this morning, soon after I had arrived at the farm I work at I went out into one of the pastures to spread hay out. This pasture is full of broodmares, and a couple horses that don't fit into any other pasture arrangement. One of those is a little Shetland pony named Dillon. Dillon is on a bit of a diet because he has chunked out over the summer. He gets tied up to a fence post and eats his special diet feed there, so he can't steal the mares special mommy food. Lately I've been the one tying Dillon up in the morning, and I'm guessing he was starting to resent me foiling his master plan. Today they had all finished their grain and were milling around when we went out to spread the hay into a few different piles. I saw Dillon come trotting over and shooed him away with my hand. That is when things turned ugly! This sweet adorable looking pony lunged at me with his mouth open. I tried to jump back, but was too slow. The next thing I knew Dillon was 10 feet away with a piece of my new orange shirt hanging from his evil little mouth. My shoulder was throbbing, and we were all standing there saying, "holy cow! Did that just happen?" Being that I was now indecently dressed, and my boss has 3 sons between the ages of 8 and 15 roaming the farm she quickly got me Tylenol, a first aid kit, and a new shirt. Here is the evidence that everything that looks cute and cuddly might not be, although the picture doesn't show anywhere close to the range of blues and purples I'm sporting right now.
I have five followers! Wow how crazy is that! I'm still waiting for pictures from Amanda for my sewing update, but on the horse front I've had two side saddle lessons and love it! We're making the final move to Massachusetts on Thursday so no more lessons for awhile :(
Alright, I fibbed. I didn't get around to adding photos last night. I got distracted with changing my 'greet the husband' outfit three different times, and doing last minute packing. I'm now at the airport, and there is over an hour until my plane boards. I had planned on hitting traffic on the way, being that I was driving through three of Iowa's larger cities. I made great time, even with three stops. There was Walmart, McDonalds (the only time I buy it is when I'm flying, so I really don't feel guilty...well not too guilty) and Iowa's largest truck stop for a potty break. I had trouble getting through security, they pulled my suitcase aside and searched it. I wasn't sure what had set it off this time, but they always check me for something ;) The guy was nice, and I told him to take his time, because I'm sure the last thing he wants to do is go digging through my unmentionables, but duty calls! He searched and searched, rescanned, and searched again. Then told me I was cleared and to have a nice day. Sitting here I realized I had forgotten to take out my ziplock bag with my bathroom liquids in it. Whoops! Guess he'd forgotten about it too, because it took him forever to figure out what he was supposed to find. Sorry Moline security department, I promise I will be better next time. Ha! He just brought me green bear, who had gotten misplaced during the searching. Honestly I still sleep with a teddy (my excuse is that I rarely share a bed with anyone) and would have cried if he'd been misplaced. Green Bear was won for me out of a vending machine by a customer of mine when I waitressed a few years ago. I take a photo of him when I get to the hotel in Orlando. Unfortunately I don't have any decent photos of recent work, perhaps I will take some of the drawers I'm hoping to finish today, while waiting for my hubby to get in to Orlando. Since this blog is called Saddles and Stitches, I will be talking about more than sewing I promise. I just got the curiculum and reading material for a home study course in Equine Sports Massage, so I will be updating on how that is working out. The farm I'm staying at right now has a 20-something year old quarter horse mare named Gigi. She has arthritis in her knees and a bad hock. Right now riding makes her sore, but driving actually helps her feel better. I'm curious to see if there are any massage techniques that will help alleviate her pain. On the farm there are three other horses. Simon, an Arab that looks like a typical ole mud pony; Bonesey a quirky Bask Arab, and my current war horse Peso Dios. Peso is typical of my favorite kind of horse. He has an attitude, but is more than willing to scoot when he needs to. I bought him in April of '08 and he has turned out to be a great horse. He's the father of my four year old, Quanto Dinero. Can you tell I was going through an odd naming phase? In addition to my two black arabs, I have a three year old Quarter-Arabian suprise, named Goober, who was a gift from theeDean's assistant when I was studying at Kirkwood; and the family pony Raspberry. I'm sure with time I will dedicate an article to each, but for now I'm going to leave it at this so I can crack open my massage book! T-minus 40 minutes until my flight leaves!
I woke up today to the sound of wind whipping around the house, and rain beating at the windows. I love these kind of days! After drinking a cup of coffee I bundled up in my carhart and went out to do the barn chores. 3 of the 4 horses wanted to be caught, despite the nasty weather. They were turned out into the hay field, after a bit the last one conceded. After putting his grazing muzzle on and turning him out, the cats were fed and I rushed inside to get out of the wind and rain. Today's sewing projects were drafting up a pair of drawers for a friend, and trying out some nightgown pattern ideas. The drawers took little time, about 15 minutes to draft it, and an hour to cut and sew a toile to send to him. The nightgowns, alas, are still in the planning stage in my head but it's early. We'll see where I end up tonight.
