News!!!

Wow - snow on the ground today - it was pretty - (yeah it was!!!).... though - that could be IT far as I'm concerned!!!

Lots of things left undone this fall that needed to be finished around the barn - but R. has worked many 60 hour weeks and we have been short of cash with my continued unemployment (lay off) - so I have "officially" stopped worrying about it - and have been practicing that.....lol....

We are having electrical problems at the barn - with several electricians out to shake their heads - which has not been helpful at all. With the arrival of cold weather - dragged out the tank heaters and plugged them into 3 different water tanks. Two of the tanks have repeatedly been shocking the horses as they drink - as you can imagine the problem with that... At first I was told - the "heater" is bad.....ok - I can buy into that - so off to TSC and bought all new heaters.... NOPE not the problem - still getting what is being called "stray voltage" into the water. Replaced outlets twice - even ran extension cords to the one and only outlet that is NOT doing this - NOTHING has worked........ Frustration levels are high... currently the heaters are not plugged in - and I'm praying for continued decent weather until this is resolved.... One thing I'm sure of - is that I'm feeling damn sorry for the combined total of 14 horses that this is happening to.

We put on a "barn fun day" this past Saturday - boarders and friends were invited over to play egg & spoon, musical stalls, simon says and egg stomp. We had a good time and the weather was decent. I'm hoping to have more of theses over the next several months - so any ideas of fun "horse games" - greatly appreciated!

I did purchase a new horse last week. He is a 2007 registered AQHA sorrel gelding - name is Doctor Sizzle. Kids have named him Alexander - but Randy has been calling him "Doc"....so not sure what name he's going to end up with. He's very friendly and quite big already. I'm very excited to have him for this coming year. I plan on starting him under saddle this February and maybe doing some bigger shows by the end of summer.

Charisma is under "vets" orders to be ridden all winter. Actually - ride the snot out of her is what I was told to do. So I normally don't ride much until mid-February or so - but this year will be keeping in shape along with her.... so if anyone wants to come ride with me in January.......lol.....

Gus is officially on vacation for the winter. I spent about 4 weeks this late fall riding him pretty heavy - and we progressed to doing a fairly correct - if a little slow on spinning. His roll back got pretty snappy. Gus got introduced to the cows and we actually cut a few. We also made alot of progress in learning how to do lead changes....now if I can get rid of the "buck" that seems to accompany them... ha ha.... I'm sure in time that will come. Dennie intends on borrowing Gus to use for a riding clinic in December for the ranch trail classes.... I might have to go watch my horse!!! I intend on taking Gus to a few of the American Ranch Horse shows next year... should be fun doing something a little different.

Kid news:

Kara is doing extremely well in school - I'm SO HAPPY!!!

Bo is doing only what he needs to to get by - I give UP!!! Bo's father has strongly stressed that he feels Bo is doing fine in school and that I should not curtail any extra-curricular activities etc etc..... never mind the kid has only TWO classes and is barely squeaking in a C-.....sigh.... However - to elaborate further is to also say that Bo's DAD is NOT willing to share in the duties of carting Bo back and forth to these extra deals..... I'm the continual "BAD GUY" in this scenario - and I get the "you don't like" teenage crap......sigh....... and yes - your right in saying that BO STILL DOES NOT HAVE HIS DRIVERS LICENSE!!!!!

Ok - enough rambling for tonight....

I promise to post more often..... seriously.......

News - Long in Coming

Hi Everyone!

I follow and read Kathy's blog quite often - she stuns me with her insight to herself and life in general. She's a hard act to follow.....lol....

I haven't posted since I was laid off from my job. You would think with not working 25-40 hours at a real job - that I would have more time - leisure time that is.... I actually am so more busy - that I rarely have time to just sit. My daily computer time has come down to an occasional check of my email and to pay my bills on line.

As previously posted - Dennie Matney has come to work out of our barn as our resident horse trainer. He has brought many more horses with him - which has increased my work time in the barn. With being laid off - I couldn't justify "paying" someone to clean stalls. I've done that for the last two months. However - I've got Dee doing stalls again 2x per week - as I've decided I just need a break from it.

