Well……Let me start off by saying that out of the three horses I own, two of them are the nosiest beasts in the world!! I have a 23 year old Off the track Thoroughbred named ‘Hogan’ that is the best TB there is! Anyone who meets him would verify that I also have the two “dummies” as we like to call them in this family. Now, they are certainly NOT dumb horses…but because they are SO smart and SO inquisitive, they get themselves into trouble on a daily basis….again, anyone who has met them would agree….hence the name the ‘dummies’.  The ‘dummies’ consist of a just turned 5 year old Quarter horse named ‘Seven’ and a just turned 2 year old Quarter horse named ‘Dually’. Now I have to let everyone know that these two are related..same daddy…so this could be the reason they seem to share a brain on certain days

Seven and Dually are both ‘thinkers’. You can SEE the gears moving in their small brains when you look at them…..you know they are thinking and calculating the next move they are going to make. They are both over curious by nature and have to check everything out…even if they have seen if over and over everyday. They are super quick to catch on to new things and I even taught Seven some tricks….she learned them in only about 10 minutes, and remembers her cues and performs on almost a daily basis!

This brings me to my story about the ‘Dummies’ and the Snapping turtle.

It has rained for the past decade here in CT, or so it seems lately! I try to get my horses outside everyday for the whole day unless it is nasty out or if it is thundering and lightening out…if it is nasty, they stay in their nice comfy stalls with all the hay, fresh bedding to roll in,  and water they want…not a bad deal if you ask me! Well, the other day was NASTY outside..and they ended up staying inside for part of the day. I got home from work and wanted to clean their stalls so I turned them out with a break in the pouring rain. They were happily out munching on grass when I ran home for about an hour. I was on my way back to feed them dinner when I saw them all up in the top paddock circled around something that definately had their undivided attention! As I got up to the paddock, I noticed a big ol’ snapping turtle right in the middle of the ‘two dummies’. Hogan, being the good boy he is, was standing off a ways as the innocent bystander. I am SURE he told them they were going to get into trouble, but being the nosies that they are, the two dummies found a ‘new toy’ in the turtle.

I thought it was kind of funny at first….they were snorting, and at full attention, and kept sneaking up behind the turtle to sniff at it. I grabbed my camera phone to get some shots because, while those who know them would believe it, I had to show my co-workers. The turtle seemed pretty aggitated  and I wasn’t sure how long they had ‘played’ with it, so I herded them up and put them in their stalls so I could return the turtle back to it’s pond next door. As I was getting the horses in, I noticed blood on Miss Seven’s nose….OH GREAT…..! Now, because I have two ‘dummies’, I see blood several times a month, so it was old hat to me. I put them in and figured I would assess the damage and clean Seven up after I released the turtle.

After I herded this 10-15 lb turtle into a rubbermaid tote with a broom….yes, you should have seen me….I carried it back and released it to it’s pond. The whole time I was trying to get it in the tote and carrying it back, it was hissing, biting at me and just all around mad! I can only imagine what ‘the dummies’ had done to really make it mad! But soon I would know….

I went back and got my boo-boo cleaning supplies and went to see what had been done and if a vet needed to come out. Turns out, Miss Seven had about 4-5 bites/scrapes all on and in her nose…AND Mr. Dually had one on his nose as well! Nosy beasts! So not only did the turtle warn them once with a bite…but they went back for more and got bit more than once!! I know exactly what you are thinking….”what dummies”….SEE why they have their name?!

So after a really good cleaning to get all the germs out, now my only worries are 1) snapping turtle returning, and 2)salmonilla !! Great. So I did call the vet just to give him a heads up and to see if I should worry. I should be ok, just have to keep them clean and watch for any fevers or ‘bathroom issues’.  Now the chore is to clean the cuts! They let me do it that first day, but by the next morning their poor nosies were probably very sore from being snapped between the fangs of the turtle and they didn’t want me to touch them AT ALL……so my adventure continues in the quest to keep them clean and healthy……oye ve!

Will I ever get a rest with these two????

Thought you would like to see some of the pictures I nabbed that day….not the greatest due to them being taken with my camera phone…but enjoy! I am sure there will be more adventures for the ‘dummies’ to come…..I will share as they do

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/kal775/turtlefightJune2009/tf5.jpg

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http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/kal775/turtlefightJune2009/tf7.jpg

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‘Pony’ being a nosy boy! 

