Life & Times

More thoughts, Mark & Crissi's Clinic

2010-07-16T11:40:00.000-04:00

In the afternoon of the second day, Mark and the rider took a break because of the grueling heat and humidity. It was decided that we would start 2 hours earlier the next day, at 6:00 instead of 8:00am to try and beat the heat some. The second day was the worst, as there was no breeze at all, and no cloud cover. Mark had to work hard with the little Icelandic to get him ground driving, then again with Apollo to soften his backing. After lunch he worked with a 4yo and ended up on a longe line in the parking lot, following him while he worked things out and then he had to work with another horse on softening, and he had a lot of resistance to meet, so that his hands were shaking. It seemed a difficult day for everybody.

The next day he told us that was the hardest clinic he'd EVER done. He was worn out and in bed by 6:00pm. We were very happy that he didn't have to work as hard the last day, in fact, he was provided a fan and a canopy to sit in front of/under! We have to take care of our teachers!

Some things I want to remember from the clinic was to make sure you get a change before stopping. A horse may struggle 9 minutes and have a breakthrough at 10, but if you intervene at 9 minutes and don't let the change happen, then next time the start where they ended last time, and you may be gettin a 19 minute struggle. Just wait them out, they will try all they know before trying something new.

You get what you settle for! This is a life lesson for me. We are having a difficult time with our 13 yo daughter and keep wondering why?! We raised four boys and never had this type of behavior or problems. The girls talk back, threaten us, call us names, tell us they hate us and basically blame everything on everyone else. The boys wouldn't have dared try any of that, and we've been trying to puzzle out why. But its simple, we would not allow it, we didn't settle for that behavior. With the girls, we have. We were very firm with the boys about what they could and couldn't do and they respected that. I guess maybe we wanted to be a little less firm with the girls, trying to be "better, more understanding" parents. I had to deal with issues I've never confronted before and was not sure how to handle. We seemed to be doing okay until this move. Now the wheels are coming off. Another parent said her previously sweet, perfect 16yo had started going out to party, drinking and smoking pot, devastating her. The councilers told her she had to accept that behavior because the daughter was going to do it anyway. That doesn't seem correct to me, is that what you settle for? I've been following a program to change behavior and they advocate not engaging in arguing, state expectations and walk away. Later you can discuss issues calmly and work out a solution/consequence. The child is not allowed to blame anyone for their bad behavior and must not only say they were sorry, but were WRONG to act they way they did. A lot of times they just don't have the correct tools to deal with the situation, so they act out and we have to be clear in what we want and show them what we expect. Sounds a little like horse training, right?!

When I was riding and as I watched others work with their horses, I notice Mark saying quite often, "Right now I'd be saying ---------- to the horse." I wasn't quite sure if he was talking about using a feel or cue to "say" it to the horse, or if he was actually "talking" to the horse in his head! So I asked him as I was riding, "Is that something you actually SAY to the horse" and he said "Yes, but in my head, not out loud." Big relief, I'm not the only one who holds conversations in my mind with my horse!

Whoever controls space, energy and time, controls the situation. In teaching Apollo to line up to the mounting block, I had to be aware of all of these things. My problem before was he was controlling the space, by circling all around, the energy by not settling down and the time by deciding when he was going to stop long enough for me to hop on! Once I got control of the space, having him walk straight to the block, the time in immediately getting him siding over to it and the energy, calm and settled, everything became easy. Someone had to be the adult Mark said, and Apollo couldn't do that, so I had to step up and did. This also goes back to the girls, if I walk away instead of engaging, keep calm and decide when to discuss the issues, I've gained control of the space, energy and time. When they keep an argument going and keep you there trying to defend yourself, the wrong person is in charge. I felt like I was defending myself against Apollo's pushing and circling, etc. so the same rules apply.

I so enjoyed my time with Crissi! Every day we took what we started with Mark and improved on it and advanced to a new place to start the next day. She really, really liked Apollo and she is able to rely information so it was easy for me to understand and implement while riding. At one point, she was working with me on leading again, and I was holding her horse. I saw her thought start to come forward and before she had fully lifted her foot, I shook the lead rope a bit and she stepped back. Crissi thanked me for doing that and said most people wouldn't have, but I have to make this an automatic part of my horsemanship and awareness if I'm to be consistant with all the horses I handle. Another time, we were working with Apollo on softening on stopping before moving forward again. We stopped, he softened, but he didn't feel settled or totally "stopped" to me, so even though Crissi said go, I waited a second more, and sure enough, he pushed right down on the reins. She told me she was glad I waited, and we ended up waiting out a bit of head gymnastics before proceeding. I've been unsure of how much "feel" I have when riding, etc. but by following my gut and being present, I discovered I do have a good amount of feel and if I trust it, good things happen! This has helped my confidence so much, and gives me hope that I may be a real horseperson someday!I have only had Apollo for seven weeks and feel so blessed to have been able to take him to Mark's clinic relatively early in our relationship and without much history between us. I'm so glad we've mostly been having fun, running around on the trails and fooling around in the arena, with just a few formal lessons at this point. I think it will make it easier for him to switch gears and figure out what his job is now. We all agree he was good at his job and knew it well, so now we're asking something totally different from him. Instead of hopping on and racing around, I need him to line up to the block, stand quietly and wait until I cue him to move. He catches on easily though, and I think utlimately this way of life will be more suited to his personality and physical strengths. I also need him to come off the bit for balance and to soften into it instead of pushing on it. This also seems easier for him. Its more the mental, emotional stuff that he's struggling with as far as I can tell, but being the sweet, willing guy he is, I hope we can make great progress together.

Last Day of the Clinic

2010-07-09T17:01:00.004-04:00

The last day of the clinic started 2 hours early to try and beat the brutal heat. I realized late at night that I had left Apollo's halter on and had let him stay outside where he seemed much happier. Of course I was totally freaked, imagining every horrible story I've heard of, even though it was a breakaway and it was a pasture without trees, etc and the fence was well electrified and he knew it, so was staying clear. So I was up and out of the hotel at 4:45, and sitting in Dunkin Donuts parking lot at 4:57 waiting impatiently for them to open!

It was still cool and there was ground fog, making everything appear and disappear in the cool mist. Apollo was fine, but had rubbed the halter over one ear. I brought him in so others that had left their horses in could turn them out. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but half of the clinic participants were from Maine! Its so great to have a growing pool of people throughout the state with the same training philosophies. I also got to visit with Sue from Maine. Good stuff happening in New England! I also had several people come up and offer to buy Apollo if I was ever interested in selling him!

I had the opportunity of having Apollo's teeth floated by a visiting dentist that Tim H. has used for years and knows well, Spencer LaFlure. Mark & Crissi had watched him work and had him do their horses too. He does a performance float and has a DVD that explains all about how teeth alignment affect your horse's body and health. Spencer also floats Olympic rider's horses and the Parelli's. He travels world-wide and they are talking about coordinating his visits to NE with Mark's clinics again next year. Since Apollo was due this fall, I figured why not?!

When my turn came, I decided to ask Mark to help me see the problems in the hind end he observed in Apollo. He showed me how little movement his hips have and how he has little to no spring when pressing down on his hip bones. I asked if he was just stiff or in pain, and he said just stiff. I also had him check out saddle fit, which was fine. Pheww! So I mounted up from the block. Apollo lined right up for me and stood nicely til I was settled, mostly! I took so long getting my right stirrup, he wandered off, but I immediately circled him and it was taken care of. So we walked out and he softened nicely. He was so willing to try, but was fussy with the bit. I did stay on and so did the saddle, so that was a nice change, LOL! We practised stopping straight, but Apollo's head kept bobbing around. After two tries, Mark finally uttered 10 magic words, "Your head and his head should face the same way". Or something to that effect. For some reason, that just clicked it for me and we nailed it from then on! When I was very clear about where his head should be, he put it there. I was really very pleased with how well we progressed as Mark coached us. My lessons with Tara and Charmaine were such a good foundation for riding with Mark and I've been trying to ride with the tools I've gathered from auditing Mark for years too. I believe it makes it so much easier because I'm not trying to replace another way of riding. We're kind of an empty slate with a basic outline sketched on it, and adding in the details is easier than having to pick and choose, or think about which way I'm supoosed to do something. So we were able to progress to trotting with softness.

When Mark and the others saw the movement Apollo has at the trot, they were very impressed! Mark said his stride increases by 8 inches and it is effortless for him. Crissi later told me that dressage people work for years to get the kind of movement that he offers naturally. He floats with a huge trot. When I got him gathered up, people were commenting on how beautiful he looked! I had to work out the rein length and the amount of contact needed to ask him for softness. Mark would tell me to shorten the reins and I would, then straighten my arms to make them longer, effectively keeping the same distance! I finally had an AHA moment when he talked about boundaries, how my hands had to set the boundary consistantly for Apollo to rely on and be able to find the soft spot. After that, it was much easier. BUT, even when we got those moments of connection and softness and Mark would say we had it, it still felt difficult. When he wasn't softening, it was downright ugly and I couldn't ride it. I was thrown all over and was so discouraged because I take bareback lessons and know I can have a better seat than that. I asked Mark what I could change in me that would sort it out, and he said not to worry about it. He needed me to get the soft feel to take home and the rest would come. If he told me all the things I could work on, I would get muddled and we would get bogged down. So it was a good lesson, he said I did good work and we did get a lot done.

After lunch, Crissi and I worked on my breathing and the trot some more. Again, even when it looked like we had it, there was a disconnection and I felt like I was riding all over the place. It was so hard, it wasn't coming easily and I felt like it shouldn't be that hard. So when we had 10 minutes left, I asked if we could try the Rocking S Ported Snaffle on him again, since Mark had said he didn't think I had the right bit and I wanted to see what size I should get if it made a difference. I got a new horse! Crissi said she wished she had a camera for a before and after picture, that he looked like a different horse. He sure felt like one! All that bad energy and worry just disappeared after a couple of minutes of his getting used to it again, and this time we really did float softly around in the trot. And it was easy peasy. Some people noticed and told me later the difference was so striking. I will be ordering the bit since Crissi didn't have one with her. I at first regretted not using the bit the whole time, I think we would've maybe gotten so much further, but now I know what riding that bad energy and worry feels like and can trust myself to recognize when something is off. Crissi told me I hit the jackpot when I found Apollo, she really liked him. Tim said he liked him so much because he reminded him of his mustang, Tico. I felt like crying hearing all of that, because its been such a long road! Of course, Apollo is not for sale, and I just love him because of his kind and willing nature. All the rest is icing on the cake. This clinic experience was so wonderful, and just as I imagined it to be. There's a lot more to write about, especially stories of the other riders and how well they all did. The funny thing was that I was one of two Pam's riding, I was Pam before lunch and the other was Pam after lunch. The first day she provided the entertainment when her horse was struggling and then my dismount was the entertainment the second day! Luckily, everything smoothed out and we all did well on the third, but geez, LOL! I am getting on the list to ride in a week-long next year, Rick and Lasell said it was phenominal! Next year, the 3 day clinics will be for people who haven't had a chance to ride with Mark yet, the waiting list is so long they are trying to be more fair.

Second day of the Clinic

2010-07-07T21:47:00.007-04:00

Well, today went a little rougher than yesterday. I had a chance to provide entertainment to the people watching! I came in and we decided to build on the soft steps we were getting yesterday so I lead him to the mounting block where he circled around and just was unsettled. He stopped for a bit in the right spot, so I hopped on and he walked off very quickly, feeling like he was going to keep speeding up. So Mark told me to circle him, and as I did, my saddle slipped off to the side and I reached forward, grabbed Apollo around the neck and slid off the side, landing on my feet facing Apollo with my arms wrapped around his neck, LOL! I got many compliments afterward about how graceful it looked, but it sure didn't feel too good. Luckily he stopped as I came off.

So we tightened up the saddle and I asked for a lesson in getting him to line up and stand quietly at the mounting block. Mark had him doing well with it in 10 minutes and I was able to duplicate what he did. He told me that the trouble had started before we even got to the mounting block, that Apollo wasn't settled at all and was in charge. He said he was standing there watching me thinking "she's really going to get on that thing?" But I learned a good lesson, he told me someone has to be the adult. So after we got that working well, we started with the soft steps exercise but ended up concentrating on his backing again. Apollo really struggles with it, and I was struggling to keep him straight. We got some improvement and then it was time for lunch break.

It was brutally hot today, and we worked in the outside arena. I think that may have contributed to Apollo's unrest and his rushing off, as a barrel racer he was expected to go in the outside sand ring. I was pleased to see Rick W show up and got to talk to him some before riding, and Lasell also made an appearance after lunch. Great to catch up a bit with both of them!

After lunch, Crissi and I worked a bit more on the leading and having him stop when I do and not taking extra steps toward me. He also tends to look away to the sides, and it felt like he was still going, leaving me in his mind. At first Crissi didn't think that was a problem, but it was happening every time so we addressed that and it got better. I was happy to finally have enough feel to even be aware that that was happening. Maybe there's hope for me afterall! I learned that the clue he should respond to was my turning my head back toward him and by the time my body followed, he needs to be stopped. Also, I need to complete the turn an be ready to address anything coming up, not just turn around and plant my feet. After that, we continued with the backing, and then

concentrated on the softening going forward. He doesn't have any problem with that and we got some really nice, soft steps. He even continued to maintain it after I stopped asking for it toward the end. Before we stopped, we revisited the backing and he's still having some emotional struggle with it. Hopefully by tomorrow, he'll work through it and feel better about it. I'm having a hard time with drawing him back with me, I'm going to try counting backwards and see if that helps either of us.

All in all a good day, even though the heat was grueling. I really needed to learn the mounting block training and we have to get past the resistance to backing. Looking forward to tomorrow!

When riding, we control speed, direction and destination. When doing anything with the horse, we control energy, space and time. That's being a good leader.

Mark has thought a lot about it and now believes that distance is the key to horsemanship. The distance from our hands to the mouth, etc.

First Day - Mark Rashid Clinic

2010-07-06T21:27:00.004-04:00

I finished my first day riding in a clinic with Mark Rashid and Crissy McDonald, someone pinch me quick! I've been wanting to do this for so long and everything went just as I hoped it would!

Apollo is such a good boy. He trailered up without issue and settled right in. He's been eating, peeing and pooping normally, something that always puts a horseowner's mind at ease! Its been brutally hot, but he seems to be handling it well.

Looking this way......And that way.........

Figuring out he has an option to go backwards instead of forward all the time

Alan came up with me and stayed to watch me ride. He watched the riders before me come in with a plan and something to work on. He kept asking me what I was going to work on, I kept saying, I don't know! He'd follow me around, you don't know, aren't you supposed to know? Finally he said, I wish you'd find out how to stop him from running over me and pulling me around, so seeing as Apollo is supposed to be his horse (hahaha) that is what I asked Mark for help with. We've not been willing to just put up the boundary and let him run into it and work through it. It didn't take long before he realized he had the option to go backwards instead of always forward and I actually had time to get on and do some mounted work. Backing was one thing to clear up undersaddle too. I learned that I can pull on him, even with not much pressure because my hand was coming back to my body instead of setting a boundary and staying in one place, so always moving the boundary and confusing him. He learned to soften up and move back nicely. We tried the Rocking S snaffle bit on him as he is a little worried about the bit. He seemed to do better in it. When we went to work with Crissi, I used our bit and he was much quieter in it, so maybe he'll be okay in that one. We worked on getting Apollo stopped softly too. I alway count in my head the gait I want, 1,2,3,4 for walk, 1,2 for trot and 1,2,3 for canter. By the time we gallop, I'm just flying with him, LOL! Anyway, to get the stop, Mark had me just count the back footsteps, 1,2 - 1,2. You prepare to stop yourself, on 1 you breath out and stop and if the horse doesn't do it, on 2 you lift the rein. It took a bit for me to get this and I was still struggling a bit with the timing, etc. when we finished our session.

Not sure what I'm doing in this picture, but look how soft and rounded Apollo is!

At lunch break, I gave the big guy a bath and let him relax while I ate lunch. Tim H. said he loved my horse and if I ever wanted to sell him, let him know first! Lunch was great and then back to work with Crissi.

My time with Crissi was so fun. She lowered my stirrups quite a lot, no one else has said they were way too short! It was more comfortable for sure. Anyway, we started with the stopping softly and in a few short minutes, Apollo started stopping as soon as I started thinking 1,2! I waited for him to soften and he worked that out quite quickly, with some backing here and there when he got stuck, then we started softening to the bit, asking for just 3 soft steps at first. I learned I needed to use shorter reins than I'm used to to get and keep that connection right now. We ended with him able to take 5 soft steps and stopping softly. Crissi really liked him too, he's been a big hit here! He's such a nice, sweet horse, you just want to hug him! He's very smart too, and today some of the worry lines around his eyes disappeared. Crissi told me he had a whole different look on his face at the end than when we started. It was nice to see. I learned to mentally soften my hands and offer him softness, it was pretty cool when I could do that and he went right with me! Another thing I realized was how important it is to stay focused and with him. I was trying to listen to a story that Mark was telling the next rider, people were laughing and it sounded like a great story, but as soon as I took my attention away from what I was doing, Apollo started offering different things like he was kind of lost and searching for me again. They were just little things, but I felt a definite difference and when I came back to him, he came right back to me! Can't wait for tomorrow to see what we learn together!

I wore this shirt the first day. My daughter got it after her drill team performed at the Rally. When Mark asked me with I wanted to do, I pointed to my shirt and said "Begin the Dance!"

Rhythm Riders

2010-06-11T13:56:00.003-04:00

My youngest daughter, Macy, has joined the new drill team at Pony Club. They named themselves the Rhythm Riders and there are 4 teams of 2 or 8 riders all together. The first demo will be at the Dressage Rally this week-end, and if all goes well, they will do some exhibitions at a couple of fairs or other events this summer. The girls have worked really hard to learn this, and have done a great job. They will be riding to "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "Now I'm a Believer", and "Rock Around the Clock". Its been fun watching them develop the routine and perfect their spacing and timing.

Thread the needle

Flank Turn

Left to Left

Paired Up

                                                            Pinwheel

Things to do on a Rainy Day

2010-05-08T10:46:00.002-04:00

One thing I like to do on rainy days is visit some of my favorite blogs to see what new things have been posted. There are some fantastic writers, photographers, horse lovers and horse trainers out there that do a wonderful job of entertaining and educating through their blogs. Of course, I visit all of my friend's blogs, too, and they are listed on my page. There are bloggers on every subject you can imagine and are interested in, its fun to scout out new ones! The ones I've listed below are very active bloggers with something new to read almost every day, there are others I follow, but they tend to be more sporadically updated. Kind of like mine, LOL!

