I'm loved! :-)

My fellow Canadian - Cdncowgirl gave me my first little blog award thingy-ma-jig! Right back at ya' Cdn! You, Steph and Denise were the first 3 blogs I read! Keep up the writing.

How cool is that?

I'd like to pass it on to:

Twinville - love all of the cool photos she posts
Sidetracked - our brave hunter rider!
20 Meter - for tempting me with expensive saddle pads. ;-p

Rusty - another update

Rusty seems to be doing a bit better today. He is a bit brighter-eyed and not as lethargic. He gobbled up a big dish of beet pulp, got his medicine and then was turned out with some hay. He was actually eating the hay and not just pushing it around. I stuck around to watch him for about an hour to make sure he was eating a bit... I quite enjoy the sound of a horse munching on hay. I should've brought a book out with me. lol.

He still seems to be dropping weight though, so I've got a call into the vet to see if there is something else we can supplement his feed with that won't irritate his stomach.

I've been to two tack shops today to try and find a reasonably priced pair of black reins. I didn't think it would be that hard! I finally found a pair I liked at the tack shop that Iwas trialling saddles from. I also returned the saddle I don't want, as Iwas starting to get worried about having a new expensive saddle just lying around. I haven't paid for the new-t0-me saddle that I have, since the owner wasn't there to calculate the trade on my old saddle. This whole process seems to be taking a while, but the shop is quite local, so it's not that big of a deal.

More updates to come as I learn more. Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

Rusty - update

Rusty is doing ok - no real changes - better or worse. I went out to check on him last night and he seemed a bit less lethargic, but still not himself.

I brought him in to the barn and groomed and fussed over him a bit. It has been raining lately, so he kindly covered himself in mud. His feet are looking good - they were a bit of a wreck when I first got him. At least I don't have to worry about that right now.

The vet thinks he has an ulcer - but the only way to determine that 100% is to do an endoscopy - a tube with a camera down into the stomach. No vets do that here, so he would have to be shipped to a veterinary hospital about 5 hours away. I'm not going to put him through that, since he is older. If I had a young performance horse, I would probably get all of the tests done to make sure there was nothing bad going on.

We are starting treatment for the ulcer today - I rushed to the vet's after work to pick up the medicine. It is in a tube like dewormer, so it should be easy to give. The barn owner will give him his dose today and I'll do it on both weekend days. The vet said that if it is an ulcer, we should see improvement in about 48 hours and then we continue the treatment for 2 weeks.

She thinks there might be a couple of other minor things at play, but we won't worry about those until we try the ulcer treatment. His blood tests were a little off - particularly in the proteins, but the wonky levels could be caused by the ulcer. Poor Rusty - I feel so bad for him - he is such a nice quiet boy. I wish they could talk when they were sick so we could know more.. :-)

The vet also suggested trying to find him a better turnout situation. She said that it would be best for him in the long run to be out in a small herd of nice gentle horses. She is worried that if he stays in his bigger herd, the problems might keep recurring. I've asked my barn owner if there is a way to switch some horses around, but haven't heard back from her yet. I'm hoping there is something she can do, as I don't want to have to move Rusty again. I really like this barn. There is a slight chance we will be moving to the other end of the city next summer, so I may have to move him anyways, but I would prefer to do it once, instead of a bunch of times.

Nothing much else going on in these parts - I'm disappointed that I can't ride, but his health is more important. I think I have my saddle situation sorted out now - I found a used one from a local shop. I have to go out to the tack shop at lunch and buy some new reins to replace the ones I broke last weekend. I only have a set of brown ones at home and my bridle is black. Matching a little bit is very important! Although - I have a dark brown saddle... Does anyone else get all caught up in trying to match their tack? I shouldn't care because it doesn't really matter, but sometimes it gets to me...

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Cdn - I changed my blog colours - I was getting tired of reading white text on a dark background! I think the white/black is a bit easier to read... ;-p

Rusty is sick :-(

My barn owner left me a message on Sunday afternoon to let me know that Rusty seemed a bit sick.

I immediately panicked - thinking colic or heart failure or something bad. I couldn't get a hold of her until Monday mornning and she told me that he stopped eating most of his grain and seemed a little lethargic.

I was home sick on Monday and without a car, so I had to wait until 5pm to go out and see him. The vet had been at the barn for another horse, so she checked poor Rusty while she was there. His heart, lungs, gut sounds were all good and he didn't have a fever (she checked twice). Her first reaction is that he might have a stomach ulcer! Yikes. Apparently they are fairly easy to treat with medication for 2 weeks. She took blood work and a fecal sample (fun job). They were supposed to call me yesterday with the results, but I haven't heard from them yet!!

I'm trying to wait patiently, but I'm not doing a good job. I thought I'd write a post about it to sort out my thoughts. If Rusty does have an ulcer (poor boy!) I'd like to get the medication going asap to hopefully have him feeling better. I've been out to check him every night - he is ok, but fairly lethargic. I've been handgrazing him, as the vet recommeded as much grass as possible.

Apparently sweet feed is the worst thing for an ulcer, so he is off that for now. He is eating a small amount of beet pulp twice a day, as well as being out on pasture all night. He has dropped at least 200 lbs in the past 2 weeks - it wasn't that noticeable at first, but this week the barn owner and I really noticed it.

I feel so bad that I can't do much for him until we hear from the vet. He is such a sweet boy, that I feel extremely negligent that I didn't notice that something wasn't quite right. I'm not there for his feed times usually, so I rely on the barn owner for stuff like that. This is definitely one of the downsides of boarding. My barn owner is great - she held Rusty for the vet since I couldn't be there and didn't charge me for it. She is also willing to try any options that might help a horse, whether it be feeding, training, etc.

I'm still recovering from my sickness - I had tonsilitis or something. I lost my voice and sound like a squeaky little mouse - or maybe an elf??? Most people find it funny, but I've had a couple of people look at me like I'm a total weirdo. Nice. This latest round of illnesses has made me realize how lucky I am to be in very good health normally. I have been taking it for granted that I can speak, hear and move around without any limitations.

Some people aren't so lucky - have you guys read about Mikael's daughter's head injury? That was the scariest thing I have read in a long time. It sounds like her daughter is recovering, so that is good news. I'm really going to make an effort to live a healthier life - watch more closely what I eat, get more exercise, etc.

I'm also staring down a list of about 19 things I need to do - none of them are urgent or life-threatening, but it is stuff that I have been putting off and need to take care of. Hopefully I can make a dent in it by this weekend. I've added one thing to the list - research horse feed needs for senior horses - maybe there is something that ol' Rusty can eat that is easy on his stomach, but will help keep his weight up.

Meme, back from road trip

I'm back from my short road trip to visit my family in southern Ontario. It was a short visit, but great to see my family. I don't get home often enough. I didn't take a single picture while I was there since I've been sick with a nasty cough and cold since last week. My Mom is a nurse, so I had her fetching pills and juice for me. :-)

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I guess the meme is next - my post today is a little disjointed, thanks to the many versions of tylenol I've been taking lately! lol

Cdncowgirl tagged me this time and I'm happy to participate, since it is a fun one.

