Amyra, on the fourth day

The camera was in my pocket on Tuesday afternoon when Amyra got herself stuck.  Guess I'd never make it as a reporter, because I didn't stop along the way to document the untangling process.  But I did get one picture after I had her all undone and doctored.

Here's the same foot this morning.  The black stuff mostly dust stuck to the wound spray and feet wet the from dew/heavy fog we had overnight.  There's some scabbing at the back, but she completely ignored my prodding at it, so apparently it's not sore.

From the left (outside, same as above)

From the back

From the front

From the right (inside)

 Still can't believe how incredibly lucky we were!

(Still) Not liking the time change

Did I really last post November of 2013 (!) Don't ask me how it got to be that long ago, I have absolutely no clue. Good grief!

First things first: all is well on the home front. We've had a couple minor catastrophes and there is a bevy of new critters underfoot, but it's been a relatively quiet year all-in-all.

A quick recap, with more detail to follow:

• T came home safe & sound from foreign parts.
• Rufus lacerated his right hind hoof, resulting in the year's only equine vet-visit.
• We now have a flock of chickens (and one - remaining - duck).
• And 7, 8, 7 cats.
• I once again did not show at the county fair. I did, however, attend a 3-day Buck Branaman clinic. Wheee!
• The ponies are sane, healthy (barring Rufus, who's amazingly sound, but still sporting a hoof-wrap) and remain as round as ever.

More to come soon - I promise! - with pictures :)

Pictures soon...

It's been a wonderful and hectic couple of weeks around here. I had two weeks vacation, most of which was spent in the basement dealing - hopefully successfully - with a water problem. But there was time to spend a few hours out with the four-foots.

My folks were here, and my mom got some great pictures. She was also fabulous helping with a trailer loading refresher course with Star & Solitaire who will be heading for a new home tomorrow if all goes well. They're bound for a trainer to become a team, and will certainly be a flashy pair of blacks. Not quite exactly matched, but close enough to turn some heads, I think.

Pictures to follow!

Still here

Not sure exactly what I've spent the last two weeks doing - well, I know, but it's not anything interesting - but it obviously hasn't been posting!

Here's a rundown of recent events:

• horses (not-so-crazy week of mud (!), melting, and shedding
• work (crazy week leading up to spring break)
• home (crazy week leading up to 15th birthday for H)

I have pictures to go with most of those, but the USB-thingy is still out in the car....

Basically, it's been a non-starter of a fortnight horse-wise.

T is hunting a new saddle which will hopefully a) fit Rufus, b) fit him, and c) not cost an arm and a leg. I think I may have convinced him not to get too attached to the lovely, new, (and extremely dear) 16" Colorado roping saddle the guy at the tack shop was trying to sell him. He has the option of trying it first, which is good, but the price tag made him gulp (me, too!), although it really wasn't out of line for a quality new saddle.

I'm just not convinced we can't find him a good used saddle that will meet all his criteria. We're going to do some more active looking locally first - at least that's my intention!

Other than that, things are wet, rainy, foggy, and - hooray! - above freezing!

Wednesday update

Well, this has been a super-busy, nut-so week work wise, which may be why I haven't had the energy to do more than check on what everybody out there in blog-land has been up to.

The horses are settling in to shedding mode, which means I finish feeding coated in sticky, prickly, horse hair. (Note to self - must remember to segregate horse-feeding clothing from work clothing, especially sweaters. Horse hair is ITCHY! LOL)

Wacky SD weather, as per usual - we had 50' yesterday, and tomorrow's high will be 18' with snow. No idea what the weekend will bring. But I could sure tell that there was something moving in Monday night - Sunny was doing a lone rodeo horse act, hopping and crow-hopping all by himself (as opposed to just chasing the rest of them), and the others were just plain squirrelly. So were the calves, for that matter - butting heads & careening off the sucker bars and over the muck heap. Last night in the heatwave they were ALL much more polite & laidback.

Had an invitation to work cows (maybe) on Sunday, which I'm debating. We'll see how the weather is and whether I have time to ride at all on Saturday. Courageous of me, isn't it? But if we're going to be dealing with an all day thing, knee-deep mud, and/or below zero temps, I'm out. I haven't been riding since last fall, and Sunny's activity for the last three months has consisted mainly of eating & sleeping. Wouldn't be kind to either of us, I don't think.

Anyway, that's the news (or not) for the week thus far. Happy riding, everyone!

Dodge: An old friend does it right

A few weeks ago I posted regarding a gelding I'd once ridden whose new owners had a "old injury" related question.

I received a Dodge-update recently, and I just have to share.

A Bit of Background: Dodge is a real sweetie - a big boy for a half-Arab, with a personality to match. He was so not being used to his full potential standing in as pasture sentinel for the broodmare herd, which is what he'd been left to once Sunny started occupying most of my time. He just needed the right person to really make him shine.

His new owner, J, a young lady from out East, has definitely broadened his horizons. From a western horse with a background in trail & cows, he's gone to the land of English saddles, working in frame, and collecting with the best of them. (J's mom wrote this letter after Dodge had settled in a bit - what a lucky horse he is to have landed with such a great family!)

The Update: J's been showing him in open class hunter at some of the big shows - and they're placing! Last week they got their first blue. Her mom sent pictures from two shows they attended last weekend, as well as some of Dodge actually standing in the ocean on a recent trail ride.

As much as I appreciated the show pictures, I really loved the one J's mom sent of the two of them in the ocean. Dodge was wearing his skew-eared "I know you want me to do this. I'm doing it. But I don't have to look like I'm happy about it!" face - so typical I was laughing looking at it. He will happily stand all day in a stagnant pond, but moving water is suspiciously active for his taste - goofy boy.

We (BO & I) always knew Dodge could compete with the best given the opportunity. His new family has faced some challenges - all that standing around between trail rides gave him a short attention span for arena work, which resulted in some tantrums, and he's still developing some of the muscle needed to carry himself in frame for long periods - but they're also seeing a lot of progress and potential for more.

What really makes my day, though, is how happy they've been with his unflappable trail attitude. Good boy, Dodge!

A Dodge retrospective:

Pre-4th of July Parade,
Wessington Springs, SD
(2001)

Pre-4th of July Parade, Mitchell, SD (2001)

(2002)

Parade of Lights test-run, (2004)

Parade of Lights test-run (2004)

Dodge (2005)