Check out my pumpkin!

So I saw tons of crafty pumpkin ideas and I finally made my own. I've got another one I'm working on but it's not done just yet. So this is my first one, it started out a fake orange pumpkin, I spray painted it silver and then sprayed it with a glitter paint. I found the crystal swirls in the scrap book section of Michaels. I did have to super glue them to the pumpkin because their glue wasn't sticking well to the paint. Voila! I'm a little proud of myself. ;-) Also I've included a picture of my mantel. This is the first year I've gone hard core on the fall/harvest decorating.

Slight Obession with Grave Yards

I admit it...there is something that draws me to old grave yards. A few years ago I traveled with my parents and a group of other folks from our church in WV to Ireland (which is a whole other story) and we had a stop at W.B. Yeats' burial site as well as some other historic grave yards. Well, we were there in late October early November so the days were getting shorter and the landscape was changing for winter. Making for really neat photographic opportunities. And since it's almost Halloween I decided to share a few shots here. Well, more than a few because I really like them all. Please bear in mind these are straight out of the camera. I really don't like posting pictures like this but the colors and landscape really speaks for itself. If I had the time to edit them I would, but right now this is what you get. ;-)

Fall is Here!!

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the colors, the crisp air, rainy lazy Saturdays, and the thoughts of holidays to come. The colors at the house haven't been as brilliant this year so I've got some pictures from years past. I will post some pictures of my interior decorations when I get a chance!

Tree in the back yard taken from the field

Funky Pumpkins from last year

Motivation!

Just need a little encouragement...maybe that more than motivation. The class I'm taking this semester is much HARDER than the one I took over the summer. Have to really rethink my studying plans. I am very much the positive thinker...just have to keep it that way!

Ethan

So, I have made the terrible decision to euthanize Ethan due to his ethmoid hematoma. I don't feel the need to go into great detail as to my decision, but it is what it is and I've given it a lot of thought and talked to friends and family who's opinions I respect and value. Right now he is happy and comfortable and we'll keep him that way as long as possible and then I'll let him go. I am all about quality of life, and once that quality isn't there it's time. But the hematoma is continuously growing so I believe it will be sooner rather than later that we'll be down to just one horse on the farm. I've dealt with one other Thoroughbred with this and his owner at the time, in my opinion, kept him going far too long. He should have been put down months before he was; he was to the point where he was scratching the hide off his face because the bloody (no pun intended) thing was itching or hurting so badly. So I will NOT let Ethan get to that point.

The thing that really stinks about all of this is that I REALLY like him! The Thoroughbred I had before Ethan just didn't have the personality or the talent so I was attached but not like Ethan. Unfortunately I lost him in a trailering accident, which is a whole other story we don't need to get into, but I'm sure you're all thinking I shouldn't get another Thoroughbred because I apparently have NO luck with them. But I will get another one because I love the breed but I have to accept that this is what God has planned for me in my life right now.

Thank goodness CB is healthy! He's my rock right now! He's not allowed to die. Now I know one day I will have to say goodbye to him but hopefully not for another 20 years. Jamie might kill me if he has to trim a 44 year old Hanoverian! So I will start the process of looking for a new prospect. I would really like something that walk, trots, canters, and hops over cross rails, but on a tight budget I'm not sure I'll get that lucky. Fall is coming though and people don't want to feed horses over the winter so I might get a deal. So who knows, never a dull moment around here! Onto happier topics! School has started back so that's taking up some of my time, but thankfully it's just one class, twice a week. Until next time, go hug your horse!

Quick Update....

Unfortunately it's not a good update. Ethan has an ethmoid hematoma, basically a tumor near his sinuses....can't talk much about it right now but I'm afraid we're going to have to let him go. More later....

When it rains it pours...no one likes a bloody nose!

