And the dirt goes on......................

(sing to the tune of These Boots were made for Walkin') .. the dirt goes on. Dirt is flyin' from shovels over there...........it does not seem to end. It took nearly a month and a half to wait for the ground to dry up just enough to get a 20 yd load of fill dirt and still he sank in the ground. The fellow was able to dump it and pull out but the ruts he left were huge.

I hooked the dump cart up to the tractor and took loads of dirt to various spots in the yard and dumped it then when hubby had the chance he started shoveling big time. I'm doing as much as I physically can and cursing myself for not really pushing for the tractor with the front end loader. All that dirt could have been moved in a matter of hours saving our backs arms and legs. No wonder I'm too damned tired to ride. The boys are currently confined to one small area and it really needs to be scraped. I have been raking up what I can and moving it out but my body is good for 1 load and I am done.

Several times over the past year I have considered just giving up. I love my horses very much but in all honesty, I believe they would be better off, and safer, somewhere else. The bugs are horrendous in the Summer and the ground just is not sustainable for horses. Too soft and way too wet most of the time. Moving somewhere else just isn't going to happen and boarding them elswhere is not affordable. Gee, do I sound depressed? Yes I guess I am for the moment. I just did not envision me in my fifties doing physical labor. Never in my life have I worked as hard as I have since we moved here. When I have a moment to enjoy them, I'm tired. Lately I'm lucky if I can make it through dinner with both eyes open. I just hope my potassium levels have not gone down again.The possibility of needing an IV does not thrill me.

Ok, I guess I'm done with the self pity party.

Sorry about my ranting yesterday, just one of those days................................

Down again!

I think I need to put some sort of radar device in front of me so I know where my feet are going. Paha and I were taking one of our walks through the woods, stepping over various logs, getting used to sticks breaking under his feet, feeling and seeing strange thing on his belly, sides, legs and butt and WHAM! We stepped over a log and the ground just disappeared under our feet. It was a sink hole that must have been there after all the flooding in August and with the recent rains it just finally gave out. Paha was halfway over the log and went down on his knees, chest and nose. His belly landed on top the log and he seemed to be trying to figure out what to do with his back legs as they were still on the ground on the other side of the log. I fell forward and to the left, landing on my knees, AGAIN! (I tripped over my boots when doing hay yesterday and went down) Of course that jarred my back, more, and both knees are black and blue and swollen. I so wanted to get on Meins today but shortly after falling, it started raining, big surprise. Sigh! Paha was a good sport about the whole thing. It took him a minute to get up but he shook himself off and I didn't make a big deal of it and walked on. He had a little scrape on his nose, his chest was muddy as were his knees and belly. I hosed the mud off his legs and ran my hands down over all four and he seems ok. I'm getting ready to do evening feed and see how he is doing. But throughout the day he was his normal self so maybe the whole thing was just a non-issue for him. Wish I can say the same.

Finally some sun!

Once I was able to tear my sleepy self from under a warm, cozy blankie and chair, I got up, got dressed and went outside. I knew the sun was out but earlier when I did hay for the boys it was chilly and I didn't want to go back out there. Hubby finally convinced me it was nice out, so, out, I went. Did some stuff in the yard then filled the water tank and then just went out into the pasture to hang with my boys. Those two follow me all over the pasture all the time just to get rubs, tickles and hugs. I stood up on a stump and there was a horse on either side of me. Klaus went to get the camera but by then Meins decided that sleepy time was over and annoying time begins so that was my que to head back to the gate and go sit in my chair and just watch. Watching then graze is so relaxing for me. And with a warm sun it was nice after all the rainy days we have had lately.

Kids, don't try this anywhere!

Not a good look for me, but hey, it's early, everything is frost covered (Oct 9th) and I was being goofy. I know many of us crawl out of bed and just slip into whatever to go feed the horses THEN come in to get coffee and a bite to eat before getting to the chores. Yes, I do wear a flannel nighty!

Caution, if you don't want to scare the hell out of your neighbors, or embarrass your spouse or partner, better get dressed first.

