Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Feeling Neglected..

I think my blog feels neglected as do my very few readers.. :) There just hasnt been anything new or exciting to report.

I've been motivated to work with Dexter now that I no longer have Red, and after seeing how "terrible" Dexters reaction to a stranger was!! A friend was possibly interested in buying him, so she came out about 10 days ago.. Dexter was not diggin it at all. He wanted nothing to do with this new person and was a bit naughty.. It really opened my eyes to just how much more work he needs.. He's been so good for me but I can see he's become a 1-person horse. I am now in motivation-mode and try to work with him daily, really starting to push his buttons and demand a lot more from him, which in reality.. is not alot! I finally got him registered, feels good to have gotten that done. His papered name is "Driftin Blue Dexter". Last night I put a bareback pad on him, that was interesting! When I started to over-tighten it a bit, he went straight up in the air in the middle of my barn so I backed it off a bit and kept it fairly loose.. proceeded to lunge him and that was pretty funny.. he did the typical wild bronco type moves you see in pictures of a horse being saddled for the first time. He didnt like it, but I need to start pushing him harder because he's gettin too old and big for slow progress. I'm not going to be pushing him harder than he can handle, but he's still so darn jumpy that its time to just do stuff to him and let him figure it all out along the way. Sometimes when I work him, I think "why sell him" so I am battling the decision a little.. We will see how he comes along, at this time I would need the money from him to help me buy another horse.

I dont exactly have any free weekends for the next 2 months to be horse-shopping anyways. Which works out OK because in 2 months Dexter hopefully will have come a long ways and be shedding out and closer to being ready to sell if I am going to sell him. I want to wait to put him up for sale until he has lost most of his winter coat and can handle things better as well. Its not very impressive when he wont even let potential buyers touch him! But for me, he's doing really well and is so darn smart and responsive..

Derek has been making those popular survival bracelets that you see in a lot of stores right now.. he taught himself how to make them, he's made himself and others some lanyards for duck/goose calls and also for dog training whistles.. they are really nice. He also made himself a rope halter & leadrope too. The horse club was interested in having him teach us how to make them, so we had a class last week. We bought lots of different colors for everyone to choose from and everyone did a great job with their project. We made bracelets and then also made longer cords that we can attach to our saddle to just have on us for the cord if needed in an emergency.

When Derek first lit the candle, a few looked confused on why a pretty pink intimate candle was needed for a braiding demonstration, it was kinda funny! :)
There are 3 in the middle (the yellowish one and the one to the right and left of the yellow one) that are the actual bracelets.. the others are all just longer cords with and without beads that we will clip to our saddles. He is also now making some with bear-bells attached.. lots of new ideas. I think everyone had a good time!

Still have not gone out to see any other horses.. hasnt been anything of real interest right now. This weekend we are going to an adoption class/seminar type thing on Saturday morning to learn more about the Antioch Program and how they work.. kinda exciting to be moving forward. Feels a bit unreal at times that we are trying to go down this road, I just wish someone would drop a kid off at our doorstep! lol We have lots of hoops to navigate through in the process.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Interesting Weekend..

Most weekends tend to run on the boring side of life, nothing much to report on, but this was one worthy of comment.

Thursday night was the night from hell.. 2nd time in my life to get hit with food poisoning and I hope to never see a 3rd!! I started to feel nausea kick in about an hour after I ate dinner and within 2 hours knew it was gonna be one of those nights. We baked a Costco stuffed chicken meal. It came pre-cooked but after Derek took it out of the oven, he microwaved his plate for a few minutes extra and I only microwaved mine for 20 seconds.. I think the stuffed veggies and rice didnt get hot enough in mine and that's why only I got sick :( I dont recall how many trips were made to the bathroom, but it was not pretty. I would describe it as painful, violent, stinky, miserable and just plain exhausting! I spent my off-toilet time on the couch, trying to sip water and 7-up. I think it was maybe 3am or so when I finally was able to start holding my liquids down. At 11am, I drug myself out of bed to feed the horses and then didnt get back up again until 6:30 Friday night and I barely had the energy to move at that. During the day I spent most of it sleeping off/on but when I was awake, I was so lethargic I didnt have it in me to text, watch TV or even listen to music.

Although food poisoning sucks, its a great way to loose 8 pounds quickly!!! One of those every month aught to do it for me... :) lol My full appetite is not back yet, YEAH and it's a good time to maybe create a new appetite.

Saturday I was still feeling weak and tired, but we managed to get up and about, we were on a mission! Our tax refund money was due in the bank within the next 48 hours and it was burning a hole in Derek's pocket.. :) Okay, a mutually planned hole though.. We loaded up Oakley and drove him down to Enumclaw to have him fitted for a Tucker saddle and proceeded to order a new Saddle for Derek, in the right color, style and size he wants.. he's a very happy person!! :) And he's motivated to get out and ride, unfortunately it will be about 30 days before his new saddle will be ready to pick up. I called the bank Monday morning and sure enough our refund had been deposited over the weekend as expected.
Derek's saddle will look almost identical to this one.

Cooper has decided that he does NOT like the houseguest that lives in the guest bathroom mirror! Our houseguest smells like Cooper, looks just like Cooper, moves and barks like Cooper.. guess what Cooper... Its You, silly dog!!

