London Olympics 2012

The Olympics are here!! I love watching the Olympics, both summer and winter. The opening ceremony is on Friday, but they are having preliminary rounds now as I type. I'm currently watching the live streaming on NBC.com. The USA soccer team is playing against the France team right now. I used to play some soccer when I was younger, so I actually understand what they are talking about (unlike other sports, lol.) I looked up the Equestrian events and unfortunately the times for that are really early in the morning where I am, but I'm going to try and get up early to watch some of it. Here is the link for the equestrian schedule:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/equestrian/results-schedules/index.html

I did some ground work with Pony and Mornin earlier. They are both greenbroke, and Mornin hasn't really been ridden since before she had Glory. I'm helping to train her some for her owner. And last time I was on Pony he bucked me off. I got right back on him, but I think the new mounting block rather freaked him out. It was difficult getting him to stand next to it, and then he started bucking as soon as I was on him. So, I was trying to get him used to it this morning; he was a little tense. I think I'm going to pull his mane either tonight or tomorrow. It's getting really long! The next couple of weeks will be spent watching the Olympics, and working with the ponies! Prepare for updates!

My Saddle is Here!

It has arrived! It's in really good condition, and I'm excited to try it out. It's been raining off and on the past couple of days though, so I haven't been able to use it yet. But hopefully it will be comfy for both me and my horse!! It also came with matching stirrups and stirrup leathers, so I don't have to worry about getting those. I do want to buy a breast plate though, so I'm going to look into that. I'm not quite sure what size to get though. Pony is 14.3hh, and I've heard that some average horse size ones can run kind of large. I'll have to try on my sister's horse's breast plate first to see if it fits.

In other news the state fair has started!! I'm excited! I haven't been yet, but hopefully I'll get there tomorrow. Also my summer class that I was taking is over, so now I'll have times for things. I'm also thinking about taking riding lessons again. I haven't had a riding lesson in forever, but I would really like to take some dressage lessons, or show jumping ones. I'll have to find some place to go to, where I can use there horses. Pony's not really ready for that, and, even if he was, we don't have a trailer to take him. I would love to show some too, but I'm afraid that will be too expensive. Must find a part-time job!!! lol

New Saddle!!

I got a new saddle!! I don't actually have it yet, but it should be here soon. It's a wintec close contact that I got off of ebay. Jasper's old saddle is a bit too narrow for him; I've been primarily bareback because of that. The new saddle is a wide, but the seat size is about an inch bigger than I wanted. So, hopefully it isn't too big for me. However, if it doesn't work, then I will probably let my mom use/buy it, because she is also in need of a saddle. She would just have to change the gullet size, but the seat size would be fine for her. I've never been in a wintec, so I don't know a lot about how they feel. I'm really hoping it works for us though. I didn't have a lot of money to spend though, but, if it doesn't work, I'll be back in the market again. Have any of you had experiences with wintec before; if so were they good/bad? What saddles do you recommend (none too expensive) if this one doesn't work out?

Happy Belated Birthday to Glory!!

Glory's birthday was on the tenth; she turned 2! She got birthday hugs and carrots. The rest of the horses are doing well. They are enjoying the warm weather, and are shedding their winter coats. We have a new horse coming next week (not our horse but a boarders.) She will be staying with us for a little while, because her owner has to go out of town. We haven't had a new horse join the barn in a while, so it will be refreshing for a little change of pace!

My spring classes are going pretty well so far. I'm taking Intro. to Equine Science. It's pretty easy, especially the beginning of the course, because it was all pretty much a review for me. But, now we are getting into more detailed stuff (cardiovascular system, digestive system, etc.) So, I'm starting to learn a whole lot more. I'm pretty excited for Thursday night! I'm going with my sister and my friend to see the opening of The Hunger Games!! If you haven't heard of it you should look up the trailer, or read the book. From what I've heard the movie is supposed to be pretty good, and the book was amazing itself. I've had a huge lack of sleep lately though, so I might suffer later for staying up so late. It should be worth it though!!

Already 2012...

And it's been forever since I posted! What a crazy winter so far! And I don't mean crazy as in a horrible, snowy winter either, because it doesn't even feel like winter! The biggest snowfall we had so far resulted in a whopping inch of snow with a layer of ice over it. It's a pretty big difference from the really big snow storms we've had over the past couple of years, especially the one that left us with over 2 feet of snow for weeks. It's nice not to have all the extra work to do, but I kind of miss the cold...

There isn't really anything new with the horses. They got stockings full of goodies on Christmas, and they are all doing great. We just need all the mud to dry out (no snow, but lots of rain,) so we can start doing more with them. Spring semester is coming up; I wont have quite as much time to work with them then. But, I do have Tuesdays off (yay!) I'm actually taking Equine Science, and I'm really excited. I love learning new horsey things, and hopefully I'll be able to put my new knowledge to good use. I'll have to share anything fun I learn with you all!

