Sounds of the season

First thing in the morning, which is second thing for the horses because Heather has already been there hours before and fed them breakfast, okay ... when I walk in, first thing I hear is quiet nickering.  Some of my four legged friends are saying "hello" or "its about time!"

The next thing I hear is all the stomach rumination of everybody's horse with my head pressed against bellies as I fish around for straps on blankets.  I can hear all sorts of gurgling and grumbling.  Is that normal?  What's going on in there? Does your mom know 'bout this?

Overhead a small army charges by. The sound of sixteen little paws trooping out of their hidey hole, running downstairs from the hay loft, looking for breakfast.  They are very loud, considering how small they are.

Then there is a terrific banging.  Ben or Lily, one of them is getting impatient and is kicking the stall door. "BEN" I bellow.  Champagne rattles her door.

Slurp,  slurp,  Jon is sucking his lips, I think.  I don't exactly know what he is doing but it's annoying.  I bellow at him too.

 Zoom, slide,  bang, stall doors open.  Clump clump, geldings go out.  Tingle tingle, chain on the gate as I open it up to the paddock. Clippity clippy, mares go out.

I watch for a while.  Their morning "hi, how are ya"  to each other is often amusing.  On this day the snow was falling quite heavily.  There was a silence that you could feel in the heaviness of the snow.  A dampening of all noise.

Gotta get moving, there's work to do.

I start mucking stalls. I rarely, I mean never, do all the stalls. I figure I am there to help and anything I do is a help.  There is a slow plop plop sound.  I say slow because it's the sound of poo balls slowly rolling out of a wheel barrow that is too full and back on to the ground.  Too full because I don't want to wheel my barrow out to the manure pile when I have just a bit left to go, plop plop, arrrrrggg









In the evening, when the horses are all back in, there is a slurp slurp, ten times over as all the horses eat their supper.  It is very loud and earnest, like it has been days since their last meal not hours.

Standing in the barn at the end of the day, the last thing to hear is a quiet grind grind grind as the horses eat their hay.  Its a lovely peaceful sound.

"The moon on the breast

of the new fallen snow, gave lustre of midday to objects below."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUzIF4eYRkg

                                                                                                                    Linda Frank Photography

Last night was just so.  As I turned out my light to curl up for the night, I saw the moon light on the freshly fallen snow, the shadows of the trees stretching across the pristine lawn.

Earlier last night Vern and I went visiting with our Christmas parcels and a bottle of wine.  First stop was at the farm, at Heather's house to see some young friends.  I chuckled as we drove in the driveway.   The three inches of snow we had was enough for Heather and Sarah Onelite to fire up their snowmobiles and drive around the fields and the driveway and the lawn.  I smiled with a feeling of nostalgia.  Lawns are supposed to look like that in the winter, all covered in snowmobile tracks. I didn't realize I missed that.  My own lawn now is a beautiful virgin white blanket since Vern's sled is also at the farm.  Stepping out of the truck and into the tracks in the snow, I thought "Ha Ha winter is here." 

Moon lit nights in the woods are magical. We didn't get out there often enough.  Generally a bright moon in the winter means it's verrrrry cold. The fields are brilliant and the woods, mysterious, magical, a bit ominous, at the same time serene.   But very very cold.  

My favourite story to read to the girls was "Owl Moon" Here's a link to hear the author reading http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlllfX5PprU  We were never that quiet as we bumbled down the snowmobile trail out into the meadow, the dog gallumping ahead of us. We have owls here too and we often hear them calling at night "who cooks for you, who cooks for you"

Christmas this year is full of changes.  Jennifer is off at sea, working on a cruise ship.  She will have Christmas is some exotic port in the Caribbean, complete with all the Disney magic.  My mom is in the hospital and my dad is going for chemotherapy on Boxing Day.  This is the year to start new traditions.  Our Christmas breakfast will be at the farm, with Vern cooking the Cheese bread, instead of Grandpa.  Our big Morrison Christmas feast remains the same, Uncles, Aunts, cousins, Grandma Vena, turkey, presents, slightly inebriated sister in laws (me included) ... can't wait!

