Tonight at Home

Not a very interesting night around my house tonight. Peter's computer had a virus so he's having to completely rebuild. I made a few attempts to have conversation with him. He is annoyed that his computer is taking so long and I am in a lonely funky spot wanting company that he's not in the mood to give. Just the way it works out sometimes.

I went to Springtown today for one of my last two days of the school year. I really am hoping that they have me back next year. I really enjoy going there and seeing all the kids and the work is really great. Today was hard b/c the kids have the end of school stuff going on, and I still don't feel good. One more day and I will be done with those guys till next year.

Fiera was a toot again today. She ran through an electric fence when she thought I was going to catch her. I'm not liking this. Not sure why she is so anti-human. I haven't done anything to her...yet.

Irish Music

My friend Cat introduced me to a group of Irish music musicians tonight. Only I discovered that I can't play by ear at all anymore. Not that I was every very good at it, but now I really am terrible. They meet every Tuesday at a restaurant in Arlington called J. Gilligan's. I have a lot of work to do before I can play with the group, but we had a ton of fun.

Fiera Day 9

I almost titled this Fiera Day 8, but remembered it wasn't Sunday. While today isn't officially summer, it is kind of the informal beginning to summer.

I spent the whole weekend sick and didn't get to ride a lick. Maggie and I talked about riding this evening when it cooled off, but we ate dinner late and never got back to it. Peter and I had to drop his car off at the shop again so he went with me tonight.

I got some good desensitization done one Fiera aka Little Toot...this am she was really tricky. She is really starting to kick at us some which doesn't make me too pleased. I may have to pop her really good once. Mostly, I just stand off to the side and turn her head toward me and butt away from me so she can't get me, but it's really tricky. Tonight, she seemed to actually enjoy me rubbing her down. She quit fighting and got kind of limp and her mouth started to work, so I thought I"d done a really good thing. I let her go and then I went back over to pet her and BAM! she fired her back legs at me while backing up at the same time. She didn't hit me, b/c I saw it coming, but I wished I'd had something with which to smack her as I'm thinking that kind of behavior is a bad idea!

Yesterday we put her out with Freeley and that went well. Today we put her in with Liberty (or rather Liberty in with her) and that proved to be a very bad idea. He tried to steal her foal from her, even after she forcefully kicked the snot out of him. I don't think that I am ready for them to be integrated into the herd. Plus, I'm not sure how to get Deli fed her ration if they are all out together, so I think it will have to keep for awhile. It made me nuts to watch Liberty run her around the pen and not be able to stop him. Everyone was fine, but it was still scary to watch.

Normally I spend this weekend at the Indian Territory Ride. Last year Freeley and I won novice heavyweight together. I hated missing it this year, but I was sick anyway, so I suppose it's just as well that I hadn't planned to attend.

This week is shaping up to be crazy. I have clients all afternoon tomorrow and then I have to work at Springtown both Wednesday and Thursday all day and then Friday I have orientation for my new job. It's going to be a week! Maggie gets out of school on Thursday and then summer will begin.

Fiera Day 8

I fed horses twice today...I cough whenever I do physical exertion, but I can tell that I am on the mend. I am supposed to go riding tomorrow am with my friend Betsy, and I know I'm not up to the fast miles she wants to do, but originally I thought I could possibly do some slow work with Maggie, get in the lake with my horse, maybe some obstacle training. 'However, I am discouraged b/c of the heat and humidity. Not at all sure I'm up for a strenuous ride. Right now the idea of loading up the trailer, hitching to the truck, going in the heat is just not appealing at all. I know Betsy needs her stuff, but I feel really awful!

Fiera licked me all over tonight and let me pet her head a little. I'm determined not to try to catch her right now as that seems to be a really fun game for her. She let me pet her for about 30 seconds and then I walked away so that she wouldn't be the first to leave. She's so full of spunk...right now she's afraid of getting caught.

The fence didn't seem to be hot tonight, as Fiera had the fence in her mouth and was not being shocked. So I found where it had fallen off it's insulator. I fixed it and then Fiera touched the fence with her mouth and got a serious shock! I wish I had photos of it. She was bucking and rearing and really pissed off that she had been shocked.


Today I put Freeley in with Deli in an attempt to begin to integrate the herd a bit. I moved Freeley in with Deli but moved him back today after it was obvious that he was lonely for his herd. I thought about putting Deli out with the herd, but I don't think I'm ready for the stress of it yet. Perhaps another day this week I will introduce Liberty for a day...I need to find the best way to get them liking each other as a group without making it a pain in the rear to feed Deli. I will have to talk to Cat about what she thinks so that it's a good situation for everyone.

