A cute 4-week-old filly

My husband and I have been looking at house rentals with horse property lately (he's trying to get his parents to move to the Denver area). Yesterday we went to see a place, and the current renters had an Arabian mare with a cute four-week-old filly. She and her mom were just so cute, I had to share their picture with my readers:



I think baby horses are the cutest, goofiest-looking creatures. I swear they are born with their legs already full grown — their bodies just have to catch up!

Lower gas bills...or a home for your horse?

This afternoon I found this article on the New York Times website, about how rising fuel costs are affecting people who have chosen to live in the country. The article uses Denver and its "exburbs" to illustrate the problem.

The towns or "exburbs" the article talks about — Parker and Elizabeth — have been growing in popularity for years, though not the way that hip urban neighborhoods grow. The article is right: The people who choose to live out here are the ones that prefer the quiet and the wide-open spaces of living in the country.

And, of course, there are a lot of horse people. When Michael and I were looking for a place for his brother and his family, we looked in Parker, and I was amazed to realize how affordable horse property is there. Ever since, I have cherished a little hope of eventually moving to horse property out in Parker.

Although fuel prices won't affect me much, as I freelance from home, we'll still have to consider Michael's commute. Some areas of Parker are actually no farther from his work than we are right now, but Parker extends way east and north from there — and Elizabeth is way too far southeast for his tastes.

Do you live outside of town for the sake of your horses, and if so, how are the gas prices affecting you?

How windy was it?

I mentioned that during our trail ride on Wednesday, Panama was a bit spooked from the wind.

To give you an idea of how windy it was, we found a piece of near-perfect honeycomb from a bee's nest in our yard later that day. Apparently it blew off one of the neighbor's trees during the big gusts. The walls are tissue-thin, and there is a tiny dead bee in one of the spaces. I'm amazed the fragile honeycomb survived the fall.



Pretty cool, huh?

Oh, the guilt

I've had a tremendously productive day, but the downside is that I don't feel like rushing out to the barn for an evening ride like I'd planned. I'm in my writer groove, and a quiet evening at home — dinner, some more work, a movie, and some time with a book — sounds really terrific to me right now.

But I feel guilty. Really, really guilty. Part of it is that tomorrow evening might be kind of busy, so I don't know how easily I'll be able to make it out to the barn. I might have to take Michael to work so that I can borrow the car and go to the barn during the day. Unfortunately, taking him to work and picking him up again tends to eat up a lot of my work time. But on the brighter side, going right to the barn and starting off my day with a ride sounds like a really good idea.

I hate missing even a day at the barn. I always feel like I'm neglecting my horse when I do that. And since I have a session with my trainer this week (after skipping the last couple of weeks — we were running on an unusually tight budget), I don't want Panama to get lazy and develop any bad habits before the session. I am still hoping to avoid upgrading to a tougher bit!

Low-paying horse work

It annoys me that horse work is apparently seen as being worth less than minimum wage. I found the following ad on our local Craigslist, in the "Gigs" section:

Horse Job

Boarding Stable Help Needed. Feeding 26 horses and Cleaning stalls, paddocks and pastures cleaning and filling waters 7-1 Sunday- Saturday.

* Location: Littleton
* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
* Compensation: Monthly Contract Work. $1,200.00

It doesn't seem bad until you do the math. "Sunday- Saturday" I interpret to mean seven days a week. So that's six hours a day, seven days a week — or about 180 hours a month. Divide that into $1,200 a month and you get $6.67 per hour.

This rate is below the minimum wage in Colorado, which happens to be $7.02 per hour in 2008. Of course, they get away with this by offering it as a contract job, not an hourly job.

In my mind, an hourly job is one where you have to be there a certain number of hours, whereas for a contract job you just have to put in enough time to get the work done. Under that logic, this job would actually be hourly, since they list specific hours you have to be there. Which means that they ought to be offering at least minimum wage.

Trying to get around minimum wage laws by classifying a job as "contract" is downright scummy, if you ask me!

Horses have the right-of-way!

