The year that was

2010... the year where Mother Nature forgot to bring summer to Saskatchewan.  She sure doesn't seem to be forgetting winter though... brrrr -34 C with the windchill the other day. (as much as I complain I have to say I love having 4 true, distinct seasons)  Its been quite a year so I thought I'd take a little stroll down memory lane....
One of the lower moments of the year was when my stepmom got really sick.  She'd gone to the hospital for a fairly routine operation but there were complications and she got VERY sick.  I felt worried and helpless, my dad & stepmom live across the country in New Brunswick.  Also my dad isn't exactly the healthiest guy either, plus he tends to try to keep everyone else in the dark so they don't know how bad things are and he gets stressed.  Thankfully S is now back at home, and although there are big adjustments to her life she is doing quite well.
THE event of the year for me and Pie, we finally found our home in the country.  After years of searching for the place that we both thought was just right we found it.  Close enough to work that its not an issue, far enough out that we feel we're in the country, and it has everything we wanted and more.  A house that didn't need a ton of work and set up for horses with at least fencing and shelters were "musts".  The extras we got, well some we would have worked toward eventually others were just bonus: a garage, a shop, a barn, a hay shed, corrals (with automatic waterers) an outdoor arena, a round pen, and a hay field!  Hard to believe but as of today we've lived here 7 months!!
There has been a serious learning curve, in fact a few things have come up that made people ask if I wished we had stayed in the city.  By the way that answer is NO! lol  But you know, there were issues coming up with our house in the city that I wouldn't know how to fix/take care of right away either.
Moving out to the country brought some new faces into our lives.  There was Stubby the teeny steer and his buddy El Toro the little bull:

Stubby

Who due to a few reasons are no longer living with us.  We are still thinking of getting some cattle in the future but will be taking a different path if we choose to do so.

An absolute sweetheart of a kids pony, Rootbeer, and a mini donkey, George, now call "The Ranch" home.  As well as 4 barn kitties who all started out named like a group of little old ladies... until 2 of "the girls" turned out to be boys :o  So now we have Oliver, Ethel, Oleta and Eli.  (and Ethel caught a mole this fall!!)

A couple of new colts rounded out our herd:

Odin & Octavius

Pie & I's "anniversary gifts" to each other... officially Odin will be mine and Tavi will be Pie's.

When our house in the city sold, after much delay getting onto the market, we had enough money to pay back the loan my FIL had okayed so we could purchase "The Ranch" and still have some money to put down on a new tractor, a little New Holland Boomer.  That and a used Bombardier quad rounded out the "toys" we bought for working on the acreage.

And I also was able to add a new member to our family... my little dog Tucker, who I am beyond ridiculously in love with!

Tucker

As I look back at 2010 I feel very fortunate and blessed, and I look toward 2011 with excitement, anticipation and hope.

While this year was very good to me I know that it was not so good to some of my friends out there in blogland.  I truly hope those of you who had a rough 2010 have a MUCH better 2011!! 

Merry Christmas!!

Wishing you all a bright & Merry Christmas

for those travelling I wish you safe journeys

Friday Funny ~ Christmas Edition

Many have asked, "What is the reason for the angel on top of the Christmas tree?"

Once upon a time Santa was rushed to get ready for Christmas.  He had told Mrs. Clause to wake him at 5 a.m. and to have his  breakfast ready with a lunch to bring along.  He also told the elves to have all the Christmas presents packed in the sleigh and the reindeer harnesed by 5:30.
At 5:30 the following morninng Santa Claus awoke and jumped out of bed furious with Mrs. Claus for NOT wakeing him up on time! 
Santa's mood only got worse when he realized Mrs. Claus had NOT fixed breakfast or lunch!! 
Santa then ran out to his sleigh only to see that the elves had NO presents packed and the reindeer were running wild in the pasture!!!

About this time a little angel walked by, dragging a large Christmas tree.  Santa tried to ignore him since he wasn't his jolly old self.
But, the angel spoke up and said "Santa what should I do with this Christmas tree?"
And that is the reason for the angel on top of the Christmas tree!

**thank you Google Images & Jibjab for the Santa picture**

Wordless Wednesday ~ Little Buddies

The other new addition

No not another horse!  Our tractor!! 
When the house in the city sold we paid off that mortgage and the loan we'd taken from work to get the financing in place on this house and with what was left over we put down a good sized down payment on a little acreage tractor.
We went with New Holland.  Pie really wanted an enclosed cab, and we got a loader and bale fork with it for now.  I'm sure there will be more attachments added in the future.
The tractor will be mainly for clearing the snow, moving bales and in the spring/summer/fall for working the ground in the arenas.

Finally!! "The News" :)

I've been hoping to share some exciting news with you guys but "stuff" keeps coming up.  Like the weather, the sewer pump going out, etc etc.  But today was a drama/stress free Sunday.  I was planning on taking the day off and only doing one thing (besides a load or two of laundry).  Partly to try to give my shoulder a rest (it's still pretty sore from last Sunday's escapades) and partly because with Christmas and New Year's both right around the corner it will be a few weeks before I have a day off to truly relax.

Thankfully nothing went wrong at home, trust me I was checking for water/sewer problems constantly!  I was prepared for some drama though.  Because The Thing I was planning had the potential for drama....

I was going to pick up my new babies!!

Octavius (sorrel) and Odin (grullo)

sorry for the poor quality of the pic, it was taken late this afternoon after we got home

In September Pie had agreed to buy me a weanling for our anniversary.  In the end we picked out two, one for me & one for Pie (ummm, yeah sure *eyeroll* lol) 

The first, and only, place we looked was Jaclin Quarter Horses, where Kimfer got her grey mare Isis.  I like how Isis has turned out, I like Jack & Linda, and I like what they're breeding for... good minded, athletic, USING horses, and it doesn't hurt that they're usually pretty darn good looking too.  ;)

So way back in September we spent our anniversary looking at babies.  Ooooh the babies... LOVE spending a day, even a rainy miserable one, in pastures checking out babies.  I knew that although I really want a nicely bred, papered mare that I would be looking at colts.  Mares just tend to bring out Voodoo's macho side so until the distant future its geldings only for us.  In the end I walked away with a short list of 5 colts.

Every year Jaclin names their foals after a different letter of the alphabet.  This year all the foals have barn names that start with O.

