High Pines Farm

New Rates!

2011-09-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

With our current economy still in a slump - we have looked hard at our expenses here at the farm, and will be offering you different boarding options that you can select that will meet the best care for your horse and help out with your pocket book.

Option#1 - Full Stall Board - Includes stall bedded and cleaned daily, with daily turn out, hay at least 2 times per day, and up to 4 lbs of grain per day. $215.00 per month

Option #2 - Stall Board - Includes stall bedded and cleaned daily, daily turnout, and hay at least 2 times per day. Owner supplies own grain if needed. $190 per month.

Option #3 - Full Pasture Board - Includes hay at least 2 times per day, and up to 4 lbs of grain per day. $135 per month.

Option #4 - Pasture Board - Includes hay at least 2 times per day. $110.00 per month.

Still the same great quality care and attention to detail!

High Pines Farm has 20 stalls with attached 60x120 Indoor Arena, 125x200 Outdoor Arena, 60' round pen, inside hot water wash stall, boarders tack rooms, free trailer parking, Orion Timed Lights.

Show horses, trail horses, and your best friend - all are welcome here!

Contact me for openings and to arrange a tour - we'd love to visit with you!

Stall Openings!

2011-08-08T12:15:00.000-07:00

We currently have stall and pasture board openings available. We are a great small facility located only a 10 minute drive from Portage, Pardeeville, and Montello areas.
Our facility has the following: 60x120 Indoor Arena; 125x200 Outdoor Arena; 60' Custom Built Round Pen; Inside Hot Water Wash Stall; Boarders Tack Rooms with Lockers; Free Trailer Parking.

Your horses care includes: 14% Pelleted Quality Grain. Vitamin/Mineral Supplement. Quality Hay. Supplements Fed at No Charge. Fly Masks/Sheets/Blankets/Spray - put on at no charge. Daily turnout in small groups. Stalls cleaned daily. Stalls available with Orion Timed Light Systems. Stalls are airy, well lit, and ventilated. Worming on 8 week Rotation.

No restrictions on which vet or farrier you use.

Please contact us for more information and to arranage a tour of the facility!

Cold!

2010-12-15T12:46:00.000-08:00

We are officially unburied from 12 inches of snow, and surviving the major cold temps!

2010 Show Season

2010-11-09T08:58:00.000-08:00

Wow - Its over - sadness......buy hey 2011 is just around the corner!!

Have stall openings available!! Please call to arrange a tour and to come join our barn family!

Over due News - July 29th, 2010

2010-07-29T12:28:00.000-07:00

Hey All!!!

Welcome Back!

We have possible openings for boarding - please check for availability.

Monday night lessons with Darren Honnold - sign up on board if you are attending!

Show Season going well!

Fair is over - and kara had a great 1st year!

Bo is starting his Senior year in high school soon and will be having his 18th birthday in a couple of weeks...

Keeping it brief!

Lesson Schedule / News

2009-11-23T09:56:00.000-08:00

Hi All!

Upcoming Lesson schedules with Bill Heiser:

Saturday, November 28 - 2 groups 10:30 and Noon

Sunday, December 6 - 10:00 AM

Saturday, December 12

Sunday, December 13

Sunday, December 20

Saturday, December 26

Sunday, December 27

We are currently FULL on boarding - If you have any interest, please let me know, as I can put your name down if an opening becomes available.

We have purchased a new horse - his reg name is Peppys Shiney Pistol. He is a 5 yr old registered sorrel gelding that is reining and cutting bred with the lines of One Gun, Miss Pepsan, and Mr. Blackburn. We purchased him from Dan & Carol Vale in Stoughton WI. We plan on showing him next year at the ranch horse competitions. he has a lot to learn in a short time - but should be a strong contender for the all-around and reining events.

Depending on how "Peppy" advances, I'm not sure if Gus will continue with the reining events. With the new rule change in APHA, he is eligible for regular paint papers - so he might go back to being a "pleasure" horse... haha....

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Group Lessons

2009-11-02T10:31:00.000-08:00

Next date for group riding lessons with Bill Heiser:
Saturday, November 14 - 2 sessions: 10:30 AM and 12 Noon
Sunday, November 15 - 1 session: 10:00 AM

Thanks everyone for attending - we are having alot of fun with these, plus it's been fun having everyone at the barn too!

Sign up on the dry erase board, or just give me a call and I'll put you on.

Doctor Sizzle

2009-10-13T08:45:00.000-07:00

Alex is going to the QH Catalog Sale on October 24 at Twin Cities Horse Sales.

His sire is Sizzlin Zippo - earner of over 100 western pleasure points.

His Dam, an own daughter Shy Prescription - 2 yr old Western Pleasure congress Champion, has produced several point earners to date.

Alex will a 60 days riding by sale date, and is riding nice and quiet. A great prospect for next year's shows!

I hauled him to one American Ranch Horse Show - were he stood 1st in Open 2 yr old geldings, and 1st in Amateur 2 yr old Geldings. Alex also placed Reserve Champion Open Geldings for the day!

This gelding has a lot of talent - and could go in any direction you want.

This is a picture of his sire: Sizzlin Zippo

Wow - Fun Summer

2009-09-03T09:50:00.000-07:00

Hey All!!!

It's been a fun and busy summer! Gus & I have competed at several Ranch Horse Association shows this summer and have had a blast! These shows are similiar to a "open" show - but get to ride in trail, and reining classes - Gus and I have slowly been improving all summer in reining, and its been a great learning experience!

We currently have stall openings as of October 1st here at the barn - Please give me a call to join our little horsey family!!! We have a 60x120 indoor arena, 125x200 outdoor arena, roundpen, hot water wash rack; 12x12 and 12x10 matted stalls cleaned daily; turnout; and a great nutritional program!

1st Ranch Horse Competition

2009-05-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

Ok - wow - so it's been like over SIX months since I've posted here.... BUT I've been very busy riding and riding and riding, and taking care of life stuff!!!

So, Gus & I went to our very FIRST reining competition the end of April - and did quite well for our first time - even though he was a bit of a crazy loon and very very naughty - but we managed to get a score in 3 out of 4 of our classes and even place 2nd in the green rider class!!! So - keep thinking positive right!

This weekend (memorial day weekend) - we competed at our first Ranch Horse Show - and did very well - going into the western riding class for the 1st time - and receiving a 1st place under one judge - and going into the ranch reining and reining classes - and having decent go's - with even ending up with a 1st under one judge!!! WOW........ it was ALOT of fun! Gus & I tabulated enough points on Saturday to win the weekend Amateur All-Around Buckle (very cool!).... Other members of the barn that went and showed did very well too!! Lena & Dennie won the Open All-Around Buckle for the weekend, and Megan & Jake placed 2nd in the ranch reining for their very first time together too. Sarah & Jack placed very high and won a couple of their classes - and it was her first time with him - he was riding awesome - great job Sarah!!!

Congrats everyone!!!

The next ranch horse show is July 11 at Dodge County....

I have decided that we are not ready to take on the World Show this year.... I would like to go down to TN and seriously have GREAT rides, and the intention of winning the all-around title. Gus & I are just not consistent enough in our manuevers to warrant the expense of going this year - especially as the world show is in only 3 weeks - and we just got done with only our 2nd competition with the reining.

