This is what my sister said to me after I told her of our Thanksgiving plans. She was stating how busy she was going to be tomorrow preparing the Thanksgiving feast for her and the 5 people she will be cooking for. She said she will probably try to do the pumpkin pie and cranberry bread today if she gets home early from work that way she will have more time for tomorrow. This is what I replied to her. "Thankfully we don't make a turkey. I have the Honey baked ham, purchased presliced, all ready to toss on a plate. Mashed potatoes courtesy of Country Crock are ready to be nuked for 5 minutes, biscuits tossed in the oven for 8 and green beans or corn nuked for 3 and voila, Thanksgiving dinner all ready." She wrote back to me, "Thanksgiving for the 21st Century. Love it." lol What can I say? I'm a horrible cook and we are simple people. It's just the four of us and the kids will eat just a little bit of whatever. I LOVE Honey Baked Ham. I think I will add to that cheesecake though because I see I was lacking in a dessert. That dinner should take less than 20 minutes, so what does that leave me with? LOTS of time. To do what?? Go out and give the horses their Thanksgiving love and treats :))) Spending all 4 days with them, and being able to actually ride while it's light out, will be great. I can't wait. I want to see if mare is crazy during the day outside too.
What are everyone else's plans? Or if you are reading this after Thanksgiving, how was your day and were there any crazy nightmares?? lol Anyone have a massive dinner to cook for say, more than 10 people? I remember when I was little and we'd go to my grandma's for dinner. She was used to cooking for 14 people (her, her husband and their 12 kids, mostly boys) so she would make enough for those 14 people even when it was just 5 of us. lol I loved it when she cooked because she was totally old school. She had no running hot water and only had wood burner stoves for both cooking and heating. Unfortunately that also mean no sewer system so you had to heat water to wash dishes then the dish water ran into the slop buckets that you had to empty outside. No SHOWER or BATH, no WASHER or DRYER. We always had to go to my aunt's house about 10 minutes away to bathe. Usually we didn't bathe because we were just up there for a day or two and then came home. Anyhow, grandma would get mad when we didn't eat all that food. lol
So Happy Thanksgiving everyone (a day early). I probably won't be blogging over the long weekend, but we'll see. Maybe I can slip on in. But I'll definitely be peeping at everyone else's. If you go out shopping at the butt crack of dawn, be careful and have fun!!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Hermie....or not
When I was young, my first pet was a hermit crab. I got him while I was in Girl Scouts and we had some kind of event either at the Catholic Club or Cosi in Columbus. It was SOOO long ago (hey! I was like in 3rd grade) I really honestly can't remember which, but I'm leaning heavily towards Cosi because I remember a magenta-ish t-shirt that I think said Cosi and had a picture of a hermit crab. But I could be wrong. In any case, I got my very first only mine pet. I named him Hermie. Creative, huh? lol Hermie lived quite awhile and had his little adventures. At one point in time while cleaning out his glass bowl, I placed him in a larger Tupperware plastic type big chip bowl. That was not too intelligent on my part as it was textured and I didn't think of how hermit crabs like to climb whenever they can. They have little pointy feet that help them do so too. Well sure enough, a few hours later I go to get him to put him back and he's GONE. He was in his bowl on a stand about 2 1/2 - 3 feet high, right by one of the heating registers in the floor. We thought for sure Hermie met his demise in the heater vent. I never smelled cooked crab, but what other possibility could there have been? I was quite sad and mom and dad thought it not a good idea to get me another pet until I became more aware of how to more properly care for them. About 4 months later my dad, who worked 2nd shift, got home around 11pm and went to the kitchen to make himself a sandwich. As he's making his sandwich, he hears a little scratching sound. He looks on the floor and there's Hermie!!! He was crawling out from under the fridge!! The little turd not only made it from the living room through the dining room and into the kitchen without being seen, but lived to tell the tale. Well, not really tell it per say, but we kind of guessed he must have smelled the food and lived on bits and crumbs from the floor or under the fridge. He was an active little critter and although I don't remember how long he lived, I will always remember that funny story.
I actually had Hermie II and Hermie III. Hey! What better name than Hermie for a hermit crab?? Really. lol
I now have little boys of my own that are 4 1/2 and 7 and while at the grand ol' Fulton County Fair again this summer, they wanted to play some games. I said absolutely NOT on the fish because of this. We needed no more of those goobers. So what do they spy next? A little ping pong tossing game where you could win.........a hermit crab. Could we leave well enough alone when we didn't get a single ping pong into the lily pads with the first 30 balls? No. We had to keep trying until we got one of those buggers. I will admit though that it was partially at my encouragement that we kept playing because I was nostalgic about the days of Hermie. I made them stop after we did win one though. Daddy won it for the boys. Meet.........????
(He has no name, or he might, but it's probably changed 100 times, just like the fish) And let me tell you, he is REALLY a hermit. He barely ever moves, eats or gets into the water. Hermie was ALWAYS on the go. You never saw him in the same spot in ten glances. He LOVED when we brought him out to play and would eat peanut butter and cheese off of our fingers. This one, I think it's scared of anything and everything, including water and food. If you take him out of his cage, he will eventually run around, but with two loud wiggly little boys, he doesn't get too far without hiding again. We have to pick him up every few days to make sure he's still alive and then I usually place him in his food in case he forgot where it was in his little 6"x10" container. Crazy dude.
This is his awesome shell. All the plain ones were, well, plain. Then I saw this kind. I also got a red one with a football painted on it and a blue one with a flower I think. Hey, they were $.50, you can't beat that and we don't live near any beaches to go find our own.
