Summer in an Apartment

 9.19.21

Holy wow, life is SO different now for this farm woman!  First off, I live in a small apartment on the second floor of a big complex. I don't have much to compare sizes with but to me? Being able to see more than two families at a time is Huge. It is nice though. There aren't many places to put things in a small apartment, so that's different. No basement... no attic. Just a few rooms. 

It is a nice place though, even with all the negatives. I live just 10 minutes from where Briana is, and the folks who own the place are good people. Briana is getting chubby once again but she'll need a few extra pounds for winter, I imagine. The best thing about this new place is that she's happy.  She has a good friend in the Standardbred gelding who belongs to the owners, and he's a sweetie pie. "Ace". Big ol' dude too. I know nothing of his background but what I have been told. 

Back to this little apartment... It is roomy but small. Everything works too! If it doesn't I just have to let them know and it gets fixed. Better than many husbands, don'cha think ?  < smiles here> It is airy when it's cool enough to have the windows open. OhMyGosh-  OPEN WINDOWS!!  For almost 20 years, I had to keep the whole house closed up " those @#@#()(& windows really make my headache!"  Allergies, you know- and he wouldn't even try to figure out how to make them easier to deal with. So, this gal who Loves opened windows and fresh air suffered through, not saying much at all.

Right now?  Windows are open and this little place is full of fresh air and the cat is sitting in front of the screened sliders, enjoying it too.  Cleo, however, is laying beside my office chair waiting for me to go "do things". Occasionally, she'll head out to check to be sure Simone isn't doing bad kitty things. Simone simply doesn't DO bad kitty things, but just in case she begins to Cleo will be the second to know.

I went to the barn yesterday and when I pulled in, Briana saw me. Her head shot up and she began trotting to the gate with Ace following along behind. She called to me. It has been a very long time since that has happened. Lynna would every morning when she heard me in the tack room and another couple would nicker, but hardly Briana back then. Now?  A loud "HI MOM!!" from her.  She made me tear up a little in happiness. I love her so much.

She met me at the gate and apparently I reminded her that Jaide was no longer there. She looked around behind the run-in shed to see if maybe Jaide was there?  No- I explained to her that she'd gone to another place which was as nice as this one was. I think even with how mean Jaide was to her, Briana missed her still. 

Ace is the typical Amish driving horse. Very untrusting of all people... I feel so awful for horses like him because they need to know there are kind humans out there. When the girls were getting their teeth floated last week, he let me rub his neck and seemed to enjoy the company. He really is a sweet horse, and he's good pals with Briana.

I got my grooming box out and began currying Briana. Ooooooo- she loved it! Especially on her croup- when I stopped to get another area done, I'd find her black butt in front of me- " here, mom, here!"  I laughed and curried till I had worked up a lot of just plain dirt. 

Sadly in order to trim her bridlepath, I need to use a twitch. So many times in the past, I tried to get her to understand that nothing was ever going to hurt her, but those ears and between them are a "Don't Touch" area. It is just easier for us both not to have a big argument over it. 5 minutes later, and she looked gorgeous again. Five minutes instead of fifteen in tempers and fear. Much better. 

All the while, Ace was standing there watching it all. Not allowing me to touch him but he did pay attention - and it was okay. He's curious. His poor front legs from his knees down are a disaster. Old pinfire marks on them plus on his back legs tell me he has had a hard life. Low bowed tendons on both front legs also. He gets around fine though... That breed is one amazing lot of tough horses.

She looked so much better after a good brushing- and is most definitely growing in her winter coat! She's all but fuzzy.

It seems there are Bot Flys around like mad here. I'll have to take a disposable razor with me and shave them all off!  Ugh- awful things, those Bots. No use for them but to mess with a horses' insides.

 I got an American Saddlebred mare a few years ago and de-wormed her for many different kinds of worms plus the Bots. Omgawd! She must have pooped out handfuls of dead bots. Totally gross- but wow did she ever begin gaining weight then!

Here are some more pics I took of the two horses yesterday- enjoy!

This is their pasture- it has Grass in it!

This is the back of their shed and it's nice n shady

Briana's coming to see me again... Ace watched. I couldn't get rid of her- and loved it.

One of my favs.

this one also.

 What a wonderful place to live for a horse! 

The last one- it's on the favorites list too!

"besties"

Enjoy your week 💓💘

'Brown Bomber'

 The very first equine I met that was slightly nuts in the head was Brown Bomber. Where his owners came up with that, I will never know. I must have been just 14 when the owner called my house to speak to me. Seems he had this horse that no one could stay on, let alone ride anywhere.