I hope I feel better today...I really would like to go ride.

Fiera Day 7

These are photos that Peter and Maggie took this am when they went to feed. I am feeling better today, but still coughing with any exertion at all, so I was very blessed that they went to feed for me.

She is a serious pistol! I need to get some more video made and then get it uploaded and shared soon.

I had a phone call from my chiropractor today as well. His massage therapist has quit suddenly and he needs another one ASAP. I have just accepted a music therapy position with Lifetime Wellness, so I'm not interested in working for him full time, but I did tell him I could fill in a little in the mean time. I'm going to see if I can help him find someone to work for him all the time. I don't have the details on what happened between him and his massage therapist...probably better that way. I suspect he would be nice to work for, so I hope I can help him find someone.

Moonlight Canceled!!!!

I'm so sad. Maggie and I are sitting here watching what turns out to be the last episode of the TV show Moonlight. I'm so bummed out. I love this show. Every time I like a new show it ends up getting canceled. Here is yet another reason that I wouldn't mind not having a DVR or "cable" b/c then if I wanted to see it, I could get it from netflix and not be constantly broken hearted that my favorite show is getting canceled. grrr.

I still have a fever and I still feel horrid. I want to feel better by tomorrow b/c I would like to spend my holiday weekend getting to ride and going to Scarborough Faire in my new garb...I'm just so bummed that I'm sick.

Today I am Sick

I am sick and miserable to day. I started getting sick yesterday, but had hoped it was just allergies...actually I guess it started Wednesday night an I hoped it was just allergies. Today it's full blown something. Can't breathe, hacking up a lung. I'm just miserable. I had to cancel our riding lessons b/c I have no energy. I am sad.

I guess all the not sleeping, and Maggie's bug and the allergies all conspired against me. I barely have the energy to look at email, much less type, so I will say adios for now.

Slide Show

Fiera's birth

I have always wanted to see one of my horses have her baby...and I still do. I missed Fiera's birth by just a half hour or so. We were heading to meet Cat for Maggie to go to Scarborough Faire. I asked her on the way by if she wanted to go by and see Deli before we met Cat. We opted not to, b/c she really wanted to go to the fair and if Deli was foaling we would be late to meet Cat...better not to know. WE got to the designated place to meet and discovered that Cat had texted me at 7:30, telling me that she wouldn't be there till 9am. We would have had time. After Maggie got hooked up with Cat, I went to feed and sure enough...there was the baby. Deli hadn't delivered the after birth, which tells me if we had gone by the hour before, we probably would have caught her delivering or about to deliver.

Peter took a ton of photos, which have already been posted, but I finally got to play with our new Olympus camera in the afternoon and this was one of the photos I liked the best. I will be posting more soon. Today I will take the camera with me as well to get some 5 day old photos.

Today we had a big scare with the fence this am. She got tangled in it and a nice man from the school next door saw that she was tangled and cut her out. I"m hoping this will scare her enough that she will stay out of the electric fence from now on. Part of it had come loose, and was shorted out by weeds. She is OK now, thank goodness.

Here is my favorite photo I took Sunday.

I am home sick today...hence, I finally had time to write in my blog.

Fiera's First Days

Fiera is getting a bit of a rough start. She has had some trouble with the heat and was a little dehydrated on Monday. Today I had to give her another enema b/c she had some hard poop she just couldn't get out. I also gave her some dynamite probiotic and some flower essences and she seemed to perk right up. After the enema she still seems to be trying to poop, but at the end of the night it was more greenish brown than orangey yellow (Yeah, didn't expect the details, did you) and I think that's a good sign.

Here is a slideshow of all the photos that I (Peter) took of the filly foal this morning. You can of course view all of them individually at the link Alice posted below.

Enjoy them!



Edit: I went through all 153 photos and selected what I though were the top 21 pictures. Slide show now shows only those 21.

Photos of foal

http://picasaweb.google.com/pyovich/20080518

It's a girl!

Still waiting some more

I realize my blog title is getting really, really old, but right now I am completely consumed with waiting for Deli to foal.

I have had a couple decent rides on Liberty where we reestablished some boundaries and then followed up with a good ride yesterday.

Peter got a new camera thanks to the government check. IT's really, really cool.