Here are some that I love to read:

Mugwump Chronicles: http://mugwumpchronicles.blogspot.com/
Author is Janet Huntington, is also an equine artist: http://www.cowhorseart.com/
She is a great story teller and keeps us on the edge of our seats. Her stories are written chapter by chapter and is hard to be patient waiting for the next part, especially since she has a couple of stories going at once and you never know which one will be next! Its worth going back and reading the completed stories of Sonita and Mort.

Life at Star's Rest: http://black-horse-design.blogspot.com/
Carmon is an artist who creates jewelry: http://www.black-horse-design.com/,
She lives in a yurt in the mountains of New Mexico and owns mustangs and gray hounds! She takes wonderful photos, shares her life experiences and tells wonderful stories too. Very fun blog to follow!

The Pioneer Woman: http://thepioneerwoman.com/
Ree is so talented in so many areas. The blog is full of beautiful photos, recipes, wicked funny stories, home schooling advise, its hard to know which section to visit first. I love her stories about the Bassett hound, Charlie! And the little punks, her kids! There are lots of tips on how to take/edit photos that are written so you can understand them, lots of recipes and beautiful photos you can spend hours looking at. And her sense of humor is wonderful. And we can't forget the Marlboro Man either!

The Daily Coyote: http://www.dailycoyote.net/
Author of: "The Daily Coyote" and "Eating Gluten Free" http://honeyrockdawn.com/books/
I listened to Shreve's book, "The Daily Coyote" on my MP3 player and never wanted it to end! Its a wonderful story, and it actually helped kick my butt into gear in deciding to sell the house and just go with what comes next! I love her philosophy on life and the love stories in the book.

Horse Training from the Ground Up: http://www.carolynresnickblog.com/
I absolutely loved Carolyn's book, "Naked Liberty"! It was wonderful reading and gave me a better understanding of horse behavior. Her blog is very educational in the style of horsemanship she teaches and the videos of her students with their horses trained with her methods are amazing.

So what are some of YOUR favorite blogs? I'd love to check out the ones you all enjoy reading!

Funny Manifesting

2010-04-21T21:16:00.000-04:00

In Law of Attraction or positive thinking circles, putting a desire out to the universe and getting a result is called manifesting. This happens to me all the time on big things and little. The girls are great at it! The more you notice how just thinking, "Gee, I'd like ______ and then later realizing that what you'd thought about or wished for has shown up, the more it happens.

I have a style of bra that I just love and fit great, so of course they've been discontinued. I bought quite a few, but they are starting to wear out, so I've been half-heartedly looking, but kind of dreading shopping for bras again. My mom works at a rummage sale shop for Miles Memorial hospital and we've gotten some great things from the sale and now the shop. Well, she's been picking up bras for the girls there when she finds them, and the other day she showed up with a bag of 5 or 6 new/like new bras. Looking at them, they were all in my size! Although they were all different, all but two fit great. That never happens! She only paid .50 cents a piece so gave them to me. Yippee, no bra shopping for me and a new selection of blues, pink and nude bras. I love manifesting! Thanks Universe for saving me from a dreaded experience, LOL!

First Trail Ride with Apollo

2010-04-21T21:03:00.000-04:00

I finally got a chance to take Apollo out on the trails in between rainy days. Amber rode Angel and insisted on riding the gas line, on the side that accesses the road, the MOST difficult riding on our property. I wanted to use the bitless bridle because none of our bits are quite big enough for him but wasn't sure it would fit. A few adjustments later, and I discovered it would fit, so decided to be brave and go for it. I worked with him a bit to see if he understood how it worked, but Amber was getting impatient and declaring she wasn't going to go if I spent any more time fooling around, so off we went. I did ride up and down the driveway by the pasture to make sure I had steering and brakes. Then off to the the back 40 we went. Apollo went everywhere I asked with no fuss! He jumped the water filled ditches, or slogged through the parts that were too wide to jump. There's 4 ditches to get to the road, so its great for building up the horses, going up and down the banks. We let the horses graze when we got to the road, then headed back. Apollo was a little stronger on the way back, cantering up the banks, but stopping when I asked. It was great fun! We then walked up the road and went on the new trailhead and walked the loop. There's some boggy, wet places there too, but no problem! He walked out and walked back, no different heading home than heading out. I love this horse! And he's very cute to boot, don't you think?!

Finally, A Place to Hang my Tack!

2010-04-21T20:50:00.001-04:00

One of the goals of Alan's vacation this week was to get a tack room. We've been using the horse trailer, which is an open stock with no tack/dressing room, so every time we want to use it, we have to remove the tack and put it back when done. Not fun. So we recruited a friend and took the big bedroom set we've had for most of our married life out of the shed we had built in 2007 and moved it to Alan's sister's house, freeing up room in the shed. Just enough room for tack! All that was left to do was to move the shed from the middle of the property up to the front. No problem with Little Blue tractor! We made some tracks up the drive,

Making good progress

Where it needs to be placed, next to the horse trailer

Almost there!

Success! Life will be so much easier now!

The New Man in My Life

2010-04-14T09:06:00.000-04:00

Ever since I found the trail head to miles of trails just literally outside my front door, I've been on a mission to find a new riding horse for Alan and I. Being limited to 4 horses and having half of those unrideable or not one we wanted to ride was becoming more unacceptable all the time. It was easier in the other house where our riding opportunities were more limited, but now we have access to arenas and trails within walking distance. So I've shopped (more than usual, LOL!) and tried one out that didn't work out and shook my confidence in even knowing or being able to recognize a good riding horse.

One day Alan and I went to the local sale barn and my friend there said they had a horse she thought we should look at. So although we didn't have much time and it was raining/cold, we went down to the back barn (not all the horses there are on the way to Canada, btw, they keep horses that have sold in one area, sick horses in another and a little herd on the other side) to pull out a gelding who was getting bullied but she really liked. He was a draft cross, bay with white spot and snip on his face, very nervous and prancing around. We were told his former owner was a young woman who had used him for barrel racing and found he was too slow. He was yahooed around a lot and expected to run when ridden. I wasn't really surprised he didn't work out as a barrel horse, LOL! He's only 15.2h or so, we didn't think he was big enough and he was being kind of an idiot, so we said thanks and left.

A couple of days later, the girls wanted to stop by the barn to visit their friend and look at the horses after Girl Scouts, so I took them over. Amber fell in love with a 2 yo roan filly who is gorgeously colored and very sweet. She was in a box stall, and in the tie stall right across was the gelding we had looked at. He kept moving his butt over and craning his neck around. I thought he was trying to scratch himself or had dropped his hay, so I went and scratched him and checked the hay. He had plenty, but as we played with the filly he kept doing that, looking at us from one side, then moving his butt to the other so he could crane around and look at us from the other. They all said he wants to go home with you! All the other horses in the tie stalls were just standing there munching hay, so it was pretty funny.

We decided to let Amber go back and try out the little filly on Monday and the gelding was still there. He had settled in really well and I was urged to at least see him go and try him out. So I did and we got along fabulously. He was whinnying to his girlfriends, but kept right on working and listening, didn't put up a fuss and seemed much bigger when you were riding him. I was wishing someone who knew more was there to give me some advise, and lo and behold, the girl's former riding instructor showed up and watched me ride him. She really liked him, said he moved really well, but he would need schooling. I was encouraged that she liked him, so put down a deposit and arranged to have Alan go ride him.

When Alan finally had a day off, it was cold and rainy again. We went to the barn and they brought Apollo out, Alan looked at him and I could see he didn't think he was big enough for him. He didn't want to ride and since this horse was supposed to be multi-purpose for both of us to use, I asked if they had anything suitable that was bigger. There was a very large black bay draft named Samson that we were shown. Alan really liked him and Samson seemed to take to Alan too. He walked him around some and then put him back. Samson was a little thin and had no muscle mass at all. He'd been a cart horse with limited riding experience. I said we'd make a decision and I would go back up to try Samson out. I planned to go the next day, but it was cold and very windy and I already had to ride at Horsemaster's, so I didn't get to the barn that Saturday and they're not open Sunday. So I headed up to the barn on Monday, just praying for wisdom and a sign for what the right decision would be for us. When I was halfway there Alan called and said he had a 3 hour break from work and he'd meet me there. I was so nervous because of past mistakes and questioning my judgement. We also had decided to trade in a mare who hadn't worked out for us that had come from that barn 5 years ago and presented us with a surprise colt! That was a hard thing for me to decide as so many people act like you're sending them to an express death at slaughter if you sell to a sale barn. But I really felt that would be the best chance for her to find a home because so many people go there looking to buy. Anyway, I got there and was told the decision would be easier since Samson had sold on Saturday! I also found out he was a kicker at mealtimes if any horse got near and he was also sick. So we tried out Apollo and Alan did like him after riding him. Its funny how much bigger he looks tacked up in the western saddle and when you're sitting on him. The rider at the barn took him out on the road right after tacking up and he walked by the pasture with his girlfriends with no fuss. He did whinny but walked right on by, no resistance. He did whatever he was asked and was not shy of cars or trucks. The rider is Alan's size, so he could see that Apollo looked good with a bigger rider. So then it was decision time and I was still unsure.

As an aside, I've ridden with an instructor at Horsemaster's 5 or 6 times now and she was instructing when I took my mare to lessons a couple of weeks ago so she could assess her and I. She pinpointed the exact issues I was having and said we may be able to work it out or may not. I am going to do some therapy on one of her mares and had bartered a lesson for therapy. I came so close to calling her and asking her to come and assess this gelding instead of giving me a lesson because I thought she'd be the one person who would be knowledgeable about my riding and issues with the other horse and be able to judge if the gelding would work out.

So a few things had already fallen into place, Samson was out of the picture, Alan surprised me by showing up and riding and the last piece was amazing.

I walked into the store, and who should be there but the very person I had wished for! She had seen Alan and I both ride Apollo and had ridden him herself. She gave her seal of approval and thought he'd be great for us! She described him as sane, sensible and sound, a big "little" horse. She told Alan he looked great on him too. I couldn't believe it. Then she said not to feel bad about trading my mare, that my friend that works there knew her and would advocate for her and she thought it was also a good place to find her a new home. I didn't even ask for that, but it was what I really needed to hear. This lady is amazing at reading horses and people, I'm so glad I'm getting to learn from her. So the deal was struck, we were very happy with the trade, Apollo loaded right up with Alan and now we start our journey! I feel confident that this was the right horse and the right thing to do. Let the fun begin!

Intent

2010-03-26T10:00:00.002-04:00

I love these two pictures of the girls at the Games Rally last fall. I see both horse and rider intent on getting to the same place and getting it done together.

Amber on Dreamer

Macy on Kiwi

The Magic of Light

2010-03-26T09:39:00.001-04:00

I have had the opportunity to discover for myself just how effective the power of red light therapy can be. When I went to Vermont two years ago to crew for one of the horse/rider teams on the 100 mile endurance ride, I ended up slamming my finger in the door of the pick-up truck first thing in the morning. I almost passed out from pain and an empty stomach. I got it doctored up and went on to tend to the horse I was in charge of, getting the cut wet and dirty multiple times through the day. When I got home my husband assured me it was definitely going to get infected and I should seek medical attention. I decided to try red-lighting it as it was a week-end and I wasn't going to get seen soon anyway. I couldn't believe how well the lights took away the swelling and throbbing in my finger/nail. Every time the finger/nail would start throbbing from the pressure of the trapped blood beneath it, I would use the lights and it would ease the pain. I took pictures that time too, but can't locate them right now. I had also reinjured my finger 2 days after the first event by hurrying out the door because of some horse emergency and closing the door on my injured finger. I almost hit the ground in pain that time and the cut was reopened. Anyways, my finger healed wonderfully and all of the old blood under the nail was reabsorbed, turning from black to purple to light purple to pink and then gone! I did lose my nail as the blood had seperated it from the nail bed but never had to drill a hole in the nail to relieve pressure and no infection in the cut on my finger.
Unfortunately, I didn't learn how to keep my fingers out of the way, and ended up shutting the same finger in my front door just a day after looking at it and thinking how nicely it had healed and and how well the nail had regrown! Same thing, slammed it so hard it cut my finger and gave me a bruise under the nail. I do have pictures of the healing process of this incident, I was confident that the lights would wield their magic on this injury and they certainly did. The first picture is a little gross, but the rest are amazing I think!

The day I reinjured my finger, 3/23/2009

After using the red-light for a week

The next day

Two weeks after injury and mostly healed. You can see the outline of where the old blood was and how it has turned lighter and lighter as the blood was reabsorbed.

What We Left Behind, Or Tried To!

2010-03-26T08:43:00.002-04:00

At our house in Vassalboro, we kept the trash can under the sink. This was a small, short space, and we had a lot of trouble finding a trash can that would fit there. I finally found one at Marden's and bought 5 or 6 of them, they were only a dollar or two a piece. Well, over the years they would get cracked and broken and we would use the next one. Unfortunately, we ran out of new cans and I never could find another one that fit that space, so we used the trusty Maine solution to most things, Duct Tape. The new spiffy colors weren't available yet, or it would've looked cooler than this! Now the bucket was usually hidden from sight, but sometimes people would see it and ask how we were doing financially seeing as how we couldn't afford a new trash can! I would explain the situation and add another layer of tape as needed. Needless to say, that trash can was something I WAS NOT planning to bring with me. I tend to use things til I can't, still have the same clothes iron, mixer and Tupperware I got 30 years ago when we got married! I was pretty spare with furnishings and decore, as I'm not fond of dusting, and much of it was hand-me down from relatives. With 6 kids in the house, all my favorite things would get broken anyway, so whatever I could get to use for free or cheap seemed like the best way to go. But now that we were building a new place, I had very little that I wanted to take with me, its finally time for new stuff! So imagine my dismay when I start sorting through the things we packed and piled, finding things that I had wanted to keep ruined by rain or improper handling and realizing this damn trash can had followed me intact! Needless to say, I bought a new can for the camper and this one is now in the trash instead of containing it!

A Good Chuckle

2010-03-26T08:28:00.000-04:00

Before we got the Port-a-Potty delivered, we had to use another potty. We borrowed one from Alan's parents and put it in the shower stall in the bathroom. After the Port-a-Potty was delivered, we kept it in here for night-time use, as the girls weren't too keen on going outside after dark to use the facilities! It was a pain to take it out of the shower everytime we wanted to get clean, but we were glad to have it.

Here's what it looked like with the cover on:

and with the cover off.

Inside was a bucket that you removed and emptied. One day I happened to notice what the bucket said on it:

I really had to laugh! Liquid Miracid Plant Food from Miricle Grow! Quite fitting, doncha think?

My Uncle Raymond

2010-03-26T08:04:00.001-04:00

My Uncle Raymond was the oldest of my mother's siblings. He loved horses and owned drafts which he used to twitch wood from his woodlot and he also competed at the pulling contests at the local fairs. He and my aunt had no children, his horses were like family to him. They would travel to different states and bought some really nice teams of horses and he was widely known in the horse world here in Maine. He used to whistle to his horses to get them to pull at the fairs and frowned on the use of electric wire shocks to get them to go. I lived an hour and a half from him, so didn't get to spend a huge amount of time with him, but always loved to go visit and see the horses. He was also known for being frugal, coonverting an old school bus into a horse trailer and doing many things himself, such as shoeing. He died at age 70 of a heart attack while shoeing one of his horses. That would be the way he would have wanted it.

I think of Uncle Raymond often when working with my horses, I got them after he died, and I so wish he were here still to give me advise and guidence. Sometimes I know things about a horse and don't know how I know them, and wonder if he IS still here, guiding me.

Anyways, the other day I went out to feed lunch, bundled up in my one-piece Carhartt suit with my light blue Mad Bomber hat with the gen-u-whine rabbit fur lining since the nice warm spring weather went into hiding! As I was slogging back across the paddock through the mud and puddles, a pick-up truck drove up my road and parked in my driveway. A man got out and the little puppy-doodles ran to greet him. When I reached him, he introduced himself as the neighbor that lives at the end our our main road, the house with all the heavy equipment and a few horses. Alan noticed the equipment, I knew the horses! Anyway, he offered his services when we were ready to clear some land and we got talking about this property and horses of course. He has a lot of daughters I learned from someone else, eight of them I was told! Some of them were into horses and one did really well in barrel racing, competing throughout the US and Canada. He also had drafts, so I asked him if he knew of my Uncle Raymond. Of course he did he said! He grew up around Raymond, his family owns a sawmill and milled much of his wood. Then he told me that he owns the remaining horse from my uncle's last team, a horse named Dick. Said he was a great horse and he had just used him to twitch wood the other day. How cool is that?!

Head of Falls

2010-03-24T10:46:00.000-04:00

It turned out to be a really hot summer after all the rain. We had been spoiled by our pool and being able to jump into it whenever we got too hot working around the farm. The water tank wasn't big enough for all of us, so we had to find a new place to cool off. A new friend told us about a place where there is a dam and you can swim there. It was by the Head of Falls church and turned out to be exactly 5 miles from our driveway.

Its a beautiful place to swim, you can take pool loungers and float down the river propelled by the water spilling through the holes at each end of the dam.

For a jacuzzi like experience, you can brace your feet against the rocks and sit in front of the outlets and let the water pound on your back like a water jet.

There are big rocks to sit on and bask in the sun while being cooled by the water.

This year we would like to take a canoe down the river, it looks like a beautiful canoe ride!

We had so much fun swimming at the dam!

Happy Homecoming

2010-03-24T10:17:00.000-04:00

When we sold the house, we were hoping that we would be able to move after our youngest son, William, came home on leave to visit. He had been in Afghanistan and we were so eager to see him. We moved to the house when he was just 3-4 so it was all he remembered living in and he wasn't too happy about our selling it. We were hoping he would get to stay there one last time, but it didn't work out that way. So 3 days after we moved, he arrived "home" to find all the things he remembered piled here, there and everywhere and a family trying to sort things out and figuring how to survive in a camper with no electricity or running water. He opted to stay in a hotel!

We were so glad to see him, and he really helped out in putting the horse shelters together and other things we had to get done. I felt so bad about him visiting under these conditions, we were so busy we had little time to relax and just visit. He said he felt like he was back in Afghanistan! We did get the Port-a-Potty while he was here, so that helped. But he was reduced to shaving using a Barbie jewelry box mirror!

It was a tough time for everyone, but his next visit at Christmas was much better.

Here Chick, Chick!