One of those 5 ended up being Octavius and Pie reallyreallyreally wanted him.  When Tavi got moved to the bottom of my short list he waited until I had narrowed it down more and then told me we were going to bring home 2 and 1 was going to be Tavi.

We went and visited a few times and I ended up being torn between 2, Odin and a liver chestnut named Oscar.  The last time we visited I just went with my gut and Odin it was.  Not sure why as Oscar was much more friendly that day.  Maybe Odin just seemed more quietly confident??

It took awhile for the colts to be weaned and ready to come home, and like I said there were other roadblocks.  But today was the day! 

Surprisingly there was NO drama at all.  Both colts are halter broke but not leading 100%, as Jack warned me, but they both led very nicely.  Even better they both loaded pretty darn good.  Octavius was in a trailer once so far, with his mama, to come to the main yard from a pasture some of the mares and foals were in.  Odin had been in the main yard his entire life so had never been in a trailer.  It took about 10-15 minutes to get them both loaded.  No drama, just patient and let them figure out its not a bad thing.

Kind of a neat thing, the mares were all loose in the yard where we were loading.  The 3 mares that stuck around were Oscar's mom (the one that was my 2nd pick) and Octavius's and Odin's moms!  It was pretty cute, almost like they were saying good bye to their babies :)

Unloading was even better.  I backed the truck and trailer into the barn/corral area and closed the gate (just in case they got spooked and pulled free, at least they'd still be contained)  When I opened the trailer door they were just standing side by side, facing the front (I had removed the divider and left them untied)  They let me come in and put their leadropes on with no fuss, then Odin turned around in front of Tavi so I got my mom to grab his lead rope.  Odin stepped out with both front feet, Tavi backed out so his hinds were on the ground and they both froze.  We talked to them for a minute and then they both just stepped the rest of the way out.

The closest we got to any drama was walking them down the alleyway to their pen.  I do think they were wondering what the HECK happened to Rootbeer and George to make them look so funny though as the colts were both really giving the pony and mini-donkey the eye lol  Add Voodoo and Applejack checking things out from their pen and Cessa giving all kindsa attitude about the new arrivals coming to live next door to her... I wouldn't have blamed the colts if they had acted up but they were such good boys!!  No pulling or jumping around, just a bit of high headedness and they froze up a couple times but every time we asked them to walk they did

I'm really looking forward to seeing how these boys develop! 

A quick look back

Facebook has a status collage, it gives a quick glimpse back to the past year.  You can let it autochoose your statuses or you can select them for yourself.  I did the autochoose and then took out a few not so important ones and added a few that were special to me. 

Here's the result:



Friday Funny ~ The Bitch

The train was quite crowded and a U. S. Marine walked the entire length looking for a seat. There seemed to be one next to a well-dressed French woman, but when he got there, he saw it was taken by the woman's poodle. The war-weary Marine asked, "Ma'am, may I have that seat?"


The French woman sniffed and said to no one in particular, "Americans are so rude. My little Fifi is using that seat."

The Marine walked the entire train again, but the only seat available was under that dog. "Please, ma'am. May I sit down? I'm very tired."


She snorted, "Not only are you Americans rude, you are also arrogant!"

This time the Marine didn't say a word; he just picked up the little dog, tossed it out the train window and sat down.

The woman shrieked, "Someone defend me! Put this American in his place!"

An English gentleman sitting nearby spoke up. "Sir, you Americans seem to have a penchant for doing the wrong thing. You hold the fork in the wrong hand. You drive your autos on the wrong side of the road. And now, sir, you seem to have thrown the wrong bitch out the window."

Enough already!

I few posts ago (foxtrot) I was catching y'all up on all the stuff going wrong lately... well lets add to the list.
After getting my vehicle back from the dealer for the latest check engine light, you guessed it, the check engine light came on again.
Let's just say it was a darn good thing that it was 6:10 and the service department had closed at 6.  I do not think I could have been civil. 
It is going in tomorrow for hopefully the final time.  Pie had taken it in earlier in the week but of course we had to wait for a part.  I keep getting e-mails from the service manager wondering if I'm happy with the service, I should send one that says "Do you really want to know?!" lol
Then for the second Sunday in a row I had water in the basement. I went out and checked the septic tank and pumpout, both were good.  I called my neighbour (or rather knight in shining armour) T and told him what was happening.  The clue that clinched it was when I told him the basement shower made a bit of a gurgle sound. 
Diagnosis... the plumbing vents on the roof were covered with snow/frozen.

SUPER

I called my mom and told her I was heading to the roof.  If she didn't hear from me by 5 (it was 20 after 4) then she was to call this number and tell either T or L that she hadn't heard from me since I called to say I was heading up. 
By the way, Sunday was miserable cold.  -34C  NOT a great day to be fooling around outside.  But I sucked it up because it had to be done.
I sort of knew where the vent was but I wasn't 100% sure so I got out my ladder, a shovel and climbed up onto the roof.
And the wind blew my ladder away - foxtrot!
So I used my shovel to throw snow onto the deck while I was looking for the vent.  After all I'd be up there for awhile so I might as well find it!
I started to realize that I may need to get myself off the roof.  I was getting pretty cold up there, the wind was picking up and it would be at least 30 minutes, probably more like 45, before I was rescued.  So I added more snow to my pile on the deck, I think that subconsciously as soon as that ladder fell I was thinking I'd have to jump down.
If it was summer I would probably have waited it out.  But I was getting colder and also wanted to control where and to some degree how fast I left the roof.  If I slipped and fell I could possibly hit a tree or fall farther and land on the sidewalk.  Also the colder you are the tighter you are so the more it hurts when you fall.  I hadn't taken my cell because honestly when its this cold I don't usually have it on me, next time I will (then again I won't do something like that alone again either).
I scooched myself down to the edge of the roof, said a little prayer and let myself slide onto the snow pile.
Well first of all, the snow pile wasn't as big and soft as I'd hoped because that darn wind was blowing the snow away as I was shovelling it off.
Secondly I slipped when I landed.  Smacked one arm on the end of the ladder (because it just HAD to land in the way) and cracked my head on the deck. 
I stayed still while I quickly assessed myself, thanked God that although it hurt it didn't hurt as bad as it could have and I didn't have anything broke.  Then I went inside and called my mom, then I called T. 
T came over and found the vent and cleared it while I held the ladder.  (Thank you T!!!)
He admired the Hello Kitty bandage across my forehead and said "You fell off the roof didn't you?"  To which I replied "No.  I let myself slide off in a controlled manner then slipped and fell when I landed.  Totally different." (I've had to tell a few people that lol)
A little while later I realized that there was more going on than the roof vents.  Water just wouldn't drain back down that floor drain.  I ended up having to call Rotorooter to clear it.  (yeppers, after hours of course... 11pm Sunday night!)
Turned out it was a good thing I did.  There was a pretty major clog, it took him about an hour & a half with one of those big motorized snakes. 
I still say I'm happier here than in the city.  I'm just really hoping this Sunday is calm and uneventful.

