Hayburner Acres

Dream Horse

2011-11-28T20:18:00.001-08:00

My dream color horse I guess you could say. I would like to introduce Grace my new horse. She is a 3 year old APHA filly that I look forward to training and hopefully barrel racing in a couple years. I have always wanted a palamino, buckskin or dun paint colored horse and she is a cutie. It was adventure picking her up as it was snowing and Sam's truck and trailer got stuck a few times due to the hill we were on but we made it home and we will see what the future will hold!

Willow

2011-10-28T20:18:00.000-07:00

This isn't the best pictue but I think it shows how stout Willow has become. If I had a pictue of her when I got her (really wish I did) she was a little thing with scars all over her lips and she did not like to be touched. I may have written about this in the past but I didn't look. Dwane actually got her for me for Mother's Day and she was my first horse in 10 years. The first couple years I did alot of ground work with her, got her to wear a saddle when she was three did everything but step on her back. You see I was a chicken then, I could not bring myself to throw my leg over the saddle. In this time I had other horses also but never or hardly ever rode them. I had Bandit who I could ride but he would get difficult and I wanted nothing to do with it. There was Bell who was the same, I could make her go but it scared me senseless and it would take too long for me to climb back in the saddle.

Willow was slow at growing at 3 she was still very small. I at one time worried that she would ever be big enough for me to ride. The spring she turned four it was like a bulldog exploded, she thickened up and got taller and looked great. I decided that I would send her to a trainer friend of mine for her first thirty days. We wheeled and dealed and did some trading and Willow went in the trailer to my friends. When we got there he was like "Well what do we need to teach her, lounging? or what does she need?" I told him to just be ridden she knew everything else. I could see his hesitation so I took her out to the round pen and put her through her paces, then threw the saddle on her and off she went again. He was very surprised, he took a turn with her in the round pen and she did great. I left and the next day at work (my coworker was his girlfriend) told me after I left he hopped on her and rode her around in the round pen for 15 minutes that night. For the next thirty days he rode her after a few they were out of the pen and in the pasture. He had me come out and ride her and she did great. Then I came and took her home.

I only rode maybe 4 or 5 times the rest of that year. I would be all gung ho and go out and saddle her, if she made one move that I thought was bad or she was going to act out, I would have a panic attack and get off. The next spring my friend Sam asked if I wanted to go on a ride at Farragut State park with her and we could take Willow. I had ridden her in the corral once so far this year. I couldn't back down in front of Sam so said of course we will go. Willow did awesome, couldn't even tell she had never been on a real trail ride. That year was the start of me riding again (really riding). We did a bunch of trail riding and even rode in a parade. Kylie was coming along on Autumn (until the end of that summer when she ran off with her). I had friends that were coming out all the time and riding with me. Last year we did quite a bit of riding not a ton but quite a bit. Willow by now was an old pro and she really seems to like going out on the trail.

Now the story changes - this last spring I could tell she was off. I couldn't for the life of me figure out where or why. I took a video on my phone and had my friend look at it - yep she is off couldn't find any heat, nothing in her foot, I didn't see any swelling. She had lost some weight that winter which is not like Willow at all so I decided to take her in and get her teeth done. Walking from the trailer to the vet office the vet asked me if she had been off or sore. I told him yeah I had noticed this spring that she was off, he pointed out that her hock was bigger then the other one. He then did some flex tests and what not and told me she has some severe arthritis in her hock. My options were to bute her before riding, inject her hock, or not ride. We need to do xrays and I haven't gotten them done, I am afraid of what they may find. We didn't ride alot this year a little bit but not near as much as the year before. I took her on one trail ride and she was sore after we went up a hill for a while, so we will stick to flatter riding. This next year I will get the xrays and we will go from there.....now my dilema Kylie and I started gaming this year, does this mean another horse and what kind? Willow will forever be with me and was supposed to be my life long or thru the good years horse :( we would grow old trail riding together and we still will as long as she can it just may not be as long as I had thought......

Titan

2011-10-27T19:13:00.000-07:00

Story of Titan! I bought Titan for Kylie this last spring. She was really having a hard time riding Autumn, every time she got on she would lean forward, had a death grip on the reins and looked scared to death. Much to my dismay I probably didn't handle it all that well as I would get very irritated (even though I myself have had these issues in the past). Last summer our friend Teresa had brought her daughter out riding with Kylie and during that time Kylie had ridden Titan and really liked him. When I heard Titan was for sale I sent Teresa a message and we worked out all the details, Titan came home with me! Kylie started trail riding with me multiple times a week once it quit raining. She built confidence with each ride. We took the horse to a friends pasture for a couple weeks and I noticed Titans feet needed done so called my shoer. It took my shoer almost four weeks to get out (which has never happened with this shoer) by then Titan had lost both front shoes and broken off his toe too short to reshoe. He was not lame or anything but not enough toe to nail to, so he was out of commission. Kylie then had to start riding Autumn but guess what after the first ride she was not afraid and I mean at all. We have now gone riding quite a few times and even had Kylie work with Autumn in the arena a couple weeks ago. Autumn was naughty and did a few crow hops and Kylie rode right thru it and kept her going.

Unfortunately Titan also has ended up having surgery a couple weeks ago. His tongue looked swollen and he could not put in the his mouth all the way. I doctored him for a day and it just got worse so off to the vet we went. After determining that it didn't look contagious we went into the vets office. She couldn't feel anything so we decided to do xrays and "boop" there it was on the screen a thin line which turned out to be wire in his tongue along his jaw bone. The only option surgery or he would slowly starve to death. Well I guess according to Dwane there was another option but not after he saw the look on my face. After a day of fluids they did surgery and the wire came out fairly easy, it did break but they got both pieces out. We had a week of tubing a solution of betadine and water thru his chin and out his mouth. His tongue is finally in his mouth and his chin is almost healed. He did loose a corner of his tongue but he is eating very well. Heavy on the senior feed and free choice hay and he gained his weight back very quickly. Don't get me wrong he still needs to gain but he is not icky thin anymore. Hopefully by next spring Titan and Willow will be our trail horses and Autumn and ? will be our gaming horses since Willow cannot game but that is another story......

Still here

2011-10-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

I have been on auto pilot. So many changes so little time. Horse world - I bought Kylie a horse in May - his name is Titan. I got him from a friend and he is a great horse for her. She really built her confidence. Titan then got a wire in his tongue that we found by his tongue swelling up and taking x-rays at the vet. We then had the decision of surgery or ??? We decided on the surgery, he is doing well. Today was his last day of antibiotics and I should have it paid off in a couple months :(. But this gave Kylie a chance to ride Autumn and she has done very well.

We have done a little bit of gaming this year. Not near the amount that I wanted but the ones we went to were fun. We have one more on the 30th of October at Canyon Creek. Part of my frustration also has been Willow. When I had her teeth floated last spring the vet noticed that her hock was off. He did some testing and she has severe arthritis in her hock, we need xrays to determine if it can be injected or how to proceed. She is fine on small trail rides but any steep hills or the like she is off for a week. No barrel racing with her which leads to do I get a gaming horse? I was using Autumn but I think she will be better for Kylie to race on as Titan has herd bound issues that she cannot hold onto in an arena. Titan is older 19+ and I don't want to put a burden on him. We will see what shall come about.

We are waiting to see if we will be approved for a mortgage, if we are we have a house picked out and there is an arena next door that they have gaming play dates at every Sunday in the summer. It is already fenced and would be perfect. The yard needs work but the interior is almost completely remodeled. We have done alot of trail riding next door to our house but now they have burmed the entrances and put up no trespassing signs so too many kids making a mess. That is my year in a nut shell. I won't promise to write but will work on it :)

New Year Lots of changes

2011-01-02T11:26:00.000-08:00

It has been forever since I have blogged. All is good in our world for the most part. My job has been keeping me really busy as I was promoted in October to Branch Manager. It is a huge step and will really help our family financially. The downside is that it is taking alot more of my time and energy. It is leveling out though and coming along nicely.

The other major change would be that we have to move again :(. Our landlord is moving back to town and wants his house back. We have found a place and are waiting for approval. It is smaller in house size but double in land size. It also has a flat field that I can set up barrels for Kylie. That is one of my major goals this year to get Kylie really riding and my horses ok with an arena. We took them to the arena at Farragut last year and they just didn't know what to do. They are so used to being right next to each other on the trail that when they were at opposite ends of the arena it kind of freaked them out a little. So some dessensitizing about being next to each other at all times and getting Kylie more comfortable in the saddle. Hoping Teresa and Grace will come out too as we had alot of fun with them at the end of the year. I really need to thank her for getting Kylie riding again.

Other then that life is good. My brother is giving me his pick up which will be perfect farm truck - 88 Ford F250 long box with 105,000 miles that he put on it as he has had it since it was brand new. Now we just have to make it to Salt Lake again to pick it up. Dwane is layed off for the winter which is ok with my new job we are just fine.

Christmas was nice. We got Haley a car - the right deal at the right time - so she will be all set when she gets her license.

Needless to say she was very excited when she saw it. How my kid has a nicer car then me to drive :).

Here is to a New Year and I am in the mind frame to make it a good one, regardless of how it starts :)

2010-09-01T21:13:00.001-07:00

We went on another ride at Farragut on Saturday with a group of people. It was alot of fun and Kylie did really well! We will be going again tomorrow just Kylie and I, we did this a week or so ago and it went really well. Now to teach Kylie more on the ground as she is getting big enough to do that also. I know it was all backwards teaching her to ride rather then ground manners first, but we need to work with Autumn anyway so they can learn together.

