August 2015

No, there is no end to the crazies. Our tv reception is now working and the first morning I get to catch the local news and it is about two of their journalists being killed by a former employee of the station. Unreal. How killing those two young people helped his situation is beyond me.

The station manager had been told the shooter had died by the police, so he told about the issues that got the former employee fired on the air. Then a few minutes later they were told the shooter hadn't died after all. I am sure the station manager would never have said anything if he had known the shooter was still alive. So it seems the guy had mental issues and thought everyone was against him. After an investigation after he was fired, they found no proof there was any discrimination towards him. He had an anger problem that got him fired. He got his revenge on the station by taking out two young people this morning. Sad for everyone.

Special news breakin to my soap, says shooter is dead from self inflicted gun wound. one that won't be prosecuted in court and taxpayers feed and clothe and pay medical/mental for umpteen years....he was surely mental.
Doesn't help the families and friends much....but it is a closure so they can grieve.

Think I will go brush the horses....very peaceful....

At last. Summer is making a return - at least for a week or so.

CB
 Congrats on saving your pups!  Lucky you were there.  The pups sound cute.  Which color is most popular?

ELLEN
 Our weather seems to follow yours a day or two later. We are still a little cool, but the humidity is going up.

I had a very nice lesson on Ivan today. He was so good!   Lori says we are ready to start cantering in the arena again.     I can do it on a relatively level trail, but feel like I am off balance going around a curve in the arena.  (Cluck, cluck.....)

Areion was a bit touchy during her lesson.  We couldn't figure out why, she may be in heat or something.  When I turned her loose in the field afterward, she ran and made a big puddle, so her bladder may have been bothering her.  Anyway, I didn't ride her today.

Mares do seem to be more sensitive to things going on in their bodies.

I made some oatmeal raisin cookies. This is not a good thing. I can't stay out of them.

Harry would help you eat em up, he's a cookie muncher from way back!
I don't bake a lot. I love fruit and this month stretching the budget with bro here (and he doesn't eat fruit) I spent more on meat and potatos...he just loves his meat!..he is almost ready to move in to his mh fulltime.....he can cook his own food. he yells cuz his pants don't fit anymore. lol. hewon't eat salad or fruit or frenchfries....or baked taters or sweet taters...they have to be fried with onions.....geeeesh.

Harry and I went for a drive on a back road and there was this rounded steel bridge that had wooden planks across it and at the start and end of bridge....can we say old....wow. and in the middle was a deep river or large creek, no sign on it. was interesting drive and great weather even in my kia with no ac.

Mom and puppies seem to be doing fine. she got up to eat this morning and the 3 pups were still latched on nursing even while she was walking. it was funny, she tried shaking them loose and they would not let go. lol its fun to watch as they grow and will get playful. I'm gonna enjoy them.

Sweet dreams y'all

I have been so lost w/o a horse since Sparky passed in 2011. Now I actually have time for a horse and a place to board 10 minutes from my house! I'm like a child during the weeks prior to Christmas. Laughing I should be outside mowing grass and loading the burn barrel, but I'm here, sharing my delight. I might just have a horse in my life soon! I am driving to Commerce, GA on Sunday to meet Esperanza, she is a 14 yo registered Paso Fino, bay of course! With my back, knee, and hip problems and my age, I've decided a nice shorter gaited horse is what I need, and she has a personality. If we hit it off, they will furnish all her tack, and transport her here for a very good price. Essy (what I will call her) was bred and raised in a show barn, but she didn't show really well, and her owner ran into some hard times so Hannah and her boyfriend bought her. They wormed and trimmed her today, so she is already to meet me and take me for a ride! I am so impressed with Hannah and her care of the horses and her patience with a little old, fussy lady. Ya'll wish me luck! Robin is now with Jim Hudson Auto Group in Columbia and my little super Grandson, Noah, just turned 11 and is in 6th grade! Amazing huh? Robin, Johnny, and Noah got their Scuba certifications in June and spent a week in Grand Cayman(sp) diving. They had an awesome time. My oldest Grandson, J.R.'s son, Desmond, started college at Eastern Menonite University this month. Gosh, I'm getting OLD! So maybe I can actually join the horse folks again. Hope no one minds reading my book!

ROSE:
This is so great! I am very happy you are getting a new horse! Once a horse person, always a horse person, I think. You have to post pix when you can.
I can't believe your grandson is already in 6th grade. Wasn't he just born? I hope you will post here and let us know how things are going. Are you still doing doggy rescue?


ELLEN:
Oatmeal cookies.....mmmmmmmm With nuts, they are my favorite kind. I think Donnie and I gained 5 pounds this week. The birthday cake is finally gone and no longer a temptation. Our birthdays are exactly 6 months apart, to the day. It takes that long to get over the last cake.....


We are going to pick up Annie tomorrow in WV. We will be meeting my other sister half way between our houses. Now I just have to figure out how to entertain Annie for two weeks. Since she is 'on vacation', she will expect to do more than pick up horsey doo here. I found a place that does bingo games on Wednesday evenings, I can take her to that and a movie or two. Other than that, I don't know yet.

