes of this and keep you posted. Oh- Her name is Missy.
K has just informed me that she wants to take a ride in the washing machine to try and figure out how bras get so tangled. It is a question I often wonder but never got to the point of wanting to watch the whole wash cycle to figure it out.
Titan was super today. His 'whoa' has gotten really good and he not only stops on the voice command but actually tucks his bum a bit and stops on his haunches rather than pegging his front legs into the ground. I don't know if that made sense. He has now had a saddle fully on and didn't give it a second thought and just went through his workout like nothing was different that any time before. This week when K and I go out trail riding I think I will saddle Titan and take him along. He has been out there before many times but I want him to be very used to the saddle by the time winter comes and causes a large pause in my training sessions with him. I am not looking forward to winter...

Dogs...?

2008-11-02T20:38:00.000-06:00

I am thinking about getting another dog (after I find homes for the kittens as I don't need this many cats!). I was looking at the humane society website today and saw several that might be good matches. Here is what I am looking for:

I want something bigger (I am not a little yappy dog person).
I want something a bit older (I don't want to do the puppy thing right now and I figure the older dogs are harder to place in homes because most people want a puppy).
I don't want anything with long hair (picking burrs out of manes and tails is enough of a pain- I can only imagine what would happen with a long haired dog).
It must be good with cats, horses, other dogs and kids. Obviously I have cats, horses, and Tess and though I don't have kids I hope that eventually I will and I don't want to have to give my dog up because by then surely it will be quite old and my pets are family. Plus I have lesson kids out here all the time.
I don't want a roamer. I do not have a fenced in yard and our dogs in the past have never left the property- I don't want something that will wander and get lost or hit by a car.
I want an indoor/outdoor dog. Tess is perfectly happy to spend the day laying out in the sun or sleeping on her big floor pillows. I want a dog that will be content to spend time outside everyday but that will sleep inside beside my bed.

These are the dogs I have found so far that might make a good match (none of these dogs have the no cats, no dogs or no kids symbols on their ads):

Above is Max he is a 1 1/2 year old boxer/lab mix. He is a bit younger than I was thinking but it says in his ad that he gets along well with other dogs, cats and loves kids. It also says he stays in the yard and has very good manners.

This is Myles. He is a 10 month old german shorthair/lab mix. Again a bit younger than I was thinking. He is house trained, great with other animals and kids. It says that his previous owners had him chained in the yard before they dumped him at the shelter. I wonder if that means he is a wanderer?

This is Omar. He is approximately 4 years old and is a lab/german shepard mix. His ad says that he is super gentle and very laid back. He is great with kids and listens well to commands and the only reason his old family gave him up is because they had to move and couldn't take him with.

This is Amity. She is a 2 or 3 yr old lab mix. Her description says she gets along great with other dogs and cats. It also says she listens extremely well and knows basic commands. She is already house trained.

This is Bear. He is a chocolate lab and is about 5 years old. His description doesn't say much except that he is like a big teddy bear and that he needs to lose a few pounds.

This is George. This is all his ad says: George is a big friendly lug who weighs in at almost 90 lbs. He is very lovable and playful. He is primarily a Chocolate Lab. He would enjoy a home in the country or in a large city yard.

This is Molly. Her ad doesn't say anything about how she gets on with other animals but says that she is super friendly and loves attention. It also says she is a dry mouth St. Bernard (which is why I didn't click on her at first because I couldn't deal with lots of drool but apparently she doesn't really drool).

Last but not least is Goliath. He is a lab mix and it says he is a gentle giant and is worth every bit of his weight in gold. He is happy, fun to be around, walks well on a lead, is very friendly and looks good too. He tops out at 98 pounds, and is just a hunk.

Any advice? I am going to go into the shelter sometime soon and check out what else is there that isn't online. I also want to talk to the people and make sure I find exactly what I am looking for. I don't mind training (manners, etc) but I would prefer not to start from scratch with a little puppy. I have been thinking about this for a while and Tess still just seems so depressed. We would both enjoy and benefit from adding another dog to the house...

Busy Busy.

