Two down, Five to go....

Ok. I just got home. I left this morning at 8 am to drive one of the horses to a location where they could rehabilitate the possibly pregnant mare. Groan. Don't even get me started.

They have another rescue that needs tlc, so the two of the mares can be in together.

The gelding went north to a quarantine location.

I'm in the process of verifying the town the remaining 5 horses are in so we can get them the help they need and deserve.

IF you have the facilities to quarantine AND the know how and finances to bring back a neglected horse, please email me and let me know. They are located in mid-Vermont. I can't guarantee anyone anything, just want to make available to the officers names of people that may be able to help. (HINT: If you can't feed your own animals and the Vet won't give you a good reference, please don't email. Take care of YOUR OWN horses FIRST!)

There are 2 geldings, 2 mares, and a stud. We took the two worst ones. But the others aren't far behind.

I'm holding off on the photo's for 2 reasons. One - I'm too tired to drive back to work with my camera that my daughter borrowed today. Two - if they need the pictures, I want to be sure they have them first.

Ok - off to bed. Too many early mornings, too many miles in the last two days... I'll keep you updated.

Not as bad as I thought ... It's much, much worse.

Well, we have the gelding, and a mare. It's bad. I have pictures, but my computer won't read the camera. I will have to stop by work tomorrow on my way home to download them. It was so bad that instead of heading north to the final destination (no, NEVER slaughter, the home of the person that bought the horses :) we went to the vets instead. Had them evaluated. Made a couple of inquiries tonight to make sure we called the right animal control agency. I will give a formal statement this weekend.

These poor, poor horses. And there are still some there. Hopefully, when we call animal control and show them the pictures and they talk to the vet, they will go up and do something for the ones we couldn't get out.

So, I can't give out too much information as it's still in the beginning stages. But I promise I will keep everyone posted and post the pictures as soon as I get back this weekend.

Hay, Hay, Hay

Ohy, vey. Hay is a scarce commodity these days. Yes, the mare is still here. The pony is still here. Jxx was here this morning to put shoes on Elias and front shoes on Buddy. His stifles are way too stiff to put shoes on his back feet, but at least we got them on the front.

I groomed everyone and sprayed with fly spray before I put them out to pasture. Then to get hay! I got 96 bales in the stock trailer. I didn't load it right - usually we get over 100.

SO, tomorrow morning we are off to do a rescue. I'm told it's quite bad, and I don't doubt the experience of the friend I am going with, just hope that she's wrong. Know she isn't, but am hoping, anyways...

So, after we get him home, I will post pictures and keep you updated on his progress. He's a gelding, a little over 15 hands and quite underweight.

Tonight a wake, unload the trailer, funeral tomorrow, then the gelding - argh. People suck. We need duct tape - to keep our mouth's shut long enough to get him out of there. I will try to collect enough evidence to hand a case over to the local law enforcement, but at least he will have a chance at surviving.

Ahh, to be content in life...

Spring is here. Snow is gone. Bugs showed up :( I love my life.

I love nothing more in a warm day than to go in the field and stick my nose into a warm horse neck and breath. Have the horse hug me with his head to his chest. To sigh and make horse noises as I brush the winter's worth of extra hair off. This is all I need. The reason why I hammer out 20 gallon ice chunks in the middle of winter. Why I wade through snow up to my knees in the pasture. My boys. Sigh. Life is so good.

According to the thermometer on the sunny side of the house it's 90 degrees. On the shady side of the house it's 76 degrees. I'm sitting in front of a fan, sweat rolling down my face, neck and back. I should be outside setting up the pool. Cleaning the barn. Doing many other house and horse chores, and, instead, I'm dying. Having a hot flash. Ohy, vey.

So, sitting in the cool living room, listening to the great swine flu epidemic on msnbc, I'm typing on the computer, drinking some cool ice tea, trying to calm my inner thermometer down. I'm going to tell you about the person, the time in my life, where I became so enamored, fell in love with, opened my passion for horses.

I was young - to the best of my memory, I was between 10 and 12. My cousin, Kxx, who wintered Aspey here with me, lived just down the road, across the river from me. She had two horses. A black mare and a wonderful chestnut gelding named Kye. I loved that gelding. He was so wonderful. I could go out in the pasture, climb on his back, lay on my back and stare up at the sky (for hours it seemed) and he would just quietly graze along and let me lay on his back. I learned to ride on that horse. I won my first ribbons (my only ribbons) on that wonderful gelding. I watched Kxx win jumping contests, bareback, on that gelding.

One day, we were told, in a group I had joined, to close our eyes and search our memories for a time when we felt most loved, most secure and remember that memory. This is my memory....

I was on Kye's back, with Kxx, and we were riding bareback. We were just going for a ride. I was sitting on Kye's warm back, my back against Kxx's stomach, her legs behind mine. I had my hands in his mane, Kxx had the reins. We were cantering along the lawn and then, on the spur of the moment, with both of us urging him on, we flew across the gulch between the lawn and the pasture.

