New and Exciting things!!

There I went again, over a month since my last post!!!
Well Friends, I am thinking of moving barns. The place she currently lives has been up for sale for over two years now, and the care has been slightly declining, as has the upkeep of the farm. Recently, the owners have purchased a second home and plan to rent the farm and move to the new home. I can only imagine their interest and upkeep of the farm will gently wane as their new home becomes all they ever wanted.
So I started looking around....and found the barn to end all barn hunts :)
Let me tell you about it, and I will provide photos after I take a few. I'll also provide you with the website after things are a little more set in stone!
1. First of all...60x120 indoor arena with clouds for footing (obviously I'm kidding here), this will be a new thing for us, to my knowledge Sugar has never been ridden indoors, and I haven't consistently ridden indoor!
2. Endless (joking) fields with hay thrown out with morning turnout
3. 150x250 outdoor arena, pretty great footing out there too!
4. Wash Rack
5. 40 acres to ride upon!
6. Beautiful, well kept, pre-civil war bank barn
7. A well established and well known horse woman to help us with issues and to give us lessons!!!
The woman who owns the barn has her own career outside of horses and a second career inside of the horse world as a well known judge. She keeps the barn population down by her choice as she doesn't attend shows these days, doesn't take on green or unbroke horses for training anymore, and uses her personal show horses for advanced lessons.
There may be great things in store for Sugar and I. For Rally and the boy...I am unsure, we broke up a while ago, and I've kept my eye on Rally. But I can't pass up this great opportunity for Sugar and I.

I'm back!

Wow! What a busy couple of months I had. But...I finished school!!! I have earned myself a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice :)
With the new year, I have been able to make myself a promise...to get Sugar consistently loping this year. That means we need to strengthen our walk and trot, aka solidify the awesome base we've got and get into consistent work. I'm researching local and close trainers, and have found one, I think. I've emailed her today to see about consistent lessons at her farm (which has an INDOOR)!!
Sugar is a bit of a dirty mess. It's very damp and starting to get very cold here again. How many of you guys blanket your horses? Do you think that it makes a difference in the amount of calories their bodies use if they are blanketed or not?
I'm going to catch up on everyone's blogs in the next few days...so glad to be back!!

Rearing: "fixed"

I did groundwork last night with Sugar. After my last post about rearing I sat down and counted the number of times she's done this: three to four times. I decided what I had done each time (what I described in my post) was not changing the behavior, it was stopping it after it had started. While that is what's needed at that particular moment in time, For a young marish-mare like Sugar with a mostly nervous rider, we can't let it get that far. She's boarded, it's not safe for her to do that not only for me, but sometimes 11 and 13 year old children handle her!
So last night I purposefully did things to induce her rearing behavior. (Sped up, went out of sight of Rally, etc.)
I paid attention to all of her little signals though this time (before it escalated), and the corrections would be barely visible to an onlooker. I put her in her stiff rope halter (whether you like them or not, a stiff rope halter has a little more meaning than the flat nylons), and off we went. It's pretty big for her little head, so I put my hand just above the knot, kept a light hold and started singing aloud (I was once told that singing takes your mind off of being nervous/tense, and it works for me). She began to pick her head up and I just squeezed my hand shut a little and pushed my hand down and towards me, ever so slightly. Squeeze, release with about two steps and she cut that out. We turned back towards the barn. Shortly after we turned back, Rally could be heard galloping, and Sugar tossed her head slightly. We turned around, and then I did about two more squeeze, release-s and she calmed down again. We turned towards the barn. We had a few back and forths of this for a little while.
With a  few more sessions, she should probably be done with that!!

PS- I haven't been keeping up with reading blogs this week, I'm going out of town this weekend and getting all my homework done early. I'm going to New York City this weekend to visit my sister and celebrate my birthday!!! For comedy fans, we're going to see Kathy Griffin!!