2010-03-24T09:44:00.001-04:00

We made a lot of mistakes when we moved here last July, and one of them was waiting to move the chickens last. The other was leaving the chicken coop for the new owners because that meant that we HAD to move the chickens last!

Since it rained the whole month that we had to move, we didn't have a chance to build a new coop, so the chickens needed to stay in the horse trailer until we could get that done. So on closing day, we were, of course, running late and the last thing to do was catch the chickens. Alan and I were on our way back to the house after delivering the horses to the land. We called and asked the girls and Darren to catch the chickens and put them in the big wooden box we had left.

We had left the chickens in the coop to make this easier and they had no problems with most, but one did escape! So as the new owners were making the last walk through, my kids were outside chasing a stubborn chicken around the yard! We got there and it was another 1/2 hour before we finally got the darn thing, and put them all in the horse trailer. By now there was no way we could take them to the land and get back in time for the closing, so we settled for a quick wash up at the neighbors to get the sweat and moving grime off and headed in town to the lawyers with the horse trailer carrying the chickens in tow.

It was a really warm, sunny day, FINALLY, and the closing didn't go as smoothly as planned. One bank didn't transfer something they should have, etc, etc. and we ended up sitting there for a while waiting for it to be straightened out. I was getting concerned about the heat in the trailer with the chickens also being in a box, so during the wait asked Alan if maybe we should go check on the chickens. The real estate agent for the buyers (who it turns out I knew through horse-related friends) asked me what I was talking about. So I told her that we had run out of time and had to bring our chickens to the closing with us. She couldn't believe it, and I think she thought they were in our car! I told her not to worry, they were all buckled in! We had a good laugh and the chickens were fine when we were done. We really felt like the Beverly Hillbillys though, and probably looked like them too!

So we got back to our new home and set the horse trailer up as the chicken coop.

For the next few days though, a black and white chicken, which is the what the one we couldn't catch was, kept coming up to "visit" us at the camper while the rest of them stayed around their new "coop". I really think it was that darn chicken and she thought she was very special because of all the effort we put into bringing her along!

A few nights after moving here, I went down the check on all the critters for the last time and found a chicken that had fallen off the side of the wooden box and gotten caught hanging upside down between the side of the trailer and the wooden box. All I could see in the flashlight beam were sticking up chicken feet and I was thinking, "What the H---!" I grabbed the feet and they were cold. I really thought that she was dead. I moved the box, pulled her up and got her right side up again. She was still alive and gave me a look like "whoa, HEAD RUSH!". I set her down on the trailer floor but she couldn't walk right away, just kinda wobbled around like a drunken sailor then plopped down again. You could tell she couldn't feel her feet. By the time I went back to the camper, she was looking better, and her feet were feeling warmer, but I didn't know how she'd be in the morning. She ended up being fine and I made sure the box was further away from the side of the trailer!

We did get a chicken coop finished fairly quickly and they seem to really like it!

We're very happy we brought them along, as they have been a big help in clearing the land and keeping down the ticks!

Blueberry (our oldest chicken) checking to make sure the tractor is in gear!

Where do you want this big boy?

The Redneck Spa

2010-03-02T09:31:00.000-05:00

When we sold our house, we left behind a big 30' above ground Doughboy pool with a deep end. It was a great pool, we'd had it 13 years or so, and the kids lived in it during the summer. The girls grew up having the pool, so moving here and not having access to it was very hard for them. Luckily, they are inventive little critters and discovered a way to keep cool in less space!

Chase is wondering what they're doing in his water dish!

They even had a mud beauty treatment!

Wonderful Wednesdays

2010-03-02T09:04:00.001-05:00

I was going through some pictures from this summer, documenting our move and adventures, and realized I wrote posts but never published them, or meant to write posts and never did. So I thought I'd update a bit and share some of the memorable moments of last year.

One good decision we made when moving was to have a porta-potty delivered until we could get our septic system in and hooked to the camper. They delivered the potty the first Wednesday we were here, it was actually the first thing you saw when you drove in. My sister thought that was completely tasteless while I thought it was extremely comforting to visitors! Anyway, part of the deal is that they come out and clean the potty once a week, and I bet you can guess which day that was! We quickly learned that if you got a chance to go spend the night somewhere else or were invited out, Tuesday was the day to shoot for. We all looked forward to Wednesdays and the nice clean potty we would have! You come to really appreciate such little luxuries in life when you're living a bit raw. We were really glad to see the potty go, once our camper was hooked to the septic, but it sure made life easier while it was here. Plus, you never knew what you'd find sneaking out of it!

The Decision Please!

2010-03-02T07:23:00.006-05:00

This is the first house plan that we chose and really liked. We thought it may be a little too big for us, so decided to try and modify the plan, taking off the wing on the left side of the picture, which was the master bedroom. I pictured the house in a light yellow, Alan reluctantly agreed!

Then we found this house when driving around, checking out the modular homes and really liked most of it, but it was a bit too small, so we tried to combine the two plans to make one that would work for us. It was a bad decision to do that. Nothing was working out the way I wanted and it got very frustrating and overwhelming to where I didn't even want to think about it. So I didn't, just put it on hold and got settled in the camper for the winter and got through the holidays. The one thing I've heard most people say who have built a house, is that they wish they had taken more time. Getting into the house became more important than doing it right, so I'm trying not to make that mistake and not rush into anything. Hey, camper living isn't too bad really!

So about the end of January, I really started focusing on the house plans and what to do about them. I told Alan I was done with trying to fix the ones we had, maybe we should start over. So I pulled out the plans of the first house, and really, they are almost perfect, probably why we picked them in the first place! It is a little bigger, but the wing is what makes it all work. I went on line and looked up the plan, and found MY HOUSE! Someone actually built it, this is a real picture and its exactly how I imagined ours would be, its even light yellow! So now we're getting a few little things tweaked on this plan and we should be good to go! The main floor is about 1200sf and we'll still have a loft, so about 300sf upstairs, 1500 sf isn't huge so it should be doable. The wing on the right in the picture will be the entryway, and eventually there will be a garage attached. There will be a daylight basement where the girls will have their bedrooms, bathroom and a living area.

Here are some rough drafts of the floor plans, if anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please share!

1st Floor Plan

2nd Floor Plan

How Fast They Grow

2010-02-24T14:27:00.007-05:00

From this:

To This:

in just a few short months.

They may be big, but they still remember their tricks!

Wilbur kneeling for a chocolate doughnut

Birthday Rodeo

2010-02-24T13:38:00.006-05:00

On Macy's birthday, January 20th, it was a snow day at school so we decided to go see "Avatar" in the afternoon and do some shopping afterwards. We had a great time, getting home after dark, about 5:30pm, tired and ready for some supper.

Everyone else got out of the car and I gathered up some things and stepped out. All of a sudden I heard a noise that I've learned too well, a noise that sends a sense of dread coursing throughout my body,

"OINK!!!"

I look behind me, and here comes Wilbur, trotting up the driveway to greet his long lost friends and wish Macy "Happy Birthday" I'm guessing! The pigs have been shut up in their pen since we got too much snow to open the gate, and the build up of snow made it possible for Wilbur, who can hardly drag is hind legs over a leetle log, drag his huge butt over the fence! When he gets out, he is soooo happy, he just runs around, rolls in the snow, scratches his butt on every rock, visits the horses, and leaps in the air, kicking his heels out in joy. We're usually freezing, in a hurry and not amused. I've heard the girls mutter more than once, "Where's the gun?"

Meanwhile, Petunia is screaming in her pen and Amber runs down to make sure she doesn't escape too. Of course, since its not her pig out, she's all for the 5 cent bullet solution.

So we get Wilbur to follow us down to the pen, we get his front feet up on the gate and it looks like we'll be able to just hoist his butt up and over. I wish I had my camera, because at that point, when things were going well, he really did look cute. Once Alan wrapped his arms around his hind end and tried to lift him up, Wilbur decided he was out of there and slid down and ran off. Alan chased him and was able to grab him around the neck. It had been snowing all day and we had a good amount on the driveway, so it was slippery and Alan went snow pigging for a good distance, leaving dragging heel marks in the snow. It was hard to figure out what was happening amid the shouting and pig squealing. Then Wilbur did the pig spin, whirling around and around until Alan couldn't hold on any longer. Wilbur escaped into the horse pasture and went to say hi to his buddies that were waiting for supper. They tried to help by threatening to stomp him, prompting Macy to go screaming into the pasture to protect her pig.

I tried to sweet talk him back into the pen with food and scratches, would almost get him to the gate, and off he'd run. Alan tried the headlock tackle once more, again getting tossed aside like a rag doll. By this time he's swearing, the pig is squealing, the daughters are screaming and the puppies are running around "helping" by almost getting trampled and barking. I was getting concerned that Alan would be injured in his pig riding attempts, as they can move quite quickly and they would disappear into the darkness as they battled up the driveway and I would lose sight of them in the dark, having just the noise to figure out who was winning. Sadly it was always Alan laying in the snow when I got there.

Finally he went to get a lead rope, we'd been trying to corral old Wilbur for about an hour, setting up obsticles to herd him to the gate, etc. We'd dug the gate out and opened it some, but had to be careful because Petunia was still trying to get out. Macy was following along, crying and yelling that he better not hurt her pig! I'm sure the thoughts he was thinking at that point was much more destructive than she would like to know! He finally got the rope around Wilbur's neck and herded him back down to the pen. Every time Wilbur tried to escape one way or the other, Alan would pick his front end up with the rope and get him back on track. Of course the pig squealed as if he were being murdered, and Macy was still following along screaming, and Petunia was still calling for her friend, but we were making progress. Alan did get him to the gate, and we managed to shove him in without letting Petunia out.

We all went back to the camper to make some supper and have birthday cake. It was all I could do to not keep breaking out in hysterical laughter remembering how funny Alan looked getting dragged around by poor old Wilbur! Even he had to laugh about it the next day, but he wasn't too amused at the time.

A picture of the big "ham".

Carol and Mardie

2009-11-13T07:04:00.005-05:00

When we were moving out of our house, on the last day it got really crazy. We were nearing the end and my mother and I were cleaning and clearing out my bedroom. In the closet, I found the boxes that I stored old cards, letters, school papers, etc. in. I started sifting through a bit but realized I didn't have time to sort stuff at that point. So I gathered it all up and stuck it in a small suitcase. As I was taking a final look around, I noticed a card laying on the carpet. We'd been working in there for a while at that point, and I hadn't seen it before. I picked it up and realized it was a Thank You card from my dear friend Carol, who passed away from cancer in 2006. There had been a divorce that tore a group of friends apart, and a remarriage that brought her great joy. We tried our best to stay friends with both and were there when Carol remarried. When she became ill, she kept it a secret. I never got to visit her and say good-bye. That has bothered me so much. The card was thanking us for our wedding gift and friendship. I don't remember getting it and was struck by the fact it was the only card left out. I silently thanked Carol for the support and took it as a sign that everything is alright with her and I knew we'd make it through the move after that. This adventure was something that would have delighted her!

When I worked at the YMCA, I met a woman named Mardie. She was in her 70's at that time, and swimming competitively in the Senior Olympics, travelling the world to go to different meets. She had had a very interesting life, her parents were ex-patriots living in France and hanging out with names like F. Scott Fitzgerald for a time. They then lived on the Pacific coast where she could hear the surf pounding on the shore. As an adult, she lived in Europe with her husband who was an educator in schools there. Then they moved to Maine. I was always fascinated by her past and the things she was still doing. I lost touch with her after leaving the Y, but had heard through mutual friends that her health had deteriorated and she no longer recognized people. While moving, we had found the old leather hat she had given Alan, we still wear it when its raining and we need to feed the horses. She got a kick out of how he looked in it, a bit like a hobo, LOL! I had meant to ask a mutual friend how Mardie was doing when I visited with her just after the move, but had forgotten.

Anyways, a few weeks after moving, we decided we needed more glasses from the storage trailer. People had given me newspapers to wrap stuff in since I don't read them. So as I was pulling glasses from the box and unwrapping the newspaper, I noticed on the ground below the trailer was an uncrumpled, perfectly folded piece of newspaper. I asked Alan to pick it up and asked him where it came from. He didn't know but when he turned it over, there was a picture of Mardie. She had died in June. I had not heard that and was sad to learn the news. It was the oddest thing as all the other newspaper was crumpled and in the box of glasses. Even Alan was a little taken aback. I'm glad Mardie is at peace now, and cherish the memory of her.

Some days I feel like such a PIG!

2009-11-08T08:11:00.008-05:00

Wilbur

Okay, so we take the girls and my niece, Shiann, to the Union Fair in our little green Buick. The girls decide they want to put their names in the lottery for the pig scramble. We say Okay, that should be fun to watch. Now I thought 12 kids would be chasing 2-3 pigs, and what were they odds they'd get picked anyway? Well, ALL of them were chosen, Amber first. She was especially happy since she'd decided she didn't want to do it afterall, LOL!

Well, when they unloaded the piglets, I realized there were enough for everyone to get one, and everyone did! Shiann was the first of our girls to nab a piggie!

So all three girls ended up with piglets. Shiann sold hers to a little girl and we sent Alan home to get the truck and a crate to transport them in. None of us were too thrilled with the idea of the girls trying to hold the piglets in the backseat while we drove home!

So what happens when you're living in a camper, your dog has died, the kids are back in school and you have no TV or internet?! That's right, you spend way too much time with the piglets and discover how easy they are to train!

Wilbur and Petunia

Wilbur is a castrated male, shy and sensitive little guy. Petunia is bold and independent, and very smart. I taught Wilbur to sit using their favorite treats, grapes. It was easy. I didn't work with Petunia at all, but the next day when I went down and asked Wilbur to sit, Petunia sat too!

Wilbur

Wilbur loves his belly scratched and will lay down for you to do it. He loves being petted and paid attention to. He has now learned to get down on his little piggy knees for treats, and I'm working on getting him to lay down and play dead with verbal cues.

Petunia must have been a horse in a former life. She LOVES the horses. I can see her being a "pig-eyed, pig headed" Appy mare or something, she does have spots on the top of her neck, LOL! She heads straight for the horses when I let them out and "talks" to each one. They have taught her horsey language, which she caught onto quicker than I have! Molly has learned to ignore her, since its not worth the effort to try and chase, bite or kick her and she'll come right back. Angel has gotten her point across, she HATES pigs and will put in the effort to chase her if she gets too close. Maya is the same way. FlyAway doesn't care, she gets along with everyone! So Petunia has made it her mission to win over Angel and Maya. The other day, Maya was walking down the pasture and Petunia was walking beside her all the way, oinking away "Why don't you like me, huh, huh?!" Petunia not only sits, she smiles too. She's learning to hop up on a hay bale and sit for a treat.

Petunia smiling

The horses have gotten used to the pigs and they mostly get along. The pigs are pretty big now and know to stay away from teeth and hooves. I try to let them out to play once a day, they just love to run around, and they can run FAST. They always come when called and have no problem going back into the pen.

PIG PILE!!!!!!

New Puppies

2009-11-06T22:20:00.008-05:00

We have two new family members! Chance and Tucker are now 10 weeks old. They are Corgi Poodle mixes. We don't know exactly what they'll look like when they grow up, but they sure are cute now! We got them when they were 8 weeks old. They easily transitioned onto raw food diet, and I found a shop that sells everything you need right in Farmingdale called "Naturally Good Pets". They have much better prices than the other big box pet stores around. I even put the cat on raw. They can't wait to eat, and can barely bring themselves to eat the dry food I leave out for snacking. They are eating a prepared ground diet from Bravo, but will go onto whole bones when they can chew them up. I found out about a butcher not too far away, from a lady in my Dave Ramsey Financial Freedom class no less!

Chance is the straight haired pup. He looks mostly Corgi and has that personality too I believe. He is very sturdy and solid. Chance is quiet, calm, loving, intelligent, bold and curious. He's harder to house train because he just goes when he needs to, no big deal! I picked him out when he was just a few days old. Chance loves to eat and savors his food. Pig ears are his favorite chewing toy. He also likes cat toys best.

Tucker is curly and has hair so will probably need grooming. I didn't think of that when I got him. They have the same markings, but look so different. Tucker has longer legs and is slimmer in body and bone. He is very intelligent but not quiet. He whines quite a bit. He whines when he needs to pee or poop or Chance has something he doesn't or Chance is picking on him, or he wants to be carried or he doesn't want to ride in the kennel in the car! It actually makes him easier to house-train because you know when he has to go. When he has to go #2, he chases his butt like "Oh no! Its coming out, I can't hold it, oh no!" or he drags his butt on the ground like the dog Toby in the steam cleaning commerical, LOL! When we brought them home, they took naps and then Chance got up and explored and Tucker stayed on the bed and didn't want to move. He likes to be held and "tucks" into your neck. He also gets "tuckered" out faster than Chance. Tucker INHALES his food, never seen a pup eat that fast!

You can see the girls and Alan are having a hard time bonding with them! I had never used the kennel to train pups, but its working out really well. They are sleeping through the night. I had forgotten, though, how labor intensive new pups are! I took them for a walk on the river walk in Gardiner yesterday and they trotted along like little men. They have been easy to leash train so far. Mittens the cat is getting used to them, they were raised with kittens, one used to stay with them all the time, so they are very comfortable with cats.

Electricity

2009-09-04T16:35:00.001-04:00

We should be wired in 2 weeks!

Chase

2009-09-04T16:26:00.006-04:00

We found out Wednesday that the tumor Chase has developed in the gum of his lower jaw is cancer. Its grown quickly and the vet recommended not doing surgery. I am looking for information on treatments, etc. He still feels good, although the tumor is big enough to make chewing more difficult. Everything else looks great, his ACL had healed very well, and he has just a little arthritis in his hips, still has good range of motion in them.
His heart and lungs are strong. Its devastating news and not having access to information really stinks right now.

Update

2009-08-18T15:29:00.005-04:00

Hurray for good weather! Its helped tremendously, even if it is a bit hot now. We found a great swimming spot and go there to cool off most afternoons.

We have our well in, with 100 gallons/minute, so should never run out and it is crystal clear. Our septic system should be done today or tomorrow, so we can move the camper up to the spot near where the house will be by the end of the week. We have a bigger generator, so have been using air conditioning, dishwasher, stove, microwave, etc. The electricity has been a confusing mess, but we think it should be all set now. We got poles a week ago from Fairpoint, but CMP has been hard to figure out, hopefully we will have permanent electricity soon though.

I love the camper, I love living on our land. Its been a good experience so far. The horses are mostly settled, we just need to build one more run-in or small barn by winter and they will be all set. We haven't had time to ride yet though! Then it got so hot. We have been doing Pony Club, but using the farm's ponies since I had hay in my horse trailer. We got that out today, so maybe we can get to a trail ride or something later in the week.