Smart Puppy!!

I am an animal person.  I love my critters and I think they are pretty darn smart.  I'm also one of those people that think (most) animals understand a lot more than people give them credit for.

The other day my little Tucker pup showed just how smart he is.  I was sicker'n HECK.  I didn't eat most of the day, in fact just seeing food on t.v. would make my stomach turn and send me to the bathroom.

It.  Was.  BAD. 

When I finally could start "eating" it was basically a soda cracker or two at a time, trust me 3 crackers was pushing the limit, with a few sips of ginger ale. 

So there I was crashed out on the couch with packets of crackers (we have the kind that come 2 to a pack, like you get with takeout soups).  I was laying on the couch wearing sweats and a t-shirt, fire going, wrapped in a blanket... so hot I was sweating yet freezing cold at the same time.

sidenote, I usually wear shorts & a tank top when I'm just chillin' in the house

Now my dogs follow me everywhere.  As Pie says, I am the pack leader in our house.  That day they were a little more considerate of my space as they followed me to and from the bathroom, almost like they knew I was pretty out of it and could easily trip over/step on them by accident.

Tucker was very careful to jump OVER me instead of ON me when he got off & on the couch, in fact for the most part he just stayed curled up by my legs or hip.

Well one of the times I went to the bathroom Tucker didn't follow me right away.  When I looked at the door he was standing there with one of the cracker packets in his mouth.  He made eye contact with me, dropped the packet, backed up two steps and sat down.  All the while looking me in the eye.

Awww, my little baby was taking care of his 'momma' lol

What makes it seem even more to me like he was bringing them TO me not just to me is that under normal circumstances he would steal a packet and tear it apart to eat the crackers himself. 

(which he had done just the day before)



Tucker, Nov 7/10

The next day Tucker was back to his mischievous self... running around playing, have those frantic little slightly crazy puppy play moments and tormenting the big dogs.  In fact he seemed to be a bigger brat than usual, almost like he was burning off the energy he had stored by being so chill the day before. And yes he was back to stealing crackers again! 

Friday Funny

Beautiful

I got this in an e-mail yesterday and thought it was well worth sharing:

The Cab Ride


I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes I walked to the door and knocked..
'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.


After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940's movie.


By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.


There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.


'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.


She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.


She kept thanking me for my kindness.
'It's nothing', I told her.. 'I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated.'


'Oh, you're such a good boy', she said.
When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, 'Could you drive through downtown?'


'It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly..


'Oh, I don't mind,' she said. 'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice...'


I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have any family left,' she continued in a soft voice.. 'The doctor says I don't have very long.'
I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.


'What route would you like me to take?' I asked.


For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.


We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.


Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing..


As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm tired.. Let's go now'.


We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home,
with a driveway that passed under a portico.


Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.


I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.


'How much do I owe you?' she asked, reaching into her purse.


'Nothing,' I said


'You have to make a living,' she answered.


'There are other passengers,' I responded.


Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.


'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she said.'Thank you.'


I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light.. Behind me, a door shut.. It was the sound of the closing of a life..


I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift?
What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?


On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.


We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.


But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.


PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID BUT THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.


You won't get any big surprise In 10 days if you share this with ten people.. But, you might help make the world a little kinder and more compassionate by sharing it and reminding us that often it is the random acts of
kindness that most benefit all of us.



Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance

Wordless Wednesday - I just can't get enough...

Foxtrot

I've been trying to get a post or two up.  But things just keep getting in the way....
Took my vehicle in for routine maintenance and then that night the check engine light came on. Took it back and they cleared the code (it was something to do with the gas cap).  And the very next day the stupid light came back on.  Took it in and they kept it, it was the O2 sensor (??)  I appreciate that they gave me a loaner but wow did I NOT like that car!!  My vehicle isn't a 'luxury' automobile but its a lot nicer, and roomier, than the plain jane bottom of the rung car that I was stuck with.  I also missed my winter tires.

foxtrot

The remote for the garage door opener that was put in didn't work.  When I tried to program it (after reading the instructions) it went on the fritz and the wall button wouldn't work either.  The only way it would open or close was if you pushed the button right on the unit (on the ceiling)  Got that figured out and fixed but it was a bit of a pita until I got a chance to do it, for awhile it was just too darn cold to mess around out in the garage.

  foxtrot

The pellet stove was on the fritz.  My stepdad came and checked the chimney and cleaned the stove.  Still didn't work.  Thank goodness it turned out to just be the sensor, but the stove was down during the wicked cold snap we had.

foxtrot

The quad was broke, stuck in the middle of the yard like a lump.  Thankfully the quad and stove were fixed by my awesome stepdad.

Then we had VIP visitors to 'the ranch'  My auntie M and uncle R were visiting all the way from New Brunswick!  Ok so yeah, that's not a foxtrot moment at all, but it did keep me busy for the day :) 

Yesterday was my day off.  All I had planned was to do laundry and housework, and catch up on blogging.  And then the $h!t hit the... well not fan.  But it was literally a $h!tty day.  The pump in our septic tank quit. :(

So there I was, home alone with 'water' overflowing in the basement toilet, shower and floor drain in the laundry room.  I wasn't sure at first it was the septic, but I kinda thought it was.  After calling our neighbour TP (who is also our hay guy) it was confirmed that there was something wrong with the septic.

FOXTROT

I checked the pumpout and it looked like it had pumped recently.  I couldn't get the cover off the actual septic tank itself though.