The value of a good horse on a rainy day

It's raining here again...big surprise. Kind of metaphoric for my life this week; hectic and stressful.
I went to the barn yesterday and Sugar was fairly dry. I decided to take some of my stress out on her dirty coat. I went to put her halter on and she put her nose down into the halter. (I'm not sure if everyone's horse is like that, but when Sugar does that, I know she wants attention and will be a good mare that day. I really needed a day like that after this week!!)
I looked her over and also found the perfect resolution for a stressful week...a very muddy mare :) We have this ritual; every brush I pick up she gets to smell, and then she takes the liberty of putting it in her mouth, turning it over, and mouthing that side. So I grab the metal curry, and bring it to her, instead of smelling it, she put her head around my shoulder in her best impression of a hug. She's never done that before, but it was such a humbling gesture. 
I brushed her for about half an hour and then put her back into the paddock. She hung around for a while, which is another thing she doesn't normally do...I really love that mare. She always comes through when I need it.

On an exciting note...we have 17 followers now!!!! Welcome:
Smazourek from It's Quarters for Me
Chelsea from huntseatcruizer
and Barbara B. It doesn't show your blog Barbara, if you have one please share it in the comments!!!

Trimmer coming out tomorrow, I'm going to get photos of Dakota's feet if I get the chance, you guys have to see them, I know Smazourek would like to get a look at them. They are so off kilter...

Oh Gogo :(

Today, I am writing a post honoring Andrea and Gogo, over at Eventing a Gogo. Gogo will cross the rainbow bridge today, after a long dance with soundness. This was the third blog I ever started reading, and I found it to be not only educational, but heartwarming and engaging. If you don't follow her yet, please try to take a look.
I had mere hours to say goodbye to Pride, but Andrea has had to watch her prized and special mare deteriorate. I commend her for trying every viable option for her beautiful bay mare. Gogo has lightened my day and taught me alot in the past two years that I've been reading. Losing Gogo is not her first equine loss; I can only imagine the pain of losing a second treasured friend.
Andrea inspired my barefoot journey, and I can't picture where I'd be without reading her blog. It's weird how you can feel like you know someone just by reading their online thoughts.

Award!!!

I received an award!!! Thank you both Wolfie (@What was I thinking) and CJay (@Artemis Areia)!!! This is my very first award and I can't wait to share it with fifteen others. That's part of the rules and the other part is to list seven new things about yourself.

1. I've played softball almost as long as I've been alive. I started out as a catcher, but it was awful on my knees and gave my teenage face a lot of pimples!! haha I moved to first base, and sometimes filled in in the outfield.

2. I'm a devoted Subaru owner. I learned to drive on a '95 stick shift impreza (with roll up windows and manual locks), and traded it in last year for an '08 Impreza, complete with automatic windows and locks, and the most important part, a "clicker". I have converted many of my friends to Subaru because of my deep love for the brand and also simply, the cars are amazing. I once climbed a mountain in my car, on a dirt road, with up to 8 inches of snow and ice in some spots. When I got to the top of the mountain, and parked, I looked around at all the other vehicles - all trucks except my little Subaru...can't beat that!!

3. I'm going to graduate college in December, with a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice. I've been reading all the news articles about the job market, and it is very hard to find a job. I'm looking and have been since early this summer!!

4. I recently got an Android phone, and I'm still getting used to it!!

5.I have two sisters and they are my very best friends in the whole wide world. I know many sisters fight, and we do, but there are way more times when we laugh and talk long into the night.

6. I have a red birthmark above my right eye, and people ALWAYS ask who hit you?? or what did you walk into?? And then I say oh, it's a birthmark!! They always get all embarassed, but I'm happy to tell them, I'd rather they ask and I explain it, then always wonder.

7. I'll be 23 in 15 days...and my birthday is my favorite time of year!!!





Now for the fifteen blogs:

1. Back Yard Draft (I know it's been a while since you posted, but maybe this will jump start your blogging engines again!! lol)

2. Jumpin' Jolly Roger (aka BigRedHorse)

3. Mustang Cheyenne

4. Dressage in Jeans

5. My Country Genes
6. The Grey Horse

7. A Fat Girl & A Fat Horse

8. Wet Reins

9.  The Jumping Percheron

10. Eventing A GoGo

11. Quarters For Me

12. Brays of Our Lives

13. Horse Crazy American in Germany

14. Dressage Mom

15. Living a Dream

How do you fix a light front end?

