August 2014

How tall is that fence behind Eli? He's really getting to be a big boy, too.

Thanks ELLEN and CAROL
I think that is what I will do. It should be fun.

GRAYMARE
Eli is so big!! And very pretty! Thanks for posting his photo today, I was wondering how he was doing.



Last night we met our new neighbors when they came knocking at our door at sunset. They were visibly upset and said they didn't know what to do about their horse, were new to the area and didn't know anyone to ask. They just moved in about a month ago, we didn't know they were living there. We thought their horse was hurt and asked where the horse was injured. They said they came home from work and found their Arab mare in a barn stall dead, caught by her rear hoof in the wall between stalls. They didn't know how to get her out of the barn and buried. It was so sad, they are new to horse ownership and loved the mare. They also have a QH mare and a pony stallion. We said we would come over in the morning with our tractor and see what we could do.

This morning we went over and spent 6 hours getting the mare buried. The couple is well meaning, but somewhat clueless about horses. They are both 60 years old. They didn't know how this happened.....

The mares and pony stallion run together and had free access all over the barn. The mare was probably irritated by the pony stallion and kicked at him, catching her foot in between two boards, tried to pull out, flipped over and banged her head into a gate post, killing herself immediately. She didn't show any signs of struggle. She didn't have any mud splashed on her despite the puddle in front of her from a leak in the roof. She was laying partially in the stall door, hanging by her hoof with a terrible open wound to her head.

Donnie did great in getting her out of that barn in tight circumstances. He and the husband found a place to dig into a hillside and buried her pretty deep.

The couple thought the pony stallion to be too small to be a breeding problem for the mares, he is an aggressive little guy that needs a permanent attitude adjustment soon. They have no idea he probably caused their mare' s death. The pony has kicked and bitten the couple multiple times. They seem to accept this. Their QH mare pushes and rubs on them and they think she is being loving toward them.... We didn't say much, people don't learn until they are ready, but we did encourage them to get that pony gelded.

It was a long day...

Oh ARK, how awful………………Maybe you could encourage them to get fall shots and the vet who comes could talk to them about gelding the pony.  DONNIE is a hero!!

When is your ride?

What a tough day, Ark. I hope they can learn fast about the realities of horses. Ponies can be ornery enough without being a stallion; being a stallion really makes them unpredictable.
Like Graymare said, maybe the vet can talk to them and get the message across.

That is a good idea about the vet. I will see them when I give them the hair from the mare' s tail after I clean it. I'll mention it then. They were very nice, just not very knowledgeable about horses. The dead mare looked like Ivan's mother, a fleabitten grey. I came home and hugged each of my horses and told them to never do anything like that. I hope they take it to heart.


My ride is this coming Saturday. I am so unready....

ARK: WOW another exciting experience for you & Donnie. How sad for those poor people. They are very blessed to have you guys as neighbors. Hopefully the vet will be able to give them good advice that they listen to. Have fun on your 12 mile ride.

RICK: It's too bad the rest of the world doesn't WANT the things in your post, instead of all the material things.

ELLEN: That pork recipe sounded yummy. I just saw tenderloins on sale in the newspaper this morning. I may give it a try on the grill.

INDYAPP: Praying the new DR can fix your back. Those darn backs sure can put a damper on us when they decide we moved the wrong way.

GRAYMARE: Eli sure is a super looking colt. He is going to make someone a great horse.

Heather had to make a trip to the ER, thought she had a blood clot in her leg. That girl..it wasn't. Thank God, she is home and hopefully resting.

We picked more cukes yesterday, our neighbors and friends run away when they see us coming with bags in our hands. We have become the scourge of the neighborhood. LOL Next year only ONE cucumber plant.

Off to church armed with bags of cukes this morning, luckily we still have a couple friends left who take them and redistribute them to their friends.

Love & prayers for all...

Ark, what sad thing to happen...some never learn tho. kudos to u and donnie for helping.

Indy, how r you feeling?

Beech where rr you

Silver dancerrr?

Pam?

Nancy Lee?

Donna?

OL MAN?


And everyone else! post! pleeeeeeeze

Trudy, harry says he will take some cukes!

Nuthin much going on here, hubby was cutting. some brush down and we had a real thunder boomer last night, quite a light show. saw jessi and joey yesterday for visit...she is doing fine, doc says she can ride, no broncs tho! they r busy getting their house ready to sale as they have bought a 4 bedroom on edge of town and they can have their horses there.

Trudy, I sure hope Heather can get things straightened out so that she feels good.

