Wow, did I have a bad experience taking Chantix. It made me suicidal and psychotic. The FDA urges you to report bad side effects of Chantix. Here's the link.


https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/medwatch-online.htm

My baby girl got a trophy in Hunter Under Saddle!! Also there is a pic of Western Pleasure. She had fun and looked like a doll. Matt was kind of stiff this morning - he's older and it finally turned cool - but when he went into the ring, the stiffness disappeared. He knew he was "on" and he performed!! What a guy!!! He got lots of treats and turned out to eat grass with his buddy right after the show!!

The only thing I have left to do, which I can't believe I forgot, is put extra holes in the stirrups for the western saddle. I don't think I'll bath Matt - it has turned rather cold - so a good brushing is what he'll get this am. Nervous. J is here to help. Mother is coming later.

The farrier came and the boys were good. They both got trims. We are all mystified by the quarter crack that Matt has because it doesn't start up on the skin - it begins about 1/4 inch down and stays together until it starts to really grow out. No shoes on Matt for now. In 4 weeks he will be better. Dude is ready for shoes any time, but I held off because I can't ride much right now anyway. I did get Matt wormed yesterday. He stood with it in his mouth forever before he swallowed. LOL.

What with my hurt foot I haven't been riding but I could no longer stand it today. I caught Dude with just his bridle. I figured ride bareback since I can't get my foot in the stirrup anyway. I used a little garden chair to help me mount. I rode Dude for awhile and thn tried to get him to take me back to my little chair to get off. We've done this procedure before albeit last week. He walked up to my little chair stopped and wouldn't take me around it. Then, he ever so carefully tipped it over with his nose. I luaghed my ass of and slid off holding lots of his neck and mane and trying to land only on my good foot. I'm still laughing. Can he have done this purposely? No, he couldn't be that smart could he?




x-posted to equestrian

Here's the deal. I cannot access any photobucket images or youtube videos or even load either website at work. They have obviously done something to block these sites. WTF!!! This fucking sucks worse than the time they blocked ebay for a couple of years. Now they leave ebay alone and do this shit. WTF!!!!

Here's some clicakble thumbnails. This is Matt's new bridle and shows the boots and saddle as they would have been for the show if we hadn't missed the HUS class. About 5 minutes into the lesson, Matt threw a shoe so we put E on Dude to continue. Matt continued to follow as if he were still in the lesson. We had to tie him up and give him some hay. He was so cute!!

We got a ribbon!

Click for bigger:





It was by the hardest! Our boy was fantastic, though. He took such good care of my baby girl. I was proud of them both! More behind the cut ( Read more... )

It is still dark - I am taking a little break in packing and loading... Sun is trying to come up, but it is cloudy. that's good because it won't be so hot if its cloudy. It is VERY HUMID.

I got E a fake pony tail to hang out under her riding helmet so people will stop calling her a boy by mistake. That irritates me because I know it embarasses her. I cut her hair awhile back because its so thick. So, I paid $14.00 for a fake pony tail. It is well worth it. I'm going to check my list.

Well I'm gonna tell you people I may not be able to do a lot of things, but one thing I can do is put a mirror shine on a pair of black field boots. Damn, but I can see myself in those suckers. I enjoy the ritual. It makes me feel close to my dad who died 4 years ago. I used to watch my dad go thru saddle soaping and polishing his boots and tack. It was fascinating to me as a child.

Do you think the horses know when there's a show? They are restless and up by the fence. Maybe they smell the saddle soap and shoe polish and coffee and know preparations are underway. I wonder.

Didn't get to bath Matteo - it was dark when we got home. Will have to wash and use the trailer ride for a blow dryer in the a.m. Its hot and humid tonite and raining off and on. Got the extra water bucket and a hay net. Ella's pants didn't come in. I'm going to sew up the hole in her schooling tights next. Sleepy....

Yesterday I took E to the Western Store to get a belt and girlie shirt. She has short hair and is always getting called a boy!!! So I got her a belt that proudly states "Cowgirl" and a flowery shirt. I said I was trying to match gray boots and the lady at the store about had a foal exclaiming "Gray boots! Where did you get gray boots?!?" If I had told her "on ebay" she might have taken me out and hung me, I guess. Its 2007, yo, and the internet is cheaper than your store, sorry.

Jeanine and Pedro came over and we practiced loading Matty again. He loaded like a champ!!! We were hitched to my little truck so Pedro drove us to the park arena. We tacked up and E got to "run" a barrel pattern about 5 times before it got dark and the park man made us leave. Pedro wanted to go to McDonald's and I was like "WTF??!!! There's a horse back there!!??" A little nervous on the trailering. LOL. ( Read more... )

How come I don't think of things until the last minute???!!! Its a good thing tomorrow is a dry run for the larger show next weekend!!!