A couple days ago I was in the spare bathroom and Cooper came in (as usual) and for some reason he put his paws up on the countertop.. something he had never tried to do before. He saw his reflection and immediately his body started to shake and quiver, his jowels were shaking in a huffy pre-barking way.. I called Derek over to see this and Cooper went crazy barking at himself.. he was so angry with that damn dog in the mirror. Derek grabbed a handheld mirror and tried to get Cooper to see himself in the smaller mirror and touch that mirror so he might realize it was not another dog, it did help a little but Cooper was still worked up about it.

Sunday as I'm cleaning the kitchen, I heard Cooper barking. Derek was in the computer room and I told him to go outside and see what Cooper was barking at... Derek got up and asked "where is he?" .. well apparently he was not outside, he was in the bathroom yelling at our houseguest!! lol That dog makes me laugh on a weekly basis. Just a week ago, he was upset that he had been confined to the back yard while we had a superbowl gathering.. he decided that pawing at the slider was not working, so he then jumped up on the deck table and sat like a statue staring at us all inside the house, its now the usual place he goes when he gets locked outside! lol

I have not heard back from the guy who had the big appy mare down south, so not sure if she is still available or not.. guess I will try to call this week. There is a big auction down in Hermiston OR this coming weekend, tempting to go. I've never been but almost everyone I know seems to have been at one point. They run multiple sales there every year, just not sure if it is the best place to go looking for the best horse for me, but it sounds fun to maybe go see what kind of horses do come through for future reference.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Horse #1

Although I had a good ride on the horse I tried out on Saturday, he's not for me. He was only about 16.1 (not 17H) but he wasnt built like I want in my next horse. I had a nice ride on him, he is a good solid trail horse it seemed so I felt bad for turning him down, but I want the whole package and he just didnt have it.

I returned Red on Saturday morning before the test-ride. I've since heard from Gerri and Red seems very happy to be back home with her and I'm happy for them both. He loves Gerri and she loves him, so it's only right that he be with her.

I think I found horse #2 that I would like to go try out. It is a mare... never thought I'd buy a mare again, but I am trying to stay open minded about this process. She is a 16.2H Appy, built like a tank her ad says. I spoke with her owner, she sounds very well trained, has some trail experience, although no mountain camping experience but is spook free and a solid horse. She is not an alpha mare, she just needs an owner that will not treat her like a big puppy dog. She is only about 2 hours away so that is nice and close enough. I hope to go down in about 10 days and maybe take a friend so we can go out on a trailride. I'm not getting hopes up too much, but I am excited to try her and see how it goes.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Cooper Update

Well I'd love to say all is perfect around our household since the "boys" were removed, but it's just too early to tell at this point. Sometimes he seems a little calmer, he seems able to focus a little better on being calm in the evenings...

but then this morning he was going bonkers crazy and doing running flying leaps at me! I couldnt get his wiggly ass to sit still for more than 2 seconds..

His de-manned area is healing well, he seems happy and content, still loves his master Derek and expects daily brushings every night while we watch TV. :) He does seem to be a little less aggressive towards Russell, he doesnt seem so intent on "puffing up" around him. He occassionaly will circle Russell, but there does seem to be a bit less tension between the two of them, I hope that continues...

Time to get Motivated!

Yep, I'm tired of not being motivated to get out and ride... I think part of it is the weather, when it is just pouring out, what can ya do when you dont have an arena to ride in! But the other part of it was me coming to the conclusion slowly over the past many months that I was just not happy and satisfied with my horse situation and struggling with the idea of fixing that. Since my horse Red was given to me, I knew that if I wanted a new horse, I was going to have to come up with the cash on my own to buy one since it was unlikely I would be able to sell Red. I had a feeling his previous owner would want him back, so I was really trying to make it work.. I kept telling myself he will grow on me, I will learn to love riding him.

But reality was sinking in. I cannot trust to ride him alone and I cant ride him bareback in my pasture even, without fear of falling off from him spooking at something... I ran into a friend before Christmas, I had not seen her in probably 12-18 months. Out of nowhere she tells me that her mom is selling a horse that she thinks would be perfect for Derek & I, even though she didnt know at the time that I was unhappy with Red. So for the past 6 weeks, I've been thinking more and more about what to do and with a tax refund coming our way, decided that it was time I was happy!

When I contacted Red's previous owner, she was very happy to take him back. When he was given to me, her life was headed one direction and she just didnt have the need for him but her life changed a bit, she met a man and they were hoping to find a horse for him in the near future.. perfect timing! :) I am returning Red on Saturday. This all came about over the past 2 days actually. Another friend offered her horse to me to ride anytime, so even if I dont find one right away, I have one to ride.

I did contact my friend, and her mom's horse is still available so I am going riding on Saturday to try her horse. He is a draft/mustang cross, 17h. I'm not getting over excited, I dont want to expect anything in my hunt for a new horse. The right one will come along at some point and I'll be patient to be sure I will be happy for a long time with my next horse and I will not settle for anything less than perfect for me. :)

I dont know if it was the weather or my new sense of excitement in finding a new horse, but I was a bit motivated last night and actually rode Oakley around the driveway bareback for a while.. it felt SOO good to be on him!