Meet Smudge

He's "city slicker" broke ;)

**more later** :)

Friday Funny ~ Airman

One night at McChord Air Force Base, I was dispatched to check out the security fence where an alarm had gone off.  The fence was at the end of the base runway. 
When I got to the scene I found a raccoon was the culprit, so I ran around and flapped my arms to scare the animal away.

Suddenly an air-traffic controller came over the public-address system and announced loudly, "Attention to the airman at the end of the runway.  You are cleared for takeoff."

What is broke?

Ask 5 different people that question and you get 5 different answers.

For some people its a horse that every little move, touch, shift of weight or inhale/exhale of breath you make is a different cue.  Your leg touches his side here and you get reaction X, slide back an inch and its a different reaction.  And that's great IF you're a rider with that much finesse.
Another broke is a horse that excels at its particular job, even if it may not be too great at a something else.  Like a barrel horse that is NFR quality but you wouldn't want to take over a course of jumps, a cutter that is tough on cattle but you wouldn't try dressage with or a reiner that you wouldn't take out on the trails (NOT that any of those jobs are exclusive to doing anything else, just that sometimes a highly trained horse in one discipline isnt' really good at much else due to the focus & time training the trainer puts on their discipline)
Then there's the horse that you can toss any greenhorn or dude on, any city slicker or visitor that comes out.  He's the horse that may not be 'fancy' or showy or have lots of 'buttons', but he doesn't booger at the plastic bag blowing in the breeze.  He may not win in the showpen but he's the one you trust with your non-riding parents, your friend from work that wants to 'go ride a horsey' or your nieces and nephews that don't really ride but have outgrown the pony.  He may neckrein or plow rein, go forward, backwards and stop but that's about it.

All those horses have their place, and they all have value... sometimes with papers and sometimes without.  You just have to know what your needs/expectations are.

to be continued...

Wordless Wednesday ~ Now THAT'S a tail

**sorry for the poor quality of the pic, its from my phone**

Pony Playday!

Monday I got together with a couple of the girls and we had a pony playday... with actual PONIES.  It was so much fun!
I took Rootbeer over to Jo's and Wan brought her two minis.  Shann was supposed to come but her plumber showed up.
I didn't get a shot of Jo's minis, Mystic & Maverick, but here is the rest of the gang waiting for things to get underway:

Peppy, Pokey & Rootbeer

Another neighbour, Dave, drives & shows minis and was coming over to give us a bit of a clinic.  I had gotten a pony sized driving harness from my vet.  It doesn't quite fit well enough to actually hook a cart but Dave managed to size it down & rig it up enough to ground drive him.  After all that's all I had in line as a goal right now... then it soon became obvious that Rootbeer must have been driven sometime in his past!

Rootbeer & Dave

He stepped out like a pro, walking at a nice, steady forward walk.  No putsing around or dragging his feet.  He knows 'gee' and 'haw' and best of all he seemed to really enjoy himself.
Oh boy I bet Pie is going to be sooo happy when I tell him I want to buy some new harness that will actually fit to hook with and a cart ;)

That's a content pony :)

**please forgive the poor quality cell phone pics**

Earning his keep

A couple posts ago I mentioned that our little Echo has been earning his keep.  Since the day we got him I've heard him bark at "things" every night.  I think that usually it was deer in the bush or something innocent like that.
One night I heard him REALLY bark.  He sounded like he meant business.  Then I heard the coyotes start singing.  And barking.  And howling.
Echo kept up his "tough guy" barking and growling and after awhile the coyotes moved on.
We don't get coyotes around very much lately but when we do Echo sure puts on his game face and goes to work.  Some nights its more work than others.
Not only does he keep the coyotes away but he's been keeping other varmints away too.  A week or so ago I was getting ready to go out and do the horses final feed (around 2:15am, remember I don't exactly have "normal" hours) when I could hear Echo growling and barking just outside the back door.
I kept the other dogs in the house and went out on the deck with a flashlight.  I couldn't quite tell what he had at first but I knew I didn't want it in my back yard!
For about 10 minutes I watched him pounce, jump and dance around this thing... about 10 feet from the deck, right where my dogs always run around.
I went back in the house and put on jeans, boots and a hoodie (thought they'd be a bit more appropriate than the shorts, flip flops & tank top I had been wearing) and managed to keep Tucker in the house while I let Comet & Misty out with me.
Echo & Thing were still by the deck so I sent Misty & Comet over to check things out.  It jumped at Misty and she came back to me.  At first I thought she was just a chicken but I noticed after that she kept herself between me & It no matter where It was.
Comet would go check things out then wander away, then go back.  Gradually It moved across the yard, over the driveway and across the barrel patch, by then Comet was much more interested in working with Echo.  I noticed that It wasn't really trying to get away anymore.  I called the dogs off a few times and It would hold its ground when they came to me.  It was no longer in fight or flight mode, It just wanted to fight.
Echo & Comet got It positioned between them and kept it there, It would make a few little jumps but no big moves.  Meanwhile the dogs would bark and snarl, it seemed like they were trying to egg it on.  Eventually that worked and It made a BIG jump at Echo.  Comet darted in, snatched it from behind and gave it a couple good shakes.  Yep Comet, the dog that has never shown any aggression to any other living thing, dealt the killing blow.
When he dropped it the feet twitched a bit and then Echo grabbed it and shook.  When he set it down I went over, with a big metal rake, and gave it a poke or two to make sure it was dead.  Thankfully it was.
Now what to do?  I didn't want them to eat it or drag it off.  I checked the time, saw  it was around 3 and realized Pie would be home soon so I stood guard while telling the dogs how good they were. A few minutes later he pulled up to the garage and I called to him to bring a shovel to dispose of it.  Then we got a good look at it and I snapped a couple cellphone pics, It ended up being a muskrat.  A good size one, probably close to Tucker's size.
I was SO glad that Echo was trying to get rid of it.  Something like that could have really hurt Tucker (or worse!)  I'm all for wildlife, just so long as they leave my critters alone.