This was another beautiful Sunday morning. The neighbors and I went to boat-in church again, then out for breakfast, and a bit of touring around.
It's finally warming up again, like August is supposed to. I'm hoping for better swimming over the next week. I went in yesterday, but can't say that I enjoyed it all that much because it was too cold.

Ark, when you put those tenderloins on the grill, you'll want to turn them about every 10 minutes, and don't over cook them. 35 minutes is close to long enough. I like them just barely past pink. Sooooo tender that way. I think the brining tenderized them even more.

GRAYMARE, Eli is looking terriffic.

ARK go for the shorter ride and go to enjoy it. Have fun, meet new people, let it be a learning experience for both you and Ivan and if your happen to win a little prize consider it a bonus. You will all (ground crew included) have more fun that way.

Help! Help! The weeds have taken over! I didn't realize how badly until this past weekend. I haven't done much mowing this summer because I've been working on some other projects such as the new garage and cleaning up trees and limbs brought down in storms. I made it out to the back pasture this weekend and was totally overwhelmed by how many and how tall the weeds are. I love the mild summer we've had this year, and I guess the weeds have too.

INDY, if you can ever catch up and even eliminate pasture weeds, would you tell me how?
I can't ever stay finished or caught up….they're the aggravation of all horsemen & cattlemen………….
All part of my health maintenance program……………….LMAO.  One good thing, you will have a nice garage this winter!  Glad things are going well.

Photo made about 1968 / 69. These are my two brothers and myself. I'm the "beauty" on the right side. L to R...Dean, Don, Rick.

Prayers requested for Don...he will likely "go home" sometime this week. Pray for a quiet, easy transition. I'll be writing a long posting later this week.

Oh RICK…………….prayers from here………….hard time, for sure…..praying for comfort and peace, for you, your brother, and family.

Sad news, rick, so sorry to hear.

Babysitting the gd's this week...today was rainy and rumbly thunder after hard rains last night allllllllll nightt...streets were flooded thru town getting to jessi's house.

Girls r looking forward to going to the pool, they swim good. not much going on here....ll is quiet on the homefront....ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

RICK: So sorry to hear about your brother Don. Extra prayers on their way to Heaven for you and your family. Absent from the body present with The Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8

Love & prayers...

Rick, I'm sending prayers for your family too. There is nothing more I can say that the others haven't said.

RICK,
I am so sorry to hear about Don.......((((((RICK & Family)))))))

Thanks my dear friends. As of 920PM we have not heard anything. Don and I have said our "See you later", so I'm purposely NOT calling to check on him ... I don't want to intrude for even one minute on the time he has remaining with is wife and family. I'll post when I hear something.

Love to all, Rick

I too send prayers your way and the rest of the family

Prayers for all going up Rick. Very hard for everyone. ((()))

Thanks for the comments. I got a text message midday and he is still on this side...resting comfortably...but noticeably (expected) weaker. My SIL kinda/sorta made a joke about Don leaving this life like he's lived it....at his own (slow) pace. lol! Brother Dean is always on time or early .... I'm mostly on time or early .... and Don is "whenever"  

More when I know something.

Love to all, Rick

Beech, I have a recipe for BBQ chicken that's pretty good, if you'd like it too. I'm sure everybody on here has some kind of favorite BBQ recipe. There is a butcher shop not far from here. They have ribs already smoked and ready to add sauce and cook. I might have to give that a try sometime soon. Of course, hamburgers, hotdogs, vegetables, and almost any other food can be grilled with good results.
I don't use the grill everyday, but I'm certainly glad I have it.

RICK
I will be thinking about you and Don this weekend......


BEECH
Yep, some ordinary days with no drama sounds good   . I finished cleaning up the mare' s tail and it is ready to go to the couple who owned her. It took a few days of soaking to make it pretty. I tied it with a purple ribbon and braided it. It looks nice.

I am off tomorrow morning with Ivan. The ride is Saturday at 9 a.m. I hope Ivan enjoys himself....Then I will, too. We are 'camping' out by sleeping in the back of our car while Annie will be in the truck. Rain is predicted. Ivan may be in the trailer overnight with the center section removed from the trailer. We will be dry anyway....if uncomfortable.    be back Saturday night.

Ark, good luck wish still goes and also a wish to have fun! hubby and I are short, we will recline the seats in the car and sleep just fine and actually its pretty comfy....when we get tired we don't push it, we pull over and nap.

Beech did u get to paddling? any pics?

Well the gd's go home today and will be back labor day weekend...we r leaving tuesday with friend chris who is flying in from oregon to go sight seeing in missouri with us and to have cake for my brother....then we want to be back sunday nite for the mutton bustin finals that bailey is in and then chris will be staying a week with us before she goes back....looking forward to the company.