The Good the Bad and the UGLY

So, what do you notice about the two photos above? I can tell you, in case you don't want to be "rude".

One is that Bobby looks absolutely pissed off. See his stink eye? Look at his jaw, he is totally grinding his teeth in this picture. Two, look at me. I look tense, annoyed and angry. These two photos are cropped off of photos from the same show. I'm riding Bobby, just in case you didn't figure that part out ;). These photos were taken from our last show together in the Spring of 2009 (Michigan Morgan Showtime).

It was an awful show, a show that took the love of showing completely away from me, and I'm guessing, Bobby too.

During this show, J was miserable, I was miserable and Bobby was miserable. I didn't have enough time to properly work the horse in the months leading up to the show. Bobby had also developed some very bad show ring behaviors such as bolting into the center of the ring and jiggiing, which he did in abundance at this show. In fact, at one point we had an absolute outburst in the middle of a class. It was embarrasing to say the least, and my fault.  I didn't ride Bobby with ANY skills at this show, and I have them too, what I did was rely on aids that only showcased my inability to see an unhappy horse and an unhappy me. I am NOT that kind of a rider, or at least I wasn't.

So, what have I learned from that show? Well for one, I will never take an unconditioned horse into a show ring again. Also, I'm not showing again if my heart is not in it. Shame on me, SHAME SHAME SHAME! I've also learned a few other things such as not to be a big fat push over. I never wanted to go to this show, but I allowed myself to be guilted/talked into it. My fault, nobody elses!

Here are two more examples from the same show. I have to laugh at my "Debbie Downer" expression here!  Ugh, painful, I tell ya', painful!

Above are photos of Bobby and my happier show days. He looks so happy in all of the pictures and I look calm, poised and best of all, HAPPY. Also, that must have rubbed off on the judges, because only a few years ago, we won...a lot! I think that I need to get myself back to that happy place again before I show. I am totally getting there, so there's hope for a show or two in 2011.

Now I just have to start working a horse!

Shopping, Casper and Sid

What a gorgeous day yesterday was. Around noon, rain clouds and dreary gave way to sunshine and warmth with temperatures in the mid 70s! What a day to ride, I felt the riding bug the second that sun peeked out from the clouds.

On my way to J's, I stopped off at a local Outlet mall. I planned on grabbing a birthday gift for my friend Laura, but I had hopes of finding myself a little sumpin' sumpin' too. Unfortunately, a little sumpin' sumpin' turned in to a little over $200.00 worth of clothes and shoes. Nine West and J Crew were the culprits. I got some great deals, but I'm still a little upset about it...what a waste of money! I have to say that I rarely go shopping and I really did need some new shoes for work (I've only got a few pairs of raggedy heeled shoes and boots)..I can pretty much justify anything :).

Anyway, after my retail therapy, I headed to the barn for some horse therapy. I started off by bringing in a few geldings. As soon as they were in, I grabbed Casper and brought him outside. He hadn't been outside for 2 weeks, so he was very anxious to get going. He was a good boy and patiently waited for me to release the lead line this time.

After Casper was turned out, I decided to go ahead and ride Sid. I haven't been on Sid in months. This is partially because over the summer, the Jr. Exhibitor who had been showing Bobby, also took an interest in Sid. In fact, I believe she was and may still be interested in purchasing him. I think I mentioned this before, but she decided not to take Bobby to Nationals, and since making that decision, she has not been out to ride. J does want her to come back and ride, and I have to say, I do too. She is a great rider and both Bobby and Sid benefited from her regular riding sessions with them.

N E Way, I pulled Sid out and after a bit of grooming and tacking up, took him out to ride. He was such a good boy...really, he's a point and shoot kind of a horse. He just sets right up and goes. I like the feeling of having a high archy neck out in front of me, and Sid definitely has that. He is on the choppy side, and his canter is hard for me to sit but I have excuses for that. The excuses are that he's small and narrow, so his stride is short and choppy AND I have nothing to grip with my legs :). J told me I was doing the belly dance during his canter; I admit, it was hard for me to find the rhythm, but I kept my butt in that saddle nice and tight, belly dancing and all! (My issues with him in the past were his still studdy nature, but yesterday, he was a perfect gentleman...I swear, he's just fabulous to ride).

