Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have many things to be thankful for. I have a job that pays the bills (kinda anyways), a house to live in, heat to keep me warm, food on my table and in my belly, all of the animals in my life, all of the people I love in my life, I am thankful for these things and I will cherish them. The Girls are doing well and both have come out of being lame. I may take Gypsy out for a ride in the snow tomorrow. Yes, we have gotten snow already. It's been an early winter. I can only hope this means an early spring.

I had a nice Thanksgiving with friends, family and lots of food. I hope that all of you out there also had a wonderful day filled with friends, family and food.

The rest of my night will be spent in front of the t.v. and reading a book about dog nutrition with a glass of wine.

Stay tuned for my next post about the troubles of dating and owning horses.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Back and alone

Yes I have been gone for quite a while. Both Gypsy and Doodles are doing well but have been off and on lame all fall. I think it has to do with the mud but also it may have something to do with me. I haven't been around much and because of that hoof care has been lacking. Things have been difficult for me these past 2 months in particular. As stupid as it sounds, I have been depressed over the break up of me and my boyfriend of five years. It's been hard to adjust to life with out him around all the time and even harder to adjust to the dating world. I realize that I do not like dating. At all. Sure, it's not all bad, but it's not all roses and cookies either. The games that are played mess with me. Why not tell me you like me rather then play a game to see if I really like you back. I don't see the point in it all. People tend to be a lot like horses in a way and, for me at least, it's easy to read between the lines. Body language has a lot to do with it. If you're telling me one thing but doing another, I'm more likely to believe what's in your intentions by your actions. It turns out, not only can I read a horse like a book, I can also read a person like one. It's not too far off really when you think about it. Horses want safety, food, water, love and order within their herd. Humans want the same things. Putting together what I know about horses and what I know about humans, I find the same rules apply. I play games with my horses to get the responses I want from them. People do the same thing with each other. Though I do find it's harder to get the response you want from a human then it is a horse. Humans have the gift of speech, they can tell you how they feel and what they want and need, horses tell you in other ways. The thing is though, humans don't always use that gift to tell you these things and then you are forced to figure it out from other cues. Sometimes this is easy, sometimes not so much. Communication has many forms.

All in all, I don't need a man around the house to do what needs to be done. I've been doing the "man's work" for years now and haven't had much of a problem. I can stack hay, clean paddocks, mow lawns, shovel snow, plow snow, snow blow snow (hey, we are in Maine, there is a lot of snow) all by myself. I don't need a man to do that for me. This year's firewood was all moved and stacked by women mostly. I can call someone to fix something I can't and I can fix a lot of things. Independent tough women is what Maine is made of. I can survive without a man in my life, but I like having someone around to share this all with. For now however, I'm happy to be greedy and keep it all to myself. I have this life and it is mine.

I'm happy to be back to my blog despite the unhappy circumstances that is my life right now. It shows me that if I've climbed out of my funk enough to write again, maybe I can climb all the way out of my funk and do other things too.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Back Soon.


Ok, so I've been gone for a while but I'll be back soon.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Offering a good deal.

My ride on Gypsy was good today, or as good as a ride on Gypsy can be. Seriously though, she was a good girl, for the most part. She started off with her normal "I won't stand to let you get on" thing but after letting her walk in circles she realized that maybe standing still was the better deal. I just kept her walking until she was ready to stand still and then when she did I told her how good she was and that's all I wanted. Why work harder if you don't have to, right? I think she's starting to get that. Once I was mounted we walked for a few minutes and then did some trot work. It's kinda hot today so I kept the trotting to a minimum. She kept tossing her head at the trot and offering to buck so I kept turning her in smaller and smaller circles whenever she did that. It seemed to work. She realized that if she threatens to buck, I just make her work a little harder. Again, I'm just trying to offer her a better deal. If she trots nice, then no circles, if not, well, then, she has to work in little circles and work harder. This horse is all about easy. She's learning to take my offers at a better deal as long as it means she doesn't have to work as hard. I try to be fair. I even got a semi-decent canter out of her, when she wasn't offering to buck. Again, more circles and a better deal was offered and she settled right down. All in all, I'm happy with our ride today. As long as I offer her a better deal then what she thinks she's getting, she does alright.

