Animation!

waaaah my browser spontaneously died so I lost my whole post >:C


Anyway. It snowed a lot. Probably the most in a few years anyway a foot and a half. SLEIGH TIME!! But I hate the cold. I am going to go "neighbogaining" when you ride a horse and pull someone on a sleigh. Great fun.

Anyway. I made an animation. The first one since high school. Unfortunately my main computer then had an epic meltdown and it ATE my hard drive. Like little bits inside that make it spin were ate, just...gone. So yeah. I made this animation and yeah its got a kind of watermark on it because of art theifs. Damn them. They are the lowest of all lowly scum. But still a step ahead of ex boyfriends.

Wait for it to load. May take a few seconds theres 15 frames or so.
Guh, blogger won't let me upload flash files. Poo on it. It sucks. Yeah so eventually it will have colour.

Did I mention I do web development and graphic design. Anyone need banners or web layouts or Blog layouts? I do comissions. I am also doing comissions on the horse hair jewlery. I got a couple orders that need to go back to their owners on Monday. A hat band and two bracelets. the hat band was fun to do. If you are interested post here. Check out my deviant art gallery bloodstainedsilk.deviantart.com

yup so that pretty much sums up today. Cold, snowy and such.

The horse knows best

He knows when you're happy
He knows when you're comfortable
He knows when you're confident
And he always knows when you have carrots.

Time heals all wounds

It's been a month and one day since Naigen was laid to rest. It feels like only yesterday.

I was doing stalls this morning and I opened the back door and had to do a double take then peel back inside the barn to shake my head and take yet another look. Pistachio, the little white pony who is now Shorti's pasture mate was standing just in the shed where Naigen always did. She turned her head to look at me and the only thing that was missing was the whicker to acknowledge my presence. I swear I had seen Naigen standing there.

Audry took her death a lot harder than I did. I have two other horses to call my own and many more to console with. She has no horse now. Jane says that she is still hurting over the loss and her eyes tear up every time she talks about the old girl.

It's a sore subject and kind of a love hate relationship. We love to talk about memories we have made with her. We hate to bring them up because it opens old wounds we are trying to heal.

I miss the way she would neigh to me every day when she seen me. The way she would sigh when she was in the cross ties or with you and content; no other horse sighs quite like she did. She would kind of inhale three times real quick then exhale in one big breath and everything about her would be at ease. She did it every time she was rubbed, or being groomed or just standing quietly next to you. She let all your problems melt off and onto her.

Sure I could do the same thing with Indigo but theres only the rare moments where we are both still, my arms around her and then they only last a few seconds. She'll be back to tryin to lick my coat or nuzzle me all over. Still those seconds seem like hours to me when I am sad or alone, my face buried in her wooly neck and long soft mane.

Love and kindness know no boundaries, no limits no ends.
Time heals all wounds but a friend helps time along.

The pecking order

So I decided to write on something out of boredom and suddenly thinking of the topic. Pecking order with horses.



I'll give you an example herd.

6 horses. They live outside 24/7 and are never separated in exception to being worked. None are herd bound. They have been together for the past 3 years (minus the filly who was born last year)

1. 8 year old mare. 16.2hh
2. 16 year old mare 14.2 hh
3. 7 year old gelding 14 hh
4. 17 year old mare. 15.1hh
5. 9 month old filly. She is the daughter of #2 mare.

#1 mare is the herd boss. Everyone respects her.

#2 was former herd boss before #1 came along. She is a good mother and walks confidently until #1 comes along then she scoots as fast as she can to get out of her way. She allows #3 and #5 to be near her and groom her. She also grooms them in return.

#3 gets pushed around by everyone including the 9 month old filly.

#4 gets pushed around by everyone. She never lets anyone get close to her but #1 mare. When #1 mare gets close she pins her ears and bites her side, even offering every once and a wile the swing of her hip. This behaviour is displayed especially when her human is around. Surprisingly, #1 never corrects her. She never lets any other horse but #1 and #5 get close to her.

#4 and #2 are violent towards each other if they are within range.

