I sure do love my baby horse.

Today we rode through farmland, but first had to cross a highway and pass a bunch of scary farm equipment and *gasp* yards and gardens. He was nervous at first but calmed down for the most part. The entire ride was a little scarier for him than riding in the woods though. I think because there's so far to see and so much to take in.

The first 3 bridge crossings I was on foot, but I rode over the last one and it was totally fine. He worries about what's under the bridge, and the first wooden bridge surprised him with its sound. I also dismounted to cross the railroad tracks but I probably didn't need to, they didn't bother him a bit.
The first time he crossed this bridge he was a little worried about the white railing. Isn't he a handsome baby?

There were these cute little tracks along the road for quite a ways. I think they're raccoon. What do you think?

This is a picture from yesterday. I love the view upward in a teepee.

Tomorrow we're going on a poker ride. I'm a little worried about having Scout around a bunch of horses and the nerves that go along with a big ride, but I think he'll be okay. I'm more than happy to walk if I have to. Or even call it off at the trail head if the riders are too crazy. Luckily it's a marked trail, not a guided group, so we don't have to ride with anyone we don't want to. This ride tomorrow (as long as I get in some saddle time and don't walk too much) will put me over the 100 hour mark for riding this year. Yay! I think that's pretty good considering all the time Tonka had off this year.

It's that time of year when the horses start letting go of dead hoof they've been hanging on to. Here's Bella's hoof from the side, and you can see from the break that there's a lot of extra hoof that needs to come off. My hypothesis was that all the small black cracks would be gone when I was done. I was right.

From the bottom. Wow, what a lot of fun to be had with my nippers.
And a few minutes later, but not done. I had to pick up Katia so I hurried and didn't take more pics.

And yes, I know it looks like I neglect her hooves horribly, but I don't really. I don't pare out all of the rock-hard dead material throughout the summer, so now it's all coming out at once. And her hooves do grow pretty fast, so I admit I should be more on top of it than I am. I do what I can, and so far nobody is the worse for it...

I spent most of my day with Liam's class. What fun! Really, I'm not being sarcastic! I only wanted to pull my hair out once or twice. Mostly it was a blast, and I really enjoyed getting to know them all a bit better. They only got to do the small zip line but the other activities were super fun too, and some were very challenging. It was neat seeing the kids go from, "I can't," to actually doing it, several times, and being so proud of themselves. Here are a couple pics of my happy boy.

I'm off to bed so I can do more of the same tomorrow. Good night!

Do you ever, as you're falling asleep, dream that you're tripping over a branch and jerk violently to catch yourself, only to wake up and feel a little embarrassed? I've done that as long as I can remember. Did it once in math class, must have been my junior year in high school. I don't think anyone noticed...

Well, last night as I was falling asleep I dreamed I was riding Scout and he stumbled and I (in reality) flinched so hard I bent my fingernail backward and tore a bit of skin out of my knee. Weird. I don't dream about riding. When I didn't have horses I used to dream about them, but just as I was about to ride they'd turn into people, or something else would happen to keep me from it. I can't remember a dream where I've ever been riding. Until last night. Must mean Scout's a special boy, right? I hope so. Because I see in him the possibility of a spoiled brat bucking because he wants to do things his own way. So I think we need to work a lot on ingraining automatic responses to cues, like the walk trot work I was doing yesterday.

Today I didn't ride, again. Life gets in the way. Kid woke up with pink eye so I had to take him to the doctor. And his class is having a huge awesome outing over the next two days, which required a lot of preparation. They're going camping! All the 3rd-4th graders and the kindergarteners. Ought to be a pretty exciting time. They'll be doing all kinds of fun activities. Luckily he can still go even with his eye, since he will have been on antibiotics for 24 hours by then.

So, that's about it for me for the next few days, I guess.

My sweet Tonka.

I rode Scout today too. Walk trot walk trot, etc, etc. Nothing interesting to report. Sometimes that's a good thing!

I don't have any new horse stuff to report, been too busy for horses...

I just thought I'd post a couple very brief book reviews.

DO NOT ever read Dazzle of Day by Molly Gloss. Horrible. Not that she's a bad writer, she's an excellent writer, but it was depressing and very disturbing and I sure don't need that. I never put a book down in the middle, I even struggled through and finished Twilight, but this one I took and tossed in the trash, half read. I wouldn't even re-sell it to the used book store, don't want to subject anyone else to it.

