MOVED!!!!!!!!!!!

These new templates on Blogspot are making me crazy, so I moved to

http://sundayhorse.wordpress.com/

Graze in the shade! Especially when it's 95 degrees!

My horse is no dummy! When it's 95 degrees out, and he's not in the field with the ponds, or in the run-in, at least he has the good sense to graze in the shade. There was actually a nice breeze when I was there tonight. I'm so disappointed that I'm not feeling better, faster. I'm going broke paying for hoof trimming - I'm so used to doing it myself!!! He's also still got that golf-ball sized swelling (that's not been warm) on his leg, so it's good that I can't ride for another month or so. Jill says that it bothers me more than it bothers him... he's trotting and cantering in the field (usually after getting bitten by something!) and he's not limping... Dawn has Hoppy coming out Monday, so I'm anxious to see what she thinks about it. Unfortunately, I'm back to work, so I can't be there when she works on him. Figures, right?

I can't ride for another month or two...

But I can visit! Almost sunset at Tory Hill.

I have to mention my other critters though - Bauer and Rumor, the Ridgebacks. They're both Therapy Dogs who volunteer at Children's Hospital in Philly. Well, they are going to give us trading cards of our dogs to give to the patients, so each dog had to do a photoshoot.

We arrived at the Abramson Building's cafeteria, for headshots. Bauer, my nearly 11-year old, went first. He was a trooper as usual. They wanted to go outside for some action shots. I told them that he's an 11 year old dog, it's 95 degrees, he's not going to have much action in him! They got him to run a couple strides, but for the most part, he just chilled... because that's how Bauer rolls...

Then I brought Rumor over for her turn. Rumor's almost 4, but she acts like 4 months. She is shy at first and warms up fast... sort of like the shy girl who has a drink and then is dancing on the bar! She didn't disappoint! She went right over to Bauer and started to wrestle with him! They got some pretty good shots, then wanted to take Rumie inside for her headshots. She was a perfect little imp for her headshots, then they wanted to do a few action shots of her. Because I didn't want to let her off-leash in an un-fenced area (I can trust Bauer, can't trust Rumie though!), we took her up to a bridge that connects two of the buildings. She was really good for her first elevator ride! We walked to the bridge and she ran back and forth between some of the Hospital PR staff and me, and was really a good girl. What made me most proud happened at the end of the shoot... they have a glass circular staircase with granite steps that winds from the second floor to the lobby. I thought it was something we might not ever encounter again, and there were so few people around, I thought it was a good training opportunity. With lots of praise, she handled that glass staircase like a champ!!!

Way to go, Bauer and Rumor!!!!!

I haven't been blogging much; I'm concentrating on my healing after this stupid surgery (from here forward, a period of time to be known as "the bad dream"). Once I was allowed to drive again (4 weeks post-op) the first place I drove was to the barn. I've been there just about every day since. I cannot ride until August or September, which is really disappointing, but on the bright side, it's been too stinking hot to ride anyway.

Daniel has gotten really attached to Granit, the mare whose leaser refers to her as "Daniel's Bitch." She calls him if I take him away, and as in the video above, he calls her when he's away. I've never seen him this attached to any other horse. It must be love! :-)

But, they're smart old horses: using the ponds in their field to cool off and spending lots of time in the run in sheds, especially the one with the front and back access that Daniel seems to LOVE. The funniest thing to watch is when they go in the pond to cool off, then roll in the grass at the pond's edge, pick themselves up and canter back to their run-in... the ground shakes as they tear by!!!!

I may not be allowed to ride for another month or so, but I am sure that I have the cleanest tack in Delaware County! I've been sitting in a chair, watching my horse in a breezy spot and cleaning tack a lot of afternoons. That's all ending though... back to work on Monday. The doctor cleared me to be out until August 2, but I'm supposed to go on vacation on August 5, and I feel terribly guilty working 3 days after being out 8 weeks... so I'm going back 2 weeks early, but my boss is letting me work from home 3 or 4 days a week... going into the office for minimal "face time."

