Serene Sunday

I've not had pony posts lately because I've been a bit distracted with a furry kitty.  Dani is doing good, staying warm in the winter storms we've had and getting some turn out time.  Hopefully with the Thanksgiving holiday and warmer weather I can get some riding in!

So about the kitty, Little Miss Stubs is very vocal when asking for her food.  I listened to my husbands advice and on Sunday went out with a carrier to try and coax her with food into it and then close the door.  I must have closed the door too soon or when she wasn't far enough in because she backed out really fast, bumped open the door and ran off about 10 feet.  She came back but didn't get too close to me, she did go back into the carrier to eat food when I was far enough away.

I'm trying a live trap very soon.  We've had some cold, cold weather and I hate having her out there without a good place to sleep.  She has a bed out of the wind but she's a domestic critter that should be taken care of as I've said before, I'm not sure I'm an advocate of feral cat colonies.  I'm not against outdoor cats; I plan to have barn cats but be able to provide a really nice location for them to stay and regular vet care just like my indoor kitty.  At my previous barn the cats stayed in the laundry room...nice and warm.  

Wish me luck with catching her and that the transition into our house will go well.  Hopefully it will work well for her, I really don't want to bring her back to the barn where I know her life could be shorter and where she's all alone


UPDATE: Stubs was successfully trapped after many in and outs in the trap....she was almost too tiny to set it off!  She is now warm in our guest bedroom under the bed with food, water, bedding and a litter box.  Over the next couple of weeks she'll adjust and we can start to really love on her.  Now I won't be so worried about her when I go to the barn!!!  I can just concentrate on Dani!

COWS!!!

KCRC had their maintenance day last weekend.  We did various clean-up chores around the grounds and moved equipment into storage for the winter.  That same day the ranch that is just north of us utilized our sorting pens to haul their cattle (I'm assuming the adults are going to slaughter...."coming to a dinner plate near you!").  The cows live on several hundred acres of land so these pens are only for them to sort the animals and then load them up on the trucks.  Man they make a raucous!  

 

I'm not a country girl, and I'm not a cowgirl so it was fun to see the cowboys herd the moo's into the pens and do this cowboy work.  Someday I think it'd be great to have a miniature Jersey Cow as a pet to graze with my horses.  No interest in raising my own dinner.  I like buying my organic steaks at Wholefoods...pre-cut and ready to grill!

A Little More on Hay

Being a self-care boarder I've had to learn a lot about hay since May.  I still have a lot to learn.  My biggest issue has been with mold.  The recent 100 bales I received from the West Slope of Colorado have been good but a little inconsistent; some have a little bit of alfalfa and then there are some so compact that mold is an issue.  I'm still doing some research on hay producers for next summers hay purchases since I'm not 100% satisfied.  Still the bales that are good are good and Daenerys approved.  I've only had about 3 so far with issues or partial issues.  Maybe I'm just really particular or picky being so new to horses but as I've said before, I'd rather through away a $11 bale than have a huge vet bill from feeding bad hay.  I'd also rather throw away hay I'm just not certain about...no sense risking it!

I need to find a good consistent producer of hay for next year; one that I can rely on and if I do find inner moldy flakes perhaps have the guarantee to bring a bale back...though that seems like it could be a pain for only a bale here and there.  I do have the guarantee where I bought this hay, it's a charity I'm supporting, but it's not their hay, it's hay they purchased and sold for a small profit to help with their mission.  I don't feel right bringing a bale here and there back, they don't have this hay supply anymore and may not have a replacement bale...hence I'd be taking money from them in a sense.

Is it really worth bringing back one or two bales $11 here and there to a distributor if you consider gas and time?  A large amount of bad hay is one thing; that could be thousands of dollars.  A large bale that is moldy is worth exchanging since they are several hundreds of pounds of hay and cost around $100-200 a bale.  When is it actually worth it to get a small hay bale exchange?  When is it easier to just chuck the small bale?  So far I've just tossed them as I've been mostly happy with this load.

My husband has asked about what moldy hay looks like; I saved him a flake once to show him but when I had about half a bale of issues I decided to whip out the iphone to make a short video; it is easier to see in video I think than some of the photos I've tried to take with my iphone.  Sometimes mold is subtle.  Sometimes it's pretty obvious.   Here's a quick video about a bale that had a large section of mold that was pretty obvious.  

