MidWestHorse Blog

Getting Older Is a Pain in the Butt

2012-01-22T05:56:00.000-08:00

From Teens to 50 everything is relatively easy ranging including

1. Writing your name in the snow ( Guy Thing )
2. Picking up 1 or even 2 50 LB bags of Horse Feed or Wood Pellets and lugging them around and keen to move more
3. Reading small print for instructions etc.
4. Getting some new gadget gizmo and not only learning the basics but seeing what else it can do
5. Hearing everything the first time
6. Remembering the smallest details
7. Few bits of the body play up occasionally but in general does everything you ask of it
Everything is not only possible also a challenge to be enjoyed

50 to 60
The same things as before just takes a little more determination, concentration and time

60 +
The crap sets in
1. Name in the snow is just a dot ( Guy Thing )
2. Picking up 50 LB bag seems like it weighs a ton and god help if you want to move 50 of the buggers
3. Small print takes longer to read and sometimes still cant read it even with the glasses
4. New technology ( Just want to make it do what you want dont worry about all the fancy crap you didnt want it for anyway
5. I refuse to accept I am going deaf even though I miss more than I catch
6. Forgetting stuff and needing to write lists more and more
7. More and more bits of your body let you know through aches and pains just how frail it can become

Getting older seems like a crock of S??? in so many ways but and here is the But that balances it out

Slowing down and taking more time to realize the beauty of life , relationships, love and the earth we are privileged to share with others , watching as those younger with the same ideas and dreams you had when young and making the same mistakes you did when you were younger, and being able to stand back and not only admire them but realizing without making those mistakes yourself you would not be the person you are today.

Thanking your lucky stars that a greater being has allowed you to spend another year on this earth to watch as those children you bought into this earth grow in mind, spirit, health and wisdom and bring another generation into this world to live, love and enjoy everything our world has to offer us

Steve
PS Callie is lucky as she is still in that first lot and I thank god she still loves a crotchety old sod like me

Whats Changed Number 4 Pharmaceuticals

2011-11-22T07:46:00.000-08:00

I was originally going to make Number 4 "Healthcare" but quickly realized it would become to big and unwieldy to read or write about so decided to just pick on 1 healthcare specific for each post, this is the first.

As we become older we rely on more and more drugs to keep us healthy, some of the most common are those that regulate our blood pressure for example ( Atenolol ) and ( Lipitor ) to regulate our cholesterol, the list of others is endless so I will just say these are but the tip of the iceberg.

Whats Changed

1. Increased use of drugs to prevent heart attacks etc.
2. The American Health care system pays more for Pharmaceuticals than just about any other country in the world
3. Pharmaceutical Companies are granted 10 years plus to recover R and D costs, but somehow manage to gain multiple years extra in the US to milk it for all it's worth.

Below is an example of how the previous standards have fallen apart due to pressure / corruption / lobbying call it what you like

A great example is Lipitor ( Atorvastatin ) which is marketed by Pfizer an American Pharmaceutical corporation, as a standard Pharmaceutical Companies have up to 12 years of exclusive use to help pay back the huge costs involved in research and development before generics can be developed.

5 years ago Lipitor should have been allowed to be produced as a generic but for some unknown reason only in the United States Pfizer kept control and stopped Generic equivalents being produced, not only that they had the cheek and got away with increasing the cost by more than 30% in the US market during the last 5 years, ( What happened to the department put in place to protect the public from this type of thing ) .

In theory any society that was looking at saving healthcare costs Lipitor ( Atorvastatin ) should have been available in it's generic form on May 30th 2006 but it looks like deals within deals within deals means the public and the US heathcare industry will continue to pay close to the full price for another 6 months till the middle of next year $350 per month about $35 in copay

In the UK, Canada, Australia Lipitor costs have been less than $100 per month with even larger discounts to National Health Services

So the only country that is stitched with high prices is the same country that payed out the large tax incentives from the US tax payer they received while the drug was in development.

Lipitor is just one example where America pays more than any other country for the same drugs produced by the same companies because of

You tell me why that is ?

Whats Changed Number 3 Elections

2011-11-20T09:01:00.000-08:00

It would be easy when talking about the election process to consider we have not seen changes ,
the same basic premise still applies that has for years, potential candidates are required to stand in a fair and free election for the right to represent the people who elect them, this applies to all forms of Government.

Whats Changed

More than we realize

1. Most elections now require formal Proof of ID

2. Voting District Boundaries are changed and put in place by those currently in power hoping to give them an edge in the demographics for the next set of elections

3. The amount of money spent during elections has increased by higher and higher multiples each election cycle, these increases have happened in both direct by the party / Candidate and indirect via non disclosed groups of supporters

So how do these changes influence Election Results

1a. By requiring Formal Proof of ID it is likely to most effect the lowest earners in society who will be less likely to vote. ( Little real wide spread impact if the country wants major change )
My own view on this is formal proof of ID should have been written in from the very beginning to stop voter fraud so although this has had and will continue to have an effect, the gains I believe outweigh the losses.

2a The Voting District Boundaries have been used for many years, the difference now is that due to increased computing power for analysis it is much more likely to be effective in it's goals. ( Little real wide spread impact if the country wants major change )

3a "Money has equaled Power" and "Power has equaled Money" for as long as we have had politics, but Money used for mass advertising to the electorate can and does make a difference in results.

Just think of why companies advertise a brand of detergent because it works

With the large increases required to mount a political campaign it is now impossible to compete unless you have millions of dollars in both direct contributions or you know organisations will run adds that will help your campaign directly or indirectly, these type of $$$$$$ are impossible to get from the ordinary voter which leaves the potential candidate ( Whichever Party ) only one option to get it from Big Business , Now the reality is Big Business are not charities so if they are donating hundreds of thousands of $$$$$ either directly or indirectly it is not because they are super caring but because they hope to get something back in return.

You may wonder sometimes why the media has not picked up on this and exposed the issues , pretty easy answer ( Media relies on Advertising for profits so highly unlikely they will highlight the problems ).

So who is mostly affected by this major change ( The General Voting Public ) because it is more likely the representative you elect will support or not support bills, changes etc. that reflect his / her large donors than the voters he represents ( If he or she doesn't support those donors) they will not get the funds required next time round to seek election.

The other direct outcome of the current election funding and the increase in advertising is the growth of negative advertising of candidates rather than positive advertising.

So if those in power do or don't admit it, they are no longer "Of the people by the people for the people" but better described as "Of the people by the people for whoever paid the most money to secure their future"

The influx of money causes major wide spread impact if the country wanted major change, if you spend enough on negative campaigns about the opposition party pretty soon those who wanted change can be convinced the opposition is no better .

I would be interested to hear from those who agree or disagree with my views, I have tried to keep these non political i.e. party based because I do not think they are primarily party related.

Whats Changed Number 2 Student Protests

2011-11-18T03:56:00.000-08:00

I chose this subject next because we have seen what started as student protests and attracted the general population to support the protest have sometimes changed dictator based regimes .

Over the last 30 or so years we have seen how political protests often started by students for a cause that is just and correct has changed society

These range from the protests in South Africa against apartheid segregation that combined with political support from around the world with sanctions against South Africa to force change

To the latest where protests started in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya as part of the "Arab Spring" against dictator regimes drew support from the ordinary working man and woman plus political, media and popular support from around the world leading to the overthrow of the corrupt regimes.

Some are still going on in
Syria is one example and currently those in power have used force using the Police, Army and who ever else to squash the protests.

Israel is a second example where hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets to protest Social Inequality, this is still ongoing

Some have failed a number of times for example in Burma where each time the protests have been squashed

We send our kids off to University to broaden their horizons, provide them with the knowledge to make informed decisions and hopefully and most important the higher education needed to find decent payed careers which will allow them to pay back high levels of student loans required to finish their degrees.

Whats Changed

Occupy Wall Street / We are the 99% protests

For the first time since The Vietnam War students in the United States took to the streets in large numbers during the Occupy Wall Street and the We are the 99% protests, in general from everything I have seen and read they have protested peacefully.

Their gripes ranged from large Student loans with poor job prospects to Wall Street Bailouts to the current inequality in our society between the 1% and the other 99% . What is interesting is the number of ordinary working men and women that were beginning to show support for the protests. It is scary in many ways that as soon as larger numbers of the General Populace were seen to be showing support the protests have been squashed using the Police.

Unlike media support for the Arab Spring Uprisings our media has done everything to discredit them

I did not see the media change the name of the Libya Arab Spring Uprising to LAS for example but the media has changed the name of these protests to OWS ( Occupy Wall Street ) .

It is also interesting that there is little media coverage in the United States of the social justice protests in Israel which included hundreds of thousands of protesters but wide coverage of Arab Spring protests.

The "Israeli Social Justice Protests" are essentially the same as the "We are the 99% protests" and "The Arab Spring Protests" protesting about the inequality of wealth distribution between the haves and the have nots.

The big question on my mind is now that force and the law has been used to squash these protests in the United States is will they disappear as those in power are hoping or will they re-appear in a more violent form due to frustration. My personal hope is that frustration does not lead to a more violent style of demonstration as they will lose the increasing support of the general populace.

I feel for the students. it must be frustrating to do "the right thing" go off to college to enhance your career prospects and while studying build up student loans ranging from $10,000 to $75,000 only to find no decent paying jobs when you have finished and obtained your degree. College education fees ( and the loans required ) have increased exponentially over the last few years as state and Federal Funding has decreased in real terms. Colleges and Universities have also increased fees significantly more than inflation. Those that talk about kids working their way through college have little idea of the challenges facing these kids.

One further comment over the last 30 years the parents of these kids have less disposable income available so are less able to help.

A Question for the readers

Should the students be allowed to protest peacefully against what they feel are injustices in our society ?

Whats Changed Number 1 Tax Avoidance

2011-11-16T03:54:00.000-08:00

Sorry about change of direction of Midwest Horse but it is something I wanted to say

Tax Avoidance by Corporations and Large Companies

For as long as there have been taxes Corporations have employed accountants and lawyers to find Tax Loopholes, that is what big business has always done and will always do.

How it's worked up till the last 20 years or so in America and around the rest of the world

1. A way of paying less tax is found by corporations
2. Corporations use the tax loophole to pay less tax
3. The tax authorities spend the next two years working with the elected government to close the loophole
4. 2 years later a Bi-Partisan supported bill closes the loophole
5. It starts all over again

What's Changed

Over the last 20 to 30 years the number of lobbying firms and lobbyists representing big business has increased in Washington and State Capitals with the sole purpose of buying influence in the corridors of power and stopping bills passing that affect companies bottom lines ( I.E. Profit ) .

Just one of the consequences has been the slowing down of closing Tax Loopholes allowing more and wider ranging tax Avoidance.

Most of the gains over the last few years for large multi nationals tax avoidance is to use multiple offshore corps and shell companies to push profit around the world to the lowest tax countries and end up Earning Multiple Billions of Dollars in profits in some of the smallest countries in the world.

The Effect on the working man and woman.
When any section of society pays less tax ( In this case big business ) other sections of society need to pay more taxes in the form of sales taxes, property taxes, Income taxes, Gas Taxes, Beer Taxes etc. etc.

This is the first in a series of posts highlighting the changes as I see them let me know what you think

Steve

Sorry About The Missing Latest Posts Update

2011-10-31T15:20:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Long time since I last posted.
A few years ago , I think more than 3 in fact I added all the horse bloggers around I could find to Google Reader and set up a small utility using the Google Reader Share function that could be displayed on horse blogs showing the latest posts and I am afraid it is now no longer there.

I set it up like that because it was free of the normal advertising crap and allowed Visitors to view the latest posts from other horse bloggers and not have to belong to or be logged in to find other like minded horse bloggers latest posts. Plus after doing the work in the beginning it just sat there and worked fine.

Google ended the share function on Google Reader rather suddenly with little warning in favor of new things they are doing with Google + ,

So sorry to those of you who displayed it on your blogs or used it to find latest posts among the community

Steve

This Is Interesting & What Appears To Be A Worthy Cause.

2011-10-03T07:19:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was sent this message from a man called Adrian Leon. He asked me to please include this on my blog to help get the word around so that he can finish his documentary which is explained by him in the words below. I myself watched the preview to the video, which I found quite good. Please, friends, take a minute to watch the included link & learn a little bit about it.

Here is the link to the preview: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1381269252/horse-shoes-a-documentary-about-horses-and-the-kid

September 29

Adrian Leon

Hi There,

I found your blog on Google and wanted to reach out….

I'm quite the horse lover and have been self-producing a documentary about a place in Southern Nevada which uses rescued mustangs and retired show horses to rehabilitate kids who've suffered some from some sort of social or family trauma. It's about life lessons, horses and animal therapy.

Here's a link to the preview:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1381269252/horse-shoes-a-documentary-about-horses-and-the-kid

I'm writing in the hopes that you could mention this project in one of your blog posts or somewhere on your website. Up until now, I've been self-producing the film and have just started raising finishing funds through kickstarter.com. People can pledge as little as $1.

So far, I have backers from as far away as Europe and a very generous donor donated the camera to the production. I only have 29 days to raise the money the film needs and I'm doing the best I can to spread the word.