Ever see hermit crab poop? Hey! I have little boys, that sort of thing is a topic of daily discussions.
Yep, that's it. I clean it out every so often with my little mini melon baller. lol I've used it to scoop crab poop more often than I have made melon balls!!
So now you know of my mare Sassie, the gelding Remington, the three (now two) fish and ??? the hermit crab. One of these days I will try to see how I can put pictures up on the blog down the side of them all. HA. Someday.
Have a good day everyone!
I actually had Hermie II and Hermie III. Hey! What better name than Hermie for a hermit crab?? Really. lol
I now have little boys of my own that are 4 1/2 and 7 and while at the grand ol' Fulton County Fair again this summer, they wanted to play some games. I said absolutely NOT on the fish because of this. We needed no more of those goobers. So what do they spy next? A little ping pong tossing game where you could win.........a hermit crab. Could we leave well enough alone when we didn't get a single ping pong into the lily pads with the first 30 balls? No. We had to keep trying until we got one of those buggers. I will admit though that it was partially at my encouragement that we kept playing because I was nostalgic about the days of Hermie. I made them stop after we did win one though. Daddy won it for the boys. Meet.........????
(He has no name, or he might, but it's probably changed 100 times, just like the fish) And let me tell you, he is REALLY a hermit. He barely ever moves, eats or gets into the water. Hermie was ALWAYS on the go. You never saw him in the same spot in ten glances. He LOVED when we brought him out to play and would eat peanut butter and cheese off of our fingers. This one, I think it's scared of anything and everything, including water and food. If you take him out of his cage, he will eventually run around, but with two loud wiggly little boys, he doesn't get too far without hiding again. We have to pick him up every few days to make sure he's still alive and then I usually place him in his food in case he forgot where it was in his little 6"x10" container. Crazy dude.
This is his awesome shell. All the plain ones were, well, plain. Then I saw this kind. I also got a red one with a football painted on it and a blue one with a flower I think. Hey, they were $.50, you can't beat that and we don't live near any beaches to go find our own.
Ever see hermit crab poop? Hey! I have little boys, that sort of thing is a topic of daily discussions.
Yep, that's it. I clean it out every so often with my little mini melon baller. lol I've used it to scoop crab poop more often than I have made melon balls!!
So now you know of my mare Sassie, the gelding Remington, the three (now two) fish and ??? the hermit crab. One of these days I will try to see how I can put pictures up on the blog down the side of them all. HA. Someday.
Have a good day everyone!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Tag, (meme) I'm it
Thank you Mrs. Mom!! :) I got a blogging tag (called a meme, but I'm not sure if that's what it's called or it's just called that because it's all about me me me) to tell everyone 7 Things You Did Not Know About Me. Well heck. That could be ANYTHING!! lol So here goes. I'll go for some cool, some wacky and maybe some normal, if there is any :)
1. I write down what I wear each day so as not to wear the same thing twice within a certain amount of time. Yes, this includes naming my clothes so that I know what clothes are which. Not like Sue and Chloe or anything like that, but like "long gray skirt" or "stretchy black T" or "C's sweater" for a sweater my friend Christine gave me. This really only applies to work clothes. At home, yeah, I admit, I wear my clothes 4 or 5 times in a row if we're just going out to the barn. What's the sense in washing everything more often than I have to, right? I want to make sure they are really dirty. lol But I will say I'm not the only one, my co-worker does it too, hehe.
2. My hubby is 17 years older than I am. It must be in my genes because my mom was also 17 years younger than my dad was. I'm of the mind that age is just a number. Hubby DEFINITELY doesn't act like he's 17 years older than I am. I was always told that men are way more immature than women, so we're about equal and I will venture to say sometimes I am a little more mature. lol
3. I got married in Las Vegas and "Elvis" (the older more mature one) performed. He didn't perform the ceremony, but he was the entertainment. It was great and everyone remarked it was way more fun than their own weddings. lol
4. I own a 1957 Cadillac that I bought at a flea market. Talk about vehicles attracting guys. My truck was one thing, but when I brought out the Caddy, watch out!! lol And by the way, Caddy's can fit 5 fully grown tall men and two smaller women comfortably :)
5. I was a tomboy growing up and prided myself in the fact that I did not EVER wear a dress or skirt to school from 7th through 12th grade. The only reason I wore them before that was because my mom MADE me. She had always wanted a little girly girl to dress up and make pretty. HA! Like daughter like mother because my mom was a tomboy too growing up :) Now, I kind of secretly like to dress up :) The fancier the better. Hair and makeup (I'm a Mary Kay consultant so that part's kind of a given and normal everyday event) and sparkly dresses and high heels. I love it. Sad thing is, I NEVER have events to dress up at. This leads to a funny story. When I finally had the chance to go to a class reunion, my hubby's 25th year, hehe, I always pictured getting dressed up and going dancing and having fun. Yeah. The one thing I didn't count on? They were all Mennonites (not my hubby of course or he wouldn't be my hubby for religious reasons), which is an off branch of Amish. Apparently because they were not allowed to dance together when they were in school, they still do not do it to this day. And they don't drink, at least in public, which I really could have used that night. We walk in, me in my blue spaghetti strap dress and sparkly strappy heels and what do I see? A bunch of older (obviously) people wearing khaki pants and SWEATER VESTS!!!!! I'm like AHHH!! TAKE ME HOME!! Hubby's like no no, you're fine. I'm like yeah, they are all STARING at me!! I was so embarrassed. Apparently the menfolk liked it, of course. They were all falling over each other to sit at our table. Did I say I was embarrassed? I was, for sure. I'm still not a girly girl or anything, but I like the chance to show off my girlish figure sometimes.