Well it's been a while since I've posted anything. First off I was dealing with CB having broken off a huge chunk of his foot and subsequently being lame of weeks! We finally tried a newer product called Magic Cushion in a hoof pack and I believe that stuff helped us turn the corner towards soundness. I'm happy to report that he's 100% sound now and enjoying the cooler weather we're experiencing in Kentucky right now. Totally not typical August weather but I'll take it while I can get it.

Now on to the bloody nose situation. I came home from work last Monday, in a hurry to get chores done so we could go to the Mercer County Fair Beef Show (exciting times I know). I think I'd rather watch Training Level Dressage all day, but that's not the point of the story. I was in a hurry so Jamie went out to feed the Beagles and I took care of everyone inside. He horses were in the run-in shed so I didn't worry too much about them. Until I took the Russells out and noticed blood on the salt block, now not just a little blood, a lot of bring red blood. So I kicked it into gear to figure out which horse was bleeding and from where. Thankfully my boys come when they are called (generally) and Ethan had a nasty bloody nose. Great....so put dogs away, get rubber gloves, a wash cloth and a bucket of water. I pull him out of the field and at this point I think, ok you're a goofy Thoroughbred and have punctured your nose with a stick or something. So we clean him up, it's still bleeding but it's bloody hot outside and I think it will clot when it cools off and he takes a nap. So off to the beef show we go to sell Pedal Tractor tickets. Again, not really prudent to the story at hand.

The next morning I go out to check on him because by the time we got home Monday night it was late and I wouldn't have been able to see anything anyway. Unfortunately it was still bleeding, not as much as the night before but definitely still active. So I get to work at text my vet. She calls back and is concerned as well that it's still bleeding and is afraid he's got a fungal infection in his Gutoral Pouch...meaning he could bleed out! So now I am at working panicking. She says to call another vet friend that has a scope and have him scoped ASAP. The other vet could do it late that morning, so I leave work at 10:30, leaving poor Brydon stranded to meet the vet. Brydon got a ride home FYI ;-) The scope showed a clean Gutoral Pouch but then the vet didn't know where the blood was coming from. She suggested keeping him in a stall until the bleeding stops. If it stops and doesn't start again then we can assume he's hit his head on something that caused the bleed. So in a stall he goes, now this is Tuesday, Wednesday night I got home from work to a clean nose. The bleeding had stopped and stayed stopped, great news! Well, we were going out of town for the weekend so I asked the vet if I could turn him out so my dog sitters didn't have to clean a stall and come over twice a day. She said fine just keep an eye on him and if it starts again get a head xray. Unfortunately the bleeding started again on Saturday. (boo hiss!) So back to a stall he went, did I mention I love my dog sitters/friends for taking care of all of my critters and coming over to check Ethan twice a day even thought they didn't have to.

So Wednesday night my usual vet came out to do the head xray. We found some fluid in one of his sinuses, but she wanted to send the xrays to someone who looks at heads more often than she does to double check there wasn't anything else going on. I haven't gotten those results back yet but we've got the boy on SMZs (antibiotics)  to treat it like a sinus infection. The drainage he's got now is more mucousy than the bright red blood we started with so that makes me feel a bit better. He's in during the day and turned out at night, I'm hoping the turn out will help the mucous drain some. This morning I felt like it looked somewhat better, maybe now that we've had 4 doses of SMZs we're starting to fix this. Granted, there goes my plans to do Team CEO's Mini Trial on the 26th. I'm hoping maybe we can do Octoberfest  now. The best laid plans of mice and men right? So it's never dull around here. Everyone else is happy and healthy, thank goodness!

Baby it's HOT Outside!

So it's has been SUPER hot lately...heat and humidity....so not fun. I really am aiming to get Ethan out to Team CEO's August mini trial and maybe Jumpstart, but with class the first part of the summer I'm a bit behind the 8 ball. SO, class is over and now I'm trying to get a horse back to work who hasn't worked in 8 weeks in 100+ heat indexes! Nice...thankfully CEO offers started and baby started options so really, we just have to jump 12" at the lowest. He just needs to get out, but I feel bad trying to work an out of shape thoroughbred in that heat. Granted he is probably much more fit that I am, so really he should be worried about me! So that's the Ethan update. I'm hoping this weekend I'll be able to ride in the mornings and suffer through next week working in the evenings.

