Taking It As It Comes

The Boys and Kitties Face Mother Nature

We whine and complain when the weather's bad. We shudder at the snow and shrink from the rain.

But we are, as Desmond Morris named us, "The Naked Ape," and need protection from Mother Nature's whims.

Our animals perceive the world differently and simply, "take it as it comes."  They have a limited ability to modify their worlds so they accept.  I do put sheets and blankets on my horses, although I know full well that if allowed to acclimate to the seasons, they'd be fine without. But I do think they appreciate the extra protection from the wet or, better yet, the bugs.  Since Toby's colic last weekend, I put his midweight winter blanket back on.  I will probably have to change it to a sheet this week when it warms up, but for now he has a little extra warmth for the cold nights.

I still haven't gotten any good action shots, so here goes a gallery of horses, "just standing around," and some barn kitties doing their "things."  Peppercorn is the all black boy kitty. Calliope is the calico indoor/outdoor mommycat, and Misty is the gray stripey who kept trying to get out of the camera's eye every time I tried to get a good picture of her.

On with the show!!

Well, It Did

Snow, That Is

At first it seemed we were going to luck out with just a few inches of snow, but after dark, the heavier part of the storm hit us.

Now, mind you, what we had hear pales in comparison to the 24-34 inches in some of the New England States, but it was enough.  I measured 7 inches, but the official reports from my Township said it was 10 inches.

Suffice it to say, the driveway needed plowing.  Sweet Kubota and I were out there for perhaps an hour and a half doing a good job of clearing.  I started out at around 7:30 AM, mostly because I didn't want to wait until the rest of the world decided to go out driving--ending up on my road as they usually do. Traffic here is bad, and the cars and trucks do not slow down if they see a tractor across the road.

So, with the road snow covered itself--plowed, but still pretty white--I had a chance to push the snow across the way out of the ends of each driveway. (My driveway loops around my house so it had two ends.)   I still had to watch and wait for cars and one or two big trucks, but it wasn't too bad.

Once I was done with the pass through, I cleaned up the back yard part and the area in front of the garage.

Then, I pulled out my new snowblower. It started right up with one pull, which was nice.  It worked pretty well clearing the area directly in front of the garage doors, but I will need some practice to figure out the best way to use it. I also widened the sidewalk path from the house with it.

Lesson learned....blow the snow in the direction of the prevailing wind, not into it. I turned into a snowman myself with the snow I was blowing blew back on me!!

I was going to take some pictures of the Boys in the snow, but by the time I finished all my chores--including shoveling a path to the manure pile--I was worn out and a bit cold.  I ended up spending the rest of the day until feeding time inside.  I only went out to get these pics near the house.

Awaiting the Storm

Will It or Won't It?

There is a nor'easter on the way and no one seems quite sure just how hard it will hit us in Central New Jersey.  The forecasts call for anything from a few inches to 8+ inches of snow.  It may rain, it may snow, and we may have heavy winds.

The winds bother me, mostly because of the threat of power outages. Despite my new generator, I still do not have the well pumps hooked up, so if we do get caught, I will be stuck without water...again.  That is my only worry. I have heat and I can cook and with batter power, I  have lights.  The generator will keep the basics powered up, except for the well.

The trouble this time of year is that even if I fill up all my emergency horse tubs, what's to keep them from freezing so I can't use the stocked up water?  The good thing is that temperatures are forecast to pretty much stay above freezing for most of the time, so we may be OK.

My hay guy stocked me up today and I went to the feed store to get grain and alfalfa cubes.  I started up the tractor and ran it for a while to charge up the battery and make sure everything was working. I did not start the snowblower, but will do that tomorrow. I have some bales of hay inside the barn and my snow shovel is on the back porch.

Not much else to do except wait and see.

Just wish one of my electricians had put my job on the priority list instead of the back burner so that darn well pump would work.

*sigh*

Colic

Poor Toby

I went to my church mission fundraiser dinner last night and when I got home--going on 11 PM--I found Toby colicking.

He was pawing, looking at his side, and trying to go down to roll.

I rushed back into the house changed quickly into a warm layer of clothes and raced back out to start walking him.  After about 10 minute of that, I called the vet.   She called back within 15 minutes and told me to try to keep him on his feet while she headed over.

Now, it was snowing and cold out there. I managed to keep him up and walking for perhaps 30 minutes before he finally just stopped dead and would not move at all. He had, by then dropped a fairly big pile of manure, so I was hoping he'd feel better, but instead he just stood there despite all my efforts to make him walk.

So we stood.

But then, his legs crumpled and down he went. He rolled, though I tried to stop him and then just lay on side for a while before finally propping himself back up on his belly on the rock hard, snow covered riding arena. I could not get him up, so again, I just stood there with him, waiting for the vet.

It takes, on a good day, at least 30-40 minutes or so to get to my house from where the vet on call lives, and the weather slowed her down. Still, I'd say she was here in under an hour.

By that time, Toby was back on his feet and not showing much in the way of pain.  Dr. Parisio and I both agreed, however, not to take any chances. Toby was still "gassy" and although he seemed much better, we decided "better safe than sorry," especially since it was after midnight on a Saturday/Sunday.

She gave him some Banimine and a tranquilizer and with a bit of hard work managed to get a gastric tube into his stomach to dose him with water/electrolytes and mineral oil.  After I walked him some more to make sure he was not going to have any bad reaction to the tubing. I settled him in his stall--minus any hay or other food, and headed back into the house to warm up for an hour or so.

I went back out around 2 AM or so and walked him for another 20 minutes and then came back inside to get some sleep.

This morning, he looked bright and happy, but we are taking the cautious route. He had minimal hay for breakfast, a soggy mash and some well soaked alfalfa cubes. Then I left him in while I was a church.

