I couldn't stand it any longer...

I have 2 puppies. Yes, count em, 2. Holy shit I've lost my mind. I only went to go get one puppy, that's all I wanted. But I took the hubby with me.....The guy offered us the other puppy for pretty much free, so here we come home with 2 - 4 month old Boxer puppies. (pretty much 5 months now)

I started to read up on two puppies and realized it's going to be A LOT of work, like I knew it would be work, but didn't really put two and two together until after I bought them both.

So here is the ground rules I've set up to cover these two:

1.) Separation. Be this taking one places with just me, separating them when they sleep, separating them for training, or just having one in the kitchen and one in the other room with me, they will work through being separated.

2.) Being strict with both. It's hard to resist a cute puppy face, but when there is two?! Holy cow! I have resolved to be strict with both puppies, I feel this is in their best interest. I am the dominant one and I do not want either or to think they can challenge that.

3.) Consistency. I want to be consistent with both puppies. I know that with Buck, we didn't let our guard down with him till he was pretty much 2 years old. It was consistent commands and rules from day one that he came into this house.

So that is where I'm at. I've got a solid sit on them and we are working on come and stay right now. They both listen to me better than my husband, so he is going to have to put some effort into them. Buck did the same thing, listened to me a whole lot better than my husband. That was only because my husband didn't put the effort into training like I did.

I will say though, I am happier with puppies. After Buck died I went into depression :( I didn't clean the house and I didn't want to do anything. I even started having period like cramps, which I know is from the stress of it all. This was not good for my health, nor my babies health. 6 days into having these two tards, the house is clean and I am generally happy.

Weird.

Buck

I don't even know where to begin with this. I am distraught, lost, and terribly heartbroken.

When Buck was 6-8 weeks old we found him at the city pound. He was the pick between two different puppies; one a rambunctious little brindle and the other dopey Buck. My husband chose Buck because Buck wasn't running around like an idiot, Buck was generally happy enough to just be lazy. He even sat down in the aisle ways and just looked at us like "So I'm leaving here right?" Buck also was being picked on by a pit bull that was in the cage with him, which was cute because Buck just sorta sat there and took the abuse with his classic "oh man this sucks" attitude.

We brought Buck home about a week later and he terrorized our older dog. She hated him in the beginning because she was 10 and he was just a tiny energy filled puppy. He always fought dirty, as my husband called it, because he would run under her and bite her legs. Eventually, after a few months, the two dogs learned to like each other and so the next five years were all a big happy family.

Buck would go camping with us, to the farm with us, learned how to ride in the bed of a truck, always went hiking, I loved to take him everywhere, he became a shop dog, he went to work with me, and he was just as happy to sit on the couch and watch tv with me. Buck also had a knack for sitting on your feet and if you were laying cross legged on the floor, Buck had to be sitting on your lap. (Buck didn't fit mind you. He was only 124lbs..)

Buck had fans. People who loved him and people that always said they would take him if I could no longer keep him. That always made me feel so proud that Buck pretty much had everyone wrapped around his big dumb head. He was a momma's boy though, he always put me first. My husband was a close second.

On Tuesday Buck started vomiting. On Weds, Buck was still vomiting and now having some diarrhea but would still eat. On Thursday, Buck refused all food. It was obvious that he was in pain. We took Buck to the vet Thursday night and the x-rays showed that Bucks intestines were full of gas and were bloated, but there was no impactions or anything. He also had blood in his rectum. The vet kept him overnight for observation and bloodwork.

Bloodwork came back normal yesterday morning. Bucks intestines though, when he was re-xrayed, were about 3 times larger than Thursdays and were twisting around themselves. The vet said the only option is exploratory surgery and even then it might not find the cause. He also gave us a quote to do the surgery and Bucks chances for survival weren't great either option we went.

I made the worst decision of my life so far. I chose to euthanize Buck. I'm at a loss for what I have done. I had to chose between my baby growing in me and my best friend Buck. I wasn't sure how far into savings I would have to go to save Buck, if I even could. I also knew that there was no way I could get that money saved up again by the time the baby comes and I want to make sure that we had the money to cover deductibles on health insurance and have a cushion there if anything happened to the baby that we had to pay for.

I chose my child over my Buck. I feel so lost and empty. Buck was more than just a dog, he was my shoulder to cry on more times than I can count. He was always there to make me feel better. Saying goodbye to him was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I wish he wouldn't have wagged his tail when we said goodbye.

I've never seen my husband tear up, never in the ten years we've been together. This has made us both feel so lost.

So lets talk beer...

I'm 22 weeks pregnant and all I want is a beer or a glass of wine. That is an odd thing to think about wanting but I do. The odd twist to this is I can't stand the smell of alcohol, so even if I wanted to drink a glass of wine or have a beer, I would probably vomit trying. I know, great picture in your head huh?

So bring forth nonalcoholic beers and wines. I have been trying them on and off since I got pregnant. So far, I have found two that I like. Lets go over something though.. NA red wine sucks. They all suck. Every brand sucks at making a red NA wine. I have not finished a bottle of it yet. White NA wine sucks. Also add this to the list of bottles I dumped out.

There is hope though, I found a wine called Fre. I picked up a bottle of sparkling "Brut" to try to enjoy this weekend with some friends while they were all drinking. Holy crap it is delicious. I would drink that stuff willingly even when I wasn't pregnant! It is 27% juice, which I found to be quite comical but it is crisp, fruity, and very bubbly. I actually finished that bottle in two days. It was like sparkling apple juice but crisp. Lovely.

NA beer? Buckler. That is it, hands down what it is to be. I just bought a new six pack and I should be finished with it by the time I give birth. (haha shows how much I'm going to town on these huh?)

SO there we are. These two will be my standbys for Xmas parties coming up this year. Keeping the little one from ingesting an actual drink full of alcohol and keeping momma happy. I can live with <.5% per serving of these. I'm not out to get drunk, buzzed, or giddy; I just want to enjoy the taste.

Horses and food oh my!

It's cold here. It's rainy here. That means I plum don't want to do anything. This includes working with Memphis. He has had about a week of no interaction at all from me other than the occasional scratch and groom. Sigh. I don't even know if I'll be out tonight because it's gonna be cold. That means I won't see him again till Sunday. (barn owner is having a 4-H Halloween party this weekend... yeah right for me going out there)

Oh well. I'll work him in the barn on Sunday if I have to. I can just get her to move the tractor for me and lunge him a bit. When it rains the horses stay up in the stalls, so I know he has a ton of energy right now. Poor bubba. I know he'll survive though.

Woah, and next month is one year of ownership! Memphis has also turned 6! I feel somewhat failure to him as I really haven't done much with him. Oh well, I will. I got this. I think.

I need to also start updating the food part of this. People keep asking me for some of my recipes of my new stuff. Sigh. So demanding. :)

Other than that, everything is peachy here.

More baby garbage

I wake up in the mornings and edge my way to my kitchen (after the bathroom of course). I usually let the dogs out the back door, talk to the chickens, and rummage for old leftovers that I can give to the chickens. I, being the new crazy mom that I am, have put the ultrasound pictures to little Lucy on my fridge. Somehow it fit on there next to all the garbage we already have on our fridge, but it works haha

Now, I realized this morning that I am turning into that parent. I'm terrified to be honest. I felt her last night kicking me from the outside and I couldn't help but just be amazed.

I'm going to go curl up with my iced tea now and be amazed that I am now "that guy"

Go me.

Well, it's confirmed, there is a baby in there

This is so not horse related although I'll give a tiny Memphis update when I'm done.

I saw my little baby on Monday!!!! And despite my own intuition about it being a boy, its a GIRL! I'm beyond excited about having a girl, more so I think than I would have been if it had been a boy. Funny, as my barn owner was the only one to suggest that it was a girl; everyone else was sure that it was a boy. Even better was she looks perfect on the scans! Little toes, little fingers, hehe tiny arms and legs, and of course a tiny nose! Who can resist such a thing?!

Oh lord, what have I become! I always said I'd never be "that" parent, but are you reading what I just posted?! I'm head over heels for this little person in me! I think somebody replaced my anti-kid genes and put some kid friendly ones in there. That is the only explanation. The only one.

I hope she likes horses hah

Memphis is doing well. I like his new food and I can tell a difference in handling him. He isn't constantly in a state of OMG anymore. (I have no idea how else to describe it) He is also patient to be stand tied. So I am pleased. :) I was out Tuesday to see him but didn't do anything with him. He walked up in the field and was content to just stand next to me the entire time I was out there, which is a first. Not sure what that was about, unless he likes to work.

