An Awesome Weekend...and a long overdue update

I know, I know...I have been awful about blogging, but lets be serious...who really thought I would keep up with it? Things have been quite busy around here, lots of changes and fun things to share.

Big news...baby horse Monroe is no longer my responsibility. I sent him back to his true Mom to finish his training. It was a really hard decision, but I think it was the right one. While I truly enjoyed playing with him, I also felt like it was time to work on my own riding. I have not had a lesson in at least 8 years...so I decided to make this a priority. It is really hard to keep yourself in shape when you are focusing on training a youngster. So...Monroe went home. :( I do miss him a lot.

Luckily I recently found a new project. I know...it doesn't take me long :) So, her name is Rosette. She is a 12 year old Canadian draft mare. Her owner is one of my clients and a trainer. She is really excited to have me ride Rosette and give me lessons too! So far it is really working out and I am enjoying actually having lessons. Things are slowly coming back to me from back in the day when I knew what I was doing. Rosette is a huge sweetheart and great to ride. She is teaching me a lot because she forces me to ask her to do things correctly. Once I do, she goes beautifully.

The other intesting thing is her breeding. She is a Cheval Canadian draft. I had never really heard of the breed but I did some research. The Mounties of Canada used these horses and they are not very common. They are used for all kinds of things like driving, dressage, eventing, fox hunting, etc. I like the look of them because they are strong like drafts but a little lighter boned.

Sharkster and Chuck are doing well. They were completely unfazed by Monroe leaving. I guess three really was a crowd! I wonder if I should rename the blog? Ah...whatev.

Tim and I had a great weekend. It was definatly needed as I had a sucky week. Full of euthanasias, dental work (on me), random emergancies, and whining. But thats all in the past now and I have fun weekend stories. Saturday we took the pups to the Dog Beach and it was fabulous. The beach is really long and narrow so it makes it ideal to let the dogs off. They were both so excited. It was great to be able to let Missy off too. There were other people/dogs there but they were far enough away. It was a little overcast at first but warmed up by the end of the day.

The best was watching Coop dig for the ball in the sand. He was so into it. Loved it!!!

Then Saturday night we went to a great new Greek restaurant. It was delish!!! Lamb for Tim and Lamb pasta for me. Apparently we like lamb...(think Lamb Schank)

Sunday I had a great lesson on Rosette in the morning. While I rode, Tim cooked. We had his company's unofficial work barbecue. The barbecue was a lot of fun and Tim made killer ribs smoked with rosemary. We had lots of food and good beer actually made by the guys from his office. It was nice to finally meet some of the guys Tim talks about. Oh and we took Cooper with us. Of course he was a hit with all the kids. He was a very good boy. So after the party we took him over to the dog park. That was fun and very funny. Leave it to Coop to be the one dog who runs to every single person in the park and basically ignored all the dogs. I mean he would sniff a few here and there but really they were just in his path to the next person. He had a blast and was wore out by the end of it.

So that was the weekend. It was great!

(there you go Dot and Ma...just for you guys :)

I Have Not Forgotten!

I know it has been weeks since I last wrote, but its been a busy couple of weekends. Mom and Dad were here and then we went up to the bay for the 4th! We had a great time and enjoyed lots of food :)
Things around the farm have been good. I am excited to finally say that we have our first tomatos starting today! We have been enjoying a lot of squash and zucchini the last week or so. Tim is getting good at adding it into any meal. I am looking forward to being able to eat our first tomato though.
Alright, horses. All three boys enjoyed a nice bath when Mom and Dad was here. It was a whole family affair. Too bad the camera wasn't charged...we even had Tim and Dad out there sudsing them up. It was fun and nice to do together on a hot day. Monroe was lame for over a week so he was off. But, we have overcome that and I am now riding him! He has been a very good boy. Tonight was definatly his best ride ever. Here is a video from last week, right after I started getting on him.

Since this ride he has gotten much smoother and more responsive to my commands. I am starting to use less voice commands and more riding aides as well. Hopefully he will stay sound and we can keep going in this direction. Tomorrow we are going over to Don's(client/friend) to have our first ride off the property. It will be great for him to have to be somewhere else.

Everyone else is doing well. The dogs are happy we are back from the weekend. But I don't think it really phases them at all. They probably get away with a lot more when we are not here :).

Whats up with Monroe?