When I got home, I checked to see if there was manure in the stall--there was--and I finally decided to let him out with his buddies.  With Toby, it's kind of tricky.  If he stays locked in his stall, he frets and fusses as soon as Tucker and Chance disappear from sight--even if they only go to the other side of the barn. It's hard to say, but I think his anxiety is worse than the potential danger of his being out.  I certainly don't think getting hysterical is good for a tummyache.

Hopefully, he is OK, but I'm keeping an eye on him. If I see any signs of discomfort, I'll be right on it.

Meantime, I bless my vet's office for having a good answering service and even better emergency care.

Winter Woes

The Frozen Challenge

Let's face it. On a good day, caring for the horses can be hard work. Lugging around 50 pound bags of feed, 40 pound bales of hay, and impossible to grasp bales of bedding is tough enough. Add to that the never ending chore of cleaning a stall and dumping the manure and used bedding somewhere, somehow.  And water? If you are lucky, you have some way to easily get water into buckets and troughs. If not, it's hauling it by heavy bucketfuls.

Not that I'm complaining. Horse care is also a rewarding endeavor. Not only does it help keep me fit, but the satisfaction of three horses safe, content, and happily munching hay in clean stalls is more than worth the effort. I'll admit, on some days, I wish I didn't have to do the work, but for the most part, I actually enjoy the effort.

But winter poses another picture and a new set of challenges, especially when the temperature drops well below freezing as it did this week.

First is the question of just how to dress. With the horses in my back yard, about 100 feet from the house, it makes it a lot easier than it was when I had to drive 15 miles to the barn and plan on being outside for several hours.  Now, if I get cold or wet, I can always run back inside to warm up. But then, I always had to make sure I was dressed for every event, with extra clothes in the car "just in case."  Insulated boots served well but most the the toastiest were always too fat to fit in the stirrups if I decided to ride. I used have oversized stirrups just for the winter, or I might even ride bareback if I was so inclined.

Long underwear? A must. Winter riding breeches? Yep. And even a pair of special insulated riding pants over top for the worst weather. I have some ski pants now, but they are slippery in the saddle. I'm allergic to wool, but a layer of long underwear and a cotton turtleneck would protect me from a wool sweater under an ski jacket of some sort. I never did worry too much about whether my ensemble was elegantly tailored or color coordinated--they way they do in all those catalogs--as long as it was warm.

On my head, I liked wearing a neck gaiter or balaclava made out of the same kind of material as my long underwear.  It would keep my head warm, my neck warm and it fit nicely under my safety helmet if I decided to ride. Gloves? Always, and always a spare pair or two because gloves can get wet.

I know people who gear up in snowmobile suits and I've worn then too, but a "unitard" has its drawbacks when you need to go to the bathroom and it does limit some of your freedom of movement. And, when you start the barn chores, sometimes you need to peel off a layer as you work up a sweat, so the one piece outfit does not lend itself well to that. They are cozy, though, and certainly do eliminate a lot of the "what to wear?" puzzle.

But it's not about the clothing. It's about the work.

It's about frozen poo. Forget about picking the paddock or cleaning under the run in shed. You might as well use a jackhammer on a concrete sidewalk as pick up the outdoor poo. It sits in neat piles, mocking your every effort to dislodge it. And it grins in utter triumph when you trip over it, or lock the wheelbarrow's tire guard against it on your way to the manure pile.

Speaking of, unless you've somehow made a flat path to the pile before the ground had frozen, you are in for a bumpy ride to the dump spot. Since my horses have access to the area I have to cross, there are always dozens of lumpy hoofprints along the way to catch the barrow, twist my ankle or just generally shake my whole body to the core when the load takes a healthy bounce.

And the loading of the barrow has even been a challenge in the stalls, for the poo there can freeze as well. I've broken a tine or two on my plastic manure fork more than once hitting the rock solid poo pile frozen the the rubber mats in one of the stalls. A nice layer of bedding keeps it from freezing to the floor, of course, but my horses seem to find ways to drop their manure on bare spots. And even when they don't, trying to find all the elusive chunks in the bedding is like panning for gold.  More often then not, I'll think the stall is pristine, only to find myself twisting my ankle when I step on a boulder of frozen poo when I go in to feed.

Water? Excuse me, ice. I have a hose hooked up that leads to the outside water trough, but on a day like today, it's frozen solid. Fortunately, I have a frost free tap, so I can still get water, but filling the trough is another story. I actually keep a spare hose on the back porch and drag it out to the barn when I need to really fill the trough. Once I'm done I make sure I drain it of water so it doesn't freeze up on me as well. Or, lacking the hose, I have to carry bucket after bucket of water from the faucet to the trough. Once again, I need to go through Toby's stall to get there, so the lurking manure balls are always ready to trip me up spilling water all over me and everywhere else.

Remember the spare gloves? There ya go.

I do have a water heater in the trough, so once there's water there I don't have to worry about ice. But more than once I've had to keep one of the Boys in his stall and then there is the challenge of trying to chip solid ice out of a plastic bucket without cracking anything more than just the ice.  I did find the solid, flexible rubber buckets a help here, though. You can bang them around a lot, crack the ice out, and sill have a useful bucket in the end.

The whole trick here is that tasks normally taking an hour or so can easily double in the winter. By the time you get yourself dressed for the cold, sledgehammer the poo, drag the hose to and fro, negotiate the dangerous terrain, and crack the ice, who even feels like riding?

Besides, it's too cold anyway.

I think I'll make a cup of hot chocolate.

Still Cold Here

But We Walked Anyhow 

I had on long underwear, an special blaze orange shirt and over that, my blaze orange hunter's jacket. Below, winter riding breeches covered by a pair of ski pants. On my feet, muck boots, an on my head an orange gaitor and a ski cap.

