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Worse than Running with Scissors! I am soooo Lucky…

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

I feel really, really, really lucky today.

What happened yesterday morning could have been a huge disaster.  Huge.  Someone was looking after me and my two youngest…

Remember these guys?  I wrote about them a while ago.  As you can see, VB (Violet Beauregard, very busy gum chewing Icy filly) and Wrigley (Morgan 2 year old who stands a skinny 15’1…) are the two who get into trouble when there is no trouble to be had.  If it is out there, they will step in it, trip over it, break it, eat it or destroy it.

Here is VB with a bucket stuck on her foot... typical.

Here is Wrigley, about to smack himself in the kisser with the rake... typical.

Well,  I had them locked in the barn.  Not really locked…  but they were in the barn with both end gates shut so that they could mosey around and eat all the hay that is on the ground from the recent hay delivery.  I was using them as horsey Hoovers.  I wanted the aisleway clean.  So, I closed all the stalls, the hay room door, the tack/feed room door and left them to do their job.

Or so I thought…

HERE IS WHAT I SAW

I walked to the barn for the evening feed.  I knew I had to put these two Hooligans back out but that is easy.  I just open the other side of the barn and out they go!  So, I was relaxed and happy as I approached.

This doesn't look quite right...

But, something looked askew.  The place was a mess!

Now, I still wasn’t alarmed because they can make messes, as we’ve seen before…  But as I got to the barn, I didn’t see any horses, especially a little Icy and a huge Morgan baby gelding.  Wha?  Where could two, largish horses hide in a very open barn?  The stall doors were shut.  Check.  The feed room door was closed.  Check.  The hay barn door was closed. Check.  Both barn gates were closed.  Check.  Where could they be?   I even opened the hay barn slider, thinking they had worked it open.  Nope.  Nothing.  Where the heck were they?

UH OH

Let me first say, this is happening in a matter of moments.  I’m gathering my thoughts as I look around but it is all happening in a surreal way.  I’m not panicked or rushed.  I’m just trying to figure out where 1600 lbs of horseflesh has gone.  The severity of the situation hadn’t hit me yet.

Then I started to note the items strewn about.  Uh Oh.  It was beginning to dawn on me…  The pellet bag, that was in the tack/feed room, is out here.  Weird.  Oh, and the alfalfa cube bag is out here, too.  Both are empty.

Waitaminute... That bag belongs INSIDE the feed room...

And then the biggest clue of all…  The box fan which was in the tack/feed room on the counter so it could cool me when I was preparing the dogs’ food, was smashed and laying outside the closed feed room door.  But, the most telling sign?…  The cord was inside the feed room.  Uh oh.  Double uh oh.

Uh Oh. I know the fan was inside the feed room... and why is the cord still inside?

THE TACK/FEED ROOM

The tack/feed room is a very small room that I cram all my extra tack, seasonal barn stuff and feed.  There is also a refrigerator and a three rung saddle rack.  Let’s just say that there isn’t much room in there.  In fact, if I am in there, my Mastiff won’t even try to enter.  If he is in there alone, he has to back up to turn around.  He weighs 185lbs.  These horses are bigger.  Much, much bigger.

PANIC

OK, now I’m panicked as I realize that the are both in the tiny tack/feed room.  OH MY GOD.  I immediately try to push open the tack room door.  I couldn’t.  I hear a shuffle inside (Smart horsies – the Icy is studying at Wyotech to be a deconstruction engineer…) and I know that VB is making room for the door to open.  She may be a disaster creator, but she is one smart cookie.  I try again and I can open the door about wedged size.

INSIDE

OMG.  Inside I saw two huge horse butts and a very, very full room.  Everything was everywhere.  And, it smelled like a horse locker room.  They had been sweating in there for probably at least an hour.  I will always remember the smell of no air and horse confusion/sweat.

I did have the window open in there, but it is still a very warm room.  The temperature yesterday was 95 and here were two horses inside a very small, packed with stuff room.

VB

Somehow, she knew the danger in this… She listened to me as I told her to NO!  DO NOT RUSH THE DOOR!  There was no way she could have gotten out but she could have easily wrenched her neck between the opening of the door and the counter top.

She stood there, with her butt facing me, wanting so badly to jump out that door…   I pushed her away from the door and against Wrigley as far as I could.  Wrigley practically balanced on top of a plastic crate as I did this, his head pushed between two of the bars on the empty (thank God) saddlerack.

As I pushed VB back, I could just manage to open the door all the way.  This gave a clear opening of about 24″ since the counter was in the way.  I have no idea how she managed to turn around because it happened in a flash!  That girl wanted OUT.  I think she folded herself in half.  I don’t know but in a moment she was coming out the door, head first.  Wrigley followed immediately after.

The aftermath...

They both stood in the cool aisleway kinda stunned, looking at me.  I barked at them and told them how BAD they were and what MISCHIEVOUS horses they were and how LUCKY both of them were and how AWFUL mommy would have felt if something went wrong.  Both of their chests were full of sweat (hence the smell…) and they stood rock still.  Then, their eyes softened…

“Hey, it’s all good.  We’re fine.  When’s dinner?”

All the cans opened, all bridles off hooks and mayhem strewn about.

BUMS RUSH

I put them back into their pasture, rather abruptly and not very softy I might add…  Then, I went back into the room to inspect the damage.  OMG, again.  But, this time I started laughing.  Now that it was over and everyone was safe, it was really pretty funny.  I went to the house and got my camera to record the aftermath.

FUNNY

I started to just chortle at the whole thing!  I cannot imagine the conversation inside the room…

VB:  Hey, lookey, I got the door open!

W:  Huh?

VB:  I’m goin’ in!

W:  Where?

VB:  Ohhhhh, look at all this!!  I’m going to eat everything!  I’ll start with these cookies and … (wipe off the entire contents of the counter with her head)

W:  What?

VB:  Hey, I got the pellet bag… I’ll bring it out.

W:  OK

VB:  Hey, I got the alfalfa cube bag…  I’ll bring it out.

W:  OK

VB:  Ooooooooooh, I think I can get this trash can opened but I have to put some weight into it… Hey, C’mere.

W:  You want me inside there?

VB:  Now!  Help me open this!

W:  OK (Wrigley pushes his way in and tries to turn around and his huge butt wipes out everything on the counter and water heater including the fan which ends up outside the door.  He gets his nose caught in the speaker wire.)

VB:  Now come up here and …

W:  (they tussle for position and the door slams shut)  What was that noise?

VB:  Crap.

W:  What?

VB:  The door shut.

W:  Oh, OK.

VB:  No, not OK you big oaf!  Now we’re trapped in here.

W:  Great!  Food everywhere!

VB:  Wrong.  It’s all dog food.  I checked.

W:  We can sing camp songs…

VB:  Quit breathing and sucking up all the air… Gawd you stink.

W:  When do you think she will come?

VB:  When she always comes.  MOVE OVER!

CLEAN UP

Upon clean up, I noticed several things.

First, no poop.  Yeah!

Second, they smashed everything.  I cannot even imagine the mashup that was going on once they were trapped!

Nothing was permanently broken and everything kinda went back to normal.  I was even able to pull the cage back out on the fan and it was humming along as I was sweeping.

Unfortunately, the dogs will have hay in their food.  I swept up the dog food and put it back in the cans, but there were some errant leafs of hay.  Ptooey!

Thank God the stereo stayed up there, the shelf came down, the counter is cleared, wires pulled...

ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL

And, everyone was still fine this morning…  I feel very lucky that most of my pellets and alfalfa cubes were already gone; the bags were mostly empty. I was so happy that I hadn’t just made a trip to the feed store.  I was lucky there were no chemicals in my feed room.  I am really, really lucky that there were no sharp things.  I’m incredibly lucky that I had just sold all the saddles I no longer use which were on that rack.  I cannot imagine the confusion and panic it would have caused once they had managed to disrupt all those saddles.  I’m lucky that they have both been trailered enough to understand cramped quarters.

Of course the horse cookie bag is empty...

And, most of all, in a twist of fate, I’m lucky that they get themselves into binds all the time.  I guess I’m lucky that these two Laurel and Hardy, Perils of Pauline Chuckleheads are constantly in a pickle.  If they didn’t spend half of their lives waiting for me to fix whatever they had just gotten themselves into, they might have panicked.  But, they didn’t.  They just waited.

Straightened but not cleaned... you can see the very small area.

