MISSING HORSES!

MISSING HORSES

I guess it was probably in January; it’s all hazy now.  I was quite traumatized by the ice storm of 2013.  Let me start at the beginning and tell you how I came to such trauma.

It was early in the morning when a client came to pick up her horse from training, I was in a hurry to get my son to school and get to work.  I cheerfully waved at my client and her horses as I scurried away.  I finished work at a very late hour; it was quite dark outside.  I noted that the horses were happily eating in the big pasture as made my way down the drive on my way to weedy flats.

I stayed the weekend at Weedy Flats getting some packing and cleaning done there.  I arrived back at Windy Hill Sunday night, in the dark, during an ice storm.  No surprise there.  What was surprising is that when I pulled into the drive I did not see any horses in the big pasture. 

No horses photo credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbnunley/with/6939424308/

 I made my way slowly up the drive, peering into the sleet that was hitting my windshield with glee.  Hmm no horses… perhaps they are all in the corner covered in the darkness and sleet ~ which is getting heavier.

After slipping and falling on my porch not once, but twice, I managed to get the key in the door, let the dogs in and turn off the alarm system.  I put on my snowsuit, hat, gloves and scarf and went to look for the horses with spot light in hand.  I took my trusty mastiff as well.  I searched the property in vain, hoping against hope I would see the horses.  I didn't....

I called the neighbors to see if they had gotten any calls.  He tells me they hadn't gotten any phone calls about missing horses, but mine are there at his place.  (whew) 

He proceeds to tell me that he “tried to catch them” but he wasn't able to.  This man is a professional trainer and he was trying to “catch” the three most in your pocket horses I have ever had..?  

Neighbor:  So, I just left them where they were, you can go on over and turn on the lights if you want and find them.

sleet

Me: Okay great, thank you so much for your help.

It is now around 10:30 at night, pitch black and the hail is producing a steady tick, tick, tick sound on my windows and doors.  I gather the mastiff, forget the spot light and go to my car.  I open the rear driver side door to let the mastiff in the back seat and when I close the door, it won’t close.  What?  Why won’t the door close?  The darn latch is stuck!  NO amount of poking, prodding, praying, whining or pleading will get the latch un-stuck.  So, fine, the door doesn't shut.  Whatever, I tell the dog to stay put.   Dog stays.  I get half-way down the road to on the way to the neighbors house when I realized that I had forgotten the spotlight.  I console myself with the fact that he said I could turn on his lights to find the horses in the darkness.  I drove very slowly due to the door issues and the fact that I was basically sliding on ice the entire way there.

frozen light switch!

I get to the neighbors, find the outside light he told me about, only to discover that the switch is ice-covered and frozen in the “off” position.  I am afraid to force it as I do not want to break the neighbors lightswitch.  I can see NOTHING.  Even with my car headlights shining forth highlighting the hail that is pelting me from the sky.  I take note of what the horses located there are doing.  Half of them are eyeing me curiously from their shelters.  The other half are looking in another direction.  AHHA!  My horses must be that way.  I shuffle hesitantly further into the darkness, trusty mastiff by my side, halter and leadrope clutched firmly in a gloved hand.   I briefly wonder if the neighbor has dogs…

Shivering against the cold despite my snowsuit getup, I call out “Liiibbby”  and I am rewarded with an answering whinny!  Oh!  My wonderful Libby, always so faithful.  I turn towards the sound and begin walking that way with my hand resting on the mastiff who seems to be leading the way. 
”Lib ~ you sill there?”  I ask into the darkness…

The reply is a soft nicker and the sound of  shuffling feet.   Soon enough I see the dark outlines of three shapes.  There they are!  Libby steps forward to greet me, practically putting the halter on herself when I show it to her.  The freezing rain has already covering the halter and leadrope in a thin sheet of ice, and I felt very bad placing frozen halter over her head.  She didn't seem to mind ~ this is the same horse that normally stresses over her ears being touched!

Dark and icy!

 I gazed at the environment the horses had chosen to place themselves in.  They were in a little “cubby” behind and between my neighbors very lovely barn.  It was something close to “snug” in that location.  No wind, so shelter from the hail and sleet.  For a brief moment I considered letting them stay right there…maybe they were better off? Safer?  No wind and all.  I decided against it.

Continued next time. 

Super Broke, been there, done that! for sale in Tippecanoe, Indiana, United States of America :: HorseClicks

Super Broke, been there, done that! for sale in Tippecanoe, Indiana, United States of America :: HorseClicks

The blue Link above will take you to an add ~ read the blog post first ~ :)

This is an add for my most wonderful mare Libby ~ I even figured out how to post a video! That alone is totally worth the look:)

A little "extra" about Libby~ Libby was obtained so that I would have a safe, dead broke trail horse.   I do not like the trails.  I am an arena girl myself.  Take me to a show and put me in an arena and I am happy.   Libby is a perfect trail horse.

