Horses – Page 7 – This Old House 2

Brrrr…

Well, so much for all that bragging about awesome fall weather. The cold has descended… and it’s a chilly morn here at This Old House. Not that I’m complaining!.. Every day is a gift, right? When the New England chill sets in, there are a few things we layer up around here…

Pardon the crappy iphone pics.. it is what it is.

The minis grow a very thick coat –

The horses do not,

so they are blanketed.

I add extra bedding to the stalls –

The chickens get a red flood light to throw some heat –

(my chicken coop looks like a house of ill repute at night)

ROX anne…. you don’t have to put on the red light…..

those days are over… you don’t have to sell your body to the night..

ROX anne…

Sorry, couldn’t help myself…

… off topic but who knows the artist who made that song famous.

No googling.

You’re singing it now, aren’t ya.

And I throw some hay around the chicken yard so they can forage a little and burrow in it..

The basket of barn gloves and hats is now perched on the mud room bench for the season..

Don’t ever make the mistake of wearing barn gloves to the grocery store, however.

The scent is distinct 🙂

..and firewood rests on the porch, easy access on those cold nights.

Although I may gripe now and again about the cold grey New England winters…

I wouldn’t trade the season changes.

An opportunity for a week or two

in a warm sunny tropical place wouldn’t be scoffed at and turned away, however.

Just sayin.

Leaf Litter – Natures Grafitti

A is for Apple…and Addict.

We’ve got this big old apple tree right in the middle

of the horse turnout field. While the apples aren’t sweet enough

for human enjoyment, the horses are so addicted to those apples

you’d think they were laced with crack.

This tree I refer to is hollow, by the way.

…and yet it produces 100’s of apples.

In early fall the apples drop to the ground over night

and yours truly has to go out with the gator and pick them up before the horses

can be turned out to graze.

As is true most often, too much of a good thing can be bad.

While I’m out there picking apples, Opie, Max, Coady and Lacey

finish their grain and then watch impatiently.

Opie kicks at the door for good measure repeatedly..

with this look on his face.

Hey, Ma! LEAVE A FEW!

I let them out once I’m done collecting, and they race down the little hill to the apple tree

to scarf down the few that remain.

Opie never forgets that there are 100 or so in the back of the gator

because he just watched me toss them in.

He returns after eating what I left for him under the tree..

to see if he can steal a few more.

Much to his chagrin, they’re now covered in crap.

About those Ribbons

This year K and Max showed in a breed specific circuit – Quarter Horse. The competition is tougher than the Open shows and the stakes are higher. There are points awarded for placings and money earnings as you move up the ranks, travel around the country and hopefully win big. There’s no doubt it’s big business if you’re serious about it, and most people who participate are serious about it.

That right there is where we sorta fall off the proverbial show wagon, because truth be told… we’re just enjoying the horse we love and setting relatively small goals. We don’t travel far from home and we don’t like to put big stress on the horse or our person or the wallet, it just doesn’t feel right. I also think we lack the competitive drive that most horse people have that spurs you forward to achieve higher success in the show ring. I guess it’s a matter of.. if the boot fits, wear it. If not, find a less imposing boot.

One other little thing – It’s still a thrill for us when your name is called at the end of a class and you’ve learned your placing…and you grab that ribbon with joy, regardless of the placing. Oh, the blues are definitely the best, but we love them all… blue, red, yellow, white, pink, green. At Quarter Horse shows, the ribbons are not a priority, partly because these folks go to so many shows and have earned so many ribbons they’ve probably run out of room for storing or displaying them. It’s more about the points and qualifying, and I totally understand that mentality. Perhaps we show our green status when we bounce up the secretary booth stairs to pick up of those ribbons, but I don’t care, I don’t want to give up that simple thrill.

When I was a young girl we didn’t live where I could have a horse. I visited my Aunt in Connecticut every summer for a week or two and one day she brought me to one of her sons horse shows and put me on a friends horse. He was a big palomino and a kind old fella name Diesohab (I’m sure that is spelled wrong, it was an Indian name). My borrowed “show clothes” look awkward in the one picture taken but the huge buck-toothed smile on my face is evidence of the pure joy I felt that day. How I loved that horse and that one green satin ribbon.

So.. what to do with those ribbons as they start accumulating? I found some neat ideas on line and took matters into my own glue-gun wielding hands…

This one is for my girl.. and includes ribbons from the different shows she has

been to over the years…

I made this one for the barn, but I just know the cob webs will smother it.

Might keep it in the house somewhere…

On a side note… little brother, who’s not so little anymore..

went with big sister to visit Max the other night.

I love when I see this… my two children who fight more often

than not… doing something together to support one another.

It’s a beautiful thing.

(eye rolls and heavy sighs not permitted if either of you are reading this.)

Now that’s some serious horse power.

Ever been on a horse?… come take a ride on Max..

this is a slow lope in western speak. 🙂

Horse’n around

Florida cousin V is staying here with family for a few days.

She’s always loved the area and is considering a move to CT to attend college

and see what she can see.

It’s a BIG DECISION… choosing to uproot yourself from friends and the family

you’ve always lived with to change up what you feel needs changing.

I did this very thing 30 years ago,only I was moving just two and a half hours up the pike,

with an old horse in tow, trading city-suburban life for horse country.

The place and the people I called ‘home’ back then were not so very far away.

When V visits, we get the cousins together for some horse’n around…

Max and K have concluded their show year…

next weeks show is a no-go due to an equine respitory cold that’s been going around.

Thankfully our guy is healthy but we’re not taking chances.

At 17 after a long career of hauling and showing and teaching,

he deserves good care and easy living.