CB and I at the first Media Day for the KHP. We "represented" eventing. I was fairly certin he was going to buck me off since he hadn't been ridden in months!

Poor old man CB broke off a HUGE chunk of his left front toe a few weeks ago. He's weight bearing but not sound by any means. At first I thought, ok, give him a bit of Bute and he'll develop a calus on the sole of his foot. Nope...2 weeks later we are not sound. I do not like seeming him hurting, so Jamie suggested we try Magic Cushion in a hoof pack. Well, he's walked through the packs the past 2 nights, not really helping the sole of your foot CB!!! So, this weekend he's on stall arrest (if he can stand it.)I would really like to keep him up for 2 whole days with the Magic Cushion on it to see if that will help. If packing the hoof Jamie said we could look into putting a shoe on that foot backwards. The part he broke off is on his toe so we are trying to get him up off the ground without pinching his toe and causing more pain. We'll see, growing old is never fun. I love my old man and just want to wrap him in bubble wrap. Pretty sure he'd just walk that off too but goodness, you can't fall apart on me now!

CB and I back in the good old Breeds Barn! Man, I was skinny...need to work on that!

Big Brown Eyes

Dagger

My friend decided she needed more pictures of one of her dogs, Dagger. He's a 9 year old Belgian Tervuren. He LOVE to look cute and will look cute if you've got anything in your hand that resembles something that can be thrown, ball, water bottle, really doesn't matter. So while Jamie was trimming one of their horse's we snuck off and took some shots of D. Here are just a few! I'm meeting them at a local park this afternoon to take some pictures of their horses and dogs. I'll post them later!

Check out their website, Sheperds Gate Farm

Dreaming.....

Jamie and I discuss building a house one day...I love to think about how I'd decorate it!

I came across these doors that go into a home office...LOVE the idea!

The chair fabric reminds me of the couch in my Grandmother's home.

Found both of these at Spool No. 72! LOVE them!

A few more Friesian Pictures

Here are a few more Friesian pictures from Rolex! Maybe this weekend I can work on the cross country pictures, my summer class is taking up most of my evenings!

 The above is one of my favorites for whatever reason!

Hand gallop!

Such a sweet old man! 19 years young! Anton 343

Friesians at Rolex!!!

So this past weekend was Rolex. For those of you who don't know this it the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event. North America's only 4 star event, it's not your Grandfather's watch. ;-) But anyway, FHANA had a booth in the trade fair and we brought some great horses to Lexington to do demos on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I've got a TON of pictures but just wanted to post a few teaser ones here. I have a lot of cross country pictures too to go through but that will be later this weekend I feel. Enjoy!

Mean People Stink....

This is really just bothering me so I thought I'd write it down. It's a bit morbid but just bare with me. Today I saw where two ducks, ducks that live at the Horse Park, were hit and killed on the main road infront of the park. Now really, they aren't like squirels that dart in front of you in your car and you accidentally hit them. These are ducks, they waddle along. Ironworks isn't a MAJOR thoroughfare that if there were ducks in the road, you couldn't stop or slow down and change lanes and let them cross. Both were killed...that means someone aimed and hit them. I really struggle that there are people out there that can take the life of a helpless animal just for kicks. I understand hunting, people going out and are controlling the population of deer or going and hunting and fishing for food. But to just plow an animal down because you can is heart breaking. Maybe I'm extra emotional because of a long weekend at work but this just really got me today. You always saw them together....just walking around the park. I can't put much more into this otherwise I'll be in tears. But mean people do stink and God is always watching. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you people!