Visited Daniel

I still can't drive, so my mom drove me to the barn. I saw Daniel grazing in the pasture off the barn (AKA fat camp for him, Granit and Charlie) and called his name. His head shot up and he cantered to the barn. He ran straight up the outside barn aisle trying to find me. I didn't do much, in fact when I saw Jill, I told her I wore completely inappropriate footwear (flipflops) so I wouldn't be tempted to try to do more than I should. He looks great! Rhoda's been exercise riding him; one of the other boarders (who's our barefoot trimmer), Dawn, put our equine dentist, Krystin, on him and took her for a trailride after she did the teeth of the 3 or 4 horses she had to do while she was at the barn. I don't think I'm going to be riding for another month or so, hell I can't even drive for another two weeks or so, but it was sure good to see him looking so good!!!

Rambella

Instead of flowers, one of my friends sent me a huge stuffed Monkey to keep against my stomach as I heal. It had a ribbon headband, so it was first mentioned that it looked kike Rambo, but with that flower, we decided it looked more like a girl, and we dubbed it Rambella... I wonder when I start riding again in August or September, if I'll have to hug Rambella after I mount up? Can't even think about that now...

Meeting that goal!

It's been over a week from the ER trip and 6 days since I was admitted, but I'm going home less one perforated, about to burst gall bladder, plus the all the incisions from where they tried laproscopic removal and the big one they had to use to removed it... Now some home nurse visits, follow up with surgeon in a week, and we'll see what's next. One nurse said I may not be able to drive for 4-6 weeks, another said it might only be 2-3. We'll see what the doctor says since he has to sign off on my return to work. Good thing I have 87 or 88 sick days!!!

So much for a summer of no grad school and lots of riding... Good thing my friend Rhoda's been exercise riding him for me and has been enjoying that. I asked Dawn if she'd take over his trimming for me while I'm laid up. Mrs W, my fellow boarders and Mrs W's students are going to him extra TLC for me while I'm laid up. Hopefully it won't be too long!

Hooves revisited!

Had a huge trimming job this weekend, had to take down LOTS of hoofwall growth. I worked up a sweat by the time I was done, and was exhausted!

I followed this hell with a nice long hack with Dawn and Sunny! We went past Sunny and Doc's field, through the tall hay, Daniel saw a horse-eating tree and turned back as Dawn laughed at him. It took me about 100 feet to convince him it wasn't going to eat him and he could walk past it. We went by the pond at Nib's place, up the drive and to the field, then along back of Nib's place to the steep hills behind Tory Hill. Daniel crossed water *twice* without a hissy fit. Granted, the creeks were all of two feet wide, but that's how wide they were when he had his last hissy fit.

We went up the hill alongside the gelding's field, and Sunny wanted to canter the hill. Dawn had Daniel and me go in front, and I heard Dawn say, "Sunny, there's no way you're getting past that fat ass!" I turned back and laughed and asked if she was talking about Daniel's or mine! :-) I was happy that he did the whole hill without getting winded and without me having to stop him to get his resps down. I got in 2-point much of the way to try to make it easier on him.

I went back to check him Sunday and he was fine, no gimping from the trim or the ride. Yay! He's on a limited turnout now... One of the other horses at the farm, Charlie, foundered last week and they are supposed to keep him on soft ground for two weeks, so they keep him in the little sideyard by the old barn with cushioned boots on. They rotate Daniel and Granit in the sideyard by the new barn during the day, with both of them in at night with him. During the morning, Daniel's turned out with a grazing muzzle. I think between the grazing muzzle and the limited turn out, he's down a few lbs... wish it was as easy for me!

Had been MIA

My poor horse probably thought I'd forgotten about him because I hadn't seen him since Saturday. Why?? GRADUATION!!!!! Finally finished my Master's!! My classmate, Ram, was overwhelmed by Penn's graduation ceremony. I hadn't thought about it because I did my undergrad at Penn and had done it all before in the front of the line last time. This time it was the middle of the line with the PhD (hi Dr. Jess!) in the back of the line. Luckily, the rain held off until the evening. But, a couple days of madness took me away from my boy.