My friend, Dennis and I rode our horses to the farm where I'd been told this Brown Bomber was kept. It was close to the river and a big dairy cow farm. He sure was BROWN. Not a speck of white on him for decoration at all. Dennis and I both decided that perhaps God had run out of white because this horse had none. He wasn't very handsome either. Roman nosed, little piggy eyes and he kind of looked like a lot of equine leftovers had been put together to create this one. I remembered reading a very very old horse book that I had gotten from my neighbor. In it, there were drawings of different horses depicting good types of dispositions and then the horses who were just flat-out nasty tempered. Brown Bomber was fashioned after the latter.  This drawing is from that book...  and it was very similar to good ol' Brown Bomber.

He didn't have a halter on and hadn't been brushed in quite some time. His coat was filthy and his mane /tail were matted so badly, we thought both would have to be cut off.  So they could re-grow eventually.

Each time we tried to get near him, he'd gallop off, throwing kicks at us. Whew!  He was aiming at us to be sure. All of a sudden he whirled around to face us. I looked at Dennis and he looked at me. That was when we chose to run like screaming banshees- toward the block wall that was Brown Bomber’s         

   " fence''  I didn't know Dennis could run so fast! I was flying low as I stayed right with him. We hit that block wall, leaping as high as we could and getting over it. He missed getting close enough to hurt us by a fraction of a second. 

As we lay there, gasping for air, Dennis looked over at me and started laughing. I could not figure out what was so darned funny. We had almost been a snack for a very wicked horse. All of a sudden the whole escapade hit me too- and we both lay there laughing out loud at how we must have looked.

Later that week, I called Brown Bombers' owner and said he was a very nasty horse and I'd suggest finding him a home with a Huge pasture to live out his life in.  ( just not MINE, I thought to myself)

GoodBye, Jaide

 9.16.21

Recently, I have been forced to realize I can no longer afford two horses and keep them as I like. This means proper vaccinations, dewormings, hoof care, and much more. Horses are NOT cheap to own when cared for in a correct manner. Sure, a person can buy a $100.00 horse, stick it out in a pasture and never do a thing in the way of care. THAT person is not me, though. Ever since I was old enough to know about what things were needed to keep my horse happy and healthy, I would work and save any extra money I had and they'd get the "whatever'' was needed. 

So, that being forced upon me, I knew one of the mares had to go. I had basically gotten Jaide to be a friend for Briana and possibly driving down the road aways.  Briana was my keeper, no matter what. She is simple to care for and little. Easy to care for, just about unflappable, and is great fun to have around. I have loved her ever since I first met her, so it was an easy choice.

While Jaide was easy to care for, she needed a lot more feed and would need twice as much hay, come winter. I also didn't have a warm turnout blanket for her. More money to spend... not to mention IF I wanted to drive her? I'd need a larger horse-sized cart and a horse-sized harness. Neither of which I own any longer, with thanks to being basically told to sell horse equipment.

With thanks to the pending divorce, I am practically broke. Now I wish I had gone after everything I could have-I was trying to be "nice". well, let me tell ya. Nice people end up holding the proverbial short end of the stick.  And I am one. With sending Jaide back to the rescue that owns her, my expenditures would be less than half this winter.

I called them, filled out the correct forms needed, and returned them. About 2 weeks later I got a call letting me know that they'd found a good place for her to live. The next week, the stock trailer showed up and after two tries, she walked right in. I held back my tears until they'd gone, and then Briana and I had a good cry for missing her. 

What I won't miss, however, is how mean Jaide was to Bri. She would back up and kick her for no good reason. One time, she was kicking at another horse and hit a human. THAT was not acceptable in my book- so there were some other positives to her leaving. She would not allow the barn owner's gelding in the run-in. He stood outside in all the summer storms we have had here, including a tropical storm. Ace is now happily joining Briana in the run-in shed.

 Because of all those factors, returning Jaide to where she came from was positive, except for my missing her. We had developed a kind of an agreement:  I wouldn't hurt or scare her ( never on purpose!) and she wouldn't kick or bite me.  She was a sweet mare to work around but that nasty nasty temper towards other horses- sheeesh.

I'm one horse lighter financially, and not having to worry about the upcoming winter weather Maryland has sometimes. Have I settled that mentally? Not really as I did like her a lot. It'll take some time to not drive to the barn and look for her coming from the pasture behind Briana...

                                           💓Best of the best wishes to you, Jaidens Fortune!💓💓