6. Neither of my children look a thing like me. They both look alike and look EXACTLY like their father. Heck, if men had babies and my hubby had given birth to them, I'd wonder who he cheated on me with!! lol But since I actually saw them come out (very interesting to watch yourself give birth, not for the squeemish) so I can't deny they are mine. That and the fact that my older one did apparently inherit one thing from me. His bloodcurling shriek when he was little. I supposedly used to give that same shriek that made everyone run for their life. lol
and lastly.....
7. Hmmm, what last? I guess that when I was little, I had long, stick straight feathery, light blond hair. Then when I was in 2nd grade my mom gave me a mushroom top haircut (HATED IT) and after that, my hair gradually got darker and C-U-R-L-Y. I now have super tight, non-permed, curly hair that is a mix between darker blond and lighter brown. My mom had jet black hair and my dad had medium brown. I will probably end up with the medium brown, I'm nowhere close to having black hair, but I did get her hazel eyes. My brother got our dad's steel gray eyes.
I'm sure I could go on all day, but it only asked for 7 and if I give everything now, I may not have anything else to write about one day. But I do have a little short post coming up that will tell you something else about me that you don't know ;)
I'm supposed to tag some people, but I'm not really great at that yet, it took FOREVER on my first tag (and the link at the beginning of this), and I actually want to get this posted today, so whoever reads and hasn't told us ALL about themselves, please do :) I'd love to read about you. Not in a stalker-ish type of way, just friends! lol
Bye for now!
1. I write down what I wear each day so as not to wear the same thing twice within a certain amount of time. Yes, this includes naming my clothes so that I know what clothes are which. Not like Sue and Chloe or anything like that, but like "long gray skirt" or "stretchy black T" or "C's sweater" for a sweater my friend Christine gave me. This really only applies to work clothes. At home, yeah, I admit, I wear my clothes 4 or 5 times in a row if we're just going out to the barn. What's the sense in washing everything more often than I have to, right? I want to make sure they are really dirty. lol But I will say I'm not the only one, my co-worker does it too, hehe.
2. My hubby is 17 years older than I am. It must be in my genes because my mom was also 17 years younger than my dad was. I'm of the mind that age is just a number. Hubby DEFINITELY doesn't act like he's 17 years older than I am. I was always told that men are way more immature than women, so we're about equal and I will venture to say sometimes I am a little more mature. lol
3. I got married in Las Vegas and "Elvis" (the older more mature one) performed. He didn't perform the ceremony, but he was the entertainment. It was great and everyone remarked it was way more fun than their own weddings. lol
4. I own a 1957 Cadillac that I bought at a flea market. Talk about vehicles attracting guys. My truck was one thing, but when I brought out the Caddy, watch out!! lol And by the way, Caddy's can fit 5 fully grown tall men and two smaller women comfortably :)
5. I was a tomboy growing up and prided myself in the fact that I did not EVER wear a dress or skirt to school from 7th through 12th grade. The only reason I wore them before that was because my mom MADE me. She had always wanted a little girly girl to dress up and make pretty. HA! Like daughter like mother because my mom was a tomboy too growing up :) Now, I kind of secretly like to dress up :) The fancier the better. Hair and makeup (I'm a Mary Kay consultant so that part's kind of a given and normal everyday event) and sparkly dresses and high heels. I love it. Sad thing is, I NEVER have events to dress up at. This leads to a funny story. When I finally had the chance to go to a class reunion, my hubby's 25th year, hehe, I always pictured getting dressed up and going dancing and having fun. Yeah. The one thing I didn't count on? They were all Mennonites (not my hubby of course or he wouldn't be my hubby for religious reasons), which is an off branch of Amish. Apparently because they were not allowed to dance together when they were in school, they still do not do it to this day. And they don't drink, at least in public, which I really could have used that night. We walk in, me in my blue spaghetti strap dress and sparkly strappy heels and what do I see? A bunch of older (obviously) people wearing khaki pants and SWEATER VESTS!!!!! I'm like AHHH!! TAKE ME HOME!! Hubby's like no no, you're fine. I'm like yeah, they are all STARING at me!! I was so embarrassed. Apparently the menfolk liked it, of course. They were all falling over each other to sit at our table. Did I say I was embarrassed? I was, for sure. I'm still not a girly girl or anything, but I like the chance to show off my girlish figure sometimes.
6. Neither of my children look a thing like me. They both look alike and look EXACTLY like their father. Heck, if men had babies and my hubby had given birth to them, I'd wonder who he cheated on me with!! lol But since I actually saw them come out (very interesting to watch yourself give birth, not for the squeemish) so I can't deny they are mine. That and the fact that my older one did apparently inherit one thing from me. His bloodcurling shriek when he was little. I supposedly used to give that same shriek that made everyone run for their life. lol
and lastly.....
7. Hmmm, what last? I guess that when I was little, I had long, stick straight feathery, light blond hair. Then when I was in 2nd grade my mom gave me a mushroom top haircut (HATED IT) and after that, my hair gradually got darker and C-U-R-L-Y. I now have super tight, non-permed, curly hair that is a mix between darker blond and lighter brown. My mom had jet black hair and my dad had medium brown. I will probably end up with the medium brown, I'm nowhere close to having black hair, but I did get her hazel eyes. My brother got our dad's steel gray eyes.