One good thing I did was mention to my friend Rhoda, who rode and took many lessons as a teen, has ridden Daniel a half dozen times, lives less than 2 miles from Tory Hill and has been wanting to get back to riding... that it would really help me if she wanted to put some exercise rides on him a few times a week. I figured if she rode him twice a week, and I ride him two or three times a week, we'll get him back into a shape other than *round*... So one of the days I couldn't get there, Rhoda did and she said that it was quite fun (she had some concerns that either Daniel wouldn't behave if I wasn't there, or that she'd have trouble saddling him because she's quite petite!)

Last night, the plan was FEET! I hadn't done them in almost a week and a half, he's had a lot of hoof wall growth, and I needed to attack it in stages. Luckily, Dawn was there when I got there, and YES, had new rasps! So, I bought a new rasp, and, although it doesn't go through his hooves like buttah, it's way better than the old one that was fast getting dull.

Dawn told me to concentrate on 10 to 2, and I did, but I also went all the way around, knocking down some of the new growth. If I can hit it again tomorrow, and a night next week, I should have it all knocked back to normal... then I can get back to weekly trims.

He's now in Mr and Mrs W's backyard

The W's moved to the smaller house and literally have D in their backyard. Had a fun day with him yesterday. My friend Clare and her daughter Izzy came over for a visit and "pony" rides.

The only bad thing was that I was trying NOT to get injured because graduation tomorrow is a LONG walk through Penn's campus, onto Franklin Field and back to the Inn at Penn... And didn't Daniel (albeit accidentally) step on my foot?! UGH. Tomorrow should be interesting!

New wheels!

Two of Daniel's three splashing ponds

Trail ride with Dawn and Margaux

First trail ride in months!!! Yay! And with Dawn and Sunny, too! I knew he'd be fine with Granit, since they're pasturemates, but he and Sunny were perfect gentlemen and didn't get silly showing off for the mare.

We only went out about 40 minutes or so, but we came back at sunset, and my buddy was his wonderful old self :-). We still have to watch for signs of lamitis, and put that grazing muzzle back on if need be.

So far, so good...

When I got to the barn, I couldn't find Daniel... a one ton horse and I couldn't find him! So, I thought maybe Jill put him back out with the boys, so I went out the back door to go to the boys' field... and saw him. For a horse that NEVER went into the run in shed in the boys' field, he was in this one! The run-in in his new field is pretty interesting. It can hold 4-6 horses, but it's all for Daniel and Granit. I'll have to get pictures another day, but it is open front and back, and has black mesh panels over the openings to cut down on flies. Daniel was just in there hanging out... what a good boy!

I went down and haltered him, gave him a carrot, and led him up to the barn. I tied him outside so he could *see* Granit (big baby that he's become!) and went to work on feet.

While he was going through the whole needs a trim, maybe a bad trim, maybe laminitis, maybe ringbone, I was afraid to do anything. Dawn said I was doing so well, but I was really doubting myself. So, I thought I'd very conservatively trim his feet. In 85 degree weather, I forgot how much hard work that is! I swear I was more tired from trimming than I ever get from riding!

He was good, let me trim his horribly long hoofwall (maybe 1/3") and a sole that is just powdery... ugh! I can't wait until I can get those feet back in good shape! Now that Dawn has her horse at Tory Hill, I expect to be able to get them under control :-)

Speaking of Dawn, and her horse Sunny, I told her I'd be there after work tomorrow, so we're hoping to maybe hit the trails after work! I'm looking forward to a fun summer! Gotta keep my old boy sound!

Sound! Riding again!

My silly old horse continues to amaze me. He's now been out with Granit, the grey Oldenberg mare, for over a week now. I think the old boy's smitten. I went over Wednesday night and took him out of the field to groom him. He was fine when he could see her... when I took him in the barn to work on hooves, he was calling nonstop for her! I'm so not used to him getting this attached to another horse! It was hysterical. Granit's owner told me that he paces nonstop when she takes Granit out (and the barn owner said he gets his exercise that way!)

