September 2018

I had as much fun as you did ELLEN.........thanks.

Whew! Finally got it done successfully. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I thought I was fairly up to date on equestrian competitions, but I just saw something I didn't know existed. Vaulting! VERY HIGH level vaulting.
I didn't notice that the World Equestrian Games was being televised until yesterday. It will be on tomorrow starting at 1:30, I think.

Are the other board posters in the storms? Pray not.

Oh ELLEN, beautiful album of photos. Many thanks, loved them! We are having nonstop and increasing flooding. I finally rode down my road a half mile, tell you why in a sec, Black Creek which is really a swampy area normally is under 15 feet of flood water. This is a tributary to the Black River which is, of course, flooding. The reason for this drive was a black lab who has been coming up the hill from the swamp area every day since the storm. My sweet and kind neighbor came and told me that the lab would growl each time he tried to approach him, but Arty followed the lab down the hill and the dog would stop, sit, and just stare across the now swift moving river. I took food and water down the hill for him, but didn't see him. He obviously got frightened by the wicked winds, ran away and now cannot get home on the other side. I went to 4-5 places that you could normally cross (was hoping I could herd him across at a safe place) but that backside is totally cut off. I'll just watch for him tomorrow.
Finally found and made a deposit on a 3 horse gn with small weekender. Now we'll see how much girlchild uses it!!!

Here just getting last minute things done.

Watching the flooding...what devastation.

Weather down to hi 30s low 40s at night. We really need to head south.

Ellen that was a neat trip. I remember ours very well when i took 4h team and we got to see beautiful horses and barns. Neat place to visit....so envious of the barns and the care those horses got. We were in awe.

WOW Ellen, what a fun trip to take this morning thru your photos. What a wonderful experience for you. Loved seeing all the photos.

Taking my friend Lynn to the hospital this morning to have a nerve simulator placed on her back to see if it helps with her neuropathy if so they will input it into her back and attach to her spine. OUCH...

Soooooo happy!  Found labby dog, sitting on this side of the flooded area, called him to me, waggy tailed boy.  He now has nutritious food and fresh water.  Will take him more this evening.  

Rose, do you know anybody with a boat who could help you find the owners? I'm glad he is a waggy tail, and accepted food.

No Ellen, wish I did, I'm really also concerned for the folks living back there. Hope they are receiving food and medical supplies at least, but I do not know how. Of course I will continue to help this boy until he can get home. He appears pure Lab and maybe a year or so old.

Rose they may need help. Maybe make some calls so someone can check on them.

Nuce day here. Some of us are putting on a fish fry for a full rv park. 22 sites...full house. Im doing deviled eggs and meat and cheese tray nibbles. Our new park host is a fusherrman and he has caught all the fish and gkeaned a potato field so will do fish and chips. Its our going away get together. Like most everyone here...we get along well.

Hey Ark! Where are you? Did you get flooded out? Lose power?

CB, found out today that our local fire department and Rescue Squad has been attending those folks. There is a somewhat way back there in really high vehicles coming from about 6-7 miles.

ELLEN:
No flooding here, we actually have had a few nice days here. I've been busy doing things, organizing a linen closet and cleaning up much needed stuff. Not my favorite things to do....

I loved you pix! Only thing missing was a photo of YOU! Justify is very pretty. That house is gorgeous, and the castle is beyond belief. I'd like to see that. Thanks for posting the photos!

ROSE:
Wow, you really have some flooding. Hurray that you are able to feed the dog!! I feel so bad for all the pets, livestock, and wild animals who have had to deal with the flooding....


I hadn't ridden Ivan in weeks, mostly due to weather and Areion's feet issues. She is better, but we are taking her to the vet school and have her feet evaluated in a couple of weeks. The wonderful vet who treated Kazi all those years told me today that Areion may have thin soles causing her to be gimpy on bumpy hard ground. She was running and bucking like a maniac today in the soft pasture. Anyway, we are going to find out her problem.