One thing though, Gypsy is getting fatter. Too much green grass I think. So, I've cut down on her beet pulp and she's going to get worked everyday, whether she (or I) like it or not. I can't let her gain too much weight so we are in weight loss mode. I too could use to drop a few pounds so maybe this will be good for both of us. They get hay at night when I lock them in their paddock, which they stay in now that I have the fence fixed. No more midnight munchie wanderings for the marshmallow now.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Getting caught up in an already busy summer.


Gypsy has this bad habit of getting out of the paddock everyday. It's been getting annoying. Today, I'd had enough. I revamped the fence and it works again. Take that mare! Just to drive the point home, when she was standing near the fence with her fat white nose, I kinda pushed the fiber glass fence post into her face so the wire hit her nose. She got the point very quickly. She now respects the fence again. It may be mean, but damn it, after weeks of her getting out almost everyday it felt so good to watch her get zapped, even if it was by my doing.

Our rides have been going ok, except that Gypsy has this new thing of not wanting to stand still while being mounted. I've been working on it with her and teaching her that standing still is a good thing. She's kinda getting it, but not really. It's just going to take more time I think. Other then that, Gypsy is coming along nicely. She still has a lot to learn, but I feel like I'm getting somewhere with her now.

Doodles is doing amazing. She's been cantering on the correct leads and and really responding to my every cue. I love love love that mare.

Things have been busy here. There's always the animals to take care of and now I've got the gardens in full swing. We had our first garden greens in a salad today and it was wonderful. I can't wait for tomatoes and peppers!






It's just so nice being able to grow our own food and enjoy the land. I'm so thankful for the way the farm has turned out and to be able to live this lifestyle. It's a lot of work, but it's worth it. I enjoy living the simple life.

I wish I could blog more, but truly I've been busy doing things around the farm and of course, work. I always say I'll write more next time but I never am able to. I also never know what to write as I'm writing it, if that makes any sense. I can think of tons of things to blog about when I'm not sitting in front of my computer but as soon as I see this screen, my mind goes blank. I have no idea why. At least I have pictures this time!

I'm so behind on everyones blogs. I try to read as many as I can but I just can't seem to stay on top of them all. My computer has been a bit of a pain in the butt lately so it's been hard to read them when I can't get the pages to load.

Anyways. That's all for now. At this point I won't even promise to make another post anytime soon since we all know how that goes.

Monday, June 6, 2011

A short 100th post

I'm going to make this short since I'm tired and should go to bed but I wanted to update everyone and get myself back into a weekly blog writing routine again. Things have been rather nice here. It's finally dried up after our 2 weeks of rain and the grass has come in nice and tall. I spent a few weeks getting the girls used to the grass slowly so we don't have any more laminitis problems. I fenced off part of the backyard so they can graze since it was too wet to get a lawn mower in there. I figure on more pasture can't hurt anything and on the plus side I won't have to mow it. The girls look great and I think the grass and the Omega Horseshine I started in their feed has made a huge difference. They are so shiny and soft. That Omega Horseshine is like gold to me now. I just wish it was a little less expensive.

I've been riding as much as I can which is turning into everyday. Some days I just ride Gypsy or Doodles other days I ride both. I've gotten back on Doodles and she's been a peach. She's been so good for me. Today Doodles even learned that she can canter with me on her back for more then 4 strides. We made it all the way around the arena and on the correct lead and everything. I'm so proud of my Doodles. She's turning out to be more fun to ride then Gypsy, who lately has not be that much fun to ride. Gypsy has been a pain in the ass. She bucks, she bolts, she stops dead, she won't go where I ask, she's stiff. She's getting better, but it's been a battle. She's just so lazy and stubborn sometimes. I hope that by the end of the summer she's headed in the right direction. I'm getting better at dealing with her temper tantrums and hanging on.

I'm happy to be riding as much as I have been though. I've even gotten back into reading some training books and I'm able to apply it to our daily rides. I feel more confident on my horses and I think that helps them too. I'm excited for the summer and once I get my truck and trailer fixed up (both need tires and the truck needs an alignment) I'll be heading to some clinics and maybe a fun show.

