"If three people say you are an ass, put on a bridle.---Spanish proverb"

Tunnel Vision

Mom decided Tuesday morning that because it was snowy and cold outside (and because Star and I had stirred up some mud) it would be a good time to set up the dreaded doggie tunnel that Uncle Mike had sent to Mom for her birthday for our fun and games.

Now Mom had tried earlier this year to get Star and me to go through the tunnel, but no way, no how would we go through it.  Oh she tried every trick in the book, crawling through it herself, putting pieces of cheese and hotdog inside, rolling my tennis ball through, but we stuck firm and didn't play her game.  But, now.........

Mom decided it would be fun to set up the dreaded tunnel in the back hallway. Then the pleading began.  It was funny to watch her crawl through it, but we didn't follow her through it.  Then she started bouncing one of our tennis balls on the floor to get Star and me to try to go through to get the ball, she tried rolling tennis balls through it and we resisted, but then - she called for backup!  Dad!  Well, how could we resist him?  He's no patsy.  Finally, Star, my 'fraidy cat sister went through first!

Well I couldn't let her do something I wouldn't do, so I had to go through too.  What next!

 Oh dear, I heard her mention something about jumps!

Star's ER Trip

Poor Star.  On Thursday the 14th, I discovered that Star had torn her nail on her right front dew claw.  It was pretty bad.  I thought I could wrap it so it could heal, but she wouldn't let me touch her foot. 

I called Dr. Brown and she said to bring her right in.  Star ended up in surgery so that Dr. Brown could remove the nail.  She had completely torn it and it was just dangling.  Dr. Brown had to cut into her dew thinging to remove the nail.  So Star's leg was bandaged.  I had to keep Star fairly quiet, make sure she didn't get her bandage wet, and make sure she didn't try to tear the bandage off.  The first two orders were easy, but she sure frustrated me in keeping her from tearing her bandage off.  I ended up wrapping duct tape around the bandages and she even managed to chew the duct tape. 

Finally I was able to remove the bandage yesterday (Monday) and she is a lot happier, but I have to keep her from licking her "owie."

Jade and Star Update

Gosh it has been a couple of months or more since I posted anything about Jade and Star. 

Update on the doggie door caper:  It took Jade about a month of going through the taped up doggie door before she just barreled though it untaped.  Not Star though, if the door wasn't taped up, she would lay in front of it and throw dirty looks our way until one of us would tape the door up for her.  But, finally, on Saturday, the 16th, she couldn't stand it any longer and slowly crept through the doggie door.  The reason?  She couldn't stand the fact that Jade and I were outside playing ball and she was stuck indoors.  Why, do you ask, was she stuck indoors.  Well, she was still recovering from her surgery on her right front dew claw and was all bandaged up.  But, I'm getting ahead of myself.  I will post on her injury later.  Back to Star and the doggie door. 

Star still wasn't sure that she could go through the door on her own, because she still wanted one of us to let her out.  We were leaving the door flap down because Star was supposed to be kept fairly quiet and this was one way to keep her inside.  But I guess the sight her Jade and me playing outside was too much for her, so she finally started going through the door more and more on her own.  Success!!  Though she hasn't learned to come back in the same way.  Oh well, I'm sure she will figure that out soon! 

Prince

Prince in a happier day this month munching all that lush green grass in his brand new pasture. Now he is back to spending his days in his stall/paddock and will have to wait until the pasture isn't so green and lush. He is not one bit happy with me for not taking him out to pasture in the afternoon these days.

He had his farrier appointment the day after his picture was taken (May 12th) and Mike, the farrier, discovered that his feet were beginning to show signs of heat, so he advised to take Prince off pasture until he sees him again the end of June.

Prince got new shoes anyway and he doesn't seem to be having any problems with his new shoes. He is trotting and loping just fine without stumbling with all those ouchies he gets when he hits a stone when he is running barefoot.

In Memorium

Rouge Wilson April 1996 - May 18,2010
Loving traveling companion and co-pilot to Carol Wilson.

Ladies Horse Camp

Day Two of Ladies Horse Camp, but really Day One for me. I had to miss yesterday's camp because of John's doctor's appointment.

Day One for Prince and I was a fun one. We had a great time learning new things, such as how to properly load a horse in the trailer. Prince wasn't too thrilled with that lesson because he thinks that going in the trailer means going to the vet. He used to load beautifully, but a couple of years ago decided that he didn't want to take rides in trailers any more.

Vickie was our instructor for trailer loading. She has helped load Prince before so she knows what a stinker he is about loading. The first time we tried loading Prince, he balked and I had to turn him around. Vickie pointed out to me what I was doing wrong and why he was not wanting to load. The second try he went into the trailer with just a little bit of hesitation. He unloaded fine, by backing out. The third try at loading he got in the trailer just fine. This time we unloaded by taking him out front feet first. I like unloading him this way. Other horses had little problems too so Prince wasn't the only one. Of course, Mocha and Tracy are the pros and loaded up without any problems.

