Raindrops

Barn tales, Life with Circe, Life with Jezebel, OTTB
[caption id="attachment_1243" align="alignleft" width="300"] bucket heads before the storm[/caption] It's raining and its going to rain for days. Stupid. I was planning on washing and re-waterproofing my blankets and sheets this week. Yeah thats not happening how can i dry them in the sun with yanno no actual sun. Instead i will trot my happy ass back and forth to the barn every 4 hours so the girls have some turnout and don't get to drenched and i can keep an eye on them. This is a downside of self care thats a 30 min drive from your house. Last night when i brought the girls in because of the rain i noticed they were both extra mellow and though they ate their dinner neither was too interested in the…
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This and that

Life with Circe, Life with Jezebel, OTTB
[caption id="attachment_1237" align="alignleft" width="300"] Finally standing at the block[/caption] When the vet came out to chip the girls i had her to an evaluation on their body conditions, i spoke to her about the constant heat cycles, their separation anxiety and we discussed the spring grass and if i should be worried about it. Heat cycles: Circe is in almost constant heat. Jez isn't as bad she was in for 9 days went out no big deal, though 9 days is a little long for her. I'm keeping an eye on it for now as its spring and the first heat can be intense. If it doesn't even out by summer though i might have to re-address it. Circe is super cranky and though i haven't chalked up her tude…
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Chip chip hooray!

Barn tales, Life with Circe, Life with Jezebel
[caption id="attachment_1231" align="alignleft" width="225"] Gettin' chipped[/caption] It was something I wanted to do before I moved but it didn't work out. My vet needed to get a new reader and it was going to have to be done after the big move. Yes, i'm talking about micro-chipping my horses. As animal owners we regularly chip our dogs and cats, its kinda a common practice but with horses not so much. It really should be for a few reasons but the most important is positive identification. If your horse is lost or stolen a microchip will almost always work as proof positive who the owner is. Nothing works better. Not a tattoo, registration papers or 100 photos of you smooching your horses face, nothing. A chip however can not be altered…
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Noble Outfitters Viper barn knife – Review

Review
[caption id="attachment_1228" align="alignleft" width="300"] The Viper In Zebra![/caption] When the good folks over a Noble Outfitters approached me about reviewing one of the their products i couldn't have been more thrilled as i secretly had been spying their site and products for a while. They have a nice line of equestrian clothes, bags, footwear and accessories. After looking over the catalog of items I decided I wanted to give one of their barn knives a go and put it though its barn knife paces. Having just moved to self care for my two OTTB mares I am finding theres a lot of little things I need to make my every day care possible and a barn knife is definitely one of those things. The Viper was selected and I was…
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Trail ride adventures: The Willa edition

Barn tales, Off Farm
It was a beautiful day, the perfect day for riding. I however have one horse with ulcers and the other AKA spooks-a-lot is not yet conditioned to her new ring so were still just doing ground work together for a bit. So after i visited with my girls and did my barn chores i headed down to my old barn to visit with M and Peanut. [caption id="attachment_1216" align="alignleft" width="225"] In the woods![/caption] It feels a little funny diving up the long driveway of the barn i used to board at but i have no regrets making the move on to greener pastures. I noticed that the property was put up for sale in the beginning of April because i check horse property sales like i have OCD so I…
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The new phone book is here

Barn tales, Life with Jezebel, Training
[caption id="attachment_1207" align="alignleft" width="300"] Purrty![/caption] Jezebels meds have arrived! They have been sitting in customs since April 7th and finally got here.  I've been checking my international tracking number every day like i have OCD. There is light at the end of the Jezebel tunnel. Meds you ask? I decided to go ahead and treat her for gastric ulcers as well as the hind gut. She was palpating for the gastric and with the move and everything else i thought it best to just treat her and then start her training over... from scratch.  She will be getting Omeprazole (aka blue pop rocks) and since its way way way cheaper to order direct outside of the US of A thats what i did. Takes a while but 175 bucks versus…
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I never saw her smile

Barn tales
[caption id="attachment_1200" align="alignleft" width="300"] The woman who taught me to ride horses[/caption] This isn't really a Viva Carlos magical blog hop as in who inspires you. But I was inspired to write this after reading her blog. Mrs Bobbi Williams. The women who taught me to ride horses... for real. I was a tiny kid, 7 years old and I had done my fair share of pony rides. I wanted real lessons and I got them. From Mrs Williams. A weathered, hardened old women who owned the only local barn there was in my area of Los Angeles. She was a scary women, she was tough, she never smiled, she barked orders, she yelled really loud. She was also my only option for lessons, so I took them for years…
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Barn cats

Barn tales, Rant
[caption id="attachment_1193" align="alignleft" width="300"] Flossie- The best kinda barn cat![/caption] Who would have thought that barn cats could be a contentious issue. They are. I've been in a lot of barns and barn cats are necessary. They help to keep your barn pest free. Barns have rats, mice, snakes, birds. Barn cats help to reduce that. Barn cats are truly working animals. They have jobs, important jobs. In exchange for their work you provide them with proper medical care, a place to live and an occasional scratch. In the winter months you give them some supplemental food and maybe a heated water bowl depending on your climate. Barn cats shouldn't be completely feral as you should be able to pick them up or at least get them in a carrier…
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Indian love call

Barn tales, Life with Circe, Training
Just to give an idea of the scope and scale of the new ginormous ring. http://youtu.be/OiZWJUB5o4o Circe started off really good. Calm, relaxed ready to work when she walked across the street, into the ring and even on the lunge. That was until Jezebel started to call to her from across the street. Took Jez about 10-15 minutes to realize Circe was gone and then lost her mind. Eventually the calling back and forth came to a stop. Jez lost interest and Circe did some really nice trot work. Then we worked on the mounting block which she really didn't want to stand next to but eventually did. It was a successful training session but Circe did have her mare moments. Made me really happy i have Michelle on my…
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No rest for the wicked

Barn tales, Life with Circe
[caption id="attachment_1175" align="alignleft" width="279"] busy busy busy[/caption] Sundays tend to be a really busy day. Hardly a day off at all. Typically its ...Up early, drive to feed ponies, do barn chores, eat lunch/brunch, my better half has his riding lesson, drive to ponies to do more horse things/feeding/turnout/washing/chores, grocery shopping then i get to go home and make dinner before all the good Sunday cable shows are on. I'm usually pretty exhausted by the end of the day on Sunday. Today was no exception to the theres a lot of shit to get done on Sunday rule. [caption id="attachment_1176" align="alignright" width="300"] Dexter Wins![/caption] Besides there being a lot to do there was a horse show across the street today in the big ring and one of the girls from…
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