I think my riding days are over till the baby comes. :( I'm starting to feel top heavy and so I think that I will take this time to perfect some gaits on the lunge line and maybe teach him a few stupid tricks or something. I also couldn't live with myself if something happened to the baby because I just HAD to ride. Memphis will be there when I get done cooking the baby. :)

Day 2 of saddling work

Yesterday went back out to work on the saddling thing again. We did everything all over again, starting with basic ground work, then some lunging, and then saddling again.

Now, I am not sure if he put blanket together with RUN because once I got it close to him he was ready to take off, so after a few goes I figured out it was just a game to my big idiot and I don't take kindly to these types of games.

That's find Memphis, you get to work harder in a smaller circle. This was short and to the point. It was also ugly. Thankfully, I had enough brains to remember to stay at his shoulder, correctly hold the lunge line, and keep a calm head. I never got mad or frustrated with him. I just happily walked around in a circle.

A few times he did rear up or jump back like it was a stick of fire or something just like Sunday, but nowhere near as dramatic. Took a total of 10 minutes. The saddle pad went on, all pressure was released, he took a breather and everything was right in the world.

Again, he saddled just find after this and I'm very positive that he would have let me mount up. I did not though, because some kids showed up to ride in the arena and they were using flags on their horses (getting them used to it) and the risk of him flipping out and me getting hurt. My balance isn't exactly 100% right now.

So Sunday is supposed to be nice and I'm gonna do it all over again then. I actually think I'm gonna work on woah on the lunge a little more since my cute little bugger thinks he has his own ideas about it.

Overall, I'm super happy about him and super impressed with him. I love my idiot :D

Day one of issues from the ground: saddling

So, I know I've mentioned this before but I just now got around to working this one out with Memphis. This one required time and patience. Lots of time and lots and lots of patience. Since it took so much time, I only worked on saddling. I'll be back out on Weds to work ont he mounting.

I showed up at the barn and gathered all my materials:

Memphis
Lunge line
Lunge whip
Saddle
Saddle pad
Bridle
Riding crop
Mounting block

I started with just basic groundwork just to make sure he knew it was time to work. Just a halter, lead rope, and the riding crop on my wrist for back up to commands. We worked on walking next to me, woah, back, and moving away from pressure on the sides. I then switched over to some basic lunging, making sure he followed me asking for him to go forward in each direction and backing up the forward command. Then I made sure he remembered Woah.

Now the fun part! I grabbed the pad and we started to REALLY work. I held the lunge line in my left hand and the pad in my right. I lifted the pad up and the second he moved away, I dropped the pad, and he was immediately sent out to work. He had to move his feet, no walking, I wanted a rack, runwalk, or canter.

We did this over and over. Pad tries to go on, he moves, he gets worked. Pad tries to go on, he moves, he gets worked. He started to REALLY sweat so I decided to work him a little closer than keep sending him out. This was his funny AH HA moment. I worked him in a tight circle with pretty much me at his shoulder, his head slightly turned towards me and the pad in my right hand. I would lift, he would move and I would lift, he would move and we would go around and a around.

This was NOT pretty. The first few times the pad touched him and he would rear back acting like it was a cattle prod or something. THen the pad was allowed to start touching him and then I could stick it on and I release all aids and relaxed. I moved off his shoulder some, dropped the lunge line to give his head freedom, and waited.

I removed and replaced the pad about 5 times, turned it around on his back, and slid it all over and he didn't move at all. So we moved towards the saddle going on his back.

HOT DOG! The big horse didn't flinch at all for the saddle going on. Let me cinch him up and let me walk him around. I took it off and redid it and he still stood like he'd done it ten billion times before.

Even better? I walked him over to the mounting block, stood up on it, and put some weight in the saddle: HE DIDN'T MOVE AT ALL!!!!

I stopped it here. He did what I asked him to do. When he allowed me to saddle him all the work for him stopped. He didn't have to do anything more. I'm going to redo this on Weds with the hopes of getting into the saddle and him not moving around. If so, I have no issues sending him out to work.

And that was working with my big dumb horse today :) I'll update on Thursday or Friday!

I went against all advice and rode..

So yesterday I was going to try the new pinchless bit I got and see how he moves in it. I have come to find out a lot of new things about Memphis that we had previously worked through:

1.) Wants to move when mounting. We had worked on this and he was standing like a champ before I got pregnant.

2.) Not trying to get away from the saddle when saddling. Again, worked on this one too and had it all figured out.

3.) Not moving once mounted. I had him standing like a champ after mounting a few months ago.

And he had developed a new habit:

1.) Trying to bite me while under saddle.

The biting thing is brand spanking new. Never had him do this before. He only did it when we were riding on the road to get to the forest. I couldn't figure out what he was doing at first and thought something was bothering him. After ruling everything out, I can only come to the conclusion he was trying to bite. Jerk. I started hitting him with my foot if I could reach, hitting him in with the lead rope, or just plain smacking him. Problem is, I didn't catch it in the begining and so it kinda developed into something a little nastier than I wanted. I'll have to work that out whenever I do get back into riding hardcore.

Other than that, he did like the bit and did move well in it. I think some of his problem is he doesn't want to do what I say. He did shake his head a little but nowhere near like he was in the other bits. He also didn't have any sores on his mouth when we were done. Good boy.

My worry with him though, is he has a BIG motor. A couple times when we stopped to wait for the others to catch up I noticed he was breathing super fast. And when we moved out again he would go right back into the fast as all get out flat walk/run walk with a few racks thrown in there.I held him back the entire ride since I didn't want him to injure himself by wanting to flat out go the entire time.

Now, I will say that his calling in life is trails. This horse turned into a totally different horse on the trails. No more trying to bite me, his ears perked forward, very ready to just go down the trail, and responsive to *most* things. I might look into endurance riding with him once I can ride again, something I think he would do very very well at.

I know he is going to be sore today, but he's got until almost April off. Then we will work through a whole crapton of issues that I had already worked through. Mounting being a large one. I will admit I got frustrated with him and the mounting thing. I chalk that up to the pregnancy thing.

Other than that, he is a good boy. He just has some attitude under saddle that will need to be addressed.

Somebody needs to work with their horse

Not saying any names or pointing any fingers...... but I'm pretty sure the name starts with the letter R and pretty sure the finger is towards me. ;)

Went out and did groundwork with Memphis. Get this, I was working on his responding to pressure exercises; something I have not done in about 2 months. So I place my hand on his shoulder, apply mild pressure, and ask "over". He flipped his head around and tried to bite me! WTF?! This is not the horse that I like to brag about! He got popped in the mouth since I saw it right as it was happening so he didn't even have a second to think about it, he just got corrected. Then I tried it again and he moved his hindquarters over just like he should and has been taught to do.

I guess this all boils down to more groundwork with this guy. It's that reminder that says "HEY WORK WITH YOUR HORSE ON A REGULAR BASIS". I will be the first to admit he has gotten off really easy lately. Big idiot.

The new bits shipped out yesterday. I'd expect they'd be here by the end of the week since they shipped from OH. I'm also getting his teeth done tomm to eliminate that issue from the equation.

Oh and onto feed again, since Tribute NEVER responded to my email to them about the Kalm N Ez food question I had, I will answer it myself here by posting the feed tag. This way if anyone stumbles here looking for the same info, you can find whats in this food.

Just click on the picture and it will get bigger.

I've also been working my butt off lately trying to pay for the increased costs this month. Phew. I work this Sat, all of next weekend, and the Sat after that. This will cover the bits, his feed, and part of his board. So everything isn't hitting us out of our budget budget. I am selling off a few things too to help. Then I'd only have to work 1 day a month to make his feed costs and 2 extra days a month to cut his board in half from our budget. (I have two jobs, my full time and a part time for the horse stuff) Ah horses.

Bits

Alrighty then, since yesterday I found that the barn owner had used a Tom Thumb on Memphis. I despise Tom Thumbs. Very ineffective aid to a horse and she said he just shook his head whenever pressure was applied to the bit. I would too if I had no idea what to do when you asked me something since the aid was not clear.

He has not liked the Jr. Cowhorse I've had him in as of late either. This one has to do with pinching, since it does pinch his lips. Soooooo, since you know I can't ride right now, how about I get really into my horse and start researching things haha It makes total sense!

I bought two new bits today. If they work out well for him I'm selling both of my other bits and just keeping my O-ring and these two. I'll sell the Jr. Cowhorse and my Curb with a Roller. I bought the Robart Pinchless "Snaffle" with a roller aaaannnddd bought a short shanked "snaffle". The short shank is for whomever leases him, the roller snaffle is for me - the shanks are LONG and I don't want a child using that bit. Children seem to pull on mouths quite a bit and I do not want them pulling on his mouth with a long shanked bit, that's asking for trouble.