Ok, that's all for tonight, time for me to get to bed. Sorry for the short and lazy 100th post. I wanted to do something fun but I just haven't had them time.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

First fall of 2011


Friday Gypsy and I saddled up and went for the ride around the sand pit. It started off well but she was a little nervous. I decided it was best if I dismounted and lead her across the bridge that goes over the Little Ossippee river. I used to ride my other horses over it, but with Gypsy being so green I didn't want to take any chances. The guard rail isn't much of a guard rail. I had one driver be nice and wait but since I wasn't on the bridge yet, I waved him through. I had another driver who wasn't as nice. I was halfway across the bridge when he saw me and he still decided to drive up right behind Gypsy, almost on her hocks and follow us across the bridge. It's a horse, not another car, jerk. You can't tailgate a horse. Granted, I was in the middle of the bridge, but to me, that seems like the safest place to be with a green horse. This guy just couldn't wait the minute and a half it would take me to cross safely and had to push it. Thankfully Gypsy was fine with it, but it still made me mad. The trail head is right after the bridge so I re mounted there and went on our way down the trail. Gypsy was good about stepping over some branches and even broke into a little trot, which I stopped since I remembered her bucking spell last time she did that. After she calmed down a bit I ASKED for a trot and she trotted nicely up the trail. Everything was good until we hit the area before a little stream. Someone, the town or the sand pit's owners, I don't know who, decided they needed to put huge boulders in front of the stream to block the way to four wheelers, ATVs and such. I'm guessing they were doing too much damage to the fragile stream. Gypsy was horrified of those boulders. She's been down that trail before and since she didn't remember them from before she was freaking out about them. She refused to go forward. I pushed the issue and kept at her to move forward. I should have just gotten off and lead her by them at this point but I kept pushing and that's when she just flatly said "no, I'm scared" and spun and took off with me. She didn't go far before I turned her around but that made her have to see the boulders again so she started bucking. Since I was already unseated from her spinning, her bucking really dislodged me. I was able to hang on for a moment but she did another spin and off I came. I hit the dirt and refused to let go of her reins but I also didn't want to get stepped on so I kinda rolled away from her feet the best I could. I was always watching her feet keeping myself away. Thankfully I was wearing a helmet, not that I hit my head, but you never know what could happen with out one. She calmed right down once she realized she could step on me and then stood stock still. I got up, petted her and then dusted myself off. Before getting back on I took the time to lead her by the scary boulders and show her that yes, we can walk by them without getting eaten by them. I got back on and decided that the work they did to the stream would make it too hard to cross it. It was too much of a drop off, kind of like a v shape, and I didn't want to try and get dumped again so we headed back and around to another trail that takes you to the sand pit itself. We rode around the sand pit for awhile and then headed home. Crossing the bridge again went fine. I did ride her across and there was even a guy on a motorcycle who saw us and stopped and waited. He even cut his engine. After I crossed the bridge I waved him on and waved and smiled and said thank you as loud as I could. I like nice drivers who use their heads while driving around horses. I don't ride on the road much, but when I do it's to get to a trail, I'm on the road for maybe 500 feet, you would think that for that amount of space and time, people could be courteous, but not all are.

After my fall, as we were riding around the sand pit I was thinking about how maybe Gypsy might be too much horse for me and maybe I need a better trained mount. I was a better rider when I was younger and now I'm not the rider I once was. The more I thought on this the more the voices of past trainers popped into my head. My other horses weren't the best trained animals when I first got them but I worked hard and rode them to make them the trail horses they became. I got tossed and I got hurt but I kept going. Wet saddle blankets and time is all that can get a horse trained. It's not that I've become a worse rider, just a more careful one. That's fine, that's good, but I need to find a place in my mind between fearful and careful. I know my stuff and I know how to handle most situations with a horse. I need to trust myself and trust my horse. Though I didn't get hurt with this fall, it did make me think. I'll trust my instincts and get off if I think I should. Go slowly. Wear a helmet. Carry a cell phone. Tell people where I'm going. Gypsy is a good horse, she just needs more rides. I'm working on that. Maybe someday she'll be the trail horse that I want but for now she's a trail horse in training and I have to remember that. I can't push her when she's not ready for something but I have to help her learn to push through when she thinks she can't.