You can see the photos here

Here is a sample though. If he will let anyone else use it, we might all have a little bit of fun!

No foal again

One of these days I hope to write about my foal. It seems like it will never happen right now though.

Today she has wax again and it's more yellowish and sticky. Yesterday she had quit waxing altogether.

I have to go to Springtown, a hor away, to work today. I sure hope I don't miss anything. I am very tired.

Still Waiting

Here is a photo of Deli today at pregnancy date 227 to 237. Everyone really thought she would pop by now but no such luck. Today she isn't waxing or dripping that I can tell, thought she continues to exhibit odd pregnancy behaviors. She hs destroyed her round bale backing into it. I have wondered if I need to let her out in the big pasture so she can itch on and back into the big tree. The workers in the chiro office are watching for me too which really helps my peace of mind. She has continued to eat her grain but has been rejecting her alfala. Today she is surly about me handling her udder when she hasn't cared other days. I am so tired. I have given up seeing the birth and just want the little guy to get here!

Just Eating

After watching Deli for 2 solid days all I can is that she is just eating. She has dripped, waxed, itched yawned, and pressed her entire boy into a round bale so hard she moved it across the paddock. What she hasn't done is to go into the next stages of labor. I finally packed up my stuff in preparation to sleep @ home tonight. Before I leave for the night I thought I'd resume my vigil in the truck for a couple hours in case she has a change of heart. So far, nothing. I am tired. I suspect that my mare will outsmart me.

Finally Alone

Maggie has left for school and I am finaly alone. Deli left her hay and alfalfa and is standing in the middle of the field close to where I saw her standing through the night. She keeps shifting her weight, yawning, stretching but so far no signs of baby. She still has wax. I still think if we give her enough quiet and space she will come through sometime today. Part of me thinks I should leave B give her privacy but I am hoping that thelack of noise and activity today will finally encourage her to foal. One of my friends doesn't get why I wanted to make everyone leave, but I just feel like Deli will do this thing for me, with me here if I stay quiet. Too bad the hay man is on his way to disturb the piece, but since it's supposed to rain tomorrow it has to come today.

Still no foal

We camped out last night hoping for a baby but no such luck. After dripping milk for the greater part of yesterday and producing other behaviors that seemed to be labor, she settled in for a night of wandering and eating instead of foaling. I set up our truck tent so we didn't have to sleep with the fireants. I also set alarms to catch me if I dozed off but no foal. This am she is back to waxing & dripping but she is also voraciously eating everything in sight. I think that I can rearrange today to stay with her one more time, but if it doesn't happen today or tonight I will just have to go home and let her foal without me. Maggie now has a cold and has coughed through most of the night but i am not sure I want to suffer through another day of her being restless. I can easily sit here alone & read and I'm not sure i wouldnt like that better. Her school is just across the street so I can always call for her if Deli foals

Getting restless

I knew that this was likely to be an all day and/or all night prosition so I came prepared. I have my foaling book, my book on cd, my ipod, and various magazines to pass the time. However, since Deli foaled quickly after waxing for her previous owner the first time she foaled, I had hoped that she would progress rapidly. Unfortunately, we're still watching, even though she is exhibiting many symptoms of early labor. Se seems pleased to have us here. She is still dripping clear drops from her udder that tastes like nothing. The foaling group says that taste testing is pretty accurate and when it turns sweet labor will be at hand. We may be sitting here for nothing but it will have been worth it.

We did discover blackberries on the property while walking around killing fire ants and that was very cool.

Deli laid down...

Deli laid down to itch, roll or something. Maggie got so excited she jumped up and hollered and Deli hopped back up. Most likely she was not startled by Maggie's cry, but Maggie scared me to death and I had to remind her that we were pretending we weren't here. This is going to be a long day.

Mother's Day

Today is mother's day and itams a gorgeous day to be outdoors. We were supposed to go to Scarborough Faire with my friends, my daughter and my husband I haven't felt like I would really get to go all week though. This whole time that I have had it in my head that Deli would foal this weekend, specifically today. I had no reason to know this other than it was just a fantasy in my mind and a feeling in my gut.

Last night when I checked her she looked the same as the day before with a bigger udder. This am she had one little crust of wax on on teat. She also had the slabsided look of a mare whose baby had sunk to the lowest point possible. Her tail head was also loose. Maggie coomented that from behind she looks like a fat gelding because her udder is so huge. At that point I canceled all plans to leave today, rushed home for supplies and came back.