Life in the Camper

2009-07-24T17:08:00.005-04:00

Right now we have a generator and an extension cord, so can only run one electrical appliance at a time. Its Alan's first day back at work and my first day alone on the land. The guys wake me up as they get up to go to work, so I decided to head down and visit the horses. They are being eaten alive by mosquitos! Poor thin-skinned Arab Angel is just quivering all over and her neck line is covered with feasting insects. Molly's cheeks are covered and I'm sweeping the darn things off by the hundreds. Maya and Fly had been sprayed the day before with Zonk It to protect from horse flies while we moved and they were alone, so they weren't affected as badly. I had a little of the spray left and dumped it on a rag and wiped down Angel & Molly. That helped a lot. When I went back to feed, they were lined up at the gate looking at me like "Can we go home now?"! I felt so bad.

I decided to make the pasture bigger and started putting in the step in posts. I love those things! By 6:00 am, I had the bottom strand all up and let them into the new area, then went to have breakfast.

Before Alan left, he said if I wanted to use any other electrical appliances, just unplug the refridgerator and plug the other appliance into the extension cord. Sounded easy enough. Except he had tied the cords in a loop so the refridgerator cord wouldn't come undone and slide down behind the back again, but in doing so, made the cord so short, it wouldn't make it up to the top close enough for me to get. So I had to wrestle the big old refridgerator out of the tight space its in, and don't mind saying I was not using good language while doing it! I finally am able to get the cord and manage to start untieing them when I realized I needed to make sure the cord didn't slip back behind the refridge again. So I found a string and tied it to the cord and then to the rail on the cupboard to keep it in place, got the cords untied finally and by 7:00 am was plugging in the microwave to heat my water for tea! I put up a pasture faster than unplugging the damn refridgerator!

Went back down to finish the pasture and the horses looked much happier. They've been munching on all the saplings and plants growing there and tripping over all the rocks and stumps.

I decided to go empty the pot we're using at night in the pit Darren dug. We used to have a chamber pot in the first house my parent's had. My Dad would empty it every morning by dumping it in the row of grape vines we had growing beside the house. Those were the biggest vines and had the best grapes I've ever tasted. We have pictures of us kids sitting under the vines with our laps piled with bunches of grapes, blissfully munching away! Anyhow, after dumping the "chamber pot" that's really a bucket, I start rinsing it out with the hose and notice the writing on the front - Miricid, made by Miracle Grow, incredible plant fertilizer for all your plants!

Hey Dan-ell

2009-07-24T16:53:00.005-04:00

When I was pregnant with my second son, we agreed we'd take turns naming the children. I got to go first with Ryan, so it was Alan's turn. He loved the name Daniel, but never said it "Dan-yell", he always left out the "y" so it sounded like "Dan-ell", or how the old-times say Dan-ell Boone. I told him if he couldn't pronounce it correctly he'd have to pick something else, so Darren it was.

In the post "They always know" Leigh made a comment about the other "boys" in the family loading themselves on the trailer to not get left behind. She had no idea how prophetic her comment was!

The first night on the land in the camper was not spent by Alan nor I, oh no, Darren spent the night before moving down there, communing with nature, looking at Mars, swatting mosquitos and having a grand old time. Woke up to a glorius dawn, whole nine yards.

So after the swirling hurricane that the actual move evolved into, all of us and our stuff was plopped onto the land helter skelter, no reason nor rhyme. I'm running around trying to get any type of organization going and need some help. I yell to Alan, "where's Darren?" and hear back "he's out practicing throwing knives!" "WHATTT? What's he doing that for, I mean, he's really throwing knives?!" Yep, and making squirrel friends, leaving them raspberries for a snack, and digging a poop pit, in his freaking glory. Come to find out, he's "always" wanted to live on the land like this, maybe we should have stuck with Dan-ell after all. SIGH!

The target Darren used for throwing knives.

Four Days to Go!

2009-07-24T15:01:00.004-04:00

My mother came up and helped me finish cleaning the camper. It took longer than I thought it was going to for such a small place! Its not really dirty, dirty, they took good care of it, its just sitting around not being used dirt. Mom decided to stay the night and help me pack some more boxes and start cleaning the house as we moved things to the lot. She helped out so much!

We got all the boxes moved into the storage trailer and most of Alan's outside stuff.

A Long Day's Job

2009-07-24T14:52:00.004-04:00

Wednesday we "invited" some friends and family to help move the run-in sheds and clean out the camper. They really got a work out and we're so grateful.

Alan had the little run-in ready to go before most people arrived. He decided to take that one as a whole unit and that worked out great. Our neighbors across the street came out and helped when they saw him working. They have been so incredibly helpful during this whole move, coming over when they see us outside doing something to see if they can help, we'll really miss them! We drove down without any mishaps and got the first one unloaded.

My friend, Cyndi, and daughter, Amber, stayed and helped me clean the camper while the rest of the gang went back to get the big run-in. That one had to be disassembled to be moved, so was quite a chore. It was very heavy and took two trips. The roof had to come seperately. It all got down there in one piece though. It got very hot and we decided to quit for the day.

We had our first official visitor though! Leigh stopped by go check out the new digs and see how things were going. It was nice to sit and talk a bit and get some support from an experienced recently moved and building their own farm person!

Countdown-Last Week

2009-07-24T14:40:00.005-04:00

Somehow Alan managed to pick the week before moving as a vacation week back in January! He didn't have to go back to work until the Tuesday after we moved. Usually his vacations are very rainy, most of the guys at the mill check to see what weeks he takes, just so they can avoid taking the same weeks! We lucked out this time though.

We have the camper on the lot, a nice man at a local camper dealer stopped by and picked Alan up at 6:00 am and they were back with the camper by 10:30. Alan called and told me when they were getting close so I could take down the cable and be there. By the time I got the girls in the car, 20 minutes had gone by. I decided to take my little short cut that never works out for Alan! When I pulled back onto the main route halfway there, I looked in the rearview and see the truck and camper coming up behind me! I ended up beating them through a light and another car got between us, so I did make it to the land before them, and they hadn't even noticed we were in front of them. It was weird how that worked out.

So the camper got positioned and set up. When we want to move it to hook it to the sewer and water line, he will come back and do that for us too. Alan really enjoyed talking to the driver and he was very helpful.

We also had the storage trailer delivered. I wasn't there for that, but Alan ended up pulling the semi out of the mud and we had to put it a different spot than we had picked. It will work out fine though, gotta love our truck!

So next we move the run-in sheds. Its starting to feel like things are coming together!

Toxic Plants

2009-07-14T07:53:00.005-04:00

So many trees and plants have started growing on the land since we first saw it! Some trees and bushes are getting quite big. I had to go and look at the different plants to see if we'd have a problem with toxicity to horses. I about had a heart attack over one plant:

All I could find on line that looked like this was the WATER HEMLOCK! One of the deadliest plants in N. America! Then I found these Pin Cherries, all over the place, and also toxic, not even goats can eat them!

And I think these are Red Maple, also toxic to horses! So much for my plans to let the horses clear the land.

I dropped samples of the first plant and the Pin Cherry off at the Pine Tree Aboritium, we pass it on the way to Pittston. The aborist wasn't in his office, so I left my number and he called about an hour later and said that the trees are indeed Pin Cherry, but the other plant was Bristly Sarsparilla, which isn't toxic and actually a beneficial root, and you can make soda from it too! You can tell because the stalks are prickly and the flower clusters are shaped like a ball, the Water Hemlock has flatter shaped clusters, more like a Queen Anne's Lace. Now I just have to find out about the maples, they aren't as plentiful as the Pin Cherry, which are EVERYWHERE! At least they should be easier to pull up than the Sarsparilla plants. We got a handy dandy bush grubber from Northern Tool

We'll be doing all that on Wednesday I think, thats when we're planning to move the run-ins.

Many uses for a Tractor

2009-07-14T07:45:00.003-04:00

The neighbor wanted our swingset for their grandson and when they came to get it, Alan decided to deliver it for them!

They Always Know

2009-07-14T07:36:00.004-04:00

Poor Chase has been aware that something is up, he's been clingy and not wanting to stay by himself when we leave. He's never had a problem with that before! When we packed up the garage yesterday, he climbed onto the trailer and onto the bottom shelf of Alan's workbench, all packed up and ready to go, LOL!

New Digs

2009-07-08T10:22:00.005-04:00

So we have been "going with the flow" trying to figure out the best plan for temporary housing. Nothing has seemed just right though. The 30' camper we looked at was nice, but so cramped feeling. The yurts were nice too, but would be pretty expensive by the time you build the platform, buy the yurt and then have to put in kitchen, bath, etc. Plus it takes 4-8 weeks to get one delivered. If we can't afford to build a house, then the yurts would be a good alternative home for a few years. But we need something quickly. The used ones just weren't working out either. Mobile homes have been disgusting and expensive so far.

On Monday, I had an overwhelming urge to call my good friend Pat, who lives in ELLSWORTH and built their own house when they moved there. I asked her what they had done while building and they had gone the camper route. She advised getting one with slide outs though, said it makes a big difference room wise. So we decided to revisit the camper option. We looked in Uncle Henry's and found this:

45 ft 5th wheel travel trailer. Custom designed in 2002 for use in Acadia National Park. Perfect for camp or temporary housing. Well - maintained, Very clean. Used seasonally as employee kitchen, dining hall, laundry, assistant manager's sleeping quarters. One bdrm. w/2 single beds incl. innerspring mattresses Large Bathroom w/full sized toilet and shower. Kitchen w/dbl sink, full sz. gas range, full sz. dishwasher, lg. side by side refrigerator. Laundry w/full sz. washer and dryer Large living \ dining space w/two 10 ft slides. Ample cabinets for storage Two air conditioners, furnace, on - demand hot water heater, antenna, also wired for cable. New cost over thirty k dollars. A steal at $12,500 Delivery Available-Details-Seal Harbor, ME

So we immediately called and made an appointment to go see it. The ad says its in Seal Harbor, Maine, on Mount Desert Island, but it was really in ELLSWORTH! As we were driving up to go see it, I was wondering if it was the right thing for us, and as we passed our Credit Union, the time on the digital clock was 11:11! The LOA group says to pay attention to what you're doing when you notice double numbers, patterns, etc and its usually a sign you're on the right track. So I quit wondering.

When I read the description of the campers (there were two, one had been customized into a bunk house), the thought crossed my mind that these may be the employee housing for the stables in Acadia. I had read where they had changed hands this year. Sure enough, we got talking and the owner had started the stables and these were employee housing campers. We all agreed we could live in the camper comfortably and bought it.

I have been waiting for the right solution to present itself and this seems like the one. Its been a bit nerve wracking having faith instead of a plan, but I felt things would work out, although it was getting a bit close to moving time not to have a firm plan, LOL! Things are all falling into place and we should be on our property in 12 days. Oh yeah, the buyers want to close a day earlier, the 20th instead of the 21st. Maybe that will work out best, we're still deciding.

Past Revisited

2009-06-23T12:12:00.002-04:00

Photos from May 1982, my sister-in-laws came for a visit!

Today is my birthday and I received a phone call from my youngest son wishing me a Happy Birthday! It was great to hear from him, and he had some news. He is in the Air Force and is stationed in Georgia right now. He has orders to go to ENGLAND! He'll be stationed there 2 years! I'm so excited. We spent 3 years there in 1980-83 and absolutely loved it. Two of my boys were born there and I've always wanted to go back and visit. I'm going to start saving my pennies and getting my passport!

Where Have all the People Gone?

2009-06-20T07:34:00.004-04:00

Well, so far, relocating the horses is proving to be much easier than relocating ourselves! We have the two portable run-ins and the lumber ready for the new one, fence posts ready to go and they'll have plenty to munch on! Their transition to the land should be quite a bit easier to manage than ours.

We've looked at used mobile homes. We've been to 4 dealers so far and found one we would live in! Its $26,000.00 plus it would have to be moved and set up. The others ranged from $13,000.00 to $20,000.00 and all but one of those I would seriously not let my dog live in! The one I find liveable, Alan does not, so its not my pickyness holding us up, LOL! We looked at the camper, and it is in nice shape, but those close a quarters for an extended period, and then having to rent something different in the winter seems too complicated.

Bring in the yurt! We are going to get the house plans drawn up today, and get an estimate on materials. Since we want to do this move and come out of it financially free from a mortgage, it will probably take at least a year. So far, the most comfortable, economical and lets face it, fun (at least for a while) solution, seems to be a yurt. I know they resell quickly and are moveable. So a trip to NH to White Mountain Yurts is in order I believe. We are going to check out the yurt at Friend's Folly Farm in Monmouth, they got their Yarn Yurt from WMY. We stayed in a small yurt when we went to Grand Manan Island last year, and it was one of our best vacations there! More yurt info on this and many other sites.

Clary Lake Pony Club Lessons

2009-06-19T13:01:00.005-04:00

Photos from May 17, Amber was sick so Macy borrowed Toby

The girls are doing a great job at their riding lessons with the Pony Club. We've had 4 so far I believe, 2 with Rachael and 2 with Ivy. They like our ponies and the girls and ponies are progressing quickly with the extra weekly lessons at our house. I think both Angel and Maya will be suitable for the girls to compete on, we just needed some consistant work and guidance! I'm still hoping FlyAway will be rideable someday, but have started looking for a horse that Alan and I can both ride right now. We need 4 rideable horses anyways, since we all enjoy trail riding together.

Photos from May 31, 2009

Bathing Beauties

2009-06-19T09:22:00.004-04:00

As the days get warmer, the chickens start lazing in the sun. The first time I saw them do this, I thought they were sick! As it heats up outside, they really stretch out, legs fully extended, flat on their sides! Such a difficult life.

Just for Fun

2009-06-19T09:14:00.005-04:00

Can you find the Unstuffed Animal?

This cat is so funny, she's the most awkward cat I've ever seen. Its funny until she tries to jump into your lap and doesn't quite make it so ends up hanging from your thigh by her claws!

The Adventure Continued

2009-06-17T17:53:00.004-04:00

My oldest son, Ryan, arrived from Maryland on Monday to visit and help us pack, work on the land, etc. Its so great to see him! He has a wonderful girlfriend who has inspired him to think about the future and where he wants his life to go. He moved to Colorado right out of high school, all by himself, and Steamboat Springs has a strong grip on his heart. But I think its losing out to love! He moved to Maryland almost a year ago to be with his girl. I love that he is just an hour plane ride away.

We had our house inspection Tuesday. Although I had written the correct time on the calendar, I've been so busy that when Alan told me it was at 10:00, I believed him instead of checking. Well, of course they showed up at 8:45 as the inspection was at 9:00! Suddenly we had the new owners, her decorator, the inspector and real estate agent outside discussing what they were going to do to my house. Strange. I had to hustle the kids and the dog into the truck and find a way to amuse us all for 4 hours!

We're waiting to hear the results of the inspection, so far we just know the septic needs to be pumped and the baffle replaced, not too big of a deal. The buyers wanted to walk the property lines, so I asked if they could come back when Alan was home as he knows exactly where they are. They agreed. I found her (J's) overshirt, her house to do list and fencing person's business card that she left behind. So they arranged to come today and walk the line and take more measurements. I wasn't able to get a feel for her yesterday, but we talked a bit today and I really liked her! She's so excited, she just got her first horse a month ago, at the age of 50. Its a dream come true, one long waited for. They just love the property, they've been looking for 1 1/2 years! They appreciate all the work we've put in and any doubts of selling have been laid to rest. The place will be well loved.

Temporary Housing

2009-06-15T08:36:00.005-04:00

So in order to do this project, and work on it ourselves as much as possible, we obviously need some temporary housing! We've looked at a used mobile home that is in nice condition, but is $26,000.00. We decided on Saturday to swing by the land and check the burn sites, then go to Ralph's Homes in Waldoboro to check out what they had for used homes. Alan had seen on the website that they had a few available.

Off to Ralph's we go, after breakfast at Moody's Diner. It brought back memories of eating there with my grandparents as a young girl, I think the seat cushions are the originals! Anyway, my mother had bought a double wide from a dealer in that area, I thought we had gone past Moody's to get to where she went, but Alan was sure Ralph's was on the opposite hill. He was right on that, but I was right that we had gone by Moody's to where my mom got her's, because it was at Bogg's not Ralph's! Anyway, we stop in and they have NO used trailers. I told Alan a simple call would've saved us a lot of time! But we decided to look at the homes anyway and got some good ideas for designs and I got a feel for the different dimensions.

When heading to Ralph's we had passed a modular home place with just 3 houses. I told Alan I wanted to stop in there on the way back. We pulled into the drive, and there was our house, a little gingerbread looking house with the porch and scalloped shingles on the top half, and can anyone guess what color it was?! YELLOW! (Upon seeing the house a second time, its not really Yellow but a yellowish brown, though I could've sworn it was light yellow the first time, LOL)

We walked into a little house, 28'x34', with the area over the dining, livingroom open to the ceiling, a little loft and extra room upstairs, an open kitchen, dining, living area like we've wanted and 2 bedrooms and a bath in the back. No master suite. But we loved it. We've been looking at homes off and on since buying the land, and while we've liked some features of each, none has been a "This is the ONE" feeling. We finally found it, and the homes are made by KB Builders right here in Maine. You can have them do as much or as little as you want and they can customize the plans any way you want. We got the floor plans and price list for the little cottage and headed home.

On the way home, we talked about how we could make the house work for us. We think if we do a full basement instead of a slab, the girls can have their two bedrooms down there with plenty of space for a living/rec room for company and privacy. We will have our mastersuite on the main floor, take out the downstairs bathroom and put it in the entry way we add to the side of the kitchen, change the stairs to one with a landing and move them into the space where the bathroom was, opening up the kitchen area more and making the livingroom bigger, and giving us a common wall so we can have a two sided fireplace, one in the livingroom and one in the bedroom (always been a dream of Alan's to have a fireplace in the bedroom!). Then the loft area can be a computer/away space and the little room behind a spare guest room. I also thought about extending the top of the house in the back, making the room upstairs bigger and creating a covered, screened back porch. The house at Hundred Acre Wood is designed like that, and I got the idea when I rode Saturday. We would have the laundry and 1/2 bath in the entry and attach a garage! Ta Da! Now I need to go get some cost estimates, but I'm confident we will have the money when we need it!