I can close my eyes and still feel, still remember the warmth of the horse, my cousin. I can remember the strength between my legs as the horse bunched himself and launched over the gap. I can still feel the wind on my face, the smell of a warm summer day, my cousins arms around me and the calm, power and strength of Kye.

I hear the hoof beats, the quiet of soaring through the air, the feeling of flying. The thrill, the graceful flight. I remember when we landed and galloped on, both of us laughing, Kye tossing his head, bounding across the pasture.

Ever since that day, that moment, I made myself a promise that I would find a horse like him and he would be mine, all mine. Heart, body and soul.

I have lived that dream. First with Shiloh. Then with my beloved Aba. Now with Buddy. Beginning my love with Elias. Always, Smokey. Abner is coming back around. My boys. My freedom, my wings. The power to walk for hours with a body and condition that limits me. Unconditional love, complete trust, soul companions.

I guess that is why it bothers me so much when people just assume that animals are dumb, they have no soul, they have no feelings. These 'stupid, dumb' animals have more empathy, compassion and love than most people I know. Even abused, these animals trust. Love.

Look in the eyes of a horse, listen to him settle in for the night, in a stall with water, hay, grain and clean shavings. Hear the contentment, hear the trust. Feel the gentle giants and listen to their hearts.

I am truly blessed to share my life with these simple, complex, graceful beings.

What a Wonderful Day!

Yawn. What a LllOOoonNNnGGggg day.

Last night was very late. Two of my daughters got home around midnight from bowling. Bickering. Guess what she did. No, what she did was worse. Turns out, after they got done with their verbal vomit and talked to ME, I found out that the one who was driving was also texting on her phone. Good. Just what we need. NOT! Guess who is grounded from driving to school tomorrow. Not me!

Then, around 2:30, the last of the three daughters gets home, a little pale. Seems she was throwing a piece of gum out the window and scraped her car along the guard rails. Oh, Goody, even MORE good news. Good thing she paid her insurance and there wasn't much damage.

So, after finishing the book that I just could NOT put down, I got to bed... very late. And was up VERY early...at 6 am to be ready to hit the road for Everything Equine in Essex Junction, VT with my best riding buddy, Lxxx.

Got up, took a shower, let the horses out and spread hay around in the field and came inside to slurp down some coffee. Ahhhh, caffeine. Is it true what they say - that for every hour of sleep missed a cup of coffee will make up for it??? Well, mostly not true. Does work for a few hours, but I'm fading fast.

So, we're off! Headed north, catching up on what is going on in each other's lives. Kids, husbands, horses, schools, life, etc. Was a lot of fun catching up. Then to the Equine event! I love going to these things. Kenny Harlow was the headliner for the presenters this weekend. When we saw him he was working with a very large draft horse. I always learn something from each person. Mostly things I would like to do - sometimes (not today) things I would like to think I would never do.

Did some shopping. My only planned purchase was a new bridle for Elias. The one I have for Buddy works, but I have to adjust the buckles each time and it hurts my hands and fingers. And it's a pain in the butt for them to wait for me because I always forget about it until it's on and doesn't look right. Then you have to take it off, adjust it, put it back on... much easier to just have his own. The first time through the buildings I couldn't find anything that I liked that I thought would fit and was a color similar to the saddles I have. Mostly they are all black or very dark brown. Sigh. That's ok.

Back to the main arena and watched the jumping. Don't misunderstand me here. I love to WATCH jumping. Don't ever try to plan on doing it myself. (NOT that I haven't survived, lived through a few good jumps every now and then - the last one being when we JUMPED 4 feet high and 3 feet wide, over a tiny little brook because Elias didn't want to get his feet wet) - but I truly, truly do like to keep as many feet on the ground at one time as possible. Seriously!

After the jumping, we window shopped a little more. Gxxx, the friend we met up in Essex, helped me find a biothane halter/bridle combo with extra long reins. Wooohooo! Not only will it fit Elias to a T- but it will not have to be cleaned like leather and will last longer and the bit comes off without having to take off the head stall! What a perfect combination! For only $65 dollars. What a find. AND it's very dark, almost black. Too cool!

So, after a little bite to eat, we head back to the main arena and watch the Versatile Horse Competition. 20 people and their horses competing for over $3,000 in cash and prizes. If you have never seen anything like this, it is amazing. They have something quite like it at Equine Affair in Mass.

Ok. Here's the course, the best I can remember it... you enter the arena. It's a large area surrounded on three sides by a fence surrounded by crowds of people. Clapping. Hooting. Hollering. On a horse! You have to left lead canter to the first bucket hung on the side of the arena fencing and take out a t-shirt. You throw the t-shirt to the crowd. (the crowd has been told that the t-shirt will be thrown to whomever is the loudest) You right lead canter to the second bucket (opposite the entry) and throw another t-shirt from another bucket. (crowd, cheering) then you LOOSE rein WALK to the third bucket on the third side of the arena. You know the drill by now!