IN CONCLUSION

I dodged what could have been a horrible outcome on this day.  I am incredibly thankful to the horsey gods for perhaps looking after my bad door closing skills and my two Knumbskulls.  I am also very grateful that my not shutting the door properly didn’t leave me in a world of regret.

Back to normal... I am so, so lucky.

HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!
The September Bucket Fund will benefit Grace, the skinniest horse still alive.  To learn all about the Bucket Fund and to donate to this incredible horse,  please click on the photo (photo credit, Trish Lowe)

September's Bucket Fund is the Amazing Grace, the skinniest horse still alive. Click here to learn her story and make any size, secure Pay Pal Donation. Easy and it means so much!

Posted in Horse Stories | 3 Comments »

Do you ever have One of Those Days where you just need to hear something uplifting? Me, too.

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

I was feeling kinda blue today… Do you ever feel that way? Sometimes you wonder about a lot of things and then you just get stuck and your mind starts to seize.

Well, actually, I hope that none of you ever get those days… but if you do, and if you are happening to have ONE OF THOSE DAYS today, I wanted to pass onto you what helped me today.

Through a roundabout way, I ended up on a website that brought me to two videos that lifted my spirits.

Here’s the story…

Lacey arrives at the rescue, blind and pregnant

A young mare named Lacey was rescued from neglect by Equine Outreach in Oregon in February of ’09.  She was young and totally blind.  I’m surmising that the neglect made her blind but that wasn’t stated.  In any event, she was young, neglected and blind when she arrived at the rescue.  Sad.

A few months later, after much love, care and a new pasture buddy to be her eyes, Lacey was tested positive for pregnancy.  Yup.  The previously neglected mare had been exposed to a stallion before she arrived.  Bummer.  However, she had made a friend and life was good.

Lacey with her new friend... life was good.

Luckily, by the time of his birth, Lacey was in excellent health and little Skylar was born perfectly on September 21, ’09.  The feisty colt was very gorgeous and he stood within 5 minutes.  Wow, great, eh?!  Momma and baby got along swimmingly, of course.  But, even more special, little Skylar seemed to know that his Momma was disabled and he looked after her.

As an aside to this story, quite by accident, Lacey’s original owner happened to come to Equine Outreach to volunteer.  On her first day there, she saw Lacey and knew Lacey had been her daughter’s horse.  The woman, Pat,  had no idea that when she sold Lacey to her forever home, Lacey would be neglected and blinded.  Pat was overcome with joy and grief.  You see, the reason they adopted out Lacey was because Lacey belonged to Pat’s daughter who had passed.  I’m sure you can imagine the emotion that came up around this horse and their mutual struggles…

Probably as therapy for them both, Pat came out often to walk with Lacey, ride her and then hang with her and the baby.

Handsome boy, Skylar...

But, all wasn’t to stay well in this story.  Tragically, on Thanksgiving, colic struck.  It was reported that Lacey was hit so severely that she went down almost instantly.  The vet was called but Lacey was already too far gone.  The members of Equine Outreach were devastated.  Pat was devastated.  Lacey had really won over all of their hearts… What were they going to do without Lacey?  And, most importantly, what were they going to do for poor little Skylar?

And then one of them had a brilliant but risky idea…  EO had taken in a mare who survived a trailer rollover.  The mare, Penny, had fully recovered from her broken ribs and was even willing to go into a trailer!  Oddly however, she was lactating off and on even though she had not had a foal in four years.  Hmmmmmm.  Could this work?  Could hope come out of tragedy?

The volunteers put Skylar, who had been crying nonstop, next to Penny.  He was very interested in this lactating mare and she was not totally against the idea…  After three days of them growing more close, everyone felt like it might be time to put them together.  And, it worked!  Not only did Penny accept Skylar and protect him, she let him nurse from her!

Wow.  What are the chances of that happening?  What are the chances of having a nurse mare on the premises who wasn’t nursing anyone else at the time?  I looked up the meaning of the name, Skylar and found this:  eternal life, strength, love and beauty.    Hmmmm.  Seems to fit the story, eh?  Eternal life to his dam Lacey, strength to survive without his mother, the love of all the volunteers around him and beauty because he is a looker!

So, without more ado, here is the link to the video that brought me out of my “one of those days” blues today.   Enjoy the happy ending!

Click on the image to watch the tribute video.

Here is a second, very cute video of Skylar and his new Momma, Penny.  This is very uplifting, too!

Click on the image to watch the second video of Skylar and Penny together!


HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!
The August Bucket Fund will benefit the charity BHFER.  To learn all about the Bucket Fund and to donate $5,  please click on the photo (photo credit, Trish Lowe)

August's Bucket Fund is Beauty's Haven Farm and Equine Rescue. Click here to learn their story and make any size, secure Pay Pal Donation. Easy and it means so much!

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When Bad Things Happen to Good Fences…

Monday, August 30th, 2010

I like vinyl fencing the best.  I had it around my Oregon pastures.  It was pretty and seemed to have far less breakage than the wood fences I have now.

The problem with the vinyl is that it is expensive and it is tough to clean.  You have to either lug a bucket of soapy water around or have miles of hose and extension cords to use your pressure washer.  But even with the its expense and maintenance, honestly, I prefer vinyl over wood.  If I could, I’d wrap vinyl all around my place.

But, I don’t have vinyl here.  I have wood.  Three rail wood fencing with round posts.  For those of you in the “fencing know” you’ll understand when I say I also have 6′, no-climb wire fencing around the perimeter with wood posts every 8′.  If you are nodding your head right now, you will totally get the rest of this post.  Today, I’m writing about fence woes.

In my mind, fences work if you don’t do stoopid things.  To me, if there is a fence mishap, I need to stand and take note.  What did I do to make this happen?

Most often, it is some inane thing I decided to do that created the fencing issue.  I shudda known better.  For sure, immediately upon noticing the newly sad and shattered wood boards, I always do the, “Oy, why did I do that?!” stomp.

So, today, I decided to go around to all the broken and newly mended fences and explain to you how most of these were avoidable  – after the fact.

But first, let me begin with how I woke up this morning… this is how I got the idea for this post today.

OMG!

I went out, bleery eyed, to feed and saw THIS.

Something is not right with the bottom rail...

Yup.  Remi and Bodhi had decided to send me a message.  Since they cannot write a cute note and send it in a bottle launched my way, they carved it into the fence.  Oh joy.

A closer look at their handywork

This is totally my fault because I forgot.  I forgot that this is August and there is no more of anything to nibble on in their pasture.  I also forgot to install lunches during this barren late summer month… And, I forgot to give them their new salt block.

Yup.  I’ve been very neglectful.  I’m sure Remi and Bodhi were trying to tell me in their subtle ways.  I did notice them hanging around the fence more than grazing.  I did notice that they were exceptionally interested when I was near the hay barn.  I also noticed that I hadn’t moved the new salt blocks out of the barn and into where they belong — basically because they weigh 50lbs each.  But, instead of acknowledging what I was noticing, I blissfully ignored my farmer duty.

So, Remi and Bodhi stepped up their game.  They carved their needs like a huge SOS on a sandy beach.  WE NEED FOOD, MINERALS AND SOMETHING TO DO.

"What? I tried to tell you...!"

OK, I hear you.  Today, we put in the salt blocks, I have initiated lunch and also strung some new hotwire, just to break this new habit.

THE “THIS IS MYYYYY BUCKET, GET OUTTA HERE” FENCE BREAK

This one is pretty easy to detect.  This happens when two horses have a power struggle or if one horse is just too pushy.  Now, any owner that takes the time to observe during feeding time will notice who is in command and who is a bully.  Understanding this, the smart owner/feeder will put the buckets far enough apart to stave off any hostile takeover.  Or, the smart feeder person would make sure the bully/dominant horse is content to eat somewhere alone and the other horses can eat in peace.

Did I do that this week?  Uh, no.  I decided that my bully mare, Gwen, would stay on one side of the barn while I fed the other horses on the other side of the barn.  (I have recently put the lead mare in the barn to tend to her canker.  The lead mare keeps Gwen in line.)  I neglected to note that the lead mare was no longer keeping things status quo.  I needed to take caution and reassess the situation.  But, I didn’t.  And, of course Gwen had to make sure that no one else was getting more grain than she was so she pushed everyone away from their grain buckets… except Sam who decided she’d had enough.  They had a duel.  The fence lost.

Where the bucket was hanging before the war...

WHY DID YOU PUT THAT HORSE IN WITH US?

