January 2013

Rick, I'm really glad you got to see HT as a sort of representative for all of us. Really glad to hear that his attitude is good too.

Rick it is hard on those who care about someone having a health issue...so I know how ya feel....but its good to hear his spirits are good, that's important. I'm glad you got to see him!

My Great Danes got out tonight and took a run...I left their gate open when I was cleaning...and they ran and ran...and then I tried to catch them up...and was almost to them when they ran to the property fence and scared the young pyranese dog who guards his herd of goats to deat, that dog ran away yippin with his tail between his legs, but the mule stood its ground and HISSED at the dogs....I mean he really hissed! My dogs ran to me, with their tails between their legs. It was funny...a lil 13 hand mule that stomped his feet and hissed very loudly...and my big ol' great danes scared of it! LOL...guess they won't bother the goats or that fenceline again! Property is totally fenced in...perimeter and a gate at the driveway. The dogs can't go much of anywhere....but I don't want them getting into trouble. So Splotch and Bubba and I got our exercise today!

There was a chill to the temps this morning...it was 14 with wind chill at 9 am. I'm re3ady for SPRING! LOl

Sweet Dreams y'all.

YOU DA MAN RICKSTER! We all say a thank you for reporting to us that HT is doing the best he can with a good attitude. We're all glad you're safely home without having to be on the highways late into the evening (esp in the rain). I'm sure that was a hard visit as it hurts so to see a friend in that situation. The best part is HT is improving each day.

CB, it was 22 last night here and will be again tonight. I have my pipes covered with insulation from Home Depot. It won't stay this way, you only have a few more days and it will be gone. Your day had to be funny watching your dogs around that mule. Anyhow, just glad they gathered and returned. It sounds like you have good neighbors.

ARK, how are your eyes doing?

God bless. Prayers for ALL.

Most of our neighbors have livestock and dogs so we fit right in....I know the neighbors have anew baby just home from the hospital so I am trying to keep the dogs as quiet as possible...we can see our neighbors here all around us...where in Idaho I couldn't see anyone. We are all on at least ten acres here so not right on top of each other at least....but the way the power lines go all the houses are kind of in a row...which I don't really like...I'd rather be in a spot on the property where we were not like this, but putting in water and power lines is spendy....sooooooooo...we'll probably stay put..at least for now. Maybe plant some trees on the fencelines would be the thing...we'll see...

WEll, am off to get some groceries....later y'all.

19 here this morning .... COLD!!!! for southern Arizona ..... Think it is the last on that is that cold .... still below freezing for a few days, but not so bad. brrrrrrr can't wait for the nice warm days to return.

Rick .. glad you got to see HT .. hopefully it cheered him up a bit to know we are all thinking of him.

Hi all... just dropping in to say Hello from back in cold, wet Ireland again.
I got back last Thursday to find my phone line out, so no computer or phone. And I had jetlag, was incubating a head cold (so much for warm Texas!) so I just went to bed and felt sorry for myself for the weekend. Was the best thing though, cos I came up fighting on Monday morning and phone was fixed really fast.

RICK - I read about HT, I remember that name from the old Forum years ago as Horsetutor, sorry to hear he's not been the best, but wasn't it great that you visited. And that he's making good progress.

CB - that last weekend I was in Texas was lovely, warm and sunny like I expected. Then on the Wednesday we had RAIN, a Texas size rainstorm I joked to son - bigger, stronger and longer lasting than anything I experience over here! Rained for at least 24 hours, maybe 36 hours nonstop, all the lakes, ponds, dams filled really fast, almost to overflowing. But really everyone was pleased, Texas needed the rain.

But I had a great time with the family and grandchildren. They were still enjoying all the Christmas pressies they got, and I enjoyed watching them play. They also had a couple of tennis lessons booked, to give them some holiday action, and that was hilarious to watch. They are aged 7 and 9 and were in a group of 6 kiddies at varying stages of co-ordination and balls and sometimes tennis racquets were flying everywhere. The instructor made lots of games out of it though and kept them happy and running around for 2 hours!!! Even picking up the balls was made into a game, (Rule - only 1 ball at a time) so it was fun see them flying around the court to collect as many as possible. They slept early that night!