Much to my dismay my husband and friends were more excited about the faire than foalwatch so maggie and I have returned to watch alone. We brought our tent and sleeping bags in case we need to stay over (of course the sleeping bags were already in my truck from last week's camping) and the camera and video camera. Maggie and I are now set up in a corner of our field on foalwatch.

When we returned I noticed that she had progressed from that little bit of wax to dripping clear drops onto her feet. Her previous owner, Myrna, said that she foaled within a couple hors of waxing before so I am hoping our patience will be rewarded. She also foaled in the daytime previously.

One friend asked what I would do all day. I am puzzled by this statement. Why do I need soemthing to do? I can listen to music, read and just be here. She seems to welcome our presence.

Currently she is wandering around, eating and drinking, stretching and yawning. I think we will have a baby today.

New job/Deli day 321 to 331

Starting in the next week or two I will start some more contract work. It's for a company called Lifetime Wellness. I will start with 16 hours per week possible expanding to an additional 8 hours in the fall. Originally I was worried I would have to work all 24 hours this summer but they sold one of the facilities which actually makes scheduling so much better for me for the summer. I am hoping to see the nursing homes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays or Thursday to eliminate some daycare issues with Maggie and still keep us free for fun. I am really excited to begin this venture. They are talking about incorporating some massage therapy into this as well. I'm begining to think maybe I will have a combined career after all.

Yesterday Deli was starting to look plenty miserable. Her udder is filling; her vulva and tail head appear to be relaxing. O am beginning to think we'll have a foal soon. It would be funny if she foaled on mother's day, except then I can't wear my pretty new dress to Scarborough Faire on Sunday and I will have to pay a weekend vet call!

Maggie and I went to Scarborough Faire on Tuesday with her school and had a great time. Maggie got her hair braided and I bought us pretty dresses. I have always wanted one of those dresses! I guess I will have to go to the fair more often now! Even peter said I looked good and he wasn't as customarily understated. Maggie and I figure we'll wear them for the costume contest at horsemasters in the fall as well.

I'm in between groups at the moment in Springtown. One of my groups went on a field trip so I had a free moment. I think I am ready for school to be out. Spring fever has set in

Deli day 316-326

Deli was bagging up the first of the week, but now isn't looking like she will foal any time soon. I thought we might not even make it to the trail challenge initially. Today she just looks overly fat, but not ready to give birth.

Supreme Trail challenge

Yesterday was the first Supreme Trail challenge (click on the title to check out the website) and it was a lot of fun. We camped at Seahorse Ranch overnight and rode the trails in the LBJ Grasslands.

First off we didn't pack warm clothes. I had cleaned out my truck and didn't realize that I hadn't replaced the ponchoes and jackets so we were pretty chilly...but we made do. I got up in the middle of Friday night to sleep in the pickup truck b/c I couldn't take the tent smacking me in the 40 mph wind. It really makes me wish I had somewhere warmer and more sturdy to sleep...but all in good time I guess.

The weather was absolutely beautiful once the day began to warm up. We did 20 miles and completed multiple obstacles. Liberty was mostly well behaved, though he had moments of tantrum like behavior. He ate and drank beautifully though--maybe a little too beautifully. I think he has figured out he can stand still if he's eating and drinking. We had to do a gate, sidepass to a mailbox to mail a letter (neither of which we managed too well, but hey, he's green) We stood for a mount, which was good, but not excellent...hoping that if I can finally lose some weight I can get better at mounting. I think I'm doing better, but still not as good as what I would like to do. He finished the day without any bit rubs or back or girth soreness. He's put together so well. I think he's going to be a really good CTR/endurance ride.

Maggie and Freeley had a nice ride. they did some things well and some things not so well. Jena had a good time on Dixie too. Maggie finally got first place...Jena got second. Their scores were very close.

I must be improving in my sensitivity (or getting less sensitive to) people being mean to me. I managed to not even notice when someone was snarky to me yesterday. It was a good feeling to have it pointed out to me that I was right not to like someone I haven't liked b/c they really were mean to me. I guess in a way that's good that I'm getting secure enough not to worry about what other people say.





Here are some photos from my first CTR with Maggie. The photos were taken by John Nowell at the Girl Scout Scamper.





Thses are photos of Maggie with Freeley. This was such a nice shot of them happily cantering across a pretty spot with the reflection from the water


This is Liberty and me trotting across a pasture. He was such a good boy for his first ride.

This is a photo of Maggie, Jennifer and me with our ponies.