Just Pictures

Thanks, Sandy

Mushrooms, Kinda Retro

Take me away! Mushrooms are growing in my shadow!

Hearts in Milpitas

Heavy cotton dressage pad finished up and available for 122.00 USD plus shipping.

Yesterday Was Not My Day

So yesterday.....I took the car in for a new tire. Dave hit a rock on Mt. Hamilton Road Saturday and it was flat, huge hole.... Then the alignment.

I took Lydia so we could walk around while I waited. An Jan is across the street, so we could get a pig ear.

It only took 3 hours during my usual Yndi time.She was sniffing in the bushes and came out with a huge lugey stuck to her ear. Someone hawked it up and spit it in the bushes.

EW!

I cleaned it off with a Kleenex. When we got home, I cleaned it with soap and wet washrags. As I was wringing out a washrag, I popped a blood vessel in my finger. Within seconds my finger started to swell. Now I have a huge hematoma.

EW.

So....

Sunday:
Deciding where to start yesterday, I thought maybe begin with a refresher on personal boundaries. So that is where I began, after swishing off most of the bedding with my hands, I cleaned her feet and got a big clue that I was right. She picked her feet up fine, but after cleaning she took them back and stomped them into the ground. So we worked on that. "I will manipulate this foot and your shoulder will relax and then I will put it down."

Then we walked. "You will walk where I say. You will stop when I say. You will take a step back when I say."

Mostly: "You are not my hat so you will not walk on top of me.

"I know this is not your favorite place on the ranch, but the rules still apply."

Then back to the stall, "You thought we were going in but we are walking past this time."

When we were back, I tool off the halter and scratched her in her favorite places.

It killed my body. I went home and just watched TV for the rest of the day. The boys had to cook their own dinner.

Tuesday:
We are still here at Square One. Monday I did not even take her out. I went in to her 25x50 foot paddock. "When you turn your back to me, I will make you move away."
"I will not do anything if you look at me, if you turn away, I will make you walk away."

It took about 40 minutes for her to turn her body toward me and I went up to her and scratched her and gave her long slow pets. Then put her halter on. More scratching and massage.

Step forward from a light touch, one step. More long pets. Another step or two, more pets. A step back from a light touch on the halter and a voice command, More pets. More massage.

"If I touch you lightly here, will you move your head to me?" "If I touch you lightly here, will you put your head down?"

"Walk on" around me in a circle. "Whoa. Stand." more pets. More circles. More massage.

This is all we did for Monday. Repeat on Tuesday with the first part shortened to about 5 minutes, with a short walk out, a bit of graze, some stop and chat.

Wednesday:
Yesterday, when I got there, several other people were there. I talked to them. Yndi was hiding around the corner behind the stall. After several minutes, she came out to see me through the fence.
She asked: "Aren't you going to catch me?"

This time, when I went it, she turned her back, I asked her to move away....same old same old....she went about 15 feet before she turned around.

We did the usual, then went for a walk. I took her just to where she was anxious and circled back and just to where she was anxious and circled back. Each time stopping often to ask things of her or stopping to talk to people and she just had to hang out.

This doesn't seem like a lot, but I spent nearly two hours with her.

We are SO FAR from long linning! If we can move forward to the place where everyone is starting, it will be a big deal.

Thursday:
Yesterday morning..... I arrived and called out to her. She was hiding in her paddock behind the stall. I cleaned a little in the stall. No Yndi.

I got the halter and went out back to get her. She looked at me and began to walk away, so I did nothing, just looked into the distance. She circled around me two times.....turned 90 degrees and came to me and stopped.

Wow!

Square One

Yndi and I are back to Square One. I am not sure what happened. Perhaps I was too absorbed in the progress we had made to notice the slipping before it was too late. Perhaps it was an attack of marishness and poniness. Good thing she is not a chestNUT!

She is shedding, but there is so much hair to shed that it is going to take a long time. The silver over-hair is shedding first, so she appears much darker.

