How Did You Find Your Horse?

And is your horse a good match for you? I'm no expert, nor would I ever claim to be. I can only speak from experience and sometimes experience speaks volumes........ I'm going to provide a list of things, I have learned when searching for a horse that suits your needs and that you can partner with. I invite everyone to add to it.

1) Know your limitations. In other words, know what you are capable of handling. I have learned what my limits are. I know that I lack the skills to handle a "hot" young inexperienced horse under my butt. I need a horse with miles and the fact that I do not ride in the winter nor am I a daily rider, I need a horse that is forgiving and can sit for a long period of time and then with just a little warm up, I can get on safely.

2) Unless, you are an expert & know what you are doing, meaning someone capable of training. If you are a casual rider or novice, Do not look for color first....... I thought Misty was the ugliest thing and it turns out that she is worth her weight in gold. All I see now is my beautiful redhead.

3) Take your time. Be patient. Don't jump at the first thing that comes along........Boy, have I learned that a couple of times.

4) Take a trainer or a more experienced horseman/woman that you trust with you when you look. Get their opinion.

5) Look at several and test ride. Show up earlier than expected to the appointment you've made to see the horse. Often people selling get the horse squeaky clean and super warmed up before you show up and therefore may give the impression that this horse is easier to handle than may actually be. Also, a horse with a health issue possibly may have been given meds to mask pain.

6) When you get to the time of possible purchase, I suggest a Vet check and keep your records, if you purchase said horse, those records may come in handy some day for your Vet to refer to. Someone who is honest will not mind a Vet check as it is pretty standard.

These are just some suggestions directed at people more like me. Not expert trainers, riders, etc. I got lucky with Misty and my friends Jess & Gerald found her for me. She has turned out to me my rock. Stephen & I found Kola on our own. I took my time with her when I found her and I have taken time with her here at home. She too is a good girl. The only reason, I worried about riding her is that my past "bad" experience got in the way, my own mind.........Nothing she has ever done and since I was able to get on her last summer without incident, my confidence has grown. That is on me. I now have horrible balance issues because of my MS. I am no longer young and fearless. I need a beginner type horse & a forgiving horse, of which I have. Add into the fact that I hadn't done anything with horses since I was a kid , really until 10yrs ago........ What I'm really getting at, is know what you need and accept that or challenge yourself a bit, but don't get in over your head or more than your experience allows. Now, purchasing a horse with training for you and your horse together with an expert is a different story. But even the most experienced horse people have horrible training experiences. It all is a learning curve. Over the past 10yrs I've grown tremendously as a smarter horse person, but have kept in mind, what I want to do, what I'm happy doing & what I am capable of handling. Lessons learned........many! Now I invite anybody to add their own tips or personal stories. No one needs to brag. I am humble enough to admit my limits.

Bone Of Contention..........

Thought this might be yet another post of contraversy????????? Nah, ....... Just a silly dog!

Yet Another Contraversy-Wild Mustangs American Heritage

Today, at least 3 million cattle graze on the same public lands where Mustangs make their living and less than 25,000 Mustangs IE: ONE wild animal for every 200 cattle. Who or what is driving the Mustang removal for the good of them or for the good of cattle ranchers who pay next to zero for grazing rights on public land? Mustang "collection" is tax subsidized. During the last eight years, about 75,000 wild horses have been taken from the land or three times the current population. 34 million acres of public land managed by the BLM supporting 25,000 or less wild horses or 1 wild horse for every 1,360 acres. In England, 140,000 acres of New Forest supports 3,000 New Forest Ponies or 1 pony for every 50 acres. Here are a couple of links you might be interested in reading. Wild Mustang Coalition and Wild Horse Investigation Team . Frankly, I found some of this quite alarming. Now, don't get me wrong.........I'm all for keeping it reasonable and I think that the Mustang Heritage Foundation does an awesome job with the Mustang Makeover Challenges that allow people to gentle and train a certain amount of these horses to be adopted out is a good thing, but what for the number of horses that aren't adopted or even picked up for the challenge, yet are rounded up and stuffed in holding pens. In 1998, The BLM published the following figure for wild horses sustainable on public land, 44,495 wild horses. What has changed since 1998? The number of cattle allowed to graze on public lands. Stephen found this blog out there and I found it interesting and moving.......Life At The Rough String Ranch. Have a read, they have posted a very moving video.