Tuesday, May 10, 2011

A nice ride on a sorta cowhorse

I didn't get to riding Doodles yesterday. I was dead tired and rather then exhaust myself more before going to work I opted into some lounge time. Today I rode Gypsy and we had a good ride. I originally wanted to try and use her to pull our lawn mower out of the mud in the back yard. Hey, a western saddle is used to pull cows out of the mud, why not lawn mowers? So I tacked her up in my old, well used but much loved western saddle, breast plate and western headstall with mecate reins. Gypsy looked liked she stepped off a cattle ranch. Me, not so much. I found a long rope I used to use for random things and brought Gypsy out to the stuck mower. I hooked up the rope to the mower and then climbed into the saddle and wrapped the rope around the saddle horn. Gypsy tried her best to back up while pulling the mower but had no luck in moving it. She was a good girl and tried hard for me, but that damn mower was just too stuck. She really wanted to be able to pull it out and was taking her new cow horse role seriously. "Look Mom, this is how the real cow horses do it! I know what I'm doing." After I got off and unhooked the mower Gypsy looked at me like, "I'm a good cow horse, right Mom?" Yes Gypsy, you are a good cow horse but I need to call the neighbor with the tractor to get this thing out of the mud, your marshmallow butt just doesn't have enough power.

Since we were already tacked up and ready to go someplace I figured why not go for a ride. So off we went. We rode to the field next to our house and around it to the graveyard. The gate has been open so I've been able to ride through the graveyard and to the trail that goes behind the church. That trail is all nice and soft with pine needles but does have a few roots showing and few rock spots. Gypsy kept stopping and looking and listening but would move forward again after a moment or two. she kept doing that through out our ride and it was almost like she was taking things in and thinking to herself that "Hey, I'm ok. This is ok. I'm ok. I like this!" After the trail behind the church we headed back but I wasn't ready to end the ride yet. She was being so good so why not go down the road a bit. So off we went. She stopped at her normal spots where she thinks the mailbox or real estate sign is going to eat her but moved forward quickly after she looked around a bit. I'm learning that if I just give her a moment to stop and look and see things she's much more happy to go forward on her own. She's a lookey loo kind of horse I guess. We rode down the road for a bit and then I convinced her that she can in fact step over some big rocks and go down the trail that leads to the camp by the river. Once on that trail I could feel that she was happy and proud of herself. She broke into a little trot, which I allowed but then that trot turned into a happy bucking fest. After she almost unseated me she realized her mistake and walked nicely the rest of the way. Yes, mare, don't kill the one who feeds you. That's bad. Anyways, we rode to the camp and back to the road and then headed home. She did so well today. I'm really happy with her. I gave her a forbidden treat of a peppermint and then turned her back out with Doodles and some hay. Doodles didn't even seem to care that she was gone so that's another bridge we are slowly crossing. I'm hoping to tackle the trail to the sand pit on Friday when I have the day off and can be out a bit longer. I must do it early in the day though, before the four wheelers and dirt bikes take it over.

I wish I could get pictures of our rides but the only camera I have right now is a nice expensive one and I don't want to risk riding with that. I need to get another cheap pocket camera. Maybe this weekend I'll try and pick one up. I also found that my feed store carries Omega Horseshine and I want to try the girls on that. I want to do a little more reseach before I buy it but so far I like the idea of it.

Sunday, May 8, 2011


It's been a long week for me. I've been working for what feels like non stop at the store and also getting some much needed work done around the house. My project this morning before I went to work was to fix the horse fence so Miss Gypsy the Marshmallow couldn't sneak out of the paddock and into the back yard to eat all the grass she wants. I re-enforced the wire fence that's ment to keep the dogs in the back yard and the horses from nibbling grass under the electric tape with some metal t-posts and re-ran the electric tape fence so it's not shorting out. I've misplaced my fence tester and am in dire need of a new one so I can test the amount of power the fence has without getting shocked myself. I hate getting shocked and would rather not do the "touch test". Though Mr. Moe did hit the bottom line today and yelped, so at least I know the fence is working there. I'm trying to slowly adjust the horses to grass because of Gypsy's high risk of laminitis. I just want to make sure she doesn't get too much but she hasn't made it easy with her escapes under the fence. I put let them into the lower pasture today for 20 minutes while I was cleaning their stalls and of course had to fight with them to get them back in the dirt paddock. The lower pasture is still a little too wet for them to be there and I'd like to see a little more grass growth before I unleash the hoofed grass killers onto it. I tried Gypsy's grazing muzzle on her today. As expected, she HATES it. She couldn't figure out how to get it off (it doesn't come off the halter easy) and then couldn't figure out how to eat all that yummy grass with it on. She kept coming over to me begging me to take it off. Tough you fat mare, you are forced to wear it. I think I need a bigger size though, it seems too small. Seeing as I got it at a yard sale last fall for $2.00 I'm not supper upset that it doesn't fit. It will do for now anyways.

