Rain sucks. I know we need it, but it sucks. I wouldn't mind so much if it would stop every once in awhile, but it doesn't...or hasn't. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit, but it IS very wet here.

I think it has been raining every day - except one, Xmas Eve - for the past almost three weeks. I haven't ridden in that long, and doubt I will for another few weeks at least. I had Paddy's shoes pulled so that he could have the winter off and grow some nice foot and get rid of some contraction in his right front. He seems to be doing pretty well. I have trimmed him myself a bit to help his medial-lateral balance, and will continue to do so maybe once a week. I'm also putting hoof-hardener on his feet. Hopefully that will help keep them strong in all this soggy weather. He has some cracks in his hinds that I want to see grow out and I'm hoping if his m-l balance is better, they won't get bigger.

I had Miles's hind shoes pulled also. I figure hopefully that will help him slide around less in the mud. But without front shoes, he's very ouchy and pretty much doesn't want to move around, which isn't good. He's ouchier than Paddy - maybe he's just a baby, I don't know. His hind feet look pretty good. I try to walk them both on the gravel driveway to help them toughen up.

The weather last night was awful - heavy rain, STRONG wind. The horses didn't get out all day yesterday and I felt so bad for them. So this morning, there was a break in the rain - although the wind was still gusting - and I took the horses for a handwalk/graze. Then I figured "what the heck" and put them in the big pasture. And they ran around like banshees, bucking and rearing and squealing and having a grand old time. Then they settled down and are now grazing. I worry about them slipping in the mud, which is the main reason I had their shoes pulled off. They seemed to do fine.

I'm waiting for the results of a muscle biopsy I had on Miles. I'm having him tested for PSSM (Polysacharide Storage Myopathy), of which he has quite a few symptoms. "Pony" stride, bucking into the canter, kicking at flies which aren't there, a "tucked-up" look, super sensitive, poor performance...all are symptoms and and I actually hope for a positive result. PSSM is managed through diet and exercise - there's no medicine for it.

Today when I was out handwalking the horses, I saw a LOBSTER in our drainage ditch! Ok, maybe it wasn't a lobster but a crayfish. I took its picture while Colin was holding it and maybe he'll put the picture up here if I'm nice to him.

Today is New Year's Eve, and we're going to have a dinner full of yummy appetizers, a bottle of Champagne, then we'll probably pass out way before midnight.

We had a really nice, quiet Xmas at home. We went to our neighbor's house for a wonderful dinner on Xmas Eve, stayed home most of Xmas day, and went to my friend's house for Xmas day dessert. Colin surprised me with a lovely painting that we had seen on our last trip to Hawaii. I wasn't actually totally surprised, I kind of guessed that he would get it for me. I love it and it is hanging on the wall over our bed. We were of course spoiled by my parents and I got some wonderful LL Bean clothes, and some fun riding accessories for my saddle. At this point, though, I can't imagine that the weather will ever improve enough to ride!!!

I got a part-time job, which I started a couple weeks ago. I'm doing order entry for a home-based catalog company. I download the online orders and enter them into the system, then process them for the shipping department (all two of them - there are four employees total!). I'm also going to be doing updates to their website. It sounds quite simple, but is very complicated and detailed. It is nice to have a mental challenge again.

So I guess that's it for now.

Did I say I cut my hair agian? I think I did...
- posted by Susan @ 11:09 AM

 
I have two exciting announcements to make!

First, I cut my hair. It is short. As short as I've ever had it. Apparently short hair is not in style now, as I could find no pictures of models or actresses with short hair. The only photo I found in a magazine was of Melissa Etheridge with her short 'do, so I took that to my stylist and got my hair cut! I'm still getting used to it, but Colin thinks it is cute. We'll have to take a picture to post.

The second announcement is that we got a new dog! Colin and I were at the shelter on Friday, cuddling the cats, and in the small dog/puppy cages sat a small terrier mix. He was sitting very quietly and shaking. So I went into the cage and sat down and was able to coax him onto my lap. And I looked up at Colin and said "I think I found our next pet". That is the problem with volunteering at the shelter - this is the fourth animal we've brought home! "Pico", as we're calling him, was dropped off at the shelter because his owner died and there was no family to take him. I think a neighbor dropped him off. He looks like a schnauzer mix and is black with a scruffy coat that needs to be trimmed. He has his balls, which have got to go. We're taking him back tomorrow to get fixed, then he'll come home for good.