We've been having alot of fun with Dennie being here. Most of the boarders have gotten to know him enough to take lessons and do some training with their horses. He's working on getting outside horses in the barn from the local area. But mainly his main focus is his cutting/reining show horses and they seem to come from all over the country.

I'm learning some new training techniques and really sharpening up my personal riding skills with him here. As some of you know - I have dreamed for years of having a reining horse to show. So, in some ways, this is a dream come true for me - to have access to the knowledge available to me to learn and the occasional chance to ride on of these talented horses.

My last show is this upcoming Saturday - the Wisconsin State Horse Council Championship Challenge - Gus & I are qualified in 5 events. After the show is over - poor Gus....lol....I chuckle as I write this - is going to work (cuz he really doesn't need time off right??!!!) - to learn the basics of being a reining horse. He actually has many of the elements of training already there - we can do slow and fast circles, we can do roll backs, and we have a pretty good spin in the making already. We have to teach Gus how to do lead changes and to slide.....how hard can it be???? Well - I'll keep you updated on that.

Goals for next year are already in the making - I'm hoping to do some reining/cowhorse events with Gus - he will be taking some much needed time off from the pleasure arena. Charisma will be heading for the Quarter Horse circuit. She has come back really well after the surgery - and I did take her to one QH show, where we placed 7th out of 18 in our first time - promising enough to make the investment.

I have sold Dafnie to Kris Bond here at the barn. I am shopping for a new pleasure horse for next year to replace her. I'm going to try to not rush and get the "right" one (yeah right... he he)....

Until later....

Back from the campground

Our camping weekend was fun - even with lots of rain & lightning on Friday night - as of course - we were not traditionally camping - but had however rented a cabin.

It was very peaceful and relaxing and I think the kids had fun. Well, as much fun as a teenage boy has with only his mother to play with...lol...

Bo & I did take a small canoe out for a bit - after Bo flipped us over in the beginning and filled it with water - we still had fun.... and I of course reversed who was getting in the canoe first... ha ha...

We did however miss attending any of the Marq. Cty fair - that was a bummer as I was trying to eke out some time to see my friends exhibits.

Oh, and as I had forgetten to mention in my previous post - Randy & Charisma placed 1st, 2nd & 6th in their classes.

We are meeting an equine nutritionist from ADM feeds to go over my existing feeding program. I will report back on that.

News!

I didn't keep a good diary when I was kid either!

Anyway....

The barn is happy to welcome Dennie Matney as our new resident trainer/instructor. Denny originally is from Oklahoma. He has been training in a barn in Northern Minnesota and is hoping that our winters are less cold. And in comparaison to 40 below zero for weeks on end - we might be the winners!

Dennie's specialty is reined cow horses and reining events. He also will start colts to ride. I asked him on his training style and he replied that he was a mix of Clinton Anderson/John Lyons with a dose of common sense. I'm thinking - good answer!

He is hoping to moved down and settled in by the end of the month. We have 3 stalls to finish up for his horses and arrange the turn-out situation so that he has a place to turn his horses out too.

Other news - Charisma is doing well and has been riding for the last few weeks. We took her to her 1st show this past Saturday at Portage. It was Randy's 1st time showing her, and Charisma's 1st time out this year. It was also Charisma's first time going in the Hunter Under Saddle classes. She is a beautiful mover - which makes up for her serious lack of height. These days most of the "hunter" horses on the breed circuits are well over 16 hh tall. Charisma stands just over 15 hh.

So I videod instead of picture taking.... and maybe I can figure out how to get a still off the video tape..... or not.....

Kara is still doing Karate - she has graduated to a green belt - and will probably stay in that class for the summer. They have shortened and re-arranged the class times due to summer - and if Kara continues being interested - then she will go to more in the fall.

Bo is gone to his dad's for the summer. He is coming back on alternate weekends. Though he'd rather go hang at his friends houses than me - but I suppose that is typical.

We are planning a trip to a local campground for the weekend. That way I can come home and clean stalls and chores. We were planning on going to South Dakota this summer - but due to unforseen expenses from flooding and rising fuel & hay costs - there is not enough $$ to make the trip the most fun it could be. We could probably still go - but I dont want to go and now that we can't afford to go out to eat or see some of the things that we'd really want to see while we are there.

