Ongoings

Yeesh can you say busy!?

I didn't even have time to take pictures for Sunday stills for hopefully the last time with my crappy camera.

Oh yeah I didn't mention. I bought a new camera! After months and months of waffling over what camera I wanted I definately knew I had to have a Nikon. Like I mentioned I will never buy another Kodak camera in my life. I played with a d90 and drooled over it's abilities and amazing video feature. I wanted one sooooooooooooooo....sooooo bad!



But alas I really do not want to drain my extra savings. Eep. Oh well. I opted for the Nikon d60 instead. I tried one out once and I was very impressed. Plus the price was 1/3 with all the lenses that I wanted.

I got a tripod, 18-55mm lens to start with, 52 wide angle, 52 telephoto, a carrying case, digital flash and a slave flash (very, very useful! I suggest anyone who has a camera to get one that responds to other flashes they are so handy!). It comes with a 4 gb SD card. I definately do not need any more of those! I have about 6 of them floating around here now filled with images from my other cheapo point and shoot cameras. Good thing. SD cards are so convenient A few UV filters, a 3 stage convertible lens hood and oh I want this. Check out the site and the video spy lens AKA a right angle scope lens. Cool. I always have a hard time getting images of people and them not looking like they are staring down the camera.
I can see this quickly becoming like the horses. I will have no money left at the rate I am going! I also want a few other lenses. Like next on my list is the Nikkor 18-200mm lens. Oh but that is gonna cost almost as much as what I just paid. It's a never ending vicious cycle.

So hopefully by next Thursday I'll have my camera. I shipped it to my Uncles just over the border in Michigan. My mom and I are going over to visit them and get the camera. I think we might go to some craft/hobby stores too. Much fun. I just hope it's in by then. Please let it be in by then!

What kind of cameras do you guys have? Whats your favorite? Whats your fav lens if your camera uses one? What kind of accessories do you use? I wanna hear some camera knowledge. Once I get my camera I am gonna spend a weekend with my Aunt whom is a professional photographer. I love going when she does shoots. It's so much fun and you learn so much.

Right now I have the Kodak easyshare M853 I suggest it to the camera illiterate such as kids and husbands that have no clue how to use a camera. If my dad can use it, anyone can.
Also have an ancient sony digital I cant even remember the name of and a sony cybershot that my mom claimed. It's older but deff better than the kodak dispite the MP differnce.

Words of the wise

"Intelligence is not measured by knowledge but rather a persons imagination"

The unspoken rules of the internet

Netiquette

The common courtesy etiquette you should follow on any blog or any website for that matter. They are like a set of rules so please follow them.

If you are new or inexperienced in the cyber community you are likely to make a mistake and upset someone at least once. Remember when you converse electronically you are blind to other peoples body language. You cannot hear tone of voice, see gestures or Here are some guidelines to help you survive an online encounter and make the experience pleasant for you and other human beings participating in the same discussion.

1. Be polite. Offensive language, swearing or being confrontational online and can make the experience un-enjoyable for other people. Before posting anything of this manner think to yourself- Would I say this to a persons face? Treat everyone as an equal to yourself no matter how bad you may dislike them. If you have a problem with a certain participant it’s best to bring it up off the website, like through e-mail instead of the lowly act of public humiliation.
2. Would you say it in person? If you answered no to this question re-write your post and then submit it. You will end up with more friends and less enemies this way.
3. All rules in school… Apply to the internet. No fighting, no plagiarism, no purposefully offensive topics.
4. Stick to the appropriate website. Discuss topics relevant to the site you are on.
5. Respect other peoples time. Not everyone is going to be in the same time zone or on a high speed internet connection. Please keep topics that you could explain in a small paragraph to only that. No need to elaborate where it is not needed. Having to read through multiple posts of a generous length can be very time consuming.
6. No flaming. Flaming is described as expressing an opinion without holding back on emotion. The comments are often not based upon fact but out of anger.
7. Tell us what you have to say. Just like in school you are welcome to share your opinions, experiences and thoughts. The internet does not know skin hue, hair colour, weight, ethnicity or age. Representing yourself in a mature, collected manner will get you further in discussions. We care about spelling and grammar.
8. Be forgiving. Just like when working with horses we must learn to forgive them for their mistakes just like they forgive us for ours. Be forgiving of other peoples mistakes. Spelling, flaming, something said that was inappropriate can be forgiven. Remember: treat other people how you would like to be treated.