Again, my error.  I was moving horses around to find a good combination for when Iron Man arrives.  I put Wrigley (2 yr Morgan) and VB (tough little Icy) in with my TWH pair, Finn and BG.  I figured that they had been living across the fence from each other for 2 years, this should work out fine.  Since Wrigley is already taller than Finn, I kinda thought they’d work it out.

Wrigley, cornered, leapt into the other pasture. No one was hurt, thank goodness.

Ooops.  My bad.  Not only did Finn intimidate the larger youngster, but he also didn’t want Wrigley anywhere near his sister.  And, to make things even worse, I created a corner by cross fencing that particular pasture.

When I put them together, immediately Wrigley and Finn started arguing.  Wrigley got chased into the corner and again, the fence lost.

(Actually, I’m glad it was the fence and not Wrigley who got slammed.  Needless to say, I was able to stop the bruhaha about 3 minutes after opening the gates of hell.  It doesn’t take long for boards to crack…)

I HATE THAT I’M IN HERE AND YOU ARE OUT THERE

This is Finn’s doing, again.  I had him in the arena because that is his favorite place to be.  He will stand in there all day long and watch over the other horses.  It is the highest point on the farm.

But, what I didn’t think about was Slick.  I let Slick, the most precocious pony, out of his pasture to be free.

Slick’s main goal in life is to annoy others.  So, after grabbing a mouthful of grass, he ran over to the arena to taunt Finn.  The stinker pony stood right outside the barren arena and munched on green grass – just outside of Finn’s reach.

Finn was beside himself, of course.  I was inside working when I heard the undeniable CRACK of hoof against wood.

Finn inside, Pony outside, fence loses.

Darn it!  Now what did I do?  I looked out my window and saw the pony running like a maniac down the hill towards the driveway.  I look up towards the arena and see Finn running the fenceline like he was on fire.  And, of course, I see the down boards.  Great.  Why didn’t I put Finn back into his pasture before I let the pony out?  Hubby will be angry on this one…

QUIT BITING MY BUTT WHEN I’M IN THE BATHROOM

This fence has been fixed as you can tell by the blond wood.  (I never get around to painting the fence as quickly as I should…)  This is Finn and BG’s pasture which abuts Wrigley and VB’s pasture.

This repaired break is directly behind the bathroom area of the Tennessee Walking Horses’ pasture.  Evidently, Wrigley and VB like to taunt Finn and BG when they are trying to relieve themselves.  I actually saw Wrigley lean over and bite BG in the hiney.  How annoying!  Well, on this particular day, BG had had enough of Wrigley’s nuisance behavior and she kicked the bejeesus out of the fence.  She took down three rails…  You should have seen Wrigley run away!   You’d have thought he was being chased by a mountain lioness.  And, kinda, he was… BG was pissed.   I think her ears stayed pinned for at least an  hour!  ;)

No peace in the potty area...

THIS IS MY NEW WATERER!

OK, well, I fixed this board already but it was over the new waterer.  I put a new trough in their pasture to supplement the other trough.  Evidently, someone took ownership of the new trough and a battle ensued.

Already fixed, this was the site of the BATTLE OF TROUGH

The fence took it bad on this one.  And, instead of subjecting the fence to any more injury, I moved the new trough.

BITEY FACE

This is where they play biteyface over the fence.  Sometimes the game gets out of hand and someone gets hurt… usually the fence.

The "biteyface" game. The fence loses, again.

THE DELIVERY GUY SCARED ME

Oy.  I hate this one.  I cannot control when a sudden move or noise wakes up a sleeping horse whose first instinct upon being startled is to kick and run!  Yup, all of my mares doze in the front corner of the front pasture by the driveway.  Some of the older mares are losing their hearing somewhat.  And, since cars go up and down the road fairly regularly, they kinda tune it all out.

OOps.  Sometimes the cars decide to come up the driveway.  Sometimes those cars are big trucks with diesel engines that make a big BACKFIRE noise as they switch gears up the steep hill.  And, oops, sleeping mares hear the backfire, have a sudden freakout, kick and ruuuuuuuunnnnnnnn!

OOps, sorry, I kicked the fence and it kinda broke…

I kicked it and it kinda broke...

I’m leaving the fence “as is” for now.  A gentle reminder that the only fence issue that I couldn’t avoid, is the only fence board still standing.

HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!
The August Bucket Fund will benefit the charity BHFER.  To learn all about the Bucket Fund and to donate $5,  please click on the photo (photo credit, Trish Lowe)

August's Bucket Fund is Beauty's Haven Farm and Equine Rescue. Click here to learn their story and make any size, secure Pay Pal Donation. Easy and it means so much!

Posted in Horse Stories, Musings | 3 Comments »

Playing in the Imaginary Paintball Championships with my Horse and the Yellow Crested Cyclist…

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

I know, I know… what the heck is she talking about?!…

Well, “imaginary paintball” was the only description I could think of to tell this story.

Let me explain.  As I’ve said before about Finn, he thinks he is Daniel Boone’s horse.  He has to blaze new trails (as long as they aren’t scary) and he has to explore new horizons at every turn.  The problem with this is that Finn forgets what horizon he was exploring before another thing catches his interest…  If he were a human, he’d be one of the guys in THE HANGOVER.  He’d start out just going for a boys’ weekend in Vegas and end up with a broken tooth, a lion in the bathroom, $40,000 in his pocket and no memory of how any of it happened.  That’s Finn.  A trail ride is never just a trail ride.  We don’t just mosey down the path… we have to go here, check this out, explore that, touch the other thing, look above, jump down, jump over, sniff and basically behave like a ten year old kid in a candy store with ADD.

On the other hand, it is never boring…  And, truth to tell, I find him endlessly entertaining and I spend the entire ride just musing over his horsey thoughts.

So, back to imaginary paintball.

OK here goes:

IMAGINARY PAINTBALL

Finn and I were doing our usual multi-tasking while trail riding…

Me:  OK, let’s go up here…

F:  Up here?

Me:  Yup

F:  What did you say?

Me:  Go up here.

F:  Didja see that??!!

Me:  It was a bird.

F:  Uh uh!  It was a… hey, look — BLACKBERRIES!  YUM.  Can we stop?!

Me:  No, keep going.

F:  Puleeeze?  I’ll stand right here while you get off and pick some.

Me:  No.  Get up here!

F:  OK.  Let’s canter!  Wait!  I think I see…

Me:  C’MON.

F:  A low hanging branch!  (screeching to a halt)  Are you going to cut that?

Me:  No.

F:  What?

You get my drift… It is a constant jibberjabber of nonsense and chatter as we ride.  He always has an opinion and has no fear voicing it.  I always have an opinion about his opinions so we meander down the trail at uneven speeds, often stopping or playing at will.  It’s so much fun!  It is also a good thing that we do this alone or else I’d have no riding friends left…

TODAY

So, we were making our way up a hill and over a steel pipe that led us into another part of the State Park, when for no reason, Finn defied gravity.  We were in mid-air jumping over the steel pipe when he managed to change direction and crab totally to the right while looking frantically to the left.  As we hit the ground, he was still looking fully left but going to the right in the best side pass run I’ve ever seen!  I was scrambling and trying to figure out what was going on as we flew sideways towards some mean looking brambles.

“Hey, did I scare you?”  It was a biker who had appeared out of nowhere.  A nice biker.  He stopped and said that he didn’t see me.  I told him that we didn’t see him either.  I told him that we were fine, no worries.  We both smiled and parted ways.  He went down one trail and we went down another.

Little did I know, my fuzzy trail riding accomplice had other ideas.  Finn was not happy to have been snuck up upon.  He was making a plan.  And, that plan began with the simple words he uttered to himself, “Game On, Yellow Shirted Dude, Game On!”

GAME ON

Now, the funny thing is that no one but Finn knew we were playing.  I had a hint that something was up but I had no idea what.  You see, immediately after we parted ways with the cyclist, Finn had a vigor that he usually reserves for racing or heading back to the barn!  He was on a mission.

I hadn’t fully grasped this yet.  I was just happy that he had focused on something and that we were really moving out.  He was gaiting and popping his teeth and really happy.  I thought about how fun this was and how much we need to find some flat areas to scream over more often.  La-De-Da.  Here’s me, all happy and singsongy on the back of my horse while Finn was planning his equine revenge.

And then he stopped, ears pricked.

“Huh?  What is it buddy?” I asked innocently.  His ear twitches from side to front.  He was listening…  And then he took off again like a bullet, straight towards an opening in the trees.  Yes, there was a slight deer trail but it wasn’t really cleared enough for a human on a horse so I didn’t let him go there.  Arrrrrgh!  Oh he was pissed.  He wheeled around and took off down the trail, beating tracks like he was late for a train.  I was starting to get concerned.  Were we late for a train?