Anywho, I do plan on hopping up on him when these come in just to see how well they work. He's going to love me haha... I'm fat, well not fat, but have gained weight. He's a stout horse... should be able to do it. The guy I bought him from was heavier than me.

Anyway, the barn owner ended up riding him for the trail ride on Saturday. The mom couldn't ride since there would be no 4-H leader if she rode, so the barn owner had to ride. Memphis was the last horse out haha She also rode him at the back of the pack. Memphis HATES the back, she said he did an uncomfortable gait the entire time. She did say he was very comfortable once everybody started cantering and Memphis settled into a nice gait. I can only imagine it was a rack, since he LOVES to do that when others canter. Silly horse.

Oh well, that's all I got at the moment.

Feed part 2!

So I went ahead and got the barn owner to agree to feeding Memphis something new. I shouldn't say agree, more like laugh at me while I'm doing this. I picked up 3 bags of the new stuff yesterday and stuck it in a trash can I brought from home for him. It smells like licorice. Not bad though, you have to be right up on top of it to smell it, unlike the feed at the barn where the entire feed room smells sweet and grainy. It's also drier than her feed, the pellets don't stick together, but there is no dust to speak of. Today starts the transition to the new stuff. Hopefully he at least gets that nutty edge taken off of him. :)

Couple other thoughts about feed while I'm here and to expand on the comment on my last feed post. I do not believe horses need to be grained every day if they aren't doing work. I do think they need the grain if they are working as they are exerting more energy trying to please us than they would just walking around stuffing their mouths full of grass.

Now, my final goals for Memphis? To put him on just a ration balancer and then beet pulp for the extra if he needs it. I don't want to do that right now though for a couple reasons. One, I don't think the barn owner would go for that; I know I know he's my horse I should have say, but I do have to not burn bridges with this awesome awesome woman. Two, I'd feel more comfortable playing with his feed when he is living on my own property and that way the consequences of whatever I do are solely on me. (losing weight, getting too hyper, gaining too much, getting to dull, and on and on) And three, since he looks to be used right now and I think I'm going to find a leaser for him, I want to keep him on the feed for the extra oomph. (if that makes any sense at all)

Those are my thoughts on that at the moment.

Now yesterday I go to the barn and wanted to play with my idiot and put his new feed away. My idiot isn't there! Talk about freaking out! I had been asked about 3 weeks ago if he could be used for the year end 4-H trail ride and I told them sure if somebody wants to ride him and signs my waiver go for it. They forgot to tell me the date, so after much freaking out and phone calls I find him on a trail ride. PHEW! I know one of the moms rode him, so I hope he did well for her. Barn owner said he saddled and trailered just fine, which is good, since right before I got pregnant we worked on that quite a bit.

The only thing that worries me is the bit they are using and if they make him stand after mounting. Memphis has a VERY soft mouth and I was contemplating putting him into a D-ring instead of the leverage bit that he was in. I'll talk to the barn owner tonight and find out the bit thing and try to see if I can't get info out of the mom on how he rode. I just want to know everything I think. haha

Feed Fight!

So I'm currently trying to convince my barn owner to let me switch Memphis' feed. I have some reasoning behind this so I'm not nuts. Let me sum it up in the emails I have been going back and forth with her on, so I don't have to retype it all out.

Email 1 of the convincing:

Back onto the feed thing (I can see the sigh and eye roll from here hehehe) You had me worried about the protein so I spent most of last night researching protein, grains, fat, and molasses in horse feeds. My conclusion is that while I do not think sweet feed is bad, I really don't, I'm pretty sure it has it's place in a lot of horse diets and works very very well for most people in most situations. I'm just worried that it is not the correct type of feed for Memphis. I learned a whole lot last night about what happens to extra protien intake for horses (how neat is this: their body turns it into nitrogen which is then passed through the kidneys and expelled as urine) since I was concerned about the extra protien making him "hotter" than he is now. From what I can gather, most new research suggests that its not the protien making the horse hot, but the increase in feed that is given to a horse that is usually done with higher protien feeds.

Then I started reading about grains. I should NEVER have done this. I found out what the NSC "rating" (and what NSC means and why it is important) stands for and what each grain is from an energy standpoint to the horse. That started learning about hindguts, stomachs, choke (that was neat!), and those friendly little bacterias that help digest everything. It actually helps because I have more of an understanding now what happened to my first horse than I did when she died. Since I had to think about her feed and her change of conditions at the end and how it all relates to that little delicate interior that horses have.

Grains also led me to behavioral problems in some horses, seems to lean more towards the "light" breeds (that is not scientific, just what I came to my own conclusion on). The sweet feed has a higher concentration of grains that are cheaper and get the job done (like corn), but these grains also cause quite the spike in insulin in horses and can make some horses get "hot".

Blah, this is getting long. In the end, I don't believe its the molasses in sweet feed after I read SO much last night. My gosh I was up till 12am reading that stuff and did a lot at work yesterday. I think it is in part to the grain that they use in sweet feed and technically, I would say Memphis could go down on the amount of sweet feed and it would probably help take some of the edge off of him. My worry with that is getting enough nutrients and getting enough protein into his body.

The feed I'm wanting to switch him to does have a higher percentage of protein, which he will just expell through his urine. A higher fat content (which, I also found out that horses can eat up to 20% fat before getting the runs!) which has some research to back it up that it helps reduce colic in horses, and it has replaced high rated NSC grains with lower rated NSC grains, which take a little longer to digest and don't cause a spike in insulin that is quite as great. He will also be eating less of it as the calorie content is higher due to the fat which will also help. In the end still getting less energy from the feed.

So that's my final scientific review of feed. However scientific and long this so happens to be. Phew. Sorry it's long, but I feel like I should at least give some explanation for this instead of just pushing the switch.

Email 2 when she asked me about her own feed (not sure if she was curious or I irked her with that last email):

Pelleted feed I really don't know, just depends on what is in it. I'd have to go crazy over research on the feed you have :)

Found the feed tag on Southern States, when did you switch to this feed? Just curious as I remember purple bags before or the stuff from TS before.
Molasses is the sixth ingredient down, so I'd go with it is just there for flavor as opposed to anything else in the feed. Everything up, the first five ingredients, are just fillers for fiber. Limestone is added for calcium and then the corn meal add some energy and protein to the feed. Everything else is just supplements.

Now, I did looks up the NSC rating for the Southern States feed, as they do list it on the website. The rating percentage in this feed is 30%, the higher the rating the higher the starch is (I do not want to say sugar, since it's "not" but is but not haha). Compare this to the feed I am looking at where it's rating is 15%. (NSC rating tells you basically the carb/sugar/starch (all the same thing in my mind) percentage of a feed)

This is where I feel that just trying a new feed would be a start to Memphis.

I will say that the Southern States website is very nice and their feed info is excellent, I was not expecting that much information on the website

And something I posted on a horse forum about my own thoughts in the end on the feed:

"Right now, I don't feel like sweet feed is the enemy as I did maybe a week ago and early yesterday morning before I rolled up my sleeves and really got into the types of stuff in feed. There are many opinions on feed, just as there are on training methods. Everyone has an opinion. I think the issue with the sweet feed is the amount that he has been given. It is also made with the cheapest grains possible and I do not believe that the molasses is the evil feed devil in disguise.

I do believe he is being given too much sweet feed for his amount of work and think that if I wanted to, I could cut his feed in half and he would probably calm down on just that alone.

But then I look at the quality of what he is eating and that is what does it for me. I can put him on a better quality food and even though I have a baby coming and the what not, I can still afford to do this so I am. (I'm not rich, just retarded frugal) I don't think he needs the higher protein in the Kalm N EZ, but I know that it won't hurt him and the body will convert it to nitrogen and then expell it through the kidneys in the form of urine. I'm good with that. I also have figured out that the higher fat content, while horrid for us humans watching a wasteline, is good for horses.

He will be getting a smaller ration of food (gonna start him at 6lbs when the full switch happens and try to wean him down to 5 or 4, although it is all played by ear) and that alone should do it. Like I said before, I have to be a realist here and venture with the possibility that this may not work. At least if it does, I cross it off my list and move on. 50% of his issues is exercise the other 50% I'm going with his feed. There is a small 2% that is just him being big and dumb. (I know my percentages add to 102% haha) "

So, here is where I am. I have taken an interest in horse feed lately and horse nutrition. Am I an expert? Hell no. Not even close. But do I feel better now that I've looked all this over? Yes.

I'm also starting to wonder about the Southern States feed she has been feeding. As his kicking started about a month ago and that is around the time she switched to that feed. I hope she answers me on that. I am not going to tell her that I think the SS feed is the reason for his hyperness as of late, but I have a strong feeling of such.