The odd couple, Comet doesn't usually like Echo so I was kinda surprised  they worked together so well.
Both dogs were none the worse for wear.  Echo managed to get by with no injuries and Comet had a small bite to the face (all the dogs are up to date on shots)  I took Comet in to Dr Lorrie Saturday morning to get the bite checked and he was fine, although he did seem to have a cocky strut ;)

Sunday Stills ~ Signs of Fall

Growing like a weed

Remember Echo?   Little, sweet Echo?
Here he was at about 3 months of age.  Not a lot bigger than Tucker...

While they have remained fast friends the size difference is much more noticeable now!  Here is Echo the other day, approximately 6 1/2 months old

And he's already been earning his keep :)

Friday Funny ~ Square Testicles

An elderly woman walked into the Royal Bank of Canada one  morning with a purse full of money. She wanted to open a savings account and  insisted on talking to the president of the Bank because, she said, she had  a lot of money.

After many lengthy discussions (after all, the client  is always right) an employee took the elderly woman to the president's  office.

The president of the Bank asked her how much she wanted to  deposit. She placed her purse on his desk and replied, '$165,000'. The  president was curious and asked her how she had been able to save so much  money . The elderly woman replied that she made bets.

The  president was surprised and asked, 'What kind of bets?'

The elderly  woman replied, 'Well, I bet you
$25,000 that your testicles are  square.'

The president started to laugh and told the woman that it  was impossible to win a bet like that.

The woman never batted an eye.  She just looked at the president and said, 'Would you like to take my  bet?'

'Certainly', replied the president. 'I bet you $25,000 that my  testicles are not square.'

'Done', the elderly woman answered. 'But  given the amount of money involved, if you don't mind I would like to come  back at 10 ' clock tomorrow morning with my lawyer as a witness.' 'No  problem', said the president of the Bank confidently.

That night, the  president became very nervous about the bet and spent a long time in front  of the mirror examining his testicles, turning them this way and that,  checking them over again and again until he was positive that no one could  consider his testicles as square and reassuring himself that
There was no  way he could lose the bet.

The next morning at exactly 10 o'clock the  elderly woman arrived at the president's office with her lawyer and  acknowledged the $25,000 bet made the day before that the president's  testicles were square.

The president confirmed that the bet was the  same as the one made the day before. Then the elderly woman asked him to  drop his pants etc. So that she and her lawyer could see clearly.

The  president was happy to oblige.

The elderly woman came closer so she  could see better and asked the president if she could touch them. 'Of  course', said the president. 'Given the amount of money involved, you should  be 100% sure.'

The elderly woman did so with a little smile. Suddenly  the president noticed that the lawyer was banging his head against the wall.  He asked the elderly woman why he was doing that and she replied, 'Oh, it's  probably because I bet him $100,000 that around 10 o'clock in the morning I  would be holding the balls of the President of the Royal  Bank  of Canada !'

A mob of sheepeople

"Judge not lest ye be judged"

**this may be a bit of a rant, and kinda long, you have been forewarned**  ;)

Whether you're religious or not its a good piece of advice, and something a few local people would do well to keep in mind.

