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Friday, August 31, 2012

I just love it when I go to the barn and my horses look great!   With their feet newly shod, a 1/2 a stall of hay, one dry spot in the mud lot, fresh water in the troft, WOW just feels so good.

I so desperately need this when you've had someone riding on your bumper so close you can no longer see their headlights.  ? Without saying I am guilty of speeding, as no one around here ever is... I was at least going the speed limit but every morning there is someone who gets so close I just want to SLAM on my brakes and see if they are paying attention.  This morning on my way home from the barn... well... I did exactly that.  I will not say what the speed limit was, but I was going over 45 I slowed down to the limit without using my brakes and she just about hit me. 

She backed off... till I got behind a scooter (LOTS of them around here) and again ... but this time I can't believe she didn't hit me.  No one in my car, no kid in her car and I was not going to get any closer to the scooter than I already was. no headlights in  my mirror so I did it... I slammed on my brakes.  Finally she stayed a few car lengths away and I made it home safely. 

Do people not remember the rules of the road? one car length for every 10 miles per hour.  Yes this is CRAZY if you live in a city! It will never work if you live in any area with congestion.  But please the ONLY congestion we have around here is a fire or a school zone... Oh yea... but even the school zones are 35 mph not your typical 15 or 20mph around the rest of the world.  I'm not even asking for much, I just want to see the headlights of the car behind me.

Don't get me wrong... I love a curvy road, I love to go well over the speed limit, I SO ENJOY straightening out a curve OR just figuring out the perfect arch to take it without slowing down, or using my brakes.  So for someone to get on my ass for no reason.... Upsets me more than mucking a 20 horse stall and their all grinders....

Why do people have no respect for other lives in the car ahead of them? Do people really not see their vehicles as dangerous anymore?

Why do people think it is perfectly fine to TRY to push someone up the road? Put on your blinkers and go around, flash your lights, or turn on your emergency flashers if need be, but really people... I do not have gray hair YET, but I assure you every person that gets on my bumper from here out will have a granny crawling car in front of them till we get to the main road! (of which is the fastest speed around here and it's 45mph)   I'm done! I'm over someone being so close to my bumper I can not see their lights. 

but at least my horses calm down my blood pressure and allow me to enjoy life instead of ... want to go after the maniac in the other car...


Oh well thats my normal drive to the barn...

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Oh how I LOVE having good people around me!

My Ferrier climbed fences (actually took down a gate) to get into my horses yesterday (yes he put it back like he found it)  My point is...

We were VERY late on our shoes this time.  He is busy, I am busy, we have missed each other almost every time on the schedule.

Navarre had that horrible abscess, thus he had no support on that foot.  The poor hoof was a good inch shorter than any other leg (due to wear and tear of no shoe ) and we had to get something on that hoof soon.  It was tearing off in chunks! and while he has the most spectacular wall I have ever seen in MY horses, I didn't want it compromised.  The toe was extremely long, the frog flat due to his weight, and his angle completely OFF walking on his bulb instead of the frog as of yesterday morning. 

I called my Ferrier and expressed my concerns he apparently tried to call me 4 times yesterday and with all my studies I didn't even hear my phone go off. 

So he took it upon himself to work me in... essentially BREAKing  into my estate (because he knows I would want him too) and get those horses done because of how bad Navarre was.  While I am currently working on the way he got IN... I am SO thankful that this person would do what ever it took to get the job done, my animals cared for, and told me what he did ASAP. 

Knowing that if he needed me I'd do the same!  This is what relationships are about! This is how the world is suppose to work!

I LOVE having good people on my equine team. 

THANK YOU!
THANK YOU!
THANK YOU! ...

New procedures being implemented this weekend! ha ha ha...

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Navarre's cut is looking better, not red anymore, but needs more air time than I can give him.  I hope to go over and spend time with him this weekend.  When I do I will try to allow it to air out while I can protect him from Sweet Pea...

I'll post photos as soon as I can. 
Gotta work.
Gotta study!

But we are doing good!

Thursday, August 23, 2012



The news today is not urgent but sounds bad enough.... and looks horrible!

Navarre has a horribly infected area on his leg. 
Why am I just now noticing this?
Well actually I checked it for heat EVERY morning and every night and only felt heat in it on the day the last injury happened.

