Monday, June 10, 2013

Motivation



I’m sure I’m not the only one in the horse world who sometimes has a problem finding the motivation to ride.  It seems recently I just don’t feel like doing anything with the horses.  Sure I like to play with them or take pictures but lately I just don’t have the motivation to get out there and groom and tack up and take Blue or Dusty out for a spin.  Has this ever happened to any of you? And if it has how did you fix it?

If I had to guess I’d say the weather has something to do with my lack of interest.  One day the temperature is 50 degrees and the next day it could hit 90.  We’ve been treated to three solid days of torrential rains that stopped this morning. The weather doesn’t usually affect my mood for riding but other than that I can’t figure out why I’m less than enthusiastic about working with the horses.

Now that I’ve put a hold on building the Ark I’m going to do a hard target search for my motivation.  When I find it I’ll be back but in the meantime I’m taking a little mental health break from the farm and the horses and will be heading out for a short seaside vacation.  Hopefully, when I get home my motivation will be with me. 






Until next time

Quote for Today
Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.
Winston Churchill

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Maintaining Focus

 

" Do you see what I see"

AAADD
KNOW THE SYMPTOMS
Thank goodness there’s a name for this disorder. Somehow I feel better even though I have it!!
Recently I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D.
Age Associated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:
I decide to water my garden. As I turn the hose on in the driveway I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.  As I start toward the garage, I notice the horse’s supplements have arrived and I’ll need to put them in the feed shed. I decide to do this before I wash the car. I lay my car keys on the table; head out to the feed shed with the supplements.

Once in there I realize Dusty’s Isoxoprine pills need to be counted out and put in her divided pill boxes (a.m.- p.m.), also Mellon’s pills for Cushing’s need to be done along with the Previcox for some of the herd. They need to be cut in quarters and halves. Alas, I can’t find my knife. Bet I left it in the tack room.

Check the tack room and find the knife. But the leg wraps and saddle pads need to be put in the washer so I do that. I also take my saddle and Dusty and Blue’s bridles down to clean them after I sort out the supplements.

As I head back out toward the feed shed I notice Blue standing over the automatic waterer just staring in it. On further inspection I find a tiny snake head floating in there, hmm, no wonder he’s not drinking from the bowl and staring at me like I have the answer to his dilemma.

Go into the paddock, empty the snakehead. Our resident crows sometimes wash their lunch in the waterers. Guess their bounties haven’t bathed yet and they take offense to that.

After consoling Blue for a few minutes about his water I leave the paddock and notice the riding arena needs dragging. So I head down to the tractor garage to get the drag. Well, the door is locked and the keys are up in the house garage. It’s a long story but someone has been sneaking in at night and stealing our diesel fuel kept in a tank inside the garage. Hence, the locked door.

I head back up to the house to get the keys and decide since I’m hungry it must be lunchtime. I find the can of soda I’d been drinking. I grab a granola bar and put it in my pocket. I’ll eat while I’m dragging the ring. Brilliant idea on my part to save time.

I’m going to drag the ring but first I decide to put my soda in the refrigerator to keep it cold. As I head toward the kitchen, soda in hand, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye. They need water. I put the soda on the counter and discover my reading glasses I’ve been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I’m going to water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spy the TV remote. Someone had left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it’s on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs.  But first I’ll water the flowers. I pour some water in the flowers. Quite a bit spills on the floor. So I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill. 

Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:
The car isn’t washed.
There is a warm can of soda on the counter.
The flowers don’t have enough water.
The arena hasn’t been dragged.
The supplements haven’t been put in their proper drawers.
The tack hasn’t been cleaned.
I never found the time to groom or ride even one horse.
I can’t find the remote.
I can’t find my glasses.
I don’t remember what I did with the car keys and my knife.
There’s a load of wet laundry that needs to be put in the dryer.
And I have a squishy granola bar crumbling in my pocket.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done, I’m really baffled because I know I was busy all damn day, and I’m really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I’ll try to get some help for it.

Don’t laugh – if this isn’t you yet, your day is coming!

Until next time…I think

Quote for Today
Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.
Mark Twain


Friday, May 24, 2013

If Dogs Worked In Offices

Secretary












Thought this was cute. Hope it makes you smile.

Until next time





Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Back To Normal

 
All is well once again and back to normal here at the farm.


It was about five o'clock in the afternoon and I was attempting to remove some of the more 

persistent weeds by dragging the ring in the back field.  Of course, around here you can't do any 

job without input from the herd.

What's she doing now?
"Who cares"
" Hope she leaves this grass up here for us"
" Don't worry Sami, I'll stand guard"
"Just keep eating Nate and she won't soak your foot again"
" What is that noisy contraption"

"Hello, I think you missed a spot"
"Forget it Donnie, she's never gonna get rid of those weeds"

Until next time

Quote for Today
May the horse be with you.
  