Merry Christmas from my house

Last Day ... as turn out person

Wow, finally snowing... big fat flakes.  Vern threw all the horses a flake of hay and filled the water buckets so while they are chillin in their stalls, I am relaxing with my second cup of coffee. Ah, love it, tomorrow the same and next day and the next day...

Back to reality, I not really relaxing. I am wrapping, baking, and writing out Christmas Cards, still, so if yours is a little late, well, its a Happy New Year card.  I heard from so many people that they are just not as organized as they'd like to be this year.  Is it the weather?  It has been grey for so long, when the sun does come out we will all be snow blind!

Coffee done, off to the barn I go.  Blankets on everybody!  Going to start stalls. I organized my day for barn work and to finish the baking.  Housework will have to wait and wait and wait.

seams kinda pointless to be filling it while he's emptying it

Morning Smile :  All the mares, so happy, all rolling in the snow at the same time

Morning Surprise:  Finding my husband hiding out in the garage while I put blankets on the all 10 horses and put them out!







Home again Home again, my jiggy jig ran out after mucking six stalls.  I went straight down stairs, stripped in front of the washing machine and washed all my barn clothes.  I Am Done !

Morning routine

Whoa !  Not a good day!  I must be suffering from a hormonal imbalance.  I chewed out poor Vern because he wanted two grilled cheese sandwiches this morning!  Good thing he has a sweet temperament.

Morning smile:  Jon rolling in the manure pile

In the barn with Barley, putting on his coat, he is sooo warm. We just stand there cheek to cheek.  Every morning, a warm cuddle from Barley.

On to Penny.  Every morning she looks surprised about the blanket but she likes attention.  She puts her head down for a scratch between the ears. This morning she leans right into me. I have to scooch her over before I fall over.

I open the big doors and each of the geldings stall doors and they file out, single file. They wander through the sand ring and into their field.  Kingsley needs help to keep moving. Finally he gets out of the gate but I have to push on his ass to get him to clear the gate to get it shut.

Back to the mares, just slide open the doors and get out of the way!  Sierra, Champagne and Lily charge out, heads up, tails up.  Penny looks surprised again.  I get her leadline, put it around her neck, just like yesterday, and the day before and the day before that and lead her out so she doesn't wander through the whole barn and lose her brains.  I've discovered that about thoroughbreds, if things aren't exactly right they get so agitated that they can't think straight.

Frankie

Next on my list is the barn kitties because I need a break from horses. There are four wild kittens, our third batch, and one fat house cat, Theo.  Big Fat Theo, I call him, knows exactly when it's breakfast time in the barn.  Little Frankie gets a cuddle before food but the others are too wild to touch.

Three more horses to deal with.  Jonny is getting a bit impatient by this time.  He is stomping around his stall, bobbing his head up and down and sucking his lips but as soon as he sees his blanket he settles right down and bends his head to help me.  He is only one to do this. In this moment, Crazy Jonny, calms down.
Jacey stands quietly, always does.  She closes her eyes and brushes her face against mine, awwww.  I have to streeeeetch to get the blanket on cuz she's huge!
I have to open Jon's door first, because if she is goes without him, he loses his shit.

Poor Willy is last, that's because he is a good boy now that he has had his little operation.  One wee halter on, leadline clipped up, watching the teeth and out we go sniffing at and knocking over everything on the way.  Ducking our heads under the electric fence, I unclip, slam the gate.  All done!

Well almost, I have to rehydrate the beet pulp, give Jacey and Jon hay and check their water.  I notice that Kingsley is just now moving away from the gate. Now as long as the weather doesn't turn, I am done for the day!

Two days to go ...

A rose by any other name ...

Did I say in an earlier blog, "Yay I don't have to get up at 5:30 anymore and Vern will help me with turn out"?  What I should have said was, "Yay I don't have to get up at 5:30."

Lily checking out the dirt

Morning surprise:  Barley smells like honey even though his stall is completely trashed.

Morning smile:  All the horses checking out Vern's piles of sand in the paddocks

Ben and Barley. Kingsley is around back

Wow my car stinks ! Maybe its me !
I need a sniff test.  I need to ask my girlfriends to tell me if I stink like a horse because the dam odour gets on ya and in ya.  If I spend enough time in the barn, like everyday, HA!,  it becomes normal.  Its hard to keep that smell out of the house.