I'm sure I could go on all day, but it only asked for 7 and if I give everything now, I may not have anything else to write about one day. But I do have a little short post coming up that will tell you something else about me that you don't know ;)
I'm supposed to tag some people, but I'm not really great at that yet, it took FOREVER on my first tag (and the link at the beginning of this), and I actually want to get this posted today, so whoever reads and hasn't told us ALL about themselves, please do :) I'd love to read about you. Not in a stalker-ish type of way, just friends! lol
Bye for now!
Wow
Man o' day. I can't believe it's already been a week since I last posted!! And how about it already being almost THANKSGIVING??? Sheesh. Where has the time gone already? I am in no way close to being ready for Christmas, that's for sure.
Here's an update on my mare. Nothing. lol How's that for new and interesting? I rode last Tuesday night. She bolted from one corner of the arena to the other, scaring the bajezzus out of the two younger girls riding with me. lol Then I rode on Saturday and Sunday (yesterday). I have come to one conclusion. We have to move to a warmer climate. I think my mare has a phobia or something against the cold. Seriously. We had the trainer out to train her in I think March and April, you know, when it was still really cold, but slowly starting the spring thaw. At least here in Northwest Ohio. She was goofy most of the time, but the later it got into our training, and near the end when I could start riding outside, she started getting better and better. Better as in more calm, not as spooky, slowed down drastically and was starting to get a clue of what we were asking of her. Over summer she had little moments, but they were rare and few and far between. We thought she was just coming along great and getting over her issues. It's now starting to get very cold, like in the 20's or less, and she's acting like a little psycho freaky dink again. I do feel better in one sense though because trainer's girlfriend was out and her show horse is the exact same way and does the same thing. yay! He's even inside in a heated arena, gets exercised almost every day, etc. and he still acts goofy in the winter.
My problem is this. I don't know really what to narrow it down to or what to do. Is she always going to be like this just because it's cold out? Does she just not like riding in the indoor arena (always been a somewhat problem, even in summer)? Does she mysteriously jump start as if someone is smacking her butt because the barn roof has tiny leaks that make little drops on her back and rump so she keeps expecting that, even while riding in the arena? Is this something we can get her past? Is it because she's not out to run every single day? I don't think the last one is it because when it rained so hard and they were all stalled for a month, I hopped right on and she rode like a dream. So I guess what I'm trying to think about is that I have a new project and I hope to heck I can handle this and that I'm ready. As a rider, am I confident enough in my ability to sit enough unexpected spooks and jumps and bolts? We are going to find out because I'll be darned if I let that mare sit another winter and not do anything at all. She was somewhat calmer yesterday, but she still had her little jump starts that would catch me off guard. By the end of winter I should be able to ride anything! lol. I'm seriously going to think about asking the barn owner if I can ride outside if it's not too wet or snowing out because even when it was colder in the spring, she did much much better outside. So if she rides good outside (unfortunately where the COLD ground will be frozen and hard as rock), I can safely assume maybe it's something about the indoor arena and the only thing that I suppose will help there is to ride, ride, ride.
I did try Mrs. Mom's idea of picturing myself having the perfect ride. Visualizing everything just absolutely perfect and flowing. I did that Friday night as I fell asleep and you know what? I realize that in each visualization, I was wearing a TANK TOP!!! So it was WARM out!! lol. So there must be my sign. Time to move to a warmer climate. lol
Here's an update on my mare. Nothing. lol How's that for new and interesting? I rode last Tuesday night. She bolted from one corner of the arena to the other, scaring the bajezzus out of the two younger girls riding with me. lol Then I rode on Saturday and Sunday (yesterday). I have come to one conclusion. We have to move to a warmer climate. I think my mare has a phobia or something against the cold. Seriously. We had the trainer out to train her in I think March and April, you know, when it was still really cold, but slowly starting the spring thaw. At least here in Northwest Ohio. She was goofy most of the time, but the later it got into our training, and near the end when I could start riding outside, she started getting better and better. Better as in more calm, not as spooky, slowed down drastically and was starting to get a clue of what we were asking of her. Over summer she had little moments, but they were rare and few and far between. We thought she was just coming along great and getting over her issues. It's now starting to get very cold, like in the 20's or less, and she's acting like a little psycho freaky dink again. I do feel better in one sense though because trainer's girlfriend was out and her show horse is the exact same way and does the same thing. yay! He's even inside in a heated arena, gets exercised almost every day, etc. and he still acts goofy in the winter.
My problem is this. I don't know really what to narrow it down to or what to do. Is she always going to be like this just because it's cold out? Does she just not like riding in the indoor arena (always been a somewhat problem, even in summer)? Does she mysteriously jump start as if someone is smacking her butt because the barn roof has tiny leaks that make little drops on her back and rump so she keeps expecting that, even while riding in the arena? Is this something we can get her past? Is it because she's not out to run every single day? I don't think the last one is it because when it rained so hard and they were all stalled for a month, I hopped right on and she rode like a dream. So I guess what I'm trying to think about is that I have a new project and I hope to heck I can handle this and that I'm ready. As a rider, am I confident enough in my ability to sit enough unexpected spooks and jumps and bolts? We are going to find out because I'll be darned if I let that mare sit another winter and not do anything at all. She was somewhat calmer yesterday, but she still had her little jump starts that would catch me off guard. By the end of winter I should be able to ride anything! lol. I'm seriously going to think about asking the barn owner if I can ride outside if it's not too wet or snowing out because even when it was colder in the spring, she did much much better outside. So if she rides good outside (unfortunately where the COLD ground will be frozen and hard as rock), I can safely assume maybe it's something about the indoor arena and the only thing that I suppose will help there is to ride, ride, ride.
