The girls...

Well, Cami seems to be settling in just fine. She gave Heather a little bit of trouble for shots yesterday, but she was a whole lot better than Ziegy was for his shots!!! I moved the horses around yesterday so Tapper, Deja and Dolly could go out on grass (by the riding ring), and Cami was in the pasture next to them so she could visit and run around. She is a really pretty mover, gorgeous canter and floating trot. She seemed to like having more space. She did a lot of squealing over the fence with the girls. She was fine until she came in last night. She went into her stall by herself, I didn't have to lead her - yea! But her 3 friends went in their stalls in the OTHER barn. She was NOT happy about that!!! She was screaming for them, pacing, circling, basically going nuts in her stall (of course stopping for a bite of dinner now and then too). So I had a little chat with her. First I told her to knock it off - that got her attention. Then I said she needed to be calm, she has another horse in the barn with her, she could see Dolly from her stall, and she needed to stop being so silly. I said she was acting like a baby and she was a grown up horse and needed to behave like one! I talked for a little longer and she calmed right down, stopped circling and pacing, called to her friends one last time and then ate her dinner. We had another (much shorter) discussion this morning when I went to put her fly mask on. She was in a hurry and didn't want to wait but she quickly realized that if she stood still and let me put it on, she would get outside much more quickly! Silly girl!!!

Busy!

Phew!!! Got the horses in just in time because it is pouring out there!!! Lots of things happened this week, so I'll try to remember it all.

On Thursday, Amy S. and I went to see a horse up in Williamstown, VT. He is a Belgian cross, and was advertised as a great trail horse, 10 years old, 15.3 h, sounded wonderful! So we got there and saw the horse, and rode the horse, and he is a little out of practice, and a little stubborn, but overall a really sweet guy, great on the trail, nothing phases him! The good news is he is NOT 15.3 h, he is more like 14.2 h with a very drafty build. The best part is he will go out alone! He's not barn sour!!! I really liked him and so did Amy, so I bought him!!!!! They delivered him here that afternoon. His former owner, Sandy, trailered him down and it was nice that she could see where he was going because she really loved him and had a hard time selling him. She needed to downsize from 4 horses to 2. I rode him yesterday around the Dutton loop with Carla on Dolly and he was a good boy - a little strong-willed, but he was having a lot of trouble on the dirt road because it was very rocky. I think I will stay on the property with him until I can get shoes on him which will be next Monday, the 4th. There is just one problem, and that is his name. The name he came with is "The Sundance Kid, aka Sunny". Now since I just lost my Sundance in March, I can't have another horse with this name. I've been trying out lots of names but so far have not come up with one that seems to fit. I'm open to suggestions..... HELP!!!

As you know if you read the last post, Heather was here on Friday. She did chiropractic adjustments on Deja and Dolly - they both seemed to like it. Deja seemed to be moving more comfortably immediately, and Dolly was relaxed and easy-going about the whole process. Heather checked out Dolly's new western saddle and said it was a good fit - yea! Then she gave Carla some stretches to do with Dolly to help her get in shape. She also did a simple vet check on my new guy and thinks he will be fine for what I'll do with him - trail ride. He would never be an endurance horse or a barrel racer, but as a trail horse he is great!

Friday was also Tapper's 14th birthday!!! And for those of you who know Roo, it was his 2nd birthday!!!! This is Tapper letting the new guy know what's what! You can see he was really impressed!

A new boarder came in on Saturday morning. Her name is Cami, and she is a Hanoverian cross. Her owner, Kathi, is a riding instructor (hunter/jumper) and she has owned Cami since she was very young. Cami was born with only one eye, but since that is all she has ever known, it's normal to her and she doesn't know she is missing anything. She gets around like any other horse does, and Kathi even jumps her! Cami seems very sweet, she has settled right in and on her first night here was relaxed enough to lie down in her stall! I think she'll fit in just fine. As I get to know her better, I'll write more about her...

Abby left late Saturday afternoon. Her new barn was ready for her to move into. I haven't heard from Amy how the move went, I'll find out and let you know.

Today I put Ziegy with the new guy and they got along well. Ziegy thought he was the boss, but he soon found out otherwise!!! I worked on fences a little, cleaned the 2 big watering troughs, stuff like that. Carla and I were supposed to ride, but it was raining and Carla wasn't feeling 100% so we didn't go. We'll ride tomorrow. Heather comes again tomorrow to give Cami her shots and coggins, and maybe to work on Tapper. I'll let you know what that's all about if it happens....

I think that brings you up-to-date. I probably forgot something but oh well.....

Puck

Puck

1994 - 2007

He made us laugh, he made us cry, he was always an imp and seemed to have quite a sense of humor. If he liked you, you knew it. If he wasn't too sure about you or what you were doing, he let you know by headbutting you! He was a very good goat and I will miss him.

