Me and my friends in Delaware have been anxiously awaiting the opening of this convenient new animal feed and pet supply store. Check out http://www.champaignfeeds.com/ for all the activities during the grand opening on May 20 th 2006. Champaign offers purina products so you don't have to drive all the way to centerburg when you're out of Omoline 100. Stopped by this weekend to peruse the inventory and lend an extra hand in setting up a few displays with my friend Gwen. The store is open for business so you can stop by to grab a bottle of fly spray, an extra bag of grain for your farm pet or horse, a big juicy bone for fido or a toy for kitty.
What's great? Delaware folks and those going to and from the fairgrounds for exhibitions have another option to purchase last minute items or even animal centered cards, gifts and other fun trinkets. Lets face it, Cashman doesn't have cool greeting cards or decorative household items for the animal lover and Tractor Supply-- when they have them they're, well, kinda cheesy.
Apr 17, 2006
Apr 16, 2006
Meanwhile Back at the Ranch
What a beautiful day it turned out to be. Didn't get out to the barn until 1:45-- my longtime friend pat picks me up as my car has been in the shop for over a month--stop at his place, go to the atm, drive through Cashman's for my bi-weekly bedding supply, then to the barn, finally. Unload the gear. Horses out, no one is at the barn yet. Kim's vet, the one that treated my dog is due out to follow up on her preparation to perform chiropractic medicine on dogs--she has to to do a stint with horses as part of certification. As I wrote though, no one out yet so pat leaves to go up the road to the nature preserve to take photos. I putter around, clean my stalls, Gwen arrives. She gets busy doing some stuff, then gets Treasure from the pasture. Eventually I get Wyatt from same, bring him in and curry off the gobs and gobs of hair. This is April, the moon when the ponies shed. For Wyatt, my shaggy ole appy, it will be July before he looses it all.
Eventually we're saddled up and ready to ride. No one else has arrived yet so we go out to ride along the fence line (basically a square around the 8 acre pasture). We'd only started down one side when Gwen sees the vet pull up and here comes Kim in her truck. "I think we can get all the way around if we hurry Gwen" I encourage. Gwen doesn't like the idea of hurrying. Treasure may stumble and hurt herself, or worse. I don't know what could be worse though.My take, at least the vet there! She wants to turn back in case she'll miss something important, like the cutomary jabbering before anything really starts. Oh well, ok, I give in. We head on into the paddock. Gwen starts untacking. I just loosen wyatt's girth a bit and remove his bridle and leave his rope halter on so he can graze over by the indoor arena. I planned more riding while everyone was busy but got interested in observing Dr. Feula and her brother in law (who is certified) check out Binafa, a 20 yr old arab mare.
They do Treasure, Magic, then look for another candidate. I had removed wyatt's saddle earlierwhile they were still working with the other horses. He also had creeped rather nonschalantly ever close to the "horse party" to keep an eye on things--he does that a lot--first he's in one spot busy grazing, then you look again and he's right behind you. Its as if he sprouted wings or like a childs toy horse or chess piece, he gets picked up and put down somewhere else by some unseen hand. Other times he just disappears into thin air. There is no end to his talents. Anyway "ok, you can try Wyatt here. He's not all that exciting but you can do him." They agree, since he's right there handy. Dr feula had been by a few weeks ago and had noticed his atlas bone seemed severely out of alignment. They looked at his teeth, showed me how his bite was a little askew. Brother in Law--really nice guy--does his probing and adjustments as Wyatt's lower lip just hangs limp. He closes his eyes while he gets all his hot spots worked on. They are treating for TMJ. When done, we look at his teeth again and I'm just amazed. His bite is as straight and perfect as can be.