Six Things You Don't Know About Me

1. The origins of the nickname "littlekeebler" - since Cdn requested that - here is the kind of boring answer. I'm quite short - about 5' even. Waayyyy back in university we were out with a group of friends and the weather turned cold. I didn't have a coat or a sweater, so we stopped by a friend's place and he lent me a hoodie. This friend was about 6'2"... Another friend laughed about how big the sweater was and they flipped up the hood - and someone shouted - "hey, a keebler elf!". And the name stuck. I always seem to have some sort of nickname - half-pint, littlekeebler, keeb, shorty (real original...).
2. I am a total shop-a-holic. I love shopping and spending money on expensive things - horse related or not. I was practically raised in a mall - so I'm blaming my family! hhahaha - just kidding (sort of). I try very hard to resist my shopping urges, as I would like to save up money for my retirement!
3. I looooove to travel. I daydream about all of the trips I could take if only I had more time off work and more money. I don't do budget travel well, I like to be in clean and safe hotels. So far, I've been to England 2x, Scotland, France, Switzerland, Mexico, Aruba, Alaska and many other parts of the US, as well as lots of places in Canada. Places I'd love to go: Sweden (a friend of mine breeds Lippizzaners!), Russia, Italy, Germany, Peru, Brazil, Costa Rica, Vietnam, anywhere in Africa...
4. I studied five different languages in university. French, Spanish, Russian, Italian and Polish. I don't remember much anymore, except for French. I use French about 40% of the time in my day-to-day work. I love being (almost) bilingual. I think it is good for the brain.
5. I collect information - books, papers, magazine clippings, how-to's, recipes, etc. on all of my favourite hobbies. I also don't like clutter, so I have binders for all of my different collections. A horse info binder, a workout binder, several binders of recipes, etc. Instead of keeping piles of magazines around, I rip out all of the stuff I want to save and put it in my binder. I also have tonnes of electronic files - pdfs, digital photos, web links. I tend to gather lots of information and then not do anything constructive with it, except organize it!
6. I'm a "what you see is what you get" sort of person - I'm an introvert, so I'm not a big social butterfly. If you are a friend or acquaintance and I tell you that you look nice, I mean it. If I offer to help you move or something - I mean it. I can often be quite blunt, but honest. I try to be diplomatic if I can - I guess it is the libra in me. The one contradiction to this is that my sense of humour is very sarcastic and this often confuses people. Once they get to know me, I've been told that I can be quite funny.

*Phew* That was harder than I thought! I tag anyone that reads this and wants to participate. Leave a note in the comments to your responses in your blog...

Headin' Down South

I'm going to be heading home for a few days to visit my family. They live about a 7.5 hour drive south west of where I live now. I grew up about 2 hours north of Detroit MI, for reference.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

Saddle testing and broken reins

As part of the great tack clean-up of '08, I have traded in my old English saddle and I have 2 used saddles on trial.

I actually wrote out a bulleted list of all my tack, but it was just too long to post. On the weekend, I sorted and cleaned all of my tack. I sat outside the barn in the sun and laid everything out on the grass. (Guess I should've taken a picture of that!) I have a small pile of stuff that I'm going to try and sell locally.Then, it was off to the riding ring to test saddles. I brought everything outside and put both saddles on the fence, to save me going back into the barn later to switch saddles. Here is Rusty in his first saddle - this saddle is so comfortable and balanced - I'm totally in love with it.

After I rode around for 20 minutes or so, I decided it was time to switch saddles. It was really hot out, so I didn't want to be out for much more than an hour.

Rusty is very quiet and calm, so I didn't bother taking his bridle off or anything - he just stood there patiently...until he noticed the little bit of green grass peeking under the fence. I let him graze because it wasn't a big deal. As I took the first saddle off and stepped to the fence, I thought that I should watch my reins - wouldn't want them stepped on and broken...

As I turned back from putting the saddle on the fence - 2 seconds later!!! - the reins were looped behind his ears and dragging on the ground - just as I was about to reach and drab them, he stepped on the rein, scared himself and BAM - broken reins. D'oh! The reins were old and needed to be replaced anyway, so it wasn't a big deal. With all of the tack that I cleaned and sorted, did you think I would have extra reins there???? Nooo, of course not they were all at home. I could've used a set of yours, Cdn! lol.

So, my second saddle test was put off. I decided to turn Rusty loose in the riding ring to get him used to have a lead line drag behind him - he is scared of that for some reason. I led him down to a big patch of clover and walked away. Can you see him standing way down there? He stood perfectly still for about 10 minutes while I put away my tack.

After a few minutes he started grazing - you can see a bit of the evil lead line in the grass.


He lifted his head as I got closer - probably wondering what the black thing on my face was! (the camera...) He posed for a couple of good pictures, but I deleted about 20 that had his ears going in all directions and him moving around because of the flies.
I can see his little brain working here - "um, do you have treats?" or maybe "she's coming to rescue me from this evil lead line"

This shot cracked me up - he was slowly getting annoyed with the bugs and the fact that I just kept walking around him taking pictures. Too funny.

"Are you done YET?"

That was my weekend - nothing too exciting. I've been sick since Sunday evening, so I haven't been back to test my second saddle. Hoping to do that tonight...

ETA: Does anyone know the settings in Blogger that allows larger views of your pictures when you click on them?? I work with web sites and HTML all day and I can't get it to work!! argh.

Tack, tack and more tack!

I seem to have accumulated a lot of tack in my 14 months or so of (recent) horse ownership. I have a huge jumble of english and western tack- breastplates, halters, polo wraps, saddle pads, bridles, bits, etc. etc. It's amazing how much stuff I end up with - I'm a bit of a shopaholic!

I had horses growing up and while I sold most of my tack back then, I kept 2 english saddles, a bridle and a martingale. I recently donated all but 1 saddle to a riding school that does summer camps for underprivileged kids - along with a pair of paddock boots and some old show clothing - I'm sure it will be put to good use.

I can't seem to pick either english or western riding, so I'm just going to do both! :-)

I wasn't sure that my western saddle fit my horse, but I've ordered a cashel reverse wedge pad specifically designed for western saddles, so I'm hoping that will help. I'm just planning to use the western saddle for trail rides - I find I'm much more relaxed riding western - I don't worry about leg position and posture as much as when I'm riding english.

I just need to find a solid coloured wool blanket to go over the Cashel pad. I'm hoping one of my local tack shops has something - the biggest tack shop around here only has patterend navajo style blankets and I just don't want that right now.

I have 2 english saddles on trial from another local english tack shop - so I'm hoping one of them works. I know that both fit Rusty well, I just need to ride in them and make sure my short stubby legs end up in the right position!

The saddle fitter that came out to help me took my Stubben saddle (that I bought from him last year) and has offered to give me credit towards my new saddle of the same price I paid last year! That is pretty much unheard of in the saddle world - another shop offered to take the saddle on consignment and their cut was 40%!