Now, the new feed that I want to switch to is Tribute Kalm N EZ. I am going to tell the barn owner to just let me try it for 2 months. If it works I'm going to ask for some money off of the board. I think this is fair since I wouldn't be using her feed anymore. I wouldn't ask her for the full cost of the new feed off the board, but just like 25 to 30 bucks a month.

The new feed is 17 bucks a bag and I figure 3 bags a month. It is about 6 bucks more than the feed she is feeding per bag, so that really isn't to bothersome for me. I know that the feed store does bulk discounts and if this works, then I will look into buying in bulk. Where I will store it the world doesn't know but ya know.


Anywho, everything else is peachy. Just redid Memphis' leasing ad on CL and will be making up some flyers to put in feed stores this week or next. I'm a little worried about finding a leaser since he is a Walker and these horses seem to have a special group of people following them here in this state. But we'll see.

Other than that, my life is good!

Just upset

I'm a little upset today. I'm letting my fears of being hurt stopping me from enjoying my horse. I'm also letting his "problems" stopping me from really being attached to him. I am going to take him down to a half ration of sweet feed and put him on a no sugar feed for the other half. I'm hoping that brings down his activity levels some. He is a hyper horse and I'm starting to come to the conclusion that the sweet feed has a lot to do with it. I was going to talk to the barn owner yesterday but she wasn't home. I stuck around for an hour yesterday waiting on her but oh well.

I played with Memphis quite a bit. He did test me some in hand, which I think is just from nobody working with him. That is my fault, not his. It's a nice cool day though today so I'm thinking of going back down there and lunging him some and then working in hand again. Some walking and engaging some movements on the ground. That will be good for him, make him think.

I am also going to go ahead and request that he be put in a field by himself. Her fields are set up so that he will see other horses, just not allowed to interact. I'm hoping that the change in feed will help calm him down and then we can reintroduce other horses. This is my hope. Every time I think of her saying how he bolts out of the stall like an idiot and then acts like an idiot in the field in the morning, this just says ENERGY to me. If it comes down to it, I will work out the board price with her and just put him strictly on a low starch feed that either I provide or she provides. This week is me getting prices on this stuff.

Oh horses, drive me crazy. I just need Memphis to hold out for a year or two till we move.


Baby is doing fine. Think I felt the sucker move a few days ago, it was just a flutter, but I know it wasn't anything else but it. Makes me a little bit more excited. I got a baby coming, holy shit!

Babies and bad horses, oh my!

Babies

This ties into horses eventually. I promise. I heard the babies heartbeat last week! This made everything seem so real! Before I heard it, I knew I was pregnant but it didn't really hit home with me that I was. I guess because nothing in there is moving that I can feel, my body hadn't changed that much, and my morning sickness has been mild at best. So, it's easy to see, for me at lease, why I didn't feel that pregnant.

Then I hear this little fast heartbeat coming from my abdomen and its like everything is now changed. I'm taking care of this other tiny human right now. It's in there doing whatever it does right now and I'm the only person that can care for it. That, as corny as I'm about to sound, changes so much about what I have been doing up until this point. This month is tight with money and it will be for awhile. I'm trying to get as much in the bank as possible before the baby shows up.

Horses


Now, the baby ties into Memphis in a large way. I have elected not to ride while pregnant. I know a ton of people still do ride, but by my own personal choice, I have chosen not to. I trust Memphis a lot under saddle, but I have fallen off of him. He is not a short horse and falling off of him is a long fall that usually hurts. (That incident was funny- full out pace and he jumped a log and I went off the side)

Because of this Memphis is an eating machine that is just eating hay and money. Last week Memphis had kicked another horse resulting in a broken leg for the other horse. Yes, this other horse was put down. I decided then that I would sell him and did in fact put him up for sale. My reasoning was that right now I just can't handle the emotional aspect of something like this and I can't ride anyway so why not just sell.

Then walk in my barn owner and one of the 4-H moms at the barn. Barn owner told me basically not to sell. Her reasoning was that horses are horses and shit happens. She also said that Memphis is great in hand, great with groundwork, great under saddle, and he is good around the kids. The mom basically said the same thing and she informed me that she rode him about two weeks ago.

This is FINE by me. I had told her before that she can ride him and the little girl that rode him a bit back was her daughter. She then asked me if she could continue to ride him and take him on trail rides since he is easier on her back than her Quarter Horses. This again I gave her permission to do as Memphis needs to be ridden.

Now, for the time being this works and is in my favor. Memphis is currently up for full or partial lease. I like him being ridden while I try to find somebody to lease him since it will keep him in the right mind frame for a potential leasor.

Phew. This is long. I'll add more later but this is what is going on in my life.

Good Horses

Well, it broke the 90 degree heat wave we've been having yesterday and it was a pleasent mid 80's. This prompted me to decide that somebody, even if its not me, is going to ride Memphis. Yesterday just confirmed that I should have no fear of my big dumb horse. :)

I decided before anyone got on him that I would lunge first. I wanted to see if he was going to be a total jerk or if he would take to being worked again. So I only saddled him and then walked him out to the arena.

I usually don't hold a lunge whip when lunging unless the horse is requiring me to use it. (Here is a random thinking from the innards of Rachel's mind: By requiring to use it I don't mean beat the heck out of the horse, I think I've only touched a horse with it once or twice and that was back in Dodge's day.)So I dropped the whip to the ground and then started to lunge him. He was an angel and acted like he'd been lunging for years. Guess all my working with him in the winter has paid off. He went through his gaits for me and transitioned as I asked him to. Needless to say, I was impressed and so I cut the session a little short.

Next was the 13 year old that has been begging me to ride him for a long time. I was kinda nervous to hop right up on him since I hadn't ridden in two months and in that time Memphis had done nothing. The 13 year old does have her own horse that she barrel races and she has a nice seat and hands, so I figured what the hey, she still bounces if she falls. :D

She did wonderfully. There was some resistance from Memphis when she was a little too tight on the reins, but after I showed her my method for dealing with him when he gets a little spunky (and for her to drop the reins a little) they worked out really well together. She wouldn't stop talking about how smooth he is and how much fun he is to ride. (she has a QH) She rode him for almost an hour and had him worked out in a sweat. I know he'll be a little sore today but it will be fine since he has 2 weeks off of work since I'm going on vacation.

He does need a new curb strap, his broke last night, and I may look for a larger bit for him since his a bit snug but works. It's hard to find things to fit his big goofey head. He got lots of kisses, pets, and two flakes of hay when I left last night.

For a horse that hasn't been ridden in two months, he did it like he was ridden every day. I love him so much and his great attitude.

The turns this blog is now gonna take

Ok, well, now I guess I'm gonna talk about babies and horses. How I'm going to juggle these two things I have no idea, but I'm pretty sure I can figure it out.

Memphis needs the farrier.... bad. I picked his hooves the other day for the first time in a while. I usually just pick them up and do a quick look over each one and if they need picking they get picked, if not then I don't. Holy cow his feet grow fast in the 8 weeks since his last trim! I figured he would be wearing em down just a little since he has been outside so much but it seems to be making it worse. They're chipped, have some chunks coming out, and are misshapen. The farrier comes tomm, so hopefully Memphis will behave this time around. I will also breathe a sigh of relief that they don't look like a hot mess anymore.

In other news... it is still mid 90's here in KY. I'm not riding in that. I did take my saddle with me on Sunday with full intentions to ride my horse. The 20 minutes it took me to groom Memphis I was covered in sweat. Decided that riding probably isn't a good idea since I was also really upset to my stomach on top of being hot. Next week it's supposed to be mid 80's. It's fair game next week!

I want to go back over with him giving to pressure and continue to work on leg aids. Since I'm doing legs at a walk, I'm pretty sure I can ride like this until he gets it. It was *starting* to click with him when I was riding him before so I'm hoping he didn't forget much between next week and when I last rode him.

Saw the doctor yesterday and no heartbeat yet. I am just going into 10 weeks, soooooo it's a little too early to pick it up on the monitor. That's cool, it'll come at my next one I would suspect.

Blows off the dust.... I know it's been weeks..

I have a great excuse to why its been weeks! Like a totally awesome excuse. It's just taken me a few weeks to come to terms with it and accept it.

I'm pregnant.

There I said it. This has changed everything lately. I found out at the end of June and have pretty much done NOTHING with Memphis since then. I mean right after I found out there was about 2 weeks where I just saw him once and didn't go back out. I'm starting to get back in the hang of things but this is a huge shocker for me.

For one, last time I went to the doctor (for my yearly doctor feel up: sure strange man, I'll get naked for you and let you do whatever you want with cold metal objects) he was concerned that my husband and I would have problems having children. Since we had been together for almost 10 years (my husband and I, not my doctor, yuck) and weren't exactly "careful" during that time.

