Slip, Slog, Slide

Enough Already

OK, Winter, I've had enough of you this year. You certainly have a right to visit and, frankly, I do enjoy the changes of season New Jersey offers. But, to be frank, you are overstaying your welcome.

Bad enough you keep dropping snow on us. Not as much as New England, mind you, so I can't really complain too much, but enough to be annoying, especially since it seems to be every week. 4. 5. 6 inches at a time, now sitting in layers with ice down underneath somewhere.

Here's the deal. Usually you give us a respite. Days and nights of moderating temperatures break up the monotony of frozen tundra. The sun's nice this time of year when it's cold out. There's enough solar energy there to melt the more annoying snow and ice, leaving bare surfaces to ease the eyes.

But you don't think that's fair, apparently. Everytime the bare earth shows its face, you cover it back up. And speaking of cold? Don't you think you're overdoing it this year? Huh?

Do I need to be reminded every day by the weather people to bundle up for fear of frostbite. Do I need to be warned over and over that the cold can be deadly? Do I need to keep holding my breath because the next round of frigid air will be coating the roads and walkways again with snow? Does every Arctic low have to visit?

Well, at least it's New Jersey. We are, at least, fairly well prepared to deal with your tantrums. The snow plow guys are pretty efficient. Our houses are insulated and most of us have warm winter coats to wear. I mean, we do expect winter to show up eventually.

This year, once again, you decided on some vacation time down further south where people just aren't ready for your visit. And, on the way, you keep dropping off snow squalls and below zero digits here.

I'm going to be honest, here. I'm not going to miss you when you're gone. I know the groundhogs seemed to agree you had six weeks left on your lease, but if there's any way you can move along a lot sooner, I'd really appreciate it.

Go home. Your friends in the Arctic miss you.

The Trouble With Tucker

Lessons to Learn

I need to be always on guard with Tucker. Not that he intends to hurt me, but he has several issues I need to always deal with.

First, he's big. Sometimes, he doesn't realize just how big he is. Typical is his belief that he can actually fit comfortably in the feed room. I've blogged about this before. But it's a narrow place with no room to move and if I forget to put up the guard and he gets loose in the aisle, it's a disaster. He can squeeze in and then just can't get back out. There's a step up into the room and he's afraid to step back down and out so he has to turn around. There's no room unless I take everything out of the room to give him space.

Big also makes him occasionally forget how much room he needs to maneuver his body even in his stall. Sometimes, unless I am really quick to correct him, his body gets into my space when he tries to turn around. With another horse, I'd consider it crowding, but with him, it's more, "Gee, I forgot my buns were that far behind my head," kind of thing.

But there is also his attitude which is, "I'll see what I can get away with today." I was watching a training video today about teaching a horse to respect you. The exercises were great, demanding that the horse step back when you turned to face him. Just "move his feet," and you have control. Tucker's been there, done that. In fact I can almost guarantee if I or the clinician took him into a training session, he'd be a star pupil.

He's smart. Too smart for his own good. He'd pick up the point of the back up exercise after two goes. In fact, on the lead line, when I do work him---not in this sub frigid, icepack weather we're having now--he's a master of obedience.

I do intend to do some trick training with him when the weather improves and, like the obedience exercises, I'm sure he'll learn really fast.

The problem is, the lessons don't stick. Most horses I've had learn a good behavior and stick to it, with minimal need for correction as time goes on. Not Tucker. And it's not that he doesn't understand the lesson or know what he's "supposed" to do. He just decides to test the limit to see if he "has" to do it.

I mentioned his challenging me at Toby's door. We have reached the point where if I am in the barn, or at least within "shoutshot" of the barn, I can usually stop him from barging in to steal Toby's food. I've made that point often enough that he gets it.

But if I turn my back or go around the corner out of sight?  He's up to his old tricks.

Practically every bit of training I've don with him demands the same kind of vigilance and absolute consistency
on my part. Walk/trot transitions? Well, if he feels like it just perfect from the get go. But there's always the day I'll get a snarl instead. Leg yields, half passes, canter departs, reinbacks? You name it. No guarantee.
Some days, he just "has to think about it first."  Oh, yes, and I have to ask politely. Otherwise, I'm being "rude." (So he said to the animal communicator.)

Tucker eating from the bird feeder. Hey, it's food!

On the other hand, he was quite delighted to learn how to roll the big soccer ball around by pushing it with his nose. He'd to that 100% of the time. Why? He got a treat. There was something in it for him. 

So, that's the key. I need to find the "something in it for Tucker" for each good behavior I demand.

A pocket full of carrots ought to do the trick.

Awaiting the Arctic Clipper

Or Whatever It Is

Not much to do for the Boys as the frigid air comes in. They have shelter and they have blankets. They have hay and water as long as the power stays on. If the power goes out due to the high winds, I have the generator, which I hope will work this time to run everything.

I did a bit of research online and found that horses are generally fine even in sub zero temperatures as long as they have shelter and can stay dry.  All bases covered here.

I do remember well over twenty years ago that we had a dreadful cold snap. It was so bad I tried to wash something off the barn wall with warm water and the water froze to ice instantly. That was in February too, as I recall.

The problem with this cold front is the predicted wind. The huge nasty storm will pass east of here so we won't be getting the snow--sorry New England--but the wind gusts are supposed to be very powerful. All I can do is hope no trees fall on the power lines.

Which brings me to more news. I have a new neighbor. A very nice young man is moving into my Aunt's house next door. I walked over to introduce myself today. I only mention him because of the power worries. Apparently the electric company is having trouble figuring out where his house is located so he can switch the billing over.

Typical.

Here's the problem. Our mailing address is Jamesburg. Our zip code is shared by Jamesburg and Monroe Township. Confusing enough. But, we don't live in Monroe Township. We live in South Brunswick Township. Jamesburg is in Monroe Township, however. I could add more confusion about how our road's name is similar to another road which is in Monroe Township, but I won't even bother. Suffice it to say that addresses have caused confusion in the past. "Back in the day" when telephone exchanges actually meant something, our exchange began with a prefix that was listed as Monmouth Junction, a town in South Brunswick about 5-7 miles from here. The telephone company listed our mailing address as Monmouth Junction--which had its own separate post office--instead of Jamesburg--the post office that delivers our mail.  Needless to say, things often went astray.

So, my new neighbor is struggling with the electric company so they don't turn off service to the house now that he owns it instead of my cousin.

I think a power outage would be the last straw at this point.

Hay Update

Well, Hunger Works

I did as I'd planned and skimped on the other "style" of hay when the Boys decided to leave piles of good hay uneaten.

Apparently, I forced them to finally clean their plates....well mostly. There was still some hay dragged about the stalls, but it really wasn't much. As I said, I know it was perfectly good hay, just not, apparently to their liking at the moment.

As we all know, when it's cold out, hay is a really important part of the horse's diet. That and a good supply of fresh water are all a horse really needs to stay warm and fed.

My Boys do get both hay and grain three times a day, however. Toby, being older, does need that extra supplementation of some denser nutrition. He gets Purina Healthy Edge which has Amplify in it.  Tucker and Chance get a smaller portion of Healthy Edge and a scoop of Hay Stretcher pellets. Everyone gets a serving of alfalfa cubes in the morning as well.

The water trough has an electric heater and I also regularly soak the grain with hot water during the colder weather. This way, I know each horse is getting at least some water. In general, all three Boys are good drinkers, though, so I don't have to worry about that too much.

They also have plenty of shelter options. There is a run in roof on each side of the barn and the stall doors to the outside are always open so they can get inside for more protection. The is also a run in shed in the riding arena available all the time, and my property has lines of trees along the pasture and the other end of the riding arena.

Still, the Boys often hang out outside, unsheltered when the weather is bad. I'm not sure why that is, but one of my riding instructors suggested that horses prefer to be out in the open when the weather is bad so they can keep on the lookout for predators and be free of the noise of wind/rain etc. on the barn roofs and walls.

Personally, I think they like to stand outside, heads lowered, looking miserable so passing motorists will see them and feel sorry for them.