ROSE!!!! So good to see you here again. You won't believe this, but I was just thinking about you this morning, wondering how you were doing, and what you were doing. Honestly. I really was.
Oh, I so hope that the horse will work out for you. That would really be happy making.
I've only ridden one Paso, but it was a very nice ride.

Ark, my oatmeal cookies have raisins in them, but no nuts. For some strange reason, I don't like nuts in my cookies. I like nuts, just not in cookies. I've already eaten way too many. The recipe made about 2 1/2 dozen. At the current rate, they won't make it until Sunday.
This recipe came from a teacher friend a lot of years ago. As a sort of joke, when I wanted to take a personal day from school, I'd bribe my principal with those cookies. Of course, I didn't have to ask permission for a personal day, but it was a little friendship thing. He was a good guy.

Are there any hobbies that Annie likes to do? Are there any she might like to learn? You could go visit a craft shop and get materials for that. Is there a zoo anywhere near? That's always good for everybody.

Has annie ever been to a wildlife safari park where you ride a bus thru or take your car. the bus is so much fun and the windows r removed so you can pet and fees the non wild and woolies. we took grandson and even tho he's 18 he enjoyed it so much and even we were petting and laughing. I don't know if you have one near, but its so much familyfun.

Rose, soo good to have you home. don't run away again. glad u r thinking of getting another horse. we r thinking of only keeping 2 we probably need to downsize so we r able to travel easier. we can't ride 4 of them...but we r feeding 4. hmmmmm....

Hotter today, trying to talk hubby into going to pie festival this evening....

Ark and Ellen, I am like a child in the Christmas Season!  Cannot wait!  Maybe Essy won't work out, but I sure don't think that will be the case here.   She would/will be the first mare I've ever had as my personal horse, aged minds surely change!  Just starting over with horse stuff (different sizes and stuff).  Have to find someone to help with some fence work so she will have complete access to 10-12 acres of coastal pasture.  Must get a new manure fork, etc  Yes, unbelievably, Noah is in 6th grade and is still a Gammy's boy!  Btw, just for reference on a cell phone note, I absolutely despised my Iphone!  I was not eligible for an upgrade until next April, had my iphone 5c and the 4 before.  Damnable thing would accidently hit the mute button when held to my ear, would do all kinds of dialing noises, would fail a facetime call when I had never asked or used facetime.  Anyway, went to the Verizon store last Friday and told the lady precisely what I was going to do with the iphone!  Result of my tantrum I now have and LOVE a Samsung Prime Core, a smartphone for dummies!   Ark, kinda like the craft idea for Annie.  Just saw where there are coloring books and colored pencils for adults!  Guess I'd better get to TS for my dogfood and looky at horsey things, after burn barrel work.  TTYL

I will try to keep up CB.  I still petsit, sometimes 10 dogs at a time!  Transport, foster, and rescue too.  I do try to stay busy.  Yep, you should narrow your herd to just 2 horses, unless showing, etc 1 per is enough, at least my opinion.  Hope bill's mh is well on the way to recovery!

LOL, I have tried to post twice............wrote a book the first time. I kept getting interupted etc and by the time I pushed "send" I was cut off. The second time I did the same thing but post was not as long. This one is fast
and I'll be back.

ROSE, so good to read your news. Noah can't be 11. We are only a bit "over 50". We're all anxiously waiting to hear about your visit with Essie.
We're hoping for you to have many happy times and trail rides around with her.

CB, glad you have had some good weather and peaceful days. Those pups are medicine, I'm sure.

ARK, have fun w Annie. I'm sure she is anxious to see you.

I'm pumped up for the race today at Saratoga. I'm anxious to see Pharaoh run.

Full moon here and great camp fire...........we could hear breaking logs or sticks way off in the distance. We decided it was Bigfoot and we're going to keep it a secret.

Everyone have a great day.

If you saw eyes twasnt bigfoot, they have so much hair on their faces the eyes don't glow in the dark. betcha didn't know that, huh? also when you hear screams in the forest its the bigfoot running into trees and falling over cliffs. yep..its true. we call them mo-mos down here.

Good mornin y'all

Have a great day!

CB, we didn't see anything as the noise was far away..........we just made up whoppers and made plans for our defense just in case.....Rex is in charge of security. Hysterical. Then we have Cookie, 7 lbs. She's second string.
And we have a cat...........he's in charge of hissing. We have a great time
at the liar fire...............keeps us laughing. Nothing beats a good campfire w good natured liars.

I have this really comfy liar recliner....

Exceptin the mo-mo part, they really do call them that in this part of the world. first time I heard that I said whaaaaaa? but then I saw a tv show on and about momos.....wowwwwwwww.....

Well, phooey. Pharaoh was second..................a fresh horse, never won a race, came from behind and stretched out for the win..........on to the Breeder's Cup. That's horse racing.................

Oh, the horse was Keen Ice.