In addition to testing my new saddles this weekend, I'm going to do a major tack inventory and clean/sort/organize everything that I have. Stuff I don't need will get cleaned and photographed and then posted for sale on a local message board. Hopefully some of the extras will go and I'll have a bit of cash to spend on new stuff! LOL. I already have new stuff in mind that I want - how terrible is that???

As much as I like buying stuff online, I feel quite lucky that there are 3-4 good local tack shops that have a fairly wide range of products. Although, the thinline pads that 20 meter mentioned the other day have me drooling. I think I will save up for one next year and try them out.

Good boy Rusty, gooood boy!

I haven't done much of anything exciting over the past few days. Well - that's not entirely true - I did spend all day Sunday volunteering at a local horse show. It was fun - a couple of acquaintances were there, so I spent a bit of time gabbing with other horse people. I'm not a hugely social person in my day-to-day life - I tend to like to spend time alone, but every know and again I get the need for some human contact. Horse shows seem to be a good place for that as most people are friendly.

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I've been riding Rusty a fair bit. We are staying in the ring for now, just so I can continue to get used to him. He is a pretty steady guy - even after not being ridden for a few days, he is exactly the same as the last time you had him out. I like that consistency right now - I need to rebuild my confidence and get my position and seat nice and solid. I'm sure in a few years I'll be ready for something with a bit more spunk, but right now I'm happy with my old man! :-)

I even put 2 total beginners on him recently and he didn't bat an eyelash - he did try and cut corners a bit, but that is to be expected. He does try and get away with little things, but he is very passive about it.

My hubby Richard got on first. He rode a little bit as a kid, so was more comfortable.

After a couple of laps around the arena, he was asking "how do I make this thing go faster?" lol. I told him he wasn't ready for speed yet, because his hands weren't quite right. Patience grasshopper.

My step-son got on next - he was a little apprehensive, but I convinced him to just sit on Rusty and see what it was like.

Oh great, another beginner to bounce around on my back. There'd better be carrots.So, rider #2 was up. I tried to explain how to shorten and lengthen the reins, but it fell on deaf teenage ears, methinks.

Am I done yet? This is getting old fast.

Max was tied to a fence because he rolled in something nasty. Good thing there was a hose and horse shampoo nearby.

Rider #2 decided to try walking around on his own. Same question as his father: "Can this thing go any faster?" Luckily Rusty is lazy, so he just walked. Neither rider was ready for any speed. If they are still interested, we can try speed on the longe line someday. Interestingly enough, both riders disappeared when it was time to untack and clean up! Bums. :-)
That's about it for me - time to hit the hay. 0600 rolls around pretty early in these parts and the tack and grain don't buy themselves, so it's off to work!

Important Papers - Do you know where yours are?

Recently Richard was required to fill out forms to get a security clearance at work. They ask all kinds of information - including dates of weddings/divorces and addresses of relatives, etc. Richard couldn't remember the date of his 1st wedding or divorce, so being the helpful wife that I am, I made a snide comment about it must be on a form or certificate somewhere. Richard laughed and said that he had no idea where such a paper might be hidden, if he even still had it.

This led us to a major search of our house - we found it eventually. Stashed away in a box in the back recesses of the basement. I think I need to re-organize our storage area! I also found cans of tonic water - time for a g&t! :-)

This led me to a mini-panic about all of our other important papers - marriage license, mortgage documents, work related documents (pension, insurance, etc.), life/house insurance forms and contact info. My plan for the weekend is to organize all of this information into one location so that we can find it in an emergency.

I do have a horse related twist to this post - don't worry! This also led me to realize that my horsey papers were strewn all over the house. Bills of sale, vet records, association memberships, etc. were in piles and some in unopened envelopes!

So, I'm going to put together a binder for Mr. Rusty - so that everything is organized - just in case.

Here are a few things that will be in my binder:

• Rusty's bill of sale
• Printed emails from previous buyer with notes on Rusty's past
• Vet pre-purchase certificate
• Vaccination records
• Vet records
• Ontario Equestrian Federation membership card/contact info - they provide insurance to members. This might come in handy if something were to happen to me
• RideOntario time log (some associations have logs that allow you to accumulate hours working with your horse that in turn equal prizes)
• Receipts from expensive tack purchases (stubben saddle)
• Membership information for local horse clubs that I belong to, along with contact info and passwords

I was at a show recently and some owners were really organized - binders seemed to be the most popular. Others had no clue where their forms/insurance/registration papers were.

Other things that could go in your horse file system are:

• breed registration certificates (you'd be amazed at the number of local horse for sale ads that go something like this - "this horse is registered "x", but we lost the papers!
• breed organization member cards/member pin numbers/passwords
• futurity nominations/forms/results, etc.
• breeding information, as well as photos of offspring
• show records/results - might come in handy if you were to sell your horse
• photos from shows/events/phases of life (ie weanling/yearling/2yr old etc.)
• trailer safety documents/bill of sale/insurance info
• horse insurance papers

I'm sure there are more things, but that's all I can think of for now. Does everyone have a binder/book/box for their horse(s)?

Tack Rooms and Things Learned

Twinville posted a cool entry about her barn/tack room the other day. It is in the same vein as PonyGirl's blogging space entry.

I tried to take a couple of shots of our tack room, but I just couldn't get it all in with my camera.

Here is a picture to give you an idea. The room is about 14x14 - the saddles are along the wall, with hooks in behind for helmets, lead lines etc. The right side of the picture has hangers for the bridles and halters of the barn owner's horses. Directly behind what you see in the picture are more saddle racks for boarders gear. There is also an overflow tack area out in the main aisle of the barn. Shoulda taken a picture of that!
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I finally had the farrier out to look at Rusty`s hooves. His front hooves were cracking and tearing - from the nail holes from the shoes that were removed just before he came to my place. The farrier thinks it will be a couple of months before the hoof grows out enough to be a proper shape. He is sound, so that is good!

The previous owners told us he was very nervous when having shoes put on - we figure that someone put a nail too far up, which hurt him. Then after that, he knew that shoes hurt, so he had to be twitched and tranq`d for the farrier. They were upfront about it, so that was fine. I wasn`t planning on shoeing him much, if at all.

What they didn`t mention is that Rusty is also afraid of the stand the farrier uses to rasp the foot after the trim! I wasn`t there, but the barn owner told me about it. The farrier has seen that alot - he said that it is usually due to somone hitting the horse with the stand. Real nice. I`m sure it wasn`t the previous owners, but someone in his past. He is such a sweet horse - it really makes me angry to think of the things people do to horses. My farrier is very kind and gentle, so they were able to relax him and get the trim all done.

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I went for a ride yesterday and as I was cooling Rusty out on a loose rein, I realized that he neck reins! I didn`t even think about what I was doing, an old instinct kicked in and I started to neck rein to turn him around and he responded really well! I guess he has had some western training back in his past as well. Now if we could only get a western jog going!

