and the name is...............

The filly's new barn name is Breeze.

Picked this morning out of the bucket...

Winston begs

Okay, Winston is not a rescue horse, but he does make a cute face, doesn't he? His lips are coated with his gruel. I always feed grain wet and then add beet pulp. He eats his down like a pig and then it is begging time. If there are any volunteers there, he is sure to get something...a peppermint, a carrot, some sunflower seeds...something, anything will do. He never gives up. If he can reach your shirt, you are in trouble!

Sunday morning and it is drizzling but humid......we clean water troughs, pick manure and then install a new lock on the tack door. Later we will work on the pony paddock, maybe pick a few rocks and clean out the chicken pen.

It is almost time to name the filly...

two more names are added as of last night..

Roulette (I used to have a mare named this...how did anyone else come up with it?)

Peaches

Better buy some more chances...if there is a name you like...go for it!

We will be having a garage sale in late August to benefit our residents. Combination of general items and tack! Held in Port Orchard. If you have some items you would like to donate, we would love to have it!

Saturday morning solo

No volunteers today...Page is still on vacation and the Stiffey family is at an event.

It was strangely quiet outside and dark skies, chickens crowing and I was just getting into a routine, sipping a little coffee and cleaning paddocks...and THEN all hell broke loose. Down from the sky came Mr. Bald Eagle, straight across the top of my head and then a low swoop for a chicken. Chickens screaming and running for cover...then the filly goes wild...bucking, screaming and running laps in her paddock. Each buck is punctuated with a squeal and then off to the races again around the paddock. I was merely trying to straighten stall mats...but ended up ducking under the fence for safety. I waved my arms and yelled at Mr. Bald Eagle to get lost..."leave my chickens alone!" He perched himself on the top of the barn and looked around...I know he was looking for the chickens. All chickens had made for the barn or the brush and not a one was to be seen or heard at this point.

I then progressed to stall cleaning. Hammy insists on using his stall for a toilet. So I am scraping down the stall and what do I see? A rat. A baby rat. He came out from behind the wall. Now how can we have a rat? We have two barn cats. TWO BARN CATS. Two barn cats who routinely catch birds I might add. These cats have their own room which I lock them in at night because we have coyotes. I am figuring that perhaps I need something slightly more feral. I was told these cats WERE feral...I got them from the feral cat program...but they are feral like I am a rocket scientist. The male spends most of his time on my mom's lap inside her house...he has a snipped ear, just like a feral cat, but I am beginning to think I was tricked..or at least someone was. Butchie (the male cat) weighs 21 lbs with a head like a grapefruit. The female (Felice) will climb in anyone's car and loves to be held. I am thinking I need a big old, down on his luck, tom cat who wants to work for a living. I detest using poison and especially around the horses. If anyone is looking to place a working barn cat...let me know?

I had folks come and look at Winston today. Let's just say his longing routine was not stellar. He bucked and he rushed and he spooked. He bucked so hard that he threw the reins up and over his head. I had to stop and reset them. I explained that he was not generally this bad. They looked at me like I was lying. Dust was flying...he was sweaty...I lunged him both directions and then got on him. He was rational but a little quick. I trotted and leg yielded and he was obedient. He spooked at the neighbor dog...twice. Not sure why the neighbor dog had to appear out of the brush just at this time, but he did, then he ambled off...and then he came back again. He stopped and curiously looked at us and of course Winston gave him the huge snorty saucer eyed look...I suppose there could have been a chance the dog was going to attack us by jumping the four foot arena fence or he really could have been a wolf (according to Winston)...but he looked like an old, grizzled black Labrador to me. I then showed the people Winston's trailer loading skills and fortunately he did not make me look bad this time. I am not sure the people are coming back. I told them he was a little hot sometimes.

Well off to do some domestic chores while the house is quiet.

