Horses

This was not a "good Friday" unless your idea of "good" involves shovelling horse shit...literally. I cleaned two large stalls and started a third. I'm not used to that kind of work, so my back is screaming at me and my head is crying for a pillow. Soon, baby, soon. What I would do for a massage right now. Therapeutic...rub and tug...whatever...my muscles are just thinking I should be calling 9-1-1 with the pain they are in. I'm pathetic...I realize this. I was once in the shape that I would have done twice as many in the same amount of time as it took today and a simple beer would have dulled the pain enough to frolic the night away. Seems not the case anymore. Apparently I need to rest up in order to frolic another day. Frolic [Read more...]

I am attending a presentation on massage therapy...FOR YOUR HORSE. Probably not something most people think of, but animals have some of the same problems we do. Specific to horses there are, of course, doctors...aka the vet. However, there are also massage therapists, dentists, chiropractors...and probably even stylists. All sarcasm aside, having dealt with some race and show horses over the last two years, it makes a lot of sense. They get the same muscle issues we do...the get back problems...they get cavities...and they probably even have bad hair days. So do dogs. So do cats So do giraffes. So do llamas. So do cows. Fish...not so much. I suspect that the last two years have probably taught me more about myself than I could [Read more...]

Will be off for a horse riding lesson with my youngest shortly. Normally we would do this tomorrow morning but due to a schedule snafu that is messing my weekend with my girls, we have adjusted accordingly. I will not be in the ring with her today, though. Two other children will be. A bit funny, however, when my youngest will be the most experienced rider of the three children...she has only been on a horse four times before. Plus, Gazoo...the great sofa of a Quarterhorse that she usually rides will be saved for one of the less experienced children. As such, my little one is nervous that she may be on the horse I usually get, big ole' Angus. Angus is bigger, a Percheron, and has a touch more energy but really is not bad at all. This will [Read more...]

I might argue that "alternate universe"...or alternate reality stories are not only their own genre, but perhaps my favourite genre. Stories that ask the questions and tell the stories of...what if Hitler and the Nazis won the war...what if the aliens landed at Roswell instead of crashing...what if Neil Armstrong and the boys found someone waiting for them on the Moon? These are stories that are a combination of historical and science fiction. Some days, though, and this feels like one of those days...I wish I lived in one of those universes and, one day, would wake up and find that I am actually in the reality I dreamed and hoped for as a child. Example, I should have been teaching high school for almost 20 years by now...but I made a [Read more...]

My hands are still near frozen from this morning's events...only so much blowing on them one can do before the fingers dry up and fall off... Have some pictures I'll be posting on Facebook in a bit...no...no nudes...not this time...unless you count a horse as nude when it isn't wearing pants.  Speaking of which, she did scream at a couple of stallions on the parade route...not so much in a 'come hither' way, but more in a 'don't you come any closer you dumb fuck!' way. Each horse has their own goofy personality...this particular mare is the oldest we've got in the barn...she's 16.  I believe she has 8 foals out there somewhere...one who is with us that is just six months old.  One thing I have learned over the past year is how fast these [Read more...]

Just saw a man about a horse...literally.  My back is ready to give out...my legs feel like I've been straddling a barrel all day...but we did it. Myself and the little one both got our horses (her's was Gazoo...in essence, riding Gazoo is like riding a couch...and mine was Angus, a tall black Percheron gelding).  Giggles abound in the arena as we wandered to and fro through the pylons and around the stacks of hay.  Second time this year I've actually been up on one...third time since I was only 10 myself, which my daughter here will be in about three weeks. Ah well, it was fun and we get to do it again in two weeks...again.  Were her sister here, I would have had to forgo my ride, but...much fun as it was...I suspect I'd be less [Read more...]