#5 is going through the pushy weanling state. She has a false sense of dominance over #3. She doesn't back down to #3 and bites and kicks him all the time. Even though she is almost a year old she is still attached to her mother but is weaned.

NOTE: False sense of dominance. This happens a lot with youngsters and their older herd mates. They are at a stage where they are getting bigger and wanting to explore their dominance and older horses that are not their mothers are not wanting to injure them but are inexperienced at discipline. Happens a lot with geldings it seems. To compare to humans it would be like going over to a friends house who has a young kid and the young kid crawling all over you and kicking you and throwing things at you. You do not want to discipline in fear of upsetting the child or even his/her parents. Some people are an exception and never let this happen, just like you never/rarely see this happen with an old brood mare and another mares foal. The brood mare just doesn't tolerate it.

#1 eats with #4. Anyone else runs from #1 when she comes to eat their food.

#2, #3 and #5 eat together.

And so in explaining this pecking orders are NOT linear. This concludes why #1 and #4 eat together even though they are at completely different areas of the pecking order.

08 survey

Because all my good writing went to other places. A new post soon.

1) Where did you begin 2008?
At my ex'es house.

2) What was your status by Valentine's Day?
In a relationship, unfortunately

3) Were you in school (any time in 2008)?
University

4) How did you earn your money?
Shoveling shit, training horses, writing etc.

5) Did you have to go to the hospital?
Nope, wow hope this year is the same.

6) Did you have any encounters with the police?
Not that they were interested in me.

7) Where did you go on holiday?
Wawa, in September

8) What did you purchase that was over £500?
A new saddle.

9) Did you know anybody who got married?
Yeah a few.

10) Did you know anybody who passed away?
Unfortunately.

11) Have you run into anybody you left high school with?
Yeah lol a few I haven't seen in like 5 years or more too!

12) Did you move anywhere?
nope

13) What sporting events did you go to?
nephews hockey game

14) What concerts/shows did you go to?
Horse shows

15) Are you registered to vote?
Yeah but I didn't this year because I knew nothing about the people running in this asscrack of a town.

16) Who did you want to win Big Brother?
???err

17) Where do you live now?
Home

18) Describe your birthday.
Don't remember. Wasn't terribly exciting I guess.

19) What's the one thing you thought you would never do but did in 2008?
Get my license XD haha

20) What has been your favourite moment?
Having my best bud come home for two weeks on holidays then drive around doing crazy shit. Like running from rushing pee water in the bathroom XD lol!

21) What's something you learned about yourself?
That my words hurt more than physical violence. I am a mean bitch and the asshole who got what he deserved, deserved it.

22) Any new additions to your family?
hm no.

23) What was your best month?
Prolly August.

24) What music will you remember 2008 by?
My horse dieing and people dieing and my life taking a drastic new direction.

25) Who has been your best drinking buddy?
Dunno...all my friends. Dave is usually there drinking though.

26) Made new friends?
men can't remember, prolly more like knew the people and just friended them.

27) Best new friend(s)?


28) Favourite Night out?
Going to the loop with Lisa and Dave.

29) Any regrets?
That I didn't break up with my ex sooner.

30) Worst month?
December, of my life.

Five Lows of 2008: Not in any order
1. Naigen dieing.
2. Indigo injuring herself a billion times.
3. Being lonely
4. Everyone moving away
5. People dieing.

Five Highs of 2008
1. Finally getting keebler trained
2. Showing Indigo for the first time
3. Showing keebler at his first show and winning.
4. Lisa coming home and hanging out with her practically every day.
5. Seeing Kassidy and Livvie ride Naigen every week with enthusiasm.

I tag, whoever wants to do it. It's a bit blah but gotta put a new post someplace.

Scrapped

Crazy M ranch

Tell ten things about yourself

Lets see...where to start. I gotta rack my brain for ten things interesting enough about me. One is hard enough but ten!?

Ok so here goes.

