Spanky

Looking back at some old photos when my son was just a tot, I came upon the one of him riding Spanky. Spanky was our 2 year old pygmy goat.  

We had all gone to the county fair in our community and Zac fell in love with the pygmy goats. We contacted one of the 4-H breeders and soon after went to pick Spanky up and bring him to his new home. What fun the 2 of those 'kids' (pardon the pun) had!

Aaahhhhh!

I must say that my pug Lili, has the life! I often think about how wonderful it must be to live life moment to moment. No worries about tomorrow, or money or????.....every moment of life being loved and taken care of!

Patience, Patience, Patience!!

One thing I know is that when it comes to animals you need to have patience! When my yearling was delivered she was in a big stock trailer with several other horses that had been purchased and were on the way to their new homes.

It was a big trailer...the horses were not tied to anything...they were free to move around. This would have been a simple delivery for my new baby, named Cheyenne... if only the man who was in charge would have had a little patience.

All that he would have had to do was put her halter on her and lead her out...small step down and she would have been aware of everything in front of her. But for some reason he decided that he needed to back her out (which of course is the way most horses would be taken out of trailer, a horse trailer that is).

Well, backing out of something that she had just ridden in for the first time and not being able to see what the heck was happening, she freaked. She stumbled, caught her rear leg under the trailer and cut it up pretty bad. In fact, so bad that our vet had to come out that day and bandage her up. That wasn't the only time this was done...I had to change bandages, apply ointment, etc. for several weeks. (she always had that scar)

Remember, this was a 1 year old baby who had been frightened and hurt. No wonder the hardest thing that she ever learned was to get into a trailer. You think elephants have a long memory!!

This was one of the most important lessons I have ever learned. It is filed in the 'knowledge of horses' part of my mind....not soon to be forgotten.

Knowing What Is Right, But Doing The Wrong Thing?!

From the time I was a little girl, every birthday as I blew out the candles on my cake, I wished for a horse. This wasn't a realistic wish, of course, as I lived in the suburbs. When I grew up and got married, I finally moved to a place with acreage. One of the first things I did was to start looking to purchase a horse. I had read book after book on the subject but other than the times I rode as a child, I had no hands on experience.

Then one day I saw a beautiful sorrel paint yearling for sale. One look at her and I was hooked. It made no difference to me what the books had said or what any one told me....I was full of information and I knew that it was not the wisest choice I could make; but I followed my heart!

It was a long road full of more books, some wise trainers and lots of love, but Cheyenne turned out to be a wonderful horse. She was worth all the blood, sweat and tears (literally) that I shed over her!

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