Oh, and it's raining...it's been raining for DAYS! That also does not help my emotional state. I need sunshine people!

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge-Pet Faces!

This is my all time favorite pet face! This is Casper, our 1 year old farm cat that showed up one cold, rainy November morning. I think he's more dog than cat, which works best for our farm since we're more dog people than cat people. ;-) Check out I Heart Faces for photo tips and challenges.

 

It is what it is....

I recently applied to nursing school. I found out, becuase of classes I took in High School that counted as college credit, that I didn't submit the right transcripts and I was not accepted this year. Talk about frustrating! I've decided to make a major change in my life and get shut down! But, it is what it is...maybe this was the push I needed to get my stuff together and focus on trying to get my BSN not just my ADN. I have a few more classes to take and then I can apply to UK. So wish me luck! I'm just doing my Anatomy and Physiology I this summer and then II in the fall. Maybe throw in my Medical Microbiology in the fall too..we'll see...but this time next year I hope to be announcing I've been accepted to UK!

Until then, all the animals are happy and healthy...finally! It's been quite the Spring and we really haven't been in Spring very long. Hopefully I got all my funky stuff out of the way.

White Dog

Another extended family member is White Dog. White Dog is owned by an older gentleman that lives down the road from us. This story goes back a ways. A year or so ago, White Dog's owner, Michael, spoke to Jamie and said that someone told him that I was good at finding homes for dogs. So, I spoke to Michael on the phone and he told me about this dog that belonged to his neighbors, who had lost their house and left the dog behind when they moved. He's been taking care of the dog, but he's a big puppy and he really didn't want a dog. So I put the word out, Michael came down and we took some pictures of "the puppy" but he was SO big! We're thinking Shepard lab mix. Weight 80+ pounds, and really thinks he should be a lap dog.

Well months went by and we had still not found White Dog, which was the puppy's name after it had been so long, a home. One night we got a call that maybe White Dog didn't need a home, that he (White Dog) had decided his forever home was with Michael. Now Michael works for a company that requires him to travel around the world on short notice. So when Michael has to go out of town White Dog comes and stays with us. He really has become a member of the family. He has learned all about crate training, and walking on a leash without pulling me down. I worry because Michael isn't getting any younger and I don't want White Dog to unintentionally hurt him! Not that he uses these manners when he's at home, he pretty much rules the roost! Michael has had cats for YEARS, and White Dog is his first dog. He's doing well, learning what he should and shouldn't feed him, and he really cares.

Michael does not have air conditioning in his house, by choice, but he did put the window air conditioner in White Dog's room for the summers so it's nice and cool when White Dog goes to bed. ;-) Now when Michael's lady friend comes over, she has to sleep in the hot bedroom, but White Dog's got the air on. Love it! It really is the perfect home for him, and I'm glad that Michael came to love him.

This winter Michael asked me to take a Christmas card photo of White Dog. I'd previously taken the one at the beginning of the post, but the Christmas one turned out perfect. It really does capture his personality! When White Dog is at our house he's very attentive and I can tell him to sit and the bottom his the floor. Since White Dog had been at home he was not as in tune to me, so getting him to sit in front of the tree was touch and go. Michael was telling him sit, sit, sit, White Dog sit, sit, (various hand movements are thrown in there). White Dog was doing anything but sitting. He was looking for Casper (since they are bffs!), barking at the cows, wondering were the little dogs were. I was just taking pictures hoping something would turn out. Well finally he got board, and s-l-o-w-l-y sat, and sighed. SNAP! Got it! He's done! It was almost like, fine is this what you want? (pose) Everyone loved Michael's Christmas card, and more over, everyone wanted prints of the picture to hang on their refrigerators. Michael complained "my picture" was costing him tons of money but he loves showing off his boy.

In a few weeks Michael has to go to Pakistan and White Dog will come visit. These longer trips are good for manner reminders, but really I just like snuggling up to him and laying on the couch.