The Miles They've Traveled

Yesterday I started thinking about all the miles both my horses have on them, literally. Not in the riding sense, but how many miles I've hauled them across the country. I was somewhat surprised Dakota's wasn't higher. Echo's is since I've had her, no idea where she may have gone, if anywhere, for weanling/yearling training. I didn't include any individual farm moves in Kentucky when Dakota and I first started out, there were a lot before we settled. So this is just pure long distance interstate miles, and of course approximate since I don't know the exact route shippers took to get them around.

Echo 

October 2012 - Lexington KY to Michigan

June 2013 - Michigan to Lexington

October 2013 - Lexington to Texas

January 2014 - Texas to Lexington

Total: 2,520 Miles (4,055 Km)

Dakota 

August 2006 - Michigan to Lexington KY

December 2010 - Lexington to Michigan

June 2012 - Michigan to Lexington

December 2014 - Lexington to Louisiana

March 2015 - Louisiana to North Carolina

Total: 2,940 Miles (4,731 Km)

Updates Updates - North Carolina?

So I've moved... to North Carolina. Not exactly something that was on the radar when I first lost my job. I moved in with my mom, step-dad and 11yr half sister. Something I never thought I'd do. But here I am, 10 days post move.When I was applying to entry level, any type of job really, I had a moment of if you're going to be doing something non horse related, you can do this work anywhere and where would you rather be located moment - goodbye Louisiana. Here's some pics of the last things I did there. I'll miss it, and will visit again one day but happy to be farther north again.

Went to Houston for a night to of course visit the racetrack.

Alligator Searching = success

Snake Hunting = Unexpected

Holly Beach - Gulf of Mexico

I think this building has survived a hurricane or two.

Avery Island and Tabasco sauce tours. Mini Tabasco sauce bottles = love.

Cypremort Point State Park - bay off the gulf

I really wasn't thrilled with the thought of going back to Michigan so I narrowed it down to KY and NC. I was applying for jobs in both states, KY more than NC, but I kept getting more bites in NC. So I came here and am now living in a house with 7 cats and a dog. Thankfully? that 7 includes my 2 who have taken over the ruling of the cat world. Also most of my moms cats are outside except to sleep at night. Could be worse I suppose. 

Holly making sure she wasn't forgotten in packing.

I've had one interview, but they're not in a rush to hire anyone so I still haven't heard back. I've been applying to anything and everything so hopefully it wont take too much longer.

The biggest perk of moving here is my moms house is on a large enough lot I'm going to be keeping Dakota here. He'll have about an acre fenced in, leaving some yard still for the humans and other creatures to use. He arrives March 15, so much to do still but I'll be ready for him. His paddock is split in two so I can have a sacrifice area and easily keep him off high amounts of grass to keep him from exploding and being constantly on the verge of founder. 

The next task will be building him a run-in shed. I'd love for this to be done before he gets here but time and unemployment funds only go so far. Goal is to build something large enough half can be for him and the other half can be used for me to keep his grain / tack / hay / supplies. The run in part will have a gate / door of some sort so if he needs to be locked up he can be. Also the neighbor has 4 mini donkeys and a horse all in sight so he won't be completely alone. They have more land and some trails so heres to hoping they'll let Dakota and I explore some. If he gets too lonely, maybe I'll have to find a mini to lease for company.

Life... Why Me?

All I want is to have nothing exciting happen. It's too much to ask for though, I know.

My last post was that it was my birthday and I was going to Michigan so lets start there. My time home was great. Seeing my friends and family was the highlight but not far behind was all the time I spent swimming and enjoying the outdoors. Sadly the last two days of being home I got a stomach flu which I had to drive home with (not fun!) so my time seeing my grandparents was cut short - not happy about that.

Hanging out in South Haven with my Dad on my birthday. Lunch at my favorite restaurant. Fun fact - if anyone has read the book Time Traveler's Wife it's one of the places in the book.

 

Hanging out on the lake at my grandparents. 

Sunset at Lake Michigan on 4th of July aka my favorite holiday. 