There's been a bit of a 'thing' going on in our little local community.  You see there is a woman, "J" travelling across the country by foot, camping out along the way.  Minding her own business and not causing any trouble.  But a local 'rescue' group is stirring things up.  Because J happens to have a horse with her.

"Homeless with a horse" played on the local news.  The rescue lady is trying to get J's horse taken from her with all kinds of claims flying about.  I happened to catch them on Facebook.  The stuff being said was kinda ridiculous.  It reminded me of how bad the mob mentality could get on Fugly back in the day (I haven't read there lately) and it was pretty evident that, as on Fugly, most of these people had no first hand knowledge of the situation but rather than find anything out for themselves they were blindly following along.

When the fit hit the shan about this locally J was camping at the west edge of the city.  The rescue lady was stirring things up so much that J moved and now she and her mare are camped out at the 'fairgrounds' of our town.  I stopped there today, which was actually kinda hard for me to do as I don't really like strangers lol

I wanted to know for myself if this lady & her horse were okay, if there was anything I could do to help them out or if maybe all the crap swirling around Facebook was actually true.

J is nice, a bit eccentric maybe but not a raving lunatic.  She said that she prefers to live outside as much as possible and is originally from Quebec.  She is making her way to western Alberta or BC for the winter, hoping for a milder climate where she and her horse can continue to live outside.

The horse, ah yes the horse... the reason for the drama.  She may be a bit thin but more on the thin side of average than skinny, she's not "starving".  J got the horse 2 months or so ago.  The horse looks well, she needs muscling & conditioning to fill out more than groceries (and after all its late summer/early fall... the mare is getting plenty of grass and isn't being worked too hard)

Yes she has only 3 shoes, she just lost one recently.  The rescue lady had "she's only got THREE shoes!" as part of her complaint.  Oh my!  Please, how many of you that shoe your horses NEVER EVER lose a shoe?

Yes there are a few sores on the mare.  As a matter of fact I noticed the same type of sores on one of my friend's horses recently.  They are not the kind of sores that are caused by abuse or neglect.  Again, if any of you have ever had a horse that NEVER gets a scrape/bump/cut please let me know how you managed that short of covering it in bubble wrap and putting it in in a rubber padded stall.

She does seem a bit off on one hind.  There is some thickening on the pastern, so it is most likely an old injury.

As for the claims that J stole this horse, or 'found it', NO it is J's horse.  She has a bill of sale including a photocopy of the certified cheque.  (which I never asked to see, it was information she volunteered)

The local SPCA and the local police had all been out and said there was no reason to take J's horse from her but this lady from the rescue still keeps harassing her.  I'm so glad that I stopped and saw for myself that the situation seems fine.  I told J (who at that time had not told me her name) that I'd be back with the few supplies that she hesitatingly asked for.  

When I came back with the supplies there was another local lady ("S") there, the one I had seen standing up for J on Facebook.  J introduced herself and thanked me for the stuff I brought, I introduced myself to S and while I was there the vet also stopped by, he agrees that the horse is fine (and the rescue happens to be one of his clients so he said he'd talk to her & try to get her to leave J alone) and the local news came to get some shots to finish up their update on the story - J had called them after the first story, someone had shown it to her and it did not tell HER side of the story at all but rather the rescue lady's.

Another one of the other reason's that's popped up for taking J's horse is that "its so cruel to the horse to travel that way".  Umm, HELLO how the heck do you think Canada & the US were settled?  By people walking, people riding & driving horses (and mules, and oxen, etc)  NOT by fricking cars.  Its a heck of a lot healthier for a horse for it to be out moving everyday than to spend most of its day in a stall or small pen, and how many horses live like that?! 

What about Bill Inman, Bernice Ende, Rev Ken Downey, Stan Perdue, Kimber Sider, Kimball Foord, etc.  I guess maybe it was okay for those people to travel across the country with their horses because they were riding them not leading them??

What I keep wondering is why these people are harassing J.  Because she's different?

Vet day

Thursday was vet day, The Day, the day the colts were scheduled for brain surgery.  I was also getting Cessa's teeth checked and Voodoo & Applejack were getting their wiener holders cleaned (after all if the vet's already there...)

This is the face of a brand new gelding lol

Doc L decided we'd start with the colts.  I told her that while they are both halter broke and will tie, Odin is a bit stubborn and doesn't lead too well.  In fact if he decides not to cooperate you kinda wonder if he was a mule in a former life.

Sure enough he decided no way in hell was he leading away from everyone else and his safe zone.  Doc had to smack him on the butt and encourage him along while I led.  Finally he grudgingly moved along... maybe if he knew what was in store he would have refused a bit more lol

His gelding took a bit longer than usual.  His 'bits' were on the smaller side and even though he was drugged he kept pulling them out of Doc's grasp.  He made her work for it but eventually she got them both and it was a successful little surgery.  I warned her he was stubborn ;)

Tavi went down like a cheap drunk, the drugs hit him harder than they hit Odin.  He's got a couple hundred pounds on Odin but he was much easier to get down and to geld.