He had been sound for over a week now, almost two, so I hopped on him for about 10 minutes to see how he was going and he was FINE! Yay! He kept trying to eat grass, so that's something we need to work on now. I haven't ridden him in almost 2 months, so this could be something as a result of the grazing muzzle? Who knows, but I have to get on him because with that strong neck, if anyone else is riding, he can damned near pull them off when he drops that head to graze...

As for him being off, and laminitis, not laminitis, messed up feet, not messed up feet... I hope we've turned the corner with this! I'll mention it to the vet when they come out for check-ups and spring shots on May 7th.

He's doing well with the grazing muzzle. He loves dandelions, so I went after work earlier in the week, picked a bunch and fed them to him through the hole in the grazing muzzle. He was working it pretty well on his own, so I think he's "got it" with that now.

Funnier still is that there are three ponds in his new field... and there's evidence that he's wading out into them. Jill said they're only up to his knees or so, and that's about where the "waterline" is on him... and Granit has a similar "waterline" on her... I guess the oldies are splashing in the swimming hole together :-) It beats the younger geldings beating up on him!

Adjusting well to the new field

I went to see Daniel after the long road trip, and he was (touch wood) fine! No limping, happy to be out with Granit, happy to see me, just happy! I'm going to take a rasp to him tomorrow or Friday... cautiously after the last few weeks we've had!

Grazing Muzzle

He's not digging it, but Granit's not taking it off him because she's wearing one too! :-)

The oldies

Daniel (black Percheron gelding) and Granit (not Granite, grey Oldenberg mare) in the back part of their field. Only day two, but he seems perkier and there's no trace of a limp (showing off for the mare, perhaps?)

New field, new buddy...

When I was leaving the barn on Monday, I was talking to Mrs. W about Daniel, and how the other, younger horses take his grazing muzzle off him (I guess that's the equine version of I'll tell my mom I'm at your house, and your tell your mom you're at my house, and we'll go to a concert we've been forbidden to go to!) She thought she might put a grazing muzzle on Cayuga to keep him from pulling off Daniel's.

I suggested that maybe that's not fair to Cayuga, and since Granit has to wear a grazing muzzle, and since she's all alone since Tessa left, maybe we should turn Daniel out with Granit (the only mare, a gorgeous 21 year old Oldenberg). If they both have grazing muzzles, they can't possibly grab each other's muzzle and pull them off, right? Mrs W. adds,"and they're both fat. And old." I reply, "Right!" and I think, they're both old, fat, substantial, and have similar temperaments, and deserve some peace and quiet in their old age, not to get picked on by younger horses. Mrs. W asked,"Should we try them tonight?" I suggested that maybe we should wait until the next day, when there's people around to keep an eye on them.

Margaux, Granit's "Mom" liked the idea. Granit's been lonely for about a month now and needs a friend. She called me yesterday and told me that the two of them were in the front field together and doing OK. Great! I had to go to a workshop then out to dinner with friends last night, so I didn't go check him.

Today, Margaux called again. Granit and Daniel are the cute little old couple. She said that when Granit's been out alone, she'd fly to the gate when Margaux arrived. Now that she has a buddy, she's a bit reluctant to leave him. She also said that when she took Granit out of the field, Daniel paced (at a good clip and with NO sign of lameness!) back and forth. Then, when she put Granit back out in the field, Granit RACED back to Daniel, only to apply the brakes when she got back to him. Let's hope the novelty doesn't wear off! :-)

now I don't want to jinx myself,

Yep, that's Rumor on the left, and Daniel on the right, in the same picture! I'm guessing that they're about 8 feet apart, which is the closest they've ever been together. She's petrified of him.

But last night, Daniel was better. Yesterday in the morning, he was on 3 legs. The last time I saw him like that was a few days before an abscess blew out through his coronary band in November of 2008. Yesterday, Dawn wasn't there, but I looked at it with Jill, and his sole was all uneven... we took a knife to even it up. Dawn looked at him for me on Wednesday and mentioned Laminitis - UGH... if it was laminitis, she said it was way early on. She suggested a grazing muzzle and more exercise, and to call her if he's ever rocked back on his rears. Great... my horse has the same problem as me - needs to eat less and exercise more!!