Since Sugar is my first young horse, sometimes our "corrective actions" for bad behaviors are more of a let's see if this works experiment.
She's a great horse on the ground, a little wonky still with standing still while tied, but I would say 90% of the time, all four feet stay where I put them. She's a great little horse to lead when no one lets her get away with grabbing a bite to eat here and there, but sometimes she does get worked up. I think a lot of it has to do with the attitude and nervous level of the handler (typically me). I am quick to get nervous, and she usually balances that out because she is not quick to get nervous.
However (you knew that was coming lol), Rally is buddy sour. That is a problem in itself, but when I take Sugar away he runs the fenceline, whirls this way and that, runs in and out of the barn, and whinnies almost constantly. Normally she ignores it, but sometimes lately she gets a little worked up (i guess that means she's buddy sour too??). Say I'm leading her away from the barn (halter and lead) she'll do that head toss thing mares do, and she'll pop up just a little. She did it twice and I growled at her, and she calmed down and walked patiently.
Last night, the perfect storm happened, I had a bad day, she decided to pull this little trick out of her bag and I had enough. She tried to toss her head back and forth, which I corrected with a tug on the the lead and therefore her halter. Then she popped up a little, I growled at her, and she walked a few more steps, then she popped up a little again, and I yanked down and towards myself with the lead. It wasn't a light yank, and I heard the halter snap down on her face. I felt really bad, and I wondered if that was too harsh. I know lots of people say never to yank on the halter, but what are your options from the ground when your horse does this?
 One good thing came out of the halter yanking, she didn't try that again. I did some groundwork with her right then and there, and took her to the round pen, and released her, where she decided to try and run that fence. (I had no lunge line, just a halter and lead)
So, I picked up the whip and sent her off. She chose a fast canter and also chose to buck a few times. I didn't really do anything about the buck. I did not pay attention to her unless she started to cut in. When she started to do a calm trot and drop her head and turn her ear towards me, I praised her with my voice and let the whip drag on the ground. I asked for a walk and she walked (sugar is mostly voice command trained). So I turned her around, and off she went at the almost gallop and bucking...same thing as before. When we were done with that, I did some ground work and turning and backing. She was nice and calm by then, so I took her back towards the barn.
What would you guys have done differently?

I often wonder...

how some people survive with horses.
So there I was, driving along on a busy and high speed road in my horsey hometown, and I notice someone got a new pony. My first thought is, well that's a small little paddock to keep a pony in all by itself, but let's keep an eye on it.
Two days later, I drive by (it's on my way home), and pony is gone. Hmm, did they sell? Return?
The next day I drive by, and slow down, I'm curious, I see that the paddock looks lived in. Pony must still be there.
Two weeks go by, paddock looks lived in, but no pony!
Last night, I practically stop in the middle of the road, looking for this pony. Lo and behold, there is the pony!!! Tied to a very long yellow rope, one end attached to the halter, one end attached to a golf cart, parked in the middle of the yard. Pony is grazing away at the plentiful grass in the yard.

I am certain Sugar would break all four of her legs at once if I tried this with her! haha

Sugar, 4 year old trail horse EXTRAORDINAIRE!!