Next show will be June 27 & 28 with the Midwest Cow Horse & Reining Association at Deerfield WI.

I will hopefully have some new pictures to post too!!!

News!!!

2008-11-24T18:48:00.000-08:00

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

2008-09-23T17:13:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-14T13:39:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-07-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-06-06T13:03:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-27T10:49:00.001-07:00

Thanks Shelley for taking great photos!

News

2008-05-05T07:38:00.001-07:00

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!

2008-04-08T06:32:00.001-07:00

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

2008-03-04T13:21:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-10T20:00:00.000-08:00

Kara at karate class on Saturday February 8th.

Trail Challenge Pictures

2008-01-30T09:37:00.000-08:00

Remembering Simon

2008-01-29T09:19:00.001-08:00

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

2008-01-28T06:39:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-08T11:15:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-02T10:16:00.000-08:00

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....

Kara's First Solo Ride on Charisma

2007-12-09T18:25:00.000-08:00

These are pictures from Shelley was here in November. This was Kara's first Solo trip on Charisma. A good possiblility that Charisma might be Kara's walk/trot show horse for this upcoming season!

News

2007-12-03T07:48:00.001-08:00

Thank you to Shannon Ryan for coming to the barn for lessons and training. We are happy to have her and look forward to working with her. We will be doing lessons on every other Saturday - next date is this Saturday, Dec 8th. Please contact me for scheduling.

Also, I posted previously about our new filly, Sugar. Well, sadly, she was diagnosed with Wobbler's Syndrome, which is a neurological spinal disorder - which is incurable. Fortunately for my pocket book, I was able to take her back to the owners, and picked up a new filly. Her name is Dafnie and her registered name is "Zip With Me". She is very sweet and gentle, and I really like her alot. She is also, my Gus's half sister - they share the same sire. I also got to meet Gus & Dafnie's "daddy" at the breeders, and it was really cool to see him. Here is a picture of Dafnie from at the breeders. I haven't gotten around to taking any photo's of her at home yet.

I LOVE feeding under the lean-to....let me tell you!!!!!!!! After the snow this weekend, I could just go under the lean - feeding grain and hay without plowing thru snow, fighting off hungry horses, searching for frickin feed buckets in the snow, carrying bales of hay....all that - GONE - .....was it was worth $60,000.....a STRONG possibility.....

I haven't ridden much in the indoor arena, as I normally don't ride much at all in the months of December and January. It is a well earned rest for my horses, and a very good mental break too. Before we built our own place, I had lived for 8 years at a place that had an indoor riding arena. I normally would get started in February, riding 3-4 days a week to start conditioning the horses - often spending the first couple of weeks on ground work and not riding at all.

I'm anticipating the barn to get really busy starting in February. I have had recent inquiries about openings, so that is good. Randy is busy digging in the water lines in the barn.... better late than never right??? The plan was to run automatic waterer's thru the new stall barn, but we've run out of $$, so he is running the water pipes and stubbing up to where each waterer will be. We needed to do this BEFORE doing the stalls, as once the stalls and footing is in, it's alot more difficult and expensive to do. He is also running water hydrants to the back turn-outs. Right now we are dragging 150 feet (yes, not a typo) - out to tanks in back. Can we say MAJOR Pain-in-the-ass.... Of course, as my friend Paul, has pointed out - why would I need Curves or other weight loss programs - with this extra work.... Ha Ha I say!!!

Bo received a C on his big Biology test last week and an A on his binder. He wasn't happy with a C, but I pointed out to him, that he had a big FAT F on the last exam along with a zero on his binder - so that was a great improvement.

Kara is loosing her two front teeth....very SLOWLY..... she was playing with Twinkle and bumped her mouth and was all bloody and gross, and wiggling that tooth for all it's worth, and still stayed in... I have vague repressed memories of my Dad just yanking those out......I haven't the heart to do the same.

I best be getting back to work!

Too Many to Pick From!

2007-11-13T09:54:00.000-08:00

The photoshoot with Shelley Grabow was a lot of Fun - despite a gloomy cold day. Several people showed up to take pictures.
We coaxed Kara out on Charisma too!
The indoor arena footing is complete - and we can ride inside. There is a few more days of electrical work to be completed before the lights are on - but I've been promised before "turkey-day" on completion.
The lean-to area is wonderful and I can't wait until its done. We've been "frantically" fencing since the excavater has left. Unfortunately some slow going - as we are putting in "permanent" fence - which involves digging holes, wood posts, gates, etc etc. Randy has spent alot of time thinking things thru and measuring ....while I'm in hurry up mode, as I HATE feeding horses in the dark...lol....
Once the lean-to's are complete, and the indoor walls are up - we will then start the new stall side of the new barn...
I have to hold off on posting pictures - they are too big of file....
Until later!

Champion 2007

2007-11-06T09:27:00.000-08:00

Kara was Reserve Champion Leadline for BHSA in 2007

And Grand Champion Leadline for Red Ridge Pleasure circuit 2007

Sugar

2007-10-30T11:46:00.001-07:00

Our new horse - a yearling filly - registered paint - her name is "Pleasure the Moment" - Kara has named her Sugar - as she feels that the brown sugar and the white sugar got all mixed up.

The weekend looks busy

2007-10-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

This weekend looks crazy busy - we will start putting fencing up and clean up. Hope to sneak out for a couple hours on Sunday to go trail riding too. Kara has karate on Saturday, which she seems to enjoy alot at this point. Here are more pics of the new building!

Bo had a lot of fun at the homecoming deal. He hooked up with friends (not that I could tell you ANY of their names) and went to the football game. He also attended the dance - but a crowbar is needed for any more info on THAT...

Pictures

2007-10-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

They set trusses on Friday.

And of course, had to toss one in of the puppy too!

The Farrier Saga

2007-10-09T13:48:00.000-07:00

Most of you close to me, know Gus has an on-going "hoof" problem for the last couple of years. Well, just call Gus the money pit - :

Chronologically:

Wore shoes all last winter to help "solve" his problems. He started having even longer toes and underrun heels really becoming obvious in March or so.

Roman Miller, my current farrier, who I respect and feel has always done a good job - I now feel maybe not so good about. So in June of this year, I haul Gus over to Dean Johanningmier - the specialized farrier who also works at the UW Madison Vet School. He resets in him in a shoe that is 2x bigger than what Roman was using and a wedge pad on his worse right front to balance him. Dean J and I both feel that Roman would be able to continue after that. This was $175.00

Mind you, that Gus has not been the show horse of the last few years, he was cranky, didnt want to work, seemed high strung all the time and just wasn't himself.

Anyway, I decide to go to re-setting Gus every 4 weeks this summer to try to get control of that "runaway" toe he was growing...

Gus's last reset was on September 5 - after having been reset - his toes are longer than they have been all summer.... I'm SCRATCHING my head, as I dont know what to do... here I'm paying EVERY MONTH $150 for his front feet & trim the back, and feeling that its not working..... Of course, I do not say much to Roman (ummm...chicken shit is a good description here).

So about 3 weeks ago, another boarder had a "natural hoof trimmer" come to the barn.... I think to myself and I did some research on line - and it all makes sense to me - so I have this guy look at Gus. He swears that Gus has such a bad of case of thrush that it will take 3 to 4 MONTHS to treat and that I will more than likely NOT be able to ride my horse for almost a year - while he works on him on a MONTHLY basis to correct his feet. He explains it all to me (and at the time, it does make sense) - and leaves me medicine and etc - to the tune of $100.00 and, by the way, didn't trim his feet at all.

