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Month: November 2007

The Kid Rides!

The Kid Rides!

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The Kid RidesOne of the benefits of having an older, well-broken in horse to ride is that anyone can ride him. We confirmed that last weekend when we threw the Kid up on our foster horse, Sinbad, and handed him the reins.

It would be a better story if we could tell you that the Kid had been begging us to ride, jumped up there with no hesitation, and took to horseback riding like a duck to water, but the truth is, he was a bit reluctant. In fact, we tricked him into going outside, where the horse was waiting, and coerced him into getting into the saddle. Then we told him we’d hold the horse the whole time he rode, only to let go of the bridle once the Kid had gotten more comfortable. Shame on us! But the good news is, he was in fact able to control Sinbad, and by the time we went up the road a little ways, turned around and came back to the barn – with Sinbad under the Kid’s direction the whole way – he admitted that horseback riding was fun after all.

Hopefully, this was the first of many rides. We have little hope that riding will replace video games in the Kid’s world, but maybe someday he can add it to the things he enjoys doing. We’d better get another horse, just in case. 🙂

Book Review: Chosen by a Horse

Book Review: Chosen by a Horse

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Chosen By A Horse BookYes, I know I’m supposed to be writing my own novel, but I started this book a while back and wanted to finish it. It was really, really good, but have the tissues handy if you read it!

Chosen by a Horse is a memoir by Susan Richards. She agreed to foster a Standardbred mare and her foal when they and nearly 40 other mares and foals were confiscated by the SPCA from a farm where they were abused and neglected. She brought this mare, Lay Me Down, back to her own farm even though she lived alone, already owned three horses and Lay Me Down was so sick she had no guarantee of survival. The foal was inexplicably returned to the abusive owner (apparently to be surrendered to a vet to whom the owner owed money), but Lay Me Down eventually recovered from the malnutrition and lung infection she was suffering from when Ms. Richards brought her home.

You would think that a horse who had been abused, nearly starved, and denied medical care would be the either the meanest or most skittish horse on earth, but Lay Me Down had a big, loving heart and over the following months, she helped Ms. Richards – who had a past just as horrific as Lay Me Down’s – open up her own heart through caring for this wonderful horse.

I won’t give away any more of the story, because you really should read it for yourself. It’s a really good book; very well-written and touching. I will tell you that when I got to the end, I was reading it in bed next to Bill, who was already asleep, and I was sobbing so hard I was afraid I would wake him. So you’ve been warned – grab a hankie with this book.

You can preview the book right here (affiliate link)

My one and only complaint is that there was only one photograph, on the title page. I sure would have loved to see some pictures of Lay Me Down and the other horses (Hotshot, Tempo and especially the lovely Georgia). But I guess Ms. Richards is more like me than Bill – at our house, Bill pretty much takes all the pictures, and I prefer to live the moment rather than photograph it.  Apparently, Ms. Richards feels the same way, and only takes pictures when the moment demands it, such as the one on the title page (in the book, she talks very specifically about taking that one photo, and why).  But she paints such a vivid picture with words that you can imagine everything in your head almost as well as if you did have a photograph to see.

All in all, Chosen by a Horse is one of the best books I’ve read, fiction or non-fiction. Definitely a must-read.

A Just Plain Great Idea

A Just Plain Great Idea

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Uncovering America by HorsebackBill found this story on FOXNews.com, and I found a direct link to their blog: Uncovering America by Horseback.

Bill Inman and his Thoroughbred-Quarter Horse, Blackie, are traveling across America to prove that America is still a good place, despite what you see on the news every day. As their blog says, “To ‘Uncover America’ and document the adventure, horseman Bill Inman is traveling across America on horseback, slowing down the pace to find interesting places, individuals, groups and history that inspire pride or lift the spirit. This adventure will show the American public that we do have something to be proud of, and nothing is impossible as long as you try.”

They left their home in Lebanon, Oregon on June 2, 2007 and hope to end up in Hendersonville, North Carolina by Christmas. I hope you’ll read their blog, and the story where we originally found it at FOXNews.com. I also hope you’ll consider clicking on the “Support” button on the Inmans’ blog, because this is definitely a venture worth supporting.

We’ve spent all morning trying to figure out how we can just pack up our horses and join Bill and Blackie, but it looks like we’ll just have to experience it through their blog. 🙁 Stupid jobs – always keeping you from doing the things you really want to do.

Valentine Vacuums His Stall

Valentine Vacuums His Stall

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Our feeding routine is a little different these days. With three horses, all of which have different nutritional needs, it’s not as simple as it was with one horse. Still, it’s not three times harder.

First, Moonshine gets her half-scoop of Purina Strategy. As alpha-horse, she gets her ration first. Next, Valentine gets his one and a quarter scoop of Strategy. He likes to hang out up on the hill until the feed hits his bucket. Then he bolts from the top of the hill next to the barn straight for the gate at full speed. He’s serious about supper time. Finally, with Moonshine and Valentine in their stalls, poor bottom-of-the-totem-pole Sinbad can eat freshly tossed hay without being run off. He doesn’t get any grain, just hay, by order of his owner, who is a vet. And don’t worry, we put the daily hay ration in three piles so Sinbad is getting plenty. Fifteen minutes later, when Moonshine is trying to eat her wooden stall (she cribs), I know to let her out. Valentine takes longer, though. Not only does he eat more but he has a bad habit of sloshing the feed out of the bucket and onto the stall floor where he would spend the next ten minutes vacuuming his stall if we didn’t stop him. Yup, he sucks the Strategy pellets off of the ground. This of course increases his chances of getting colic, since ingesting sand is apparently a factor.

Our horses have all kinds of bad habits and this is yet another one. So I guess we’ll be looking into one of those feed buckets that makes it hard to slosh feed onto the ground.

Of course we try and stop him from doing it but he won’t budge without some force. And since it’s hard to push a 1300 pound horse who doesn’t want to move, we often grab some old hay twine to make an impromptu halter and lead him back to the pasture. This works surprisingly well.

Any of you have a horse that vacuums?

And Now For Something Completely Different

And Now For Something Completely Different

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NaNoWriMoWell, not completely different, because here I am offering another excuse for neglecting Our First Horse. Here’s the thing: I mentioned a few posts ago that in November I was going to write a novel for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short – it’s an annual event every November). Well, here it is November and Bill and I are both furiously writing our novels; the goal is to have 50,000 words by midnight on November 30. This means we need to write an average of 1,667 words a day. My novel, at least, is going pretty well, but the problem I find is that I’m having trouble writing both the novel and the blog. I come to my “dashboard” page to write here a couple of times a day and think, “dang, I don’t have time for this.” So that’s why we haven’t been writing. Sorry! I’m going to try to write more here, but I’m not making any promises until December 1.

So since I can’t think about anything but that stupid novel anyway, I’ll write about that. It’s about a woman and her horse (so technically I can write about it here, since it’s horse-related). But that, I’m afraid, is all I’m going to tell you about it. In fact, I may be the only one ever to read it. You wouldn’t think that someone who puts her writing out there for all the world to see (literally!) would be insecure about writing, but I am. I read back over what I’ve written – either here or re-reading the 6,000 words of my novel that I’ve written so far – and sometimes I think, “Wow! I wrote that! Cool!” And sometimes I think, “wow…i wrote that…ick.” There’s just too much of the latter and not enough of the former for me to be confident about sharing more than a few paragraphs of commentary.

But, if I change my mind and find a publisher, you’ll be the first to know. You could say you read me here first! 😀