As it turns out, I am blogger.com illiterate

Okay, all you seasoned bloggers out there...how in the world do I respond to a comment? I just spent 20 minutes of my life that I will never get back trying to figure it out.


The comment that I was trying so desperately to respond to was Becky's about the chestnut baby. Meet Reba.

She is actually Zoey's half sister (they are by the same stud). I definately think Reba will end up bigger than Zoey, however. She is currently 18 months old and 15.3+hh! She's a moose but is a sweetheart.

On another note, I apologize (to my one reader-aloha Becky!) for the recent lack of updates. Four posts in and I am already slacking off! My mom just sold the house that I grew up in and I spent a lot of time helping her move/sorting through all of my childhood possessions.

For the record, 23+ years is way too long for a family to be in one house. Moving is a pain in the ass but it definately helps sort through stuff before it piles into large, unmanageable mountains of useless things.

The things that we had kept over the years was ridiculous! Of course, some of it was quite entertaining. Lots of old journal entries detailing my huge plans for the various equine partners in my life. The most notable was the palomino paint cow horse that I rode when I was in 7th and 8th grade.

"Dusty" belonged to a friend of my father's and, in retrospect, was one of the most tolerant horses ever to exist. I had big plans to turn him into an eventer, of all things. I was the strange child that asked for PVC pipes for her 14th birthday. Hey, I had to have jumps, right?? I am sure that it was a completely safe move for me to stick them between two open folding chairs and urge my trusty steed over them.

I will dig up the pictures of me and Dusty one of these days. I was up to date on all the latest equestrian fashions, including a hot pink bicycle helmet and stretchy yoga pants for breeches. Did I mention that I went through very chubby stages quite frequently in my childhood?

Ahem. Moment of silence for the poor, clueless child that I was. Maybe it's best to leave those photos stashed away after all!

Lazy Sundays

I love Sundays.


Favorite day of the week.


I work the other six days, so Sunday is my day to catch up on housework, cook a nice Sunday dinner, and do charitable works for others.








HAHAHA. Excuse me while I regain my composure. If you believed a word of that last sentence you clearly have a lot to learn about me. I am certainly not opposed to the idea of housework, cooking, or charitable actions but here is how a typical Sunday at my house tends to go:

• Wake up around 7am to let the dogs out, proceed to get back in bed
• Doze in that wonderful dreamy state until the DPH wakes up and decides he has to have his daily coffee fix
• Drag myself out of bed, usually clutching my blanket and pillow. Relocate to the couch
• Flip through the channels and find a guilty-pleasure show to watch (favorites include America's Next Top Model, Toddlers and Tiaras, Teen Mom, etc. Don't judge me)
• Eat something
• Distract the DPH from his studying
• Eat something else
• Resume rotting my brain with more trash television
• Bother the DPH
• Feel guilty for being so lazy and unproductive
• Start to do laundry, get distracted by the Naughty Cat
• Resume watching television

You get the idea. Sundays are not generally productive for me.

Today, however, I outdid myself. I did TWO loads of laundry (okay, so the first load is sitting on my dining room table waiting to be folded and the second load is still in the dryer. Close enough). I completed a sale on one of the barn's horses and loaded him for his new owner. I moved some boxes from my mom's house (she sold the house and it closes Tuesday). The DPH and I spent some quality  time together. All in all, a pretty productive day.

I am calling it a night...I have boot camp at the gym in the morning. My abs still hurt from boot camp on Friday, so I am not especially excited about this prospect.

I hate to leave you without any sort of pretty pony pictures to look at, so here you go:

Larry, the TB gelding I sold a few months ago. He is getting ready for fox hunting this fall with a 12yr old rider. Great-minded horse-he is the kind that helps combat the rumors of how crazy OTTBs are!

Raising babies

Zoey currently spends all of her time in a large pasture with her four yearling buddies. I really like the way that the BO raises all her young horses.

All the broodmares and babies go into a large pasture in the back during the day and are brought back in to their stalls at night. When the summer weather arrives, the mares and foals stay out 24/7. There is a pond where they play to stay cool during the hot summer days.

Weaning occurs when the babies are 5-6 months old. They are weaned in pairs., so they have a friend throughout the process. We continue halter training during this time. Once they are leading reliably from the pasture to their stalls every day they are put in another large pasture. They live out all the time, which I love.

We handle them for vaccinations, the farrier, deworming, and that is about it. They get to play, grow bigger, and just be horses.

Zoey, Reba, and Lyle

Faith and Zoey

Play time!

Zoey might be a month younger but no one pushes her around!

Zoey is going to be 17 months on September 26th. She does not trailer load. She will not be doing any sort of longe line futurities. She has never had a saddle on her. She has never been ground driven or sacked out with anything. For some trainers, she is already behind.

You know what? That's fine by me. She runs up to me when I walk out to the pasture, ears alert and eyes bright. She is always inquisitive. She stands perfectly for the farrier. New experiences do not phase her. I can't wait until she is old enough and mature enough for me to be comfortable starting her under saddle.

We will go slow. I'm not in any hurry. I am hoping that Zoey is going to be my forever horse. I want to do things right. As long as she is happy and continues to be interested in me, I think we are on the right track.

Hey mom...what are you doing? I can play? Hi!

Further introductions

It's time to meet the rest of the cast.

