A Blink of an Eye

My heart is still aching for the loss of Madison, Ike, and Sophie. Rocky is still calling for his friends. Rocky and Madison were born a month apart on the same farm. They both traveled to me together when they were 4/5 months old. They have never been apart for 9 years. But that is how life goes. In a blink of an eye things can change.

I found this quote in the past few days:

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. ~Kahlil Gibran

I realized that I am sad because those three did bring me such delight.

No more watching Rocky and Ike play fight. Oh yes, miniature stay much more playful that big horses. Ike and Rocky would chance each other, rear up and and bite at each other and then take off for the chase again. Madison and Sophie would join in on the racing all around the pasture. That is all over now.

Madison was very much a mama's girl and would often come running up to me if I were in the pasture. In fact all of them were very much pocket ponies. Ike would wait until I have him a scratch on his butt before he would go out to pasture or when he came in from the pasture. Sophie was always waiting for her ears to be itched.

It is all of those little things that I think I miss the most: Listening to the call each other or for Sophie's bray or watching them graze in the pasture. Playing with them or taking photos of them or grooming them for photos, I miss those things.

On the farm it just seems like something is missing, a huge something is missing. I can not even begin to telling what a hole in the place those little guys left, not to mention the hole in my heart. But if I had never had them, so many delightful moments would never have happened.

Corrie out with the herd

PICTURES!

Corrie was really cute today. I thought she would be totally trying to be alpha mare. Instead she is acting like the new kid at school. If I got out to the pasture she is right there with me. Otherwise she looks a little lost. I think she wants to make friends, especially with Ike and Rocky ( she is in heat). It will be interesting to see how she fits into the herd.

I want Corrie to become comfortable with the pasture areas as that is where I will ride and drive her at first. I already did some ground work out there with her and she was fairly focused. She looked around, but mainly stayed with her attention on me.

Then she went out with Ike, Sophie, and Madison.









But she has to wear a grazing muzzle and the flies are awful so she wears a fly mask too. Looks like she is into bondage or something doesn't it?





She had a good roll.









And looks at how much weight she has lost! Looks pretty good huh?!



Pretty good second day I'd say.

Too Excited . . . Corrie is home

"To many, the words love, hope, and dreams are synonymous with horses."
~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

I got up at 4 am this morning. I just could not sleep. You would think this was my first horse and I was getting her new today! I am just so excited to have Corrie home.

Corrie is truly a special little horse. I felt an instant bond to her the first time I drove her. It is amazing just how you can click or not with a horse. Kinsey never felt like my horse. From the moment I wrote out the check for her I felt like I bought her for someone else, and maybe I did. But even before I wrote a check I knew Corrie was my horse. Never during the time that I was trying her out did I feel she belonged to anyone but me.

Now she is on my property. She is getting along with the minis. Well minus Rocky, stallion ya know. I keep him separate, but they see each other over the fence. She is not as found of Sophie, but Corrie used to be kept with young jack colts to teach them some manners. Apparently she was enthusiastic about her job, too enthusiastic. So she does not like donkeys, but I am hoping that she will warm up Sophie. Madison is still alpha mare so far. Kind of funny that little Madison tells big ol' Corrie to get out of the way.

Sensei gave me a mini ground lesson before he left. Corrie was very up, more up than I think I have ever seen her actually. Her feet definately were not hurting her at all. At one point she leapt and pulled away from me. I was a bit shocked, she has never done anything like that before. The girl has some spirit after all.

Now she is just chilling out. I wanted to do more with her today, but as soon as I got home from work the the thunder started. Damn it! Tomorrow a bath!

Picture to come soon.

Rain Rain. . . comes our way.

I have to be honest. I have not been working with the horses this week. I have been cleaning the house. Then today when I could work the horses, it has been raining all day. It comes back to this balance thing. Sometimes my personal life has issues I have to deal with and sometimes its the horses. I would love to have the resources to devote to the horses all the time, but like most people, I don't.

Since I am being honest, I will be a little more. I was in a bad place for a few years, a really bad place. I was very depressed. My life got very out of whack. My career, my emotional and physical health, all took a hit. I had no control and just felt so alone. I know that I am not alone feeling alone. A lot of us feel that way. Isn't that sad? So many of use all feeling alone? Anyway. . .