2008-10-30T12:38:00.001-05:00

This week has been quite busy so I haven't been on Blogger much.
On Monday K and I took Hayley and Joe for a trail ride and they were both lovely. We even picked some apples from trees while on their backs to give them a little treat. I think Joe wants to run but knows he is too fat. Titan worked like a dream again. T came over and rode Midnight and worked with Gus then I taught her how to line drive Titan. I think she is looking forward to the day when she can start adding new things into Gus's training as right now it is mostly just ponying him and getting him used to everything.
Titan's breath is terrible. I keep sticking my fingers in his mouth to get the food that is caught on the wire but me doing that once or twice a day isn't doing much for cutting the bad breath. At least the wire come off soon! He struggles to eat apples unless I cut them but everything else is great and he seems to be healing quickly.
Hayley's soon to be new mom came and rode her Tuesday and has decided to buy her. I am glad that she will be someones fun trail horse rather than a baby machine. She is a good girl and tries to do what you want though still seems a bit confused most of the time.
Yesterday there wasn't much 'horse time' with work and going to my old high school's football game with K, C and E. Today the whole afternoon is with the horses so I better get out there!
I promise I really will take some new pictures soon!

Good Driving.

2008-10-26T21:33:00.001-05:00

Titan was lovely today. It was CRAZY WINDY and he still listened very well. I can't wait until I can start riding him! He is growing like a weed- I will take some new pictures soon.

Pain in the Neck

2008-10-26T10:26:00.000-05:00

Seriously. I was driving to the airport on Wednesday and after getting frustrated with my horrible mapquest directions I chucked that page out the window. I know probably not the best idea but I was in the middle of nowhere and the directions were proceeding to get me more lost and I just had to. It made me feel better for a second until I remembered that my cell had no credit. So I had to pull over in a parking lot and do the little call in thing to add money to my phone. Then I called C and she got me 'unlost'. I finally got to the airport and pulled up in the front and then realized that K has no idea what my car looks like. So then I think 'OK I will just put my flashers on and run in really quickly' then I look up and see a sign that says UNATTENDED VEHICLES WILL BE TOWED. So that idea is out. So then I have to drive all the way back out of the airport to pull into the short term parking and I head inside. K is sitting waiting for me. As we head back out to the car I explain the whole story of why I was a bit late and she laughs. At least she was amused even if I was not.

Then on the drive home I turned my head and I insist that I broke my neck. Now considering that my head is still attached I don't actually think I did but it hurt pretty badly. So Thursday afternoon was spent at the chiropractors. He is a nice guy- he actually my sister's best friend's brother... the joy of small towns. So he adjusts my neck (something I hate having done) and manages to do it without me getting super tense and making things worse. So all in all that was a pretty good visit.

Joe and Hayley are settling in nicely. They have become fast friends. Hayley couldn't care less if Joe is around but Joe acts like he is missing a leg if she is taken away. He has been spending some time tied up alone to combat the 'Oh My God! I Can't Be Alone!' syndrome. Hayley is working wonderfully. She is an old pony horse for a racetrack before they decided to breed her (for 9 years straight). So she hasn't been ridden in 9 years and seems a bit confused as to why I want to ride her but she does try. We are working really hard on bending and being supple. She bends really well to the left and leg yields to the left but to the right- Nothing. She does not bend to the right she does not leg yield. It took me almost 20 minutes just to get her to bend her head around to the right. She is slowly understanding what I want and is attempting to do it but it is going to take a LONG time. She does have an awesome smooth trot and can settle into a little jog or extend out well. Yesterday we finally got the left lead (oh yeah- she would only pick up her right lead). I am excited to get out there and work with her everyday as she is becoming quite the fun project (apparently this is my Thunder replacement).

Joe is Joe. He is even fatter than Hayley and when I picked him up on Wednesday his mane and tail were SOLID in burrs and his body was completely covered in manure. After about an hour of grooming and a 1/3 bottle of baby oil he is looking much better. I am struggling because I am only supposed to have him for about a month but I don't want to take him back there. He is severely over fed (which is better than underfed but still unhealthy) he hadn't been trimmed since I had him last fall (his owners insist that his feet just break off naturally) he probably hadn't been groomed since I had him last fall and I know for a fact that he hasn't been ridden. We are taking it slow to get him back into shape. He (along with Hayley) is on a strict diet. He gets some form of exercise everyday, though he doesn't get worked for long at all because he is so overweight. It is sad to see a horse that I had in such great condition and that was working SO well just dumped out in the pasture. Maybe I will see if they just want to let me keep him...

ROOMIES!?!?