So - any "in-Wisconsin" vacation ideas - other than Wisc Dells - would be greatly appreciated!

Until later!

Congrats!

Congratulations to Kris Bond & her horse Rain - for winning their very 1st place at a show. They've worked hard for it!

Shannon Ryan has left the barn due to the rising costs of fuel. I'm working on getting a replacement in but I am figuring that this will take some time to accomplish. The barn has been much quieter since she left last week!!

School is coming to a close on Tuesday - so Summer is officially here! Which we knew of course, not due to the temperatures, but due to the increasing BUG count of mosquitos and deer flies... YUCK!

My horses are extremely pampered, and are inside during the hottest parts of the day with their FANS on....lol......right now i turn them out all night if its cool enough, and for a few hours in the early morning. If its warm and muggy the mosquitos are terrible and they just want right back inside anyway!

Gus and I are having a fairly successful show season. A few classes that didn't go as planned, but overall, we are having a good year.

Kara has graduated to a "green" belt in karate - so she continues to learn. She was wishy washy about continuing, but then changed her mind, and actually has been really "participating" in class - though in the last month - she has been the only one in the class - so its been a string of "private" lessons.... lucky us!

Bo will be leaving for his Dad's after school is complete, and besides the occasional weekend, will not be home until the middle of August.

I had an interview this week for a really neat job at the Wisc Wildlife Federation. I'm hoping for positive results and will know more sometime next week.

Zip With Me - 2007 APHA Filly

Thanks Shelley for taking great photos!

News

Wow - been a MONTH since I've posted....oops!

Here goes - Randy is very busy trying to get the new and much bigger tack room completed for our boarders. The cement was poured last week, and this weekend he built some of the walls, and insulated and drywalled the ceiling. We have an exterior wall to build and of course a "door"... I ordered saddle racks and bridle racks last week and they should be here soon. We are trying to do this as economically as possible, but I'm sure we have over $1,000+ into it already. Everything has gotten so expensive to buy as of late.

The next big item on the list for the barn is to bring the new stalls and aisle way up to grade and put rubber mats in all the stalls. We will be doing this slowly, as it will take several truck loads of lime stone, and each stall the mats will be around $300 each (yeah times 10 is $3,000..yikes!)...hopefully by winter those will be done.

The water line is in thru the new barn and the 2 hydrants are up and working... the plan is to have automatic waterers in each stall - but that is on hold for awhile, as each water is over $350 (yup times 10 again!).... but the water lines are there, for when we have the extra $ to put them in.....

It's been nice seeing everyone out riding - when the damn weather co-operates..... If we could PLEASE get more than 2 nice days in a row????????

Congrats to everyone that did well at their first shows this past weekend!!!

Gus & I will be heading to Fond du Lac this Saturday for our 1st show. I'm excited to be going, and hope to have good rides.

Charisma is laid up until mid-June after her minor surgery last week. We had tried everything short of the surgery with limited success.....so keeping our fingers crossed.

Heather (my niece) will be leaving this week for the sunshine state of California to go live with her dad & step-mother. We will miss her and wish her well. The "family" is planning on chipping in on a plane ticket for her to come back around christmas. Heather has really enjoyed riding the horses these last couple of months, and I hope to find a stable out there that she can continue to take riding lessons if she wants to.

Bo is struggling in school - mostly because he doesn't take the time to do his homework and turn it in... "Mom" is pretty much done with being the "nag"....Bo will have to find is own motivations. Bo is very involved in the golf program at school and has been spending most evenings on the golf course ..... Can you see the correlation here??? His father and I had sat down together with Bo at the beginnning of the school year and we ALL agreed that if Bo didn't have at least a C- in all his classes that he would NOT be going to any of the competitions. Well. lo and behold - last week Bo was invited to play at one of the bigger matches....BUT of course he had an "F" in Algebra.... I met with Bo's dad - and said to him - ok - he's got an F in Algebra - so no golf - right? WRONG..... His Dad decides that he should play - this was an "opportunity" of a life time..... and if Bo could get his grade to a D- by the end of the week.... well, that would be ok. I give up.......obviously - setting guidelines and sticking to them is a one way street.