I've told this story before but I will tell it here again.  Two years ago, I went to a Christmas card making class.  We were paired up and I had a real nice young woman to work with.  As we were starting to work together, she says, "You know, I smell horse". OH NO!  Without realizing that odour was so pervasive, I had worn the same running shoes that I had been tromping around in the barn in!   Now, having learned my lesson the embarrassing way, I never wear nice shoes to the barn and change my clothes as soon as I get in the door at home.  My car, on the other hand ...

Help my ass is froze Christmas Barn Party

Jacey's ready for the Famous Morstar Christmas Party

2nd Annual Christmas Barn Party was a great success, I'd say, modestly, judging from the all smiles and hugs.  The weather was a little better this year except for a bitter wind.  It poured rain last year.  I bet all the horses were glad to come in, eat treats and get groomed. Some dear friends were working and were missed.  Our youngest barn member, Sierra and her friend Amy, saddled up and were gone first, so excited to be riding.  They were the winners of the stall door decorating with handmade horse decorations and lights!

Sitting on hay bales kept our butts warm.  Shawna, brilliant,  rode her horse bareback to keep her bum warm.  Mug o'Bailies kept her insides warm.




Bobbing for carrots, best horse game ever! Oh, the horses were up for that challenge.  Heather's horse, Sierra, had the hardest time trying to get a swinging carrot in her mouth.  Frodo, on the other hand, nailed it in 10 seconds !







Heather baked sweet treats for all the horses.  Her Pampered Chef square stone has only been used for that particular purpose since she bought it.  She should write to them and do a testimonial hahaha

People treats were based on food the horses eat: Borsht soup instead of beet pulp, with Oat bread, salad instead of grass,  Carrot burgers, Hot mulled apple cider, Haystacks, and  … Carrot Cake, of course !
Since I have never made Borsht, never even tasted it, I wasn't sure if it was right.  I was more than happy when Eric told me he was Polish, borsht is a Christmas Eve tradition for him and that I had nailed it ! Alexis said he had Ukrainian friends and my borsht was spot on.  Hmmm might make it again.  Last year I made carrot soup.  What other soup I can make … grass soup?

Merry Christmas from Morstar Equine

Hug Your Kids Today

I was going to talk about my day but today is not a day to be funny.  Hug your kids today, tell them you love them and do something together

Ya Hoooo ! Winter Holidays begins (for me) (kinda)

No more getting up at 5:30 for meeeeee!!!  Hubby is finished working for the winter.  I just have another week of putting out the horses and then Heather is finished and all my mornings are mine, mine, mine…Hello coffee, hello chair hahaha

I am planning on dragging Vern with me next week.  He has been helping bring the horses in at supper.  He is such a hard worker, throwing down hay, putting out the big round bales in the fields, dragging away the manure.  Vern and Ed, a friend from work and Heather have done all the renovations of the barn, building all the stalls, lockers, new floor in the loft.  He always has such a long list of things he wants to do and never enough time.

The first stalls with temporary doors for Lincoln and Willy.
Heather and Vern installed the big overhead beams and supported the overhead hayloft with six 4x4s in every stall.  Heather built the template for all the sliding doors.



Ten stalls complete and filled. Four more to go, well, maybe two.  Two unfinished stalls are being used for shavings and storage.

This is what we started with !

My morning smile today was watching the mares trot along in icy sand ring.  Normally they rip around at a gallup, bucking and running with each other when they get in their field.  The icy sand has them trotting very carefully.  I can see the deliberate foot placement and the concentration.  They are still very excited to be turned out but taking it careful. Made me smile

YA HOO

Jonathan

Jonathan came to us in July 2011.  My first question was what was his barn name.  Turns out he didn't have one, everyone has always called him Jonathan. Not Jon not Johnny, hmmm, well, he isn't called Jonathan here. He was a dressage horse but at 27, he is now retired. Like most thoroughbreds he was a racehorse as a youngster.  I am convinced it's that training as a baby that makes thoroughbreds nuttier than other breeds.

Heather in the stall with Jonny.  When he first came to the farm, he didn't want to eat alone.

