Vieta
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Post by Vieta on Jan 8, 2017 9:41:25 GMT -6
Since I am not from TSR, I mine as well tell you all a little about who I am. I am in my mid 20s, have a toddler who is everything to me now after my husband was killed early July 2015 while out brush hogging. It was horrible to find him, I have no answers as to why he fell off the tractor, just that he had no chance of survival even if someone had been right there. So according to one of my nurse friends I probably suffer from PTSD a little bit. All I know is I can't get on a tractor anyone. My little one was 10 months at the time. She keeps me busy so I will have odd times I can be on. I work with saddlebreds, we breed, foal them out, and train them. So we have newborns up to old retired broodmares and stallions. I have shown one of them last summer in fine harness, I don't ride but do drive them and help get them broke. Currently I co own a broodmare, she fractured her nivicular bone and wasn't getting sound despite the special shoes and treatment from the vet. Finally she got turned out and bred, I couldn't afford trying to make her a sound for riding anymore. Otherwise I have an indoor cat and two adult chihuahuas, the male is my widow dog. He only watches out for me and my daughter because without my husband he was lost. One pup who is six months who is Jack Russell and chihuahua. She is from the lines of dogs my husband raised. I also have 5 puppies right now, only a week old.
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Jasper
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Reyano Herd
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Post by Jasper on Jan 8, 2017 14:39:58 GMT -6
Welcome to SA, Vieta! We're really happy to have you <3
I'm so, so sorry to hear about your husband. I can't even imagine what that must be like.
It must be so much fun to spend so much time around animals, especially puppies! A few months ago my cat had kittens and it was such a fun experience. We still have one of them and he destroys everything we own, but we love him so it's okay.
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Vieta
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Post by Vieta on Jan 8, 2017 15:45:03 GMT -6
Thanks, everything is set up so well once I figured it out. Using my computer helped greatly.
Nothing can prepare anyone for the death of a loved one. It was utter terror. I couldn't eat or drink really for almost two weeks. I am functioning much better now, otherwise there would be no way I could even try something like this again.
It is fun most of the time to be around animals so much. They don't lie to me. If they don't like me, I know it. The hardest part though is watching a mare lose her colt. Sadly it happens to often. We do everything we can, but sometimes the foals get stuck inside and then we have to have the vet bring her chains out and we pull the babies out. It gets hard. However getting to watch them buck and play is wonderful. We had an older mare who had a colt, he is three this year. When he was first born he could of been gelded, everything had dropped. Called the vet out because none of us thought that was normal. Vet cleared him and the next day we turned them both back outside. That colt kept running everywhere and that poor mare kept trying to keep up. We also had two mares foal the same night, one colt got stuck in a washout. As we were taking the mother and colt out of the field, the other mare kept getting in the way, not allowing us to treat the baby. After looking at both mares we realized there was a baby missing. Thankfully the other colt was alive, just stuck. Both mares let both babies nurse off them, they had no clue who belonged to who and neither did we. Another mare let them nurse off her when her colt was accidentally killed by another mare. I like watching them grow up.
The puppies are a handful, but the momma dog is getting fixed once they are weaned and she is in good health. Right now they are almost all chunky monkeys.
Kittens are awesome! They are so entertaining. My cat is a good mouser and will sometimes play with the pup, but isn't much into playing with toys or anything. She only looks for attention if her food or water is out. Otherwise she will days without wanting attention.
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Tzevi
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Ithaca Herd
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Post by Tzevi on Jan 9, 2017 15:18:04 GMT -6
I'm very happy you're doing better. <3<3 Wow, that's so sad! I didn't know foal deaths were so common. Thank you very much for sharing, though, I can't say that hearing all of this was boring! It's very cool to hear this kind of thing, as I have very little knowledge on farms & farm life (I've lived in the city for my entire life). You cat sounds a lot like our female. She's only friendly when she wants something, aha. eidt: sorry, posted on the wrong account  |
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Lord Descaro
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Post by Lord Descaro on Jan 9, 2017 16:37:47 GMT -6
Welcome to SA Vieta, we're so glad you're here <3
I'm so sorry about your husband. I really can't imagine what that is like, but you seem like such as strong person, and I'm so glad you're doing better.