I was sick over him yesterday, especially when Jill told me that there are lots of other cart horses that need a good home... OMG!!!!!!!! WTF???? I was beside myself, but I couldn't stay at the barn - I had to take my mom into the city because we were meeting my cousin. After I got home and fed the dogs, I went back to the farm to check on Daniel. and... he was walking fine! Not holding up a foot, not gimping. YAY! I walked him in the outdoor for 20 minutes (we both need it, and Sara and Rick taught me that you CAN walk your horse like a dog!) We both need the exercise :-)

Today, I had to leave work early to take Rumor to the vet and we went to check Daniel after. I hope he's turning the corner, because again, he was fine. We walked for 20 minutes again - Rumor the dog, on my left, and Daniel on my right. I was amazed that the 75 pound Rumor pulled more than 2200 pound Daniel!! Rumie's petrified of him, and the old stinker knows it. Everytime she'd get out in front of me and cross in front, he'd drop his head to sniff her. She'd freak and get back to my left side. After I thought about it, it was was a pretty good way to get her back into heel position at my left! :-)

I am hoping beyond hope that he's turned the corner and is going to be OK. Fingers and toes crossed that my old horse continues to improve as we get into the nicer weather. I told him that school's done, so I can spend lots more time with him, even if it's just walking him like a big dog.

Laminitis?

Daniel's been ouchy so Dawn had a look. First, she thought he might need body work, and it's not his feet, but after looking at him, she's afraid he's got very early stages of laminitis. She said the good news is that since I've been keeping up on his trims, nothing is pulling away yet, and we can get things under control.

The other good news is Mrs W said he's too fat, and I ordered a draft sized grazing muzzle earlier this week... I checked and it's due to be delivered tomorrow. YAY! I'll drop it off after work.

So, we need to cut his grass, and get him more exercise (We walked around the outdoor for a half hour, like me walking a big dog.) I guess this will be a good thing to get some weight off both of us...

All day barn day!

Daniel's still off. I'm sick over the old guy not being sound. Mrs W worked with me on the hooves - I hoped Dawn would be there today, but she wasn't. I'm going to have to reach out to her to see if she can look at him this week for me. UGH! My poor boy, gotta get him better!

Rick and Sara came to visit, and I was hoping they'd get to ride D, but all we did was have Sara hop up on him just to get the view :-( I owe them a raincheck when he's feeling better.

Then, I went with them to visit their boys at Fair Hill! I got to see Peanut and Gene after about a year! The boys looked GREAT! I have to hope some of Gene's old horse but feeling good will rub off on Daniel.

Mrs W said D needs to lose weight, and suggested a grazing muzzle for him. She's afraid he's going to founder. Grazing muzzle should be here mid-week and I'll hustle it over there when it arrives.

Before I forget, here are some pics of Peanut and Gene -

Much better today!!!

Mrs. W thought his heels were too high and took them down a bit yesterday. I went after work tonight (my Mom went along) to check him and he was much, much better! I took a little off his heels and felt SO much better about him!!!

Off, not three legged lame, just off...

My buddy was lame last night. Not three-legged lame, but gimpy, off. It was the foot with the ringbone, that stays sound as long as he gets lots of turn-out, his MSM and glucosamine... I must admit I was bummed. Margaux, Carol and I were going out with Ashley, who was taking Runner on his first hack.

Daniel seemed off when I was leading him out of the pasture - just in how he lifted his head with his steps. I showed him to Ashley, and she thought that he looked off, but might walk out of it. I brought him up the the barn, picked his hooves, hoping it was a stone or something, and groomed him. I tacked him up and got on him. He seemed fine walking to the outdoor, and he seemed fine in the outdoor, happy to be walking around with Cayuga, Runner and Granit, but as soon as we started going uphill, he was off again!

I told everyone, "Sorry, go on without me, I'm taking him back." I went back to the outdoor, hopped off him, took his saddle off and walked him (carrying the saddle, aren't I a sucker!) back to the barn.