After putting Sid away, I went out to bring Casper back in. Oy Vey! Casper was a disgusting dirty mess. He spent his entire time out running the fence line and hollering for the mares who were two pastures over and about 5 acres out ~ what a stud muffin he thought he was! Finally, I caught him and while leading him back to his stall, he let out the loudest, most obnoxious scream. I really discourage allowing Stallions to behave that way while being led, so I had a time correcting him. My ears are still ringing, but I finally got him to listen to me and we returned to his stall where he finished off his hay in between bouts of hysterical bellering. MEN!

Casper in all of his glory last winter 

That is a big horse!

Morgans tend to be smaller statured horses in comparison to some of these gigantic Warmbloods and certain other breeds. I'd say the norm for a Morgan ranges from 14.2 to 15.2 hands. Of course there are exceptions to this rule, but for the most part they're not huge horses, which is just fine by me!

It seems that people are starting to breed 'em bigger as of late. I've been perusing websites like this and this for many a year and I've really noticed that the there are more and more Morgans at 16 hands and even this one that is at a HUGE 17 hands. Here is his feature page.

I have never heard of a Morgan of that height before. I can't even really imagine it!

Anyway, I guess I just wanted to pass this along. A 17 hand Morgan, wow!!

Daisy's Thyroid and Horse Crazy

Yesterday I took my cat, Daisy, to the vet for a checkup. I've had her since my high school graduation (1998). She was a gift from my best friend, Laura.

Over the past few months, my husband Brian and I have been noticing that she's been dropping weight (I originally spelled it wait...really???). She's always been a (for lack of a better word) pukey cat, but she's never had an issue maintaining a healthy body weight, until recently.

Anyway, a few weeks ago, I began slowly switching her food over to a high protein food that I purchased at a "natural" pet store near my house. Daisy does seem to be getting sick less and less, which is good, but she was still dropping weight, so.....vet time!

The vet told us that she suspects Hyper Thyroid. She came to this conclusion based on a few things such as: Her slightly elevated heart rate, drop in weight and her age (12). A blood sample was taken and $140.00 later, we were on our way.

I have to say though, that I felt like the dumbest cat owner, ever.

Did you know that:

Cats sweat through their paws when they're nervous? (apparently dogs do too, whodathunkit?)

and

There are tons of different calico patterns and varieties. I didn't know that Daisy was a Tortoise Shell DILUTE Calico, until another client pointed that out to me.

In a few weeks we'll know more about why Daisy is dropping poundage so quickly. Hopefully it is her thyroid because according to the Vet, that is the lesser of the evils of potential causes.
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On our way back from the vet, Brian was telling me about a mutual acquaintance of ours who recently graduated from Equine Veterinary College at MSU. She moved down to Florida earlier this summer to begin her new job as a...well...Equine Vet. Anyway, last weekend while she was up visiting, she told Brian that she was quitting her job and moving to Seattle to be a small animal vet. According to her, horse owners are "too damn crazy and I can't take it anymore."

Well, I have to say I was surprised to hear that, for a second. Then I started thinking back on all of the horse owners I've known and worked for throughout my life. Does the term "horse Crazy" have a deeper meaning? Think about it! LOL. I'm horse crazy, but am I horse CRAZY? Yikes, I hope not.

I am only generalizing as I know that the vast majority of horse owners are wonderful AWESOME people, like my mom and all of you! I's just sayin'! Regardless, I can't wait to see this girl and drill her on all of the juicy, scandalous and annoying shenanigans that drove her to such extremes!

I'm thinking that in reality, it's probably the hours and sheer lack of equine vets that drove her crazy.

An Unwanted Milestone for Gypsy

On Sunday, I received a text message from Marie, a boarder at J's farm.

The text said "Hey, do you want to go on a trail ride this afternoon?"

I replied "Yes, I would love to."