What I need to do tonite:
Outside:
Fit the black headstall
Shampoo Matty
Condition Mane and Tail
Band mane, braid tail
Dress hooves if dressing comes
De-poop trailer
Clean out truck

Inside:
Punch extra hole in western bridle
Clean black boots and saddle
Clean western boots and saddle, cover up split on pommel
Clean helmet
Sew up hole in butt of tights
Steam Western shirt
Pack extra Western shirt
Clean spurs if P brings them

Pack:
Human:
Folding chairs
Ice chest and drinks
Shorts, shoes, playcothes for E
Hand soap
Toilet paper
BUG SPRAY

Horse:
Hay
Olive oil and brush for hooves
(if no dressing arrives)
Sponges/bucket/shampoo for NOSE grime
FLY SPRAY
Grooming caddy - scraper - hoof brush

( Read more... )

This morning while Matt was eating I conditioned his tail and completely conditioned and finger combed/pulled his main. Poor baby has barely any forelock left. I cut his mohawked bridle path yesterday, but it still needs a little more trim. He got tired of me pulling his mane, but I said "You know, you have to go there and show those young horses how it is done and you have to look your best." He reluctantly relented and went back to eating while I pulled. I'm anxious to see how it will look dried and brushed. I guess we should band it for the Hunter Under Saddle class. Probably could do that Friday night. He needs a fake forelock for showmanship next season. LOL. Dude watched eagerly over the fence and nodded in agreement to my comments. Too bad Dudy can't go. I would like to do barrels on him. Pedro and Jeanine are coming over for another trailering lesson. I'm hoping I can get Jeanine to spend the night Friday night and help on Saturday mroning. She seems really good in a crisis. The other night when we had to saddle fast in the pitch dark at the team penning, she was calm and collected.

Made a new icon of Dude. Pedro and Jeanine came over and we practiced loading Matt in the trailer. They picked up stuff in the yard that has been needing to be picked up for like 2 years. Sweet!!!

I made supper. Mom brought E home. We all had a fine time. Even Matt, but he wouldn't eat in the trailer. He stomped a little -- guess he thought he was having to leave his Dude.

I got a disposable daisy razor and went out and caught Dude. I got him with no problem. Must "wear" confident quasi-lawyer, authority "mental suit" when dealing with him. Walked him onto the driveway and shaved as many bot flies off his legs as I could. He stood pretty well which was good since I was on one knee with my hurt-boot-foot vulnerably exposed. Then, I sprayed detangler on his mane and tail and finger-combed them some. He was being calm and nuzzling my pocket for carrots. So I walked him over to the tack shed. I worked with holding his head and putting the lead over his nose and he was calm. Then, I slipped him the wormer. He slung his head striaght up and backed up, but I think I got it in there far enough that it didn't sling out. I don't know. I shut my eyes when he jumped back - doh! Then, I worked with my hand on his nose from the side and messed with his ears and got him all calm again. Gave him some carrots. I introduced him to Mr. Steve, my other side neighbor. He said he is enjoying seeing the little girls ride. We had M__n over and she rode double bareback with E on Matt. Clothes are in the hot water wash and I hope I didn't swallow any bot fly eggs!!! All is calm, all is bright. I'll have to get some more wormer and do Matt again ASAP. I'm going to work soon.

Yesterday was worming day! Oh Joy! This consists of shooting a tube of goop into the horse's mouth and getting him to swallow it. Sounds simple, right? HA! Success is measured, by me at least, in small increments. I actually caught and tied Matt and administered goop. Unfortunately, I promptly let him sling most of it back out of his mouth. As for Dude, I think he smelled the worm medicine as he was having none of it. He wouldn't even come near until I took it out of my pocket and put it away. K came by (thank God) to help analyze the weird yellow nit looking things on their legs which I thought were bot fly eggs and help with the "bee" which wouldn't leave Matt alone after tons of fly spray. ETA: the "bee", it turns out, upon googling, WAS a bot fly -- no stinger so it can be caught and killed next time!!!

I rode bareback again and E rode and cantered and jumped. Little minx!!

As I'm writing this, Dude is out testing the fence for me. I see him systematically checking the wire between each post to make sure it is nice and tight. Such a helper!! Now, he's practising for his jumping. He seems to be backing up and gauging whether he could clear the fence or not. Decision: Not, thankfully. Damn, that grass on the other side is so much greener.

All my thoughts are on getting to the little horse show on Saturday morning. I tried feeding Matt in the trailer last night. No go. I have made a rookie mistake with the trailer as it seems too small to them and they don't like it. But, maybe I can sell it and get a bigger one.

This was cute: Sunday night after we fed the horses we watched them until it got pitch black dark. Matt would not rest until he ran every cat out of the back pasture. We have 4 half-grown kittens and Matt found out how difficult it is to herd cats! Matt would settle by the fence and then notice there were cats over in the "jungle" area and go run them out. He repeated this until all the cats finally gave up and stayed in the front yard. LOL.

Driving to and from work with my left foot was an adventure, though I adjusted pretty quickly. I went to the feed store (Dodge City) and Stacey was there. She helped me get some clips to use on our leather reins to take them on and off easily and we got some Strategy to start changing their feed over. Mr. Eddie says even though they're fat not to cut back on their feed too much since winter is coming. K says to get blankets for them, especially Matt, for the winter.

When we got home for the day it was a thrill to see our boys in the back yard!!! Of course E was all het up to ride so we changed and out we went. Various small adventures ensued -- for some reason Matt "set back" on the swing set he was tied to and just about up-ended it. Dude was reticent to be haltered and walked all around the front yard from which he could have escaped easily, but thankfully did not. I couldn't really chase him with my lame foot! ( Read more... )

These are clickable thumbnails of our boys at home. There is also one of E at the team penning on Friday night. Yee ha, good clean fun! E got to stay up till past 1:00 a.m. and to go to Coffee Call (BR's version of New Orleans' Cafe DuMonde) and get beignets on the way home. She was the only kid at Team Penning wearing a helmet, but we are starting a new trend, I hope!!!

Note in the pics at home on the left as you face my horse my hurt-foot-boot from the Emergency Room. I rode anyway, cause I'm a cowgirl, BaaaBeee!
















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