So there you have it. Of course there are a few more rules but they are more restricted to forums such as spamming or trolling. Need a definition of those? Look up urban dictionary

I am sure we all have stories about a big ***** on the internet that got his or her panties in a knot about something really stupid. Feel free to share.

Summer is wonderful

Even though it's not here yet I have been crazy busy. I feel bad I have been slacking in my writing. Work, university and everything I do between here and there has kept me away from my computer. Sunday was the first day in like 4

I didn't have time to eat lunch or grab one the other day so when I was done I ran to subway in town (our only fast food in this little hick town) and headed out to see Indigo.
I went into her part of the barnyard. She must have been around back the machine shed because I didn't get a neigh upon climbing over the gate.

So I wandered over and sat on the old silo foundation. I was contently munching my sub when I hear sniff...sniff...sniff...sniiiiiiiffffff. I turn to see this.

You know it's polite to share

Note how her mouth is half open. She was trying to seduce me to get some of that sub with a smile. Seduced by the cuteness!

She wouldn't have any of my sub but boy was she sure sniffing it like crazy. I am sitting there in the wind with a horse smelling my sub. I am trying at the same time to eat said sub. Oh my piggy girl don't you worry your little spotted butt. I could never forget you!

So she got a nice juicy apple, but not after I made her follow me around the old silo foundation. Everyone thinks it's hilarious that she follows me on top of the cement like this considering she was the horse when I did trail class that totally refused to walk over the wooden bridge....but she would back over it hahaha! The judges comments were always something along the lines of "interesting tactic on the bridge". Silly neigh.

Notice she follows me around a few times on the ground then decides it's a good idea to step up and follow me. She does a mean bevis and butthead "ehehehehehehhehe" laugh impression at me the whole time. You can barely hear it. I think it's the cutest thing ever! Her little nostrils go all aflutter with happy "You brought me food!" nickers.

Those cats were soaking up the sun that day. Also trying to get me to fork over some more food for them. The fluffy one in the beginning meowing it's head off is Fluffers, the only cat in the barn with a name. She is the softest, nicest cat ever. I wish I could make her into a house cat or find someone that want's a house cat like her. She would make some old lady very, very happy.

The other is a B&W that cracks me up. When he was a kitten he would constantly get into places and get stuck and when I rescued him he would hiss and spit his head off. Eventually he got over it and is usually the first or second cat (next to fluffers AKA: queen maow) to gallop over and receive pets or treats. Yes I treat my barn cats. It keeps them friendly and ensures I get no more grabbed eyebrows As you can see mr.B&W is lying next to where I am sitting in the sun on the silo foundation.
The other in the background is fluffers oldest daughter and the B&W's mom.

That silo. Well it was wooden. About oh....30ish years ago just after it had been packed with corn silage it fell over. Surprisingly because of how it fell the silage was all able to be used and did not mold or spoil. All that is left is the foundation which Indigo wanders around on regularly.

My pretty girl. I just love her mane. I remember the first time I ever seen her the first thing I said was "I want to braid her mane!"

I need someone to participate in my pay it forward.
Who doesn't like to recieve free things right? Even if you have done it before it's ok.

I'll leave you with something to think about:

The difficulty lies, not in new ideas, but in escaping the old ones- Unknonwn

Pay it forward

Hey??? Anyone there?? doesn't anyone want to participate?

Framed

I guess this game was founded on the internet in 2003. the giving game I have to stand up to my end of the deal because I am going to be getting something from the wife.