I keep expecting a call from animal control about how I'm neglecting them.

Yeah, fed three times a day.

Picky, Picky

Horse Tastes

I gave each one of the Boys a nice healthy serving of hay last night from a new bale. The hay was from the same supplier and load where I buy it, so there was no change.

Except that this hay had a slightly different texture. It was less coarse, softer, and "grassier."  Well, apparently, the sophisticated palates of my little herd were offended. They each left a good healthy pile of good, uneaten hay in their stalls for me to find this morning.

Well, now. They certainly can't be very hungry if they leave good hay like that. It was fresh, well cured and just fine quality. Of all the hay I have, I thought it had the nicest texture.

Proves what I know about hay. I scooped it all back into nice piles in their stalls and gave them each a much lighter feed of the second bale--coarser stuff--I'd carted across the ice to the barn.

If they still have piles of uneaten hay in their stalls when I go back out for dinner feed, I am not going to give them any more. They'll have to wait until late night feed for new stuff. I'm hoping the "sit at the table until you finish your dinner" approach will encourage better eating habits.

I can't see a thing wrong with the first hay. I guess it's just not the right flavor of the month?

Voting at BookBzz for my Novel!!

Kingdom Beyond the Rim  PrizeWriter Finalist

As I've told you, my fantasy novel, Kingdom Beyond the Rim was selected as a finalist in the BookBzz 2015 Prizewriter competition.

Now it's time for the public to vote for the winner.

I'd really appreciate your support. Voting is easy. There are other books to vote for as well in other categories, so you might want to explore the site a little.

Please vote here for Kingdom Beyond the Rim:

2015 Prizewriter Voting: Fantasy

Fitness Training

No, Not the Horses

Too darn cold for my old bones to try riding right now.  I used to be out in the saddle in all kinds of weather and actually relished the days when the frozen ground was covered in a nice layer of snow.

Snow is great to ride in provided you know the basic lie of the ground you're riding on. It's not too great on woodland trails where the odd fallen tree branch might be covered and lying just where your horse will trip over it. But fields and riding arenas covered in snow are great.  In the old days I even used to practice my jumping skills in the snow. Shoe you horse with proper snowshoes or have him go barefoot, and you're set to go.

Well, that's the old days. Now with my hip still not fully stretched for the saddle and a body not at all fit, I'm just hanging out inside, waiting for Spring thaw.

Except when it comes to the barn chores. Unlike a motorcycle that can spend the icy season content and ignored in the garage, a horse needs care.  And winter care can often be even more important that warm weather care.

Horses need plenty of water even in the winter. Hoses freeze, so aside from lugging out my coil hose, I often find it easier to simply lug buckets of water to the trough.  5 gallons at a time?  About 35-40 pounds, depending on how full I make the bucket. Weightlifting. Good exercise.

And then The Boys need a lot of hay to keep their digestion going and their bodies warm.  Carting the bale from the shed to the barn across the lawn either by sled if there's hefty snow cover, or cart if the path is clear?  Works the arms, back, and legs.  Hay bale weight?  Probably 30- 40 pounds depending on the bale's size.

Of course, when I do go buy a load of hay and drive it home in my SUV, I'm the one who has to unload and stack it.  Today? twenty-two bales.  Repetitive weight training.

Then there's the feed. Once again, eleven bags of feed at 50 pounds apiece, unloaded from the truck into the storage cans inside the barn. There's a step up into the feed room and a step back down. Step up with the 50 pound burden, step down without. Stair step training and more weight work.

Add to that 6 bales of shavings into the barn aisle through the feed room. Not so heavy, maybe 25-30 pounds?  Step up into the feed room, down into the barn. Stair training both ways.

One more task to be done aside from the minimal effort the actual feeding takes, and that's cleaning stalls. Swinging the forkfuls of manure is akin to a lightweight kettleball session and some torso flexing exercises.

Pushing the filled wheelbarrow to the manure pile works the legs, arms and back.  Effort and energy output increases with the amount in the barrow and the depth of the snow traversed. I did shovel a path to the pile, so that added to the flexing exercises, but any path through the snowpack has its flaws, enough to add to the wheel resistance and increase the calorie burn of the work.

Time spent in my workout?  Who pays attention to the clock when there's work to be done?  Well, at least when there's horse work to be done.  Time stands still in the barn and its environs. Most of us work until the job is done.

Let's just say I had a fair amount of exercise today and all of it actually accomplished something.

Be Not Deceived

There Was Still Snow

OK, so we were spared the horrible blizzard predicted. The storm tracked some fifty miles east of the projected track and saved us from many feet of snow.

But do not be deceived. 8 inches or so is plenty for me. And it was more than enough to plow.

I was out early, around 8:30 or so, and plowed the driveway. Since then another inch or so has fallen, but if the sun comes out as predicted, some of that will melt. At least the driveway is navigable.

Some people are being super critical of the weather forecasters' failure to call this storm correctly. It is a blizzard hitting New England now even as I write, but it never did develop into the monster that was supposed to hit Central New Jersey. Fine by me. I'd much rather be overly prepared for a storm than never happens than not prepared for one that does.

We need to be mindful of the lessons of hurricanes Irene and Sandy, both of which were underestimated by forecasters and residents alike. The damages and power outages were devastating. I, at least, was prepared for Sandy--so I thought--until the brand new generator I bought failed to work.  I did have water stocked up for both the horses and me, and plenty of batteries.

My cousins, who live at the Jersey shore were all ready to ride the storm out until mandatory evacuations forced them inland. Good thing as their house was seriously damaged from ocean flooding. Many people ignored the storm warnings and suffered the consequences.

When it comes to nature's caprices, no matter how many computer models and forecasting tools we have, there is always the chance we'll be wrong. I'm grateful this time the forecasts were wrong.

Meantime, a few pictures to prove the storm really did drop by.

Not sure where the horses were when I took the camera outside. They may have been in the barn eating their hay. If I see them out later I will snap a few pics of them in the snow to share.

Awaiting the Blizzard

Prepared?

I am as prepared as I can be for the predicted blizzard.

In case you haven't heard, the middle portion of the East Coast is under a blizzard watch with the possibility of 1-2 feet of snow or more. It's never a certainty, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

So:
I filled up two gas cans with gasoline for my generator.
I filled up another five gallon can of diesel for the tractor.
The tractor has been repaired and should be in top running order. (Just like last January...(*sigh* huge repair bill two years running)
I have hay for the Boys.
I have grain for the Boys.
I have plenty of cat food.
I have milk, bread, eggs, cold cuts and plenty of food on hand.
The generator can be hooked up to run the whole house. It too underwent a repair over the summer, and I've run it several times since.
The snow blower may be ready to go, but if the snow is too deep, that's a lost cause.
I have heating oil.
I have propane for the gas fireplace.
I have plenty of indoor work to do.
The Boys are dressed in waterproof winter turnouts.
I will put some hay inside the barn tomorrow before things get too bad in the afternoon.
My warm, waterproof snowplowing clothes are at hand.
Oh yes...the ultimate snow insurance: Tucker and Chance both have studded snowshoes and pads. Toby's barefoot, so he's a given.

Does that last item on the list mean the storm will take a sudden turn out to sea?

Meanwhile I had a practice snowplowing run yesterday when I cleaned up the driveway after the 6 or so inches of very wet and heavy snow we had Friday night. The only disadvantage of that is that now there are snow piles in some of the places I will need to pile the snow if this storm is as big as predicted.

On the possible plus side, if it is as predicted, the snow will probably be dry and fluffy which does make it much easier to move out of the way. The last storm the darn stuff was really heavy and hard to shovel. Bless the tractor as it made it so much easier to clear a path from the barn to the house so I didn't have to shovel.

So now we wait.

More Magic

Visit the Way of Mirrors

As we await the first real snow of the season--an inch or so tonight and who knows what on Saturday, I've been working on my books.

Well, I did get grain and hay today and I had the tractor repaired for a small fortune. But I will be able to dig out of a snowstorm if we get one.