Course if you ask Bo, I'm mean and don't like him much....... well, I won't like him much when he's 19 and living in my basement with NO job and NO prospects cuz he flunked out of high school....

Ok - enough ranting - at least its not drugs, drinking or girls right??? ........YET...............

Off to work I go......or actually I'm at work, not working.....he he ....

Done Hibernating!

Ok - a brief glimpse of spring this past weekend...but now back to 40's and windy.... geez....I'm going back to the cave!!!!!!

Barn has been full and busy.....everyone seems to be having a lot of fun with their horses - which is excellent.

We hired to have the water line finished back in the new stall barn - that will hopefully be in today. We can then start on the new tack room - as I know most of the boarders have run out of space to put their belongings.... we are very sorry about that - but we needed to wait for the frost to come out of the ground. The plan is to have the new tack room done by the end of the month - so lets cross our fingers!!

Mary Ellen had a scare with a bad Abcess with Tanya in the last few weeks - but luckily it broke and she is walking sound - so it looks like Tanya is still headed to the horse fair. If you have a chance - Mary Ellen & CArol - are taking both of their adopted Standardbred horses for the Standardbred demo at Midwest Horse Fair - stop in and say hi if you have a chance.

Hopefully the big pile of snow in the outdoor arena will soon be gone - and we will drag and work up the outdoor for everyone's use.

Bo now officially has his learning permit - so he is driving officially...... I feel alot older this week than normal.... he is also in golf - so he is very busy with that as they started practice last week.

Kara is still doing karate - but she has lost some interest - our "contract" renews at the end of the month - and I'm not sure we will renew. I don't want to make her go if she doesn't want to.... course I'd like to "make" her ride horses too.....

That's it for now!

Sick of Winter

Ok - sick of snow, cold, ice, wind, etc etc.

I don't even think it's pretty anymore.....instead of snowflakes, I see dollar signs, of what its going to cost to plow out the driveway for the millionth time, and the fact that I had to pay someone to do snow removal around the barn, with the hope that when the barn floods (notice when NOT if) that it won't be as horrible as if we had left the 7' tall x 120' long pile of snow next to the barn.

I do have some interesting pictures....that I will download and post....

Until then, I'm waiting for anything over 40 degrees that is NOT accompanied by a lighting and rain storm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Geesh......

Kara at Karate

Kara at karate class on Saturday February 8th.

Trail Challenge Pictures

Remembering Simon

Shy As A Shadow 1996 Bay Quarter Horse Gelding

Simon was Randy's show horse that we bought in Kentucky in 2000. I was pregnant with Kara when we drove down to get him. Bo showed him halter and showmanship. Randy rode him in everything. I even did a little speed classes and won the BHSA versatility award one year. Kara rode him as a baby. Rhea Scherbert rode him one year and won all the Tiny Tot Year End High Points. Alex Harvey tried out a pleasure class or two on him. Karissa Chapman took him to the State 4-H Pleasure show.

I ran across some pictures. One of the few horse's that I miss and regret having sold. The last I knew he was well taken care of at a show barn near Stevens Point, so that makes me happy. I look at horse's for sale every week on dreamhorse and equine.com, in the chance that he might be listed (well that's one good reason to go on there isn't it?).

The only other horse that I really really miss, is my horse from my teenage years, Shadow, a grulla quarter horse mare. She was my horse that I did everything with. There are pictures of us in interesting places - tied to the gas pumps at the Mason Station in Briggsville, to an alley in Portage. Unless she's a grand age of 35, she's no longer with us, and I'm sad to say that I don't know where her "final resting" place is.

I have to honestly say at this point, that unless it meant not feeding my kids, that Gus has a permanent home with me. It's taken YEARS to find a horse that I have that "special" something with....as there was frankly a huge "childhood" spot to fill with Shadow's memory. My best friend, Shelley, likes to pick on me about this, as she's known how many I've bought and sold in the last 15 years or so. But horses are like husbands - you need a good fit....lol...

Trail Challenge

We had 10 riders for the 1st trail challenge event at the barn. Shannon Ryan is our "judge/clinician", and is setting up a trail pattern. Everyone has several hours to practice and get instruction on doing the different obstacles with Shannon. After that, then the "competition" started, with everyone going thru the set course. A refusal or not done obstacle was a 10 cent fine. A partially done obstacle and/or hitting logs was a 5 cent fine. This money is going into a kitty for a pizza party at the end.