ARK - can't give advice on cataract operations, except that my sister is starting to get them and her Optician said that many people have them to a small degree as they get older (shh, sorry, shouldn't mention 'older') but they don't realise it. He said that at night time, if traffic headlights coming at you start to look more 'sparkly and spreading out' than you remember, it might be worth getting it checked.
From what others on here have said though, the op sounds terrific, so quick and with immediate great results - definitely worth going for.

CAROL - I feel like you say, ready for Spring now I'm back home. I went out to ride yesterday, first time for ages and really wanted to get up on Zaristo and do some work with him, so I guess my 'winter break' (and his) is over! But I was sensible, just went for a walk around, a little trot and we were done. Felt good though.

Had to work today, then had a late lunch or early dinner with one of the gals who used to work at Viking. This place makes HUGE salads that taste really good! We ate and gabbed for nearly two hours. Nice way to finish a day.

Hi gang, It was 30 here last night but the day now is wonderful. At 5A I just ran out, fed, and came back in. Then I ran over for coffee with a couple of the gals.

I'm finished cleaning out my closet of clothes that won't fit and am taking those over for the kids to look through before they go to the donation bin. There are 4 pr of boots and those go to the barn and the kids all share a great big box of boots to wear for riding.

I'm at a point where I'm still riding so I have all my tack that I need for one horse. Anything I don't use regularly is going. I'm down to 2 saddles. I'm thrilled to be passing on my things to kids that are not only thrilled to have access to them, but love them. I've had the blessing and privilege to have had the items, time to pass the blessings forward. You simply can't wear out good tack.
The kids went nuts over the saddle blankets as I had many over 50 yrs. I've always kept them clean and vacuumed etc so they're in perfect usable condition. Ha, I kept around 10.

Faith is out in the sun chomping grass and I am so grateful for her and her attitude to me............easy schmeezy. Post her abusive background and lack of good education, she has come around to be a fine mount and pleasure to be around. It took time, but what else did I have to offer but consistence in the saddle, patience, and time. I am truly blessed.

No other news here. Everyone have a good day. God bless.

GRAYMARE:
That is very sweet of you to give away your tack. I bet there are a lot of memories attached to some of it. The kids will add more memories to it.
My eyes are doing fine, thanks. No bouncing around for a couple more weeks, then back to normal activities. It hasn't been too hard to avoid trotting since our weather has been so bad this week.

ELLEN:
How many days a week are you working these days? Your dinner sounded fun!

SUNNY:
When are you getting your new scooter? Is it like the ones on t.v.? Will you name it? It needs a zippy name....

SILVERDANCER:
Glad you made it home safely! I am sure Zarista was glad to see you! Sorry your vacation weather was bad.
I think you drug your Texas weather behind you as you traveled home. It has been raining here since Monday. The mud is going for a record for slippery deepness. The horses have been mostly in the barn all week....doing what horses do best: eating and making a mess.

RICK:
It was good to hear that your trip to see HT was a success! I bet he was happily surprised to see you! I hope he recovers quickly.


Rain and more rain here. We have made up any moisture deficits, the reservoirs are filled. It is still raining, but the temps are dropping and we have 4 to 8 inches of snow predicted for this afternoon. Yuck. We will have deep mud under snow, should make a pretty mess. Schools are already called off for the afternoon before the snow has started. My scheduled lesson with Ivan was canceled, too. That should keep me from bouncing any eyeballs for a few days.

I spent 5 hours in the barn and barnlot yesterday, cleaning up crapola that I couldn't get to while it was raining so hard the previous three days. I got the barn cleaned up, and filled the manure trailer. Donnie is home with a bad cold today, but he came down and helped me this morning to get the barn cleaned again in time for this afternoon's snow. That was nice of him, he does feel pretty miserable.

Ark, thankfully the manager has hired two more people and they will be getting quite a bit of training time. I work tomorrow and Saturday and then I'm off for a week.
Then in the middle of February, I'm going to go with my cousin and his wife to visit his army buddy and wife, and then on down to the Tampa area to visit with my neighbors who spend the winters there and summers here. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing warmth - in weather and people.