Jonathan is such a funny horse on so many levels.  The first indication of problems was left to Vern and me to figure out right after he got there.  Heather had left for town and Jon started bobbing his head and pawing the floor of his stall. I gave him a carrot which he ate but lots of it fell out of his mouth as he bobbed up and down.  Vern said he thought he was choking.  We panicked and called Heather back home.  She called his previous barn and they said, "oh yeah, thats just him, you'll get used to him." Well it turns out Jonathan doesn't like to be in the barn without all the other horses in too.

He is very co-dependent, he has his special girlfriend and can't be separated without losing his brains.  At that point he seems dangerous but I don't really worry about him.  Heather and I walked Jon and Jacey, his special friend, out to the paddock on leadlines because of equipment in the barnyard.  I thought nothing of taking him out.  That impressed Heather, she declared her work done. I had graduated !

I'll tell ya what makes me reluctant today ...

hmmmm stretch, get my coffee, pick up my knitting, lovely.  Clock ticks on...

Rrrrrrr shuffle off to the closet, find some long johns, quilted pants, long sleeve t-shirt, thick hoodie, big quilted jacket, thick socks, boots, mitts, hat ...rrrrr ready to go !

It's a bracing -10 c with a lively little breeze and a light snow but since I live in the forest, I'm not sure what is really going on outside.  It could be snowing sideways at the farm.

kisses?

Sierra looks smashing in her purple coat

Ten horses, ten blankets, one hour, yeah!  I got one horse hug, two cuddles and attitude from Willy and Sierra.

 

In the past I have taken a chance and rushed off to the barn in my pjs and no bra. Inevitably, someone will show up and want something.



Eight days to go ...
                 

Back home and in my pajamas again ahhh      coffee ahhh 

My plan for Sunday was to decorate the barn for the Christmas party next week. What really happened was stall mucking with Heather.  Vern drove in the barn with a load of shavings and as I choked on the carbon monoxide, I thought again about the turn my life has taken.  What actually went through my mind was, Why am I here?

I guess as reluctant as I was to take on this impossible project, I do enjoy being at the barn.  I enjoyed it when we were boarders ourselves 14 years ago.  I liked the happy horses,  I missed them.  I liked watching my daughter ride, still do.

Two subdivisions have gone in our woodsy neighbourhood in the last few years and the developers were circling this iconic piece of property.  It would have been the worse thing in the world to see this farm, with the beautiful rock be sold and chopped up.  It had been a family farm for 70 years.years, a place I always admired when I drove by.

I gave Vern and Heather a hard time for about a year, saying that it was not my plan and I am not involved.  Slowly I discovered I enjoyed the work and enjoyed the farm as a whole.  Well, maybe not the bringing in the hay, but even that has its moments.  In the evening particularly, on the wagon ride out to the field, when its a wee bit cooler and there is a glorious  sunset over the hay field.  Feels like its all worth it in that moment.

ahhhh Saturdays...

I must admit, as a stay at home mom, a domestic goddess, Saturdays are kinda just another day with a few more people around.  Working in the mornings at the barn as given me back a sense of Saturdays, a delicious day to sleep in, move slowly, savour the coffee…  I often feel as if I should call Heather and thank her but as she is the one up and at 'em at the barn on these wonderful days, I probably should just keep it to myself.

Saturdays are the days when I don't have any decisions to make and am not responsible for any other creatures beside Vern.  

The weather is turning colder and our third batch of barn kitties are wondering what the heck happened.  "It was warm and we frolicked and now it's cold and horrible."  I stole one of the older barn cats and brought him home.  He just lays on the couch and purrs and purrs.  He is absolutely putting up with all the nonsense and noise from my other two cats so he doesn't have to go back to the barn.

Sylvester was a house cat who came to live at the barn.  He is very glad to be a house cat again.

Ahhh gotta feed the birds now. Always somebody...horses, cats dogs, birds, squirrels ...Vern




I want to add a post script here to all the amazing women who work for a living and find time to get everything done.  I am in awe of you and always have been.  Cheers

In Memoriam

Heather's first horse was released from this world today.  He was quite a character. He always wanted to be first in the race around the show ring. He hated horse trailers with ramps but leaped onto stock trailers.  He pushed every button, invented a few but loved Heather very much. He eventually did what she asked and then some.  Silver had a most amazing floating trot that just came out after years of riding him.  Heather found the right leg pressure and away he went.