Sweet Pea is in charge, and she is very good at kicking Navarre.  She tends to kick him in the same leg and with in centimeters of the last kick each time.    So as the kicks add up over a weak of "heat" it gets worse and worse.   Trust me I put my hands all over my horses twice a day, I check them no matter how much of a hurry I am in.  Especially with Sweet Pea being as dominant as she is and Navarre being as ... Clumsy

Each day I check it, pull up the hair as much as I can put neosporine on it PM and Swat on it AM... today I pulled at the hair and it fell off.  Leaving a horrible pocket of pus in its place.  So out came the saline solution, hydrogen peroxide, and then the neosporine... no swat this morning... Tonight I will shave the area and repeat after taking warm water to wash it even better.  I may even put some vet wrap on it as bad as it is.  If this was a normal horse the leg would be broken, stressed, or the horse already lame and needing to be separated.  Being a coldblooded work style horse he seems to take it better physically than I have ever seen of such injuries. 

Life goes on, and life is good
Take note of the little things in your life! Someone doesn't have as much as you do...

my love to the world.
AegF


Tuesday, August 21, 2012



Typical of a person with animals... I was up by 4:30, had a new pot of french press coffee by 5am.  I got my wool skirts in the drier with the dry cleaning bag etc... Washing all my fragile things while the wools do their thing...

Then I get to was all the horse things with bleach to clean the washer and drier before I start in on the clothes for the week.

Sweet Pea has been sick sense my last post, and yes the hay is from the same place as what she was eating but I think it was the pasture time that got to her.  SO I have made sure any feed given has been well soaked in hot water given electrolytes and made as easy to digest as possible.  In only these 5 days she has started to loose weight, bloat in the mornings, but she is still pooping, has good gut sounds and is not running a fever so... really there is no reason to call the vet, I am just having to watch her VERY closely.

The news today is a bear... Someone up the mountain shot at the backside of a bear ? Saying it killed one of his goats.  I very seriously doubt a bear killed the goat! I would bet money a coyote got the goat and a bear walked up on the situation taking over the meat.  I say this because berries were really good this year, our grasses with grains are perfect and the nuts are coming in nicely.  Now ... the other side of the story is ... this would make a little more sense if the bear was rabid...so I do worry about that! BUT not enough to cause me any real issues. 

I just don't understand why anyone would shoot a bear in the backside as it is running away! So now we are all keeping an eye out for this bear.  Yes I have frequent visits from bears... they leave a trail / path of trash through my property where they come to the barn get something and drag it back into the woods as they head back off my little place.  I could care less... they have never bothered my horses, and my mare is not as scared here as she was the last place where bears would grub at the barn for worms and insects in the logs along the driveway to the barn. 

Every animal has its place and bears, bob cats,  coyotes, not to forget the pesky raccoons, and opossums all have their place.  The last two are really more my issue as they carry a horrible virus that can make my horses very sick as it settles into the spinal cord and basically paralyzes their back end.  EPSM not to be confused with Navarre's PPSM totally different.  EPSM is common and yes is even carried by your cat.  So even with a barn cat it is important to keep your animals healthy and up on all their shots! 

The farrier was suppose to give my kids new shoes LAST MONTH, he lost his assistant so he runs behind all the time now.  I'm OK with it! but I can't ride even if I want to at this point.  He was going to come Sunday! YEP! he is now working 7 days a week to keep his clients happy (can't ask for any more than that!) BUT it rained all night Saturday and there was no way he was going to make it up to the barn... so ... another missed appt for the kids.    Navarre's left front with that horrible abscess is starting to look really bad with chunks of the wall gone, but the abscess is all gone and the trimming this time should cut out any of the festered area in the sole of the foot.  The abscess was just on the bar and running into the heal ... Can't wait to see what it looks like deep in there!

Oh yeah! the lantern... Someone took my lantern from the estate... I have no issues with anyone borrowing my things, but I need my rechargeable lantern back!   It is the only way I can get in and out during the winter months... not to mention I have to feed before sun up tomorrow morning!   I NEED IT BACK ASAP PLEASE... no questions... no issues... No the picture is not my trusty old Coleman rechargeable lantern... but it gets the message across... I THINK?

Hoping my Farrier can come soon.
Hoping the bear survives and is not suffering!
Wishing my little girl Sweet Pea an easier digestion soon.