ELLEN:
I thought you must be working a lot. You are retired, for goodness sake! I am glad you are getting some time off, and the trip to Florida sounds wonderful. I could get into being a snowbird if I could haul all my animals down there with me in the winter....and had a ton of moola to support us all while there....
Have you been to Busch Gardens in Tampa? It's a nice place.


Well, the weather guys have gotten this one right today. We have 7 inches of snow on the ground....and everywhere else. It is a very sticky, heavy snow that is weighing down branches and wires. Our power keeps flickering. When the wind starts up, some of those branches are going to fall. We watched it go from steadily raining, to sleet, ice pellets, then heavy snow within a few minutes. Everything is saturated, so it would be easy for pine trees to fall with the heavy snow load if the wind picks up much.

Donnie took some pix, starting just as the snow began to fall, then at dusk where there was about 5 inches of snow, then after dark when the snow had filled in the fencing wire and dome's covering. I've never seen it fill in the fencing wire before. Tomorrow morning Donnie's snowblower will get it's first workout of the year.

Hey guys. A short check in from PA. We have more snow too. AACCKKK 2 days of finally seeing the green grass and now it is back to white. 5" here, hopefully it will melt before the extra cold air arrives here from Canada. It is nice to watch it snow, knowing I don't have to drive anywhere in it. What a blessing.

This retirement keeps me busy. No wonder George could never seem to get anything accomplished while I was at work. LOL. There is just something about knowing "Hey, I can do that tomorrow."

Making plans for son Kevin's 40th birthday blast. Gosh, our kids are getting OLD.

Have a wonderful day everyone.

Love & prayers for all...

Ark, the scooter that I am getting is smaller and has 4 wheels but is very strong and has a long battery life the scooter will travel 25 miles on a full charge, I don't remember the name of it but the company that I am getting it from is called Yellow Scooters, they area localy owned store but are nationwide they both rent and sell, the other thing about it is that they break down to fit in the trunk of a car so I don't have to buy a special equipment to transport it around, for when we travel across the country, I will be bringing it home on the first of February, but they did give me a loaner to use until then which they did not have to do, they are trying to help me to be mobile and happy again that is there goal, and I could not be happier, I will get pics as soon as I get it home and try to get my S.I.L to post it for me, the color is red, not my favorite but can't complain, my son in law is going to get me in at Disney anytime I want for free so I plan on going a lot just to get out of the house,

right now we are in a cold front it was 42 this morning and windy and cloudy stay warm and safe all

I cant believe the states that are getting the snow...MS, AL, wow...all I can say is our weather is getting warmer here so maybe it will go their way and your way too ARK.
Carol are you back to almost normal now? We are going to be in the high 60's today and the weekend too. Our playday had been cancelled last weekend, too wet. So it is this Saturay, and hubby and I are working the concession stand..figures it would be a really nice day! LoL That's alright, we have to take our turn.

I'm ready for a very nice warm long sunny spring...how bout the rest of ya's?

Silver Dancer, good thing ya left, cuz TX weather would have really disallusioned you....if that's a word! We had to break ice on our horse tanks for a week straight...I sure hope it is over with now. Cold and windy is not for me!

Graymare, that's great that you can do that for the kids' program. You know they appreciate being able to choose a pretty saddle blanket...makes them feel special.

Sunny....all I can say is HAVE FUN and GO GO Go! get out and enjoy that scooter.

OK, where is everyone again? sittin' by the fire drinking hot toddies or what? We want to hear what everyone is up to

INDY, thanks for the news updates on HT.

Does anyone have news on Ninja?

Ol Man where are you? I miss you when you don't post! How is Virginia? How are the horses doing? Still have snow?

Beech, how much snow do you have?

Donna, Pam L, TP, Rose....come on gals, we need to know whatchas been up to.

Trudy, Ill bet you have retired once again...who wants to drive on those dang roads ifn ya dont have to. Tell your son I said Happy Birthday!
I'll bet your puppy dog is happy you are home more!