Puck Update

Just to keep you all updated, Puck took sick last week. On Thursday night he ate dinner and seemed fine, then on Friday morning he was obviously VERY ill. He would not eat, barely drank, had trouble walking, would not lie down, and was an extremely sick boy. Heather was coming later that day for Ceres, so I had her look at Puck. His symptoms were confusing because they did not point to any one thing wrong. She tubed him with mineral oil and water to hopefully get things moving if there was a blockage. She gave him a shot of banamine (I think that's how it's spelled) and left me 2 more shots to give him the next day. She checked in with me Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning and there had been no change. She came out again Sunday afternoon and took blood for testing, tubed him again, gave him antibiotics because he now had a fever, B vitamins, and a steroid to try to stimulate his appetite. Nothing worked. The blood work came back not really showing anything unusual other than that he hadn't eaten in days. He has been getting a little worse each day and Heather is going to put him down tomorrow. Puck has been declining gradually through the winter, but this was a sudden change for the worse. He and his twin Petrucchio came here at 2 months of age, and they are now 13 years old.

Ceres

Ceres

1987(?) - 2007

Like human beings, horses are all individuals with singular personalities,

their own virtues and their own faults. We become bound to them for their beauty, their eccentricities, their heart,

and the love they so often return to us.

-Slaton

Ceres has joined Sundance and Misty out under the back field - but really in horse heaven. She had been here a long time and was part of the family. She will be missed....

Update.....

Well, I've been posting lots of photos but haven't really brought you up to date on what's happening here. First let me apologize if the photos and print don't seem to go together or the spacing is off. I type it all out the way I want it but when it is posted it changes and things come out screwy...

Josey left last month to go to her new home. She is doing quite well there except for jumping their fences! Abby will be leaving sometime this month to go to her grandmother's barn in Chester (Amy's mother-in-law's place).

Ceres is not doing well at all. Chris is working on scheduling the vet to put her down. Our best guess is that she has some kind of cancer. She has had the neurological issues and ulcers for a long time, but she has declined so quickly in the last 2 or 3 months that something else has to be going on. I guess with chronic ulcers horses can sometimes get stomach cancer so maybe that's what it is. We have tried everything and she just continues to go down hill. This is a very difficult time for Chris (and not real easy for me either!). Ceres will join Sundance and Misty out under the back field...

Amy has started working with Ziegy. She took him to the round pen yesterday and will hopefully be riding him soon! We have been riding as much as possible. Dolly was kind of tired by yesterday. She was worked in the round pen on Friday and did 5 mile trail rides both Saturday and Sunday! Sunday's ride had a lot more trotting for her and she was pooped, but she's getting in shape!

The fox(es) have been around a lot. I think they must have young to feed. I got some close up photos of one in Ziegy's run yesterday...

I am going to have a lot of empty stalls in the near future. I have one possible boarder, I should know about them in the next couple of weeks. I have signs up in the feed and tack stores so hopefully I will fill up soon. Sparkie may have to come home for a while because the people who are leasing him are moving. I'm not sure when that will happen but depending on where they end up he may come back for a while. For those of you who don't know, Sparkie is my POA gelding. He is in his 20's and has been leased since last summer by Justine and her son Christian who both love him to pieces! This is not the best photo of Sparkie, he's looking kind of sleepy here!

Well, it is now 6:30 pm and I thought I'd add a little more...

I forgot to tell you that Ziegy decided he wanted to hang out with Scooby yesterday and he jumped the fence! I was planning to put them together once Abby left, but Ziegy didn't want to wait. I looked out the sunroom window to see Scooby charging up the hill toward Ziegy. They met, sniffed noses, squealed once and stomped, and then put their heads down and grazed side by side!!! It was so sweet! Of course it wasn't sweet when Amy went out to catch Ziegy, Scooby wouldn't let her get near him! Amy had to chase Scooby off so she could get to Ziegy... Anyway, now they are buddies and I will keep them together.

Amy and I had a nice ride this afternoon. It was a gorgeous day! We went up the road and around the Dutton trail. It was really nice in the woods. We passed (or were passed by) lots of very polite drivers on the road, children, lawn mowers, all kinds of things and Abby and Tapper were both very well behaved. We had to laugh at one family we passed, the little boy kept saying "I like your horses... they are really pretty horses..." The little girl just wanted to run out and see the horses, and the mom said "it was inside out day at school, that's why their clothes are on inside out", she didn't want us to think she was a bad mom!!! Like we even noticed!

Last but not least, a BIG HELLO to Esther who is in China for 2 weeks! Hope you are having a great time!!!

Photo Gallery - continued

Since spring seems to have finally arrived, the horses have been moving around into different paddocks and pastures, and everyone is spending more time out doors!