Almost Over!

Fall semester is almost over! I've been pretty busy with exams, and finals are this week and next week. I haven't been able to spend a whole lot of time with Pony because of this, which sucks. But once it's winter break, and if the weather cooperates, than I should have some time. My sister and our friend, who boards her two horses with us, decorated the barn today. They hung up Christmas lights, and other decorations. It looks pretty good! They even bought stockings. Now we just have to put the the names of all the horses on them. I'll have to take a picture of it all; they did a good job. There's a lot more to type, but now I have to get back to studying. I'll have to make another, longer, post after finals. Wish me luck!

Snow in October

We had a big Nor'Easter snow storm came through yesterday. We mainly got rain, but at one point it switched over to snow. We got a nice dusting from it, but then it rained and melted. Snow is pretty rare here this early. Places up north got a lot of snow from it. The ponies got to stay inside during the worst of it. They were pretty content to stay in their warm, dry stalls and munch on hay. We turned them back out last night with their blankets on (which is the first they've had to wear their blankets this autumn.) With wind chill it felt like 25 degrees. Hopefully this isn't any indication of how winter is going to be, lol!

It Feels Like Fall!

The leaves are changing colors, the air is crisp and cool, and, unfortunately, the days are getting shorter! I love this time of year (all but the lack of daylight.) The horses are starting to get all fuzzy as well. They look so cute! Pony is awesome, as always. I haven't been able to get much riding time in, but hopefully I will this week. That's the main thing I don't like about school; I never have time to ride! Our little mousie is doing well. He's about 3 weeks old now, and is almost weaned off his milk. He's starting to act more like a wild mouse. Any sudden movements and he hides, but he will still crawl into your hands and check you out. The cats have discovered him though. They are a bit too curious to find out just what he is.

My birthday is less than a month away now! I'm going to be 21. On one hand, I'm excited, but on the other... I feel old, lol. I know I'm not, but I feel like I'm getting old. Thanksgiving is only a few days after my birthday (which is kind of cool since I can use my gift cards on Black Friday.) And, then, before I know it, it will be Christmas! Hopefully we wont get too much snow this year (not as much as the past couple of years anyway.)

It's Cold!!

Welcome to October; it got down to 40 degrees last night! And, on top of that, it rained! The horses must have been pretty cold; they were acting like they were starving this morning at feeding time. I want to buy Pony a sheet for chilly rainy nights like that. I bought him one last year. It was a cheap off brand one though, and I had to return it since it didn't fit him right. I also want to get a bridle bag to keep my bridle in, since I wont be riding much during the winter. I already found one that I like, so maybe I'll get it for my birthday (which is next month.) For now though, I must continue studying. I have an organic chemistry test on Wednesday. It's my least favorite class of the semester (probably because I'm behind in it.) I would have to say Japanese is probably my favorite, and that's probably because it is the most interactive class I have. I'm hoping to get good grades in all my classes this semester, so that means I have to study, study, study! Wish me luck!

And the Culprit Is...

On the way out to feed the horses tonight we noticed that the horses were acting rather spooky. There was nothing obvious so I went in the barn, and we started getting the food ready. However, when we went out to bring the horses in we noticed that Glory had a cut on her nose. Only it looked more like a bite; a bite that was likely too small to come from another horse. We brought her, and the other two jumpy horses she's turned out with inside, and then went out to get the others. My mom and sister were looking around to see if there was anything she could have cut her nose on. I, meanwhile, started walking towards the other horses who were looking at the ground, snorting, and acting very spooked. My sister ended up spotting the culprit before I did...

(photos taken by my sister)

It was a big snapping turtle. It was over 12 inches long, and appeared rather ticked off. And, apparently our horses were a little bit too curious. Five out of the seven all got their noses bit. Two of them got bit twice. They were all very freaked out by the time we got to them. We brought them all in, and cleaned up their noses. Hopefully, they learned not to mess with weird, unknown creatures, lol. We caught the turtle and took him to a more suitable place to call home. 

I'm Procrastinating Horribly

Yup, I should be studying. I should have studied more yesterday, but I put it off. And, so, in another attempt to put it off I am blogging instead...

I miss riding... I've been so busy with school, that I've only ridden maybe 1-2 times since it started. And, when I do have time to ride, it either rains or something comes up. Last week, on one of the days when it was already too dark to ride, I went in Pony's stall and sat on him while we waited for the others to finish eating. I was going to try and ride this weekend, but it poured on Friday and rained a little yesterday which made the paddocks very muddy. I won't have time to ride next week either. I have a Japanese quiz and a statistics test on Monday, a Biology test on Friday, and a bunch of homework due throughout the week. However, next weekend, according to the weather forecasts, it should be dry. I won't have any tests to study for either, so maybe, hopefully, I'll finally get to ride.