We set up plans to meet at J's around 4:00. As I prepared to head out to J's, I kept running back in forth which Morgan I would like to ride down the trail. Of course, I am extremely fortunate to be able to ride J's horses. She has been very kind in allowing me that privilege, and I am thankful for that everyday. Without her, well, I wouldn't have the privilege of being around or ON horses without paying lots of $$$$$.

I wasn't sure if J planned on joining us or not, so that left Gizmo out of the options. Gizmo tends to be J's first choice for a trail mount as he's kind of been there done that and J cannot afford to be dumped off of a horse (she has Rheumatoid Arthritis).

Unfortunately Contro, another good trail horse came up from the pasture lame the other day, so he was out of the running. The last time I took Bobby down the road, he bucked and balked for the majority of the ride - emmm...no on Bobby. That left me with Snippy, the ancient QH gelding and Gypsy, who has never once been on a trail ride or down the road.

I decided I'd go ahead and take Gypsy. Since the day I started her under saddle, at the ripe age of 13, she has been a total sweetheart. Never once has she acted out, though I can say that I don't think her favorite thing in the world is being ridden, she's always willing to do it for me and she tries her heart out. Not only that, but she is smooth and very comfortable to ride, like a big old couch or an old skool Coup DeVille.

I trudged out to the pasture to drag Gypsy in. She hasn't been ridden, worked with or groomed, really (I'm not gonna' lie) since August, so she was N.A.S.T.Y. Her golden coat was stained from dirt and mud, her mane had mud in it, her tail was dirty and her bridle path was overgrown. She was also downright obese from a summer of pasture grazing and hay guzzling. Oh my!

I spent a good 45 minutes currying her and getting as much filth out of her mane and tail as I could. I saddled her up, bridled her up then spent about 5 minutes lunging her, just in case. Once the other 3 riders were ready, I mounted up and we headed out. I must say that with Gypsy's stains, she still looked like a total pig; light colored horses - SIGH!

We went down the Lakeland trail, an abandoned train track that was converted into a half paved, half grass path years ago. The trail is busy and caters to bikers, hikers with and without dogs as well as equestrian traffic. Gypsy was a total superstar. She was definitely nervous, but she crossed over a scary set of train tracks and a noisy paved bridge with fast running water beneath it without a problem. On the trail, Gypsy was a bit startled by the seemingly constant stream of people on bikes that crept up from behind us, but after a mile or so, she settled down.

The only issue I had with Gypsy during the entire ride was when we came to a wooden foot bridge. The other horses nervously crossed, but Gypsy was initially having NONE OF THAT. She put up a decent fight, and when she started hinting that she was going to rear, I decided to dismount and guide her across. There were quite a few bystanders waiting to cross the bridge at this point, and with an almost panicky horse I didn't want to make a bigger scene than we already were. While on foot, I began trying to coax Gypsy across the bridge, still she was having none of it. She popped a few minor rears, but had made some progress by inching closer and closer to the bridge. She was trying very hard for me, that much was clear. Finally, one of the other riders came back over the bridge to help me out. She and her horse got right up behind Gypsy and began pushing her forward gently from the back. Gypsy hesitated, gave me a terrified look, lifted her tail to shoot a stream of diarrhea (sorry for that visual) and very carefully placed her right hoof onto the first wooden board of the horse eating bridge of doom.

"SNORRRRRT" Gypsy said, as she took a 2nd step, then a 3rd. She went across slowly and nervousy, but she did it. I praised her the entire way across, and couldn't help to chuckle at her a bit too. The entire way across the bridge, she was picking her feet up very high, kind of like some horses do with a full set of polo/shipping wraps on. On the way back, she crossed it while being ridden. She did attempt to bolt across the bridge for a second, but I was easily able to set her straight.

Overall, I am so proud of her. She's only been ridden a handful of times in her life, she's only been off of J's farm once before this ride and she was just so good. She tried so hard and trusted me enough to go on that ride, crossed two bridges, dealt with dogs, cars and bikes and she barely gave it a second thought. I know she was terrified, but she did it anyway. I love Morgans and I really love Gypsy, she's such a great testament to that breed!