 

 All hay has a bit of dust from the ground in which it was grown and from tiny bits of hay created from processing, moving, storing etc.  The plume from a moldy section actually looks like poofs of smoke when you open up the section.  I try to be cautious of every bale I open and look for any signs of mold.  Brown bits of hay do not necessarily mean it's moldy but a lot of it should make you look at the hay a little closer.  I think the biggest give away for me is a really compact and hard to separate flake.  I don't have a good sense of smell but if my nose is right up against the moldy area it does smell a bit musty.  I can't rely on my sense of smell alone.  Hopefully this video will help others understand what moldy hay looks like.  Make sure you have good lighting where you feed your horse so you can see the hay well.

Next year KCRC will get the hay committee in full gear I hope.  Those that had a good deal this past year I'll touch base with and see what they really thought of their hay.  If we can get a co-op together that will rock.  I may have two horses next year so it will be even more paramount to find a good source of hay.

I Was Mewed At!

If a cat meows at you, mews even, ever so faintly it's a compliment.  Stubbs is saying I'm hers and she wants something; needs something from me.  The other day she was waiting for me in her little spot.  She was ready for dinner.  I gave her the can contents in her little bowl and then put the empty can on the old waterer (it's that yellowish thing next to the hay bin).  I then went about cleaning up and feeding Dani.

Well Little Miss Stubbs wanted to get the little bits still in that can so she jumped up to the waterer and began licking the inside of the can, it slipped onto the ground and so she jumped off and finished up on the ground.  She is acting braver around me ever day.

Yesterday she was only about 4 feet away, I was squatted down turned to the side and glancing at her; trying not to threaten her in any way.  She made several moves towards me like she wanted to rub against me (Armani does this all the time but actually follows through and loves on me, almost to the point of me not being able to move!).  She took several steps but then stopped and turned and moved back to where she was before.  She looked at me, head cocked eyes wide in longing almost.  She mewed faintly.  She made several moves towards me; she wasn't really sure, there was a mini battle going on inside her.  Was she ready to fully trust me yet?

She will get a bit of a shock when I take her home and to the vet for neutering and all that fun stuff.  It's hard to explain to a precious little feline that it's in her best interest.  That's why I don't want to do the catch, spay and release right away like feral cat programs do.  She's not a feral cat, she's a stray of which I know the origin.  I want to keep building the trust.  Who knows she may decide she'd rather be an indoor kitty and stay with us.  I've warned about this possibility Steve but we both agree that it's up to her.  We have Armani and the pups to worry about too, everyone has to agree to the arrangement.  Either  way I want her to be happy.  It's fun having a little feline friend at the barn though!

The interactions between her and Dani are cute.  One time Stubbs was sitting on the matt watching Dani and I.  Dani saw the little cat and with her head down low and ears pricked forward went to go say hello.  Their eyes were locked and curious but as the large equine moved closer to the tiny kitty, Stubbs bolted a couple feet to the other side of the railing.  "That's close enough thank you!"  I often wonder how long Stubbs hangs around with Dani after I leave each night.  The time is approaching when I'll be setting the live trap....early December is the plan, AFTER a party my hubby and I are hosting don't need to traumatize the poor thing even more!  Who knows if I'll need the trap by then.  

Anyways, that's my update on the kitty, she's getting braver, coming closer and is still just as precious as ever!

Veteran's Day Parade 2013

First I would like to start this post with a solemn than you.

Thank you Veterans for your sacrifice and service.  Our country is made stronger by you.  You deserve more honors than we can bestow upon you.

And though this is more for Memorial Day, my thoughts always go to a high school friend 

Sgt. Scott Kirkpatrick 

who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country to uphold  our American ideals.

Now onto our parade!  I joined the KCRC group on Saturday November 9th for the Colorado Springs Veteran's Day parade.  There were 96 entrants and KCRC was dead last.  So we did lots of waiting.  We arrived early downtown.  We had about 9 riders I think and then Loren and Julie's wagon pulled by the beautiful buckskin Angel.

I was signed up with Ann as a pooper scooper.  In Monument Marie and I pushed a wheel barrow for the manure.  In this parade....we had an ATV!!!  Ann didn't want to drive it so I drove and she sat "side saddle" in order to jump off during the parade for clean up.  Since I didn't have a horse to get ready I took pictures and helped Loren untangle the fringe on his horse wagon.

We gathered up and walked to the start of the parade and waited on a side street.  We waited, and waited and waited.  Horses pooped, Ann or I ran to clean up the pile.  Our bucket was beginning to fill and we hadn't even started the parade yet!  Angel was loving on her momma while we waited in the shade.  Below she was trying to find a cookie that Julie just ate and Julie was saying "All gone!"  The horses were a bit impatient just standing around so many of the riders walked them up and down the road.  

