Of course I can cook. How do you think I got the pooter, the horse, the barn, the next horse, I gotta get that sidepull ordered, (hubby will never notice when that pot roast hits his plate)????

If your insurance companies are like our's they will have set prices based on year of make and mileage and resale value. Not much you can do about it. Hopefully they'll make a settlement quickly.

Glad to hear you've signed up for more shows with Shadow. Will you be showing in agility at all?

How is Dali doing? I'm assuming he was with you when you had the accident. Just wondering.

Well the car was taken away this morning... It's probably the last we'll see of it. Our insurance policy says that in the event that the car is written off we will get the market Value of the car. I'm sure it is less than the amount we would have to spend to buy the same make/ model/ age and condition of car. I'm thinking what they mean by market value is the amount you would get if you where trading the car in. Which means I'm going to be losing a great chunk of cash on this deal.

We are not quite ready for agility shows yet, we are going to have to put in a lot of effort to get her and me ready for those. I need to geet fit and Shadow needs to learn to jump the higher fences. At the moment we are working at mini agility level - Although I'm sure with a bit of practise she could easily jump the standard heights. I'm hoping that we'll get to that level this summer.

Yep Dali was in the car too, he's fine. He took everything in his stride and just settles everywhere and anywhere. The dogs where very lucky as the water didn't rise that high in the boot. WEll the boot section is higher then the foot wells so they stayed relatively dry.

I am worried about Dali though as he is coughing more and more these days... it's one of his usual problems getting worse so he is going for a check up at the vets this Friday.

Here's hoping Shadow hangs on to her coat well into the spring. You'll have to turn the lights out early every night and turn the thermostat down so she doesn't realize spring is turning to summer. I'm sure she'll be even more magnificent next year, though; that foot swelling she had for so long must surely have pulled her down a bit...may have contributed to her attack of nerves too. Hopefully next winter she'll be in fine fettle and even better coat.

The judge I heard on the radio explained that he considered each dog against its breed standard, but that any of the seven could have won, since all were very fine representatives of its breed. He picked the Bull Terrier because of its perfect head, he considered it really outstanding, but also because it showed the best he'd ever seen it, with a presence and star quality that caught his eye. Guess it played to the audience while still concentrating on the task at hand.

He added that it wasn't too difficult dedciding on the final three, or even the final two, but when he got to that point he felt either dog would have been a worthy champion. In the end, the perfection of that egg-shaped head apparently was the deciding factor. (I can't help wondering if this will start a run on plastic surgery for show dogs... maybe not in your country, but urban, well-to-do North Americans seem addicted to it for themselves, so probably wouldn't think twice about having their dogs "improved" )

Kind of disappointing as we could use some moisture.. I do hate mud tho. sheesh, makes it hard to be sad the rain missed us. I am a bit worried as I have 23 bales of hay left(feed bout 1 a day now) and the grass is not going to green up if it doesn't RAIN! I do have some old hay from last year.. Much as I'd not like using it, twould be ok if the grass is just slow.

The insurance company was actually fair when they totalled our' daughter's car. We had a $500.00 deductible which didn't help, but I couldn't really complain about the settlement. Needless to say we'll stay with that company. I hope your' insurance company is as fair with you.

Agility does bring to mind being in shape. I need to get back in shape myself. I've been pretty lazy this winter. Maverick and I both need the excercise. He probably won't think so though. Which means I'll end up working harder than he will. As usual.

Sounds like Dali handled it all with his usual aplomb. Sorry to hear he's coughing more. Hope it's nothing serious and the vet will be able to help ease it for him. Keep us posted on how he's doing and give him a big hug for me.

Her coat is still coming in at the moment - she hasn't got a full undercoat yet. I think she will be in coat for a good 5 months or so then she will start dropping it around August time and start coming back into coat around November time. Which means that if things go okay she should have a reasonable coat for Crufts next year. Dogs don't seem to shed their coats like horses do, especially the girlies coats tend to be controlled by their seasons (hormones) rather then the weather. It seems a bit strange to me but last year Shadow was in full coat till the end of the summer and then lost her coat for the winter months. It started coming in again in January.