Meantime, my wonderful friend, David Melanson, has created a new Magiskeep picture. This one is of the Way of Mirrors. You can read all about it at my Magikseep blog--click on the book to the right to get there.

I love the way Dave managed to capture so many personalities of my hero, Jamus, as he faces his various reflections in the mirrors of the Way.

Dave is amazing, almost magical.

Goodbye, Christmas

It's Official

Finally I had a day warm enough to take down my outdoor Christmas decorations. It's always a little sad saying goodbye to the holiday season and I must admit the fences and front of the house look a little drab and empty now, but it was more than time.

Fortunately even the ground had thawed enough that I was able to pull up the stakes on my Pegasus.  Now, of course, I just remembered I never took a picture of the new addition to my decor.  I did find his picture on the Internet:
He really is quite pretty lit up at night.  I am trying to find a companion to put on the other side of the porch, but so far no luck.

I got him at a great price from.....Walmart.  He may have been the last one in stock. He was selling on eBay for over twice the price I paid, so I didn't buy a buddy there.

Trying to find outdoor Christmas horses is not easy. There are some really cute horse and carriage combos, but they too are quite expensive, comparatively speaking.  I am currently toying with the idea of somehow making a horse sculpture of my own, but that may be beyond my skill level. At least I have a year to think about it.

Meantime, I just keep searching the Internet for a good deal.

Now the decorations are packed away and stashed back down in the basement. Not the neatest pile at this point but like a lot of things, someday I'll get around to organizing it.

So, another Christmas passes and with it a new year begins. The decoration take down was the final moment for me.  Now all that's left is looking forward to Spring.

I need to stretch those riding muscles, that's for sure. Chance and I have some trails to ride, and Tucker and I need to find some way to have fun in the arena. I honestly don't think I'm going to risk him back out on the trails. I hate to be a quitter, but wisdom prevails. I will take him out for handwalks, though, just to let him see the sights.

And then, of course, there is Toby. If he keeps up the enthusiasm for little short trail rides he showed last Spring, then he's on the list to go out too. Christina wants me to ride her Arabian, JJ again as well, so I do need to get myself fit.

It guess just like Christimas, the time will come. I just need to work a little harder getting ready.

Greed

The Nerve of Some People's Horses

Actually it's my own horse, Tucker.  A hulking 17 hand hulk of a Thoroughbred, Tucker has always had a high opinion of himself.  He's been a trial to train and yes, he's the one responsible for the whatever he did when the tree knocked me off his back and I broke my hip.

Toby and Tucker on a summer day.

He's been to "boot camp" with Kenny Harlow and definitely learned respect there, but even when he first came home, he would test his boundaries. He's perpetually the challenging teenager checking to see just how far he can go and how much he can get away with.

Correct him Monday through Saturday for his behavior and turn your back on Sunday, and he's up to his old tricks.

Being such a big boy, he likes to use his size to intimidate. Fortunately, he's not the herd boss. Toby is, so that's good. But as the "middle child" he does pick on Chance, especially at feeding time. When I call the Boys in to their stalls, Tucker will herd Chance away from the barn and into the riding arena before he comes in for his feed.

Toby's and Tucker's stalls are side by side on the east side of the barn and Chance's stall is alone on the west side. All the stalls have outside doors that lead to the paddock and I keep them open all the time so the horses have free access to their stalls 24/7.

When I feed, I put the grain in their stalls and generally leave them to eat while I do other chores.

Despite his size, Tucker gets less food than Toby who is older and needs more to keep up his weight.

With Toby as the alpha horse this should be just fine because he certainly can protect his feed should a certain big bay decide to enter his stall to steal a few bites. But Toby cribs and when he eats he often stops to suck on the edges of his stall....metal protected.

Cue the greedy neighbor.

When he sees Toby leave his feed tub, Tucker charges into Toby's stall and goes for the feed. Lost in the haze of endorphins, Toby doesn't always send him packing until Tucker's managed to get is some pretty greedy bites.

Time for an intervention? Yes.

This morning I was right there standing in Toby's outside door when Tucker tried to make on of his raids.

Now, he does respect me and my space enough not to charge right over me, so he stopped. Then he laid his ears back flat and made threatening faces at me. I stood my ground and said, "Don't even think it."

He took a step to the side actually, it seemed, thinking he might be able to get around me all the while snaking his head with those flat ears trying to intimidate me. I stared him down and ordered him back to his own stall where he still had nearly all his alfalfa cubes to eat.  He made one more half-hearted feint for Toby's door and then marched back to his own feed in a pout.

I swear, we could do this dance a hundred times and if we reached one hundred one and I happened to turn my back, he'd be right in Toby's stall guzzling that food.

It's not that he can't be disciplined, nor controlled, he just looks for any opportunity to get away with things.

Too many brains in that head of his.

Good News Bad News Again

Vet Visit

Dr. Klayman came back out today to evaluate Chance after his Osphos injection.  As you may recall, Chance was heel sore and limping. X-rays showed possible navicular changes. Osphos is a newly released drug in the US and Chance was the first horse my vet injected with his sample dose.

Well, as I noted a week or so ago when Chance was sound despite missing one front shoe, lo and behold, on the hard ground--freezing temps again--he looked really good on both front feet. It's the best I've seen him going since his Lyme disease treatments.

So much for the good. I was wondering why Dr.Klayman keep us lunging once it was clear there was no limp in front. The reason? A slight lameness in the right hind.

OK, Ever since I first adopted Chance, that right hind has been a bit problematic. Despite several soundness exams, we've never quite found anything, although at one point I did have his hock injected.

Well, today, there was some fluid in his stifle joint. Mind you, all along, Scott, my farrier has been convinced there was something wrong in that leg "higher up," and he suggested stifle. But up until today there were no specific symptoms.

This time we X-rayed Chance's stifle and sure enough, he has OCD.  Part of his tibia never fully developed leaving a gap in the bone/joint area.  Where the bone is supposed to be rounded, it's flat.

So? He will probably never be quite sound there without radical treatment--surgery. We so suspect it's essentially inherited rather than due to an injury and he's been living with it all his life.

For now, we elected to do nothing. Until we see how the front end maintains soundness, there's no reason to take dramatic efforts to do much with the hind end. Since he's actually quite happy as he is when the weather gets better, I can trail ride him and see how things progress.

All I really want to do is trail ride anyhow. I seem to have lost the competitive gene, so just doing a big of schooling now and then and meandering around on the trails is just fine. For serious arena work, I do have Tucker when the training mood strikes,  of course. And I can still ride Toby as well, so I'm certainly not lacking horsepower.

It just means that any plans to really do serious training with Chance are kind of on hold.  There are injections that can help, as well as  painkillers rather than resorting to surgery. My research on such surgeries suggests mixed results anyhow, so we might want to just wait and see rather than doing too much all at once.

So, not entirely a good result. The sad part is that Chance is really the sweetest, most level headed, well behaved horse I've ever had. He is truly a joy to ride.  I just want him to be happy when he's under saddle.  I think if we stick to the trails, he will be.

Water, Water

Everywhere, Especially in the Barn

Got the water working. As I suspected the valve/pipe was frozen in the well pit.

I put the electric heater in there for about an hour and a half, and sure enough, the water was working again in the barn.  I put a styrofoam cooler over the valve with a plastic bag inside full of hay. Then I put another bag with hay on top and a winter horse blanket. For now, I'll leave the blanket, but I want to have it in the barn for the horses. I'll find something insulating in the house to replace it tomorrow and put in some more insulating hay.

I waited until it had warmed up a bit in the afternoon to tackle the job. I had to cart a step ladder out there so I could climb in and out of the pit, and it took two extension cords to make it all the way. With my knees, it was a pretty tiring job. But I managed just fine.

And I had some more exercise carting buckets of water from the house again in the meantime to fill the water trough.  Glad I don't have to do that again...well, unless the insulation doesn't work and the valve freezes again. Left all the gear in the barn so if I do need to do the job again the stuff is handy.