Next up was teeth.  My neighbour Jo brought her Paint gelding and mini mare to get their teeth looked at (which was nice because then we split the call fee) :)

After they were done Doc looked at Cessa and just as I thought there was not much to work with there.  Good news is there were no sharp edges, so no dentist for Cessa.

Then Voodoo and Applejack got their sheaths cleaned.  I will confess that I have NEVER cleaned a sheath.  Doc and I talked about it and part of it is that I'm scared.  I had a gelding that even when really drugged would light up and fire at you if you dared to approach his man bits.

Also since I've never done it I worry about not rinsing enough and leaving soap/cleaner up there.  That can't be a good thing.  Plus it is kinda gross lol

Voodoo & Applejack are both really good to clean.  NO drugs at all, they just stand there and look kinda mildly offended/embarrassed and like they're thinking "please just finish"

So Doc made me stick my hand up there after she cleaned Voodoo.  Just so I'd know what a normal, clean sheath feels like.

Then before she cleaned Applejack she made me feel what a grungy one feels like.  I have to admit that I went "oh yuck!"  She laughed and said, "I guess you'll keep paying me to do that"

To be honest it just wasn't quite what I was expecting.  I was expecting it to feel more like dirt.  It did not.

Both colts seem to be healing up well.  They were bright eyed and moseying around today in their pen.  

There was a nice surprise too, my bill was about $300-400 less than I thought it would be.  I had heard that a couple years ago Doc L was charging over $200 to geld so I was thinking it would be more than that now.  Instead it was $150 plus the drugs (which ended up being $30some each, so both boys were less than $190 each)

Friday Funny ~ I'm so sorry

Let me apologize in advance... today's Friday Funny is gonna be bad. 
Like 'oh wow she is such a dweeb' bad.
I can't help it... Dr L was out today (which will be a post in itself) and it just turns out that we have the same awful dorky sense of humour.  So don't say you weren't warned....

What did the green grape say to the purple grape?

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Breathe!  Breathe!

What do you do when you see a spaceman?

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You park, dude.

What did the fish say when he swam into the wall?

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"Oh, dam"

Okay I'll stop now and spare you from any more lame jokes.

Remember

Do you remember

Does your heart still ache

Or have you become blasé

Have you forgotten

Is today just another day

It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since 9-11. For some people it's becoming just another date in the history books. For others it's a day of deep, personal grieving. And for the rest of us it's a day we will never forget even if we were fortunate to not be directly linked to it through the loss of a family member, friend or co-worker.
In my opinion we need to remember.
Those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.

Flight 11
Flight 77
Flight 93
Flight 195
The WTC, the Pentagon
Firefighters, police, emergency responders, military & civilians.

In honor of all those who lost their lives that day. I will remember you.
Today is NOT "just another day".

Friday Funny ~ Loaves & Fishes

A nervous young minister, new to the church, told the flock, "For my text today, I will take the words, 'And they fed five men with five thousand loaves of bread and two thousand fishes'."

A member of the flock raised his hand and said, "That's not much of a trick.  I could do that."

The minister didn't respond.
However, the next Sunday he decided to repeat the text.  This time he did it properly: "And they fed five thousand men with five loaves of bread and two fishes."

Smiling, the minister said to the noisy man, "Could you do that Mr. Perkins?"

The member of the flock said, "I sure could."

"How would you do it?

"With all the food I had left over from last Sunday!"

Friday Funny ~ I love this kid

Our teacher asked what my favourite animal was, and I said "Fried chicken."

She said I wasn't funny, but she must have been wrong because everyone else laughed.

My parents told me to always tell the truth.  

I did, fried chicken is my favourite animal.

I told my dad what happened. 

He said my teacher is probably a member of PETA.

He said they love animals very much.

I do too.  Especially chicken, pork and beef.  

Anyway my teacher sent me to the principal's office.

I told him what happened, he laughed too.  

Then he told me not to do it again.

The next day in class my teacher asked me what my favourite live animal was.

I told her chicken.  

She asked me why, and I told her

it was because you can make them into fried chicken.

She sent me back to the principal's office.

He laughed and told me not to do it again.

I don't understand.

My parents taught me to be honest, 

but my teacher doesn't like it when I am.

Today my teacher asked us to tell her 

what famous person we admire most.

I told her, "Colonel Sanders."

Guess where I am now...