I did try Mrs. Mom's idea of picturing myself having the perfect ride. Visualizing everything just absolutely perfect and flowing. I did that Friday night as I fell asleep and you know what? I realize that in each visualization, I was wearing a TANK TOP!!! So it was WARM out!! lol. So there must be my sign. Time to move to a warmer climate. lol
Monday, November 17, 2008
Push over
I believe that I must be THE worlds biggest pushover. I have to be. Kids, husband, coworkers, bosses and now especially horses. Although I really don't like confrontation, unless I'm already worked up and ready for it, I've always thought that I could hold my own to some capacity. I may be exaggerating just a tad, but it seems lately that I cannot. Kids, all they have to do is cry and I melt. My mom was a woman of steel. Nothing made her give in. E.V.E.R. Me, a couple little tears and those big doe eyes and I'm all melty and they get whatever they want. Unless of course they are being total little monsters. Then it's kind of fun to be mean and say no and stand my ground. I will admit that hubby usually has to be the bad guy and dole out punishment. It was opposite when I was little, my mom was the ruler and my dad was just there. I can remember maybe once in my whole life where my dad did anything remotely punishing to me or my brother.
Talking about horses, mine is the master deceiver. She's a crafty little wench. All she has to do is start "feeling" off (or different than usual) and she has me worried. I still don't know everything there is to know about horses, and honestly this latest episode has shown me that I should probably be leasing a horse, or if owning one, own one that I don't ride. lol. That's not to say that I totally don't know what I'm doing riding, but, how shall I put this....I'm not aggressive enough in what I'm doing? I don't mean aggressive as in beating and whipping the poor things into submission. I'm not aggressive enough to know when my horse is pulling my leg by putting on a show and that it's really ok to MAKE her do what I want or when something is really wrong. I don't want my mare to be sore and I definitely don't want to be the cause of her being sore or more sore if she was sore to begin with. I had my trainer's girlfriend, who is giving my son lessons, look at my mare yesterday to see if her lameness was actually there or if it was just a figment of my imagination. Thankfully she was around when my mare was first being trained by her boyfriend to know my mares antics. You would think I would have picked up too, and I think I knew a little deep deep down that maybe she wasn't sore. Everything was just so gradual though and I think that's what buffaloed me. I was slowly losing more and more things, or really she was refusing to do more and more things. That being said, she may be a teeny tad bit sore, but not lame. Kind of like a person when they have a stomach ache, it doesn't mean the world stands still and you just can't go on with your business. I got a lesson though, that's for sure. The trainers girlfriend told me it looked like she was doing exactly what she was doing with the trainer when he first started with her. Well, I kind of don't feel bad then because there was a reason WHY I got a trainer. Because I don't have enough experience or confidence to handle temper tantrums. She yelled at me (ok, instructed, but it sounds better when you say yell) on what I wasn't doing and that helped tremendously. Miraculously mare was no longer "sore" acting.
Then there was loping. I had gotten off my mare to put her away after happily jogging along through the duration of my son's lesson. She asked if I had loped her lately. I ashamedly admitted that no, not really since about early September had I loped her. She was pulling her stop, balk and back routine which had started me on the is she or isn't she sore kick. She said get on and lope her. I was like uhhhhh, ok. She's never really been that great at loping inside, but she was maybe a little tired out from working more than she had in the past month or two, so I gave it a go. I started off on her bad side. Trainer always said some horses will always go one way better than the other. Her good way is to circle to the right. Bad way is to the left. I attempted the left first. I don't know if that was good or bad, but I think I proved that I am progressing in my riding style. I now know I can sit a few little bucks and head tosses. First little hop along I stopped her and looked at the girlfriend and said see, something HAS to be wrong. She said nope, looks like crazy mare is being a beyatch. I was like ?? She never tried bucking before. She told me to womp on her and get her moving forward when she started balking like she did because crazy girl will be more dangerous just standing than she will when she's in forward motion. I never really got her to start loping to the left, only some really fast jogging with maybe a step or two of lope, but when I turned her around to go to the right, she took off like a dream. I was calling her everything in the book. Girlfriend said yep, she's yanking your chain. I think the reason I was subconsciously letting her is because I severely lack the confidence in myself. I don't know how far I can be pushed and still handle it. With trainer and even girlfriend there, I think I can do anything. Without someone yelling at me, I'm a little wuss and any little balk intimidates me and my devious little delinquent knows it. I hate it too though how when I was attempting (probably feeble attempts at that) to womp on her when we were still outside, it didn't work, but the minute trainer and/or girlfriend instill some new found courage, it works. I wonder if it will still work when we go back out again tomorrow. I hope so. Trainers girlfriend did say at least that she could be slightly out and a chiro probably wouldn't hurt. Now if only I can get that dude to actually come out.
Have a nice night. I'm off to confess all my worldly sins tonight. hehehe. My son is doing his first confession or penance or reconciliation, which ever term was used at different points in time. One of the requirements is that parents have to do it too. My first sin to confess will obviously be that I have not been to confession in over 15 years. lol!! Probably closer to 20. You're supposed to go more regularly, cough cough. My lucky bum husband gets to just ask for a blessing since he's not the same religion. So, can I fake food poisoning??? lol I'm so bad.
Anyhow, good day all.
