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.

Foals

The vet left a while ago, and after sedating, palpating, and ultra-sounding we have the verdict: Hope and Zora are pregnant. *sigh*

I kinda thought Hope might be, as she's been acting moody and looking slightly round. I though Zora was pregnant a month ago, but then thought she wasn't because I thought I saw her in heat. I wasn't even going to have her checked, but I'm glad I did. Dr Esser thinks that Zora might have two weeks, but Hope may go a little longer. I'm going to keep a close eye on her anyway, as maiden mares can really fool you.

The total cost was about $415 for the trip out, the palpations and the Dormosedan, but it's worth it to know for sure who to watch. It looks like I may be going to Rolex by myself, as Jac doesn't trust Ken farther than she can throw him. *S*

Rainy days of Spring

It's raining for the second day in a row. It was windy and cold yesterday, as well as wet, so I kept everybody in. Today isn't was bad, the rain is intermittent and the wind isn't as strong, so I let the youngsters out and kept the old ones in. I let Never out, and I hope I don't regret it. He was inside for a little over a week and his leg seems better (he's not limping and he's putting weight on it), but you would think by his behavior that it had been years! Trotting here, trotting there, arched neck at the mares in the next pasture, he had to check everything out. He's cute, but what a goofball!

I've been working a lot on the computer lately, mostly because it's so icky outside. I've updated some stuff on my Duchess Hill Photography website, and I'm getting pictures ready for the Duchess Hill Farm website. I've made a new animated advertisement for my Cafe Press site, and I'm working on designing a new print and internet advertising campaign. I'm also going to be adding a link to my photography blog, and I'm going to try my take on the '365 days of photos' project. We'll see how that works.

I'm still planning to attend the Rolex Kentucky 3 day event. I've got the room reserved, the tickets paid for, meet-and-greets with internet friends in the works, and a farm sitter booked. Barring incident, everything is a go.

Autumn weather

In Wisconsin they say 'if you don't like the weather, wait a minute and it'll change'.

It's true enough, especially lately. We had the expected 40's and 50's gray days for a week or so (we even had some flurries!), then suddenly it's sunny and 74! After a couple of days of bliss, we're back to 50's and rainy, with the possibility of snow this weekend. At least I'm being given a chance to finish up with the outside work before it freezes.

Don't get me wrong, I like Winter, to a point. I like snow and ice, but I like it in small bits on my terms. It looks very pretty from my office window, and through the viewfinder of my camera. I don't spend a lot of time outside in the snow, I go out to feed and water and let everyone in and out and that's about it. If I could, I'd have my groceries and feed delivered and use the money saved on gas to get the movie channels and buy more books.

I’m planning on using the time spent inside this winter to get my photo business plan revamped and ready for next season. The big priority is advertising, I need to do more of it. I need to redesign my business cards, set up brochures or flyers, come up with newspaper and magazine ads, and keep in contact with my customers. I’m thinking of starting a blog specifically for the business.

I also want to make myself known to publishers and magazine editors, so I can get published and get my press credentials for Rolex 2009, and eventually the World Equestrian Games in 2010. I would dearly love to be able to cover the entire 16 days for a publication, maybe get my meals covered, a hotel room would be nice but I can sleep anywhere, really.

Anyway, this will be may third year officially in business, and I hope to break even for a change, or at least upgrade some of my equipment.


In other news, Alex is doing well. He seems pretty level headed for the most part, but he does have a tendency to freak out at times. He gets jumpy if you touch him anywhere that he's not used to (his belly, mostly), but he's still pretty okay about his feet. He needs to learn to stand better while you're holding them, but at least he'll pick them up without kicking. We're going to learn to tie pretty soon, that should be fun.