We headed over to where the parade was passing by....not the official start but at least we could listen to the bands and see the motorcycle groups (wow there are so many!) drive by.  The noise was loud and echoed downtown.  The horses were great!  Some were a bit irritated or scared but nothing major.  One of the club members mentioned he doesn't bring his guy to the larger down town parades.  His horse was freaked out by cars chasing him and revving their engines....so freaked out he backed up through the crowd.  I can understand why he's not a fan of the larger parades.

I knew Dani would be freaking at the really loud sounds from the parade.  She'd need a lot of work with desensitizing!  There are parade sound CD's you can buy and lots of other exercises you can do to get your horse calmer and prepared for parades.  The smaller town parades are where we'll start I think!  For now I'm fine with being the pooper scooper.  I'll eventually get Loki in the parade with a dog cart to haul the poop...perhaps over my Christmas vacation I'll work on that project!

The parade finally started for us...or I guess more accurately, finally finished with us.  Ross and  Laurie lead our group with our banner.  Then Angel followed with a bunch of members in the carriage.  Flags for all four branches of the Military were displayed, the American flag, Colorado flag, and our club flag.  It was a great turn out!  Of course I had the rear view as you can see above!

Below are photos from a parade watcher, thanks Robin!

Unexpected Company

What a fun day Sunday was!!!  First off it was gorgeous, I only needed to wear a tee shirt.  I started Dani out in the round pen.  Since I hadn't ridden in a bit I figured it was best to see that she was in a good frame of mind. The canter to the right seems to have some issues, Dani keeps breaking into a trot.  I'll have to keep on that and see if she just doesn't use that lead as much so it feels awkward.  She didn't show any signs of pain or physical issues at least, perhaps she's just lazy on that side?

Anyhow, Dani is so fuzzy now!!  I tried to get as much dirt off her as I could without washing her.  I took a damp sponge and tried to get the fine dust that always seems to cling to her hairs.  When she rolls around here it just clings to her and brushing just creates more static cling.  The water worked okay but I also used a coat spray to help move the dirt.  It's an unending battle!  

As I was leading Dani to the arena I saw Gina and Barbara in a truck coming into the grounds.  Elaine followed shortly after with her rig.  Barbara was at the Veterans Day parade with me on Saturday (post coming on that!).  I waved at them as I walked into the arena to mount up.  I hopped on and did a slow loose walk around the outer edge of the ring.  Then I did small circles at the trot.  I felt good and in rhythm.  Dani was going at a nice pace so I extended our trot down the long side of the arena.  It was nice going!  I had NO fear, no worries and turning wasn't squirrely like it'd been before.  Dani's a sensitive gal so I don't need to ask her very hard at the trot for the turns, when I've first started trotting I think I was too tense and asked too abruptly.  Today we were in sync.  It was fantastic.

The gals joined me in the ring and worked on trots themselves.  Also lopes.  Their horses are certainly western as they can do the jog quite well.  Dani has a big trot, I don't know if I'll ever want to work on a slow jog with her.  We all gathered in a small area to chat.  The two mares ears would pin back but Barbara and I corrected our girls and they behaved themselves.  Gina and Elaine had gone to a jumping clinic and wanted to set up some poles to practice over.  They dismounted and started getting supplies from the shed.  I did a couple trots down the arena and then joined them.  Dani stood untied near the other horses in the middle of the arena while we all moved poles and jump stands.  What a good girl she was!  Her ears were pricked forward as she watched me.  I was delighted she didn't decide to walk off and try to roll with her saddle on....what a tragedy that would have been.  Nope she was perfect.  

I watched at first as the gals trotted over the poles, I just had Dani walk over them and step over the mini jump.  As the jumps got higher the gals were cantering over the poles and then the two jumps.  They were working on 2 point.  It's interesting to see the interest in jumping in a western saddle.  It's all because of the EXCA since that competition includes jumps as an obstacle.  After the session I helped them get their equipment stowed away.  It was so much fun riding with them and chit chatting about riding.  Dani was such a great girl and I felt so happy about our trotting; we felt really connected.  We had sooooo much fun!