TP had just had surgery so he couldn't do any lifting/bending so I tried my stepdad, he was ice fishing, and some friends, no luck.  TP called to say he could come over and check things out and 'supervise' the repairs. 

While I waited for TP and his wife LP to come over I bailed and mopped up water and emptied 3 mop pails full of water from the basement.

LP & I used a pry bar to get the cover off the tank, it was frozen shut.  Then we lowered a pump into the tank and started pumping the overflow.  Once it was pumped I went inside to see if it was still coming in.  Thankfully it wasn't and the little bit I hadn't got cleaned up in the laundry room was drained back down the hole.

TP confirmed that the pumpout wasn't frozen and instructed me as I removed the old pump from the septic tank and rigged in the new pump (ewwww - thank goodness for gloves!!)

After all that I had to bleach the floor in the basement (yay for cement floors) and wash all the laundry that got wet.  I had unfortunately been on the ball and had it pre-sorted and sitting on the floor ready for laundry day.

Not again

Last week Monday I took Tucker and the barn kitties to the vet, they were all scheduled for "the cut". I know a lot of people don't fix their barn cats but I didn't want to have kittens to find homes for, and I didn't want a bunch of unfixed toms around to spray everywhere either.
Tucker got checked in first. Dr F looked him over and checked a few things I was concerned about (eyes, heart... both are fine) and then we got to work checking in the cats.
You may remember that I discovered awhile ago that one of my girl kitties, Olive, ended up being a boy and renamed Oliver. Dr F and I were talking about this as she was checking out Evie and she said "So, what do you want to rename this one?"
"NO way" I said as she turned Evie's butt to me so that I could see that yes indeedy she was a HE.
Dr F laughed and said "I'll just put down Evan for now and you can call us later and let us know what his name is."
To make it a bit more funny? The girl I got "Evie" from is a true blue farm girl that worked at the vet clinic and is one of my friends from work (at the restaurant). Now she shoulda known better! I texted her as soon as I got out to my car lol
I told Pie about it as soon as I got home, he laughed. And a little while later I called the vet clinic and told them to change Evie's file to show that HIS name is now Eli.

Friday Funny

Oh man, who doesn't love this song? And to do it at your wedding.... they must be a fun couple

Friday Funny

A rather exhausted looking man was boarding a flight with 6 young children.

The stewardess said "Oh my goodness. Are they all yours?"

To which he replies "No. I work for Trojan. These are customer complaints."

Ouch!

At the end of October there was a jackpot next door. Outside at the end of October, in Saskatchewan!
It was a really nice day except for one thing, my best friend Kimfer had a wreck. Fortunately she and her mare are both okay. Sore and stiff but nothing requiring surgery or hospitalization.
Kimfer gave permission to share the video:

Wordless Wednesday

The story to Wordless Wednesday "P!$$ed Off"

George is extremely unimpressed with me... you can't mistake a dirty look when you see it
He seems to think I am quite horrible. After all I did separate him from the love of his life, Cessa.
They were sharing the pen that led to the pasture. George had been raised on pasture so I wasn't too worried about letting him graze but two things happened that made me decide he needed to be in a different pen.
1: he was getting fat. Then I discovered he had figured out how to bang Cessa's pail and make it spill her grain out. So little George was getting pretty fat and Cessa was losing out on some of those precious calories that she really needs.
2: George was getting a bit possessive of his girlfriend. When I would go in their pen to set up Cessa's bucket, or to catch her George would pin those cute ears at me as if to say "Back off lady she's mine!!"
He was NOT happy about the move.

"aaah, my love is on the other side of that fence"

I moved the horses around; put Voodoo & Applejack in a pen, left Cessa in the pen with pasture access and put George & Rootbeer in a pen. Being on a 'diet' will be good for both of the little guys! George packed on some pounds (as the pics show) by helping himself to Cessa's grain and bad, bad Rootbeer had been escaping his pen to graze!

George found his voice after the move. Before he would bray but it was very, very quiet. Not so any longer, he is one loud little sucker! lol And he would bray every single time HIS Cessa came in for water or to hang around. He still brays, loudly, but now it is usually around feeding time unless something riles him up.

Its been about a month since I split them up but he is still p.o'd at me. Whenever I'm around his fuzzy ears go back... I'm waiting for him to get his revenge.

(not looking forward to it, just waiting for it)

If I dare to go in his pen he puts those ears back and stalks along behind me. I turn around and point my finger at him and say "Don't you dare to look at me with ears like that mister!" and he flips them forward and assumes an innocent pose. But I'm pretty sure that's all it is, a pose.

He doesn't do this to Pie, just to me, so I know George knows who is responsible for 'breaking his heart'. Yikes! lol

Friday Funny

I wear my poppy with pride.

Canada often seems to be thought of as a peace-keeping country. Or a country that sits on the sidelines.

However our soldiers have also made the ultimate sacrifice.

In 1914 we were not even yet a country, still just a colony. By 1918 we were on our way to becoming a nation. With a population of only 8 million we still sent over 600,000 men and women to join the fight in World War I.

That was just the beginning. Canadian soldiers have been a part of many major conflicts the world over. And yes they take part in peace-keeping efforts as well.

Remembrance Day is the day that is "officially" set aside to remember our soldiers. Please take a moment to show your respect for them no matter, both those that were lucky enough to return home to their loved ones and those that made the ultimate sacrifice. Even if you don't agree with war, a particular war or just war in general. After all these are the men and women that put their lives on the line so that you have the privilege of living in a free country.

The symbol of Remembrance Day is the poppy: image of poppy found online
Some say the poppy is the chosen symbol because it's red. And we were it on our chest to remind us that the people that go to war for us are real people. And that they bleed. The truth is that while the poppy was chosen to commemorate all soldiers it is the symbol of a horrific battle in the spring of 1915. In Ypres, in a poppy field, there were more than 100,000 Allied casualties. And in less than 48 hours 60,000 Canadians gave their lives.

To the 152 Canadian soldiers that will not be returning from Afghanistan, and to all our men and women that have served at any time in the Canadian military, I thank you, I honour you and I remember you.