Missed "kodak moment"
I meant to tell you all about this yesterday and forgot with the water crisis. I missed a wonderful funny photo opportunity by not stopping on the way to and from the hay place to take a picture. I only had my flip camera, but I think it does have a camera. When I finally realized I had that option, the picture was gone.

So, let words do.

There, by the side of the road was a garbage can with a deer draped over it. Antlers sagging, head drooping, a sad picture for sure.

The punch line? It was one of those nylon Christmas inflatables that apparently had outlived its inflatable life.

Dead draped deer on a garbage can

Memory of time gone by

Flanked by puddled snowman

Despite the freezing temps.

Red suited Santa dieted from

Fat to flat 

Heaped forgotten on the lawn.

Someone

Let the air out of Christmas.

Oh Well

Hope It's Just the Deep Freeze

Some of you may recall I had issues with my barn pump/well over the summer. All was repaired and everything's been working properly until....

Tonight.

The system is a gravity drain so as long as the hose in the barn is disconnected, the water runs back down the line to the well, draining the spigot in the barn. So that's not a problem. And the spigot itself worked just fine. No water came out.

I am guessing the valve and pipes in the well pit itself froze up. They had been buried under a foot or so of dirt last year, much to my surprise. I thought they were just insulated with bags of straw and leaves, but apparently a groundhog had excavated and buried everything in sand. My plumber dug it all up, then reburied all but the top pipe and a valve...I think. If so, that's probably frozen.  I should have investigated when it was warmer and put some insulation in there, but, of course, I didn't. Chalk another failure up to recovering from a broken hip.

If I'm right and that's all that's wrong, I can remedy it. Tomorrow, in the daylight, I will put an electric heater in the well pit to thaw things out. Then, I'll put the insulation in.  I have to run and extension cord to the well from the barn across the paddock, so that's just a little worry with the Boys out there but I may have some PVC pipes I can run the cord through.

Meanwhile, I had to lug water buckets from the kitchen sink out to the barn. I used the 5 gallon buckets so they were pretty heavy. It's maybe 100 ft from house to barn, and it wore me out. The fact that I had also made three trips to my hay farmer to get 30 bales of hay--10 at a time in the Durango--unloaded and stacked that didn't help.  I should be in better shape, but I'm not, so it was a lot of work.
If the well doesn't work, I guess my exercise level will be elevated pretty quickly.

I'm apparently on a forced fitness program whether I want to be or not.  *S*

There's plenty of water in the lake across the road. Frozen too. 

Break Out the Buckets

The Hose is "Froze"

So, the Polar Vortex finally struck. Or at least a devastating cold front hit New Jersey. We had a dusting of snow yesterday and now it's well below freezing outdoors.

The Boys are sporting brand new winter blankets, and they have plenty of shelter if they need to get out of the wind. The sun is out too, and that does warm things up a little.

The ground is like a rock and, of course the hose from the barn spigot to the water trough is frozen. I have two options. One is a coil hose I keep on the porch and bring inside to lie in the bathtub in really freezing weather. (My back porch, though enclosed, is not heated.)  If I think it's just a short cold snap, I will usually fill the water trough carrying buckets of water.

It took twelve trips with the 2.5 gallon buckets last night to fill the trough. I have bigger buckets, but they can get a bit heavy for me at times when I have to lug them through Toby's stall and out to the trough. Besides, it's good exercise, considering that I do need to do some walking to lose the weight I gained during the holidays. I figured out is was about 435 steps making the twelve trips back and forth, and that's carrying a bit over 16 pounds in one direction. Not exactly a top level workout, but a good start considering I'm not in shape right now.

It has taken "forever" to get over my broken hip and it's still sore sometimes. My knees, despite the replacements aren't that great comfort-wise either, but I won't complain. Not only is there no point, but complaining only makes is worse. Better to ignore things and just go on carrying those buckets.

Don't know if I mentioned it, but I will be getting allergy tested to see if I am allergic to the metals in my replacements. But that's another day and will leave plenty of questions to be answered. Meantime I go merrily on my way.

Which brings me right back to that "froze hose."  Somewhere on the rather messy porch is the coil hose, If I want to dig it out, I need to some major porch cleaning. Subzero temperatures do not make that a happy prospect either.

Reorganizing the porch was something I should have done in better weather. Then again, the porch was relatively reorganized before I broke my hip and suffered a lot of disorganizing when my friends dropped in to do the house cleaning intervention. It didn't help that I wasn't exactly in shape to do a lot of re-reorganizing while I was recovering.

But, as with all housecleaning, I really have no excuses in the end. I need some motivation to get going when it comes to it.

Maybe the "froze hose" will do the trick.

Hay Piles and Horse Psychology

Three for Three??

When the weather's decent, I put the hay out in the paddock on the ground for the Boys. Feeding them outside keeps the stalls cleaner and is essentially more natural.

But it's an interesting set of herd dynamics that emerge when I do.  "The grass is always greener, and I want what you have," seems to be the dominating principle.

Three horses, three piles of hay. Makes sense, yes?

To humans, maybe, but not to horses.  It always seems to turn into "hay carousel."

Chance is usually low man in the herd. The hay is nearest his stall so he's usually first to it.  Then along comes Tucker and herd boss, Toby.  No matter whether Chance is at the farthest pile or the nearest, Tucker will usually chase him away and start to eat from that pile. Invariably, the little gang plays musical hay pile for a while until they finally settle into some serious eating.

Today, Toby and Tucker ended up together at one pile, with Chance alone at a second pile, and the third pile completely abandoned by horse.

Now, it just so happened that the third pile was from a different bale and, even though all the hay is from the same load, it does vary in texture and make up. I think the third pile is a little softer blades so it's quite possible it is tastier, especially to 25 year old Toby.

However, I'm sure that even if I had put out four piles all from the same bale, or five piles from the same bale the hay carousel would still spin on.

I suspect it had something to do with herd hierarchy and horse dominance.  The herd boss would, of course, want the best food available.  So it's up to him to pick and choose. The "wannabe" boss would demand the best of the rest by chasing off the lower ranking horses.

What's kind of interesting out there now is that the Alpha and Beta horses are eating together. I'm not sure if they are bonded in some kind of alliance or whether Toby is just sick and tired of always having to put pushy Tucker back in his place.  (Oh, by the way, that's Toby cribbing between hay bites.)

The other day, however, Chance and Toby were hanging out together head to head while Tucker was off on the other side of the barn in his own little world. That went on for a couple days before the situation readjusted.

I have also seen Chance and Tucker together with Toby off my himself, though not as often.

Apparently, it's "pick and choose your buddy of the day" around here.

Just like it's "pick and choose your hay pile of the day."

Article in the local paper about me and my novels:

News Article

Happy New Year!

To One And All

S-h-h-h, Don't Say It Too Loudly

I'm Holding My Breath

Nearly two months ago, my vet was out for fall shots. As you may recall, he gave Chance in injection of Osphos, a new drug just released in the US for treating navicular disease. I has be used under the name of Tildrin in Europe for some time with good results.

Today, since the weather was beautiful, my cold was feeling better, and the footing the the arena was quite good, I decided to lunge Chance just a little to see how he looked. He was lame when Dr. Klayman was here.

Well, of course, Chance had lost a shoe. Darn. These are orthopedic shoes, egg bar with wedge pads. So losing one is certainly going to mess up his gait.

But wait! The ground was soft, so I decided to try a couple lunging circles anyhow.

On the left. Sound.

On the right, Sound.

There was no sign of a limp at all and no unevenness in his gait due to the lost shoe.

I quit, set him free with a happy sigh and haltered Tucker for a little bit of work.

Well, two sound horses in one day has been pretty rare lately, so seeing him move happily off with two shoes still on made my smile even bigger. I took off his sheet and gave him about a ten minute work leaving his sheet off at the end since it was so warm.

I took off Chance's sheet too, and headed for Toby who promptly trotted off--also beautifully sound--to escape me until he realized all I intended was to undress him for the rest of the sunny afternoon.

