Are you Crazy?

Foxy is on the up and up. She was very happy today. She rolled, she kicked, she bucked. She and Belle ran around. She is eating like a pregnant mare. Her ouies are healing up, too. I have not been working them because I don't want to add anymore stress on either one, but we played in the arena today. Belle is so jealous of Foxy. I was rubbing Foxy's belly and feeling for Outlaw (alive and kicking). Belle had to butt her head into the process. She had to be loved on. Then Foxy decided that she needed more TLC. It was a circular circus. They could not be rubbed at the same time, but took very impatient turns. Kid #1 was home babysitting Kid #3 so that he would not be late for scouts (lately I am taking way too long at the barn and the kids are sick of being late for everything) Kid #2 was beating the jolly ball in Foxy's stall to death, so it was just me and the girls. He would love to be able to sit on Foxy while playing tether ball with the jolly ball that is suspended from the ceiling, but even he realizes that she would kill him. He waits until the stall is clean and then attempts to kill it.

The weather has been so warm that both girls are shedding heavily. Belle is really bad since her coat is so thick.

Anyway, back to the title. My family and I went to the Clinton Anderson Clinic. It was really interesting. He has some very good points. The kids really understand now that they need to be able to convince the horse that they are working with that they are the boss and that there are extremes to being too nice and too harsh. However, I am not about to turn them loose on Foxy or Belle to ride bridleless (did I spell it right? I have no freaking clue!!!) I might ride Belle with a halter on occasion, but it would not be "natural" for either one of us to do without. Belle would say "WooHoo!!! She wants to die today!! Let's do something really stupid!!!" I understand that it is supposed to be the "ultimate test of horsemanship" OK, so what? I am not ready for the ultimate challenge. I like to ride my cranky mare. We like to be cranky together. There are many things that we can both improve upon, but it would be like me running around topless. Yep, I could try it, but it would get ugly and everything would all hang out. If I really want to do that, then I need to work hard to lose a ton of weight, firm and tone the muscles, get a tummy tuck and a chest lift, but then I would not see the point. Why not just wear a shirt? It's the same with a bridle. Just use the darn thing and nobody gets sued.

Apparently I did not get the same presentation that others got at the same event. I never thought that the whole idea was to go bridleless. I thought that the whole presentation was about figuring out what made your horse tick so that the horse could do the job that he was meant to do, with out us sabotaging the horse by reinforcing bad behavior and punishing good behavior. That is what I understood. I liked the presentation. I will use some of his ideas, but that is as "natural" as I can get. The tickets were free. I got more than my money's worth. What more can I ask for?

Four weeks??? Only If we are Lucky

This has been an eventful weekend. We went to the Clinton Anderson Tour in Fort Collins. It felt good to get out for a day or two. The kids were angels (which is quite different from usual. I have terrors. I love them , but I am aware of their annoyance factor on myself and others. They paid attention, answered questions, asked questions and had some great insights to horse behavior and what their responsibilities are as horse people. If we got nothing else out of the weekend, that in itself was worth the trip.

Now to the ugly stuff. Sunday, we got home too late to check on the horses. First thing this morning, I popped in the check on them and makeup a batch of Belle's EPSM diet. I will admit that I should have spent more time with them, but I had my excuses. This afternoon, I came back. I gave Belle some lovin' and then went to Foxy's stall. Now, normally, I let the kids handle Foxy, but it had been since Friday, so I went in to see how she was feeling, cantankerous, pissy, snorty, etc. Right on her side, just up and to the side of her flank was a huge gash of a hoof print. She had a big chunk and a half out of her rump, too. My first thought was, Crap, is Outlaw OK? I felt her belly, and sure enough, I got kicked. Yeah!!! he is still alive and kicking. My next thought was, Belle, I am going to kick your butt. To make a long story, slightly shorter, the girls were put out to run by someone trying to be nice and Foxy got hurt by a horse that she should not have been out with.

She is still eating, there is no discharge, no sign of labor, so although the vet is primed and set, we are playing the waiting game. If she gets worse or doesn't get any better soon, the vet is going to check her out thoroughly, but for now, we just wait. The kids are pretty upset, (Heck, so am I) but I can drive my self crazy (super short trip, this month) or I can just hope and pray for the best. She moves into the foaling stall this week, but we still need more time for his lungs to be fully developed before foaling actually occurs.

I would have taken pics, but I left the camera in a vehicle that is now 120 miles away. I am really bad about that type of stuff. Just imagine a couple of huge chunks out of her white on this side.

Five weeks and counting!!!

Five weeks left. Foxy is finally slowing down. . . a little. She is so sad looking when she is out in the arena and she sees the kids and mutt out on the trail, leaving her behind. She really wants out on the trail. Belle is doing great on the EPSM diet. She has so much energy and is in a feisty mood most of the time. She doesn't trash her stall nearly as much as she used to.