I would love to have your job, it really is interesting to hear about! I would love to raise a foal. I've been riding horses for a long time but I've never really been around foals at all.
I got my dog when she was 8 weeks old. She's two and a half now, but she still acts like a puppy most of the time, haha. I miss her being so little though.
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Vieta
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Post by Vieta on Jan 9, 2017 17:47:48 GMT -6
In all truth, I completely lost myself when I lost him. I spent so much time curled up on the floor unable to even stand up. My daughter would come over and hug me and wipe away my tears. That is what forced me to get up and keep going despite the wish of swing to be with him. It was horrible, but I know I must live for her so I figured out how to move forward enough. I still have times that knock me down, but they are less frequent.
Last year we had 7 mares to foal, only one was born dead. The mare went into labor probably in the early to middle of the night. The colt was stuck because the front hooves were knuckled over. The year before that we had 21 mares to foal. So it's not really that them dieing is so common, but if the foals are to big it causes lots of problems. Overall we haven't lost that many when you look at how many we have foaled out.
There is one lady who breeds maybe two mares a year. Last year she had to put a foal down because the head was deformed and it couldn't nurse. The year before that one of her fillies was deathly sick, lots of vet care later and she is fine now. Only two big issues she has had in over 20 years foaling out mares.
Fescue grass causes lots of problem to. It can cause the baby to not form correctly, fescue poisoning in foals, keep mares from producing milk. It has definitely been a learning experience for me and would be more than happy to talk horses or anything really to anyone.
What kind of riding do you do? I kind of wished I knew how to ride, but only ever had green horses and then after having my little one my left hip hurts to bad for that at times.
What kind of dog do you have?
My boss has a great Dane like that, the winter before last she spent out here and kept shreading things. She still does to this day. They have signs up for the mail person to leave mail/boxes behind a door. About a month ago she ate a check they were waiting for that was for a couple thousand dollars.
Oh, and foals are a lot of work, but very rewarding in the end. Even with the blood sweat and tears shed some days.
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Lord Descaro
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Post by Lord Descaro on Jan 9, 2017 18:55:49 GMT -6
I ride western, I've been riding for about 9 years now. I'm part of a mounted drill team, and I also intern with a professional horse trainer. On my team we ride 6 minute drills at a fast lope, doing about 30 maneuvers during that time. During the summer we perform at a bunch of different shows.
The lady I intern with starts colts, so I help her work with them and finish their training. She buys green colts and trains them for a year, then sells them.
And my dog is a chocolate lab, her name is Sierra :)
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Vieta
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Post by Vieta on Jan 19, 2017 22:50:56 GMT -6
Labs are awesome dogs, I have had a lab mix before. My Dad has him now, when I moved out the place I moved to was next to a barn and he liked to bark at horses, plus I had no good place to keep a dog of his size. However that was a great match, he has protected my Dad well and even helped wake him up when he had some problems and had passed out. Very happy my boy has a great home and is helping watch out for my Dad, he lives too many states away now. Plus the old farm dog out here is a big yellow lab, she lets all the kids who meet her hug on her, sit on her, ect.
As a teen one of my best friends was an older lady who would let me help her out in the kitchen at our church. Both of her granddaughters did a mounted drill team. Stars N Steeds if I remember right. I always thought that looked so awesome and must take so much work to get just right.
Sounds like a fun internship!
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Arietta
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Post by Arietta on Feb 9, 2017 21:51:04 GMT -6
Vieta I am really sorry to hear about that. I recently lost a loved one as well, but I've been prepared for it. She was 102 years old, so she had a good, long run in life.