I needed every bit of the clothing on our hike. We were out for about 2 hours in the 20 or so degree temperatures with a rather brisk wind.  On the plus side, the sun was out and if we stopped in a spot sheltered from the wind, the warmth was noticeable.

Part of the hike was along the fields, where the wind did whip now and then, but the rest was in the woods where the trees kept the air still.

Here I am at the lake in the back, surveying the rather amazing sight of three large beaver lodges at water's edge.

No picture of the lodges. My hiking partner (Joe Sapia) sent these to me and I didn't have my camera. But is was fascinating to see the beavers's work along the edge of the woodland. They'd  cleared in impressive number of saplings to build their homes. But they'd also taken down some trees with trunks as wide as 8" diameter.  These guys are powerful lumberjacks.  Joe has some pictures of the trees stumps on his Twitter page.  There are also "drag trails" out there from the wooded area down to the water where the beavers pulled the logs they used to build.

I knew there was one lodge out there, but three? Quite unexpected. It is a manmade lake and the beavers are doing no harm to the waterway. All I can hope now is that the hunters, fishermen, random hikers and minibike/ATV riders leave them alone. I'd hate for a peaceful beaver habitat like this to be ruined my uncaring humans.

On the way back home, I lost the trail again. It's the same spot Chance and I got off course, but this time, I was far east of the proper trail. Fortunately, again, there's no real way to get lost and I knew exactly where my house was.  I guess the Boys heard is tramping through the woods on our way back because Tucker and Toby were at the gate, waiting for us.

Once again, the picture tells the story. Tucker was decidedly curious to see if I'd manage to bring something back for him.

He does look a bit disappointed, but Toby remained every hopeful.  There's just a dusting of snow visible behind them, but as you can see, the sun was brilliant.

All, in all, although my legs are feeling it today, it was a great hike.  Joe and I have some more exploring to do across the road from my house, and he has a park by his house to walk as well.

Level ground around here, with not too many challenging hills, so that's good news for me. My knees feel great when I'm moving, but they do get a bit stiff and sore when I sit for a while.  Hoping the walking will help some of that.

It was a great day out in the cold wind of Mother Nature.

Winter is A'comin' In

The Cold Arrives

It's snowing a bit now. We don't expect much, but even a few inches is impressive at this point after last winter.

Trouble is, whatever falls is not going to melt quickly with the dropping temperatures.

The Boys are now dressed in their winter blankets. I changed them over last night even though the real cold was not due until tonight. It will be in the low 20's F over the next few days. (20F= -6C)  with a low of 10F/-12C Saturday night.  Then it will warm back up to above freezing again.

It had to happen sooner of later. After all, it is winter.

Don't know about snow for sure but there may be some significant fall on Friday. I'm about as prepared as I can be. I have the new snowblower and will make sure the tractor is ready to go during the week. I hope I don't have to use either one very much, but I'm ready.

I do worry a bit about my hay supply. My hay guy brought over 20 some bales this week but they will not last much beyond next Tuesday or so. So if we get some serious snow, I'll be worrying again as I did during the aftermath of the hurricane.  I just may go pick up some spare bales myself to be safe.

It's important that the horses have plenty of hay and water as it gets colder. I did put the heater into the water tub yesterday, and despite the cold the entire tub was thawed this morning.  I'm glad because one time I bought a new heater and it didn't work. I still have the one from last year, but I tend to suspect that they really don't last more than a season. This is a submersible one and since I have a non-working element installed in the tub, I can kind of hook this heater to the stationary one and certain overly ambitious horses cannot pull the new one out.  (I can picture a rather interesting game of tether ball...or tether heater going on.)

I have a bit of a horseless hike planned tomorrow--taking someone for a walk in the woods. I think I can find all my proper winter finery to keep me warm.

I didn't need it last year.

Clowns on Four Legs

How A Ride Took Nearly Forever

It was another lovely day temperature-wise. It was still cloudy and damp, but in the upper 40's-low 50's F.

After another long job of cleaning the stalls--the Boys have been making quite a mess in the barn lately--and cleaning the west side run in shed, I was rather worn out, but game to ride at least one horse. In fact, I had it in mind to ride two horses.

The horses had a different agenda.

First, let me say that Tucker was a perfect gentleman from start to finish. He came to me when I called--bribed by some horse treats--stood nicely for saddling, and politely followed as I led him out to the arena.

And that's where the trouble started.

As you can see from my blog heading picture, the fence around the riding arena has suffered numerous dismantlings.  I have repeatedly repaired it, but to be honest, it has several sections with posts and rails down. Usually, when I take a horse inside and close the gate, whoever is left on the other side respects the fence line and stays out.  I have a few places where I can put the rails back up easily, but today, I thought it would be OK not to.

Mistake.

First Toby leapt a downed rail and came in.  After a rather vigorous chase, I managed to shoo him out, and then I put up the rails where I could, and closed the gate from the pasture as well.  All the while, Tucker walked quietly by my side as I moved barrels and hefted rails into place.

Fine.

I led Tucker to the mounting table, was about to get on, when suddenly, both Toby and Chance came careening around the far end of the arena, out through the side paddock gate, around the run in shed at the west end of the arena, to leap at top speed over another downed rail at that end.  Now, the two of them were galloping madly around, trapped by closed gates and rails back up on three sides.

Of course, despite my chasing them, they would not go back out the way they had come in, so I had to put those rails back up, go to the other end of the arena, re-open the gate to the pasture, and once more chase them out that way.

Only then did I decide on the bright option of closing the second gate to the pasture so they could not get back into the paddock by the barn--the one adjacent to the riding arena.  I managed to shoo them out into the pasture, led Tucker back into the barn paddock, close the gate to the pasture and then go back into the arena through the main gate.

Peace, at last. Toby and Chance were none to pleased to have the game over, but I was.