Celebrate Post #800 !

Yes, already...............Post #800 and here's to 800 more. This post will continue on a horse theme and as it was brought up to me last week with my recent {{{shock}}} over that certain person writing for Horse Illustrated to my dismay, that perhaps we should discuss exactly what constitutes a legitimate Horse Rescue..........I have a couple of examples of that from my area in Wisconsin. Beyond that my knowledge is limited. I can tell you that I would not donate anything money or otherwise to anything without receipt of money and binding contract with receipts of where my money was going to be used. Something in hand that I can use in a court or for tax purposes. I have always told Stephen and Zoe that if anything happened to me and the care of my TWO horses was in jeopardy and neither one of them felt up to the task, I would want them to go to here: Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation. I have researched this rescue many times and very carefully. They are represented at the Midwest Horse Fair every year in April. I have been to this fair and it is one of the biggest in the states. The Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation has a strict contract to potential adopters. The horses are evaluated and rehabbed before they are even adopted out and the adoption fees are extremely reasonable, some that are hard to place, the fee is even waved. They also do not go to auctions to seek horses as far as I know. The horses are given up to the Foundation and I know once contracted to adopters they require certain follow-ups with Vets and if for any reason the Adopter cannot follow through, the horse is returned to the Foundation. Follow the link and you'll see what I mean. Look for the rescue to be a registered 501c3 organization. That link actually is a government link and really explains what a "501c3" constitutes. Also, in my opinion, a horse rescue should not have any stallions. If so, that would raise "red flags" all over the place. If they are there to rescue, they should NOT be breeding anything! Use your common sense people............If checking into donating or giving up a horse to the rescue I would suggest the following guide lines:

1) Equine Vet visits with documentation of visits to said horse/horses and treatments followed.

2) Regular Farrier visits and record of that.

3) Breeding policies........!!!!!!!!!!

4) Contracts and read very carefully.

5) The facility has properly trained staff to care for these horses, IE: trainers, experienced horse people that know proper care.

6) Stalls and grounds, pasture and decent fencing, even down to what the barn smells like when you walk through the door. (You should NOT be bowled over by a strong ammonia smell. That indicates not cleaning stalls).

7) Equipment and food is stored properly and safely.

Now this last bit may piss some people off, BUT..............BUT if some ass decides to go to the auction and "save" a horse and not intend on keeping the horse themselves to care and rehab it, but to DUMP it on someone else and than beg for the money required for it's rescue......RUN! RUN fast and far away! And please DO NOT do this yourself unless you are prepared to care for that horse yourself or you are acting as a liaison for some one capable of taking this horse. The reality is that they cannot all be saved and yeah it sucks that there are kill buyers sittin' at auctions for a truck load of meat, but sometimes that is just the way it goes. And that's where they end up.

Hopefully, I'll Be Back To Some Sort Of....

Normalcy this up coming week...........First, as I a fore mentioned I had been sick last weekend and spent the entire weekend in bed.........Well, Stephen has now gone from fluish symptoms like I had to a full blown sinus infection which then brings on "face burning" migraines for him. Not pretty to witness.........Trust me. After spending Tuesday night without sleep for his painful moans and deciding to sleep on the couch last night (not comfortable) after spending the day waiting for our Doc to call in the necessary scripts for him..........I have had naps in between and am simply exhausted. We have scripts in hand and healing on the way! Not to mention numerous calls to TDS for downed Internet services nearly all day yesterday and a call to our attorney regarding the lack of service from Immigration, Once again. What I'm really trying to say is, my house is an absolute crap hole and I don't like it, however, I lack the energy it takes at this point to do anything about it. I will get to it next week.

Pitiful aren't they.........We had a snow storm blow through all of Tuesday into Wednesday morning, dumping approximately a foot. Really nothing for us. These Pictures are from during that storm. The icicles are now off my poor girls' bangs and whiskers. And, I'm pleased to announce that Jeremiah came today and I did finally get those pitiful hooves trimmed. Everybody looks and feels good for it. Glad I decided to forge forth and not cancel, because I simply didn't feel like it. Jeremiah trimmed Misty for a knee injury and said she looks great. She seemed to tolerate all very well, which delights me. My baby redhead................