I will try to get some pictures of Hammy tonight. His weight looks better. He is eating Senior Equine like it is going out of style and he has gotten a little cranky about you serving it quickly...he even trots out to his tub, shakes his head and puts his ears back. Cute huh? Well, normally I might not think so, but this poor guy has been through the wringer and so I tolerate it...

Enjoy the weekend!

Good luck Briann on your event!!!!!

Name that filly! (Better pictures!)

Five dollars buys a chance to NAME THE FILLY!

Go to website, make a paypal donation (tax deductible by the way!) and put in the comment section...filly name=XXXXXX.

You may buy as many chances as you want...the more you buy the higher your name chances. You may also support one of the names that have already been put in the bucket (listed below)
Name will be drawn from the bucket in two weeks!

Here are some pictures I took after her bath today. Okay, my pictures aren't the greatest...I will take more tomorrow with clearer head shots...she is very pretty, tall and so well behaved!

So far names that have been put in the bucket are:

Belles
Breeze
Kira
Fanny
Chocolate
Glory
Willow
Plum

Monday...it's a girl

It is a hot and still humid Monday evening. Gee...I hate to complain about nice weather but good golly it is just TOO HOT for me. Too hot to work outside, too hot to work horses...just plain hot! I have decided I cannot live in Arizona or New Mexico or Southern California or any place that gets this hot routinely. I am a cold weather/rain girl....period. Hot is for exotic vacation destinations and this is not it.

Chelsea and I picked up a new resident today...a beautiful three year old filly from the track...she is something! Very easy to handle, loaded and hauled beautifully. We got her home and she settled right in with my crew of geldings...no nonsense, no fuss...we love her. She has a track name but we aren't completely satisfied with how it fits her, so she needs a call name. We are "selling" chances to put your name suggestion in the bucket and we will draw a name. See the forum for the details...Five dollars a shot and all proceeds go to support the horses, of course!

Pictures of the filly will be posted tomorrow on the blog, so you can see for yourself and put a name in the hat.

I have some time off from my regular job and so I have a lot of time to get some chores done around the barn and around my house. I did some gardening early this morning before it got hot. I found about ten frogs in and around my small pond. This is a new construction project and I have yet to get the waterfall portion of it going...the pond water is warm with this weather and I noticed I had a lot of tadpoles...which is weird because I thought we got tadpoles only in the spring?

I bathed Hamilton late this afternoon. The heat seems to be really bad for him, he sweats a lot even though I have moved him into the barn. He stands in his stall in the heat of the day, but still sweats profusely. He stood stock still for his bath, unlike some, um, other Thoroughbreds who live there...who shall remain nameless.
Although Hamilton ate well this morning, he did not eat well this evening. I gave him pain medication. His condition is perplexing and concerning. I checked on him around ten this evening and he seemed in better spirits. The pain medication has had time to kick in of course...so we will see how he is in the morning.

Sully had fly spray put on him and his very own fly mask this morning and he was a trooper. The fly spray was initially thought to be "horse vampires" in a bottle, but he settled and took it like a man horse as we continued to spray legs, belly and tail. We have these really serious BITING fly things that leave big welts on the horses...I have never seen such bug bites.

Time to buy hay again. Looking for something with some alf/grass combination or just some great timothy. We will see what our regular hay man has or if we have to go looking. I see some great deals in Eastern Washington...so maybe we will have to take a road trip.

I swear I cannot go to the store during the day. Each time I go, I see that some idiot has left his/her dog in the car! What are people thinking? I want to sit them in the car in a fur coat and roll the windows up and see how long they can take it.

Inevitably, when I see a dog in the car, I make a fuss...okay, I make a HUGE fuss...I get the plate paged over the intercom at the store, then I call 911. I don't care anymore. This is a crime. Heat kills and it kills quickly...and it is a horrible death. Leaving a note on the car does nothing for the dog...you must act fast. Please do not mind your own business in these instances...get involved and make a stink. I figure this...to me, it is worth even being arrested...so I take the risk and make a scene each time I come across a dog in a hot car.

Okay, so think of a name...put your money in the hat and name that filly!