I had a lesson on Ivan yesterday with Lori. He was really sweet. I had problems getting the job done, but Ivan did what ever I asked him to do. He turned 14 years old this week.

Lori is going to work on a movie, Harriet Tubman, in Richmond, VA for a couple of months...she will have fun, I will miss her....She is going to be a horse wrangler for the movie. She is very excited... She is leaving at the end of the month.

Ark, one of my horses had thin soles. He had to be shod with pads. One day, before we started using the pads, I'd been riding on grass and going pretty hard for several hours. He never took a lame step, but we were about 100 feet from a gravel parking lot when he started limping like he was two legged. He was sure the gravel was gonna hurt. He was also a clown of a horse. It was a nuisance to keep the pads on him, but it was the best thing for him.

We always used iodine on the soles to toughen them. Our farrier also put on a slightly thicker shoe to help keep sole from getting bruised. I imagine there are many new techniques now tho.
Our tank came in we leave our campsite on monday and head for new adventures finally....f.i.n.a.l.l.y. Yeah
Trudy are you going to the big fair....hope to make it next year. One thing i miss. Only been back once since i was left home.

ELLEN and CB:
That is interesting about the thin soles on your horses. Kazi had thin soles for awhile and they had her wearing shoes for a couple of years. Since she didn't get ridden, and the Soft Ride boots came along, she transitioned to those boots after that. Her soles eventually did get thicker, though, with corrective trimming. We put iodine on Kazi's feet a lot, too. I am sincerely hoping Areion isn't going to be the problem poor Kazi was about her feet. She has always been a little tender on gravel while Ivan can bulldoze thru anything. Anyway, we shall see in a couple of weeks, we take her in to Virginia Tech on Oct. 5th. Donnie doesn't put on horse shoes, just trims our horses, so if Areion has to wear shoes, we will be seeing more of Va Tech again....sigh....$$$

ELLEN:
What kind of horses did you have? Names? What did you do with them? etc, etc....

GRAYMARE:
How are your horses doing? We haven't seen pix of them in quite awhile.

ROSE:
Congrats on the new trailer!! If the flood waters ever go away, you will be set for adventures!


It's a pretty day here this Saturday morning. We have the barn cleaned, the horses out in the pasture in their grazing muzzles, and are sitting down for a few minutes. Donnie brought home a huge wooden shipping crate with a full size door on it from work awhile back. I am not sure what was shipped in it, but the box is incredible. We are going to make a tack storage closet out of it for the barn. It's about the size of a very large double door refrigerator and taller than me. It's been in our garage for a few months, but we are going to bring it into the house so I can work on painting it. If it sits in our living room, I will be encouraged to paint it and get it out to the barn. Then we are going to put a floor into the barn's tack/feed room and take the giant box down there. It should hold both saddles and all the tack I need. We will make sure it is mouse proof, too. Now to actually get all this done.....

Ark, my first horse and her three foals were Heinz 57 variety.  I kind of thought maybe the mare might have had a little bit of Arabian in her history.  The next one was a Quarter Horse gelding - TY, the clown.  I had him for quite a while.  He was a lot of fun.  I could ride him with no saddle or bridle.  
I was working at a QH stable part time, teaching lessons, and training a couple of horses for them. One of those went on to be a QH Honor Roll horse.  Ty was also the horse I rode in the hunt field.  That was FUN!!!  That horse would try anything.
The last one was a TB mare.  She was bred to run but never went to the track.  I did a bit of hunter showing with her.  I had her for a few years and spent a fortune keeping her sound.  I had known her since she was born and had her thoroughly vetted before I bought her.  But she went navicular anyway.  I sold her to a good friend who had a gorgeous TB stallion and she had some foals.  
By that time, it was becoming too expensive for me to continue to keep a horse and I had to give up.  I got my horse fix by teaching some lessons.

Beautiful......................

Well, where is everybody?