All of a sudden, we burst through the foliage and stopped dead on the trail.  Finn was still listening intently.  No one was around so I gave him the rein because I was now really, really curious what was up with him.  As quiet as a mouse, he backed up ever so slightly into the brush and we waited.  Actually, I didn’t realize that we were waiting.  I just thought we were listening.  And then, in a powerful jet of emotion, Finn leaped out onto the trail, took about 6 steps, rounded a corner and came face to face with the cyclist again.  BLAMMO!, Finn planted his front feet right in front of the cyclist and halted like a statue.  The cyclist stopped immediately and Finn did a little jig and jumped backwards about 5 feet.  “GOTCHA!”  Finn was tittering with glee!

It all happened so fast.  Did I just experience what I thought I experienced?  I was floored.  I could not comprehend what had just happened.  Did Finn just ambush the cyclist?  How could that be?  I dismounted and asked the cyclist if he was OK.  He was.  He asked if my horse did that on purpose… because it seemed like he did.  I said that horses don’t think like that.  They are prey animals and blah blah blah.  Weird, though.  I apologized profusely and told him that I had no idea he was coming down the blind trail.  (But obviously my horse did.)

OK, fast forward about 10 minutes.  I had totally forgotten the cyclist and was just keeping up with Finn’s ongoing chatter.  We were jerking down the trail, doing this and that when all of a sudden, he pricked his ears again and really, really wanted to go very quickly towards something.  I went with it because I could not believe it was happening again.  (I still don’t.)  This time, Finn perched us above a path.  He purposefully went to the spot and stopped.  We were on an upper hill of a path, looking down.  His ears were pricked up the path.  I heard nothing.  And then, flappyflappyclickyclick…  The bike was coming.  I couldn’t believe it.  How could this possibly be happening again?  So, I waited.

Yup.  It was him.  It was the same yellow shirted cyclist, coming down that particular trail.  And, as if in a dream because I couldn’t believe this was happening, Finn asked me if we could jump down there.  Finn was agitated and excited.  “FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE, NO!”, I yelled at him.

The cyclist heard me and stopped.  “WHAT IS GOING ON?!”   Now he was a little upset, sort-of.  More startled, really.

I said, “I’m so sorry!  He is crazy today!  He thinks we are playing paint ball or something!”  The cyclist was pretty amused and he started laughing.  “OK, are you saying that the horse is playing with me ” he said.  “I know it sounds impossible, but I think he is…”  “Fine, let’s play!”  He said he would go down this path and then veer off somewhere unknown.  He dared us to find him.

I didn’t need to tell Finn.  He was still playing…

Now this is the part where I feel like I’m from another planet when I tell you that Finn continued on with a mission… He ran and jogged and smelled the ground and the air and we were flying through the brush like it was an open meadow.  Finally, he paused behind a very skinny tree next to a single track.  (Isn’t it funny how horses sometimes think they are hiding if the tree is as wide as their heads?)  He stopped so quickly, I was about to eat his mane…  And, we sat there, waiting.

Low and behold, the cyclist was behind us.  Finn’s ears were pricked backwards.  He knew.  But, I also think he thought he was hidden by this measly tree in front of us.  Of course, this made no sense, but in his horseyhead, this was hiding.  Anyway, the cyclist came up behind us and stopped.  Finn erupted backwards and wheeled around as if to blow at him.  But, the cyclist was just standing there on the ground with his bike next to him.  Finn was confused.

“Sorry, Dude, you lose… Gotcha!”  and he reached out and tagged Finn on his loin.  With that, the cyclist shot off down the trail, laughing really, really loudly.

Finn looked at me as if to say, “But how could he see me?  I was hidden?!”

It was clear that the biker was going back to the parking lot so I made Finn go another way.  I felt weird and kinda stupid that my 1100lb horse was playing paintball chicken with a cyclist — or I am insane…   After about 10 minutes and long enough for the cyclist to have driven away with his bike securely fastened to the roof, we headed back to the lot.  Finn charged forward, thinking he might just meet his foe once again.  And, as he pranced into the trailer area where all the horse chariots awaited, Finn set his eyes on the car lot instead.

Out from the trees stepped the yellow breasted cyclist.  “Hey Buddy, wanna carrot?”  Finn was in horsey heaven!  “Sure!”  We gaited over with the same gusto as when we were on the trail.  Finn stopped on a dime in front of the cyclist and sort of sneeze/blew/whinnied at him and gingerly took the carrot.   While he chewed, he bobbed his head so pleased with himself…

“I’ve never seen a horse act like this horse,” the cyclist said with a smile.

“Me, Neither”, I said as I looked at him and shook my head, “I forgot my camera and no one will believe this.”

He smiled, got into his Subaru and said, “Well, I’m gonna tell this story for the rest of my life!”

Finn just stood there so proud — obviously he had won the game.  He got a carrot!  You coulda popped his chest with a pin.

You see, with Finn, what might start out as just a trail ride, ends up as the Imaginary Paint Ball Championships against the Yellow Crested Cyclist!

I love him.

"Game On!"

Posted in Horse Stories, Musings | 4 Comments »

What kinda horse is that!? Meet the Knabstrupper!

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

I am sorry that I’m late with my post today.

Here’s my excuse.  Ready?  OK.  I was so into writing about the Knabstrupper that I got carried away.  Basically, I started this post too late and I was up all night trying to figure out the true history of this horse!

You see, I was going to write about this great leather worker… but I came across this photo and I was gobstruck.  What is that?!  So, I changed gears and decided to find out about this Knabstrupper horse.  That took hours.  No one could agree on the history – never a good sign of pure breeding.  But, fascinating nonetheless!  The Dutch, who everyone agrees started the breed, had one story.  The Austrians another.  And, several more historical variations were to be found including several sites that said the breed started in the early 1800′s which would probably upset the Dutch…

Needless to say, I was up for hours trying to work this out.  And, since I am late, I have decided to just print what I found to be the most complete history.  It comes from Scotland.  Go figure.  Here it is:

THE HISTORY OF THE KNABSTRUPPER, PROBABLY (from the Scottish page which is on the Knabstrupper Society Page from Great Britain)

(PS:  I threw in a few pictures…)

Knabstrup Manor (2004)

Spotted horses were bred in Denmark as long ago as 1671, when there was a very popular stud called “The Tiger Horses”.   At this time the spotted horses were almost solely for the use of the royalty and nobility.  Fewspot or  ‘white born’ horses were used as carriage horses (it was difficult to get horses with matching spot patterns) and were also used as the mount of the monarch in Coronation ceremonies. Spotted, as well as fewspot, horses were used in the Court riding academy of Christiansborg Castle and proved themselves well not only as a classical riding horse, but in driving as well.  Unfortunately, after a peak in production and quality in 1750,  this Royal breeding line came to a sad demise as the colour disappeared, this was likely to be due to the grey gene.



In 1812 spotted horses returned to Denmark, not with descendents of the original “Tiger Horses” but with a new bloodline. Villars Lunn, owner of the  “Knabstrupgaard”, a manor situated in Holbæk, Nordsealand, bought a mare from a butcher named Flæbe.  The mare was also called Flæbe. The mare was probably of Spanish origin, but she had the stamp of an English hunter type. The butcher had bought the mare from a Spanish cavalry officer stationed in Denmark during the Napoleonic wars.

Flæbe was unusually marked for horses of the day. She was dark red (Danish = Zobelfuchs) with white mane and tail, and her body was  covered extensively with small white snowflakes. She also had brown spots on her white blanket. She was a quality horse, with exquisite beauty.

There is great speculation and much disagreement regarding the origins of the Flæbe mare.  One possible theory is that she originated from Meklenbourg in Germany, where the Spanish were stationed before they came to Denmark. Another theory is that she travelled with the Spanish all the way from Cordoba in Spain.

One of the requirements of horses used for breeding at the Knabstrupgaard was good performance.  Horses had to have shown great stamina and good temperament under heavy work loads. For horses at that time, that often meant being ridden or driven for long hours over rough terrain.   The Flæbe mare was in service at Knabstrupgaard as a light workhorse (carriage driving as well as farm work) from May 1812.