On a much better note, I'm reading The Help. I love it! I haven't been able to put it down unless I absolutely had to. Which is a large part of the reason I ignored the horses this afternoon.

That's about all I've got!

Oh, the quote thing! I keep forgetting about that.

Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.
-Helen Keller

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.


Buddha

Scout had a little wreck after I rode him today. That colt... He's so mouthy, has to taste and bite and chew on everything. He was tied at the trailer and reached around to bite his stirrup, but he bit a little too deeply and it got caught on his lower jaw. He probably could have dropped it if he'd just flexed his head in to his shoulder but of course he didn't. He tried to pop his head up, found himself still caught, pulled back a little and swiveled his butt around so his belly was on top of the trailer hitch. I pictured him eviscerating himself. But he stopped and stood totally still, and I got to him and wrestled the stirrup off of his teeth. Then I walked away until my hands quit shaking, and let him stand there and process what had just happened. Hopefully he learned his lesson and won't do it again. Yeah, right...

Before that, though, we had a great hour long ride around the place. He was a bit herdbound, so when we were done I lunged him at a trot for a while right next to Bella and Tonka, then tied him to the trailer. He hung out quite still for a while, resting. I went in the house to get a drink and cool off. Luckily he waited until I was back out there before he had his little wreck.

I finally dug out Huck's paperwork and called his breeder, on the off chance she'd have some puppies soon. We're in luck! She has a litter that should be weaned in about a month. When the time comes we'll be going to pick up a sister or brother of his.

Question: What are your thoughts on female vs. male? She said her female is more protective, and I don't want a dog that's any more protective than Huck is. She thought we might want a female though, so we don't have tension between the two males. I don't really think that will be an issue, since we neuter our dogs. I was kind of thinking maybe females are more cuddly and attentive? What do you think?

I asked her to just observe what they're like, and tell me which one is more cuddly, less bold, and of course I don't want the most active dog in the litter. She called Aussies "the lazy man's herding dog" and I think that's a pretty apt description of my Huck. He spends most of the day sleeping on the couch...

I'm so excited I don't know how I'm going to stand the wait!

Today I took a walk with my good horse for half an hour. He was so mellow, kind of not himself. I hope he's feeling okay. Or maybe he heard me saying how proud I was of Scout's bravery. :) His tendon still appears to be fine, and since he's been in the pasture and able to move around the EPSM isn't as noticeable. I need to start working him a little every day now. I'm not sure how I'll find the time.

Scout had the day off because I just couldn't take enough time for two horses today. He and his mama did get in a couple good gallops following me and Tonka as we walked around their pasture. It's fun to watch them feeling good and moving out, and I love the sound of thundering hooves.

I looked at a boxer puppy today. I thought she was the bees knees but Huck wasn't so sure. I think they would have been good buddies off leash. Huck tends to think he needs to protect me or claim me when he's on the leash. But we decided we can't spend that much on a pup right now, so I tonight I told them I can't take her. I've been thinking a lot about the boxer my grandma and grandpa had while I was growing up. She was such a sweetheart and quite the (large) lap dog. She loved the whole family but my grandpa was her favorite. They'd sit in his big recliner and watch westerns together.

Tonight was "curriculum night" for my son's class. It was really neat. He goes to an Expeditionary Learning school and they put so much thought into how they teach. It's very interactive. The kids are very involved in what they learn, and have to really think about it. They can't just memorize facts. They ask hard questions and collaborate to find the answers. Tonight the teacher had the parents break into groups and learn about an aspect of Expeditionary Learning, make a poster about it, and teach the rest of the "class" of parents about what they learned. I had to speak in front of a group! Ack! But I lived through it, and I didn't even make a fool of myself. I'm so proud of me. The school is so good at teaching kids courage, and I got a dose if their teaching today too. :)

While I was listening to how they do their routine for math, I was struck by how it's the same as working with horses. They start on a familiar problem, something they already know. Then they work on new stuff, really digging into why and how it's done, and different ways of looking at it. Eventually they go back and reflect on what they learned, and then they start over in the same way the next day, building on the foundation they started the day before. I have often thought it would be utterly fascinating to get a group of child educators, horse trainers, and psychiatrists together for a meeting of the minds. Just to sit and listen to them would be an amazing learning experience, and very, very inspiring.