I'd really appreciate your help. But if you are unable to do so, I understand but I would appreciate any ideas you have about who could help spread the word on a large scale.

Either way, I know that everything will work out!!! If you want to talk to me, I've included my number below and I've also included my website so you can see what I am all about.

Best,
Adrian Leon

I Finally Got In A Ride.........Maybe Again Tomorrow

2011-08-30T14:40:00.001-07:00

Although, the rides were short and sweet, it was the first time since spring of 2009. Misty is no worse for the wear. I am so surprised at her recovery from her knee torque a few years ago. Wow, that little mare can still carry this fat ass. Kola , on the other hand needs to be worked more, not because she doesn't remember, but because she needs to strengthen up. So I'll have to start her on a little exercise program to build her up more. Plus I need to work on placing that Aussie saddle a little better, think I had too far up on her shoulders. Think maybe we'll have a go again tomorrow. They were both such good girls. I really needed this and so did they. And my own version of a bit-less bridle worked out very well for Misty!

A New Addition & A Growing Grandson!

2011-08-23T17:50:00.000-07:00

Meet our newest Grandchild.........Miss Poppy........Thomas and Sophie had a beautiful little girl just over a week ago.

She weighed in at a whopping 6 pounds 11 ounces..........Just the cutest little bug!

And our now big boy, Joseph is now just a few months over 2 years old already. Wow, They grow so fast! We are very proud of of all of our children and now expanding family even more family!

An Update.................

2011-08-04T05:14:00.000-07:00

Wow, Has it been a month already? Not a whole lot has been going on around here, other than battling the heat wave that has been sweeping the nation this summer. I actually didn't mow the lawn for nearly 3 weeks as it was dry and weedy. And the extreme heat and humidity has made it nearly impossible to do anything outdoors than what was actually necessary. The goat children are doing fine. The boys have shed out beautifully, however Miss Jenny is still a bit hairy. Not likely she let me catch her to comb her either. She is still in love with her Stephen.

We have had so many Humming Birds it's crazy. We sit out on the deck every evening and there are dozens buzzing around to the flowers and the feeders and then the sun finally falls and the skies give way to a plethora of Big Brown Bats, which like to dive bomb me. No Thank-you.

The girls are status quo. No more escapes since I finally fixed the fencing. And I'm happy to report that the solar powered fence charger is doing it's job. Not a tremendous shock like what you would get from the AC fence, but just enough to remind everyone not to breech it. And the two rounds of Pasture Pro Plus Stephen and I managed to get over the pasture this year has done amazing stuff. I have no clover, hence no "slobbers"and any other weeds for the most part are gone.

We finally got some relief from all the heat Tuesday evening as the cold front pushed through and sparked off some really nice storms and some much needed rain. I had finally mowed the lawn the day before, thankfully. And I have to report our veggies have gone mad. I actually made home-made zucchini bread the other day, ummm, note to self: pay attention to measuring the vanilla....oops....but we've gotten great potatoes, beans, peas, zucchini, lettuce and cabbage so far this year. We will be building more garden boxes next year and plan the planting a little more carefully as well.

Innocent? I Think Not!

2011-06-27T08:52:00.000-07:00

Innocent and sweet looking faces? Perhaps......... However, apparently these two decided to make a break for it. Naturally, I was at work.

Well, I came home from work Saturday morning to discover a patched together barricade in front of what's left of the small portion of electric fence in the paddock and arena. Recently, I've been working on fixing the pasture fence because I have caught Kola leaning over it and since she breached the portion of the AC electric fence that also manages the pasture, I haven't been able to electrify the fence, so consequently I have locked them out of the pasture for now less than a week to work on it. I have bought a solar electric fence charger. Have the two grounds in. And have been attempting to charge the thing. I should have it completed by tomorrow.

So, onto what had happened. These "innocent" looking girls broke out at about 8pm on Friday night. Of course our neighbor called Stephen to let him know. They were found feasting on our garden boxes and when Zoe and Stephen attempted to catch them, they gave chase. All over the back yard. Hoof prints! Various sliding stops on Misty's behalf and so many hoof prints I cannot count them all. They eventually got them in and Steve made the barricade. Saturday morning, Stephen and I managed to fix the small area of electric together and it's been on ever since.

Another Busy Week.................

2011-06-13T06:56:00.000-07:00

Jeremiah will here on Wednesday to trim these girls, a long time coming...........They definitely need it. And of course the weather is finally nice, not too hot, not cold and rainy, but now I'm sick with some sort of respiratory virus.........figures...........And it's time to order hay again.

Stephen and Zoe managed to revive our little backyard pond. I'm not too sure how I feel about the over abundance of gnomes..........

The box gardens are going mad! We've plucked spinach and lettuce already, even having so much spinach, that the goats have gotten a little treat every now and then. I even have a few asparagus sprouts starting. It will about two years to establish those crowns. I miss my asparagus. I used to have a huge bed in the back, but mowed down in frustration because it had gotten so overgrown with brambles and such, so it will nice to have it a bit contained.

Well, the big boat has been sold and Stephen got himself this little 19 footer to replace, only every day we've gone down to the slip, it's been unseasonably HOT! And now we need to take a closer look at the hydraulics. It is a cutie, though and perfect for us, rather than trying to manage the 28 footer.

On a funny note, a question, Has anyone out there seen the movie "Bridesmaids" yet. Zoe & I saw it last week. I must admit, I do not think I've ever laughed that hard and out loud in a theatre in my life. I highly recommend it. It was funny!

Pardon My Language, Friends.............

2011-05-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

But y'all know me by now and when someone p*sses me off, well, you know how it goes. So here it goes................TO the F*CKTARD named Michael Swaim who attempted to leave a vile inappropriate comment...........................The answer to your question is to check under your nose, d*ckface!

Sorry folks, needed to be said

Well, It's Been A Busy Few Weeks

2011-05-19T09:48:00.000-07:00

First, I have to say, although this was quite an investment, I think we'll save on hay over the summer in the long run. This stuff is great. Stephen invested in a handy little tow behind the tractor sprayer and we bought some of this stuff. A few weeks ago, Steve sprayed the pasture. Our biggest concern, other than Burdock and the multitude of other weeds, is the fact that more often than not, I end up locking the girls out of the pasture because of the "slobbers" they manage to get every year from the clover. This is supposed to kill clover. So far, so good, I see dead weeds all over and here's hoping it will do in the white clover. AND the good grass is growing well.

And as you can see, the girls are enjoying it immensely.....

We've had all the pups into the Vet for a relatively clean bill of health. Up to date on every one's vaccinations, toenails trimmed and started on their heartworm program. Koda Bear will go in on this Friday for his summer grooming. Although he has formed a new very loud "barking" habit. Good grief!

Zoe and Steve have had some successes and failures with the above ground gardens. We've lost some plants and had to replace some. Monday night, we found ourselves out there at 11pm covering everything to protect against frost. Things are looking better.

Kola's weight is much better under control and I don't have the worries I had last year over the massive amounts of hair she was shedding and Pre-Cushing's. I started her on her Palatech (levothyroxine) earlier and now am weaning her off slowly. She's looking good. And you can tell she is feeling so much better. Has quite a spring in her step these days.

And Misty is better muscled, moving even better this year than last. As many of you may remember her December 2009 knee injury. So hopefully, time & weather permitting, I may even get a little ride in next week. Hoping so, anyhow.

Chapter 1. Reflections From A Brit After 10 Years Living In The New World

2011-05-10T06:18:00.000-07:00

One of the most common questions I am asked after people hear my British accent is "was it a big change to move to the United States"

Well after 10 years and a couple of trips back to England, I thought now would be a good time to write down my perceptions and changes to my life. The first thing to remember and possibly the most important in how my life has changed is by all accounts I was a city boy in England and here we live amongst farmers, crops and wildlife, so these changes reflect city to country and England to the United States

Where do I start ?

I will start with one of the most controversial of subjects and perceptions by Brits of Americans ( Gun Ownership ), prior to living here I like many others thought all Americans were gun toting crazies because in general Brits do not have guns and often British Media will show the worst of gun ownership with murders and mass killing without showing the other side of Gun Ownership.

After 10 years my views have changed drastically because of a number of reasons .

1. Hunting is a way of life in the States that has no cultural or demographic boundries, it is cheap and wildlife is plentifull and varied, it allows hunters to spend time experiencing the vast countryside and to commune with nature as Americans have been doing since they first settled this vast country.

2. Even in our semi countryside lifestyle we see a wide range of wildlife including Possums, Skunks, Deer, Coyotes plus we have been visited by a big cat ( Never saw it but we did see it's tracks in the morning ) and a number of accounts of horses being taken down in the vicinity, in the last few years even bears have started to appear not that far away, so if Callie wanted to sit out there one night and bag herself a coyote to protect her girls ( Kola and Misty )I would quite understand.

3. Crime in the nearest city ( Milwaukee ) is based around guns and if we were to live there I believe we would carry a weapon for protection.

4. Gun Ownership and the American Constitution, difficult to describe but the best I can come up with as a Brit is how America is so different from England, Unlike Britain where the laws of the country are countrywide, Each State in the Union has it's own laws and to a certain point is self governing and because of that have the right to bear arms to protect their State from Big Government. Sorry not that well explained although I do understand the concept.

Do I personally want to hunt or carry a gun after 10 years NO, but I suspect that is as much do with my previous life, I supsect if I had been born in the States and my dad had taken me hunting as a teenager my views might be very different.

As you can see after ten years my views have changed on Gun Ownership, I do still have problems with the concept of assault type gun ownership where guns are capable of firing 30 or 40 times as I struggle with how they can be justified, but I think I understand why some Americans fight for the right to buy them as they are concerned that the Federal Government could chip away at the basic right to Carry Guns.

Thoughts and Reflections a Brit on the American Way of life.

Steve

Country Living and Birds In The Garden

2011-05-08T12:55:00.000-07:00

One of the wonderful joys of living in the country and working from home is the wide range of birds I can see from my office window.

I thought I would share just the first 10 today or the page will load to slowly, I may well do a further post later

American Goldfinch ( Always brings a smile to my face when I see them due the bright colors )

Baltimore Oriole ( Highly Unusual this year we have 2 pairs who come to the feeder )

American Robin ( To Many to count and to a Brit even after 10 years they blow me away because of the size compared with the little British Robin I was used to )

House Finch ( pretty little bird but like most in the bird world the female is quite plain )

Scarlet Tanager ( Not seen any yet this year but always a pleasure due to the bright colors )

Norther Cardinal ( My Pet name for this one is MR Special as he struts round like he all that and I suspect if I was a bright red color with a cool tuft of hair I might strut a bit )

Indigo Bunting ( We only ever see for a few days each year at the feeder but make a great site when we do )

House Sparrow ( It would be easy to dismiss this little bird because of the large numbers but when they are at the feeder with their young who are all fluffed up asking for food you can not help but love them )

Rose Breasted Grosbeak ( It has been couple of years since we have seen one but this year the male is spending a lot of time at the feeders )

Brown Headed Cowbird ( I thought this was a pretty cool bird when I first saw one because only when you look closely do you realize how clever the coloring is )

As a Brit who was always lived in a City or Burbs the range and color of the birds we see makes me happy as a pig in ????

I will try to post another 10 at a later post

Steve

Back From England Again!

2011-04-27T11:38:00.000-07:00

Stephen and I went back to England for a visit for two weeks and we just arrived back home this past Monday. I have tons of pictures again, however, since this is a horse blog, I thought I'd start it off with some new friends I made while I was there.

It was getting toward the end of our visit and we hadn't gotten to the New Forrest again this time and I hadn't gotten my fix of horsey lovin' yet, so Stephen indulged me on our way back from the Marwell Zoo and we took a few country roads near Wickham and here are a few of my new friends.

I made poor Stephen pull over on this narrow road, relatively busy with traffic so that I could jump out and take some photos. What surprised me is that they came trotting up to me as I jumped out of the car. And so the photo shoot began.

All beautiful horses and of course one of my dream horses..........A Gypsy

Found this Humorous & Mostly True.........

2011-04-07T15:30:00.000-07:00

What they say v.s. What they mean
Started -- Rode Once
Green Broke -- Rode Twice
Ready to Show -- Green Broke
10+ Loper -- Can't Jog
10+ Jogger -- Can't Lope
Good Mover -- Stumbbles Occasionally
Barrel Racing Prospect -- Just Off the Track
Hunt Seat Prospect -- Should Be On the Track
Western Pleasure Prospect -- Too Slow for Barrel Racing
Cutting Horse Prospect -- Turns & Runs when frightened
Reining Horse Prospect -- Spins & Runs when frightened
15.2 hh -- 14.2 hh
16.3 hh -- 15.3 hh
Attractive --- Bay
Flashy -- Piebald
Good for Beginning Rider -- Lame in both front legs
Anyone Can Ride -- Lame in all four legs
Bombproof -- Lame in all four legs, Deaf, & Blind
Needs Intermediate Rider -- Runaway
Needs Experienced Rider -- Potentially Lethal
To Loving Home Only -- Expensive
To Show Home Only -- Very Expensive
Can be registered -- I think I know which stud got to the mare
Pony Type -- Small and Hairy
Warm Blood Type -- Big and Hairy
Draft Type -- Extremely Big and Hairy
TB Type -- Big Motor
Endurance Type -- Extremely Big Motor
Must Sell -- Insurance company threatened to drop me
Sacrifice Sell -- Family won't come back till he's gone
Clips, Hauls, & Loads -- Clippity clippity is the sound his hooves make as he hauls butt across the parking lot when you try to load him
Should mature 15.2hh -- Currently 14 hands, dam is 14.2, sire is 14.3, every horse in pedigree back 18 generations is under 14 hands, but this horse will defy his DNA and grow

Just one I have to add: Easy Keeper---Prone to founder

This was sent to me in an e-mail, Thought it was hilarious!