Well, even though I haven't posted for awhile I have been working with baby Monroe. We have come quite a ways actually. He has become very consistant on a lunge line at walk, trot and canter commands. He has improved on the long lines as well but we definatly still need some work. Thanks to the help of Tim we also started desensitizing him to weight on his back. I was surprised that he was a little jumpy the first time we walked forward with me laying on him. But he recovered well and by the end of that session he was fine. I have to say Tim did really well too. He did not overreact and he just listened to my directions.
Today (Thursday) I sat on Monroe for the first time!!! He did really well and I am glad that his voice commands are so strong. He walks and halts very consistantly just based on my voice. I even had Tim let go of him for the last few minutes. He did well, but steering still needs adjusting. We only had one issue...we were in a halt and I asked him to walk and clucked...no response...I asked again...no response...I repeated myself and squeezed more than I had been...we launched forward and probably had all legs off the ground...Tim yells "Shaaannnnaa" queitly and I very easily calm baby boy down. So not too bad right? We have a lot of work ahead of us...but it is rewarding watching Monroe mature so quickly. Pics next time!
P.s. I was wearing my helmet!

Family Fun

Yes this is a very late post about our great weekend with my family. My Mom and Dad and Gram and Zaid came down last Friday...oh and Lydia too :) We started the weekend off with a great lamb dinner on Friday and just enjoyed the view from our house. It was Gram and Zaid's first time here so it was really great to show them our place. We also spent a lot of time petting and feeding the horses. You know the fastest way to anyone's heart is carrots right?
Saturday the boys headed to Chumash casino for a little gambling and us girls lounged around and relaxed. Gram kept Missy and Cooper company while Mom and I worked Monroe and cleaned up after the horses. We were shocked when the boys came home and Tim had a wad of cash...he won $450 in a poker tourney!!! Awesome!!!

Then we all loaded up and headed to Roblar winery for some wine tasting. We lucked into a deal on the cooking class and dinner for that night and enjoyed ourselves despite the ditzy cook. We have all been wanting to partake in these cooking classes so it was a fun thing to be able to do together.

Sunday the boys went fishing at Lake Cachuma and the girls lounged again. Mom and I gave Chuckles a much needed grooming and walked him around the neighborhood. In the meantime Gram and Cooper became fast friends :) We then went out to lunch and did a little shopping. Ahhh...shopping...it was great! Thanks Gram for everything...it was such a treat!

Sunday night we went out to dinner at Grapalo's and even saw Bo Derrick!

Monday came much to soon! Back to work for us and back to the bay area for the fam! Thanks for coming down guys! It was so nice to have you here!! Hope we can do it again soon!

NEW BED!!

Well...I know I haven't checked in for awhile and this one is going to be super short. I am really excited about our new BED!!! We got a king size memory foam and all new sheets over the weekend! Thanks to Carol and Warren for helping us out!! The bed just arrived and I put the new sheets and comforter on!! Very pretty! Here are some pics for those who are interested :)

Just For Fun

This is from the other night...apparently these two do get along once in awhile. In fact Monroe is now eating at Chuckles spot. Still figuring out the pecking order.

Training Update

Monroe worked Friday, Saturday and Sunday this weekend! He is doing quite well and is responding to voice commands with greater accuracy each day. We have added the kiss command and he struggles with that a little. I think it would help if I had a lunge whip to reinforce my commands. Instead I end up chasing him around until he picks up the canter. Sunday he was much better though. We also were granted permission by my friendly neighbor to use his little sand arena. This will make things much easier on me especially when I am on call. I will still trailer him over to the arena once in awhile as it is good experience.
Here's a short video Tim took of us at the beginning of our session on Sunday. It's not great and he got better as the session went on...but this gives you an idea of what we do.

So there you have it. Not too exciting, huh? After the boys got to graze together while we finished fixing the fence. All in all...great weekend :)

Escape Attempt #1....Success!

So Saturday night the dogs went nuts sometime in the middle of the night. We didn't really pay attention to it and just went back to sleep. Well...

I got up at 6:30 am (shocking, I know) to feed the dogs and I went outside to feed the boys. I see Sharky, and Chuckles...but no Monroe! Oh shit...what now! Well I see him standing out on the street in front of our house staring right at me!! I grab a halter and head down the driveway and he comes trotting right up to me! First look he is fine so I throw him back in and feed them. This is where he got out:

Yeah I know Ma...we need to shut the outer gate :) I don't know what happened but I am assuming he got spooked by something or the boys were being mean and made him choose this route to get away. He seems ok but does have a few superficial scrapes on both stifles.

He'll be fine...I even made him work today! Tim fixed the fence and life went on. Hopefully this is Monroe's first and last escape attempt!

Happy 2 Years to Us!!

It's been a few days since I last checked in and things have been good. Friday night Tim and I went to dinner with a friend of mine and her new boyfriend. The boyfriends parents live in an amazing home with one of the best views of the whole valley. We had a great night and even made the boys watch Twilight :).

Saturday came around and we relaxed and finally got to watch the Rolex coverage. We also watched the Preakness and I bet Tim that super filly "Rachel Alexandra" would win...and I was right! Too bad we didn't have any money on it. Very cool race and amazing filly!!