Not Very Exciting

Horse updates:

Went to J's after work on Monday to help her with chores. I do this sometimes if I can't make it out on a Sunday, for my own horse fix and also because I'm a huge pushover and can't say no to her. Yes, I do this for free. Yes, it's an hour away from where I live. Yes, I'm an idiot!!!!!

Anyway, I make a point to turn Casper (J's stallion) outside when I'm there because a. Nobody EVER turns him out, including J and b. I think that is plain wrong! Casper MUST go outside at least a few times a week for his own sanity!!!! Casper is actually a pretty well behaved stallion. He is interested in mares, but he listens to his handlers and responds to reprimands. I do have to lightly reprimand him to pay attention on most of our outings, but it's usually nothing more than a few light tugs on his lead shank.

Since I hadn't been to J's in a little over 2 weeks, that meant that poor Casper had been holed up in his stall for that time frame. He had only been out to be led to another stall so that his could be cleaned...is that wrong? I think it is!! Needless to say, he was a little amped. He behaved well, considering. I led him out to his pasture with only a few minor rears and tiny blast off attempts. I corrected him and we continued forward until we were inside the gate to his pasture. I could just tell that it was taking all of his strength to keep from running off, he was HAPPY HAPPY to be outside.

"WHOA", I sternly told him as I slowly moved my hand up to undue the lead chain. This usually works with him...it's all about the intimidation factor. Just as my hand nicked the clasp of the chain, Casper wheeled around and attempted his escape.Unfortunately/fortunately (depends on how you look at it), I didn't let go of is lead, even though he was now pulling me across his pasture; him backing at a frantic pace, head up, eyes bulging and me yelling "whoa, whoa, whoa!"
I don't know why, but I have this death grasp thing on leads when horses pull these stunts. It usually results in the horse stopping, usually, but it leaves my arm feeling like it has been ripped from its socket, and my hands stinging from rope burn. OUCH!!! Why I don't let go, is beyond me. I think it's because I want to make sure that horse in question doesn't pull a stunt like that again, so I hold on so as to dole out the appropriate scolding afterwards ;).

Casper was actually pretty good. In fact, two of J's mares are much worse when they occasionally pull those "run away" stunts. Luckily, my arm and hand remained in tact, and I was able to scold the now ashamed looking Casper. I made sure to set him up (park him out) and I spoke sternly to him for a bit. When I was sure he wasn't about to pull that stunt again, I smoothly undid his lead line and let him rip. He flung him self around and galloped around that pasture until he couldn't gallop anymore. Then he went about sniffing poo and curling his lips, a Stallion's 2nd favorite past time, I suppose.

On another note, I have been visiting my mom's horse, Lady here and there. She is as fat and sassy as ever, look at that rumpus!

Brideless - Morgan Style

If Wishes Were Horses

The Morgan World Championship Horse show is just about ready to start. The show is in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (OKC). I have never been to nationals, and truthfully, I don' t know much about it. Check here for more details if you care to learn more.

What I do know about the Grand Nationals is that they are expensive. Some trainers are hauling their client's horses in up to a week in advance (from what I hear). This will cost them an additional $100.00 a day PER STALL!!!! (from what I hear). Many people ship in from all over the country too, New York, California, Maine, Vermont, MICHIGAN - I don't even want to know what that would cost. Then there are trainer's fees (assuming you're going with a trainer). I think some charge $100.00 a day; plus lodging, plus classes, plus feed for horses and self...I am guessing that on the cheap end you would spend upwards of $4,000.00 and on the high end - gosh, $10,000.00+ to go to this show and compete. Many people go and compete at Nationals. I would LOVE to as well, but to be honest, I can not imagine EVER having that kind of money to spare on a hobby (well I could, but convincing my husband to is a whole 'nother story).

My husband and I do alright. I am going to be straight up honest here. B and my combined gross earnings a year are in the very high 5 figures. We are doing alright, not poor by any means, but not loaded either (I wish). We live in Michigan, where housing is very budget friendly. We both have car payments, and I have student loan debt. That's it! I still cannot comfortably afford a horse. I mean at that income, I can't afford a horse let alone pay tons of money to go to a horse show! What in the world are these people doing to afford that? I can't imagine that every single person that goes to Nationals is loaded...am I missing something?