Titular Councillor of State, V. Lunn, wrote in his memoirs how Flæbe showed her value in 1816:

He was run over by a carriage and it broke his leg, so the doctor was required immediately. A farm worker took another team of horses from the yard and drove to the local doctors home at Holbæk, but the doctor wasn’t there. From there he drove on to the vicarage at Buttrup, where he collected a doctor called Reinhardt. He then drove back to Knabstrupgaard.

The total journey was 30 km (over 18.5 miles), and took 105 minutes. One of the horses was damaged for life, but the other, who was the Flæbe mare, was back at work in the fields the following day. This was no mean feat, as at that time she was 15 years old, an age where modern day horses are often regarded as veterans.


Flæbe offspring

Flæbe was once covered by a chestnut Frederiksborg stallion, and the colt foal she had as a result of this in 1813, was named the Flæbestallion.  It was this colt, Flæbestallion, that was the foundation sire for the new spotted breed. As a result of his birth,  Flæbe became the “breed mother” of the Knabstrupper horse. Flæbestallion also had an unusual coat colour and was often described as having a special metallic glow with many different colours in his coat.

I know this is an odd picture but I love the foal looking into the camera!

All of Flæbe’s progeny displayed fantastic spotted colour, not once did she give birth to a solid foal, even to a solid stallion.  So it stands to reason that she carried the spotted genes and is responsible for the myriad of coat patterns seen in the Knabstrupper breed.

Another colt out of Flæbe was Mikkel, born in 1818. He was by his half brother the Flæbestallion.

Mikkel was famous for his horseracing performances. He always worked, and pulled a carriage the 6 Danish miles (41 km.) to the racecourse before he raced.  He was only defeated once in a race in Copenhagen during which he was injured -  he was 16 years old.

The races that Mikkel won were seen by many people and gave the Knabstrupper horse the reputation of being a latter day “performance horse” of great stamina and capacity. Mikkel is probably the most famous horse in the history of the Knabstrupper breed.


At that time the Knabstrupper horses were known for their liveliness and energetic action, but they were not temperamental. They had no malicious tendencies or vices. They were never housed in stalls and were mostly kept outside, which explains their hardiness and reputation for being ‘good doers’. Knabstrupper horses lived, and still live in modern times, to very great ages.

The Knabstrupper as a Cavalry Mount

Danish officers often used Knabstrupper horses as mounts during the war 1848-1850 (Schleswig war). Unfortunately, because of their eye-catching colour, they we easy targets for enemy snipers.

In the Battle of Isted, 1850, two officers rode loud coloured Knabstrupper horses, and they were both shot. Colonel Læssøe’s horse, a mare called Nathalie, escaped unharmed when the Colonel was shot, and in the years following the war she went on to become a broodmare. One foal was named “Læssøe” after the fallen Colonel:


“Colonel Læssøe in The Battle of Isted 1850″
painted by V.H.N. Irminger, 1912.
(The Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle)

The other officer, General Schleppegrell, had once used Mikkel as his personal riding horse. At the Battle of Isted he rode one of  Mikkel’s descendants.  During the battle, the General was also shot, and the stallion he was riding ran off and disappeared. All efforts by the Danish Army to find the valuable horse following the battle  were in vain.

Unbeknown to the army, several farmers in the hills of Skovby managed to catch the red spotted stallion and kept him hidden on their farms until the end of the war. Knowing his value they used him as a sire, but did not tell outsiders that he was there. Renamed “Schnapegral-peerd”, the horses became separated from the main Knabstrupper breed.  They were highly sought after by farmers in the surrounding areas as the offspring had lovely movement, were of unusual colour and had excellent conformation.

It has been reported that, as late as 1910, a local farmer was using a direct descendent of the Knabstrupper stallion that was hidden 60 years earlier.

During the 1870s, there began an unavoidable demise at the Knabstrupgaard stables. At the Lunn family stable, the herd maintained between 40 and 50 spotted horses at the time between the two Schleswig-wars, all descendents of Flæbe. This inbreeding caused great difficulties in retaining colour and quality, and the breed vitality began to deteriorate. 22 Knabstrupper horses were killed during a fire in 1891; and it was this fire, combined with the problems of inbreeding that caused the numbers and profile of the breed to recede.

Though those horses of the Knabstrupgaard stables met their demise, they left  a great legacy on horse breeding across the whole of Denmark. Breeders began crossing to horses of Knabstrupper parentage, and a new lineage of spotted horses was nurtured. Still known by the same name today, Knabstrupper horses are in great demand and the breed is ever popular with riders and drivers alike.

The leopard spotted horses from Knabstrupgaard were the foundation for the breed in the Holbæk-area, as well as Bornholm and northern Jutland. They were also popular as a circus horses, and in this capacity, the breed travelled all over the world.

Vendsyssel (Northern Jutland) had from approximately 1930, a greater number of leopard spotted horses, with some variations in colour dispersion. These horses had no connection to the breeds of Sealand.

1902 a leopard spotted stallion from St. Petersburg was imported to Denmark. He was given the name “Mikkel”, and A.F. Rasmussen stood him at stud until he was 25 years of age. In some years he sired 60 – 80 foals, of which, half were more or less spotted. A Mikkel-son with the right colour was sold to a dairy owner, and has probably been the foundation for the new generation of Knabstrup horses from about 1930.

Knabstrupgaard  was not completely out of the picture after the fire. In the Year 1922 a stallion from Knabstrupgaard was shown at the cattle show in Holbæk. His name was “Mikkel”, and several farmers in the area used him to cover their mares. He was rejected because of unacceptable colour, but he proved himself valuable to the breed.

In 1947 “Association for promotion of the Knabstrupper in county of Holbæk” was founded in connection with the stud farm “Egemosegaard”.

A former farmer N.H. Nielsen, and his son, the barrister C.N. Ledager bought Egemosegaard in 1946, with the idea of starting a stud farm for Knabstrup horses.  In an attempt to continue development of this once so famous horse, with rational breeding, the stud farm bought two stallions 1946 – 1948, “Silverking II” & “Max Bodilsker”:

Silverking II

 Max Bodilsker

In 1954 the stud farm was at it’s peak with 15 horses in the stables. It had a great reputation, and people from all over the country came to visit, until the finish in 1959.

”Association for promotion of the Knabstrupper in county of Holbæk” was still fighting, but with the foundation of “Danish Sporthorse Breed Association” in 1962, which many Knabstrup breeders joined, everything was close to total chaos.

Knabstrupperforeningen for Danmark Organisation:

In 1971 some Knabstrup breeders broke away, and founded the all country covering “Knabstrup association”. (Knabstrupperforeningen for Danmark).

Close to anything being spotted or coloured, was registered. The stallions that were selected had one quality only: their spots. A breeder, Frede Nielsen, brought 3 Appaloosa stallions to Denmark, to get new blood into the breed.

It 2 of them succeeded in contributing towards the Knabstrup breed. However, many of the Sealand breeders preferred to crossbreed with “Danish Warmblood”. The best results came after crossing with “Trakenher” horses and “Holsteiner” horses. It was obvious that crossbreeding was the way forward. The Knabstrup horse is a natural trotter, and as a type, the “Trakenher” horse is closest to the original type.

It is a common opinion that the “Frederiksborg” horse is the breeding strain of the “Knabstrup” horse, and that is not completely incorrect; but the “Frederiksborg” horse has a very high action, which is not attractive for a riding horse.

It is not of great importance if we use a solid horse once in a while, as long as we remember to breed back to a coloured horse again. If the colour is available, the Knabstrup genes and character will dominate.

As the Knabstrup breed became nationwide, it seemed a natural progression to breed ponies as well, because the colour appealed to children. It was also easy, because many Knabstrup horses were about 150 cm., and breeding down was as easy as breeding up. A few breeders have specialised in breeding spotted ponies in miniature, so the ponies are here to stay.

Adapted from the KNN Breed History

INTERESTING LINKS

On my journey, I found some interesting links.  Here is a link from a breeder in Austria  Here is a link from the American Society.  (This breed is very new to America.)  Here is the British link.  The Scandinavian link.  (See what I went through? And this is only a few links!…)  And, finally, here is the Dutch link, which should be the best since the horse comes from Denmark.  Enjoy!

Scottish Appy

SPORTALOOSA REGISTRY

I am still kinda hazy on this one.  But, I think cross breeding with the Knabstrupper makes a great sporthorse  You can register your Appy or K horse here in America.  Here is the link.

SCOTTISH APPALOOSAS (This is funny, eh?)

This site seems to lump anything spotted into the pot.  Dunno, sometimes that works out the best… hybrid vigor and all.  Here is their link.


HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!
The August Bucket Fund will benefit the charity BHFER.  To learn all about the Bucket Fund and to donate $5,  please click on the photo (photo credit, Trish Lowe)

August's Bucket Fund is Beauty's Haven Farm and Equine Rescue. Click here to learn their story and make any size, secure Pay Pal Donation. Easy and it means so much!

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Amazing Grace. Shocking. But, hopefully, help arrived on time…

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

This is Amazing Grace.

Shocking, eh?  How on earth can an owner do this to a horse?  How can they not ask for help?  I suppose all the angry questions in your mind will never be answered…  I don’t understand and I will probably never understand until I die and God gives me some sort of superhuman compassion.  Because I’m sure I don’t have it now.

And, the oddest part… her previous owners have three other horses who are all in good weight.  Wha?!  But, whatever, now Grace is outta there and in the nurturing hands of Darla Clark from Strawberry Mountain Mustangs.  Darla has re-fed starved horses before and two in particular still live with Darla to this day.  One is 30 and the other is 40!.  If Grace is going to win this battle, she has a great Lieutenant by her side.

GRACE’S STORY

A neighbor alerted Animal Control about Grace.  On August 12th, when AC visited the location, they immediately seized the mare.  Yay!  The nameless mare was taken to the local equine hospital.  AC called Darla.  Darla conferred with the Center for Equine Health at the University of California, Davis regarding the proper re-feeding program for a horse in this condition.  (Davis is right near me.  They are excellent.)  The vet felt the mare had life in her eyes and fight in her heart.  So, AC gave the mare to Darla to give the mare her best shot.  Darla christened her “Amazing Grace”.

The attending vet in Oregon who was the first to examine Grace said that on the Heineke scale she is below a 1 (the lowest number).  He said she should be a .5, but the scale doesn’t go that low.  The vet remarked that he cannot believe a mare this skeletal was alive and actually capable of recovery.  All of her bloodwork came back showing no organ failure.  This was a huge surprise.  In his mind, this is improbable but feasible.  So, the next phase is gentle re-feeding.

GRACE IS AMAZING

Darla has only had Grace for 3 days and 4 night.  But, already, this mare has won her heart.  According to Darla, Grace nickers at her, has bright eyes and follows her around!  Darla gave Grace a cooling and refreshing bath and I think the mare looks really much better!

Here are Darla’s words to me via a FB message:

“Grace weighs 560 lbs, is 14.2 hands tall, girth circumference is 63 1/2 inches and a flank circumference of 52 3/4. She is visibly more skeletal than 90% of the horses used as a visual for the Henneke “1″ body score – the lowest on the scale. Our vet would have liked to score her a .5 if possible.

We are following the UC Davis program for re feeding, small meals every 3 hours today, very carefully monitored. No supplements, wormer, vaccines etc for some time yet.

The most amazing thing is how alert and vibrant she is. She follows you everywhere (food or not), yet moves off to avoid being caught if you have a halter. ha! She lies down and gets up on her own which is absolutely INCREDIBLE. I’ve had horses HALF this bad who had to be assisted, or who refused to lie down at all.

Wanted to tell you though – vet check today – NO HEART MURMUR! She’s doing great! The heat kind of wears her out, but in the cooler evenings she’s so perky and talkative…follows cars down the fence line!

She nickers to us when she sees us, and follows us up and down the drive as we come and go.”

Amazing Grace after her bath and some food doused with love

GRACE’S FUTURE

Well, they want to wait two weeks to see if she crashes or becomes stronger.  If Grace makes it, September will be her BUCKET FUND month.  And, by all means, if you are moved to help right now, please donate on their website.

Grace, nice and clean. Look at her...

NEWS REPORT

Here is a news report that I lifted exactly as is for you to read:

“Reported by: Chris McKee
Email: chrismckee@kmtr.com
Last Update: 6:24 pm

Emaciated Douglas County horse recovering at non-profit ranch

An emaciated horse seized from her owner in Douglas County, “Grace” is now under the care of the Strawberry Mountain Mustangs Ranch east of Roseburg. (Chris McKee, KMTR-TV)
DIXONVILLE, Ore. (KMTR) – An emaciated Douglas County horse, seized from its owner, is now taking her first steps on the road to recovery.
“Grace” arrived at the Strawberry Mountain Mustangs Ranch east of Roseburg on Thursday, August 12th, 2010. The horse weighs only around 560 pounds, just more than half of its average weight of 950 pounds.
Douglas County Animal Neglect seized the horse from a landowner because of its weight. The Sheriff’s Office is now investigating the case. Criminal neglect charges are possible.
“If you own a horse that looks like this, you need to seriously re-evaluate your priorities,” says Darla Clark, Founder and Manager of the Strawberry Mountain Mustangs Ranch.
Seeing Grace for the first time, was a shock for Darla.
“When they opened the trailer door, it was just a collective gasp from everyone standing in the parking lot,” says Clark. “There’s no words to describe it.”
Clark says its one of the worst cases of animal neglect she’s seen in Douglas County. Grace, a 22 year-old horse, had no access to food when she was found.
“How someone can look at an animal and just turn that… Turn it off, there’s something that… something I’ll never understand,” says Clark.
Monday, August 16th, 2010, a Roseburg-area veterinarian, Dr. Mike Martin performed another health check-up on Grace.
“Horses that I’ve personally seen in this condition were being euthanized, and that was the purpose of the call,” says Dr. Martin.
“They seemed to be just waiting for it to die,” says Clark.
But despite Grace’s weight, her condition is improving and both Clark and Dr. Martin are optimistic.
“Grace has a chance,” says Dr. Martin. “Remarkably, internally, the blood work didn’t show terminal conditions.”
Grace is now receiving small meals every three hours as per recommendations created by the Center for Equine Health at the University of California, Davis. In a few months, Darla hopes Grace will put on hundreds of pounds of weight and begin her new life.
“To be able to do something like that, with one of these rescue animals, you bring them back, they are grateful. Every fiber of their being shows you how grateful they are. And to be able to go out and see the impact that they will have on somebody’s life down the road, that’s what make it worth while,” says Clark.
Clark named “Grace” for her strong will. She says it’s already shining through.
“If we get her to two weeks and she’s still just as perky, just as stable as she is now, I think we’re in the clear,” says Clark. “It’s her will. As long as she’s willing to try then we’re going to keep supporting her.”
Strawberry Mountain Mustangs Ranch is a non-profit. It relies on donor and volunteer support to feed and rehabilitate horses like Grace. If you’re interested in helping out, you can visit the group’s website at the following link: http://www.strawberrymountainmustangs.com/”

ASIA AND LIBERTY

These are the two mares that Darla rehabbed previously.  They still live with Darla.  She did good by these mares.  Let’s all send our prayers to Darla and Grace for the next two weeks…  I will keep you posted.

Here are before and after photos of Asia and Liberty.  These gals are 40 and 30 years old!

Asia before

Asia after

Liberty before

Liberty after

Both the old gals grazing together, fat and happy!

HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!

The August Bucket Fund will benefit the charity BHFER.  To learn all about the Bucket Fund and to donate $5,  please click on the photo (photo credit, Trish Lowe)

August's Bucket Fund is Beauty's Haven Farm and Equine Rescue. Click here to learn their story and make any size, secure Pay Pal Donation. Easy and it means so much!

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When Donkeys Attack!

Monday, August 16th, 2010

You all have heard me speak of my wonderful, mild mannered jenny, Norma Jean.  Norma is the sweetest and most gentle equine on the place.  She has the kindest eyes, the softest, most nubile furry donkey lips and never does anything that she isn’t supposed to do.

Sweet Norma...

Except yesterday…

What makes a donkey go bad?

Is it because my farrier called her ‘Enorma’?  (She has gained some weight…)

Is it because her ears were itching in the summer heat?  Did one of the Shetlands whisper something untoward in her largess receivers?  Was she tired of being let out alone?  Had she just decided to “do something with her donkey life” and was on a mission to be creative?

I have no idea.  I can only show you the spoils…  Here is my pictorial of the day Norma Attacked!

NORMA’S DAY OUT

Every week, I let certain horses out to eat the irrigated lawns around the house.  They get some fresh green grass and we get cheap lawnmowing.  It works out well.

Most of the time.

Yesterday, I let Norma out to graze.  Now, she has a bit of a weight problem so I really didn’t need to let her out.  But, since we don’t speak of her weight to her face, I didn’t want to make an issue of it.  So, I decided to let her out since it was way past being her turn.

