Thanks. We had a lovely Easter.  Weather was great and Eric and I went to the barn and spent some time with the horses.

Kudos to you for having a lesson.  I should probably do that.  I've developed all kinds of bad habits since I last had a lesson.

 So I thought I was beyond having horses - well once again DD has proven me wrong as she (once again) does what she needs to do.  We sold the horses before college, so DD compensated by taking a draft horse class and then made the university polo team (club sport not university goverened). Of course, that wasn't enough so she brought home a polo pony for the summer...even though we suggested she not do that.  We did suggest she take the full time summer job offer she received on campus.  I think we need to retrain DD...we sent her out for 8 months of training - it apparently didn't take the way we expected.  Anyway, this time the responsibility is mainly hers - she had to find the barn and she has to arrange  paying for it.  Let the job search commence!!  Actually the BO may offer her employment - talk about things falling into her lap!!

 Anyway, with much trial and tribulation( and bless the BO's heart as college girls do not exactly plan well), Ebony arrived last Tuesday and will be "ours" til about Oct 1.  DD finishes her first year of college in early May and goes back in late Aug - guess who takes care of the horse for those 2 months she will not be here?  DD had several boarding options and chose a nice little working farm about 20 minutes from home where the chickens, ducks and geese wander around, the BO does farmer's market sales and supplies fresh food to local restaurants.  Her husband grows various crops - there was a semi-trailer on the farm today loading up with grain from the silos. There are also tractors and golf carts and riding mowers running around - Ebony seems to be taking it all just fine.  There is another horse, who needs to learn to give people space (Tess) and a cute fuzzy little donkey (April). They have worked out their herd and things are going well as we transition Ebony to a new life.

 At the polo barn, much to my horror, Ebony has been stalled 4 days a week, allowed access to poor pasture 3 days a week (don't know how many hours that means), and has been kept blanketed all winter.  Her hair coat is in somewhat poor condition, she has NO winter hair so with nights still getting down to the 30s, she is still blanketed at night.  Other than that she is outside 24/7 with controlled access to grassy fields and has full use of a generously sized run in as well as the company of the horse and donkey.

 So far she seems easy to work with, not what I would call spooky, but she does have some funny reactions as I work around her.  A small spook in place would be the best description though I am surprised what she reacts to as it all seems like normal movements on my part.  In the dry lot she will walk up to anyone who comes in - she doesn't seem real fond of being petted and stroked but she does stand still to be brushed and sprayed (she has some gunk on her legs that I want to get rid of).  She offers her feet easily - but they look a mess to me - I have called our previous farrier and he is coming to remove her four shoes and we will try her barefoot.  She halters easily and has already learned to put her head down to a level easy for me to reach instead of acting like a giraffe.  My guess is she needs to chill and sort of be left alone to be a "real" horse.

 DD came home for a quick overnight visit for Easter and that was the first time she had seen the farm since she arranged it all over the phone - although I did go visit to check it out and give the thumbs up if that was her choice. She groomed Ebony well (the polo members treat the horses well but getting to and from the barn takes so much time they do a prefunctory grooming so I am not real sure what these horses are used to) and took her for a walk down the farm lane and out into the gardens and orchards.  Ebony went along peaceful as still water and looking happy and satisfied with life.

 Ebony has let it be known that she doesn't want to play polo so this is the first time she has had the summer off and gone home with someone.  Several members wanted to take her home but DD was the best choice - much to her delight.  This farm will be a total change of pace for her and time will tell what happens when she returns to the university club polo barn in October.  So she has a month to relax before DD comes home and starts reconditioning and riding.  Works for me - I am happy to help and enjoy going to the farm but will be glad to let DD take over.

Wahoo, SH has a horse again!!!! I don't care how or why it happened, I'm just happy it did. Everyone needs to be able to inhale the sweet smell of a horse, feel the velvety muzzle and hear the soft nicker of hello when you come to visit. She's a looker from the pics. I bet you and DD are gonna have some fun with her. The farm looks nice and I'm totally inlove with April. I love them long ears.

 Very nice! enjoy her for sure! she is lovely -those polo ponies can be sensitive to movement esp around their heads due to the polo mallets swinging around. Glad she got a great place to be treated well for the summer!