1. Since everyone has one on fighting heres mine: A kid in highschool picked a fight with me. He was at least two times my size and everyone respected him (the wanker). He came up behind me, punched me in the back of the head and I turned around and beat the living snot out of him. Didn't hold back an inch. It was in a stairwell at Amherst highschool, he fell down it. His friends all split and he took off shortly after. The 5'8, probably 100 pound soaking wet girl. He never messed with me again. He got suspended I got a detention.
I also punched a guy in a bar. He thought I was his friend and did the crotch grab at me and my first instinch was to whallop him one in the side of the head. It knocked him down. He looked up and said "Woah, you got my respect but I thought you were someone else!" Moral of the story, don't mess with this country chick.

2. When the hay is being baled I am the first one to be called. I'll be there on time, in the right clothes and ready to work. Then they call the guys. Funny eh?

Darn it this is hard.

3. I never got rid of my horse toys/barbies (I only kept the ones with the bendable legs because they could ride XD) My moms best friend Souix told me when I was young a horse girl never gets rid of her horse toys because some day they can be passed on and many more memories can be created. I have over 50.

4. I love art, braiding, painting, drawing, CREATION!!! Writing is art.
Recently I have taught myself (yes!) how to braid horse hair. Nope not on the horses. I have been doing that for years but rather making bracelets, hat bands, necklaces and earrings. Check them out my gallery You can check my other art and photography there too. I do commissions. Want a bracelet from your horses hair? I can do that.

5. I have a weakness for cute puffy nose nickers my horses do. You know the ones you can barely hear but their nostrils are all a flutter when they see you. I just melt. Indigo does it every time and Naigen used to do it but louder when she seen me. I just want to grab their cute noses and squeeze them. I love them.

6. My horses have to know some sort of trick. Indigo can bow, smile and turn her head left and right on command. Keebler does target training and will touch any object I point to in the arena. Naigen, well she just touched so many hearts she didn't need a trick. Her trick was to put her head in your hands and let all your worries fall off you and onto her. I miss her so much.

7. I like shiny things. No I am serious. If people have earrings and they are talking to me I find myself looking at them. I honestly can't help myself XD. My descision to buy things is often swayed by their shinyness

8. I have a woopee cushion. I laugh every time someone farts it. I also laugh at real farts. Yeah I am like that. I can hang with the best of them and laugh with the worst.

9. Guys make better friends. You can be yourself and do crazy things but no one can replace the girls best friend. I am glad mine came home for the holidays.

10. So I am running out of ideas. Oh, I know. I am not normally a shy person, except when I know someone likes me, like you know boys. Yeah. I become a total avoider and try and avoid that person which sometimes drives them away. Dammit!

So I tag all of you who read this, which probably isnt many but thats ok. Happy new year!

Some of my favorite things

Like the song but a horse lovers version.

Name 10 things you couldn't live without in your live with horses. It can be clothing, saddles, tack brushes etc. Something that you would recommend to anyone who has a horse or may have a situation like yours. Add a picture when you can.

1.Well worn Blundstone boots.

They are ungodly comfortable. When mine started to fall apart on the soles I contacted Blundstone Canada. The lady replied to me "They are too old you just need to buy a new pair because the soles are melted on and you can't fix them" Screw that! So I guess the head guy in Australia got a hold of the customer service. He was unsatisfied with the letter so today I got my free pair in the mail!! SQUEE!! I can't wait to tromp around the barn and everyplace else in them. They aren't broken in yet but next to my old ones they are still the most comfy pair of boots a person could buy EVER.

I've had these boots for 8 years! They have been through mud and ice, rain and especially horseshit. They have carried me miles on the ground and in saddle. I absolutely love them. The leather is in wonderful condition other than the faded toe and the insoles are a little rubbed down. They aren't discipline specific and will NEVER hurt your feet especially if you have wide BIG feet like mine.

2. Slotted kitty litter scoop from the $ store

Not only are they good for scooping ice from frozen buckets (winter anyone?!) they stand up a lot better than metal strainers from the dollar store. We use them for ice, hay in buckets and the water trough which gets gobs of green algae that are really nasty to grab by hand. Done it, the scoop is worth the 1$

3. Leatherman multi purpose tool

I live by this thing. Leatherman makes the best multi tool ever. You can cut bales of hay open, cut wire on fencing, open feed bags and more. It folds all up into a convenient belt holster. I've had immitation multitools and none meet the quality and long years a leatherman does. When you got a multitool get leatherman or just go home. Nuff said.