I'm here ambling around in awesome wonder with fall here. Rex is growing his winter coat and stickers are out. That means a good grooming on the arch
when we get home. So, another chore. LOL. When I get down from the mtns,
it will be horses,,,,,,,,no stickers there tho.

Any news on flooded victims?............that's awful. Our church sent
care packages................I worry about farm animals as well as
domestic pets.It's too big for me to solve, I'll just do what I can in my
little way.

Hope everyone is well. God bless.

Donnie and I went to a casual dinner for Lori yesterday.  Her local horsey friends were wishing her success on her new job she is going to next weekend.  She will be helping out as a horse wrangler for the movie, Harriet Tubman.  She is very excited about it.  Unless the tornadoes the other day in Richmond, Va caused filming problems, she should be back before Christmas.  

If the weather cooperates, Ivan and I will get one more lesson with Lori on Friday.  It's going to rain again.  We got over an inch last night.  

ELLEN:
 Your horses sounded very nice!  I bet you miss them.  Are any nearby?

GRAYMARE:
 Our horses are busy growing their winter coat.  I am not ready for winter....  Trinket, the 30 inch tall fuzzball, is collecting stickers like crazy.  She can't avoid them, they are taller than her.  Most are easy enough to get off of her, the beggars' fleas, but the cockleburrs are hard to remove.  

Our old black cat, Spooky, is losing weight.  We had him at the vet recently and the vet said Spooky is probably at least 15 years old.   I suspect he has some renal failure going on.  He has mellowed out into such a sweet old guy.  

It seems that old cats will lose weight no matter how much you feed them. It's sad.
My last horse died about 20 years ago. It's been a long time since I was able to afford to have a horse. Boarding is very expensive.

Rose, did the Lab find it's way home? Are the owners okay?

Yes ELLEN, the Lab went home and both he and his family are doing well. My kitty, Midget, does not seem to maintain her weight, but her biggest problem is a wicked matted coat, she is a long haired kitty. Midget is 15 also. Any suggestions for getting the mats out. I'm thinking using clippers or scissors, she just doesn't groom herself anymore.

Rose, I'm so glad the dog got home with his family and that they are all okay.
I used to have a cat that had quite a bit of long white hair that was softer than the dark colors. He would get some knots and mats. I would lay him on a towel on top of the dryer just because it was the right height and he couldn't hurt it. Then, I would work on him with scissors. He didn't really think it was his favorite thing to do, but he was a cat who learned. If he would stay put for about 5 minutes, I could cut some of the knots out. And then, we'd do that again the next day. It didn't take too many days before I had them all out. Most of the time, he did a pretty good job of grooming himself. It was when he was shedding that the knots would get there.

ELLEN:
It is expensive to board horses. I know I wouldn't have any if I had to depend upon boarding.


ROSE:
Oh, good. I am glad to hear the dog and his family are okay.

Our cat, ThunderPuff, has started getting mats for the first time this year. They are on his legs near his tail. I think he has gotten so big and his hair is so long there that he simply can't keep it from matting. So I use scissors meant for cutting hair to slip under the mats and cut them off. I have to wait until there is a little regrowth of new hair or the scissors won't go under the mat. Cutting his skin would be very easy and the end of ever being able to cut his hair again. I have to catch him in a mellow mood to do it.

I used to have three Angora rabbits whose hair was extremely fine and easily matted. I had a lot of practice cutting mats off of them. I once cut the skin of the white rabbit, whose name was Strawberry Cottonfuzz, and nearly threw up. The rabbit didn't flinch, but I sure did. I was extremely careful about cutting him after that. The other two rabbits were grey and were easier to see where the hare ended and the hair began. Their names were Blackberry Thistledown and Walter Cronkite. When I got those rabbits, I was told they would live three or four years. Strawberry was the last to die at nine years old. Cutting their hair got really old. No more rabbits for me, although they were extremely sweet little guys.

It's going to rain most of the day here tomorrow, Wednesday. It's always so much more fun to clean the barn and lot when it's raining.....