Talking about horses, mine is the master deceiver. She's a crafty little wench. All she has to do is start "feeling" off (or different than usual) and she has me worried. I still don't know everything there is to know about horses, and honestly this latest episode has shown me that I should probably be leasing a horse, or if owning one, own one that I don't ride. lol. That's not to say that I totally don't know what I'm doing riding, but, how shall I put this....I'm not aggressive enough in what I'm doing? I don't mean aggressive as in beating and whipping the poor things into submission. I'm not aggressive enough to know when my horse is pulling my leg by putting on a show and that it's really ok to MAKE her do what I want or when something is really wrong. I don't want my mare to be sore and I definitely don't want to be the cause of her being sore or more sore if she was sore to begin with. I had my trainer's girlfriend, who is giving my son lessons, look at my mare yesterday to see if her lameness was actually there or if it was just a figment of my imagination. Thankfully she was around when my mare was first being trained by her boyfriend to know my mares antics. You would think I would have picked up too, and I think I knew a little deep deep down that maybe she wasn't sore. Everything was just so gradual though and I think that's what buffaloed me. I was slowly losing more and more things, or really she was refusing to do more and more things. That being said, she may be a teeny tad bit sore, but not lame. Kind of like a person when they have a stomach ache, it doesn't mean the world stands still and you just can't go on with your business. I got a lesson though, that's for sure. The trainers girlfriend told me it looked like she was doing exactly what she was doing with the trainer when he first started with her. Well, I kind of don't feel bad then because there was a reason WHY I got a trainer. Because I don't have enough experience or confidence to handle temper tantrums. She yelled at me (ok, instructed, but it sounds better when you say yell) on what I wasn't doing and that helped tremendously. Miraculously mare was no longer "sore" acting.
Then there was loping. I had gotten off my mare to put her away after happily jogging along through the duration of my son's lesson. She asked if I had loped her lately. I ashamedly admitted that no, not really since about early September had I loped her. She was pulling her stop, balk and back routine which had started me on the is she or isn't she sore kick. She said get on and lope her. I was like uhhhhh, ok. She's never really been that great at loping inside, but she was maybe a little tired out from working more than she had in the past month or two, so I gave it a go. I started off on her bad side. Trainer always said some horses will always go one way better than the other. Her good way is to circle to the right. Bad way is to the left. I attempted the left first. I don't know if that was good or bad, but I think I proved that I am progressing in my riding style. I now know I can sit a few little bucks and head tosses. First little hop along I stopped her and looked at the girlfriend and said see, something HAS to be wrong. She said nope, looks like crazy mare is being a beyatch. I was like ?? She never tried bucking before. She told me to womp on her and get her moving forward when she started balking like she did because crazy girl will be more dangerous just standing than she will when she's in forward motion. I never really got her to start loping to the left, only some really fast jogging with maybe a step or two of lope, but when I turned her around to go to the right, she took off like a dream. I was calling her everything in the book. Girlfriend said yep, she's yanking your chain. I think the reason I was subconsciously letting her is because I severely lack the confidence in myself. I don't know how far I can be pushed and still handle it. With trainer and even girlfriend there, I think I can do anything. Without someone yelling at me, I'm a little wuss and any little balk intimidates me and my devious little delinquent knows it. I hate it too though how when I was attempting (probably feeble attempts at that) to womp on her when we were still outside, it didn't work, but the minute trainer and/or girlfriend instill some new found courage, it works. I wonder if it will still work when we go back out again tomorrow. I hope so. Trainers girlfriend did say at least that she could be slightly out and a chiro probably wouldn't hurt. Now if only I can get that dude to actually come out.
Have a nice night. I'm off to confess all my worldly sins tonight. hehehe. My son is doing his first confession or penance or reconciliation, which ever term was used at different points in time. One of the requirements is that parents have to do it too. My first sin to confess will obviously be that I have not been to confession in over 15 years. lol!! Probably closer to 20. You're supposed to go more regularly, cough cough. My lucky bum husband gets to just ask for a blessing since he's not the same religion. So, can I fake food poisoning??? lol I'm so bad.
Anyhow, good day all.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Remington
Let me tell you now about Remington. I was going to tell you about Chip, but then I'd also have to tell you about Remington, so I might as well just talk about him first. I would put up a picture, but we only have one blurry picture that I have to get scanned in. I will try to do that and then edit this post to add it.
Remington had the same exact start as my crazy mare Sassie. She wasn't related to him, but they were like brother and sister. They came from the same farm, both registered paints although he was a solid paint, owned by the same putz and we got him the same way we got her. There was a huge difference between the two for some unknown reason. I don't know if it was the simple fact that he was a gelding and she was a mare or what. First off he was way taller. Sassie is only like 14.2 tippy toed. Remington was a good 15 hands easily despite also being just stuck in the stall. He was super calm. You could do anything to him and he could not be bothered to care. He was super lazy. If you tried to lunge him, he would walk. The entire time. You could not do anything to get him to pick up the pace. We all know that was so not the case with Sassie.
Now I will say this. When we inherited these two horses, we were not horse savvy at all. We just knew we loved them to pieces and wanted them to have a good life and we wanted to enjoy them. Sure I knew how to ride. I had taken English lessons, even jumping and won some ribbons at my first and only event, but that definitely did not qualify us to OWN these magnificent creatures. My husband's experience was also limited in the fact that yeah, he too had rode on numerous occasions and even had owned a horse. But that was really only a partnership and he was the financing part. He totally got screwed over in it and we never really had to care for the horse. So yeah. I will admit we knew nothing about the day to day ownership of horses. But really, how hard could that be when we were already doing better than the previous owner by just cleaning the stall and talking to them? If we knew then what we know now, and yes hind sight is always 20/20, we would have just gotten on and rode that bugger.