I'm not going to brag about the Osphos. Not yet. One never knows.

We'll get that shoe back on and see how things go. I know Dr. Klayman wants to see Chance soon. Here's hoping shoes and soundness will be intact when he comes.

If so, then we can both give the drug a potential thumbs up.

Happiest of Holidays

Feeling Poorly

I have been a little sick the last few days so I haven't blogged or done too much else.

So, now is the time to wish you all the best of Season's Greetings. May your heart and homes be filled with love, laughter, and joy.

And Just How Did You Get Undressed?

And Where Did You Leave Your Clothes?

The Land of Lost Socks has nothing compared to the Land of Lost Horsewear.

Now, mind you, the Horsewear Black Hole includes more than just socks. Actually socks usually stay on the horse despite his efforts to go naked from the pastern down.  It does include: horseshoes, bell boots, halters, flymasks, and blankets of all sorts.

I do often find the lost items months later when I am dragging the fields or the arena, or simply out hiking across the pasture to bring one of the Boys in for a ride. Last month, on "lead the colicky horse around the pasture" mission, I spied a flysheet buried in a weedy section of the field.  I didn't retreive at then, and with the rain and other " not get home until dark" days, I haven't pulled it out of its hiding place yet. Frankly, I forgot.

Today reminded me. When I went out to feed the Boys dinner, I found Tucker naked. Where was his Rambo sheet? OK, I'll admit one the belly straps needed some TLC, but still, it had stayed on for well over two weeks after the strap malfunction. What happened today?

As it was nearly dark, I did not go on a search mission. It was getting chilly and I need to brush off the mud off his coat and get Tuck dressed again for the night. I had to rummage through a pile of "needing some repair" sheets and blankets to find one to dress him in.  Mission accomplished, the sun set behind us and I decided tomorrow was another day. (Scarlett was right.)

I suspect finding the Rambo will be easier than the last lost bell boot or Chance's special orthopedic shoe and pad, but I am just wondering what condition it will be in.

I once owned two Rambo lightweight sheets. Rambo claims indestructibility...well almost. These sheets have been around for a good number of years, so the claim must have some merit. Yet anyone who knows horses, nothing is indestructible in the face of a determined horse. The "other" Rambo is lying on the tack trunk in a rather tattered state. I have a bad habit of just piling up the torn outfits to wait for the day when I either decide they are too far gone to save, or I go to it repairing them.

Since Rambo #2 was only suffering from a broken surcingle, it may yet have another life. On the other hand, if it looks anything like Rambo #1, the cause may be lost.

The dawn--well perhaps 8:30 AM will bring the answer. After I feed, I will go on the great sheet hunt.

Oh, yes, maybe I'll pull that flysheet out of its gravesite too. It deserves a proper burial.

Change Rein

OK, The Dressage People Understand the Joke

For the rest of you, we did a little modification of the book cover.

Herewith, the newer version:

Reins shortened, ears up more, Whim's eyes more open.

If you can do a close up look at the other Jamus in the waterfall, you can see he has a nasty look on his face.

See anything missing?

Into detail?

Here is the final version of the picture without the text. See if you can spot the difference. (Aside from the missing text.)

New Book Cover

Silvrin Shards Cover

Some of you may remember the title to my fourth book was going to be Cave of Shadows.  If you don't remember, that's just fine. Since then the stories to be included have evolved in a slightly different direction.

As a result, since they all will be involved with twisted reflections from the Way of Mirrors--you do need to read the book to fully understand--I've changed the title.

Silvrin Shards now works better. "Silvrin" is the stuff mirrors are made of in Magiskeep. "Shards" are, of course, broken bits of mirrors. They will reflect only parts of the world, offering a distorted view of reality. Strange things happen in a world where reflections and reality touch and it's hard to tell where one begins and the other ends.

So, taking a scene from one of the stories, Dave Melanson has designed a new cover for me. Since it features Whim so brilliantly, I thought you all might like to see it.

I love it!

And, ah, yes, perceptive viewers. That is Jamus' and Whim's reflection emerging from the waterfall. One has to wonder what will happen next.

Look for Silvren Shards in early February, 2015.

Off Topic, Fallen Heroes

Not Horses This Time

I am sorry to hear the accusations against Bill Cosby.  I am not one of those people who puts all kinds of celebrities on my list of most admired people. I am not a big fan of any rock stars, or actors, or politicians, in general.

My list of public people I really respect is very short.  But, of late, I have been repeatedly disappointed by the few people I have admired more than most.

First, there was Tiger Woods. What disappointed me the most about him was that he put on the facade of morality as a role model for sportsmen and young golfers.  Behind the scenes, he was another kind of person. Fortunately, I still respect his superior skills as a golfer and can admire all the hard work he's putting into reestablishing his career after all the scandals.

Then, along came Lance Armstrong. I was in awe of his cycling skills, his personal battle to overcome cancer and his efforts to better people's lives through the Livestrong Foundation. He fell from grace once he admitted to using performance enhancing drugs over the years in order to win. Apparently, he too is trying to remold his life and his image, but all those victories in one of the most grueling races in the world have been wiped out by his cheating.

Now, Bill Cosby seems to be falling from grace as well. Again, he was a man I admired. First, he is a stellar comedian with a unique perspective on human beings. I can still well remember two of his comedy routines I adored--one about a visit to the dentist office and another about a balky Volkswagen. Yet, now it appears this talented spokesman for education, proper behavior, and humor in our lives has lived a horribly immoral life and may well be guilty of some serious sex crimes.

I do not choose idols easily. Nor do I worship them as some fans might. Yet when one falls off the pedestal so dramatically, I still feel let down.

These men, of course, are not the only famous people who have lost their good reputations. One after another, celebrities seem to find it hard to be "good people" in the face of fame and fortune. Most of the time, they don't matter much to me. These three men did.

Lesson learned?  I doubt that I will look for true heroes much anymore.

Maybe it's another perk of my writing fantasy. I can create my own heroes and keep them from falling with just a flourish of the pen.

Little Bit of Colic

Despite My Better Efforts

As I mentioned in the last post, I have been wetting the Boys' feed with hot water every day.

I do not give bran mashes since bran actually causes digestive problems and that's why horses often have loose manure after eating it. So it's off the list of feeds. Instead, I just water down the pelleted feed to make a hot mash. Might add a few carrots now and then just for fun.

I've been doing that for days.

Today it was warm again...no jacket weather for me. The Boys were naked. But there was another weather front on the way with some rain coming and cooler temperatures.

I stuck to the wet feed schedule.

When I came back from the feed store with a load of grain, Toby was lying down in the riding arena. He was also looking at his belly now and then.

I watched him for a bit to assure myself he wasn't going to roll and unloaded the feed. In the meantime, he got up and followed the other Boys to the barn. Then he promptly lay down again under the run in shed.

Since I'd seen him pawing when he was up, I was pretty sure he was having a colic episode.

I considered calling my vet but then decided to walk him a little first to see if it made any difference. I got him to his feet and led him around the riding arena a few times. Then, thinking that hills can actually help, we went out into the pasture and walked around it twice, up and down the fairly steep hill. As we moved along, Toby perked up and seemed to be acting much happier.

I fed everyone then, giving Toby a lighter ration than usual. He ate happily.

I just went out a while ago to check on him and put the rainsheets back on my little herd. The temperature must have dropped ten degrees and the rain was cold. I gave each Boy another flake of hay and will go out for late night snacks around midnight.

So far, so good. I'm hoping the colic is over. I know the changes in the weather certainly aren't.

Weather This or Whether That

Will It Ever Make Up Its Mind?

The Boys are naked again. The temperature was up into the 50'sF today and will be again tomorrow. Some time early this morning, another weather front came through to chase out the frigid Arctic air to replace it with warmer breezes.

Times like this, it's good the Boys are in the back yard. I can go out and change their outfits almost at will.

If you are like many of the horsemen I know, you too keep a sharp eye on the weather forecasts. I have to admit, during the past ten years or less, they have been better and better at making accurate predictions.