Well, at this point, I'm more than a little disgusted, but I spend at least 4 days wrapping and medicating Gus's hooves. I think and think on this, and then some of the other boarders are going to have Dr Meyer out for fall work. I make the decision to have Dr Meyer (who is a vet that i have routinely used for 15 years) to have Dr Meyer look at Gus's feet.

Dr Meyer was running late that day, and I had to leave and go back to work - but Randy was able to be there for him. Lo and behold, the VET says there is NO thrush in my horse at all, and that his angles of his hoof to his leg are whacked (well not the word he used)... and he suggested x-rays and then take the x-rays back to Dean Johanningmier to have his feet done again. This was $144.00

So today, I took Gus to Dean Johanningmier - explained to me about the wrong angles and such - per an X-Ray - Gus's COFFIN bones are out of alignment from the other bones in his leg by about 4 degrees....which is a huge difference. So Gus is again wearing shoes again - both feet match in angles and toe length. However - it is funky looking that's for sure - he has a HUGE pad under his right foot along with some foam stuff to support his frogs (which are messed up too). This shoe job cost $209.00.

Most of what Dean J said to me hasn't really sunk in on the technical side of things - but the most important thing was to make sure that Gus's feet match and that Gus more than likely will never grow a "normal" foot again....he might get correct enough to not have to wear such "funky" shoes, and we should know if that will happen some time in the next 6 months.

The most promising thing is that Dean J said I should see a huge difference in Gus in the next couple of days....and that he should be going totally sound on his fronts. That sure sounds better than not riding my horse for a year.

So, the moral here is stay away from the "kirby salesman" - and feel free to sink all your extra money (all right not extra) - into the horse that you love.

Current arena progress

2007-10-02T08:12:00.001-07:00

The Retaining Wall

The great sand box....isn't the Puppy tiny!

Spot & Ronny - Very interested in the activity!

Wow!

2007-09-30T12:02:00.000-07:00

Charisma and I out in the pasture this afternoon - she's relaxing and having a well deserved day off.

We competed Saturday at the Wisconsin State Horse Council Championship Challenge Show, and received Grand Champion in Western Pleasure, 3rd in open walk/trot pleasure, and 6th in Trail.

Past Due News!!!!!!

2007-09-21T12:15:00.000-07:00

Hi All!

Much is happening around the farm! Murph has started the excavating for the indoor arena. We had several contractors out to give estimates as this one of the most important parts of putting up the new building. Most told us they would have to bring in more dirt to make it work - which was additional cost. Murph was the only one that told us that he felt we had enough there and could make it work. BOY WAS HE Right! The dirt pile in the back of the property would make the most incredible sledding hill. They had to keep going and going to level and the hillside is now a 8 foot embankment (which creates a new set of problems). It looks so completely different. I have taken pictures which once I get them off the camera I will share.

Randy & Curtis are building the retaining wall - which also includes the footings/beams for the building. We were thankfully allowed to borrow Jessica Cole's post hole attachment for her tractor. Well - the rocks were big and plentiful....Murph, the excavator, felt sorry for us and came out with his skidsteer & post hole digger... Well, THAT didn't work either, and they still had the CAT there and dug a few,,,ummmm, BOULDERS out with that! So thankfully all the holes are dug, and Randy has most of the posts in the holes - but they all have to be filled and packed to finish - then he has to put up the wall part. Randy thought he could get this done in a couple of days....and yeah, though he doesn't drink - he sure was delusional in regards to THAT!

So, we have piles of dirt which we have to find a home for - so the outdoor arena is going to get an overhaul - as this dirt has a lot of regular dirt/clay texture - and we will scrape of a few inches of the broken down sand on top of the arena - and bring in this dirt and level it out more. I've been blessed to be able to keep riding even with diluges of rain - and the goal is to keep that as best we can.... my fingers are crossed!

The builder is scheduled to start October 8 - and he states he should have it all up in only 2 weeks. So the end of October is going to be very busy for us - we will be putting in the back wall, stalls, shavings storage room, and a new tack room.

Charisma is riding extremely well - I've very proud of her - we have several "bigger" shows to go to yet. Tomorrow we are heading to Elkhorn to show at a WQHA sponsored open show. Then on the 29th is the Wisc State Horse Council Championship Challenge show. Charisma is qualified for the Western Pleasure class - which is grouped by rider's age - so I will be in the Sr Sr age division. We will also be doing the Trail classes at these 2 shows. I'm also considering taking Charisma to Crown Point, IN on October 13 & 14 for a AQHA sanctioned show. I have a few weeks to decide though.

Gus is still having continued lameness and hoof problems. I tried a new farrier yesterday who is a "natural" hoof trimmer - and he pointed out that my on-going problems with thrush in Gus's front feet have to be addressed 1st and foremost before anything else can occur. Poor Gus. His heels have contracted alot over the summer and I have just not been able to get the thrush totally cured. So we have pulled Gus's shoes, and have packed his feet with medication and vetwrapped and he is wearing easy boots. This new guy stated to me that it could take 3 to 4 months of daily medicating and wrapping to cure it up - then another 6-12 months for the heels to come back to where they belong. He honestly told me that he felt Gus should be completely UNRIDDEN for at least a year..... (Ummm, that will be hard)..... He also suggested that we x-ray his fronts for navicular changes - as he is showing "slight symptons" of navicular. But it could also be soreness from thrush/contracted heels ...SO - will do that this Tuesday ( cuz at this point what's more vet bills???)....... And will keep you posted....

So, anyway, with the saga of poor Gus - Could this explain his poor performance this summer and his "attitude" problems etc? I'm thinking so...... So, if this works, and then maybe I'll have my horse back......

Sammy left Wednesday for his new home with Susan LeMay. I got teary putting him in the trailer, but I was happy with Suzan and she was very comfortable on him, and he was LAZY for her - so time will tell, but all indicators of a good match and great home for him. She has promised to keep me posted.

Ace has been sold to Jessica Julson and she will be boarding him with us. Jessica already loves him and has been out several times to brush and play with him, and she is intending on showing him next season. Many thanks to Kathy C who spend time with Ace over the summer so he wasn't a wild mustang....

And yes, if you've paid attention - I am down to only having 2 horses, Gus and Charisma. I'm tentatively shopping for a horse for Randy. Though he hasn't shown much interest as of late, so I'm not sure how hard I will be shopping, but it's ALWAYS fun to look.... the catalog has been posted for the Sept 30th Cannon Falls MN QH sale, and there are several good ones listed....so I might make a trip to that sale or hold off to the October cataloged sale too. Or who knows!!! ha ha....

Until later!

Chicago Vacation

2007-09-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

Some snapshots from our 1st family vacation. Many thanks to Carol & Cindy for holding down the fort!

News

2007-08-17T07:28:00.000-07:00

We are currently waiting to hear back from the bank on exact amount we can finance for the new building. Once we get those numbers - we hope to start on that project. We will be putting up some "temporary" fencing and moving horses around to accomodate to excavator and building the retaining wall - so bear with us in these next months of construction.

There is current openings for rough boarding and I'm taking reservations for stalls that should be ready in November this year.