Heather's words: R.I.P. Silver you were an amazing horse. Taught me a lot of lessons, not just in dealing with horses but life in general. You taught me to pick my battles, find patients even when you think you have none left, look for the little wins in your day, how to loose gracefully, and to love even when your mad. 33 years is a long time and I know you will be remembered by more then just me. You were always the entertaining "crazy white horse" but I will miss you my friend…

Heather and Silver rode at Neden Arabians with Michele Currie. A great group of girls also rode there with their horses. They had the nickname of the "Currie Girls" at the Arabian horse shows.  An amazing group really, probably unique in any situation. They were very supportive of each other even as they completed against each other.  As these girls, women now, learned of Silver's passing all sent their condolences and I discovered they had all lost their first loves … so heres to all of you and your beautiful mounts

Heather and Silver Star

Caroline and Romero

Marissa and Scat

 Erin and Cody

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions....

It's the daily decisions that are so stressful.  Since I know little to nothing about horses, having to make decisions for their care leaves me in a daily dither. Do I blanket today?  Is it going to be cold, windy, raining?  So, then which blanket?  Is it worth a fight with Sierra, the horse, to put a blanket on her?  That argument right there helps me a lot ! Noooo it is not worth a fight ...go out,  be cold or wet, whatever.

"can I come it?

The question of whether to turn out or not led me to watch the neighbours' horses.  Those horses have shelters so they can decide to be out or in.  Inevitably, I got it wrong.  If I turned out the horses, the neighbour horses were in and visa versa.  If I panicked because a weather report said severe weather was coming and I brought them all in, the weather would be fine.  Conversely, if I turned them all out and headed home, I would see the neighbours horses would be in and it would pour rain by the time I got to my door.  I always have a vivid picture in my head of Onelite, in a streaming thunderstorm out in the paddock trying to bring the horses in.  I helped by standing in the barn door lamely calling the horses names. Horses, by the way, don't care that much if people get wet.

Wow squinting, lovely bright sun this morning along with a cutting breeze.  Everything went well this morning.  Frodo, the halflinger pony, gave me a bit of exercise, chasing him round and round the sand ring, branishing a whip over my head, yelling and running to cut him off before he made a third loop around the ring. Whew, thank you Frodo. 

Hahaha Here is Frodo.  

Inquisitive pony 

wanted to check out the camera

Jonathan

I wasted an hour yesterday, ductaping a ripped rainsheet and turning Jon out in it.  I was soooo proud of my mad repair skills.  Hours later when I returned to check on everyone, the blanket was in shreds... and now dirty.  Apparently ductape doesn't survive rolling vigorously  in the dirt.  So as my luck is consistent, I made it worse. Blanket now needs to be cleaned before being repaired properly.

My day started out pretty good... all the horses went out as they should.  I decided not to blanket the whole bunch.  It was 10 degrees c and overcast.  The fun bit this morning was watching the turkeys in the paddock and watching the mares watch the turkeys.  Clearly these were not the White Gulls of Death.  Turkeys are just a curiosity... to mares.  I suspect the "boys" would been very frightened thinking they would be eaten by turkeys.

Turkeys, I discovered today, eat horse shit.  What a happy coincidence! They also eat cabbage, tomatoes and pumpkins, who knew.

 

Older picture of a flock of homegrown turkey

The warm weather and all the snow having melted, I decided to clean up the sand ring.   First I got a couple of flakes of hay to feed poor Penny down at the back, since the other three bitches, er, mares, won't let her near the haybale. All was good, Penny was happily munching away and I was scooping horseshit. Lily rushed down on Penny, ears back, chasing her away from the new hay.  I rushed down on Lily, trying to chase her away. She stood her ground but looked at me sadly and surprised that I was being mean. I like Lily and always have a happy cuddle with her but today I wasn't going to let her keep Penny from the haybale and now these couple of flakes of hay.  A staring contest ensued and I won!  Sierra then decides to push Penny away.  Obviously the hay that Penny was eating is better than the hay Sierra was just eating.  I bear down on her too.  Sierra gives me the same look, "why are you waving your arms wildly and yelling at me. You're crazier than normal, lady !" She wanders away.  Wow, I'm two for two now. I'm on fire,  I'm a horse whisperer

Hey, you've worn one of these before, you were a dam racehorse!