I did a lot of building up exercizes with her to make sure she was in physical peak condition. If a dog is not in peak condition they won't show well or be good enough to get placed. I've got high hopes for her this year. We should do well... I guess it's all up to the personal taste of the judges though.

Oh dear that would really be the death of dogs as we know them... plastic surgery for pooches - I don't think it would be allowed by the vets governing body over here. I'm sure those dogs would suffer far more then the benefit they would get from such an operation.

I hope they will be fair too, but we'll just have to wait and see what they decide to do. They could insist on repairing the car, but thinking about it everything apart from the chassis would need replacing... more likely they write the car off.

yep I need to be able to run for 30 seconds at top speed round an agility ring... infact I need to be faster then Shadow - although I have started training her to work infront of me. She loves doing agility but gets bored with repetative exercizes. The exercises that the instructor gave me to motivate her only seem to calm her down instead! Not that she needs much motivation

I've been pretty lazy too, I really need to get out there and get myself fit...

He's getting his check up tomorrow, so hopefully the vet can offer some ideas on how to ease the coughing. Unfortunately we already know there is nothing we can do to try and cure him. All we can do is make him more comfortable and hopefully avert any serious infections.

He'll enjoy your hug... I'll make sure he knows it's from you.

Waiting to see what an insurance company will do really is stressful. We knew our' daughter's car was totaled, it was completely submerged in the canal. The water pressure blew out the rear window. No hope there for any repairs. Wondering if we were going to be canceled because of it was what caused the most stress.

Shadow is probably alot quicker than Maverick, and chasing him around for a good free lunge session is work enough. I don't envy you getting in shape for agility.

My prayers for Dali will go with you tomorrow. I really hope the vet can make him more comfortable. Keep us posted on how he's doing.

Well, we went to the garage where our car has been towed to and they told us that the assessor is coming on Tuesday. So hopefully we will know a bit more by the end of this week. Waiting around to find out what is happening is not very nice. especially as I don't have a car at the moment. I still feel really depressed, I think it's more about the fact that I don't have a car at the moment then anything else. It's a real nuisance.

She might be though I doubt she would be able to keep up with Maverick in a full gallop I don't think she'll be able to reach those kind of speeds... she is fast but not quite that fast.

Well both Shadow and Dali got a clean bill of health... well as far as that is possible with Dali anyway. The vet told us that he has not (at the moment) got any respiratory infection at the moment but to try and give him some tepid water mixed with honey to like to each his throat when he coughs. AS his lungs sounded clear she did not want to give him any antibiotics, but she told us to try the honey and to keep a close eye on him.

Things would be so much easier if he where to just cough while he was at the vets, but he never does trying to explain what he is doing is very difficult.

Being without a car is a huge nuisance. Especially when you have to go to work. Even though I don't work, it drives me nuts to be without my car. I want it there if I decide I want to go somewhere. I hope the insurance company won't take too long to make a decision. Waiting is hard, especially since we're so dependent on our' vehicles.

Glad Dali and Shadow both got a "clean" bill of health. Animals are kinda like cars in a way. They never make the funny noise you hear all the time when you take them to the "shop". Your' car can wheeze all the way to the shop, and then purr like a kitten as soon as the mechanic looks under the hood. Your' horse will limp like he's permanently crippled and when the vet show's up he's out in the pasture running and bucking with nary a limp. It's a test. Not sure what the test is for though...........