Also while I was home my best friend Erin who lives in Michigan welcomed home the horse she grew up with. She's a 21 year old standardbred. The mare, Silver (yes she's bay and named Silver) was owned by Erin's aunt who passed away earlier this summer. Erin had her shipped to Michigan from Kentucky so she could stay in the family, Erin could have her childhood horse and give her a home to have rest of her life. Me being me... I had a scale to use on hay and grain in my car so I helped Erin figure out a good diet plan for her since she needs to gain a few pounds but not as much as expected. Silver also had a hoof injury right before Echo so it's been 'fun' to watch their hooves progress. Erin is 6' 2" so Silver really isn't that tiny of a standardbred - her owner is just that tall (sorry Erin).

Echo got over her withdraw problems with me fairly well while I was in Michigan. She went to a jump lesson with Lauren while I was gone and has had a flat lesson since. This past Sunday we planned to take the horses to Masterson Station again for more cross country schooling but we realized the park was full of carnival rides for the fair going. Instead Lauren jumped her outside on the grass. The ground was super hard due to lack of rain but she handled it like a pro, jumping her first oxer, barrel jump and lots of first time questions. After her jumping I gave her a much needed and deserved bath, head to toe. I rubbed her legs down in liniment and after some hand grazing to dry her off, let her take her afternoon nap in her stall. 

Off to her flat lesson.

Shiny after her Sunday bath.

Dakota's version of working hard. 

Monday Lauren texted me that her leg was swollen with lots of heat. Thankfully she was completely sound on it. So I cold hosed her, we poulticed the leg, wrapped it and turned her out for the night. Good news is the leg was tight with no heat the next day. The bad news was she had a reaction to the poultice. 

And then she had an allergic reaction to poultice. 

She's been lightly ridden with her weird rash / burn / whatever from the poultice and is sound so we are still planning on taking her to the jumping schooling show Sunday. 

In other life news, I might be moving. I will know more in 2 1/2 weeks when I meet with people and and figure out logistics. I can't say too much but hopefully it would be a good opportunity for myself and the situation would be something fitting for my four creatures. 

Catching Up: Me

I'm alive. I've officially moved. Rolex X Country day did a number on me. I think my pedometer thingy topped out at me walking 10-11 miles on the day. I was beyond muscle sore for the next three days. Bad timing for moving. Somehow though, I got it done. 

Happy cat's on leashes! Great distraction for when I needed to be packing. 

I only lightly hit one curb driving this beast moving day. 

Now the fun part is going to be getting back on track all around and settled into the new place, unpacking, and looking ahead as to what the next 6 months is going to bring. 

Also yesterday marked my one year anniversary of being back in Lexington. It's been a crazy year of bad decisions / learning moments sprinkled with the occasional good thing I've done. Lets just keep myself and the four furry creatures healthy for the next year and I'll be happy!

Things to Come

This is a post I've been picking at for awhile and now with Echo's injury, I'm glad I had already made some life decisions. 

I'm moving. Again. 

The apartment / townhouse I'm living in just does not fit my budget. In hindsight I should have never moved there in first place but I was blinded by the negative apartments I saw prior and I lived in this complex before. 

I've been having some problems financially and Echo coming back has just put it over the edge. My apartment lease isn't up until end of July but I've worked with the management of the complex and as soon as they find someone to move in I'm moving out early without being penalized. 

Holly, Abu and I will be staying with a co-workers significant other. Their job and schedule is pretty opposite of mine so I might not even see them often. It's a 3 bedroom house so I will have my own room and have a spot for the three of us to sleep. Best part is I'll be saving a lot of money in the coming months, again something that now Echo has been hut is even more important. Worst part is this means moving twice this year, but in the end it's for the best for me. After a few months of staying in the house - hopefully end of summer I will either A) Find my own townhouse or condo to purchase where a mortgage will be cheaper than rent or B) find a new apartment to stay in.

My thoughts on moving twice in one year. 

Since I'm not 100% sure of when I'll be moving from current apartment I've slowly started the packing process of things I won't need between now and then. Stay tuned, I'm always keeping my life interesting!

Who Needs a Routine

Moving into the apartment has thrown me completely off in any sort of routine I had while staying on the couch at the farm. Living on south end of Lexington + Barn on north side of Lexington = double the drive time in my day.

