No, No, I Still Love Y'all!!!

BECG mentioned yesterday that I've been scarce. Which is true. Finding me of late has been an interesting task to say the least.

Many of you were reading two years ago, when my father in law Johnny Reb had a severe adverse reaction to surgery. We went through a mighty tough time with the poor man, and then thing began to settle down.

Least it *seemed* like they were settling down. Unfortunately, that event was the kick off for a continuing problem, and Johnny Reb has continued to struggle daily with the effects. It's kinda tough to sleep at night when you keep expecting the phone to ring with pleas for help. Or to be away from home, when worry saddles up and rides along.

However, to look for the silver lining on the darkest of days, we ARE where we can be right there to help. Jo the Wonder Nanny Dog takes special care of her Papa now. Watching her ease up to Johnny Reb and sit quietly, patiently with her head in his lap is enough to make me tear up. She'll stay right there too, until Johnny Reb looks at her and rubs her head. Once he does then she seems to feel it is OK, and she smiles and heads to her Granny for a treat.

She really *is* a remarkable dog. Had a birthday recently too- old Jo turned 9 on Valentine's Day. We all hope she has another 20 or so years with us!


When I can, the Locust Brothers and I slip away to the barn and play with that cute little redhead in the pictures above. Nothing quite like some sweet pony time to bring things back to a happy place.


My (rotten) little brother and my Dad teamed up to surprise me with a gift too. I've been yammering on about getting a BackJack for far too long now, and Shorty and Dad apparently had heard enough of it. When it arrived, I called Dear Husband-- "Honey did you order a BackJack and not tell me about it?" Took Dear Husband by surprise, as he had to stop and figure out what a BackJack was again... Next up I called my rotten brother. And you know what that smart ass told me? He said, "Well, yeah. Me and Dad did. *giggle* You've talked about it for so long, we got tired of hearing it. Now get your miserable back to work!"

I'm kidding- he didn't quite say that. (There was more profanity. HA~) In all reality, the two of them about had me in tears (yep- lots of that lately) and they DID have me speechless. Which my rotten little brother wrote down as a historic date in family history as I am NEVER speechless.

It was with Great Excitement that I went to my first stop after getting my new support system. On the books was an older mare, who *generally* for three of her feet is manageable. We can normally get her taken care of with a minimum of complaining and fussing, right up until we get to the right hind. (Yep. Farthest foot from the brain right there.) Then the old girl will dance and protest a bit.

Well, not so this day. Right from the start she was overly interested in telling me exactly what she thought (which was also filled with profanity I bet,) and she made it darn near impossible for me to properly test out my new toy. Dammit.

We got her done though, but not with out a casualty.

Yep. That right there is a broken rasp. Now, you could say it is the direct result of a Rasp Enema gone bad (like on Mr ANON poster... ha~) but in reality it is the direct result of the old girl having a bit of a temper tantrum and stomping her feet. Luckily, she did not get hurt. Neither did I. Neither did the tool caddy. The rasp and my The Knife took a beating. I think I might take that knife and get creative with it- it sure has a very pretty curve to the blade now. The worst part of the whole trim was the rasp broke when I had THREE feet done- not the fourth. Being the stubborn cuss that I am, I looked the old girl in the eye and informed her will WOULD get the job done. (She pouted and stuck her tongue out at me.) Thankful for a wonderful set of nippers, I set to work nipping with the most precision I think I've ever done, and used what was left of my stubby rasp to level, bevel and round. Job done.

Never a dull moment in the world of hoof care. Ever.

New tools arrived, BackJack is adjusted, and I am raring to go to test it out better on horses that are NOT having tantrums.

Oh- one more bit of happy news. The Big Green Beast has given her all, and in fact still continues to do so. But with 260,000 miles on her, her "all" isn't that much these days. A bit of shopping was in order, and because I am one of those frugal wenches, a new-to-us truck was on the list. And we found it!


When I can steal it from Dear Husband, this is what I'll be using to roll up to clients in. Works for me! My next goal? Yep--- replacing the Big Green Beast with another truck similar to the above.

So. That about fills everyone in on the goings on. If I don't make it around to comment, please know I do read your blogs. If you email or call, I *will* get back to you as quick as I can (in fact an email is usually the best way to get me, since I can answer that at 2AM if I happen to be up for some reason.) The only other detail left out is picking the Locust Brothers up to ride that sweet red pony? Yeah-- holy CRAP the kids are growing and freaking HUGE! Going to have to teach them to crawl up on the pony by themselves!

There ya have it. All the news that is fit to print. Email me if you need me!
~MM