Just a typical life...
My love to the world.
AegF

Thursday, August 16, 2012

I needed hay... I had 4 bails left, one had to be thrown out so we got in another 40 or so...
After that we dug some holes for grasses I hope to get from a friend later, as well as a few more down the hill from the barn for hopefully some shade plants as well.  I am not asking him for specific things... so ... what ever I get I will VERY happy with.

But of course with the guys conversations of riding came up...
I said I would jump on Sweet Pea if I didn't have to pay them for the time... and so...

I grabed a rope, hopped on, and showed them you don't need a saddle or a bridle or even a halter as long as you have a hay string...

Sweet Pea was in heaven, diss connecting front from hind, and going left right, doing circles backwards, doing a little of a trot backing up on command... She loves to work! She enjoyed the little "show off" secession while I talked to the guys, what I was doing, why she is as good as she is all while I kept her mind busy doing something leading from one signal to the next. 

When I gave her the signal to rest... and got off... she just stood there! IS THAT ALL ? But it was after 7pm and I had to get the guys back, had to get them paid, and needed to do a little more studying

But I am as bad as her!
I wanted so much more myself, but at least she was made a little happier than yesterday!

I may just have to jump on her more often, but rarely in this heat and humidy do I have on pants, normally I am wearing a skort to the barn, if not shorts, a Tshirt, and rarely ever my boots!

I am very calm tonight thinking of how happy she was!
Life with a horse is SO much,while a part of me wants to say EVERYTHING... as I am not the same person with out a horse... BUT it is A LOT with me! but not everything. 
I have to tell you... I have not had the chance to ride my horses this year.  As with last year I rode them everyday! Yes Navarre everyday and Sweet pea every other day at the least. 

Yesterday I leaned up against Sweet Pea... Resting my head on her shoulder.
She twitched her shoulder, as if I were a fly she wanted off!  I didn't move.
So she then slapped me with her tail!

Ok so my little girl is now so upset with me I can't just lean on her. 

She has every right to be upset, all she wants is a job.  So as soon as I can get through my studies I am going to have to devote time to her instead of only working Navarre from the ground which is necessary due to his ppsm. 

I'll start working her from the ground next week, scheduling in more time for the barn... till then... I guess I'll get slapped by that tail again.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

My newly erected fence!


Yes it is arcaic, Yes it will be gone in very little time, but it cost me no money and is keeping my wall climbing little girl IN the pasture.

I have so many things that are going on at the barn.
I traded labor with a friend for some of his grasses (decor) --- so that means I need to go dig some more holes as well.!   I am putting them UP the hill from the barn and around the whitch hazel tree I planted this spring.
I also need to be getting hay to the barn but with all the rain I can't drive my 4x4 to the barn.  The slope, the MUD, and the new fences make it a tighter fit and not worth the risk.

I am hoping to have a break in the weather through tomorrow when I have Robbie scheduled to assist me in getting in some hay. 

Life is good here! I can not complain....
I am studying all I can, but it is not enough, I need a quiet house with no phones, an ink pen that will not run out! and I need to be reading everything aloud! for some reason that helps? 


this is a typical morning here!
The kids awaiting my arrival to give them food, as I travel up the mountain in the fog to make sure they are ok!

Yep Electric fence on the new fence  so they can get into the the shaded area with the fence tape!

All my love to the world!
AegF

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

With all the rain I have decided to throw out some rye seed.  One has to be careful how much rye one gives their horses as too much can cause medical issues.

While I am throwing it out I am more using this for water control for areas the horses are not allowed, BUT if Sweet Pea is a good girl I may allow her access every once in a while.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

As the Rain moves in for another day of sprinkles and down pours; my horses are in their dry lot that is now turning to ankle deep mud. 

I hate they are required to stay on a dry lot, but with Navarre and his PPSM it is too risky to put them out to pasture.  While the rest of the United States is under heat, fires, and dry conditions ... my area is a lush pool this year.  So a broad leaf spray this next weekend and then a cutting at 12 inches tall should allow my horses enough brown grass for winter consumption in order to lower my hay cost for the cold season ahead. 

I wish I could do more for them now but as long as the grass is green Navarre can't leave his dry lot.

We are doing ok, but the cost of hay is going up quickly! as well as feeds and everything associated with animals due to the torment the rest of the country is under.

