I am going to take a moment to vent. Just a bit.
I had a really rough round of exams during our last celebration of learning. I have been coping with a less than proficient quitting (ahem, learning) counselor with school, and she has been dropping some not very subtle hints that I should just take a leave from school and not come back. She actually suggested that I might like to go to vet school instead. Even despite leaving out a lot of our other conversations, I think it is pretty easy to see why I do not enjoy speaking with her. I feel as if every meeting basically focuses on her agenda instead of mine--and we don't end up going over what I actually need help with as we get sidetracked into c-beep that my life pretty much is. Anyway, right after I finished six hours of excruciating torment, I ran into Seed's office and made an appointment to go over some diagramming techniques. (Note...I am referring to her as Seed with all gleeful and due respect, as I am certified obsessive nut about gardening, and she had the new Seed Saver's Exchange catalog on her desk. I think that was a pretty obvious sign that this was a good move!).
Fast forward till yesterday. I got an email from the secretary for the quitting advisor. QA wanted to go over some test analysis with me because of my poor performance on the last exams. Well....wait just one moment. If QA actually gave a flying fig about my situation, wouldn't it have behooved her to perhaps contact me to work on something when we don't have T minus 3 school days before our next celebration of learning? Seriously. Thinking about it now makes me wonder if she was planning to work me up into a crying fit (which would resolve with an episode of panicky freaking out at my house). Yeah, great idea considering how little time is left.
It was with great pleasure that I advised the secretary I had already taken care of the issue and have an appointment with Seed for the following day (which she books 2 1/2 weeks in advance because everyone wants to see her...another good sign).
I grumpily called my mom. She, being very smart, pointed out that no one at this school has ever seen me perform at my full potential. All they have to go off of is the performance of one really sick student. And she actually wants me to write a letter complaining of QA's comments so that it would go in her file. Maybe if I start swinging some sweet work off of our next COL (celebrations of learning) I might consider that. Then again it might just be more fun to think about riding
because
my new saddle came yesterday! Granted, I didn't get to see it until about midnight, because I went to sleep around 7ish and woke up around 1145. It is insanely, insanely light and has some seriously gorgeous leather. I set it on my big saddle stand and of course had to sit in it...and I think it will be a very good fit for me and the girls. I will have to try and tack someone up to show it off. :)
***that is probably not going to happen till after exams, cause if I get distracted doing something right now, I am going to get tired, and then will not get more hw done. Bad. Very Bad.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
zomg, YAY LYME!
For the first time ever I think I can actually say YAY LYME! My brand spankin new custom deerskin chaps that I picked up for a song....zip up over my favorite (now loose) breeches! This means I will need to maybe look at getting a pair of paddock boots, but who cares!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yay
Neuro all outlined and printed. Now I am filling in the blanks. Pictures may be drawn in tonight or tomorrow. Goal down!
The other goal today is to get as much of the physio typed up as possible. Then if I possibly have any energy left, to fill in the blanks.
And it is finally kind of warm outside. I'm actually feeling *kind of ok*!!!!! And....I want to be outside playing with my ponies. Something. Other. Than. Working. In. My. Study. Room.
The other goal today is to get as much of the physio typed up as possible. Then if I possibly have any energy left, to fill in the blanks.
And it is finally kind of warm outside. I'm actually feeling *kind of ok*!!!!! And....I want to be outside playing with my ponies. Something. Other. Than. Working. In. My. Study. Room.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Babies teach you...
Lots of things. Like how FUN it is to get out of fences! And how FUN it is to eat silage! All in freezing weather!
Things like...
how hair looks better with a swirl of beetpulp
how to dirtify a jacket in 30 seconds
30 ways to throw brushes into other stalls
why it is better to sleep on blankets than leave them hanging
ninety kinds of pig noises while eating breakfast and dinner mush
how to insert mystery pieces of hay into hair and clothing which miraculously re-appear during lab
why it is a good idea to always paint your nails a dark color
the necessity of overalls
and nine other bajillion things.
Babies are funny. They are always experiencing things for the first time and are constantly wondering, hey can I do this? Get away with that? Do this anyway, even if you don't like it?
All of the mares know which stall is theirs. This makes feeding super easy, as I can just drop the gate and let them all in.