Oh yeah, to the point of this post! I called my sister on Sunday and told her about the little house and how things were coming together. She said her husband had worked with a man that does electrical, plumbing and heating, a master electrician that worked on his own on the side. They are going to talk to him for us to see if he'd be able to work on our house. Later she called back and said they knew someone with a 30' 1999 tag along camper for sale for $7,500.00! They had lived in it while building their house, and he was also a contractor. I had them e-mail pictures and it looks new. We're going to look at it Wednesday, that is an awesome price and I think we could manage to stay there. Then use it for company!

Now the funny part, the electrician's name is DUSTIN Oliver, and the camper owner is DARREN York, the names of my middle two sons, there's my sign!

Awesome Neighbors

2009-06-15T07:04:00.011-04:00

When we first bought the property in Pittston in 2006, we met our neighbor, Steve. Steve had been away from his house for an extended bit of time and when he came back, the old growth stand of trees he grew up hunting and exploring in was decimated. It looked like a bomb site. And then there were plans for a 13 lot subdivision there. Every person we've met so far in Pittston has been so nice and welcoming. Many say they are happy that the land will be used as a farm and not a subdivision. We hope we can help heal the wound made when the land was plundered and left in ruin.

From the back of the property, you can just see the neighbor's house in the background on the left. This is what he came back to find instead of big old trees.
View from our house site

What is left blows down

Skidder track in the wetlands where they violated cutting laws
Slash pile

Where the property ends on the gas line

Remains of a forest

Our road starts next to Steve's driveway and the property runs beside and behind his. The first time we met him, he told us where the key to his house was and gave us permission to use the bathroom, the hose, anything we needed while we were down there! He insisted Alan use his plow truck one winter when we were going to try and snowblow. He's now married, and at Christmas we went down and put a card and my famous homemade caramels in their mailbox. I had forgotten about that.

While burning brush Friday, Steve and Carol came down to visit and invited us to a huge family gathering he puts on each year. Lobster, BBQ, you name it! Its an all-nighter and they wanted to include us. Carol thanked me for the candy at Christmas, and I didn't know what she was talking about until Alan mentioned the caramels! Steve does fireworks as a living and said the display he puts on at this party is always the best show in Maine! He told us we could take a break from the land and go hang out at the little marina where they have their boat whenever we needed to.

I've taken the opportunity when talking to people in the area to ask for recommendations for well drilling, foundations, septics, excavating and contracting. The first Steve who showed us his farm gave us a few names. Now neighbor Steve gave us some names, and a few were repeats of Steve the 1st! So I think we have our well guy at least. When I asked neighbor Steve about contractors, he hemmed and hawed a bit and then told me that he used to build houses, and group of his friends had built many houses for each other. He has a 40' trailer filled with everything you need to build a house, any tool you could possibly want and he was bringing it home and giving Alan the key so he could use what he needed. He said he was busy June, July & August, but would have time in September to help with whatever we needed! He knows someone with a boom truck to set trusses, etc. and thought we could do this ourselves. We can't believe our good luck in neighbors!

The Perfect House Plans

2009-06-15T06:29:00.005-04:00

The day after talking to Steve, my in-laws came up to help Alan burn some brush piles on the land. It was raining quite hard the beginning of the day but lightened up towards noon. My MIL and I decided to stay at my house to pack a bit and get the girls after school then head down to the land to help burn. We started looking through the house plan books I have and one plan that I had not noticed before caught my eye. It was in the vacation type home section and was a two story plan, where we had been looking for a more ranchy type house. But I wasn't finding the floor plan that was just right and we kept ending up with cape style houses since a front porch is a MUST! I like capes, but had the thought that I'd like something a little different. We also wanted to be as energy independent as possible, and having lots of windows to the south would help with the solar aspect of heating the house in the winter. The capes had windows in front, but they were covered by the porch roof.

So this plan caught my eye, and the layout inside looked like what we had planned to do. We need our master suite as far from daily activity as possible, since Alan has to sleep in the daytime when doing night shifts. We already know we will be sound proofing our room! It has the front porch, having it open allows the sun to reach the windows. It has solar potential, but is more traditional looking.

Now that I found a plan I really liked, I was anxious to show Alan. When he got home that night, after staying down on the property til 10:00 pm to tend the fires, I showed him and he liked them too! As I was showing him the plans, I looked at the name of them, and it was BARNSTABLE COTTAGE, LOL! There's my sign. I asked him if we could make it light yellow, as there's a cute house in our neighborhood that is that color and I've always loved that little house. He said "NO".

So I think we've found our house plans! Or at least a starting point for developing a workable plan for us. I secretly was afraid that we'd be down there in two years, still living in a mobile home or camper while I was trying to pick out the "perfect" plans! After all, we've been thinking about this for 2 1/2 years already and tossed around ideas about living in yurts, or stackwood houses, to any number of small houses we can build without a large mortgage. Our two rules for the house are for it to be as debt free as possible and as efficient in space and energy consumption as possible.

One step closer!

Update on Back on Track

2009-06-14T11:48:00.004-04:00

Every day a new piece of the puzzle comes together! We talked to an excavator that was recommended to us by a couple of people because he's good and he also has a horse farm, so would be knowledgeable about that part of it. He was just who we needed to talk to. I've been thinking about doing a barn/house combo and have been in them and talked to people who live in them and they all loved it. But some of the reason I thought of that was to save money and in order to live over the barn, I would have to build a much bigger barn than I would normally. So I've been going back and forth about the whole idea. The excavator, Steve, really discouraged us from living over the barn, although he has a friend that does it and loves it. He sited safety reasons and said "You will build an outside riding ring, people will start to board here, and pretty soon you'll have people knocking on your door all the time!" So he really advocated keeping house and horse areas seperate and then told us about his farm and a run-in he had made he thought would work well until we really knew where we wanted to put things.

Steve's farm is only 5 miles from ours and we went over and he showed us a run-in, 24'x24', an open end on two opposite sides of the building with a gambrel roof where he can store 600 bales of hay! That would be quick and easy to build, possibly moveable and we'd have hay storage in an area where if it ever, God forbid, caught fire, you wouldn't lose a barn or horses, since they're free to come and go. He said his horse loved it. They had built a small house with a barn just behind it, and he wished they had built the barn much farther from the house. They had started with a wooded 4 acres in the late '80s and had slowly built their farm over the years. His wife came riding out of the woods on a beautiful 4yo Friesian stallion, and Alan was awestruck, thankfully by the horse, although his rider was one of those people that, upon meeting, you know are beautiful inside and out.

So Steve was the person we needed to talk to at the time we needed to talk to him. I do think having moveable buildings at this point is the smartest thing to do, and so the search is on for the perfect house plans!

Horsemasters Pony Club for Adults!

2009-06-14T11:07:00.007-04:00

About a month ago, I joined the Horsemasters group at Hundred Acre Wood, finally! I have been wanting to do this since I first heard of it about 4 years ago! At that time, Welcome Home Farm with Sam Morrison and Rachael at HAW were taking turns hosting the Pony Club, Prime Time Riders, but it got to be too much, so they split and Rachael has the meetings at her farm for people in her area, and Sam does the same.

Anyway, I am using one of Rachael's horses to ride in the lessons. She came from PDQ farm and is a 19 yo spotted Saddlebred mare named Satin. Okay, I admit to having a bit of a bias against Saddlebreds. I've seen some really nutty horses and saddleseat is something I've never aspired too. I think it just looks odd and uncomfortable for both horse and rider. JMHO. But Satin was a hunter, I'm told. She's very tall and very thin in build, not like my couch of a QH. So I go out to get her in the pasture and she doesn't look too happy to see me. The person helping me said she can be a "brat" in the stall and we should get a hay bag to keep her happy while I groom and tack up. Great! So with this warning in my head, I lead her into the stall and she tries to come right back out again! We get her tied and she is just attacking the hay in the hay bag. To me, this looked like anxious behavior, she was nervous being in the stall. Once I realized that, I felt more comfortable and was quiet and kind with her. I was alert, because they can hurt you if they're nervous, but she didn't display any defensive behavior, and I figured if she was that bad, Rachael wouldn't let people use her for lessons. We got tacked up and went to the ring and this horse knows her stuff. At the end of the lesson with Sam Morrison, she gave me the best feedback, that I had a connection with the horse and flowed well with her. I also was told I started very tense, was using my legs wrong, etc, usual things I do.

Walking back to the barn, Satin had her head lower, and her eye softer. I praised her and told her she was going to be good in the stall because I wouldn't do anything to hurt her, and she was fine. When the girls had lessons next, I went out and found Satin and gave her some scratches and reintroduced myself.

This week, we rode with Becky Morse and I picked Satin again. She was great in the stall, I probably didn't even need the hay, because she just played with it mostly. No problem bridling at all, last time she had played a giraffe and I was JUST tall enough to convince her it wouldn't work! Again I started out tense, but we got some really good trot work, some great upward transitions and worked on trot, halt. She's a great horse, and I'm coming to really like her. I spent time scratching her bug bites and trying to find her favorite itchy places. So much for my bias of Saddlebreds! I truly never thought I'd ride one by choice and now I look forward to our lessons together!

From Chicken Poop Stoop to Back on Track

2009-06-13T17:19:00.003-04:00

We sold our house, in 24 hours! Last week I decided to stop finding excuses not to put the house on the market and turn it over to Alan. He called the agent we've used before and met with her Friday, June 5th. She knew she was going to be listing it, so at the sales meeting of her agency, she described the property and asked if anyone was looking for something like that. A fellow agent had clients that were looking for a place for a horse and had looked at "everything under the sun" but none was quite right. So they arranged for the house to be shown on Saturday, June 6th.

One June 6th the girls and I were going to Boston with the Girl Scouts to stay at the Boston Museum of Science overnight, 17 girls in our troop and 580 total! On cement floors. With two sisters that DO NOT listen and create drama where ever they go, and no, I'm not talking about my girls! (Although they can create drama at home, they are well behaved in public!) We took a bus down and back do had to take the subway to the museum and back, 17 girls with sleeping bags and pillows and 4 chaperones.

So on top of trying to prepare for the trip, I suddenly had to get the house in showing shape! We busted our butts, but did a pretty decent job of getting it presentable. As I took a last walk through with my daughter, we were talking and it echoed. I said, "Listen Macy, it sounds like we're already gone!" and I got a funny feeling.

So fast forward to Sunday evening, arriving at the bus station with very little sleep and another subway adventure under our belts. My husband kept it in half way home, then said "There's some paperwork you need to look at when we get home." "What?" With a huge grin he told me we got an offer on the house! I wanted to smack him and wipe that grin off his face! We hadn't even gotten all the paperwork done yet and I had to consider moving already? I suddenly didn't know if I wanted to move! What had I gotten myself into? And why wouldn't he stop grinning?!

After a bit of a night's sleep and some time to think, I started getting a bit excited! So much to do though. We had thought about what we wanted to do on the property, but never really settled on anything and didn't have any plan in place yet. It all seemed so far in the future, we'd had the land 2 1/2 years and I really thought we'd be here at least a year longer. I had gone riding on the trails behind the property a couple of weeks ago and written to my friend that we were idiots for not being on the land already, the house sold a week later!

Now we are scrambling to come up with a plan, but in an excited, happy way, not in a OMG, panicked way (at least not most of the time!) And some really neat things have fallen into place already!

Cloud

2009-04-08T13:18:00.003-04:00

Cloud got a new home last week-end. Cloud is Macy's 2 yo parakeet. She had always had a buddy, one died (post about my involvement in that incident in previous post) and Buddy, the replacement, flew away last summer. We are done replacing parakeets, so Cloud has been alone for almost a year now. My SIL has birds and takes in unwanted ones, so we asked her to take Cloud, and she graciously agreed. Saturday, Macy and I took Cloud to her new home, where all the birds are allowed to fly free. Cloud knew something was up, she preened and preened all day, cleaning each feather, puffing up, chirping to us all. She has been rather shy here, so I wondered how she'd be meeting the other birds, if she'd be intimidated. Not at all, she wanted to come right out of her cage and meet everyone, and talked away. She cannot fly well, we've never trimmed her wings, but she was very trimmed when we got her. She will fly down, Alan called her Petrie after the bird in Land Before Time who thinks he FLYED! Anyway, she would always come up to you to be picked up, and she always went to Macy's finger. We stayed and watched her get settled a bit, then Macy went to say good-bye. Cloud tried to get away from her, as if she thought she was being taken away. My SIL noticed this too, and I think we both sent a message to Cloud that Macy was just saying good-bye, because she did let her pick her up and give her a kiss before leaving. We're hoping Cloud fits right in and gets as big as the rest of the birds from all the exercise they get!

YES WE DID!

2009-01-21T13:44:00.012-05:00

Back at Christmas, my sister, Tonia, out of the blue, turned to me while celebrating with our family and said, "Tim (our little brother) lives in Washington, DC, lets go to the Inauguration!" I said, "Let's go!" So we decided to take our daughters, mine, Amber, 12, and Macy 10, who's 11th birthday was the 20th, Inauguration Day and her daughter Shiann, 10, started making plans after New Year's and everything fell into place. We got cheap flights, a hotel and time off. We arrived in Washington DC at 8:45am on Saturday, January 17th after spending the night at a great hotel, Holiday Inn Express, in Manchester, NH.

We had a GREAT time in Washington! My oldest son, Ryan, lives an hour away, so he and his girlfriend came to visit Sunday. We had never met her, so that was very exciting! We all LOVED her! We all went to the concert at the Lincoln Memorial and ended up sitting right in front of a monitor without even standing in line! Some people had been lined up for 2-3 hours and still didn't get as good a spot! People had given up on the security check points and they were breached by the time we got there.

Macy has been bugging me for MONTHS to take her to a Jonas Brothers concert, I told her it would never happen because they don't come around here and we'd never get tickets. Well, they were playing at the Kid's Inaugural Concert on Monday night, day before her 11th birthday. I still didn't think they'd be able to go UNTIL I read a site that said it was for military families and my SIL works at the Pentagon. After that I was just sure she would be going, so packed her dress, shoes etc. and sure enough, my SIL got 2 tickets, one for her and one for one of the 3 girls, Amber, Macy or my niece Shiann. Well, Macy was the only one really crazy about the bands, so she got to go!!! She had a fantastic time. Best birthday present ever!

Tuesday, we decided to go to the Inauguration early, but to leave the girls home since it was 6:30, very cold and it would be HOURS before the inauguration. So my brother, sister and I hit the Metro and the trains were so crowded my brother just couldn't do that. So we decided to go back and celebrate with everyone somehow. Later, my sister and I decided to take a walk and see what was going on, so we checked out the Metro. The hallway leading into the Metro from the mall was filled with people, so we thought we shouldn't even try. We started back and then she decided she wanted to get a souvenior and we had to pass the Metro again, this time it was almost empty, so we checked it out. It seemed fine, so we ran back, got the girls and started out at 10:00 am to catch the 11:30 ceremony. We got right into the Metro, train arrived as we came down the stairs, walked on, plenty of room, talked to people and they told us to go right towards the Capitol when we got off, so we did. By then, the security barriers had been breached, so we ended up walking right up in front of the Capitol on the mall where we could see, although everyone was little and you couldn't tell who was who, but we were right under a speaker and could hear plain as day! It was awesome! It was Macy's birthday, and they spread a blanket on the lawn and everyone wished her happy birthday. I shared my binoculars and made lots of friends! One couple was from the east and had been to Deer Isle, Maine last year, best vacation ever, and the older gentleman beside me was from Philly and his son had gone to Bates here in Maine! So funny. The people on the subway were from CT and had been to Maine too. Everyone was in such a great mood, so happy to be there and helpful and patient. I've never experienced anything like that. Afterward, it was a little scary because they didn't open the Metro like they had said and people were confused and there wasn't anyone to direct you. It was a mob and it got scary for 10-15 minutes. We decided to go back to the Air & Space museum to warm up and regroup. Warmed up, used the bathroom, my sister met some women from Texas and Florida and became fast friends in the line to the potty! They sang Happy Birthday to Macy! She was wished a Happy Bday by two young men from India that had been standing in the mall for 7 hours and commiserated with the girls as they could remember going to events and being less than thrilled. They were very cute! We decided to walk back to Pentagon City over the 14th St. bridge, which was a great decision. There were many people on the same journey, still happy, no complaining, so orderly! Every color, shape, age, and sex! The city was a HUGE mess. Tonia started collecting lost mittens and is going to put them on line to see if anyone claims them! We could have collected scarves, blankets, even coats! The girls did a great job, we had Chinese food and got ready to go to the airport to fly home. There wasn't ANYONE at the airport! It was dead. We heard that most everyone tried to leave today and its a mad house! So, I have never been so convinced of the POWERFUL effect of positive thinking. We still can't believe how smoothly everything worked out for us. Its something I'll never forget, and after seeing the yearning of all these people to step up and contribute to fixing whats wrong with the country, I'm more sure than ever that we will come out of this better, stronger and a more perfect union. YES WE CAN!

We were crazy, but I'm so glad we did it!

First Real Snow

2008-12-23T08:14:00.010-05:00

December 17th we had our first real snow. The horses were all snowy and frisky when I went down to feed in the morning, happy that the frozen ruts in the paddock were filled in enough to make a flat surface again! It wasn't much snow, but a reminder that winter is on the way.

How do they always know when you have carrots in your pocket?

New Links

2008-12-13T10:08:00.025-05:00

Check out the new links I added to Radio/TV/Video and Favorite Blogs. If you haven't read Mugwump Chronicles, she's a great writer and also an artist.

Liz Graves is saddle maker Dave Genedik's partner, I would love to catch one of her clinics someday.

Carolyn Resnick's blog is great reading too.

I'm adding Anna Twinney to my list of Authors, Clinicians, she inspired me to take the Reiki course and I've had great success with that! She will be in Connecticut in July and I hope to be able to attend her clinic there. Most of the trainer's DVDs can be found on the Horse Flix rental list, I'm asking for a membership for Christmas!

I've listened to many good interviews on the Horse Talk Radio

and Rick Lamb's show.

I actually hooked up with one of the interviewee's on Lisa's show, she was discussing losing her horse to a vaccine reaction and I discovered she had moved from CO where she lived next to one of the authors of the book, "Acupressure for Horses" to Belfast, Maine and has gotten even more involved with holistic healing, too cool! There are many great resources on Lisa's site, I've learned so much from her shows.

Grand Adventures Ranch does Red-Light Therapy and also

uses herbal treatments to heal and has had good success with cancers in animals. For Love of the Horse

also has done extensive research trying to save his own horses from Insulin Resistance and resulting Laminitis. There's so much great information out there, and if you have a link you think I'd be interested in, let me know!