I just saw it, double phooey. there is always one bred and trained that runs a bit faster.....they reall didn't give much credit to the winner tho, afterall....I didn't think that was very respectful to the horse or owners.

I was disappointed too. Baffert said he knew at the half pole that Pharoah just didn't have it today. But, he had to fight off two fresher horses.
Sometimes my mind, goes to curious places. I wondered if Frosted was sent out hard to wear Pharoah out so that Keen Ice could come up at the last eighth to beat him. If Baffert hadn't made his comments, I might actually believe that.

I agree w CB. Keen Ice ran a good race, even Baffert said so. They knew before they sent Pharaoh that sev of the other horses were fresh......1 1/4 mi is a long run. It was safe and the fastest horse won for today. Hopefully Pharaoh can re coup before the Breeder's cup.

All horses were safe so it was a good race.

Another thing. Pharaoh has been shipped from stem to stem and everywhere.......over 80,000 mi in less than a year.............
Heavens. He's a wonderful horse.............steady eddy nice guy
for a stud horse and a thoroughbred, at that.

And, 2nd is still a good pay check for the horse............it's not like he's a loser...............

That horse has traveled a LOT of miles this year. Maybe one more trip to Kentucky, then he can lead the life of a prince.

First ...an update on Phony Pony/Miranda. She’s always had a bit of front feet problems all her life, but we were able to work around that with expensive, corrective farrier work. This was when we were actively riding. My regular riding friend died and another friend moved away and I also started driving truck. We gave our second horse (Dixie ... aka "Speckled Butt Mare)away to The Children’s Home … where my Dad had been farm manager for 40 years and where we lived when I was growing up, etc. We also were trying to sell Phony but about the same time, she got a fungal infection in her eye. After spending a lot of money on her eye and for vet. Hospital care, we decided to just pull her shoes and let her become a pasture ornament / pet…. She “ran with” some cows in a neighbor’s pasture and Carol was relieved of the daily care (remember … I was driving an gone 2 weeks at a time). This was well over 12 years ago. Phony is now 23 yo. Carol was also still working nights and sleeping during day.

Fast forward….after our retirement(s)...Phony continued to be just a pet and we would occasionally get her out to be petted by visitors, etc.

Back earlier in the spring of this year I began to notice an occasional limp in her walk from pasture to barn at feeding times … not a bad limp and only occasionally.

In the last 90 days or so, limp as become chronic and much more pronounced. Her last hoof trimming did NOT seem to help any.

She has lived on pain meds … helped a lot at first … but no real / permanent improvement. This past week, Dr. Gail and Carol x-rayed both front feet and the results are not encouraging. “Coffin bone rotation” . Even though Carol was a human baby nurse for 40 years, she could understand (better than me, I know) what Dr. Gail was saying and showing her on x-rays. Phony is on a different pain med for awhile, but we’re not seeing much improvement. She walks now with short, “ouchy” steps, but still goes out in pasture on her own.

Carol / Dr. Gail had a “final” discussion and we are going to let Phony tell us when to help her cross that Rainbow Bridge. Her appetite continues to be very good … and her overall body condition is very good. She is still very sleek / shiny / and just a beautiful, sweet natured (spoiled FEMALE!) creature.

I’ve flagged a shady spot out in the pasture for her final resting place. NO DECISION made yet … that’s up to Phony. It hopefully will be a long time out, but we do NOT want her to suffer needlessly. More than likely, I’ll be “on the road” sometime and Carol, Jillian, and Charlotte will have the final horse hugs.

I thought you would like an update. I’m going to encourage Carol to make some nice photos of Phony out in the pasture so we’ll have more current ones.

=================

Second … My “health” continues to be OK, but I do get tired more easily and I just can’t push / go as hard / strong as I used to do. I’m getting a bit concerned with “weakness” but its just mild so far. I no longer am able to step on truck bumper and then into truck … my legs / knees just don’t have the strength. My "bread belly" doesn't help any either!! I now use a folding three-step step stool/ladder... like an OLD man!! … uuuggggg!! By pacing myself and drinking plenty of fluids, I can still put in a FULL work day!! Sometimes, its more than I’m supposed to do, but I can get pretty “creative” in my log book though I don’t make a habit of that!

Third … Work continues … I’m still avoiding actual “jail time” … LOL!! I’m hoping something different comes up as the run(s) I’ve been making for the last couple months or so are getting boring. Maybe it will come Fall of year. EXIT 33 - I-95, Virginia ... is now “home” for me almost every night I’m out. That's where my favorite truck stop is located and where I'm currently parked writing this posting!

This pretty well gets caught up … sorry it is such a “downer”.

Hope all is well with you and yours.

Rick and Snoop!!

RICK..........whew, road weary warrior, here's something funny to cheer you up regarding drivers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S3mzAzOl6o
Don't drive as you watch this as you will have a crash laughing. So sorry to read about Phony Pony. We always like to hear from you to know you are hanging in there on the highway. Hope you can get some rest soon and retire full-time!