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Here are a few pictures from this morning - I took Rusty out for a 30 min walk around the hay fields to let him graze. He was like a big puppy. What a sweet boy - I`m so happy I found him!

Max was with us as well - Rusty doesn`t have a problem with dogs, so he didn`t mind Max running around.

Larger pictures are on Flickr if anyone has a hard time seeing the teeny-weeny ones that blogger lets you add...

Thanks for the Comments

I just wanted to thank everyone for their comments from the last two posts - it is great to connect with other horse people in this way!

I also wanted to update everyone on the herd dynamics situation. Things have been going better the past week - Jackass is still trying to be a pain, but not as bad as before. The barn owner was away last week as well, so she didn't realize how bad things were. She came home on Monday and Jacksass charged her when she was trying to bring Rusty in for his grain. She disciplined him and over 2 days the situation improved even more. She also saw how many cuts Rusty had, so she separated Jackass out for a few days. Jackson is out for a week in a makeshift paddock with a 25 year old pony mare who will keep him in line. I was very relieved to hear that - I knew she would do something to help.

I had no problems bringing Rusty in by all of the other geldings last night - no one did anything inappropriate. I still carried a dressage whip, just in case. Rusty's kicks/bites are healing up and I didn't notice any new ones. Only one of the other horses has a full set of shoes, but he is high up in the hierarchy and could care less about Rusty - come to think of it, that horse has been lame for almost a month, so I doubt he will be kicking anyone.

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I'm still trying to sort out my saddle fit issues. I have a wintec on trial and I changed the gullet to a wider one - sidenote: the gullet is really easy to change - what a cool system... - and it seemed to fit ok in the barn, but I didn't really like it while riding. Although, Rusty is a different shaped horse than my old rotten horse (ha!), so that might take getting a bit used to as well. Rusty has a longer neck, higher withers and a lower natural headset. Jackass had a short muscular neck and had his nose in the clouds half of the time. I feel like the saddle is right on his withers and that I have a lot of horse in front of me. The barn owner and I checked the saddle after I was done riding and the position over the withers looked fine from the ground. He is white, so it was really hard to see any sweat marks.

I've decided to call the local saddle fitter and see if he can come out to help. He brings out about 10-15 saddles, recommends which ones fit the best and then will leave 3 or so with you to try, without charging them to your credit card! He tends to sell more high-end brands, but because of this, he usually has a high number of used high-end saddles as well.

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One last thing is that Rusty's front hooves are a bit of a mess. The previous owners boarded at a barn with a farrier, but you would never know it from the condition of his hooves. The front ones are the worst right now - they are dry and cracked and have chipped. I've tried calling my barn's farrier, but he hasn't phoned back - apparently that is unusual for him, so the barn owner is trying for me. I'm going to start applying hooflex or something similar to give him a bit of moisture at least.

Does anyone know if hoof/joint supplements actually work? I'd be willing to pay for a supplement that would help strengthen his little hooves. I need him sound and happy!

Rainy Monday

It is pouring rain today - can't say that I mind, since I'm stuck indoors at work. It actually suits a Monday...

We had a great weekend - the rain held off for a change, so we did lots of stuff. Saturday morning we went to a local farmers market - we bought local spinach, honey, baked goods, flowers, spices and the best of all - a framed photo (from a local photographer, of course) of a handsome orange tabby cat sitting on an English saddle. It was at a reduced price, so I snapped it up. Luckily Richard humours me with my love of cats and horses and horse related things.

Hopefully Mr. Kitty and his lovely brown tabby coat won't be too put off by the new picture! lol I obviously need to get out more, before I end up a crazy cat lady with an embroidered cat vest and a cat purse or something! ;-)

I coaxed a friend of mine out to the barn Saturday afternoon to help me with saddle fit. Turns out ol' Rusty is quite wide, even with those high withers. I had a beautiful Santa Cruz AP saddle that was too narrow and the new Wintec that I had needs a wider gullet. My friend brought out her wintec with a super-wide gullet and it fit the best, but just a little too wide. I rode for a bit and she gave me a mini-lesson, which helped alot with my position. I learned alot from my friend - tips to work on my riding position AND which gullet I need to purchase. I need to head out to the tack shop after work and then we should be good to go in the saddle department. Now I just might need to go out and buy a new black saddle pad - we need the boy to look all snazzy, don't we?!?

I spent most of the day outdoors yesterday as well - firstly cheering Richard on at a duathlon (he got 11th out of 78 people and 3rd in his age group!) and then having lunch and time on the dock by the river with Richard's cousin, his girlfriend and her teenage son (who looks like Shia LaBeouf!) I even managed to get a bit of sun...which just makes me look all pink.

I'm looking forward to getting in a few good rides this week - Mr. Rusty has had a bito f a break.

What is everyone else up to???

Herd dynamics and nerves

I've learned alot in the past year about herd dynamics - having a horse on the bottom of the hierarchy allows you to witness a bit more of the happenings out in the paddock.

Rusty is now out with a group of six other geldings - well, technically 1 of the boys is a yearling stud colt... He is down at the bottom of the herd with another Appy gelding. My former horse Jackson is out in this small herd as well. Before Rusty, Jackson and the other appy gelding were the two boys at the bottom - they stuck together and tried to avoid the big boys. With Rusty in the mix, Jackson has made a move to gain a precious rung on the herd ladder.

He is chasing Rusty alot - running him off and keeping him separated from the herd. I feel bad for poor Rusty, but I'm sure all of these behaviours will settle down as they all get used to each other. Rusty is covered with kicks and bites - it took me quite a few minutes on Wed. night to check and clean all of his wounds.

This herd dynamic has caused me a major problem when trying to catch Rusty. I've realized that the other horses - especially Jackass - err, I mean Jackson don't really respect me. I tried to catch Rusty the other day and Jackson waited until I had my back turned to charge us - Rusty was scared, so I had to let go of the lead rope. When Jackson swung around, he very nearly hit me. I tend to be a little nerovous in general, so when something like that happens, my nerves just went to hell in a handbasket. I swear that all of the horses could hear my heart pounding.

I need to work on my confidence out in the paddock - I need to be the dominant one when I go out there... I've been back out twice since that happened and things are improving. I go out with a lunge whip and a dressage whip and really get after Jackson to move away whenever I come near him. It's a bit of a struggle for me - because I used to go out and pet him and give him treats - but those days are over. I need to just go out there, bring in my horse and ignore the rest of them. The other horses don't pull any bad stuff when I lead my horse by, so that is good.

I've been debating about even writing about this, as I feel like a total wimp. I'm not a squealy "girly-girl", but I can be a bit jumpy. It really bothers me that I don't always have the confidence to walk out in that group and just get my horse. I'm hoping that I can overcome those feelings soon. Sadly, there isn't enough paddock space to move a couple of the geldings to another field to alleviate the situation, so I'll just have to deal with it.

My Blogging Space

I can't resist a tag, so I'm posting pictures of my blogging space thanks to pony girl's suggestion!

