A few photos

These are some old photos of the new farmette, taken before we moved in. These are all I have until I can figure out what's wrong with my computer.

Here's the barn:
The pasture:


Part of the back area, which would be great for another pasture if my parents would let me fence it off. I'm still working on that...

Alas, the best pictures are on my camera. We've been doing tons of landscaping and whatnot.

On another note, having only two horses has presented a problem: they're herd bound. I've never had that issue with them before. It doesn't help that they're a pair bond. Even before we moved, they were always side-by-side. I've only ridden three times since we moved. I rode once with my mom and they did fine as long as they were together. But if I take Victor out of sight, Norman goes nuts. That's why I really want to fence off another turnout area, so I can separate them for a few hours a day. I'm pretty sure I can break them of it if I can just make another pasture. Victor isn't too bad, he only gets upset when Norman starts running the fence line.

I rode him a couple nights ago and he threw a fit when I took him too far away from the pasture. It didn't bother me (I'm used to his tantrums), but it scared the bejeebers out of my mother. Now she wants to get me a new horse. *facepalm* Like Victor's hissy fits are anything new? He'll calm down with more riding. He was the same way when I first bought him and tried to take him out trail riding at the old barn. He eventually just gave up and settled down to the point where we could hack out alone without any drama. It just takes a lot of time and patience with him.

Other than that, not much is going on. *sigh*

I miss Reba so much. :'(

For some odd reason...

My computer isn't letting me upload photos from my camera. I'll post pics as soon as I figure out what the problem is.

I have a gazillion photos that refuse to get onto my computer and it might drive me insane. *twitch*

Sorry for my major hiatus...

Things have been seriously chaotic around here. But hey! Guess what!

My mom and I got completely and utterly fed up and the boarding stable. Things went from bad to worse and we just couldn't stand it. Ugh. It makes my queasy just thinking about it.

My mom and I have also been wanting our own horse property for years. And we've been "window shopping" for eons. The rest of the family was pretty much against moving until my mom found this one place online. We convinced Dad to at least go look at it, and voila! He loved it.

Long story short, we moved! And we now have our beasties at home. I can't tell you what a relief it is to be free of that hell hole. The horses seem much happier as well. It's just the two of them in our pasture, so there's no bickering or bullying, especially at feeding time. It's wonderful.

We have a 2-stall barn with a hay loft and a smallish pasture that's just right for our two guys. There's also about six acres in back that we can ride in. No arena, but that's a small price to pay. =) It's wonderful being out in the country, too.

Pictures are coming soon!

Now, I also have some bad news. Major bad news, at least to me it was. Lorena just informed me today that Mitch and Cynthia are leaving the barn and taking Reba with them. I want to throw up. They're taking their two horses, Jack the pony and Mitch's [totally bitchy, obnoxious, dangerous] TWH mare along with Reba to Cynthia's mother's place. They're putting up a fence as we speak. There's no barn or anything. Just a pasture. That means no shelter during storms or in the dead of winter when wind chills reach 20 below. That sounds wonderful for a 25 year old horse, doesn't it? I'm sure Reba will just love getting the shit beaten out of her by Mitch's horse and being fed moldy cattle hay.

[/end sarcasm]

I'm scared to death for Reba. She's old, she has back problems, and Cynthia won't give a flying fuck. It's all the more frustrating because I'm powerless to do anything about it. I hope she enjoyed the bath I gave her right before I left, because it will probably be her last. I saw her today and took a piece of her mane with me since I don't know if I'll get another chance. I might never see her again. This sucks.

The BO is pretty irked about it, too. She and Cynthia were supposedly such good buddies, and now Stank Bitch Cynthia is taking a paying boarder right out from under her. Yeah, they were real pals.

She's not taking Reba because she cares about her, she's taking her to stick it to everyone and because she doesn't want to lose her toy. The BO's place is by no means perfect, but at least there are people there who look out for all the horses and clean up after people like Mitch and Cynthia. However, I am glad that Cristy and Lorena won't have to put up with the garbage anymore. I know they were as miserable as I was. But I'm hoping the situation will be a lot better with Mitch and Cynthia gone. Nonetheless, I'm ecstatic to be done with the place.