Rain

The swap was postponed due to forcast for rain. That's good because I wouldn't have gone if it was raining.

Pregnant Mare Rescue Swap Meet

I bought a vendor space. Now I have to get ready.Chris, of Jax Snacks* is sharing the space.It will help to have two pairs of eyes.
Diana of The Qi Papers*, is going to meet me in the morning to help set up, mostly to watch my stuff after I set up and leave to park my car. Most importantly, because I like her and don't get to see her in person very often.



I am busy. Also, I have been plagued by migraines. Thankfully, I have Replax to head them off at the pass, but that means a lot of early mornings, followed by afternoon fatigue.
My other distraction: Pony Love!
*Both have ETSY shops

Why?

My email got hijacked. Probably through my iPod Touch. It's new, I couldn't figure out how to log out of email. I finally did, though not elegantly.

I was missing Maggie again. Why do I miss Maggie more than I miss Janow?

I had Janow for 18 years. Eighteen years as I journeyed from 32 years old with a 4 year old horse.

Then I was 50 with a 22 year old horse.
Janow wore his heart on his sleeve.

Sometimes Gregarious, sometimes Grumpy.

Janow had chronic laminitis for years. He foundered a couple of times. I knew that laminitis would probably cause his ending. When it did, 18 years of my past ended.

You own your past.

Nobody can take it.

I had Maggie for only six months.
I invested a lot, emotionally and financially, to changing my sense of self from Janow's rider to Maggie's driver.

Maggie was the plan for the next 18 years. I would be 68, Maggie 36. Gotlands and people often live that long.
Poor Maggie. She was nine when she was finally purchased from the breeder. She was a funky looking pony, described as "a little bit boring." Maggie took everything is stride. She was tender and affectionate. To me, she was beautiful.

Oh God, she was so beautiful.

My Pony Girl.

My Plain Brown.

When she died, 18 years of my future was stolen. My sense of self was gone.

I was swimming. Yndi was swimming. A broodmare at 16, the economy and her age were not in her favor. Joyce was determined to get her to a good place and joined us up.
Was Maggie's tender affection a Gotland trait?

Yndi says "Yes, it is."

We are going to live.

Yndi and I, we are going to live.

rain etc

Yesterday, rain, Dr. appointment, getting ready for Pregnant Mare Rescue Swap meet, sad sore foot, all interfere with life. Not to mention an incompatibility of my old Photoshop and the new Windows Vista.
Today, another Dr appointment, more rain forecast, and trying to dye sweatshirts outside. The rain is not the thing, the cold that comes with it makes it miserable. Wind advisory might make it harder. Lots harder.

Nicker

Yndi nickered to me when I got to the barn yesterday. First time. I must be doing something right.

Kisses

Lydia Walks

She never says: "I'm bored, lets do something else."

She says: "We can't go home yet, I'm not tired."

I took some pictures.

As you may recall, I was a little critical of Dave's photography. I take it back.

No Picture Today

Yndi is doing very well at Indian Hill. Elise, another boarder who is an excellent horseman, spent a few minutes with her. She worked on setting boundaries. It was magical. Yndi is doing so much better. I can just walk around and hold the rope which swings between us. Yndi follows. I feel like I could harness her and long line her anywhere, but I don't. What if it didn't work? Patience and fear of failure often look the same. Lesson with Tracy Maurer on Friday.

Find out more about Elise at Instadog

Nobody Likes Me

Nobody likes me,
Everybody hates me.
I'm going to the garden and eat worms!

Big fat shiny ones,
Itsy bitsy tiny ones,
Oh, how they wiggle and they squirm!

Paula Pullet, my old pet chicken, likes crickets. I have to buy crickets at the feed store and give them to her right away. She also likes worms and comes running if she sees me digging int he dirt. I do not like digging in the dirt just for worms.


So I am starting a worm farm. I will get some great compost and Joseph can have tons of worms for fishing this summer.

My worms came yesterday.