I mounted up, and began to ride. I had no real plan in mind. The footing was a bit wet, so I wasn't intending on doing too much anyhow.

But Tucker dictated the ride. It was time to "listen to the horse" and ride the horse I was on today.

When I took up a little contact to put Tucker's walk together, he thought about not going forward. We worked on that for a few strides and then I asked for trot. Once again, he did not respond right away to the aid.  So I repeated it, a little stronger, and once we were in trot, went about half way around the arena to establish that indeed it was the gait I wanted, and then did a downward transition back to walk.  Once again, I had to remind him that I wanted a forward, straight walk and when we got it, I transitioned back up to trot.

Soon, it was clear that it was a day to simply work on transitions. My expectation was an upward transition at a light leg cue.   I didn't demand perfection on the downwards, mostly because I wasn't as worried about them as I was concerned about establishing a "forward" feel.  So, if the trot shortened into the walk, that was fine since I really didn't want him to lose his impulsion.  (I can almost always stop Tucker. Getting him to go is the larger issue.)

Gradually, he nicely in front of my leg, ready to trot off at the least whisper. Then, almost by accident, I cued a bit more strongly with my outside leg, and he did a lovely canter depart from the walk.  I praised him mightily and we moved on to walk-canter-walk transitions, then some trot-canter-trot transitions on both leads.  He was forward, responsive and a really good boy.

All in all, I rode, at most, for 15-20 minutes.

I think I chased naughty horses for another 15-20 minutes.

It was enough for one day.

Just a Little Lungeing

And a Bunch of Work

I stripped the last two stalls today and bedded them with fresh shavings. Either the bales of shavings are getting heavier, or I am getting weaker. Anyhow, I got the job done.

My hay guy came earlier in the day and we had a long chat about Christmas, his family, the ski season--his son runs a ski resort in Vermont--and the weather.  That had me outside in the sunshine for about an hour.

I'd let Calli--the mommycat dropped off during hurricane Sandy--outside and she was having a grand time exploring and being generally very friendly. I think she is one of those high energy cats that really does need to be outdoors. So I hope she can be in and out, off and on, at least when I am home and the weather is nice enough.

After I did the stalls, I poo picked the riding arena which was a rather exhausting effort, especially since Tucker "assisted" by toppling the half full wheelbarrow when my back was turned. He had the most innocent expression when I accused him, but since he was the only one there, it's pretty obvious who was guilty.

After the poo pick, I lunged Chance for a very short session. He was, as usual, a very good boy--a bit lazy at the canter, but responsive to my commands.

Then I lunged Tucker and he too was a good boy. I was pleased to see he had some nice forward energy on  his own without too much prompting and he never offered to buck.

Mind you the sessions were very short, but at least the two Boys got a little supervised exercise, and I got to see that both of them are sound and looking good.

Taking a Chance

Out on the Trail

After some serious stall stripping and cleaning of the west run in shed, I saddled up Chance and headed out to the trails.

He is the only horse I've ever had who goes faster on the way out than on the way in. He gave a bit of a leap over a small long across the trail, bouncing me in the saddle, but other than the eagerness to jog off every few strides he was a good boy.

Trouble is, I took the woods trail out and there are no places to trot safely at the moment. Too many trees and branches are blocking the pathway and the detours around the fallen trees are too tricky to navigate. If I go out with my saw and clippers I may be able to clear some of the places for good "go arounds," but I haven't tried that yet.

It looks as if the weather is going to hold for a few more days--sunshine off and on and in the upper 40's F, so I may get myself out there.  We'll see.

I took down most of the outdoor Christmas decorations tonight but I still have to put them all back down in the cellar. Since I'd ridden and done the extra barn work, I was a bit worn out, so I simply piled everything up on the front porch to put away some time tomorrow.

I also fielded an unexpected phone call from one of my friends. I'd called her Monday night only to find out that her horse had passes away a few days ago. She owned him for some twenty years or so and was very upset by the whole thing.  Today, I think she just needed to talk to someone who'd understand. She does hope to get a new horse in the future, but right now, her emotions are all over the place about the whole thing. Her boy was in his 20's and the theory is that he got an infection from a tick bite--anaplasmosis. It's similar to Lyme disease but requires some heavy duty antibiotic to cure it. With her horse's advanced age and probably a somewhat compromised immune system due to some chronic allergies, I guess he just couldn't fight it off. What she needs now is some time to grieve and heal.

People who don't have animals never quite understand the bond we have with these amazing creatures we take into our lives.

Those of us who do are blessed.

Naughty Boy

Tucker Ride

It was a lovely day, so I decided to ride Tucker for a little school in the arena.

Mind you, he has not been ridden for several weeks, so expecting the perfect horse was not part of my agenda.  All I was hoping for was a bit of trot with a little contact and perhaps some canter, just for fun.

Well, we started out in "backwards" mode with Tucker not exactly going forward. Not that he didn't trot right off for me, but there was hardly any energy at all. However, I continued to make some large patterns of diagonal crosses of the arena and twenty meter circles just letting him get his muscles warmed up a bit.

All was well as, gradually, he began to gain some impulsion on his own.  But the key to warming up many a Thoroughbred is the canter. It's the gait these horses were bred to do, and Tucker is no exception. He has a a naturally balanced, cadenced canter.

So we cantered.  Again, all was well until, just before I was ready to transition back down to trot--he tried to take off with me, and, in the process offered to give me some ever increasing bucks.

Bless my reaction time, as I pulled up his head, gave him a strong shout, of, "No!! Stop it!"  and we managed to settle back into a controlled gait again.

Now, he may have spooked at something rustling in the woods, but I'm not so sure about that.  I only defend him slightly because the next time we reached that spot at the trot, he tried the same maneuver with a little less success.

