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Here we are in March and I can't believe it has been so long since I have updated everyone! Poppi is doing great. He enjoyed this winter much more than last winter, seeing as he got to play out in the snow and come and go as he pleased in and out of his stall. His hernia has staying the same size, no issues at all. He is on a very special diet and looks very healthy. His 18th birthday will take place in May and we will be having a big celebration! All the other horses are doing well and anticipating the show season. Spring is on its way!!!
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We are fresh back from the All American Quarter Horse Congress and we are happy to be home. The show was great, and it was a pleasure to watch a few friends compete. I came home with lots of notes and ideas for next year. We watched a stallion go through the Super Sale for $300,000.00, and boy was that a treat to watch! We also came home with a list of things we would like to purchase in the next few years. Plans and construction are underway for the addition to the barn so we can start to board a few horses on the property. Party planning is also underway for our Halloween Bash! Poppi is doing exceptional. He has a nice wooly coat starting for winter and he is feeling very good! That was obvious when I took him out to longe today and all he wanted to do was buck, rear and stomp his feet! He was pretty funny to watch, thinking back to last year at this time when he was on IV and stall bound at Tufts. I wake up every morning and just feel so lucky that he is still outside my window and enjoying life. I did learn some very interesting things about horse insurance while I was at Congress. It is much cheaper than I thought, and I will be buying some plans very soon. I wish I had been ready last year, but you learn from your mistakes. If you have a horse that is worth $10 or $100,000.00 - GET INSURANCE!!!! =0)
Ok, so it has been way too long. But summer is a very busy time of year for me and the Ranch. Shows are in full swing and I just got finished judging five week-ends in a row! I get a short break this week-end from judging and I am looking forward to it. I love to judge, but like all things, it is good to take a break from it for a bit and come back fresh and with new ideas. We just had a play day at Becky's with Rozzi and Codi. They had their first trailer ride together, and they were the perfect gentlemen. They behaved so well at Becky's and Codi was a superstar on the trails. Now I feel better bringing them up to Swanzey to show for a whole week-end. Rozzi won us two belt buckles at Region 6, so I am still on cloud nine from that whole experience. Rozzi was so comfortable in the coliseum that he rolled after his work out, and so he got another bath that night. He was sassy the morning of our classes, but he behaved during our classes which made me very happy. Poppi is teaching five children how to ride this summer, and he is loving it. His health is still on a steady incline and you would never know he was so sick this past October. Pictures will be posted on our gallery page soon with all of his students. Fanci is back in shape and ready for the show ring, so she may be shown once this fall. There is a possibility we may be breeding her in spring 2011, but those plans are still in the works. We will soon be adding onto our current barn and we are also renovating our ring to include solid walls so the horses can concentrate on training more easily. We plan to move the round pen out of the ring so we have more ring room, and we also hope to start clearing land so we can extend our pastures, Lots of dreams and goals, but we are working toward them full speed ahead.
Time is flying and it's hard to believe that July 4th has come and gone! I find myself working way too much lately, so I am looking forward to some time off in August. A trip to the beach is planned and Matt's birthday festivies are being planned. The horses are doing great. All four of them are very fit right now. Poppi has begun to give riding lessons to some beginner riders and he seems to LOVE the attention and the little kids. Codi is worked about every other day and he is pure solid muscle. Allison is prepping him for his big IBHA show in September in Swanzey, NH. They are learning and growing together and doing great. Fanci is still on her longe line program, although once my stitches come out next week, we will be back in the saddle and getting her fit under saddle again. I am looking for a show to bring her to in the next month or so. She will also be giving some lessons this summer. And then there is Rozzi. He is doing so well for being a yearling stud. He is worked 5 days a week in the round pen and is just learning how to longe. We have some hurdles to get over, but he is pretty advanced for his age. He already knows the basic showmanship manuevers and is very respectful when he knows he is working and being trained. His big test will be this week when we show at Region 6 at the Big E. There will be lots of things to see and learn while we are there, but I have faith and I look forward to it. Just being able to show there is an honor and a huge accomplishment for me and our farm, and Rozzi. When we return, I will be sure to post pics and results. All I can say is thank goodness for Shapleys Hair Coat spray. Rozzi decided to get some scrapes on him this week, of course, and I will need to work hard to cover them up. Gotta love babies!
As the days fly by, its nice that it stays light out until 9pm. In return, we fight the nasty bugs and gnats of the early summer months. After a week-end full of rain, the sun is out again and it is hot and humid. Poppi has begun some conditioning exercises to get him back into shape. His hernia has not changed at all and he was given the ok to start work again. He is enjoying being back in the ring and he looks amazing. I continue to update Dr Provost of his progress and she is very happy with how he is coming along. In the next two weeks, I will put a saddle on him to see if there is still tenderness in his back. Fanci, Rozzi and Codi are now on program with training sessions 4-5 days a week. Show season is in full swing and we are getting prepared for Region 6 which will be very exciting for us. It will be our first time competing at Region 6 and we hope to have a very good learning experience with Mr Stud Man. Updates on shows coming soon...
