Bitless Horse Blog Give away

Bitless Horse Blog has a lovely giveaway for a hand made horse hair charm. It would be lovely as a rear view mirror ornament a key chain or some other charm. While you are over there you ought to surf around and check out her work with other braided horse hair objects. 

I have still been saving all the hair I have from my old man Hobo after he passed away. I really want something made from the hair. My problem is that I can't seem to totally let go. It's been three years since he passed and Hobo's cremated remains are still in the urn in the box in the hallway in my house. His mane and tail hair is in a plastic bag in the back bedroom. Every time I think about him I still cry. I even almost totally quit riding for over a year after he passed. I'm getting better. This year with his "Dream Girl" getting old enough to ride I'm getting excited to start training her. I'm feeling more life in me again and just maybe I'll be brave and strong enough to let go of some of his hair to make some beautiful jewelry.

Wisconsin Judge Rules AGAINST Mandatory Premise Registration

 Another strike against NAIS or what ever the USDA wants to try and call it now.  Wisconsin was one of the first states to require mandatory premise registration for all livestock owners. They didn't allow for religious exemptions such as for the Amish. Well one Amish man stood up to the State of Wisconsin and refused to participate for religious reasons.  The State of Wisconsin decided to prosecute him for failure to comply and they lost in court! The Judge ruled that the farmer has a "religious right" to be exempted from the law and that the state did not show enough evidence that they allowed for alternative ways to get a hold of farmers who wished to be exempted. 

The full story can be read here at the Wisconsin Ag Connection.  Although the State of Wisconsin plans to appeal this decision, I don't see how they can win against the constitutional argument for freedom of religion. Additionally since the USDA has dropped all attempts at this time to require mandatory registration nationwide, the State of Wisconsin no longer has a National Program policy to follow.

Second Ride

Since I had to break up the round pen to make a pen to put Topper in, Christopher had to take his Roany pony to the big arena. I'm totally bummed though because about half of my photos came out  really blurry and almost unrecognizable.  Anyway Christopher had fun.

 He had to stop and pet his Roany pony.

 Then he decided to share and let his Aunt Anna (me) ride for a few minutes.

Breeding Wish List

I know one should not choose a stallion solely based on color, but I do have such a weakness for the dun gene colored horses that I always look for dun based breeding stock.  This year while surfing around I found a couple horses that not only have the color genetics, they also have a resume of performance and pedigree behind them. So on to my breeding wish list go the following stallions.

Secret Mr Barreed  is standing at Spotted Rump Ranch and is a GOLD Medallion earner. ApHC issues "Medallions" for a horse earning points in different categories of showing. There are a total of 4 Categories where a horse can earn a Medallion in.

1. Racing

2. Distance competition ( ie Endurance or Competitve trail)

3. Halter

4. Show performance events (almost everything from Western Pleasure to Sidesaddle to Hunter Classes etc)

To win one medallion, a horse has to earn a specific number of points in a single category. Your first medallion is a Bronze, the second a Silver, the third is gold and the last is Diamond. There are not many horses who have been able to earn either Gold or Diamond Medallions.  Secret Mr Barred has earned a Gold and has competed in all categories except racing. This versatility plus his color and conformation have bumped him to the top of my breeding wish list. 

Hey Hollywood is still showing and won't be available for breeding until the 2011 breeding season, but he's got a great start on his performance earnings. I do like his pedigree and his performance so far. He's on my list for future possibilities. I'll be keeping an eye on him for sure.

It also turns out that Hey Hollywood's sire  Dial A Challenge is also still standing at stud. And he's got the color, performance, looks and pedigree to show. And since he's already produced one of my Breeding wish list picks, he also gets to go on the wish list.

Poweriffic would be on my wish list just cause he's SOOO pretty, but he's also earned performance points and produced foals who have also earned points. He's been on my breeding wish list for quite a while now. I think he and Topper  are the perfect match.Poweriffic, just holds my attention when I see him. Topper is now getting to the age I might consider breeding her and Power's the first stallion I want to try with her.

Anyway that's my breeding wish list. One day one of these matches might just happen, but not this year. It's only a dream for this year.

Weekend Plans

Tomorrow we have to go get "The Money Pit" from the other place she's been for the past month and bring her home. We will be putting her in a pen we made by breaking the round pen apart so she can share space next to Christopher's Roany pony. Her cut is healing but is much better. She still needs to be kept in a separate pen that is drier then the mud in the pasture for a while though.

Christopher may also be over some time this weekend for another ride. We will have to haul a bit of hay this weekend.  I also need to get over to the Home Depot and get some better soil for the raised bed gardens I'm going to add this year. 

I'm also hoping that the weather stays really nice for the weekend but I do think we have another storm floating in soon. Starting next week I will have more time for riding, gardening and even working on my knit and crochet projects because I finally quit my second job. No more 12 hour days 3 days out of the week. I liked the job helping teach people to learn to read and to learn to speak English, but the hours are a killer and I really didn't have much time to really work with the horses. For a while after Hobo's death I did loose interest in the horses temporarily, but with Dream Girl hitting three this year and ready to start riding, I've got a sudden and strong desire to start riding and specifically HER!  So I'm making time for the horses and for me again. 

more snow

Yep we got another snow storm I'm really sick of snow. There was a wreck  somewhere out near our house on I-40 and I was out playing with the camera taking weird photos of the lights. The second photo is looking back east from our house at a very LONG line of vehicles stuck on the interstate because of the wreck.