You then have to walk your horse and have him put all FOUR feet in this tiny little pond (about 3 feet square) that has a pump spewing up water out of it like a fountain. Only 2 horses out of 20 were able to complete this one obstacle!!

Then to the Christmas tree, dead, lying on the ground. Tied to a long rope. You had to take the coil of rope off the post, drag the tree around the last orange cone in line and then back to the post and leave the rope draped across the top.

You then trotted to a small jump. Sounds easy, huh? Well, NOT! The jump approach is lined on both sides with fake brick walls, with balloons streaming up from them and the jump itself had balloons hanging off the bottom of it. With a metallic yellow cloth bunched up underneath it.

After the jump, was a teeter-totter. It was about 6 feet wide and about 8 feet long - and when you got past the half way point, it tipped - only about 6 or 8 inches, but it was enough to give some of the horses heart failure, almost.

Then you went to the ball. This ball was probably 4 feet high. You had to roll it along a chute, lined, you guessed it, more balloons - you could kick it, your horse could kick it... one horse was so freaked out by the ball the girl got off, and kicked it, and her and the horse followed it - (the horse was ok with that :)

Then you had to cross a rail on the ground. And back your horse, weaving through 4 orange cones, set up in a line. WITH balloons sticking up from the tops of them.

Then, across to a pole, sticking up inside a cone, pick up the pole, swing it, hit a pinata, knock it down, and put the pole back into the cone.

Then on to the horse trailer. Some unorthodox horse loading going on here - you had to have your horse go ON the trailer - all four feet in the box, and then back off (many, many of the participants did this mounted on their horses) and then go out of the arena.

This is a TIMED event. You had 30 seconds to complete each obstacle! If your horse refused, they called time and you had to move on to the next obstacle. If you were in the middle of it, they let you keep going as long as your horse was moving toward finishing the obstacle. The winning time was something like 2 minutes, 28 seconds. O. M. G. The longest time was just over 6 minutes. (Time started when you entered the arena, then ended when you left the arena. Points were given for horsemanship, most obstacles completed correctly and horses willing attitude. - If I have made a mistake in any of this, it is my brain misfiring. My apologies!)

I know, and do, most of these things on the back of my horse, Buddy. NOT in an arena lined with yelling, clapping, cheering people. In under 30 seconds.

I have completed in some events at a Game day with Buddy and we did quite well. We had lots of fun, but we didn't have time limits. And most everyone was on horseback and I knew them. NOT in front of tons of strangers in a loud building we had never been in before.

I must say one thing. Almost EVERYONE on their horse, you could tell, had a wonderful trusting relationship, and even if the horses were freaked out about what they were doing and where they were, they trusted their rider enough to know that they weren't going to let them get eaten by the scary object.

With a rather disturbing -ONE- exception of a young female -(sorry, can't quite get my tongue around the word lady here), who was 11, AND who, (in my opinion), should not be allowed to own or RIDE a horse. She had the poorest horsemanship of anyone I have ever seen in a long time. She did not communicate with her hands, her legs, or her seat very well, and used her crop on that poor pony TOO much and much TOO hard. From the comments in the crowd, it seems that this young person does this on a regular basis with the club she rides with. Why, I must ask. Doesn't someone say SOMETHING to her or her parents. I was very disturbed by it all. And I was not the only one. I hope someone tells her to read this and let her know that this behavior is unacceptable. Shame on her. The day would have been quite a fantastic example of how to communicate, build trust, work with your horse, with the rather LARGE exception of her... I hope she looks at the film that was made of the competition and is truly ashamed for how she acted and apologies to that tolerant, exceptional little mare she was riding. Bleck on her. (If I were that mare, I would have dumped her on her pretty pink little A**!)

But it was a wonderful example and gives me some ideas of 'tortures' to try on my boys in the back field to get them ready for the next game day we are going to this summer. They hate it when I do this stuff to them!!!

It does work wonders for building trust and experiences. Bonding, etc. And it makes me laugh, sometimes, to see the expressions on their faces - "Mom - you want me to do WHAT! With THAT! Here? NOW!?? Are you NUTS?!?!?" But they do it. After coming to the conclusion that I am much more stubborn that they ever imagined being. He, he, he!

So, outside to do barn chores and put the boys and mare to bed. Then off to bed myself. No more books tonight. I'm going to sleep in tomorrow, too. I'll throw everyone an extra flake of hay so they will have something to eat when they wake up. Yawn. Need to get moving before I turn into a pumpkin. I can feel the orange coming on.... (yyyyyaaaaawwwwnnnn).