The big event of the weekend was our celebration of our 2 year anniversary! It's actually on Wednesday (May 20th) but we had an early celebration. We drove 1.5 hours to Moorpark to go to Cafe Firenze...this is the restaurant owned by one of the Top Chef contestants Fabio Viviani. The food was amazing and the atmosphere of the place was really great. We started with a Trio appetizer which had the most amazing jumbo shrimp wrapped in prosciutto, crab cakes and veggies with mozzarella cheese, then we shared the poached pear saddle which was delish. I had the Butternut squash ravioli for my entree and Tim had the Lamb shank (yes that is the name of our first son...he he:). The food was really great and they even gave us a mini brownie for our anniversary! Well worth the travel for some great food and a wonderful night! Oh...and I had the Balsamic martini x 2...very interesting and good.

Yes...that is Fabio...not a great picture but it's proof we were there. I wanted to go get a pic with him, but he is swarmed by people the whole time...so we passed. :)

Thanks Tim for two great years!! Bring on some more!

Baby Monroe

And so our training began! A brief history on Monroe's prior training...2 lunge sessions, 1 long lining session and 3 trailer rides. Other than that he is pretty untouched and a blank slate. I gave him til Monday to settle in with our little herd before putting him to work.

Monday arrived and getting him into the trailer was the first task (I haul to a nearby community arena). I was thrilled with his first experience with "poopmobile" our lovely trailer. A 2 horse straight load that is brown is not exactly the most inviting environment for a 3 year old. But baby Monroe walked right in!! Very good sign for a level headed horse :)

Our first lunge session on Monday went fairly well considering. Definitely a test in patience and I had to keep reminding myself how little training he has had. We just worked on paying attention (this was very hard), and "whoa" and "walk" commands. I was going to try "trot" but he seemed confused with the first two...so next time.
Our next session was today (Wednesday) and I can already see some improvements. He still had a hard time focusing...especially since there were several horses he could see outside the round pen. But, he remembered "whoa" and "walk" and we added "trot." Now we just have to work on accuracy and add the kiss sound (= canter). Sorry no pictures from today...its too hard to do when its just me.

We did have a scary freak out in the "poopmobile" on the way home. I had just pulled up in front of the house and heard him freaking out and banging around in the trailer. I got out and calmed him down just as one of the butt panels on the back of the trailer fell off!! Yeah!! Fell off! I don't know why he panicked so bad...he also bent one of the bars that holds the door locked in place. I think the rubber mat on the ramp may have touched him and startled him. It looked loose when he unloaded. Anyways, I talked to him a little and had him back out, circle and get right back in. I don't want his last memory of the trailer to be a panic attack :) And the sweet boy loaded right back in! He is so trusting of me already. More this weekend...

Power Struggle

Since Monroe joined our little gang this last Saturday things have sure changed. We once had a very quiet pasture with little to no fighting going on. Chuckles conceded to Sharky and they happily lived together, pleased to have found a buddy. Ha Ha...not so anymore.
Chuckles has now found his arch nemesis in baby Monroe. Not only does he resent Monroe for eating hay...he is also jealous of any bonding with Sharky. Those of you who knew Chuckles pre-Monroe might be shocked at the behavior of our sweet sweet pony. Here's some proof :)



I know! Poor Monroe! So far he has just sustained typical bite marks everywhere. Hopefully they will leave him alone once they have established the pecking order. He's a pretty good sport about it and I have been told he is used to it. Apparently he got beat up by a mini at his last home (my boss's house).
So there you have it. Little Chuckles is the man!

Welcome!

So I am new to this whole blogging world but thought I would try my hand at it. Mostly so my Mom (and a select few) can see my pictures and listen to my stories...Ma is probably the only one who will care about what I'm writing :) We'll see.

Where to begin. Sharky, Chuckles and Monroe. They are the three equine members of the family. Sharky is a 7 yo grey QH gelding who I got in Iowa and brought to California when I graduated vet school. Chuckles is the 12 yo pony I borrowed from a client/friend because I needed a buddy for the Shark. Monroe just joined the family this week and is still learning where he fits in. He is a 3 yo bay Oldenburg/TB gelding who has little to no training...yet.

Then we have Missy and Cooper the two canine members of the family. Missy is a 9 yo sf German Shepherd mix and Cooper is the craziest 5 yo cm golden retriever you will ever meet. They are great dogs who are loving there life here on our little 1 acre ranchette. Missy is happy to spend all her spare time outside hunting gophers...and Cooper just wants to be where his people are.

So thats our current menagerie and I'm pretty sure it won't get bigger any time soon. The addition of Monroe was a total impulse move that the hubby allowed with a few conditions :).

I will write again with details on the beginning of Monroe's training. So far we only have one day under our belt. So, not to exciting.