Photo Gallery - Spring is Here!!!

SNOW SNOW SNOW!!!

Yes, it is snowing AGAIN!!! We had a snow storm last week, and today and tomorrow we are getting a Nor'easter! Great! Just what we want - it will be June or July before we can ride the trails! Here's the thing..... it's snow..... we can deal with snow...... it makes everything more difficult, but we're used to it....... but that doesn't mean we have to LIKE it!!! Especially in the middle of April!















On another note, Bruce was here Saturday. He put front shoes on Scooby - there was actually enough decent hoof wall to nail to! That's major progress! You can see in the photo to the left that Scooby even let Bruce use an electric grinder to file down one section. He wasn't thrilled with the process, but luckily he is very cooperative and trusting with people he knows. The photo on the right is Scooby's newly shod bad foot. Bruce's friend Ken Norman (also a farrier) came by to visit with Bruce while he was here. It was great! The two of them work together very well and both have incredible patience with and understanding of the horses. Of course they are both excellent farriers too! Carla and I learned a lot from listening to them bounce ideas back and forth. They both worked on Ziegy, Deja, and even a little on Scooby though Ken "doesn't do drafts"! Bruce also had Ken take a look at Tapper's feet and shoes to see what he thought and if he had any other ideas. Ken threw out a few suggestions for next time but agreed with what Bruce had done this time and thinks he is moving Tapper in the right direction.




On Friday Chris was here to help with chores and she brought the beasts! Well, she brought Tanner and the Murphy beast! He continues to grow and grow. He likes to eat squeaky toys - and I mean eats them, swallowing whatever he can! I got a little worried when he started eyeing the birds! Rosy actually put Murphy in his place, first time she has ever done that. Once he was properly respectful of her superiority she allowed him to play with her! That is Rosy taking away the toy from Murphy on the right. Tanner was his usual sweet, needy self. He spent most of his time looking out the window to see Chris...

Ride!!!!!

First ride of the year!!!!! It was a beautiful day, and since it's supposed to snow tomorrow (again) I thought this might be my only chance to ride for a while. Of course no one else was going to be around, and Tapper hates going out by herself, but I just had to give it a try. So I got Tapper all groomed up, and tacked up, and then had a little chat with her. I told her it was going to be a very short ride, on the property, and if she was good she would get a granola bar when we got back to the barn. She gave me a little trouble about standing still at the mounting block, but I told her the granola bar was on the line and then she stood absolutely still while I mounted! We went down the hill, took a left, and rode through the snow covered field (with a very scary snowbank at the end that we had to stop and look at several times before Tapper decided it wouldn't eat her), then up the driveway and back down to the barn. Then we just puttered around in the driveway for a while. All totaled it was only a 10 minute ride but she was a good girl and it was the first ride of the year!!! And yes, she got her granola bar - plus a carrot and an apple!

The photos are the first from horseback this year. Tapper looking at Dolly in the top photo and watching Ziegy nuzzle Josey below.

Been a While.....

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, things have been a little busy.

Let's see, Pepper left last Saturday. (That's him with Tapper and Dolly.) Jean rode him home. I moved Abby over to Sundance's old stall so Ceres would have someone across the hall from her. With Pepper gone, that side was empty, and when Josey goes, Ceres would have been the only horse in that barn!












Oh, I forgot to tell you, Josey has been sold! The new owners are a family in Chester who have other horses, and cows, and seem like they will be a great home for her. They even own Josey's half sister who is a year older than Josey. She will probably leave here next week, they live on a dirt road and are waiting for the mud to dry up a little before they move her. That's her hanging out with Ziegy. Josey came into raging heat this week and Ziegy is her new best friend!

Speaking of mud, last week and early this week we had a lot of it! The horses were all a mess, but Abby shows it best!













Bruce was here on Wednesday. Tapper and Dolly got shoes and Bruce will return next Saturday (the 14th) to trim the other horses. Scooby's foot is really looking good! Bruce thinks he might put front shoes on him now that the hoof wall has grown enough to actually nail to. That would get him up off the sole and hopefully encourage the hoof to grow even more, as well as make him more comfortable.



We got another snowstorm this week. Sleet, ice, and about 7 inches of snow Wednesday through Thursday morning. It has turned cold again. Of course we put all the heated buckets away when the weather warmed up and everything froze last night! Oh well, it will warm up again soon. Here is Scooby looking pretty with all the snow.....









Heather was here today. Most everyone got their spring shots (even the goats!). Abby and Josey got coggins drawn. Abby, Tapper and Deja all need to have their teeth done this summer. (See how Deja's chewing funny in the photo.) Ziegy needs his done in the fall. He was a very naughty boy. He did not want any part of getting shots, he tried to bolt and reared! Heather took her time and worked with him and he was much better by the time she finished. Since he came from out west we don't know how things were done with him in the past and they tend to not be real gentle with their horses out there sometimes so he could have good reasons for acting that way. Deja is having some problems with her hind legs. Her suspensory ligaments are breaking down and she is having some stringhalt type symptoms as if she might have EPSM like Scooby. Arabians don't usually get EPSM, but anything is possible so we are going to try giving her some of Scooby's fat supplement and see if that helps. There is nothing we can do about the ligaments except keep her comfortable and maybe put eggbar shoes on her hind feet to give her extra support. She also got a shot of Legend which may help with that as well as with arthritis. Good thing Carla has Dolly to ride because I think Deja's "semi-retirement" may now be permanent! Chris also had Heather take a look at Ceres and we went over what her problems are and what we've done to help her. We really have tried everything and she is just slowly going down hill. She has ulcers and neurological issues as well as major muscle loss. Ceres just seems like she is tired and wants to rest. Chris has made the decision to put her down later this spring. In the meantime we'll keep her comfortable and try to make the rest of her time here happy for her. Above is Ceres with Dolly after the snowstorm.