Baby Horse enjoyed complicating Magpie's life as she is kind of sort of higher than her on the dominance bossy situation. So she would gleefully scoot into Magpie's stall first, scarf three bites of her mush and then high tail it to her stall once I had let everyone in. I prevented that by locking Magpie's stall for a few days, and dealing with the poor girl standing there sighing at me to hurry up.
A few days ago, Mike had a bucket of wood chips by the fence. Baby Horse grabbed the bucket handle and took off, managing to spill all the chips and toss the bucket who knows where. She is also enjoying dragging any sticks, tools, or whatnot into the field and disappearing with it. We solved that one by getting a super strong fence charger.
I am ordering a Hoof Jack to help me with getting the girls' feet done. I can just think of all the things that Baby Horse will try to do with that thing...
Things like...
how hair looks better with a swirl of beetpulp
how to dirtify a jacket in 30 seconds
30 ways to throw brushes into other stalls
why it is better to sleep on blankets than leave them hanging
ninety kinds of pig noises while eating breakfast and dinner mush
how to insert mystery pieces of hay into hair and clothing which miraculously re-appear during lab
why it is a good idea to always paint your nails a dark color
the necessity of overalls
and nine other bajillion things.
Babies are funny. They are always experiencing things for the first time and are constantly wondering, hey can I do this? Get away with that? Do this anyway, even if you don't like it?
All of the mares know which stall is theirs. This makes feeding super easy, as I can just drop the gate and let them all in.
Baby Horse enjoyed complicating Magpie's life as she is kind of sort of higher than her on the dominance bossy situation. So she would gleefully scoot into Magpie's stall first, scarf three bites of her mush and then high tail it to her stall once I had let everyone in. I prevented that by locking Magpie's stall for a few days, and dealing with the poor girl standing there sighing at me to hurry up.
A few days ago, Mike had a bucket of wood chips by the fence. Baby Horse grabbed the bucket handle and took off, managing to spill all the chips and toss the bucket who knows where. She is also enjoying dragging any sticks, tools, or whatnot into the field and disappearing with it. We solved that one by getting a super strong fence charger.
I am ordering a Hoof Jack to help me with getting the girls' feet done. I can just think of all the things that Baby Horse will try to do with that thing...
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Sometimes Yes, Sometimes No
This is such a roller coaster of ups and downs. Last week I felt really god awful during exams and refused to check the exam results. Period. I knew they were going to be...icky...and I just was not ready to see that. I wanted not to have to deal with the stress of school and just to curl up in bed and let the world forget about me.
A week later...while not feeling fabulous, my mood has definitely improved. I did what I like to refer to as good-bad on my exams....good enough to still pass the class. :) It's funny to watch my grades cycle, as I do good-bad when I am not feeling well and then high Cs to middle Bs when I am feeling ok (case in point: BC with a 75, 60, and 85). That is some serious grade fluctuation, all without changing studying habits. Oh well.
Anywho, the classes are still passable. I had a good practical today, with a nice patient and me remembering to frame what I needed to do before I went in. I think I did everything ok, which was nice, and I remembered to do everything. The real shocker: I got to DO everything before time ran out, and even got to redo the one test that I was not right on! Woot!!
So 'tis been a good day.
On to horse stuff.
So I think on Saturday I am going to visit Melyni Worth and her Knabstruppers. I am debating signing a contract for Colorado Skodstrup, a leopard Knab who finished his 70 day stallion testing this November. They have a nice breeding special going on with a LCF guarantee. However, with the chance of only ONE FOAL from Sophie, I really want to be careful what stallion I pick and if I am going to go with a Knab, them I definitely want color. I have too many bays!!! I am going to see offspring of pretty much all the stallions available here in the US this weekend, plus get Ms. Worth's opinions on my various mares and potential crosses for them.
In silly mare news, Boo pulled her light stable blanket off the side of her stall and peed on it. Isn't that just kyoot? Um, yeah. Not.
I also was a super total brat...and bought a Freemax Acavallo GP/Jumping saddle off Ebay. For like half of what it should be new, with fittings and some different tree arches. I have a Heather Moffett that really is the only reason I can ride a little bit....it is super soft and does not hurt me to sit on it, plus it fits my wide girls. The Freemax is made in Italy with one piece injection foam, and is supposed to mold really well to the horse. It looks a little more GP/jumpy than my HM, which is really a VSD (versatility dressage) type saddle. So bad me, but I really want to do a little bit of riding and big cantering and some weeny fences this summer....so need something that is more "jumpy". Plus, I got a great deal on it!