I love my horse. I LOVE my horse. I LOVE MY HORSE!!!! Here they are pre-trail ride, representing their personalities, Rally waiting for something to eat him, Sugar dozing off. So, I was finally able to organize a trial ride with almost everyone at the barn going!!! It happened yesterday. There were four of us riding, and since one of the people was the barn owner's daughter who is only 13, her mom walked along with us. It was Sugar's first real trail ride (out of sight of the barn) and she was AWESOME!! Before you read this, please know as a barn, we are overly cautious riders...not the types to saddle up and ride out whereever and whenever we please.
I couldn't have asked for a better ride from Sugar. Other than the 13 year old's wonderful older mare, Sugar was the best horse out there. I was a little nervous at first (I'm more of a nervous rider than not a nervous rider) so BO (barn owner) suggested I ride in the round pen a little (I was the first one ready). Which I did, calmed down and got Sugar's attention.
So, we set off. BF (boyfriend) on his horse, Rally, a 13 year old, semi-spooky Arabian/Appaloosa cross, FB (Fellow Boarder) on her mare, Diamond, a 13ish year old Tennessee Walking mare, BOC (Barn Owner's Child) on her 21 year old AQHA mare, and me on 4 year old Sugar!! FB 's horse in the lead, BOC's mare in 2nd, Sugar & I in 3rd, and Rally in last. Rally needed to be last so Sugar and I could hold him back, he gets very excited and just wants to take off sometimes. However if Sugar is leading, he kind of just puts his nose right up her butt and walks along like that. Lucky for him, Sugar isn't bothered by it. Because this is our first jaunt away from the barn, we decided to pick our battles and that wasn't one of them. We agreed beforehand that we would be walking only, and that if one horse stops due to spooking or whatever, the next horse would continue on.
 FB's horse gets very spooky at a road bridge, and she actually stopped, BOC's horse did the same, so I gave Sugar a little squeeze and we took the lead. Rally was of course right behind us, and we climbed up the hill. Sugar is a slow horse, and once we got across the bridge, FB's horse was back in the lead. This trade off of lead horses happened a lot, with no real issues. Rally seriously prefers to be in the lead, but we did not allow him to be in the lead for most of the trip.
A car came up behind us (sugar hasn't really experienced this before) and she hardly noticed. A motorcycle would later go by us, and Sugar didn't care, an older loud Mustang went by us, and Sugar barely flicked her ear at it..GOOD MARE!!! We crossed several bridges, went by mailboxes, flags, trucks, farm machinery, etc....Sugar would look at it but that's it. She spooked twice...once at a loud noise in the woods right beside the road at one point, and once again when everyone else spooked. It only took that one time though for her to realize that she doesn't need to spook at everything they do.
FB used to gallop her horse and let her take off a little, so her horse was rarin' to go, which made her nervous. BO brought a lead and clipped it to said mare's tie-down, and they worked on that for a while.
It was a great experience, we are looking to repeat it in two weeks...hopefully Sugar's boots will be here by then. Sugar was so awesome, I am just in awe of how awesome that mare is.
PS- I got an Android cell phone...anyone have one? What are good apps? Any horse related apps?

15 Followers :)

What a nice round number! 15. Welcome, Albigears!! I've read your blog for almost a year now, thanks for following mine!! Albigears writes the blog Wet Reins, it's on my reading list over on the right side. She runs the horse part of a program for children, a job I would love to have!! According to her latest post they are a little down on horse #s, I recommended the COTH giveaways section. If anyone has any other websites to offer, please share!! So I went to the barn to take care of Sugar's poor legs last night. I scrubbed the suspected scratches with anti-fungal shampoo. The back legs are much worse than the front, and the left hind is the absolute worst. Of course it's raining here today. Again. I'm thinking of keeping her inside for a day, but I would have to take her to the lower barn, which she doesn't like as much, and would be fretful without Rally, so I'd have to bring him down too. They look painful...at least the hinds do. I may have to call the vet tomorrow...I'm going to have Bryan check them tonight. By the way, prior to feeding I get her out and do about 3 minutes of ground work with her everday. It has GREATLY improved out groundwork skills. She's a different horse from the pushy demanding little mare I had at the end of winter. I need to make more saddle time, but it's nearly impossible to ride during the week with both full time work and full time school. It sucks, but she's living the good life and I'm making sure she gets to for the rest of her life :)

I think...