I must admit, after the mini-"almost" explosion, his trot was well forward and full of energy. He was strong to my hand, but that's kind of OK, since I could control where we were going and in what shape.  I worked him with some shoulder-in, leg yield, and a bit of half pass. Then, to satisfy myself, we cantered a little more on each rein with no nonsense and then settled to a nice walk to finish the ride.

I suppose, on one hand, lungeing first in this kind of weather might be a good idea, but the fact is that lungeing has never actually settled Tucker down. If anything, it just encourages his energy.  And, if he does manage to get himself worked up, no amount of lungeing ever settles him down.

It was in the 40's today and sunny, but my no means a totally balmy day, so a little high spirits are to be expected, especially from my naughty boy. And, when you consider how little work he's had recently, he was actually amazingly well behaved.

I just wish he'd find a better way to express his excess energy than bucking. It is definitely my least favorite gait.

Happy New Year

Resolutions?

I don't tend to make them. While it is a good idea on some levels, I find I much prefer to live life as it comes at this point instead of making too many plans I may or may not be able to follow.

I do hope to ride more than I did last year. My knees are ever so much better and I just want to enjoy my Boys. I seem to have lost the urge to compete, so that does make motivation harder, but I've always enjoyed training, regardless of the goal, and that's still true.

Regardless of where my riding goes from now on, I am pleased to have the option of the challenge of Tucker or the relaxation of Chance as options. And, of course, there is retired Toby who still can offer a fun ride to remind me of just where training can go if you stick at it.

So Happy New Year to us all, wherever we ride and whenever we ride. The moments we spend with our horses are priceless, whether seated on their backs or just being with them to share the wonders of the world.

Merry Christmas!

A Very Merry Christmas To One and All!

No more need be said!

This is Why I Tie the Tree to the Window

Kittens in Frolic

Let it well noted that I have an artificial Christmas tree, with no decorations save what are part of the tree--holly, berries and some fake snow.  The tree is fiber optic, so when it lights up--well I had to do some repairs this year--it's pretty. It also has some regular mini-twinkle lights on it.

This is not all my choice of proper Christmas tradition, but it has evolved as a practical solution when one has furry, rather playful critters in the house.

Now, I have also learned to tie the tree to the window lock with yarn, another practical move since the tree sits in my bay window and the stand "just fits" the width of the window seat.

But there is more to it all. When my now adult cats were kittens, Reggie thought the tree was a great place to hide. Apparently, its lure has not diminished over these last 6 or so years since his kittenhood.

The tree is still a great place to hide, and to play.

 As you can see, Joseph thinks the tree offers wonderful camouflage.

 But Joseph is not alone. CocoPuff agrees with him and is most ready to share the secret.

 Sister and brother are fully in the Christmas spirit.

 But sometimes, CocoPuff prefers the solitary existence of the tree dweller.

 DJ, one of the adults in the family supervises the youngsters. You can still see, if you look closely that Coco is still in the tree, well disguised from sight by foliage and artificial snow.  And Joseph tries to pretend he too is a ceramic cat like the one curled up to his right.

Stuffed horses lie in disarray as DJ analyzes the display.

As you can see, Christmas is a quiet holiday here at Follywoods, punctuated by the sound of whirling dervish kittens in the tree, galloping catfeet in the halls, and galloping horsefeet outside.

Gotta get some pictures of the galloping horses attached to the feet.

Meanwhile, cats will just have to do.

Tears are Falling

Heartbreak in Connecticut

I heard the news of the school shooting in Connecticut this morning, shortly after it happened.  There wasn't much information then, so after following the story for a bit, I went about my daily chores. It was not until this afternoon that I finally heard the horrible details--20 children dead, 6 adults dead, one more dead at another related location, and finally the shooter himself dead.

Why?

No answers yet, and even when we do get the answers we can uncover they will never fully explain away the horror.

I am crying and praying as each part of the story unfolds, but beneath it all is a sure and certain anger.

I keep seeing those little kids huddled in their classrooms, hiding from the gunman who had invade their school. Those who survived knew the drill, and that is the sad part of it all. After the Columbine shootings, schools throughout the nation developed emergency procedures should their school be attacked. Here in New Jersey, schools regularly conduct drills so students and teachers will know exactly what to do in case of such an emergency. I have supervised numerous such drills in my classrooms over the years, and each time, I am chilled to think of what might happen if it were real.

When I was an elementary school student myself, we used to conduct air raid drills. We'd go out into the halls of the school and huddle on the floor with our heads covered so we would be protected in case of a nuclear attack.  Of course, it really made no sense then, for if a bomb did hit, the building would afford no protection, nor would our folded arms. But somehow, it made us feel we were doing something in the face of horrendous danger.

I'm not sure the emergency drills we run today would actually do anything to stop a determined gunman, either, but at least it gives you something to do instead of sitting around, waiting to be a target.

But why should we have to hide in the darkness in the first place? Why should mass murderers be able to so easily obtain assault weapons to use against us? Why should the gun be such an icon of worship and power? Why should we delight in video games where we shoot guns with merciless intent? Why do we allow people to buy guns freely and openly without regard to their intent? Why do we live in a culture where the gun seems to be the ultimate answer to every problem?

I don't know.

All I know is that my heart is broken for all those families who lost a loved one today for no reason.

Warm Day On Horseback

Shirt Sleeve Weather

It was quite warm today, so I took advantage of the weather to put up the outside Christmas decorations--at  least the front of the house. I still have to put up the barn lights and star and the string of greenery and lights at the back door. No biggie and I may do it after I rest a bit.

I rode both Tucker and Chance. I considered taking Tucker out on the trail but decided to stick to the arena where I did perhaps 15 minutes walk trot canter. No biggie and I didn't want to work much more because he would have sweated up a lot if I had. It was that warm--shirt sleeve weather and I was sweating myself. He was a good boy, all in all, with just one offer to buck on a right lead canter depart, but that may have been being silly rather they ornery, but with Tucker, I never quite know.