I didn't mention it earlier, but as Susie and I were returning from our trail ride today, something happened that really angered me.

We were waiting to cross the street on our way back to the barn. Susie was still riding, but I had dismounted; I haven't attempted to ride Panama across the street since I fell off the first time. We were waiting for a car to pass, but instead the car stopped to let us cross.

Most cars don't do this, so we waved gratefully and started across. As we crossed the road, a couple more cars had to slow down and stop behind the first car. Once we were across, we heard the guy in the last car call out rudely and rather condescendingly, "Not smart, ladies!" as he drove away.

Susie turned to me in disbelief and said, "What else could we have done?"

And she's right. We have two ways to cross the road — walk right across, like we did today, or take the bike path under the road and walk back up the road 50 feet on the sidewalk. Neither option is ideal, naturally, but nor is either one illegal.

Also, there are signs "Caution — horseback riding" signs posted everywhere. Those signs are there for a reason — just like a "Caution — deer" sign means you need to stop for any deer in the road, a "Caution — horseback riding" sign means you need to stop for any horses in the road.

Horses have the right-of-way. This means that whether you are driving a car or riding your bicycle, it is your responsibility to avoid running into the horse. Most horseback riders are going to stop and wait for a break in traffic, partially out of politeness and partially from a desire to not get run over, but still — if you are driving down the road and someone is crossing on a horse, you are expected to yield to them.

The horse-loving gene

My mom and I have been scanning all the old family photos from her side of the family. A few weeks ago while we were scanning, we ran across several pictures of my grandfather's younger brother and sister riding a pony.

The pictures were taken up at my great-grandfather's Lake Erie property. The pony probably belonged to them. I think my grandfather has also talked about owning a pony when he was little. So I guess that's where I must have gotten the horse-loving gene!

My mom and I will be working on scanning pictures all day today, and this evening I babysit, so I won't be able to visit my horse today at all. Since I won't have any barn stories to tell, I wanted to take the opportunity to share these pictures!

Click on the pictures below to see bigger versions:

Luxury equestrian tours

I guess there's a vacation for almost everything, including people who like riding horses. Check out this ForbesTraveler.com article and slideshow on luxury equestrian tours. I especially recommend the slide show — some of the pictures are amazing! (Not to mention, a vacation such as those described sounds absolutely heavenly!)

A visit from my sister-in-law

My sister-in-law visited the barn with me yesterday. My horse had lived on their pasture until he came to Denver in September, so it was her first time seeing him in nine months.

Panama was pretty well-behaved, considering he had just gone through the indignities of having mineral oil poured in his ears the day before. He did start up putting his ears back and trying to nip at me from behind when I'm leading him — a habit I'm going to have to put a stop to ASAP!

I lunged him to show my sister-in-law how he's doing. Of course, I haven't ridden him in two weeks, so he was kind of a jerk about the lunging. He just wanted to run, rather than follow directions. I lunged him on each side, then unhooked him and chased him around the pasture. He ran like the wind — that was obviously what he'd wanted the entire time!

After Panama had his fill of running around the pasture, he came up to me and walked with me. I love it when he does this — walks with me as if he's on the lead rope, even though he's not. I've even got him stopping when I say "Whoa" and stop walking. It's really cute!

On a side note, the flaky skin has miraculously gone away in the 24 hours since I put the stuff in Panama's ears to kill the ear mites. As a result, I didn't bathe his skin with bleach water yesterday, as the vet had recommended in case of a fungus skin condition — I'll wait and see if it really was the rubbing that was doing it.

Neglecting my horse

I'm sure you have noticed my lack of posts lately. My blogs aren't the only things I've been neglecting, though, I'm afraid — I haven't been to see my horse all week.

I hate it when I go through periods when I don't get over to see my horse, because I always feel so guilty. The last couple of weeks have been hectic, since my brother-in-law and his family just relocated to Denver. As a result, I haven't had as much time to work (I'm a freelance writer).