Sometimes Ya Just Have To Laugh.........

2011-04-06T14:08:00.000-07:00

Can you read my horses? Misty calmly waiting for dinner............Kola mounting frustration.............. Misty now irritated with Kola..........thinks if you just stand quietly, it will come......because it always does. Not fast enough, says Kola............ I'll chase you down lady! And get that darned dog out of here!

Oh, what great entertainment............The horse does not lack for food.........Neither of them do, but it was 4:00 PM and that means dinner, not a photo shoot!

A Quest For More Self Sufficiency

2011-04-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

Over the years We do the same thing each year
Go to Garden Center at spring time and buy plants to put in our pots and some hanging baskets, Plus few tomato plants and that has been it ( plus Callies Roses etc. )

Loved the idea of a salad garden and a vegetable garden because I love fresh vegetables straight from the garden but hated the thought of weeding, weeding and more weeding because the chances I would not know the difference between a vegetable plant and a weed.

Plus has anyone else noticed when you bring veg home from the shops they seem to last a much shorter time than they used to.

This year during the winter I looked into something called above ground gardening and eventually settled on a highly recommended book called "Square Foot Gardening" By Mel Bartholomew, The joy of this for me are multiple fold, so I bought the book costs from $11.00 on Amazon BTW

1. NO WEEDS
2. Grow much more in smaller space
3. Easier to tend to and easier to water
4. Simple and quick ( How I want to Garden )

To go alongside my new found enthusiasm for gardening, I thought I would try and grow my veggys and flowers from seed.

Now luckily for me the Zoe Mo is home ( the perfectionist and does everything by the book ) so off we go to buy our seeds and something to grow them in.

Now I had tried few times before to grow from seed and was highly unsuccessful so thought I would try something different and bought 2 Burpee Seed Starting Growing Systems ( Veggy One for 72 seeds, Flower one for 36 seeds )basically a seed tray with fancy growing compost, cover and tray underneath with water and fancy cloth that delivers the water to the seeds. So now we are 6 days in and seeds sprouting up as per the packet info ( Highly unusual for me so could well be Zoe's Green Fingers I suspect because when she put 2 seeds in a container 2 plants have come up ).

Next weeks project is to buy some wood to make our above ground garden, some weed stopper mat, Vermiculite, Peat and Compost and mix it all up before filling up our wooden containers.

So I will try and keep you posted through out the year and let you know whether the book theory and actual results sort of tally

Steve

PS Callie is highly skeptical of this venture because of the number of times I have failed miserably over the years.

When Is A Truck, Not Actually A Truck

2011-03-21T09:28:00.001-07:00

No offence to anyone who owns one of these, but Stephen and I had one hell of a giggle this morning as we stopped at Tractor Supply Company so that I could pic up the horses' wormer. Mind you we already had 100 pounds of grain in the Jag........Anyhow, we watched as the couple before us attempted to..........................

put one of these in that white (truck?) . Between the two of them, they had many attempts at it. It would not fit in the back or bed or whatever one would call it. It would not fit in the back seat or in between them. In the end, after watching them struggle with it for about 10 minutes, we watched them drive off with it hanging out of the window.........OMG! We laughed so hard!

Now, I'm not saying, this old truck of ours is any great thing. We use it for hay, building materials, feed, whatever a truck is used for. When I had my 16 foot trailer, I hauled horses in all the time.......It's just an old 1999 Dodge 1500 with a big suspension. We use so little, it's the oldest vehicle here and has the least amount of miles on it. That white Chevy thing we laughed so hard at was brand spankin' new.........It just cracked us up..........must have been the irony of it all!

Compare Your Inflation

2011-03-20T14:26:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share a table I have created on The People History, Part of running The People History is keeping prices for everything from food to Gas Prices over the last 90 years and I created the table included to monitor how inflation has changed over the last few years. Click The Image for easier to read full size image.

While I was at it I created a comparison basket of goods from 2008 to this month , I was surprised at the basket shown below

We update the figures every 3 months monitor our Inflation Price Basket over the next 12 months to get an idea of real inflation

Steve

Happy St. Patrick's Day & A Little More.............

2011-03-17T07:33:00.000-07:00

I stole this pic, but Happy St. Patrick's Day to all.............I personally do not go out and drink and celebrate..........Haven't done so in decades, but for those of you that do, please be safe and enjoy!

The girl's U-Guard I ordered has come and not a moment too soon. They always get tummy aches and are particularly "pissy" with each other during their spring heats and as usual right on cue. I find that U-Guard once started and into a week of it seems to help with gut aches and crabbiness.........Use it every spring and fall. Also Kola's Palatech (levothyroxine) helps to keep her Equine Metabolic Syndrome in check in the spring, so I will start her on that soon, keep it up for two months and then wean her off until we have to start again next year. Both of them came out of winter looking fairly good. Misty's body score a (5) and Kola a (6 to 6.5). Not too bad considering two years ago Kola came out a (9) and last year Misty was a bit under muscled because of months of stall rest.

Also, last week we went to Chicago for a Garden Show at Navy Pier, which was not quite what I expected. It was a nice day out, but the show itself a little disappointing, however, I was able to nab a marvelous Chicago style hot dog for lunch. Oh those so important things.........

Also I celebrated my (not tellin') Birthday on Monday. I received some ITunes cards which I promptly spent and some marvelous Birthday wishes, beautiful cards from my family, gorgeous flowers and lunch at Red Lobster. It was a stellar day! We have a few short weeks before we head back to England and I'm reeling! We still have to spread fertilizer and weed killer on the pasture which in spite of recent warmer weather, still has snow on it and I still need to give this house a major clean. The girls are dying to get out there and run. I can tell when they stand at the gate daily and pine. Some things will just have to wait until we are back like re-painting the extension.

I find myself depressed at my paycheck these days..............I don't know how any of the "Health Care Plans" (FED) have impacted you all, but I have to say, I'm damned pissed. Generally, since I work a weekend program, meaning I work every Friday and Saturday 12 hour nights, (I chose that) I get a bonus from my job in January and in July. Remembering I'm only allowed 6 weekends off a year including sick time. I usually claim 9 dependents between Jan. and July so that it brings home a little extra cash, which help to pay for hay, feed and whatever. I suddenly noticed that this year, claiming 9 pulled NO fed tax out as it used to do some, AND I am bringing home $250 less per paycheck, every two weeks than I did last year and I received the top raise of 2.5%. Needless to say I am pissed. It's fine to cover family and extend coverage to my now graduated daughter, however, since the Health Care Insurance Companies were NOT addressed through this Health Care Bill now passed and working, I have found that United Health Care has tremendously jacked up the prices and I am pretty much paying for it 100% . I cannot even express how pissed I am...........So a 20 year career has left me earning or bringing home $500 to $600 dollars less a month. I actually take home less than I did last year for sure and than I did prior years. Not to mention all the recent political crap that has been taking place in Wisconsin recently.............Looking at my paycheck makes me want to puke and makes me wonder, "Why frickin' bother?" I'm just sayin'!

Happy Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras & Finally A Hint Of Spring!

2011-03-08T09:54:00.000-08:00

Will some one please explain to me, how Miss Kola can freak over a white plastic horse eating bag and yet graciously dress for the Mardi Gras occasion and pose............Mind you, the mask kept falling in her face. She was quite enamored with the purple boa............Hilarious!

Misty was not quite as pleased, but played along anyhow.........I never did get her hat donned. Both girls' blankets came off today and I'm quite pleased to see their body scores.........Not so bad. Jeremiah will be here later today to trim (long in need of trimming) hooves..........

Mina even posed for the occasion.............Of course, other than this, clearly I had nothing I felt like doing today.............

Status Quo...........As Usual

2011-02-24T07:47:00.000-08:00

We leave in mid April back to England and there is so much to do before we go. Besides the spring chores of removing posts and such.........There is the spreading of fertilizer and weed killer in March, so hoping all this snow melts soon..............I will not put up with another year of "slobbers" secondary to clover and humidity. Not sure if I'll have everyone vaccinated before we go or if I'll wait until we're back. Besides the mounds of outdoor chores, Stephen has decided to patch and re-paint the extension...........we're talking a 30 foot X 40 foot room with sky lights and and a peaked ceiling to at least 25 ft. . So that will require the movement of furniture, covers over it and two sets of stackable scaffolding with a ladder........gads.........And rather than start it next week, we are making a trek to Navy Pier in Chicago to go to a Garden Show. I am overwhelmed once again..........And a resounding "thanks!" to perimenopause and the slightly higher blood pressure it has caused me , I have added yet another med to my arsenal of daily meds...........yay! And it makes me sleepy by mid-day. On a good note, we have bought a tread mill, Gold's Gym............I'm starting slow 10 minutes at first, but at a 2.5 mph with a slight incline.......will increase each day................Also the new med seems to be helping with the BP issue so far...........And I have to get stabbed by the vampires once again on Tuesday..........The horses are doing well............I've cut back their hay a little as it warms up. Still have their blankets on. I will consider taking the blankets off as soon as it is consistently warmer. If you haven't heard, Wisconsin is in an uproar.............honestly, I don't care either way. I personally have no bargaining at work and my wages in spite of a raise are going down as they find more ways of taking it from me, now with a spousal surcharge on top of family coverage for insurance, I think I now pay $600 a month for health insurance..............Oh well................Goats are fine, Jenny goat fits right in, however, I have never before seen such a happy goat. She actually smiles and when we give her a special treat, her whole bottom wags along with her tail, really quite a character. Thinking we'll have Zoe here to take of the critters while we are on our trip. She finally has her driver's licence, which is good and she's made a few serious treks in the few short weeks. Next things to do, hair to get done before the end of March and "OMG!", I have discovered LUSH products for myself................heaven.............Anyway, hope all is good with everyone out there............

Murphy's Horse Laws

2011-02-05T14:21:00.000-08:00

Murphy's horse laws- Jeremiah sent me this, thought it was funny!

*If you do a thorough check of your trailer before hauling, your truck will break down

*There is no such thing as a sterile barn cat No one ever notices how you ride until you fall off

*The least useful horse in your barn will eat the most, require shoes every four weeks and need the vet at least once a month

*A horse's misbehavior will be in direct proportion to the number of people who are watching

*If you're wondering if you left the water on in the barn, you did

*If you're wondering if you latched the pasture gate, you didn't

*Hoof picks migrate

*Tack you hate never wears out

*Blankets you hate cannot be destroyed

*Horses you hate cannot be sold and will outlive you

*Clipper blades will become dull only when the horse is half finished

*Clipper motors will quit only when you have the horse's head left to trim

*If you approach within 50 feet of the barn in your "street clothes", you will get dirty

*You can't push a horse on a lunge line

*If a horse is advertised "under $5,000" you can bet he isn't $2,500

*The number of horses you own increases according to the number of stalls in your barn

* An uncomplicated horse can be ruined with enough schooling

*You can't run a barn without baling twine

*Wind velocity increases in direct proportion to how well your hat fits

*There is no such thing as the "right feed"

*If you fall off, you will land on the site of your most recent injury

* If you're winning, quit.

WTF? Welcome To Wisconsin!

2011-02-02T15:11:00.000-08:00

Our attempt at a goat rescue this morning. It was successful and Jenny goat is safe after we had to did her out. She was buried in her small goat house. And we had to dig out the water which was still warm water under a pile of snow...go figure...................

The 3 foot drift in front of the door on the deck.........yay, had to shovel that out as well!

The horses made a path and this evening look better. All eyelash icicles have now melted!

Before the goat rescue and dig out........Where the hell are they?

The drifts in the back yard, near one of the sheds ! Gads! At least it is no longer windy! And the blizzard has stopped!

Well, Here Comes The Real Winter Blast!

2011-02-01T05:42:00.001-08:00

Well, it started with round 1 last night and I woke to 5 inches of snow to shovel down the stairs. A Border Collie chasing the snow I was attempting to shovel and turning the corner to see these normal "feed me" antics!

After they ate their pelleted grain and I threw the hay in front of their barn so that they may have a little protection, it was total chaos as the horse eating wind noises caused the dopes to flee several times in between bites.................

They made several attempts and this is what the dipsticks did. One grab at hay and a spooky bolt in different directions.

Both of them.........dorks!

An eventual run around the arena and paddock..............I finally decided that perhaps this was not going to work, so I moved the hay out in the middle, wind and all to save them from themselves................ugh!

Winter............Ugh!

