Scrap Award!

When you receive The Honest Scrap award you must stick to some rules:
Recognize your award presenter and link back to their blog in your post.
List 10 honest things about yourself that others might not now.
Present this award to 10 admirable bloggers and link to their blogs.
Leave a comment on your recipients' blogs to let them know to visit your post to retrieve their award.

10 honest scraps about me that you may not know:

1. I'm 17. I don't think I mentioned my age before. No idea why.

2. I've never broken a bone.

3. The year I was born was the 300th anniversary of the Salem Witch Trials, and I was born one day after Sarah Good, Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth Howe, and Sarah Wildes were hanged.

4. The first horse I ever rode was a Clydesdale.

5. I want a sugar glider someday.

6. I detest fake tans. Not just because of the way they look, but because it's bad for your skin.

7. I currently have purple streaks in my hair.

8. My favorite colors are green and purple.

9. I'm an artist. I do photography, graphite drawings, and sculpting.

10. I love horror films. The Crow is one of my favorites.

Thanks a bunch to Cathryn!

And now to find ten blogs to give the award to... I don't know who's gotten one already, so forgive me if I'm repeating any.

Holy Horse!

When The Painted Horse Comes

Tacky Tack Of The Day

A Good Horse

Bad Ways To Sell Your Horse

Shame in the Horse Show Ring

Behind the Bit

Fugly Horse of the Day

Equine Ink

A Horse and a Half

Lovely.

We now have three new horses at the barn. Who are not quarantined.

And all three of them have bots. Isn't that peachy? I would love to know why they aren't quarantined, first of all. They've only been here since the 15th. And if the owners haven't been keeping up on deworming, who knows what other parasites they brought with them? Good grief. Have they ever heard of boticide? Make friends with it. It really isn't a complicated concept.

*headdesk**headdesk**headdesk*


On a lighter note, I'm totally excited because I rode Norman bareback for the first time ever! He was a doll, as per usual. And he's comfy. It's like sitting on a couch. I have a couple new pics of him when he's actually clean. His mane and tail are extremely high maintenance, yet I cringe at the thought of cutting it. Him and his sexy blond locks. lol

I also had a great lesson on Victor. He was so good. He never hesitated at a pole or jump once. Yes, we jumped! Woohoo! It was amazing. It took me like three tries to get into two-point and I forgot to release a couple times (poor Vic was a trooper) and he still went over perfectly. I couldn't believe how well he behaved. Needless to say, he got spoiled rotten afterward. XD

Goofy things people have said/done at the barn.

We've all probably known more than a few nutty horse people or non-horse people that say the darnedest things.

I was at a trail riding place in Wisconsin and the guide was talking about Quarter Horses. One kid goes, "What's the difference between a Quarter Horse and a full horse?"

Another instance was when I took Vic to a trail riding place with the BO and one of her horses. She's tacking up her horse and she asks me to get the martingale out of the trailer. No prob.
Well, I scour that tack room, and there is no martingale to speak of. But there is a breast collar. So I'm like, Good lord, she thinks a martingale is a breast collar. She's also put splint boots on backwards and on the wrong legs. And she's put a curb chain on a western curb bit. And she uses a pelham with only the curb rein.

And here's a conversation between my BO and a dressage trainer that was interested in buying a saddle from her:

Trainer: "What kind of saddle is it?" (kind of suspects that BO doesn't know what she's talking about)

BO: "It's a dressage saddle."

Trainer: "What color is it?"

BO: "Brown."

ROFL XDDD

And don't we all love it when little kids ask how you tell the difference between a boy horse and a girl horse? You can just tell the older ones, but how do you explain it appropriately to a four year old? lol

The thing about the horse world is, if you don't know what you're talking about, everyone is gonna know it and you'll stick out like a sore thumb. Which isn't that bad if you acknowledge the fact, but it's a different story if you try to act like you know it all. If you have that attitude, you'll lose any and all respect so fast you're head will spin. It's a lot better to openly admit it if you don't know something. *cough*Cynthia*cough*

So, how about you guys?

Meh... fireworks.

The bane of every horse person's existence.

If people know that they live near horses (or livestock in general) why can't they be curteous and not crack off fireworks for three days straight? Norman was beside himself last night. He ran away from me three times when I was leading him to the barn, and he ran all the way to the tree farm next door. That was real fun. I've never seen him like that before. He seemed to think the world was ending.

Victor actually didn't mind too much. I thought he was gonna be the one freaking out.

Now, I can kind of understand firing off a couple of Roman candles on the 4th of July, but why the days before and after? It's obnoxious and potentially dangerous for us horse people. Enough is enough. Go to some deserted country road and blow of firecrackers to your heart's content. But keep it away from the horses.

The old grey mare in back of us was about to have a heart attack. Fireworks were going off right by her pasture, and I could see the smoke that looked like it was coming from the people's driveway. Could they be stupid enough to do fireworks with their horse practically in the back yard? Well, they were stupid enough to put their yearling filly in a wire fence with six inch gaps, so yes. I really feel bad for their horse. I especially worry about the older horses.

What happened to the good ol' days when kids were happy with sparklers?

I had a long talk with the BO.

My mom and I did, actually. We told her all the problems we're having with Cynthia and Mitch, and she still doesn't get it. She's basically willing to put up with all their shit. She doesn't see the severity of the issue. Cynthia's stupidity doesn't seem to bother her. I've told her how much of a liability she is, and she still isn't bothered.