Foxy's second baby

Here is a pic of Holly, Foxy's second baby, right after she was born.


Here are some pics of her first day out to pasture.




Here she is with the herd.

Danni, Foxy's first foal, is the buckskin in the background, for SD, it is not a popquiz, you can refer back to the previous entry if you need to:)

Holly's interesting markings that are no longer visible, since she went so dark.


Here she is all Chocolatey, with Belle and Danni.
I am hoping for some newer pics of Holly now that she is turning two. She is going into training to be an awesome reining horse like her sire.

Holly's Dad

Six Weeks left!!!

Only six weeks left. I am really excited. The weather has been really bizarre. Warm for the past few days, snowing yesterday. The sun is out today, but with a chance of more snow. Perfect for all the new babies coming this spring.

As mentioned before, Foxy has only had solid babies. This is her first foal, Danni. We had just watched Man from Snowy River for the millionth time and the kids decided that Danni(an ok mare version of Denny), also the name of my high school buddy's daughter, would be a great name for the "Buckskin."

She is an awesome horse, that I was really tempted to buy, but I figured that we could not afford a second horse. If we hadn't have moved, I still would only have the one horse.

Isn't she adorable?

Here is her dad, No wonder she is a solid.


This is Foxy as a yearling.



Here is Tink, the new baby daddy, as requested.

Tasty Pasty and other tails

So we got to the barn, yesterday and it was warm and there was daylight, so the kids took the mutt on a run. As I have mentioned, he is used to being a farm dog and prefers off leash, but we only let him off leash when no one else is around. Don't worry, he is very respectful of horses (Foxy kicked him enough in the head when he was a pup)and mostly leaves them alone. Actually, now that I am thinking about it, he used to be terrible about grabbing certain horses' tails and then running. He did this alot with Foxy's first foal(when she was three) He also liked to torment two big geldings, but he never messed with horses on the trail or under saddle -- only out at pasture with horses that he grew up with.

I took the girls out to the outdoor arena to let them play. Foxy immediately noticed the kids and the dog on the trail. She started nickering softly. It was really sad. Her ears were all on them and she kept stretching out her neck and whimpering. They were too far away to hear her. She is definitely their horse. She adores them and is sick of being on maternity leave. Enough already!!!

Pictured here is Shooter attempting to teach Kid 2 to play dead, complete with tongue handing out.

The girls did not want to pose for pictures today, they wanted attention. Belle, with her big nose and moustache is interfering with Foxy's picture, but Foxy would not stand still, either. I made the kids brush her out really good when they came back. Foxy was really happy when they came back. I tried out their new horse treats. It was one of the acceptable horse treats for Belle's diet. Crackling oat cereal. It's actually really good and I need to find a better container. I put it in an old supplement bucket, but now I don't want to snack on it when I am giving some to the girls because it has gick on it. (It is seriously good.) The girls like it, too.




Belle was wormed today. As often as I have to do this, I always forget how funny she is when it's worming time. I walked up with syringe in hand. She grabbed it and tried to eat it. I rescued it and then gave her the dose. She loves the stuff. She is the only horse I know that enjoys "Tasty Pasty"

I worked Belle in the round corral today. I had to lead her through the arena with the barrels set up. She was so excited. She tried to run a barrel on our way. If we were not so similar, I think that she would drive me nuts. She just wanted to move. She worked on W/T/C, but kept getting distracted by Foxy's calls. I am going to have to work on their separation anxiety. After we were done, I turned them out together to roll.

Kid 1 had the dog and camera again today. 164 pics later, they returned. Even Shooter was sick of posing, after a while and had to cool off.

New pics

I finally got the pics of my camera!!! Yippee!!
Actually, I just turned off my computer and then restarted it four hours later and then it worked fine. This is George. He is ready for St. Patrick's day. I just took the red lights out(they had died anyway)I meant to replace them with white, but accidently grabbed the box of green. It looks pretty good. Expecially in the dark.

This picture is for all of those people with green constantly in their pics. Don't you just miss this (Stacey, this means YOU!!!) This was just dug out today. We have been using the other doors for a while.


This picture was supposed to be Belle kicking up in the air as she rolled. I am slow. But she was able to roll, and roll, and roll. She needed a good grooming afterwards.

The kids are bringing the girls in for the night. Foxy was really mellow today. No bucking, running, pulling. She got out all of her crankiness yesterday when she was left at home while Belle and I took our trail ride. We both really needed it. No pics, though:(

Typical

I finally found my camera and now the pics won't download. That is pretty darn typical. I am trying to get ready for a chess tournament, exams, labs graded and the real estate agent called and she is showing the house tomorrow. That is pretty darn typical. I took the camera out to take pics of Foxy as she bucks, kicks, and jumps after being put out to pasture, but she just stood there, begging for attention. That is pretty darn typical.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.