And don't forget about "wardrobe malfunctions"! Hoohoo baby, not going there!!!!!

Have a great day everyone!

Getting started

With the holidays nearly upon us I decided to use this dreary rainy day to make cookies for Christmas. Out of 8 and a half dozen cookies I only ate 2 broken ones! That's a first for me. Half the dough would have been gone on earlier occasions.

I am really working on losing weight and firming up. I noticed my pants are getting too big and I attribute that to the fact I walk a lot more now when I throw hay in the morning and evening along the fence line instead of one spot. This winter may be a bit tricky but as long as it isn't bitterly cold, I'll continue to spread it out. In the meantime, my plastic sled and snowshoes are ready.

The other reason I am getting some baking and cooking out of the way now is because I want to put in as much saddle time as I can. Been really itching to get back on Meins and I believe he is ready for me too. When I have saddled him lately he is not a goofy colt but has been all business. Now Paha, on the other hand, has been a little snot as of late. Terrible Two's? Where did my little boy go? haha! He has been trying to see who is boss and has mostly been doing it to Meins. But tries with anyone who handles him. He made the mistake of doing that to my trainer when he went to get his teeth done. TSK, TSK, TSK! Bad idea Pa. I cut back on the Equine Junior, just a half pound, since I can see his belly when he is walking away and his ribs are barely noticable. He settled down a bit too. I'll keep my eyes and hands on him all winter and adjust his feed as needed. I would rather there was a bit of "chunky" over the winter anyway.

Well, now that the cookies have cooled I need to clean up the kitchen and either sew, take a shower and get dressed (still in my jammies) or read my book.........................aahhhh the house smells soooo goood, mmmmm.................................

Paha goes to the Dentist

Paha and Doc Johnson get to meet today for the first time. My trainer picked him up this morning then will drop him off tomorrow. Poor baby, he is getting his first float and his wolf teeth pulled. I went up to let the Doc know that he needs to watch when he sedates Paha because he will go completely out. If you recall, earlier this Spring he was sedated to get his tear ducts cleaned and it took 5 of us to walk him 10' to his stall. So he'll be one of the last to be done.

He got to model another quilt for me. These guys are so cool! I threw the blankie up on him and he just does not care. what a sweetheart!

Good ideas get better!

Quite frosty this morning and enjoyed seeing the "hair raising" effects it has on the horses. Standing in early morning sunshine with white puffs being exhaled from the nostrils of my dragon like equines. Yikes! Did I write that? That's bad!

I went to a presentation at Equine Gatherings this past Thursday given by my farrier, Darrin, and his wife, Kerry Koob. Natural Hoof Care was the topic. In the year and a half since he has been doing my boys I cannot tell you how much I have really learned. It's not just about feet, it's the total horse. 2 hours was just not enough to listen, question and absorb all the info given. But I did come away with some new ideas to keep my boys happy and healthy.

Paddock Paradise. You can Google it, Jaime Jackson, wrote a book about keeping with the natural roaming instinct of horses. In other words, getting them moving in as natural an environment as possible. I always had the right idea, feeding them in different areas, but they were designated areas and becoming a mess and a waste of hay. So first thing yesterday morning, in my jammies, I loaded up a bale of hay and walked the perimeter fence throwing out a few flakes at intervals along the way.

You would have thought those two horses had been shot up with some happy juice! Running, bucking, snorting and squealing. In a few minutes they settled down and were happily munching away and moving from pile to pile. Now in the past they would eat out of a designated hay spot, recent rains made the areas a mess and there was lots of wasted hay. At 2:30p yesterday afternoon, there was still hay on the ground. I did not need to pull another full bale to get them through the night and this morning ALL, every scrap of hay was gone!!!! Nothing was wasted.

THAT made me very happy and I am sure they are glad not to be standing pastern deep in muck. So now I know I can feed them their hay and that it's not wasted, they are moving, and seem quite content with the change. Winter will be a bit tricky for me so I am now planning how to deal with it. Now that I have a guideline on how to go about this I can implement more of the natural environment my boys deserve.