Wordless Wednesday ~ P!$$ed off

I Still Wouldn't Kick Her Outta My Barn

Perhaps the greatest racehorse in history? Zenyatta retires today after winning 19 races. Unfortunately today she was second, by a NOSE, after a spectacular drive to the finish.
Freakish but gorgeous, Zenyatta is 17.5hh and 1200 lbs compared to the average TBs 16hh and 1000 lbs. She is known for her come from behind style. Another oddity, in the homestretch when most horses are shortening their stride she is lengthening hers.
The naysayers will be saying "I told you so" but I still think she's pretty darn amazing!

Friday Funny

I don`t know why but I find this commercial pretty funny so I thought I`d share it with you:

Slowly

I am returning to blog world slowly but surely.

This hit me yesterday when I was fighting with Blogger to get my pics uploaded for Wordless Wednesday. I noticed that the month of October had the most posts since we've moved.

And then when I went through my blogroll I realized I'm almost completely caught up (sorry I haven't been commenting as much)

Then I noticed that I have almost 100 followers. Small potatoes compared to some blogs but I'm just surprised anyone has stuck around with how sporadically I've been posting lol

And now, 3 posts in a row! (if you count the Friday Funny scheduled for tomorrow that is)

I have to say I've missed you guys and its nice to be back.

Wordless Wednesday - Hay, what's up :)

Happy Halloween!

We had a jackpot today and someone had suggested we dress up. Being that Voodoo is black I opted for Zorro (my cape was tucked, errr crammed, into my pocket for safety lol)

photo by K. Hoover
The jackpot was right next door so I had it pretty easy today. I woke up a bit early and fed the ponies, came back inside and had my breakfast, walked over to enter, came back home and when it was time I got costumed up and tacked up and rode over. Love it!!
It was a double header and my first run was slooow. But it was clean and that's what I was working for.
I had talked to Ed Wright earlier this week and he said that even though I knocked 3rd at my last barrel race he was proud of me for cleaning up 2nd. Well now I get to call him and tell him I had two cleans runs and even earned some cash!
Yep that's right, in the second jackpot I sped up enough to place! We got 3rd in the 3D. Still no speed demon (hey THAT woulda been a good costume!!) but we ran 1.5 seconds faster :)
AND we won "best costume" in the Open ("adult") division!

Hope y'all had a safe and fun Halloween!

Friday Funny

NO I have NOT seen your lipstick!

Why would you even ask me that

I`m insulted!!

Every time something goes missing around here everyone looks at me!

*not my pic, unsure of source*

So how was your day?

Last night we got our first snow of this winter (even though its still technically fall according to the calendar)
Doesn't look like much in this pic but it wasn't done yet...
The dogs & indoor kitties decided it was a good evening just to chill out. Tucker had been curled up in my chair with me when he moved to the couch so he could stretch out.

As you can see he didn't quite make it ALL the way onto the couch lol

Lola took over the empty loveseat

By the time I went to work this morning there was more snow. Not a lot by any means, just enough to make things crappy when you combine the snow with the not too cold temps and high winds.

The highway was icy and slushy... stupid slush got hold of my tires and pulled me into the ditch. (I wasn't even going fast, I was going 70 km/hr and the speed limit is 100)

I managed to stay calm and in control and ALMOST got out of that ditch. Unfortunately I was running out of room to make it back onto the road and that part of the ditch was very steep. The steepness and the icy slush on the grass sucked my poor little Chevy right back into the ditch.

It could have been much worse though. Those ditches are FULL of sloughy water. If I had panicked and not kept my cool I probably would have landed right in it. As it was when my vehicle came to rest the back tires were in the water.

Onstar put me through to roadside assistance, the wait for a tow was 45 min to an hour (which means at least an hour to an hour & a half lol). Some Good Samaritans had stopped to help and offered to drive me in to the city and drop me off at work :)

(over 30 cars drove by before anyone stopped)

Roadside wouldn't tow without someone there so I abandoned my poor vehicle to make arrangements later. When I got to work I tried to 'accidentally' leave some money on the back seat but the GS saw it and literally threw it out the window onto the ground lol. Such nice people and I have no way to thank them!

From work I made arrangements with Roadside to be picked up after work by the tow truck driver and taken to my vehicle. When we got there we boosted it and winched it out.

Not sure if you can tell from this crappy cell pic but its pretty close to the road and those back tires are in water... yikes!

From there I made it home safely. Now here's hoping Pie makes it home safe tonight after he's done work!!

Friday Funny

I keep wanting to post this commercial, for my fellow Canadians you`ll know its a few years old. Still cracks me up though!

Friday Funny

A man boards an airplane with six small children.

"Oh goodness! Are they all yours?" asks the stewardess.

"No" the man replies "I work for Trojan. These are customer complaints."

Barn Kitties

When we moved we got kittens from a couple different people. First was Evie, from my friend Zab; then Ethel and Olive from my stepdad (who in turn got them from the ethanol plant he works at); and then Oleta, also from Zab.

So there we were with four barn kittens with names that made it sound like there was a group of little old ladies hanging out at the barn.

The other day I discovered that I don`t have ``4 little old ladies`` at the barn.

I have 3 little old ladies and a little old man...`Olive`is in fact Oliver!!

Friday Funny

One day as a father is leaving work he suddenly realizes it's his little girl's birthday. He stops at a Toy Shop on his way home and asks the sales assistant "How much for one of those Barbie's in the window?"
"That depends" replies the sales assistant "Which one would you like? Work-out Barbie is $19.95, Shopping Barbie is $19.95, Beach Barbie is $19.95, Disco Barbie is $19.95, Ballerina Barbie is $19.95, Astronaut Barbie is $19.95, Skater Barbie is $19.95 and Divorced Barbie is $265.95."
The amazed father asks "Its WHAT?! Why is Divorced Barbie is $265.95 and all the other barbies are only $19.95!"
The salesperson rolls her eyes, sighs and answers "Sir, Divorced Barbies comes with: Ken's car, Ken's house, Ken's boat, Ken's furniture, Ken's computer, one of Ken's friends and a keychain made with Ken's balls."

Wordless Wednesday - just in time!

Scary Ed Wright

...ain't so scary lol

I do see how some people would end up breaking down and crying at his clinic.