Tonight I had to turn my fog lights on to see the road right in front of me because of all the dust and smoke in the air. I like the saying, "Every time you eat you participate in agriculture." Right now though, I feel like every time I breathe I participate in crappy farming. I don't think there's any legitimate reason for this many farmers to be burning their stubble fields. Yes, I know sometimes it has to be done to kill a rust that's gotten into the crop, to keep it from spreading. I understand that sometimes it's the best way to control weeds. But to do it just because you're too lazy to till in your stubble? I can't believe they're allowed to affect the entire world with their smoke just for that. Of course if they till, there's the dust... Sometimes I think I'd like to live somewhere else. But then we don't have floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, or destructive tornadoes. Just smog during harvest and snow in the winter. It's a good place. But my whole head is in pain right now. On a happier note - my ear noise is gone! Now it just hurts. It's nice to be able to hear relatively well again.

Yay! Our hen came back! She's totally fine, just really talkative and hungry. I'd think she was broody but isn't 6 months old too young for that? They just barely started laying, we've only gotten 2 eggs from them so far.

Anyway, just wanted to post a happy update!

Scout's second trail ride was even better than the first. We went to the same place, and I rode pretty much the entire time, didn't need to walk to get our nerves under control.

He was very interested in some cows on the other side of the cattle guard by the parking area. They were very interested in us too. People-watching cows. :)

He flat-out refused to pose nicely for a picture.

That's a little better...
Pretty cool that I feel confident enough to be dorking with my cell phone and taking pictures on his second trail ride. :)
He really preferred to lead, on both rides so far. What a bold, brave boy. But we practiced following a lot today. At first he had his head in the air and his ears listening behind us, he was scared. But he got over that.
A long view, Gold Hill is the mountain on the left

Taking sign pics for navigational purposes, and a sweet side view of Rosie:

I'm so thrilled with this colt. He's so easy to ride! I can guide with my legs and neck rein for the most part, but when I want more finesse I direct rein. He rates really nicely too. What an awesome handle Keith put on him.

We went off-roading a bit and he really seemed to enjoy it. He kept trying to leave the trail after that, to go back into the brush. He had a little trouble going down a steep bank into a ditch, but that's just colt stuff.

Yay! Back on the trail and loving life. :D

"Nothing is worth more than this day." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

It really is amazing how good it feels to get outside and work with the horses. I just came in from doing some groundwork with Scout and it made me happy. He's such a big cutie. I still haven't ridden thanks to this head congestion but I'm going to go to the doctor today and hopefully they can give me some good advice, and maybe medicine that doesn't make me feel loopy.

In other news, my grandma has been in the hospital and yesterday she said she didn't want to fight anymore. It's been a stressful time. We have all been so afraid. But then in the afternoon she made a sudden improvement so I am really hoping the upward trend continues. They can't do the surgery she really needs because she's so sick and weak, but if she gets strong enough and they fix the valve in her heart, I think she'll be with us for a good long time. I'm not ready to give her up yet.

My sister had a biopsy today to check a suspicious growth. I really think it will be like all the other scares and she'll be fine, but there is always the fear that cancer is going to rear its ugly head again. I'm going to go up with her tomorrow to see her oncologist. I wish they'd have the biopsy results that fast but they just can't.

On a happier note, since I started giving Soxy bute every day she's enjoying life again. Yay! I'm not giving up on her yet. I won't let her be miserable just because I can't handle having her put down, but, in the words of Atticus Finch, "it's not time to worry yet."

I've been reading so many blogs where people are in the same boat I am, fighting depression and negative inertia as we move into fall. I wonder what we bloggers could do to lighten things up. Any ideas? For my own self, I'm going to force myself to go out and work with the horses every day, whether I want to or not. And try to get out on the trail some more. And declutter my house (already made a lot of progress on that).

I just had an idea and added it to the top of this post. I have this book I got from Lea of Lea and her Mustangs called "Happiness Quotations." I'm going to start sharing them with you all. Some of them are very inspiring.

Another thing that I read yesterday really struck me deeply: "What happens, happens." I've just finished To Kill a Mockingbird for the zillionth time and I'm starting a new book by Molly Gloss. I love her books. This one has less of a western theme. Or none at all. It's kind of Sci-Fi - about some Quakers moving to another world. I like it a lot so far. If you all haven't heard of her, you absolutely have to read "The Hearts of Horses," a book about a young woman horse trainer in the early 1900s in NE Oregon. If you follow the Mustang Makeovers at all you'll recognize some of the names of people and places she mentions, not in the story but in the acknowledgements I think.

I've gotta quit rambling on and get going. Have a great day!