I'm personally cutting back just a little to make room for new horses - So Sammy and Ace are for sale. If anyone is interested, please let me know. Ace is at Kathy Cummings house - getting excellent care and pasture and looks really good.

I'm also selling a couple of my saddles - a 16" Billy Royal Pleasure saddle and my 15" Janet Stover barrel saddle - if interested, please let me know.

We will be showing (depending on weather) at Red Ridge on Sunday - for the 4th show in the 5 show series. Hopefully we dont get rained out.

Until later!

New Addition...........

2007-08-10T09:12:00.000-07:00

Kara has been asking for a puppy for MONTHS.....

And the Winner is.......

2007-08-08T08:44:00.000-07:00

Charisma & I won the DCHA riding futurity this past Sunday. She gave me an excellent ride. The arena had standing water and mud - and she was a trooper through it all.

2nd Annual High Pines Farm trail ride & picnic is set for October 6th! Please plan on attend - we had a bunch of fun last year!

Wow!

2007-07-23T12:20:00.000-07:00

I spent the this past weekend at a barrel clinic being taught by Ed Wright. It was a tiring weekend, full of drills, individual works and a total change of riding style "vs" the old way of doing things. I have to be honest and say I struggled with it on Saturday. But on Sunday, really got it and really drastically improved my turn on the barrels. It will, of course, take practice, and I'm sure slips of doing it the "old" way, but hopefully the changes will show their results on the time clock.

Randy & Gus went to Red Ridge pleasure show with out me & Charisma. They did quite well in the English - winning the Sr Hunter Under Saddle Class. But the western classes didn't go as well, as Gus & Randy are still having "show nerves" to work through together. They did however, remain consistent and win the High Point of the day.

Kara's first solo ride

2007-07-16T14:20:00.001-07:00

Kara & I went on our first little trail ride together on Sunday. This is Kara's first solo trip without "mom" having a grip on whatever horse she is riding. Kara is riding Red, my old barrel horse from when I was a teenager. It was very neat to watch Kara ride him and brought back all those memories of our times together. It was also a bit sad, as Red is 26 years old now, and no longer has the "shape & pep" as the old days. Which, fortunately, enables Kara to ride him with no trouble by herself. In the days of old, Red was a handful for anyone, but was a fast one doing the speed events. We are planting the seed for "grandpa" that Red should come live with us for Kara to ride and take care of...

Other news:

Showing is going good - Randy is qualifed with Gus to go to the Wis State Horse Council Championship Challenge Show. Though Randy & Gus have had some "partnership" issues, I think they are starting to figure each other out.

Charisma and I are not qualified yet - though I've had some great rides on her. We were 2nd place at July 1st Portage show in Jr Horse Western Pleasure in a very large (and somewhat scary) class, but that is not a qualifying class for the championship show. I've had some really nice rides and have put her away on those notes - vs continuing to show her and having a problem crop up. I have until Sept 9th to get her qualified and about 5 shows left to go to that I can compete at with her. She has made great progress in the last 4 weeks in her training and is really coming into being a "show" horse.

The Horse Show

2007-06-26T06:34:00.001-07:00

I want to thank the following for all their help at the pleasure show. Without them - we couldn't have got it done - and we had many compliments on how well the show was run and organized. So hat's off to all of you!

Carol - our awesome announcer!
Cindy - "announcing assitant"
Tracy - Ring"woman"
Kathy - announcing & entry stand
Dee - awards presentation
Darcy & Mark - Gate handlers
Shyla - Gate handler
Tom - announcing assistant and clean up.
Jackie - my mom - entry stand
Shelley - entry stand & trail class
Paul - trail class
Chuck - trail class

We ended with 347 entries. Our cost to put on the show was $1,255.00 We made $987.00 - so the farm is in the hole $268.00 to put on the show.

It was alot of fun to do, and I glad of the experience - but until BHSA will let the clubs/individuals raise the entry fees - we will not do it again.

We're Parents!

2007-06-22T14:38:00.001-07:00

Aren't they cute! Thanks to Kathy for gettina great shot!

Bo made the improvement honor roll for the 4th quarter. YEAH!
His reward is to get up at 4 am and go fishing with Grandpa this weekend.

Randy was high point at Red Ridge last weekend with Gus - there is improvement there and he's starting to ride a little more during the week. I usually groom, and saddle Gus and hand him the reins!

Charisma received a 2nd place at Red Ridge in her 1st ever 3 Gait class. Even though she'd had a "learning" set-back this past couple of weeks, we seem to have gotten over the hump, and made it through the show. She doesn't go out again until July 1 - at Portage.

We got a swimming pool for Kara last week - she seems to be enjoying that! Myself, I need it to be warmer water and hotter days!

Waiting to work

2007-06-06T11:06:00.000-07:00

Charisma & Sammy - waiting their turns today.

And Griffin - catching some shade!

Tack Room Pictures

2007-06-06T07:34:00.001-07:00

Here are some pics of the new tack room - it has a full sized door so I can keep the kitties OUT!

And here is the bridle rack Randy built - it's cool and probably so much better than the one in the catalog!

I think I FORGOT I had one of these!!! Oooops!

2007-06-05T14:30:00.000-07:00

Ok - so I've pretty much ignored blogging/writing anything of late. Shame Shame Shame!

Newsworthy items:

Charisma won her 1st class Memorial Weekend - class size of 12, and though only a walk/jog - it was impressive to me - as it was only her 2nd time in the show arena. Lots of buzz about her after her win - so as I've "matured", the decision to take her and hide at the trailer until next time - was a wise one... it's best to go slowly with these young horses, and have LOW expectations! So when something really GREAT happens - don't try to do it again in the same day YET!

At the same show, Gus & Randy won their showmanship class, and he took 3rd with Gus behind "me"...(evil laugh he he....) in one class, and then things fell apart rapidly, and I ended up "schooling" Gus in a few classes, then competing again to win 1st in a class (I also won the trail class), and we put Gus away after all that too.

Gus is very upset to have Charisma leave him at any time during our stay at the show. This has perplexed me on his attitude until I realized that this is the first year that we have had TWO horses to take to shows....so will have to work through this, just like anything else.

Though Gus has also come up lame since before the show - with a tentative diagnosis of a hoof bruise of some type. It's not gushing Blood - so who the hell knows! That's my take... ANYWAY - he's been resting after having a series of 5 days of bute and foot soaking. He seems better these last couple of days - but will give him the remainder of this week on vacation and bring him out to see if he's going to stay sound to show on the 17th.

Sammy has been running barrels fairly decent this year - this past weekend we won $85 at the NBHA District show - and have even picked up a few points at the BHSA shows we've went to. This might seem funny - but I took him all last year, and never placed at a show.... So we've made improvements - and hope to continue.

Kara won her 1st leadline class of the year - and also took Gus in showmanship - it was very cute, and Mom & Dad were proud. The next show, I think she spent too much time talking to daddy and not being serious enough, but she still received 4th - and Mom really has to chill about these things- as she is only 6.....I will expect more out of my 7 yr old next year...ha ha...

Bo has managed to at least get a C or above in all his classes this quarter! This is a VERY big accomplishment and helpful heading into high school next year. Bo has also been helping do barn chores everynight - and has been a HUGE help to me every night. Why didn't I think of this sooner???? Bo leaves this weekend for his dad's for the summer, and will be missed (and not just cuz of chores).