Christmas Critters

2008-12-13T09:35:00.010-05:00

We had a little fun in the ice storm dressing the horses up like reindeer. I'm sure they were very impressed with our antics! Angel seems to love the lime light anyway, Princess Angel would be a more appropriate name I believe! Matches the personality of her owner, LOL! Click on the picture of Macy and Angel, look at the expression on Macy's face! Drama queen. Even Chase got in on the act!

Clown and Queen

2008-12-13T08:55:00.013-05:00

We're having fun with the new kittens, they sure do liven up the place! I thought cats were supposed to be quiet, but these two sound like little elephants running around the house like mad critters! They are growing so fast and have such different personalities. The gray male, Mittens, is such a ham and love bug. When tired, he wants to be on your lap with front paws wrapped around your neck and nuzzling your chin and nose! Then climbs on your shoulders and rubs all over your face. Love me, love me! The female tiger and white, Bella (who always gets called Mini) disappears when she's tired and only comes out when you call her to get fed. Then she plays with such intensity til she wears herself out! She loves the little rabbit fur mice, carries them every where and just beats the stuffing out of them! She will let you hold her any way you want, will lay on her back, let you cradle her like a baby, but you usually have to intiate it. Mittens so wants to go outside, but Bella is scared. When Alan came down the stairs the other day, the two kittens were laying on a baby saddle pad on the landing and the parakeet was sitting on the basket right beside them! Don't know how she got all the way in there, had to fly or walk through the kitchen and down the hall to get to the stair landing, but there they were, just hanging out! We're postponing putting up a Christmas tree this year, Mittens has reprised Fancy's role as Catzilla in the little lighted village I put out every year, so I'm sure a tree with hangy things will be quite an attraction for them! Oh, and the cat hating husband insisted I come take a picture of Mittens sleeping the other day, coz "he looks just like me when I sleep!"

Spa Day

2008-11-14T19:20:00.005-05:00

Tuesday I decided to scan and red-light Fly as I hadn't done that in a while. She didn't have very many areas to treat, which surprised me. She got so relaxed with the cap on, she quit eating, which never happens with Miss Bottomless Pit! She also had a couple of good stretches. I didn't get to work with her after due to time constraints. Since then, I've seen her bucking and kicking and generally acting like she's feeling GOOD! The next day, she actually ran out of her stall, which I need to address, but didn't expect because she's never done that before. Keeping my fingers crossed that she's getting sounder.

Update: I didn't have to address the rushing out of the stall issue, she hasn't done it again.

Grooming Revisited

2008-11-14T19:14:00.007-05:00

Monday the 10th I put Fly in the stall to groom her and she was nippy/anxious again, though not as bad. I stepped back and just looked at her, wondering what was up. She showed me where she was itchy on her belly and I scratched it for her then proceeded to experiment with where her favorite places to be scratched were. I felt that was a productive use of our time. The I went and got the saddle and blanket and put them on the stall door. She didn't look too pleased about that, sniffed the saddle but no big reaction. I decided to start with the pad and put that on her then took her out for a walk/lesson. She did fine, wasn't bothered by the pad sliding around and me flopping it back on her. We walked up and down the driveway a couple of times and she was great about staying back and walking slowly and controlled downhill. We went and got the mail and finished for the day.

New Kittens

2008-11-10T23:07:00.006-05:00

After we lost our Fancy cat, the girls asked to get kittens. Amber has wanted a kitten for a long, long time. I decided to get two cats, so they'd have company. The local horse supply store had found some kittens a few weeks ago who's mother had been killed by a car. They had asked if we wanted one, but they had to be bottle-fed and we still had Fancy, so I said no. We decided to ask if they had any that still needed home, but they were all spoken for. As I was asking about kittens, were we offered some by another employee. She brought two kittens to work with her a couple of days later. I took the girls over to see them after school. On the way, Amber said she wanted a fluffy black and white kitten, and I said we'd have to take what there was. When we got there, she had brought two kittens, a male short-haired gray and white and a long haired dark tiger. A man at the barn had fallen in love with the tiger and wouldn't let us have him. I told the girl we had really wanted two kittens and she said there was one other one, the runt who she didn't think was big enough to bring in. It had goopy eyes and needed to be fed seperately as she was so small. It was a little fluffy black and white female. Of course we said we'd take her and we got her the next day. So now we have Mittens, the gray male, and Mini-kitty (or Bella) the black and white runt. I used the red light on her eyes and she cleared up in TWO days! When we got her, her eyes had to be wiped clean 4-6 times a day, whenever she napped. Next day it was better, about 3-4 times, after that, just once in a while and they were never sealed shut like before. They have worked out really well, everyone loves the new additions. Although Alan really hates cats!

Fancy

2008-11-10T22:43:00.005-05:00

After the death of a good friend in a car accident, I decided to get a cat, a female so I would no longer be the only one. I went to the pound and fell in love with Fancy, a 1 yo gray and white cat who'd been returned due to bad litter box habits. She turned out to be a fabulous hunter and spent most of the time in the summer outside. As the years went by, she started using the carpets or towels to pee on in the winter. At first it was just once in a while, but it got worse. We ended up replacing almost all the carpets in the house because of her. Last year was the worst, and I was not looking forward to another winter of wondering where she was going. I told her she had better die before winter because I couldn't deal with her another year. On September 19th, she was hit and killed by a car, which was so weird because the neighbors didn't even know we had a cat as she was never near the road. It was a shock to me, and I miss the sweet girl. She was 15 years old and still very healthy. We believe she had cleared out all the the prey on this side and was busy hunting something on the other side when she died. That would have made her happy. RIP, Fancy cat.

Playing with FlyAway

2008-11-10T09:43:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago, I started playing with FlyAway on a more consistant basis. The first day, I took her into the round pen and while brushing her, she began threatening to nip. I stayed out of range and kept on with what I was doing while trying to figure out if it was just certain spots that bothered her or the whole idea. She then started taking the lead rope in her mouth and chewing it, so I used it to ask her to back a bit. After a couple of times of this, she gave up the rope idea and started doing the yawning, mouthing thing my first mare, Jade, used to do when anxious. If a horse is going to show anxiety, I prefer this method of communication versus nipping, kicking or leaving! So I was pretty sure at this point that her objection to being groomed was more an emotional response than a physical one. We have done our two rides in the round pen, and riding is preceded by grooming, so I decided to associate the grooming with getting prepared to do something fun.

Fly doesn't have the greatest ground manners. She doesn't stop walking when you do and will pull to get grass, etc. I started working on this a bit before she had her injuries, but all training etc. was put on hold while she recovered. So I took her out on the driveway and we practised stopping when person stops, with her stopping the way I asked, placing a front foot down when I stopped and faced her and not bringing the other front any further than parallel to the first foot. She's very smart, and picked it up quite quickly. We quit for the day.

Next day we played with asking her to also give me her attention. She "leaves" by looking around a lot. Not in an excited way, just hmmm, think I'll look over here, oh, what's over THERE, I'm avoiding looking at YOU! So whenever she looked at me with both eyes and ears forward, I let her graze, using an eat and pointing to the ground cue. Didn't take too long for her to make the connection there either. Next was the kiss to cue her to stop eating and come with me. Not a problem. After this was solid, we stopped for the day.

Next day played with a new problem, I'm not so smart and couldn't figure out how come she ended up so close to me even though I started an arm's length away and she stopped when I did. I finally realized that she started walking forward as soon as I turned around and with her big stride, closed the distance between us quickly. If I kept walking, she would stay behind far enough, but if I stopped after a short distance, she was too close. So we then asked her to stay put until I took a step, then she came too. That has solved the problem and we also have been practising walking veeeerrrrryyyyy slowly. She's learned to stop walking to keep the distance when I'm babystepping, smart girl!

One day I decided to put her in the round pen to move her around a bit and see how she's going. She walks with no worry and asks to come join up quite quickly, but that's not what I was looking for that day. I asked her to trot and she immediately tenses up and trots with her head in the air. She looks MUCH better gait wise, just a slight hitch in front and I thought if I could get her to relax and lower her head, that may disappear. So I kept asking her to trot, change direction, trot. She bucked and kicked up her heels and cantered a couple of times, but still had the giraffe trot. Finally, she'd had enough and as she came around to the one strand "gate" of the round pen, sailed right over it! She has great form and cleared it by 3'! I pushed her too hard and feel bad about that, but that's how you learn. Next round pen work will be easy peasy no pressure sessions until she trusts me again.

I've noticed a big difference in her attitude and demeanor. She seems to be enjoying this so far (at least the leading lessons!) and I've had no anxiousness about grooming since the first day. We actually took our first walk in the woods with Macy and Angel yesterday and Fly did great. She blew softly a bit, but stayed with me and was steady. I love that about her. I flip the lead rope around when walking and she got tapped on the nose a couple of times when she got too close, but it didn't freak her out and she was staying where she should be by the end of the walk, even down the slippery hill. Macy had the great idea of bringing carrots in a lunch bag, she always comes prepared, even on a 10 minute trail ride, LOL! We had water for us and carrots for the horses, so Fly would "find" a carrot laying on the trail as we walked along.

Next step will be practising while Fly wears a saddle. I'm not in any hurry to ride her, I want her to be really ready emotionally and physically before we take that next step.

Update on FlyAway

2008-11-10T09:09:00.007-05:00

She has had a rough transition to our farm, but has stayed steady and upbeat during most of it. Funnily enough, through all of the physical issues, she stayed quite bright eyed and involved, but since feeling better and not having anything done with her, has gotten more and more withdrawn.

She, of course, came with feet issues that are getting resolved with each trim. I will have to post pictures of the progress we've made, she no longer looks like she's walking in a high heel and sneaker, but does still have a slight hitch in front.

A few weeks after coming here, she got trapped in a stall and kicked through the wall, and ended up with a hematoma on the left stifle and an abscess in her right hind foot. I used the red light therapy on all the injuries and the abscess, which got better enough that she could put weight on the foot, but didn't break through. So I stopped treatment and it flared up again and did breakout in the heel bulbs. I resumed treatment and the infection cleared right up. The vet had said the hematoma may take many months to clear up because it was a firm lump filled with serum, but it was gone in about 8 weeks. Fly was easy to work with when soaking (love the hoof soaking boots!) and treating the injuries.

I was convinced my mare Molly was the one who kicked her, and she may have been that time. I made the decision to take our leased mare, Riverdance, back home, and Molly became herd leader. I noticed her standing with Fly a lot, even sharing a run in with her, but I would still find kick or bite marks on Fly. I decided to keep them separated and put Molly in a stall while I went shopping one day. When I came back, I discovered that Fly had been attacked and kicked even worse than before, and realized it was Angel who was the culprit. I was so upset, Molly had probably been protecting Fly. This time Fly abscessed on the right front while recovering and I just used the light therapy after the abscess broke and on her kick injuries. So all run-ins and stalls are closed off during the day and Fly stays in a stall at night and we've had no further incidents. I think she's finally learned to stay clear of Angel too. She has recovered from the injuries and abscesses and gained weight and muscle and is looking like a "real" horse now.

Article in Horse Journal Red Light Therapy

2008-10-02T09:59:00.006-04:00

There is also a growing body of controlled experimental evidence that low level laser therapy speeds early stages of healing, improves strength and improves ultimate functional outcome in tendon injuries.

Wavelengths of from 648 to 904 nm have been effective, at low to moderate dosages of 1 to 5 joules/cm2. True lasers are required for this, since light therapy equipment using only LEDs (light emitting electrodes) will not penetrate deeply enough to reach the problem area.

If your horse has a documented shoulder tendon injury and you want to try this therapy, ask your vet if he/she can recommend a therapist or be sure to work with a reputable and knowledgable company such as Respond Systems (www.respondsystems.com, 203-481-2810). Three-month rentals are available.

Article by Eleanor Kellon, VMD.

Fly's First Ride

2008-06-26T08:04:00.004-04:00

Last night I rode Fly Away for the first time since she's been here. She is looking much better as far as soundness goes, still has a slight gimp, but I felt comfortable enough to feel we could just walk around and get used to each other.

She does well with tacking up. Just swung her head the second time I tightened her girth. I reassured her we'd go slow and she was fine when I made the final adjustment. She was a breeze to bridle. She does chew the bit and roots on it some. My next mission will be to find a bit she likes since we have enough bridles for everyone, but not enough bits!

I didn't know how she'd stand for mounting, she was a rock. Its a long way up there, so that is a big plus! I've nicknamed her Moose, although I don't call her that to her face. She's much prettier than a moose. We practised lateral flexing to each side, which she didn't seem to be sure of, but we've done it on the ground, so she did catch on. I asked her to walk off and she did. I know she knows to give to the bit, she was offering that. When giving to the bit, she goes really slow though, when I let her have the long loose rein, she moved out better. She is still so narrow, with little muscle, it feels really weird up there to me. I used the dressage saddle and it fit her well with the regular gullet. She was not scary to ride at all, right now she's kind of lazy, although at the end when I gave her her head, she marched right out and wanted to keep moving instead of standing. We did a little backing too. I think she'll be a great ride once her feet are fixed and she gets some muscling. So far she's just been an easy-peasy girl!

One scary thing that I did, stupid, stupid me, was lead her up back to eat over a downed fence line. Of course she got her hind foot wrapped in it, got nervous and circled me so the tape was wrapped around the back of my legs too. She was dancing and getting worked up and I thought this could turn out really badly for me! I stayed calm and asked her to whoa, which she did. I stepped out of the tape and started breathing again. It took another minute to extricate her, I just moved her around so the tape fell off by itself and she stayed with me even though she was upset. This was on my birthday, and I probably gave myself a few more gray hairs! I know see something we need to work on, accepting things around her legs.

Pony Club Lesson

2008-06-22T21:18:00.003-04:00

Yippee, after 6 years, countless hours and we don't really want to know how much money, we've finally reached the point where we have two horses and two girls able to take lessons together and participate in parades and shows. This was the first formal lesson the girls had with the Tamarack Pony Club, last week it was a game day and they did great then too. We finally got Angel and Macy to canter today, she has only cantered on the trail. It was only a few steps, but its a start. The instructor was a guest instructor and really great with the girls. We were very proud of all our girls today, they did a great job getting ready, studying all the things they need to know to advance to the next level and riding. Yesterday they rode at Malachite Farm here in Vassalboro and had so much fun. The new little filly is adorable and loved to be scratched everywhere.

Molly By Golly

2008-06-15T21:46:00.005-04:00

Or fat bottomed girl, those are my two nicknames for Molly, aka Impressionable Milly, registered QH mare, former Hemphill's camp horse and one I brought home for the girls and got stuck with as my main ride! This girl has given me 90% of my horsey education, from bringing a starved, pregnant mare back to health, to wrapping bowed tendons, treating mastitis, hoof trimming, boot fitting, metabolic issues, allergic reactions, choke, vaccine reactions, chiropractic work and DNA testing for HYPP. There's probably a few adventures in there I've forgotten about too. She's the horse I had scanned when Dan Sumerel came and she had enough issues for me to see a difference in her that led me to really get serious about the red light therapy. She continues to improve health-wise as we scan and treat her. I've never had a full season of riding with her, something always comes up, but so far this year she's been fine. I've been riding her in the round pen at the walk and trot, and we've made some good progress. She enjoyed trail rides when she was feeling good, so I'm hoping to get back to that with her too. I've decided that she's a horse that cannot have grass, she got really cresty very quickly this year and even eating with the muzzle allows for too much grass. She's been okay with having a flake of hay within sight of the other horses grazing. With her funny personality and bold attitude, she keeps life interesting around here. She's the first horse I've had that lifts her hind leg so you can better reach to scratch her udders, and will show you exactly where she'd like to be scratched. She is a bit of a bully to the other horses, but sometimes that comes in handy! It allows River to be a benign leader when Molly keeps the rest in line. For such a chunky monkey, she can be quite athletic when the mood strikes her, and I see her instigating play more often than any of the others. She was an awesome mom too, and let anyone in with her to admire the baby. She's been easy going for most anything we've had to do, vet, teeth and stall rest with hand walking. I so hope we get to experience a riding relationship too!

Gee, I wonder why she limps!

2008-06-14T13:57:00.008-04:00

These are Fly Away's front feet. The first is the left front, the leg that was injured. There is just a small scar on the front of her pastern. When watching her walk, it looks like a person walking in a high heel and a sneaker. I'm hoping that getting her feet straightened out will get her most of the way to sound. Using the red lights therapy should help her muscles to relax and get used to the new way of moving. She was just days away from being put down.

Smallest & Tallest

2008-06-13T21:36:00.004-04:00

Smallest & tallest, oldest and youngest, best friends.

Our newest herd member, Fly Away, immediately bonded with the lowest member of our herd, Maya. They are connected at the hip, each gets worried if they lose sight of the other. Maya acts like Fly Away is her long-lost foal, Fly is just glad to have a friend. Maya has been protecting Fly from the other horses, squealing at them and putting herself between the others and Fly, defending her friend when she never stood up for herself. The two of them share hay piles and even their grain, if allowed. They scratch each other's necks and tails, though Maya can barely reach! I'm so glad this sweet, older mare finally has an ally and best bud.

River

2008-06-10T22:06:00.002-04:00

Today we trimmed River's feet. We haven't had good luck getting the farrier out here and they were getting quite long, especially the backs. She did a really good job of standing for us, so that made it easier.

It was so hot today, I hosed her off in the afternoon and she actually enjoyed it.

Amber rode her on Saturday and they did a good job together. Amber remembered to circle her when she got a little fast, and River remembered what that meant. She did some nice reaching down into the bit, they looked really nice together.

River has been good with the new girl, I knew she would be. She's a great herd leader.

Everybody Loves . . . Angel

2008-06-10T15:34:00.006-04:00

I don't know what it is about Noon Angel, (that's not even her real identity!) but everyone falls in love with that horse. Even people that don't LIKE horses!

At Pony Club this week, she behaved like a perfect Angel, many people asked where we got her, etc. Macy had a sore tush from falling off a trampoline the day before, so Amber ended up riding Angel for most of the games. There was no sign of the hissy fits, squeals, kicking out, biting at toes and nasty faces we've seen at home before. She looked like she was actually enjoying herself and had no problem trotting. I think I was on the right track in thinking this is a horse that needs to be ridden, not just sat on and rode in circles. She needs a reason to do something, that may be why she has never been a problem on a trail ride.

After the lesson, I asked the instructor if she thought the horses would be okay to bring for lessons and events. She pointed at Angel and said, "I LOVE that one, she is so laid back, and wasn't bothered by the other horses at all. Her attitude is "whatever, no problem". Her assessment of Maya was a little less enthusiastic, but I think she'll do fine with some practise at home. I was actually quite surprised because I thought Maya did great, even though she was a little wary of the flags they used for a game and liked to go. It was a race afterall!