After everyone except kim had left, (pat had returned as well and looked on from a lawn chair) pat and kim end up out front by the jeep. They talk while I resaddle wyatt to get our ride in. I mount up and we come out front by the jeep to chat a little first. Wyatt and I start off, going along slowly across the front of the drive and out of nowhere he gets all spunky and starts cantering as soon as we hit the grass and even goes over the old silo foundations.--which are the only two hills on the property unless you count the old manure pile, and where he often slips and takes rather carefully most times. Wow Wow, he's frisky and happy. We have a nice lope going down the long side of the fence & he doesn't want to stop as we turn the corner. I ease him into a trot reminding him this is the side that's way too bumpy. We make our way around, trotting then back to the gravel drive. Stop to chat again, then go back across the silo pads. He's trotting smoothly this time. We walk a little down the long side again. I turn him around, let him nibble, then head back. I encourage him into a lope again; he really wants to go faster but I know his trick of cutting around the corner fence post where he knows someday I will wack my leg, but so far his aim hasn't been that good. I still don't know if thats on purporse. That's his fun game, his little joke, a reminder that he could be one up on me if he really wanted to We end up loping all the way past the jeep. Were on the gravel drive now and I'm warning him "easy now, you know how you slip here" he ignores me, full of his new found confidence. We wiz by kim and pat I wave both hi and goodbye. By now I'm chuckling over the "wild ride" and Wyatt seems to be pleased with himself. We slow down by the side of the barn which is a favorite place to graze. I dismount, still chuckling and give him a gentle pat and scratch behind his ears. I bring him around to the front drive and untack, ask pat to keep an eye out while he grazes near the shrubbery which blocks the main road from view and I put the saddle in our locker.
Kim eventually leaves, I take Wyatt back out to the pasture. He waits patiently while I struggle with unwrapping the customary peppermint He takes it politely from my hand and saunters back to the herd. While pat goes to get gas I grain, throw hay, and water for the night so whoever was supposed to do it only has to bring the horses in. Since it was going on 8pm i kinda wondered why no one had been to the barn to feed. They may end up staying out all night, who knows. I cannot wait to tell the doc though about wyatt's rediscovered exhuberance. Amazing in that they made a fairly simple minor adjustment which made wyatt feel apparently free of much pain. He can be very reluctant to lope when he hurts, and loping is his favorite gait. I like to think Wyatt had a really good day too, feeling young and coltish and satisfied with life for the moment. It's days like these that make it really hard to leave the barn and spend the rest of the evening in the dull routine of the suburbs.
Eventually we're saddled up and ready to ride. No one else has arrived yet so we go out to ride along the fence line (basically a square around the 8 acre pasture). We'd only started down one side when Gwen sees the vet pull up and here comes Kim in her truck. "I think we can get all the way around if we hurry Gwen" I encourage. Gwen doesn't like the idea of hurrying. Treasure may stumble and hurt herself, or worse. I don't know what could be worse though.My take, at least the vet there! She wants to turn back in case she'll miss something important, like the cutomary jabbering before anything really starts. Oh well, ok, I give in. We head on into the paddock. Gwen starts untacking. I just loosen wyatt's girth a bit and remove his bridle and leave his rope halter on so he can graze over by the indoor arena. I planned more riding while everyone was busy but got interested in observing Dr. Feula and her brother in law (who is certified) check out Binafa, a 20 yr old arab mare.
They do Treasure, Magic, then look for another candidate. I had removed wyatt's saddle earlierwhile they were still working with the other horses. He also had creeped rather nonschalantly ever close to the "horse party" to keep an eye on things--he does that a lot--first he's in one spot busy grazing, then you look again and he's right behind you. Its as if he sprouted wings or like a childs toy horse or chess piece, he gets picked up and put down somewhere else by some unseen hand. Other times he just disappears into thin air. There is no end to his talents. Anyway "ok, you can try Wyatt here. He's not all that exciting but you can do him." They agree, since he's right there handy. Dr feula had been by a few weeks ago and had noticed his atlas bone seemed severely out of alignment. They looked at his teeth, showed me how his bite was a little askew. Brother in Law--really nice guy--does his probing and adjustments as Wyatt's lower lip just hangs limp. He closes his eyes while he gets all his hot spots worked on. They are treating for TMJ. When done, we look at his teeth again and I'm just amazed. His bite is as straight and perfect as can be.