Gone are the days of the TV weatherman with his little barometer and flow chart guessing what the next day would bring. Now he's backed up by hundreds of sophisticated instruments, satellites, and computer models all destined to predict exactly what the next day's temperatures will be within one degree.

Well, sort of.

Mother Nature has a way of fooling even the wisest computer, it seems. A storm was coming up along the East Coast, ready to knock out Thanksgiving travel all along the NY metropolitan area. We were all braced and ready, our eyes riveted to one weather map after another.

The dire predictions for my area never came true. By the day of "The Storm" we had fizzled down to a wet, soggy dusting of snow determined to make mud of every square inch of bare ground.  As glad as I was of missing "the Big One,"  the sopping ground and muddy pits certainly made another kind of mess of things.

I am putting ex fence rails out for wheelbarrow ramps so I can wheel the stall cleanings out to the manure pile without getting stuck. It's great fun trying to keep the wheel on an eight inch wide ramp while slipping and sliding off it myself.

But the guardian of the weather did not leave us there. Oh, no. Thanksgiving night, she dropped the temperatures well below freezing just for the fun of it. I had to give my new car's defroster a thorough workout just to clear enough frost/ice off my windshield so I could drive the hours home from my friend's wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner party.

Bitter chill wind and cold air tormented me for the next two days until today...when the new pattern arrived.

I am giving the Boys hot mash feed every night. Just adding hot water to their pelleted feed. Toby, in particular seems to really enjoy it. At least it gets a little extra water into them and makes me feel as if I've warmed them up a bit.

Meantime, I just keep an eye on the weather, wondering what tomorrow will bring.

Boys on the Loose

Whither Doth Thou Wander?

I went out to feed the Boys this morning and....there were no Boys to feed.

I soon found a section of the back fence rails knocked down with tell tale hoof print next to it.  The only good thing was that this section opened into the woods, and it would be tricky for the Boys to get out to the road from there. The bad thing is that it is deer hunting season.

I hiked out to the woods at once. A hunter up in a tree blind called down to me to tell me the Boys had been by about a half hour before. He'd called to them, they'd stopped and then taken off to the west.

Darn. It would have been better if they'd headed the other way out to the fields instead of the deeper woods.

My grain bucket, lead ropes and halter hiked around out there for over an hour, looking for them. I called, rattled the bucket, and searched to no avail.

At that point I figured I might as well circle the 100+ acre cornfield, so I came back home to get the truck.  I propped open the back gate to the paddocks just in case the wayfarers decided to come home and drove off.

At the tree farm up the road, I met the caretaker working on pruning the Christmas trees. I told him of my mission, left my cell phone number and was on my way in four wheel drive around the field.

I was nearly back to the part of the trail that headed home when out of the woods Toby appeared. Chance was apparently in the lead and already seemed headed home. Tucker was still lurking in the trees. As soon as they saw me they stopped and, ever the suckers for a bucket of feed swarmed over to me. I decided to put the halter and lead on Tucker. I told Chance to go home and, good boy that he is, he took the lead. I followed leading Tucker, and Toby, the herd boss who never wants to be alone followed along behind.

Once I got them all settled and latched in their stalls with breakfast, hay, and water I hiked back out to get the truck.  Fortunately, it wasn't too far a walk. I drove back to the tree farm to tell Fred I'd found the Boys, called the farmer to let him know too, and came back home to fix the fence.

It wasn't the easiest job. There's a bit of a curve in the fencing at that spot and trying to get the slip rails back in place required more hands than I had. But I finally used some baling twine--akin to WD40 and duct tape a a life necessity--to hold the end of the rail up while I pounded the other end to get it set back in place. Two slightly easier rails later, the escape route was closed.

I left the baling twine on the rails to help keep them secured.

So, no need to trail ride today. The Boys already had their outings and I had plenty of exercise myself.  (Still not quite ready to ride anyhow....)

Bloodwork

Not the Best News I've Ever Had

The blood work on Toby and Chance came back today.

Toby's Cushings numbers are up. He's running around  ATCH 132 where normal is somewhere around 30.  I am not 100% sure had had his meds the morning the blood was taken, but even so, it would not make that much of a difference within an hour. Besides, he'd had it every other day prior to that, and 132 is pretty elevated.

I will be upping his dose of Pergolide from 1/2 tab a day to a full tablet.

Chance's bloodwork for Lyme disease returned a chronic infection count at 3350. Considering that prior to treatment with antibiotics his count was at 7301, the 50% drop is considered a success. Dr. Klayman said there was no need for further treatment and that the count was likely never going to be too much lower.

My research so far agrees.

With the cold weather the ground has frozen so I can't evaluate Chance's gait. He was having a little trouble in some areas of the paddock, but the ground was really lumpy.

This weather stinks. It is far too early to be this cold. My water hose is frozen and I need to get a new heater for the barn water trough. Of course, I will go buy one tomorrow, a then on Sunday it's going to be back up around 50F.

But we are blessed here. I guess most of you saw the pictures of the snow around Buffalo, New York.  Several hours from here, thank goodness.  My heart goes out to all the people drying to deal with it. Talk about overkill.

My acupuncturist used to live in Toronto, Canada and kind of shrugged. "We used to just dig a tunnel out of the house and go to school."  Oh, my. Even I have trouble imagining that.

Guess we must never underestimate the weather.

The Temperature Drops

Arctic Air

It surely started to feel like winter yesterday as colder temperatures came in, pushed down from the North by that massive storm in the Pacific.

Last night, is also started to look like winter as the rain changed to snow in the early evening. I had choir rehearsal and afterwards, we went out for a bite to eat. My car windows were snowed over when we started to leave the restaurant.

I had neglected to put a snow scraper/brush in my new car, but my heroic choir buddies were better prepared and cleaned my windows for me. Sweet guys. I now have to remember to properly pack the car for the winter. I need gloves, the scraper brush, some waterproof boots, and a hat. I already have an extra coat just in case. A blanket is not a bad idea either. I should have done it today, but I got sidetracked working on one of the books.

I am trying to train myself to realize that when I sit for hours here at the computer working on the novel series that I am actually not wasting time. I am working.  The trouble is, there are also more active jobs I could or should be doing around the house and barn.

Taking care of the Boys is a no-brainer, no matter what else I might be doing. I feed my horses three times a day with both hay and grain. Yesterday, I stocked up on both, so I had some good exercise outdoors unloading. Today, since I was sunny--cold and sunny--I put the hay outside in piles. That keeps the interior of the barn cleaner.

Yet, the barn does need a good interior "purge."  I have a big pile of blankets and sheets on storage chests at one end of the aisle. Some of them need repair, some need cleaning, and some are lost causes. I need to sort out the lost causes and fix up the ones worth keeping. Well, I'll get around to it, sooner or later.

The Boys all had sheets on when it started to snow, so they were pretty dry. However, they were also standing outside instead of under any of the shed roofs.  I always have to remind myself that horses are not bothered by the weather as much as I am.

I did put their hay in the barn and I soaked their feed with hot water. That usually makes me feel better. An added benefit if the soaked feed is that Toby usually ended up eating it all up without cribbing in between bites when his feed is soaked.

When Dr. Klayman was here the other day to give fall shots, he said all the Boys were in good flesh for the winter. I, on the other hand, would like to see more weight on Toby. He has Cushings and it's hard to keep extra pounds on him. I'll start adding some oil to his meals to see if that helps.

Chance was decidedly lame when we lunged him. Dr. Klayman suggested putting him on Prevacox, but then had a second idea. Dechra Pharmaceuticals had given him a trial dose of Osphos, a new to the US drug used to treat navicular disease.  It's essentially, the same as the drug Tildren which has been used in Europe for some time.  Whether or not is works is hotly debated and you can find arguments on both sides all over the Internet.

Well, Chance is my vet's experimental horse. Apparently, it can take up to two months for there to be any obvious results.

We can wait. In the meantime, I am still on "stretch" program for myself and if I do get comfortable enough, I can still take Chance out on the trail for walks.