As I type this, I realize it has been one whole month since I have made an entry. The warm weather is here and I find it very hard to sit down at my computer when all I want to do is be outside or in the barn. The horses are doing great. Allison has been riding Codi and has already shown him at one NABA show. They make a great team and I can't wait to see what they accomplish at the IBHA show in September. Poppi is happy and enjoying his one hour of grass everyday. His hernia has not changed at all and Poppi continues to maintain his weight and is back to being very vocal when he tells us what he wants, like pasture time, pampering or treats. Poppi has been showing some signs of very dry skin and itchy spots mostly on his belly and legs. He has been treated with a bath everyday this week and looks like a war pony with pink "swat" on all the itchy spots. We cannot determine if it is from bug bites or a from of dermatitis, possibly due to having to wear his hernia belt for over two months. As the days go on, he is less itchy and his fur looks like its restoring some shine. We really need to invest in some body clippers though. I had to shave both sides of his belly because it was stained orange from the ioban sheets that we had to apply every other day. He looks a little funny right now, but he is super white (and pink) and he is happy, which makes me happy. Mama and baby are also well into their spring training and after a ride the other day, I gave Fanci extra treats for remembering everything I taught her, even though she has had a full year and a half off. She is amazing and I hope to get her out to show in the future. Happy Memorial Day Week-end =0)
Poppi was a very bad boy yesterday. His appointment was scheduled for 10:30 am at Tufts and so we began to load him in the trailer around 8am. We refused to load and he wasn't afraid to show us what he would do to stay out of the trailer. It was like training a yearling to load for the first time! He not only pranced and reared and shook his head and just about ran me over, he also cow kicked and bucked so high I thought he was going to fall due to the angle his body was in the air! We tried for over and hour, and after several attempts and calling Doc Provost to tell her the bad news, we decided that it was not worth him or us getting hurt. So we put him back into his mini turn out, where he proceeded to lope in place and throw his head around. Then, we took Rozzi out and loaded him up in the trailer and took him for a nice little ride. Rozzi was a very good boy and trailered like a champ. In the next couple weeks, we are going to try to load Poppi with another horse to see if that may work and hopefully not cause him to panic. At this point, I can tell he is very healthy and feels VERY good and that is what is most important to me...
It's been awhile, I know. As show season approaches things get very busy and it takes time to prep three horses for the season, well, actually four. Poppi is groomed and taken care of as if he were to be a show horse this year, even though we know he will get to be a pasture pony and lesson pony for the time being. Poppi is very stable and his hernia has remained the same size. He has one more ultrasound on April 27th and then we will know if he can be let out in his regular turn out. He will be so happy when that day comes! He is taken out daily to graze and be loved on, and he waits by the stall door for his hour or so of pampering. His story made it into the Daily Hampshire Gazette's Equine Magazine... he is very proud of that fact and loves that more people are hearing about what he has been through and what a fighter he has been! On the show side of things, I held my first clinic of the year recently at Tuff Enuf Stables in Southampton and the kids were great! Although I prefer one on one interaction because you get more out of the lesson, the group of 10+ girls were very intelligent and very quick learners. I can't wait to see them use their new skills out in the show pen this year. Rozzi's first show is coming up... he is proving to be a little big for his britches lately, but with some help from trainer Pete Whitmore, we should be all set and ready to show halter at the MQHA Show in May. Be back in a bit...
I have to often remind myself that the boys now out-number the girls at our house. Not that its a bad thing, but there is a lot of testosterone around the farm! Rozzi has dropped and he knows it, now a yearling stud and sometimes being naughty. For the most part, he behaves himself. He has learned how to kiss, but now he wants to kiss all the time, so now I am trying to teach him when it is OK to give kisses. Its better then biting! I can't wait to get the round pen up and start working him. Rozzi and Codi are play buddies, but that needs to simmer down because now Codi has little scrapes on his face! We may have to put some electric fence up to stop the rough-housing. They love to play tug of war with the cones, rubber buckets, and plastic tarps. Fanci is still her normal self, and I keep thinking about breeding her in 2011. I think her happiness is in being a mom. But I do look forward to getting her back in shape this year. Poppi is doing great. But I did tell him that as soon as the snow is gone, he can go out and play. Well, the snow is gone. And he has to stay in his mini-turn out for a bit longer. He seems to be a little aggravated, but I am taking him on as many walks as possible. His hernia has not changed size at all and he will be going to Tufts soon for one more ultrasound before we turn him out to be a normal horse again. We are geering up for the show season and our calendar is filling up quickly!
Spring is here, and with spring, comes mud, flying fur, crazy horses, and more mud. Poppi is doing great! His hernia has not changed in shape or size and he seems to be happy with his mini-turn out at the moment. As we watch more and more snow and ice melt away from his paddock, he is no realizing that he won't have to stat cooped up forever and he gets pretty excited most days when he comes out to he aisle in the barn and hangs with me while I clean stalls. He looks great, nobody can believe he had such intensive surgery. I am getting anxious for the snow to melt in the ring so we can set up the round pen and start Mr Rozzi's training. He craves attention and loves to snuggle and just be around people, and he is getting so big and I can't wait to get him in shape and muscled up for his first show. Codi and Fanci are also awaiting their work out schedules, since Fanci has made it clear that she wants her pre-baby body back and Codi just needs to tone up. Also with spring, comes horses that don't adjust well to the weather change. At this moment, we have a horse on either side of our property that are both elderly and they are both having some difficulty with the change in climate. Their systems are not taking well to this warmer weather, and only time will tell if they are able to pull through or not. Please pray for them. <3 |
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March 2011
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