I sold two of my puppies, but have one left, the tiniest one, black and tan, perfectly marked mini doxie, AKC registered....and he is spoiled rotten! Sleeps on the bed with me and if I leave him and come home he stands and bounces around the doorway and barks and growls at me tellin' me off! He's h*ll on four feet, going from one thing to another, like a lil tornado. I have all females separated from the males right now...no more puppies for awhile. But I did that last time also...and the female dug underground in just a couple of hours while I was at the store...and dug under to get to Bozo, my blue and tan male doxie. She knew who she wanted and WHEN she wanted I guess!

Stay warm and safe in the snow!

wil try to post----machine has been eating me up!!!!

CB---have Harry double check your little shooter. They get out of time sometimes for second shot. He has probably
done this. Mine is real old, just carried around by a little old lady (smirk, sniff).

Ol Man, I can bring you a new one! My lil Shortstuff is my baby, I carry her up and down the steps, and she sleeps on my bed...she gets cookies...typical spoiled doxie! I try and spend lots of time with the doggettes...they just WUVVVV that!

Trudy, that should have read " I bet you are glad you retired again! geesh....fingers get goin' faster than the mind sometimes!

Farrier came today and put some special shoes on Cinnamon..we will see if that helps her bouts of lameness....next step is an exray...but we'll try this first.

Maximus did something today to the younger farrier and he hauled off and punched him which made Max freak out and he took off backwards pulling the two horse traielr right off the blocks and backwards a few feet...I was a bit pi$$ed to say the least..he had two swollen areas on either side of his neck next to the mane, from muscles he used....the older farrier finished his trimming, I wouldn't let the younger one near him! He never said if he kicked him or what, but he hauled off and gave him a punch near the flank area...I really don't mind a slap to get their attention, a flat handed slap...but I don't appreciate a punch. Usually Max is fine tied to anything...he is laid back and quiet. The younger guy said a 3 year old should be trained better, and I said he needed to move to Idaho where there are lots of unbroke 10 year olds he'd have to deal with, and then I told him Max won't be two until May...he's just a baby still....I was not happy. Then he clinched the back nails on Cinnamon and just dropped the nail ends in my driveway, I've never had a farrier that inconsiderate before....I don't think we'll have them back...just hope we can find someone else that is good. Hubby can do his horse, but the younger ones need a farrier I think, less stress on the ol' man...don't want him to stroke out again or nuthin!

CB, that would really tick me off too! He's probably going to be sore all ovr tomorrow, and the next time somebody tries to trim his feet, it could be a real problem. He'll remember.

CB, simply start picking up his feet daily if you have time. He will gain his confidence again. Gosh, I would say it's lucky you noticed the nails he tossed in hour drive. Now, that's rude and crude.

I'm sorry you guys. My ymail acct turned out to be a fee acct, so I dropped it. I had no clue when I subscribed to it. This is interesting. Ymail becomes a fee acct, Yahoo is free. My ymail just stopped and no matter how many times I gave the password, my e mail would not open. Interesting. I guess there are several grades of ymail, but the object is to get you hooked and switch the bait.

Anyhow, I switched to Gmail: sydnee265@gmail.com

Hopefully, the change will just be auto picked up by your computer.
If not, please manually change my addy.

Thanks. Syd

Got it, Sydnee.

Max seems to be doing lots better, he's moving better now and the swelling has mostly gone down, I still feel it, but can't see it now at least. Still on bute, I figured it can't hurt.

Has everyone that got snow dug out from under it yet! It was 64 here yesterday, but last evening it really got cold and I sold a lot of hot chocolate at the concession stand...

Bailey, who turns 6 today, went off her horse King last night, seemed a lot of the horses were very frisky in the cold! She really did a head plant and slid thru the arena dirt...yuck...Jessi and Joey took her to the ER to get her eyes flushed out, she had so much dirt and sand in them, and to have her head checked out, she had a goose egg on the front of her head above her eye...but the doc who has a six year old boy (who first time he planted in the dirt, broke both his hands) was very understanding of the horse situation....and that riders do come off. I had docs tell me "oh this child is too young to ride" HA! my girls usually stuck like glue to anything...but sometimes they would go off! That's life around horses....and I told him to try and keep them off...it was impossible! They just LOVED those horses...and they were bitten by the horse/girl lovebug. Thankfully no bad accidents or injuries...and they RODE a LOT! and went off more times than I want to remember, my heart was in my throat sometimes watching them work a horse/training...but that's how they made their money for school clothes, sports programs, and cars later...and they are all 3 still riding those horses!..only have slowed down a bit on the training...doesn't it seem that when you have responsibilities you seem to ride a calmer horse cuz there are bills to pay and groceries to buy and kids to care for...