For two, I was on birth control. I screwed up the pack the prior month and decided instead of overdosing on hormones as the pack directions suggested, I would skip a month and restart. I warned the hubby.

Apparently though, some alcohol and being your anniversary throws caution right out the window and stuff happens that only adults do. (you know, two consenting, loving adults, birds and the bees here!) Two weeks later he starts harping on me about why I'm so PMS'ee (my new word) and when its going to be "that time".

Curiosity got the better of me and well... unfortunately for hubby, he's stuck with my crazy butt for almost a year. So here we are. Took us about this long for this to start sinking in. Still need to tell family but we wanted to wait for our first appt which is tomm.

So back to my horse, I somehow read that you really shouldn't horseback ride while in my tender condition. Something terrifying about really screwing up. In my fear, I've avoided Memphis. :( I'm doing better though, a lot better. I'm going to go out today and play with him, but probably will not ride. I'm going to take my saddle and really think it through, but I know myself too well.

I did give him a bath on Friday. He was dirty and just plain gross. But I will say, he let me halter him easy, walked as he should at my shoulder really relaxed through two gates and a pasture with a mare and filly. He fought me some on the water itself, but I was persistant and did the old walk with him while applying what he hates trick. He settled down by the end of it and let me do what I needed to do. Thank gosh my trainer lady showed me that, otherwise I would have given up on so much with him so long ago.

Basically, like with the hose lets say, leave him in a halter with a lead rope attached. (depending on HOW scary the item is, I may have a stud chain) Stand so you are almost standing directly in front of the horse, but not so much that if he bolts you are knocked down. Apply scary object, in this case water. If the horse has a brain, he will move side to side or backwards to get away from the object. Follow him and do not give him much slack and do not stop applying the stimulus. Eventually he will see that it won't kill him.

This took Memphis about two months, so it isn't a quick turn around, but I will say the bath was a much quieter one than I have had with him in a long long time. He didn't like his neck washed so that was a little struggle but we worked through it.

Today is going to be hoof work so hopefully when I get the farrier out there, he isn't such an ass.

Boots

So I bought a new pair of riding boots. I actually dropped cash on these. My first pair of riding boots were just paddock boots and they were CHEAP. Saxon's that I bought for 25 bucks. I will say that while the cheapies were not comfortable to walk in, they did hold up to 3 years of riding. Eventually the pull strap to pull them on broke, the glue holding the upper to the sole broke, and what did them in for me? My shoelace finally bit the dust.

So I started looking at brands of boots. I really only wanted to buy Ariats or Justins. I settled on Justins. Here is what I got:

http://www.bootbarn.com/L9900,-Color:-Cognac,-Size:-9.5,-Width:-B/731871769443,default,pd.html

I know, ostrich print? I needed some flare without some obnoxious color. :)

Now boots, I have found people either think their needed or think they are not. I'm in the yes they are needed camp. The tennis shoe's riding is not for me. I really did get spoiled by boots. I like the way my feet feel in the stirrups with the boots on. I also find that in tennis shoes my feet slide more in the stirrups or they don't move when I need them to. Now scratch your all's heads at that comment, but I swear it to be true.

Two things I don't want to be without with my horse... boot's or a helmet. Which the helmet is the next thing I want to get a new one of. I have just a standard Troxel white helmet. It works, does its job, and I feel safer with it on. But, I want some style if I'm gonna be trail riding heavier this fall/winter. Sounds dorky I know haha.

In other news, Memphis' leg since turnout is doing much better. Not sure if I ever blogged about his leg, but he had a HUGE fluid build up in it from banging his leg on the stall when he eats. (he is quirky like that) He also bangs it when he is impatient. Vet had to be called out and she said there is no damage, gave me some DMSO chock full of steriods, gave Memphis a big dose of steriods and gave me the all clear.

But, the leg kept me from doing anything with him for 2 weeks. You can stil see a small amount of the fluid in the leg, but he isn't lame on it so I am happy. And the vet says that it could come back. Joy.

I will say though, Memphis, since this incident, has quit banging his stall so much. I think a lot of that has to do with the hobbles that I bought. Barn owner uses the hell out of them on him, or did. Memphis hasn't been hobbled in a few weeks.

Haha and I never did go into this farrier incident. I'll save that for another post, this one is getting long and doesn't seem to have direction anymore! But I'm good at rambling.

Rode my freaking horse!

Thank God! It was a nice evening and I rode. Couple things that I have found:

1.) He likes to scream at his buddies

2.) He likes to speed up near the gate

3.) He is awesome on the ground

4.) We almost have woah down to a science

5.) He is *finally* starting to anticipate the leg maneuvers

Now the screaming I will not tolerate. That leads to retard-ism on the horses part if it gets out of hand. He is not to scream to his buddies when he is with me. N.E.V.E.R. Dodge did that (my first horse) and I ignored it, well guess how it got worse and worse till she was running over top of me?

He gets walloped with whatever I have in my hand, which today was a brush, curry, hand, and a stirrup. When I got done with the ride he started to yell and I picked up the stirrup again to whack him and he quieted right down and stood there chewing the bit.

He has FINALLY the last two rides stood like an angel for mounting. I do need a good new pair of riding boots though, as tennis shoes do not slide in the stirrups like boots do. (that's the point right?)

Now, how I have decided to train this big animal that I love. SLOWLY. I have all the time in the world to get him trained; I'm not training for an event, I'm not training him for some specific discipline, and I'm not training him for anyone else. I do see the benefit of short 15-30 minute rides. I feel like he won't get overworked, he can learn what I'm asking, and as soon as he does what I ask it's time to end the lesson.

So the next month of riding? Flat Walk. That isn't to say that I won't ask every now and again for more speed, but I want my horse to have a good solid flat walk. I want to be able to hop on and not go running off into the sunset. I want some gait out of him that is solid. I want that to be the flat walk. I am planning (since it is finally nice) to start riding him 3-4 times a week at just the flat walk.

I know now, it's a little rough. He isn't sure what I want because I haven't asked him to do anything really but eat, sleep, and poop. But, I will change that here in the future.

Here we go Memphis!

Turnout and Bath's

Throughout the winter Memphis got very little turnout. I feel bad about this, but I'm happy where he is boarded at. He always has fresh water, stall is cleaned every day, grained twice a day, and 4 flakes of hay in the winter. If something was wrong it was fixed and treated first, while I was/am on the phone. So for his quality of care is excellent, then I will not bitch too much about a small amount of turnout in the winter.

In the spring we had epic amounts of rain, so again, turnout was very very limited since the pasture was essentially mud. My barn owner likes to keep her horses dry and so Memphis gets to do what her horses do. (I'm her only boarder haha)

When it hit 80F and was somewhat dry, I decided to give Memphis his first bath. Get all the winter wooley hair that was still clinging out and get rid of that dust that plagues every horse. Anyone who reads this that has a horse knows what I'm talking about.

So, lets go with Memphis hadn't been out of his stall to run around for a bit, it's now warm, and I'm wanting to contain him for a bath? HA. His feet were a goin in every direction but with the help of my barn owner we got him done.

Fast forward to yesterday, where now Memphis has been turned out every single day for the past two weeks. The past week it has been 90F or more every single day. I wanted to ride last night buuuutttt Memphis was sweating just standing outside. I couldn't do that to him, but I used this to work on the hose.

Here's how it went:

Pull Memphis out of the pasture. Lead him into the barn to the hose. Turn hose on. Walk Memphis and hose out to the drive. Drop hose. Hose kicks on and starts spraying water AND wiggling around on the ground. Me tries to remain calm while thinking to myself Memphis might flip out thinking it's a horse eating hose. Memphis actually took the hose off like a champ. I think this is because he was soooooooo hot that the cold water felt really really good.

Other than screaming for his friends (which was corrected with a snap on the lead rope) he did the whole thing quite nicely.

I'm gonna hose him, or at least try to, every time I'm out. I'd like to be able to tie him and then hose him, though I think that is a little ways off.

But there. That is my big dumb horse post :)

It's Hot

Here in KY we don't just have heat, we have humidity. Hot, sticky, and damp heat. Horrid stuff. That being said, when it hits 90+ not much gets done because it's hot.

Memphis has done nothing. I was going to ride today but it was 95F and Memphis was just standing in the pasture sweating. Nope, no riding.

Sigh.

Anticipating the problem

I've noticed on every ride I have done with Memphis, I am anticpating a problem with the ride. I take FOREVER to tack him up. I take forever to get into the saddle. I also take forever to get moving after in the saddle. Lately, I've realized why: I think I will have a problem.

In all, Memphis is a really good horse, slightly green, but a really good horse. He generally wants to take care of me when I'm on his back and doesn't balk at anything, nor does he cause me a problem.