The first time I had anything to do with a horse blankets I was alone and had to remove them, starting with the crazy long legged thoroughbred.  First of all, I had no idea how these things were put on, so absolutely no idea what I was doing.  I spied the buckets in front, okay lets start there.  Nothing is easy, nylon straps were damp, swollen, and hiding inside, I don't know what, pockets or loops or something. Struggle, struggle, sweat, curse, horse is jumping around cuz the crazy lady is radiating a frantic vibe … They, crazy horses, can sense these things. Ok, now those two buckles undone, what the hell else is holding this thing on?

Hmm, straps underneath, where do they go?  Under a wee flap, another buckle. A slip hinge thing, does it slip? Noooo, it binds ! Struggle, struggle, curse, curse, ha, done!  Now what? Little straps, between the legs,,, really?  Why are they wet and sticky?  Ewwwww gross!

Willy and the offending blanket

Need I add that the horse wasn't helping in any way.

NEXT! What? ... different horse, different blanket style, different buckle configuration!  Struggle, struggle, curse, curse, undo all the buckles. Working up a sweat here!

In the end, there were four horses and I think four different kinds of, buckles and hidden flaps and velco, well maybe two or three.  Now I can see how irritated Heather must have been the next day, because I had ALL the straps undone.  All in the wrong places too.  She says to me the next day, "you know these blankets just go on over their heads"  "WHAT?"  "yeah, you don't undo the front buckles, you just slide the whole thing over their heads"  "WHAT?  They just stand still for that??" "Yeah sure"

Post Script- I have since mastered blankets. I even discovered why one poor horse had buckles come undone and got caught up in loose straps.  I've fixed the problem with a little bit of binder twine.

Post Script -  Ever seen horses shake their whole body?  Kinda looks neat... Not when your head is under it's belly !

It takes a village...

view from the barn door

I am going to leave the rest of my blanket rant for another day and instead acknowledge all the people it takes to run this operation.

Maggie, cooks for Heather.  She makes my mouth water when she tells me she made some fresh basil, guacamole, pesto cheesecake or some such a thing.  She is a fabulous cook and very much a horsewoman.  The other day she wandered into the barn to say goodbye to her horse while I was putting blankets on. Ha I thought, Help, Good!  When I asked if she was dressed for work she said yes.  Ohhh I thought, no help there.  Why, she asked.  Oh I thought maybe you could put Jacey's blanket on for me. Oh sure, she said.  And she did and Jon's too!  Hahaha Horse people are funny!

Sierra, tiny little thing, and an amazing rider.  Not to be confused with Heather's horse, also named Sierra,  well... sometimes.  Sierra, the girl, is prettier and tougher, tougher than her pony.  She is such a hard worker.

Sarah Onelite, my mentor, twenty years old and not afraid of anything.  She helped me get though more than a few mornings. She used to clean stalls here but moved her horse for more training.  She and Jenn still show up some friday nights and clean all the stalls.  Did I say horse people are funny?

Shawna, also works hard to keep the barn clean and sweet smelling.  She and I are sympatico, we love the same books.  She has a fabulous husband who comes to help.

Heather has a full time job in construction and has to be at work for 6am.  Before she leaves, she feeds all 10 horses assorted breakfasts and gives them hay and water. Sometimes she has a spare moment to blanket a few or all the horses before she leaves.  When she gets home she looks after her house, her dog, her cats and everybody's horse.  Good job Girl,  I'm proud of you

My husband, Vern, also works in construction and works hard at the barn, renovating, moving hay,  moving manure, kinda before and after, hahaha.

Heather has many amazing neighbours who help out, particularly with the farming part of the operation … a big heartfelt thank you.  Oh, and a fantastic Plumber who has saved the whole operation on many an occasion.

 and me, the general filler in jobber.  I am always learning from these people and the neighbours but I am getting the hang of it.  I think I can keep a horse alive now.

If I have forgotten anyone, please don't be offended, my brain only works part time.  Next time you do something funny,  you will fresh in my mind.