I am still getting back on my feet, but the one thing I realized about 3 years ago is that horses are my therapy; they are my antidepressant. Unfortunately they are expensive therapy and are not covered by insurance.

I tried to do things the cheapest way possible. One of the things I did was "ride the horse you have." I really shouldn't have. When I fell off Abby, I fell so hard. Not just physically either. I was trying to make a positive change and landed flat on . . . well my wrist! It was good though, all I could think about was how to get back in the saddle. It really showed me where I was and what was important to me. Horses are the thing that give me bliss and allows the rest of my life to made sense.

I look forward to the days I get to ride or drive with such a longing. Then I return home and look at a pasture of horses. None of which can be used for one reason or another. Kinsey needs a saddle and maybe some training. I would like to drive Abby but that is another harness and wagon, besides the training she would need. I need a safe environment to ride either of this horse as of right now and I don't have that either. My cart needs shafts. Madison needs a harness that would fit her and training. Ike really needs a new harness, one that has breeching. Sophie need training, she may need a harness or she may be able to use Ike's.

"Inch by inch, life is a cinch. Yard by yard it is very hard." Sometime when I try to focus on all of these things and get great grandiose plans I need to remember this. Focus on a few small things and then I can move on.

Thanks to a very special person, I am getting support to get things in a little more order. Kinsey leaves tomorrow to go to R. I am really looking forward to just seeing what he says. She maybe my next riding horse or she may be on the market. She is a good horse either way. I just want her to to be used and not sit through her prime. Thanks to R I am not as self conscious about my weigh, so Ike is just waiting until I get shafts. I ordered them this week, my reward for slaving away getting 1/3 of the house in order. Then I will have a horse that I can do something with finally. I think I can make his harness work for now, I just can't go very far because of the breeching problem and the terrain around here.

So as the rain comes, it makes the earth muddy. From that mud grows beautiful flowers, wholesome food, and life. I'll wait to see what will grow from this rain.

Relax in the Pasture

After reading some of the blogs ( seen on the right) I decided to just sit out with my horses. The barn can wait. I took Laura Crum's Going, Gone out in to the pasture along with a folding chair and just sat down.

The reactions from my horses was funny and not exactly what I expected. Kinsey treated me with the normal indifference, she seems no more or and maybe a little less upset that she normally does. Abby on the other hand was not sure what the heck to make of me. She looked up from her grazing, stared, and snorted. Walking around, giving me a large berth, she continued to snort and blow. Eventually she tired of watching me and went back to eating. Madison was the brave little girl, man I wish she was large enough to ride, she came up and sniffed. She wanted her scratched and searched me for treats. Ike was a little more nervous but eventually came over for a few scratches. Sophie would never come over and Dominique was nervous too, but he did stop by to sniff me.

I sat out there getting more and more engrossed in the mystery set out west surrounding the murder of a brother and sister. The story features horses as a central focus and it is so nice to read a story about horses where the author actually knows what she is talking about. No making love the back of a horse with the lover's heads on the horses flanks~ never figures out how that was possible. Anyway I will be a better review of the book when I am finished which I am sure will be in the next few days.

Abby and Kinsey spooking and came running around the field. With the minis out front, Abby was following up behind. They were headed straight for me. Abby, I don't think, still realized who I was. As I watched her massive chest and legs pounding the ground heading toward me I thought, "gee, I wonder if she'll stop." Of course she did. Stopped, and snorted, then continued on with her grazing.

In the pasture, the sun shining down, and my horse grazing around me I realized this was just about as perfect as it could get. It was a very nice way to pass a few hours.

Juggling

I have too many horses that are not doing anything. I know that. I do not want to have them sit there. Every spring "I am going to do something with them this year!" Then April hits and we have rain. I don't have an indoor and Abby is hell on the lawn so it has been a challenge. Well this spring is no different in that respect but I am getting more serious about having horses in my life. I have to take care of them day in a day out and although that is very enjoyable I want to do more. Which is why I got Kinsey, she is turning into just as much of a challenge as the rest of them though.

I have come to some conclusions.