When all the horses escaped in the middle of an ice storm at 11:00 p.m. on a cold, very dark  and windy night because someone had left the gate wide open...it was Libby who answered my calls.  It was Libby that I led with a lead rope through my car window while she was pelted with ice and sleet driving 0 (that is ZERO) miles and hour for a mile back home.  All the other horses followed Libby.  The rear car door was frozen open and kept hitting her in the flank the entire way.  Libby walked calmly and slowly with her head down, stopping from time to time to ensure that her buddies were keeping up with her.

When we have a frightened or unbalanced rider come to visit, we use Libby.

Libby riding in the pasture halter and leadroope

If we haven't ridden 3 weeks, we pull Libby out of the pasture and ride her.  She is always the same, rain or shine, snow or sleet (that is verified) in pasture or out of pasture.

When we want to go bareback with a halter and leadrope, we choose Libby, she neckreins like a dream.  When I want to show a child how to pick a horses hooves, Libby is our Guinea Pig.

When the we wanted to offer "free pony rides" at the local rodeo show to the wide-eyed younger spectators, we used Libby.  Even some of the older spectators joined in on the fun:)

Libby has been decorated in fancy pink ribbons, glitter, had her hooves painted metallic gold (and silver), had hearts and crosses painted on her rump, and stood quietly for hours while all of this has been done.  She has fulfilled many a young girls dream to brush out the long, flowing tail of the mighty steed.  She stands with her head down, her eyes soft and her feet very still while children lavish attention upon her.

Libby has  been barked at by crazy neighbor dogs and harassed by the lead mare, and led around like a giant dog ~ to the point that the neighbors sometimes came out on the porch to wave as we went by walking our horse on a lead rope!

Libby Front

She is first to greet us in the pasture and often has a welcoming nicker of hello upon sighting the car coming up the driveway on the way home from a long outing.

So ~ you surely are asking yourself...why? Why are you selling Libby?  I am selling Libby because she is the most marketable of all my horses...with the one exception of Sugar... B's horse, whom we will never sell.  Sugar  is well into her 20's and will be staying with us until the end.  My other horses are a bit..."quirky" and hard for others to connect with.  Libby will get on well with anyone who is kind and gentle with her.

Libby Rear

Still ~ why do I need a marketable horse anyway right?  Well, the truth is, this farm is much smaller than the farm I came from.  We have too many horses here. We have 5 horses on 5 acres.  That is not enough space.  It's not fair to the horses.  They will end up in one giant dry lot if something does not change.  My other horses do not work well with others, Libby does.

Now, to be fair, I priced Libby at $2500 because she is worth every single penny of it.  In fact, I paid almost the same for miss Sugar when we got her and she is worth her weight in gold ~ even if my husband at the time almost had a heart attack.  Though now he will admit the soundness of my decision.  Sugar has taken care of our little boy since he was only 2 years old.  I think that Libby can do the same for another child out there.

Libby Right Side

Libby Left Side

I'll keep you posted on how it goes

UPDATE!  I have posted these photos of Libby because I have had several requests for photos of her from front/back and both sides.  Evidently the video is not as great as I thought.

ALSO ~ yes, I am aware of the saddle sore spots on her back, she came like that.  We did NOT do that to this horse.

Little Known Facts about the Uncommon House Dobby

Little Known Facts About the uncommon House Dobby

First off all it is important to note that not all house Dobbys are created equal.  Case in point, my house Dobby suffers from a rain phobia.  He absolutely can not/will not go outside for any reason if it happens to be raining, or drizzling, or wet.   The poor thing is then forced to stay inside on the couch in front of video games under several layers of “fuzzy blanket” that only he is allowed to touch.  It’s a sad state I tell you, given the fact that my house is in some state of rain/wet/drizzle most of the time.  When my house Dobby does take it upon himself to suffer the dreaded, the awful, the rain to do something outside. ~ like fix the round pen…he makes quick work of it and enters the house shaking off his damp clothing much like a dog. 

credit: www.hdwallpaperspics.com 

Another little known fact about the uncommon house Dobby is that they like to EAT.  You would never guess this, as they remain extremely skinny at all times no matter what manner of fried foods, junk food, sweets or anything containing calories they stuff in their mouths.  My Dobby contends that it is genetic and that he has a high metabolism.  I wonder if that “high metabolism” is the same “genetic” marker that keeps him on the couch for days on end, or sleeping until 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon even when he goes to bed at 10:00 p.m. the night before.  Is it THAT high metabolism? When I find out the secret of the Dobby skinny-ness I will let all women know everywhere.  We will bottle it and sell it and be skinny rich girls togetherJ 