For Christmas last year, my mom gave me a flashlight that is in the shape of a horse, since I love horses she gives me anything and everything that has to do with them and I happily accept. To work the flashlight you have to squeeze the tail. Each time you squeeze the tail it makes a whinny noise or a “horse blowing it’s nose” noise, I’m not sure what the name is for that but all you horse people know what noise this is.

I was walking down to the barn one day with this flashlight. I squeezed the tail and Lady freaked! We had just recently sold a horse that was her friend and I think that she thought he was back. Her ears went up and she was looking all over for him. She would whinny back and run back and forth looking. I kind of felt bad.

The pony on the other hand just wanted to eat it. He is so nosey! I got a great video of him in “Pony Mode” (a.k.a. him being his nosey self!)

Now, every time I have to use the flashlight I have to tell Lady that it’s ok and that it’s just a flashlight, I think she is getting used to it now. She has come to the sad realization that her friend isn’t going to be returning. But at least she has her little pony shadow.

 Lady & Pony Video Clip

Opening Day of the Back Paddock

At my barn I have two paddocks for my horses to stay in. One is used all year round. It’s nice, it has a lean too for weather protection and I can see them easily from the house to make sure that they aren’t getting into any kind of mischief. I also have a back paddock which is just electric fencing. It’s not as nice as the other paddock. There are rocks and a slight ditch that if they weren’t being careful they could slip and get hurt. I don’t let them out there in the winter due to there being a bigger risk for trouble.

At the beginning of spring, I make my way to that paddock in the back and make sure that the fencing is still up to par and that it’s completely horse proof. My horses like to come over and watch to see what I am up to. They look at me with wondering eyes that say “whatcha doin?” They know what it is that I am doing and they are itching to get their hooves over there, they want to run!

So, I’m all done, done with getting the branches and sticks off the fence. Check to make sure the charge is good so that they don’t go running into the neighbor’s yard, go and get my camera and get ready to open the flood gate.

I get over to the part of the fence that has the two boards keeping the horses from getting into the back paddock and they know what’s about to happen. I lift up the top board and the pony tries to jump the bottom one but being the pony, he has no luck. I get the bottom one off, move out of the way, and “their off!” They bound and leap and kick and buck. They were in heaven! Both of them would run back and forth from the main paddock to the back. Back and forth, back and forth they would go. Only stopping to make sure that a strange noise they heard, which was just the neighbor’s dog, was not going to be joining them. I get my camera out and take as many pictures as I could. It was a sight that had to be captured.

Eventually they stop and eat the grass. The excitement is over. The leaves have settled and the thunder has been brought to a halt. It’s time to go back down from heaven and back to earth. Seeing them being as happy as ever made my day. They make me happy and that’s what I want for them!

Hi All,

It’s been great to share my stories with you, but I am passing on the blogging torch to someone new. Her name is Lora and she is very excited about sharing stories about her horse, pony and dogs as well as stories from her job as  a vet technician.

I’m sure you will enjoy what she has to share and I will stop in from time to time to update you on the adventures of Riley Roo & Miss Kitty.

Here is how Lora describes herself:

“Hi there, my name is Lora Hilton. I am 22 going on 23 in July. I work at a veterinary hospital where I see, learn, and experience a lot of different things. I have an ex-racer thoroughbred named Outlandishlady but I call her Lady for short and a pony named Harley but everyone just calls him Pony. I also have a Chihuahua who is the best in the whole world name Charlie. I rescued him from a really bad situation as well as my horse. I was born and raised in Maine and moved to CT five years ago to go to school. I attended UCONN for animal science equine program but I had to stop because it was too expensive. I will go back someday! I live with my boyfriend and his Labrador/Pointer mix named Dude. Charlie and he get along great! I will be writing a lot about my little pack. They all have great personalities that make for good stories!”