It's all come to head this week, when my deadlines finally caught up to me. I've been working more, but I've also had a few other things going on (such as my dog's surgery on Monday) that have kept me busy. The last time I made it out to the barn was on Sunday, and the last time I actually rode was my bareback ride almost two weeks ago. I even dreamed about trying — and not being able — to ride last night!

Unfortunately, Panama tends to forget his ground manners when he's left to his own devices for more than just a few days. I need to be sure I get up there this evening and remind him that he has a mommy — the vet is coming tomorrow to give Panama the rest of his shots, and I need him to behave himself for that.

Hurdles for hauling horses

If you like to haul your own horses when need be, you've probably already been hurting under the rising gas prices. Here's a new hurdle for hauling horses: GM is closing four plants and shifting their focus away from trucks and sport utility vehicles, which have long been the cornerstone of their company.

Higher fuel prices are making many people reconsider buying (or keeping) trucks and SUVs. This article talks about how much more it costs to own and drive a pickup truck compared to a compact, fuel-friendly sedan. Quoted from the article:

That's why more people are deciding that towing capacity and the other benefits of pickup trucks and S.U.V.'s are not worth the costs. The F-250 may still make sense for some business owners. But, as Mr. Fisher says, on those few occasions when the rest of us need to move some horses, we can rent a truck. "The new economics of car buying is, 'Don’t overbuy,'" he told me. "Buy something you’re going to need most of the time."

I know many people who own trucks and trailers so that they can haul their horses wherever and whenever they want to. Unfortunately, it seems that with gas prices rising, truck and SUV sales declining, and now fewer trucks being made, those days may be numbered. I personally don't mind, as I am content with my current situation: I have Panama stabled someplace where I have trail access, and anyway I do most of my riding in the arena and pastures right now. But I'm sure there are others who are — or soon will be — affected.

Do you haul your horses to trailheads or shows? And if so, how are you coping — or planning to cope in the future — with increased fuel prices?

Memories of Memorial Day weekend 2006

Memorial Day weekend is an especially memorable holiday for me, because it was this weekend in 2006 that Panama first came into my life. Granted, we wouldn't rescue him for more than another week after that, but still — if we hadn't been visiting Michael's family that weekend in 2006, I wouldn't have my horse right now.

It also means that there is only about a month until Panama turns 3, since he was 11 months old when I first met him.

If you don't know the story already, be sure to read the details of my horse rescue story and Panama's history!

There is still hope for my husband...

Last night my husband toured a house that is for rent over near where my horse is stabled — my brother-in-law is relocating to Denver, and Michael is looking for a home for him and his family.

A little later, Michael sent this unexpected picture to my cell phone:



The picture was accompanied by the message, "Hi Mom!"

I immediately called Michael. Sure enough, he had stopped by at the barn after viewing the rental. He only visited with Panama for about ten minutes, and didn't go into his stall (he claims because he was still dressed nicely from work) — but still, this is an amazing step, coming from the husband who is always so reluctant to accompany me to the barn!

Horse story writing contest

A fellow writer, knowing my horse rescue story and my love of horses, notified me of this writing contest: the 2008 Angel Horses with a Mission True Story Contest.

Excerpted from the writing guidelines:

The Angel Animals Network (AAN) is accepting story submissions about horses who demonstrates what it means and how fulfilling it is to have a life’s purpose and/or a horse who performs some time of physical, emotional, or spiritual services for you or others.

Stories must be original, based on real horses, people, and events.

The guidelines mention that winners and runners-up will be considered for publication in a book they'll be publishing next year. When I asked how that worked, they said publication in the book is a completely separate thing from the contest. From what I understand, you can enter and win the contest, but it's still up to you whether you want your story to be published in the book — you're not automatically giving them publication rights by entering the contest.

There is no submission fee, and you can submit up to three different stories, so have fun!

Eight Belles: What her name means

Eight Belles's name had a horribly prophetic meaning, it turns out.

In nautical parlance, "Eight Bells" is the end of a four-hour watch. It's also a nautical euphemism for the death of a sailor: his watch is over, eternally.