I found the time last week to take a moment and ride Gypsy bareback around the farm. She threw a few bucks and hops in but once she realized I wasn't going to put up with it she settled down. She's the kind of horse that's used to trying to (lazily) scare her rider into getting off. I'm not falling for it. I could tell she felt good though and that makes me happy seeing where we were 2 years ago. It makes me happy to see her running and playing when not so long ago she couldn't even stand for long periods of time. I want to keep her on the upward swing and not go back to where we were because of some grass. I'm so worried about too much grass with her.

Doodles is a hot mess who needs to get back to work, only I'm dreading (and putting off) working her. I just need to swallow my fears, get on her and hopefully have an uneventful ride to boost my confidence. Maybe tomorrow before I go to work I will try. Worst case, she dumps me and then I can't go to work since she broke me. Then I will get a much needed day off to lounge and read every one's blogs I'm so behind on.

I picked up some guinea hens at the feed store. They are something I've wanted to try for a while now and when I saw they had them, I figured why not. Worst case, they get eaten by a fox since they are dumb.

They are cute and little right now. I hope they do well, I think they are pretty birds and they'll help keep the ticks and bugs down.

I still need to get my truck worked on, it needs an alignment and a new tire and I need to get new tires for my trailer. I also need to get current coggins tests done on the girls so I can go places with them. First step, getting the truck and trailer set. Then I will call my ever so awesome, yet expensive vet to pull blood for the coggins tests. Damn you money! I need more of you! It will all be worth it when I'm doing fun stuff this summer. I'll keep telling myself that.

Anyways, that's all for now. I'm excited to see I picked up a few more followers to this blog. Welcome! I'm coming up to 100 posts soon so that's exciting I guess. Maybe I'll do something special. Stay tuned! Now I'm off to catch up on every one's blogs and drink some Maine Made Mead. MMMmmmm, honey wine....

Monday, April 25, 2011

I hope everyone a a nice Easter!


We had a nice day here. Didn't do much despite the nice weather. Played with the dogs outside and got a little yard work done, but most of the day was spent eating and napping. Not a bad way to spend an Easter Sunday, I think.



"Ok, I'm a bunny, now get this off my head."

"Um, this isn't ok"

"Lookit me! Ima dust bunny!"

"Did I do good?"

Thursday, April 21, 2011

A windy ride.

Today I rode early before I turned the Girls out for the day. I rode Gypsy since she is the one who needs the time under saddle right now and also because it was so windy I didn't trust Doodles to keep it together. Gypsy did well despite the wind. I felt like I was riding in a hurricane! I rode up to the field near the house and once there, Gypsy decided the wind, the soggy grass and the neighbor walking his dog, was just to much to deal with and started some small rears and bucks. She must have looked like a lazy rodeo horse. That is what she felt like. I'm sure the neighbor was wondering what the heck we were doing. After I got her focused back on me she was fine for the rest of our short ride, though still a bit nervous because of the wind. The gates to the cemetery were open so I was able to ride through there and onto the trail behind. She likes the trail behind the cemetery and was happy to go all the way up to the old church and then back again. I wish that trail was longer but for our short training rides it is perfect. Doodles seemed much better after being left alone. I didn’t hear her calling as much, but then again, I couldn't’t hear much over all that wind. I really do hope that they will get better about being separated the more that they are. Last year they seemed to learn to be ok with it. Since they have been doing nothing but hanging out together all winter I guess that this new thing of being worked and alone is hard for them to deal with. We are moving along in baby steps but I’m happy with that for now. I am learning that slow and steady is better and patience is in fact a virtue. I do like riding before I turn them out for the day. I might try that again tomorrow. I find it’s easier to get all the dried mud off of them and get ready. Maybe tomorrow I’ll brave Doodles. I’m worried about getting back on her for some reason. She’s been acting very hot and hard to handle on the ground so the idea of getting on her scares me a little. I think I’ll start with some nice ground work. The arena is still too muddy to ride or work in yet so I’m limited on places to go right now and I’m still not so sure about taking Miss Doodles into the field next door yet. I like the security of the arena for riding Doodles.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Finally riding!!!

