The Old Folks Home

[superchemicalgirl]

I guess I'm lucky - we had horses and ponies when I was growing up - until I was in high school. I don't really have a desire to own them again, other than a fleeting one. I do love to ride, but don't love all the other stuff.

We have a cell of terrorists that have infiltrated the house here. Luckily right now they're not active - they're a sleeper cell. But they will be up and active soon. I take back my previous thoughts - it IS selfish to not have kids, and to want to keep your sanity.

 

[Wisher1000]

It was most definately a good match with me and Lucy. She knew more than I did but didn't take advantage. She would not, however, put up with too much silliness from her teenage owner or the friends of said owner. She rarely bucked, but when she did it was because I was asking her to do something she knew was not in her job description (like run fast instead of maintaining a western pleasure canter) or when I was using a crop. Her buck was like sitting in a rocking chair and was more to let me know I was wrong than to unseat me. If she wanted to unseat you (she never did it to me) she would rub you off on a tree. She only did that to boys that were riding her out of my sight and I suspect were being too rough or disrespectful to tolerate. If I fell off, she would wait for me to get up and dust off, then try to climb back on (which was usually not easy because I rode bareback alot!) One time, I hit the ground because we were galloping down a trail and I thought we were going to go straight and she thought we were going to hang a right toward home and we each did what we were thinking! I got up mad and fussing and she had stopped but she quickly deduced that I was not happy with her and she wheeled around and headed home. She broke two brand new buck stitched reins and scared everyone at he barn but by the time I got to her, I had realised it was my attitude that made her leave me.

I am real curious as to what else we all have in common. Anyone else paint (oil, acrylic, watercolor) or clog? Do you all keep fish or small animals like rats or gerbils? Have you worked in a kennel or vet's office? I know we all like chickens and goats but what other animals do we own (besides horses?) What about college? Professions? Part of the charm of online friends is that you learn new things all the time, so I don't want to know all of this at once, I'm just wondering...

 

[Stumpy]

Wisher, you created a great word picture. I could just imagine you riding your bike with your bag of carrots. When I was growing up, my older sister was the real horsewoman, but I had a small rather stubborn horse and then later a beautiful Tennessee walker. Did you subscribe to the horse magazines? My cousin and I used to draw plans for our ultimate dream horse barn.

We had all sorts of animals growing up; dogs, rabbits, birds, cats, an occasional reptile, in addition to the wild injured animals we found or were brought to us by the local game warden. For the past several years, though, all I've had are dogs and now chickens.

 

[Cynthia12]

I have wanted a horse all my life. No way could we ever afford one. My mom was single here in Utah, raising us 5 kids alone. So, I had a friend in high school that gave me the chance to ride, and what memories. We live near the river bottoms, and we would go down there and ride, and run through corn fields..and then there were these sandy hills..which are covered with homes now, but we did some real riding. She was very careful as to how much we ran them. Or, if we ran them at all. It was according to how warm it was.. I learned a lot from her.
Then I married into a family that had horses. I always rode their Palamino up into the foothills bareback. Love that memory too. I remember having a deer jump in front of me once, and it just galloped right in front of me on the frontage road for a while, didn't even spook the horse. I would have a horse in my back yard if I could.

DiDi, I found a thin egg shell on the roost today. I was wondering who in the world was ready to lay? I thought of my pullets that I've had all along..thought maybe, it's the EE, leghorn mix. The egg shell, or lining..was pretty big..then I thought..Big Bertha! I will be watching her as much as possible now, I hope she lays in a nest box. I don't think you can go by the lining for color. It was a cream color, but all the ones I've seen have always been that color.