How sad that her name turned out to be so prophetic. But it's also kind of creepy to give your horse — your champion — a name that means "death."

The barn is my refuge

I've found that having a horse helps me deal with the stress in my life. Last night, I started getting frustrated with my family, and suddenly what I wanted more than anything (even though it was 11 o'clock at night and I was getting ready for bed) was to go to the barn and hang out with my horse.

Spending time at the barn tends to refresh my mood and help me put everything into perspective. There is something so simple and pleasant and soothing about spending time with my horse: smelling his horsey smell, hearing his little nickers, and basking in his affection.

It's like time stops and the rest of the world disappears when I'm at the barn. Life is suddenly made up entirely of sun and pasture and horses.

It is pure happiness: my refuge.

Pros and cons of Colorado weather

Colorado is a great place to own a horse. Although our winters aren't exactly mild, the weather fluctuates so much that we have warm, dry days alternating with the cold, snowy ones.

Case in point: the warm, mild weather that precluded today's snowstorm. Monday was in the mid-60s and sunny; and evidently, yesterday it got up to 82 degrees in some parts of town, despite strong winds. I took full advantage of the weather, spending several hours at the barn on Monday.

This morning it was sunny and in the low 40s, but with snow predicted later in the day. Sure enough, while Panama was on his first trail ride it started snowing — for about 30 seconds at a time. It would snow briefly, clear up for five or ten minutes, then start all over again.

The weather held (just barely) until a little while after Panama returned from his trail ride. Shortly after I left the barn, it began snowing in earnest. For the rest of the afternoon, we were treated with a typical Colorado spring snowstorm: thick, wet, heavy snow that melted quickly on the roads and covered the grass with a slushy blanket of white.

Luckily, tomorrow morning is supposed to see the tail end of the storm. By Friday we're supposed to be back into the mid-60s, with the warmer temperatures staying for the rest of the weekend. I intend to get plenty of riding in while I can!

I love the smell of horse sweat

I got into a discussion about horse smells the other day on a writing blog I frequent. I mentioned that I love the smell of horse sweat, and the blog's owner was really surprised — not just that horse sweat has a distinct smell, but that horses sweat at all. (Dogs don't sweat, so someone who doesn't know much about horses could logically assume that they're the same way.)

When Amy asked what horse sweat smells like, I didn't know how to answer. It's a very clean, earthy, almost primitive smell — much different than the smells of manure or dirty stalls, which people usually assume horses smell like.

Actually, horses that are pasture kept don't smell like manure or dirt at all. They smell like "sunshine and fields," as another commenter said.

When my horse was kept on the in-laws' pasture, I used to love to bury my nose in the warm fur on his neck, breathing in the horsey scent. I can't do that anymore, particularly now that he loves to roll in the dust, but I still get to enjoy the smell of his sweat after he's gotten a good workout.

The original green form of transportation

I found this picture on the Google Earth Blog: an Amish horse and buggy on the highway.

I envy the Amish for the ability to travel via horse all the time. I would quite happily give up my car if I could ride Panama everywhere (once he is fully trained, of course). Parking at the grocery store would be a challenge, of course, but it would be a heck of a lot more enjoyable to ride a horse than drive a car.

You have to admit — horses are a nearly perfect form of transportation. As long as they are well fed and cared for, they don't break down, and their only byproduct is fertilizer, rather than a pollutant.

I'm sure many animal rights activists will be all up in arms about this, but I honestly don't think using horses for transportation is mean — it's the way some people treat them that is mean, and that happens regardless of the reasons why people keep them.

Now I do think that using horses for transportation in conditions meant for cars is kind of mean. In heavy traffic in New York City, carriage horses have to breathe exhaust fumes all day — directly out of the tailpipes, too, because "bumper to bumper" means "nose to bumper" for them. Also, I know that walking on pavement all day is extremely bad for horses' hooves.

So let me rephrase that: If I could travel on horse trails everywhere, with no pavement or exhaust fumes, I would quite gladly give up my car to ride Panama everywhere.