Randy got his newer and bigger skid steer this past weekend. He's happy with his new toy. So I figure, that frees up about a $4,000 spending allowance for me next year....so I can be happy too!

Unlike my photographer friend, Kathy, I have no pictures to share at this time - I will work on that - and promise to post more often!

Also - remember our show on June 24 at the fairgrounds in Portage - your volunteer help will be MUCH appreciated!

Until next time!

Life Lessons......

2007-04-13T07:32:00.000-07:00

Bo was to turn in the money for the school fundraiser on Monday. Well, apparantly he is short $8.25 Bo states to me that "I" must have underpaid, and would I give him the money. I had wrote a check, and I knew that I had paid the correct total. Apparently he can not have his award or pizza party with being short on funds.

Well, I told him the fundraiser money was his responsibility and that if he was short, that HE would have to dig in his own pockets for it. I told him that I was sorry that he must have made an adding error or didn't collect from someone, and did he double check his math and keep track of who paid what. Of course not.....

So, again, I am not winning the "mother of the year" award, but is there a better way to learn how to be responsible than paying out of your own pocket for mistakes??

T.

The Clinic was Great!

2007-04-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

The clinic was great and I learned alot of different ways to actually USE the crap floating around in my head. Taking the sidepass and pivot and making lots of different manuevers and excercises out of them to get more out of the performance of our horses. It was definitely worth going to.

Even with the weather crap, and nothing is dry - except the riding arena (thank god), we've been busy riding as much as possible. Charisma came home from Jessica Cole's on Saturday. She's very fit and ready to go. I'm very happy with the work that was done with her, and she's in a great place to continue her education.

Gus is riding awesome. His lope has improved at least 25% since the clinic. I'm very excited about this year with him. Randy will keep some serious "butt", including mine I'm sure.

Kara had her first "official" riding lesson at Jessica Coles on Saturday. Within 10 minutes she was posting on the lunge line. What a hoot! The plan is to continue having her go to Jessica's to ride at least 1x per week until our schedules get too crazy. She only rode for about 15 mins on Saturday, but she is only 6! Kara is already starting to practice for Showmanship fo rthis year, and was leading Gus around yesterday. Nervous Nelly Mom was right alongside her to watch out for her feet - which look alot smaller than Gus's shod hooves. I had been working with Gus all winter to teach him to lead with his head "low" to accomodate Kara's height, and it really worked, and I my heart flutters to watch.

Randy has been busy building the new tackroom in the barn. And getting estimates from excavators for doing the site for the indoor arena. The stump (ha ha) in the plan is all the trees that will have to be removed....sigh.... Even though I KNOW my dad planted all those when he was young, there isn't much options. We can't exactly leave one in the middle....

News

2007-03-23T06:31:00.000-07:00

Hi All!

Been fairly quiet around here, well, except for the slopping noises of marching thru spring mud & guck! All the horses have started to shed, and that's such a beautiful thing!

We have a new addition to our horse family. A yearling paint gelding named Ace joined us last Sunday. He was a freebie, and supposedly has a sore rear foot, but we really haven't seen much signs of it. The owner stated that she, her vet, and her farrier all felt that he would come out of it. He's a nice boy, but right now he is a little "shy" around us humans. Randy has been working with him almost daily since Sunday to bring him around.

I brought Gus home from Kari's yesterday. I do believe that he's happy to be home....or it could just be me...ha ha....

I'm off to the clinic tomorrow - 2 full days of many hours of instruction....I'm so looking forward to it. Though Gus & I probably aren't in as good as shape as we could be, I think we are as ready as we were going to get for only the end of March. I really wish I could video tape most of it.

I'll post after the clinic, and hopefully have some cool stuff to talk about, otherwise, why did I pay that $400????

I Didn't Ride.....

2007-03-12T07:47:00.000-07:00

Sunday was beautiful - and though hard to swallow, I spent most of it at CHURCH...lol... My niece, Heather was baptized at the River of Life Church in Portage on Sunday. If I was to be a firm believer and go to Church regularly, I think it was fun and "modern" service....though as the hours drug on, I couldn't quite control my restlessness, and fidget....I think alot of the kids were probably more contained than I was.

We got home around 2ish, and I told Kara that we had to go over and visit Gus, and Kara said she wanted to ride (wow)....so packed up her little saddle and helmut and off we went. So, I was in the rare position with my child, where I was the observer and not the participant.....it feels strange, but I was very pleased to be there. Gus was very well behaved and packed her around like a trooper...in fact she had a hard time getting him to move! There was a neighbor shooting "guns", and though I was a little nervous, Gus handled it all well.

As by looking at the pictures, it's time to move her stirrups DOWN...she hasn't ridden since last fall in her saddle, and her legs have grown considerably!

Kara even jogged Gus. This is really the first time that she's been on the length of the lungeline. And steering mostly on her own. Kara will start riding lessons at Jessica Cole's soon. Where she will learn how to ride English style first. I firmly believe that learning to post and ride in that discipline - teaches more balance and leg position and strength, than in a western saddle. Too many kids just grab the saddle horn when things are not going "right", instead of learning to use their legs and bodies, and THINK!

So, I was the proud mama, snapping pictures... ha ha....

Warm Warm Warm

2007-03-09T08:35:00.000-08:00

Its supposed to be in the 40's this weekend - what more is there to talk about?????

The Animal Auction

2007-03-05T07:05:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I was lucky enough to go to Leudlow's animal auction. Cindy, a current boarder, had heard that there was going to be a paint horse for sale there and wanted to go check it out. Carol who owns Griffin from the barn, and Tanya (Cindy's friend and a past client of mine) also came along.

Too say we had a lot of fun is an understatement, as Cindy was carrying baby goats around and I myself was bidding on Wilbur the pig, and 2 mary "lambs". Of course, I wouldn't go over $5.00 so I did not buy any critters. Though, I was really tempted to buy that darn pig....I could smell the bacon....

On the sad subject of the horses attending the auction....they were a stellar example of why some people should not be able to breed their horses....sigh.....there were 2 registered quarter horse fillies, both coming 3 years old this summer. Neither could lead or tie or were friendly, as they were frightened by the environment they were shuffled in and were more than positive that the human beings staring at them were envisioning the evening meal. They were not horribly thin - they obviously had food, but their hooves showed that it had been some time, if any, that they had been trimmed, and they were definitely showing signs of some serious worms. One filly had serious clouding in one eye, and when I finally could get closer to it - I'm sure there was sight loss. When they came through the auction ring, they didn't even bring a bid of $25.00 And sad to say, they were not worth the $60.00 that the auctioneer bought them for.

Cindy was really eyeing the one filly and when the bidding started, I told her that her hospital bill or deductibles were going to be much higher than $60.00

So the paint gelding that was there was in about the same shape as the 2 fillies (as they came from the same place) - however someone in his short life had spent the time to teach him to lead and tie. And that human's might still be predators - that we were NOT going to really eat him. This gelding is also registered and very colorful. Cindy had named him and kissed him well before the bidding started. Cindy had never been to a "horse" auction (and we'll just call it that loosely"), and I bid on the horse for her. Cindy now owns a 2 yr old registered paint gelding for a mere $95.00 I will have to post some pictures of him here. She has a bit of project for herself, but I think there is some promise here.