Diane then had us saddle up and ride. I trotted Prince around quite a bit and with this new long-shank snaffle, I seem to have better control of him and he is not fighting this bit like he did the Tom Thumb. Anyway, at first I wasn't comfortable going any faster than the trot (because it's been three weeks since I've ridden him). But Diane was having Jan/Dusty and Tracy/Mocha doing lead changes, I decided to get out of my comfort zone and do these too. Prince did just fine, I just got confused a couple of times and gave him the wrong cue for the wrong lead. Just one more thing to concentrate on and practice.

He got to go out to his new pasture after our Camp for a couple hours of rolling and grazing. I went back out this afternoon to put him in his stall and he seemed quite happy and was willing to go back to the barn. We will see if he is still in a happy mood for Day Two of horse camp.

Victory!

For the very first time, both Jade and Star went through the doggie door on their own. John installed that very expensive door a couple of months ago with the idea that once it was installed, the dogs would go through it without any problems. NOT!

For some reason that little door in the door freaked them out until they discovered that it really was their own little window they could look out of to view the outside world. Go through it? No, just lay in front of it and dream about being outside chasing the cats that strolled through their yard. They soon learned that by throwing dirty looks at me and/or John one of us would go open the big door for them to go outside. We tried every trick in the book, but nuh huh, no way, no how were they going to go through that little (to them) opening in their door - until today!

We read and article in our local newspaper on how to get those little buggers to go through their door without any problems - just tape the plastic door up and let them get used to going through the opening and then slowly tape the door lower and lower until they will push the plastic flap on their own. Will it work? Time will tell. I will keep you all posted. But at least they are now going through the opening on their own!

Success to the successful thistlesifter!

My Two Doggers

Jade is one of two Border Collie pups I have. Jade just turned six months old and loooves to play with tennis balls. It has been her goal to get two balls in her mouth and she finally achieved her goal. She is so proud of herself. When I take her and her sister, Star out for their daily tennis date, I make sure I have four tennis balls for throwing - two for Jade to catch and carry and two for Star.

Star is not interested in trying to get two tennis balls in her mouth. Her thrill is hiding and laying in wait to catch that unsuspecting tennis ball and then laying on it after she catches it so her sister Jade won't be able to get the ball.

What my dogs are teaching me is that even though they are sisters, they are not alike in all respects, they have their individual quirks and traits. I have to remember to treat them the same but yet bow to their individuality. I wonder who has trained who.

Prince

Today I worked out in the pasture that I will be moving Prince to in a couple of weeks. Because he has a medical problem in that he can't eat Alfalfa or Clover, I'm having to dig up all the clover that is in this pasture. Fortunately there isn't too much clover. I've been digging for about an hour a day for the last three days and I have just about dug it all up.

I turned Prince loose in the pasture this afternoon and he really enjoyed munching on the grass while I finished digging up the rest of the clover.

I will have to let him get used to eating fresh grass before I can turn him out to pasture permanently.

Weird Horse Laws

"In New York City, it is illegal to open or close an umbrella in the presence of a horse."

Prince

Scary thing happened to my horse Sunday. On most Sunday afternoons some of us ladies at the barn get together to ride. Before we ride we usually round pen our horses to get some of the friskiness out of them. Sunday was no exception and because the weather was cold and windy, my horse was feeling particularly frisky. Prince had been working the round pen without any problems, listening to me cue him into his walk, trot, and canter. And then, he decided he was going to break loose and do his "look at me" bucking, rearing and changing directions on the run. Well, he was in soft sand and when he pivoted to change directions, his right rear leg gave way and down he went. I held my breath, but he he was able to get himself back up without any problem. My heart sank though because once he was up, he was holding his right hind leg up off the ground just like he had done three years ago when he fell and tore 90% of the tendon in that same leg. I got him to stand still and relax for a couple of minutes until he could put his leg down and stand on it. I walked him back to the barn and made sure he was walking okay. I thought it best not to ride him; gave him a good rubdown; an extra scoop of Barley and put him back in his stall.

I didn't ride nor work him yesterday, just in case he had hurt he leg again even though he showed no signs of having reinjured it. Today I took him out to the round pen to see if he wanted to work and to make sure he wasn't limping. He walked just fine and seemed to enjoy the light workout. I will ride tomorrow but I will keep it a light fun ride instead of doing anything heavy duty.

I lost My Way

For the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to get to my blogger page. At last I've found it so maybe now I will be able to come up with ideas on what to say on my blog on a daily basis.

I just received the 2-set DVD on the Constitution from Hillsdale College, so I'm excited about watching the lectures. I've been reading The Federalist Papers. This helps to understand what the Founding Fathers meant when they were writing the Constitution.

First Time Posting to Blog

Okay folks, I'm a little unsure how this is all going to work, but I'm excited that I have now set up my very own blog.

My Blog will be varied in topics. Keep checking in.