Once again, although I say it often, "Time will tell."

Slow Ride on a Fine Horse

Stretching Helps

It was a gorgeous day today so I spent some time outside.

My first order of business was to take a walk in the woods with my pruning saw. A tree branch had fallen across a critical part of the main trail and I intended to cut it out. Bless someone else because when I got there, the branch had been cleared. That meant the trail was open again for riding.

I walked the rest of the trail clearing as many other branches out of the way...mostly chunks of branches, and affirmed that the entire trail was rideable.

All I needed was to be able to ride.

When I got back home, I sat on my barrel and stretched my hip and thigh muscles. Then I decided it was worth it to see if I could sit on Chance.

The dear boy was right by the barn and quite pleased for me to take him inside for some special attention. The other two critters were in the front paddock area munching on some hay. I gave them each a small scoop of alfalfa cubes to keep them busy and saddled Chance up.

Well, mounting was no problem and when I eased myself into the saddle, I had some pain--mostly in my right hip...the one I did not break...and my left knee where the residual pain from the broken hip side seems to settle. Blessings be, I was able to sit and even use my legs to nudge Chance away from the gate to the woods trail--a location he was drawn to like super glue.

We took several short circuits around the arena at a walk. It was SOOOO much better than the last time I tried to ride.

I am encouraged at last. It's obvious I still need to do some more stretching and suppling but the progress I've made so far without a lot of serious, dedicated effort is heartening. That means if I just step it up a little and persist, all will be well.

Maybe by this time next week, I will be able to take the my fine boy Chance on a trail ride.

It's a goal, that's for sure.

Winter is A-Comin' In

Ahd Chance and Tucker are Frisky

At last Chance was frolicking. 

I know in the realm of horse worlds, this should not be a huge deal, but it's the first time I have actually seen Chance romping about since all his physical ailments. 

The Lyme disease slowed him down to a walk. Then, whatever foot soreness was plaguing him, gave him a limp. 

We put on bar shoes with wedge pads, and that helped. Then he lost a shoe and got sore. 

Since then, Scott reshod him and he still had  bit of a limp, although he was certainly cheerier. 

Yesterday, he and Tucker decided galloping about was fun and the two of them were ripping around the paddocks. Chance was decidedly taking the lead on the bucking, frolicking, kicking up his heels game, that's for sure. It was hard to tell how sound he was since he hardly ever trotted. But instead he was running full out and didn't stop when Tucker saw me coming out to the barn for dinner time. 

Now, mind you, Tuck is one of those horses I call a "stomach" horse, meaning he is highly motivated by food. Chance is not. While he likes his treats, he can be a bit slow about coming in for meals if he has something better to do. 

Apparently, cavorting was something better to do. 

Frankly, I was delighted. I haven't actually seen him having such an energetic good time in a long while. I'm sure it's not his first romp, but it's the first one I saw. 

It made me smile. 

Starting a New Blog

Magiskeep.blogspot.com

Lucked out. The blog name was available, so I decided to start an exclusive blog for my novel series.  "The Saga of Magiskeep" now has a Blogger home. I already have a Facebook page and a Wix website set up, so this is the next thing I could think of.

I will still keep things posted here for those of you who read the horse stuff. I do hope to do some more over at the new blog. Nothing serious posted yet, but I will start putting up interesting tidbits and perhaps a some bits and pieces from the future novels.

I am also thinking I may write and exclusive story for readers there, but I haven't quite decided on that yet.

For now, it's a site to learn about my books and how I came to write them.

On the horsey front, Chance was pretty lame after walking around without one shoe for those three or so days before Scott came by to shoe him. He's looking better now, but I still haven't tried to either lunge or ride him.

After he was shod we had two really chilly and windy days. Then, yesterday was really nice and I just didn't do anything about it except sit on my barrel to stretch my muscles. Today it was cold and rainy. Yuck.

I always forget how much I hate the cold miserable weather of winter until it arrives again. I am clearly a summer person. And this summer was exceptional. Hot enough, often enough to swim, but not really that terrible heat and humidity New Jersey is famous for.

Now, it's gone. When it's cool and dry, it's really lovely, but the mud doesn't dry up very quickly. My arena is fine and I would suspect the trails will be too, but until I get my muscles stretched so my hips and thighs don't hurt, there is no way I can ride.

I'm thinking was I need to do is stretch first before I get on. If it clears up and the winds ease, I may try getting on Chance this week. Even if he has a limp, I can at least walk him a little in the arena.

This is truly strange for me. I've never had such a problem to deal with after a long layoff. This darn broken hip was far more serious than I expected. I think even when I get the muscles stretched I will still have some pain when I ride. Not sure at the moment that it will ever really go away.

But time will tell.  It's all an ongoing adventure.

Honor's Way Published to Amazon

Kindle and Paperback

Honor's Way, the second book in The Saga of Magiskeep is now officially published.

Kindle Version

Paperback

Still Working on Stretching

Chance is Back in His Shoes

Scott, my farrier said Chance was pretty sore on his bare foot. I'm not too surprised. After all, he was walking around on one high heel and one flat foot for several days. But he is shod again, so I could ride if I COULD ride. I am still working on stretching my muscles so I can ride. Darn if the thigh muscle on my left leg--where I broke my hip--keeps spasming.

Now, mind you, I am not a wimp. Years of bad knees and pain have plagued me. This really hurts when it knots up. I am suspicious my body does not like the metal implants holding me together. If that so, it means this is something I am just going to have to cope with. Right now, as I sit here "computing" the muscle cramps and then....ouch!  Still, it could be related to the stretching I'm doing.

I am riding a barrel in the back yard near the paddock. I haven't put the saddle on it yet, but is certainly does stretch me around much like Chance would. I am also doing stretching exercises my chiropractor suggested. I did swim several times last week and stretched in the pool which was great. I need to get back over there for more water exercises. Wish it weren't 15 miles away.

On the book front. I have just published Honor's Way up to Kindle. The paperback will be ready in a day. I'm just having a little trouble getting the cover the way I want it. Amazon Publishing is great. They get back to me within a day each time I make a change . Once I'm satisfied, the book goes up for sale in a day or so.

Kingdom Beyond the Rim's sales have slowed. So the timing for the next book is just right.

If you are looking for a new read, it'll be on Amazon sooner than later.

Look for Nook

Now We Are Published

I got tired of waiting for Lulu to get my book out to Nook, so I published it myself.

It is now available for NOOK readers at Barnes and Noble.
Kingdom Beyond the Rim for NOOK

Meantime, I am still waiting for iBook and Kobo sites. Looks like iBook is a bit more difficult to do on my own, so I may just wait for lulu.

I am both pleased and a bit surprised that the Kindle version is still selling. Again, not thousands, but averaging 20 a day. Not bad at all for a first book.

The second book, Honor's Way is  available for eReader at lulu.com.  It will be available through Amazon Kindle and paperback in another week.  I will be very interested to see how it does.

On the horsey front, I am working on stretching my muscles so I can ride. Meantime, Chance has now lost one of his bar shoes with the pads. I did a search for it yesterday, but I have been teaching since last week, so my time and energy were a bit limited. I hope to have some more daylight time today to so a more thorough search of the pasture and paddocks for it.

The poor kid is walking around in one high heel and one flat foot. I'm sure it must feel strange to him.

I thought I might try another ride this week, but until that shoe is back on, it doesn't look promising. Guess I will just put the saddle on my barrel and stretch instead. At least it's not likely to run away with me. *G*

EBook Taking Its Time

Available and 'Not'

Kingdom Beyond the Rim is available for eReaders at Lulu.com, but it still is not in wider distribution.

There is some kind of convoluted review process it is going through at the moment. According to the site where I published, it may take 2-4 weeks to show up for Nook, iReader, and other book formats.

As a result, I have already started the ePub publishing of Honor's Way, the second book in The Saga of Magiskeep.  

By the time I publish it for Kindle and paperback, it may be ready to come out for eReaders as well. Timing is all here.

The learning curve for self-publishing is proving very interesting, that's for sure.

