Your blogs

I'm working on my blog this weekend. If you're a follower, AND you have a blog can you post the link in the comment section? :)

Edit: If I put your blog there AND you don't want it there (for some reason) let me know and I'll take it off! :)

TGIF!

When I was younger I never quite understood what the big excitement was about Fridays. Sure, I didn't need to go to school, but that was about it when it came to understanding WHY they were so great.

After trying to get my classroom full of 9 little boys, and 1 little girl organized for our Valentine's Day Party all I have to say is TGIF!!

I have all week off next week. Can we say excited?! I am so happy for a break! I am in charge of our schools fish tank, so I need to go in and clean the tank and feed the fish, but I don't mind that. My classroom is a disaster, so hopefully by Friday it will be clean.

I want to spend lots of time with my pony. I really hate not being able to spend everyday with her. I wonder what she thinks? When I bought her, I knew that I'd only be able to spend time with her for 2 and a half months. I spent almost everyday with her. Hours and hours. I made sure that she had everything she needed and I love her. THEN. THEN I MOVED. I spent everyday for 108 days worrying about her. I worried she was happy, I worried she was safe, I worried she was fed, I feel like my worries were justified now.

Have you ever left your horse for an extended period of time? How was the outcome for you?

In the summer I spend a ton of time with her. THEN school starts, and my time with her goes from tons to very little. Sigh. I love her barn. I don't love that I have to fight Seattle traffic to get to her. I guess a lot of me gets jealous of people who get to see her everyday, who get to love on her and I own her. I want to be able to do those things everyday. Who wouldn't want to love on this face!!
She's starting to shed out pretty good now! Her tan markings are getting lighter which is usually a good sigh. Speaking of that. What color do you think she is? Her paper says black/brown, and sure, she's a bay, but I would say Seal Brown. Not that any of this matters, I need coffee and I'm rambling!! Off to work!!

200th Post

And I wanted to use it to thank you! Thank you for following along on my journey through horse ownership. Thank you for your comments, and your insights. Owning a horse, I assume, is just like having a kid. We have our ups and our downs, but I love her regardless. I assume that the next one will be easier, just like children. I have learned more in the past year and a half about horses then I ever thought possible. I'm still convinced that if I can "tame the beast" that the next horse will be nothing. :)

I begged, pleaded, and cried for my own horse growing up. I never got it. One Christmas my dad had bought hay to put in the dog houses. I was CONVINCED I was getting a pony for Christmas, I had just read a book, maybe Summer Pony, so the idea of the horse living in my garage didn't seem so far fetched. At the time I was always so mad at my parents for not getting me my own horse (I leased an Appy named Misty, I'll tell her story someday) but I appreciate Denali that much more. She is mine, and she picked me. Things happen for a reason (and believe me I HATE THAT SAYING!!) but it is true.

I also want to say a huge thank you and welcome to Yukon's new mom!! He was adopted yesterday! (*insert loud clapping here*)There are no words to describe how happy I am for him (and for you!) He is an amazing boy and deserves to be treated like such.

Thank you everyone!

If you haven't seen this yet...

I bawled my eyes out...



It just makes me so sad that this is not how all horses are treated. I try not to think about it, it just depresses me. The fact that a horse I loved more than anything was given "to a forever home" and then left in a field. I read on the rescue blog that Yukon is almost ready to go to his forever home. I am forever grateful to them for taking him in and taking such good care of him. How he got there I'll never know. I wish I would have known at the time he was soon about to be homeless. He'll always have a spot in my heart. I am thankful that I was able to spend a day with him this summer. Thank you Pony Up Rescue!

Horse Tails

I just finished ordering Ms. Denali a new blanket. I got another tack catalog in the mail, and what can I say: it was a great price!! I love clearance sales. I HATE, HATE, HATE shopping for myself, but I could shop for DAYS for Ms. Denali. This blanket is lighter weight than her current blanket. Denali's current winter blanket (which I LOVE) is a Rambo Supreme. It was expensive, but it definitely keeps her toasty warm in our wet, WET winters. Ms. D, however, had put on some extra muscle/weight and her 78 is now a little tight across her butt. The shoulders are great! The red circles (or close to circles) are where her blanket is rubbing. I'm still not going to order her an 80, I've tried them and it was just so huge on her that it's not an option. Still trying to figure out what to do about the current blanket.

