Happy New Years Everyone! I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas!
Christmas was especially good to us this year. We got to spend the holidays with our families, which means more to me than anything else. There were people that were not able to make it to Christmas this year, for reasons I wont go into. And there were people that may not have been there physically, but were there in spirit.
As for the actual gifts, my hubby got me my new Camera! I am in love with this thing! I cant wait for spring to get here so I can get pictures of the trees and flowers blooming. I did, however, take the camera to the barn the other day to see what kind of pictures I could get. Be prepared....there are a lot...and even more on my facebook page!
So the plan was to head to the barn and see how my camera did on Tia pictures. Cause you all know she is my little muse! :) Well when I got there...this is what I found...
A very fat, very dirty pony! So I sighed to myself and loaded my care with the bath time preparations and headed to the big barn. Once I got her in the barn...I realized it was worse then I thought...this was gonna take forever!
I scrubbed this mare for at least 2 hours...and she still had little pockets of dirt under her coat! She was not happy about any of it either. We had 3 come to Jesus meetings before she realized it would be beneficial to her health and well being if she didn't lift her foot at me or try to sit down on the cross ties! Sigh..Next time I am just biting the bullet and washing her in DAWN! That'll get the crud off of her! She did..however..totally enjoy her teats being cleaned! The first time I ever cleaned them she tried to kill me. Since then, she loves it. Nickers the entire time I am cleaning them! Weird little mare! But, at least she was clean..sorta!
She even got a slight hair cut! Her mane was looking pretty raggedy and he bridle path was almost non-existent! So she got a little trim and then she was put back outside with her Mia Monster!
She was clean, sorta, for all of maybe 5 minutes! Then....
Yeah. She was feeling pretty frisky! It always puts a smile on my face when I see her this way. I have tried so hard to give her a life she is happy in, and watching her like this makes me feel like I have done something right! She is happy, and healthy, and that is all I can ask for. Going into 2014 there will be a whole different set of expectations for her and I. I just haven't told her yet.....
Gabs came over to the farm as I was finishing up with Tia to give Mocha a bath and see how he is moving now. He has been off for some time now. We put him back on his joint supplement and TADA! Sound Pony! Yay! And now, just because, here are a few pics of Mocha man!
I get this look A LOT!
I loveeeee this picture!
I'm sorry! I couldn't help myself!
I am hoping to be better about blogging in 2014, and hopefully I will be able too. There are lots of exciting things that are going to be happening for Tia in the coming year!
I hope everyone has an amazing New Years! See you all next year!
I don't like to be cold..ever. It makes me grumpy. My husband says I was a bear in my last life. I tend to agree with him!
Now, that being said, I also know that just because I am cold, doesn't mean those around me are. I know that I have hormonal/medical reasons for being hot and/or cold when everyone else is perfectly comfortable. I extend this thought process to Tia. Last year, the girls at the barn we kind enough to lend Tia a blanket since she was still a bit thin and was shivering when she was outside. This year is a whole different story! Tia is FAT...far fatter then she should be! She and Mia choose to stand out in the rain in 30-40 degree weather because "They are mare! Hear them roar!" Neither one of them were shivering.
That being said, guess who got her very own blanket this year! TIA! I am super excited to have it on hand and will most likely only use it on emergency cases. But at least I have it...and if I must say so...She looks amazing in red!
Because of the weather, I haven't been able to spend any time with my students and their horses.
Gabs and Mocha! I love these two!
Tango and Phyllis! This is my newest Boyfriend!
Allie and Jennifer! This little Mustang Mare is currently up for Lease/Possible Sale.
Becca and Mia! My little Mini Me and her Zebra!
Ceaser and Mel! They are in VA!
Reba and Sherry! Reba has an uncanny ability to know when I am coming out...and then hurt herself! Grrr
And just to put that in perspective with the type of weather we are dealing with...Here ya go!
While this is extremely pretty...ICE is NASTY stuff. My car does not like Ice...AT ALL. Therefore, when there is ice on the ground, my butt stays home! And while I am well aware that what we are getting here is absolutely nothing compared to other parts of the country/world, I know my limits. I don't drive in nasty weather. Ie: snow and ice. I know better then to put other people at risk because I cant handle driving in the inclement weather.
So like I said...Pretty....but nasty! AND COLD! Did I mention I hate being cold!?
I have come to the conclusion that trying to actually catch up is damn near impossible! So, as my daughter said to us after we moved Mia this weekend, "Onward March!".
Friday: The Vet Visit
I normally don't do fall shots for my horses. Mainly because my horses don't go anywhere, and up until recently, they have either been at my house or my Mom's house. Now that I am boarding at a public stable, I kinda felt that even if they didn't require Fall Shots, Tia needs them done because she is around other horses that I don't know. So while my wonderful vet was there, I figured I should have him take a look at her foot.