After I finished with Tucker, I took Chance out on a trail ride in the woods. This time I rode in the opposite direction so I could find the trail home by starting from home. There was a tree down at the woods end, definitely making the path hard to follow once I got there, so I don't feel quite so foolish about not being able to find it on the way home last time.

As for the rest of the trail?  It's as bad as I thought, with tree after tree blocking the way. It's going to take some persistence to figure out the best way around each one, but I was able to make it nearly all the way back to the farm on the other side of the woods. Then, however, on the last little stretch of trail, there was one final tree and the brush looked pretty thick on either side so I opted to ride along the first set of power lines to get back out to the field instead. Too bad, as I liked that little stretch of trail there. It has a nifty little hill and is just "kind of cute."  I'll give it a better look one day soon to see if there is a good way around, or if I can clear a way.

What I may do is go out with my clippers and pruning saw to do some minor clearing of annoying branches and sticker bushes around the fallen trees to make the detours easier to ride. It's just going to take some time and effort.

The weather is supposed to turn colder again by tomorrow, but for today? Lovely. Glad I took advantage of it and enjoyed some saddle time.

Trees and Cats

Horses Are Fine

But it's been kind of cold and damp around here, so I have not been riding. Not that I expect to ride a lot as winter creeps in. No excuses here, but my older bones are creakier than I'd like to admit and motivation is still an issue. But, we'll see.

As far as the woods goes, I am a little reluctant to go out there too much when the wind is blowing--which it has for the last few days. Some of the overhanging trees look pretty rickety and until I better scope out where it looks safe, I don't want to take any chances.

Speaking of, my State Park is an "undeveloped" parkland and isn't even on the list of NJ State Parks open to the public. It is open to passive recreation, but there is no attempt at all to maintain it other than as nature intends. The roadways through there were used by my family and the farmers in the area years and years ago and probably date back to colonial times when they were used to cross from one homestead to another.

Today, we might think of them as fire roads, but I haven't seen many efforts in the past to clear trees that have fallen across them in the past. Recently,  I did see some sign of clearing, but I'm not sure if it was the ATV/motorbike riders or Park people. There is a fire station in the area and it could be those guys, but I've never really seen anything going on.

With no reason to clear the trees, I'm pretty sure they are going to stay just where they are. *sigh*

On the kitty front, Cali and Cinders are now spayed and have their basic vaccinations. The only problem is that despite my orders to the contrary, Cali was "ear tipped."  This means that her left ear was trimmed to indicate that she had been neutered--a marking technique used for the "Trap, Neuter, Release" program for feral cats. The clinic was very apologetic and told me the technician who had done it was "severely disciplined" for making the mistake as my orders were pretty darn clear. I had paid extra NOT to have eartipping done and they did refund my money, but it does take something away from Cali's appearance--not dreadful, but still--making her not as easily adoptable.

Frustrating, but there's nothing I can do about it. If Cali does not find a home somewhere else, I will keep her here, so she will not be homeless. I just feel bad that it happened.

Coco and Joey, the two kittens have been allowed to venture into the rest of the house, meeting my "Big Boy" cats. Bless everyone's heart, there were no attacks, just some hissing and some "puffed up" kittens.

However, I left the inside basement door open and sure enough, the little Cali clan all went back down into the dim light of the cellar to spend the day. I would have thought upstairs would be more fun, but apparently the basement is safe and "home" to them. I'm keeping an eye on the newly spayed ladies to make sure they are OK and they are nestled down in comfy spots down there. The kittens are racing around in circles playing hide and seek.

As long as they are happy, I'm content too.

Through the Woods

A Sunny, Beautiful Day on Horseback

I rode today.

Tucker was first, in in the arena. We did just some basic walk, trot, canter, not asking for too much. Aside from a few laid back ears and a few minor protests, he was a good boy. Canter departs were prompt and after a stretch of canter, his trot became nice and forward.

Since Thoroughbreds were bred to gallop, sometimes canter is the best way to warm them up for more intensive work. I have always found that cantering improves Tucker's trot and willingness to work for me.

Then, just for fun, we jumped the little jump I had set up for the lungeing sessions. It's only about 18"-20" or so, enough to ask for a little jump over and no drama.  Once again, Tucker was great about it. He never rushed and was quite willing to take my hand an let me rate him and place him for takeoff. No big challenge, but it's been years since I've done any serious jumping, so I am pretty pleased it went that well--in a dressage saddle no less.

After I finished with Tucker, I saddled Chance up for a trail ride.

Out we went, into the woods.

Oh, my goodness!! Devastation everywhere! Huge trees are down everywhere. We are talking trees with three foot diameter trunks. And worse, a good number of them are not blocking my lovely woodland roads. There was, of course, a way around most of them, but it was tricky going. In several places, if I still were riding my Russell--the super eventer--I would have some perfectly lovely obstacles to jump. The trunks were across the road with good footing on both sides. BUT, I am no longer up to such excitement and don't have a horse trained for it, so I will just have to keep on going around. There certainly is no way to clear trees that size out of the way. *sigh*

Fortunately, Chance has a level head and, although he too was pretty wary of many of the fallen trees, he cooperated really nicely about the go arounds and really proved himself as a trail master.

On the way back home, I managed to get us lost. Well, not really lost as I could always see the way out of the woods in front and on the side, but lost from the proper trail.. Once I did find it--nearly at the end, I realized I had gone far west of its proper location. The funny thing is, Chance knew where it was and kept trying to get me to steer him to the east. I was no disoriented by the fallen timber that I just didn't listen to him. Next time out, I'll take that trail into the woods so I'll see where it actually is and what it looks like now. That way, the next time I ride the trail in the other direction, I might actually not wander about in silly confusion.