 

[Kansaseq]

Wisher, I'm a life long horse lover, too. Got the bug before I could remember, did the lesson thing, and finally got my own at 15. Did 4-H, moved around a lot and took him with me across the country until I couldn't ride anymore (tailbone injury). Spent 10 years horseless then decided to try it again. Found that if I took it easy, I could ride regularly again. Fortunately, my neighbors have several and let me ride pretty much at will. I am also a life long animal lover and have had hamsters,gerbils, mice, rats, fish, dogs, cats, birds, and used to catch snakes,toads, and frogs as a kid. As an adult, I've had as many as 5 dogs (currently have 4) and a bunch of chickens. Would love to have goats or sheep to mow the lawn,but don't have the fencing yet. I'm very lucky to have 5 acres way out in the country, but don't have enough money to do with it what I'd ideally like. It's still awesome, though. Love living out here.

Ps, forgot to add that I'm a vet tech

 

[dsqard]

Cynthia, she may lay brown eggs since it is pretty obvious she is at least half Brahma. Glad to hear that she is getting going for you.

Wisher, when we were growing up we had rabbits, hamsters, fish, a parakeet, cats and dogs. We did have geese and ducks at one point but we kept loosing them to foxes (we think) so my mom found someone with a farm and we gave them the birds so they could be safer. Now I just have the dogs, horses, chickens and turkeys. My daughter is going to school to hopefully be a large animal vet. She has always loved animals and has wanted to be a vet since she was little. I gave her a "vet kit" one year for Christmas. Our dogs suffered through her bandaging them up for practice. It was pretty funny to see them come running out of her room wrapped up in gauze.

Her fiancee's family owns a large dairy farm and I think she couldn't be happier living with them and being around all the cows.
Right now I am going back to school to finally earn a degree. The company I work for used to value experience just as much as that piece of paper but we were bought out by a corporation and the attitide is changing. I started back over a year ago and got my general associates in July. I was greatful that the college gave me credits for all the Army courses I did while I was in. I got enough credits to count for a full year of school. Now I am working on the bachelor's in business management. I wasn't thrilled with the idea about going back to school but knew if I wanted to get promoted in the company, I would need my degree. Now I am actually happy that I am going back to school. I am learning a lot about management and decision making. The class I am taking now will be a big help if I get the job in VA. Still waiting to hear if I am going to get it but I did get encouraging news last week about "relocation considerations" so I am pretty sure I will be offered the job.

 

[Wisher1000]

I knew we were all cut from the same bolt.

D- I have laughed at myself several times because I keep getting excited that you are (possibly) moving "closer to home" -- my home, not yours! I am holding out hope that you will pass through Alabama on your way to VA! I promise, Stumpy and I will show you a good time if you come here for a stopover! Right, Stumpy?

 

[Stumpy]

Absolutely! Just veer south on your way to VA!

 

[mickey328]

Like pretty much any pre-teen/teenaged girl, I fell in love with horses. When I was about 15, my grandparents (who raised me) finally agreed to get one for me. I was really excited but like to think I finally made my first really "grown up" decision. We lived in northern Ontario at the time, so we had long, cold winters with lots of snow. I would have been the only person for literally hundreds of miles around who had a horse, and although I loved (and still do) them, I really didn't know much about taking proper care of them. After a lot of thought, I passed on the offer. I have only mild regrets; I think in the end I did the horse I might have had a favor

I've always been nuts for animals, dogs in particular, and have always had dog(s) and/or cat(s). At present, we're in a place where we're restricted in the number and kind we're allowed to have, but we're seriously working toward being able to find a small acreage where we can have more. We have 3 dogs and 6 chickens. We could have one more dog or cat, and are at our max for the chickens. We're working now toward getting some rabbits for meat. That will be a small operation as well...just 2 does and a buck.

Among the critters we hope to have when we have the room are: lots more chickens, alpacas, goats, llamas, mules/burros/donkeys,a pig and a cow or two. We really don't have any desire to live totally off the grid but we'd like to be able to produce most of our own food and be as self sufficient as possible. We're not preppers by any stretch of the imagination, we just think it's a healthier lifestyle to know what our food is and where it came from.

 

[dsqard]

Wisher it is looking like I will be offered the job but as usual, there are hoops to jump through. I just found out yesterday that I have to do one more phone interview so I am waiting for the notification for that.