There she was, standing at the gate, ears pricked towards me.  As I approached, she sucked in the huge amount of air that she needs to force out the bray heard around the neighborhood.  I caught her mid-gasp and called her name, “Noorrrrrrrrrmaaaaaaaaaa…”.

Let me digress here.  I have found that if I catch her during her air intake, I can generally stop the bray from occurring.  I guess she figures that as long as I recognize her attempt, she really doesn’t have to put out the effort.  Or, something like that… Anyway, if I call her name when she is preparing to call mine, I can cut her off at the pass.

“Noooorrrrmmmmaaaaaa, it is your turn today!”  She forces herself to stand back from the gate so I can open it and then she darts in her donkey stiff stride right past me and onto the green grass.

OK, all seems fine.  I totter off, back into my writing den, and forget all about her.  After all, its Norma.  What could go wrong?

Famous last words.

THE FIRST ATTACK

The first attack was a brand new (really only one day old), gorgeously full and robust Mexican Heather plant that my mother had just bought for me from Home Depot.  It was sitting on the grass, in a pot, making sure it got a good dose of sprinkler water to keep it moist and beautiful as it got used to its new pot.

Buzz Cut and thrown around the place

News to me, I had no idea that donkeys liked the taste of Mexican Heather…  Not only do they like the taste, but evidently, they like to drag the plant around with them.  Alas, I found this Heather, unpotted, and laying on the lawn approximately 50 feet from its original home.  Upon the discovery, I immediately replanted it, gave it water and put it in a donkeysafe position.  Luckily, my mother hates the internet and cannot find this blog…

SECOND ATTACK

After the horrifying Home Depot plant attack, I decided to see what Norma was up to…  I looked up and noticed that the locked hay barn door was… open.  Wha?  It has a locking chain that is equine proof – or so I thought…  How could it be open?

And then I saw the tips of her ears.  (How can you not?…)  She was in front of the hay barn just standing there.  She wasn’t eating the fruits of her endeavor, she was just standing there.  It was as if she had pulled her Houdini move and was waiting for someone, anyone, to notice.  “Wow Norma!  You are really a very talented donkey!”  Or maybe she just wanted me to know that she could probably get out of any locked enclosure at any time but just stays in her paddock to keep the ponies in line.  I have no idea.  But, those nubile lips and teeth clearly opened the hay barn.

I went running down towards the barn as fast as my stumpy legs could take me. It worked.  As soon as she saw me coming, she skeeedaddled, in her donkey way, somewhere.

Chain hanging defeated, hay door open

THE THIRD ATTACK

As I got to the barn, I see that all was not well.  I mean, the barn gate was still closed – she didn’t open that one, thank goodness — but everything was tossed about.

Upon closer examination, I see that Norma had stuck her head through the fence boards of the barn and pushed the (empty) grain barrel over.  Was she upset that I was out of grain?  Probably.  We all know how much she likes to eat…

Then I noticed that all of the buckets and eating bowls were tossed as well.  I still don’t know how she did that –  short of grabbing a broom stick, pushing them about and then restanding the broom in its place.  This one is still a mystery.

I have no idea how she did this...

ATTACK NUMBER 4

Now, I’m scratching my head and walking towards the house when I notice that I can see the house easier than I should be able to from this vantage point.  Hmmmmm.  Something is different.  I start focusing on why I can see the house from here and then I notice.  OMG.  Hubby is gonna kill me…

Elephanta Donkey has chewed down the entire grassy knoll of 6′ high plants.  (No wonder she wasn’t eating the hay at the hay barn…) This purposeful grass knoll blocks our view of the road from the house.  Not anymore.  Enorma has pruned these old and wonderful, used to be tall, grassy reeds.  Gee, thanks, Norma.  Now I’m gonna have to glue all the fronds back onto the plant before Hubby returns.  Sigh.

A mere stump of its former, leafy self...

WASN’T ME

And, as I run to find Donkeywoman to give her a piece of my mind — I see her, donkeyflailing, ears flapping, in her stiff legged full-on galumphy run towards her paddock.  She puts herself away (like a good donkey) and stands behind Slick.  She turns and looks at me with her most earnest donkey look and says balefully…

“Wasn’t me.  It was the pony.”

Y’know, she often gives me that look and I have always, in the past, believed her.

Not anymore.

"Wasn't me... it was the pony."

HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!
The August Bucket Fund will benefit the charity BHFER.  To learn all about the Bucket Fund and to donate $5,  please click on the photo (photo credit, Trish Lowe)

August's Bucket Fund is Beauty's Haven Farm and Equine Rescue. Click here to learn their story and make any size, secure Pay Pal Donation. Easy and it means so much!

Posted in Horse Stories, Humor | 3 Comments »

A Sunday Update: Olivia and Oliver, Trolley, Bandit and Reva!

Sunday, August 15th, 2010

I decided to give you all happy updates on recent stories…!

Olivia and Oliver, Trolley, Bandit and Reva.

OLIVIA AND OLIVER

Olivia delivers and the happy claps indicating the baby is ALIVE!

Olivia was the mare I wrote about during an earlier post which featured brave mares and the women who helped them.  You can read the original post here.

To refresh you, of if you didn’t read that post, Olivia was rescued from a feedlot.  She was on her way to slaughter with a very large baby inside of her.  Luckily, she was found and adopted.  She was fed and nurtured during her last weeks by the peopld from Ponytales Rescue.

When it came Olivia’s time to foal, she didn’t foal.  Since no one knew when she actually conceived, no one knew if she was actually late.  But, she was very big and very uncomfortable for a very long time.  The Aunties on Mare Stare even gave up on watching nightly since her ‘foal watch’ went on for weeks!

But, of course, eventually Olivia went into labor.  And, of course, several Auntie’s were watching via the internet.  I was one of them.  And while I was watching, a drama unfolded.  There was a problem… Olivia was a maiden mare and she was having a tough time delivering.  OMG!  All of us Auntie’s online felt so helpless!  But alas, the brave women at Ponytales Rescue assisted the birth and did what they were afraid to do but knew they had to.  They reached in and pulled the foal with each contraction.  And, they did it!  They delivered the Whopper!  However, no one was sure if it was still alive.

HUGE, healthy and hunky baby Oliver

Then, after several tense moment, he moved.  WHOOOP!  There were cheers all around and the women at Ponytales looked up to the camera with thumbs up and fists pumping!  This baby boy was huge –  and he still is huge.  In fact, he looks pretty hunky, wouldn’t you say?

They have named him Oliver.  Both Olivia and Oliver are doing very, very well.

I still think the remark by one of the Auntie’s online was the best… she said that the reason Oliver’s blaze is shaped like a spoon is because he “cooked for so long”!  I love that.  I think of that every time I see him!

TROLLEY THE MARE

Trolley's injury after the superglued sock was removed

Trolley’s story is on that same post which you can read here.

Her story is dramatic.  She was refused at the feedlot because of her huge head wound.  It looked awful and had been there for a while.  But the most interesting aspect of this is that the wound had a sock Superglued into it.

Yuk.

Brave Trolley after her surgery this week

But, it may have been that sock glued into her forehead that saved her.  No flies could get in and leave eggs.  So, when Trolley was saved from the feedlot and brought immediately to medical attention, the wound was bad but not horrible.  It was tended to and the kind doctors from Hogan Equine (www.HoganEquine.com) agreed to operate as soon as she made it through quarantine.

Here is the first photo from immediately after her surgery which was just performed Thursday.  It looks great!  Yes, she had a skin graft as well as huge stitches which should help the skin grow and potentially cover the rest of the hole.  If it doesn’t, she will have a second surgery.

Isn’t this just wonderful?!  I will keep you posted.  And, you can follow her on FB.  Here is a link to her page.

BANDIT

Our Bucket Fund for this month is for the lovely people at BHFER.  They took in 14 very sick horses this month and had a few tragedies.  Sadly, after doing everything possible, they lost a 9 day old foal.  It broke their hearts…

But, the good news is that one of the babies that they rescued is doing way better than anyone ever expected.  His name is Bandit.  His story is here.

Bandit was born out in a field where his mother had been left months before.  Bandit must have had an accident because it was estimated that his eye was injured almost immediately after birth.  But, no one was tending to these horses.  So, the baby was not helped and the injury became very bad.

Luckily, a neighbor was paying attention and was able to intervene.  She got the owners to give up the “worthless mare” and the neighbor quickly called BHFER to come help with this baby.  Immediately, they brought the baby to the equine hospital.  The DRs there knew the eye could not be saved.  The baby had been in intense pain for months and the eye was dead.  It was time to remove it.