After everyone except kim had left, (pat had returned as well and looked on from a lawn chair) pat and kim end up out front by the jeep. They talk while I resaddle wyatt to get our ride in. I mount up and we come out front by the jeep to chat a little first. Wyatt and I start off, going along slowly across the front of the drive and out of nowhere he gets all spunky and starts cantering as soon as we hit the grass and even goes over the old silo foundations.--which are the only two hills on the property unless you count the old manure pile, and where he often slips and takes rather carefully most times. Wow Wow, he's frisky and happy. We have a nice lope going down the long side of the fence & he doesn't want to stop as we turn the corner. I ease him into a trot reminding him this is the side that's way too bumpy. We make our way around, trotting then back to the gravel drive. Stop to chat again, then go back across the silo pads. He's trotting smoothly this time. We walk a little down the long side again. I turn him around, let him nibble, then head back. I encourage him into a lope again; he really wants to go faster but I know his trick of cutting around the corner fence post where he knows someday I will wack my leg, but so far his aim hasn't been that good. I still don't know if thats on purporse. That's his fun game, his little joke, a reminder that he could be one up on me if he really wanted to We end up loping all the way past the jeep. Were on the gravel drive now and I'm warning him "easy now, you know how you slip here" he ignores me, full of his new found confidence. We wiz by kim and pat I wave both hi and goodbye. By now I'm chuckling over the "wild ride" and Wyatt seems to be pleased with himself. We slow down by the side of the barn which is a favorite place to graze. I dismount, still chuckling and give him a gentle pat and scratch behind his ears. I bring him around to the front drive and untack, ask pat to keep an eye out while he grazes near the shrubbery which blocks the main road from view and I put the saddle in our locker.
Kim eventually leaves, I take Wyatt back out to the pasture. He waits patiently while I struggle with unwrapping the customary peppermint He takes it politely from my hand and saunters back to the herd. While pat goes to get gas I grain, throw hay, and water for the night so whoever was supposed to do it only has to bring the horses in. Since it was going on 8pm i kinda wondered why no one had been to the barn to feed. They may end up staying out all night, who knows. I cannot wait to tell the doc though about wyatt's rediscovered exhuberance. Amazing in that they made a fairly simple minor adjustment which made wyatt feel apparently free of much pain. He can be very reluctant to lope when he hurts, and loping is his favorite gait. I like to think Wyatt had a really good day too, feeling young and coltish and satisfied with life for the moment. It's days like these that make it really hard to leave the barn and spend the rest of the evening in the dull routine of the suburbs.
Apr 8, 2006
The Last Week or So
Still on the job search so I can get out of the call center environment. Some prospects but life in limbo is the pits. Missing Amy lots. She's been my loyal companion especially in her last days, and there are those empty moments--like coming home from work and she's not there to greet me, or I pass her dog dish where I catch myself and pause, because I almost reached for her biscuts to toss in there and then remember, "oh, yeah...
My friends and I have been meeting at the barn on Sundays or Thursdays--my days off. We've actually had a few less frigid rides. Last Sunday when it was mostly sunny and not quite so windy, Gwen and I rode across the only field left that hasn't been plowed or sown yet and explored the County Home property across the way. We rode all around the main house and outbuildings. Rode around a little marsh pond where we scared up some ducks. Wyatt was a little edgy about this but not too bad. I let him sample anything he wanted, so he could compare and contrast with what is in his own overgrazed pasture. This made the ride worth his while in his opinion. From the property we can still see the barn and all the other horses grazing in the pasture so we didn't have to worry too much that Wyatt, and Gwen's horse Treasure, would be to jiggy for us to have a nice ride. We couldn't spend too much time as Gwen had to get back to take her daughter to walmart and dinner--The payback for a few hours spent with her horse. It would have been nice if we could have dismounted, let the horses graze while we had a snack and then maybe ride even further up to route 42 where Wyatt used to live.
