Goats Love Beet Pulp

Did you know that? Because I didn't until just now. Neighbor goats went all cray-cray (only time I have said that word) for some leftover crunchy beet pulp. Huh.

And also, I think we need a drum roll, because.....I ate too much spaghetti!

No, just kidding. BACON AND PANDORA ARE HOME!!!! And I did eat way too much.

Whoa. New house!

So, Saturday the boy attempted to bring ponies home while I worked. And I paced and paced at work, imagining all of the horrific scenarios playing out in my head (someone gets stuck in the front feeder in the trailer, the boards break and legs fall through as Blake is driving down the freeway leaving me with nubby horses, etc.) and all of the girls told me it would be fine. And then I got a call from Blake saying he couldn't get Bacon in the trailer.

So after work, I rushed home to find that he had thrown her back in her pen with her shipping boots still on standing in about a foot of mud. Nice job there, buddy. I took those off, attempted to get in her the trailer, and realized that she wasn't going to fit no matter how much we wanted her to. Way to tall for our tin can two horse trailer. Plus, I don't think she had been let out of her pen for several months and it was all windy and crap, so that didn't help. I decided to lunge her, and I felt like I was flying a very large kite.

"Hey Eugene! Is this what I am supposed to be doing?"

Luckily, we have awesome friends who came to the rescue. Instead, we came out to the track on Sunday, and I got legged up on a super sweet red filly. She had been aced the previous day and was a little slow, so they thought she would be fine without any for my ride. And she would have been if I didn't have such flappy little arms...oh well. I backtracked her longer than I was supposed to, turned around and took off after the horse in front of us, then another horse, and being it was only her second day on the track I waited for her to tire. And tire she did, very quickly. Having done this A LOT last year (a tale for another day), I felt quite comfortable on a horse I had no control over with my sad little body. We galloped a lap, and parked it. We were both very tired. People laughed. I laughed.

Aaannnddd my body was done. Boy walks me back.

Then, redheadlins and friends brought a spacious three horse over, and loaded up the nervous wreck of mine, and the Pandora. Very slowly, ever so slowly, we drove to our home. I was amused when the horses arrived, saw me out of their windows, and nickered at me in what I would call a very confused tone.

They came. They saw. They rolled. And rolled. And rolled some more. Loving all of their new sand and mudless pens. I was very happy. And very exhausted.

We got us a sand pile!

The next day, I took them out after work for a good lunging in their new tiny arena. There was more kite flying. The day after, not so much. They decided they didn't like all of the hard work they had to do in the deep sad. Muahaha!

Well hello Bacon's ass. Welcome to the picture.

Today, I rode the red filly again (drugged) and she was perfect! It was so weird to me to turn a horse around and not just haul ass. I couldn't believe I was going so slow. A horse even passed me. I had to kiss at her to keep her momentum. And my legs were burnin' after! I believe that was the shortest my stirrups had ever been. I still don't feel I have accomplished this galloping racehorses thing because the only ones I can gallop successfully are drugged ones or "babies". At least I don't fall off?

That's funny. I don't remember bringing a yak home.

And for today, since the ponies have settled in so nicely, I decided to hop on Bacon and give her a good grooming session. It was wonderful! I haven't ridden this girl in a good 5 months or so, but she was great. I even suckered my dad in to taking some pictures. She also had a pedicure and a beard shave. Such a lady. (Side note: Pandora has already escaped her pen once. That is what I get for not triple checking the clip on her chain).

Nobody likes ass chunkage.

Well OK, maybe Bacon's. 

We're fancy.

Strechy stretch. All decked out in OTTB wear!

So, there you have it. Two down, two more to go! I am so excited for them to be here!

NO.

NOPE. No horses here yet!

Let me just take a moment to say, I AM DYING INSIDE.

There. Nope, still don't feel better. Oh well.

So basically, all we got done this weekend was finishing one pen, before Blake's drill crapped out on us. And then I went out and seeded the pasture and nipped the barbwire fencing off of one post. And tried to scrape out as much old hay as possible without dying (I've got the 'llergies to hay) out of the hay barn. And....pretty sure that was it. It rained. Blake had homework. I have swollen tonsils. It's just NO.

And now I am again waiting for the weekend to come. I guess it is something to look forward to, right?

I guess as far as pictures go, I don't really have any. I have old ones? And I was comparing Bacon with the first year that I got her, to about now. I am sure you can all notice a difference...

The month after I got her. 

2nd ride on her. First week I had her.

That same summer...

And now, last October.

Also, last October.

But I still love seeing Blake on Bacon. 

The last picture makes me smile. Not because she was so skinny (AHHHPOJABJB!) but because Blake was riding her. And in traditional Blake style, just threw on his saddle, back cinch and all, and spurs and rode off. And Bacon was all, back cinch and spurs? If you say so!

Note: I am not recommending his strategies. He is a weirdo. 

Also Note: I scored a pair of FITS breeches off of Ebay for $60. Yes, I am proud of that!

Ever so close...

So. Close.

Yep. That is right. We are closer. So much closer to having my ponies here! We had 32 tons of sand delivered on Friday, and they promptly dumped it in an area where it was not needed...thank goodness for having a tractor in the family. Because, I may have muscles galore (ha!) but I am not capable of moving 32 tons of sand in the allotted time. Just no.

Giant goathead free butt resting area!

Meatball Mountain!