Meanwhile, this eating habit means that anything I do not want touched as snack food, must clearly marked…and pointed out physically or he will play the “I didn’t see the writing on the package” game.  I have lost several bags of chocolate chips this way.  We won’t even mention entire dinner plans that have been dashed due to the high eating drive of the Dobby.  An entire cooked ham can disappear in one afternoon when I run to the post office or local store.  Bags of walnuts clearly intended for baking needs ~ poof ~ no more walnuts.  Woe is it to me when I get a large package of chicken nuggets and expect them to be available for a quick lunch on a lazy Saturday afternoon when my 12-year old son is anxious to get back outside.  HA!  Even after several warnings the house Dobby cannot prevent himself from sneaking into said nuggets.  No amount of threatening will cease his great cravings for the soggy microwaved taste of the nugget.  We don’t buy those anymore.   Left overs from the rare restaurant meal are not safe either!  One afternoon after a particularly grueling day, I had been dreaming about the scrumptious taste of the Mexican food I had left in the fridge from the day before.  Oh, the yummy melted cheese, the spicey meat, the peppers, the sauce ~ I even had chips and guacamole!  Oh for JOY!  NOT ~ I found the Styrofoam container neatly in the trash and a quite satisfied Dobby on the couch.  I had peanut butter and jelly ~ sans the jelly as Dobby had polished that off during a morning toast fest.  When I pointed out the “NO touchy” labels on the container I was met with a smug  “It was there, I was hungry, I didn’t’ see it.” 

It is also important to note that Dobbys do NOT take well to any kind of criticism, either real or imagined.  They tend to have a bit of a short fuse on most things….maybe all things.  They can be quite grumpy and belligerent.  Much like a child having a tantrum if they feel threatened in any way.  Such as when gently reminded how to spell the word “Any”  a.n.y.  (not aney)   In order to suppress such child like pouting, we have employed the “inner Mike” technique.  This is where we call upon the gentle, ever patient, ever kind, ever forgiving spirit of our wonderful friend Michael to take over in the situation.  This usually works to restore what Dobby considers a smile to his face. 

I have put a ban upon on all temper tantrum having, pouting and grumpyness in my  household!  We will only be subjected to love and light!!  It is a rule that will be obeyed or the Dobby will get his sock and go.  Now, Dobby realizes this and generally keeps his pouting to a minimum. 

So, if you decide to get a house Dobby, like we have, please do a field test before bringing him home to ensure your  Dobby will fit in with your lifestyle and personality.  Dobby’s can be exceptionally handy to have around.  So long as you employ the proper techniques to manage your Dobby. 

Stay tuned for a post on what to look for in a good Dobby!

House on Windy Hill STILL Standing!

The House on Windy Hill is still standing!

Not too long ago, I was on the phone with my manager and I warned him that we might be disconnected as we had a tornado warning going on.  My manager kindly asked if it was a question of safety and should we continue later.  I assured him it was fine….

Not two minutes after I hung up with said kind manager I heard the wind take on a strange new howl and things hitting the window right near my office desk.  I leaped up from my chair and raced towards the basement scooping up annoyed cats as I went and calling the dogs.   The house Dobby rolled his eyes at me while munching on the last piece of bread in the house telling me “It’s fiiine.” With that southern drawl of his that is more pronounced when he is trying to be in command of a situation.  Command or not, by the time the cats were scooped and the dogs had stopped running in circles…everything went silent. 

I though to myself “This is the eye of the storm, we are about to get plowed.”

 Dobby, finishing his bread wonders directly in front of the biggest window in the house to say…”Hmmm, you should see the round pen.” 

Stupidly, still holding now struggling cats I go to the window to peer outside into the darkness to see that my round pen was no longer round…more of a squashed semi circle at best.  Great.  The panels were quite mangled as well.  Perfect. 

squashed round pen March 31 2013

It seems that the wind was really gone for good, despite my staying in the basement for what seemed like a long time with the cats and dogs.  Dobby stayed upstairs and rummaged through the kitchen for more snacks, hollering down at me every so often things like  “Those cats are going to get very dirty, and I am not helping you bathe them. The dogs are going to have footprints all over the house from that dirty floor down there.”  And “Where is the syrup?!”

Admitting defeat and climbing up the stairs with filthy cats in hand and dogs awkwardly following me trying to get back up the stairs, I was greeting by a smirking Dobby at the landing. 