The first picture is of my home work space. We have hijacked our dining room as our office. Richard and I both sit in hard wooden chairs. Even though I have a nice laptop, I can't sit with it on the couch/bed because I get dizzy. Go figure!

On the left, my personal assistant and secretary, Mr. Kitty. He is very helpful - especially with scheduling naps and eating elastics. In the center is my lovely red Dell laptop. To the right is my ever present glass of water and some crackers. In the back is the hubby, Richard. Behind him is a lot of bike stuff. Richard sells/repairs/upgrades road/triathlon bikes in his spare time. Part of my house is like a bike shop. Kinda fun.

I occassionally check blogs at work on my lunch break, so I thought I'd post a picture of that as well. My home picture is fairly tidy - I just cleaned up piles of papers on Sunday. The picture of my desk will give you a good idea of the typical mess...

Edited to add: blogger posted the work picture really small, so it is hard to read the text. I have tonnes of stuff on my desk - papers, notebooks, crazy coloured sticky notes, blank cds/dvds, dvds of photos (I'm a webmaster/photographer/graphic designer/jack of all trades kind of person), memory cards, card readers, etc. etc. Because I am stuck at my desk all day, I have all kinds of pictures posted everywhere - half are horse related, half are family/travel picutres. Those things are the reasons why I work, so I keep them there as reminders to cheer me up. I also have a care bear and a little stuffed RCMP horse hiding out on the top shelf. On the left I also have my APHA calendar, guess I need to buy an Appy one next year!

Fun idea, Pony Girl!!

Riding Goals - S.M.A.R.T. or not?

I've been thinking alot lately about what I want to accomplish with my horse this year... Yes, I just want to have fun and do some trail rides, but the organizer in me sees alot of opportunities to improve my horsemanship skills and teach an old horse some new tricks.

My new horse, Rusty, is a "finished" horse in most respects. He does a nice walk/trot/canter, has done some dressage, western riding and trail riding. He ties and stands to be tacked up no problem. I could easily just get on him, bounce around on his back and put him back out in the field. That would just be too easy for me. I tend to get lazy if I don't have some goals and a bit of a plan. I'm sure the horse would benefit from doing more than just trotting in circles.

Anyone that has worked in a corporate/government environment has probably been faced with writing performance reviews and the like. There is a lot of talk about goals being SMART:

S - specific
M - measurable
A - attainable
R - realistic
T - timely

This approach is extremely specific and while I don't intend to write great volumes of my goals, I do intend to follow this basic principle.

Many goal setting articles also advise people to start with a main goal and break it down into the steps that you will need to accomplish to achieve this goal . John Lyons uses this concept when he talks about training horses. If you want your horse to stand to be mounted (that sounds so dirty!) you need to work backwards from that point and figure out the steps to get there. The thing about working with horses is that it is important to take your time and make sure each step is solid before moving on to the next one. This is where having a bit of a plan comes in handy.

So, what are my goals, after all the big talk, you ask?? Good question. I'm so glad you asked.

My basic goals for this riding season (which is until about November here) are:

• ride/work with Rusty 4-5 times/week (this could include groundwork)
• take lessons to improve my knowledge of aids/cues and work on my balance
• learn some NH stuff and practice with ol'Rusty (Parelli, Lyons, Anderson, et al., clicker training)
• work up the courage to canter out in the hay fields/trails
• Rusty's ground work could use a tune up - flyspray, bathing, clipping, feet, standing still when chubby rider trying to get on ;-)

AANNNNDDD, most importantly:

• have FUN!!!!!

Thanks to anyone that actually read this far! What are your horse goals for this year????

TGIF and saddle fit issues

I'm really enjoying this blog thing - horse people are great bloggers and great commenters!

Thanks to the folks that stop by here and have a look and leave a few words. It is fun for me to connect with other horse people. Aside from a few friends here, no one else in my family/work environment is even the slightest bit interested in horses or hearing me blab about them!

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Well, it's the last few hours of work for this week and as I stare out my window, I watch the skies darken. That in itself is a sure sign that the weekend is coming. I had a fun day planned tomorrow - we were all heading to the barn to paint jumps and have a bbq -- and of course, ride! Thunderstorms and rain are predicted for tomorrow, so that fun stuff will probably be out.

I do hope to get a ride in early in the morning though - if I'm lucky. Ol' Rusty has had 2 whole days off! Lazy bum...oh wait, it is me that is the lazy bum! I had a good excuse last night - we spent the evening with my sister-in-law, neice and 3 nephews.

The 2 older ones had a baseball game, so we went out to cheer them on. I haven't had a good laugh in a while - watching 6 and 7 year olds play sports is a good way to get a few chuckles, let me tell you. They are all over the place, not paying attention, dancing, tripping, etc. It was a nice coincidence that there was a big AQHA show at the same fairgrounds. Everyone was pulling in big rigs and warming up horses. I was easily distracted by all of that!

I really wish that I had a good friend that was doing all of those higher level shows - I would be the best groom ever! Hanging around with all of the horse people, getting the horse and tack ready...lots of fun!

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This post is a little (ha!) disjointed - I'm pretty much just typing all of the random thoughts zipping around in my brain.

I'm having some issues with fitting a saddle on Rusty. My western saddle doesn't really fit - regardless of the type of pad I use, the gullet ends up right on his withers - ouch. I guess my western riding will be on hold for awhile. I went to my local tack shop to have a look around - they didn't have any saddles with semi-QH bars + the right size seat for me + a decent price. I don't really want to shell out $2000 for a Billy Cook or similar saddle right now.

English saddles have so many more options with cut and sizing. I have a beautiful 2nd hand Stubben that I bought last year that fits ok. It doesn't fit me that well - the flaps are really far forward -but it will work for the short term. I have a friend that has done alot of saddle fitting, so hopefully she can help me out next week. I'm going to go trial 3 or 4 saddles from the tack shop and we should find one that works. My poor credit cards will probably go up in a poof of smoke, but what can you do? Luckily all of the money gets refunded when you return the ones you don't want. I can also trade in my western saddle and my Stubben for store credit towards a new saddle, so that will take the sting out a bit!

I hope everyone has a fun weekend - get out and ride those horses! :-)

Mr. Appy's first day at his new home

So, my new horse arrived yesterday morning. I dragged my hubby out with me. We were there at least 45 minutes before the horse was due to arrive - I wouldn't want to miss him!

We helped out around the barn while waiting - cleaning a couple of stalls, etc. I felt like I was 12 again, waiting for my first horse to be delivered!

They finally arrived - he backed out of the trailer like it was no big deal. He checked the place out with calm, experienced eyes. There was no whinnying, no snorting, no prancing. Just a bit of curiosity. He had been bathed that morning and his legs were carefully wrapped with bandages and clean white polos. Apparently he loads in the trailer no problem.