Soooo...what am I putting off because of this purchase? Let me tell you...
1. I am going to wait to have my chaps resized.
2. I am going to wait to send my 2 pairs of boots off to Vogel to have them cut down, resized, have zippers put in, etc.
3. I am going to wait to purchase another nice bridle. Boo on this, but oh well.
4. I am going to call about my tax return tomorrow. :) Have needed to do that for forever, and that alone will pretty much pay for the saddle. So yay me. :)
5. And I think....think....that I will wait to sign any stallion contract till August, because I do not want to breed until late summer/early fall. The only decent warm season here is summer and that is when I want the baby to arrive.
A week later...while not feeling fabulous, my mood has definitely improved. I did what I like to refer to as good-bad on my exams....good enough to still pass the class. :) It's funny to watch my grades cycle, as I do good-bad when I am not feeling well and then high Cs to middle Bs when I am feeling ok (case in point: BC with a 75, 60, and 85). That is some serious grade fluctuation, all without changing studying habits. Oh well.
Anywho, the classes are still passable. I had a good practical today, with a nice patient and me remembering to frame what I needed to do before I went in. I think I did everything ok, which was nice, and I remembered to do everything. The real shocker: I got to DO everything before time ran out, and even got to redo the one test that I was not right on! Woot!!
So 'tis been a good day.
On to horse stuff.
So I think on Saturday I am going to visit Melyni Worth and her Knabstruppers. I am debating signing a contract for Colorado Skodstrup, a leopard Knab who finished his 70 day stallion testing this November. They have a nice breeding special going on with a LCF guarantee. However, with the chance of only ONE FOAL from Sophie, I really want to be careful what stallion I pick and if I am going to go with a Knab, them I definitely want color. I have too many bays!!! I am going to see offspring of pretty much all the stallions available here in the US this weekend, plus get Ms. Worth's opinions on my various mares and potential crosses for them.
In silly mare news, Boo pulled her light stable blanket off the side of her stall and peed on it. Isn't that just kyoot? Um, yeah. Not.
I also was a super total brat...and bought a Freemax Acavallo GP/Jumping saddle off Ebay. For like half of what it should be new, with fittings and some different tree arches. I have a Heather Moffett that really is the only reason I can ride a little bit....it is super soft and does not hurt me to sit on it, plus it fits my wide girls. The Freemax is made in Italy with one piece injection foam, and is supposed to mold really well to the horse. It looks a little more GP/jumpy than my HM, which is really a VSD (versatility dressage) type saddle. So bad me, but I really want to do a little bit of riding and big cantering and some weeny fences this summer....so need something that is more "jumpy". Plus, I got a great deal on it!
Soooo...what am I putting off because of this purchase? Let me tell you...
1. I am going to wait to have my chaps resized.
2. I am going to wait to send my 2 pairs of boots off to Vogel to have them cut down, resized, have zippers put in, etc.
3. I am going to wait to purchase another nice bridle. Boo on this, but oh well.
4. I am going to call about my tax return tomorrow. :) Have needed to do that for forever, and that alone will pretty much pay for the saddle. So yay me. :)
5. And I think....think....that I will wait to sign any stallion contract till August, because I do not want to breed until late summer/early fall. The only decent warm season here is summer and that is when I want the baby to arrive.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Chicken Drama
So I am having chicken issues. I have a drafty, crapola backyard dog breeding shed that I have converted to use temporarily for my chickens. However, even with a major heat light, I am still having problems with the birds getting too cold?
How cold, you ask? Cold enough to have to think about prosthetic chicken feet.
I have 3 house chickens. All are Belgian Bearded D'Uccles, which is an abominably cute breed with no tolerance to cold. The rooster gets sniffles if he gets in any kind of a draft or if the house temp drops below 50 degrees.
Needless to say, the bf is not thrilled about another house chicken. Much less a house chicken that will grow up to be a full size chicken in less than a year. Right now, she is about the size of a full grown bantam. That will change soon.