My friends and I have been meeting at the barn on Sundays or Thursdays--my days off. We've actually had a few less frigid rides. Last Sunday when it was mostly sunny and not quite so windy, Gwen and I rode across the only field left that hasn't been plowed or sown yet and explored the County Home property across the way. We rode all around the main house and outbuildings. Rode around a little marsh pond where we scared up some ducks. Wyatt was a little edgy about this but not too bad. I let him sample anything he wanted, so he could compare and contrast with what is in his own overgrazed pasture. This made the ride worth his while in his opinion. From the property we can still see the barn and all the other horses grazing in the pasture so we didn't have to worry too much that Wyatt, and Gwen's horse Treasure, would be to jiggy for us to have a nice ride. We couldn't spend too much time as Gwen had to get back to take her daughter to walmart and dinner--The payback for a few hours spent with her horse. It would have been nice if we could have dismounted, let the horses graze while we had a snack and then maybe ride even further up to route 42 where Wyatt used to live.
Apr 1, 2006
Goodbye
Amy, my loyal companion, soul mate, barn dog extrodinaire left this world today, March 31, 2006.
You fought hard to stay alive, my friend.
In the end, though, you couldn't conquer death.
But neither did death conquer you.
Death cures all disease, mends all broken bones,
breaks all chains
And made you free at last.
--from Good-bye My Friend
Mary and Herb Montgomery
Mar 18, 2006
Keep your day job....
At work the other day between calls a couple of us in our row at the call center had a conversation about karoke. I recomended an indie film I had seen involving the same subject. Of course I couldn't think of the name of the film at the time and trying to describe it just brought blank stares. Needless to say I finally had time to look it up on the net. Jackpot (2001) written by Michael and Mark polish, directed by Michael, and starring Jon Gries as Sonny Holiday, Garrett Morris is exceptional as his manager, Daryl Hannah (friend of the polish bros) Peggy Lipton, Adam Baldwin etc.
Here's a summary: In a beat up pink chrysler, Sonny & Lester (Morris) travel the karoke circut across the desolate western landscape making their stops in sweltering, barely habitable towns to perform in contests held by a variety of swanky lounges and honky-tonks. This is sonny's"big tour" where fame and fortune are just a "pop-song" away. The tone of the film hums with a sense of estrangement, solomnity and many disappointments, but juxtaposed with sonny's character, who takes himself very seriously while donned in his fringed jacket and cowboy boots(picture Dwight Yokum before he could afford the nudie jacket) crooning to Billy Idol's Eyes Without a Face, you just have to break out laughing and laughing--til you start feeling embarassed for Sonny, but not for long because sonny is a prick-- in a way, the karoke theme lends a portion of humility to the otherwise cranky and ego-centric Sonny.
Like the other films by the polish brothers (Twin Falls Idaho, Northfork) , this one is really about relationships. Relationships between sonny and lester and the people sonny has estranged. The dialogue is rich as in the other films and Lester has some very sage comments throughout. The drama culminates as Sonny reunites with his brother, but I can't remember if he completely gives up his notion of fame as a karoke cowboy. I do know that they end up with a heck of a lot of miracle cleaner they haven't been able to unload.
Here's a summary: In a beat up pink chrysler, Sonny & Lester (Morris) travel the karoke circut across the desolate western landscape making their stops in sweltering, barely habitable towns to perform in contests held by a variety of swanky lounges and honky-tonks. This is sonny's"big tour" where fame and fortune are just a "pop-song" away. The tone of the film hums with a sense of estrangement, solomnity and many disappointments, but juxtaposed with sonny's character, who takes himself very seriously while donned in his fringed jacket and cowboy boots(picture Dwight Yokum before he could afford the nudie jacket) crooning to Billy Idol's Eyes Without a Face, you just have to break out laughing and laughing--til you start feeling embarassed for Sonny, but not for long because sonny is a prick-- in a way, the karoke theme lends a portion of humility to the otherwise cranky and ego-centric Sonny.