Unlike my girl who would fly off the handle at a simple touch, you could do anything with Remington. We were told right off the bat that they were not trained. At all. And by looking at Sassie, you could tell that 100%. Looking at Remington though, you could not. My dad, who's going to be turning 70, came out to see them one time. He is a little nutty about certain stuff, takes too many risks for his age. Although he looks to be about 50, and he's in really good shape, I'm sure his body begs to differ that he is NOT 50 after his rough farming and military life, and then raising 5 kids. He was walking Remington while we were cleaning stalls and we come out to see my dad standing on a bench with one leg almost on Remington's back. He had not signed any type of liability waiver, and he was trying to get on our unbroke horse, unhelmeted, so we come running out yelling at him "what are you doing?? Are you CRAZY??? He's not broke to ride!!! He's NEVER had a person on his back!!! What do you think he's going to do to you????" so he of course just put his leg down and got off the bench. He said to us, "he's going to have to learn sometime, why not just let me do it." I didn't want him to DIE, that's why!! lol So no no no, I take Remington back and put him in his stall. If I had known then what I know now, I would have let him go ahead and try.
I think we were overly cautious with him. Which maybe not a bad thing since we were newbies, but it means we missed out on so much with him. We had Remington for about 2 1/2 to 3 years. It seemed like we had only had him for like 6 months. On super bowl Sunday 2006, he had to be put down. The day before, we went out to clean stalls and he was laying down in his stall. Not totally unusual, but when we got him up and moved him to another stall to clean his, he laid right back down almost immediately. We knew that was odd and we got him up again. I stood in his stall with him and his head hung so low he could have been resting his nose on the ground. The funny thing was, he was still trying to eat. Not as much as he usually did, but he was still trying. One of the other boarders that has a TB that easily colics was trying to help and was telling us to listen to his stomach (didn't really know what to listen for, but do now) and take his temp (don't have a thermometer, but do now) and what other signs to look for. We tried calling the barn owners, which was a family, and finally someone at the FIFTH number that we called said they would come out. The first four just kept telling us who else to call besides them. (and that is one reason we are no longer there). The guy came out, said yep, he's probably colicing. Walk him around, he'll be ok. After about 3 hours of walking him and it getting really late and having a baby and a toddler to take home, we called him back and asked what do we do now? He said to put him in with the mare (yes, put him in an approximately 10x12 stall over night with my crazy ass mare, sure sounds good) and he would check on them throughout the night. We said ok and if anything at all changed or happened, just call and one of us would be right back out there. Well, apparently after about 2 hours my mare had gotten herself so worked up, he took Remington out and put him back in his own stall and just let him be the rest of the night. My hubby went back out first thing early the next morning and he was of course laying down. He got him out and tried walking him in the indoor arena. After about 3 hours of walking him, the barn owners finally decided to suggest calling the vet because if my husband even stopped walking for a minute or two, Remington would try to lay down. What does that all tell you? Yeah. So the vet comes out, does an examination and says basically that yeah, it's a severely twisted gut and you can try to take him to Ohio State, which is the closes facility that would be able to do anything, but that he doubted he would even be able to make the 3 hour trip. Not only that, but (he so kindly decided to point out) what is the horse worth? Sure you love him, he's registered, but he's grade, you don't show him and he's not even broke to ride. Unfortunately what he was saying was true and he said the kindest thing we could do was put him down. Of course hubby says yes and THEN calls me. Obviously I would not have disagreed with that decision, but I would have at least liked to have said my goodbyes, which none of us did. I did not know when he called me that they were doing it right then and there, so I call my neighbor to watch the boys and I make it out there in like 10 minutes (it's about 1/2 hour away) only to pull in and see my hubby coming out of the riding center with just Remington's halter in his hands. I pull up, start bawling and he tells me they are getting the backhoe to bury him at the back of the property so I speed off and go home. We knew that was technically illegal, but the tiger guy wasn't answering and they had to do something. I thank them for that.
So that is the story of Remington. It isn't very long, in terms of time. We didn't get to do much. He was my husband's favorite horse ever and even though we never got to do anything with him, or even get any good pictures, he was a great guy. As I said, if we only knew then what we know now, things may have been different. Shoulda, coulda, woulda, right?
Have a good hump day :)
Remington had the same exact start as my crazy mare Sassie. She wasn't related to him, but they were like brother and sister. They came from the same farm, both registered paints although he was a solid paint, owned by the same putz and we got him the same way we got her. There was a huge difference between the two for some unknown reason. I don't know if it was the simple fact that he was a gelding and she was a mare or what. First off he was way taller. Sassie is only like 14.2 tippy toed. Remington was a good 15 hands easily despite also being just stuck in the stall. He was super calm. You could do anything to him and he could not be bothered to care. He was super lazy. If you tried to lunge him, he would walk. The entire time. You could not do anything to get him to pick up the pace. We all know that was so not the case with Sassie.
Now I will say this. When we inherited these two horses, we were not horse savvy at all. We just knew we loved them to pieces and wanted them to have a good life and we wanted to enjoy them. Sure I knew how to ride. I had taken English lessons, even jumping and won some ribbons at my first and only event, but that definitely did not qualify us to OWN these magnificent creatures. My husband's experience was also limited in the fact that yeah, he too had rode on numerous occasions and even had owned a horse. But that was really only a partnership and he was the financing part. He totally got screwed over in it and we never really had to care for the horse. So yeah. I will admit we knew nothing about the day to day ownership of horses. But really, how hard could that be when we were already doing better than the previous owner by just cleaning the stall and talking to them? If we knew then what we know now, and yes hind sight is always 20/20, we would have just gotten on and rode that bugger.