I on the other hand, think everything is a problem. I just haven't been riding that much and have lost my seat, my hands, and my mind for it. It has finally quit raining and I plan on riding tomm as the arena is dry. I want to ride 3 times this week. That's the goal, 3-4 times a week as long as it stays dry.

Goals for the next 4 weeks? Really push the leg aids and really push his rack. Rack Rack Rack. I then need to start asking for the flat walk. He wants to go directly froma walk to a rack. Fine. I will build up what I'm asking for a little slower. He wants to rack? Fine, rack away buddy. I'll get that solid gear on you and then we are slowing down to the flat walk.

Memphis has a beautiful, head bobbing, smooth flat walk. I know I can get a running walk out of him, I just need more finesse than what I have had. This summer is going to be a gait filled summer I forsee. Which is fine, it will just make me more at peace with my big guy.

I love my Memphis :)

Starting some sort of half assed training.

For one, lets take a look at my groomed, shedded, and amazing horse:

He has become this beautiful horse overnight almost!

So last Friday I went to see him and saddled him for the first time in a LONG LONG time. He has been a little fussy walking on a leadline, but I will say, he was giving me 110% of his attention on Friday.

I set up ground poles for him to walk over. I made patterns out of them and we did a flat walk over them with me on the ground leading him. He did amazing, never pulling on the lead rope, doing as I asked, and pretty much followed what I said.

I worked on the word "over" with him while pushing his on his side to let him move his hindquarters away from me. The purpose to that, in my mind, is so in the saddle he will associate me pushing my leg on him with moving his but over. He did very well with that. We worked on "back" as well, which he is getting very good at.

I then saddled and we worked again on the pattern on the ground. i do need to carry the crop with me as he does NOT want to move out when asked. He has a gorgeous rack, and I am currently working to develop that. Since I do not wear spurs because I do not feel I am experienced enough to do so, the trainer had to get out a lunge whip and "help" him forward. Which, once coerced into the gait, he stayed in it.

He had a slight sweat when we were done and I was very proud of him. I really do love this damn horse and I look forward to putting more work in him.

We have also been working on his mouthing problem. I admit I have caused some of this, but now it's over. He comes at me with his lips and he gets yelled at, or if needed, smacked. He is learning very quickly that I don't play like that and that is a good thing. I also got a sign for his stall that basically says don't feed treats.

I also have to say, my trainer likes him. :) Now don't get me wrong, she thinks he is a bumbling idiot. But, she has told me many times that my horse hasn't a mean bone in his body and trusts her grandkids to work around him. That says a lot. You shoulda seen when her gkid wanted to pick his hooves and the gkid was just bumbling around with it. The kid started whining and saying: but he might kick and his hooves are heavy. She looked at him and said "that horse is being more patient than my horses with you, get it done already". haha

She even pointed out that when I was afraid that he would bolt out of the barn, she said my horse had no bolt in him. He just wants to please. And after she pointed that out, I realized she was right. THIS is why I love this damn horse.

Aw Memphis, don't quit being awesome.

I feel horrible.

For somewhere around 3 months I have done NOTHING with Memphis. I realized today that I just waisted valuable time that I could have been using teaching him something, anything, working with him on the ground even if I couldn't ride. What is wrong with me?!!! I've been so caught up being worried about saddle work that I haven't paid attention to anything else except the weather to see when it is going to rain.

When Dodge was alive we worked ALL the time together trying to get to know each other on the ground first. I haven't done that with Memphis. I have failed him.

Tonight I am going to do ground poles with him, walking over them, around them, and maybe even into them. Might use the plastic sack trick and work on bending.

I should have been doing this all along. :(

Been awhile... wanna know why?

Because for some unknown reason it has been raining like nobodies business. I haven't been able to do ANYTHING with Memphis. He is going to be a fool under saddle when I get back on him... JOY.

Pride

Sunday was a hit to my pride on riding since I let things escalate when they shouldn't have ever even started. I was nervous going into the ride, which in turn, played out with everything I did with him. I hung on the reins, something I don't feel like I do, and gave him no release because I was nervous and he threw a fit. Understandable and I feel absolutely horrible about it. I was in tears when I left.

Joe was with me and stated that he has never seen me give up like I just did :( It was really a blow when he said I handled the entire thing really well and he wasn't ever afraid I would get hurt in the tantrum. I have no idea when I became a nervous rider! I'm usually the one to hop on anything and go happily along with whatever happens. I know a large part of me is terrified to hurt Memphis. I'm so afraid that if I actually put him to work he will come up lame or pull something or otherwise get injured. So when he sometimes gets playful or gets the stupid in his head, I'm afraid he is going to get hurt. I'm not really concerned about my safety, which is just plain odd.

I plan to ride again, but unlike Sunday, I plan to have a clear concise plan in mind. Something I normally do, but Sunday I just let him have the freedom to change gaits at will. Again, something I have never really done. Sigh. Lesson learned on my part.

Hoping the arena is still dried out as that is where I plan to ride :) Set up some poles and just work on walking and weaving with him. Maybe pop it up a notch but just walking and weaving.

Also this gaited horse book I got just enlightened me to Memphis and his gaits. Apparently with gaited horses there are two kinds when it comes to the canter- the ones that it just comes naturally to and the ones that have a really hard time with it. I'm lumping Memphis into the "has a really hard time with it" as he will canter for a few strides but go right back into a pace. It gives ways to help improve the canter and to get them into it, but does say it can take months for them to do it and even then there is the chance that it will be a fight to keep them there. It has to do with the actual build of the horse and looking at that diagram of how they have the horses, Memphis fits into the pacier side of things. Which makes sense, as his bloodlines are chock full of well known pacey horses. There, I learned something totally new! :)

sigh

Tonight I actually saddled Memphis for the first time in a long time. Been weeks for him. I will say that he was calmer today than he had been in a long time. I'm not sure if it was just warm outside or if he just wasn't feeling too bad.

The good:

He saddled fine with the only balk being at me putting the saddle on. He stood still for saddling and lowered his head to take the bit. Worked on poles today at just a walk. He wanted to be a butt and stop randomly, but thankfully he just takes a slight tap with my heel to get him to move. He is also responding well to clicks and clucks.

I stopped the ride when he did a small run walk for me and stopped when I said woah. I'm trying to keep the lessons short for right now since he hasn't done anything in almost 5 weeks. I want to instill a few basics and then stop. Sunday's ride will be about 10-20 minutes longer than the 15 I put into him today.


The bad:

He had a bad fall today. :( I was lunging him before I rode him to get out some of his kinks. (I am in the lunging before riding if you haven't ridden in awhile) He tried to bolt... which is not good because we were in an enclosed space with not much room. I yanked his head too late and he lost his balance and fell.... hard... he hit the stall with the pony in it hard. (the barn he is in is huge. the stalls are on the outside walls and there is a large soft tilled dirt in the middle. Not big enough for a horse to go too crazy, but large enough to get some work done) He hopped back up pretty quickly, we walked for a few minutes to see if anything was hurt and then I moved him on the line to see if he was acting gimpy. He seems fine. But that still doesn't not make me feel horrid. I shouldn't have yanked his head but I was afraid he would bolt into the barn doors...

Bucking fools!

Memphis on the other hand was bucking it up last night. He is really ready to get out of his stall, all of the horses have been stalled up for 2 weeks because the pasture is a muddy wreck or its a watery grave. Poor guy has had a stud chain over his nose every time we walk. (not under saddle, just walking) because he wants to dictate the speed or he is being an idiot and spooking at everything. He's giving me my nut up or shut up moment with horses.

We let him run around the barn for a bit while cleaning his stall out and he was running around bucking, snorting, rolling, and having a grand old time. My barn owner says he looks like a woman when he starts gaiting because of the back and forth movement in his butt. :D

At this point though, it puts my training and everything I want to do with him behind. Once the tractor moves (It's been broke down in the middle of the barn) I can finally start lunging him again and getting him back up to speed with voice commands. I also want to sack him out quite a bit. He needs to be able to handle random things coming at him if he is going to make me a decent trail horse.

He is also bending quite nicely so I know his butt can do it under saddle. You say "Back" and he is backing. I take his head slightly towards me in halter and push on his side and say "over" and he moves his hindquarters away from me. Just like he should. So this tells me clearly I need more saddle work.

Although, he was the perfect gentleman for grooming yesterday. :) Even had a hoof ready to lift for me and everything. Now I need to work on space issues with him too, he always wants to be in my space. I've been pushing him away from me and letting him in when I want. He gets a little upset with me, but tough. If I want to win with him, I'm going to have to show him that I'm leader and he can come in when I want him in.