Smirky ponies

Yesterday Heather had enough time to blanket half the horses before she left for work at 5:30 am.  The weather was a brisk -10c with a bitter wind.  I thought Willy, the little welsh pony with the big attitude, should have a warmer blanket on. I brought the thicker blanket in the stall with me. He smelled it, snorted at it, then swung his head around to see what I was doing.  That worried me, I like to see where his teeth are at all times. When I am bent right down trying to find the buckles, I can't see when he is going to grab my plaid jacket... with me in it.  He loves plaid coats. I see his eyes light up when he can get near one.  Its a game Willy, the pony and my husband play. He lets  Willy chew on his coat until he bites through and then my husband gets mad and squeals. Its a game they play, fine, but I don't wanna play bite the lady when she is bent over.

So off comes one blanket, throw it on the floor by the door, grab the heavy blanket, toss it on the pony. Willy heads right for the blanket on the floor, he bites it, drags in under his feet, stomps on, I grab it and throw it back toward the door, he beats me there and paws at the coat until its all balled up under his feet, all the while I am bent under his belly trying to grab the straps to do up the winter coat!  This is not easy since I am sure he is wider than he is tall! I have to almost get down on hands and knees to reach all the way under and across to the other side of his belly.  In a fit of frustration, I throw the offending blanket out the door, slam the door, tell him what an asshole pony he is.  Willy rolls his eyes at me, tosses his head and smirks.  Yes, he smirks.  He is the smirkiest pony, although Frodo the halflinger pony is pretty smirky too. Must be a pony thing…

Willy… dontcha just wanna kiss that?  I do every morning !

Horse Blanklets or "why do I have do wear a sweater when my mom's cold"

Dressing horses, hmmmm.  Three years ago, there was one pony and he lived outside,  mostly.  New friends, more horses and then Heather went back to work.  That left me,  a greenback, even that sounds like someone who has a least been on a horse, to look after horses in the morning.  I was sooo reluctant, shaking in my boots reluctant.  New young friend, Sarah, has to come and help me most mornings.
 First things first, the halter... what a strange thing, made of straps and buckles.  It only goes on one way... really? "Here, this way " Heather would say, repeatedly. So hard to do,  mussle goes though here; gotta get it over both ears; don't lift your head up, you stupid horse! I hope the animal stands still so I can snap up the buckle. I can remember going into the stall with a crazy  thoroughbred, thinking OMG he is going to kill me! Most times it was a tussle, him and me.  He'd back up, toss his head, move around, look really big and really scary ... oh I 'm glad those days are behind me.
 More thoughts on dressing up horses later.

This morning was very cold.  I thought it was a good idea to bring the outside horses inside to warm up.  I put them in the nice, what I thought warm box stalls, loaded them up with hay and water and took their blankets off. When I went back to check on them, I found the barn was just about as cold inside as outside since all the other warm bodies were outside and the door was open a bit for ventilation.  Poor things, when I took off their blankets this morning they were nice and warm eventhough they were outside.  Now they weren't freezing cold but they weren't cuddly warm as they had been.  So much for good intentions...

The Reluctant Horse Mom

Welcome to my new blog “The Reluctant Horse Mom, by which I mean I am the mother of a beautiful horseloving daughter, I am not a horse owner” Thats it! (in competition for longest blog name)

My career as a Horse Mom began when my husband and my daughter decided to buy a run down cow farm and turn it into a horse boarding barn. Years before when my daughter started riding and got her own horse, I occasionally held a leadline, also reluctantly and was very unhappy if I had to go in the stall with “it”. Now I drink my first coffee every weekday on the way to the barn to dress 10 horses to go play outside. Now I whip on their blankets, my daughter describes it as kindergarden: Where’s your coat? Is it dry? Oh, your mom bought you a new one that I don’t recognize…

I am feeling proud of myself. I am not afraid of horses now. I happily get in the stall with them and get them to do what I want, well… maybe not all the time. I help them find their brains when they lose them. I have been boring my friends for three years with my horse stories. They are very good at listening to me, maybe they should tell me to shaddup. Now I am telling everyone my stories because I think horses are funny … and I like horse cuddles in the morning.