The concept is amazingly simple. I give something to someone. A kind deed goes a long way. Instead of paying me back for what I did you simply need to "pay it forward" meaning you repay my kind deed by being kind to someone else.

The first 5 that would like to receive a special gift, it may be hand made, it may be from a store around here just post a comment here then e-mail me (epona_64[AT]hotmail.com) with something you would like from me or some interests, hobbies, collections, colours etc. and your mailing address.

The only rule is that if you decide to participate you need to post pay it forward in your blog and give 5 things to some other people. That's it. Simple. A small gift can go a long way in someone else's life.

Some food for thought

First of all I had a great but busy weekend.
The kids in my 4h club made $1200!!!! wowzers! The most we have made other years was $800. Most years average $500 We couldn't believe it!

I found a little kitten in the compartment under the stairs in the horse barn at the park. She was feral and totally terrified. Someone must have dropped her off during the week because there was a bag of food but no one would have found her. I know I would be terrified if I were a feral cat scooped up and brought out into a crowd of 1000 people. I got her a box and put her in the house office where she slept. Turns out the resident mouser, Alice died a few months ago so they did need a new cat. Cool! The rule is the animals they have need to be named after one of the homestead family. So her name is Olive. She is a cute little light dusty tortoise kitty. She warmed up pretty fast to us but is still a little shy with loud noises or sudden movements. I have pictures but they are on my friends camera. Later.

Anyway the whole point of this post. The five freedoms.


First horses. When stabling or caring for a horse we must consider his welfare and the factors most likely to influence it.

1. Freedom from thirst, hunger and malnutrition- By providing a sufficient diet to a horse to maintain his weight and energy level.

2. Freedom from physical and thermal discomfort- By providing adequate shelter and a comfortable place to lie down.

3. Freedom from pain, injury and disease- By rapid diagnosis, prevention or treatment.

4. Freedom to express patterns of normal behaviour- Providing sufficient space per horse and animals of his own kind.

5. Freedom from fear and distress- By offering an environment that avoids mental suffering.

Now I think about this I meet all these needs for my horses these days. A wile back Indigo was getting really beaten up often. She became very spooky when other horses were around and would practically run me down to get away. I hated to see her like this so I changed her number five and shes back to her normal self. I should have seen it sooner.

Now how about horse owners. Do we have the big 5 freedoms in our current facility/boarding barn?

Here's mine.

1. Freedom to express myself as a trainer, rider, horse person- I want to experiment with my horses, figure out what works and try all sorts of methods of training. Sometimes it can get a little messy but we all work it out. Basically I want to train and not have someone hanging over my shoulder going "that's wrong!" or "don't do that!". I need to figure things out.

2. Freedom to have freedom- This one links quite well with number 1. I want to have one on one time with my horses. I want to be able to groom them when I want, where I want and to be able to ride them almost wherever I please within riding distance. I have that. I have big open fields, a round pen, the beach, roads etc. I only wish I had a paddock or even an indoor arena within reasonable riding distance.

3. Freedom to have control over my horses- I'm taking equine science in university to learn how to feed, manage, train and let my horses be healthy horses. I don't want someone coming in and saying what I should be feeding my horse. Though I am always open minded. I also don't want anyone to have control over where my horse is turned out or with who. If I want to turn her out with the big herd I can, if I want her to have grass I can.

4. Freedom to share my horses- Some of my friends are horse people, some are not. All of them enjoy and like horses but not all are "horse people". I want to be able to bring whomever I want into the barn and say "here's my horse!" and maybe even give them a ride. I know a lot of boarding stables are strict. I am glad I can bring my nephews out any time and let them ride or run around the barn and be kids.

5. Freedom for my horse- My horse must have as much of the 5 freedoms as she can get. I don't want her confined to a stall unless she is injured and I always want her to be out with another horse so she can be a horse.

What are your five freedoms? Are there any you would change? Need more of?