But the dogs enjoyed the crap out of the sand mountain in the backyard.

Because hot fence and dead vines isn't a fire hazard....

So far, we have placed the boards up along the bottom of the shelter, so there shall be no slicing of legs on metal. I spent all of Sunday morning clearing old grape vines off of the hot wire fence in the back. That took a lot more work than I expected, and my traps were a burnin' but it was alright. Blake was busy fixing a part of the fence where the neighbor goats had jumped over. And then went to work digging out a tree that was trying to grow half on our side of the wooden fence, and half on the neighbors.

1950 Ferguson. Only falls apart sometimes.

Again, thankful for tractors. The only way to get that stump out of the ground was with mad tractor muscle. And it succeeded.

Oh, hello there Vlad. You fiery Romanian. 

We were later joined by other friends for added muscle. The tractor savvy Ross did all of the tractor work, while computer science boy Robby helped Blake with various other projects, and electrical engineer Vlad helped me with the sand. We got the pens filled with sand, and started to work on the arena, when all of the sudden one of the boys decided it would be fun to light the pasture on fire.

I was somewhat ok with this, because it was filled with tall dead grass, and the tractor could not drag through all of it. Robby had experience with controlled burning, and I had plenty of trust in him. It was the others I was worried about. College boys + torch and propane tank= NO. But, I let them do it.

Here is one of those houses from 2008. About 9 houses away from me.

Robby had it planned out, I had a mild panic attack (note: my house was in between a massive fire back in 2008, where 19 houses were destroyed) and realized it was going just fine. I even went out and supervised and added side weeds to the flames. And then we added all of the grape vines, and the wind picked up a little bit at the same time, and smoke rose, and then we heard some sirens....

Jesus fricken damnit.

I play in the ring of fire!

We all froze. And the fire truck drove right past us. And that is when I called it quits. I forced the boys to put the fire out, and they pouted, but I didn't care. Good news is, the tractor could now get a good bite of the earth and drag it around. Which will make seeding a heck of a lot better.

No more dead grass napping for the moo.

We then regrouped, and started adding sand to the arena area. My arena will only be about 50x50', but it will be better than nothing. My eyes started to light up, and all of the boys could see how excited I was for this to be happening. I worked on the arena until nightfall. And then turned on our super cool lights that may allow me to ride at night in the summer, and kept going. My arms and back hated me, but I didn't care.

Arena!

All we have left now is to finish up the sides of the pens, get the hot wire completely connected and working, bring hay, and bring two ponies! I have my fingers crossed that it will be this weekend!

YAAAAAAY!!!!!

And the endless sand pile is still being endless.

Nuts and Bolts

Can my ponies have wings?

Scratch that. I would never be able to catch them. I am sure.

I am going NUTS not having my horses here. I have had enough. Separation does not do the heart good. It makes it very very angry and upset. And poor Blake is hearing about it. Everyday. Every single day.

Pure insanity.

I wonder why he gave me this ring in the first place? Maybe he is crazy, and I have never seen this, because I am crazier. It has just now dawned on me. Anyways...

Oh noes dad! I'm trapped!

Tard Ass Building and Construction Inc.

Crazy boy and I went and got some panels to form their pens into actual pens...and whoever built this said shelter is stupid. There is exposed metal about 2ft high off of the ground, so horses that want to lay down hoping to get cast will instead amputate the said leg. The spacing between the wood posts and the whole shape of the pens is weird, and we can't really move them around too much because of the electrical and water system....that leaves us looking for an 8ft panel. Which don't really exist. Gates sure do. That will give Pandora two chances to get out, instead of one.

That damn horse picks gates up and somehow maneuvers them off of the post. Or works the chain and clip until she breaks it. Or finds a weakness in the panel. Seriously, if you want to test your fence line, through Pandora in it.

Someday, she will break out of here.

Sand is also needed for the pens, because I am tired of seeing them as swamp monsters when I go over for a visit. Bacon has weaved herself into a muddy hole. MUD EVERYWHERE. And every time I inquire about getting a quote for sand, I come up empty handed. The damn sand and gravel place is literally two miles from our house. Lazy turd buckets.

Save us from the mud pit! And bring us cookies!

I just want them home. So terribly bad. Even if it is just two for now. We still have to build a shelter for the other two. And it all seems like so far away. I have been trying to be healthier lately also. Because I really really don't like myself or my body. So it has been semi-healthy meals, and lots of P90X workouts. I am hoping this will increase my fitness for riding as well. It should, those damn things are brutal.

Tony Horton is nuts too.

So, this was a blog mostly about whining and pouting. But I am sure you understand. Someone had to hear it today besides Blake....

Someday, there will be ponies in this picture.

Valentine's Day

So, since I don't have much to write about (because my damn horses have not been moved over yet), I am just going to post more pictures. Of my Valentine's.

WOO HOO!

Look at him.

Seriously. Just look at him.

Isn't he just the cutest cowboy nerd you ever saw?

He makes a good ET too.

And we love Lucy.

And Pandora loves him. And not me.

But I love these two paint-a-lonays.

Even this yellow one.

And she gets kisses.

And we had to play those Hunger Game people. 

And these two girls are wonderful too.

Even Bacon gets Blake love.

Hell. All of the ponies get Blake love.

I even give Pandora love.

And then, there is my pups.

I love all of my Valentine's. All of them!