Riding, Riding, Riding

2010-08-23T21:51:00.000-07:00

KYLIE IS RIDING AGAIN!!!!!!!

I have been on a few rides. Went to Farragut. I have ridden Willow around the loop a couple times by herself and she did really well. My confidence level has grown alot. This last weekend I went with Teresa to Lakeview past the Happy Hermit and rode up Gold Creek with Kylie. When we got there Kylie said she didn't want to go but I had just driven almost 2 hours on dirt roads to get there and she didn't get a choice, she now wants to go riding this coming weekend. She had a moment about going over water and then went across. Then she had a moment about going down hill, she didn't concure that on the first day but on the second she figured it out. Dwane went with me on Sunday and we met them at the Happy Hermit and went from there to explore some trails. He got to ride Hemi and liked her. I was a little worried at first but it turned out really good. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

2010-07-31T21:56:00.000-07:00

Pictures from our ride at Newman Lake - Willow and I

One of the views

Me on Willow Joeanne and Levi - he was tired.

I have not blogged in forever, still addicted to farmville! The summer is 2/3 over and the girls are surviving barely. Haley has been gone most of the summer at friends and poor Kylie has been stuck at home by herself. I have only been on a few rides. I went on a ride above Newman Lake that was really good. Willow decided to try bucking a few times on it but I knew she was in a pissy mood before we even started. Guess she was having a bad day. I then took Autumn and Willow with a friend from Seattle on a ride at Farragut. I am supposed to go tomorrow with a couple friends as long as it does not rain or thunder. Here are a couple pictures from our ride

2010-05-25T19:59:00.000-07:00

Busy with the kids only two and a half weeks of school left. Kylie got glasses today they look pretty cute. I will have to get a picture up. I built a temporary fence for the horse or a hillbilly fence by the shop so they could eat up some of the grass - kills me to see all that grass and not one horse eating it :). Nothing worse then a field full of grass fenced and no animals to eat it all up! Of course the only horse to get out would be Willow - I only let them out there if I am out there for that reason - but she was easy to catch and put away. I still haven't called any shoers I really need to but the thought of trying another one has me frustrated - every time I get one I like something happens - the ones that are available all the time I don't like - guess I will figure it out in good time! In the mean time no riding until they get their feet done (I know I am a bad mom). I did ride Ben and Autumn a couple weekends ago - well me on Autumn and a friend on Ben - we had fun till Autumn cut her foot then we had to head home she is fine, but it was a bummer. That is all for now not much to report, oh except I am addicted to farmville is there any help!

another day

2010-05-03T19:24:00.000-07:00

The wind is just howling out there. The horses are hanging in the trees out of the wind as much as possible. I am glad we have feeders for them to eat out of or their hay would be long gone before they even got a bite.

Here is a picture of Coco thinking she is driving! She loves to go bye. Kylie was home sick with Dwane today. Some kind of throat thing hopefully it just blows over.

Work is still crazy, we will find out who they hire on Wednesday. I am still hoping Tim picks Sam but we will see!

Internet at HOme

2010-05-02T18:54:00.000-07:00

Finally I have my internet back at home! I am so excited. I took Kylie to Sam's farm the other day and she rode Robin for about 3 hours in the arena. It was great to see her on a horse and she actually wants to go next time I go to Farragut. So if the weather will ever cooperate we will go. I took Willow on the Hauser Lions club ride with Sam and Ken last weekend. It was alot of fun and more of a real mountain ride then I have had in a while. Willow was pretty tired by the end but she did wonderful. She was the only horse I took from my group so I wasn't sure how she would do but she did great. We also galloped for the first time where that was actually my plan. We loped three or four times and she only kicked out once when one of the other horses came up beside her. So hopefully I will be able to blog more and do more on line now!

2010-04-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of my Dad on Autumn! He came to visit in early March and we actually got to go riding. If Ben had not been being a pill I may have gotten a better picture. This was our second ride of his visit - the first one I didn't even think to take a picture. It was fun to go riding with him again - it has only been about 20 years since we were out on horses together. That makes me feel really old! He surprised me and showed up at my work one day from Nebraska, I didn't even know he was coming! We had a good visit and the girls were happy to see him as always. The weather was awesome but poor Ardel who stayed home got hammered with snow! I told him at the beginning of this year that it was their turn for snow - for once I was right :).

Work has been crazy busy. The company I used to work for went under so all of their old customers looking for laminate are calling us. Makes for a long day sometimes :) but we are getting through and I love to see our sales go through the roof (job security).

The girls just ended the third quarter of school - can't believe they are almost done with the year. Haley will be a Freshman this fall and Kylie will be in the 6th grade - last year of elementary. Where does all the time go? I took Kylie to Sam's work the other day and she rode a horse there, Robin, for like 3 hours. It was good to see her on a horse again, now if we can keep it going. I might trailer Autumn to an arena so she can get that same confidence back on her. We will see how it goes. I have only ridden about 4 times so far - twice with my dad and twice with Sam, where are all my riding buddies that wanted to ride last year? They better start calling!

Weekend Volleyball

2010-02-08T08:48:00.000-08:00

Another weekend at Haley's volleyball tournament. This one was at East Valley in Spokane but started at 8:30 am so not quite as early as the last one. They lost the first 3 games for brackets in the actual tournament, but then won their first game of the tournament. They were so excited jumping up and down I have never seen their team that enthusiastic. They lost their first match of the second game of the tournament 26-24, then they just deflated and lost their second match also - ending the tournament for them as once you get to the tournament it is a single elimination. The really need to work on their enthusiasm to play, most of the time they kind of look like they have been deflated. Haley says she has to have her serious face on to play. Anyway they played alot better and are starting to look like a team - when they aren't glaring at each other for making mistakes.

Kylie had a basketball game. Her friend that is on the team took her as Dwane was working and I was at the volleyball tournament. She got to play a little more and looked better from what Tish told me but they lost the game.

Yesterday was Super Bowl and we were supposed to go to Todd and Tish's, unfortunatley I ended up having a full blown migraine by noon and stayed in bed. Dwane went without me and said he had fun so that works. All in all ok weekend, not great but not terrible.

Coco

2010-02-03T14:12:00.001-08:00

Have I ever mentioned I own a chihuahua? Her name is Coco and she started out as Kylie's dog.

She is now our shared dog - Here she is:

I love that picture. She is sitting on my lap. She looks really big but she is not.

That is her by my computer monitor with one of our reps dog - Boo. Anyway I can't believe what a great dog we found (on craigslist) She is cranky sometimes and very playful but we have bonded more then any other dog I have had (except my poodle Ceasar that I had a long time ago). Just wanted to share Coco with everyone!

I forgot Pictures

2010-02-01T12:30:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of the new truck!

and Zoey!

New Year - New Beginning?

2010-02-01T12:14:00.000-08:00

Or maybe not, but I don't want to be a whiner so on to positive things. Lately life has consisted of taking my kids to practices and work, the fun things in life :). Haley is in basketball and Club volleyball, so she has basketball every night after school and then Club volleyball 2 nights a week from 7 to 9. Volleyball tournaments are every other weekend and basketball games are after school. Her first volleyball tournament was the weekend of the 23rd and they lost but learned alot. Kylie is in Spirit Lakes Park and Rec basketball and has practice 2 times a week and games on Saturday's - Thank goodness for friends as I can only go to one of them on Saturday so Kylie goes with Chloe and her family every other Saturday.

Work has been good, not as busy as we like but we seem to be holding our own. We were able to purchase a pick up - 95 GMC in pretty good shape, so no problems hauling the horses or getting hay :) we like that. The car I bought is still broken - we thought we had it fixed but it broke again or just died again on the highway on my way home from work(that was fun). So still waiting to get Dean's little car and once that happens we will be all set with vehicles, keep your fingers crossed that they run for a very long time with no major complications.

The horses are ok. I took their blankets off the other day, which they probably don't need the blankets but it keeps raining, and Ben had lost some weight. He got to be in his own pen now with as much grass hay as he can eat, grain twice a day, and some cool calories. He seems to have already picked up some weight in the first week, so he just was not eating fast enough with the other horses. I would like to get some alfalfa to feed him, but we will see since I do have to get hay soon. If the weather keeps up like this I will have to get shoes on them sooner then last year and get some major riding in this year. I have about 3 people that would like to ride this year and they don't have horses so that will help be my motivation. Plus I want to get Kylie out there a little more too.

That is the story for now I will try and be better about blogging but I don't want to be a cry baby all the time :(. Life is tough but it goes on with or without you and I need to see the positive more. :) :) Have a great day!

MDH Christmas Party

2009-12-14T08:34:00.000-08:00

Kylie and I went to the momsdaughtersandhorses.com annual Christmas party yesterday afternoon. It was so fun. Good to see everyone and talk horses, which is always fun. Kylie had fun playing with the girls, decorating cookies, and making Cookies for the horses to eat. The gift exchange was as fun as always - my first gift was a stuffed animal horse in a purse (which got stolen) and then Kylie ended up stealing it back for her :) all in all a good time, here are some pics:

On another note - we went got hay on Saturday - 2 ton yeah now we can wait a couple months to get more. We also delivered some hay for starsandstripesequinerescue.com to some people in need. I can't donate money right now but I can sure donate time to deliver hay! The people were very appreciative and you could tell they love their horses. Now they can keep them and not have them end up in a terrible situation. All in all a pretty good weekend.