Like the other films by the polish brothers (Twin Falls Idaho, Northfork) , this one is really about relationships. Relationships between sonny and lester and the people sonny has estranged. The dialogue is rich as in the other films and Lester has some very sage comments throughout. The drama culminates as Sonny reunites with his brother, but I can't remember if he completely gives up his notion of fame as a karoke cowboy. I do know that they end up with a heck of a lot of miracle cleaner they haven't been able to unload.
Mar 14, 2006
Paint the Horse
Paint the Horse a horse blog at journal space, here's a cowboy blog, comment's later... here's a nice blog about ranch life in general called The Long Journey home
While you were sleeping...
While you were sleeping... the afore menioned link is where i had been sporadically posting whenever i had internet access and to keep my account active at journalspace. A few posts there track some of the goings on with the horses and myself--and my dog Amy. Rather than re post everything here at horsephiles, the journalspace entries can be referred to if you are really curious about the last year and why the horsephiles entries are far and few between
I do want to say a few things here about Amy, our once family dog, (kids are grown and on their own), now my constant companion & with me through the saga of my move up north and back. Amy has had the misfortune to be afflicted with a tumor on her belly which began to make its presence last july and has continued to grow at an alarming rate. The vet says that at her age she probably would not survive an operation. Performing a biopsy would be a moot point, for cancer or not, it's mere size will begin to hamper her quality of life. When this happens, or if she stops eating, or if she starts developing neurological or respiratory problems, that will be the time to let her go and kindly put her down. She is being treated with steroids to keep her comfortable.We were hoping that the steroid therapy might shrink the mass but it hasn't. The prednisone has been helping for quite a while but will not be able to keep her symptoms under control forever. For now, I just make the most of every moment I spend with her. I wish everyday could be Amy day, but since I work in an office she can't come with me. Instead she prefers to stay faithfully in my room until I get home. She does get all the peanut butter biscuts she wants, she gets to come to the barn with me on barn days and hang out, which she loves--helping with the barn chores or snoozing in the car if she gets too tired, and she gets a lot more hamburgers than she used to.
I do want to say a few things here about Amy, our once family dog, (kids are grown and on their own), now my constant companion & with me through the saga of my move up north and back. Amy has had the misfortune to be afflicted with a tumor on her belly which began to make its presence last july and has continued to grow at an alarming rate. The vet says that at her age she probably would not survive an operation. Performing a biopsy would be a moot point, for cancer or not, it's mere size will begin to hamper her quality of life. When this happens, or if she stops eating, or if she starts developing neurological or respiratory problems, that will be the time to let her go and kindly put her down. She is being treated with steroids to keep her comfortable.We were hoping that the steroid therapy might shrink the mass but it hasn't. The prednisone has been helping for quite a while but will not be able to keep her symptoms under control forever. For now, I just make the most of every moment I spend with her. I wish everyday could be Amy day, but since I work in an office she can't come with me. Instead she prefers to stay faithfully in my room until I get home. She does get all the peanut butter biscuts she wants, she gets to come to the barn with me on barn days and hang out, which she loves--helping with the barn chores or snoozing in the car if she gets too tired, and she gets a lot more hamburgers than she used to.
Mar 10, 2006
CANTER Ohio: Providing retiring racehorses with opportunities for new careers after the finish line.