We picked up the paint horse on Sunday afternoon and he loaded fine and came off the trailer pretty good. Unfortunately after he got off the trailer, he dragged Cindy to the nearest snow pile and promptly started devouring snow....Cindy took him to the water tank and he submerged his face and didn't come back up for air for some time. It appears that they didn't even bother to give this animal a drink of water, for who knows how long.... We took him a bunch of hay, and I'd have to say the horse hasn't moved from the hay or water tank. There is no other tracks in the snow.....sigh....

On other farm news - it is terribly icy around the barn - so all be careful!

Gus & Charisma are both riding well. Randy came over with me and rode Gus for a little bit too.

Until later!

T.

Yearning for....

2007-02-12T18:05:00.000-08:00

I know that I have more than most and less than some....but.....I'm really hoping to get the indoor arena up this summer. We've had business "requests" for boarding that have went elsewhere due to not having an indoor to offer. But most of all, is the fact that I have one horse at a trainer, and now Gus is at Kari's boarded only because of the lack of our own indoor arena. I moved Gus over on Saturday, and went and rode Sunday and today. Though a bit nippy, it was still about 20 degrees inside and it was soooo nice to ride. Even though Gus was more than a bit NAUGHTY...lol.....

So, I'm in the dilemma of having to borrow around $60,000 to make it happen. This would make the mortgage on the farm around $225,000. A hefty sum it feels to me, but darn it, people all over the freaking country are buying $350,000-400,000 homes.....how do they do it? I've explored the business aspect, as in what I would have to have for total number of outside horses to pay for it, the raise of current rates to account for more amenities, and the limitations of only 13 acres....sigh..... My overwhelming fear is A: I dont get the horses/clients here and B: people dont pay their friggin bills....

So, I'm still waffling.... Randy of course says to pull the trigger and just build it....but then he rarely concerns himself with if the bills are paid or paid on time or credit card balances....so he's not much help....sigh..... though, I'm sure if I said I wanted to go buy a $15,000 reining horse, he'd having something to say about THAT!

I know that no one can help me make this decision......I just want my Mom to tell me YES or NO...lol....

Worry Wart....

2007-01-31T08:25:00.000-08:00

So, I haul Gus over to Jessica Cole to meet with Dean J - farrier to investigate his cracks in his heels of his front feet. Dean J is an awesome farrier - whom I used for 4 years when I lived at the barn on Military Rd. I haven't used him since (almost 7 years) as we moved and Dean J became the resident farrier at UW Madison Vet Hospital. Jessica Cole has been fortunate to be one of the few barns that Dean J still does "house" calls to.

Dean had wonderful things to say about Roman Miller, our current farrier, and stated that he was doing an excellent job with Gus's shoeing and feet conditions.

A little background on Gus, is that he has had contracted heels for about 2 years. When Roman came to our barn a year and 1/2 ago, he suggested going with a Natural Balance shoe. In about 6 months we saw marked improvement on Gus and his contracted heels. This last year, I have been battling re-curring Thrush in Gus's front feet. This is a common problem with a horse with contracted heels, as there is a deep crevice for the bacteria to thrive. Its seems once the Thrush goes away, it comes back in about 3-4 weeks and we go thru it all over again.

This past July, Gus was having some right sided issues, mostly evident at the lope. When Roman came out mid-August - Gus was unlevel on his right foot - it was lower than the left. Roman put a very small wedge pad under his shoe to balance him back out. In time, the hoof should catch up and we can take it off. That did solve his problem and Gus was back riding like a million bucks. The wedge also seemed to be improving some of the contraction in that heel, and after another re-set we saw some positive growth. The decision was made to leave the Natural Balance shoes on for the winter.

In the last couple of months, Gus has had small cracks or "fissures" running up from this frog area into his heel. These have gradually gotten bigger and more of a "concern" to me. This is what prompted me to haul to Dean J - and get that all important "Dr's second opinion".....Sigh..... I'm happy to report that this is "cosmetic", and is a result of the on-going battle with Thrush. Dean J states that the cracks is where the infection "broke", and that there is positive live tissue and it will go away in time.

So the most important thing that I learned yesterday is in regard to treating Gus's chronic thrush is to basically throw away the "over-the-counter" thrush medicines. Dean J states that most are too caustic and drying - causing additonal problems (aka cracked heels)...and to buy some plain ole iodine at the drug store....His remedy for Gus is to soak small cotton balls in iodine, and pack them in the crevice areas of Gus's hooves. Sure sounds simple to me....can't wait to try it! And lesson here is "if its not broke, dont fix it".....

I also got to see Charisma work yesterday. I'm very happy to report that after being there for only a little over a week, she is very content and quiet, and is learning to learn.... can't ask for more than that!

Kara & Horses

2007-01-25T14:32:00.000-08:00

Last night as we were in the driveway alongside the new pasture - Gus was running alongside the car...I hollered to Kara - and said " look at Gus loping along side of us!"...Kara laughed and then asked me if Gus was "HER" horse.....hard question to answer, as it feels like forever that I've wanted to hear her say something like that. Alas, I answered her that "No, Gus was not her horse, he was the whole family's horse". Kara made a big sigh and looked disappointed at that. I then told Kara that if she really spent time with Gus and learned to ride and liked it, then I would give Gus to her then.

I hope that was the right answer......

Machinery Dependence.....

2007-01-19T09:03:00.000-08:00

To my stall boarders: I'm sorry the stalls are not very clean right now... The manure spreader was full - and Randy went to take spreader out Wednesday night. HOWEVER - the main component necessary to running the tractor was missing....your right - it was the KEY!.....Sooooo, no starting of the tractor..... I didn't clean stalls yesterday .

Randy did come home yesterday after work with a torch and a propane tank and proceeded to melt the snow under the tractor in search of the KEY.... He started up the torch when I had 3 horses left to bring inside....you can imagine the the funky noise and lights as the tractor is parked right along side the barn, fairly near the back door. I asked Randy to cease & desist until I could finish bringing in the horses. After I had everybody in, he started the torch back up....wow - what a way to light up the night and get EVERYONE in the barn stirred up....I went thru and shut up the stall drop-downs to ensure no one could escape...lol...

Now, Randy was SUCCESSFUL in finding the small key (which has prompted him to want to install a toggle switch on the tractor), and took out the spreader of manure. So now the spreader is empty for use. BUT the stalls have went 2 days, and it is now Friday. The plan is to let them go today - and Saturday morning have a strip it party....and I will have lots of clothes on....ha ha... Most people know I'm picky about the stalls and being clean....but its been a bit of vacation to just let them go!

Charisma leaves tomorrow to go to Jessica Cole's for training. I'm praying that she's not a freak about being moved to another strange place, but I have full confidence that Jessica will handle her fine. I did call her past owner, as I still had not received her registration papers and its been almost 3 weeks since they cashed the check. I left a message to her about that, and she called back this week and told me she was sorry to have "forgotten" them, and was wondering if she had settled down yet. I have not returned the call at this point, as I have a feeling that she knew Charisma was like this and didn't disclose that to me (even though I specifically asked if she had any "vices"). Well, too late now, and hopefully she is a complete star under saddle, and we can "deal" with her stall weaving when she is upset. Luckily she doesn't seem to do it ALL the time.