 Great new!  Ebony looks like a nice horse and it sounds like she's at a nice farm.  I bet you'll have a great summer with her.

SH, I'm so happy to read there's a horse in your life again, even if a step removed.  :-)

My update:  for those of you who don't follow the blog, Encore was kicked in the leg by BO's horse on Saturday morning.  It was completely avoidable, I was furious, but what can you do except care for it?  Emergency vet visit and all (I didn't remember he had insurance until about 14 hours later).  I took him back today for radiographs to make sure there were no cracks or breaks hiding in there if he got the full force of a shod hoof.

Pics are on the blog, he got hit mid-cannon and the shoe sliced a pocket through his flesh.  He's on a 2nd course of antibiotics just to be extra careful.  Because OF COURSE, we were supposed to move up to Novice at a HT next weekend.  We might make it, but I'm being very conservative.  We'll go down, but we may just ride the world's most expensive dressage test if I'm not comfortable with how things look.

I'm juggling about 27 things right now -- BO has pretty much forced my friends and I out, so I have to move farms.  I found one where I like the vibe and I can make do for a while, it's a little farther away and the pastures are crappy, but the owners seem good and professional and all the horses are well cared for and feet attended to, even though it's by a farrier I don't like.  I finally successfully bribed my farrier today to come out there and keep doing my horses and I get to keep my awesome vets.

It's field season and technician season and everything else season, so I'm tired and busy and tired.  I miss chat, but never really get a chance in the office anymore, probably until fall.  My knee seems to have stabilized and we've come to an agreement of how far I can push it and the back injections are still working 95% of the time, so at least I am mobile again.  I miss you guys a lot, but it's been a pretty hard winter/spring (and I thought last year was bad!) so I'm kind of in a cave/bubble right now, I only come out for the blog and the horses really.  But there are some promising secrets on the horizon, it can only go downhill for so long.  Well, maybe until you die, but hey, that solves problems too.

Ok, that's it for now.  I do read everyone's updates and check out pictures.  I'm mostly divorced from facebook, I got over it other than hitting the occasional like - I just log on for private messages.  

So my best to all my peeps and I hope I can talk to you soon.

 Damn I'm sorry about the kick.  That sucks.  I hope Encore makes a full recovery.

So this barn owner that is forcing you out - anything to do with the fact that her horse kicked yours? I hate having to move barns, so unsettling.  I hope this other place works out and you get settled in over there. 

Take care.

 Solo YOU ARE MISSED! Hang in there I have thought about you often! So sorry bout all the hassle esp the kick to Encore! ((HUGS)) ! Come back when you can and use the special FB area!!!! Take care of yourself and give us news when you can! We're here when you can! ;-) 

 Jayne, no, the force-out/price-out happened before the kick.  She just wanted us gone.  I do a ton of work on that farm though, I hope she misses me next time she needs something fixed/fed/blanketed/built/mesasured.

Encore is healed and ready to go for this weekend.  He has a lump and an ugly scab that may be a permanent lump, but it sure didn't slow him down tonight and the leg is clean and tight after work and his radiographs were clean, he is competing with the vet's blessing.  I guess you can't protect them from everything and an inch in either direction would have been dire and potentially career-ending before he even really got started, so we are lucky there.

 Best of luck for the weekend - Annapolis and I will be with you in spirit :-) I wish we could still do that, although to be truthful it would probably scare the bejeezus out of me.

Hey guys, just wanted to let you all know that I'm still alive!  Exams are done for the semester, and now I get a month and a bit off before I start my June class.  Squeaker is all neglected and looks homeless with the shedding and the muck (actually the muck isn't too bad, thank goodness for sandy soil!) but that should be fixed soon and she loves her life as a pasture pony so I don't feel too guilty.  For those not on FB, I've gone and bought a truck -- 3/4 ton suburban -- which I love, and last night we put a downpayment on a trailer -- 2 horse with a walk-in tackroom.  Now to figure out a place to keep the thing.... 

The bad part of the news is that my great dane Buster passed away a week after my birthday in March.  We knew it was coming, since he was ancient for a dane and had cancer, but it's still really hard when they go!

Whoops, tree trimmer guys are here to do the boulevard and I have to go move Precious (the suburban)  I'll write more and add pics later.....

 Sorry to hear about Buster