Cowgirl Up!

We’re having a good time at the horse show this weekend..

Max and K have really gotten to know each other this year,

it’s been such a rewarding experience… in both western and english riding.

Pairing up the old timer with the new kid on the block (K)

was a good move.

He knows his job, but he doesn’t just hand it to her.

If she doesn’t ask the right way, he doesn’t give it.

Yesterday in her first class she got nervous, and so Max

felt the tension and thought there was something to be nervous about.

Needless to say they didn’t do well.

For the second class we explained the importance of

not focusing on the fact that you’re being judged by two people in the ring.

Just focus on relaxing and riding your horse to the best of your ability.

She chilled out.

Max gave her what she asked for.

They won the next class, which was a harder equitation pattern.

Any team is a work in progress, and the journey toward the goal

should be an enjoyable experience.

That’s a good lesson not everyone learns.

The journey is the reward.

Some well deserved grazing at the end of a long hot dusty day.

Fanning it

Well, it’s hotter than hot once again, with temps near 100 and the humidity thick enough to slice. Yuck. It’s important in this kind of weather to remember the animals in our care. I get the barn, coop and garden chores done as early as I can talk myself into on these hot summer days.

Chickens do not like extreme heat.

They do better in cold weather temps than they do

in high heat situations.

I can’t air condition their coop,

but I do make sure they have plenty of clean water and I dump ice cubes in

the water troughs during the day. I also make sure the coop is clean and there is

a small fan facing into their yard to give them some breeze relief.

(pardon the algae… ahem)

Chickens don’t sweat… if they are heat stressed you

will see them with beak open, panting.

I also let the girls out into the yard where they take shelter in the grove of cedar trees

next to their coop…relatively safe from predators and cool in the shade.

Up at the barn, we’ve just installed paddle fans over the stalls ,

high enough that the horses won’t clip themselves on the blades.

In extreme heat and humidity, to keep the air flowing and

the hay from molding, I also turn on a window fan for cross ventilation.

(pardon the cobwebs! Sheesh!)

The horses come and go from the barn to the pasture all day long.

When the bugs and heat drive them nuts, they come in for respite.

When you see horses out in pasture on a hot day where there is no protection like shade trees or a barn

from the sun and the bugs, oh.. they’ll survive, but they aren’t very uncomfortable.

My dogs go out to do their thing and come right back in, it’s just too darn hot.

I hate when I see dogs chained out in the heat with dirty water to top it off

– they are also plagued by bugs

and can die from heat stroke.

We would be miserable in those conditions,

so are the dogs.

I saw a situation that made me want to spit in the persons face recently.

Sometimes I don’t bother putting a sock in it and

I stand up for the animal being abused.

They can’t speak for themselves.

Here at This Old House, the animals are spoiled.

I know how lucky I am to have the resources to do so.

But it doesn’t take much to be kind to an animal. Not much at all.

If you make the decision to own them, treat them right..

or let someone else give them the home they deserve.

– just sayin.

Imagine that!

I just changed browsers, and the problem is fixed. Using Google Chrome for this post, no issues. So, the issue is with Internet Explorer/Blogger.

Thank you all for participating in my conversation the other day regarding current events. I enjoy these posts because while it may seem I’m just a tad opinionated (ahem) …I also appreciate another’s perspective and sometimes with that new perspective I see things a little differently. This is what I wish the whole world would do…. Create meaningful dialogue with an open mind. I like to think I’m a tolerant person of the unbiased non-judgemental sort. Sometimes that’s not entirely true and I don’t mind being called on it, because it’s not where I want to be.

About my dollhouse project… well, it’s at a standstill. I’ve gotten the interior work done on the floors and walls, etc… and there are some furnishings complete, but still no living room or bedroom. I’m thinking my Christmas List will contain those very things this year. With all the other bills we have, somehow purchasing this stuff for no-one-will-ever-live-there-ever…. just doesn’t feel right. However, I can covet a few things on etsy… see below.

You can see how one could get totally engrossed..

…and possibly broke… 🙂

It’s been hot, HUMID, and now rainy here at This Old House.

I’ve been doing some decluttering – always feels good to do so…

and came across this photo of my girl

when she was about 7 years old.

This was her first horse show, her first trail class.

Our horse at that time was a wing-nut , and would not calm down

at the fairgrounds. A good friend and neighbor, also riding in the show,

let us “borrow” her mare, Lucky Maggie.

Maggie was a golden girl, in looks and temperament, as you can see.

As for that show shirt? What was her mama thinking???

Oh.. that would be me.

Have a good day, all –

Updates here at This Old House

We’ve had a busy few weeks, and today on the 4th we’re going to enjoy having to do nothing much… and I welcome the quiet with open arms. Might even catch up on some reading.

We attended another Quarter Horse Show two weekends ago. K and Max did OK, but they weren’t on top of their game. Sometimes it’s not all ribbons and that’s a good lesson to learn. My thinking is… we’re there to enjoy the relationship with the horse and work together as a team on a goal. It’s the journey, not the reward. As long as the journey is a safe and enjoyable, we’re doing what we set out to do.

Right after the Vineyard trip there was another Dog Days Adoption Event

at Bishop Orchard in Guilford, CT.

Making Hay and other stuff

Sometimes a good post title just doesn’t come to me. Case in point above. Anyway… despite all the rain and rain and more rain we’ve been getting, yesterday was a clear blue sky with a light breeze… good day for making hay. The hay equipment was dropped off last week, pulled out yesterday and the fields were mowed. Just before the rain returned for an evening shower, good enough to drench it.