Well, if anyone wants to come to the "strip-it" party tomorrow.......

Have a good weekend!

Brrrr.......

2007-01-16T08:01:00.000-08:00

It was very cold doing chores this morning....I bundled up and headed out at 6:30 to feed all 20 horses - which is quite a few when its only 2 degrees... As I was doing the chores, in my over-alls, boots, gloves, hat etc...marching thru the bit of snow with wheelbarrow filled with hay - and broke out into a sweat....who needs Curves??? I just need to spend about 20 minutes a day pushing the wheelbarrow thru the snow...ha ha....

All the horses were happy to see me, which is always nice...there are 8 horses in the barn, and even with the low temps - the 2 buckets that are not heated only had only a little bit of ice...I have 6 heated water buckets - which I love even if they give me just a little bit more work in the AM's - as I go thru and empty and unplug them for the day. It just doesn't seem to make much sense to have them plugged in all day when no one is in the barn. But it does add another 5 minutes to my crazy mornings.

The outside horses were in good spirits this morning too, so they were more than prepared for the cold snap this week than us humans.

I am anxiously awaiting time to ride. Gus leaves in 2 weeks to go to Kari's - and I will start riding him every day to get ready for the "clinic".. I dont want to spend $400 to go with a fat horse and a fat me.... Lee Barthel, who just brought her show horse before Christmas, is going to attend the clinic with me, so we can split gas costs. We decided to haul in each day vs staying overnight, as Germantown isn't that far away.

I spent some time looking at show schedules last night...and its hard to see which way the summer is going yet in January. I have about 6 NBHA shows that I want to attend for sure, and a barrel bash in the end of October. I want to go to more NBHA & 4-D format shows this year vs going to BHSA or open shows. With Sammy already running at the top of the 4-D division with little seasoning and exposure, I'm hoping to see some 2-D times by the end of summer. Shelley & I are going to ride share when we can, and Amanda Coyle has also expressed interest at ride sharing to some shows with me too. So hopefully can save on the gas bill when I can.

This is Kara's last year to ride as a "leadline" rider - as the ages is 6 & under. So will probably get her to as many of the BHSA pleasure shows for her to ride in that class. She will be riding Gus again. And I hope that Randy will be showing Gus mostly this year, and I will be riding Charisma. I'm hoping that Kara will be showing more interest in riding by the end of summer. I've been anxiously awaiting that to happen...I've done my best to tone it down and not push for her to ride....

Charisma

2007-01-08T06:40:00.000-08:00

I actually made time to work with Charisma this weekend. This is the first time since we brought her home after Thanksgiving that I have done anything with her besides lead her outside and brush her on occasion.

I started with some basic round pen work and she did very well. She was extremely sensitive to the whip - to the point that all I had to do was pick it up and she'd take off at a run. I wouldn't say she was frightened of it, but she certainly understood that whip=go.. so I spent considerable amount of time desensitizing her with the whip. I've been a fan of Clinton Anderson for quite a few years and really believe and understand most of his concepts. BUT some of its easier said than done! lol... Charisma really hated having me move the whip over her head...she would take off running. Ok - Clinton says to NOT take "it" away, until the horse stands, then remove the scary object at that point. Soooooo, picture me holding the line, the whip swirling over her head, and her running away....the difficulty here was trying to hold crazy said horse and keep whip moving, which was just at that point making her go faster...ha ha.... it eventually worked, and I think I only tied myself up 3 times, and only whacked myself in the head once.... This was Saturday. She was much much better on Sunday. Her ears were flat back on her head, but she stood for it.

My boarder, Cindy, was there riding and her fiancee stood on the fence and watched Sunday's session with what I felt was a great deal of interest. He asked some very good questions and really seemed to understand why I would want to desensitize her to the whip (which even I know sounds a little backward). No mind you, that HE is a beginner, and only has ridden a few time.

By my end session with Charisma on Sunday - she was flexing on both sides really good, grasped the idea of yielding her hind quarters, was reversing by me switching hands on the line, and would stand for the whip being moved all over and swung over her head. She never got sweaty, crazy or silly. I am pretty impressed with her at this point. Plus what an athletic little thing she is. She could slide to a stop and roll back faster than a lick. Plus she can lope a circle around me on a 6' length of rope....COOL....

Truck Whoas ( oh Woes)

2007-01-04T12:47:00.000-08:00

After several weeks of silence from Hill Ford - we got a call today that we can pick up our truck tomorrow... complete with a newly rebuilt engine....they replaced, gears, pistons, rings, bearings, and other more complicated pieces that I can't recall off the top of my head.. Anyway, lets hope that we no longer use a quart of oil to go to the friggin gas station...haha..... After all, we just spent $17,995 on the damn thing...and that is of course considered a cheap truck....but not to me!

Thankfully, the whole engine deal only costs us $100.00 - lets bless that warranty thing! And the fact that I said lets drive the damn truck every day of that 3 months....he he....

Though previous dealings with Hill Ford had always left a bad taste in my mouth - I have to give kudos to the Service Dept there - they were excellent and very willing to do what it took to make it right. So heres to hoping its right....I think we've got about 2 days left of that warranty!

Who invited the FLU for New Years?

2007-01-03T08:05:00.000-08:00

For several years now, we have gotten together with Shelley and the Bandt's for New Years, and have rotated houses every year. This year was hosted by the Bandt's. We needed to pick up Bo from his Dad's in the Dells and had him by 6:30. On the way to Bo, Kara said her stomach felt sick. Well, she was watching her new DVD player and I didn't know if that might make her feel queasy. She said that maybe she was hungry....I told Kara that we would eat when we got to the Bandt's. Let me just say she was NOT hungry... we got into the Bandt's house, where Kara promptly threw up all over the living room....and I mean ALL OVER! It's bad enough when they get sick on your OWN carpet, much less anyone else! YUCK....course a bucket or bowl never came until it was too late....and my ownself happened to already be parked on the toilet anyway.... so we get everything cleaned up, and lay her down. We did manage to eat dinner, but Kara was sick again, so we went home. We were home before 9 pm. Kara was sick all night and pretty much slept all day New Years Day.

Of course, I had to catch this silly bug, and was sick all day Tuesday - HOWEVER - due to year end closing and payroll, I had to go to work anyway....now that was nasty.....I left early, and got home about 4:30 and went to sleep, and didn't get back up until 6 this morning. I feel much better today....thankfully!

So much fun ringing in the new year!

Christmas is DONE!

2006-12-26T07:01:00.000-08:00

Well, we survived christmas...the weekend was long and too short at the same time.

My thoughts were with the Cummings family as Kelzon has joined horse heaven. Shyla impressed me with her maturity in the difficult situation that it was. And I was glad I was there to offer what little support I was able to.

As far as Christmas joy at our house - it's hard not to have any with a six year old present! When I got back from my now 11th trip to Wisconsin Dells to pick up Bo on early Christmas morning (only 5 more to go!) - Kara was anxiously awaiting us to open gifts. Though Santa was generous - there were not as many gifts under the tree as in some years. Santa has tightened his belt and refuses to charge Christmas any more to the credit card!