Maybe I should have just dropped the rein and let Chance take us home. Clearly he had more brains about it than I  did.

Guess it's going to take a lot more rides through the woods before I figure out how to enjoy the trails again. Right now, it's rather a tricky adventure.

It looks like a hurricane came through or something............

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I Am Grateful

I'm grateful my house and property are pretty OK after the hurricane.

I'm grateful to have three sweet horses to feed carrots to, even when I don't ride them much.

I'm grateful I can take in kitties who need care and a safe place to stay. And I am grateful for the kitties who have decided to "own" me along the way.

I'm grateful I have many friends to talk to and share things with when I need to.

I'm grateful my hay guy came and made a delivery so I didn't have to go on a hay hunt.

I'm grateful for hundreds of things too numerable to mention. God has blessed me over and over in my life and I am always aware that, despite setbacks and disappointments, I have a good life and I try to live it well.

I promise to take the time to say, "Thank you," whenever someone does something kind or generous for me, and I will always try to remember to take the time to thank God for his gifts to me.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Blogger "buddies."  May you too find much to be thankful for.

Drying Out

And One Down

My arena was finally not a soggy mess from the melted snow. I decided to lunge Tucker and Chance.

Not much to be said as both of them were quite good Boys. Both are very obedient to my voice commands, so that is a big plus. Both are also a bit on the lazy side which has its pluses and minuses. Tucker, while lazy can explode into bucks and gallops I cannot always hold on to, but today his enthusiasm was tempered with good behavior, so all was well.

Again, I set up a mini-jump at perhaps 18-24 inches. That's enough to make them jump a little without causing any kind of problems.  Tucker did get a little too forward as the jumping progressed, but he stayed on course and accepted my control with not problem. He was simply having some fun pretending he was in a  Grand Prix competition.

Chance, on the other hand, seemed to think trotting was just fine. I managed to get him into a nice canter going into the fence but he landed in a trot about half the time until I REALLY encouraged him to keep the canter. Then, he jumped quite nicely, very quietly and cantered on in a very relaxed mode. Once again, he made it look as if he'd be fun to work over some jumps under saddle. We'll see. Not only do I not have a jumping saddle any more, but I am terribly out of practice.

Still, it's a fun past time when the jumps are small and the horse willing.

One down?

My Aunt's caretaker next door is taking one of the kittens. Panda/Bandit--to be names Malachi, apparently--will be going to his new home tonight. Pat seems to be a very knowledgeable, caring cat owner, and my little furry buddy will have a good home with her.

Still working on getting Cinders placed, but I am not too optimistic about it. We'll see.

Scott, my farrier, called again today about the kittens, but now I only have one female--Coco.  I'm pretty sure the woman he knows wants kittens, and not cats. If I could find out what kind of home she offers, it would be nice for Cinders or Callie to pair up as the second female, but neither one of them is a kitten. I suspect Cinders is young, but there's no way to tell for sure.

If I end up with four new cats it's not exactly the best option, but unless I can find good homes for them, they will stay here with me.

Time will tell.

The Naming of Cats

Not An Easy Job

OK, so the cellar kitties are all doing well and the good news is that I found a relatively low cost spay/neuter clinic not too far away. $75 for both males an females and that includes the exam, rabies and distemper shots. Not a bad deal. It's only $55 for feral/stray cats, but they they "ear tip" them, by cutting off a tip of the cat's ear to identify them as neutered for any future captures.

I had Mommycat eartipped and it took forever for her ear to heal. I would rather spend the extra money and treat my strays as pets to save them from that. I still feel bad about Mommy.

I MAY have a home for the young cat, but I need to work on it. I have decided that Cinders is a good name for the gray kitty, shown above. Trying to get good pictures of constantly moving targets was not easy. Everyone was rather playful this morning.

This is Panda, the black and white kitten--or maybe Bandit. We'll see.

Then we have Coco, the little calico. Mommy is Callie and her little girl is Coco.

And finally we have Joey. I names him after the orange cat we had years ago--Big Joe.

All the white fur on the kitties is getting a little sooty as my basement is not finished and the concrete floor holds both the dirt from the furnace and years of "just being there."  As you can see, though, I did put down some rugs and the kitties seem to like them. But that doesn't stop them from frolicking in the less clean places.

Wish I had a better place to keep them, but the sunroom is not big enough for five and my house kitties would be rather put out with that kind of invasion.

I'm pretty sure Joey and Panda are boys. Callie, is, of course a female, and both Cinders and Coco are girls too.

Scott, my farrier called. The women who wanted kittens wants two females. She seems to feel the males tend to wander too much. I'm not sure about that. I have Peppercorn and he seems to stick around as did most of my other neutered males. I'm of the opinion that if they are neutered young, they tend to stay at home. Then again, I have had spayed females who tour the neighborhood too, so it could well be cat personality rather than sex determining wanderlust.

Now that everyone has a name, I am optimistic this catastrophe will work out just fine for all concerned.

CAT-astrophe!

All Is Well Except For....

The CAT-astrophe.  I currently have five stray cats living in my basement. Someone must have dropped off the family pets some time after the hurricane. My cousin next door called me to ask if I had any outdoor cats.

Well, I do. Misty and Peppercorn.

But I definitely do not have a calico mommy cat, three kittens and one juvenile gray and white beauty. That's what we eventually found last night cavorting in my Aunt's driveway.  I'd put food out for what I thought was just the Mommy and one adorable orange and white kitten--5-6 weeks old. So the gang was not starving any more when we finally saw the whole pride.

I figured the Mommy and juvenile would be OK outside with food, but I was really worried about the little ones. So I decided to shelter them in my basement, along with Mommy. Eventually I got the juvenile as well and now all are safe and sound for the time being.