That sounds like a lot of fun! I've always loved and wanted horses but we don't have the place to keep one, and boarding and houses with the kind of space for a horse (or houses at all) where I live are very expensive. I dream to have a horse of my own. The only animals I have are two tortoises and two dogs. The tortoises are both older than me, they are California Desert Tortoises and are around 17-18 years old. I have a pit bull mix who is 13 years old and a 9 year old black and tan cocker spaniel (not just saying this as a biased pet owner haha), and she is one of the cutest dogs you will ever meet.
I would love to have horses, but guess it'll have to wait till I move out and am financially stable (which will be while) However, I really want to stay on the coast of SoCal and have a ranch with lots and lots of animals. Reading about the horses you work with is like reading a daydream haha.
Labs are awesome, we had one too. She passed away about a year ago, but she was 17 years old! Crazy.
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Vieta
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Post by Vieta on Feb 9, 2017 23:07:18 GMT -6
It is still hard expected or not. I lost my grandma back in 2001 and she had been sick for a few months before it, it sucked. I am happy your loved one got to have a happy and long life.
The cheapest part of owning a horse is the horse. Just a heads up, leasing a horse might be better honestly. I have never done it, but have a friend who is leasing a throughbred. I think they mostly just do trails but I think she also jumps a little bit. My male is listed to sell through a sale if no one buys her soon. I am nothing short of worried about her foaling because of my rotten luck. Beautiful horse, she was almost show ready under saddle for park or park pleasure, but the unexpected can and will happen.
My 6 month old pup might be able to rival your dog for the cute award....
You must have some really good secret kind of food or something for your big dogs to live so long. Or maybe I just don't know that many big dogs, I didn't think they made it into their late teens.
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Arietta
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Post by Arietta on Feb 27, 2017 23:21:02 GMT -6
Haha, you would have to ask my stepmom that, they're her dogs and just joined our family when she married my father.
I love puppies! Haha, I don't doubt it, one look at a puppy and most people's hearts melt.
Trail-riding is mostly what I would be doing. Jumping and dressage look like fun (though very hard work to me) but I'm not sure I can get into it at this age. I do quite enjoy trail riding, however.
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Vieta
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Post by Vieta on Mar 5, 2017 21:59:23 GMT -6
I must be quite the oddball then, I am really tired of looking at these messy puppies in my house! Out of my four puppies I have one of them left and I was suppose to get two more puppies that are not related to my dogs at the end of this month but their breeder sent them to me a month early. Thankfully my female has taken them on and lets them nurse. One of those puppies are for my stepdad, he fell in love with the pup I gave my sister and wanted a jack russell and chihuahua mix like that. So ya, I am way beyond tired of puppies! I have always liked my adult dogs or vats rather than babies though.
Within the next two weeks foals should start arriving here on the farm. Three mares have never had a baby before that are due as early as this month. One of them will most likely be the first to foal, she is looking closer to ready than the other mare who had been pasture bred the same time. I worry more over the first time moms only because I don't know what kind of a mother they will be. However we do have a few mares who are HUGE so will of course have to worry over them having a stuck baby.
Some days I just want to be a kid again, but I wasn't a happy kid so maybe just around the time I was dating my husband, things were more simple then for me I guess. Except I wouldn't have my little one.... *sighs* Being an adult is hard.
I'm sure you could do jumping or dressage if you wanted to, just do what makes you and the horse happy. I have a five year old that I work when I have time and he prefers to be driven rather than ridden. He did leadline last year though and rocked it. He just likes to drive more, let him know how you want his pace, hold on the reins and then leave him be. He hates to be picked at, but also loves to drive in the field and see his "babies" out there.
We also had a big gelding who showed fine harness and under saddle in saddle seat, but he is now a western horse. He just didn't have the right drive for them but likes to take it more easy if that makes any sense.
Trail riding is fun, I went a few times as a teen with a friend on one of her horses and enjoyed it, but I am not built to ride.
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