The previous owners went to alot of trouble to send him all nice and tidy. It was great to see. They also gave me a huge bag of stuff - a really nice black dressage bridle, leather halter, 2 sets of polos, 2 winter blankets (!) and his flymask. Buying this horse was very pleasant - the sellers were honest and friendly and the horse was exactly what they said he was.

I rode him last night as well - 20 minutes in the ring and about 20 minutes out in the hayfields. We walked and trotted (it was really hot) and he was perfect. No jigging, bolting, spooking or other silliness - not to say that he might not do some of that in the future, he is an animal after all.

I have to say that I am looking forward to riding alot this year and actually having FUN!

Here are a few pics - sorry to make you read through all of the blabbing first! ;-p

Is it safe to come out???

Oh, you have treats - well, why didn't you say so?!

Who is that guy? Does he have treats?

Warm and sunny day at the barn

Summer seems to be here, finally. It was very hot and humid today, after a nice cool spring.

Jessie doesn't arrive until Monday morning, but I went out to the barn to drop off my saddle and helmet. There is a new foal there that I've been dying to pet, so I figured I could get a few birds with one stone.

I also took my dog Max with me - he loves it out there. Even though we were there at 8am, he got hot pretty fast. His black fur works well in the winter, but cooks him in the summer.
It is very lush where I live this time of year. We seem to have had more rain than usual, but maybe I'm just imagining things. By July, the grass is brown and the plants are in survival mode, but right now it is like living in a rain forest - well, almost anyway.

Here are a few pics of a nice summer morning in my part of the world... Hope everyone has a good weekend! I'm volunteering at a horse show tomorrow, so that should be fun. Note to self: pack sunscreen!

Above: Max jumping!

Max testing the hay...he thinks it is ready to be bailed any day now.

Lush grass...

Mom and baby Suede (both APHA)

Is there anything cuter???

My horse search - part the second

In the past 2 weeks, 4 prospects turned up. (I wasn't being to particular about breed here, any breed that met my criteria would have been considered.)

The first 3 prospects all sounded ok, but had a few teeny red flags, so I didn't go try out the horses. The fourth is a 17yr old Appy gelding - this one sounded promising. He was ridden regularly by children, had been to shows, had been out on trails.

As you know, I went to see this guy and rode him 3x over the past week or so. He has been very consistent each time - w/t/c no problem. He has been in dressage training for the past year, but not super good at it. He could do training level ok, but that would be the extent of it. So his owner bought a fancy young warmblood.

I had this horse vet checked on Wed. and at 17 he was given a clean bill of health. No lameness issues, hooves good, no arthritis visible (yeah!), eyes and teeth good, back good, etc. I was half expecting something minor to show up - some sort of arthritis - but the vet and I were both pleasantly surprised to see nothing at this time.

Soooo, I worked out an agreement with the seller - and I now have a horse again!!! He will hopefully be trucked over to my barn early next week.

I'm really looking forward to getting going with this guy - I will be able to ride 4-5x/week and I'm hoping we can do alot together... Hopefully I've made the right decision this time around. I'm hoping that if a 9 year old girl can handle him, I'll be just fine.

Here are a couple of pictures - please ignore me - I look like a sausage with legs. Hoping to remedy that this year. His name is Jessie - which I don't like at all. I'm trying to find something that sounds similar - so far, I'm thinking of Ollie, Rusty or Eddie - any suggestions?

My horse search - part the first

So, looking for a new horse when you have had a bad experience the last time is quite daunting.

When I bought my horse last year, I was all excited and overconfident in my abilities. I had ridden alot as a teenager and knew nothing of the creature called "fear". I could ride English or Western no problem. Sure, I was now 15 years older and many pounds heavier, but I could do it all. I knew how to work with horses -right? Sure! You bet!

Boy, did I overestimate everything - my confidence, my riding ability, the way I looked in breeches (yikes!)... So, here we are are, 1 yr later - my ego and my confidence cracked and shaken.

My horse search this time around took a very different tone. I had learned alot in the past year, both about my abilities and what I needed to look for in a horse. My barn owner is a total gem and with her guidance, I learned alot of questions to ask and red flags to watch out for.

I started searching the local online horse ads back in March. I was looking for an older horse - over 1o, under 15.2hh (I'm really short), under a certain price range and lots of mileage - both in the ring and on the trails. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find something like that? I would say that over 90% of the horses listed for sale in this region are under 8 years old and green broke or need an experienced rider! The odds weren't looking good.

In the past year, I've met a few local barn owners and trainers. I sent out a few emails asking for horses that met my criteria. The responses were interesting and somewhat discouraging. Most people are working/training/selling youngsters - not what I was looking for. I guess all of the older, sane horses are hidden away somewhere. :-)

To be continued...

Officially horseless

At this point in time, I am officially without a horse. It feels a bit weird, to be honest. I'm sure other horse people understand what I mean.

I'll miss Jackson, he was a decent guy. Too bad it didn't work out for us. I owned him for almost a year - between 2 accidents/injuries - 1 his, 1 mine, my trust and confidence was shot. I tried to ride him again, but I just didn't have the right personality to work with him. His new junior rider is putting him to work - she has him trail riding, galloping all over the place and working over fences. I hope they have fun together. He is staying at my barn, so I'll get to see that he is well-taken care of.

A blast from my horsey past

Tomorrow is a big day for me - I've sold my gelding Jackson to a great junior rider at my barn. We are meeting tomorrow morning to sign over his registration papers and hopefully get my hands on some cash.

I took a big loss on this horse, both time wise and financially. I won't go into it here, but it was mostly my fault for not knowing enough. I'm very lucky that he is going to stay at my barn with a great little rider. I know he will be loved and well looked after. Money isn't everything.

So, I am technically horse-less at the moment. That may change soon, but I'll get into my horse search in another post.

A few days ago I was digging through some old photo albums and found a few pictures of me with the horses I had when I was young and carefree, so I thought I would post them here for a bit of nostalgia. I loved both horses and have wonderful memories of trail riding through the forest and galloping through corn fields on both of them.

I got my first large pony when I was 12. Her name was Tar - real creative eh? :-) She was a 14.2hh Appaloosa/Welsh pony cross. She was built like a tank and never lame in the six years that I owned her. Luckily I'm quite short, so I never really outgrew her. She was a bit much for me to handle when I first got her, but luckily I worked through it and my parents didn't catch on that she was alot to handle. I went on long trail rides with this girl, through creeks, rivers, giant mud puddles and all sorts of stuff. On some trail rides my friend and I would make our own trails, laughing like maniacs trying not to get knocked off our saddles by tree branches. What a good girl she was. She wasn't fast or particularly pretty, but we also did 4-H shows and parades together for a couple of years as well.

When I was 14, a friend's Mom who coached me a bit decided that I needed a bit fancier horse to do more showing with. My parent's didn't have a lot of money, so a free horse was found for me. It was one of those friend-of-a-friend situations - a lady had bought an arabian gelding and was too inexperienced for him - so he ended up with a horse-crazy 14 year old girl! I was beyond thrilled. This handsome bay was delivered to my house - I thought I was dreaming - and he was free!