4. Shedding blade

For four reasons.
1. Spring when they shed. It takes off more hair easier than any curry comb. Even the ever expensive furminator didn't work on my horses like this thing does.
2. Where there is mud there shall be mud covered horses. It's a known fact and this again, easier than any curry comb.
3. No need to buy a sweat scraper. Out of all the ones I have bought or used this one (the flat edge without the teeth) Just works better. You un attach it and scrape away. You can get more intricate with it than the other two ones.
4. They are like um...3-6$ thats cheap and you get 3 good tools out of it and save money too!

5.Jelly scubber

I like the soft small nubby side. I use it to do legs and all over the place even the face. I found they are more expensive to buy like on average $6 but I use it the most out of all mine. It's like a combination between a rubber curry and a stiff brush. It gets a lot of dirt off but has the softness to do dirt on legs. Plus I use mine to bath and scrub real deep.

6. Riding helmet

Kind of self explanatory but I found I hate the ones with a dial. Especially the cheap plastic helmet ones. However I got a nice International riding helmet, velvet and vented and it fits like a glove just like my old velvet international did (but it's cracked due to a riding fall bareback). I hate how troxels fit. International velvet ones are the way to go, western or english. They save your head.

7. Hamilton halters

Sure they may cost 40$ for a horse size but they come in a BAZILLON different sizes so you can forget about those hard to find halters for horses. And they last forever. The only thing I have had to replace was a snap that my farrier sewed on for 5$. Now they make them with better snaps. The hardware is really durable and I've had horses haul back on them and they don't break.

8. Santa fe coat conditioner

Won't make the saddle slide. Totally worth buying a bottle if you horse has a long mane/tail. Gorgeous hair but not slippery. Plus it smells SOOOO good. I use it on my hair once and a wile.

9. MTG

Does exactly like shapleys says. Smells bad but works. Grows manes, makes them silky and grows hair back in half the time. When you have a cut on a horse and it starts to scab over I use it. Scabs become soft and fall off and the skin is moistureized and hair grows back in record time.

10. Cowboy magic/any product by them

Particularly the green spot remover (waterless bath), detangle and shine and the yellowout shampoo. Green spot remover works better than any waterless bath. I had two white horses (now one very dirty), believe me! I live by this stuff at a horse show and winter. The detangle and shine is just like baby oil only it does not attract dust like baby oil and smell bad. Plus a little bit goes a long way but it IS very expensive but very worth it because you don't use a lot. I use it for manes and tails every other day. No knots here. The yellowout, well white horses but it brings out the shine and opaque hairs any horse has for that really deep down clean look.

So what are your top 10 favorite things?? Reply here or post in your blog and link me. I love to read your blogs.

More on barn cats

We do have some resident barn cats that have been around for a wile and a few that were around for not long but their impression lasted a lifetime.

We don't really ever name the barn cats. Theres a lot of them and most of them run away or die or they have more kittens so we run out of names.

Fluffers. Shes got a permanent name. All the other kittens were cute and mewed and played. Fluffers looked like a gigantic frazzled cotton ball. All you could see was eyes and a mouth she was that fuzzy. Cutest kitten ever. I thought I had a picture of her, I guess I don't.

Anyway Fluffers is the queen of the barn. If any unruly kittens come to close they get a taste of her paw and a very growly verbal lashing. She is the first to eat out of the bowl and the first to get scritches and shes got the softest coat I have ever felt in a cat. Shes truely the queen.

Second is this damn cat. As soon as she figured out how her girly kitty parts worked she started pumping out kittens for a few months like there was no tomorrow. The first litter of kittens she had 2/3 died. She was having them behind some bales of hay and heard me pour the food and came out WITH A KITTEN HANGING OUT OF HER REAR because she wanted to eat. OMFG as if we don't feed them enough!!
This cat is really annoying. She will only let you pet her when shes eating. Other than that she just bitches at you when you haven't fed her quick enough.
Like last night I was feeding the horses and I hear this MMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEAAAARRRRRRRRRRR........MMMMMEEEEEAAAAAARRRRRRRRR
I am like "where the hell is that cat!?" I look up and shes peeking out of the very top window in the hayloft and scolding me for being in the barnyard and not the barn to feed her.