Thursday, May 16, 2013

Nothing’s Ever Easy


"Can someone please rescue me, I'm tired of babysitting this big lug..."(sigh)


It’s been nothing short of hectic around here for the past week.  My daughter who is the main medical caretaker of our herd has been on vacation and will be back next week.  So, of course, the first day after she leaves, her horse Nate, comes in from turnout and can barely walk.  He wasn’t just lame he was crippled and could barely hobble to the barn. Great.  If anything happens to this horse I’m responsible. 

I did what I could for him but he wasn’t any better in the morning so a call to the vet was in order. The vet diagnosed an abscess in his left front.  She pulled his shoe and we set up a regimen of soaking his hoof in Betadine, Epsom Salt and some warm water, followed by Animalintex in a Davis boot. Nate is impossible to work with: each time I put his hoof in the bucket to soak he’d pull it out and stomp the bucket so it spilled all over the aisle. Okay, so being the genius I am I figured out quickly this wasn’t going to work.  For my next trick I made up the medicinal concoction plus cotton and put it in a heavy plastic bag and secured it to his leg with elastic tape. That worked well until I put him in his stall and he realized the herd had left for greener pastures. He started banging the walls and rearing and broke it open. Yes, he is quite the charmer.  I might add that getting that pie plate of a hoof in the bag was an intricate piece of work also. The same goes for getting him into his Davis boot. He has a tendency to keep stomping his foot down each time I tried to pick it up to put it in the boot.  Eventually, we both got with the routine or I got lucky and he started to cooperate a bit more.

In fairness to Nate, I’ve never really worked with this horse except to bring him in or out of turnout and feed him, he’s my daughter’s baby.  Nate is a 17-3 hand Dutch Warmblood who has been plagued with breathing issues and other medical mishaps his whole life. It’s fair to say he’s been somewhat spoiled.  Although I shouldn’t say this, I’ll say it anyway; Nate isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer so to speak.  To give you an idea of his mental awareness: everything we do regarding construction or improvements around the farm starts with the question “how could Nate hurt himself with this?”

I turned him out with Dusty the next day thinking all would be fine. It wasn’t. Nate is also a colossal weenie so when the rest of the herd left for the back pastures he had a major meltdown and thought that rearing, bucking and galloping around the small paddock was a brilliant idea.  Dusty followed along in his tirade up and down the hill at a full gallop. I wasn’t thrilled to see her racing around after her recent injury either.  Oh, and that was the end of the boot for that day.

We’ve been treating this abscess since last Friday and today is Thursday.  It’s been a fun week to say the least. The abscess finally drained or I thought it did and the farrier reattached his shoe yesterday.  He and Dusty got to join the herd much to their delight and the herd refused to come in last night.  Which I’m sure was Dusty’s idea. Today as I rode past I saw him pointing his toe and not putting weight on the hoof so when I got back from the store I hiked out to the pasture.  I checked him out and took him for a walk. He was absolutely fine and trotted off beautifully. I swear they are going to kill me with stress.

The only good thing that happened this week is that I managed to ride Blue and worked on some things with him.  I can’t wait until my daughter gets back next week. Hopefully, no one else will require a vet call.

Until next time
Quote for Today
If a horse stands on you it’s because you’re in the way.



Monday, May 6, 2013

Med Students Taught Bedside Manner Using Horses

I thought this was very interesting and thought you might too.  I hope the video works. Sorry I don't know how to delete the advertisement in the beginning.



TODAY
TODAY   |  May 06, 2013

Med students taught bedside manner using horses


For America’s next generation of doctors, bedside manner can fall by the wayside in the first few years of medical school. But one doctor in Arizona is hoping to change that by offering a first-of-its-kind class using horses to instill compassion. NBC’s Dr. Nancy Snyderman reports. 

 


Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Nosy Horses


As I was heading out Sunday afternoon I pulled into the driveway that leads to the backfield to see 

what the herd was up to.  Our horses never cease to amaze me in that they can find the most 

mundane things to amuse themselves.  I have to apologize for the quality of the pictures.  The gate 

leading to the field was locked and I didn’t have the key with me so the pictures are taken from far 

away. Even with the telescopic adjustment it seems they aren’t up close and personal enough.  If I 

was more agile I might have climbed the fence and walked in but my fence – hopping days are 

over.


Sami - The first one to investigate the newly dragged arena

Seems he just needed a fresh palette to show off his artistic talents


"Hi Mellon, want to play with me and Grady"


Nate checking out the interesting new playpen


Sami sampling the all-you-can-eat-grass-buffet. I guess it's true, the  grass is always greener  on the other side of the fence.

Blue never gets involved with their silly antics






 Until next time

Quote for Today

There on the tips of fair fresh flowers feedeth he
How joyous is his neigh
There in the midst of sacred pollen hidden all hidden he
How joyous is his neigh
    - Navajo Song