Farewell Borders!

Today my sister, cousin, and I went to Borders for the last time; they are closed for good after today. It's kind of sad. I remember, when I was younger, begging my parents to go there whenever we drove by. I would spend over an hour there looking at books, and I would spend a lot of what little money I had there. Today I got 7 or so books for 11 dollars. Everything was 90% off. I honestly am not exactly sure what I got, lol. But, either the covers or the descriptions were interesting, so I hope the books I bought were decent. However, with the prices being so low, it was probably worth it.

After Border's we went to Toys R Us to get a toy for a birthday party we are going to tomorrow. I learned something from that. When you are going to a toy store with a kid (namely my cousin who is 6) do not expect to get out of there in a short time. She wanted everything that was in the store, lol. We had to tell her to "put it on her Christmas list." I'm sure her mom (our aunt) is going to be happy with us for that (it's going to be a long list.) We also went to Dover Saddlery, and got my cousin her first riding helmet for her birthday. Although then she got somewhat of an attitude, because we wouldn't buy her an 80 dollar toy horse trailer along with her helmet. So... we told her to put it on her Christmas list, lol.

I'm So Scatterbrained Lately

Yup, so apparently when I went to switch my old parking permit with my new one I mixed them up. I somehow ended up throwing the new one away and leaving the old one hanging around my mirror. This resulted in a 40 dollar fine on Monday. Luckily, they waived the fine, and I just had to pay 7 dollars to replace my permit. Today, though, I lost my calculator. I'm hoping it is somewhere around the house, but I'm going to need it tomorrow to do homework. And, those are a whole lot more expensive than 40 dollars... So, hopefully it will turn up tonight! Some good news though is that I got a 102 on my first Japanese quiz! It's the highest grade I've ever gotten in college. Hopefully my other classes will be this easy, but I doubt it. I haven't been able to ride at all since classes started. :( Whenever I do have time to ride it is always horribly muddy out. Hopefully the paddocks will dry out and the rain will stay away for a while!

First Week of School

The first week of school is done!! Well, we only had two days this week anyway (thanks to hurricane Irene.) So, far so good. Although I have a feeling that this semester is going to be hard. I'm taking elementary Japanese, Biology, Organic Chemistry, and Statistics. Japanese scares me, because the midterm and final will be a ten minute oral interview with the teacher. I'm a pretty shy, quiet person in real life, so stuff like that is pretty difficult for me. The other classes seem pretty difficult too. I'm going to have a lot of homework between Japanese and statistics (more so than previous semesters.) But, I am quite excited. I've always wanted to learn different languages. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with it all.

I rode Pony on Wed. night. He's so fun to ride; when he's in a good mood he kind of struts around. He also gets all excited when there is someone he can walk up to. The mosquitoes are awful. I think we had a population explosion of them with all the rain we had last month (over 15 inches!) So, poor Pony is always getting bit. When I ride him bareback he will kick up at himself, and my feet are at the right spot that he always end up kicking my feet, lol. He also gets all twitchy. I fly spray him, and it works pretty well, but not well enough. Currently we are using Pyranha. I am planning to ride him either tomorrow or Sunday (with the saddle this time.) Although, I quite like riding bareback, but it isn't really good to do that all the time, I guess.

There is also another hurricane that might be heading our way (hurricane Katia.) Hopefully, not; it's still quite a distance away though. So, they aren't quite sure what it will do. I'm hoping that it will stay out at sea and die out. There are quite a lot of people on the east coast who are not ready for another hurricane. My aunt (who is in Virginia) still doesn't have electricity. So, hopefully, it will stay away...

Hurricane Irene

Hurricane Irene is expected to hit us this weekend. The forecasts are making it sound pretty scary. We are already under a state of emergency. There is also a mandatory evacuation along the coast (we're inland though.) And, my university's classes, which were supposed to start on Tuesday, have already been canceled. My sister and I were out all day buying stuff we may need... batteries, flashlights, water, food, horse bedding, pet food, etc... The one thing that I don't like is that we don't have a trailer. So, we cant move our horses if we feel like we need to. Also, if our electricity goes out (which it probably will) then we won't have water since we have a well. So, we are filling all of the buckets and water troughs. Tomorrow we are planning to go get horse feed, clean the barn, and get prepared. I'm also going to pick everything from the garden, since it will just blow away... I might ride tomorrow as well since it will be nice out. Hopefully, I will have time. An earthquake and a hurricane all in one week; what's next? Prayers and good thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

It has been raining an awful lot lately. As soon as the mud starts to dry up, it rains again! Just the other day we got about 3 inches of it. It was also a lot cooler than usual. Saturday morning, when we went out to feed, the horses were soaked and shivering. Poor pony! Needless to say they got to come inside, and hang out all day while eating hay. Hopefully, we will get a few days of sunshine so the mud will dry up and I can ride.