Sugar has scratches!!! I think. Horizontal lines of crusty dirt between her fetlock joint and coronary band on the backs of her legs? ALL FOUR legs??I tried to bush them, but she didn't like that very much. I was out on Sunday,and she was normal. I was out last night, and she has these. I've posted on COTH. I've researched on COTH. Sugar has very sensitive skin. So I'm going to wash her with antifungal shampoo, concentrate on those areas, and get them cleaned up. Then I read that I shoudl put Desitin or Zinc Oxide on the lines to keep them clean and moisture free. Someone also said I could use Tomorrow, the stuff we use for Rally's thrush. It's been so wet here. I wish our barn was drier.

Do they make horse sized rafts?

I've been reading and hearing a lot of stories about wildfires down south. I sure wish we could send them buckets & buckets of our rain. I hope none of you are in that area. Here in PA, we have had strong, steady rain for three days now. In fact, today we are scheduled to get four inches of rain...in ONE DAY.
The barn is flooding, there's a huge pool right outside of the stalls, and with too much more rain, the stalls will flood. However, the horses don't seem to mind, when I arrived last night all but one of them were out on the pastures sucking up the grass!
I cleaned up the poop piles as best as I could, and spent some time with Sugar :) She thinks every time some plastic rustles around it's a treat for her. So I had some Sour Patch Kids last night, and she of course pricked her ears forward and practically drooled. So, I thought, I'll let her taste a little bite, and she'll spit them right out and learn her lesson! She chewed it up, swallowed it and begged for more!
This is what I spent my whole weekend doing, up in Northern PA. This is my friend's Jeep, and we stopped for a picture, we do not normally stand in the back! I'm the middle girl, in the back.

Here we are again, in another friend's Jeep. We got stuck on a hill in the mud after this, and the boys tried and tried to get the Jeep out. There were two of us women with them, and we took a look at the situation, thought about it, and came up with a plan. When the guys had tried all they could, we took over, started our plan, and got down and pushed with them...the Jeep came right out!!I'm the only girl you can see in the picture, my boyfriend (Rally's owner) is up front on the right side, but you can't see him!

14 followers!!!

I have a new follower!! Welcome Sarah V.!!! If you have a blog, please share it in the comments, I love to read new blogs!
The substitute trimmer came out, and I found her to be very informative and knowledgeable. She is also based out of Maryland, and specializes in fitting boots!!! Hooray!! Sugar has been fitted for boots and she's a size "0" (ohhh, to be a size 0 again:) in the Easyboot Gloves. I'm really thinking of buyine two (fronts), and trying them. She's very tender on rocks and pavement. So much so that I'm reluctant to take her to our arena, which has a rocky path leading up to it. They are only $58.00 USD right now at Valley Vet. Since I am a "barefooter", I think it's high time Sugar and I can ride where we please!!!
She recommended getting the boots ASAP (while the trim is still fresh), and wearing them in. Upon which time I am to add the power strap to them (small-ish strap that goes across the front for extra stay on power), and contact the trimmer for a small pad to put in the bottom of the shoe. This pad will help stimulate the bottom parts of the foot to keep it growing and assist in blood flow to the hoof.
Now, back to regularly scheduled Sugar-loving, we tried the new bit and bridle. The bridle just doesn't fit her head correctly, it's supposed to be Cob sized, but the noseband is HUGE. I'm thinking about throwing Pride's old bridle back on her. Hmm.
So she's basically cured of the sideways treks up the arena hill when I ride her. Do you ever have anyone else get on your horse to see if they are truly fixed or if you just ride them differently now?
Her newest thing is not wanting to turn well, or also bend her body with the circle. I know that pain can cause this, but to my knowledge, she has not hurt herself. Before I call the vet back out, can you guys offer any training help on getting them to turn better or bend with the circle? Of course we are working on the give to pressure stuff with turning, but other suggestions are greatly appreciated.

We survived Irene :) and Mucho Caliente arrived!!!