(and there were a few at our clinics)

People who have really been struggling with a horse that has should be really good but can't quite get there, and he shows them and they have that "lightbulb moment", and everything starts to groove better.
Or the people who are so resistant to accepting its them and always feel the need to blame their horse.
Or the people who go in with a closed mind, they go to clinics but just aren't ready to listen and learn.
Or the people who just can't stop and say "Huh? I don't get it." so that Ed can explain in a different way or show you so that you DO get it.
Yeah I can see them crying.

The first day was loooong. There were 16 girls signed up, I was girl #8. Clinic started at 8:30am with a lecture (or 'classroom') part of the day and a prayer. Riding started around 9:30ish. I rode around 4:10, I was "finished" (the riding part) by about 4:35. We went through the order and everyone rode a second time. The day finished up at shortly after 9pm.
Now some people are sitting there thinking "Well shoot she sure didn't get much riding time" don't worry... at Ed's clinic you don't have to be in the saddle to learn.

As Long As You Pay Attention.

During most of the 7 riders before me I sat in the stands and just tried to focus and absorb everything Ed was telling/showing us. (I did have to leave for a bit to get Voodoo ready) Now usually I have to DO what I'm trying to learn, especially 'horse stuff'. Reading/watching doesn't work as well as doing. But I turned my brain into a sponge and tried to soak in as much as possible. And some of it worked.
For instance every single girl that worked before me (and almost everyone after me) got a rubber band in their horses mane to show them where Ed wants our hands. I really worked on that hand position while warming up. As a result no rubber band. The only corrections Ed made with my hands was HOW I was using them to ask for turns - results were a huge difference.

This clinic was hands down The Best clinic I've taken. Not just in barrel racing but of any kind of horse clinic. IMO Ed isn't just a barrel trainer, or a horse trainer, he's a horseman. The horse is the #1 concern to him. More than a few times his answer to a girl that asked if she was finished was "Well your horse is for now, YOU aren't. You sit your butt down and pay attention."
Ed was always welcoming to anyone that wanted to ask questions during another person's work time and anyone there was free to come out into the arena to see what was going on.
For example when I went to work the second day I wasn't too sure on where to place the cones. I sure as heck wanted to know that so I could practice at home. Another lady asked if it was okay for her to tag along while I set cones and Ed said "Well of course. You'll learn more that way than all them up there gossiping in the bleachers." And you know what, Ed made me set cones for myself and for the next girl (I go left, everyone else went right) to make sure that I understood. He also got me to explain why I placed the "action points" where I did so that he knew I got it.

I found Ed to be pretty funny, on the border of goofy at times. As he said "I'm not here to entertain you. I'm here to educate you. But if I can entertain while I educate you're more likely to learn." Now he wasn't all lovey-dovey, he was encouraging... there was plenty of girl, baby, love you. But he would get straight and serious and tough if you weren't getting it.

I am so looking forward to next year, even if for some reason I wouldn't be able to ride (ie I was hurt or my horse was) I will SO be going to this clinic. Cost of auditing it alone is worth the info you get, even if you're not a barrel racer.


ps - my "goals" from my previous post were half-joking half-serious. Of course my other goals were to learn and try to have fun.

What was I thinking?

Its going to be a crazy busy next couple days. Because its Ed Wright clinic time!!
Truck and trailer are hitched up, although neither one found the time to get themselves washed (which I think is pretty darn inconsiderate of them! I understand the trailer needs the truck to take it but the truck could have found time lol)
Saddle, pad, boots and assorted headstalls are loaded. Brushes & liniment (maybe liniment will be more for me?). Everything but the hay bag and the horse. (Voodoo is the "lucky" candidate)
As for me, I literally just got home from work. And I'm nervous. Truly.
So nervous I had the following dream, which I will summarize for you:

I go to clinic. I suck. SO bad that Ed tells me I'm wasting his time as well as everyone else's. Oh and I'll never be a decent barrel racer OR rider and my horse is pathetic too.

So to try to chill out I came up with the following goals for the clinic:

Show up with an open mind.
Don't make a fool of myself.
Don't eat dirt.
Don't cry.

I rode!!

Thursday I went and had a reflexology treatment done. It seemed to do wonders, I had no headache the rest of the day and my back felt better. Ditto for Friday.
I was going to wait until Saturday to try going for a ride but Friday as I was walking past the pens Voodoo left his hay and watched me. (Pie had fed breakfast)
When I went to walk back to the house he followed me as far as he could and then he called. I went over and gave him some scritches and told him I would be right back... then I hustled to the house to grab boots and tell Pie I was going for a quick ride.
I caught Voodoo, tied him up brushed, saddled and went to bridle him. He practically bridled himself! When I lifted the h,eadstall he thrust his nose in and grabbed at the bit. Wow somebody sure seemed eager to get out. Kinda made me a bit nervous, wondering if he was going to act a bit goofy.
I led him past the house to the barrel patch, the actual arena being too muddy to use. He looked around at the stuff going on, Pie & Ben where putting together our gazebo, but stood nicely as I tightened his cinch and got on.
He was AWESOME! Sure he had his little moments making sure I was paying attention, but no outright acting out. Everything was great until we stopped from a lope. And. He. Stopped. Hard. That little move was just a wee bit too much for my back. We finished with some walking and sidepassing and then it was out to the pasture for a few hours as a reward.
Have to say it felt GREAT to be back in the saddle :)

He still isn't sick of me

Yesterday Pie & I "celebrated" our 7th wedding anniversary. Oh yeah it was quite a party... he drove me to the chiropractor, we went and picked up feed, went out for burgers at lunch (ok so I *am* a burger girl and it *is* one of my fav burger joints)

In other news:
Since George has been out in the pasture keeping Miss Cessa company I've noticed that I don't hear the coyotes from out back as much as I used to. "Out back" being out where the larger pasture is. Its the pasture that I usually have Cessa & George in.
I know donkeys are good for predator control but even one as tiny as George? Those coyotes I'm SURE had a spot they were living in back there. JK (the former owner) said he would work up the track and when he passed over it a second time there would already be paw prints on it... and his dog was left at the house.
I very rarely hear coyotes out that way lately although I do still hear them from the neighbours on either side and across the road.