2011-01-24T16:36:00.000-08:00

Well, Winter continues and I find it annoying lately! It's been sub-zero off and on for a couple of weeks...........Horses are coping well enough and just got my hay delivered to find the delivery cost has gone up 50%, oh well.........I'll be starting the girls on their 2011 Equine Wellness Program soon. Jenny, the new goat has mixed in well with the boy goats......Everyone seems to be getting along. Nothing really new so far. Steve and I are planning another trip to England in April for about 12 days this time. We have our tickets and we'll be getting our hotel and car rental next week, hope there's something left as we'll be there just prior to the Royal Wedding. Too bad we won't be there for that, but we will be there for Easter, that should be fun. This time Steve thinks we may try and get to the Isle of Wight........One place I haven't been. It will fun to see Joseph again, he will have just turned two years old when we get there. And our son, Thomas and his girlfriend of many years are expecting, due sometime in the summer, which will bring us back there again in September. I feel uber overwhelmed with this now, taxes will have to be done, packing, hotel, car, don't know if Zoe will be here to care for animals. Not sure what her next steps will be. She's waiting to hear back from Americorps, Teach for America and Grad School application at Madison. We'll have to fertilize and de-weed the pasture in March before we leave, and once the ground starts melting I have about 7 fence posts to dig out and I need to find a solar powered electric charge for the pasture fence, since Kola has snapped the 4 X 4 fence post that held the gate between the arena and paddock , hence the removal of many posts and the need for new electric charge......ugh! I cannot wait for this cold winter to go away!

Horse Saddles For Sale From 1922

2011-01-05T16:01:00.000-08:00

As many of you know I love old history stuff , and over the last year I began buying old Sears Catalogs.

Back in the 20's you could buy just about anything for your farm through Sears including horse buggies, harnesses, fencing, even chicks.

So as I was looking through a 1922 Catalog I came across this page of saddles you could buy and thought the bloggers who visit would appreciate not only the prices but also that everything seemed to be included in the price. Just click the image for full size to make it readable

Also check out this page from the depression years which allowed a farmer to turn a Model T into a farm tractor, Turn Your Model T into a farm tractor using the Thrifty Farmer Attachment

Hope Everyone Is Having A Great Holiday!

2010-12-28T11:40:00.000-08:00

Just sent Zoe and her BF, Brandon off to England for a week or so.............They arrived extremely tired, but safe and surely will have a good time. Our Holiday has been a good one thus far and we just booked our tickets for another England trip in April.........

The horse girls are weathering the weather, so to speak, drinking plenty of water and enjoying loads of hay.......Time to get them trimmed again soon. And I've decided to pull the posts this spring that divide the arena from the paddock since Kola's large bottom has snapped the wooden post which held the gate to separate the two, oh well.........So I opened the other end and neither one of them has discovered the circle they can make yet, force of habit, I suppose. I'll have lots to do this spring, that's for sure...........

Note: At the top is our new Jenny goat, Jess needed to find her a home as she was her last remaining goat and was quite lonely, so we added her to our boyz. All seem to be getting along fine. So, Jenny is our rose among thorns, LOL.....

Congrats, Zoe......Magna Cum Laude

2010-12-24T13:36:00.000-08:00

Zoe graduated last Saturday, Magna Cum Laude with a major in Political Science and a minor in Sociology. We are so very proud! Zoe and her boyfriend, Brandon of several years both graduated Mizzou last weekend! We are very proud of them both. It was exciting. Of course now comes "what next?" . She has applications out for Teach for America, Americorps and grad school at UW Madison.........We'll see what comes of it all. She and Brandon will be off to visit her brother and sister in England in just a few days as their graduation gift from us.

In other breaking news, we have taken on Jess's Jenny goat & dropped in with the boy goats. Herman has taken poor little Jenny as his own, Good Grief! They seem to be getting on for the most part, except that I came home from work this morning to find blood all over in the goat pen. I couldn't find the source. My guess is that Pumba has crusty little horns that originally were not burnt off entirely and often when he gets to head butting which I witnessed him doing even this morning, he'll loosen the half arsed horn and bleed. We'll keep an eye on it. Everyone is eating and they all are getting shelter...........So that is the latest breaking news in this place! Hope everyone has wonderful Holiday!

Just A Reminder To Winter Critter Keeping........

2010-12-09T08:49:00.000-08:00

Our dogs go outside to do their business several times a day, We keep it in rather short bursts when the temps outside warrant it. Recently we've had single digit numbers Fahrenheit, so that's cold on their tootsies and there have been more than one occasion when we've had to carry them up the stairs because they've turned themselves over like bugs at the bottom of the stairs because they just couldn't take it anymore as much as they love frolicking in the snow.

Goats have got shelter and bedding within that shelter for winter and they do have their daily grain to start their chilly mornings and of course hay.

The horses have their shelter and winter turn-out blankets on them. I've found a Weaver brand that does it quite well. They are a mid-weight, water proof, fleece lined at the withers blanket with leg straps to hold them in place and the usual criss-cross under belly straps as well. Also a tail flap. They work well in this weather for the girls. And they cannot get them off. And let me tell you they try to remove them from each other.

The shelter is simply a lean-to. These girls will not be stalled, however, I have it set up for stalling if it becomes necessary as it did last year. No more pasture time for these girls as I do not want to risk another injury like last year. They have plenty of room to move around between the paddock and arena as it gradually becomes one area rather than two separate areas as Kola's large bottom has eliminated the gate and post. I'll be pulling more posts this spring. I do still need to spread straw for bedding in their "lay" areas. I'm a bit behind on that right now. But, the straw will go this week. There are about three different areas they lay in and I will make st aw beds for them there.

Plenty of fresh water. I keep a 100 gallon trough with a heater topped off and cleaned weekly for the horses and a 30 gallon heated bucket filled for the goats. I use the outdoor spigot and keep the hose indoors until use. Once I use it, I detach the hose from the spigot which keeps everything from freezing and allows the water to drop back down to the well. I learned that lesson along time ago. Of course the girls generally keep the same feeding regime, however, in the cold, I do up the hay a bit. Anything I forgot? Please feel free to add your winter horse, goat, critter keeping ideas and plans as I'm sure we all have things that we do that works and any ideas I haven't heard , I'd like to.................

Well, This Has Been One Crappy Weekend ..........

2010-12-06T09:33:00.001-08:00

She came to us in early October of 2006. A little blind thing crawling between Stephen legs at our local hay farmer's barn, "Mew, mew, mew" . They seemed to get louder. I scooped her up and said, "Stephen, we can't leave her here." Bill, the farmer said, "Ya know, if you don't take her, she'll be dead by morning, her mother rejected her." Our heart strings tugged and I slipped her into my coat as we finished up and drove home. I spent the first 3 hours with her bundled in my arms trying to clear her crusted shut eyes with warm water compresses and then when I had finished discovered what I considered a bonus and shouted to Stephen, " Steve, come look, we have a bonus! She has extra toes and lots of them!" He had never seen that before. The next several week, I fed her warm milk with an eyedropper and we made several trips to the Vet for various meds to try and save her sight, which to no avail, did not work, so we accepted our blind little kitty and began to "baby" proof the house with gates and chicken wire and wooden barriers built to keep her from falling from one floor to another and it worked.

Over the few years we've had our little Liliput, who turned into a very large Liliput, she became accustomed to her surroundings. Clearly she knew where her food was kept, the litter pan and her safe hiding places. Because she was blind, she could be a little over sensitive and only gave out her kitty cuddles when she decided it was ok, generally when one of us was in the bathroom. 24 claws balancing on a bare lap, but purrs you couldn't resist.........

She had an acute turn of events for the worse over this past week and in an effort to force some meds down her, she bit my thumb, rather badly.........Of course, we initially had kitty vaccinated, however, since she was indoors strictly and anytime to try and get her into a cat carrier was like battling a bag of razor blades, we figured the risk of her getting rabies would be low as all of the other animals who routinely go outside or live outside are vaccinated up to date. Something had made her ill, congenital, her overweight issues, I do not know, but Liliput had to be euthanized regardless and sent to the state lab for rabies testing. It more than likely would have happened this week even without the bite as something started an acute illness........Trust me, this was not an easy decision nor was it at this point really ours entirely. I don't think even if we had her up to date as we have the others, she still would have been ill and this still would have happened. I'm glad we gave her 4 years that she wouldn't have had if I hadn't have tucked her into my coat and I am glad she gave us 4 years of uniqueness, her own very different personality and kitten kisses. Rest in Peace my always little Lilput...........We miss immensely...........And if I cry anymore, it probably still wouldn't be enough..............So sorry, Miss Put, so sorry little one. You will be missed so much......................

Our Little Dusting of Snow Today..........

2010-12-01T14:48:00.000-08:00

Temperatures dropped drastically last night, but not before I pulled out the blankets and donned the girls. Funny enough, neither one of them objected as I draped them and puttered around adjusting straps and such. And what was mud has now frozen solid and the poor girls are gingerly stepping around it all. Thankfully, no frozen crap balls stuck in their feet yet and I have a fresh delivery of hay in the barn. Those typical looks on their faces, "Well, ya big jerk, are ya going to waste time taking pictures or perhaps you'll get to dinner any time soon!". Oh, they crack me up. I am glad I put their blankets on though. I tossed around the decision whether it was cold enough or not and looked at the weather reports and pretty much timed it perfectly. I love it when a plan comes into place and so do they.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T08:16:00.000-08:00

Just To Get Y'all In The Holiday Spirit...........

2010-11-24T14:51:00.000-08:00

Because tomorrow in this house will be all about being Thankful for what we have in family and friends, good food, The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and of course the DOG show!

And folks, it hasn't snowed here yet, but I put up the pic of Kola and her festive wear from last year.

2010-11-24T07:14:00.000-08:00

I received this message from Lauren Zavala this past week and was asked to do a write up and promote this on my blog. Personally, I cannot speak from experience as I have not yet given it a whirl, however, this does peak my interest as it may peak yours as well. And any of us know that horse keeping is a state of constant learning, even if it is simply what works best for your horse or horses. So I thought I would post this in case anyone was interested. And when I actually have a moment this week, doubtful, I will take a look myself. And if anyone beats me to it, let me know! Thanks!

"My name is Lauren and I am the Graphic Designer/New Media Marketing Assistant at My Horse University. This year we are having a “Black Friday” sale on all of our equine education courses and want to really reach out to those who might like to expand their knowledge in the field. I’m contacting you because we think it would be awesome if the MidWest Horse blog could post a write-up about our upcoming promotion. Obviously Kola and Misty are well-taken care of—and gorgeous, for that matter!—and I think our courses could be great resources for your readers that are interested in learning more about horse management.As far as our sale goes, we’re offering our courses for 50% off, plus an additional 25% off for our Facebook fans. The discount code is bfhorses10 and is valid from 12:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 26. For more information, please visit My Horse University or our Facebook page atwww.facebook.com/MyhorseU."

8 Years Today!

2010-11-16T07:04:00.000-08:00

Happy Anniversary to my darling, Stephen! I love you so very much!

Absorbine New Product Review

2010-11-10T11:42:00.000-08:00

Well, Once again my great friends at Absorbine / W.F. Young contacted me and asked if I would be interested in trying a new product. So, of course I said, "Yes, send me something. I'll give it a try!" . Shortly, there after I received this can of Absorbine Show Sheen Finishing Mist. As per Absorbine's Website,

"Celebrated worldwide as the best-selling hair polish in over 25 countries, ShowSheen is now available as a Finishing Mist. Perfect for last-minute touch-ups, ShowSheen Finishing Mist has a continuous, quiet sprayer that won't spook your horse and even sprays upside down.
• Continuous sprayer for uniform and complete coverage• Original ShowSheen® is now enriched with Pro Vitamins and Silk Proteins to shine and strengthen better than ever• Pro Vitamins nourish coat for a world class shine• Silk Proteins strengthen mane and tail hair for a more beautiful appearance• Repels dust and dirt to save grooming time• ShowSheen® is the best selling hair polish in over 25 countries around the world• Fresh scents of Jasmine and Sandalwood pamper your horse"

And link here Absorbine .

I did take a couple of before pics, but not what I really should have, because I was so excited to have caught my horses and have them cooperate with me that I just got to work on the dreaded "burr" removal.

Kola's Mane Before:

Misty's Abominable Tail Before:

The remaining pictures from here down are "After" .

Now, I do not show my horses, however, I do like to keep them relatively clean when necessary, such as "burrs" plaguing them or mostly in the summer when riding. Usually, I use cooking spray to clear out burrs, but I thought I'd try this finishing spray, even though technically I'm not finishing prior to a show. I must admit, it worked really well as a "burr" removal product and it smelled real good. Well, that is until Misty farted in my face as I was finishing her tail. Neither horse minded the spray action or the smell, but in saying that, they are well behaved girls and both girls love a good grooming session and they are used to me messing about with them. I like the product and I would purchase it. It seems to average around $10 a can and although "cooking spray" is cheaper, I used less of the Absorbine Show Sheen Finishing spray to get the job done than I have in the past using the cooking spray. And I still have plenty left in the can. So I would recommend this product especially to those of you who do show. And it leaves tails and manes pretty and shiny.

This Week .................