Busy

A summary of my week:
Monday: get up and go to work. Work until 3 then go see Indigo. Ride Indigo then ride Sophie. Go home eat, carriage club meeting, go home and sleep
Tuesday: Get up earlier and go to work. Drive 4 ponies, get done at 4. Mow the round pen and almost kill the lawnmower. Note to self: don't let the grass get that long next time. Ride Indigo, Sophie and Suzy. Go home, eat and go on the computer then bed.
Wednesday: get up go to work get done at 3. Pet Indigo and then run off to the city for Costco and other various things. Run around the city trying to find stupid stir sticks! Sheesh how hard is that!? Apparently it's complicated. I also went into future shop and costco and oggled the cameras and new monitors. Oh what I wouldn't do for a Nikon D90 *insert drool on keyboard* Hmm, new car or camera, new car or camera.........more on this later.
Thursday: get up and go to work, done by 2. At about this point I went out into the machine shed to get our HUGE cooler. I took the veranda chairs that were on it off and lift the cooler. Uh oh, something wasn't right. There was something in it. Big uh oh!
I opened it only to find OLD BLOWN UP POP!! UUGHHHH. Another 15 minutes gone to wash the cooler then bleach the crap out of it. Yuck!! Then I washed the car because the maple trees are littering maple bits all over it and I vaccumed it because you know what happens when your car is a rolling tack box. I never usually leave anything in it...but dirt.
Run to town to get donations of pop and then to the homestead to drop it off for Sunday. Kris the one lady that organizes events and stuff allowed me to go into the old horse barn hayloft. Wowzers! I wish I would have brought my camera. The cool stuff they have up there! I walked around and oohed and ahhhed at stuff then I noticed in a far dark corner a bunch of harness. I pointed it out to her. She didn't even know what a harness looked like so she took my word for it and we brought some of it down. There were two english saddles up there. One had a pannel ripped off and the other had a cracked tree. Then I had to run back home and get ready for a 4h meeting at Raider paints. We got to see their mares and exceptional stallions IMA quick dream maker and deceptions (whos retired). Wow do they have a lot of nice horses. I have to say the breed/colours I see the worst/best examples of FUGLY and mean/nasty/rancid ass horses are paints. Probably due to the colour trend people forget conformation and brains.
Friday: I got up, went to work, got home, went and picked up my friend. Drove around town looking for her fiancee then drove a town over for a hair salon that was closing. Dammit! I haven't been out to ride Indigo yet and I think we are going to a band show or something. Ugh, tomorrow is going to be a busy day.

Oh more on the camera. Yeah so the reason you don't see more pictures on here is well, I hate my shitty little point and shoot camera. It can't focus on anything and can't take pictures closer than two feet even with the macro setting. It's useless. I'll never buy another Kodak again.

The pooch is back to normal but that was so weird. I am still going to seek out the breeder for information on hip displacia.

Lameness

Nope, not the horses.

Savanah.
This morning at about 3 am she went barreling down the stairs barking her head off. A big limb in our tree that had fallen but got caught by some other branches finally fell down now like 2 years later. I think she heard it and sent herself into a frenzy of barking.

When she came back into my room she hopped kinda funny. I told her to get back up on the bed and she just kind of bounced on her butt and cried so I lifted her up. We both went back to sleep and didn't wake up until dawn. I didn't think anything of it because shes always been clumsy and had a hard time jumping real high onto things.

She hopped off my bed alright in the morning. Suddenly my mom comes yelling "Somethings wrong with Savanah!" I charged downstairs, half asleep to see my dog wandering across the yard sniffing like she usually does. I shrugged "Whats wrong with her?" I didn't see anything. She walked like she normally did but when I called her instead of her speeding over to me she couldn't even break a little jog. She wanted to. I threw her ball. She hobbled over to it and smacked it around with her front paws in her usual manner. She stopped and looked back at us like "I can't do it, I don't know why"

I don't know if this is hip dysplacia or the combination of my sister taking her for a 2km run then the next day going to my friends to play with her dogs or her jumping off the bed weird this morning. Either way I am worried, like I said she has always had a hard time jumping up on things.