Cessa update, my (awesome) small animal vet did a bit of asking around and located a horse vet with a very good reputation. I am going to try to get her to come out and check out Cessa's teeth, her overall health, do a fecal count and review our feed program/options.
Kinda funny but since I posted asking y'alls advice (Thanks!) I've noticed more of a spark in her eye and spring in her step. She's even been doing her big, floaty trot whenever I've led her anywhere :D

Tucker is still the love of my life. That little brat thinks he runs the place. Comet has finally come on board and accepted him, he will even play with the little guy now. Pretty funny to see a little Boston Terrier puppy controlling a big labX dog lol.

Our new place has electric heat and 2 pellet stoves, one in the basement family room and one upstairs in the living room. My mom & stepdad came over Sunday for a visit. Stepdad looked over the stoves and showed me how to operate the one upstairs. Yes sadly it was cold enough to light it for awhile. The upstairs one is pretty simple, the downstairs one is a bit more complicated.

Haven't really been riding lately. Have been getting horrible headaches and migraines for almost 3 weeks now. Hoping to feel good enough to get on in the next few days. Fingers crossed for warmer weather! I really need to be getting some miles on the boys. Not sure which one is going yet but we're signed up for an Ed Wright clinic and its just around the corner!

Help Wanted

I'm asking you guys for advice... It's about Cessa. I'm trying to decide if its That Time. I don't know if I'm being selfish or not but now that we finally have our own place I'd just really like one last winter with the old girl. One final chance to give her 150% care now that we're home. I just don't want to try to get through the winter if it's not what's fair to her.
Here's the situation. For the last few years I've supplemented her diet in the winter. It seems she has a hard time eating hay** so I would give her beet pulp mixed with senior feed, crushed/rolled oats and some oil. She had a hard time keeping on weight but I think that if I had been able to give her that extra feed every day she would have done better. However that just wasn't possible because of my boarding situation. Instead she got that extra feed anywhere from 3-6 times a week (I know it is better for horses to get fed on a regular basis, I was doing my best in the situation)
Once spring came around and she was able to graze on nice, soft grass she always seemed to thrive, I was even able to stop giving her that extra feed.
**I've had her teeth checked on a regular basis and the last horse dentist to take a look at her told me there's not really much he could do for her. A certain place that had worked on her teeth with a power float had pretty much screwed up what was left of her teeth. And yes this pissed me off royally.**
When we first moved Cessa was doing pretty good on pasture. The last little while she has dropped a lot of weight. A. Lot.
We have good quality pasture. In fact I often have the geldings in pens and just Cessa & George in the pasture, otherwise the boys get too fat.
I'm planning to have a fecal count done to check and make sure she doesn't have a heavy parasite load and then deworm accordingly. I've also been referred to a good horse vet (by our small animal vet who happens to own horses herself) and will get her teeth checked just to make sure that there are no sharp edges bothering her (even if there's not much else that can be done for them)
I've started giving her that "winter ration" once a day, and now I've just upped it to twice a day. Its 2 cups of beet pulp, measure dry then soaked; I add to that 4 cups of senior feed, a hoof supplement, a cup of rolled/crushed oats, a cup of sweet feed (just because she likes it) and 2 cups of oil. She seems to be starting to put on some weight, but not enough to get through winter. I have no problem giving her that ration 3 times a day but in my thinking if I need to do that to keep weight on her NOW what will I do once winter comes? If she has trouble eating hay again this winter what can I do for her?
One suggestion was to feed her soaked hay cubes but lets be realistic... she's an old gal that takes her time eating and this is "Tundra Country" as Mrs Mom puts it. Those soaked hay cubes would freeze before she could eat them.
When I had her stalled overnight to get out of the super cold rain the other day I gave her the smallest, softest, fluffiest scraps of hay that I could get and she ate those right up. The actual hay that was in the stall? Not so much. But that isn't really a workable solution, I can't exactly sift through the hay to get small fluffy bits all winter, even if I could there wouldn't be enough.
However I remembered an article I had read a few years ago, not sure what magazine it was in. Probably Horse & Rider or Equus. It was about feeding chopped hay to horses that can't chew very well. The people in the article chopped (or shredded??) the hay themselves with some kind of garden implement or power tool. That's what has me stumped. I can't remember what the heck that thing was called! All I remember clearly is that you can get electric or gas powered models and they advised getting the electric so that you don't risk gas fumes contaminating the hay. Any clues what the "thing" may be???
If you guys have any tips/ideas/advice I would really appreciate it. I'm not sure yet whether I'll try to keep her this winter or if I'll just have to be a big girl and say my goodbyes now. I'd sure like to give her a chance, and not just for my own selfish reasons but because Cessa still has a spark in her eye and a spring in her step... she even trotted her nice floaty trot to the barn the other day when I was bringing her in out of the cold.

Then & Now

It's been 9 years... the images are still replayed in the news, on the internet, on TV. I am choosing not to post any of those pictures here today. I'm not going to ask you where THEN. Instead I want to ask you where you are NOW. Mentally, emotionally and for some, physically.
Do you still feel the strength of coming together against a common enemy? Do you still accept that we need to support the men & women that put THEIR lives on the line so that WE can all remain free?
Sadly I don't think so. I think a lot of people are becoming complacent. Living in a bubble. Maybe sticking their heads in the sand. When the USA first went to war after 9/11 there was a lot of criticism from the anti-war groups. Now it seems that more and more people just want the troops to come home.
(of course I want every soldier to return safely... I just don't think the job is "done")
I would like to take today to encourage people to support those that do so much for others. Whether its someone in the military, police force, fire department... they are all putting their lives on the line to do a job that a lot of us take for granted and worse, criticize.
Sure you may not agree with them all the time, whether its a speeding ticket from a police officer (yeah I got one recently) or the fact that our countries (Canada & the USA) are at war with a common enemy. However it is MY opinion that we need to respect these individuals that do so much for us. They are putting it out their to keep us safe at home. Safe from local crime or safe from terrorists that not that long ago struck on our own land.


How can you forget? And if you remember how can you not support the troops?