Aren't horses fun??!!!

Memphis got promoted!

Oh happy day for Memphis! He got promoted to inside the barn! Where he is boarded there is "outside" and "inside" board. Basically, its a lady's personal residence, so this is NOT boarding facility. I was torn when I started boarding him to either, a large boarding facility or this lady that had taught me how to ride and had helped me through many issues with horses.

In the end I feel confident with my barn owners abilities to care for Memphis, she has enough sense to reprimand Memphis when I'm not there, but also enough sense to leave me to his training and future. I love where he is at and cannot wait to buy a horse trailer to haul him around in!

Anywho, I'm rambling as always... There is the main barn with 6 stalls that is indoors and then there is a sorta lean off of the barn with two stall in it. These are not protected by the barn doors but are out of the elements. Memphis stayed in these conditions most of the winter. Without the barn doors he still stayed very warm without a blanket and I stood in his stall for over an hour one in the teens night just watching him eat without getting cold. So I never did worry about his well being.

Anywho, again, he got promoted to the inside barn! Another two horses moved in for a period of time and so my sweet sweet Memphis was moved in the big barn. I feel honored and happy that he is inside. I almost feel safer for some reason.

I mean I have Memphis insured for close to 3k including his tack, so if something did happen to him, I would be able to buy another horse, but that's not what I want. I really do LOVE Memphis. I plan on keeping him till he is well into his 30's and unrideable. It took me almost 3 months to gain a connection with him, in fact I wasn't sure if I could for a bit. Almost to the point where selling him crossed my mind.

I know, crazy right? Then Memphis started to morph for me and become MR sweetheart. Today for example, he licked me. Had no intention of biting me or nibbling, just wanted to lick me. So totally sweet it was. Then I just let him wander the barn for no other reason than I wanted him to. He respected me and my needs the entire time.

Which reminds me, I was out there last night to work on BIG SCARY OBJECTS and saddling. We worked on feed bags, plastic crinkly bags, and scary clunking together coffee cans. I have found that while he will object to such objects, if I take them myself and play with them for a second, then make said loud noises with them, he is much more calm. Near the end of BIG SCARY OBJECT night, he was much calmer. I plan on continuing the work with these items to get him desensitized to almost everything he could come across.

Although, the largest thing to get him good with is the barking dogs next to my trainers house. That is the thing he is most terrified of and last time I had to stud chain him to get him within 10ft of the dogs. Now granted they are scary loud dogs, but they are being a 6ft privacy fence and they have no way of attacking. So I WILL get him past them without the stud chain. I know he has it in him. I just know he does.

Again, as with Dodge, I am no horse trainer, nor do I have a horse sense. I'm just employing common sense and a whole lot of what I've been told and read about horses. I will not beat Memphis unless he totally asks for it. Even then it's a quick smack and a then were done. I do not believe in making a horse "submit", I want my horse to do what I ask because he knows he should. Nothing more, nothing less. I have been known to be too lenient with horses before and have been quickly told and shown the error of my ways.

ARG! I'm rambling again! More to be posted this week!

Stupid Rain

I should have been out at the barn today working with Memphis, but it's raining. When it rains I only have one place to work with Memphis and that's in the barn. Since the BO's tractor is broken, I currently do not have a place to do anything.

Tomm it is supposed to not rain, so I'll probably go after I get my hair cut to see Memphis. Work on the plastic bag again and then saddling.

Which reminds me, the little butt has been deciding to test my patience. When saddling he has started to fidget around. Now this could be because the first cinch was too short, a 32" when he really needed a 36". It could be because he is excited about riding or it could be a pain issue. I'm thinking the cinch was the problem, as on Tuesday he didn't fidget at all when I cinched him up and that was the correct size cinch.

He's also taken to walking around when I try to mount, so I worked on that with him for over 15 minutes Tuesday as well. Lots of moving with him when he moves, flapping the stirrups, and fake mounts into the saddle. Once he finally realized that moving away wasn't going to get him anywhere he stood still. I mounted and then just sat there on top of him. I don't smoke, so I had to imagine the time it would take to smoke one, I'd say 3 minutes? Then I had him move out.

Then once again worked on legs and neck reining. Phew! Think he would get it soon enough. Probably be better once the arena dries out and I can put him on some poles. I do leg aid, then neck rein, then direct reining. I'd like him to eventually move off my leg, but that will take lots of time. I got lots of time this summer to devote to him, so he better be ready :D

Right now I need the tractor to move so I can work in the barn. I plan on setting up some poles in there and doing some tight circle work. I also need to work on asking for the gaits with him as I personally screwed him up last trail ride by making him pace. I need to go back to flat walk then running walk then pace then canter. He has all of those gaits, I just made him transition too fast. Go me. I'd like to take the pace out of the equation and that is something in the summer I am going to work on discouraging.

Sigh, Memphis needs so much work. He was green when I got him. He is still green because of me. I want by the time he is 6 to be much more refined to everything. I would also like to have put a ton of miles on him throughout the forest next to where he is boarded. The hills will work wonders on him and muscle tone and my own butt too.

When he is 10 I would like to really get into some competitive trail riding with him, I just want to start it out so slow it's not even funny. I don't want a broken horse and I don't want myself to get burnt out.

Horses sometimes make you do silly things

All the horses in the barn are "feeling their oats" as my barn owner likes to put it. They need to be out in pasture running around but the pasture is a pit of mud so stall keep they get till it finally stops raining. Meaning every horse in barn is feeling it right now.

Memphis is no exception. Today I stood around for 20 minutes rubbing him down with a plastic bag that he decided to freak out over. Silly horse. Very silly horse.

I really like the smart cinch! I can see where it would be very easy to overtighten it, so I must be careful, but what a neat idea!

Anywho, how bought some camera phone pics of Memphis! They're dark so don't complain. :D

NM I can't figure out why Blogger keeps cutting the photos off. It will take me more work than I want to fool with right now to get it corrected.

My Dodge post made it to a favorite blog of mine!

Whippeeeee! I feel so honored! I was never even expecting that! So I guess now I'll expand a little on why and what I've done since Dodge.

As most of you probably already know, I now have another horse named Memphis. He is 5, full of zest, and has just the right touch of stubborn. I bought Memphis because something deep down inside of me could not possibly live without another horse. I'm not sure what horses do to some of us or why they seem to squirm into every single nook and cranny of some peoples lives, but they do.

After Dodge died I quit riding for a long time, almost a year. I just didn't want to be around horses since I knew that I would want one right then, so I refrained. Besides, we had bills to pay off and life to live for a bit. Then around June of last year I decided to start riding again and quickly fell back into the horse rut. I was riding stock horses again and for a minute, figured I should just buy a nicely put together QH.

After the second month of trotting it was quickly decided that gaited is what I need to be happy on a horse. (You non-gaited fans, how in the world do you do it) The quest was on! Took me about a month till I found a horse that felt like Dodge in the saddle and he was cute as a button too. (Just don't tell him he has donkey ears)

Now I have this bay Walker that is totally awesome and better than all other horses in the world. (I am slightly biased here, I am his horse mommy) I'm not the greatest rider in the world and he is not the best broke horse in the world, but we're working through it together. He has a willingness to learn when he isn't being totally impatient, which is a large majority of the time.

I'm completely content with him and very smitten ;)

Sometimes you do and sometimes you don't

Tomorrow my new girth should be here (or cinch, whatever it gets called today). I ordered the Weaver Smart Cinch, it was the only dag on one I could find in felt. I figure if the I've been using the felt cinch I have now with no issues, I'll get another felt one. Jeez, the way I went back and forth deciding on that, you would think that I would be a girth expert!

I also am going to annoy Memphis tomm because I want to try the new girth out. He will be thrilled, I can already see his ears going back in that thrilled look he gets. He is tolerant of me though, so that is more than I can say about a lot of people. :)

I was *supposed* to lunge his spunky butt on Thursday and then again on Saturday of last week, but the flu prevented me from doing anything. So my big booger got an extra week off. Tomorrow, he isn't going to like me much.......

I might actually make him work on the lunge line.... OH THE HORRORS!

And then I might actually ride him!..... IT JUST DOESN'T STOP!

And then... then... he might get a bucket of feed! OH MY GOD THE HORSE ABUSE!

My big plucky idiot. So lets do a pictorial!

Here are some chickens for your viewing pleasure:


Fresh Eggs from my Hens from above:


Here is Memphis looking oh so thrilled:


And this picture makes his head look huge.. don't tell him that though:

I don't even remember..

What in the world I blogged about last. It's been that dag on long. So let's get down to business here.