New Projects

This red shawl is worked in crochet. It's a simple double crochet the entire way, but the yarn itself makes the beautiful patterns in it. I've got it almost finished and I really like the way the yarn worked up for this one.

My current knitting project is a  lacy shawl. I had a couple different types of yarns that needed some thing else to make them look awesome.  I started with this verigated cotton yarn from Ironstone Yarns. It's an eye lash type yarn and it's not easy to crochet with so I decided to put it on the knifty knitter and combine it with

this yarn that I got in a box of yarns in an E-bay auction. 

 

And I found a really lacy pattern in this pattern book

and this is the result so far for the shawl. 

I'm really having fun with this knifty knitter loom. Much more fun then I'm having with the knitting needles. I'm about ready to get rid of all the knitting needles and just keep these knitting looms for anything I want to knit. I"m thinking about getting a very fine gauge loom so that I can learn to knit socks. I crocheted a pair of socks and they took forever with that tiny yarn and single crochet.

Today's the Day!

 

 

Christopher has been ready for a horse for a long time. Today  he got his first ride on his very own pony. 

 

First momma had to brush out Roany  and then test out how she was going to act for riding. 

 

Then on goes the helmet while momma is saddling Roany.

 

 

 

Mom is a bit nervous, but  Christopher got the hang of it really quick.

 

  

  

 

Then Uncle Keith brought out the toy cap pistol. He wants Christopher to be his riding partner at the mounted shooting events. Maybe one day if momma will let him he'll get to tag along.

Anyway that's been my morning here watching my nephew having fun on his new pony.

Annaology

Rules: YOU! Yes, you, reading this. You’re tagged. Now that you know more about me than you ever wanted to know, play the game, it’s fun! Let others know a little more about yourself, re post this as your name followed by “ology.”

FOODOLOGY:

What is your salad dressing of choice? Ranch

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant? Red Lobster

What is your favorite fast food restaurant? Hate Fast food

What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? Apples

What are your pizza toppings of choice? Ham and Pineapple or Pepperoni, onions and mushrooms

How many televisions are in your house? 1

What color cell phone do you have? Green

BIOLOGY:

Are you right-handed or left-handed? Right.

Have you ever had anything removed from your body? Yes

What is the last heavy item you lifted?  Horse Feed

Have you ever been knocked unconscious? Yes

Have you ever fainted? No

BULLCRAPOLOGY:

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? No.

If you could change your name, what would you change it to? Wouldn't change it I like my name.

How many pairs of flip flops/thongs do you own? None I hate those things

Last person you talked to? Keith

FAVORITOLOGY:

Season? Summer

Holiday? St. Patrick's Day

Day of the week? Friday

Month? July

Colour? Green

Drink? Tea

Alcoholic? Margarita

CURRENTOLOGY:

Missing someone? Yes

What are you listening to? Closing Ceramonies of the Olympics

What are you watching? Closing Ceramonies of the Olympics

Worrying about? Not much at the moment
What’s the last movie you saw? At the cinema - Seabiscuit. At home - Harry Potter- Order of the Phoenix

Do you smile often? Yea I think so

If you could change your eye color what would it be? Green's the perfect color so no need to change them.

What’s on your wish list for your birthday?

What are you watching? Closing Ceramonies of the Olympics

Worrying about? Not much at the moment
What’s the last movie you saw? At the cinema - Seabiscuit. At home - Harry Potter- Order of the Phoenix

Do you smile often? Yea I think so

If you could change your eye color what would it be? Green's the perfect color so no need to change them.

What’s on your wish list for your birthday? A greenhouse

Can you do a chin-up? Yes

Does the future make you more nervous or excited? Neither

Have you been in a car wreck? Yes, a bunch

Have you caused a car wreck? No

Do you have an accent? Nope

Last time you cried? Don't remember

Plans tonight? not much but work on my crochet

Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? No.

Name three things you bought yesterday? A car load of groceries and a new hair cut

 
Have you met someone who changed your life? Yes several people

For the better or worse? Better

How did you bring in the New Year? Went to sleep early and didn't do much

Would you go back in time if you were given the chance? I probably would, yes

What songs do you sing in the shower? Nothing

Have you held hands with someone today? No

Who was the last person you took a picture of? Don't remember the last time I took a photo of a human but the dog and the horses and the elk have all walked into my camera range.

Are most of the friends in your life new or old? Relatively new friends since my moving here 12 years ago.

Do you like pulpy orange juice? Yes! love pulpy juice

Last time you ate peanut butter and jelly? Never I don't like my peanut Butter with Jelly or jam. I eat peanut butter with honey or with Miracle whip.

 
What were you doing at 12 a.m. last night? Sleeping

What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? Is it snowing again?

New addition sort of

My nephew Christopher is getting his first pony! I had a hand in getting it for him by telling my sister about this mare at the vet clinic that was up for sale for the cost of the vet bill. She was a bit dehydrated and had not had her feet trimmed in like 8 months and was basically a case of owner neglect. But she's not in excessively bad shape just needs a hoof trim and a few good groceries.

She's coming to stay at my house temporarily until my sisters friend gets a stall ready. I'm going to pick her up from the vet on Wednesday and bring her here, then next weekend Christopher and my sister are going to try and come over for a short ride.