I have been riding Gypsy a bit these past few days. Once I scrape off some mud and hair we venture out to the driveway to work on our first lesson, standing while I mount. She's never been very good at this. She gets impatient and starts to walk off while I'm half in the saddle. After a few tries with circles and off and ons on my part she gets the idea and stands. Once I'm ready then I ask her to walk. We've ridden to the big field next door and around it at a walk. She likes to pretend that she's never walked on grass before and it's scary. I'm guessing it's more of the soggy ground under the grass that's freaking her out. Gypsy can be a pill sometimes and it's sometimes a challenge to get her to move forward. She is getting better and I am getting the idea of what I need to do to keep her moving. She has a few "temper tantrums" here and there but it never amounts to more then a really small hop and I can deal with that. She's not one to explode like Doodles. I've been able to ride her around the neighborhood at a slow walk. I'm going to keep it to a walk and maybe a small trot for now. I want to build both her and my confidence up and also build her up slowly to actually having to *gasp* work. So far I haven't noticed any lameness or pain markers in her. I'm hoping that this keeps up and we can keep working. Of course this now means I have two horses to ride and train this year. Last year I only had Doodles to ride since I was giving Gypsy the time off to recover from her abscesses and lamenititis. Now with Gypsy sound, that means I need to spread my time out between the both of them.

One big problem that I am having is that when I take Gypsy out Doodles is then all alone and starts calling for Gypsy and running around like a crazy horse. I'm worried she'll go through the fence. The first few times I took Gypsy out I locked Doodles in her stall but today I tossed some hay out for her and left her out. I'm hoping that Doodles will calm down and get used to Gypsy not being there all the time and of course, vice versa for when I ride Doodles. I'm thinking I should get a mini to keep the lonely horse company when I ride but that's just one mouth to feed and four more feet to trim. I'm hoping this problem will work itself out once they get used to being worked again. It is nice to finally be able to ride again. I'm hoping to go to some clinics this summer and maybe, just maybe a show.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Just because I have the day off


It's raining. A lot. Thunder storms with massive rainfall. My front yard looks like a lake. I was excited to go riding today but with all this rain and mud, I can't do anything. It's another day of watching tv and reading about riding.

This hole used to be a swimming pool. I guess it is again. I'd like to make a pond out of it this summer. At it's deepest point it's about 3 feet. There's a lot of water in that hole right now!!


This is part of my front lawn. It's under water. My walk to the barn is more of a swim right now. I'm thankful for the Bogs boots I got for Christmas last year! they keep my feet nice and dry while wading through all that water!


My boots are not this clean anymore. I recomend these boots to anyone who has to walk through a lot of water and muck! They don't get sucked off in thick mud, they are warm in the cold winter and keep my feet 100% dry! They are light and very comfy. They almost feel like slippers yet they keep my feet so nice and dry. I LOVE them! Mine have held up well so far and other then being dirty, they still look almost brand new. I wear these everyday and they have not cracked or come up with any holes. I don't know how I have lived without these for so long. I will always own a pair of them now! And no, I am not getting paid by Bogs to write this, I just love these boots that much!!!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Rain, it's better then snow.

I went to Tractor Supply yesterday, not because I needed anything but just because I hadn't been in a while. It's always a bad idea for me to go since I always end up with something that I really don't need. In this case it was 2 horse magazines. I did buy some fencing stuff, but that I can always use and always need. Impulse buys I guess. I don't fall for impulse buys most of the time but on a rainy yucky day, the magazines seemed a good choice. I enjoyed coming home and staying in bed reading them. I had woken up yesterday morning (my day off) excited to ride but within an hour of my getting up and my coffee time the snow flakes started to fall. Ok, no big deal, I can ride in a little snow. Then it started pouring. My hopes of riding were quickly dashed. Too much mud, too much wet, too much yuck. I ran my errands instead. The trip to TS was a planned unplanned stop.