2009-12-10T10:39:00.000-08:00

What a depressing post that last one was! I do want to say that before we took that road we tried to do all of the right things. We sold our house last spring (at a loss) as we could rent for half of the payment of the house. Our rental is actually nicer then our house was and the horses still have 5 acres to play on. We also sold anything that was paid for except the horse trailer (which is not worth much) and cut back wherever possible. It was a hard decision to make but in the end it came down to our trucks and four wheelers - our pick ups being 61% of our debt. We did not run up a bunch of credit cards - actually last year we paid off an 8000 credit card and I cut it up. All of our others were under 2000. Anyway not that I needed to justify but after reading the post it struck me that there is no mention of how we got there except that Dwane has not found steady work. ON a good note starting January 4 he will be working for Stimson in Plummer (which means staying at his brothers during the week) for 6 to 8 weeks and then hopefully his dump truck will get busy as they did have driver quit and he will be moved into a permanent position at that time. So hopefully next year will look better then this.

As for the ponies they are doing good. Dwane gets to feed 3 times a day since he is home - I told him instead of feeding extra at feeding time give them an afternoon snack since it is so cold out. They are fat and sassy and I am a fair weather horse person so besides being fed - looked at for ouchies - watered they have it pretty easy all winter :).

Upheaval

2009-12-08T08:11:00.000-08:00

I haven't felt like posting in a while. Life is kind of in an upheaval - Dwane is not working at all anymore and it has become pretty difficult. Unfortuanately we had to bite the bullet and file bankruptcy - which means we both have to find new vehicles, I have found a car but we still have to find a pick up. I guess the good thing will be (if there is anything good out of this) we will be debt free when it is over. Anyway trying to work through and get back on track but have not been very talkative about life so on to more positive.

The horses are doing good even in the -8 degree weather. Their blankets are keeping them warm and they now have the trees to get out of the wind. But they are going into winter fat and sassy. We have to go get hay this weekend - good thing is it went down to $125 a ton and it is the best grass hay I have ever used. The horses just love it and the guy said he would have hay for most of the winter. He sells it until he gets down to about 10 ton and then saves that for spring to make sure he has enough for his cows then sells his excess. I am hoping next year to get all of our hay from him in the summer. Hopefully Dwane will find a job and then we can buy all of our hay at once like last year. That was nice putting 10 ton of hay up all at once and not worrying about it - this year a ton a month is all I can do. Anyway enjoy your horses they are what brings happiness - the simple things that is what I am going back to.

New Saddle

2009-10-05T14:57:00.001-07:00

This is my new saddle! Thanks to my Dad. It has been on lay a way most of the summer - I gave up coffee (well almost) and started taking my usual coffee money to put on it. My Dad sent me money for my Birthday and I told him I was going to put it on my saddle and then I should have it out by Christmas - Two days later I received a check in the mail for the remainder amount owing and a Merry Christmas from my Dad! Now all I have to do is figure out how to get the stirrups shorter.

On another note took another ride at Farragut this weekend hence the above picture :). Last weekend rode around the house, the weekend before we went to the Newman Lake Game Preserve. That was okay but not enough trails to warrant trailering from my house. Kylie went, it was her first ride since the Autumn taking off incident. She did ok but she was whiney from not enough sleep (we picked her up from a sleep over on the way there). She rode Ben and did fine. My friend from work who has not ridden in 15 years rode Autumn and had a blast. I feel like I have to try and ride every weekend as the cold is fast approaching and I don't like to be cold :)

2009-09-15T14:49:00.000-07:00

On another note this is a picture of Tidbit now Zeb. He was a rescue from a couple years ago that I took in as a yearling. When he was two he went to his new home in Wenatchee. This is him now as a 4 year old in training. It is so nice to see that he ended up in such a great home. And thanks to Linda - I can now put pictures on here! Thanks for the advice Linda.

2009-09-15T14:41:00.000-07:00

I got to go riding again this last weekend. I went to Farragut with Andrea and Candee. It was alot of fun - Andrea rode Ben and Candee brought her own horse - I of course rode Willow. The weather was perfect warm with a light breeze. It was alot of fun. I really need to remember to get some pics one of these rides. Willow wasn't too sure what to do after some horses passed us, she kept walking out so fast like she was trying to catch them. Then we climbed a few hills and she slowed back down. Only one mishap at the end of the day - while unloading Ben my friends dog heeled him when he was half out of the trailer and he came flying back in, but I just bent my thumb back and it is pretty sore. The dog is no longer on my good list :)

2009-09-01T14:08:00.001-07:00

Sure wish I could figure out how to post pictures on here. There have been some good ones.
On another note I went to Farragut after work with my neighbor yesterday. I still had my friend's three horse and it has dividers in it (where my trailer does not). So I called a neighbor I met recently Candee and asked if she wanted to go to Farragut. When I got to her house her horse has not been in a trailer for 2 years - on the opposing side Willow has never been in the trailer by herself so she was a little nervous for the beginning of the ride. After getting Candee trapped - got the mare in and attached to the quick release and she pulled back and to the side trapping her - I am now a firm believer in the quick release tie downs as that was the only thing that saved her - well worth the money I paid for them. Anyway she loaded up and we got the door closed and once she figured out she couldn't go backwards she was fine. We rode for about 2 1/2 hours a couple new trails, there are so many there but they all circle back around eventually. It was such a perfect night for a ride, not to hot, nice breeze blowing. My legs are not happy with me today with that being my second long ride in two days but it sure was fun. I wish I could go out every day, if only I didn't have to work :).

On a good note Dwane is going to look into a union job my old neighbor just called him on. He may have to go out of town for a couple months but $25.00 an hour would be hard to pass up, especially since he will not have to pay to stay there. They will let him use their camper while he is there. So fingers crossed, once he gets in there will be other jobs closer to home, did I mention the beginning job would be in Boise?

Long overdue update

2009-08-31T09:45:00.000-07:00

I know it has been a long time since I have been on here. I just could not make myself write about how my summer has gone. First the horses are all good - but until yesterday I had not ridden since June. I really needed their feet to be done and finally was able to find a new shoer and get them done. First I guess I will update my ride from yesterday. I finally got Dwane on a horse. I got Ben back a couple weeks ago as Sam has moved into her new house and does not have fencing up and wants to get down to a couple horses. We borrowed my friends 3 horse trailer and we loaded up and went to Farragut. Dwane on Ben, Kylie on Autumn and me on Willow - all was good till about half way through the ride. Kylie had gotten a little too comfortable and when Autumn spooked at a motorcycle she was not able to pull back fast enough and Autumn took off like a bullet. She was all out and my heart just dropped (Dwane is in the background yelling) I am trying to follow and calm her down but not make Autumn feel like she is being chased. Kylie finally got her reins up and pulled her back down to a walk and then a stop. She was pretty scared - but got back on. I did take Willow's halter off from under her bridle and put it on Autumn under her bridle and ponied her, I did not control Autumn she had the ability to go in front of Willow and I made sure Kylie knew that the only time I was going to stop her was if she took off like that again. By the end of the ride Kylie was back in control and paying attention the whole time. We did have one incident with Willow - the rope got caught around her butt because I wasn't paying enough attention - I always knew if she was going to buck it would be hard - one jump and I was up over the saddle horn and basically sitting on her neck - but she stopped instantly when I pulled back, if she had taken another jump I would have been on the ground. Other then that it was about a 3 hour ride and we had fun.
Prior to this Dwane got fired from his fill in job - some weeks he would work 3 days some 2 days and some not at all - so it was not a job I loved anyway. I just could never depend on what he was going to make from week to week. Which made it very hard to catch up. The guy was a jerk too and expected them to drive whether it was legal or not. He got a $150 ticket the week before because his log book was over an hour and he got stuck there for 10 hours or would have been if I had not found another driver and went and got him. Anyway he did start a new job today so just need to keep our fingers crossed they keep him busy. It is very frustrating as I really wanted to go to the MDH playday but was too broke to go-it has been a long time since I had to watch my pennies this closely and I have to say I don't like it :).

2009-06-09T13:17:00.000-07:00

Kylie and I went to the Reardan parade this last weekend. We were riding with our online group momsdaughtersandhorses.com. It went well considering both horses had not been in a parade before. Kylie did good, she got a little nervous while we were standing there as Autumn would not stand still. Willow stood really well up until the time we went in the parade. Then it was back and forth sideways all the way through. We were going to stay and let Kylie do the barrels but I had not gotten to bed until 12 the night before and was up at 5 am to get the horses going. I actually called my dad and told him thanks for getting me to all of those rodeos and parades when I was younger. When you are little you do not realize how much work it can be to have everything you need. He thought that was pretty funny. Hoping to take the girls to Farragut this weekend. I had wanted to go on Sunday but did not find anyone to go with me :(.

St Maries Weekend!

2009-05-28T13:42:00.001-07:00

We took the horses to St Maries over the weekend - about 80 miles south of my house where my husband's brother lives in the mountains. We took the horses down on Friday. Saturday morning we got up to go ride and Haley wanted to go. Haley is 13 and in the past has been terrified of the horses but there was another 13 year old girl there and she was going. I could not believe how well Haley did - not only was it her first trail ride - her first ride out of a pen of some kind. She was walking over logs (not by her choice if she said she didn't want to do something our lead person headed in that direction) crossed creeks (Autumn even jumped some of them) and she took it all in stride (for the most part :)). Willow learned how to cross water on this trip. The first thing going out of the ranch we were staying at is a creek - when our leader saw how Willow wouldn't go - we crossed the creek 7 more times before we got to the top of the hill. All in all a great ride about 3 1/2 hours.
The next day there were only 3 of us. Kylie went with and she did really well also. Autumn jumped a few creeks and Kylie stayed on like a pro. We didn't ride as long (it was a little warmer). Unfortunately Monday morning we did not get to go on a ride. I was feeling a little under the weather (although self induced) so we loaded the horses and headed home. It was great to get to go on some more rides and Willow is doing really well. Not sure why I was so chicken before. She does need some work on going out by herself but should be great.