In the meantime, to my surprise, Kingdom for Kindle, is still selling. I've run out of friends to buy it, so I guess it's people I don't know at this point. Certainly not NY Times bestseller, but not bad, not bad.

Not bad at all.

Moral Dilemma

What to Do? 

There is now a roadside memorial where the young woman was killed. If you look at the top right of the picture, you can just see my house. In the background, behind the leaves and brush, is the fencing for my front paddock. You can see the burn marks on the tree and surrounding ground. 

There is a floral cross, bouquets, little electric candles and purple ribbon with balloons on the burned tree. 

Eventually, I would like to have the remains of the tree removed. My propery line is perhaps another fifty feet to the left. The tree is at least five feet off the road. Have to wonder had it not been there to stop the car where it would have landed. Likely on my lawn or even through my fence. The ground slopes down from the road bed. 

The blind hill on the road is further up to the left. There is tree on the other side of the road with purple ribbon on it. It's the first tree she hit.

While I understand and respect the family's and friends's needs to mark this spot, how long? And, will it start to attract people here? I've already consulted with the police about the danger. Anyone standing alongside the road in that spot is in danger, and cars parked along the road there are also at risk. The road has no shoulder and there is no place to park nearby--except my driveway.

So far, in the rain today, I have not seen any activity. There may never be any more than perhaps a few close friends. However, Ms. Pappas was a very popular school teacher in North Brunswick. I've since found out she taught sixth grade. I am still a little worried that school children and young teens might start to show up.

If no one does come, all well and good.

But then the rest of the dilemma. How long should the memorial stay there? The balloons and ribbon are pretty ostentatious. The flowers are going to dry up and just kind of lie there. The cross? Who knows?

There is a controversy all over the country about these memorials, and now I find myself in the midst of it. I would just as soon take down the tree and clean up the burned debris so the grass will grow.

As Sandburg would say,

"Shovel them under and let me work—

                                          I am the grass; I cover all."

Terrible News

Tragic Accident Near My House

Before you panic, my horses and I are fine. We were not involved, although my horses may well have seen everything. The accident happened about 25 feet from the fence of their front paddock.

A car struck a tree on the other side of the road, spun around into one of my trees and then caught fire.  I, thankfully, was at school teaching at the time and not home. Otherwise, I am sure I would have been right there trying desperately to help.

My neighbor heard a huge bang and ran out. When he saw the flames, he got a small fire extinguisher and tried to put the fire out. Then he saw, enveloped in the airbags, the young woman driver. He tried to smash the car window with his fist as the flames started up again.

Meanwhile, my cousins and their contractor who were at my Aunt's house next door ran out. Everyone was frantically dialing 911 for police and fire. Their contractor grabbed the only thing left in the house--the house is for sale-- a bigger fire extinguisher and ran down the road to help.

Again, they could not put out the fire, but they used the extinguisher to smash the car side window. They could not get the door open because the car's battery, along with all kind of engine parts was somewhere strewn on the road. We're not sure what exactly happened, but the woman, who had regained consciousness and was begging for help, died soon after. Then the car was engulfed in flames along with my tree and potentially all the forested area beyond--which would have included my barn.

The fire department arrived too late to save the driver, but did hose down the car and the surrounding trees averting an even worse disaster--if things could be worse.

The woman's husband arrived at some point, speeding down the road. He was a police officer from the next Township over, and she was an elementary school teacher from the same Township.  I think my cousin overheard that he had been talking to her on the cell phone at the time of the crash and heard her screams. He knew she was somewhere on my road and had raced over--again, too late.

Even if someone had gotten the car door open, it would not have mattered since she was horribly pinned in the car. The police told my neighbor there was absolutely nothing he could have done.

My road was closed for at least three hours. Normally, I would have come home during that time, but I had a chiropractor appointment that kept me away until everything was cleared up. I saw the darkened pavement and the damaged tree but thought that perhaps the road department had been by to clear out the drain in that area. It was only when my neighbor rang the doorbell that I found out what had happened.

He didn't know my cousins were at the other house, but they had called me trying to get in touch. They figured I wasn't home, because the didn't see my car. But I guess they left messages on my cell phone--which I didn't have with me at the chiropractor.

Just as well. I don't think I wanted to see any of it, or know about it then. It was bad enough hearing the story afterward.

I slept very badly last night as a consequence and am still upset today. The woman was only 35, with a young son at home and a baby on the way.

The tree where she died is only about 200 feet from my bedroom window. All night, I keep feeling her still there.

I prayed for her and her family and will continue to do so.

There is nothing else to do.

Confessions of a Sore Rider

So, I Sat in the Saddle

It was a beautiful day.

I'd lunged Chance a day or so ago, and he was quiet, well behaved and more sound than he'd been in a long time.

Today, I took the saddle out and decided I mount up for about five minutes.

I did not have anyone here to help, so my plans were minimal. Chance has never done a thing wrong under saddle, so I wasn't worried about him. His only vice is wanting to go out on the trail, so that when we ride near the gate out to the woods, he tends to stop and try to head for it.

No biggie.

Assuming his rider can use her legs to push him on. Also assuming his rider is not in pain in her thigh muscles and both hips. Also assuming that her knees don't hurt.

Assume all you will. None of the above were true. It hurt. My muscles just did not want to work once I was in riding position.

Most curious, as in all the years I have had moderately long layoffs, this has never happened before. My body, after over 50 years of riding knew what it was supposed to do, it simply couldn't do it.

So Chance meandered towards the gate and kind of stood there, waiting for me to tell him what to do. He was a perfect gentleman. I finally managed to wiggle a leg and the bit enough to get him to keep on walking.
Some of my muscle pain/tightness eased up a little, but never enough for me to truly ride. I had Chance trot about ten steps which actually felt better to me as it let my legs stretch a little. But there was no way I could do much more.

Clearly, I am going to have to do some stretching exercises for my thighs and hips before I can ride for more than a few minutes. I have an IGallop machine here and I've put one of my old saddles on it. I can work on myself using that.

Bit of a surprise, as I said. Then again, none of the exercises I did in rehab focused on stretching my legs around a horse. I guess that's all up to me.

It will be interesting.

Just overcame a computer crash of sorts. Suddenly, my keyboard just stopped working. I have no idea why and was in a bit of a panic. Then, I remembered someone's recent post on Facebook about what they did when one of their devices stopped working. System Restore! Fortunately, I was able to access it without my keyboard as my mouse was still working. Set my computer back in time to October 3, and here I am.

Whew!

Paperback Published!

Kingdom Beyond the Rim on Amazon

Well, in a few days. I published last night and was messaged that it takes 3-5 business days to show up for sale.

I had to price the book at $19.95 to cover the costs of printing and distribution. I might have gotten it lower if I had decided to just make it available through Amazon, but I chose to let other distributors and bookstores sell it, and that raises the cost. Still, most books in that format with that many pages cost about that much, so it's actually within the market range.

I am considering buying some copies at my author's price, though. I could still sell them myself and make a bit of profit. Especially if they are autographed.

Yeah, that's if anyone wants an autographed copy.

Kindle sales have been pretty good so far. I suspect once everyone who  knows me buys a copy that will stop. I'd like to think word of mouth might spread that it's really a good book, but time will tell.

Meantime, I am waiting for the proof copy of Honor's Way, the second book, and have just set up The Wall Between  to be published as well.

It's actually getting to be quite a fun project now that I have finally figured out how to format the books in Word--I solved my problems--and how to design the covers in Pulblisher. CreateSpace, the Amazon related website I use is fabulous. You get fast feedback on submissions. If you didn't want a proof print copy to look at, you could get a book published in just a bit over 24 hours. Their response time is great. And, they do make adjustments to the book cover if it's needed.

Again, on the horsey front, I lunged Chance for a few minutes today and he looked sound! Not sure if its the bar shoes and wedge pads, but I'm pretty sure I can ride him.

Perhaps the nice weather will drag me away from my computer and out on the trails soon.

Now, should I have someone here when I saddle up for the first time in months?