Work... I don't know what days of the week I'm even going to be working. I need a set schedule and soon. I don't care (yet) so much about what hours of the day I'll be working, I just need to know if I'm M-F, Tues-Sat or really anything at this point.

Riding / training Echo and Dakota are taking the biggest hit right now. I need an extra 10 hours in my days!

Thankfully this weekend I get to work 9-5 both Saturday and Sunday. Tomorrow / Saturday I'm off to watch the fancy pant ponies at The Junior League Horse Show at The Red Mile. Not a saddlebred fan, should be interesting. Also in much need of a night of margaritas and Mexican food with my lovely friends ASAP. Hopefully that will happen this weekend.

Monday no work so... Fasig Tipton July Yearling Sale... YAY. I love sales. LOVE. I have a pretty lengthy list of the yearlings I want to check out so it should be a great day.

The Move

Move = Done.

I got to Michigan by 10:30 Sunday night after an alright drive. I had to stop and take a few 15 minute power naps but not too big of a deal. 

The Before

Monday morning my Dad got the U-Haul super early - too early for me at least. Then my uncle that was in town from Chicago came and helped us load the truck in record time. It took us about 90 minutes start to finish to get everything in. I'm 100% positive that if my uncle had not helped, we would either 1) still be loading it OR 2) half my stuff would still be in Michigan. My Dad just does not listen to me on stacking and packing. He clearly never played Tetris. So thank you to my wonderful uncle!

The After

Tuesday we packed up the cats and few remaining things around the house and got on the road by 9:30 in the morning. Mid drive my phone starts blowing up from my bank that there were fraud charges on my account. Moral of the story? Don't go to a McDonald's while you're on a road trip, or probably ever because that shit just isn't that good. Anyways, I love my bank and they had already froze my account and reversed all charges for me before they called me then overnighted me a new debit card. Fast forward a few hours and we finally got to Lexington. Went to dinner, and started unloading. Fast forward another hour or so we called it quits for the day.

Then my Dad forgot to latch the back door. I laughed and took a picture before I helped. I know, I'm a good daughter.

Holly Riding in style.

Abu riding in his crate and wearing his thundershirt!

Wednesday morning we finished the few boxes left to be taken inside. I followed my Dad to the barn with the truck and we unloaded the rest of my barn stuff there and he took off back to Michigan and I went home to attempt to unpack and recover.

And Kentucky welcomed me back with a lovely Thunderstorm on Wednesday afternoon.

Moving Time!

I drive to Michigan this afternoon after I'm off work at 3. Long few days ahead but I cannot wait. 

No real pony news other than last night, as I go to clean Dakota's stall I see one entire wall is covered in a light blue mold. Que a bucket of soap, bleach and a stiff bucket brush. It was absolutely disgusting. Pretty sure it's because the person that had that stall before me 1) fed her horse in a water bucket 2) fed him a mash almost daily 3) never cleaned up after her horse. When I had sanitized the stall before Dakota & Echo arrived to Lexington the hardened mash on the wall was going nowhere. I can now say, its clean. Last thing I wanted to do last night, especially with my extreme intolerance for mold, yay allergies.

Up Close & Personal

Saturday = Arrival and me having to call into work because the shipper took forever to get here.

Sunday = Work.

After I got back to the farm after work I had a burst of energy so I pulled Mr. Dakota out of his stall, saddled up and took a really lazy ride around the arena. It was more of a reminder introduction to the surroundings and we just walked around. I didn't bother trotting because his hooves are in bad shape and we're waiting for the farrier to come out.

Monday & Tuesday = Day's off work.

Monday the vet was out checking the barn owners saddlebred mare who is prepping to be re-bred after she slipped after her recent 60 day check / ultrasound. Vet that was out was Dr. Friend from Rood and Riddle, I've used him in the past for Dakota and he's from Michigan so we've always gotten along really well and I use to ride with him on calls. The farm's normal vet, Dr. Metcalf is due anytime with her second foal so I figured I'd tackle Dr. Friend to look at Echo since Metcalf is so close to 'foaling'.