2009-05-19T12:07:00.000-07:00

More and more riding! Tuesday I took Autumn for a short ride and when I got back Kylie had her boots on and ready to go. Our front yard to the side is not mowed (couldn't mow it if we wanted to as the neighbors dogs have recently dug holes) with trees on it. I had Kylie do some circles around the trees and stuff. Haley came out and actually wanted to ride - so I let her ride for a little while. Haley did really well - was not nervous - which is good with her history or being so scared to come near the horses. After she was done Kylie hopped back on and asked if she could trot. I let her trot some figure 8's and she did great! It is really fun to watch her grow - she just looks like a natural on a horse.

Next outing was Saturday - one of the guys from work Brian - his wife had not ridden in seven years and wanted to go. I was nervous at first not knowing what kind of experience she had but she hopped on like a pro and we had about a 4 hour ride at Farragut. I really like the trails there and look forward to going on more. We actually found a few hills on the Sheriff Posse ride. Willow did really well on the ride too.

This weekend we are planning on taking the horses to St Maries for the whole weekend. I am hoping to get to ride at least once a day. We are also taking the four wheelers but my main focus will be the horses. Dwane's brother hates to ride (won't go near the horses) but he can just stay on the wheelers. His fiance' wants to ride with me and her dad has horses and wants to go too. I am hoping Dwane will finally go on a ride and see if we can get him riding with us.
I was also talking to the gal that I was keeping my horses at and I think we are going to start trailering to Farragut and using the arena with some barrels and poles, different obstacles to work with Kylie and for me to work with Willow. She wants to ride Willow so that someone else other then me has ridden her. I hate to say it is a good idea but makes me all nervous :). I remember when I was young I had a black thoroughbred mare that no one had ever ridden but me - I think she was about 5 the first time someone else hopped on her (I had had her since she was 2). It happened to be my step brother who thought he was a horseman - let's just say he didn't have a clue and it drove me nuts watching him yank her around because she didn't steer the way he thought she should. But I know she will listen to how I tell her to ride so I need to get over it :) Other then that just looking forward to more riding yeah!

2009-05-11T13:16:00.000-07:00

Lots of horsey activity in the last week! Thursday night I rode Willow for about a 1/2 hour. She did well. We worked on stopping and turning. I also worked on riding up and down the fence line and turning with her hind end. It was interesting as she was not impressed with the fence line work. I have really been trying to feel more (I don't know if that makes sense) but be more tuned to her movement. I have not done this in the past as I was just a rider - riding my horse. I have been reading the Mugwump Chronicles blog and really like how she talks about tuning into your horse.

Then Sunday we went on the Sheriff Posse's ride at Farragut. Sam and Katie went with me. Katie rode Autumn and Sam rode Ken's horse (a friend of hers). We had a good time. Willow did great. She only got nervous when some people on gaited horses came up behind us and would not back off. Crowding up behind her even when she was noticeably uncomfortable, so we let them pass. She also did not like the big mud puddle. Of course Sam had to turn around and watch (waiting for me to bite it or for Willow to leap for China) we got her front feet in the middle of the puddle and the back on the edge (went through it sideways) we will have to work on water :). All in all a great ride and I am excited to go there more. The trails are nice they all circle back into each other and mostly flat. Not alot of hill climbing for my out of shape horses! Although I know they were tired when we got back.

Pictures from MDH Easter Ride 04-09

2009-04-22T10:06:00.000-07:00

Not working - I will try later.

2009-04-21T12:37:00.000-07:00

Kylie and I had such a good time at the momsdaughtersandhorses.com's Easter egg ride. Kylie rode Stubby for the last time, as he goes to his new home at the end of the month. I really debated on keeping him for this year and letting her transition into Autumn, but I or Sam found him a good home. The decision would be to keep him and hope to find him a good home later or let him go with his little buddy Simba where he will have company and a couple four year olds to love on him. At my house he is always in a pen by himself and where he is going he will be pasture buddy with Simba. They get along great, you should have seen Simba throw a fit when I put Stubby in the trailer. Kylie will be getting a new saddle as her pony saddle will go with Stubby. I really think she is ready to move up. On to a new adventure with Kylie and Autumn. I am still nervous and might see if I can get Andrea to come out and give her some lessons on Autumn. Andrea really helped her with Stubby and I think it would be great for her to have someone not hovering and letting her go. I did let Kylie ride Autumn in the arena after our ride and she did really good.
At the beginning before our ride we were all riding in the arena to get the horses warmed up and ready to go. I was ponying (spelling?) Stubby off of Autumn and she decided to be a butt so I let Stubby go, Kylie rode off like a pro. She did very well keeping Stubby in check around the other horses and paying attention to what she was doing. I was very proud of her. I did have Sam pony her on the trail ride, but I think she would have done just fine, for her first ride out like that I figured better safe then sorry. Sam rode Ben and he was a trooper. We were only out about an hour and a half but it was all of the horses first ride out and I didn't want to overwork them. Anyway I look forward to more rides in the future!

2009-04-15T09:59:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has been over a month since I have been on here. Where does time go? Work has been crazy busy, which is good. Last month we killed the previous years total in sales. The girls have started their spring sports - Kylie is in Soccer and Haley is doing track. We do have a Momsdaughtersandhorses.com ride coming up this weekend. I am very excited and hope that the weather cooperates. I am going to take Autumn and Kylie will be riding Stubby. I was going to just ride Ben but he is more of a follower and I will need to be in the lead with Kylie riding Stubby. Ben is wierd about being in front sometimes and it is Kylie's first trail ride with other people. Sam might ride Ben if she is not working. The horses are still all spread out. We did talk to one neighbor and we can hook into their fence. It does need repaired before we can do it, but they said they would help and split any costs to fix it up. The other neighbor we talked to their son and he said he didn't see why not - the neighbors on the other side is hooked into their fence, but to ask his dad. Which we have not done, but that would mean we only need to fence the back and front (and fix the other neighbors fence). That would be a tremendous savings. The neighbors who's fence needs work is all for putting a gate and running our horses together (I think not, too much liability) but they seem really nice. So if I can get Dwane to get busy the girls will be home soon. I have a feeling he doesn't think it is a big priority but I do. The pasture where the girls are - they have a dog and she is heeling the horses and making them really not like dogs. Dwane hasn't personally seen it so does not believe me, but I have seen her do it and I don't like it. But they are helping us out so hopefully they will just be home soon! Happy spring riding to everyone.

2009-03-12T09:46:00.000-07:00

I have been a bad mom to the horses lately and not seen much of them. Hopefully the weather warms up and the snow melts, then we can get the horses home and I will be back in the game.
As for life in general it is fine. My dad is still here until Monday. I found a Schnauzer dog for him on craigslist (he has wanted another one for a long time) and we went and picked her up yesterday. It is nice to see the light in his eyes again. She is 7 and a little timid but her owner (this ladies great great g-ma) passed away. So she was taken out of her forever home - her companion dog given away - and put in a household with alot of other dogs and a 4 year old little girl. I think she is starving for the quiet and attention she is missing. I am hoping she attaches to dad quickly.
On another note I was reading on a website about people shooting their horses because they were losing their homes and felt they had no other alternative. I have to say something on this as we are in the middle of a forclosure - but I knew it was coming - you have to know it is coming if you are not making your payments. I planned a way to make sure my horses are okay, yes it helps that I was able to buy 10 ton of hay last winter, but I can gaurantee that they would not go hungry. Even if I had to swallow my pride and ask someone for help they would not go hungry. There are resources out there you just have to look. So the excuse that I just didn't have the money to me is wrong. I made sure my animals were taken care of first, well second after my kids, but they are like kids to me. I took the time to find a place that they would be safe and a place to live where I could have them with me asap. Anyway just had to put in my two cents as I just wonder what people are thinking sometimes. There is no way I could sit there and watch my horse starve to death. When their ribs are sticking out and you can see there back bone there is a problem. I won't even start about the people who plain just don't feed them enough and think it is okay or use the reason that they are just old. Look at Stubby, he was very thin when I got him - took him to the vet had his teeth fixed and found a feed that he could thrive on. I have also had horses that are hard to keep weight on and it makes it more difficult - sometimes they looked thin but no bones sticking out - there are situations where you can't do anything for them - that is when you have to think about putting them down rather then letting them starve to death. Ok now I am really done!

2009-03-09T12:13:00.001-07:00

It has been an incredibly long week and a half. Thursday February 26 my dad called me and told me my sister Sondra passed away. He was very distraught and I thought there was no way I would be able to go back and help him. Unfortunately I never got to know my sister very well - she is from my dad's first marriage - there are 3 brothers and were 2 sisters. I do know my brother Bob very well, but the rest I have never really kept in contact with. Friday at work I was racking my brain trying to think of how I could go to the funeral and started checking on flights. Dwane encouraged me to go and his mom was gracious enough to lend me the money for a plane ticket. My dad also helped by telling me that he would drive me home, so all I needed was a flight down to Nebraska. My work was really good about letting me have the entire week off and I have enough vacation and bereavement time to cover it. So Sunday morning at 6 am I flew out of Spokane headed to Omaha, NE. The flight was uneventful and by Sunday at 12:45 I was heading off the plane meeting my dad. He was very happy to see me. I got to stay until Thursday when my dad and I started driving back (it was alot easier to fly). I got to see all of my aunts and uncles that I never see. The only part I really had a hard time with was the viewing (I have never been to one of those), think those should be prohibited. I know I have alot more ideas of how I want my funeral to be. My mom had us throw a kegger (I know wierd but that is what she wanted). Anyway, so I am now back and getting into the groove. My dad will be here for a couple weeks.