Our first trail challenge course consisted of: rope gate, trot thru cones, small bridge, back thru cones, trot over poles, then walk over poles into a box, do a 360 to the right, and walk out of the box.

Feedback was very positive and everyone had alot of fun. MaryEllen was taking photos' so I'll get some from her and post.

Next challenge is set for February 24th.

Today we are having a teaser of warm, then going back to snowy cold b.s. for the rest of week... I'm SICK of winter.... sigh....

news

Ok - it's been 7 days since the last cigarette......I know eventually I will feel healthier instead of crabby, edgy, grumpy, ornery, fidgety. I'm taking prescription Chantex, which does help with all of that....problem is that I often forget to take in the mornings and often just dont want to, as it does NOT mix well with my morning coffee. So I feel that I should be able to "tuff" it out....

Hardest times that I'm trying to avoid:

1) When Randy and I are standing outside of the barn talking....I'm usually ALWAYS steal a smoke from him then. This has been hard, and our usual conversation ends with me being bitchy.... hopefully that goes away soon..

2) Driving the car.

3) Reading (I would often smoke the most then, especially if a good book).

4) First thing - with my 1st cup of coffee (this might be the hardest time).

The common things most people say are hardest about quitting smoking that have not been for me: after I eat and after sex (cuz well, I want to sleep), and it really doesn't bother me to not have a cigarette in my hand /mouth either.

I'm very concerned about weight gain at this point.... I've already packed on my "winter" weight, being only the 1st part of January, this is a concern... So I shopped on ebay, and bought tapes for Pilates and Yoga.... I do need to OPEN them however...lol... and make time to do them. The idea was to get up earlier in the morning..... yeah well, it was a thought...that needs to be acted upon. Randy of course says that I can do them at night, but I DON'T want him to watch.... Anyway, I'm not so much really overweight as I'm terribly un-fit.... I know I have stomach muscles, as everyone does, I just haven't been able to locate them for some years.... my arms are weak as 2 wagon loads of hay just about did me in.... that is a shame.... my saddle feels heavy to me...... YIKES! can't have that...... maybe that would be a good motivator.... I refuse to buy any clothes that are bigger.....hopefully don't end up wearing sweats to work... ha ha...

Side note on the smoking thing..... Damn Twinkle likes to go down and yap at my dad's dogs (yeah suicidal), and one of the dogs was loose Sunday AM, and all I heard was crying and crap, which I was in the barn, and ran as fast as I could to try to "save" her.... Twinkle met me at a dead run (well as fast as a dead run a dog that is barely 12" tall can do).... so that was good, and I honestly can say that I didn't keel over from lack of oxygen!! I'm thinking a shock collar might be in twinkle's future.... i have repeated nightmares of her being slaughtered by the german sheperd...it's not been fun.

All right, back to work.....

2008

Ok, holidays are done, over, gone! Bah humbug can go away and not return until mid-december....

Our New Year's Eve was more fun than last year (Kara had the flu), and this year's rotation was at our house. Paul & Denise Bandt, Shelley & Seth and us get together for new years. We often get together thru the year for dinner, campfires and trail riding. New years see's us playing Pictionary. We've all decided that we are getting old, cuz no-one really had anything to drink. I think I drank the most, which was 2 (two) mike's hard lemonades....and that was enough for me.

I decided to get serious about quitting smoking. I've been bouncing around it the last couple of months....and as of Jan 1st, Wisconsin increased the cig. tax by another dollar - raising a pack of cig to $4.48 each... I averaged a pack + a day - so even figuring at 1 a day - that is $31.36 per week, $125.44 per month and $1,505.28 per year... very scary numbers. R. smokes 1 to 2 packs per day - and even if we figure him at only 1 - that is a combined total of $62.72 per week, $250.88 per month, and $3,010.56 per year. Wow.....

Someone asked me what I was doing with the extra $$$...... my plan is to take $30 per week and put in a savings account.....for something for ME..... BUT I have to stay on course first....