Saturday is going to be a big day for Olliver. He's going to get to meet the rest of the family. My parents, my brother, his wife and my niece will be coming to meet him for the first time. My brother (Eric) and his family live in Indiana and don't get to Minnesota all that often. Luckily, Saturday is supposed to be pretty decent weather-wise. Traci and I are planning to saddle up Tubby and maybe Winchester to give Emily (my niece) a ride. Hopefully Mikayla will take another ride too. I can't wait for Olliver to meet his grandparents! LaDel is going to be coming by to see him on Saturday too, so it's going to be a big reunion.
Y'know, I called this blog, "Watching Olliver Grow"....last night, I actually noticed how much he's grown in the two months since we brought him home. We haven't measured him, but I'd guess he's grown at least 4 inches (a full hand) since then. He is so GORGEOUS. I love my boy so much!
Friday, January 30, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Online Horse Home
In the age of the internet, everyone seems to have online home, community, or some such place where they spend the majority of their time. They make friends, share advice, gossip, gripes, and on and on. I've found an online home for my horse life.
www.horsetopia.com
The members there have really made me feel at home. I've been lurking there for quite awhile, but finally took the time last week to introduce myself. It's been a lot fun reading about their horses and drooling over their pictures. Been learning a lot too.
One of the members over at "HT" has started a blog on her new horse -Dillon. She loves him "almost" as much as I love Olliver. It's a new blog, but take a minute and check it out....
http://tulepepperdillon.blogspot.com/
www.horsetopia.com
The members there have really made me feel at home. I've been lurking there for quite awhile, but finally took the time last week to introduce myself. It's been a lot fun reading about their horses and drooling over their pictures. Been learning a lot too.
One of the members over at "HT" has started a blog on her new horse -Dillon. She loves him "almost" as much as I love Olliver. It's a new blog, but take a minute and check it out....
http://tulepepperdillon.blogspot.com/
Friday, January 23, 2009
Bracing for another deep freeze...
Temps are expected to drop again today...so I'm bracing for another round of sub-zero temps. I think I might run out to the farm for a little time with the boy while the sun shines. I had a good visit with him last night. He almost fell asleep during his brushing....with a big pile of hay in front of him. He was in heaven....getting all of his mommy's attention.
We got an update on Dancer from the trainers...she is doing fantastically! That makes me feel much better. Apparently they are seeing none of the behaviors from her that we were seeing - so I guess she just really hated Olliver. That makes me sad. But life at the farm is so nice, and mellow, and quiet. And we are so excited to get Nick home. Dancer will be happy with her job and the girls at her new home, so this is really for the best.
Next week is the last week of January. Which means February (short month)...then March. Spring IS coming. I can't wait to start riding again.
We got an update on Dancer from the trainers...she is doing fantastically! That makes me feel much better. Apparently they are seeing none of the behaviors from her that we were seeing - so I guess she just really hated Olliver. That makes me sad. But life at the farm is so nice, and mellow, and quiet. And we are so excited to get Nick home. Dancer will be happy with her job and the girls at her new home, so this is really for the best.
Next week is the last week of January. Which means February (short month)...then March. Spring IS coming. I can't wait to start riding again.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Falling in lurve with a shiny, black horse...
Let me introduce you to Nick. Nick will soon be the new kid at the farm. Traci and I went to take a look at Nick at the recommendation of our farrier, Larry. Traci fell in lurve. I kinda did to. He's gorgeous. Don't let the brown in the picture fool you. That's just summer fade. This boy is jet black. And there is just something about a shiny, black horse that does funny things to a girl.
Please forgive the picture. I lost my mind a little (lurve...shiny, black horse) and forgot that I was supposed to taking pictures...this is only good picture we got of him from his current owners.
Nick is a Morab (75% Morgan and 25% Arabian). He's 9 years old, but wasn't started under saddle until he was 5 years old. He has kind eyes. A very willing personality. A very easy-to-sit trot (I rode him, so I know this). He hadn't been ridden in two years before Saturday, but you'd never have known it.
Traci broke every rule there is when it came to horse shopping. She put money down on him without getting a vet check. And he's underweight. Hasn't had his shots in two years. His feet are in horrible shape. He needs finishing. And she agreed to the asking price without even trying to haggle down, get them to agree to a farrier/vet visit, nada. Yup. Lurve. Shiny, black horse.