Well blogging friends, I hope you have all survived or escaped Irene as Sugar, Rally and I have. I work for a government agency that responds to disasters like these so I've been working my keester off all week and weekend at the office, then to the barn to see the princess.
In that spirit, I have seen this video making the rounds, and if you haven't seen it yet, definitely a pretty cool thing to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jaPRZd7gvJc
Probably a mounted search & rescue team, ears forward, slow, steady pace...a horse & rider team trained and experienced at doing what they do...nothing better!!
We didn't have any permenant damage to the barn, some flooding, but it was mostly gone the next morning. Lots of power outages around us, but none at the barn.

Prior to Irene, I got down to the local tack store (Tackroom Treasures) and spoke with the owner. She recommended a copper french loose ring snaffle. So I'm giving it a try. I had Sugar in a mullen mouth, but it's far too large for her, and I'm not sure she's very fond of it. Prior to that, the trainer I no longer ride with had us using a rubber full cheek snaffle, which she definitely did not like. So I figured why not give this a try. The next day, Irene started to hit the U.S. and I haven't had time to actually get on her with it! So hopefully tonight, or definitely tomorrow night! Any knowledge on bits is greatfully accepted :)

Patty, the wonderTrimmer was scheduled to come out in two days, but she e-mailed me last night and said she broke her arm and isn't sure when she'll be back to work! I wrote back and explained to her that we need her and how can we possibly go on without her! lol I also offered to come down and do a work day at her farm if she needs it (thinking who will care for her horses if she's hurt??) Not sure what else I can do for her, she's done so much to help us!
I did a bunch more research, and I believe I found someone that can take over in the meantime, plus this woman knows a lot about (equine) boots...which we will be purchasing in the near future. She also is a long distance rider...so I can't wait to pick her brains on that!!

And finally, last but not least, if you are following the Equestrian Ink summer book giveaway, I actually won a book, and it got here right before Irene did!! I haven't had the chance to even open it yet thanks to work, but I will be diving headfirst into it this weekend!!! It definitely is my type of book based on reading the back. Here is the book: http://www.amazon.com/Mucho-Caliente-Francesca-Prescott/dp/1606011707 I will be sure to let you all know how it is.

I had a relaxing weekend, and didn't get to the Stock Horse Show :(
On Friday, I decided to lunge Sugar, and she was mostly very good. Still bucking a good bit at the canter, but we need to continue building muscle. I know that Sugar knows how to canter/lope because the trainer she went to had her loping off from a walk when he was done with her. Rally carried on while she was gone, running, bucking, whinnying, etc.
On Saturday, Sugar & I were able to ride with Rally & my boyfriend. We were going to go trail riding because the road where we need to ride across was closed, but it reopened. So instead we rode all around in the little neighborhood and all over the farm. Rally spooked several times, but Sugar just kept on truckin', and he quickly got over it.
As many young horses do, Sugar will look around and end up heading off in that direction, instead of keeping a straight-ish line. I have no problem with her looking around, as long as she's not fixating or speeding up or whatever else horses throw at you, so for now I've decided to guide her back with leg yields and some neck reining (Sugar was taught the very basics of neck reining before I bought her).
I have really been paying attention to her trotting off, and I believe for now I've got the cure. Simple half-halts have done the trick as soon as she starts speeding up her walk. Because she's such an honest horse, it's not like she's walking one minute and off on a rampage the next. She gets excited about what's next and wants to get there!
I've also been very careful to not let her speed up when we look as if we are returning to the barn. I think that's a great foundation for a young horse, and if it's possible I would say she actually walks slower back to the barn than leaving. She was slightly riding sour when I purchased her, but I've worked with her on it, and I think she really enjoys getting out now.
Another thing Sugar sometimes tries is walking off when I unhalter her to put her bridle on. That's also been getting better, as she only took two steps this time :) She does not walk off after a ride when the bridle comes off to put the halter on. I can actually take her bridle off, and then scratch all her itchy spots on her head, and then put her halter on, and she stands there. So I have to re-examine the process I use to put her bridle on.
Rally actually sped up this weekend on the way back to the barn. I basically parked Sugar and had Bryan turn around, and go back out on the trail until Rally calmed down, at which point I told him to praise him well, and head back to the barn. He did this twice, and I had Bryan do that twice. I'll be keeping my eye on that.
One more thing, I'm on the search for a new bit, any recommendations?
Oh, by the way, has anyone checked out Mugwump?? She's the new author of the Fugly blog!