• National Velvet – Poor Mickey Rooney so young…did he know he would be forever linked to horse movies after this? Did he know that hardly anyone would remember the rest of his career? This is the original, and I mean original Girl and her Horse movie, it invented the genre.
• The Electric Horseman – Redford, Fonda, a gorgeous horse, the very best of the Utah backcountry. Need I say more?
• Into the West – This is the horse movie hardly anyone has ever seen or heard of, that is too bad because it is probably the best one on the whole list.
• The Horse Whisperer – For extra fun you can play spot Buck Brannaman in some of Redford’s “whispering” scenes. Try not to cringe during the opening sequence that did for trail riders what Jaws did for swimmers.
• Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron – I have not actually seen this movie, but I did put enough Spirit plastic toys on ice cream cakes to know there are about 4 million six year olds out there who would want it included.
• Sylvester – Shamelessly hokey, shamelessly early 80’s, Melissa Gilbert in the spunky girl role and Richard Farnsworth in the Mickey Rooney-gruff-but- loveable-horseman role, yet another overcoming-long-odds-with-my-horse story, what’s not to love?
• The Black Stallion – I know everyone will tell you that its the first half of this movie that they found most inspiring at age 8 or 11, especially this gal: Stacy Westfall and yeah, the whole riding bareback on the beach is pretty irresistible, but personally I always found the second half a little more gratifying. Kelly Reno may have been chosen for his riding abilities, but he and Mickey Rooney are so good together, the shots of the Black running through those empty city streets are so ghostly and haunting, and the final race somehow overcomes its goofy trappings to come out quite perfect. Its really the second half of the movie that shows you why Carol Ballard directed four of my top ten movie picks.
• Dances With Wolves – I would argue that this movie is the real reason “Dun Factor Fever” hit the western US in the 90s and hasn’t quite left the horse world yet. Yes, there are Indians and a civil war and romance and some kind of history lesson and dancing wolves in here, but I think the real story here is all about Cisco. If you’ve ever driven through South Dakota and seen the highway signs every like, 12 miles advertising “the REAL Cisco from Dances With Wolves” at the next gas stop/tourist black hole only to find some buckskin nag in a corral out back, then you understand why I feel this way. Truly that horse hit some kind of nerve with the American public.
• Hidalgo and Wild Hearts Can’t be Broken – What? these movies aren’t anything alike! Well ok, but really they are…Both shamelessly, hopelessly hokey, hokey, HOKEY. Both about flawed but basically good people who have had some bad breaks overcoming long odds with the help of that one special horse that understands them better than the humans around them. Both “based on a true story” and then sanitized, glamorized, and Disney-fied to be almost unrecognizable from their much darker and more controversial roots. Do I own both of these films on DVD? You bet. Have I watched theses movies over and over to the point of memorization? Yup, and I haven’t tired of them yet.
• The Man from Snowy River – The movie inspired by a poem that inspired a TV show, a musical “arena spectacular”, an Olympic opening ceremonies, and basically an entire tourist industry in Australia…Yes, actually its that good. Personally I have always been more of a fan of Return to Snowy River – I know, I know but what is a horse crazy child of the 80’s to do? It was the first movie I ever saw in a theatre. The first. Actually, it may have been Harry and the Hendersons, but I’m not prepared to talk about that right now.
• The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit – Dean Jones, a Disney contract player from such films as The Ugly Dachshund, The Million Dollar Duck, Monkeys, Go Home! and That Darn Cat stars in….You’ve never heard of The Ugly Dachshund?! You missed Monkeys, Go Home?! You don’t know about the Million Dollar Duck?! Well that is really a sad loss for you though hardly unexpected, however if you haven’t seen That Darn Cat you are beyond help…Anyway, Dean Jones’ movie daughter wants a horse, Dad can’t afford a horse so he gets his pharmaceutical company boss to sponsor her, enter Aspercream the dapple gray show jumper, zany escapades ensue….and oh yeah, a very boyish Kurt Russell appears. This movie has the barest hints of being inspired by the real life Snowman….You don’t know Snowman?! Snowman – bought off a slaughter truck went on to win several national show jumping titles? Snowman, like the greatest Cinderella story in horse history? Ok, well if you ever spot The Horse in Gray Flannel suit jammed in the bargain rack between straight to video Barbie features and a Vin Diesel flick, its worth the $4. Trust me.
• Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers – No, this is not a movie about trolls and elves and evil wizards and walking trees. This is a movie about horses, and horse people. This is a movie about Shadowfax and….that horse that Viggo Mortensen rides. And have you seen the totally awesome extras on the expanded DVD? No I do not think its geeky to own the expanded 4 disc DVD set. If you saw it you’d wish you got to be one of those New Zealand riders who got to camp out with their horses and dress up and armor and you know, try and kill orcs and trolls, and its SO cool how they trained all these horses and how they did all the battle scenes and yeah, they sold the horses afterwards and some of the stunt people got to buy them….yes that’s right some lady OWNS Shadowfax. Oh, I bet you’d like to see all this cool stuff but you can’t borrow my DVDs now. Not after that geek comment.

My Friend Flicka – No its not on the list, because it is a good movie but a better book, and no I am not open to discussing the possibility of including the remake with Tim McGraw either.

Seabiscuit – Box office gross notwithstanding, read the book.

Black Beauty – I think there are like 14 different versions of this story on film, the reason? None of them came anywhere near the phenomenal and phenomena that was the book.