“That big old dead tree lost a limb and that is what crushed the round pen.” He informs me.

“Looked more like the wind blew it to me.”  I argued.

“Nope, it was a really big limb, and I am going to have to drag it out of there, and it’s going to be a pain, I am going to have to hook a chain up to it and pull it out with the truck probably.”

I countered with “Well, I didn't see a big limb and leave my dead tree alone.”

Old Dead Tree near my "used to be round pen"

“Lets go outside and look” he suggests.  I gamely agreed to go outside in the now drizzling rain and check it out.

The horses were looking at us glumly from beside the barn; having steadfastly refused to go inside of it during the entire ruckus I’m sure.  After a complete checking over, we surmised that the horses were in fine shape albeit wet and somewhat moody. 

The “BIG LIMB” was about 3 inches around and maybe two feet long at best.  That was the extent of the “big limb.”  I refrained from making any jokes about how men over estimate the size of things like that and pulled the limb out of what used to be the middle of my round pen ~ no truck and chain needed ~ ! The wind in fact had effectively smooshed the round pen together. 

On the other side of the house we saw more siding had come off. Several things were blown off the porch and in disarray as well.   This would explain the great tearing sound I had heard in my semi-mad dash down the stairs to the basement.  The burn pit had been squashed in similar fashion to the round pen. 

More Siding had come off and many things blown off porch.

While Dobby listed of all that he would have to do to repair the round pen and burn pit and how much time it would take and how difficult it would be and how he would really like a sock now, I lamented the loss of more siding.  We also noted that much of it had blown merrily into the farmers field along with the large water trough that had been standing in the pasture. 

Farmers field with my water trough and siding

  The smaller water trough was nowhere to be seen.  We have now lost three small water troughs to the whims of Windy Hill Windy-ness.   Maybe heavy rocks at the bottom of the smaller trough to hold it down on such occasions?  Is there some neighboring farmer scratching his head saying to his wife “Mabel, I surely don’t understand why someone keeps dumping these perfectly good livestock troughs here in the yard.”  I’m pretty sure ‘Mabel’ will have a very inspiring “flowering tub garden” made out of them this spring. 

credit:  twomenandalittlefarm.blogspot.com

One day I am going to build a windmill and have all of my energy free on Windy Hill.  I have to admit, I feel very Blessed that the house is still standing, I still have my roof and all the animals and ourselves are quite fine.  It seems the wind chose to be strongest on both sides of the house, but not over the house itself.  Maybe that constant rain cloud is protecting us:)

 

Queens Elsa's First Litter

Due to many requests, I am going to make a sincere effort to keep up on my blog. 

The most popular request by far is to know what the cats are doing.  I am going to turn over the blog post here to Elsa, who can tell you all about it.

Greetings oh great followers of mine, it is I ~ the lovely, and demure Queen Elsa.

  Last we spoke I was pregnant with my first litter of kittens; therefore I shall start by telling you how that experience went.

November 2, 2012

Well, I was minding my own business, when…I started to feel a bit of pain in my abdomen, quite like when the human children pick me up by the belly and squeeze too hard.  Like any wise kitty I tried to hide from the pain.  I jumped up on the bed where humom was lounging around watching t.v.   I tried in vain to get comfortable, causing humom to giggle at me.  I rolled my eyes at her and climbed under the covers and hid by her feet.  It was dark, seemingly safe…then suddenly out of the blue ~ a real pain!  I cried out in alarm, run up the covers and leaped out at the top where humom looked at me quizzically and uttered some sort of soothing words to me…and my first kitten was born, right on humoms tummy.  In an instant, I knew, I knew what should be done.  This was the big day!  I was having my kittens.  Like the true Queen I am, I took great care of my very first kitten.  I did all the things that God has instilled in all great cats to do from day one.  Evidently humom was not crazy about thought of me having the rest of my kittens upon her tummy, so she gently extricated herself out from underneath my newly born kitten and I.  I growled at her in protest. Disturbing my new, precious baby like that!  The nerve! I did settle back down on the bed and fluffy comforter to have more kittens.  Humom looked on proudly as I gave birth to the rest of my litter. Amidst much purring on my part, I gave birth to 4 amazing kittens….all boys!  