Nick is a Morab (75% Morgan and 25% Arabian). He's 9 years old, but wasn't started under saddle until he was 5 years old. He has kind eyes. A very willing personality. A very easy-to-sit trot (I rode him, so I know this). He hadn't been ridden in two years before Saturday, but you'd never have known it.
Traci broke every rule there is when it came to horse shopping. She put money down on him without getting a vet check. And he's underweight. Hasn't had his shots in two years. His feet are in horrible shape. He needs finishing. And she agreed to the asking price without even trying to haggle down, get them to agree to a farrier/vet visit, nada. Yup. Lurve. Shiny, black horse.
Traci did come to her senses later on Sunday, once we got away from Nick's aura. She will be talking to his current owners about vet check, farrier visit, shots, etc. He'll most likely be coming home to the farm on Valentine's Day.
Ahhhhhh....a big, shiny, black horse for Valentine's Day. What more could a girl ask for???
Ahhhhhh....a big, shiny, black horse for Valentine's Day. What more could a girl ask for???
Friday, January 16, 2009
Semi-frozen but still alive
I've survived the start of the 2009 ice age. It was -25 degrees this morning...but a balmy 1 degree right now, with promise of continuing to warm up overnight. I really think that Al Gore should visit Minnesota in January before he makes anymore a sequel to his movie about global warming. UGH!!!!
I went out to the farm to chores for Traci tonight. The little trooper did chores every night this week. Including hauling water one night when the power went out and the automatic waterer froze up. It was SO GOOD to see "the Boys". WOW. The dynamics have really, really changed with Dancer gone. We took her down to Iowa last weekend to get some training before she's sold. There are two teenage girls (sisters) who are really interested in her...and they'll be good to her, so we're happy that she'll be going to a good home, instead of being sold at auction.
I hated to see her sold, but she had gotten all "hormonal mare" and evil, witchy mean. She tried to go through a metal stock gate to get at Olliver two weeks ago. She was beating up on Shadow (her son)....she was causing much unrest in the herd. Traci was ready to let her go. The trainer in Iowa is the person that Traci bought her from and will make sure that she goes to a good home.
In the meantime, there is nothing but peace and love at the farm now. Nothing but geldings...well, technically, Olliver still has his little testiculars, but he's young enough that it doesn't matter a whole lot yet. There is no tying up at feeding time...they respect each others space and food. Ahhhhh.....Shadow told me tonight that while he misses his mom, it's pretty cool with just "the Boys"...they can fart and scratch their butts all they want to...and drool over the cute little mares down the road...and not get smacked around for it. Tubby just rolled his eyes, "Kids..." LOL.
Olliver was happy to see me tonight, and I him. I missed the little bugger something awful this week.
I went out to the farm to chores for Traci tonight. The little trooper did chores every night this week. Including hauling water one night when the power went out and the automatic waterer froze up. It was SO GOOD to see "the Boys". WOW. The dynamics have really, really changed with Dancer gone. We took her down to Iowa last weekend to get some training before she's sold. There are two teenage girls (sisters) who are really interested in her...and they'll be good to her, so we're happy that she'll be going to a good home, instead of being sold at auction.
I hated to see her sold, but she had gotten all "hormonal mare" and evil, witchy mean. She tried to go through a metal stock gate to get at Olliver two weeks ago. She was beating up on Shadow (her son)....she was causing much unrest in the herd. Traci was ready to let her go. The trainer in Iowa is the person that Traci bought her from and will make sure that she goes to a good home.
In the meantime, there is nothing but peace and love at the farm now. Nothing but geldings...well, technically, Olliver still has his little testiculars, but he's young enough that it doesn't matter a whole lot yet. There is no tying up at feeding time...they respect each others space and food. Ahhhhh.....Shadow told me tonight that while he misses his mom, it's pretty cool with just "the Boys"...they can fart and scratch their butts all they want to...and drool over the cute little mares down the road...and not get smacked around for it. Tubby just rolled his eyes, "Kids..." LOL.
Olliver was happy to see me tonight, and I him. I missed the little bugger something awful this week.
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