I had mentioned that this weekend I went to visit my friend's horse. He's a very cool Paint, but gets really itchy when he's shedding. I was scratching his butt for him, then moved away. He was pretty convincing that I continue scratching. He's always been like this. At my first barn he use to walk backwards into people so they'd scratch him. His new owner has him on a lot of different skin supplements that have improved his skin itching a lot! Every once in a while, he just wants a good scratch. Don't worry, I didn't press too hard!

Dreamhorse

Do you ever go on dreamhorse.com? I must admit that I often will go there and play around with all the options under "Advanced Search" to see what my "dream horse" would look like if I got everything that I wanted in a horse. Here is what I got.
He is an 11 year old Hanoverian (not something I was specifically looking for) Here is his ad (I wish I was a millionaire, stupid lottery ;) looks like I'll need to go to work tomorrow!

http://www.dreamhorse.com/show_horse.php?form_horse_id=1489827&share_this=Y

Lets play a game! Go to www.dreamhorse.com and under advanced search put in exactly what you'd want in a horse. Post you links!

P.S. Here I'm being selfish : Is there 1 more person out there that wants to become a follower? :) Then I could have an even 50. :)

What would you do?

Nice right? Seriously, Sometimes I think I'm on a reality TV show and I look for the cameras, this has to be a joke! Ugh. Nothing is broken (yay!) however, I tore off the top part of my toe, should have gotten stitches, but didn't and now I have this nice contraption to wear until it starts to heal properly. I tore underneath the nail, but not right under if any of this rambling makes sense. It really was a feat only I am capable of doing! I have almost as much talent when it comes to injuring myself as Ms. Denali does.

In other non-me injuring myself news. I bought a lottery ticket. I buy them every once in a while when I have time to dream and can think "what if." The slogan for Washington Lottery is "Who's Life Would You Change" (or something like that.)

Funny story. A few years ago I worked with an older Vietnamese man at the middle school I was teaching at. He was very quiet, and I don't think I ever really talked to him. I kept to myself and my kids. One day he came up to me in the hallway and rambled on and on about how nice it was outside, how hard I work, yada, yada, yada. He was so talkative! AND It was SO weird!

That was the first and last time he ever talked to me.

That night on the news I watched as he was handed a check for 65 Million Dollars!! We never heard from him again. We joked that he called in rich. He had apparently knew that he won, but came to work JUST IN CASE he didn't get the check. Lucky you! :)

If I won the lottery (dreaming via the Internet now) there are a lot of things I'd like to do. The first thing is I would make it so my parents and my husband's parents could retire. They deserve it.

Next step: I'd buy my dream house complete with an amazing 7 stall barn and heated indoor arena. Everything would be wood, and the stalls would be huge! Something like below. I'd then of course need some more horses to fill the barn. I'd ideally like to take in some retired racehorses, ones who were like Denali, didn't do anything special at the track, but need a place to just be a horse. I don't care if they're ridable or not.


I'd have my saddle made for me and Ms. Denali and I would just ride my horse. I would probably go back to work once I got over the initial, "I'm a multi-millionaire", but before I did that I'd just ride my horse. I'd have all the time in the world right?

I'd probably want some super amazing horse that's out there, but I'm not even going to try to look for a picture because that will take up hours.

I'd buy a truck that could pull a trailer.

I'd like to be able to donate money to my favorite rescues and help them out anyway I can. I'd actually like to start my own low cost gelding and a program for people who have horses who need help with medical bills, but can't afford them. (This is something I'd like to do regardless, but to do this you need money and I don't have a lot of that lying around.)

I'd also like to set up a scholarship in my mentor's name for students with EBD, something for them to work towards when they graduate from high school. I want them to graduate from high school, not necessarily go to college.

And to appease my husband I'd invest most of it for retirement! I know there are pros and cons to winning money. I've watched all of those Dateline specials, but honestly, I think I could handle it :) I'd like the chance to prove it!

What would you buy if you won 65 million dollars?