Last weekend we went to a Taylor Swift concert. It was pretty fun; she was very good live. The opening acts were pretty good as well. I have to admit though, towards the end I started to space out a bit. I guess my attention span isn't all that great, lol. It was pretty long though, and it took us forever to get out of the parking lot! So we had fun for about an hour in the car trying to get out. We danced (or tried,) talked, laughed, and were really hyper. Two concerts in a year! That's a record... and almost half of the concerts I've been to. I think I've been to like two or three others in my lifetime, lol.

Extreme Heat!

We're in another heat wave here. Today, with the heat index, it will feel like 110 degrees! And tomorrow it will be 115. It is also very humid out. Luckily it will be back in the 80's by Sunday. Pony gets the week off though. It rained on Monday and Tuesday, which were the two cooler days, and today and tomorrow it's going to be too hot to get ride. In fact the horses are going to spend today and tomorrow in their stalls with the lights off and the fans on (during the hot parts of the day at least.) It still manages to get down in the 70's at night time though.

Also the fair opens up this afternoon and lasts a little over a week, so I'll be going there a couple of times next week. I really wanted to go see 3 Days Grace in concert, but I don't really have the money. But, I'm still really looking forward to going there; I love going to the fair!

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy 4th of July everyone!! Today was a pretty interesting day. During feeding time this morning we got a phone call that my, not yet two year old, cousin fell down some stairs and they were waiting for an ambulance. My sister went over to my Aunt's to watch the other kids while my mom and I finished up with the horses. Thankfully my cousin is ok. They kept her for a little while and did some tests, but, besides being banged up, she is seems fine.

I also rode Pony today for the first time in over a week. I'm still sick with a cold, but I'm feeling a whole lot better. We walked around bareback for a little while. It was pretty dusty though, so I was coughing a good bit. After we rode, I ate chicken cheese steaks with the family. I then went swimming with my dad and we watched some fireworks that some people down the rode were setting off. The horses handled the fireworks like a pro, they were pretty calm during the whole thing.

Sick...

I've been sick for the past couple of days with a cold. I think it started on the day that I posted last. It really sucks though. I had a goal of riding 3-4 days a week, but I've been feeling really blah, so I haven't ridden at all this week...

Good news is that my laptop came today! It came way earlier than what I was expecting. I love it so far, and the speakers on it are amazing! So, at least it is giving me something to do. It's a little confusing though. My last laptop was about 7-8 years old, so there is a bunch of new stuff on this one that I am going to have to get used to. It's really pretty though.

Anyways... hopefully I start feeling better soon. I actually feel worse today than I did yesterday though. My dad was sick first; I think he is just now starting to feel better and his cold started about a week ago. Maybe, I will be riding by next week? I hope so... I also want to take some new pictures, so I can show you all the horses. Glory is getting so big, and Pony is as handsome as ever. I just need to find my camera first, lol.

NKOTBSB Concert!!!

We went to see BackStreet Boys and New Kids On the Block last night! They were amazing! The BackStreet Boys were my favorite band when I was like 10, so it was really exciting to get to see them perform. It was also my first big concert. I went and saw Carrie Underwood a couple of years ago, but that was at the state fair so it wasn't very big. Anyway I had a blast, and I bought a t-shirt (which was like 40 dollars!) I only knew a couple of songs from NKOTB, but they were still pretty good. After the concert we went and stood out by the tour buses and got to wave to them. They were all standing around talking to each other. And, I know I sound like a total fan girl saying this, but it really would have made my night if I could have touched or hugged one of them, lol. I remember cranking up the music and dancing around my room when I was 10 or so. So, being able to see BSB for the first time brought me back to my younger days. I have some pictures, but they aren't on my computer yet; I'll try and post some next time, if I remember.

As for the horses, they are all doing pretty well. Although the flies and the heat are making them somewhat miserable. Lightning's hooves are already chipping from all the stomping. Last year it got so bad that he was lame off and on from how far back they chipped (he also got thrush at some point.) The vet is coming out on Wed. to give shots and all. Pony isn't going to do very well with that. He is very wary of people he doesn't know, and he freaks out over shots. He doesn't get aggressive, but he rears and tries to bolt. I've been jabbing him with a syringe (that doesn't have a needle.) And, I'm going to poke him with a toothpick tomorrow. Usually my sister and I have to try and sedate him while the vet hides outside. Once that is done, the vet will come in and give him another round of sedation through the vein. He gets everything done at once... vaccines, his teeth will get floated, and then I'll clean his sheath. I'm able to clean his sheath without him being sedated, but I'm able to do it extra thoroughly when he is out of it. He used to get his teeth floated by our dentist, but he ended up having to come back several times just to get him done. So, now he just gets done by the vet. Hopefully all will go well (crosses fingers!)