There is a pet store just down the road from we live. The best part about this pet store is that they encourage folks to pet the puppies. Well, I'm not one to ever pass up the opportunity to pet a puppy, I take advantage of this practice about twice a week, maybe more. Fridays are the best days to go because they get a new shipment of puppies every Thursday.
Well, this miniature schnauzer has been at the store for several weeks. Other schnauzers have come and gone while he has remained. I've been petting this little guy for weeks. Because he is an older puppy, 3 months, and has been there a while, his price kept going down. When his price finally reached the lowest amount at which he would be offered, I started in on my husband.
Now that our daughter has decided to move out of the house, my amazing husband is beginning to suffer from empty nest syndrome. He, contrary to his gruff exterior, has a very soft spot for little fuzzy animals. This puppy snuggled in his arms and gave a little puppy kiss with his puppy breath and my husband's shell began to crack.
Last night didn't take much effort, as I have been begging for weeks and weeks. Finally, he relinquished his "NO MORE PUPS! WE DO NOT NEED ANOTHER DOG! WE HAVE THREE ALREADY! NO MORE ANIMALS, PERIOD!" position and said the baby could come home. YES!!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Kadance Comes Home
Day before yesterday, my sister and her family delivered my most amazingest mare of all time. Apparently, the reports of a 15 minutes trailer load was replaced with an hour-long event, but eventually, my mare was loaded into the trailer and driven from Oklahoma to Bois D'Arc, MO, without further incident.
Once she arrived at Green's Acres, she settled in immediately. No worries, what-so-ever. All was good. Then, after several minutes of love and pets and lots and lots of sniffing, I released her into the pasture. It took several more minutes before the resident herd decided she was worth investigating.
The omega horse, a chestnut named Jewel, was first to approach and attempt to establish dominancy. Kadance, being a non-aggressive horse, allowed Jewel to huff and puff. The rest of the herd came galloping across the pasture and everyone participated in a game of chase. The dominant mare, Vegas, took charge and put Jewel in her place while the alpha gelding, Shooter, asserted himself. Then Willie discovered that Kadance was a mare and apparently coming into estrus. When some horse ran Kadance away from the herd, Willie was right by her side protecting her from the others. Where Kadance went, Willie followed with Shooter not too far away. By the time the horses were brought in for the night, a triad, Kadance, Willie and Shooter, had formed.
The next morning, Kadance had a visit from the ferrier. No worries. The trim was successful. After a repeated introductions to the fly mask and velcro, Kadance was release into the pasture without incident.
Later in the afternoon, I retrieved my most amazingest mare and put her through all seven Parelli games. She performed brilliantly and I couldn't have been happier. Not wanting to ask for too much on her first day at the new barn, I released her back into the pasture. And who was eagerly awaiting her return.....Willie! As soon as I opened the gate, he dropped his weenie and started huffing and puffing. No sooner than I had released her and closed they gate, he started rubbing his head and neck along her back and rump. She was not at all put off by his behavior. A few squeals of delight later, he mounted her and stuck that weenie right on in. She stood perfectly still for him. What a tramp I have!
I had been advised that Willie is a proud cut gelding, but I wanted to make certain that I wasn't going to end up with a second horse. I asked the barn owner/operator, Brenda, if we were sure Willie didn't have to goods to back up his claim.
She said she had seen the same actions earlier that day and called Willie's owner to verify that Big Willie's family gems were a distant memory. The overall consensus is that Willie is in fact truly sans gonads.
This morning's adventure with Kadance was a disappointing failure to load her into a two-horse straight load trailer in a timely manner. Not wanting to hold up everyone's scheduled trail ride, I opted to stay at the barn and play assorted games with my girl.
We had a pleasant morning grooming, playing Parelli games and riding around in the pasture. On the far side of the pasture, hidden behind tall trees and shrubs, the neighbor's place is home to chickens. The unseen source of clucking and squawking and subsequent calls for the dog to "come here" were confronted with ease.
Deciding to end my morning on a good and positive note, I praised my most amazingest mare and took her back to her pasture. No surprise....Willie was eagerly awaiting her return. The closer we got to the gate, the longer his weenie. Within seconds of her release and my exit, he started rubbing her body with his head.
As I returned to the barn, Kadance trotted off with Willie's nose right behind her.
Once she arrived at Green's Acres, she settled in immediately. No worries, what-so-ever. All was good. Then, after several minutes of love and pets and lots and lots of sniffing, I released her into the pasture. It took several more minutes before the resident herd decided she was worth investigating.
The omega horse, a chestnut named Jewel, was first to approach and attempt to establish dominancy. Kadance, being a non-aggressive horse, allowed Jewel to huff and puff. The rest of the herd came galloping across the pasture and everyone participated in a game of chase. The dominant mare, Vegas, took charge and put Jewel in her place while the alpha gelding, Shooter, asserted himself. Then Willie discovered that Kadance was a mare and apparently coming into estrus. When some horse ran Kadance away from the herd, Willie was right by her side protecting her from the others. Where Kadance went, Willie followed with Shooter not too far away. By the time the horses were brought in for the night, a triad, Kadance, Willie and Shooter, had formed.
The next morning, Kadance had a visit from the ferrier. No worries. The trim was successful. After a repeated introductions to the fly mask and velcro, Kadance was release into the pasture without incident.
Later in the afternoon, I retrieved my most amazingest mare and put her through all seven Parelli games. She performed brilliantly and I couldn't have been happier. Not wanting to ask for too much on her first day at the new barn, I released her back into the pasture. And who was eagerly awaiting her return.....Willie! As soon as I opened the gate, he dropped his weenie and started huffing and puffing. No sooner than I had released her and closed they gate, he started rubbing his head and neck along her back and rump. She was not at all put off by his behavior. A few squeals of delight later, he mounted her and stuck that weenie right on in. She stood perfectly still for him. What a tramp I have!
I had been advised that Willie is a proud cut gelding, but I wanted to make certain that I wasn't going to end up with a second horse. I asked the barn owner/operator, Brenda, if we were sure Willie didn't have to goods to back up his claim.
She said she had seen the same actions earlier that day and called Willie's owner to verify that Big Willie's family gems were a distant memory. The overall consensus is that Willie is in fact truly sans gonads.
This morning's adventure with Kadance was a disappointing failure to load her into a two-horse straight load trailer in a timely manner. Not wanting to hold up everyone's scheduled trail ride, I opted to stay at the barn and play assorted games with my girl.
We had a pleasant morning grooming, playing Parelli games and riding around in the pasture. On the far side of the pasture, hidden behind tall trees and shrubs, the neighbor's place is home to chickens. The unseen source of clucking and squawking and subsequent calls for the dog to "come here" were confronted with ease.
Deciding to end my morning on a good and positive note, I praised my most amazingest mare and took her back to her pasture. No surprise....Willie was eagerly awaiting her return. The closer we got to the gate, the longer his weenie. Within seconds of her release and my exit, he started rubbing her body with his head.
As I returned to the barn, Kadance trotted off with Willie's nose right behind her.
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