Just last night, Cynthia's daughter persuaded Cristy's daughter (7 year old) to go out in the dry lot with all the loose horses. Well, Norman got pissy with Jack while Cynthia's daughter was in between them. It's a good thing she's as quick as she is, because Norman almost ran her over. So I told her it wasn't safe and to get out of the paddock. So she goes, "Why?"

I don't know, maybe because I'm much older than you and I just told you to do something for your own safety? I told both of them twice to get out of the pasture, and finally Cristy yelled at them two more times before they finally got out.

Come to find out, Cristy asks Cynthia if her daughter was allowed out with loose horses, and she said, and I quote, "Yes she is, because she can make that judgment."

HELLO!!! She's fucking eight years old! What little kid can go out with a bunch of horses and be smart enough to not get a hoof to the head? And she doesn't seem to have any grasp on how dangerous horses are! She just has no idea. Mostly because her mother isn't teaching her any better. What if one of my horses hurts her kid? That's a lawsuit right there. A huge liability. Like I said, Cynthia just doesn't give a damn about anything. She just thinks nothing will ever happen.

If I see her out there again, I'm letting her have it. I don't care if her mother says it's okay. I will NOT have little kids running around my horses and risk being injured. It's just not going to happen. If Cynthia gets mad at me, boo hoo. Cry me a river, bitch. I guess if your daughter ever gets rushed to the ER with a hoof-shaped indentation in her skull, I told you so.

I think the BO is more open to possibly kicking Mitch out, though, which would be a giant step in the right direction. We're trying to reason with her. We'll see if it gets us anywhere. I'm still on the hunt for a new barn, which has so far proved fruitless. But if and when I get a place lined up, I'm getting out if Mitch and Cynthia don't leave.

Klaus 19?? - 2009

We had a sad day today. The BO made the decision to put one of her horses down due to health problems that seemed to just keep piling up. Klaus was a Percheron/ Thoroughbred cross in his late 20's. He had extensive schooling and was a barn favorite, especially to the lesson kids. He was blind in one eye, but it didn't seem to bother him and he was one of the kindest and sweetest horses out there.

Unfortunately, he had arthritis that would have crippled most horses, but he had an incredibly high tolerance for it and was still ridden up until last summer when he was diagnosed with ringbone. In the last year, his health continued to decline and he had several abscesses on his feet, along with a bad ligament. Just recently he was diagnosed with cushings, and that's what solidified the decision to euthanize him. He was kept reasonably comfortable and happy for as long as possible, but he'd lost weight and his fur was coming out in clumps. His owner couldn't watch him suffer any more, and he passed away today at about noon. He's going to be burried out in the pasture.

He was the coolest big, black horse in the world. He was spoiled rotten and had a good long life. He really was a perfect horse and we're all going to miss him terribly. Rest in peace, Klausie.

Another case of blatant stupidity, curtesy of our good friend, C.

Before I begin, I'm going to be giving names to the people I've been talking about, since it gets confusing using only letters and I don't have permission to be using anyone's real name. So here's how it's going to work:

C = Cynthia. She's the idiot that's at the center of all the conflict at the barn.

M= Mitch. Cynthia's cousin who boards his two horses there and is a lazy asshole and just as stupid and idiotic as her.

My trainer = Lorena.

My friend who's daughter also takes lessons from Lorena = Cristy

And the BO will just stay the same.

Okay, here we go. Remember Jack, the pony that Cynthia bought her 8 or 9 year old daughter? Jack was only trained to drive when they bought him, and Cynthia had this wacko trainer out there working with him. So Saturday Cynthia comes out with her kids and husband and suddenly has everyone on this pony. Herself, her little girl, and her husband. A little 13 hand pony that has maybe ten hours of saddle time. Her husband (who is not a horse person) rode him for a good hour and a half, and the whole time, poor Jack was running away with him and misbehaving and trying to get him off. Cynthia was instructing him, which I think only made matters worse.

It looked ridiculous. A couple of adults riding a pony. Needless to say, Jack was not happy about it, and it looked like he tried to rear several times, but he obviously couldn't given the riders that were almost as big as he was. And then during my lesson, I was in the outdoor and they were in the indoor arena. I don't know what they were doing, but there were whips cracking and scaring the bejezus out of Victor. I'm telling you, it was a freakin' circus act. A joke.

Then afterward, they just threw Jack and Nikki back out in the pasture, saddle marks and all. Didn't hose them down, didn't brush them, nothing. Cynthia just drove off because she "had to be somewhere". It was a hot day, and they were both dripping sweat. It was disgusting. I can't imagine riding a horse down to nothing and then not even bothering to do anything for it afterward. I've never even seen her give her horses cookies after a hard ride. I think a horse has earned a couple treats after a good workout. But she never does because apparently she only believes in doing the bare minimum.

Lorena and Cristy want to work something out with the BO so they can lease the front isle of the barn. With any luck, Mitch and Cynthia will want to leave. If it works out, Lorena will come back as the barn trainer.

And that place that was offering free board that I was looking at? My mom drove past it and it was a total dump. So that's a no-no. We can't find any other affordable barns that are in decent shape, so I'm hoping this deal works out.