We did have a major snafu with him yesterday, though. He got out of the house and ran away! Colin followed him to the neighbor's yard, but they have 5 acres with lots of heavy manzanita and brush, so we weren't able to catch him there. We spent an hour and a half looking for him in the cold rain (along with our houseguests - very, very kind of them!), and stopped when it got dark. We put calls out to our neighbors but highly doubted that anyone would be able to catch him if they saw him. Finally at 9 p.m., he came to the back door, sopping wet and shivering with cold. He wanted to come in but was scared. I opened the door and he ran away, so I went to get a bowl of food to put out there and when I opened the door again I realized he was still on the back porch. I was able to coax him inside and we dried him off with a towel, and haven't let him out of our sight since. This morning we combed the burrs out of his hair and have just been trying to get him more comfortable and settled. Bless Barley, Kenya, and Little Man, as they have been very welcoming of him and not aggressive at all. He's very timid and submissive, but he seems to like our gentle attention and petting. I'm hoping once he gets snipped he'll be less likely to wander. We also have the invisible fence and need to get him a collar and train him.

We did get a couple pictures and hopefully Colin will be kind enough to post them here.

Gotta go to the barn and tuck the horses in. And I also have to take little Pico out because he is farting and it stinks!!!
- posted by Susan @ 9:22 PM

 
My goodness it has been a long time since I've posted an update.

Let's see. Colin and I had a secret date where I arranged for us to meet some friends at our favorite restaurant in Palo Alto, we then went to a Sharks' game, and spent the rest of the weekend meeting up with other friends. It was really fun to get away for a weekend.

I've been having a really sore back for quite a while. I think it is because of my barn chores and stall cleaning. Chiropractic didn't help, acupuncture mildly helped, and I was afraid that I would become addicted to pain killers that Colin has from previous surgeries. I only resorted to their use when the pain was so unbearable that I couldn't sleep. Just in the past couple weeks I started going to the gym with Colin and doing cardio and light weight training, and that has actually really seemed to help. I haven't had the back pain since starting that. Also, I'm sure it helped that Colin took over poo chores for a couple weeks and let me rest.

The ponies are doing well. Paddy has learned his lead-changes, which pleases me mightily! I'm letting him have a break from hard work for a couple months, so we've been doing mostly trail riding with a couple days of arena work for good measure. Miles has some sort of issue going on that I'm having the vet look into, but he's sound for trail riding so we've been doing a lot of that. Colin actually came with me today and he rode Paddy and I rode Miles. I decided I'd go bareback, and all was going well until we took a turn onto a trail and on the other side of the road there was some odd noise (like a loud scooter or chainsaw or something) that really got Miles going and he had a couple bucking fits! Not fun without a saddle on!

We spent Thanksgiving at home and had some Bay Area friends to come up and visit, which was a lot of fun. We got to go for a couple rides and mostly just relax and hang out. The boys did all the cooking and the girls did all the cleaning. We're gearing up for Christmas when we'll go to our neighbor's house for dinner on the 24th and then another friend's house for dessert on the 25th. I think this is the first year that I won't be with my parents on both Thanksgiving and Christmas!

I've been thinking of cutting my hair off again and going short. Actually, I've been thinking of shaving my head, but I don't know if I'm ready to make that big of a change at the moment. Maybe I'll save the head shaving for the summertime. ;-)

The outhouse is almost done. We spent last Saturday painting it and just need to do some finishing touches on the trim.

Oh! I almost forgot! Colin's Xmas present is....DUMPY! Dumpy the wonder dump-trailer has found his way into our home. I bought it before Xmas because it was the last one left on the lot and they aren't making that size anymore (they are only making bigger ones and I don't want a bigger one!). So Colin came home one day and dumpy was in the driveway and he was very happy with his present. (In case y'all don't know what a dump trailer is, it is a 5x8 trailer that can be pulled behind the truck or trailer on a 2 5/16 ball. It has a motor which lifts the bed and, well, DUMPS stuff!) We used dumpy on Saturday to go get some hay, and Colin is going to use it this weekend to go pick something else up. And we use it for manure (filling and holding) while it is raining, and just think of all the things we can fill and dump with it! Wooo hooo!

My tummy hurts because I just ate the rest of the chocolate buttercream squares that Colin made over the weekend. I mean, they were just sitting there - what was I supposed to do, leave just one or two in the box?!
- posted by Susan @ 7:09 PM