His name was Pharley - again not too creative, but it suited him somehow. We went to an english barn and learned to do some basic dressage. We went to a few shows that summer - please ignore my bad posture in the picture! I had a lot of fun that summer, working at a proper barn and learning lots.

I ended up keeping both horses until I was 18. I somewhat foolishly (upon looking back) decided to go away to university and had to sell both horses. That was tough - to this day I'm not sure why I did that. Oh well - it is in the past...

There is a lot more to this story - some of it was too painful to write about, even almost 20 years later... So I'll just wrap up this looonnnnggg post and move on.

Strange things from my office window

So, I'm sitting here at work wishing I was outside.

I work for the government, but our campus is also a public park, so people in the neighbourhood walk by with their dogs all the time.

I have a window right by a sidewalk and see all kinds of interesting things.

So far this year:

• 2 people cross-country skiing down the road outside my window during a snowstorm
• groups of Asian tourists looking in our window and taking pictures (I work on the site of a famous Canadian tourist attraction that may involve horses)
• people's dogs pooping right outside the window. One guy wasn't going to pick up after his dog until he saw me waving.

Today's sighting takes the cake - a lady trying to walk her cat on a leash! He was a very fancy little orange cat - but he didn't seem to like the whole leash thing. She stopped outside my window for 5 minutes talking to him the whole time. Very cute. I was about to grab my camera and get her picture, but she saw me and left! LOL

Retail Therapy

So, I'm feeling a bit better today - trying to just let go of the bad mood vibes from yesterday. I've been thinking more about that appy gelding - even started casually looking for dressage saddles for him - that must mean something! lol

Stephanie made a great suggestion about doing something different to take my mind off of things - so while I'm waiting for the hubby to get home to go for a bike ride, I thought I would do a little pretend online shopping. There are lots of great horsey web sites with cool stuff to buy (someday) so I thought I would create a little wishlist. I feel better already! :-)

Kerritts - I have a pair of their riding tights and they are really comfortable. I noticed that they now have a "green" product line called g.r.a.s.s. - which looks really cool. I hope my local tack shop picks those products up soon! I don't want to have to pay US shipping if I can avoid it...

DVDs on saddle fit - English and Western - something I would love to learn more about instead of just guessing and hoping. (must ignore their 10% off online orders deal...) There is a decent article about saddle fit in my April 08 Perfect Horse magazine - I think I'll just stick with that for now.

Very cool chaps and half chaps - good thing I need to lose a bit of weight first or I'd have about 10 pairs!

John Lyons videos and books - I have a few, but you can never have too much horse stuff, right?

Cool stretch riding jeans - the low-ride boot cuts look pretty comfy!

I have a ton more links at work, but I'm at home today, so that is probably enough. My credit card would go up in a puff of smoke if I started ordering stuff, so I'll just worry about getting the horse first! lol

One of those days..

I feel a bit defeated today - I'm tired and frustrated with things in general. I'm on my 4th pair of shoes today - each pair kills my feet. My co-workers must think I'm nuts as the pile of shoes under my desk grows and grows - barefoot is next. I wore a new red vest today over my white shirt and my white shirt is now pink because the material of the vest rubbed off. *sigh* It's just one of those days.

I'm really second-guessing myself and worrying about my next horse purchase. I do love horses and riding and want to stick with it. The gelding I tried last night met alot of my criteria, with a couple of minor exceptions. I'm just so hesitant to buy again in case I'm stuck with a horse I don't like/can't ride in a few months like last time. The owner and her daughter seem really up front and honest though, so I think I'm getting the real story on him at least.

So, feeling all grumpy, I decided to check out a few blogs for inspiration - I read Callie's post about why she loves her life and it made me realize I was worrying about all of the small things. I do have a great life and lots of things to be grateful for - so chin up, Laura and move on.

I'm going to ride that gelding again on the weekend - maybe test him out in my western saddle and see if it fits him ok. He has high withers, so it'll be a bit trickier to fit saddles on him, I'm guessing. I'm also going to ask to take him out for a short hack, to see how he does.

Hawk goes home

So I decided yesterday that Hawk just isn't the right horse for me. *Sigh*

He is pretty, affectionate and easy to catch, but he just doesn't have enough experience for me. I've realized that I need an older 'been there, done that' sort of horse. I really need to rebuild confidence and get more miles in the saddle before I can work with a younger horse.

I'm going to see a 16 yr old appy gelding tonight - an 8yr old is currently riding him, so I should be able to handle that. LOL. Maybe he will work out for me - if not, back to square one. There aren't many older, well-trained healthy horses around. I guess people are holding on to those ones the most. :-)

Anyone want to send me a pretty, very well-trained horse???

Hawk's Trial - Day 5

Day 1 was good, days 2, 3 and 4 were very bad and now day 5 has brought alot of improvement in him!

He is alone in a paddock (we didn't want someone else's horse getting all kicked up) and is getting used to electric fence for the first time. I think the electric fence "biting" him was what put him on edge so much the past few days. He was very worried that everything else was going to "bite" him as well.

The barn owner and I decided to ride him today (I even took the day off work). We brought him into the barn and he was a little nervous at first. He was dancing around in the cross ties, but quickly settled down when I started grooming him. He was a breeze to tack up.

Once in the ring, we worked on leading him and getting him to stop when I stop. After a couple of laps around the ring he picked it up quickly. The barn owner then got on and started working him. He did really well - he isn't a spooky horse - he was looking around a bit but that was all. She rode him for about 20 mins, walk trot and canter.

Then it was my turn to get on. YIKES!!

I tend to be a nervous person, but I knew he was a steady guy. I took a few deep breaths and then climbed on! He was very good for me. His head was up a bit, but as we worked more he relaxed and settled down. There is lots to look at around the riding ring - other horses, cars coming in, traffic on the road - but he didn't try anything bad. He really seems like the kind of horse that won't explode if things get a little hairy - which is what I need. I even cantered a few circles - they weren't very pretty, but it was a canter. I've had my other gelding at that barn since last September and haven't felt good enough to canter him...

He doesn't have a lot of experience - but his temperament seems to be making up for it. I'll need to spend some time doing alot of ground work with him to get him where I would like him to be. Luckily my barn owner is a gem and is willing to teach me skills that I'm missing.

Tomorrow we are going out on a trail ride - the barn owner's hubby is going to ride Hawk for me (he is fearless) and I'm going to ride a school pony. We'll see how Hawk does and if he isn't too spooky we may switch horses part way through.

Soooo, if we get a few more good rides out of him over the coming week and a bit, I'm thinking I just might buy him! I'm guessing that today was probably his worst ride and that he will only improve as he gets used to me and the new barn.

The junior rider has until the end of the week to decide about buying my other gelding - I'm pretty sure that she is totally in love with him, so it shouldn't be a problem!

The new man in my life...

Hawk arrived at noon today, amidst cold, windy and rainy weather. He didn't seem to be phased by the weather at all, which is nice to see.