Blah. Life. I have to remember to count my blessings and be thankful. And breathe deep.

How do you release stress when life is handing out sucker punches? I can't go into detail but I'm tired. Bone weary. I need to let go of the weight of yesterday so I can carry the load of today. And quit borrowing trouble for tomorrow...

Yesterday I didn't ride. I'm still dealing with a lot of head congestion and now my left ear is humming constantly. A bass note in your ear all day has a definite effect on a person's psyche.

Today I was still a bit dizzy and clumsy, so I opted not to ride again. Instead I practiced trailer loading my 3 redheads into the new trailer. They all seemed bothered by the windows on the butt side of the trailer. I think they're lower than the old trailer so they can see out and they feel threatened. Tonka loaded well but shot out every time I asked him to back out. So we kept at it until he went slowly. Bella did really well until I closed the divider on her, then she looked like she might try to crawl under it. So I opened it back up and petted her a lot and repeated several times. Scout kept trying to step into my space. I'm a stickler for making them hug the wall as they load, not walk down the center of the trailer and certainly not on my side. I want to keep myself safe, even my toes need lots of space in there. So we backed out and started over a fair amount and until he kept on his side.

I didn't spend a whole lot of time out there, including hitching up and catching them all. So they all did what was needed in a timely fashion. I'd like to practice some more just to get them more comfortable. And I need to get a welder to fix the dividers. They're not at enough of a slant, my horses are just a hair too long, so I want to add some more pin receivers to make the slant more slanted. Luckily the dividers are adjustable in length. I also want to cut off the rings that are there to attach a corner feeder. They're a little sharp and Tonka skinned his head. Poor guy. I wouldn't mind being able to feed them grain in there but I'd have to find a different way to do it. maybe have some rounded chain-link shaped attachments welded on to hold the feeders. Feeders which I don't have anyway so it gives me one more thing to add to my list of things to spend money on for the horses... :)

Scout's first trail ride was a resounding success! I had such a great time. A huge Thank You to Melissa and Rosie for babysitting us (and bringing your camera). And a great big Thank You to Keith Danielson from Hooper Crossing Ranch for putting such a wonderful handle on my baby.

He's so mellow! We both (Scout and I) started out with some nerves, so I hiked for a while. But we spent most of our time riding, and he did so well! Very alert and forward (a case of nervous motion) but also very responsive. He rated off my seat with little help from my hands, moved off my leg, and stopped nicely. He had a fair amount of trouble staying stopped. Colt stuff. Wiggle wiggle. He just wanted to keep moving. By the end of our 4 hour ride we were both totally relaxed and enjoying every minute of the ride.

As you can see, he's a pretty stand-offish guy...

I'm looking forward to many happy rides ahead. He's going to make a spectacular trail horse.

No ride today. Plans were interrupted by a horsefly. Scout got all worked up just after I got him out, tossing his head and acting like a dork. I tried to find the fly and shoo it off for him but it didn't help. Then he stomped on my foot, trying to get the fly. So I put him away and went to get an ice pack. I was out of fly spray or I would have ridden anyway. Now I have a new bottle of fly spray but my evening didn't go as planned. Oh well. I wasn't really in the mood tonight anyway. My foot is fine, it just stung and I have a pretty bruise.

I forgot to mention the other day that I bought the horses some new toys. I was going to get a yoga ball but I found a big beach ball for much cheaper, and I got a rattly hula hoop too. It's interesting the different reactions I got from Scout, Tonka, and Bella. Scout didn't take long at all to be in my face investigating. Tonka was a little more iffy about the rattly hula hoop but pretty soon I had it around his neck, asking him to give to pressure. Neither of them was very worried about the ball, although Tonka doesn't like it when I roll it at his legs. Bella wanted nothing to do with any of it, especially the noisy hula hoop, so I just pretended to ignore her while I played with them. And of course Scout kept coming up and trying to take the hula hoop, which made it rattle, which scared her. I like playing with them with no agenda.

Every ride just keeps getting better! He's a neat horse. We went out further today and he really got interested in where we were going and it was great - ears forward, quick walk. Then we rode around the front field some more. We still haven't cleaned up everything from our yard sale so it's a great place to let him ride around weird junk.

He looks like he could be a movie star. :)

Today's ride with Scout was all of an hour and really was good. We rode in a bigger area - one of the pastures - for a while and then I took him out into the front field, which isn't as enclosed and has a lot more distractions. Eventually we went up the driveway a ways and tried riding out in an unused, treed field. He was worried about what might be in the bushes and he was drawn back toward the mares, but I was able to get his attention and do some good work. But then I started thinking about paper wasps and how they like to build nests in the weeds there, so we went back.