2010-11-04T11:58:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday morning, Dr.Terry actually came early and both Misty and Kola received their fall shots and I was reminded to worm them. I did later that day with Equimax. Needless to say neither one of them was impressed with Tuesday.

The Vet said that she thought Kola looked even better than she did in Spring. I was pleased to hear that. She also thought Misty looked better as well. Misty was a little down in weight, I think more down in muscle due to her few months of stall rest last winter. Kola was body scoring out at a "6" this spring, probably closer to a "5.5" now. And they both are getting their shaggy winter coats.

Spot and the others were having a romp in the pasture as I attempted photography. I gave him permission as he never enters the horse area unless given the OK. The other two pay no mind to me or the horses and enter as they please...........

Poor Mina Moo is either bent out of shape over the smell of the strange dog we rescued and brought to shelter on Wednesday evening or not feeling well as I've caught her piddling in the house twice now since then. We'll watch her over the weekend. I keep telling her I did not cheat.

Kota Bear and his "happy" roll.

And I still have roses. Not sure whether to cut them all back and cover them or let them just go this year. Think I may cut them back. They grew like crazy this year and that is what I did last year.

More Trouble.............

2010-10-21T12:38:00.000-07:00

Now that our young friend, Joe, has finally figured out and taken care of his thoroughbred mare, Sky's weight issue, she managed to get herself tangled in some fencing. This first picture is of her initial injury approximately 3 to 4 weeks ago. This injury is on the anterior of her right rear hock.

Joe obviously had the Vet out immediately and initial injury was concerning as she was loosing some of her joint fluid (synovial fluid). She was placed on Penicillin and I believe, a Biozide gel or cream. Daily wound care and wrapping. He did tell me what the cream was, but I forgot to write it down. this second picture is at the end of week 2.

Here we are on about week 3. More recent and close-up.

These pictures are from today. Joe says he can see a difference in her walking. My guess is that she will have a flexion and possibly and extension issue. I advised him weeks ago to get her started on Glucosamine immediately and he did. I also suggested that he hose it clean prior to the cream administration and wrap. It definitely looks better, but time will tell.

As with any injury a horse receives, it really is a matter of time. Hock injuries always scare me. Hope Sky does recover, however, not sure if it will be full, but one never knows and I think Joe did a good job of caring for Sky's injury. It doesn't look real proud fleshy, but there are lots of products out on the market for that now. So, any further advise on exercises or anything anyone would like to add to help Joe recover Sky would be greatly appreciated.

A Weigh In Of Sorts.............

2010-10-06T09:58:00.000-07:00

Photo has nothing to do with this post, just I thought this neighboring Gypsy was gorgeous.

ON to the post of which I'm sure will bring a few arguments or controversy, just because we haven't done it in awhile, BUT is it me or have I been noticing an influx of elderly horses that for one reason or another suddenly need a new home because of the "economy". My question is this, "Why always the horse in his/her late 20's is in sudden need of a forever home?" It's something I've noticed a lot lately on the net in various places. I know this is really nothing new, but it makes me question how we value our horses. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the economy, however, sometimes, I wonder if it's just because one cannot be bothered with the increased care and cost and time of the horse that no longer can hold it's job for that person or is it really a matter of , "OMG! I cannot afford any horse young or old right now!" What do you think?

I'm Sorry, But This Had To Go!

2010-10-05T07:30:00.000-07:00

It was easily the size of my hand and I have long fingers! This thing should have been paying rent! I have never in all my life seen a "house spider" that bloody big! Good grief! And I did not want it crawling over me whilst I slept! Of course as I shrieked, Stephen lay in bed paralyzed with laughter!

My Darling Wife The Big Brave Farm Girl NOT

2010-10-01T13:56:00.000-07:00

One of the photos Callie would not include because we do not have a macro camera

My brother and his wife were kind enough to give up their bedroom when we stayed with them and all was fine until a Incy Wincy Spider climbed around the ceiling at which point Callie is telling me to kill it.

I could not stop laughing so Callie wearing her PJ's Rushes down stairs shouting to Graham and Helen for help which made me laugh even more, My brother being the gentleman he is came up and killed it .

Here is my lament to the poor little thing who did us no harm

Incy wincy spider climbed up the spout
Down came the rain, and washed poor Incy out
Out came the sunshine, and dried up all the rain
And Incy wincy spider climbs up the spout again

Steve

Tintagel, Cornwall, England

2010-09-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

The land of King Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon. The stone is the closest they can date to possible Arthur's time. This was in an area in which an archaeology dig uncovered a village near the Tintagel Castle, Arthur's castle.

A medieval cider press.

A battle field. All within a mile area.

The village of Tintagel. Also land of where witchcraft originated. Loved it!

Our hotel, Camelot Castle. Our one treat to ourselves. Beautiful views, but a little in your face and snobby. And not one local worked there, strange.

But our lovely room and what an awesome bed, eh?

Tintagel Castle ruins, Arthur's castle and Merlin's cave, tucked down in there.

More of Tintagel Castle ruins.

Tintagel Castle ruins at sunset and the Atlantic Ocean, our view from our room.

Portchester Castle, Hampshire England

2010-09-27T06:30:00.000-07:00

This was the first castle I ever saw in England when I first went over ten years ago. Of course we went again. It's right near our "home base" for the first 6 days of our trip. Near kids, Mother-in-law, as we planned lots to do with kids and mum.

Within the castle walls is St.Mary's church and that day, the church ladies were holding an afternoon tea, which we did enjoy after roaming around the grounds.

Outer wall.

This was one of my best photos.

Wild flowers growing straight out of the wall.

The tower, still intact.

Here's a link http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/portchester/portchester.php to a little bit of history. It actually dates as far back to 500AD, I think.

New Forest Ponies, Lindhurst, England

2010-09-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

Dartmoor National Park, Devon, England, Dartmoor Wild Horses

2010-09-23T07:23:00.000-07:00

Vacation!

2010-09-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

Steve and I will be on vacation shortly in England. Jeremiah and Donna will be house and animal sitting for us, so I thought I'd leave you with a few images of our Walworth County Fair this year. A very quiet and empty fair. Must be a sign of the economy. In all my years going to this fair, I can honestly say that I have never seen such and empty, quiet fair.........sad.........But here it is.

A New Day..................................

2010-08-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

The girls, free from "slobbers" today, pining for pasture, not happenin' and free from burrs!

The results from a local Farmer's Market Thursday. Fresh breads, fresh organic leg of lamb, fresh fruits and veggies. The spring onion are almost too beautiful to eat. We know what dinner will be tonight!

And I thought I'd show this. These are not clouds as such, but rather steam coming off of Lake Michigan which about 40 miles east from us. We woke up to a crisp Autumn like morning, cool air and a now heated large lake. Usually you don't see this until mid-winter. It stretched the length of the horizon. I find it fascinating.

Here We Go Again..........

2010-08-25T12:42:00.000-07:00

Well since I've had the girls inside without pasture for a week or two and I mowed it yesterday, I thought that maybe, just maybe I wouldn't have a problem with "slobbers" again...........BUT, NOOOOO................. They were only out there a few hours and low and behold both came in with raging cases of slobbers. I did try some electrolytes and that failed miserably, so will try a different approach this evening adding it to their food with some corn oil. They did both get some Banamine and some Probiotics for good measure if it didn't all come seeping out with non-stop saliva. And Misty was full of burrs, so I spent an hour and a half with cooking spray and a comb removing every burr on her mane and tail. Kola some minor grooming for that. They are still eating and drinking. There will NO MORE PASTURE for these girls the rest of this year.

The Breakfast Dance!

2010-08-24T06:07:00.000-07:00

The girls had been willing me for 30 minutes to come down and feed them............

I love this hay that has just been delivered. A 50/50 mix of alfalfa and grass.......This bale a little more stemmy, but the girls and the goat boys love it and it takes them awhile to finish it.

My roses are still blooming.............

And we're all waiting to go back inside..........

On another note, the boy dogs managed to wake me at 6am this morning by jumping onto the bed where Mina and I were still laying in and they proceeded to lick my face. Only Spot must have blown his ass glands because it was disgusting and Mina was growling trying to defend our sleep. And the boy dogs were wet! Thanks, boys!

Stephen and I are getting ready for a long time coming vacation back to England. We leave in less than two weeks and we have so much more to do. I've got our bags packed for the most part. But still have lots to do, shopping, dental appointment, hair appointment, pay some bills, call all the credit card banks to get pre-approval for possible spending over there, Mow the lawn again, even though I just mowed it yesterday. The list goes on and on and we still need to work. Gads! Sometimes just getting ready for vacation, means you need another one! LOL!

Bad Tummy In Dog!

2010-08-17T05:18:00.000-07:00

I thought that I would share this with everyone as it turned out well and worked. For those of us with dogs, especially on a farm, this bit of info may be helpful. Yesterday, Miss Mina or as we affectionately call her "the Moo", decided that early in the morning she might taste the soybeans in the field next door. Of course we did not know this until a couple of hours later when she didn't eat her breakfast and proceeded to puke.........alot........and within these piles I cleaned up were what appeared to be beans. Hmmmmmmm.........She then became very listless and suddenly weak in her hind quarters. To the point where we had to carry her up and down the stairs to take her in and out of the house for a potty. Now, me being a nurse and having had so many critters over the years, did the usual checks. I listened to bowel sounds and they were normal, meaning I could her them gurgle in all 4 quadrants of her gut. No pinging sounds, those aren't good. Her belly was soft for the most part, but would occasionally tighten up. I also checked her color, the same way you would check a horse's color, look at the gums and lips, mouth and I also checked for dehydration......not pale, a little sticky and a good capillary refill. Watched her breathing, good, not fast, listened to her heart and checked peripheral pulses all good. I gave her water to drink and put it in front of her every hour or so. And then, this is my own little thing, I gave her a cup of olive oil with just a little milk to make it taste good, thinking that this may grease her up , so to speak, when it came time to poop. She didn't get any worse, however, she wasn't improving, so I called the Vet. I explained what I had done and her condition, adding the assessment I had done. The Vet suggested and this is what I didn't know, to start her on 10mg of Pepcid AC, not Complete, generic=famotidine every 12 hours or twice a day for what was more than likely a bad gut ache. I did not know a dog with a gut ache could actually lose their strength in their hind legs. It took this dog nearly 24 hours to get over this and this morning we were back to 100%. And the olive oil did it's trick. Last night, Stephen and I were very worried that we may need to make a trip to the Vet, but no, didn't need to and now I know how to treat gut ache in dogs. Interesting, I thought.

New Products: Absorbine Equine

2010-08-16T06:53:00.001-07:00

Recently, I had been contacted through Facebook by a person representing Absorbine to try a couple of new Equine products. Honestly, I had forgotten about it until, of course they showed up in the post. One is a natural fly spray and the other a topical liniment and antiseptic which I believe can be either wiped on or sprayed on. This is the beauty of blogging and attaching your blog to Facebook. I love when this happens because it gives me an opportunity to try something new and share it with others and the timing was perfect.

Now, I have not tried the liniment, thankfully, I have no reason to at this time, however, I have been using the natural fly spray, UltraShield Green by Absorbine. It has a blend of essential oils including geraniol from geraniums, citronella, lemongrass, thyme, rosemary, cedar and clove. I like it. It is eco-friendly and it also can be used on dogs as well. It is a natural fly spray, so it doesn't last as long as the ones that are not natural, but it did give the girls eight hours of relative relief from biting insects and at the height of our hot and humid weather. I was shocked at just how how well it worked. The other thing I like about a more natural fly spray is that it did not limit me as to how much and where I put it. I was fairly generous and as I sprayed legs, the flies just dropped off to the ground. The smell is good too, not bad. And the girls did not seem to mind it, but my girls are pretty used to getting sprayed and wiped so it wouldn't matter to them what it smelled like, but it was nice for me because I did not come back in the house needing a shower to clean off the reek of normal fly sprays. Would I consider purchasing this product? YES, but to alternate it with my usual Pyranha spray. The price on line is about the same as any other fly spray. In the $15 range. I can find it easily on-line. Here is the link to the Absorbine blog http://absorbine.blogspot.com/ , if anyone is interested.

Fungus Is AmongUs..................

2010-08-02T15:04:00.001-07:00

The culpret..............clover............Of course with our heat and recent rain, more to come, my pasture is becoming over run with fungal clover. Up until now, I've been able to avoid "Slobbers". Well, no longer. At noon today, Kola aka Miss Sensitive came in with a decent case of slobbers. What slobbers is http://www.horses-and-horse-information.com/articles/0799salv.shtml . Slobbers is caused by a fungus that clings usually to red clover, however, in my case to white clover. A few years ago, Kola had it for the first time and I called the Vet out, assuming I had completely poisoned her. What happens is explained in that link. Consequently, the horse can dehydrate from over salivating.

So I ran out today and bought this. It smells yummy and comes in a powder form, only my horses will not eat it, even disguised with apple juice and apple sauce. I gave it to them anyway, hoping that eventually they'll give in and finish what's in their feeders. I also soaked their hay with water, figuring any extra hydration I can force won't hurt. The good news is keeping them out of the pasture will allow it to subside and Kola certainly has not lost her appetite.