*One is that I like to drive. I like it a lot. I am not as fearful driving and if that is all I can do I'll do that to the best of my ability. So I am going drive.

*Second is that I am not ready to ride any horse I own now. So riding lesson horses is going to have to be it for awhile. I do have a goal to go on at least on trail ride this year.

*Third is I have to really take a look at my herd. I don't have need for 3 mini horses, 2 mini donkeys, and 2 horses. I really need to look at what I want to do and which equine will meet that need. Then take steps to seriously try to sell to someone who will use that horse. This is really going to be hard.

*Four is that I really have to get some help from a professional. I have never ever asked anyone else to train my horse(s) before. I have asked to have someone exercise or allowed others to use my horse, but never to train. So this is going to be something new for me. I think I found someone I am comfortable with.

* Finally five, I am going to further my horses' (donkeys') training while they are here. This is another hard once since there are so many of them. I have split them into two groups: three one day and three the next. I am actually writing down a plan for each horse (donk). So they will each be worked 3 days a week.

Wordless Wednesday

Madison, Madison Let Down Your Tail. . .

Rapunzel has nothing on my mom's pony Madison. After I broke my wrist I could not keep up on her tail care. It was left in a braid, but got full of burrs. One of my goals this year is to actually get rid of all the burr dock. As you see her tail looked dreadful.














It took me two days, lots of careful combing, and bit of Main-N-Tail Detangler. After the first day I had managed to start to undo the braid and get the bottom half of her tail detangled. I banded the bottom half and pulled it up. I started off day two with this:





I sprayed the sections I was going to work on. Then groom the rest of her for a bit as I waited for it to dry. Then I held the tail and pull a few hairs out from the burrs with a comb, a few strands at a time. Finally an hour later I had this:














Now why would I go though all this when it is totally impractical and I could just thin the whole thing down to a normal looking tail? Well who hasn't wanted a real life "My Little Pony?" I have and so has my mom. It is her pony. So even though it is a major pain sometimes, I keep her tail looking like this just so I can take it down and let my mother enjoy looking at this tail. She gets such a kick out of it and when I say I want to cut it, she just sighs and says, "Oh okay." Well I don't have the heart. If it makes her happy what I can I do.

Today I have to wash her tail, which is another chore. Once I get it all washed and conditioned it goes back to the braid and bagged. Luckily the best tail care you can do is handle the tail very little.



I took one last photo of the braid before I put it up just to see how long it really is.

Wordless Wednesday

The Girls

Ask anyone that knows me that they will tell you I am a mare girl. My favorite horses have always been mares, my first horse was a mare, a very dominate one. Mares are definitely different than a stallion or a gelding. Here is a really good article about mares from Meridith Manor.

The article is summed up with this sage advice from old time trainers:
"There are only two ways you can argue with a mare and neither one works."

If you can accept a mare for who she is, very often you can have a great horse. If you can't, it is just horrible for everyone. I think that is why so many trainers don't like mares. Geldings are so much more pliable. They will work on your time table. When working with a mare, everything is on her time table. Now of course every mare is different.

Abby and Madison. . . Madison is not really mine, she is my mom's. I have her Madison several years ago as a Christmas present. Of course I take total care of her but I always hoped that my mom would drive her one day. I have not given up hope. Although I need to train her to drive. I love these two together. Notice their stars and snips. They are very similar.

Of course my new mare:
Kinsey~ who is actually loved by a gelding lover. Not sure what that says about either of them. lol I thought that Kinsey would come in to my little herd and be at the bottom of the pecking order. She isn't, silly girl. She is the top. Pushes Abby, a good hand and a half taller than her and at least 500 lbs heavier, around. I had to remove my little guy from the herd and put him with the goats because Kinsey quite literally knocked him on his butt.

Honestly she is becoming a different horse now that she is outside all the time. She can run, which she loves to do. She runs up to the fence to say hello, nickers for food, is becoming an almost affectionate horse. She is all mare for sure, which I why I was think that having so many people using her and handle her was getting confusing for her. Mares like routine.


Oh don't worry nobody was harmed during this play session. They had just been turned out into the field to stretch their legs without mud and these two just happened to cross paths. You have to admit that Madison really can get down can't she. Could be a little cow pony.

Wordless Wednesday