How did this happen?!---let me fill you in. I have been losing toenails off of my birds because of the ridiculous cold. I have taken to locking the girls up 24/7 to keep them out of the snow. This works most of the time. Then I feel sorry for them and let them out for an afternoon and someone always gets cold. The older hens that have made it through a winter do not have problems with anything--they step outside and then come right back in. It is the babies, like this one, that just do not have the experience to know when too much is too much.
I think this particular baby got herself wet in the water dish and did not think to get herself dry. So perhaps she went out and played in the snow while she was wet. Or stood in the water (despite single digit temps outside) and pecked bits of corn or something out of it. I don't know. All I know is that her feet are totally frozen, totally zombie-fied, up to an including about a half inch of her actual LEG.
Now...if I was not a sucker for chickens, I would just take the machete and end this particular pullet's problems. If I cannot think of a reasonable solution that will keep her comfortable, I will make the bf do so anyway. To note: the bf and the dad say chopping block. I say that the hen is still eating comfortably, drinking water, and has no signs of not wanting to live anymore.
I have rehabbed a hen from serious, should have ended her life soft tissue injuries to her legs (she has squashed by a dog and could not stand). I was almost through rehabbing a chick from a seizure injury to her leg when she was eaten by something (GR!!). So rehab is really not an issue in my mind.
This is the question: do I want another house chicken?
A: Not really, but if it necessary fine. She will HAVE to have a diaper though.
In my mind, there are a couple of things to consider when trying to make prosthetic feet for a chicken. First is that the surface area really does not need to be THAT big...just stable.
1. ease of putting on and removal--means fabric or something soft, like a pencil grip
2. ease of cleaning--nuff said
3.interface with leg--the replacement has to be soft to ensure the comfort of the bird.
With that, I am brainstorming with a super smart mechanical engineering undergrad I know in a couple of hours.
Picture of prosthetic 1 would NOT upload. GR x 2.
How cold, you ask? Cold enough to have to think about prosthetic chicken feet.
I have 3 house chickens. All are Belgian Bearded D'Uccles, which is an abominably cute breed with no tolerance to cold. The rooster gets sniffles if he gets in any kind of a draft or if the house temp drops below 50 degrees.
Needless to say, the bf is not thrilled about another house chicken. Much less a house chicken that will grow up to be a full size chicken in less than a year. Right now, she is about the size of a full grown bantam. That will change soon.
How did this happen?!---let me fill you in. I have been losing toenails off of my birds because of the ridiculous cold. I have taken to locking the girls up 24/7 to keep them out of the snow. This works most of the time. Then I feel sorry for them and let them out for an afternoon and someone always gets cold. The older hens that have made it through a winter do not have problems with anything--they step outside and then come right back in. It is the babies, like this one, that just do not have the experience to know when too much is too much.
I think this particular baby got herself wet in the water dish and did not think to get herself dry. So perhaps she went out and played in the snow while she was wet. Or stood in the water (despite single digit temps outside) and pecked bits of corn or something out of it. I don't know. All I know is that her feet are totally frozen, totally zombie-fied, up to an including about a half inch of her actual LEG.
Now...if I was not a sucker for chickens, I would just take the machete and end this particular pullet's problems. If I cannot think of a reasonable solution that will keep her comfortable, I will make the bf do so anyway. To note: the bf and the dad say chopping block. I say that the hen is still eating comfortably, drinking water, and has no signs of not wanting to live anymore.
I have rehabbed a hen from serious, should have ended her life soft tissue injuries to her legs (she has squashed by a dog and could not stand). I was almost through rehabbing a chick from a seizure injury to her leg when she was eaten by something (GR!!). So rehab is really not an issue in my mind.
This is the question: do I want another house chicken?
A: Not really, but if it necessary fine. She will HAVE to have a diaper though.
In my mind, there are a couple of things to consider when trying to make prosthetic feet for a chicken. First is that the surface area really does not need to be THAT big...just stable.
1. ease of putting on and removal--means fabric or something soft, like a pencil grip
2. ease of cleaning--nuff said
3.interface with leg--the replacement has to be soft to ensure the comfort of the bird.
With that, I am brainstorming with a super smart mechanical engineering undergrad I know in a couple of hours.
Picture of prosthetic 1 would NOT upload. GR x 2.
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