A Book Review.........From Me?????

Recently, I had been contacted through my blog by a person named Jamie Klein, asking if I'd be interested in reviewing a book related to horses. Me, not being an avid reader, in fact absolutely hating reading books as I get bored with them very easily, hemmed and hawed over the idea and Stephen finally convinced to go for it. So I did.
Now I have bought the gamete of "horse" books over the years, training references, horse first aid, getting in touch with your horse, you name it, I have those books, not to mention volumes of horse magazines I'm always rifling through. So I actually have quite the collection of horse care books, some of which I started and couldn't get through, some of which I still refer to.

BUT, This book........This book is surely a one of a kind and I love it! Didn't think I would as it IS a book, but this is awesome! The book is called the "Horse Lover's Daily Companion: 365 Days of Tips for Living a Joyful Life with Your Horse" written by Audrey Pavia & photographed by Tom Sapp. The pictures of it I put up are how I received it with a real carrot & apple packaged in it, which was impressive. Anyhow, onto the book itself. The topics include an Illustrated guide to horse breeds, Equine activities from trail to cutting to gymkhana to dressage to everything, Horses through the ages, Behind the scenes access to real life in the stable, Health, wellness and nutrition and Bonding, relationship building and planning special occasions, even to a recipe for treats and a home remedy for constipation. The book is set up as a "day minder" with each of the year's 52 weeks having six entries, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays & Weekends. This is precisely why I like this book, it doesn't drone on paragraph after paragraph, chapter after chapter, it's precise, anecdotal, informative and entertaining, breaking these parts up into different days., including beautiful photography, famous horses and personal stories.
The set-up is such:
Mondays- "introduce the wide variety of horse breeds, from the Appaloosa to the Zorse"
Tuesdays- "detail equine activities, such as riding sidesaddle, herding cows, and driving"
Wednesdays- "are devoted to horses through the ages, from prehistory to modern equine heroes"
Thursdays- "offer behind-the-scenes access to real life in the stable"
Fridays- "are devoted to health, wellness, and nutrition"
Weekends- "are reserved for bonding and relationship building, and planning special occasions"


The book is a beautiful hard covered book with a built in satin ribbon for a bookmark. This is a Quarry Book, a member of Quayside Publishing Group, based in Beverly, MA.. It retails for $19.99 in the USA & £12.99 UK & $24.99 CAN. I highly recommend this book for the novice horse person to the most experienced horse person. You can't go wrong, not to mention what a great gift this book would make. I'm glad I have it!

Another Day Rolls By.................

Loved the unusual sunrise in the fog.............


Look at the state of these mud packed girls..........Gads! Better get to cleaning.


Boys practicing the fish catching net................... LOL!

Are Ya Ready?

Now is the time of year to get start to get ready for the winter months, Here's a list of things to do at this farm, anyway. Feel free to add anything I may have forgotten.

1) Last month, I actually did this, cleaned the horse blankets, which wasn't easy, however, I did it to the best of my ability and brought blankets upstairs and sprayed outside of blankets with Scotch Guard, figured it wouldn't hurt and may help to repel the wetness. Always worry about that since my blankets are a couple of years old.

2) Next on list is to super clean all troughs and check heaters, make sure they are working or perhaps go out and buy a new one.

3) Today, we'll be replacing outdoor light near where horses and goats are with motion detector light as our coyote population becomes way more apparent in the winter.

4) I have a tarp I use on north side of the fence between goats and horses because often they'll stand there. It makes a great wind break and I need to add another one to make it just that much longer of a wind break.

5) Stock up on feed and hay, which I have done already.........I'll need more as the months pass, but that's how it goes.

6) I've kept up with my shelter this year, but need to consider as it get colder, getting some straw to lay out in it for the colder months, also I lay out straw in front of the before mentioned tarp area they like to stand in.

7) Fall shots, which I need to schedule their appointment for or see if I can just pick them up at the Vet's office and give them myself.

8) And always the normal stuff that goes along with horse keeping year round, hoof trims, etc. . That really doesn't change does it.

9) Also, I keep my water troughs up on cement blocks to keep them off the ground and replace any winter items needing replacing.

It all has become so routine, not sure if I missed anything, but we have to hunker down here in the winter as you can see from the picture. Not to mention, winterizing our own home.

Gloomy Tuesday..........

Follow the leader out to the pasture...................


Can you guess what Kola was doing, LOL, when you gotto go , you gotto go!

Heading to the far end!

Scenes From This Morning..............

Spot, who very rarely looks at the camera.............


Mina sniffing the last of my flowers....................


Breakfast has been served...................

Early morning grooming session, though my dirty window..........

And we've switched sides......................

Goofball!

A Couple Of Video Clips Of The Girls Enjoying Freedom

Because I work the weekends, the girls don't get their pasture time as it just isn't possible while I sleep during the day, so I knew this morning they'd be "chomping at the bit" so to speak, to get out there. It always cracks me up, the difference in the way they move and they have to have a romp before settling down to start on the grass.