Later while cleaning Dani's run I got to see Stubs at a earlier time than expected!  It was still bright out and she's getting closer and closer to me each day.  What a pretty little girl she is!!  Today was such a fabulous day!  Great trotting, no worries, easy posting and hanging out with KCRC friends....topped off by a cute little kitty friend.  Sometimes unexpected company just makes your day!  Happy rides!

Serene Sunday

I Feel Like I'm Being Watched....

I've mentioned my little cat friend a couple times.  She was released, along with two other kittens way before I started boarding here.  Whatever your opinions are about it, I know I feel for her.  She's all alone, I don't see other cats and she's never been spayed.  This past summer she had kittens, so at least a Tom Cat has been in the area.  The last few nights I've seen her lurking around Dani and I's stall.  She would stand about 10-15 feet away and watch me getting hay, feeding supplements and mucking the stall.  I would talk with her and glance over.  She didn't seem overly afraid but she sure kept her eyes wide open and watched me.

Behind my hay bales is where I've kept a bowl of dry food for her and haven't really tried to interact with her much but recently since I've seen her showing up more I've decided I'll call out to her, "Little Miss Stubs" and feed her wet food when I see her.  She's come by upon hearing my voice, not knowing her name of course just knowing that I'm there....she's curious. Hopefully she'll associate the food more with me and begin to trust me. Now that it's getting cold I put a nice little round bed near her dry food in the safe area behind the hay.  She'll be out of the wind and hopefully cozy if she chooses to sleep there. 

I need to get her spayed and vaccinated; that's a definite.  El Paso County has had their first rabid cat since 1966 just recently.  That was in Fountain but I know that rabies of the skunk variety has been steadily moving west from Kansas since 2008.  We've always had bat rabies but that hasn't concerned livestock and pet owners as much as the skunk rabies we have now.  

A co-worker told me he once took in a feral cat that broke his leg.  He trapped him in a live trap and gave him vet care and let him recover in a large cage at his house.  Eventually that cat became really friendly and now has chosen to be their indoor cat.  Cats sometimes choose you huh?  I don't want to necessarily make Stubs an indoor cat, I think she likes her freedom but I want to be her companion and give her veterinary care.  There are trap/neuter/release programs that I can get a trap from and then get her spayed and vaccinated.  They usually release them right away but with the cold I'd feel bad that Stubs would have a shaved belly exposed!  I think the plan is to trap her, get her veterinary care and then set her up in a cage in our spare bedroom for a couple weeks.  My hubby is on board with this plan :-)

During that time hopefully she'll adjust to humans and begin to trust me even more.  Then I can bring her back to the barn, re-acclimate her and have a little furry friend to care for in addition to my 950 lb friend.  I definitely am growing attached to her, if I leave to a new barn or buy my own place I'll be taking her with me, I'm pretty decided on that.  No one else here seems to worry about her too much, I'm afraid if I left her she'd starve to death.  The gal that released the kittens is no longer here, and obviously doesn't feed anymore.  Stubs is an unclaimed stray but seems like she could become a nice little pet.  She deserves some love I think!  When I go home and look at my little cat Armani, curled up in my lap or running through the house bouncing off walls I realize how lucky he is and how so many cats aren't so blessed. Hopefully I can share the love... 

Are You Afraid Of The Dark?

The time change.  Fall back in the U.S. where we set the clocks back an hour to save light???  That means it's getting dark when I get off work. I'd prefer to have more light in the evening and go to work in the dark.  Oh well it's not up to me.  It will progressively get darker sooner until December 21st.  Then the days will slowly get longer and the time change will occur again in the spring.  Ugh.  At least I only really have a couple months of near pitch black at the barn.  When I arrived around 4:30 pm is was a little light so I worked on yielding the hindquarters and desensitizing to the whip.  Of course at first with lashing the whip on the ground little girl got freaked out but eventually remembered...."oh yeah just stand and go to sleep".  I need to work on the whip and other noises more often....I think it will be really good for her!

So later in the evening I tested out my lighting plan.  The arena lights are very bright and expensive to run....so boarders don't have access to those.  I got a work light from Home Depot.  It's a total of 1,000 watts and is on a tripod that sets up to about 6 feet tall.  It works pretty nice!  It gave the area I needed for groundwork a good glow.  Dani wasn't bothered by the light either.