So, they did.

Bandit, finally healthy and happy

Besides being horribly malnourished, this baby had to start life with pain.  But, luckily, he was saved by our Bucket Fund Charity BHFER and now he is very, very happy.  His surgery was only a week ago yet this boy is thrilled to be alive!  He runs and jumps, finally pain free.  Yahoo!

His Mama is still very skinny but she is doing better.  She had her teeth done, got a bath and is receiving all the food she can eat within her re-feeding program.  Life is good for the horses at BHFER.  (if you’d like to donate to BHFER, please click here.)

REVA

Reva was also rescued by BHFER several months ago.  The story is deeper than that and you can read it here.

Reva delivers, easily, a new filly

BHFER went in to save a foal who was almost dead.  But, when BHFER got there, Reva was standing watch over this baby.  He wasn’t even her baby, but she stood watch.  So, BHFER paid top dollar (long story but the previous owners would not release the baby because he was so “valuable”) for both the almost dead baby and Reva, his watch mare.

Very sick Reva and her day-old foal in the hospital

Upon arriving at BHFER, the baby (now named Evan Almighty) grew stronger and lived…  And, Reva tested pregnant.  So, BHFER did all they could to help her grow a strong baby while she took care of Evan Almighty as he recovered.

Fast forward to last week…  Everyone at BHFER was dealing with the new and very ill 14 horses including the baby who had the eye surgery as well as the baby that was in intensive care but did not survive.  Anyway, Reva decided to give birth, of course, during this emotional and very busy time.

The birth went fine and everyone at BHFER was relieved to have something go smoothly…  But, the next day, Reva was in distress.  She was in colic and nothing they did was helping.  After 24 hours, the mare was worse, not better.  The vets thought she had a twisted gut and brought her to the hospital for an ultrasound.  The poor mare was miserable and everyone was preparing for the worst.  What a tragedy to have this selfless mare who nurtured one baby back to health and delivered another, is now fighting for her life…

Healthy Reva and her lovely and curious foal!

Whoop!  It was only gas colic… and she did recover this week.  OMG!  Hallelujah!  The entire crew associated with BHFER and all the Aunties online gasped a huge sigh of relief.

Don’t Mama and Baby look great?!  From what I hear, the baby is just as healthy as can be and he is into everything!  As you can see, he is fiddling with the hose in this photo.

So, that is our Sunday Happy Update!  Hooray for all the wonderful people who help create these happy endings!  It takes a village to help all the horses in need … but the good part is that we can all share in the delight!

HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!
The August Bucket Fund will benefit the charity BHFER.  To learn all about the Bucket Fund and to donate $5,  please click on the photo (photo credit, Trish Lowe)

August's Bucket Fund is Beauty's Haven Farm and Equine Rescue. Click here to learn their story and make any size, secure Pay Pal Donation. Easy and it means so much!

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You GO, Zenyatta – again! A Nurse Foal Baby and One of Us Quits!

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

Everyone loved Happy Week (last week) so much that I’ve decided to bring some more smile inducing stuff to you all today…

For me, I like it when anyone does something special.  This week, I heard three “atta boy” stories.  Atta Boy stories are the best!  You know.. the underdog or the scrappy kid or the extraordinary individual.  Today I’ve grouped together just that.  A phenomenal athlete, a smartypants colt that never had a chance and a babe with a lotta chutzpah and self worth.  Atta Boy, y’all, Atta Boy!

First up, our favorite fast filly, Zenyatta.

ZENYATTA DOES IT AGAIN!  18!!

I’m sure that many of you saw this race last week.  As usual, her races just grip the bejeezuz out of you!

Click on the image to watch the video

In this one, you’ll love watching her come up from way behind and win by a nose.  Oh My!  Amazing, again.  To refresh any of you, this filly has won all 18 of her starts.  All of them.  All – of – them!  Not only is that amazing but it is super amazing for a filly.  Also, she wasn’t started until late in her third year.  Another awesome and rare ingredient.  So, this filly, who is cleaning up, is an “older” competitor.  Ha!

Zenyatta, my girl, you GO!

NURSE MARE FOAL COLT LEARNS ABOUT PEOPLE STUFF!

OK, this video is so sweet because this sweet little thing was destined for nothingness.

Click on the image to see the Foal Video

If you do not know about nurse mare foals, here is my previous blog post about them.  To be brief, a nurse mare foal is the byproduct of creating a nurse mare for a more important foal whose valuable mother needs to leave her more important foal so that she (the valuable mare) can be re-bred.  The nurse mare’s original foal is, uh, disposed.

Now, this cute as a button baby has been trained by the wonderful people at The Last Chance Corral.  They take in as many nurse mare foals as they can handle.  Obviously, they handle them very well.  You go, LCC.  Atta boys and girls!

CHUTZPAH WOMAN!  OUR FINAL “ATTA GIRL”!

You just have to click here and view these…  Basically, this gal had had enough with her boss so she quit… in a very ingenious way.  It didn’t really happen yesterday, but it made me laugh thinking that it did.  If you haven’t seen it, you should take a look.  Lots of smiles here for this one!  Way to go, sista!

Click on the image to see how she quit!

I hope you enjoyed our three happy stories today!

HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!
The August Bucket Fund will benefit the charity BHFER.  To learn all about the Bucket Fund and to donate $5,  please click on the photo (photo credit, Trish Lowe)

August's Bucket Fund is Beauty's Haven Farm and Equine Rescue. Click here to learn their story and make any size, secure Pay Pal Donation. Easy and it means so much!

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Posted in Horse Stories | 2 Comments »

Wait! Wait! Lemme get my Camera! My life with Laurel and Hardy.

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

Do you ever wonder if you are actually living your life in a movie script?

Well, I do.  Sometimes it is a Horror film, sometimes a Romance, sometimes a Thriller, sometimes a Buddy film and sometimes…  like today… a slapstick, Laurel & Hardy/Keystone Cops ridiculous Perils of Pauline film.  It had to be.  Do you know why?  Because I had Violet Beauregard (just like her namesake) and her little buddy, the Gilligan (2 year old Wrigley) outside on the green grass, together.

Oy.

I mean, they aren’t evil twins.  They aren’t setting out to get into trouble — they just do.  They cannot help themselves.  And it fascinates me as well as surprises me every time!   I mean, none of the other horses ever get into trouble.  Everyone else is let out and nothing ever happens.  But these two… Whammo!  If it is out there, they will get into it.

So today I’m upstairs working and I hear…

Slam!  Drrrraggg.  swisshssy, concrete drrrraaaaag …  Blammo!  Bllllammmmooooo!  bangity bang bang bang bang, draaaaaaggity drag.

(I’m flying down from my office, slipping into my shoes mid-air and jumping over furniture to reach the back door.)

Drraaaagity, POP! Cruuushity Dragity Crush!

I pull open the back door and yell, “HO!”

I have no idea what is going on yet, but I know it needs to STOP.

“HO!!!!”

As my eyes focus, I see this:

“HO.”  Obediently, she freezes.

“HO.”  I say it again to make sure she gets the point.

She does.

And then it starts… I cannot help myself.  My sides are heaving as I try to stifle my gawfaws. “Wait, Wait, lemme get my camera!  HO RIGHT THERE.  Whatever you do, do NOT move until Mommy gets back with the camera…” (snuffle, chortle, snort, gaffaw)

HEH HEH, HEEE HEEE.

She did.  My very good girl stood rock solid as I got my camera and took these photos.  She also let me remove the bird seed bucket without even flicking an ear.  I think she was holding her breath, too. 

But that’s not all.

Her partner in crime, Chucklehead Little Buddy Gilligan (Wrigley) was standing at attention nearby.  “Huh?  What happened?”

I snapped this photo of him exactly one second before he smacked himself in the face with the rake handle.

Look closely at this photo.  The little man had his foot on the rake, just ready to flip himself in the noggin.  Oy.  Never a dull moment with these two…  ;)

"Wha?" Wrigley about to smack himself with the rake.

HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!

The August Bucket Fund will benefit the charity BHFER.  To learn all about the Bucket Fund and to donate $5,  please click on the photo (photo credit, Trish Lowe)

August's Bucket Fund is Beauty's Haven Farm and Equine Rescue. Click here to learn their story and make any size, secure Pay Pal Donation. Easy and it means so much!

Posted in Horse Stories, Humor | No Comments »

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