Stock Horse Association?

So this weekend there's a Stock Horse Association show relatively close to me. I'm kind of intrigued by it, and I think I might go see it. Does anyone know anything about it? What are your opinions? If you don't want to post them, you can email them to me privately.

Old pictures of Pride

I found a bunch on my parents' computer!!! What a handsome guy!!

I will never own a horse like this!

I step out of the old farmhouse into brisk February evening air. If only I weren't house sitting, and I actually owned this place!! I head straight for the shadowy bank barn, and flip on the first light switch I can remember. Ah, barn and pine shavings, nothing like it! I grab the green lead rope and head straight for the pasture. Seven Arabian steeds to bring in, one at a time.
As I near the gate, soft nickers and expectant eyes greet me. I reach for my favorite, the calm, dependable Luka. Hey buddy, I whisper. We walk to the barn and he gets the first stall on the right. I bring the rest of the horses in, one after another, even my least favorite, the opinionated, bossy, glimmering, chesnut gelding, Pride. He's the best looking horse on the farm, but also quite a handful.
As per instructions, I walk around to each stall, and put blankets on each horse for their night in the drafty old barn. Luka, first because he's my favorite. Pride, next, because he's across the aisle. I reach for Pride's blanket hanging on his wall; he prances around me as only an Arabian can do. I cut him off and begin to lay the blanket across his back. He grabs it and pulls it off his other side, nearest the wall. As I reach for it, he prances around me again. Around and around we go with this game, until I leave the stall and attend to all the other horses. I say to myself as I close his gate, I will never own a horse like this!

Does Anyone remember MySpace?

Well I logged onto mine the other day and found this little snippet I wrote about Pride:
meet the Arabian horse...
he is the most sensitive being you will ever come across,
he notices when you don't come visit him everyday,
he will learn to love you when you put your heart out for him,
he recognizes your car from the pasture,
he catches you when you lose it and almost fall off his back,
he wants to teach you to do his favorite sport,
he forgives your minor mistakes and bad hair days,
he would do anything you asked of him,
and take care of you while he did it.
he's there when your boyfriend breaks your heart,
he is expressive in his feelings,
he comes running when you call his name,
if only there were men like him :)

I am back from vacation!

I am back, Finally!
We have a new follower!! Hooray!!! You are lucky # 13, Cjay! I tried to answer your comment while I was on vacation, but the cable on the island got zapped by lightning.
I hope your horses passed peacefully, and if they did not, it is a hard thing to deal with. I have no words of wisdom other than time has dulled the pain. Pride was really a once in a lifetime horse. I can't describe the bond we had in words. I need to sit down and dedicate a post to him and offer more stories of him, but at the risk of sounding like an neurotic mess, honestly I haven't had the emotional strength to do it.
Sugar was exactly what I needed, and still is. She is also many things I never wanted, a mostly white horse, a moody mare, and lastly...a Paint horse! She is very friendly, with a huge sense of humor and loves to put herself right "up in your business". Cleaning stalls? Oh here, let me dig in the wheelbarrow of saw dust and blow it all out! Cleaning water buckets? I'll pick up the hose and aim it at you! I think she puts up with me, and is just generally friendly to everyone, but our farrier once told me Sugar seems very bonded to me. Who knows!
Speaking of Sugar, she has rubbed a section of her skin by her forelock pretty hard while I was gone. The boyfriend thought it was a cut or injury of some kind, but alas it looks like the Neck Thread worms are back. I have sent him off to Tractor Supply for another round of Equimax. If that doesn't give her relief, I'm calling the vet out tomorrow. I will take pictures tomorrow.
It will be a few days until I post again, lots of catching up to do!