Another vet visit, and a stunning discovery

Never needed his shots and Coggins test before he went to the trainer's barn, so I had the vet come out to do that and float Heather and Zora's teeth as well. The appointment was Tuesday, and when the receptionist called she said 'they' were on their way. I didn't think much of it, until the truck pulled in and both my preferred vets stepped out.

Apparently, Dr Esser, the younger of my preferred vets, who has been with the clinic for almost a year, had reservations about her ultrasound readings of Zora and Hope. Since it was a slow day she asked Dr Johnson, the senior vet, if he would double check her findings, at no charge to me. I was a little relieved, as they had passed the second possible due date with no sign of birthing in sight.

We sedated Zora first, and as Dr Esser was prepping the power float, Dr Johnson put on the glove and palpated. A minute later, he had the verdict: open. Not pregnant, but coming into heat if we wanted to breed her. HECK NO!!! I was somewhat relieved, as Zora was apparently a maiden mare and in her early twenties.

So we floated her teeth, then did Heather's. Then we did Never's shots and blood draw for the Coggins test, and tried to get him to stand still for pics (the new paperwork has the horse's pics on it. Cool!). I decided to give Alex his shots while we were at it, he and Never will have their boosters in 4 weeks.

Then it was Hope's turn for palpation. After the sedation kicked in, Dr Johnson reaches in and... OPEN!!! Neither mare was pregnant! I was somewhat relieved, and a little disappointed, as I would have loved to see what Never would have sired. It's better this way, though, even if Jac is pissed because she couldn't go to Rolex because of foal watch.

Trainer time

I got back from visiting with the trainer that I'm thinking about sending Never to, and I have to say that I like her. It's an hour and a half drive to get to the barn, but I'd only need to be there once a week for the lesson, so it's not so bad.

She took me on a tour of the farm, introduced me to the horses and told me about their training, and also about her methods. She's into natural horsemanship, but also classical dressage, and she's pretty nice and easy to talk with as well. I watched part of a lesson with a beginner, and she explained everything clearly and didn't lose patience or get frustrated with the student. I was very impressed.

She charges $275 a month for training, and the barn charges $200 a month for pasture board, a total of $475 that I have to come up with for 1 to 3 months, depending on how well he does and how trained I want him right off the bat. He also needs his Coggins test and vaccinations updated, so that's another $100 up front. It'll be worth it, though, to have a nice, calm gelding that understands what I want him to do.

Spring has sprun, the grass is riz...

I've been pretty negligent about posting to my blogs, or doing much of anything with the computer besides my daily morning ritual of comics, forums, networking sites, and mail, which usually takes about an hour, more or less. So since the lawn has been mown and the gardens tended, today I'm going to play a little catch-up.

The past few weeks have been busy. I've been working with Never, trying to get him used to having his feet worked with so they can be trimmed and doctored, but he's been fighting me all the way. He's developed a lovely case of thrush, and every time I try to clean and doctor his hooves he tries to jerk away, prances, and even rears a little. He's just not learning to give, and it's very frustrating. So I'm looking even harder for a good trainer. Someone close by would be nice, but I'll consider anyone within a 3 hour drive if they're good enough. Bonus points if they train dressage.

My aunt Astrid's memorial was on May 4th, and it was the first time in a while that I've seen some of my relatives. My cousin Eric, who was born the day before my 1st birthday, was back from Portland, Oregon, and his sister Laurie was in from Chicago. We had a pretty good time talking and catching up, and I have a place to stay if I'm ever in Portland.

I went to Rolex on April 22 and came back on the 27. It was a lovely working vacation, just me and my camera. I did what I wanted for the most part, met up with some old friends and made some new ones, and mostly just relaxed. I did a lot of driving, and thus a lot of thinking (I think my best thoughts while I'm driving), and made some decisions. Some were things I already knew and just needed to make them a priority, others were things that I put off and didn't want to think about.

I decided that I needed to really push my photography this year: advertise, upgrade equipment, advertise, take more classes, and advertise. I need to design a logo, make a brochure, update my website and portfolio, send said portfolio to magazines and websites, work on my business and people skills, and make new business cards. All this means I need to sit in front of the computer more, buckle down and do things. It's been so nice out lately that I've been doing more outside, but it's past time that I get to work and get something done.

I also decided that I need to put Tassel down as well as Sparky. Both of them have arthritis, Tassel's mostly in her front legs while Sparky has stiffness in her hips and hocks. Tassel is 31 this year and has had a charmed life, most of it spent with the herd she was born into. She's been a great teacher, easy going on trails, had two foals, and got along with most horses. She's in pain, and I think she's ready to go on to greener pastures. Sparky is 28, and is laying down more because of the pain and stiffness in her hind end. She has also spent most of her life with her herd, had a brief stint as a 4-H show horse, and had a foal. Like Tassel, I think she's ready to move on.

My other big decision was a back up plan or 'Plan B', if you will. Ken and I are getting a divorce, and Mom is panicked that Ken will screw me over, or that we'll have to sell the farm as part of the settlement. Ken wouldn't (that would take too much effort on his part) and we won't need to, but she did make me realize that I do need to think about 'what if...'. So I thought about what I would do if I didn't have the farm anymore. I needed to think about where the horses would go, where I would live, what I would do. I discussed it with Mom and Dad on separate occasions, and I think I've got a pretty good contingency plan. Dad would rather buy a place closer to where they are, so I told him I need to have at least 15-20 acres, and I'd be willing to share a house with John, my younger brother. Rumor has it that he's looking into a place between his house and Jay's farm that has 100 acres, a couple of barns and a very run down house. I would get the buildings and some acreage, and Jay would get to farm the balance. Plan B also includes going back to school, or at least taking some classes (probably graphic and computer arts focus), getting at least a part time job, and still working toward the goal.

Yes, even if I 'give up' on my current life and start over, I still want to rescue, rehabilitate, and retire horses. The current plan would transfer over to a new farm without too much difficulty, and SE Wisconsin may even be a better area for it. I would probably have to start by boarding a few horses, and make improvements and friends as time goes on.

So that's pretty much it, a basic synopsis of my life to date. There's other things that have happened (we got more chicks, I've caught up on bills, I'm looking to fix up the house...) but that's all stuff that I can put in later posts. Right now I have to go out and buy a staple gun so I can build custom scratching and climbing posts for the cats. Maybe tomorrow I'll write about how it goes.