2008-10-22T11:41:00.000-05:00

So for the past year and a half I have been trying to convince Tada (my best friend from University) to move out to Iowa. She just called and there is a good possibility that she will be moving out here this spring for work! I am SO excited I had to tell someone. Not only am I thrilled that she will be in Iowa but she might actually live with me!
I have to admit that although I LOVE living out here on the farm, living alone in a five bedroom house can get quite lonely. Tada and I lived in a house together our senior year at uni and it was a BLAST. I am SO excited.
ALSO my friend C and her 2 yr old little girl E (seriously the cutest little girl in the world) have been thinking about possibly moving out here as well! Her current roomie is possibly moving for a different job and their rent is kind of high so I suggested that they move in with me. I have plenty of room and E loves it out here with the horses, dogs, cats, trampoline, woods, etc.

Long Line Lesson and Fat Ponies

2008-10-22T10:55:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Titan had his first lesson on long lines. He was a bit nervous but good for the most part. He actually went over backwards once which was the scariest thing ever. He was standing and when I asked him to walk he broke into a trot. I very clearly said WALK again and lightly touched the reins. I think it must have startled him a bit as he proceeded to sit down and go over on his back. He actually seemed more surprised than me when it happened. He just rolled to his side and lay there staring at me like 'What just happened??' with the why mama head tilt. I let him just lay for a minute and then asked him to get up. He did and just kept giving me that look. I didn't want to end the lesson on a bad note of course so again I asked him to walk off. He walked off, turned and stopped like a pro. Maybe the tumble knocked some sense into him...
I really want to get out there and give it another go today but it is raining. Blah.

I actually got a new training horse in yesterday as well. It is a horse that J's mom (M) is looking to buy for herself. I had her old horse for about a total of 4 months and it took me that long to convince M to sell her. They had bought her because she was a pretty tri-color paint. She was pretty don't get me wrong but all that prettiness didn't come with much for brains. When they got her home she flipped over backwards on M twice. Then she was brought to me. I got her to the point where she was rideable and could walk/trot/canter both ways and I spur trained her. She was good in the ring and M was even getting along with her well. So after having her for about a month (so 4 lessons with M, as every training horse I have the owners get 1 lesson per week included in the training fees) M decided to take her home because she really couldn't afford to keep her in training forever. After about 2 months I was talking to M and asked her how Rain was doing and her response was that she hadn't gotten the chance to ride her. So after another few weeks Rain ended up back with me and was back to all of her old tricks. This cycle kept happening and eventually when Rain was back with her owners she went over backwards and actually hurt M (it had amazed me that she hadn't been hurt before). After getting her back the first time I started trying to convince M that this was not the right horse for them. She was OK if worked everyday by someone that really knew what they were doing but she was not the kind of horse they could just ride on the weekends for fun. Once I finally convinced her to sell Rain as an advanced adult only horse (we picked very carefully where she went) we started looking for a new horse for her. This is where Hayley comes in. She is a 15.1h 17 yr old well broke broodmare. She has not been ridden in several years and has had a foal every year for the last 9 years. Personally I think she is THRILLED to not be pregnant again. M has ridden her but wants me to try her out for a month. That way M can get some lessons in on her as well. Hayley has an extremely level head and doesn't spook at anything (even when J's 5 yr old brother, K, came flying around the corner of the barn with a garbage bag cape flapping). She is EXTREMELY overweight. So she is now on a strict diet and we will slowly start working her back into shape. And I mean SLOWLY- she jogged around the arena for about 3 minutes when she got here checking everything out and was breathing hard. She is in dire need of a trim and I have a call into the farrier for her and a horse that is coming in tomorrow called Joe.

I am really looking forward to having Joe back. I had him for the summer of 2007 out in NY with me and he is a big puppy dog. He is a cute little paint gelding whose owners just don't spend any time with him. He was apparently a high level HUS horse when they bought him but then they decided to barrel race him and now he can't do HUS to save his life. He is an awesome little games horse and great for just hacking around. He is quite overweight as well as they don't work him at all but basically give him all the feed he wants. It took me an entire spring/summer to get him to a decent weight last time and it took them about 4 weeks to make him fat again.