Here is what it looks like and it continues. The very first time, Kola got this, she was raining buckets out of her mouth. This time although it is still continuing on, even after hours of being out of the pasture, it's not as bad as it was years ago. So pasture closed for now. I've been trying to keep the clover down by mowing, but my effort have been in vain.

Rainy Days and Thursdays ?

2010-07-22T09:49:00.000-07:00

Something was rustling in the bean field. It might have been Miss Mina.

Misty's thought process is as the following, "Well, I'll just go and roll, then."

Kola is still not quite sure. Her thought process, "What the hell?".

Kota dog , the nincompoop, has just a bit too much curiosity.........LOL, Dork!

Mina thinking the hot weather preceding the rain, "Just blows!"

And some of our local wild life, an egret and a family of cranes. You can see about two or three babies towards the left of the photo.

What Would You Do ?

2010-07-17T07:33:00.000-07:00

Many of the Movers and Shakers Including Presidents, Highly Successful Entrepreneurs, High Profile Celebrities decide once they have fulfilled their original ambitions set out to support a cause they believe in strongly. They set up trusts, campaign, or use their high profile for a specific cause they believe in, some may do it very publicly others in private. This is not a modern phenomenon and goes back as far as history itself.

Most of us ordinary mortals could not achieve the same lofty success, but if you could what would you like to devote the latter part of your life to.

As I wrote this post I thought about what I would like to do if I had that similar opportunity my own goal might be to do something to improve health care in the developing world or with Callie set up a large facility to rescue animals ( All kinds Dogs, Cats, Wildlife, and of course horses ) with sufficient funding to do a good job and employ specialists to help.

So what would you like to do if you had the opportunity ?

Steve

Latest Update on Joe's TB Horse, Sky

2010-07-13T13:04:00.000-07:00

Well, I think we can all agree that Sky is truly on the road to recovery. She's really looking great in my opinion. Kudos to Joe and a job well done. It's nice to see him care enough to put in the effort to consult Vets and nutritionists and get it right. She looks so much better.

On a personal note, once again it is so steaming hot, I still have not gotten a ride in myself on either of my girls. I still keep my goal of at least one ride in before winter comes, but who knows when that will be. Neither the girls nor I have the energy in this heat. Misty came out of winter under weight and needing muscle built. Daily turnouts have done the trick. She's looking like she's back to her ole self and has built up her muscle, lucky I am, as I have not worked her, but walking and running the pasture daily has made all the difference. I'm beginning to wean Kola off the Levothyroxine for now, she lost all the fat pads in her shoulders, still has her tail fat pads and a little crest, but she has always had a little crest. I would still score at a "6", still much better than the "8" she was. She too has more energy and has benefited from the daily pasture turnout.

And this old gal bought a new pair of CK jeans today that are one size smaller than my usual, I'll take that and they are straight legs.........I haven't worn those since I was very young and skinny, LOL!

Hope Everyone Had A Great Holiday...........

2010-07-06T06:38:00.000-07:00

This first image, I'm sure most of you heard this sad and tragic news of a July 4th parade that turned disastrous. Here's the link http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/97767114.html . I found this tremendously sad and although this ended tragically for this parade, there were millions more that went on that day and no one was hurt.

Recently I had my old faded tattoo covered with this one. It's still in the healing process, hoping it will still look good as it's now in the flaking stage. Makes me want to get another one with horses on it. Hmmmmmmmm, maybe.

The girls are a bit sluggish this week as it's another hot and humid one......

Stephen and I took the goats and the dogs for walk around the property yesterday afternoon. They love their walks.

Zoe took this pic and at the time, says, "They always stop and stare at me, Mom."

And we still have a happy dog. I'll have to get some video of him playing. It's hilarious, he starts with a roll and a bark or two and then wants to play tag with Stephen. Kota will fly up into the air, twist sideways and slam Steve, knocking him to the ground. Too funny.

Recently.............

2010-07-01T13:47:00.000-07:00

Well, the shed is gone........Finally........And Russ, our construction dude, who is very good, has begun on the outside wall and replacement of joists and siding on that side of the house. Although, I just had 21 days off, I did not get in any riding I had hoped for, storming or hot or busy.........Oh well, at least I have weekdays to work on that. Hopefully, at least one ride in before summer ends........Ugh! I set that small goal because we have been so busy. We'll have a second attempt at a pork roast dinner tonight as last night's exploded in the oven, Pyrex roasting pan exploded, roast was full of glass shards and Steve and I had to completely clear out the oven of bazillions of glass shards. So we'll try again tonight. I spent the last two days of my vacation time driving around to second hand stores, looking for cheap apartment furniture for Zoe and Brandon for their last apartment back at college. So far she found two very nice "90's" decor armchairs and two kind of cool chrome kitchen chairs. She still needs a very small kitchen table and they'll have to make a trip to IKEA for some cooking supplies. She'll be heading down towards Missouri this week to sort out their storage before they move in. And tomorrow I'm back to work, back to the normal routine. I could have gotten used to full time retirement. I will have more vacation in September when we plan on going to England. Flight tickets are in hand, and my bags are packed, pitiful, I know. Now we just need to sort out hotels. We're really looking forward to it.

Temultuous Weather & Heat...............

2010-06-25T06:12:00.000-07:00

Well, we've had some rotten weather this past week. The town of Eagle, just about 12 miles straight north from here had an F2 tornado level about 25 houses & damage an additional 100 more. Also Old World Wisconsin was leveled. Old World Wisconsin is a working settlement history place of Wisconsin one can visit. Unfortunately there are a lot of horse properties there as well as the Palmyra Horse Park, part of the state Lower Kettle Moraine preserve runs through there as well. This also happened in the dark at about 9:30pm, which makes it harder to see it coming. Steve and I were going to get out there and help with the horse properties, but haven't heard any word as to escaped animals. Our Doc's office is in Eagle and I had called there and our nurse said there was one huge horse property which lost all their livestock. I'm not sure if that is true because there were a lot of horses and barns there and I haven't had anything come across my email about it, usually something like that does. The above picture is of that same tornado touching down in Muskeego, a little north west from us.

Another storm two days later and this huge tree of our neighbors came down about 6am in the morning. I had to crawl under to go down and feed the horses and goats.............

but Steve made short work of it. Got to love a decent chain saw and it did no damage, thankfully!

The girls haven't been impressed with all of this weather and it heats up during the day so much. The humidity is unbearable. Wednesday, both Jeremiah and I were dripping in sweat after he trimmed the girls and all I did was hold them.

I should have realized, but wasn't thinking. In the evening after the girls were trimmed, I noticed Kola had a touch of sunburn on her nose, so out came the aloe cream and now each day before turn out the spf is applied in abundance on both ladies' noses, anything pink! Poor girls!

On a funny note, Stephen and I released the goats the other day, just for fun, and discovered that Kota has a natural herding ability, remember 8yrs of city life and he and Spot work quite well in tandem.

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T05:58:00.000-07:00

Stephen enjoying his Father's Day gifts! For those of you who are Dad's to children or critters alike. For the our Fathers, Husbands, Brothers, Sons............Happy Dad's Day! You give us strength and stand by our sides..........

To the world

You are one person

But to this person

You are the world

Happy Father's Day to my loving husband, Stephen!

It's Been Busy.....................

2010-06-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

Around here lately. It has been raining a lot and I finally got out into the yard to mow and of course one shot with new blades on and the rest of the season, striped lawn because I managed to bend one of the new blades on an unseen rock, Oh Well! The girls have gotten into their routine and since I have some vacation time right now, I may even do a little riding as I haven't gotten to it at all yet this year. My rose bushes have gone absolutely mad and the last photo shows the dismantle phase of crappy, rotten, attached to the house shed. I cannot wait until it is gone. He's doing an awesome job and it's coming along quite nicely, but with a few set backs as in the load baring wall of the extension doesn't really have a functioning joist holding it. Surprise! So that will have to be fixed ASAP! And when this job is done, we'll get a quote on painting the house, which it desperately needs. One thing at a time. We've gotten a fare whack of weed removal done and now just to spray it all! So we have been busy. Also Zoe is home now and needs feeding! LOL!

Great Idea ICE (In Case of Emergency) Pass It on

2010-06-10T13:50:00.000-07:00

ICE - 'In Case of Emergency'

(I hadn't heard of this before today- so I'm sure there are at least a few others who hadn't heard about it.)

Apparently this is a standard procedure all paramedics follow at the scene of an accident when they come across your cell phone.

We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memory but nobody, other than ourselves, knows which of these numbers belong to our closest family or friends.

If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn't know who to call. Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency? Hence this 'ICE' (In Case of Emergency) Campaign the concept of 'ICE' is catching on quickly. It is a method of contact during emergency situations. As cell(mobile) phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name 'ICE' ( In Case Of Emergency).

The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn't know which number to call. He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name for this purpose. In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and hospital Staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialing the number you have stored as 'ICE.'

For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2, etc.

Kota Is Officially Fitting Right In.............

2010-05-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

A crazy , happy roll!

Rushing at me playing!

The after effects of the happy roll! Usually the roll begins the rampant run around the yard!

Playing well with the others...........

Getting to know the horses and learning a healthy respect as they move him out of their area. Oops! Better skedaddle!

Another crazy run around the yard. He has officially become one of the spoiled children as the three of them bide for our attention. They all know what to do if they want a treat from the treat box, which is to annoy us with kisses, barks and standing upon us while we reside in the couch until we give in. Everything has to be dished out evenly or they know. He tries to herd Spot when Spot is playing with the soccer ball. He will play chase with Mina until his weight takes over and bowls her over, which is rather entertaining. He knows if he is first on the love seat in between us, he wins, LOL! He will come up on the bed for a spoon when the mood so suits him. He lets me squeeze his Vitamin E on his nose and it's looking better already. He has certainly fit in and become one of the dog children. Needless to say, he has found his place here and all are getting along. Next week, I will take him to the groomer for a summer bath and nail trim. We are still trying to decide what to do about neutering him. As I said before, his prostate is asymmetrical and slightly enlarged, however NOT painful at all. I don't know. Will it change things to neuter him or simply stop the progression of enlargement or possible other complications? Is it worth it for him? This is a tough decision. As it stands, I and Steve do not mind that he's not neutered. Just concerned about his future health and whether it's worth it to put him through it. Any advice on this matter would greatly be appreciated. All of our other dogs were spayed or neutered as pups.

The More I Read.........................

2010-05-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

I just have to put this out there..........And it may seem harsh, but sometimes it just drives me crazy. There are very few people out there that I actually do trust that they know what they are talking about when it comes to horses and their care. A few of them close blogger friends for example : Mrs Mom, Mikey, Arlene, Gayle and a many more. I guess what I'm trying to say is that we draw from our personal experiences. What we have learned over the years caring for our horses. And it doesn't always apply to other's horses. They too are individuals and react differently to different situations. And we all have different disciplines and what applies to some may not apply to others. But, some things are pretty universal. I guess I just get somewhat frustrated with people who jump on "bandwagons" that they really know nothing about and think they are educating and others naively follow close behind because of "word" alone. I'm just saying. Am I the only one that finds some of this frustrating? Perhaps I'm guilty of some of the same thing.

Update on Joe's Horse Sky

2010-05-26T08:22:00.001-07:00

Well, I promised some update photos on Sky. If you remember her coat was bad as well as she was dangerously thin and the problem wasn't lack of nutrition but over feed and not the right nutrition. Joe is continuing his regimen and going out today to get some more Vitamins. Clearly she still has a serious lack of weight gain, but that can sometimes be a slow process, but her coat and gut look tremendously better, in my opinion. I'm glad he's working so hard to help her and willing to share this with us. I do think she is looking a little better and it's only been a few weeks actually, so way to go, Joe and here's hoping all your efforts will work. As she gains, I'll ask for more photos to document her progress.

A Few Updates...................

2010-05-25T18:42:00.000-07:00

Misty remains on her Glucosamine and seems to be doing well. Both girls a little slower this week as it is "unseasonably" hot and humid. Ugh!

I still have Kola on her Levothyroxine and she's maintaining a healthy weight, however, even though she has shed out fairly well, her coat seems a bit more course this year. I still think she's at the very least pre-Cushingnoid. We'll just keep her on it for now and watch her closely as I'm still not willing to risk a laminitis episode with the high dose steroid test. Seems to me, there should be another way of testing.

Kota is happy and settling in well. We had our Dog Vet visit today. I think they thought we were all nuts as of course as usual, our dogs were not the most well behaved at least not in the waiting room. We did discuss with the Vet Kota's crusty nose and started him on Vitamin E and Fish Oil. Also squeezing the Vitamin E directly on his nose. Also the use of some Cortisone cream for it. The Vet seems to think it's more related to his tongue slopping over it constantly, sort of like when one licks their lips and chaps them. He also had his prostate checked as he is still intact as a male and it was enlarged and asymmetrical (meaning one part of it bigger than the other) and she suggested neutering him as we have no plans on breeding. The Vet didn't want to make that suggestion until she checked his prostate first as he is extremely well behaved and having all of his parts does not affect how he behaves. The concern only that as he is slightly older and as he ages he could have serious prostate problems. So we will have a serious think about it before we commit to anything.