I wanted him to look at Echo to make sure there was no lingering uterine infection that she was battling back in November. Also after thinking about it some myself, and talking to Colleen after they arrived, Echo's under the tail breeding confirmation is not the greatest. Both of us agreed that she may be a great candidate for a partial Caslisk stitching. It's something that can be left in for a really long time with no harm and if I breed her they're easily taken out / replaced / can be restitched. The Michigan barn owner made mention that she thought she saw her strain more so I figured I may as well have her looked at.

Dr. Friend agreed that her under the tail confirmation wasn't great. Since I don't plan on breeding her soon and that she is young she would do well with about a 1 inch stitch at the top of her lady parts. 

Prior to stitching however, he wanted to flush her and do a culture to make sure there was no current infection. So I held her still while they went to work on her. 

After they left I bathed both horses and did the dreaded sheath cleaning on Dakota. Really really up close and personal day with both horses. Joys of both mare and gelding ownership.

Stoned looking after her bath.

THEN Colleen and I took off and after looking at two apartment complexes we went to the complex I lived in before I moved back to Michigan. The first two were awful. I was so happy to be back into the previous complex and signed a lease agreement for a 1 bedroom townhouse in their community. They have many many many laundry areas, two pools, tennis courts, basketball courts, a really good resturant, etc. Problem being... the apartment won't be ready for me to move in until July 6th... pushing back my moving yet another week and another week until I get to see my kitties *wails on the inside*

Yesterday I lounged around, not wanting to do much. I did clean my leather halters but then I got done with the ponies early and lounged some more. 

Dr. Friend returned in the afternoon and gave me good news that the culture so far is clean. He left a flush in her today that's a mix of Chinese herbs that's suppose to be really effective. He also had the vet students do all her work today which will save me easily $100 at minimum. Love him. He also ultra-sounded her ovaries and uterus to make sure there was no masses or growths that are causing something underlying - all clear!

Today I work 3 - 9 tonight so I won't be there when Dr. Friend returns for the third day. However, unless the culture pops something up, the plan is to let out any remaining fluid from yesterday, flush her again (removing fluid this time) then stitch her up to hopefully prevent any further problems! Fingers crossed!

Arrival Wrapup

After their 4:30ish arrival Saturday, I put both horses in their stalls for about two hours to let them relax a little and eat hay and drink water. Echo had not drank well on their 20 hour journey so she was eager for water and drank about 15 gallons. I watched the most boring Belmont Stakes I can think of in recent history and then went and decided to groom Echo some. 

Both have lost weight but it could be worse. Dakota doesn't look AS bad since he had more weight on him to begin with. Echo's ribs are showing way too much, but I'm confident that even after just a week of green grass, awesome hay and starting grain again she'll look better.

After their arrival and being turned out.

Some of this stuff I'm sure I've mentioned but no clue what so it may be repeated. I found great hay last week that's a good grass blend and both horses seem to love it. Grain wise, I'm feeding Hallway's Fibrenergy. Hallway is made fresh just up the road from the barn. It's so fresh that it was bagged the day before I bought it, which is almost 'old' for how much grain that place makes and goes through. It's a newer feed in their lineup and I can't wait to see how the horses do on it. Before, Triple Crown Complete was the closest thing to my 'ideal' levels of everything. Now I'm feeding 12% protein, 20% Fiber, 12% Fat and all with a NSC level of only 7.3%. Eventually I will have to fortify Dakota's portion with their Stamm 30 since he's an easy keeper but he won't eat a pellet grain (go figure).

They're turned out together in two one horse paddocks. There's a gate between them so I can either open it or close it and let one side rest. On the diagram I've added I kinda circled the gate between them. They're stalled in the Tobacco Barn which is where Dakota was last time at this farm. The diagram is a little off because there are way more fence lines and paddocks than I have the ability to sketch out but it gives a general idea. 

The farm itself basically has 2 barns - both have tack room and feed room and wash stalls. Indoor arena, outdoor grass jumping field, round pen, LOTS of trails and creeks to ride through. The driveway is super long and one side is grassy with tree line so it's good area to ride. The one field has a 'track' around it. The pasture itself use to be the outdoor arena but was changed back to a pasture. The track I believe is 1/4 mile or so around so you can get some great conditioning in on it - everyone from the driving people to dressage riders seem to use the track.

Special Delivery

They're here!!!!!

Only way earlier than planned. 