I hosed his leg off, even though there was no heat, and turned him back out.

I think I need to go back to weekly trims, I think hoofwall growth may be throwing that foot off.

April 2010

Master's capstone project is DONE! I can have barn time again!

Was there a few hours Saturday - groomed (he shed out enough hair to make a pony out of!), trimmed hooves, tacked up and rode a whole 15 minutes. I didn't want to push either of us too much after 6 weeks off...

Now, to get back into a more regular routine!

Spring has sprung!

70 degrees, grass coming in, and the first time I've seen my horse in a couple of days. One of the boys either bit him or pulled a kick, and he was skinned above his left eye. Poor old guy! It wasn't hot, wasn"t swollen, so I just put some tea tree oil ointment on it. I'll go back in the morning to check him again.

I haven't seen much of him because of my master's capstone paper (from here forward, it will be referred to as 'that stupid paper') which is due on April 1st. I reallly want to know who at Penn decided on April Fool's Day as a damned deadline anyway??!!

Spring is trying to spring!!

Worked with Dawn today to trim hooves and she worked on trimming up his frogs and bars. They seems to grow like crazy in all of this snow! Anyway, up to my eyes with crunch time on my thesis, so I didn't ride today. Hopefully next weekend!

Gotcha Day #2

Yesterday was 2 years since I bought Daniel!! So, the day before his second "Gotcha Day" (a friend with rescued pets celebrates Gotcha Day, since you don't know birthdays with rescues) I had Hoppy come over for a bodywork session on him! She commented that he really looks GREAT, and said that it must be the hills at Tory Hill. As the name implies, Tory Hill has lots of rolling (some steeply) hills. I've noticed that Daniel is much more fit, but I see him almost every day. I don't notice the changes as much as Hoppy, who sees him every couple of months.

Hoppy's done bodywork on him at the old Legacy (in Churchville, MD) where Daniel lived for years, has seen the new Legacy (in Hampstead) where he lived for a few months, and has been to Tory Hill many times. She has worked on several of the horses there, so she knows how this farm's turn out keeps them nice and fit. This is the second time she's worked on him at Tory Hill.

Hoppy said that the difference is really noticeable, especially in his rear, rear legs and back. She said his rear is very well muscled and round. She said his front and shoulders are better, but his rear is amazingly better! She and Jill attributed it all to the HILLS they have in their pastures. What we curse when we have to climb them in knee deep snow, is wonderful for our horses' health. Hoppy said that she's thinks my 21-ish year old horse looks better than he did almost three years ago when she first worked on him.
She suggested that I look at pictures from when Daniel lived in Churchville (that farm was FLAT as a pancake) and compare them to now. So, I found pics that are similar in angle and body position, and am putting two up. The one with me and the kids standing with Daniel was taken in October 2008 in Churchville, MD. The one with just Daniel was taken in August 2009, 3 months after I moved Daniel to Tory Hill. I'm sure the difference is even more noticeable now, but I don't have a similarly posed pic to compare to (and if I can ever figure a way to bypass the damned enterprise encryption on my Blackberry, I've got GREAT video of him trotting around the indoor.

Even in these small pics, I can see the difference she's talking about in the roundness of his rear. I think back to this time last year, when I was stressing about moving him from Hampstead (105 miles away) to PA... I agonized over where to move him. Looking bad, I think it's all worked out. I miss my Legacy friends, but, hopefully when Spring rolls around, and my new truck arrives, I can invest in a trailer and haul down to Fair Hill to meet up with them all!!! :-) And yes, Sara, I'll pick up Dawn and Sunny on my way!!!

Power, water and phone back!

Margaux called me yesterday and told me that power, water and phone were back for Mr. and Mrs. W!!!! So, I went this morning after meeting a friend at Ruby's for breakfast (YUM!)

The stalls were pretty much done when I arrived, but the walk from the house to the barn was hard-packed snow and ice! I know Mrs W is almost twice my age, and she's in way better shape than I am, but still! She won't let anyone do anything for her! UGH!