I already introduced the DPH, who truly is the most patient man in the world. He went from not growing up with pets to marrying me and gaining two indoor/outdoor dogs, a wild cat, and two horses. He is such a good sport...check out the design of the thank you cards that we sent out after our wedding:

You all met Zoey yesterday, who has the starring role in this blog. I can't resist sharing more cute pictures of her, so here you go! If pure cuteness bores you, then skip the next few pictures.

Hanging out with her mom in the pasture

Wheeee-I canz FLY

A few months old here

 

Okay, enough Zoey-cuteness for one post. Moving on in the introductions...meet Sadie the Wonder Dog. She was the first animal that I coerced DPH into getting DPH and I decided to get together. We picked her out from the shelter when she was a tiny puppy and she has been the World's Best Dog ever since.

 

Next in the line-up is Tucker, the World's Sweetest Creature. Tucker joined the family a year after Sadie. All Tucker wants in life is to have his tummy rubbed. He is the most happy-go-lucky animal I have ever met.

 This picture sums up his entire outlook on life

Carmel is the other equine member of the family. My parents bought her for my sister seven years ago and, after my sister gained interests other than riding, was ridden a little by my mother. When my parents decided to sell her last year the DPH and I bought her from them. I use her as a lesson horse now. She is a fantastic babysitter and an all-around good citizen.

At a show with one of the lead-liners

Last but not least is Oliver the Naughty Cat. Someone dropped off a young, very pregnant cat at the barn and, being the soft-hearted sucker that I am, I brought her in our house so she could have her kittens inside. Naturally, I fell in love with one and had to keep him. Before you judge me, take a look at this picture and tell me if you could resist how cute he was!

Wonder Dog and the Naughty Kitty are BFFs

Congratulations if you made it through this entire post! As your reward, I present you a picture of Zoey at 14 months old. She's lost that cute baby look but I'm happy with how she is turning out so far!

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

Welcome, loyal readers (of which there are approximately zero at this point in time) to my brand-new blog. I have been telling the DPH (dear, patient hubby) that I was going to start a blog for quite some time now. I am a pretty serious lurker on several other equestrian blogs and I love how they have their horse ownership journeys chronicled! I try to keep a journal detailing my life but I am admittedly lax in my dedication to that. I am hoping that someone will want to read my often random ramblings and that I will be inspired by my readers to update frequently! We will see what happens.


A short summary of my life thus far: grew up about 4 miles down the road from where I now live, went to a private high school, graduated from Texas A&M, got married almost two years ago, and live a hectic life with the DPH, two and a half dogs (more on that later), a cat, and two horses. The DPH and I live in a house at the barn that I manage. It is a really great set-up for us at this point in our lives. I love my job; I get to work with some amazing people and horses.

 

The DPH and I in Mexico on our honeymoon

The main reason that I decided to finally bite the bullet and start this blog was so that I would have a record of the progression of my young horse’s training. The DPH surprised me last year by buying me a beautiful filly that I absolutely coveted. She is by Its All About Blue (a big AQHA hunt-seat stallion) and out of a TB mare that the barn I work for owns.
A little backstory: I actually leased and showed a gelding (named Patrick) out of this TB mare when I was in high school. I was completely in love with him-he is big, pretty, and full of personality. Patrick’s stall was where I huddled when teenage drama overwhelmed me and I felt like my life was crumbling. His was the shoulder that I cried on when I fought with friends or my parents. I skipped school dances, social events, and date nights to go ride or show him. He took me to my first two Youth World Shows. He taught me how to ride a difficult horse. I was truly devastated when I graduated from high school and had to tell the BO that she needed to try to sell him. My parents couldn’t afford to send me to school and continue to pay Patrick’s expenses. Purchasing him was out of the question. There was no way that we could afford him. All’s well that ends well, however. A younger girl from the barn ended up purchasing him and they make a fantastic team.

Patrick and I at a local hunter show

The story does not end there, however. DPH and I had contemplated purchasing Patrick’s dam in January of 2010, with the intention of breeding her that spring. I was slightly hesitant to do that, however, as the BO had tried to breed her in 2010 and, after being checked in-foal at 17 days, was checked as not in-foal at her next ultrasound. The BO was quite disappointed and had her checked a third time, just to be certain. Not pregnant. The mare is older (18yo this year!) and I was a little concerned about her ability to maintain a pregnancy. Imagine our surprise when she started looking…rounder during the month of February. We had her checked again and she was in fact pregnant. I am not sure how the vet missed that twice! The mare foaled a huge, healthy filly in the wee hours of the morning on April 26, 2010. I had to assist with the delivery, as this baby was HUGE. We measured her at 42 inches at the withers the next day. Four white socks, a big blaze, pretty little face-I was in love immediately.

DPH knew how much I wanted this foal but also knew that I would never buy her for myself. He is currently going back to school for a 2^nd degree, which means that our budget is fairly tight. DPH spoke to the BO, worked out a payment plan, and then surprised me with my dream horse! Enough talk…meet Zoey!

Right now she hangs out in the pasture with her four yearling friends. We have successfully survived a very mild gas colic as well as a gory gash on the back of her left hind ankle (superficial only, thank goodness!). The nail-biting period between her birth and her growing old enough to start inspired the “a little luck” part of the title of this blog. The “hard work” part was inspired by all the work that will go into starting and training her. I am hopeful that she will be my next show hunter, although only time will tell! Obviously there is not a whole lot to report on the training front for the next year or so but I do have lots of cute pictures to offer you, my dear readers! Welcome to “Hard Work and A Little Luck”.

1 day old, still figuring out how to work those legs!