I have him for a 2 week trial, so we'll see how we get along together. Enjoy the photos!

Now I'm Really in Trouble!!!!

So, my experienced friend and I went to try the paint gelding again last night.

He was a very good boy, despite being taunted by a herd of yearlings (on the other side of a fence) and practically being devoured by mosquitoes!

The owner/trainer rode him, then my friend rode him and finally I got on. I had a really good ride, wak, trot, canter without any problems. The canter was the key for me - my friend and I agreed ahead of time that if I was too nervous to canter or if his canter was too wild, then we would know for sure that he wasn't the right horse. I was able to get a nice smooth rocking-horse canter from this guy! It wasn't a slow western lope, but it was a nice calm canter. I was pretty excited. I've been having confidence problems while cantering and as a result haven't cantered much while riding since last summer.

So, the owner offered me a two week off-property trial just to make sure he was a good fit. Apparently he rarely lets people do that, so that is encouraging. I think he can tell that I'm really looking for a steady horse and if he lets me take him for 2 weeks I'll probably end up buying him - as long as he is steady on the trails.

After running it by the hubby, we agreed that a 2 week no-risk trial was a great situation for us. I'm going to call the trainer today and work out a time to have him brought over to my current barn. The trainer is away for the weekend, but maybe he will have time on Monday!

I had a girl at my barn try out my current gelding - she is a fearless junior rider. After 15 minutes she had Jackson bending and putting his head down. He could have done well in a HUS class with the way she had him going! She was even able to canter him on a loose rein, which no one else has been able to do! Sooo - best case scenario is that she convinces her parents to buy him, worst case scenario she leases him for a year and covers my expenses. I could try and re-sell him next year, with a year of good solid riding under his belt... Here's hoping that works out!!

All of the above combined with the fact that the weather here has been gorgeous, has me in a pretty good mood for the weekend coming up! :-)

RCMP Musical Ride

Well, yesterday was a good day for me. I had the privilege of seeing one of my most favourite things - the RCMP Musical Ride!!! I had the opportunity to take a lot of pictures and speak to a few of the riders after the performance. All of the riders are police officers and go through a rigourous testing process to become part of the ride.

I happen to work at the same site as their stables - sadly I don't work IN the stables, but it is just one building over. I see the riders out on hacks almost every day.

Yesterday was the annual inspection of the ride, before they go out on tour. The horses are beautiful - and the riders in their red serge make for a fantastic picture.

Here are a few of my pictures - I was only a few feet away from the fence. More pictures can be seen on my flickr page.

Dilemma...with a capital "D"

So, I went to try out a new horse tonight. Might have been a mistake, because I kinda like him.

He's a bay paint, just under 15hh. Sweet and quiet and sensible. Just what I need.

Oh, why can't I have just a bit more money???

I have the money to buy him - he is very reasonably priced, it's paying board for two horses that has me all choked up. I pay a very reasonable price, but when you start multiplying everything by 2, it adds up.

My current horse, Jackson, is for sale, but in this over-saturated market, it could take a few months to sell.

The "almost-funny-but-not-quite" thing about this whole situation is that in 2 weeks from now we will know about my husband's job situation. If it's good news, I buy 2 horses, no problem, if it's bad news, it's an easy decision to not buy the 2nd horse.

Maybe I'll get lucky and the new guy - Hawk (cool name even) won't sell before then and I'll have a bit of time to work things out...

Has anyone else bought a new horse recently? How do you know for sure if it's the right match???

*sigh*

Maybe I should take up knitting instead...

Trying to write, yet again

I've stopped and started this blog many times - never knowing exactly what to write...

Sometimes I think I need to write just for myself, others I think it would be nice to have a few people stop by and visit...

We'll see what happens this time around.

I'm probably going to be posting about horses alot, as that is my hobby and my passion. I'm getting back into the horse world after a 12 year absence, so it's taking me a while to get rolling again.

I bought my first horse as an adult last summer and had some ups and downs with him. I might try and write out all of my experiences for posterity.

My current horse, a paint gelding named Jackson is currently up for sale. He and I just aren't getting along that well. He needs a confident rider and I'm just not there yet. I have a girl coming out to see him tonight, so hopefully all goes well there. I would like to get him a new home, so I can start looking for a new ride.

Testy McTesterson

Just checking to see if this rusty old blog still works!

Meme

I grabbed this meme from Kyra - I needed something to write about to get back into practice, so I'll see if I can think of 8 things about myself...

Rules: Each person posts the rules before their list, then they list 8 things about themselves. At the end of the post, that person tags and links to 8 other people; then visits those people’s sites and comments, letting them know that they have been tagged, and to come read the post, so they know what they have to do.

1) I love animals - horses, dogs and cats are my favourites, but I also love reading about and watching documentaries on wild animals. One thing I do not like are birds - birds freak me out a little bit.

2) I'm in the process of buying my own horse. I have a good prospect that I really like. I'll post more about it later. It's very exciting and a little bit nerve-racking at the same time. I'll be boarding it at a little farm about 20 mins from my house.

3) I was in the military for a few years. I spent time in the naval reserve while in university - it was the best summer job going - sure beat working at the grocery store!

4) I can speak French pretty well. I definitely understand/read much better than I speak. Nothing like a nice anglo accent. hhaahaha. My favourite site in French - Tete a claques.

5) I have a unversity degree in Political Science and Russian - I now work for the government as a webmaster. Good thing I have that degree!

6) I'm an avid reader - books, magazines, web sites. I'm in a bit of a slump lately though - can't seem to find anything too gripping to read. So, I've decided to leave fiction for a bit and pick up some environmental books - Canadian activist David Suziki has several books that I've been meaning to read.

7) I'm left-handed, but cope quite well in the world of right-handed people.

8) I like cycling. I have a nice bike that I don't ride enough. I like watching pro cycling even with all the doping scandals...

Wow - that was harder than I thought!!!

First Post - tentative...

Well, maybe I will start posting here again. Blogging is kind of fun.

It's also a great way to document some of the fun (or not so fun) stuff in your day-to-day life.

I'm going to write about whatever tickles my fancy - fitness, life and probably alot about horses. I am a certified horse nut. I had horses as a kid, then sold them to move away when I went to university. I've been trying to figure out the best way to get back into riding...

I was pretty sure the only way to have a horse was to wait until I had my own farm someday. Who knows when that is going to happen??? Property values here are going up like crazy, so to find a decent farm within 30 minutes of the city would cost an arm and a leg. Too get anything affordable, you have to have quite a commute. Since I haven't won the lottery yet, I still have to worry about commuting to work everyday.

A new friend of mine has had her horse for several years and boards and likes it alot. She was really my inspiration to get back into riding. She let me lease her horse for a couple of months in payment for building her web site. I started taking few lessons here and there.

I've leased two other horses since December, one was just to ride and the other was a potential purchase. I'm going to write a bit about some of the ones I looked at just for posterity's sake...

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has a nice holiday!

I'll probably be back here next week sometime.