Late. Again.
Typical.
But I made it this week.
That counts for something, right?
That counts for something, right?
This week's prompt: Firsts.
First horse: Estes is the equine love of my life. I love, love, love her.
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| While we were shooting Horse Master with Julie Goodnight, three weeks after I bought her. |
I had offered to sell my children for the opportunity to buy my little mare. I can't decide if it's a good thing or a bad thing that I didn't need to sell my kids to buy Estes - she's cheaper to keep than the kids are.
First blog post (on this blog): A Day in the Life. The timing for reposting this is actually perfect, as the season starts this week for the livery across the street from the lodge.
First blog: Just another perfect day, started out as a way to share my life with my friends and family. I then branched out to this one, talked Mom and Beel into starting one for the Lodge, and partnered up with Mrs. Mom to start The GunDivas.
First day as a wrangler: yeah...my first day didn't actually involve horses. It involved a horse trailer. A big, red stock trailer that needed washed and waxed. So the newbie (that was me) did it.
The second day included digging post holes to extend the hitch rail. In fact, I don't think I touched a horse for the first week I was a wrangler. I was just so happy to be at the livery that I didn't mind any of the grunt work.
First new-new car: Ripley, a 2010 Kia Soul Exclaim. I love, love, love her too.
I'm running out of firsts...I know there are a ton, but I'm drawing a blank...
My question for you is based on one of Dreaming's answers:
I about fell over a month or so ago when I read that another blogger had to haul her horse to the vet for a check-up. Truly. It was absolutely shocking to me. And then I realized how spoiled we are. Our vet and farrier come to us and their costs are lower than if they had to maintain the overhead of a building and staff. Even with Estes' brush with death last year, and all of the emergent trips our vet made to her side, her treatment, all told, was less than $300. Our farrier comes up twice a year to trim and just check on the horses' feetsies - $40. Mom always throws him some gas money, because he doesn't charge us for the travel if he sees all four horses on the same day.
The biggest way I'm spoiled though is through the Bionic Cowgirl (Mom) - she takes care of Estes day in and day out during the summer. I scoop poop and move hay when I'm up there, about once a week, but that doesn't nearly come close to the amount of work that she does for the herd.
8 comments:
I started blogging about my move to rural Missouri to keep family and friends updated. Life got busy and so pretty out on the farm. I needed to share photos and words with all my peeps.
Ruthlynn - isn't it amazing how blogs can take on a life of their own? It's a great way to share with others. I've learned so much from bloggers I've "met".
I never realized that Estes was your first horse and that you got her so close to the Julie Goodnight filming. How cool!
I sorta had a Wrangler's job.... it was at a stable on Hilton Head, SC. I worked there one day. I got to groom and tack up about 20 horses and tag along for the ride. Then I cleaned stalls. I actually liked the job, but it was quite far from my house. I never went back!
I had the chance to drive a Kia Soul - same color - as a loaner. I was impressed. It's a zippy little car!
I'm spoiled by having easy keepers. My Haffies don't require special care. They are easy going. As long as they get some hay they are happy.
For some reason your link isn't showing on the blog hop. I'm going to see if I can do it from my end. If not, could you try again?
Thanks for joining the hop!
I fell in love with Estes a couple of years before I bought her and she'd been out to pasture for well over a year before we shot the show. Heidi, Julie's producer, was afraid she'd look "rough" after being out to pasture for so long (and by out to pasture, I mean running free on the mountainside), but Estes shed out beautifully and no one would believe that just three weeks before the shot, she'd been running wild.
She used to be an easy keeper, but that has changed with age. Now that she's an old lady, Mom feeds her "bowl food" in addition to hay.
My mare is an easy keeper, too. I am very spoiled by her. The vet and the farrier come to the barn, I have yet to have to haul her anywhere for care. I also have a few friends at the barn that keep an extra eye on Shy for me if I can't make it out there. I do the same for them. My barn owner is also Shy's trainer and she has been absolutely wonderful, she also lives on the property. I think I am very spoiled as a horse owner!
It's easy to include Estes in the 'family' because we are spoiled in the fact that, although our horses are on 'borrowed' land, they are literally across the street, so the only thing between them and us is a fence (provided Jesse stays inside it) and a very small road. But to our way of thinking, the absolutely best way we are spoiled is the miles and miles of great mountain trails we can ride - from our FRONT DOOR!!!! With today's fuel prices - WOW.
Bionic Cowgirl
Umm... HOLY COW.
I paid $400 for ONE vet visit when Kona colicked 24 hours after bringing her home.
But it saved her life, so it was the best $400 I've ever spent.
Two more visits for hoof abcesses put us back something like $200+ each time.
Your vet must be mighty fond of y'all :)
Love that early picture of you and your gal!
And the fact that you don't have that stoopid word verification on this site... TOTALLY ROCKS ;)
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