Kara stated last night before bed that she had a great Christmas and Bo seems very pleased with his gifts - so what more is needed?! Bo was happy to get an MP3 player, and once I figured the damn thing out, pretty much had that stuck in his ear the rest of the day. Also most of the family has figured out that he loves golf - so Bo has lots and lots of golf balls for Shadow to fetch.

Randy & I had agreed to not exchange presents....though he really didn't keep his end of the deal, taking the kids shopping on Saturday and getting me a few things...which was sweet, but now decidedly lop sided on the gift exchange meter. So, I have a gift card to TSC - so he might have a few new jeans and socks! So romantic....lol...

Killer Rabbits

2006-12-11T08:06:00.000-08:00

"Aunt" Shelley gave Kara a rabbit for her birthday. When the rabbit - who is now named Hopscotch - came to reside at our home, he was a loving and friendly bunny.

I went to pick up our sweet rabbit, and risked having both wrists slashed with the the sharp knives coming from those thrashing back legs. Who knew that rabbits can turn into superman in a blink of an eye? Me, who usually has no trouble controlling a 1,000 lb horse had all I could do to hold on onto a stinking rabbit!!!!! What's wrong with the scenario? I will have to sign up for bunny lessons from the Harvey's....sigh.... I did get Hopscotchs home clean - so will have to find out a strategy for next time and take some lessons...ha ha...

Also had Charisma out this weekend - she is slowly settling into her new home. There were a few days of worry that I had bought a physcho horse, but I think she's going to be ok. I had her in the cross ties, cleaned all 4 hooves, saddled and lunged her (there was some bucking but nothing unexpected with the warm day), and left her tied for an hour at the round pen., and all was good.

My sister Jena was out again yesterday and took Sammy out for another trail ride. I think this is going to be good as Jena really can't afford to own a horse, and Sammy really can use getting out of the arena and trail ride...so maybe this will work out for both of us.....though I did holler at her about letting my good lead rope drag on the ground.....that big sister thing just snuck out....he he..... Sometimes I don't think I'll grow out of that.

Many of the boarders were out this weekend enjoying the weather. It was nice seeing everyone out enjoying there horses.

Busy At Work

2006-12-08T07:22:00.000-08:00

yesterday, I was busy at work, watching the live feed for the Paint Vegas Show. They were running the Open Gamblers Choice Trail. I tell ya - it was a hoot. They were running a fairly tough course as a timed event. I think they had 3 minutes (hard to tell as I have volume turned down, I was "working") and they assigned each obstacle points - and I think they could do each obstacle 2 times. It was really fun to watch - some of those trainers had a hell of a handle on their horses thats for sure. It was like watching a fast action trail class. I could get into that!

Kara brought home songs to practice for their Kindgarten christmas ditty. I thought I'd share the 12 days of Christmas - the puppy/dog version.... She's adorable singing - but I keep screwing up the song with the original version...ha ha...

Christmas is only 16 days away....scary.... we are putting up the tree and decorations this weekend. As we go thru town on our way home from school - Kara comentates on ALL the houses decorated with lights, and compares it to our boring unlighted residence (cuz Mom's the grinch).....soooo bending to the pressure.......course knowing myself, and if I have to hang lights on the house to appease my spoiled 6 year old, then I'll be hanging lights around the barn. Ha! Of course Randy's idea was to hang lights and tinsel all along the new fence around the drive... Course he doesn't open the electric bill either!

I'm going riding this weekend....even if its bareback around the round pen...I haven't rode in weeks and weeks....

I talked to a Paul Huettl last night about taking lessons for myself... he sounds fun...will have to go try him out.... Also, am on the list to go to the Mark Shaffer clinic and the Ed Wright barrel clinic this summer..... I better start putting paper in my coin jar to help pay for all my wants...hehe....

2006-12-07T08:22:00.000-08:00

I think I like the NBHA photo best - what do you think?

It's been a while................

2006-12-07T07:36:00.000-08:00

Ok, I was re-introduced to the "blog" way of life recently....after reading the help menu's - I found my blog page again.... and realized it was over a YEAR ago since my last post....wow...time flys.

In the past year, the farm has really grown - there are now 16 boarding horses here...with 6 horses arriving October 1st. The tack room has shrunk incredibly! We are looking at ways to organize, and will probably build more tack lockers as time allows. I heartily welcome the new owners & horses to our busy lives, and hope they enjoy their horses as much as I do.

It was a sad decision to sell Nemo this fall, especially with all the special time working on his injury all summer. I hope that he has a good caring home. With the sales, I found ourselves down to ownly 2 horses - Gus & Sammy - who at this time, feel they won't ever be sold. We were short a horse for Randy, which as I ususally have no specific reason to search for horses for sale, led me on a frantic (well any excuse will work), search for the right horse on a very limited budget.

Well, to be proud of me, I didn't impulse buy - and didn't buy the first critter I saw... we did settle for a younger horse do to our financial restrictions. We brought Charisma home this past Saturday. We bought her from Chris Corrus in Richfield, WI (yes, actually bought a horse that was residing in Wisconsin) - Chris was the breeder - owning the mare and the stallion. Charisma had never been in a horse trailer before Saturday and loaded like she'd done it a million times. She was very good to unload, though she wasn't all too sure about the landing.. Charisma is having some difficulty settling in, and is very upset about being stalled at night. I'm hoping she works through this, as a future show horse, she will need to learn to be inside more, and the patience of being tied to a trailer for hours.

I have a stall reserved at Kari's (who has an indoor) for February and Charisma will be going to work, and hopefully we will see what's under the hood, so to speak.

I suppose I should go to work - as I'm already at work, and should be doing something more productive....ha ha...

until next time - and lets hope not more than a year from now.

High Pines Farm

2005-11-26T09:47:00.000-08:00

WOW!
Our older trailer sold yesterday - we had a couple come down from Canada and buy it.
There's a big load off - making a trailer payment is one thing, making 2 payments is another!

Sammy & I Sharing A Moment

2005-11-20T19:08:00.000-08:00

Here's My Favorite!

2005-11-20T19:00:00.000-08:00

In The Beginning......

2005-11-20T18:24:00.000-08:00

Most that know me, realize, that I have a border line obsession with horses and competion....... Most believe that this started in the early days, and that I've been riding horses my whole life..... well, not true...

I've been envious of many of the young kids that I have taught, starting with formal lessons and getting their horses, as I was around 12 yrs old before I got a pony.... BUT....my competitive drive was installed much before ever getting a horse.....

My dad has always hunted, mostly perferring bowhunting. This was a natural progression for him for the sport of archery and competitions. From before I can remember, we went to archery shoots year round, indoor tourneys and outside shoots. My dad would travel hours to go to competitions. I dont remember my exact age, but I began shooting also. Of course I'm young (and weak), so my bow is at a very low draw weight, and I remember on some of the outdoor targets, pulling back and aiming at the sky, and hoping my arrow would land somewhere in the right county, much less the target... My dad traveled with other "guys", and they (not too brag) but were in the top of the sport in Wisconsin...

In 1984, we traveled to the Nationals Bowhunter Tournament. This was an outdoor shooting range, with targets ranging from 10 yards to 80 yards, various animals and some were moving targets.... I won my division at nationals, and that is one trophy that I still have....I was 14 at the time.

It was not long after that, our family became more involved with horses and competion - but the same rules apply as that in archery - take your time, line up your sights, hold your breath, and hope to hit the bullseye.