On Sunday, after working a really long day I came home and the first thing I saw when I pulled in was the fence in ruins. I instantly thought, where are my horses? I jumped out of the truck and went over to the destroyed fence and saw no horses. Uh oh. I then looked in the barn and there they were, happily munching hay locked in their stalls. Turns out while I was at work they broke the fence and got out. My poor boyfriend and mother had to wrangle them back into the barn. Thankfully they were home and awake. I'm not really sure what caused the breakout but I have since fixed the fence and revamped the charger. Take that you silly horses!

Today is another rainy yucky day. I have to work later tonight. Until then I am going to sit and finish reading my magazines. No riding today. It's just too gross out. I wish I had an indoor.

Friday, April 1, 2011

April Fools!

The joke was on me today!





We are getting 6 to 8 inches of heavy wet snow today. Silly me, not thinking about the mud and wet under the snow plowed a bit too far onto the lawn and I got stuck. I had to call my friend again to have him pull me out. I hope this all melts soon. I'm soooo sick of snow!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Hoof problems?

I must have jinxed myself. Today Gypsy seems like she is ever so slightly favoring her right hind, the one with the bad abscess blowout. I'm going to take some precautionary measures and soak her feet in betadine and Epsom salts tonight. She's been doing so well all winter. I wonder if this has anything to do with the mud that we have now. I bet it does. Time for warfare! I want to be able to use that horse this year!

One last storm, hopefully.



It's snowing again. It was nice for a few days, like in the 70's nice, but the first full day of spring brings us hopefully the last snow of the season. We had a lot of melting and did lose a lot of snow because of it, I'm hoping this storm we're having now doesn't drop too much on us. I don't even have the plow on the truck.

My tack room needs a cleaning. It's gotten cluttered after a long winter. I can't find anything in there because it's all buried under something else. Cleaning my tack room and sorting tack is on my list of things to do.



Eeek! Scary!

Time to clean out the empty grain bags that I was going to make shopping bags out of (like I can sew, Ha!) and get rid of that damn carpet that for some reason made it in there.

Gypsy is covered in mud. She needs a good grooming, in fact, they both do.

On one of our nice days I did hop on Gypsy bareback and took and little ride around the property. She was good, but did throw a mini tantrum and gave me a few tiny bucks to sit to. She gave up after a bit and then happily carried me around for a little while.

Gypsy has a crack in her right front hoof that I need to keep an eye on. It seems fine now, but I want it to stay fine. Her abscess spot on her right hind is growing out. Other then those few little things, her feet look good. Doodles fronts look a little pancakey to me. The farrier is coming out in a week or two so it will be taken care of. I could call her and have her come sooner, but I don't see why. I think it's just a case of the remission that I just started giving Doodles (Gypsy has been on it since October) making her feet grow faster.


"Oh hai! What do you want?"
I'm a big meanie for keeping the girls out in the snow today. They came in wet and muddy. Poor Doodles looks like a rescue case in that picture. Time to subject both horses to a good grooming session. The winter woolies are starting to shed. Spring is on it's way but winter had to throw this one last punch in.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Snow and the light bulb moment.

Last Friday we got hit with a big storm. I woke up Friday morning and went out to feed the horses and the first flakes started falling. I didn't know how much snow we were going to get so I went back to bed since I had the day off. I woke up to way more snow then I expected! It looked like we got 8 to 10 inches after it was all said and done! Luckily I put the plow back on the truck before I went back to sleep but since I didn't plow any of the heavy wet snow mid storm, I had a lot to move when I did get out to plow. I got the truck stuck.....twice. The first time I had to call someone to pull me out. There was no way I was getting out on my own. I was trapped on ice and couldn't back up and I couldn't move forward since I had just plowed into a snowbank. I called my local "get me out of trouble" buddy and he hooked some chains up and yanked me out. Then, not even 2 minutes after he left, I got stuck again. I waited until morning and got myself out with lots of digging and cat litter. I was able to finish plowing and get some hay in.