Unfortunately Mina's weighty issue is NOT as improved as we had hoped. So we'll continue on her weight loss program and cut back her food just a little bit more.

And note where exactly Spot is located in this pic. Look closely. All 61 pounds of him. As we were waiting for our appointments, a storm rolled in and Spot turns into a nervous wreck, so he climbed onto Stephen. Marvelous!

So Mina 53 pounds, still needs to lose about 10 pounds. Spot 61 pounds and fine as a larger Border Collie and we will try Benadryl for his nerves when a storm rolls in. Kota weighs 68 pounds and the Vet said he was fine. All in all, the Vet was impressed with the over all good health of all the dogs. No bugs, no worms and all started on their heart worm regimen now. Everyone got their toenails trimmed and we will schedule a grooming appointment at PetSmart for Kota with his long hair as the groomer said with his breed, a good bath and blow dry will help to restore the proper oils in his coat and help to keep him cool over the summer.

And every time anybody walked into the Vet's office, our noisy crew would set off to barking and continue to bark as each one had to have the last word.........Yeah right! I'm sure they were all relieved to see us leave when it was all done, although, there were many giggles. But appreciated the payment of $373.70 for the bill.........Doh!

Thought These Were Beautiful ...........

2010-05-19T09:11:00.000-07:00

These photos were emailed to me the other day and I just thought they were so beautiful and it would be fun to share.........So enjoy!

We Have A New Family Member

2010-05-17T07:57:00.001-07:00

This is Kota, pronounced "Koda". He is our newest family member. Koda is an 8yr Aussie Shepherd. He came to us yesterday afternoon. He is a very good boy and has already adopted Stephen as his and has become the office foot dog. He seems to be adjusting fairly well considering he spent most all of his life with his former family. Everybody, meaning all dogs are currently establishing their pecking order. So far, so good. He has eaten dinner and breakfast fine, pooped well outside and is peeing ok. Last night I layed on the floor with him at bedtime and we spooned. He gives very sweet kisses. I think it will take a little more time to fully adjust, but I have no doubt that he'll fit right in with this tribe. He wasn't too sure about the "big dogs" outside and they weren't too sure either, a few snorts directed toward him and this morning he discovered the goats with his little "stub" wagging away. He's done some exploring around the house and is getting used to his new surroundings. We'll make a Vet appointment for next week and bring all the dogs in. I have to get everyone started on their heart worm program. He has just seen his Vet, but we'll bring them all in anyway. Apparently Mr. Koda will sit in the car in a seat belt. That will be welcome change to our shotgun rider Mina who likes to stand between the front buckets. And he's a talker, much like Spot that way. Needless to say, once again we have fallen in love.

One Solid Week Of Cold & Rain

2010-05-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

Finally some warmth and a little sunshine. Hoping things will dry out soon................ And to think if our neighbor hadn't have scraped out this paddock and arena, it would have been knee deep rather than the ankle deep muck that is there. The goats have been particularly noisy today for odd reason. The dogs got fresh raw femurs and are happy working the marrow out of those. We're hoping to adopt a new dog, an Aussie Shepherd. We'll just have to see if it pans out or not. If not, I have a feeling Zoe will be dragging us to the Humane Society when she gets home from college next week..........

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T15:42:00.000-07:00

For all us Mom's out here...........Happy Mother's Day! Human Moms and horsey Moms as well. Hope your day was as great as mine!

Scenes From This Week..............

2010-05-06T14:13:00.000-07:00

Misty moving pretty well. Maybe her glucosamine is beginning to work for her.

It's still quite windy here this week................

For once Kola relaxed for our self portrait.......................

Misty always does................They're so tolerant of me............

A stupid plum tree seriously bit me while I was mowing the lawn. And it still hurts loads!

As I said, still quite windy here this week............Mina showing off her ears!

I Swear This House Will Blow Down!

2010-04-29T14:14:00.000-07:00

My Lilac bushes or should I say trees are blooming beautifully in spite of me doing a super cut on them early this spring. They were getting so bottom heavy, they were beginning to break, so Steve and I set to really cutting them back. I cannot believe how much lawn we managed to reclaim just from that. I think the Lilacs themselves are at least 20 years old.

It is so ridiculously windy today, the girls have been spooking all over the place. A little apprehensive coming in for dinner this evening. It's supposed to storm all weekend, so they'll stay locked up anyhow. Works better when I'm at work and Misty seems to be refreshed on Sunday morning when I let them out again.

Misty is still on her glucosamine supplement. Some days are great and she's back to normal and others are a little weak. Maybe we'll get some riding in at some point, but for now I'll keep resting her. I took Kola off the Vitamin E & selenium supplement after reading about selenium poisoning. Kind of freaked me out, but I put her back on her Levothyroxine again, just for shits and giggles. Her weight continues to maintain, but I'm watching her closely. I figure the "Levo" isn't going to hurt anything. She and Misty are really starting to shed out well, although Kola's hair is a little more course, but all those butt ruffles are now gone. I did a major hair removal grooming yesterday. I'm sure our birds are happy and have snatched it all up already. Misty is starting to gain the slightest of muscle back and I haven't even started to exercise her yet.

On another note, I managed to get the house nice and clean, cat boxes all changed, floors mopped. I still need to attack the basement apartment. Next week will be a week outdoors again and time to mow for the second time this season. Not sure what Stephen and I are going to do with all the darned trees we've cut back with still many more to do.........I wonder if there's a service for that, branch and cut tree removal. I really don't feel like burning it all and I so not trust Stephen with a wood chipper............Hmmmmmmmm.........Will have to think about that one.

Well, I Think Miss Misty............

2010-04-21T14:52:00.000-07:00

Is headed for an early retirement.......... She's semi retired anyhow as I only ride in the arena here at home these days, but she definitely struggles after that early December knee injury. I can see it when she sprints out to pasture. I know there is scar tissue inside interfering with her flexion of that knee, no brainer there. But it doesn't take much for her to tweak it. Doesn't really swell up, but I've been watching her for weeks and I can see the ever so slightly detectable lameness in that leg and this afternoon when coming in to eat, both Steve and I saw her tweak it and hop in a couple of steps. She was still able to move forward, but I saw the, "Oops, Ouch!". So I didn't mess about and just plopped some poultice on her tonight, no stalling, though. I don't think that does her any good, but waste muscle. We'll see, but my gut says no riding from me, maybe a few light weight rides with Steve or any kids that happen to visit, but that will be it. I really don't think her knee will tolerate it and YES she has been on glucosamine for over a month and YES she has been trimmed for knee injury........Oh, well........I said it really doesn't matter, I love her anyhow and she will always stay with me even as a lawn ornament and a good horsey kisser and cuddler. She is definitely Mama's girl..........Kola will see more riding this year, anyhow and she needs it. I love my little red and I won't ride her in pain or give her anything to mask it either so that I can.

Quick Update on Sky

2010-04-19T19:05:00.000-07:00

Joe is a good horse Daddy and had the Vet out yesterday......... She is malnourished from too high of a fat content. He had been feeding two gallon containers of grain and corn oil with weight builder and a half bale of hay a day. He has been given a list of supplements and fresh veggies and fruits to give her and will drop down on the grain and up the hay. Her teeth will be floated next week and the Vet will see her again in three weeks after new diet. He will send me pics again to track her progress.

Alright, Folks, Need Some Help Here........

2010-04-19T09:54:00.001-07:00

This is Sky, an approximate 6yr old Thoroughbred mare.........She is owned by a young man, Joe, I introduced last year. Clearly he is having some issues and I am trying to help him. I am waiting for a total confirmation as to exactly what he is feeding and how much, however, I have spoken to him and he has told me he feeds a high percent grain with corn oil and endless hay, but here we have still a lack of weight gain problem, which seems to be getting worse. Also note the hair loss to the skin. I DO NOT want criticism on this, I would like to help him out and get some advice and suggestions from any of you folks out there.......Like I said, I really need to know how much he is feeding and what's in the pasture and such, vaccinations and all, waiting for that, BUT any ideas would be most appreciated. Looking for help, Joe is new to horses, has had her since Autumn of 2008 and loves her dearly, but is at a loss right now..............

Our Special Little Man

2010-04-15T04:46:00.000-07:00

Some photographs of our special little man Joseph and our first grandchild on his first birthday,

It has been hard over the last few years , kids have grown up and they have their own lives and careers making it harder for them to come and visit , plus little Joseph has spent quite a bit of time in and out of hospital.

Due to the immigration cock up We have not been over there for quite a few years missing many important things in Toms and Becs lives including seeing Joseph born

Looking at the photos of Joseph remind me of Becs whose hair was exactly the same color how our lives fly , just seems like a twinkling since I would get home from work and Becs would be holding her hands up indicating she wanted to be picked up,

The circle of life is truly amazing.

It will be a great holiday in September when we see the kids and their partners, my brother and all his tribe, my mum who is well into her 80's and still sharp as a pin. but it will be even better to see this special little man who has a great smile and a wonderful life to look forward to with

Reflections of a proud granddad

Once Again, Another Busy Week.........

2010-04-13T16:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Jeremiah came and trimmed up some feet and helped me with the rest of the girl's vaccinations. They actually were kind of funny when getting trimmed, almost as if they were sleeping while the job got done. Jeremiah also brought his new little Border Collie pup with him. What a delight! I kick myself for not taking a picture. He was too cute, like a mini me of our Spot.

Kola was unimpressed with the red "horse" ball that Spot threw into the arena. The look on her face tells it all. She cracked me up this evening as I had dyed my hair and went out in a towel to feed them. Misty did not care, but Kola scooted around in circles snorting away. You know, the horse eating towel was on the prowl.

Stephen and I have begun shoring up and redoing the goat's pen. Got to love cattle panels!

Clearly, we have more work to do.

The dueling dog butts. Cracked me up!

How I love this nose!

OK, It's Been A Very Busy Couple Of Weeks....

2010-04-05T06:13:00.000-07:00

First of all, Our little Grandson, Joseph, has turned a year old yesterday! Happy Birthday little man Joseph! We will finally get to see him in September!

Kola continues to look good. I've started her on a Vitamin E & Selenium supplement. And with a little apple juice added, she manages to stomach the bitter powder. Misty has been started on Glucosamine as well. I released Misty from the barn, only being stalled for 2 weeks and she seems to being doing well. I will not ride Misty this year at all, instead giving her a break to let her recover as fully as possible from this knee injury. Not to mention, I actually have to find some way to get some weight on her without Kola getting into it. I might buy some grain and add it to Misty's regimen. Also their fecal flotation results came back and both girls had a "0" egg count, Kola a "+1" sand, so I will only worm the girls twice a year now and Kola is back on Metamucil to flush out any sand.

I've opened to pasture to them both as there isn't much out there and I want to keep it down. Just gives them something to do, they think they are eating. They also get their morning and evening hay.

Misty seems to be none worse for the wear.

Zoe was home this past week for Spring break. She will be graduating a semester early in December of this year with a major in Political Science and a Minor in Sociology and then onto grad school for Urban Planning, like Grandmother, like granddaughter. My Mother had been channeled through her, I'm sure. If she was alive, I know she would be so proud! Also Thomas has gotten his Skipper's licence in the UK and now having just turned 24yrs old is skippering a huge boat for a Survey Company, surveying the bottom of the North Sea for placement of wind turbines. Again, we couldn't be more proud. He makes more than I do, it's exciting! Becs continues to be a great Mother to Joseph, also working part time in accounting. Talk about getting it all right with your kids. Amazing! It's what every parent should hope for, successful happy children.

While I was out taking the photos of the horses, Mina slipped away to our Neighbor's parked tractor and stole his baggy of celery. We didn't tell him, as I'm sure he didn't mind. His wife forces him to eat healthy, but he prefers candy, LOL! He also just did us a huge favor and saved us about $400 and completely cleared all of my horse poo and goat poo out of the paddock and riding arena and goat pen and spread it over his field. Awesome, it looks great out there and he gets a little natural fertilizer at the same time. It took him about an hour. Stephen has had to see a Urologist, we didn't like him, so I'm on the hunt for a new one. I will let you know what's going on at a different time as we are in just beginning stages. It started with a high PSA test result. We'll see, I'm actively seeking a Doc we get along with, long story. Today we'll be shoring up the goat pen as right now they are locked in the stall until we get this put together. Gotta love cheap cattle panels! So I am sorry , I haven't been to visit anyone recently as it has been ridiculously busy around here. I promise , I will try and get to everyone's blogs later this week and catch up!

Important Lawsuit Could Affect Bloggers

2010-03-23T16:20:00.000-07:00

I am not sure how many of our readers embed fun YouTube videos on their blogs but thought I would write a post talking about an important Lawsuit currently happening.

Viacom VS Google Lawsuit

Below a link to a summary of the case

Ars Technica Article

And below is how I believe it will affect me and other webmasters and bloggers

Embedding Youtube Videos Possible Impact on Webmaster

It is difficult to summarize all the information, but if any of you remember the days of Napster and the outcome including those who download music from file sharing sites and are targeted by the music industry you will understand the possible impact on all of us.