A Few More Pics Of The Fair

Stephen's T-shirt........... Look closely & read........


Norwegian Fjord, Steve's favorite.


This Grulla was gorgeous. Hard to tell, but had amazing zebra sripes on his legs, not to mention he was pretty fast in the arena.

For my speed demon friends...........

Loved this Perlino boy with blues eyes.

He was tired, said, "I'm done, can we go home yet?"

For my Appy lovin' friends..................

Practicing for an English class..........

And good old fashioned Demolition Derby.........It was hilarious!

High Alert To Noisy Children.........

Got some good pics of the girls yesterday when I let them out in the pasture. The neighbor's Grandchildren were making a ruckus yesterday morning. Thankfully, they've all gone back to their homes. Interesting tidbit, will have to talk with neighbor Art, as we found out from one child and his Dad, when they came to visit the animals while Steve was out working on the truck, that Grandpa Art has encouraged these boys to go in and "slap" the horses on the butt. Stephen set them straight yesterday, immediately. And told them NEVER , ever go in with those horses. these are small boys, mostly under school aged. Told them (and the Dad) the difference in weight and if they wanted to kick at them for doing that, that they wouldn't stand a chance and may very well be killed. Good grief! And quite frankly, I would be extremely pissed in the event that they frightened them and one of my horses got injured because of it. Thankfully, I have the Wisconsin statute in plain sight posted protecting me from lawsuit if anybody decided they wanted to mess with my horses, stating that this is an equine facility and anybody entering it assumes their own responsibility. Art's a grain farmer and a good neighbor, but has absolutely NO repore with animals and our animals know it too. Steve will gently know how to discuss this matter with Art without seeming an ass about it. I'll keep my mouth shut.

This Was Put Up On Facebook By One Of Our Blogger Friends

Linda from "The Mane Point". And I too have MS, and have briefly mentioned it in reference to my balance, thought this was really good. You'll have to pause my playlist, sorry...........




Not to mention the once a week IM injection of 24 hour flu-like symptoms I get.

A Little Bit Of.......................

Steve & I at the Walworth County Fair, just before the Craig Morgan concert.


All I have to say is Craig Morgan is awesome live!


Is it any wonder why Welsh men wear wellies? Ummm.........

The animal whisperer.........Look at the two dudes laughing at me getting sheep kisses!

He is a big draft stallion, pretty boy!

Thanks All...........

For the well wishes........I'm a lot less stressed now that the interview is over and it went, well, weird. Too long to explain, but the wheels of Immigration have begun turning again and all that work I did, they did not want. She said clearly we are married still and it's been long enough and she will work hard to get things together, so hopefully soon, Stephen will have his green card. Then a trip to DC to the British consulate to get him a new passport. As for work, Phooey, they can stick it in their ear! Now if I can just through these last three days of antibiotics without shitting my pants, we'll be good. And maybe I'll stop coughing. Good grief! The girls are enjoying their turn out and Kola has still kept the weight off and she seems to have gotten over her butt muscle problem without the muscle relaxants. Now I'm off to get some hay and feed.

Need To Vent.................

Recently, I suffered a slight setback in my MS, probably brought on by the flu, more than likely the H1N1 flu as it hard and almost 4 weeks later, I'm still recovering. This literally has knocked me off balance even more than usual and prompted a visit with my Neurologist and subsequently another MRI needed to be scheduled, part of way it is, I'm afraid. Under law, I'm allowed to take FMLA, of which I did. The day I called into work, I said I would be taking FMLA, I then called Employee Health and told them about it and received via email, the paperwork to be filled out. That very same week, I saw my Neurologist and by the following weekend, scheduled to work, I was back with paperwork in hand and also spoke to my Supervisor. I needed to take this FMLA without pay as I have vacation coming up and need my PPL for that. Of course, payroll missed the boat and I spoke with them this past Monday and it has been sorted, emailed my boss and there doesn't seem to be a big problem. Now this has required many a phone call, running from appointment to appointment all at a time when Steve and I are trying to prepare for a second interview with Immigration. At the cost of $3,000 so far for the attorney hired. And a cash out of pocket for another Immigration health check by the Immigration appointed Doctor at the last minute as his previous one from 7yrs ago that they refused to accept from us had expired.We feel relatively prepared and had to impose on 7 friends and family to write a notarized affidavits and get it to us within a week's time. Not to mention, copies of everything our 7yr marriage has entailed, more than one can imagine. So you can imagine the stress this household has been under the past two weeks. Today, I receive a "snotty gram" in the mail from Employee Health that I have "disrupted the organization" with my health issue. And that in the future, I should do this and do that, the "this and that" of which I did. I am pissed! I had a book of diseases in which to choose from, and I chose MS, because I thought that could get me off of work more often, what do you think? Good choice? I really enjoy being off balance, fatigued, over heated and oh how much fun it is to get a chemo shot every week into the muscle, which gives me flu like symptoms for 24 hours and a raging headache. YES, I chose MS as my disease, just to disrupt the organization I work for. Really, I did. Fuck !