A question for you dog people out there: Does a breeder registered in the AKC or CKC (canadian kennel club NOT continental kennel club who would give papers to a squirrel if you asked) have to acknowlege the mother/father have hip displacia? If so would it be printed on papers? Or be accessable to a person owning the dog in question. I have a sneeking suspicion, as responsible as my breeder seemed (they specified no breeding or showing rights unless we wanted to pay a 2000$ fee) they know more about the breed history than they were letting on to. I think theres some nut head back someplace in Savanahs breeding because her brother is not at all like her and neither are her other full brothers and sisters that are well on their way to national titles. They are calmer, more sensible and with hardly any training. This dog is harder to train than my horses! Sheesh!

Either way I am gonna see if I can get ahold of my canine vet, if not my equine vet does small animals I'll call him and see about how much glucosamine and chondroitin to put her on for the usual problems hopping up and now the ever apparent lameness.

I think I am on to something

I had imagined doing this but never fathomed it being so soon. Indigo and I are bridleless in an arena/pen! Wow.

Indigo can be kind of a brat sometimes. She has her days when she argues my every move. I think I finally have reached that place where we have an understanding and feel of what the other is going to do before you actually do it.

I had this idea a week ago of riding with a crop and using it to prevent her from nabbing at the grass, a terrible habit of hers.
Anyway it started as me tying the reins in a knot, grabbing the loose end and a handful of mane and testing her will not to grab at the grass. It turned into refining leg cues (shes already very push button) and eventually using just seat/leg to change directions, stop and back up ten or so steps.

Today I was riding around and she was doing real well. I was doing spins and stops and turns on the forehand and haunches without even so much as a finger on the reins. I reached down, undid her bridle and took it off. I then tossed it over the fence and rode her for a half an hour in the pen bridleless! What a good girl. I never imagined she would be the horse I would be riding around with no bridle on! I love how if I would look in a direction her neck would curve and match my line of sight before I even started to apply leg pressure. What a good feeling.

A friend of mine wants to have a step by step on how I was teaching her to turn. Hopefully there will be a video or pictures as soon as I can get a camera person out. It's a fun thing (even with the bridle on) to do with your horse.
I've got a young 4 year old I re-started this spring. She knows how to move away from leg pressure but I think this might get my point across quicker and without the nagging leg.
With Indigo before she would sidepass or however you asked but not more than 5 feet without tail wringing. Now she will sidepass forever without so much as a flick of an ear.

I hope I am on to something ;)

-------------

Dog update!

Savanah, Bo, Zoe and Oscar had another play day. This time she got along quicker and without as much barking. Though she did try and bite me a few times in an attempt to stop her damned yapping she does.

She was a lot more at home and relaxed this time as we chatted and the dogs ran around us. We are going to continue our Tuesday walks and plays with the dogs. It's good for all of them to socialize with another dog they don't see every day.

As promised

The colour pictures, enjoy.

Sunday stills: B&W

I went back and found more trilliums. More on that epic adventure later. This one was pink around the edges. Pretty. I guess the soil in that part of the bush was different.
This was a crab apple tree, also pink.

Because I am a smart ass here is a "red" car.


Stay tuned and tomorrow I'll have the full colour ones.


I guess pink is suiting since it's mothers day. I got my mom some silver, green amber earrings from Argentina at this cool shop in the city. They are very pretty I hope she likes them. Her and my dad took off to grand bend this morning on their iron horse so she will get them this afternoon.
I am off to see the new x-men movie now with friends. Have a happy mothers day.

A few favorite horse things

The cute little/big blood mark on the right side of her neck. Hey it kinda looks like a heart. Awww.


Her unsatisfiable curiosity. Whatcha doin ther?

A soft, kind eye, and the dirt around it. The dirt around the dirt and the dirt on top of dirt on top of dirt. Did I mention she likes to roll in the dirt?