So Much for Time Off

2009-02-19T08:26:00.000-08:00

Work schedule changed again :) Now we will be working shorter days 5 days a week, but that means I get off at 3 on a couple days a week, so that will be nice.
Every person at my house is sick - except me. Did I ever say I am not good with sick people. I briefly (I mean like 4 hours) worked at a nursing home, I couldn't do it. I really respect people who work in nursing homes, daycares, hospitals, etc. I could not do it. I don't deal with blood well or when people get sick. When I was growing up if you were sick you stayed in your room and slept it off that was just how it went. Dwane thinks you need to be up and around when you are sick and I couldn't disagree more. Anyway Haley has Laringitis, Kylie has a high fever, and Dwane is coughing and upset stomach - so I am staying away as much as possible :).
We have our house on the market. I am repainting some of the walls back to white this week. I taped off 2 rooms last night and will do more tonight (good way to stay away from all the sick people). Hopefully I will paint Friday and be done before the weekend so that I can unpack at the new house. I haven't touched a box in the garage for about a week now. We were supposed to go to my mother in laws so I could paint but since the rest of my family is sick and she cannot be around any type of sickness we will be staying home.
All of the horses are good. Strange not having them right there. Stubby loves his new pasture mate Simba, they won't even eat unless they can see each other. Ben likes his new shelter and is living the high life with Sam. The mares took a full day to find the feeder - actually Dwane had to go catch them and lead them back over to it and then they didn't lift their heads out of the hay for a day and a half. Prince is looking great at Cheryl's house, him and the gelding he is with are buddies. SO all is good in my horse land!

Time Off

2009-02-11T10:26:00.001-08:00

We have started a new schedule at work - we are working 4 - 9hr days. Since we had to take a time cut of 4 hours a week this is the only thing that makes it better :). Now I only have to work 4 days a week (for a while anyway). This week I had Tuesday off as it was Dwane was off too, so we got the interior of the old house all cleaned up (although it does need painted pretty bad). I still have not decided if I will paint or not.
On the horse side, I am supposed to move Ben and Stubby out to Sam's this weekend. Hopefully we get my neighbors trailer out of the snow bank. If not I will just be moving Stubby as they cannot both ride in my trailer. There is no center divider and I think that Ben would crush poor little Stubby. I did score on some grass pellets for him this week. We bought in bulk which worked out to be about $5.50 for a 50 lb bag - I was paying $15 to $16 per bag at the feed store. We are actually thinking of buying another bag and Stubby will set for at least a year. It is a good thing we have saved all of our grain bags for a long time as the bulk bag is one 1500lb bag. Other then that unfortunately still not alot of time spent with the horses.
Saturday we took the fifth wheel to Great Falls, MT to deliver it. Kind of scary selling something over the internet and then delivering it that far. But it all worked out and we met a very nice family who will get alot of use out of it. We then turned around and drove all the way home as part of the deal was to trade it for a welder and the welder was in the back of the pick up. No stopping for us :).
Sunday we went to Dwane's mom - Sue's house. She is doing okay. She will be on oxygen forever now but at least she is not hooked up to a permanent breathing machine. If it comes to that point she won't ever be able to come off. She has decided to move into Dwane's sister (Nannette) house. We are going this Saturday to help her pack if they ever make up their minds. Nanette called yesterday and asked if it would be better for her to move in with Sue, but they have 4 people in their family and the house is really not that big. We will see how that one plays out! I hope there are no family squabbles. It is amazing my mom was always worried about my sisters and I squabbling. We never did, we banded together and made her last months I think pretty good. Even after she passed away we did not fight about anything it was great. Her fears were based on when her mom (my grandma) passed away her sisters did not get along right down to arguing over the color of the casket. Anyway we will see how that goes.
Tuesday my day off was spent cleaning the house we moved out of. I swear I am never going to get the new house unpacked but it is all in the garage :). Now all we have to do is move hay and a few things in the shop and the all important getting the horses moved. Well to their temporary house until we build fence, what a mess :(.
Haley has a basketball game tonight in Kellogg. She really likes basketball now, which is good as I never thought she would. Kylie is on the honor roll and has an assembly on Friday. She is such a little smarty! I am very proud of both of them!

Back to Basics

2009-02-06T14:59:00.001-08:00

I think that I need to get back to the basics in my life. Spending time with my daughters and my horses. The rest of my family is still important, Dwane's mom is important, but I cannot let it consume me. I was really doing well with the horses last fall, ready to ride, ready to take on whatever. Kylie was riding, Haley showed more enthusiasm for riding (even though she really had not done it but she was interested) and then it all fell apart. I have barely looked at the horses much less spent any time with them in a while besides to feed. I think it would help if I just took some time and spent it with them. The girls also need to get out there no matter the weather (well as long as it is not too cold :)
We are headed to Great Falls, MT tomorrow to deliver our fifth wheel camper. A couple from there bought it and will give us gas money to deliver. So off we go, yeah I can catch up on bills (how fun). I was trying to make it a trip for Dwane and I to get away, maybe even grab a motel on the way back and veg. But it looks like it will be an over and back thing so that we can go see his mom Sunday. Which means another trip to St Maries, I guess I shouldn;t complain I have not been down there since Christmas. Spending every weekend almost down there for the last 12 years has burned me out. This is the longest I have gone without making that trip in years, probably ever. I was hoping Dwane's friend would go with him so I could unpack and get the other house cleaned up. They were busy so I get the privilege. I absolutely hate riding with Dwane on icey roads, he drives too fast. Scares the crap out of me. I have panic attacks, it is no fun, maybe I will take a big sleeping pill and have him wake me up when we get there. The girls may go to friends houses or to Uncle Johnny's still not decided on that. Anyway that is what I will be up to!

Bad Feeling about 2009

2009-02-05T16:35:00.000-08:00

I have a really bad feeling about 2009. I thought 2008 started out bad with Dwane's Stepdad passing away the first week. Dwane's mom is now in the hospital. She has COPD in her lungs? I have not done any research on it but from what I understand it is a terrible thing to have. She finally quit smoking in October but unfortunately I think it was too late. Reminds me of my mom, who the day they told her she was terminal she never took another drink of alcohol. Why then? Why not the five years before when they told her she was getting Cirrosis (not sure on the spelling). She never believed them. Sue (my mother in law) never believed she could quit smoking but she did after she was put in the hospital and told that she would keep coming back to the hospital on a monthly basis if she did not quit. She got sick the other day and my brother in law Johnny told her to go to the doctor, but again she was worried about the expense. Now she is in the hospital and has her dogs in a kennel because no one takes care of them right. If they put her on a breathing machine she will never be able to come off of it. As it is right now she only has 10% use of her lungs, which is making her panic which is making it worse. I really don't know if I can deal with this right now. Sounds selfish, but it seems like yesterday (even though it has been 7 years since my mom died) that I had to deal with a long illness which is going to end in someone dying. Now the expenses are huge. The family is looking into moving her into my sister inlaws house to watch her closely. Sue is already struggled the last year as her husband who passed away left her in a complete bind. All of his life insurance policies were accidental, the biggest policy he had went to his children, his son was terrible to Sue and threatened to sue her. She is just now getting straightened around and now this. Anyway that is how my day is going and this is all in the last two hours.

2009-02-03T12:46:00.000-08:00

The house is moved - well into the garage at least! Everything is out of the house and into the new one. The shop is 3/4 of the way moved. The horses are at the old house but I go by every morning and evening to feed. Plus my neighbors are watching them. We spent most of Saturday moving stuff to the new house. I was not prepared as we had a few incidences with the rental company and were not sure if we were getting the house. Anyone ever try to get insurance for your house with a Doberman mix for a dog? Well they have this list of no no dogs - here are the ones I remember - Pit bull, Akita, Chow, German Shephard, Stafford terrier?, Rottweiler and Doberman. I had to get my own rental insurance for $300,000 of liability that did not exclude my dog. I looked on the internet and did a search - no one, I called an insurance broker - nope - I call Allstate (who I have insurance through) - nope - then at a last ditch effort I ended up on a State Farm website - guess what? No dog breeds excluded. So if you are looking for home owners or rental insurance for a dog that is banned try State Farm. Only $20.00 a month and all of my contents are also covered and a medical policy if someone tries to sue me :).
I found out on the Thursday before we moved that all was good, so I was not packed. Not alot of motivation when you don't know what is going on. Plus we told the person we were renting from 2 x that we had a dobi mix, once in an email.
Then on the first day in the house - Sunday - I was unpacking and thought "I'll throw a load of laundry in" no problem - until the washer overflowed all over the kitchen and on the new carpet -YIKES. We did get it fixed, I don't know if it was frozen or the drain hose was kinked wrong or what. It was a mess though. After all of this I am tired and still need to unpack:(. But starting next week we are working 4 - 9hr shifts at work - so 3 days off a week :) Yeah. (except missing 4 hours a week but it is better then not having a job). Now all I need to do is get those ponies home.