When it began getting darker I left her in the arena and went back to the stall to grab my supplies.  150 feet of extension cord and a cord connector.  I've found I need to get a spool because in the cold I"m having issue winding up all those feet!  My girl was neighing her head off in distress but calmed down once I returned.  I set the light up with my little red mare sniffing at the lamps, not worried at all.  I found a location out of the arena that illuminated what I wanted and made me happy to not have to worry about cords or lights in the way of a trotting Morgan.  We did a little more groundwork, just circling and turning in and some leading.  She wasn't worried.  Excellent.  I'll have to get some plans in place for what "training" we'll work on in the dark!  See darkness isn't so bad.

Liebster Blog Award

I was nominated back in June by S. Lauren of the Riding Again blog. I think I was busy with fires or floods or something so I must have missed it! Sorry Lauren! Thanks for the nomination, I really appreciate it!


11 random facts about myself

1) I have a large 40 gallon Crabitat where I keep 7 hermit crabs. I plan on expanding this to a 90 gallon tank that replicates the tidepool areas of beaches....and getting more crabs!!

2) I have a pet tarantula named Shelob

3) I'm a beer lover and enjoy my hubby and friends home brews as well as Colorado micro brews (our "brewery" is called The Parched Pony).  Steve and I at the Salida MicroBrew Fest.

4) Though I haven't done it in a while I make my own soap from scratch (chemical reaction of lye with fats and oils to make the soap....I don't do melt and pour!).  My website is way outdated, I've made soap more recently than 2008!!!

5) My husband sewed my wedding dress and his wedding tunic back in 2009.  I sewed the trim, belt and arm bands and made banners for a wedding arch.

6) I'm a big Sci-Fi and Fantasy fan (Dani is named after Daenerys the Khaleesi from Game of Thrones afterall)


7) My favorite city in the world is Rome. We went there on our honeymoon and I loved it! I have the Rosetta Stone for Italian but haven't spent the time to learn it.

8) I'm fascinated by Entomology. I studied insects in many classes as an undergrad and a graduate student. So far I've only had one position working with insects (West Nile and Plague- public health) but those programs don't exist anymore in my county :-(

9) In high school I was really into industrial/goth/grunge music.  Still am, love it!  I'm very eclectic in my music tastes...not too much I really dislike.  Country, Classical, Pop, World, Rock, Heavy Metal......

10) I always have painted toe nails- my one girly thing; even though I rarely wear open toed shoes in which you can see them!

11) Chickadees are my favorite Passerine (studied Ornithology in college as well). My favorite Falconiformes is the Peregrine Falcon, I spent 4 months in Gunnison Colorado working on a project that observed known nests (sitting on a cliff with a monoscope). I got paid to watch baby falcons grow up!!!


The following questions were given to me by Lauren to answer on my blog. Here I go!


1. Describe your dream horse.

My dream horse is a horse that has spunk but brains. Someone trustworthy and stable but not boring. A horse that learns easily and is forgiving. Affectionate yet independent. They should also be a mare, chestnut and of the Morgan persuasion! LOL. Really, Daenerys is pretty close to my ideal, she's a great horse!

Of course in a fantasy a gorgeous black Freisian who is push button and gentle and never shies would be up there too!


2. What kind of pets do you have?

Freshwater fish (in a planted tank: angels, neons, gouramis etc), 7 hermit crabs, 1 tarantual, 2 dogs (Jack Russel and Aussie Border Collie mix), and 1 cat (tuxedo cat named Armani)

3. Your favorite food.

Mexican always tends to be my favorite food though I love a good medium rare steak. Mmmm, mmmm!

4. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I've been to Rome but I'd go back in a heartbeat! I think to try something new and what hubby and I plan for the next trip would be Ireland.


5. What are your favorite stores to shop at?

Big R and Dover Saddlery. I hate shopping but if it's horse stuff, even horse clothes, I have a better time with it. Work clothes or going out clothes....just shoot me please.


6. What are some things on your "bucket list?"

To see a whale in the wild

See and touch an iceberg
View the Northern Lights
Visit the Ngorongoro Crater
Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef.....

There's more but those are what I thought of right now


7. What are you talented at?

I'm out of practice and haven't whipped out my SLR camera in a while but I've taken some nice shots. I love photography but like other hobbies I sometimes don't have the time for it.


8. What are your pet peeves?

Biggest one...when people say Washington but they really mean D.C. I grew up in the D.C. area so it just irks me. We have a state too!!!  Be specific!!


9. Favorite quote?

"Who ever said diamonds are a girls best friend never owned a horse"



10. If you magically got $1,000 how would you spend it?

Easy I'd save it towards the trailer I want to buy by spring!!