Winter Blankets + Growing Baby = Spending $$$$$

2008-10-20T22:09:00.001-05:00

I measured Titan in the middle of September and he was at about 60". So when I ordered his blankets for this winter I ordered 68" thinking that would at least get us through Christmas and New Years. When the blankets arrived and I tried them on they were too big (which was the point since I knew I wouldn't be using them for at least 2 or 3 more months). In the last few weeks T and neighbors have commented on how fast he is growing. So today just out of curiosity I decided to measure him again. 66" BARELY. Basically at 67" which would be lovely if he would just stay there until after New Years when I had planned to buy new blankets. I know, I know I should have waited but I like to be prepared and thought that I was ordering them plenty big enough. Especially considering the 7 yr old QH gelding in the barn wears a 72". Oh the joys of a big baby- hence the name Titan.
So now I have a really nice felt lined canvas blanket, a toasty warm winter blanket, a fleece blanket liner and a no rub body sleazy that won't fit by the time it is cold enough for him to need it. Ebay here I come for more blankets (In NOVEMBER when I will actually need them). I think this winter we will be playing musical blankets..... at least the fleece liner and the body sleazy stretch.

A Long Way Gone: The True Story of a Child Soldier

2008-10-19T23:23:00.000-05:00

This book was one that I just happened to see during one of my many wanders through the bookstore (Can you believe that now I am paid to do that? I should have started this job a long time ago!). Anyway I was looking for something new and different. I also wanted something true. I was feeling a bit sheltered in my Midwest lifestyle and needed something to throw a little dose of reality into my ever so peaceful existence out here on the farm. So I was wandering through the memoirs and nothing really seemed to be catching my attention. After several attempts to read the back of different books (my mind kept wandering and I never see it as a good sign when the back of the book, which is supposed to highlight some key points, can't keep my attention) I found A Long Way Gone: The True Story of a Child Soldier by Ishmael Beah. It is a very fabulous and very eye opening memoir of a child soldier. It is simply the story of a child who is caught in the civil war in Sierra Leone. This book does not give much historical background to the civil war in Sierra Leone and I actually got online to find out more about it. I passed this book along to Boyfriend to read once I was finished and he loved it as much as I did.

From the back:

'Why did you leave Sierra Leone?'

'Because there is a war.'

'Did you witness any of the fighting?'

'Everybody in the country did.'

'Cool.'

'I smile a little.'

'You should tell us about it sometime.'

'Yes, Sometime.'

This is the story of Ishmael Beah's childhood - how, aged just 12, he fled from rebels attacking his village to wander a violent land, before being conscripted into the army - where he learnt that he too was capable of terrible acts. Once he emerged he decided to tell his story, a story of the loss of innocence and the power of redemption.

This is the first first hand account of how wars are now fought: by children, on drugs, with AK-47s. In more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, there are an estimated 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah was one of them.

I love Saturdays and Sundays are good too.

2008-10-19T12:12:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was great. I worked from 10-2. I am quite enjoying the job as we just sit and chat about books when we aren't helping customers.

Then I came home and worked with Titan. He was amazing. It was like something in his head clicked. We had nice round circles (no more cutting in nonsense, thanks Jean!). He had nice even gaits, extended out when I asked (he prefers to just jog along rather that extend out into a proper trot), flat knee, deep hock- It was AMAZING! I was so proud of him. I also played with a heavy western saddle pad with him. Bumping him all over his body, throwing it up on his back, bumping his legs, he could not have cared less. He was such a good boy.

After that I went to a nearby town where they were having a haunted hayride. I was one of the people at a station scaring people. It was so much fun! I actually got hit in the face by one lady when I scared her and she swung her arm at me- I think it was a reflex to the Freddie mask I was wearing. A good night was had by all and they raised LOADS of money for the new playground and park! My throat still kills today from so much screaming.

Today I got up and worked around the house then my cousins stopped in for a little visit. After that I went out and worked in the barn with T for a bit. Then 2 friends came out to see the horses but one brought her non-horsey boyfriend (boring) and so didn't stay long which was a bummer because I hadn't seen her in a while. Then 1 friend and T stayed for dinner and we played parcheesi. It was a pretty nice day. Titan worked well but was a little distracted at the loads of people watching him as the friends, T, and several neighbors were all there.

I also got my new memory card in the mail this week so there will be many more pictures soon! But until then here are some new kitten pictures. They are getting SO big and started opening their eyes this week (don't worry I didn't use the flash in their tiny little eyes). I named Lucy right away and had no clue what to call the others. My friends 2 year old daughter named Norman and Walter (I know funny names for a 2 year old to pick), my neighbors 2 year old granddaughter named Simba (even though the kitten is a girl, we don't care) and then Boyfriend named Marty.

All 5- (l to r) Norman, Simba, Marty, Lucy, Walter

Miss Lucy

Simba, Marty, Norman and 1/2 of Walter

Marty

Simba

Mama- taking a break and hanging out in the office with me while I write.