2009-01-22T09:00:00.001-08:00

About a week and a half until moving day, actually less then that a week and one day. I am still arranging to get the horses settled until this snow melts and we can build fence. I think we are going to go with t-posts and hot wire for now. We are just renting so I don't want to build anything permanent like the other house. We are also going to look into getting a couple portable stalls that way if we do move we can take them with. I really have to buckle down this weekend and pack. The poor horses have been neglected, we only visit to feed.
On another note from reading blogs - the mugwump chronicles (linked on fugly's blog) I read about Laura Crum and her books. So I went on Amazon and ordered a few of them. They are great - Haley really enjoys them too. It is nice to have a book to discuss with her. They are not really long either so makes for nice light reading. They all center around a vet named Gail. I have read one and a half so far and really like them.
I packed half of my books last night. I cannot believe how many books I have. Probably 10 boxes so far and only half done. But I love to read!
Haley is accepting moving more. I really tried to explain she should feel lucky we found a nice house in the same school district where we can keep the horses. One family that we know lives just down the street, I called them last night and asked if they were going to put a for sale sign in their yard because of the new neighbors. They seem excited to have us moving in the neighborhood.

Rescued Horse Visit

2009-01-12T12:33:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Some of us from the club went up to see the horses that were rescued in Springdale Sunday. Sam and I rode up together and then Alisa, Katie, Kaleb, Theresa, and Gracie came up together. We were going to play with the babies but by the time we walked around and Cassie introduced us to all of the horses that were rescued and their horses it was getting later. I was able to take up blankets donated by Andrea in Post Falls and Theresa brought up some straw bales. The yearlings to two year olds are bouncing back fast. They have done a good job on working with them as they were able to walk through them. They are looking healthier then the pictures from just a week ago. The mares are looking better but still pretty thin. But if they are pregnant it will be harder for them to bounce back. It was great to meet Pam and her daughter. They are working very hard for these horses. Theresa is going to adopt one of the babies, really cute little black and white one. The little one in the pictures on Linda's blog http://beautifulmustang.blogspot.com/ in the house is my absolute favorite. If I was in a better position I would take her in a heartbeat.
On another note I went out and saw Sam's new place on Sunday too! It is really neat! She is very excited to move in. It will be nice to have such a great barn! and pens, and sheds, and etc! She is going to take Stubby until the weather is better. She is also going to take Ben so that Ralph can learn to ride on him. I think it will be a great match. Then if I want to go riding over here I will already have a horse here :) . Other then that just starting to pack - I took 8 bags to goodwill out of the dreadful closet. Look I finally get the stupid thing cleaned out just so we can move :) Other then that 2 1/2 weeks and we move - still not sure how happy to be, but it should be good!

2009-01-09T12:10:00.000-08:00

In the middle of my own financial crisis but my horses will never go hungry. I do not understand the mentality of some people that can sit and let their horses starve. Some of the people from the group I belong to (momsdaughtersandhorses.com) are going to Springdale to help in any way we can with 33 starved horses. They were rescued by some people (Fantasy Farms Thoroughbreds and Shephards Way Horse Rescue) and moved to a ranch. We have as a group donated a ton of hay (or the money for one) and there are 4 or 5 of us that are going up to help. Anyway just needed to say how I do not understand this and more later on what happens this weekend!

Major Change

2009-01-07T12:45:00.000-08:00

How do I explain this one? Guess just say I am moving at the end of this month. It is only a couple miles away and I will be able to take the horses with me (well as soon as I can finish fence) The sides are fenced but the back and front will need to be fenced. I may try and get some panels to make a couple pens until we can see where to fence (with the 5 feet of snow). It is a very nice house (nicer then I live in). Granite in the kitchen and bath - a little smaller then my house - no extra rooms, like the office and big laundry room that I have now - My room will be way bigger with a walk in closet - but the girls rooms will be a little smaller - the living room and kitchen are alot bigger - it has a wood stove - on 5 acres - there is a shop and a 2 car garage. So that is my news, we will be trying to sell our house before the bad men come and take it (haha I know it is not funny, but sometimes you just have to laugh). The girls will be in the same school which was a major goal of mine.
Now just have to pack and get everything together. I really wasn't planning on moving again, thought we were in our forever home! Isn't life so fun. If Dwane even had the inkling of a job I would be able to stay, but so far not alot popping out there. I don't care what they say about mortgage crisis there are still companies that do not work with you. Some people say that they will once you are seriously in trouble and about to forclose but I have animals and cannot wait to get a 30 day notice and then try and find something. Yes I have checked into several avenues and this one seems to be the best solution. At least I will save 1,000 a month by renting this house, how many people can do that, rent a nicer house for 1/2 your house payment. Well in this market I guess it is probably not that odd. That is where we are at!
I will be happy if this snow keeps melting! Really tired of plowing and shoveling. The horses are standing on at least a two foot tall slab of snow with 5 foot everywhere they have not trampled down. The pony has a little path all the way around his shelter and a path that Dwane shoveled to his water. My brain is now blank - everyone have a good day!

2008-12-29T10:46:00.000-08:00

I survived the Holidays! For as much drama as there was picking a date I was not sure how well it was going to be. But as a normal family we all got together and had a good time. Dwane got an Ipod from his mom, so we had to have the neighbor set it all up for him. I am not technically inclined at all :).
The girls were happy with their gifts which is always a good feeling. I know Christmas was extremely toned down this year and I am not sure they even noticed. I put more thought into their gifts so that helped, I think that is what I will focus on in the future.
The horses are all good. The snow is ridiculous and looks like we will be getting alot more. Crazy weather, especially since it rained yesterday and is snowing today. Will it ever end? Will we ever be out from all these piles of white? Will Stubby ever be able to walk out of his shelter? HAHA! We had a backhoe in Saturday then it all slushed yesterday and looks worse, then now is back to frozen and more snow today!
I mostly did nothing this weekend :(. I was so lazy that I was very restless and cranky yesterday. I know better but I sat around the house for 3 days doing absolutely nothing. Which makes me more anxious then if I would just get up and do anything! I know I am wierd.
Have a good New Year if I don't get back on here!

2008-12-22T13:21:00.000-08:00

The weather is crazy! 4 ft of snow and counting, still snowing, never ending battle. The ponies are all cold! I ended up getting a couple extra blankets and swapping them. Put the dry blanket on, take the frozen blanket into the house to wash and dry, then swap to the next horse. I have never had my blankets freeze up like they are this year. The only one that hasn't is Ben's new blanket. I need to get some scotch guard and see if that helps. I hauled Prince up to some friends house in the middle of a blizzard, their horse passed away and the other one was very lonely. They have a really nice shelter and shavings that they can get out of the weather in and Prince kept going out into the pasture. Willow kept chasing him out of the pen. So now he is nice and toasty, no wind and shelter with Joe. They became fast buddies and it is working out nicely. Luckily their water heaters are good. I do need to get another salt block as theirs is buried under alot of snow and was almost gone anyway!
The girls got a couple of extra days off of school! They had snow days Thursday and Friday. Kylie was not happy as they were supposed to go to the movies on Friday for school. The Tales of Desperaux. We are going to a movie this weekend. I was going to go Christmas day, but now Dwane's family picked a day and time for dinner (which I have been trying to get them to do for a week) and it will be on Christmas at 4. Then his sister called me all mad and yelling that she thought I didn't want it that day, I told her I was not involved in picking the time and day and she needed to talk to her brothers and her mom. That sent her into a tizzy and then she apologized for yelling at me :(, what to do?
Anyway, Happy Holidays to all!

2008-12-16T09:23:00.000-08:00

Well we went and found Haley a coat she will wear (she better, coats are expensive!). Made it part of her Christmas. Then we had to stop at Corral West as they are going out of business and found Kylie a pair of cowboy boots that she liked, so we snagged those for 30% off. Now she will be better equipped for riding this spring! and safer. Now if I could find a pair of boots to fit my dumb feet. I hate my feet, one of those girls that actually hate shoes but just because they never fit. Most of the time I have to buy men's shoes and they are still not wide enough. Plus since I had surgery on one foot and not the other they are two different sizes! Sure wish miss Emma (Sam's dog) hadn't chewed up my boots :). Wouldn't be bad if I could just go buy a pair that fit but I have looked for a year and a half and not found a pair to fit right. (plus I am picky about how that look that does not help). Anyway! have a good one!

2008-12-15T12:40:00.000-08:00

Only 10 days till Christmas! Man it snuck up on me this year. Thankfully we have all of the girls shopping done. The tree got put up yesterday, Haley was at a friend's and didn't get to help, but you do things when time allows. I stayed home all weekend. It was so nice to have a weekend and not have to be anywhere. Kylie's basketball game got canceled due to weather on Saturday. They will make it up this week sometime. Haley has basketball, but right after school, so I won't be able to make it.
It is freezing here! 3 when I left the house -20 with the wind chill factor. Dwane and I built a wall for the horses yesterday as the wind is blowing from the north, which is unusual. I should say Dwane built it and I helped put it up. Looked like the michelin man out there with all my snow clothes on. The horses are all blanketed as they were all shivering, the weather just got too cold too fast. Stubby had to be double blanketed as there was no heat under his blanket when I checked just cold. Makes him look really chunky. I have also been giving them an extra meal a day. We went out right before bed last night and gave them a little more hay. Hopefully that helped. I always feel bad when it is cold. If we could have sold our fifth wheel they could have went in the shop to stay out of the cold. But no the camper takes up all the room.
Other then that it was fight to get Haley to wear a coat today to school. 3 degrees out and she thinks it is uncool to wear a coat. We will have to go tonight to get her one as hers magically disappeared, so I made her wear one of mine(how mortifying). She is not happy with me, but I am not real impressed with her attitude either :).
Well everyone stay warm! I really don't like the cold, but maybe we will have a white Christmas. I have about a foot of snow at my house already. Dwane got to plow for a couple hours! Gotta keep up on that stuff!