So Angel has collected yet another fan!

Miss My The Arab Princess

2008-06-09T21:59:00.005-04:00

The girls joined the Pony Club and our first lesson was Sunday. It just happened to be a games day and we decided to take our horses to see how they'd do and if they're going to be suitable for the girls to ride in Pony Club lessons and events. It was a very hot day and although we left at the time I wanted to, I hadn't allowed quite enough extra time for hauling the trailer. We got there at the time the games were to start, and got told we need to be there and ready when the lessons start. It only took us 5 minutes to get ready, and the games didn't start for another 15-20 minutes as the girls were warming up the horses they were riding. So we were fine. Next I was asked if we have nose bands for our bridles. I had taken them off during the winter as the buckles are harder to do in the cold and I had forgotten to put them back on. Off to a great start already! Maya was a little looky, but behaved for Amber. She likes to canter, so during the games, she would canter back to the start/finish line, but Amber could stop her. They did a bean bag game and one other, then was time for the flag game. Amber got a little nervous about that, so let another girl, Jesse, ride Maya. Maya was a little wary of the flags in the bucket they had to pick up, but Jesse did a good job and was able to do the game. Pole bending was great! Maya acted like she knew just what she was doing! I thought she did a wonderful job and Jesse had fun riding her. Amber got confidence seeing Maya able to handle all the games, now we just need to practise at home. Dana, the instructor, thought Maya would be okay for lessons and events, though she was a more "typical" Arab. Yippee, we can actually use our own horses for something, LOL!

First Days

2008-06-09T21:38:00.003-04:00

Its been crazy around here, but I have been able to spend some time with the new girl. She decided she loved her fly mask the very first night. I noticed her bobbing her head a lot, so went and got an extra mask. She had never had one on whenever I went to visit her, so I didn't know how she'd do with it. She loves having her ears rubbed and scratched, and had no problem with me putting on the mask. Later on, I wanted to take a picture of her sweet face, so took the mask off. She didn't like that idea and followed me all over bobbing her head until I put it back on. Never did get the picture!

She loves to be scratched all over, especially her neck. She's supposed to be just 16 h, but man, is she tall! The first day, she bonded with our little Arab who is bottom of the pecking order. So now I have two herds, River, Molly and Angel then Maya and Fly Away. Maya acts like Fly is her long lost foal, they get really upset if they get seperated. Fly just minds her own business and besides some squealing and a few stomps, the introductions have gone well. Molly and Angel will chase her, but she knows enough to get out of the way. I kept her and Maya on the bottom pasture the first night and then put Fly in the stall the second. I knew Maya would stay with her outside under the overhang. Fly's skinny, so needs more food at night.

The second full day was good. They're all getting along quite well, still two herds, but that's okay. I'm glad Maya has a friend. I had some time and played around with her in the round pen. She leads wonderfully, learned quickly to stop an arm's length away, and keeps a float in the rope. She backs easily. She was concerned about being away from Maya, although she was just outside of the pen. I picked up the flag and rubbed it all over her. She didn't care about that at all. She wasn't checked out though. I directed her to go clockwise, she had a hard time going past the gate away from Maya. After a few tries, I got her to go all the way round. I was just asking her to follow me and she did quite well, no running around in panic. I actually had to get quite active with the flag to get her moving sometimes. After getting her to walk/trot a full circle both ways, I stopped and she came right into me and followed me all around. She was a little gimpy, but not as bad as the first time I saw her. Worse than when she first got here though. I hope to get some video tomorrow, and maybe get her scanned and treated. I'm really liking this horse and hope I can help her. She is just a love.

Fly Away - HOME

2008-06-08T09:01:00.004-04:00

My third son, Dustin, injured his shoulder last winter and couldn't work. Instead of coming back home to live, he chose to stay with a friend of his, the friend's mother, sister and her family. Dustin did end up moving back home to have shoulder surgery and has been living here the last 6 months.

A few weeks ago I was hoping to get some customers for my red-light therapy and thought, horses, have your owners call me!

Have you ever seen the movie, Fly Away Home? Well, I loved that movie, but hadn't seen it in years. About 3 weeks ago, it was on TV and I watched it. Then the girls got it out and watched it again. I've been subbing at school quite a bit, and when I went in to sub for Science, we were watching a movie, "Fly Away Home"! AGAIN? I thought to myself how weird it was that that movie kept popping up.

"B" at Hemphill's doesn't usually help people that have horses they need to place as she works at a place that sells them and it is a conflict of interest. However, a couple of weeks ago, she told me about a free TB/WB mare that needed a new home. A lame mare, 8 yo, lots of training, former X-country jumper. The current owner took her after she was injured as she was not heading anywhere good. Tried for 3 years to get her sound, no real luck. "No thank you" I said.

I have to go back to Hemphill's for grain this week. "Did you go see that mare?" B asks. No, I don't need another horse. I don't want another horse. I can't afford another horse. "I think you could really help her with your red-light therapy. It would be a great opportunity to see what it could do, a great project. She's got loads of training and she'll be put down if the owner can't find a home for her by the 6th. She doesn't want to, but has run out of options." So I go see the horse. Tall, skinny, knife necked, goose rumped, and very stiff and lame. Not my cup of tea. Very sweet disposition though, and a wonderful, kind eye.

I go back two days later to ride her, and brought my treatment system with me. She's still gimping badly, but was a doll to tack up and ride after loosening up a bit on the lunge. She rides okay for a lame horse. I scan and treat her and the owner says if she's not dead lame the next day, the therapy would have worked for her.

A couple days later I'm at Hemphill's again and B said the owner had just been in and was so impressed because the horse had steadily been improving, looking better the next day instead of more lame. Great, now I'm thinking I may have the one treatment that could really make a difference for this horse that's about to be put down. What to do? I'm down cleaning stalls, asking for guidence, when the thought of someone boarding her here popped into my head. I knew a couple of kids that really wanted horses but don't have a place for them that maybe interested in saving this one.

Later I'm talking to Dustin about what I should do and he mentioned the lady he'd been staying with this winter. I knew she loved horses and just blurted, does she want a horse? He said she'd actually been talking about getting a horse for the last few weeks, since they moved into a house with some land. Call her! She was very interested and after seeing her picture and hearing the story, she wanted to meet Fly Away. It was love at first sight, and as this lady has physical issues, the soundness issue of the horse doesn't bother her at all. She is so excited to finally have her own horse! This is something that she needs, something just for her, and I'm so pleased to be able to repay her for the kindness she showed my son all those months ago.

So, tonight, Fly Away is home.

Clever Hubby

2008-06-06T22:48:00.014-04:00

Well, its that time of year again, time to fill the pool. Alan has devised a system to fill up the pool quickly without using well water.

This is the run off from the hill behind us.

This is an old rain gutter off the house.

This is an old garbage can sunk into the ground with a sump pump in it, with a hose attached. Once the run off water fills the can, the pump pumps the water into the pool through the hose!

He also uses it to water his garden! Such a clever guy!

Big Ah-Ha Moment

2008-06-03T22:44:00.004-04:00

Mark Rashid was in Campton, NH May 22-27th and I was able to audit for two days. I always learn so much, and this time was no exception. I am going to type up all my clinic notes soon, but wanted to get the biggest piece for me down before I forget it! Mark was working with a horse/rider that were interested in jumping. As Mark coached the rider on a few changes to try, one of them was to engage her center. I had thought of engaging your center as kind of throwing energy out from the your core. But Mark said engaging your center was using the muscles and the way to do that was...........to breath! Okay, but he also says for every muscle you tighten, the horse has to tighten the corresponding muscle. Hmmm. So wouldn't that make your back muscles tight too?

A few days later, I was doing the Classical Stretch with Miranda Esmonde on TV and she was explaining how when you tighten one set of muscles, the opposite muscles are relaxed. Tighten your quad in your leg, and the hamstring relaxes. Tighten the outside of your thigh, and the inside is relaxed. Tighten your bicep and the tricep is relaxed. Tighten YOUR CORE and YOUR BACK is RELAXED!!!! And how do we want the horse to travel, with engaged abs and relaxed back. Such a small thing, but it finally makes sense to me and I get it! YIPPEE! All I have to do is BREATH! Engaged center/relaxed back, how cool.

Bird in the Hand, or Shoe!

2008-06-03T22:26:00.005-04:00

One morning in April I was headed out the door to feed the horses and happened to look out the window at my slipper and saw that a chickadee was sitting in it! I think he was taking the hay pieces and bits of "fur" for his nest. Welcome back spring!

Reiki

2008-06-03T21:35:00.009-04:00

I signed up for a Level I Reiki course given through our Adult Ed at the local high school. It was a 4 week course taught by a psychiatric nurse. What a wonderful class with great people! I learned a lot and since my attunement have noticed that just talking or thinking about Reiki "turns on" my hands! They start to tingle and throb. I have given Reiki treatment to my husband on his knee that he had surgery on and developed a Baker's cyst, sore ribs and an aching back. He fell asleep during the rib treatment, but doesn't believe me! I never knew you could snore while awake. He also thinks he cured his back himself, by positive thinking, but I think the Reiki did it. I use it on myself almost daily and really want to get my Level II training. At our last class, we did hands on practise with other class members and the person I worked on had a sore, stiff neck which went away after my treatment. The instructor had brought up the book "The Secret" and I had a couple extra copies, so took them to class and told the ones who didn't have it (there were only 8 of us in the class) they could take them and when they were done reading them to pass them onto someone they thought would be interested in it. I really liked the instructor, she was great. I'm supposed to send her some info on Aikido, I gave her my business card for the red-light treatment, she was curious about that too. It was funny how I even decided to take the class, I had seen it on the schedule for the winter course and didn't get signed up. In April I was looking through the Blog Radio shows and saw an interview with Anna Twinney. I didn't know who she was, but decided to listen to it and she turned out to be a Master Reiki Teacher. She was so enthusiastic about it, I decided I would look into it more. The next day I got a special spring flyer and Reiki was offered again. I e-mailed my friend "L" and she had just come from a Reiki session and loved it! I knew I had to sign up after all these "coincidences".

2008-04-18T09:18:00.002-04:00

More Great Results!

I just got an e-mail from the owner of the latest horse I used the red lights on. She said he's been rolling and playing with his pasture-mate, which he hadn't been doing and that he's been doing great when being ridden. He had been kicking out and bucking quite consistantly and they hadn't cantered in well over a year. He's stopped the kicking out and bucking and cantered steady and balanced! This guy was so worried about being touched in certain areas, threatening a kick in some places. Its funny though, I just put my hand on his leg and told him it would be ok, went slow, and he did okay. The last 3 horses I've done have all threatened to kick, but none have, even when I'm bending down in front of their hind legs to scan their lower legs and hooves. A few years ago, that would have scared the beejeebers out of me, now I just acknowledge their concern and work around it calmly. It makes me so happy to hear the horses are feeling so much better, how rewarding!

2008-04-18T09:10:00.003-04:00

Creating my business website

I've spent the last week or so trying to create a business website for Back on Track. My daughter has been home sick with the flu, so I've had to be in the house most of the time anyways, of course this has been the first really nice week so far this spring! Anyway, I think I have it completed, at least for now! Here's the link: http://www.backontracktherapy.com/. That's the only web address available, but it is a bit long! There must be lots of people doing back on track stuff, LOL! I found that there's a company making Back on Track blankets with ceramic powder thats supposed to help horses too. Now I just have to figure out how to get the site to come up when searching Yahoo and Google!

2008-04-10T21:14:00.011-04:00

Pictures from my new camera

I just got my "new" camera from E-Bay. Its a Canon Powershot S3 IS 6mp with 12x optical zoom. It also has many features to play with, like taking black and white pictures with one color selected and switching one color for another. This is going to be fun!

2008-04-02T22:36:00.002-04:00

Latest Results

So far, so good! I talked to K and she was very pleased with the way C felt when she rode on Sunday.

I went to a local sale barn and practiced on a very nice gelding there. He had many areas that needed the lights. He was nervous at first as we were in the aisleway and there were squealing mares right beside us and he hadn't been at the barn very long. By the time I was done using the lights, he was standing with head down and the hip I was working on cocked towards me! I'm waiting to hear how he felt when ridden.

I've been scanning my horses, but its getting boring! I keep checking to make sure the equipment is working because they don't have many points left! River had about 6 points and Maya had about the same when I scanned them yesterday.

2008-03-29T17:31:00.007-04:00

My First Client

Today I used my Therapy System on my first client. Her owner called and said her coming 3 yo mare has had a stiff right shoulder for 4 months now, vet and chiro work done and she still wasn't improving. I agreed to go treat her mare for practice on a strange horse and "K" agreed to hang up flyers and leave business cards at the 2 barns she teaches at as well as the one she manages, and to tell all her friends!

I liked K just from the message she left on the phone, and I couldn't have picked a better first client. I will have to get "K" at Hemphill's something special for sending her friend K my way! Anyways, the mare, "C", was so good and patient. She had LOTS of points on the left side of her neck, some on her back the same side and lots on her right shoulder. There were a few points here and there on the rear, but most stuff was front-end. K was amazed at the equipment, and she treated with the lights while I scanned and marked spots. It still took us over an hour, closer to 1 1/2 hours to finish. I went slowly and went over places a few times to be thorough, and had the scanner on a pretty sensitive setting so it picked up quite a bit. I offered to come back in the middle of next week to scan her again and see if there's a difference. K will ride her tomorrow to see how she feels. It was a great day, and I felt so totally comfortable with K, we both felt it was meant to be. Too Cool! I truly hope C is more comfortable now, that's the most important thing to me, helping the horse. I will update C's progress when I hear how she's doing.

2008-03-29T08:31:00.011-04:00

Business Cards and Flyers

Last night I played around making business cards and flyers for Back on Track. I'm experimenting! Here's a couple of designs I did:

I think I'll take the red off the horse on the business card and have it look like the flyer. We'll be tweaking as we go along I'm sure!

2008-03-29T07:54:00.007-04:00

Holy Shot!

On Wednesday I had the vet come out and give the first Rhino shot to the 4 girls as I didn't have it done last year and they will need a booster. I also had him check Angel's stifles and he couldn't see/feel anything wrong with them. She was running, rearing and hopping around last night like a wild woman, so things must feel pretty good!

Molly has reacted to vaccinations before. The thing is, sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn't. The first year I had her and gave her rabies, it was over a WEEK before she could raise and lower her head normally, she was miserable.

So she gets her shot around noon on Wednesday. She's looking ok when I go to bed, a little sluggish in the morning before I go to volunteer at the Food Pantry. When I get back just after noon, I find my scanner has arrived back home and my horse is one hurting unit. She can't lower her head enough to eat off the ground and is shuffling sideways. I scanned her and the horse that only had 4 points to treat last time, lights up, especially around the liver, kidneys and colon. Now, I thought her liver was back by her stomach area, so I couldn't figure out how come she had points lighting up about a third of the way between elbow and flank making a vertical line. Now I know thats where her liver really is! But I'm not supposed to ask why, just mark and treat! I did a treatment in the afternoon, and she looked a little perkier after. I treated her again in the evening, and the sparkle was definately coming back into her eye. I had given her Banamine too.

Friday morning she was moving better and could lower her head without too much trouble. I called to check on her at noon and Alan said she looked good, was moving around and had walked right up back no problem. When I got home, she was looking sooo much better. Last night she was back to chasing the two Arabs and this morning she's back to 95%! I've NEVER had her recover that quickly. Usually a mild reaction takes at least 4 days before she's looking any better and its been more than a week on medication for reactions this bad.

I'm so happy, I hate seeing her in such a state, and she only needed one dose of meds. I hate giving shots anyway, now I know the Rhino affects her so badly, I'll dose her before the next one and scan and treat the same day. I'm going to scan her again today and see what shows up. I need to order a different color crayon so I can tell which spots are the new ones!

I REALLY need a camera. I wish I could've taken video of how she was acting before and after each treatment. I'm bidding on some on E-Bay, wish me luck!!

2008-03-25T09:02:00.002-04:00

New Way to Waste Time on the PC

I found a site called Nicker Network that has a video library of almost anything you can think of that's horse related and its FREE!

2008-03-25T08:25:00.003-04:00

Playing with Light

I've been experimenting with the light therapy, my scanner is on its way back after having the battery replaced, so I've been using some acupuncture/meridian charts to find points to treat.

Angel, 10 yo gray Arab mare, was really touchy about her hind legs, not letting me touch them. I couldn't see any swelling or lameness, so treated by holding the lights near her flank, stifle and hocks. After 48 hours, I tried touching her legs and she let me. Now I can tell the problem is near her stifle, so I treated that again. She was running around yesterday, chasing Maya and hopping around, so I think she feels better. I've narrowed the reactive area down to the muscles above the stifle, and will treat them again today.

River, 14 yo chestnut roan QHxTB mare, has started coughing again. I had to feed the hay from the shed, she's more sensitive to that hay, so I'm hosing it down. One bale looked and smelled fine to me, but she still coughed. I used the lights on her lung meridian last night and she had some definate reactions, lots of head shaking and rubbing. It would be great if her allergy to dust would be helped by this. Its tough in the winter to find hay that doesn't bother her. She only coughed a couple of times this morning, but I did get the hay I fed her last night wet down, so that may be why.

I also treated me! Friday night I started feeling AWFUL! I'd subbed at school 2 days and everyone was sick it seemed. At supper Friday night, my husband asked if I felt okay, because I looked sick. My throat was sore, eyes were red and irritated, I had constant nasal drip so my nose was getting raw, I was sneezing and I had a headache. I thought I was going to be sick as a dog the next day. I used the red light on my sinuses, nose, forehead and back of neck. I took a Tylenol for the headache, but no other meds. I slept quite well, and the next morning was surprised at how good I felt. I still had stuffy nose, so used nasal spray, but my throat was better and headache was gone. My eyes were fine too. I've used the red light every day, but no meds and have felt better each day. Sunday I took the girls to the movies and yesterday was back to mostly normal. I'm impressed because I was sure I would be soooo sick. My son, DJ, told me he felt awful last night, same symptoms. I had him use the light, so will be curious to see how he feels this morning.

2008-03-22T12:04:00.003-04:00

Back on Track Equine Therapy

Back on Track is now an official business. I finally got an ID number and now need to make business cards, flyers, etc. I'm very excited about using this therapy system, I've had some great results on my own horses and people, dogs and the cat too!