I loved them all.  I was very protective of my new babies.  Humom again had the gall to move my precious litter and I.  I will never understand the humom mind; did she not understand that I had chosen the perfect spot to raise my little brood?  She coldly ignored my growling and occasional plaintive meows as she moved us all into our own room.  There we were in a tidy little box, with soft blankets to lie upon, fresh water, and some delicious smelling food nearby.  She completed this unwanted move by providing two clean litter boxes.  I was very grumpy with humom as I used the litter box and ate the warm meat she had put nearby what she had dubbed my “new den”.  Humom was kind enough not to touch my kittens as I kept a wary eye on her whilst I ate.  I didn’t finish all the food in my worry and haste to get back to my wonderful, sleeping babies. 

Humom ~ apparently deciding she had finally been nosey enough, and bothered me enough…left us alone, turning off the lights as she left.  Ahhh, at last, some peace.  The gentle natural light filtering in from the skylight above us lulled and soothed me; soon I was sleeping quietly with my babies cuddled up next to me in that warm little room.

You would THINK that humom would have had the presence of mind to take more photos in order for me to share appropriately with my devoted followers.  But alas, she did not, so this is all you get.  

Now, I must bid you ado as I have other things to attend here in my Catdom.  Look for more posts from me on the kittens growth and mischief coming soon!

Ever yours Queen Elsa

BlackStones Progress...

Blackstone has proven to be quite the astute pupil.  I am enjoying him very much.  We have progressed from not being able to "catch" him at all to him greeting me at the gate, to being able to brush him all over,  to picking up all four feet, leading, giving to pressure, lunging, backing up, coming forward, disengaging the hip,  and putting on the saddle pad, with a little bit of desensitizing thrown in for good measure.  We have a long way to go, but we sure are proud of him so far.

BlackStone Lunging

He has not been too pushy or too spooky to over come his fears, and he really loves to please.  He actively looks for rewards and responds to them with great relish.

As time goes on, we will be working on the more difficult stuff, so stay tuned!

Saddle pad with Saddle

Standing quietly with lead over withers while saddle is put on

BlackStone gets an A+ for standing while I put the saddle on for the first time!  I love the lead over the withers as a stand still quietly cue for the horses.  It makes life sooo much easier.  I did not cinch the saddle this day, as it was his first time ever having it on his back.  Cinching will come soon:)

Today, after this session, I took his halter off in the pasture....I don't like them with halters on in the pasture in the first place, however for the purpose of ease I have left it on him thus far.  Today, he is rewarded with having no halter and tomorrow, I (hopefully) shall be rewarded with him coming to me willingly and dropping his head to be haltered. ! 

Box to house, house to home!

dining room table! In the dining Room!!

Oh yeah, that's right! I have a dining room table! uh uh uh uh!  Love it!  Alright, so I had to do some very creative thinking to come up with a plan to get all the furniture in my house moved to the correct locations of the house as opposed to piled haphazardly into just two rooms.

After much thought, much prayer and some gentle coaxing from a friend.  I made a decision, I would ask (beg) for help.

Cue the semi-local Church group to loan me my own House Dobby and Cohort.  This was a pretty big step for me, as I do not like strangers in my house, much less strangers knowing where I live.

The living room

I seriously considered putting a blind fold on the Dobby's cohort.  I reconsidered, when I realized he might take exception to that.  I  had to settle for taking all back roads with many turns to get here....don't think I didn't notice him making mental notes of the land marks though.  On the other hand, I was kind enough to leave the Mastiff and the Great Dane/Lab Cross at Weedy Flats.  I suppose even Church going Cohorts want to keep their limbs.  Besides, he needed those for the work that lay ahead.   We only had two hours to get everything done, and honestly, I presumed that we would get the heavy stuff moved at best.


Well, I forgot that I was working with Super Dobby and Cohort!  They got everything put where it belonged, the bed assembled, the table assembled, the lazy boy chair assembled, put the boxes in the rooms where they were marked to go, arranged the furniture in the living room (after we found the living room furniture) and  had time for a cup of coffee to boot!

Dobby and Cohort

I was just flabbergasted!  I have never seen two men work so quickly and so efficiently.   I was just beside myself with joy!  I have a home!  A real home!  I can not thank these two enough for helping me like this.

It has made such a huge difference in my out look at life and at my future.  I feel at peace here on Windy Hill today, and I have Dobby and Cohort to thank for it.

I'm really hoping that the next time they decide to help (I have a list) that I will at least have the oven hooked up so that I can feed them a real meal.  If not, I do have a crock pot and I am not afraid to use it!

Dining room filled to top

Dining Room almost finished!!

TADAAAA !

Oh and P.S. ...don't you love the way I have the word "we" sprinkled through out this little story as if I had anything more to do with this lovely turn of events beyond asking for help?  I literally did nothing
beyond saying things like "Oh my gosh, this is so wonderful!" and "I think 'we' should put the couch over there."

God is Good!