Memphis:

He is doing well. Had his hooves done a few weeks ago and going to worm him again this week. I lunged him on Sunday and he was a bucking fool on the line and I plan on doing it again on Thursday but really wearing his happy ass down. I also had to order a new cinch for him as his old one is tooooooooooo small. I think that is why he is getting cinchy, that old cinch needs to be about 4 inches longer.

Buck:

He is also doing fine. He is starting to put weight on his leg, but does go through phases where he doesn't put any weight on it at all. I'm happy so far with the outcome of the surgery.

Chickens:

Started laying again! I had a green egg when I went out to do my chicken duties this morning. Another hen was getting ready to lay when I opened the coop. How exciting!

Life:

I'll post this one tonight. I also hope to get some pics up of everything going on.

Memphis and Buck

Memphis -

We worked on just the halter issue. I don't have an issue with it, my trainer does. I don't know if that is because she is about half a foot shorter than me or if Memphis just doesn't like her. She does not put up with crap at all from horses, so for her to have an issue is odd. I put my hand on Memphis' neck and push down and he lowers his head. He is a tall horse, so I'm thinking he is just using that to his advantage. Poor guy lives with a halter on. Oh well, it's MY horse, but its HER barn. The halter won't kill him, so I'll deal.

I have to get his hooves done... I've been waiting on her for over 6 weeks... I know she has a few issues but I can't wait anymore. The bottom of his hooves are starting to peel, it's that time. I'll call the farrier tomm and see what his schedule is. No hoof no horse. I have to have my horse.

I hope to have a nice muddy Sunday ride. That should be tons of fun!

Buck -

He is doing well. His leg is oddly swelling a little. He is licking it kinda sorta still. Joe doesn't want to get the staples out like planned but I think it's for the best. I am going to call the vet and talk to him. The wound looks healed but that tiny spot Buck keeps licking.



In other news.... I've lost about 5lbs since the beginning of Jan. That is good. I've been able to drink and eat. Good. I have to keep going. Salads, small lunches, and low cal breakfasts have been my life. Wine is a large part of my life because its 70 cal a glass. I need to cut back on the amount I'm drinking, but its still cheaper than a regular beer after 2 glasses.

Buck and Memphs

First, lets get to Bucket. I really need to get some pictures up here of him, but I digress. Anywho, I found out on Friday morning that I had been giving the wrong dose of medicine to him. I also found his leg swelling that morning. Talk about momma freaking out. I was supposed to be giving him 4 antibiotics a day, I had only been giving him 2. I fixed that and by Saturday night, the wound was back to normal. It appears it is starting to close up and Buck is still leaving it alone. I have to have the staples pulled on Friday, but at the moment everything with him seems to be fine. I caught him frogging today under the bed, that is a good sign he is in good spirits!

He is just so freaking cute, you can't not love him. Today while Bronson was on the Wii Buck attacked the TV because he thought the Wii hand was a laser. This ensued for quite a while as we all found it to be funny as hell. Then my TV was covered in Buck drool, so in the end it was extremely funny even if it left me a mess to clean up.

Went to see Memphis today as well. He was an extremely good boy today. He allowed me to halter him with no issues, walked just fine on a normal lead, picked up all four feet for me to pick with no issues, and lunged very well for me. We've only been working on walk and woah on the lunge line. He is getting it. Good for him.

He was such a good boy today that we even played some games! I let him off the lead and wonder the barn. His attention was 100% on me. I worked on pushing him away from me and then allowing him into my "bubble" that I created. Tiny little respect type games that have been working out extremely well.

I rode him for about 15 minutes and hopped off. The only thing I really wanted him to do was start to move off my leg. So at a standstill I would push with my right, lets say, and keep pushing and eventually pick up the rein and ask for the move. Took about 5 minutes before he started the connection of when I start to push he needs to move. I'm not asking for perfect movement right now, just some movement. That's why this ride was so short, once he did as I asked I un-tacked him and we were done.

I will probably do the same thing with him tomm until he gets it. I have no doubts that he will figure it out quite quickly. And of course I love doting on him. He gets lots of scratches, pats, rubdowns, and kisses from me. Either in the saddle or out of the saddle, I give him so much attention.

Love my big boy.

ACL Surgery's!

So Buck went in on Tuesday to get his ACL repaired. Poor little bugger had to be there for two days! I missed him more than I thought I would. He is doing fine though, other than me messing up his antibiotic dosage, he is doing fine. He is starting to put weight on the leg again, which is a good sign. I'll get some pictures up tonight of my little cuddly wuddly bo bo bo. (you have to baby talk)

Perfect.

Last night I went out to visit Memphis with intentions of pulling him out and grooming him. Instead I found him munching on his hay in his stall. I decided not to remove him from his dinner and did some in the stall grooming. He didn't really even care I was there. I removed his hobbles and then started to rub him down with the curry and using the soft brush to remove the dirt. Kinda a wax on, wax off movement with both hands.

I then just gave up and stuck my head on his side and just stood there listening to him munch on hay. We both stood there for about 15-20 minutes. It was beyond peaceful.

This is why I have a horse.

Lobster!

So I bought 10 lobsters. You guys have no idea my love affair with these insects of the sea. It's actually an obsession really, I'll go to a steak house and order lobster. MMMMM

Anywho, tonight I decided to make lobster bisque, because what else am I supposed to do with the bodies?

Lobster Bisque

4-8 lobster bodies
4-8 shells from lobsters
1 diced onion
2 cloves of diced garlic
1 medium carrot
1.5 cups white wine (I used a Chardonney)
1.5 cups crushed tomato
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups lobster water (the water you boil lobsters in)
2 bay leaves
1 teas thyme
1.5 cup Half and Half
1 table cornstarch mixed with 2 tabl water
2 tabls butter


Melt the butter in a large saucepan, you want a VERY large saucepan. Nothing small will do, use a stockpot if you have to. Add the onion, carrot, and garlic and saute until the onion starts to get soft. Add all the lobster body parts and shells. Stir for about 10-15 minutes.

Add the wine and the tomato's to the pan and stir well. (I use tongs for this step) Cover the saucepan and let simmer for 15 minutes. (Drink more white wine in this step, the bottle is already open)Stir the lobster bodies around again and add the stock and lobster water. Also add the thyme and bay leaves. Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes, periodically tossing everything around.

Pull out the lobster pieces being sure to drain each one back into the saucepan. Discard the lobster bodies and shells. In batches add the broth to a blender and blend until smooth. Add everything back to saucepan and bring back to a low boil. Add the half and half. Mix the cornstarch and water and add to the bisque. Let simmer for 10 minutes until thickened.

Add any extra lobster meat you may have.

Enjoy.

I hit my horse *cry*

Ok, no not really, no tears. He was being a total ass yesterday. When I showed up to stick the halter on him, he turned around and ran to the back of the stall. Not good as there could be a kick there even if he has never offered to do so before. So I'm creeping as close as I can to his rump and he whips around and tries to run out. HA!

I grabbed the first thing I could, his tail and yanked him back. Now before one jumps on the OMG bandwagon, yes I know that was a stupid stupid move. I just grabbed and after my hands were already on his tail I realized that wasn't a smart idea. But he did turn around and allow me to halter him so I didn't make too big of a deal out of the events.

Walk him into the barn and start grooming. I get three hooves picked out and the last one, which is a hind foot, he starts being an ass about. He kept trying to kick out. I had it with his tantrums at this point and hit him hard in the ribs and screamed stop it. He whips his head around and looks at me like "What?!" He then let me finish what I was doing and was a perfect angel after that.

I still love my horsey :D

The Joys of trail riding with your own horse

I absolutely love this damn horse. Really. From going to see him to do nothing with him but snuggle into his neck while he's quietly munching on hay, to working him into a slight sweat in the barn.

Yesterday I went on a 1.5 hour ride on him. My barn owner was slightly nervous once we got to the place to ride since Memphis decided to bolt off the trailer. Hopped up on him and rode him around looking to see what would make him spook first, he is actually a really solid mount! He perks his ears forward and just goes over and through just about anything.

We crossed down logs, creeks, puddles, and climbed a few simple mundane hills. While deer spooked two of the trainers horses, Memphis just stood there like a champ. He does not like being in the back of the pack, but that is because he is a Walker, they naturally walk faster than stock type horses.

He did get us lost when he choose the wrong path back to the trailer, which was fine. Even my barn owner was impressed with how well he did overall though. When she gets impressed by a horse, that says a lot.

I need to get his hooves done... I've been waiting on my barn owner to do her horses but I'm not sure if she is going to do hers anytime soon or not. I may just go ahead and get the farrier out there. I cannot stand bad hooves. Like it drives me absolutely nuts to have long hooves.

I hope to get some recent pics of him up soon, I really do. Every time I go out I forget to get any. I'm too busy being enamored by him.