Nothing too exciting going on!

I have been a little neglectful in updating my blog these past few weeks. The reason being is that I was in my last two weeks of training for a 1/2 marathon (21.1 KM) which took place this past weekend in Ottawa. This was my very first marathon.
I completed it in 2 hours and 15 minutes!!!
I was on such a high. What an accomplishment!

Now that it is over, I will have lots of time to play with my silly horses. I am sure there will be lots of interesting stories about them in the near future.

Young horse friends

Young friends
Peyton and Cody

The perfect stall
Perfect Poop!

Banning Horse & Carriages in Downtown Ottawa

Give me a break!!! Now I have heard everything. I was listening to the radio on my way into work and one of our local stations was discussing the issue of our merchants in the downtown core being upset at the fact that the horses that provide carriage rides to tourists are pooping in front of their stores. Now first of all, we are the ones that have domesticated these creatures, so is it not up to us to care for them properly? Just like dogs...poop and scoop. There is no need to ban the horses from the downtown core. Get off your fat butts and take responsibility. As for the merchants who have been complaining..ok, I understand that you don't like to have poop in front of your stores but have some compassion and understanding. Work something out with those giving the tours. Should we start banning the local merchants that crowd our sidewalks with their junk they call treasures or the cars that put out pollutants. I think I would rather be sitting on a patio and taking a whiff of fresh steamy horse crap than to have my lungs filled with someone's second hand smoke or the crap that comes from the vehicles driving by. Better yet, is it not more soothing to hear the clippity clop of the horse hooves on the cement...I think that would be better than hearing the whizzing sound of the local vagabond squatting to pee on the doorsteps of the merchants store fronts.

A Hair Raising Experience

Ok so last night Erika came over to play with her horse, Peyton. Erika loves to dress her horse up and do crazy things with her around the yard; however, because it was looking like it was going to rain, she decided to brush Peyton and pull her mane. That is right..you heard me. Pulling a horse mane is exactly what it means. You stand beside this 1000 lbs animal, you grab a bunch a hair and you pull it. Now, Peyton is getting really good at not moving around when Erika performs this grooming technique however she was not always that good...and I don't blame her. Would you like to have your hairdresser grab a bunch of your hair and pull it out. No thanks, I would rather have them use scissors! The first couple of times Erika tried this on her horse, I lauged my pants off. The horse would dance all over the place and push herself into Erika and whoever else was helping. So to stop the dancing, Erika decided to place bails of hay around Peyton to stop her from doing the two step. Did that help...no. Instead, Peyton would try to eat the bail of hay and stand on it. in the end, I think that Peyton has surcome to the fact that she belongs to someone who really loves her and that she will always be a "girlie girls" horse as she truely loves the attention!

Mondays...not so bad afterall!

I got home from work yesterday and rather than obsessing about what should be done around the house, I saddle up Cheyenne and went for a great ride down the trail to Erika's house. It was so beautiful out and Cheyenne was a good girl. She was great on the trail. Once we got to Erika's place, only once did Cheyenne try her silly antics...but in the end, I won!

Horses are really good for one's soul...Especially if you are an over-achiever perfectionist like me.

I hate Mondays!

Mondays suck! It was really hard to get out of bed this morning. It is so beautiful outside. I would rather be at home playing with my horses and weeding my garden. Instead I am sitting in a stuffy old building trying to motivate myself to start my work week.

My weekend was quite interesting. Peyton ( 2 year old mare) decided that she wanted to run away with the fence that she was tied to when tacking her up. We stood their in disbelief while she ran around the field with a fence post, a slab of concrete and a couple of rails attached to her. In the end, we had to laugh.

To top it all off, last night when I got home from visiting my mom for Mother's Day, I had to chase down Alpha who was acting very aggressively towards the little guy (Cody). Alpha is in his twenties and Cody is only one year old. There was no reason why Alpha was chasing down Cody. Cody was soaking wet from head to toe and breathing really hard. Once Alpha was caught, I was finally able to halter Cody and lead him to the barn for his dinner. This is when I discovered that Alpha had laid a whippin' on Cody. He is covered in bite marks. I was not happy. He is my baby!!

Can I pack anymore into a day...and it's still not over!

Yesterday was a snoozer of a day but today made up for it. Not only did I have time to weed the garden in front of the house, I also cleaned the stalls, bathed a horse or three....and to top it all off, I saddled up Alpha and let my cousin ride him down the trail while I walked beside them with the yearling, Cody. What a workout that was! It's not over...I now have to ride my mare, Cheyenne down that same trail. I would not trade it for the world. I do have to laugh at times...especially at those who really have no idea. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that I am also training for a half marathon and I still have to do my run later tonight! When I hit that pillow...it's going to be lights out!

SNOOZER!

What a day...What a week this has been. Thankfully, I am off tomorrow. I am sitting here at my desk dreaming about all the fun things that I could be doing at home. I am going horseback riding with my cousin tomorrow. I hope it all works out. She will be riding Alpha (the horse that still think he is a stud). I will be riding Cheyenne (aka: Queen of the Pasture). This should be an interesting ride considering Cheyenne only has to walk by a male horse and she is in major heat. As for Alpha's (his name speaks for itself) vocal abilities are enough to scare the crap out of you. He is a gentle giant once he is under saddle. If this is my last post, you will know that the adventure was a disaster. Stay tuned!

Me and my friend Alpha-22 

Rainy Cold Days

Why is it that once the weekend is here, it is always raining. Rainy days are not very fun especially when you look out your window and all you see are muddy paddocks and horses cleansing themselves by rolling ever so joyfully in a mud bath. Despite this, I managed to do a little training with the youngest horse (Cody). Although I am not sure you call chasing your horse around an enclosed area training. I am sure the horse is saying "look at the stupid human running around trying to get me to move forward". Instead, I find myself fending off a 500 lbs animal who thinks I am a new play toy to wrestle with. Who's working who! Despite all of their silly antics, spending a little bit of time each day with them allows oneself to escape the craziness of today's society.