On top of that, we are looking to purchase our first home. We got approved (based on our income debt ratio) for FAR more than we're comfortable paying a month. Like $100,000.00 more! I have no idea who comes up with this, but really? I wonder if this is part of the reason why our country is in such a housing crisis? People are getting approved for loans that they truly can't afford. I'm happy that B and I realize this and are not about to go purchasing some huge house that we have NO business owning at our age or status in life, but is everyone that in tune to their wants vs. ability to afford?

I guess there is no real point in this post. I'm just kind of voicing my thoughts. I simply don't understand how to comfortably afford all of that. I would love to show, but I just can't bring myself to spending ALL of my money on it. I could probably get a horse, but then I wouldn't have savings. Horses are so darned expensive if you actually care for them properly, meaning vetting, teeth, good quality feed and what about emergencies? YIKES! Oh gosh, I am in a frenzy about this, can you tell? LOL.

Dirty Job

Over the weekend, I made it my mission to ride at least 1 horse.

Did I? Well, sort of. Does a pony ride count?

On Sunday, my mom and I went over to ride Lady. After we groomed her up, got all of the darned burs out of her mane and tail, we saddled her up. As my mom was putting the bridle on her, it literally disintegrated in her hands. The leather cheek piece just broke away and the poor old bridle was rendered useless. Lest you think that we're just using rotted and nasty tack, we...well, I guess in the case of Lady's bridle, we were. It was given to my mom to use temporarily until she could make it to the tack store to purchase a new one. I guess laziness won out in this case. Woops. Since Lady was already saddled, we threw her halter back on and my mom led me around. It was silly and kind of fun, actually. Hey, I said I was going to ride, and I rode...sorta'.

After visiting with Lady, I drove over to J's barn. I figured I'd just ride one of the Morgans. Pshhh, I should know better. I got there at about 4 pm, and noticed immediately that the stalls were an absolute mess. J was not home, so I decided to go ahead and clean Casper and Tory's stalls since they were the worst.

J's farming equipment is antique. She uses a spreader that must have been assembled in the 1950's and two large honkin' tractors, one from the '40's and one from the '70's power it. Because most people don't actually want to drive those tractors to bring the spreader into the barn for stall cleaning, it (the spreader) is parked just outside the barn doors with a big ramp so that the cleaner in question can just roll on up and dump their load into the spreader. It is hard, labor, but it does the trick. I also might add that it creates amazing muscle tone in the upper arm, ab regions.

J owns a beat up version of this tractor.

J owns a version of this spreader. Hers is more beat up and apparently the chain the operates the manure getter outer is busted.

Anyway, I noticed that the ramp to the spreader was laying on the ground and NOT on the spreader like it usually is. When I'm determined to do something, by God, I do it. By myself, I managed to lift the heavy metal ramp up, around, and onto the spreader. I'm not going to say that I didn't curse or even whine a bit, to myself of course, but I got it on there oh yes I did! As I was struggling with the ramp, and even as I dumped my first wheel barrow load of Casper poo into the spreader, I had this nagging feeling that perhaps the spreader may be broken. It looked okay, but I am no spreader expert.

As I was just peaking the top of the ramp with my 2nd load of Casper poo, J pulled up waving her arms and shouting "NO, Jenny, it's broken. Don't dump." Woopsie daisy. This is a perfect example of good intentions gone wrong...this is the story of my life! Anyway, J was very good natured about it, she and I rigged up a plan to get the stalls cleaned. We used a tractor with a plow on the front of it and dumped the manure into the plow from the stalls and then drove the manure out to the respective manure pile at the back of J's property. I cleaned Casper and Tory's stalls as I had planned and felt great as I tucked both horses into their clean sheets for the night. Tory showed her appreciation by immediately dropping a huge load onto her nice fresh shavings - mares!

So, I didn't get to ride at J's but soon, I swear it, I will be back in the saddle soon! Today, I am sore sore sore....I think cleaning stalls is a better work out than actually working out is. It was a dirty nasty job, but somebody had to do it! ;)