My mare, Molly, has had an enlarged udder since having her colt 4 years ago. She suffers with mastitis every winter and we've only had success treating the symptoms. I had her hormone levels checked and they were fine. I decided to have her be the test horse when Dan Sumerel came to show me how the therapy works and noticed a difference in her after that. A couple of weeks ago, I finally got a chance to scan and treat her again. Only 4 points showed up, the reproductive ones on her gut. I treated them and she's looking so much better, almost normal now! I should have taken pictures, but my camera died and I haven't replaced it yet. I know the farrier will be impressed as we've discussed her condition before. Maybe we will get through next November with no hours spent in the cold trying to relieve the poor girl's discomfort.

River is still doing great. I've been working on Angel's hind legs and will post a separate post about that later.

2008-03-21T15:30:00.003-04:00

So Darn CUTE!!!!

Cleo rides Blaze

2008-03-13T19:48:00.004-04:00

Alternate use for Vet Wrap

When the little Arab, Maya, had her abcess, I had to wrap it, so needed a few rolls of vet wrap. I let the girls help pick out the colors but when I went to use it, a couple of rolls were missing. The mystery was soon solved when I discovered the new wardrobe the Bratz dolls were sporting! These girls are always thinking up new things to entertain themselves, I love their imaginations. They had more fun with a few rolls of vet wrap than with the extensive wardrobes that come with the dolls!

2008-03-13T08:55:00.002-04:00

Simple Knee Surgery?

My husband went in for a simple arthroscopic knee procedure to repair a torn meniscus and everything went wonderfully. The surgeon said it was easy to fix and his knee looks great, no arthritis or anything. Alan felt great, his knee was not painful at all and he had no problems walking on it, except his calf really hurt after the second day. He said it felt tight, like it does after starting jogging after time off, we thought it maybe from the exercises he needed to do. But it didn't get better, I really didn't feel comfortable with it, so finally demanded he call and get it looked at. He has a small blood clot in his calf. He had been on aspirin because the surgeon was concerned about his varicose veins, but he'd never told us the symptoms of a blood clot and we didn't think to ask. Thank goodness for the Internet, that's where I found the info I needed to convince him to get it looked at. So now we're on blood thinners and I have to give him injections for 5 days and coumadin for 3-6 months. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it resolves quickly and without incident!

2008-03-07T21:39:00.004-05:00

New Hay

Well here is the report on the new hay! I paid the same price for the new bale as I did the old one. Most of the bales seem fine, although I did have a bale that triggered River's coughing. The new hay is looser packed than the original hay and baled in smaller bales. They weigh about half as much as the other bales. Now I own a whole trailer full of those "cute little bales of hay" that I first saw at the Vermont 100 Endurance Race last summer. I had seen some bales of hay in the back of the trailer of the people we were crewing for and said to L, "Look at those cute little bales of hay, I wonder where they get those." L looked at me and asked what I meant, I told her they were half the size of my bales. She just glared at me and said they were the size bales she got too, then growled "Don't even tell me how much you pay for your hay!" This hay will get me to warmer weather when I can soak the rest of my hay, but I will be going back to my hay guy. Its worth the hour round trip!

2008-03-05T16:50:00.007-05:00

Feeding on the Hill

I've noticed since I started bringing the horses up the wooded hillside to eat lunch and supper that they don't stay up here and eat til everything is gone like they do when I feed in the paddock. They will come trotting or cantering up and walk around to the many different little piles of hay I spread, tasting each one, chasing each other off, coming back together to share a pile. Then at least twice, they will travel down the hill to the paddock area and get a drink, check things out, take a nap sometimes and then head back up to finish the hay. If I throw hay piles in the paddock, they stay right there wolf it down and then stand around like bumps on a log. Hmmmm, I can't wait to try the track system of pasturing when I get down to Pittston!

2008-03-04T19:00:00.008-05:00

February Sleigh Ride

During the February vacation week, we joined the other riding students of Orient Farm at Lemeiux's Orchard for a sleigh ride. It was quite cold, the wind was blowing in the open field, but we were sheltered in the woods. If it had been any colder, it would have been miserable. Mr. L. hitched up the two Percheron geldings, Tom & Jerry. They are 10 yo and well-behaved. They had to wait after being hitched for the runners to be pried out of the ice, they stood patiently thank goodness! We started out in the apple orchard, the horses were eager to go and everyone was excited to have the opportunity to enjoy the horses and each other. One parent said it was a dream of hers to go on a sleigh ride, she was so happy! We rode about a mile into the woods and unloaded to have a hot dog roast. We were so grateful for the warm fire! Mr. L. made sure the horses were covered with their blankets and fed them carrots as they waited for us to eat lunch. After the hot dogs, the kids made s'mores and then we loaded up and headed home. We of course had to sing "Jingle Bells" on the way back. Everyone had a great time and we all agreed to do this again next year.

2008-03-04T10:41:00.004-05:00

Back on Track with Back on Track!

Well, I've finally decided that I'm going back to my original idea of living above the barn! We've explored other options, yurts, round Deltec homes, cordwood houses, and regular square houses. I've learned so much about the different building techniques, and plan to use some of them for out-buildings, but finishing the space above the barn feels like the right choice for now at least. Alan and I immediately fell in love with the same barn when looking and he's happy to know what direction to head in now! Truth be told, he would move down there tomorrow and live in a tent, just to be there. The only other place I've seen him so excited to be is Grand Manan Island, you can see him relax and see the joy in his face as soon as he steps foot on the Island, the land on Hemlock Lane has the same effect on him. It already feels like home to him.

I've been worried about moving the girls, then learned that Macy's best friend's parents are getting divorced and she is moving next week, to another town and school. At least we will move together. I'm so very sorry about that family, but it makes the decision to move easier for me somehow.

Its such a nice day already, I'm getting a load of hay soon from a different source, and have Aikido tonight. We had breakfast together at Tim Horton's as Alan had a doctor's appointment at 8:40 this morning after getting called in to work at 4:00 pm last night and getting home at 5:30am this morning. Will let you know how the hay works out, my friend said its the best she's ever had, so we'll see! I will have to post pictures of the sleigh ride we took at the apple orchard that sells the hay, it was so fun!

2008-03-03T11:11:00.003-05:00

New Favorite LOA Quote

"Reality is still just a story. Pick the happy one!"

Replacing "Energy flows where attention goes."

Acceptance

2008-03-03T07:54:00.004-05:00

A couple of on-line groups I'm a member of have been discussing acceptance. One is a horse-related group and one is a Law of Attraction group. I am continually amazed at the extent these two seemingly unrelated groups end up discussing the same topics and struggling or triumphing with some of the concepts integral to succeeding in either area. That is the reason I so love Mark Rashid, he was the first I ever heard talk about horsemanship as an extension of how you live your life and that actually practises it extensively, always bringing something new to the table to share with others. I'm sure a few other clinicians discuss this, Harry Whitney comes to mind, but Mark's stuff is what I've had most accessible to study.

Acceptance has been a tough one for me, accepting things as they are and then letting go is really the only way to make progress. For someone who likes to know who, what , where , when and how something is going to happen, this is difficult! Especially if you are really attached to the outcome. One of the biggest examples I've had was buying the land in Pittston. We had been wanting to move for a few years, I wanted to stay in Vassalboro. Many properties came up for sale, but none were quite right. Meanwhile, I was so unhappy with what I had here, always looking at other set ups and feeling many "if onlys". If only we had more land, if only our land was flat, etc, etc. Then I read a few things about barefoot trimming and how traveling over rocks, up hills, over logs and through wet areas helped the hooves. We had those features right here. Finally after the annual Memorial Day parade that we rode our horses in for the first time, a very respected horseman struck up a conversation with me and when he realized where I lived he said he'd been tempted to stop in and ask why we hadn't fenced in the rest of the land to give the horses access to the stream and woods. So for my 45th birthday, I asked for fencing and we fenced in the rest of our "unusable" land, a wooded hillside littered with rocks, stumps, logs and a gully with a stream. It was the best decision I've made, the horses have thrived. About two weeks after putting up the fence and being so thrilled with the results, thinking that it was okay if we ended up staying here, I was finally happy with what I had, the chance to buy the land materialized! Once I accepted the reality of where I was and stopped resisting that reality, new opportunity appeared. Then the whole story of how we decided to buy the land started, and that was quite an example of many "coincidences" guiding our decisions!

In my horsemanship, accepting the fact that its a journey not a destination and that the horses always try their best to get along has made it so much more enjoyable and less stressful. Letting go of the thought that they should do as I ask just because I ask was a big one. Now I accept that they are trying and something is making it difficult for them. Maybe its me, something I haven't noticed in the environment, the way they feel that day. I've learned so many things by stepping back after a couple of asks and assessing whats going on. It amazes me at the things I've been made aware of by listening to the horses. The latest example is River's experience with the farrier. Next time a horse constantly pulls feet away after behaving for previous trims, I will investigate further. Acceptance in riding is helping me improve so much. Instead of resisting a pull I try to go with it, then redirect it. When wanting to slow down, taking that forward energy and practising circles, all with an accepting attitude instead of an adversarial attitude. Doing the same move with different attitudes is so powerful.

In parenting, I still struggle with acceptance. I find its easier to let the horses be themselves than it is for me to let my children be themselves. Some people improve their horsemanship through parenting, but I have improved my parenting through my horsemanship. I'm learning to let go of taking everything personally and trying to see that most things are about them, not me. Growing up in the role of taking care of my siblings, feeling that I needed to protect them, has resulted in feeling that I'm somehow responsible for my children's problems and failures. Two of them are very good at reinforcing that feeling! I'm finally learning to let go and not accept the responsibility for everything they do or feel. Now I'm just trying to encourage and support instead of control and get entangled in power struggles. The attitude of do it because I said so and not looking at why they may not do as I ask has been much harder to let go of in my parenting.

I am learning acceptance in Aikido also. Accepting the energy of an attacker and redirecting it. Accepting the fact that I will do things incorrectly and that's ok. Accepting that Sensai will step in and correct what needs correcting, that I don't have to constantly be looking to him for approval. Letting go of the need to keep asking "Am I doing this right?" I'm finding it easier with Aikido to just go and have fun, enjoy each new thing I learn and not worry about doing everything perfectly right away. It gets easier each week, even as the moves get harder. A big part of it I believe, is the acceptance I feel from the others in the class. Everyone helps everyone else, there's no competition, each just striving to better themselves, each at a different level. When someone does well, everyone acknowledges it, good job is commonly heard. It feels like a Mark Rashid clinic, lol!

2008-03-01T10:44:00.017-05:00

Dream Weaver

For the past couple of months, I have had vivid dreams of being pregnant or having a baby. Or should I say, nightmares! Not only that, I have had actual feelings of having a baby kick while awake, enough so that I was going to make a doctor's appointment to check it out. I KNOW I'm not pregnant and have no idea how I can have these physical symptoms. They aren't spasms or gas. I finally started asking a few people if that had ever happened to them and after the looks I got, decided to stop doing that, LOL!

The first dream I remember having was telling Alan I was pregnant. My belly was big and you could see the baby moving. He didn't believe me and kept asking me if I was sure and I told him yes, I could FEEL it. The second one, I had twin boys and remember saying I thought six kids was enough. I realized in the dream that I had forgotten to feed them and felt really bad about that, but then said, "Well, I really didn't want them anyway". The third one, I let someone else carry my baby and they dropped it on the rocks! I was horrified and vowed to carry it myself from then on. I wake up thinking thank God that it was only a dream.

The physical thing started right after the last dream of someone dropping my baby. The baby is usually a boy.

I looked up the symbolism of being pregnant or a birth in dreams and they said it usually symbolizes a new project or life change that you are giving birth too. The only thing I can think of is moving to the land in Pittston and how I've been trying to hang onto our present house while planning what to do down there. I think I need to let go of this old place I'm at and embrace the new adventure. What I feel is that this is the home my boys grew up in, they talk about buying the house, how this is home, etc. I even asked Alan where the boys would come home to this summer if we move! As if they couldn't find us. I finally had a dream the other night that Ryan & Will came home at the same time and the setting wasn't this house, but everything was fine and we had a great visit. At this point, I'm willing to do anything, even move, to get these freaky dreams to stop!

2008-02-29T22:09:00.008-05:00

Newest Horsey Adventure

About a year ago I discovered a tra
iner named Dan Sumerel. I was intrigued by his training philosophy so ordered his videos. I happened to find one of the last sets of his video tapes on E-Bay and shopped victoriously! In reading through his web-site, I learned about the red-light therapy units he uses and sells. I was very interested in the results he reported having. I kept the thought if it in the back of my mind and every so often things related to that therapy would pop into my life. My sister works at a state veteran's facility in the OT department and they had a unit they used for circulation problems in patients. She told me of a man that had contacted her to ask about getting treated because he had seen red-light therapy used on Thoroughbreds at the California race tracks and the great results they got.

In January, I learned Dan was going to be at a local Horseman's Conference and decided to go meet him. I ended up asking him to come scan and treat my mare, Molly. It was interesting to see how the therapy worked and getting to talk to Dan. I really liked him and so did my horse and family. The feeling that this therapy would be a wonderful thing to have available for horses and owners grew stronger and I seriously began thinking about buying a unit. They are quite costly, so I decided to see if I could find a used one. Enter E-Bay again! I found one unit on there, the only one that's ever been offered as far as I can see, and at a price I felt comfortable with. I was the only bidder and the owners of the unit were very nice and are available to answer my questions. I got my unit quickly and had a client right away, me! A few days before receiving it, my back had started spasming off and on if I moved a certain way. I treated myself and the next day, no back problems. However, my neck was very stiff, so I treated that and next day no stiff neck! Neither have bothered me since.

On Monday, Feb. 25, I finally got a chance to use the unit on the horses. I was scanning one mare when the farrier showed up to trim feet. Things went well until trimming River. I put the light cap that came with the therapy unit on all the horses as they were trimmed and they were very calm and drowsy. River was the same, but she kept pulling her feet away. She had been so good last time she was trimmed, we couldn't figure out what was going on until we got to the right hind. She pulled that one away and tried to take a step and was dead lame on the left hind! We were horrified and felt so bad when we realized that's what she had been trying to tell us. We watched her walk around, checked her legs for swelling or heat and couldn't really see anything that woud have told us anything was wrong. He decided to come back when he's in the area in a few days to finish the hind hooves. After he left, I called the horses up back to eat and realized that River had been walking up back for the past few days instead of leading the others up at a trot or canter. I had thought maybe it was the footing or her lungs being congested, but now think she must have slipped and pulled a muscle or something.

On Tuesday I scanned River and treated the problem areas I found. As I was scanning her, she was reactive to the pressure of the wand when I got to her hind end, flinching and moving away. When I got to the treatment, she peed, pooped, did a full body shake, rubbed her head on her front leg and licked and chewed, all signs of things starting to flow again. She did some big sighs and was very cooperative. The next morning was a new snow fall and I looked out to see River lay down and roll, then get up, rear, buck and kick up her heels and go trotting and cantering around the pasture with the other horses. I couldn't believe it! For as tender as she had been less than 24 hours before, she was definately feeling much better. I was actually a little concerned she would hurt herself again. I ended up scanning and treating her again that day and found many less points and getting few reactions from River, just some sighs and licking and chewing. She seems back to her old self and I'm a firm believer in the validity of this therapy.

Its so weird how all the pieces fell into place to make it possible for me to make the decision to give this a try. I will be documenting the results I get from using it here. It will have to warm up a bit before I use it on the horses again though! I used it on my daughter's head after she fell backwards and got a huge egg on her head. The bump was mostly gone the next day. I also used it on my mom's back a week ago and it hasn't bothered her since.

The red-light therapy is supposed to help rebuild collagen, so I thought I'd use it on my face! After using it on my lips and chin a couple of days later my lower lip felt different. I thought maybe I was getting Angelina Jolie lips, then realized that the difference was I could actually FEEL my lip. I sustained nerve damage in my lip and chin from surgery on my jaw and have had numb areas. I don't have all the feeling back yet, but it is better. I never even thought about that happening so was taken completely by surprise!

There Was a Little Birdie

2008-01-25T22:34:00.002-05:00

When I got my first horse, 5 years ago, my youngest son, Will, got a parakeet for helping build the barn. He picked out a greenish blue parakeet and named it Rocky. Will loves all the Rocky movies and does a fair impression of Sly Stallone.

We'd never had a bird before and once Will got him hand tamed in his bedroom, he brought him out for all of us to enjoy. My husband is a great whistler and would make all these sounds. Little Rocky would sit on the front collar of Alan's shirt and put his beak against his lips to feel the vibrations. Soon he was doing cat calls and lots of different whistle tunes. Then he started mimicking the phone ringing and the bell that hung in his cage! He loved to sample whatever you may be drinking or eating and developed a taste for beer! He ended up staying out of his cage most of the time riding around on someone's shoulder or "helping" with chores, like shredding my bills for me or at Christmas time making neat designs on the wrapping paper. We'd let him run around the table top, we'd bought tubes of chapstick with sparkley wrapping and he'd knock them over, roll them around and then stand them back up. We never knew a bird could be such a peronality and so smart. I loved that he wolf-whistled at me whenever I entered the room he was in.

We had quite a menagerie at that time, guinea pigs, a rat, a cat, dog, parakeet, flock of chickens and horses. Everyone seemed to get along though, dog didn't eat chickens or other small pets, cat kept hunting activities limited to outside. Then one day, I couldn't find Rocky. Will and I looked everywhere. I kept thinking I heard him and would go looking, only to come up empty. We wondered if he'd flown outside, but it was quite cold and didn't think that was where he went. We asked the girls if they had seen him and they said no. We searched for hours. Then the girls said that they had seen him, they had taken him down into Dustin's room and neither remembered bringing him back upstairs. They had shut off the light so he couldn't see to fly. I found a feather and a spot of blood. We were all devastated, my husband didn't believe it and kept looking for him, but he was gone. Will blamed the cat, Fancy, he was so upset. I didn't remember the cat leaving the room when I opened the door, but what else could've happened to him? A few months later, Will got another bird. Dustin brought his rat, Alexis, up to meet the new family member, and she attacked it! Luckily, the boys saw what was about to happen and saved the bird, but now knew what had happened to Rocky and why only a feather was left. The cat never ate bird's heads, and I had thought that was strange. The rat ate the bird, and we'd had no idea they would do that. It bothers me still that that's what happened, I almost wish the cat had been the culprit. Will apoligized to Fancy and I vowed no more rats! We all still miss Rocky and remember how much fun and laughter he brought to us in his short life. There hasn't been another bird like him.