So, one of her students and I didn't even ask her (she would have told us not to do it), and just took shovels and an ice chipper, and went to work on her walkway. We got it down to concrete in about 90% of the steps and walk. The other 10% was ICE that even the ice breaker wasn't getting through. So, I checked with her to see what she wanted me to use on the ice so she wouldn't fall on her way to/from the barn.

While I was checking in she was at the indoor, so I brought Daniel in, took his sheet off him, picked his hooves, brushed him, detangled his mane, and Sue got him trotting around the indoor. I took some video, but thanks to the damned enterprise security encryption on the Blackberry, I can't upload it. Apparently, I should have emailed it to myself, or posted it to Facebook or something, but I can't save it and do it all later. BOO! After the old boy trotted a bit, I put his sheet back on him and turned him back out with his buddies.

Anyway, Mrs. W had rock salt in the barn and I threw some along the whole walk from the house, in case it thaws and re-freezes. I put extra on the ice that I just couldn't get broken up. I brought some wood from their woodpile and moved it closer to the house for her too. I popped my head to the window and gave Mr. W a wave before I headed for home. Tomorrow, I ride!!! :-) And maybe get some video and not screw it up!!!

Blizzards of 2010

We finally dug out from our second blizzard in a week (work - U of PA - closed for 2 days - they haven't closed for snow since 2003!) yesterday and headed out to check on Daniel, the other horses and the Willcoxes.

Roads were fine until we got about 1/8 mile from the driveway... there was a tree partially blocking the road. Big mistake having Mom along because she damned near had a stroke when I drove under it (which is why I need a Tahoe, not this stupid Mercedes ML350) freaking out that I was going to get scratches on it. Of course, where the tree was down just happened to be where the snow plows STOPPED, so I had to pop it in off-road mode to get the rest of the way (Wish I had that 4WD Tahoe with a rear locker, that I have on order, now!!!)

When I got to the barn, all the stalls had 2 half buckets of water, extra hay and had been stripped and bedded with new straw. I got there at that time to help Jill with watering and feeding. When she came into the barn, she told me that they had no power, water or phone. They had water down at the indoor arena (the water in the geldings' field is just outside the indoor, so the horses had water. She was melting ice and snow on the wood-burning stove in the house. UGH! I helped her feed, we topped off the water buckets in the stalls, and we brought the horses in for the night.



I asked if she'd reported the outages... she said she was sure someone had, but their phone was out. I asked about her cell phone. SHe said the battery died. I suggested she charge it in the car; to which she replied that was too much work. ugh.... I asked her if I could bring wood into the house for them, but she said they already had plenty of wood. I offered to go to the store for her, but she said she had plenty of food. I asked about a generator, and she said she didn't want to keep running the generator, because she was afraid she'd run out of fuel when she really needed it (this conversation reminded me of my Grandmother - when my mother and aunt bought her a new raincoat, and she wouldn't wear it in the rain because she didn't want to get it wet.) I insisted that she take an unopened gallon of water I kept in the barn (for emergencies) to the house. I love her and Mr. Willcox, but UGH!! Stubborn and won't let you help them!

When we were leaving, instead of letting my mom have another near-stroke, I took the long way home, and there was a downed tree partially blocking the road in that direction too! Once again, the snow plows stopped at that point, so there was about a 1/2 mile section of Ivy Mills Road that wasn't plowed. This way wasn't blocked quite as bad, so my mom complained, but didn't have a near-stroke.

When I got home, I called the electric company and reported the outage. Just in case it was really localized (her son and daughter-in-law are next door, and their power, water, phone were out, too)

Margaux's supposed to go check on them this afternoon. Based on what she tells me, I'll head over there either tonight after work, of first thing in the morning...

Come on SPRING!!!! All of this snow has been, as my former co-worker Marc always used to say, ri-god-damned-diculous!!!!!!

Slightly OT...