#1 Her foot is wet because I soaked it to try to make sure there wasn't anything growing in that there cut.
#2 She is NOT a fan of having her foot soaked.
#3 Really....REALLY not a fan of her not being a fan of soaking her foot.
The vet agrees that there is nothing in the cut, but he did say its pretty much a mangled mess. We still aren't sure what she did, and she certainly wasn't going to let us poke and prod her foot for longer than .5 seconds. But, he says that as long as I keep it clean and keep an eye on it it should be OK. As long as it doesn't start quarter cracking all the time, I can avoid chopping off that part of her heel, shoeing her and putting gunk in there to stabilize the hoof. This is what I was hoping to avoid, so for now, we are safe. She got 2 shots and was an extremely good girl for them.
I did have to laugh tho. When Brian, the vet, walked in, I said to him "Hi Brian! Meet the new draft pony!" He couldn't believe the change in her...and then he said "Wow...you can stop now Erin. I think she is good!" LOL. I had to tell him that I have actually gotten about 30 pounds off of her in the past month or so...he was floored. :) So, Tia has to stay in her stall at night now, which honestly doesn't bother me a bit. Especially with it starting to get super cold. When I had my horses at home they were always on a 12 hr on/12 hr off schedule depending on the season. So this is fine in my book.
Saturday: Busy Busy
I picked up a new student a week ago. Her first lesson with me was Saturday morning. She has an absolutely beautiful BLM Mustang mare. The owner is very aware that her and the mare are oil and water and has said she would like to find the mare a more suitable forever home. (If anyone is interested, let me know!!) She is a highly intelligent mare with some really amazing athletic ability. She would be amazing at barrels, poles, or even gymkhana. But...and please read this carefully, she really needs to be a one person horse. She definitely still has some issues trusting people and can be a bit spooky. All in all, the first lesson with this girl went exceptionally well. By the end of the lesson, the mare was walking in to myself and the owner instead of standing at the edge of the round pen. This mare is broke to ride and has some very pretty movement! Her owner and I are working on her trust issues before we even think about the owner riding her again. There is not a mean bone in this mares body, but her fright/flight is set to flight. We are working on her trust to help with this.
After the lesson, in which Gwen helped the barn owner clean stalls and her field, we met up with my Mom to get feed and go visit the tack store! So we ran and had lunch and then off to Amish country we went!
Jaime moved Dot out - Tia did not take kindly to this event. Apparently, she ran around like a loon and tried to stand on the fence. When I went over to check on her, she was patiently waiting for Lupe to feed her her dinner. I hung up her new stall treat, which kept her busy for a few minutes. I left her snug in her stall for the night.
Sunday: My normal crash day...
Yeah..normal crash day didn't happen this week. Oh well. Sunday morning , I got up and packed Gwen's bag. My daycare is closed on Veterans Day so she is spending the night with Grandma! Once I got everything together, we set off for the tack swap! We met up with Gabs and Pam and took a stroll through there. I got to talk to the local 4H leader about a situation that popped up at one of the shows this past summer and it sounds like all will be taken care of! Yay! Gwen found a breyer she absolutely had to have...I cant say no to $5 for a Breyer! Once we were done at the Swap, we headed over to the barn that Mia was at. We moved out all of Becca's stuff, swept down all the cobwebs, cleaned the goats stall, moved her hay and then blew out the barn so it was sparkling clean! Once my Mom got there, we loaded up Mia and off we went.
When I got out of the car, my Mom asked if I had heard Mia when they drove in. I hadn't. Apparently, the moment she saw Tia she did her very best "Pig from the insurance commercial" impression!
Poor Mia. She has been alone over at the other farm for a little over a month I believe, except for the goats, but they don't count! She was very happy to see her friend Tia. I think the feeling was mutual!
Mocha man wanted to see what all the fuss was about!
Its like they were never even apart. No squealing. No kicking. Nothing. They ran for maybe 2 minutes before they realized they were wasting valuable eating time burning calories they OBVIOUSLY needed!
We left the girls to continue eating while we unloaded the vehicles with Becca's belongings. I think its pretty safe to say that there will be a tack sale needed in our future! Gracious we have a lot of stuff!
As I was leaving, I noticed that Gabs had left. :( But wait! Here she comes back in the driveway! Yay! So I stopped and asked her if she wanted to go grab lunch. She asked if she could run Mocha first! Of Course! Back up to the barn we went!
This boy may be a tank...but boy does he love to run those barrels!
Then it was off to lunch...leaving the farm I got this picture.
I know I might be a bit biased, but dang if she ain't a pretty little mare!
Hubby and I got to spend some time (quietly - no 4 year old!) catching up on some of our shows last night over steak and crab legs! Yum! Tonight after work I am headed to a lesson and then over to pick up Gwen from Grandma's! They have had a fantastic day at Chuckie Cheese and I am sure all parties involved are ready for a nap!