Then after Friday's big storm we had snow and rain on both Sunday and Monday. Tuesday and today have been ok and kinda nice but I know we are going to get hit with some snow and cold later this afternoon. I took advantage of the nice weather today and went outside and played with the girls. I spent some time flagging them around the small paddock. Gypsy could care less about my bag on a stick flag but Doodles on the other hand was worried. She ran away and kept going and going until Gypsy got bored with the running thing and stood next to me while I was waving the flag around. Gypsy had thought that the running was fun but really didn't care about the flappy flag. Doodles then didn't have her buddy running next to her and wasn't sure what to do. Should she keep running? Should she come over and see why I was waving a flag? She decided that she was brave enough to see what I was up to and stood while I rubbed her with the freak flag. Doodles relaxed and realized I wasn't out there to scare them but to give scratches with my scratchy flag. It was kinda neat to see the change over and light bulb moment Doodles had. I'd like to get back into a little training everyday now that the weather is warming slightly. Even if it's something little, I think I just feel better for getting out there and doing something. I was nice being out with them today, My problems just seemed to melt away as I thought about ways to get that horse to relax. Horses are great depression medicine, when I take the time to use them! I guess it was a light bulb moment for both of us.

And now it's snowing, not even an hour ago it was nice and sunny and I was playing with the horses, and now it's snowing so hard you can't see across to the neighbor's house. I'm soooo glad I took advantage of the sun and got out there when I did!! I needed that!

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

peaking out.

Everything is ok here. The animals are fine and I'm ok but caught in a wave of winter depression due to some non animal factors. Things will be ok, I'll get it all figured out in time. I'll try and crawl out of my hole long enough to enjoy what few nice days we are having. Today is one of those nice days and I'm waiting for a friend of mine to get out of classes and come over so we can have some horsey time. I need horsey time. It's been hard to enjoy the horses when it's so cold out. My mornings consist of getting out of my nice warm bed, putting on socks before my feet hit the cold floors and finding whatever warm shirt I can find before I venture out into the main house. It's cold in there in the mornings. I turn up the heat, start the wood stove, get the coffee going and then grab even more warm gear to throw on so I can go out and feed the horses their breakfast. I slip on ice on my way to and from the barn. It's winters like this that make me envy the people who board. I chip ice from buckets, refill them and set them out again only to have to chip ice again in a few hours. Manure left in wheelbarrows freezes to it and must be kicked out later. Don't leave poop in the wheelbarrow when it's cold. I'm looking forward to spring, but with spring comes mud season so it's kinda hard to be optimistic about that coming. What's better? Ice and cold or mud and warm? This remains to be seen at this point.

I knew I'd get hit with some form of winter depression at some point. I always do. When all I want to do is sleep and not move, I know i'm in trouble. If it wasn't for the animals (and work of course) I might not leave my bed. It'll pass and I'll move on and be more myself soon, I'm sure. So for now I'll just peak out of my hole long enough to see what's going on and enjoy some nice days and I'll come back out when things look better.


So close, yet so cold and far away.


I miss this!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

FML



This is where I'll be if anyone needs me. Hiding from my own self pity and stupidness. I'm just gonna crawl in there and hide for a while. Please send coffee and food once in a while. I'll be fine and dandy in there.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentines Day




Lady and her favorite heart toy.



The Boi and I at an event I just spun the decks at. The Bloody Valentines Day Ball.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Look what I found!

I did a little searching and found both the girls sires!

Gypsy's Sire
Kingfishers Legacy





I LOVE him! I see a lot of him in Gypsy. I just wish she got some more of his color! I love those black socks!


Doodles' Sire
Mr. Tramp

Mr. Tramp




This guy looks like he's done some things. I see a little of him in Doodles, but not too much. She seems to match him a lot in personality though.

It's just so neat to find this! Thank you interwebs!

Friday, February 4, 2011

Buck Brannaman




*note* I do not own any of these pictures. I got them from the website below.*


This is something I'm looking forward to seeing. I love watching Buck Brannaman. I've gone to a few of his clinics and learned a lot about horses and myself. This man has a presence with horses, it's amazing to watch. I love how he says that he doesn't help people with horse problems, but helps horses with people problems. I highly recommend going to one of his clinics, reading his books or watching his videos. You can guarantee that when this comes out, I will be buying it and watching it over and over again.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Horses?


Halp! Too much snow!!




There are horses out there some where........