I stop at this site once in a while when I wanna play, "hmm, if I were horse-shopping, which horse would I buy." CANTER Ohio: Providing retiring racehorses with opportunities for new careers after the finish line. I've always been impressed by Canter's determination to place ex racehorses in new homes and careers after their usefulness at the track is spent--at usually such an early age too. I read somewhere that among the various breeds of horses, the ones most likely to end up in the kill pen are first, thoroghbreds, then arabians, then something like standard breds--I think that's after they've (the standard breds) gone from track, to hauling an amish buggy around day in and day out for a couple of years til they're near death anyway, and arabs, well, don't really need to explain why they end up there, but thoroghbreds-- so few out of the many prospects make the grade or bring in the cash enough to justify the feed and vet bills. Then, the same as arabs, thoroghbreds are just too high on the maintenance scale for people who want a pleasure horse. The hunter-jumpers and dressage junkies don't just want a plain old thoroughbred anymore, as the warmblood, or any kind of european sporthorse is the thing to have. But I, like some others ,still happen to enjoy thoroughbreds. I love their personalities and their sensitivity and I get sad when I hear about their so often unhappy fates, like one example our local canter points out in the trainer section adoption ads:
SOLD - Big Time Sentence - At the SugarCreek, OH auction kill pen -- His fate is unknown!! Please help us stop this from happening by donating money to our "Pal Joey" fund to facilitate the purchase of these "at risk" horses.
If you go to that page and see the picture of Big Time perhaps the sad truth will hit home that these quality animals end up meeting this kind of fate. Such a waste, well, I hope he tastes good to someone in France or makes a nice handbag for someone -- our local canter is asking for foster care volunteers, especially for the Beulah park horses. Now you bet that if i were lucky enough to have my own successful horse operation, I would always reserve at least one stall for a foster or rescue project. To me that goes with the territory--to offer something back to the equine community that I derive so much joy and happiness from and was probably benefiting financially . Even if I was only breaking even, I would be compelled to make that small sacrifice. What the heck is an extra ration of grain and hay going to set you back, you know?
SOLD - Big Time Sentence - At the SugarCreek, OH auction kill pen -- His fate is unknown!! Please help us stop this from happening by donating money to our "Pal Joey" fund to facilitate the purchase of these "at risk" horses.
If you go to that page and see the picture of Big Time perhaps the sad truth will hit home that these quality animals end up meeting this kind of fate. Such a waste, well, I hope he tastes good to someone in France or makes a nice handbag for someone -- our local canter is asking for foster care volunteers, especially for the Beulah park horses. Now you bet that if i were lucky enough to have my own successful horse operation, I would always reserve at least one stall for a foster or rescue project. To me that goes with the territory--to offer something back to the equine community that I derive so much joy and happiness from and was probably benefiting financially . Even if I was only breaking even, I would be compelled to make that small sacrifice. What the heck is an extra ration of grain and hay going to set you back, you know?
Mar 7, 2006
I personally loved the jeans
I found my original post and yes, Brokeback Mountain is included in Still Wild. Why, of course Mc Murtrey and Ossana would win for best screenplay adaptation from blah blah blah, whatever the category. So I had to check and see who this Annie prude, Annie prew, whoever the heck they were talking about was, so I checked my old post--here's the link--and have been digging around at barnes and noble reading the reviews of Still Wild (click my link toward the bottom of the page to go to barnes and noble, don't know what happened to the thumbnail of the book though)
Ohhh...that's who they were talking about. Annie Proulx. Well, ok how could I have forgotten that. Ms Proulx who won the pulizer prize for Shipping News is another of my fav's and for a really great read check out her latest or last to latest That old Ace in the Hole. And no, ha, ha, ha, despite the title, it is not a sequel to Brokeback Mountain.
Fear not.
Ohhh...that's who they were talking about. Annie Proulx. Well, ok how could I have forgotten that. Ms Proulx who won the pulizer prize for Shipping News is another of my fav's and for a really great read check out her latest or last to latest That old Ace in the Hole. And no, ha, ha, ha, despite the title, it is not a sequel to Brokeback Mountain.
Fear not.
Mar 4, 2006
Still in limbo
Haven't posted in so long that Still Wild, Mc Murtry's collection of stories from the west that Id featured is fashionable once again...I believe Brokeback Mountain is included in this collection. I'd check for sure but the book is packed away or got thrown out by accident when I moved. At any rate, Still worth reading.
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