Not that I need five cats!! If I can find homes for the kittens, that would be perfect, although that orange and white one is just TOOOOO cute. If Misty and Peppercorn would be accepting, I could keep Mommy as a barn kitty or a cellar/outdoor kitty. The teenager is just gorgeous, and deserves a home somewhere but some people don't want cats as opposed to kittens.

Scott, my farrier, was here today and he may know someone who wants kittens. He'd love to have one himself but apparently his wife is not "in the market for a cat."  We'll see, though. Maybe he can work something out.

Not the best pictures, but everyone was napping. The gray juvenile kitty is in the bottoms pic. Mommy is the calico on the white sheet. You can just see fur color of the orange baby and the black and white one. The third kitten is a calico like Mom.

I'll figure something out, but for now they are safe from hunters, foxes, raccoons, and all the traffic on our road.

Insult to Injury

Just Holding My Breath

The Follywoods weather report includes Mother Nature's next insult to New Jersey--a snowstorm.  My poor maple tree, still full of leaves lost another couple big branches, but so far, my power is still on.

Some of my fellow residents are not so lucky. The next road over did not have power yet as of last night, and according to Facebook posts, a number of other New Jerseyans lost power again from this storm.you can probably hear the screams of frustration all the way to the Pacific.

My biggest issue now is lack of Internet, TV, and phone. Big deal, huh? NOT!!

Verizon is giving NJ residents free air time if they exceed their minutes. ATT, my portable Internet hotspot, does not seem to be offering any relief. I called to check. But it's a $10 overage fee for each gigabyte, so I will just pay that for the one month. I don't use the wifi that much most of the time--wish that they'd roll over the unused data, but no go on that either. All the more reason to go with Verizon when I get the IPhone from my friend.

Anyhow, some gratuitous photos of the snow. More tomorrow, if I post. These may be the last from my Panasonic camera which seems to be malfunctioning.

Behold the snow:

Power!!

Just In Time for The New Storm

Well, I have a day to prepare for the nor'easter. In the morning I will go out and fill all my water tubs for the horses.

I have already run a load of wash and a load of dishes.

My desktop computer is fried or something. Not sure what's going on. If the weather does not get too bad, I will take it to Staples tomorrow. They need to save my data. I have not backed it up recently. Bummer.

I did buy some food for the fridge which is now happily running cold. I swear it's smiling.

My neighbor is coming over tomorrow to check out my new snowblower to make sure it works. I also need to put air in the tractor tire and check to make sure the tractor starts OK as I've not used it in several weeks.

After I go to Staples, I'll head over to Lowes to see if they have any heavy duty extension cords as I think the refrigerator might run better directly off the generator.

By the way, I highly recommend an LED headlamp for emergencies. I have two--one is an Energizer. It works a treat, can be angled to many levels and gives a lot of light. I used it to read and navigate both inside and outside the house.

I guess my immediate life is now dedicated to disaster preparedness. At this rate, I could teach a class.

I am quite pleased with how well I managed. Hopefully, the new generator hook up--whenever it comes--will run my water pump, and then I will feel much better. But at least I found a way to cope with limited supplies.

I have two five gallon jugs I keep filled on the back (enclosed) porch and there is another big jug for extra. That's there all the time for emergencies.

And, blessings upon my propane gas ventless fireplace, one of the best investments I've ever made. Worth it if you can get something similar.

On a sad note, my cousin's house at Long Beach Island was flooded with over 5 feet of water. He is actually hoping the house will be condemned so he can build anew. My other friend has three houses down there--two he uses for rental income. He has not been allowed on the island to see how they fared, but it sounds bad.

But the good news is that FEMA is really on top of things. My cousin already had money put in his bank account to pay for his expenses--they stayed in a hotel for a week or so. He's lucky to have a room in my Aunt's house next door until things are settled again at the shore. My other friend does not live on the
Island full time, so he's OK that way. I just wish there were something could do to make things better for them all.

Enough for now. I need to enjoy my power trip!!

And Tucker's Lost a Shoe

Well It's Been Just About Six Weeks

The Boys are due for trims/shoeing, so I can't complain too much about a missing shoe. 

However, I still do not have power. It may come on tonight or tomorrow--just in time for the next storm to hit and knock it out again. *SIGH*  

I will soon lose my mind. I went shopping and did buy some perishables. The refrigerator is totally empty and clean and I am hoping it will get cold with the generator, but the heat keeps coming on and it's either one or the other. I'm not too keen about shutting off the furnace, so heat has priority. The fridge keeps coming on, but if it's working it's not doing much yet. 

Then again, if it snows, I can just put the cold food outside. Right now it's on the porch and it's plenty cold out there. 

I called Scott, my shoer, but he needs electricity for his tools to do a proper shoeing job on Tucker. I spent about a half hour looking for the lost shoe with no luck. If power does not come on tomorrow, I will spend some more time searching. If we have power, my priority is to spend at least some time filling water containers and tubs so that if the new storm kicks out power off again, I will have emergency water again. 

This is really getting old. I am tired and as close to being depressed as I ever have been--and it takes a lot to get me depressed. 

I did go pick up 16 more bales of hay, so the stock is good for the time being. I also filled the gas cans I've emptied with the generator. 

Once again, I am about as set as I can be. 

All I can do now is watch to see if the street lamp comes on in front of the house..

Please...................

Oh, wait....story goes that despite the fact that our road is very clearly marked "CLOSED" a tractor trailer headed down, got the intersection where all the damage was being repaired and took out a bunch of overhead wires.

This story came to me from a neighbor down the road who said a policeman told him.

If so, it might explain why it's taking so long to fix things.

Hope that driver got a serious ticket!  Serious!!