Farewell, my beloved Bart

On July 1st, Bart died. He was bouncing around when I left for spin class, but after breakfast, he wasn't looking right. I went out to let him out of his stall. He staggered out of his stall and collapsed. I held his head, told him that I loved him and it was time for him to let go. He took one more breath. He is buried in the back pasture. Belle will be buried right next to him. He was truly loved.

Award

I am sitting at the University of Utah, waiting for my class to start as I write this. Why did I bring Bart home right before I had tot go right back to SLC and go to an intense graduate level class? I don't know, I must be crazy. Stacey at The Jumping percheron blog nominated me for an award. Its the Liebster award. I have no idea why it is called the Liebster award. I get to answer questions about myself. WooHoo! 1.If you could ride anywhere in the world, where would it be? Ireland- There are no snakes. 2.Have you ever been out of the country that you live? Canada and off the coast of Mexico. 3.What's your job, do you like it? I am a high school science teacher. I love it. It is at a tiny Charter school so I get to have a lot of flexibility. I can bring ponies to school. I get to play in a greenhouse. 4. Proudest moment with your horse. With Belle, when we were at school and had a fire alarm, we, of course, brought Belle out to the evacuation site with us. It was windy and cold. The students in my class all huddled on one side of her. Some other students that were not in my animal science class were telling the huddled students that it wasn't safe to do that. One student piped up and said she was the safest horse the do this with. It was great. 5. Any horse tattoos? No tattoos at all. My truck has stickers, though. "My other ride is a Clydesdale" "Life's a journey, enjoy the ride" and "Horses are proof that God loves us" 6. Favorite place to haul out to ride Shoshoni arena. We love the Shoshoni Gymkhanas. 7. Any other hobbies besides riding? Science! I have 3 kids actively involved in 4-H, FFA, Band, Sports. I have started spin classes and Monday I am starting crossfit classes, too. 8.Most ridiculous piece of tack you've seen. Spade bits 9.Furthest distance you've taken your horse aka road trip, day haul, show, etc? Salt Lake to home, 318 miles. 10.Is this your first blog award? Nope, I don't remember what the other was, too long ago. 11.Do you board or have your horse(s)at home? Most of the time my kids are home. Last year, I sent Belle, Lady, and Foxy to Fall pasture to wean Antares. Then I switched and brought Belle and Foxy home and sent Antares and Misty out with Lady. Lady is currently at the trainer, but coming home today. I don't follow many blogs, I don't even follow 11, so I will pass on the passing it on. Sorry, I am Lazy. Or just to busy. Not sure which:)

birthday time

Happy birthday to Antares! I will be home tonight and will also be bringing Lady home! I can't wait to see the ponies, kids, puppies, etc. On a separate note, should I celebrate Bart's birthday on June 22nd, the day he came home, Or should it be in March like Foxy, Lady, Belle? I am partial to March 24th, since that is Peyton manning birthday. This is the fun of unpapered ponies!

Bart is home. Belle is not impressed at all. my phone is acting up so as soon as i can get my videos downloaded to the computer, i will post video. just know that bart is home.

Lady's day out.

Actually Miss Lady will be gone for two weeks. It was hard dropping her off at the trainer. It was like taking my kid to their first day of kindergarten. I couldn't wait to get an update on his impression of her after the first 24 hours. She bucked. (Thanks goodness! Why? Because that is why she went. I am not putting my 40 years old butt on the back of a known bucker. I am lazy that way) He said after he rode her bucks out, she is really smooth. (Well, ya! She should be) So all of the time we have put into her is finally being realized. (Well, it has always been realized. We are just seeing our hard work through another person, now) Here is a shot of her in the round pen yesterday.

Misty is being test ridden tomorrow. I am going to miss that horse, but she needs to be someone's special friend. Kid #1 has Lady to seriously focus on now. Kid #2 has both Fox and Antares. Kid #3 has his llamas. And I will have my team! Sweet Dreams are made of these!!!

Rough day on the farm

For the dogs, it was fine. Turkeys. . . Not so much. I found parts of one of my hens. Rabbits. . . Worse. Kid #1's doe that we have been watching due to abnormal behavior ate her tail to the bone last night. Which meant I had to put her down. That meant calling around to find said kid. She wasn't answering her phone. Kid #2 wasn't either and Kid #3 left his in the car. Why do all of these kids have phones if they won't answer them!!! I digress. I called the ex, but I had to explain the whole thing before he would hand the phone over. Then I had to explain the whole thing again to the kid. Fortunately, the kid is not stupid. Even though Cinderella is a pet, she realized that the poor thing was going to die a painfull death if we let this continue. She has ribbons and trophies to remember her, at least. This is where the ponies had the rough morning. Mr. BPA got my pistol ready for me (he is so helpful:) I strapped it on(I love the feel of a sidearm on my belt, I am truely in the WRONG profession) And pulled Cinder from her cage. The ponies took one look at me, the pistol, and the rabbit and took off her the back 40 (ok, their pasture is only 9 acres) I have learned to make it a clean death. One shot. She had started in on her little paws, too. Not sure what turned a show bunny into a flesh eating zombie, but she is out of pain, now. No, I didn't eat her. Ick!

Changing Seasons

My herd will be changing. Misty is for sale. Lady is going in for training while her PA(kid #1) is in Utah. Bart, Belle's Brother and former teammate, is retiring from driving and becoming a Wyoming pony. Belle--- well, maybe she will snap out of her funk when her baby bro comes home. She is blind on the right side. She struggles with Antares, the 2 year old of Foxy. I am not sure if she will make it through another Wyoming winter. I am going to try and shoot some video footage of Belle and Bart's reunion. They have not seen each other in over 6 years. It should be cool. Belle with Kid #3 and Daniel, the watchcat, before her blindness started in that eye.