This could well even effect embedding videos on places like FaceBook and other sites including School Reuinion sites

Steve
sorry for the boring non horsey post

This Dipstick

2010-03-22T06:23:00.000-07:00

I tell ya, if it isn't one thing , it's another. Yesterday evening, Stephen went outside to feed the girls for me and sure enough, he comes in, "You better check Misty, she hurt her leg again." "Hurry, Darling". Good grief, I thought and sure enough, a three legged horse. And just after a relatively clean bill of health. Stephen helped me get her into the stall. I gave her a dose of Banamine and filled up the water and hay and proceeded to poultice her knee, yet once again. By this morning, she already looks better and really wants out and spit her expensive Banamine dose out at me. I scooped it up with my finger and forced it on her. Too bad, she will stay install rest again until I think she can handle the outdoors. I'm not sure what she did it on this time as things have really melted around here. It does look better this morning already. I'm hoping that this is merely a minor set back. I doubt very much that I will ride Misty this year at all. Think I will rest her a good long time.

Well, We're On The Fence.........

2010-03-18T16:26:00.000-07:00

Kola and Misty had there Equine Wellness visit today. Misty's body score a 4.5 /9 and Kola a 6/9. Last year Kola was scored at an 8. That being that, Dr. Schreiner isn't convinced that Kola is Cushings, short of doing the steroid test which puts Kola at risk for laminitis. At this point in time, since we're all on the fence with this, it was unanimous to hold for now and see how she sheds out. The Doc with very pleased with our progress with Kola's weight loss and of course once the Doc was here, I was able to pluck mounds of hair off Kola, so I am somewhat relieved for now and we'll wait and see.

Both girls received their rabies and Potomac horse fever shots today and I will give the flu/rhino in 2 weeks and the 4-way in another 3 weeks from there. Kola had her teeth floated and her teeth looked great, Misty had hers done last year and they still looked fine. Eyes were the same as last year, except Kola has a little tiny skin tag type thing on her right lower lid which again we will watch. Doc also attempted to flush out her tear ducts as Kola tends to drain sometimes, since she was already sedated for the teeth float, but that was not very successful so I will start her on eye drops over the weekend and see if we can't clear her tear ducts that way.

Misty has a little loss of flexion in the left knee she injured last winter and I will start a joint supplement as soon as possible, although it didn't seem to impede her in the pasture this week as she ramrodded back and forth in her usual Mustang imitation. Also Misty seems to have developed a lump on her trachea midway down. She is not bothered by it. She isn't coughing. So it will be another thing we'll watch. More than likely a hematoma from a whack or something she may have gotten into.

Both girls were well behaved for their visit and I am pleased to find them both in relatively good health. This is precisely why I like this wellness program. It makes for good record keeping and consistent care. And it's nice to hear that one is a good "horse mommy".

Happy St.Patrick's Day

2010-03-17T07:57:00.000-07:00

Well, Vet isn't coming until tomorrow, my mistake, doh! Anyway, Wanted to wish everyone a Happy St.Patrick's Day! Although my heritage is not that of Irish, but rather Scottish, it gives me the excuse of putting up some bagpipe music. Forgot how much I love it. My Dad used to play the pipes. They are quite loud at 7am outside and directly under your nose, LOL!

Good News & Suspected Bad News

2010-03-15T14:24:00.000-07:00

Well, during the first days of March, I was very pleased to see Kola coming out of Winter not nearly as fat as she was last Spring. Slightly overweight, but not bursting at the seams. She looked good and then what seemed to be overnight, she blew out in a bunch of extra long hair and her face looked odd, but I could not put my finger on it. She was still eating & drinking normally and acting her goofy self, but she doesn't look quite right. Pretty soon, like this past week, I noticed some muscle wasting in her neck and rear. Last week a pot belly and a sway back stance. I wormed them both last week and switched up my wormer in case of resistance. Tomorrow the Vet, Doc Terry will come out and I warned her. I'm pretty sure Kola has graduated from Equine Metabolic Syndrome to Cushings. I will not do the High Dose Steroid Test with subsequent lab draws, because I do not wish to bring on a laminetic episode, my luck she'd founder. Needless to say I will get a diagnosis soon and I will put money on Cushings. I have no doubt my Vet will agree.

After doing some reading on the symptoms, I finally figured out what was wrong with Kola's face. She has the classic fat deposits above her eyes. They look puffy. There is a drug I'm interested in for her, should the Vet agree with me and it is called Cyproheptadine. It is a 70% to 80% effective treatment of Cushings in Equines. And from what I've read, you dose it and up the dose until symptoms begin to subside. Comes in a crushable pill form.

And can someone Please tell me what the hell are these birds? Are they a Partridge? They were huge and quite aggravated with me as I brought the car to a stop to photograph them.

I did say there was good news didn't I. The good news is that I managed to survive cleaning the lean-to, although the paddock and pen are nasty deep muddy poo. That will get scraped after it dries a bit here. Also Stephen bought me a new camera for my Birthday. It's a Sony Cybershot, the latest one. Very nice camera. I'm still playing with it of course and I have a lot to learn about it yet.

Old Horse Books

2010-03-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

Callie bought me a Barnes and Noble Nook for my birthday and I have been looking round at some of the old out of print books on horses at Google Books, One of the reasons I wanted a Nook was to read some of the old classics and old history books, but while checking I decided to check what old books about horses were available

Fascinating reading

The horse by Isaac Phillips Roberts published 1905

The Gentleman's Farriery: or A Practical Treatise By J. Bartlet Published 1773

The modern art of taming wild horses John Solomon Rarey 1858

And I thought this was quite interesting

Nutrient requirements of horses National Research Council (U.S.). 1961

These are just a few of the horse related books I found there are literally thousands

One of the reasons I like the Nook is because I can download these books for free and read them like any other book sat away from the computer.

And I can not leave this post today without telling my darling wife VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARLING

I consider myself Liberal BUT !!!!

2010-03-03T07:47:00.000-08:00

Some may be very offended by this post BE WARNED
I like to consider myself a liberal , but sometimes I wonder if I am really at heart,

After reading Mrs Mom's Post Dealing With Thugs, and watching our daily local news of gang shootings, drug dealing and Robbery and Murders it makes me think maybe I am much more right wing than I think I am,

Let me talk first about what being a parent is and should be,

Loving, Nurturing, Life Teaching, Providing For and teaching your children between right and wrong ( The last is fundamental to children turning into valued members of society ).

Now I consider many of the problems we see on the streets are due to 3 causes

1. Poor Education ( why are inner city schools 30 + kids per class and and the burbs less than 25 per class ) something seems cockeyed.

2. Easy Route To Money ( Just bloody Lazy ) sometimes makes me think conscription might be a good thing to build the work ethic in

3. Not learning from parents The difference between right and wrong and not being disciplined by parents.

This is my solution ( Please try not to be offended )

If parents do not exercise their responsibilities to parent make them responsible for their children's crimes

I.E.
1. Fine parents if children under 16 habitually commit crimes , if they can not pay fines PUT THEM IN JAIL ( Crime of having children and not being parents ).

2. Take away all forms of government assistance

Hopefully the threat itself might make parents more responsible and very few would be forced to suffer the consequences if not then they will get what they deserve.

Woops suppose this could be considered extreme right wing and I apologize to those who I may have offended

Steve

It's Warming Up!

2010-03-02T07:32:00.000-08:00

It is finally warming up a bit around here. Supposed to get to the 40's by the weekend so I decided to remove blankets this week. Misty looks great and Kola, well, not as bad as last year. A little on the overweight side but not nearly as bad as she was. I noticed although she has her fat pads over the tail region, her shoulders look much better. Last year, she actually had huge shoulder creases, this year not so much. I'm looking forward to warmer weather, however, I do dread the results of it. We'll be swimming in shit and mud. I may have to hire the shit removal company at $200 a truck load. And I still have to remove shit from the barn. Too much to do. Chainsaw a large number of trees down and fire up the burn pile before all the snow melts. We'll have to get a dumpster over here as well. We have a large amount of purging to do. Thankfully what is not accomplished on a weekly basis from now until summer, I'll be able to finish up in June as I have two weekends off in a row. And I can work on my tan at the same time!

Awards & New Friends.........

2010-03-01T10:36:00.000-08:00

I haven't received an award in awhile and I am a bit late getting to this, however my new friend at No Hoof, No Horse? who happens to live just down the road from me, so to speak, has bestowed this "Beautiful Blogger Award" upon me, of which I thank her. I am to share 7 things about myself that are currently not known to my blog-readers, and then tag 15 fellow bloggers. It is hard to top Mrs.Mom's 7 things she posted at Oh Horse Feathers. Humorous read! Now to think of 7 things, y'all don't know about me.

1) I'm most certain that I will be going to hell and upon my arrival there, a co-worker will be lighting the turd I'll be smoking.

2) I am considered "high-maintenance" by many, my husband, my co-workers, my daughter.

3) I like jewelry, lots of it and I have more western boots than most, ridiculous, I know.

4) On the topic of boots and such, I have a standard dress code I follow. That would be boots and blouse and jeans of choice, dark ones for dress and fancier boots, lite jeans for casual and if I am not dressed, it's scrubs for work and PJs the rest of the time.

5) I like watching Ghost Hunters International...........Stephen hates that, but he watches World Federation Wrestling......I call that even.

6) I have no filter, I say whatever is on my mind and I use my MS as my excuse, "frontal lobe lesions".

7) I have a great sense of humor and I am able to laugh at myself.

Now to pass this award on............I think I'll cheat. Most of you have already received this award and I cannot think of 15, so I'm cheating and going for 5.

First to John & Regina at Horse Talk Indiana who have been around for a little while and have marvelous trail adventures to share.

Next to receive this award will be Gtyyup at Life At The Rough String Ranch, new to me for sure, awesome blog!

Next extremely new to me Baba Yaga's Mirror. Another great read!

And onto Donna, an ole friend blogger with a brand new blog.......If Wishes Were Horses.

And last but certainly NOT least.......Suzanne at Golden Days. New to me and packed full of news!

CONGRATS! Everyone! Enjoy!

How Did You Find Your Horse?

2010-02-24T14:23:00.000-08:00

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..........

2010-02-22T07:59:00.000-08:00

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

Yet Another Contraversy-Wild Mustangs American Heritage

2010-02-18T12:42:00.000-08:00

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 !

2010-02-15T16:15:00.000-08:00

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....

2010-02-11T18:18:00.000-08:00

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..........

2010-02-09T09:04:00.000-08:00

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...............

2010-02-03T11:39:00.000-08:00

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.............

2010-02-02T08:06:00.000-08:00

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............

Never forget life is precious

2010-01-31T14:24:00.001-08:00

Sometimes the comments of someone I have never met or do not know
strike home so much more than seeing a news item on TV

I received this comment today on my site

Thank you so much for this site. We recently lost our 35-year old son in a motorcycle accident. He has two children ages 4 and 3. I have used information from your site in the journal I am working on for them to help them remember their Daddy--and have included the events from the year of his birth, the year of his graduation, and from the year of his death--2009. I am looking forward to your posting the information for 2009.

Which bought home how precious life is and how we take for granted that those around us will always be there

So before you go to sleep tonight give your loved ones a kiss and for those who live far away make a phone call and remind them you love them

Steve

Reflections of a Brit In America

2010-01-30T16:16:00.000-08:00

It has now been nearly 10 years since this Brit met Callie and decided to come to America
Some things seem second nature and normal, others still seem strange

1. Driving on the wrong side of the road
2. Driving an automatic car
3. Where we are the much slower pace of traffic and better mannered drivers
4. Not being able to walk to the local shops
5. The wonderful variety and color of the birds
6. Getting used to spelling things how they sound not how I was taught E.G. Color -- Colour and many many more examples.
7. Having a garden bigger than a postage stamp and using a tractor to mow the lawn
8. Collecting the mail from the end of the drive rather than mailman putting it through front door letter box
9. Big boys toys like quads, trucks, Snowmobiles and Motorbikes ( Last two I AM NOT ALLOWED TO HAVE we have democracy in this house and Callie and Zoe outvote me every time even when Zoe is at college )
10. College Tuition and the debts kids build up getting an education
11. Kids going to school at 7.00 AM that still blows me away
12. School Busses for most kids going to school
13. Calling things by different names ie washing up liquid ( Dishsoap) plus loads of others to numerious to mention
14. The price of Petrol whoops sorry Gas
14. The very different political system and how influenced politics is by big business
15. And last but not least the size of the country as demonstrated below

I am currently working on a new web project looking at events around the country and the vast differences when writing up these two events bought this home to me

Mount Dora Arts Festival
Mount Dora, Florida
February 6th to February 7th
Mount Dora Arts Festival

Mount Dora Arts Festival is one of the largest in the state with about 285 artists on location from all over the world attracting more than 300,000 visitors. The artists are selected by a panel of jurors from nearly 900 applicants. Wear comfortable shoes, sunscreen and sunglasses. There is a lot to see spread out all throughout the town.

Portland WinteRush
Fort Portland, Maine
February 13th
Portland WinteRush

Portland WinteRush, get out and enjoy winter featuring Maine Snow Sculpting Contest, Snow Plow Parade, State Street Extension Sledding Hill, Build Igloo Forts with Snowball Fights along the Bowling Green Path, Snow Painting and a Scavenger Hunt. Dress up warm and wear boots.