*sigh* So yeah. That's my juicy news. Lord have mercy on poor Reba. I'm really going to miss her.

Considering my options...

Show season is coming up. Who else is nervous?

I've been doing Hunt Seat for the past three years and I've found that I suck at it. I can walk and trot around in circles and that's about as far as my riding skills go. It doesn't help that I haven't ridden in months and I've lost all my riding muscles. I also can't jump worth a bucket of spit. The tiniest cross rail is a huge challenge to me. Not that I don't love hunter/jumpers, I'm just not good at it.

I've been wanting to switch to dressage for a long time. I think both my horses and I would be better suited for it. But I don't have any dressage equipment, my horses have no experience with it, and I don't know any good trainers. In my area, equestrians are few and far between.

I will find a trainer eventually. ;) If I got good at dressage, I figured my hunter/jumper skills would probably improve. Until then I'll just stick to halter classes and trail riding.

Some things really make you count your blessings.

There's a really old Arabian mare at the barn who isn't doing well at all. She's having problems with laminitis and she can barely walk. But she's alert and has a good appetite. She's actually Mitch's horse, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that he's been taking good care of her and keeping in touch with the vet. I think it's finally sinking in that horses aren't play toys and once they're dead, they're gone for good. Cynthia is another story, but at least Mitch is starting to see the light. I hope.

Decision time sucks. I hate losing pets. It never gets easier. I'm grateful every day that my horses are strong and healthy. I hope they stay that way for a very long time yet.

I'll never understand people like Cynthia. Horses have comparatively short lifespans anyway, so why would you want to speed up that process? Most people would have their pets live forever if it was possible.

*Phew*

The vet was out the other day to do teeth and coggins and I had him look at Vic's old injury. It's this hard plate-thing on his left hip that was from being kicked by another horse when he was a foal. It had been weighing on me for some time and I was worried that it might start to bother him as he ages. All these horrible scenarios were running through my mind. What if it does cause problems and he's lame for the rest of his life? How would I keep him fit if I couldn't exercise him? What if I had to retire him at such a young age? Could I afford to keep a horse that's going to wrack up tons of vet bills? What would happen if I ever had to sell him, God forbid?

However, the vet said it's just scar tissue and he doesn't think it'll ever affect him. THANK GOD.

That made my day. I've never been more glad to feel silly for worrying over a small, superficial thing. There's nothing like the relief you feel when you find out you worried for nothing.

I've also learned to never buy a horse without a pre-purchase exam again. I don't know why we didn't have a vet check when we bought him. What if the owner had been lying about it? Definitely not a smart move on my part. Especially since she lied about his age and training. She told us he was eight years old and was trained for eventing. I only found out years later that he was actually only five at the time. Just a baby. Which explains why he was a naughty little schmuck when we brought him home. But it worked out for the best. Buying him was the best dumb thing I've ever done. Go figure.

Your early horse-crazy years

I don't remember exactly when I became obsessed with horses, but I remember having a closet full of equine merchandise from very early on. I had My Little Ponies (the original ones, not those new, stumpy, weird-looking critters), Fantasy Fillies, and a battery-powered Barbie horse, among other things. I still have the pink Fantasy Filly and the Barbie horse. I think I still have most of my toy horses, actually. My poor Barbie horse had a rough life. He used to have a long mane and tail, but I took scissors and cut it all off. I guess I thought it would grow back. Now he has a cropped mane and a little bobtail. Poor thing. He still works, though! I probably had around a hundred toy horses at one time, and I had names and personalities for all of them. O.o

Our old house was a small ranch on about an eighth of an acre and I thought I was going to keep a mini horse in the backyard. I thought if I got a little tiny horse, I could just put a leash and collar on him and walk him around like a dog. He would be about the size of a large dog, so no one would have a problem with it, right?

I after I accepted that keeping a pony in the backyard wasn't going to work, I upgraded to Breyer horses and used them as an outlet for my horseless-ness. I couldn't have a real horse, so I collected as many model ones as possible.

Now that I have my own Real Little Ponies, I'm not as enthusiastic about Breyers. That's probably a good thing because I don't have money for Breyers anymore! When I have thirty-five bucks laying around, it usually goes toward feed or the farrier. lol