Scout is hyper aware of any movement in the trees around the house, although he didn't do anything stupid even when big things happened, and he seems very wary of the dogs. While Keith was riding him he did have one big uh-oh moment and it was caused by a white dog running at him. He turned tail and ran, but it was at a nice medium lope. I'm hoping not to have any big spooks like that, but I know it is a possibility. He did spook like that once when I was ponying him, when the dogs popped up out of the creek behind him. Overall though, he's not a spooky horse. It's pretty neat riding a horse who doesn't look at every object like it might eat him. But in so many other ways he doesn't come close to comparing to Tonka. I made a good analogy today. Riding Tonka is like driving a sports car, whereas Scout is like a big bus. Slower, less responsive, less maneuverable. In the future that will be a wonderful thing, since I'm hoping Scout will be a good husband/kid/all-around trail horse. Right now it's a little odd trying to make the adjustment. I'm sure it's odd for him trying to get used to my inept riding after working with Keith. We'll get it all sorted out. I'm not going to give up on getting responsiveness out of him, but I have to be aware of the fact that he's not eagerly awaiting my every whim like Tonka is. He thinks he has his own agenda. And he has a short attention span!

Tomorrow I think I'll set up some minor obstacles and give us both something to think about. I may try taking him out on the trail with another horse this week. Just an easy trail, an old logging road he's been on before. I don't want to push to far too fast, but I also don't want him to be too complacent and think this whole riding thing is dumb and not worth his attention.

It's fun, it's new, and it's good work, but I still find myself missing riding my Tonka.

I let them all out in the pasture for a little over an hour tonight and Tonka's leg seemed fine afterward. I had tried trotting him in the round pen yesterday but I couldn't tell why he was off - whether it was EPSM or the tendon. He just wasn't right. So I figured if he seems to tolerate being in the pasture that can be the beginning of a reconditioning program and we can work on getting the EPSM back under control so he can be more comfortable. I'll have to start lunging him again at some point. He was doing so well, I hate to think of all the boring work that lies ahead to get him back in shape. And there's Bella to think of too. I haven't done a thing with her in a while. Not that she minds.

Isn't he cute?

We had a short ride in the round pen today. I was feeling kinda dizzy and off balance, but we did some walking and trotting and maneuvering in the round pen. Then we walked around any scary stuff I could find, because I noticed he seemed abnormally spooky after he got home yesterday. He was more his normal self today, it must have just been the stress of the trailer ride. Later in the day I started getting a sore throat and realized I'm getting sick, which explained the dizziness in the morning. Back to school bug - hopefully mild and short lived!

Tonight I spent a lot of time loving on Soxy and feeding her carrots and grain and bute. I want to try to curb the pain until her time comes, and give her all the goodies she can safely eat, and scratch all her itchy spots as often as possible. She's such a sweetie. Grace was jealous. She makes it hard to give Soxy one-on-one time. I have to be constantly vigilant and make sure she's not edging in and making Soxy feel stressed.

(I'm going to say this in a whisper, in parentheses, because I hope I'm mistaken: Miss Grace quite suddenly looks a little funny in the belly. If she was bred right before she was gathered she could still have a baby - latest due date would be mid to late October. Cross your fingers for me, hopefully I'm just being paranoid. But then again, babies are cute, and look how nice Scout turned out. It wouldn't be the end of the world. But I hope she isn't.)

My big baby looked like a big boy at the trainer's. But he's not so big at home. He looks little next to Tonka. And look at that baby face when his mama bosses him.

He's the first horse at my place to wear shoes. I didn't get to be there for such a big "first" but oh well. He needed them for the riding they were doing out in the rock. It will be interesting to ride a horse with shoes. I don't know whether I'll continue to shoe him in the future. I'm not really pro shoes, but I also know it's been challenging to find a good boot fit for Tonka and it's a pain to have to avoid certain trails to save my horse's hooves. Scout has naturally soft hooves. They're decently hard right now thanks to the dry weather, but most of the year they're pretty flexible. So we'll either have to find boots that work or shoe him during the trail riding season.

He gave Mama Cat a good petting. They're funny.

A "family portrait" kind of a pushme-pullyou with a peekaboo over the top. They're happy to be together again.