Then there is this un f-ing believably cute kitten. I named him Ozzy, because well he looked like my friends cat Ozzy. This kitten had the cutest soft belly and he would literally just sit in my arms and chill for hours. Unfortunately he got hit by a tomato truck just a few days after I took this picture. He was a darn cute bugger. Can never get too attached.

About a year ago this mama cat lost two of her kittens between a wall. They were only three weeks old, cold and hungry. My first thought "they are barn cats theres going to be 15 more to replace them in a month" well a boarder where I work came in, heard the mewing, found the kittens and "we just couldn't leave them!" So I took them home.

I couldn't keep them. Savanah would kill them or at least maul them with enthusiastic dog love.

So they came to my ex'es moms house. She nurtured them and they became rocky and rambo. Rocky and rambo had an odd fascination with christmas light bulbs. They would chew on them or scale the tree and gnaw on the lit ones. I think they liked the clink, clink, clink noise they made against their gnashing teeth. They also broke an assortment of plants and ornaments and other things. We had to barricade everything. One thing they never got over was their ability to scale the patio window in one leap; claws out and into the screen door. There they hung until ex'es mother beat them down with this big tube of rolled up paper.

Anyway it came time they were making too much of a mess in the house and they needed to go back out to the barn. They were TERRIFIED. All the other barn cats rubbed against them in warm welcome and they hissed and hid. We didn't see them for a few days. Well I didn't.

Marilyn was making lunch one day and had the windows open in the house. She heard his forlorn meowing, as male cats often do. Then she hears a horrible shredding noise.

Rambo was on the window screen looking in at her like a long lost love. He missed being a house cat. Marilyn didn't think it was quite as funny and threw a pail of water at the screen, soaking the cat.

After a couple weeks of the two cats meyhem Murdo's brother, Dennis from down the road needed new barn cats so he threw the terrible twosome into the back of his truck and thats the last I heard of them. Well until his wife was cooking supper and a cat climbed up the screen window.

I saw my life flash before my eyes when....

I picked up a bale of hay and three sleeping kittens split in three directions. The fourth launched strait at my face and firmly attached itself to my eyebrows.

Yeah, all in a days work right?

I don't think it realized what was going on and either did I except there was a cat hanging off my face. Before I had time to think about beating it off it took off too and scrambled up the hay chute. I stood there for a moment wondering what just happened. Then I laughed and inspected my face for new holes. I don't know how the hell it did it but theres not even a mark on my eyebrows.

Oh that cat picture there, thats Squeaky. The cutest non-meowing (hence the name) barn cat EVAR!! He was totally in love with my dad. He died though as some barn cats do. He was damn cute though.

They say...

They say that having to put a pet to sleep is the loneliest feeling in the world. I couldn't agree more.


Naigen Blaze
1988-December 4th 2008

The best, most trustworthy little horse to ever trot on into my heart(and wallet as horses do)

I am glad I had to work today. I knew something wasn't right. I put the ol' girl out in the paddock and she lie flat on her side right in a big puddle and lay there. I got her up and put her in the arena and Chris walked her while I drove into town in a panic trying to find Audry.

Audry and I were there with her from 11:15 till 3 pm when Dr.Bob Featherstone, our wonderful vet came out and determined she had a twisted bowel and needed to cross the great rainbow bridge.
Chris and Audry's husband Ronnie were there too. Even though she was sick she ate some carrot and a banana(her favorite) which Ronnie brought for her.

Audry and I cried for a long time. I still feel like crying. I never cry. Not at funerals or anything but this little horse had a very special place in my heart.

I got a big chunk of her tail so I am going to make a few things out of it. To think when I first got her that tail was one big impossible deadlock. I worked real hard to make her tail as thick and beautiful as it was.

The saddest part was hearing about my friends granddaughters who ride her weekly. Cassidy(3) and Olivia(2). I could hear Cass on the phone as I talked to her "Why Siddy? Why? Why is Naigen gone? Isn't she coming back?" It made me want to cry all over again.