The dogs did and still do enjoy the crazy amount of snow, even though they sink into it as attempting a "poop". I find it humorous, but am grateful that I do not have to do that outside in cold snow........BRRRRRRR!

So after this weekend's work and another 4 hour mandatory shift on Sunday........I'm hopeful, next week will be better. On another note, my sweet daughter just turned 21.........I won't say what that will soon make me............Gads! Needless to say, we are both very proud of her and when she comes home for Spring break, she will find a very neat present waiting for her.........

Well..........This Post May Bring..........

A little controversy this week................ I actually was sick with the flu this past weekend and did have to drag myself into work last night for 4 hours of a Mandatory OT shift. I have a friend there that has an on going subscription to Horse Illustrated. I actually had some time to rifle through and to my {{{{SHOCK}}}}, I came across and article of two pages addressing the issue of horse slaughter. I recognized the name, thought, I know who this person is. And than I saw the promo of her "notorious" website at the bottom. Of course the article was one sided as usual and she admits this within this article.........Although condemning, not really offering up any solutions.......The "same ole" argument ensues, which she also admits, admirable, I thought........But again the "same ole". I prefer not to follow this notorious blogger, mostly because of the "mob mentality" that sets in when the thread of comments begins to follow on whatever she chooses to pick on for that day. Admittedly some are truly reasonable and need to be pointed out, however...............I DO NOT FORGET..........what some , not all, but some and a fair amount of some did to someone that we blog with, who truly is a horse's hero, someone we can all respect and I believe that we do, someone who in my opinion has a heart of gold and goes WAY beyond her means to help out when it comes to the rescue of horses and dogs and "rattle snakes"...........I do not forget the behavior of those that nearly foiled a rescue they wanted and knocked our dear friend off the Internet and horse blogging world for nearly 6 months......... I have no respect for that notorious blogger.........she did not moderate during that time and reel in the followers and in my opinion allowed it to go forth without so much as an apology. As the owner of this blog, it is my responsibility to remind others that we are all entitled to an opinion and I always welcome an opinion, any opinion, but DO NOT condone attack on another and even with a controversy post, I feel we are all adult enough to behave in a correct manner. I will say this, when pushed and attacked myself, expect an attack back, which most of you have witnessed a time or two over the years........"cough!"........"Oops!" Usually I will take full responsibility and even though attacked personally, I will apologize whether or not they have done so themselves. In saying this...........I feel that those of you who I follow and follow me, have a deep respect for one another and I for one appreciate the friendships and connections I have been gifted through horse blogging. Thank-you for being great informative horse bloggers and great friends. I just had to get this little annoyance off my chest!

R.I.P. Our Old Friend...............

Today, both Stephen and I are both physically and emotionally exhausted. We had no other choice than to have our old Fido dog sent to Heaven. Fido, and yes that was his name, was 16 years old. I brought him home as a puppy when Zoe was just 5 years old. Zoe is about to turn 21. Fido adopted Stephen way back in 2000, when Steve first came over and Fido has been Stephen's puppy ever since, so as you can imagine, today was an extremely hard day. He clearly had become very uncomfortable and not able to settle himself in recent weeks. Appetite decreased, what once had been a 70+ pound dog, now only 56 pounds. And although he did his best to forge forth and hide his pain, he clearly got to "the suffering in silence" period and it was time for Stephen to make this decision. Fido passed away in Stephen's arms on his blanket at the Vet this morning, my hand on the dog's head, very peacefully. Sixteen virtually healthy years is a long time for a large dog. He is missed sincerely...........Rest in Peace, ole boy, barking master, and save us all a place up there. I know you will..................

A Fresh Layer Of Snow.............

Greets us this morning.........So now my ice is disguised under snow and I will now slip on the ice without warning. This is the first year anniversary of Stephen's broken ankle and my infamous fight with "Kaylee" on this blog, LOL! Anyone remember that? I sure do for some odd reason.

Misty's wild snow hair...........

Kola's large butt headed toward the hay........."Feed Me!"

The "you are late feeding us dance!" I was one hour later than usual, good grief!

My poor truck cover in snow once again............