11. What's an act of kindness you've done?

I don't know....I sent a ton of information and a book to my cousin who is spending a year in Antarctica. He's new to cameras and wants to take pictures of the Aurora Australis and of course snow pictures can be a challenge. So I did a lot of research and printed off probably a books worth of stuff, included a basic book I had and a card and sent it to my cousin so he has it before leaving for the South Pole.  I guess that's an act of kindness.  I try and just help people out when I can

*************************************************

Now I will select 11 Bloggers to nominate...some are horse blogs some are not. I've decided to have different questions for the horse bloggers and more general questions for the non horse blogger. Click on each blog below, hopefully they will display a Liebster Award post soon! Unlike me who completely missed out by several months! LOL.  Hopefully I can make it to each blog to let them know they are nominated before they see it here.  I'll try!!!


Nominated Blogs


1) A Horse Crazy American in Germany

2) Cash's Steppin Up

3) Drafty Hafy Girl

4) Good Morning Starshine

5) Mistress Trinity

6) Actually Ashleigh

7) Old Morgans

8) The Soap Bar

9) Boots and Saddles

10) Luke, The Large Black Mule

11) Brays of Our Lives


How to Accept the Award: The Liebster Blog Award is a way to recognize blogs who have less than 200 followers. Liebster is a German word that means beloved and valued. Here are the rules for accepting the award:

• Thank the person who nominated you and include a link back to their blog.

• List 11 random facts about yourself.

• Answer the 11 questions given to you.

1. What is your first memory of a horse?
2. What other hobbies do you have?
3. Describe a favorite pet that wasn't a horse
4. What do you do?  Work/kids/volunteer etc
5. Where is your "happy place"?
6. Describe a favorite memory you have with your grandma
7. What type of books do you like to read?
8. What is your favorite color and why?
9. If you could move to any state in the U.S. right now, no issues, where do you think you'd go and why?
10. What are some top items on your "bucket list"? (I liked that question!)
11. If aliens landed on the planet and took humans as captives which would you prefer...to be in their zoo or in their traveling circus and why?

• Create 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate.

• Choose 11 bloggers with 200 or fewer followers to nominate and include links to their blogs.

• Go to each blogger's page and let them know you have nominated them.

Serene Sunday

Long in the tooth

I've been a bad blogger.  But my excuse is that work has been very busy lately.  I've been working on a major plan change and writing A LOT.  So blogging just hasn't sounded like fun to me after work!

KCRC set up a vaccine and floating clinic.  Perfect!  I got Dani all her shots and an updated Coggins test.  Then she got her teeth worked on.  Last year I had just bought her and she'd not had this done in many years.  She had long incisors and very sharp points.  This time she wasn't as bad.  They just needed to smooth out a couple edges.

The big mobile trailer was awesome but of course even a drugged up Dani had issues with wanting to walk into the trailer.  She eventually got in with encouragement.  I felt helpless but figured I'd let the doctor handle it, I couldn't exactly lunge her in a circle while drugged up anyways.

The holding stall looked supportive and she didn't seem to be too worried.  But when the filing started she jerked her head a bit.  She usually needs more sedative than other horses.  I find that interesting.  The doctor also mentioned to his new assistant that most horses aren't as difficult as her.  LOL.  My Daenerys of course is a difficult horse.  She's just a little redhead that let's you know her opinion on things.  All in all though it went well and I was glad her tooth health is good, it feels great to get her vaccines, coggins and floating all done with for the winter it's satisfying just like when I got all that hay!

All drugged up the assistant helped me guide her up the little hill to her pen where Dani just stood in the sun and rested.  With the extra shots she usually takes a bit to wake back up.  Her ears followed me around as I mucked the stall though.  She's so cute all sleepy.

There were more mules than horses that came to the clinic.  It was a pretty good turn out!  I hung out and just chatted horse stuff with everyone.  Talked to Jim about trailers, and met new gals and talked about trail riding.  Some of the trail ride leaders are always asking when I'll come out with them.  I sure hope to next year!  It was a great day, not too cold either.  Once Dani was more awake I took off for home to get things done there.  I returned that evening to feed her and she was back to her active self so I felt more than comfortable giving her the full evenings feeding.

The following week we had a hoof trim and her hooves were looking great my farrier said.  Sweet!  I've been using the riders rasp on her hooves to round them and using the hoof ointment more often even though our weather is getting more consistent now compared to the summer.  I'll keep on it.  Also with the addition of her hoof supplement in 6 months her feet will be stellar!!  Here's hoping!