I agree CB. LOL. How do you get good experience? From bad experience.

It's all very simple now.

CB
I am so thankful that Maximus did not break his neck while pulling on the trailer. That "farrier" would never set foot on my property again.
I have had two guys lose their tempers and take it out on my horses when the horses did little to nothing to deserve it. Neither were invited back. Jerks.


Trudy
About half of our snow has melted off, the mud in the pathways is unreal. I am ready for spring, but it won't be coming this week....

Hey guys...

ARK: Most of our snow is gone, but we are heading into the deep freeze this week with more snow on the way later in the week. I'd rather have the mud.

CB: Everyone in this family is happy that I am retired and home with them all the time...me too...no worries about driving in the snow and ice. Ace is the happiest of all...he gets lots of play time and walks around the farm. Good for both of us. He is a blessing, keeps me up and moving.

Best of all...NO Post Office irate customer stress or nightmares about sending someone's package to Timbuktu. LOL

That was terrible what that farrier did to your young horse. What a jerk...Poor Max...hope you can help him get over that incident...the bad stuff always seems to stick in their minds.

Love & prayers for all....

Good Morning all...

Like MANYGATES all the snow is gone here, but we're getting blasted with artic cold. It's suppose to be like this for the next few days. Horses are all getting extra rations of hay to munch on.

I've been fortunate with my farrier. I've had him for, gosh I bet it's close to 20 years now. My worry is that he is going to decide to retire and I'll have to find another. He treats each horse as an individual. He's as patient as can be with the babies. He doesn't tolerate disobedience from the mature horses who know better but think they will test him on occasion, and he goes out of his way to accomodate the older ones who just aren't as flexible as they once were. I've seen him practically stand on his head with the horse's foot tipped so the toe rested on the ground while he trimmed just because her arthritis was so bad her knees no longer bent. At that point I got creative and taught the mare to stand with one foot on a sturdy block which allowed the other leg to dangle a few above the ground. It worked great for both the mare and farrier. He has since kept a block in the back of his truck and used this technique on some of his other old timers. It doesn't take them long to figure out how it works.

The washing machine went kerphlooyey yesterday. I haven't liked the way it's been behaving the last couple of months but every time I mentioned replacing it I was told I was over-reacting so I left it alone. Yesterday I put one of my flannel sheets in along with some smaller stuff and it goes through it's cycles only to find it didn't spin out properly. Tried the spin cycle again still no go. So off to the laundry I go with a wet load of laundry to do. Then on to Sears to get a new machine. It will be in to the store on Wednesday. I could have had it sooner if I wanted to pay the $70 delivery fee. Forget that, I'll have it delivered to the store for free and have my brother go pick it up. He can back up to the door that opens from the laundry room outside. The two of us are smart enought to hook it up.

well, the scooter I was going to get has changed, now I am going to get the big boy of scooters, it holds more weight, has bigger tires, even has shocks for a smoother ride and will be able to go on gravel and dirt and grass with no problem, the only drawback is that it is not light enough to put in the truck, but they made me a great deal on a carrier that goes into the trailer hitch and is lightweight enough fo me to be able to install, they are letting me take it after I give them another payment and carry the balance for two months so I can afford it, the total price is only 250 dollars more than what I was paying for the smaller one and it will last much longer, when I went to make my payment earlier I had questions about my scooter and they realized that I needed something different than what I originaly chose, Kent went with me and he asked questions of concerns he had and they told Kent that they would rather not sell me one that was not right for me and that I would end up not being happy with, Kent was impressed with them and the fact that they wanted to make sure that the scooter that I got met my needs,it will travel with us better and I can go much farther, it goes 29 miles on a full charge which is much better than the original one,and the trailer it sits on has extra space for us to put other stuff for traveling,I am even more excited now than ever and I will still be able to get it by the first, just 10 days and counting, LOOK OUT WORLD HERE I COME