So Proud,

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)

What a day!

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!!

Maynard

Margaret and Myself

The 3 of us


Chance and Mo sleeping

Poor Chance.

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.

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.

I have been scolded.

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...