I contacted the shipper on Wednesday to confirm the shipping for June 13th. I got a response that basically said she could bring them end of this week. After some scrambling around to get everything ready they were picked up in Michigan around 7pm last night and just got here around 4:30pm. Yes that was one long trailer ride for such a 'short' distance.

They've settled in great so far and are happily out grazing together in their field. More updates tomorrow with pictures!

Echo Photo Update

K sent me a picture of Echo tonight after we talked on the phone awhile. While we were on the phone K out the phone so Echo could hear me and she apparently started looking around. 

Can't wait for them to get to Lexington! 

Back in the Blugrass!

I'm here!!! 

I got into Lexington around 5:30 today. No major traffic or other problems, thank goodness.

T-Minus 24 Hours

Ahhhh I leave tomorrow!

Yesterday I spent a solid 9 hours packing the rest of my things. Tonight I'll put what I'm taking with me tomorrow in my car. The rest gets to sit and wait for moving truck day in June. 

Saturday, S and I headed to the barn super late because I of course had to watch KY Derby coverage all day (YAY ORB!). K was suppose to spend the night with me one final time but her dog went into labor, of course they didn't know she was pregnant. Yay for un-neutered and spayed dogs (insert head-shake). However on a good note. K and her mom, dad and boyfriend spent the day Saturday fencing in our trail area to let the horses have extra room to run and some grazing area. K will still be able to ride out there so it was a win-win situation and something that probably should of been done much sooner.

Sunday I had dinner with S and her family as a going-away dinner. I had a class with her mom at the community college so it was great catching up with everyone. Then S and I headed to the barn around 6:30 and of course the barn plans changed as usual. The horses were already out in the new field so S and I hiked out there to see them and see if we could catch Echo or Dakota since I was determined to bathe at least one of them. Dakota was onto me but didn't suspect S to catch him. Thankfully she was able to sneak a lead rope around his neck and that was the end of Dakota-Games. Echo on the other hand was much smarter and avoided bath time on Sunday. Pics of Sunday are below (iPad posting / writing = limited blog editing).

I always do my own vaccinations unless I have to have vet proof for some reason. I of course delayed ordering them to last second possible so they don't arrive until later today. So, as a going away gift to my horses, I get to go stick them with needles! I'm sure they'll love me. I'm glad the KY barn owner knows and trust me enough that when I show her my receipt for vaccinations she knows I REALLY gave them to my horses and not random ones.

Jenny is driving down this evening and staying the night with me at my dad's house so it's 10x easier to coordinate leaving in the morning. Which means it's time to pack up my things at my grandparents, pack my car and return the cats to my dad's house until I get them when I get an apartment in June.

Sad to leave my grandparents, and my animals temporarily but I cannot wait to get back to Kentucky!

Priorities!

Yesterday was up to 90 degrees. Ouch. Going from 50's last week to 90 today is a bit too much of a jump for my liking. I stayed at my grandparents house, deciding to put off packing yet another day. I cooled off by taking two close to ice showers. There was virtually no breeze to help and no fans or AC in this house. Guess who needs to install the window AC units before I leave for KY? This girl. Otherwise I'm sure I'll hear about it later from the family. 

After my shower I decided to take the golf cart for a ride down to the dock on the lake and drive around for a little while. I sat on the dock for a little bit and started to feel my legs begin to burn so I decided to drive around more.

I got back to the house and parked the golf cart next to my car. I peak into my car and had a realization of my packing priorities. None of my stuff is 100% finished. Yet my tack is all nicely organized and ready to go in my car. I'd rather only take one box of clothing when I drive down than leave my tack behind apparently. My horses won't even be there for another 4-5 weeks! I think I need to reevaluate my priorities... 

Thank you Instagram for awesome filtering.

Driving the golf cart along the lake.

Today is a different story. I'm off to lunch with a previous co-worker. The place we were planning on going to eat had a fire this week so we had to scratch that for plan B. I miss working with her so I'm excited to catch up before my move.

Then it's off to my Dad's house. Focusing on clothing. Four piles - 1) Keep 2) Donate to Goodwill 3) It's in good shape and I'll never wear it so give it to a friend that will use it 4) Pitch it.