2008-12-08T13:46:00.000-08:00

Another busy week! Last week went by so fast, I swear I blinked and it was gone. Friday we went to our neighbor Doug & Lynn's for movie and dinner! It was fun, but got home about 11. Saturday, Haley had basketball at 7:30 am, well the game started at 8 but we had to be there early. She did very well I was impressed with how much she has grown in basketball over last year. Kylie had a game at 12, she did great, stole the ball like 5 times. Her team as a whole played really great, the best they have done all year. Amazing how fast they learn as 9 year olds to play. Makes me wonder how I would have done if I had started that young. I played from my freshmen year on. Then I got to cook a turkey for dinner with the neighbors. We didn't have any left overs from Thanksgiving (since we went to someones house) so I made a turkey, mashed tatoes, corn, gravy all very yummy! We watched movies and had alot of fun!
Sunday, we went to a Birthday party for Haley's cousin at Triple Play. Then on to the momsdaughtersandhorses.com December/Xmas party. That was alot of fun. The gift exchange was great. I think Haley got her gift stolen 5 times. She did end up getting what she wanted (by trading with mom). Kylie got a saddle blanket which she really needed. I got an ornament and coffee mug!
Work is really busy and I will be happy when they get someone hired. I should have went for my ride on Saturday as when I got up on Sunday it was raining :(. Guess will hope for better weather next weekend.(wishful thinking I know). Here's to another week, almost Christmas(not my favorite time of year).

2008-12-02T08:57:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was good! Good food, good friends and family, all was fun. I took my sister with me to St Maries and then had to drive her back to Spokane after dinner. I was pretty tired by the time we got home. Haley and I went shopping Friday morning but not until about 9 am. She had Birthday money left to spend and I needed to pick up a few things. She got lots of goodies. I found a couple x-mas presents for Kylie at 1/2 price (always love that) and then Corral West in Coeurdalene is going out of business, so I got me two Cowgirl Up sweatshirts. It was kind of funny as I had not bought any sweatshirts all day, even though that was what I was looking for. Corral West was our last stop and actually we were on our way out of the parking lot and saw a guy holding a going out of business sign and turned around and went back. After that I dropped Haley off at a friends and headed back to St Maries, I think I could make that drive in my sleep. Came home Saturday night (the end of hunting season YEAH!) Sunday we took Kylie to see 4 Christmas's it was a very funny movie.
The horses are all wet and I put their blankets on Friday as it was snowing. Now it is just raining and almost too warm for blankies, hoping it will stop raining so I can take them off. Also hoping it would either freeze or stop raining so Dwane can go back to work. He drives a couple days and then is off again. He has a couple prospects for new jobs, but none have panned out yet. They just closed the Chilco mill by our house until January, this really is getting scary. Anyway hope all had a good weekend, my diet has fallen by the wayside, but I have lost 10 lbs. Now the trick will be getting going again :) It is always so expensive to diet, have you ever noticed all the food that is bad for you is alot cheaper? No wonder there is a weight problem, if it is high fat and calories and totally not healthy you can buy it, anything good for you lower in fat and what not is twice as much. Crazy world we live in!

Ride at Farragut and other stuff

2008-11-25T08:47:00.000-08:00

I got to go riding this weekend, at Farragut state park!! My friend Sam came over and we decided to load up and head to Farragut (which is only 10 miles from my house). I honestly don't know why I don't do it more often. We had a great time! She rode Autumn and I rode Willow. Willow was so good. She did have ouchy feet as her shoes were pulled Saturday and she was barefoot, we stayed off of most of the rocks and at the side of the trail. Monday morning she was pretty sore but by Monday afternoon she was back to her normal bossy self, chasing Autumn away from the hay pile with no problems. We took about a 3 hour ride and were a little cold on the way back but well worth it.
Kylie had her basketball game Saturday, she is doing a little better. If I could convince her that every time someone touches her it is not a major crime and they are not killing her, she would do better. Every time someone touches her she thinks she is getting slammed to the ground and shows the outraged ouchy face. Drama queen should be invented for her at times. Okay enough picking on my poor child.
Haley is still another story. Can I say I am not real impresseed with teenagers ( and she just turned 13) The "Your child will come back to haunt you like you did to your parents syndrome" has hit full force!
Other then that I leave at daybreak and get home after dark. I really hate the winter months. Looking forward to a long weekend - 4 days off!! Thanksgiving will be in St Maries at my brother in laws - father in laws house (yeah figure that one out) Fred is recovering from a 4 wheeler accident (the father in law of my brother in law) 4 broken ribs, seperated shoulder, and punctured lung - so I have volunteered to go down early and help as much as I can (for those of you who know me it won't be much help in the cooking area, there is a reason I bring pink salad and not anything cooked to these things) Which if anyone is looking for a good salad that is a little different here is the recipe:

Cherry pie filling - 1 can
Crushed Pineapple - 1 small can
Chopped Pecans - 1 bag
Condensed Milk - 1 can
Marshmallows - 1 cup
Cool Whip - 1 small container

Mix Cherry pie filling - Crushed Pineapple (drained) - Pecans and Condensed Milk together

Add Marshmallows and Cool whip - Mix thoroughly
Chill for a few hours
Everyone in Dwane's family loves this salad! You don't have to use pecans either you can add walnuts or whatever your family likes or leave the nuts out! I should add extra for my family:)
If I don't get back on here have a Happy Turkey Day!

2008-11-17T19:56:00.000-08:00

What a productive weekend I had! It always feels good to accomplish all you have set out to do for the weekend! Started first thing Saturday morning with tearing out all the carpet in Haley's room. One of the dogs had decided that it was a good place to use as a bathroom and I could not get them to stop. So there goes the last of the carpet in my house (that was the plan anyway just not quite this sudden). Anyway, so all the carpet tour out the floor sanitized and painted with Kilz paint (seals the plywood). While I was waiting for that to dry - off to Kylie's basketball game. After the game I came home and the paint was not dry, out the door again to take Haley to a friend's house. On the way back home my neighbor was out in the field with her horse, so I stopped and talked to her. Got me thinking if the paint wasn't dry I could go for a little ride :). Back to my house - paint not dry (yeah). Out to the horses, asked my neighbor if she wanted to ride one of mine as her horse was being really naughty. Then after I had them saddled she couldn't go, we made plans to go together at 9 am on Sunday. One of my other neighbors showed up with her two kids and her son wanted to go with. Around the neighborhood we go! I was riding Autumn and he was riding Ben, it was so much fun. After that I got 80% of Haley's floor (laminate) installed.
Sunday, up bright and early and work on Haley's floor (first fed the horses so they could eat before we left). My neighbor came over and she rode Prince and I rode Autumn again. We had a nice little ride around the short loop. Back to Haley's room as I only had 2 hours before my other neighbor came back to go riding too! Lynne (my neighbor) pulled in right as I was cutting the last board for Haley's room. Got all of the horses out (she brought her two kids so we were all going). I saddled Willow up and was not sure how she was going to do. One it would be the first time I rode her out of the pen this year, second only the 5th time out of the pen her entire life, and finally I had not touched her in two months almost. At first she was all antsy and pinning her ears, so I stopped saddling and went up to her head, she hid her nose in the crook of my arm and I talked to her and petted her - then she was fine. She is such a goon. She did awesome! Only spooked at the swinging real estate signs, nothing else! Prince was the only pill, which scared Haley so she wouldn't go with us. Kylie was busy with one of her friends. Everyone settled in nicely for the ride and we went from there. After all that had to run to town drop off the Home Interiors order for MDH (moms daughtersandhorses.com) and pick up trim for Haley's room.
Now all I have to do is get Haleys room put back together :(, kind of tired tonight guess it will wait till tomorrow!

2008-11-13T13:52:00.000-08:00

Third week weigh in down 4 more pounds! Yeah, except that it was due to me having the stomach flu on Monday night :)! I have not been that sick in a long time, luckily only a 24 hour thing and I am back to my cheery self by Thursday.
The poor horses are drenched. Hopefully they will have time to dry out now that it has finally stopped raining for a little while. I haven't really gotten to see them as Dwane is layed off and feeding for me. It is also dark when I get home so no help there. I will get to see them this weekend and if the weather cooperates go for a ride!
The girls are busy with school. Haley is on grade watch, every year we go through this, the beginning of the year she slacks till I get angry then she pulls them back up. I keep trying to explain to her it would be easier just to keep them up in the first place. Kylie is getting straight A's, I so remember when Haley did that. She is a smart little cookie and deserves a note of recognition for it! Honor roll assembly is actually going on right now, but the working mom can't make it :(
Other then that it is life as usual - did I mention my dad lost his County Commisioner position by 5 votes, just goes to show every vote can count (not that I am overly political, but a good example). Keep your chin up or you may drown!

2008-11-05T13:27:00.000-08:00

Second week weigh in - I am down 1 more pound. Kind of a bummer after last week, but still down! Dwane has been layed off this week, too much rain. So I have not been out with the horses much. Pokumus has a new name - it is Autumn. Thank you Alisa from momsdaughtersandhorses.com! Haley loves the name! Well here is to watching what I eat more this week! Halloween did not help!