I ordered a new truck! The $%^ing Mercedes that my parents bought me is going buh-bye!!!! It was a lovely gift - for someone else... it's not me. I LOVED my 2000 Tahoe, so after trying the Expedition, Armada and Sequoia, I ordered a 2010 Tahoe! Funny thing is, when I was describing what I wanted in a car to the Mercedes dealer (it was my escape strategy, but my mom foiled it), it was really what I wanted in a Tahoe.

I made sure I ordered the HD trailering package so I can maybe get a trailer for Daniel at some point... and after this sloppy winter, I got a locking rear differential (of course I got 4WD!)

So, with a little luck, I'll have new wheels in late April/early May!

Hoof progression

One of the things that scared me the most when I moved Daniel was hoof care. I know the saying "no hoof, no horse" and he has a lot of hoof! But, when I found out that all the horses were barefoot, and the other boarders used a barefoot trimmer named Dawn Willoughby; Sara and Richard's DAWN! I was quite relieved! I always liked her when I spoke to her at the old Legacy, and I just had a feeling this would be really good for Daniel.

Here are what his hooves looked like before Dawn took over. When I first started taking lessons on Daniel about 3 years ago, his hooves were "trimmed" every eight weeks by the barn farrier. This continued while I leased him. When I bought him nearly two years ago (even though no one at the barn but Leeandra and Lisa1 knew it!) I asked Leeandra if we could do every six weeks, because I thought he was tripping on all of that flare.

When we moved to Hampstead, and the barn farrier didn't travel that far. A woman named Coreen was doing a few of the other horses every four weeks, so I moved Daniel into her hands, thinking that four weeks had to be better than every six weeks. This is what his hooves looked like (flared out frog feet) when he started getting four week trims (My god! All of that blasted FLARE! UGH!)...

After a few months of trims every four weeks, we moved to Tory Hill. So, since in May '09, Dawn has been teaching me to trim him myself. She has had me doing weekly trims since mid-May. I took this pick in September '09, to show the progression to "normal" hooves, thanks to weekly trims and Dawn's great care...


At Dawn's last visit, she told me to stop trimming every week, and go every two or three. She said if I MUST do something (one of my fellow boarders told me I have a hoof fetish!) to simply sand the rough edges with a sanding block she left for me.... I have been on a mission, with Dawn's help, to get rid of all of that flare he had, and try to get rid of that blasted crack in his LF!!! Now look - a year after going from 6 to 4 week trims, and 6 months after going from 4 weeks to weekly (thank you, Dawn!)... there's still the *tiniest* hint of a crack, but, at the risk of jinxing us, it's almost gone! I think after another trim or two and it will be (fingers crossed)!


Dawn and I had a discussion about his hoof defect (you can't see it too well, but there is concavity in the wall), and I realize that foot may NEVER be *correct*, but , DAMN! I can't believe how much better it looks since this time last year!!!

Bad Blogger

I've been really, REALLY bad about keeping up for the last month or so. Between the weather, travelling to Kentucky and Florida over Christmas and New Years, and getting back in the swing of things, I've been swamped!

The good news is that Daniel's still doing fine at Tory Hill! We got through the 20" of snow last month, and the rainy weekends... it seems to rain every damned weekend! Good thing we have an indoor!

Dawn will be proud when she sees D - I've been great about his weekly trims. Even through the holidays, I trimmed him every week without fail. I just have to check with Dawn because D did go splat in the field one day while I was leading him (could have been a disaster if he fell to the side I was on!) Jill suggested that I not trim him as often so he'd have some traction in the snow/ice. I am in the process of trying to get Hoppy out, so if he did do something to himself that I'm not seeing, she'll feel it and fix it.

I miss Lee and Joe and the Legacy gang, but I LOVE having him this close to home, and I adore Mrs Willcox (our barn owner). After bring horses in tonight, The Willcoxes invited Margaux (another boarder) and me in for a beer. We sat around their woodburning stove, and discussed Jill's views on riding, and her 70+ years in horses and the 50+ years they've owned the farm. She said they started with 30 acres and the house, and over the years bought more and more of the surrounding hay fields, later stopping haying, and fencing them for pasture.

Even better, I sometimes even get to see Daniel twice a day! I could never do that when he was in Maryland!!!