Boatload of cuteness

Hannah and I went to meet our new little cutie today. There were about 30 doggs of different breeds running around playing when we got there. PAWS was having a 10th anniversary party and everyone brought their own dogs to play. It was a bit of chaos but we did get to spend a little time with the wee one. She may be small but she held her own nosing up to a 140 Great Pyrenese! Hannah didn't really know what to do with the leeeetle pup as she's used to 100 pounds of german shephard! After a while they played together and Hannah seemed to like her. She's super cute and really friendly. So I paid my adoption fees and we will have a new critter in the house after June 12th. I refuse to call her "Shamrock" as she's been named by the rescue....so any name ideas would be appreciated!




In other news my Father-in-Law got hurt today and was taken to the ER. He was riding one of our two year old racers and the horse started bucking. He pulled the horses head up to stop him and the horse reared straight up. Since they were already heading up a hill, FIL lost his balance when the colt slipped and over backwards they went. He ended up with a separated shoulder, a sore ankle, sore thigh and so cuts and scrapes. Bruised his pride I think as well. Luckily he was not hurt any worse. He was thrown into a ditch that runs along the fencline of our cow pasture....which is full of large rocks to help with drainage. He hit his head on the fence post as well. It was enough to scare the poo out of all of us. Thank
fully he's going to be okay.
People.....do yourself a favor....save your noggin and wear a helmet....

Had a lot of thinking to do....

Over the last week my emotions have been up and down. My very good friend Michelle ended up in the hospital having exploratory surgery. She'd been having severe pain and no one could figure out what was wrong with her. They went in thinking it was her appendix (even though tests showed it was not) and found she has endometriosis (sp?). The lesions has adhered to her appendix and her pelvic wall. So they too it out. She'll have to go on some type of hormone therapy for the endo. I feel so badly for her. She and her new hubby (as of May 9th) desperately wanted to have kids. Right now things are up in the air for her.

I took Sealy to a Hunter Pace on Monday at Stonegate Farm. The same place where she behaved so well for a dressage show in April. This time was was very, very bad. I've had her jump around a bit or rear but never as bad as she was that day. She was downright dangerous and all I wanted to do was get off. Luckily for me (not so much for my friend) my friend's stirrup leather broke. So instead of making her go back to the trailers while Sharon and I went on, I gave her one of mine and headed back on foot. At some point you have to decide how much you can deal with. It has been a long time since I had a horse truly make me feel like I was in so much danger. Sealy has been for sale for a while....so I dropped her price a little and am hoping her human soul mate finds her.

In the meantime, Lego's knee has been resting. I think I had a heart to heart with him after realizing my vet was trying to be nice by saying we could try this or that treatment and see if it works. I probably have known all along that he would never be an event horse. I was just holding out hoping something good would happen. So now I'm trying to find him a good home with someone who wants to have nice long trail rides on a reliable, quiet horse. I think that's what he'd enjoy the most and would keep him the soundest. I am beyond bummed out over Lego. He's so quiet and so beautiful. I've been looking for a horse like him for many years.

So now that I have two horses that aren't really "usable" for me what was I going to do? Well a few days ago I pulled Tipping out to ride around for some sale pictures. I had three very interested buyers that basically fell off the face of the planet. So kind of them to leave me hanging. Anyway, I figured having riding pictures would show people how nice she is and bring in more interested people. As I'm riding her around my father-in-law says, "I don't know why you don't keep her for yourself. Looks how good she is. You always say how much you love riding her...."
Ummmmmm.....welll....I hadn't really thought about keeping her......
I guess because they said, "sell her" and she's a hard keeper who kept tying up on us during training. Now that she has been on turn out she's stopped tying up...and I'm going to switch her to a different feed and see how she does. So yes, Tipping is now mine. I o love this mare. Been galloping her for 3 years and worried about where she would go when she retired. So I went from one chestnut mare to another one...Here are some pictures form the other day....



She doesn't know anything yet but I think she'll learn quickly. She has a very nice natural way of carrying herself and wants to travel round.

On June 7th I have a horse show in PA. I was supposed to ride Sealy but I changed that quickly after the disaster on Monday. I'm borrowing My MIL's foxhunter and am attempting to teach him about flatwork in the next 10 days. He already jumps well and seems bold so I'm hoping that cross country and stadium goes smoothly.
He seems to be catching on fairly quickly though. Fingers crossed!

Tomorrow afternoon we finally get to go meet our new puppy. I can't wait!! She still doesn't have a name. Hopefully something will come up when we meet her. She gets to come home after the 12th!

Puppyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

Oh my....two posts in one day? What is the world coming to?

I just had to share this news. I was finally approved for a puppy that I've been eyeing. I'm first on the list with "fabulous" recommendations! Woot Woot! So this is the little cutie I'm trying to adopt. She is almost 10 weeks old and weighs in at a whopping 9 pounds. She should mature to 30-35 pounds. Momma was an aussie mix and daddy was a beagle mix. I'm told she's nearly housebroken already and sleeps all night in her crate. Such a smart girl! Her current name is Shamrock but if I decide to take her home she'll get a new name. After the holiday weekend we'll take Hannah out and meet the pup to make sure she's the one!
Oh yeah....she was born on my Dad's birthday!