The way she curls her lip up any time there may be food involved

Her need to lick me whenever I am within tongue reach.
(Ignore the compost to the right, we throw it unto the barnyard and that corner by that gate has very nice soil for your garden combined with horse manure)

How cuddly she is. If I were a horse I would not be letting some human hang off my face. Then again if I were a horse I think I might be wild. Wild, crazy and full of random explosive energy.

Have you ever thought what kind of horse (or other animal) personality you would be? Would you be understanding? Wild? unpredictable? Moody? The child's best friend? Or something completely different.
Either way I thank my girly for being all of these, just not at the exact same time.

That darn dog!

I took Savanah with me last night to a friend I ride with regularly. She is a wonderful horsewoman who works so hard at whatever horse or dog's training she owns. I know she doesn't think so but shes very talented.

We wen't to have a sort of playday with her dogs and Savanah. Savanah loves other dogs and wants to chase them. She hasn't been regularly around other dogs well since we got her and she will be 5 this June.

My friend has three dogs, two pomeranians. They are so effin cute! One Oscar, a black flat coat I fell in love with. He is the happiest dog on the face of the earth. He prances wherever he goes and when you talk to him his little head turns to the side and his ears pirk up. He is adorable. Her other pom is a brown puffy one, but still really cute. Shes pretty good she was a replacement for oscars mum, gidget who was the prettiest pom I have ever seen.

Her third dog and soon to be Savanahs best friend is bo. Bo is a white shepard and possibly the most gorgeous dog I have ever seen. He is a big white ball of playful. If you haven't seen a white shepard they look like german shepards but are white. They aren't albino but a breed on their own.

This is what bo looks like.
Anyway my friend follows Caesar Milan. I admit I have never seen a show of his. We can't get cable out here but the basic stuff and it's expensive for basic cable. Bleah.

Bo tried to jump at Savanah because he wanted to play. Savanah jumped back and was scared of him. Shes used to dogs her size and smaller and bo scared the bejeesus out of her.

So we went for a walk which totally cured both their needs to lunge at or run away. Bo would run and Savanah would follow him then he would turn around, totally ignoring her and she would tuck her tail and bolt back to me. It was so funny.

Savanah was pretty good. She sat when I told her to sit and for the most part didn't open her big yapper.

We both agreed by the end of the play date that we need to regularly get the dogs together and play.

Long legs

See paint girl you are not the only one that has problems with finding pants that fit! No one believes this girl weighs 130 pounds. Mine always ride about this high when I ride. You should see my struggle to find english breeches that don't sag off my butt or ride up to my knees when I am actually on a horse.

For the wife: Indigo even has her mouth in the process of opening.

Oh, my friends came out. We were scratching horses and as usual terrorizing desensitizing them. Did you know that 4 out of 6 horses are terrified of bubbles?

Sunday stills: flowers

I missed last weeks Sunday stills due to being busy and such and I really didn't have motivation to do this week. I love flowers, I am terrible at photographing them. I don't have ones growing too much right now other than in the gardens and they are boring. Red tulips, some daffodils etc.

My friend Stepanie and I went for a walk back her uncles property. Wile wading through the swampy path and around trees we came across a few trilliums.

"Trilliums!" I shouted and borrowed her camera to take pictures.



See here in Canada each province/territory has it's own flower or plant. Trilliums are Ontario's. I've never seen them growing wild before. My mom used to have some at the old house but that was before I was born. She always talked fondly of their large white petals.

Aren't they pretty? They can be a variety of colours depending on the soil they are growing in. Neat!

So anyway we trudged through more swampy laneway due to the recent rain and came across not three plants but HUNDREDS!!

Excuse the blurry mess I made we were trying to balance on a log in the mud.
Of course theres a sad, but failed attempt at a macro, also standing in the mud on something I think a rock.


I think they might be illegal to pick, I am not sure. Anyway it keeps people from picking them. I know in some states in the US it is illegal. They sure are pretty to see a dreamy white carpet of them shrouded by a canopy of grand maple trees.

Spring sure is pretty.