Went to the auction today. Saw a really nice mule there. A buckskin, very calm, moved really nice, well trained. If I were looking for a mule, I would have bid on her. Didn't really see anything else there I would bid on. There were a couple of OK geldings, young. One was definately too much horse for me, and something was just off a bit with the other and nobody met the minimum bid. Hubby really liked the one that sold, but when we went back outside after he sold, he was hunkered up in the pen in the classic founder pose. Hubby had heard the owner saying before the sale that he'd just had his feet trimmed. Wonder how much they took off to make his feet hurt enough to stand like that, or if there was something else going on. Most of the horses there didn't look good at all. Underweight, feet in very poor condition, coats looked bad, didn't handle well under saddle.........the list goes on. There was one 13 yr. old gelding there that didn't meet the minimum bid, but he was so upside down and u-knecked (not sure how that's spelled) I wouldn't want to ride him. Looked like he'd rattle your' bones but good. My old lease horse was built the same way, and he was a very rough ride. I really shouldn't go to the auctions. I get so upset at the condition of the horses and the way people handle them and ride them. Hubby wanted to go cuz "you never know, there might be a good one there". Sometimes good horses do go through the auctions. Ya won't know if ya don't go look. I'm just a huge chicken about buying a horse at an auction. It all goes too fast for me. I need more time than three minutes to look at a horse. Don't know how people can make snap decisions like that. I doubt I'll ever be able to.

I'm using DH car to get to work at the moment - he is using his bike. I don't like him using his bike while it is still so cold. Unfortunately he hasn't got a choice at the moment. I really hope that the insurance company won't take too long to decide what they are going to do.

Yep they did, and you know what? I'm worried about Shadow at the moment. she has just finished her season and she seems very depressed. I took her outside and did some training with her yesterday, we then played with her favourite toy - but she wasn't really interested. She is just mopping round the house at the moment. The only thing I can think of is that she had her boosters on Friday.

I have never been to a horse auction, though I'm not sure whether I could buy a horse there for the same reason that you just said. I wouldn't be able to make a snap descission like that. Still your hubby is right - if you don't look you'll never know if there was a good horse there.

Your' poor hubby, having to ride his bike in cold weather. Hope it hasn't been raining. I'll bet he's anxious for the insurance company to make a decision too.

We had a beautiful spring day today. Sunny and warm with a breeze. The breeze wasn't bad until it poofed huge rolls of horse hair all over me while I was shedding out Maverick. I've shed him out several times already, but you wouldn't know from the piles of hair I had today. He looks better, but I think I swallowed at least a pound of hair today. Anyway, since it was so nice, hubby decided to turn the irrigation on and check the system. Thankfully everything worked. He had to adjust quite a few of the sprinkler heads, and two blew off the water lines so we had a couple of geysers. Other than that it went really well. Hubby was really happy he didn't have to replace any of the cellonoids. That includes digging, which is best avoided if possible.

It probably was the boosters that has Shadow feeling a little under the weather. When the kids were little they almost always felt sick after thier shots. I've heard about animals getting sick after vaccinations too. Hope she's feeling better soon.

There's a big horse sale coming up in May at the auction. I think we'll try to go if I haven't found a horse by then. I've heard so many horror stories about buying a horse at auction, I'm very reluctant to do so. But like you say, I have to go look to find one. And the local ads sure haven't had much. Maybe next time.

It hasn't really been raining when he has been biking, just some drizzling. It's more the cold and dropping temperatures that worry me, especially when it is damp, icy patches don't take long to form and hitting one on a bike is not good.

We had a lovely spring day on Sunday the temps rose into double figures (only just) and there was hardly any wind. I spend quite a bit of time out there enjoying the spring warmth coming from the sun. I even managed to get some washing dry on the line in just a couple of hours!

That's what I have been thinking, I'm keeping a close eye on her. She seems to have a bit more energy today so maybe she is recovering. The boosters normally make Dali drowsy for a day or so.

Well you never know unless you go and have a look. Still can't you go and see the horses before they go in to the auction ring? I know it is not the same as trying one out but at least you can have a closer look and decide whether you feel comfortable enough to try bidding for a horse you like the look off.

Hopefully if it's a big sale there will be more opportunity to examine and try out the horses which interest you. The larger sales around here, particularly those which charge a consignment fee, seem to make an effort to provide arenas for riding, even some jumps if there are horses trained for that. At least one of the auctions even guarantees soundness (although for a limited time).

Perhaps you should try a "Horse Wanted" ad. You'd probably be inundated with calls regarding a lot of unsuitable horses, but someone might answer with just the horse you want.