Positives.... My 3200 gallon cistern if FULL and thus I should have enough water to make it through the winter! I can only hope the rain in my area continues to come and go till winter sets in.  I do however need to make an insulation area for my gravity feed unless I set up my hand pump.  Only three winters but thus far the hand pump has not been needed.  I can only hope this continues. '

it is almost apple season here... Apples look good, but are not yet ready to eat!




I can only hope life elsewhere gets better quickly. 

My heart goes out to those in wild fire areas...
The shooting over the weekend...
and those who are in a drought so badly they have lost all income for the year.

my love to the world...
AegF

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Well... it is only 8:40 am as I start typing this post.  While I am sure it will be much later in the day before I can perfect my emotional upheaval last night.  I figured my horse friends would want a laugh as soon as I could put it into words.

Yesterday was going fine until about 11:45pm when I was woken from a dead sleep, something about my horse... WHAT I screamed... as I put on clothes, tried to find shoes, ran out the front door yelling thank you , oh but thank you... to a woman on my front porch of which I still cant remember her face, what she had on or anything about her except her exceptional kindness of coming off the mountain to get me!

Horse,
Road,
Brown one...  as it sank in...

OH MY GOD... the darkest horse I have on the road in the middle of the night!

KEYS... crap! as I run back into the house for a car key.  Yep just a car key...
I'm driving WELL over what I was suppose to, well over my norm even... OH CRAP again... no gate key, no cell phone, and I have on water shoes, did I even put on pants... oh yea I at least got my shorts on.

My kids are 4 miles away and a thousand feet higher on the mountain than the house.  The road to the barn is curvy, and this time of year we have people who come from all over the world to sleep, swim, fish, and get away from society on the top of Flat Top Mountain.  Some care that I have my horses there, others could care less (only those whom are seasonal... I should say.  Like the guy in the white ford that drove past sweetpea, and slowed to a crawl this morning looking at what was going on.) But my dear neighbor who's house is 250 feet above my barn only 50 feet back made a point to come get me! I call them the Canadians as they always fly a Canadian flag! Love their music, and I rarely see them.  But last night and into early this morning... they were the only ones who came to get me...  I owe them BIG time!

OK... So as I follow my neighbor back to the barn, her driving as fast as mine, but her with her brights on me with my old tires etc... I was so worried ... what if she has been hit in the mean time, oh what am I going to do? how did she get out this time? What the CRAP!!!!!

I pull in ... the Sweet Pea is Standing at the front gate wanting into the pasture.  I can only assume she thinks there is something better to eat in the woods but truly, it is all horrible things for horses, she must have finally ventured out into the road to find better pastures she could get into.  There are TWO men in my driveway watching her with flashlights, as I pull in and scare her into the woods. 

But being her mother... I made my drive up call.  A specific whistle... I walk to the guys to let Sweet Pea calm down from my drive up, ask them if they could possibly call my husband.   He had fallen asleep that fast... 4 miles at racing speeds and my dear one was already asleep! (oh how I wish I could do that! )   But he was sweet enough to bring me the keys!

I walked up to the woods, whistled again... (with only a shake up flashlight I keep in the car) I hear her snort! as she does when she greets me.  I walk down towards the sound and a white blaze appears as she twist her head my way.  I walk over to her give her a big hug... and she follows me to the gate back out of the woods.  I keep hay strings on every gate for this reason, but I graped the rope instead.  As I put it over her neck she freaked and ran off again.

Another whistle
Another hug, and then we just walked back up to the barn, her at my right shoulder as if she had a lead rope on, looking at me for her next move.

As I started up the stairs to the barn, she followed me...
WHAT ?
I really thought she was going to walk on the 8x8 deck and walk right back in the fence with me.  BUT she took a right and walked down the sidewalk and then walked down the boulders in the edge of the pasture.????? and then back over to me before I even got in the gate myself.

While I know I have a very athletic horse, I never imagined her climbing a 4 1/2 foot boulder wall like a goat.  YEP! so not only are my kids chewing on trees, one is climbing rocks as easily as a goat!

I rushed back to the house, grabbed the sleeping bag, spent the night in the barn, called Robbie as soon as the sun woke me up, , but no answer yet.  So later I will have to go to the VA and get some men to help me put up a new fence so she can't climb the rocks anymore.  I never figured my rock wall would be the area of escape! But it is...

My dear Saddlebred, SweetPea is a GOAT!

my love to you all...
have a good laugh on me.
AegF