Not a good horse weekend: Part 1 - Friday

I can't even tell you how much
I really wish we were already living
in that horse-friendly place out in the country.

Where I could actually keep an eye on the horses.
Right out my own window.

This is how I wish my weekend had gone....

It was NOT a good horse weekend. Although, I suppose, since all of them ARE still upright, it could have been a lot worse....

The horses got a new bale Friday. When G put it out, it ended up ground side facing the herd, and even more unfortunately, close enough that they could reach it over the fence. Grrrr.

I usually have the chance to peel that part off and I certainly don't feed it, but by the time we got out there that night, Sunny, being a bit of a pig, munched his way through lots more yucky hay than was good for him. (I suppose the plus side to his being a pig is that he was the only one who'd been eating it....) But when we got out to feed, he was... off.

Just not his usual self - you know the look? Sort of semi-glazed: no whinnying in greeting when we piled out of the truck; not aggressively removing the mares from the good hay, once it was distributed; not waiting for me and following me around.

Of course, it was dark. And cold.

He wasn't sweating or otherwise really distressed. We checked for gut sounds (good) - stethoscope came in handy, there - his gums were nice and pink, and the refill rate was good. He didn't want to lay down. It was just my gut was telling me his was bothering him.

We baby-sat him for several hours, during which he'd perk back up for a while, and then go back into slightly worried-horse mode. But the "good" spells got longer and longer, and the worried spells got shorter and shorter, and finally he was tugging to go back to the hay. As soon as he was loose, he pooped and then chased the mares out of his spot. Ordinarily, annoying, but right then, I was glad to see him being his crabby self.

We watched him a while longer, but I was almost sure he was feeling better. J & G weren't home, so I left a message for her to check him later on in the evening when they got home, and to call me, which she did. He was standing, with the others, not eating, but seemed social enough when she talked to him. She'd keep an eye on him and call me in an hour or if anything changed. I sweated through the hour until her second call wondering if I shouldn't just drive back out. But finally called and reported he was eating and totally ignored her. She'd check again before she went to be at 11 PM and call me if anything looked off.

I headed out early, early Saturday morning after very little sleep, to check on him. He'd been laying down by the mud he was wearing, but he greeted me with his usual enthusiasm, so that crisis seemed past.

So that was Friday

Friday Book Review: jumps, choices, and decisions

The bright orange cover caught my attention as soon as I opened the box. (You knew I was going to do one of the new books, right?)

Well, I picked a good one to start with - okay, I admit it, I read the children's picture books first, but they're going out again as Christmas presents, so that doesn't really count, does it?

Anyway, I was glad I started with Francie's story. I'm not a hunter/jumper rider in training, and I've never shown on an elite level or out of a big barn with any kind of trainer, let alone a world-class one, but in college I had friends who did. Their tales of what went on behind the scenes at shows and in the training barns would curl your hair. And judging by the attention to little horse-y details here, I think the author not only did her homework, but paid her dues. And she definitely knows how to tell a good story.

If you have a teenage girl who's into horses, this is a highly recommended read.

The Perfect Distance by Kim Ablon Whitney

Francie Martinez is almost 18, a senior in high school, and she's torn. It's her last competition year as a junior; her last chance to win the Maclay Finals, THE competition of the jumping world for juniors. She's caught between her own desire to be a professional rider, and the father, who she loves, and who wants nothing more for her than to go on to a good college. Complicating the situation is her position as a lowly groom in the barn of one of the best trainers in the country. She's works for her lessons, and in the strict hierarchy of the show barn, as a less than perfect rider who's not quite good enough to win consistently, thus bringing Rob (the trainer) the prestige he needs, Francie gets the short end of the horse stick, and less of Rob's attention than she'd like. When a new boy, and some new social opportunities arise, Francie has to decide what's important and who to trust.

I loved this book! Whitney's writing style is descriptive and engaging, and Francie's an appealing heroine with real issues. The level of detail Whitney brings shows both her love for and knowledge of the sport. At bottom, the book offers an enjoyable peek into the work of the elite and the wanna-be elite - it isn't always pretty, but that doesn't make the story ring any less true.

If I had to pick a fault with this book, the portrayal of Francie's relationship with her father isn't as strong as it might have been. But given how dysfunctional the other families are portrayed as being.... When all's said and done, it's Francie and the competitive show world that receive the focus here.

An embarrassment of riches!

A newly arrived box of books is a bit like Christmas morning.

Alibris is wonderful - you can find almost any book you've ever run across (and multitudes you haven't!) and most of them are very affordable. Plus, if you buy enough, shipping's free - gotta love that. So, I had a weak moment last week when I found a book I've wanted for a while was finally available, and I added a bunch of titles from my wishlist and clicked purchase.

The first box was waiting when I got home last night.

Among others:

Astrology and Your Horse
by Vicky & Beth Maloney

The Horse Girl
by Miriam Moss

Heartland #1 : Coming Home
by Lauren Brooke

The Perfect Distance
by Kim Albon Whitney

Thelwell Countryby Thelwell

The country living section's great, but I love this one from the horse section in particular!

(The print is available at Punchcartoons for separate purchase.)

And never let it be said that cartoons are not educational!

Just what the heck is an avocet, you might ask? Why a weirdly-billed, warm-climate wading bird, of course! (Well, I had no idea.)

And To the Mountains by Morning by Diana Wieler - can't find a cover image for that one at the moment, so I'll have to scan it later.

On top of these, interlibrary loan also brought me
Horseplay by Judy Reene Singer.


I can't wait to get started!!!!

Kitten pics!

The kitten came out to play this afternoon. I'm thinking s/he looks like a Doc to me (for Drop Off Kitten/Cat).

After chowing down...

What's this?

Food where the dog can't get at it! Cool!

Food was good, but attention was better!

And of course, Ayisha wanted in on the action, too....

T brought a couple of big inside-out tires back with him to use as additional feed bunks, so we'll get those rolled out sometime this week - Oooh, presents!

Is it wrong that I'd rather have hay feeders than jewelry?

I'd have had them out this afternoon, but all he wanted to do was catch up on missed sleep, and they're a bit heavy to manage on my own. Given my luck during the rest of the past week, I'd roll one off the truck right onto me, or somehow manage to squash Doc or Ayisha flat as a pancake!

Time with the critters was entirely too fleeting today. I headed in for work only to find 95% of our computers down. With "Out Of Order" signs taped to nearly everything, it should make for a quiet evening. Or wait, someone might actually have to use a book!!! Horrors! LOL!

Sunday flashbacks

That's Sunny as a long yearling the summer before I bought him. The big bay next to him was my then current riding partner, Dodge. See his back foot? Here's a close-up.
Long toes, I know.... This was taken almost a year after he sliced the bulb of his heel open on (we think) a strand of electric wire, probably kicking out at one of the other horses. Amazingly, he didn't cut anything crucial, and the protruding triangle you see there has shrunk down to look almost normal except for the scar.

This is Star & mom Pennie, probably only hours old & still a little wobbly.

And Star this fall.