Tonka's tendon seems to be doing well. I put him in a small pen with Bella last week so he could be happy. But still, this is the face he wears most of the time.
It's because of his lack of exercise and his EPSM. He's moving really stiff-legged in the hind end, and his whole body just looks bad. He's uncomfortable and I hate to see him like that, but I can't over-exercise the tendon.

I like this face better.I might try putting him in the pasture tomorrow. I'm afraid to though. So I might not. I really should try trotting him in the round pen to check his gait. He doesn't seem to have heat or swelling in the leg anymore, but I don't know about lameness since it's so hard to spot at the walk.

Soxy doesn't look good. I think I'm going to spoil her for a week, schedule a backhoe, and say goodbye. Her face is swollen where the tumor is, and she has a pained eye. I hate this.

The dog couldn't stay. I'm not competent or willing to handle the severe separation anxiety. I felt terrible dropping him off at the humane society (no-kill shelter) but that is what they're there for, and it's better than him wandering around starving to death or getting hit on the highway, which might have been his fate if I hadn't picked him up. It was a hard decision to make. But when I got home and our old dog India peed in my shoes, I realized she wasn't okay with the new dog so it had been the right decision. She has terrible arthritis and is heading toward her last days after 10 years with us and she deserves consideration. I'm looking forward to spoiling the two dogs that we have, while we have them, and hoping that India will perk back up or maybe we will find some new pain management for her. I don't want to lose three beloved pets so close together.

So if I don't sound real excited about Scout coming home, it's not anything to do with him or his training. I'm just a bit worn out emotionally tonight. He's got a good handle on him, all the buttons are there. We just need to start riding and getting a feel for each other. At this point I'm not in a hurry to take him out on the trail, but it would be a pleasant surprise if I found we were ready for that. I'd love to get out in the woods and enjoy a ride on a good horse.

My life has been hijacked by a very cute guy I found on the side of the highway.

He's a little rough around the edges.

But he's a big love.

The whole family loves him, and nobody has claimed him yet (I did EVERYTHING in my power to report he's found, and checked for a microchip - he had no collar). We just happen to have an "opening" for a dog, although we hadn't planned on getting another for a while. The only hitch is that this guy has a severe separation anxiety problem. I don't know how anyone could possibly have abandoned him, because he's like velcro! He's always right beside me. It's very flattering, but it becomes a problem when I want to leave the house or go into the grocery store. Right now I can take him in the car (although it's not fun for him) so I can go places where I can have a dog attached to me, but I can't go shopping and it's difficult to do anything with the horses because he barks and cries when I tie him up nearby. I won't even go into what he did to my bathroom last night when I had to leave him for a while. I hope he settles down or we find a safe way to contain him while we're gone. I have a dog crate that may be big enough, but I don't think that's a good idea. What we need is a kennel... My fenced dog area doesn't hold him.

Suggestions? I've dealt with separation anxiety before but this is much worse than anything I've seen.

Soxy is still well enough to play with little girls, but not for long periods of time. She can't breathe very well, and I think it makes it hard to do much of anything. She's such a good girl though.

Life is busy around here. I will get back to my horse work this week though.

I finally got my very first horse trailer! I'm still a little disbelieving. I didn't get to drive on the way home because of a migraine, which was kind of a bummer, but John says it hauls nicely. It's totally silent too, no clanging and banging of loosely pinned dividers and bulkhead. This one has an enclosed tack room, which means it's a full, permanent wall and doesn't shift around. The dividers pin in securely rather than being loosely chained to the wall, and there's no slider in the rear wall to clang around. The ceiling is higher. It's double matted with softer, more textured mats. I think my horses are going to love it. I was concerned about the dark color being hot, but both times I looked at it, it wasn't hot at all inside.

This is her better side. There's some peeled paint and rust on the other side. I'll have to give her a face lift at some point.

We had to say goodbye to Angus last night. When I got home from being gone all day yesterday I found him in pain, with gray gums and no capillary refill. Luckily he was well enough to get into the truck and I didn't have to call in help to lift him.

I'm really thankful for this last week we had with him. We pampered, spoiled, loved, and cuddled him. And I'm thankful for being able to hold his big noble head and ease his way out of his suffering.

He may look tough, but this dog was the most loving big baby you'd ever meet. He thought he was a lap dog, at 120 pounds. All he had to do was stand over your lap and he was a lap dog. :) We're going to miss him.

My thoughts of him are happy, even though I'm sad. We had good times together. What a dog!