Unlike my girl who would fly off the handle at a simple touch, you could do anything with Remington. We were told right off the bat that they were not trained. At all. And by looking at Sassie, you could tell that 100%. Looking at Remington though, you could not. My dad, who's going to be turning 70, came out to see them one time. He is a little nutty about certain stuff, takes too many risks for his age. Although he looks to be about 50, and he's in really good shape, I'm sure his body begs to differ that he is NOT 50 after his rough farming and military life, and then raising 5 kids. He was walking Remington while we were cleaning stalls and we come out to see my dad standing on a bench with one leg almost on Remington's back. He had not signed any type of liability waiver, and he was trying to get on our unbroke horse, unhelmeted, so we come running out yelling at him "what are you doing?? Are you CRAZY??? He's not broke to ride!!! He's NEVER had a person on his back!!! What do you think he's going to do to you????" so he of course just put his leg down and got off the bench. He said to us, "he's going to have to learn sometime, why not just let me do it." I didn't want him to DIE, that's why!! lol So no no no, I take Remington back and put him in his stall. If I had known then what I know now, I would have let him go ahead and try.
I think we were overly cautious with him. Which maybe not a bad thing since we were newbies, but it means we missed out on so much with him. We had Remington for about 2 1/2 to 3 years. It seemed like we had only had him for like 6 months. On super bowl Sunday 2006, he had to be put down. The day before, we went out to clean stalls and he was laying down in his stall. Not totally unusual, but when we got him up and moved him to another stall to clean his, he laid right back down almost immediately. We knew that was odd and we got him up again. I stood in his stall with him and his head hung so low he could have been resting his nose on the ground. The funny thing was, he was still trying to eat. Not as much as he usually did, but he was still trying. One of the other boarders that has a TB that easily colics was trying to help and was telling us to listen to his stomach (didn't really know what to listen for, but do now) and take his temp (don't have a thermometer, but do now) and what other signs to look for. We tried calling the barn owners, which was a family, and finally someone at the FIFTH number that we called said they would come out. The first four just kept telling us who else to call besides them. (and that is one reason we are no longer there). The guy came out, said yep, he's probably colicing. Walk him around, he'll be ok. After about 3 hours of walking him and it getting really late and having a baby and a toddler to take home, we called him back and asked what do we do now? He said to put him in with the mare (yes, put him in an approximately 10x12 stall over night with my crazy ass mare, sure sounds good) and he would check on them throughout the night. We said ok and if anything at all changed or happened, just call and one of us would be right back out there. Well, apparently after about 2 hours my mare had gotten herself so worked up, he took Remington out and put him back in his own stall and just let him be the rest of the night. My hubby went back out first thing early the next morning and he was of course laying down. He got him out and tried walking him in the indoor arena. After about 3 hours of walking him, the barn owners finally decided to suggest calling the vet because if my husband even stopped walking for a minute or two, Remington would try to lay down. What does that all tell you? Yeah. So the vet comes out, does an examination and says basically that yeah, it's a severely twisted gut and you can try to take him to Ohio State, which is the closes facility that would be able to do anything, but that he doubted he would even be able to make the 3 hour trip. Not only that, but (he so kindly decided to point out) what is the horse worth? Sure you love him, he's registered, but he's grade, you don't show him and he's not even broke to ride. Unfortunately what he was saying was true and he said the kindest thing we could do was put him down. Of course hubby says yes and THEN calls me. Obviously I would not have disagreed with that decision, but I would have at least liked to have said my goodbyes, which none of us did. I did not know when he called me that they were doing it right then and there, so I call my neighbor to watch the boys and I make it out there in like 10 minutes (it's about 1/2 hour away) only to pull in and see my hubby coming out of the riding center with just Remington's halter in his hands. I pull up, start bawling and he tells me they are getting the backhoe to bury him at the back of the property so I speed off and go home. We knew that was technically illegal, but the tiger guy wasn't answering and they had to do something. I thank them for that.
So that is the story of Remington. It isn't very long, in terms of time. We didn't get to do much. He was my husband's favorite horse ever and even though we never got to do anything with him, or even get any good pictures, he was a great guy. As I said, if we only knew then what we know now, things may have been different. Shoulda, coulda, woulda, right?
Have a good hump day :)
Hissy fits
Since when did 7 become the new 14? My 7 year old is throwing the "I hate you" tantrums like teenagers do. "You ALWAYS boss me around." "Why do I ALWAYS have EVERYTHING?" "Leave me alone!!!" Where did I go wrong with him? And so young too. I know I was a little drama queen when I was little, but he's a BOY! He's always been sensative. I don't know if that had to do with him being watched by my dad, who babied him to no end, when he was young because I was working and going to school at the same time or what. My 4 year old is definitely not like that. He throws temper tantrums, but they are usually in protest. The Big One usually throws them just because. And they come out of the blue. Like this morning for instance. I told him to get dressed. He's usually great about that. He gets his shirt on and I just yelled to him from the kitchen, "you getting dressed?" He yells back from the living room in a whiney voice, "YES, why do you ALWAYS have to ask ME that? AGHHH. You never LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" and runs crying to his bedroom. I was like what the..??? Man o day. Must be the Irish from DADDY'S coming out. lol How do I deal with that??
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