2008-11-04T11:13:00.000-08:00

After alot of thought and a couple breakdowns, I found a new home for Cody, in exchange for Cody I brought home a mare that is rideable. I checked on Cody the first night and they had already put a saddle on him! He was so good, for the trailer ride down, when he got out of the trailer, and when I left. Of course I almost cried, told Dwane we had to leave or I was going to cry.
The new mare is cute - a little bay. They called her Pokumus, but I don't like that name and can't think of any other name. I rode her that first day and hope to get on her again this weekend if the weather cooperates. I am excited to have a another rideable horse but also sad to see Cody go. He is going to make someone a great horse and I think they will find him very easy to saddle break. Anyway, there is my story - see Pokumus picture on the right!

What a busy and crazy weekend! Friday night was Halloween and we went to a neighbors party. Needless to say we did not get home until 2 am but it was fun. Saturday morning we got up and headed to St Maries, where Dwane's mom was getting out of the hospital from pneuomonia (I can't spell). Dwane's sister - Nannette - and I cleaned up Sue's house, made beds, wiped everything down, that type of stuff before she got home. Then we headed out to look at the mare that Nannette's friend wanted to trade me for Cody. Rode her around and talked as Dwane knew his girlfriend. Decided to do the trade. Back to St Maries where we met up with Dwane's brother Johnny to go to the Eagles Club for a Halloween party and dance for the kids. Stayed there until about 10 pm. Headed for home with the 5th wheel camper and no kids! Yeah they stayed at Johnny's, good thing since on the way home we blew a tire on the 5th wheel. Had to get up early the next morning to take Cody down and pick up Pokumus. Made it down there and decided to get a weaner pig to put in with Johnny's pigs. Anyway so we had to stop at Johnny's to pick up the girls and drop off the pig. They wanted to see the horse, so we got her out for a little bit (she loads like a dream), brushed her out and then loaded her back up and off we went. Get her home and settled, then back out the door to go to a momsdaughtersandhorses.com meeting! in Spokane! By the time I got home I was ready to collapse, went to bed and then got up for work on Monday! Another great beginning to a week! This next weekend I am watching a friend of mine's daughter (she is 3) wish me luck!

2008-10-29T11:58:00.000-07:00

It has been one week on my new diet - down 3 1/2 lbs! Yeah, it is working! I am finally starting to feel better, I always get sick when I lower my food intake, that is one of the reasons I have a hard time with it. Once I get it down it doesn't bother me, if I would just keep the intake down :).
Haley is finally bringing her grades up, she actually had a C in advanced math, now it is a B. As long as she is trying. I always know when she is slacking because she is definitely and A/B student. Haley had her 13th Birthday party last weekend, that was fun 16 - 12 year olds running around. It worked out really well though even though 9 of them stayed the night :(. We carved pumpkins, made brownies, danced, bobbed for apples, and ran around. Only one part of drama, one of the girls boyfriend's broke up with her by text during the party (what to do with the technology out there?). Pulled it off without any other hitches and Haley was happy, of course her birthday is not until Halloween, but wanted to get her party done before her Birthday not after. Kylie has finally learned this week that her actions have consequences, she didn't clean her room and she didn't get to go to skate night (and she didn't throw a fit, nice she is starting to grow up).
The horses are all good. Ben's new blanket came in this week, I put it in the barn like it has been there all along. There is a story behind this (isn't there always!). This summer Dwane tells me that I can buy this saddle I wanted then he proceeds to tell me since he bought all of his motorcycle riding gear already. Then tells me he had it when he went riding with our neighbor (now this was about a month and a half before) but that since it had been in the basement the whole time without me seeing it he was not hiding it from me. So I figure if the blanket is in the barn without him seeing it that is his problem (I know it will be an argument later :) but a fun one, I love I told you so's). Now I have to go out and see if the blanket fits Ben this weekend and I need to measure the pony's blanket and get it fixed before it gets colder and snowy! Here is to keeping warm this winter.

2008-10-27T16:15:00.001-07:00

I actually went riding this weekend! Yeah, I rode the new one, Ben. My neighbor rode Prince. Prince was a little stiff at first but warmed up (still not sure how he will fair this winter, it really isn't that cold yet). Ben was an absolute dream, I was not nervous once, it felt great! Now if I could just feel that way on Willow we would have a whole different ball game. I am tired of riding in the pen, I just want to go trail ride with out the prickly feeling. But if I would just ride more in the pen the faster I would be able to go trail riding. I still haven't given up and am determined to ride more every year, which I have accomplished. Every year I have ridden more and more. I think Ben will be great for Kylie, he has definitely done some trail riding. He followed like a champ, was more alert and paid attention while in the lead (but not spooky). I tried both saddles on him without the pad first to see how they would fit. My cutting saddle fits the best and has the most room around his broken withers, plus it sits right. Looks funny as it is farther back then it should be, but that is where it fits on his back. He is big enough though that I am still in the middle of his back! Anyway was alot of fun and I am definitley looking forward to more riding on the weekends! Planning a ride with Sam for next weekend, hope it works out!

2008-10-22T15:27:00.001-07:00

Another day another pound! I hate being fat! 2 years ago I lost 30 lbs, I felt great. Needless to say those 30 have come back in the last 6-8 months, a lb here and a lb there. So I have started doing the weight watchers thing again. Now before I was at work with someone who did it with me, now I work with 2 guys and that is it. (not alot of support there). I was sitting here thinking I am hungry (even though I just ate my rice cake) and thought just blog about it and maybe it will be a new source of inspiration. My horses would like it if I didn't weigh over 200 lbs, and so would I. My goal is 40 lbs (I just didn't quite make it to my goal weight last time). Weigh in once a week, starting on Mondays, follow the basic weight watchers point system, and see if it works again. Then the goal will be to maintain and keep it a life choice.
The poor horses have not seen me in a couple days, except in the dark to feed! They think it is a martian coming to feed them! Really wish Dwane would get power to the shop, gotta love those lanterns. We keep saying every year we will get power and water to the shop, so far has not worked out the best. Although this has been one of the worst years (financially) for us, he did not work for 6 months. As long as the house payment is made and I have hay in the barn we are all good! Hopefully even though the economy is in the toilet things will get better! Gotta keep up the good thoughts anyway!
Haley the ever almost a teenager attitude. Not sure what is going on with her, besides she will be 13 in two weeks. All emotions and no common sense. Can't hear anything you tell her, unless it has to do with something she wants to do. Keep your fingers crossed I can keep my sanity!

2008-10-20T09:21:00.000-07:00

Busy weekend! Saturday, Haley had a volleyball tournament - we dropped her off at 7 am in Spirit Lake at the Junior High. Sam and I had the trailer hooked up and were on our way to Deer Park to pick up Ben, the newest addition to my little herd. He was such a good boy, loaded right up with a little grain teasing! Trailered well all the way home. We put him in the cattle panel pen next to the barn and asked the neighbors to keep an eye on him. This way he could meet everyone over the fence while we were on the run.
Back to the Junior High as I had concessions duty, when I get there I find out my daughter signed me up for the wrong time and they had expected me an hour earlier(never fails). I did my concessions duty and managed to watch a game of Haley's in the middle (thanks to another very nice mom who handled it while I was gone). Then off to Spokane, where I volunteered to help Joann from sosequines.org with a booth at Aslin Finch to get the word out on slaughter bound horses. We stayed there for about 2 hours and then headed home.
Once home I got to visit with my old neighbors who were in town for the weekend. Then off to home to pack and go to St Maries, where my inlaws were visiting and leaving Monday, so had to go see them this weekend. Once there I crashed! So very busy day Saturday!
Sunday, we hung out while the guys went hunting. Once they got back I headed to Post Falls to Walmart and then home. Once we got home I rode Ben in the pen and tried out several bridles as I am not sure what he has used previously, I think the hackamore worked best, better stop with the snaffle but everything else was better with the hack. After that we got Prince out to ride, he sure has been a butt lately. All crow hoppy with me, he did fine with the girls, well a little onery for Kylie. Not sure what is going on with him, either he feels really good or he is sore. He wasn't off riding him, just jumpy. I guess we will see what the deal is. Kylie wanted to ride Ben, but I want to ride him a little more and see how he does. My neighbor has started to learn to trim horses feet, so he might come over and do Stubby's feet as they are really bad and my shoer still has not called me back. That is all for today!

The beginning!

2008-10-17T14:27:00.001-07:00

I don't even know where to start! I guess the name of my blog, my husband calls my horses Hayburners, so I always told him if we had a farm it would be called the Hayburner Farm (I thought Hayburner Acres sounded better). That is where that came from. Just a place to put my thoughts and happenings with my horses, kids, and life in general. Not that it is all that exciting but may be interesting to some people!

Quick run down on me! I have two daughters. Haley is 12 almost 13 (2 weeks) and in the seventh grade. Kylie is 9 and in the fourth grade. I have been married to Dwane for 11 years. Haley is from my first marriage, but Dwane adopted her when she was 3. We have 4 horses, Willow 5(my baby), Stubby the pony-old (Kylie's), Prince 22 (Haley's horse), Cody 4, and this weekend I pick up Ben 15 (for Dwane). We also have 3 dogs, Zoey 1 (doberman mix), Sassy 10 (Sheltie), Rex 9 (sheltie) - a rabbit named TJ (Thumper Junior) - 3 cats Lily (indoor), Buster (barn), and Scooter (barn). So we are definitely animal poor.

That is the short run down on my family. I look forward to writing about daily happenings in my life!