Oh, Beloved Butter!

The latest solution to lick marks
has not been universally approved
by all members of the household.

Poops are Better

Dave took these yesterday. He took a lot of them from down low. I think he was trying to look like a photographer. When you do this with horses, the nose looks huge. When you do this with people, you can see up the nose. To minimize both of these, you can back off and zoom. I said "If you are going to take them from down there, you will need to back up and zoom in." He backed up two steps. Whatever.


These are the best two. The sweatshirt looks really bad. I should stop wearing it.

It was a beautiful day. Today is rainy. Lydia does not like the rain. Lydia detests hail.

A good day

Kind of wet.
I spent a lot of time with Yndi in the morning, hanging out in her paddock. I took her for a walk, Sierra and Joy came for company. She hit her limit at the blue house, so we went back. It was a difficult walk back.

I went home and got warm and dry, then returned. She apparently is developing a sizable fan base.

We went for another walk, this time without the drizzle. She was more comfortable near home base and we stopped and stood for a long time at the show barn. We didn't go as far as the *blue house. On our return trip, we stopped for a while at the end of the mare motel. Then we walked up the lane past home and stopped and stood. Back down and stopped again, standing around in front of her home. Then in.

By watching her hay disappear, I can tell she was eating much better in the afternoon.

*The blue house is not blue anymore. It was painted tan about 4 years ago.

Yndi comes to Milpitas

I brought Yndi to Milpitas on Thursday. I am having a difficult time coping with life and so Yndi is here where I can see her and relax with her. Roger thought is was a good time to have a training break for her. She wasn't making a whole lot of progress.

Her runny poop made a comeback, and she is distressed with the new surroundings. Today I will just go sit in her paddock.

Pet Expo

Yesterday, I went to the Pet Expo at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds.I got some flower essences, armadillo tattoos(temporary), a block print of two bunnies: Tyler and Syndey by The Qi Papers' Diana Moll, and dog treat samples.
There were also bunny treats from The Rabbit Haven. These were regarded with suspicion by Silver, who ate one...eventually.

I stopped at Michael's, the craft store we all love to hate. I got a frame for my print here. Then I went home and put the print in and hung it up.

I sent a text communication to the vet out by Yndi, requesting a lameness work up for her hind end problems. More money spent, but better to find out if she needs some rehab before I spend more money on training. Maybe less discomfort for Yndi too. We will find out if training can continue and what modifications can be made to increase her success. She is sweet and I think she wants to be good, so I want to help her.

Things are Looking Up for Yndi Again

Here are some pictures from yesterday.
I am trying to care for Yndi the way I would want a 16 year old beloved mare to be cared for if I had to give her up. I do not see her often enough to have formed much of an attachment. It is hard having a horse over an hour away. Dave said it is like not having a horse at all.

She had the farrier, which was overdue. Roger's is small, with few horses. I could not find anyone who would go there for one trim. So...she had to wait for everybody's day.

The farrier found that she was landing very heavily on the inside of her hind feet, enough to cause some pretty apparent bruising of the sole. He said that he had seen that in brood mares and thought it was due to ligament damage during difficult parturition. Roger thinks it could also be from not being in good physical condition while she was in foal.

This problem results in her hind legs not working properly, sometimes maybe with pain. It explains her lack of confidence. It explains the difference in personality between the Yndi that hangs out in her stall and the Yndi getting ready for work.

Hmm.

They feel there is a lot that can be done. Roger has had good success with Reiki, so I have arranged for a Reiki practitioner to give her some treatments.

Roger will continue the conditioning which should help, and ask for less of the things that might be uncomfortable or more difficult.

She is already better after having the farrier begin correcting her feet.

What do YOU like to eat?

“What are you eating?”
“Apple.”
“Can I have some?”
“You wouldn’t like it.”
“Does it taste like vomit?”
“No”
“Does it taste like cat poo?”
“No.”
“I wouldn’t like it.”




Lydia is an equal opportunity napper.