Final Finals

This weekend is our district finals for barrel racing, or as we often call it Mini Finals. Its a 2 day event with day money paid out each day and prizes for the overall winners to be given out on the 2nd day after the AGM (this way its more likely people will stick around for the meeting).
I elected to enter Voodoo and leave Applejack at home. Primarily because as a member of our district's board I have to help work/run the finals but also because Applejack hasn't had a lot of riding and is bucking on the pattern.
Yep bucking. My theory is that now that he's feeling good he thinks he should run all out. I however would like to get him back in shape before asking that of him. In return he gets pissy and bucks as a horsey version of "F. you".
Speaking of finals I never did fill you guys in on how the Provincial Finals went.
They were NOT good. At least for me. Our district had a pretty respectable showing.
But no, Mr Voodoo did not like the arena set up. It was indoors and the "arena walls" were made of corral panels.
Not a huge deal except that the only bleachers were on the right hand side. The arena was pretty small so the bleachers were very close to the corral panel. Add to that the fact that we run left first so when you cross the arena to go to the right barrel its not just a bunch of people close to the rail its also that they look pretty much like they're sitting in the arena around the barrel.
He put on the brakes and I'm sure was thinking "hells NO!"
Yeah so it wasn't cool but it got my horse out seeing something new. Next year will hopefully be better.

Friday Funny

Where,oh where

have my little cows gone? Oh where, oh where can they be?
And I DO mean little. A couple weeks ago Pie & I got a little steer, Stubby:
And a little bull, El Toro:

They are both Lowlines and the steer is ours but the bull belongs to a friend. ET only came to live here to keep Stubby company. IF we decide to go ahead and get some more cattle and have cows to breed we could breed to ET.

We settled both boys in as per DBs directions. I followed them to the "t". However a few days ago I let them have access to the pasture and lately I haven't seen them. At least not up close. :(

I've checked fence, both by horseback and by quad, and the fence is up. I've ridden through the pasture to look for them and there is one bush I can't get through that they might have. Kinda hoping that's where they've been hanging out.

Friends of mine that are cattle ranchers (The Farmer Fehrs) have told me not to get all panicked. That every single day someone has cows get out. It just happens. I know I've seen neighbour's cows out.

So I'm trying not to get stressed and worry.

We've talked to a couple neighbours and put up a poster at the local gas station/post office just in case they did manage to get out and are hanging around in a neighbour's pasture.

I sure hope they show up!

(and if they don't we will be paying DB for his bull)

In the meantime I'll keep a familiar tune in my head "Where oh where..."

**edit** they have been found!

Wasn't exactly going to be "Wordless" anyway lol

I was originally going to use this as a "Wordless Wednesday" pic. But I didn't get around to it in time and I probably wouldn't have been able to post it without rambling a little.
It is the very first picture I took when we moved to the new place...

There is a horse in it, if you look closely. Cropping it and blowing it up its kinda blurry but here's a closer look...

I had put the horses out into the small pasture and was sitting on the steps to the deck enjoying breakfast. I had my camera and the horses had wandered back to the gate (after tearing around kicking up their heals and exploring). Applejack happened to wander into a spot where he was framed by trees but I could still get a shot.

The lighting was kinda funky to work with. Every time I tried to get a clearer shot, or to get a shot with him bigger it would overexpose and washout. Bummer that this was the best I got, but still my first pic at the new place... and its got a pony in it :)

My husband has a sweet ass ;)

Meet George, Pie's b-day present:

No he's not named after a much more well known donkey named George. Or even after my father-in-law (although that is a humorous coincidence lol). George came with his name and he knows it.
Pie has wanted a donkey for some time now. In fact it was one of the first things he mentioned wanting when we started looking for our acreage 4 years ago.
When we knew we were getting our place I started the search. We wanted a small to average size, healthy, friendly donkey.
I was having no luck at all when I got a couple good leads. A couple sold and before I had the chance to follow up the others I had a friend ask me if we were still looking for a donkey. Pie was right there, but he hadn't heard her thank goodness, so I asked her if I could text her about it later. Long story short it turns out that H was moving and could take her horses but wasn't able to keep her donkey. She knew we'd give him a good home so if we wanted him she would GIVE him to us.
(yup that's right, free... considering most of the ones I was able to find were in the $500-600+ range that was a heckuva deal!)
So a few days before his July 22nd b-day (on July 17th, my l'il sis's b-day actually) I told Pie that I had to go help H with a horse that I was going to take care of while she was out of town.
Yes I lied, shamelessly.
I came back a short while later with the horse trailer and Pie happened to be out at his shop. He looked at the horse trailer and asked what was going on.
Again I lied. "We decided it would just be easier for me to bring him here. But you've GOT to see this horse! Can you help me unload him?"
Pie opened the trailer door and there was George, facing him. Oh how I wish I had gotten a picture of that moment! I didn't have the camera at hand though in case I needed to help with the unloading. H had warned me that sometimes donkeys take awhile to warm up to people so not to be offended if George was a bit standoffish at first.
Pie looked back and forth from me to George and then exclaimed "You got a donkey!?!"
"No, YOU'VE got a donkey... Happy Birthday!" I told him.

George has since settled in fine and is an accepted member of the herd. He also is very friendly and affectionate towards both Pie and I. And we're pretty proud of our cute little ass lol.
And I'm pretty darn proud that for once I was able to totally pull one over on Pie, he admits he had NO clue that I had found him his donkey! :)

Holy. Smoke.

Its the beginning of August already! Did you know that? Did you see it coming? Cuz it kinda snuck up on me lol
This week is our Provincial Finals for barrel racing. Kinda weird this year, its here in Saskatoon so Kimfer & I are hauling our horses in for their runs and taking them home at night. Costs a bit more than renting a stall but the horses are way happier.
I'm only taking Voodoo this year. Applejack had REALLY sore feet & I couldn't ride him for about a month. Didn't feel it was fair to him to bring him so I vetted him out.
This is my first time having Voodoo at something "big" like this so fingers crossed!
We brought our horses in last night for the open riding. Pretty glad we did. This setup is nothing like any of the other arenas we've ran in for finals.
Kimfer & I BOTH forgot our video cameras today. Hopefully one of us will remember tomorrow.

I need some sleep!

We're running like crazy here. Finishing up the repairs/touchups & cleaning to get our house in the city sold.
Trying to get horses in shape for Provincial Finals.
Trying to get unpacked in the new place.
Oh and of course work and the usual stuff.
On top of all that I got my birthday present a few weeks ago...
(please forgive the quality of the pics, they're from my cell phone. And please ignore the ugly brown & white blanket lol)
Meet Tucker:




Tucker may be getting some sleep but the last couple weeks he's been keeping me up at night. Good thing he's cute! lol