Happy Birthday to my Honey!

Lou is 28 years old today. If you ask him though, "it's just another day...." ha! I love teasing him because he's so much youger than I am. Today is also his father's birthday. What a gift for a father eh?
This morning they left at 5:30am to take two babies up to Presque Isle for workouts. Both horses did fabulously. I'm really excited about the one that has been exclusively my mount. He is unstarted but has been riddled with one injury after another. Nothing big, just things that caused setback after setback. Hopefully now we are finally at the point where we can look for a race for him. The other baby has had 3 starts....winning 2 of them and placing 2nd for his very first start. I'm hoping both horses turn out to be something special. We've had a lot of cheap horses in the past....don't get me wrong they've done really well for their caliber....but it's nice to finally have some higher dollar horses in the barn.

In other news Sealy and I are prepping for a hunter pace this monday and a Mini Trial on June 7th. Doing a little jumping and trying to hack arond the farm a little. This hunter pace should give me a good idea about how she'll act on the 7th.
Here are some pics....

Happy Birthday!

Today is my brother, Paul's birthday. He's *gasp* 41 today. I guess that officially makes him "over the hill" right? Ha! It's okay, I know he'll get me back when it's my turn....right Paul? *grin* I heard somewhere that 40 is the new 30 anyway. SO there ya go, turned the clock back by 10 years!
I hope you had a nice day. Have fun with your planes!

Hey Y'all

Why have I been so bad at keeping up on this blog lately?

Well last week Hannah and I traveled to VA to visit Mom for Mother's Day and to attend the wedding of my good friend Michelle and her honey Dustin. The trip down went form a little over 6 hours to a little over 8 because Hannah got a little bit tired of sitting in her seat. A few unplanned extra stops later and we finally made it to Mom's around 4pm friday. Saturday morning we headed up to Marshall, VA for the wedding. I turned into a hairdresser and also wedding photographer. Mom was my date and daycare provider. Hannah was on her best behavior with only a few compaints. The wedding was small and simple but lovely. Here are a few of my favorite shots form the wedding.




Mom and Hannah....

Michelle and I.....


....and one more of Hannah.....


Sunday Mom hosted a really nice brunch for the ladies on the farm. There were lots of yummy treats and a little afternoon drink or two as well.

Monday morning Alrene stopped in and Hannah gave her lots of "Sugar." We had tears rolling from laughing so hard and Hannah gave her kiss after kiss.

The ride home was much smoother. We only stopped one time for lunch and we shared some strawberry crepes from Bob Evans.

So we are back to the daily grind. I'm trying toget Sealy ready for a Mini Trial in PA on the 7th. We have a Hunter Pace this monday. So it should be a good indication of how she'll go for the cross country portion of our show. I'm really hoping for "uneventful" rather than "explosive" so we'll see!

I had the vet take another look at Lego after we got back. He decided doing surgery would not be the answer. INstead he suggested blistering his knee and giving him another month to rest. After that we may look into doing IRAP therapy on him. The other day he did something to his lower leg (same as bad knee) and his whole leg blew up. So he stayed in two nights for a sweat (it was raining so he couldn't go outside with a wrapped leg) and tonight he was quite full of himself. Sheesh....is he ever going to get better?

The Fail Blog

The Fail Blog has some pretty funny stuff in it....had to share this one....
http://failblog.org/2009/04/29/road-paint-fail

I have a long update I need to post about this past weekend but it will have to wait....bedtime!

Okay....okay!!

This post is for you Paul. Even from Germany you've given me the virtual wrist slap for slacking in my blog. So here's an update just for you!
Let's see....rain, rain, rain...wind, wind, wind.....no sun.....mud....hmmmm.....what else is new? lol

Seriously though, I want that warm sunny weather back.
Hannah was sick with that Hand foot and mouth virus. She was miserable. Started feeling better and I developed a cold, which she got too. Hers went away and mine turned into a sinus infection. NOw everyone is hurrying to mow their lawns before more rain and allergies are just off the charts! I'm ready for something new!

We did have a win sunday night with "I am the King." He's a 3 year old who has had 3 starts....2 wins and a second. So needless to say we are extremely proud of him. We've got another running in about ten minutes so I have to go get the VCR ready to go.

Ummmm...Lego is going to have surgery on his knee in the next week or two. He's got a chip in there and some other nasties that need to come out in order for him to stay sound. So I'm saving up for that.
Still on the search for a puppy.....
....heading to VA to visit Mom and go to Michelle's wedding this weekend. Poor girl has had all kinds of people bail on her....cake person, photog....noone to do her hair. So I'm becoming a hair dresser and wedding photog this weekend. SHould be interesting!
Sealy has done absolutely nothing since the show. Between being super busy in the barn and being sick I had no energy to ride her. Back to work after this weekend though!
And last....this sunday is Mother's Day.....do not forget your Moms!