Didn't get what you wanted this Christmas? Have no fear, I have the perfect gift you can get for yourself...a tea cup piglet! I suppose their upside is that they don't shed or claw the furniture. Aside from that they seem an odd pet choice.

For Christmas I got a sick horse and a kick to the head. It was great. Oh, I also got a really nice camera from Rob, and a lovely necklace from my parents. Wait...come to think of it, Dexter gave me the camera...(I think he wants to make sure he doesn't get sent for glue seeing as he is not rideable any time soon). The cats gave me an Air Purifier, and Ginger gave me things for the CRV.

Ginger got TWO balls for Christmas. One squeaks. And squeaks. And squeaks. Ginger can make it squeak in the most pitiful manner if you opt to not throw it for her or want her to stop squeaking it for a while....it may have to be banned from the house.

Poor Rob had all sorts of plans for the week, but it looks like he is stuck helping me in the barn during the times Natalie is not out until I am fully functional again. We were both thrilled to spend most of the morning/afternoon in the hospital. Apparently neck injuries get you in fast though. I think it helped that I wore a turtleneck too, as I had to take it off to get the neck brace on, and so of course I needed to be in a room, and I think once you are in a room they want you out of that room as soon as possible. Or maybe it was because I smelled like a barn and likely had bad morning breath too....

I saw irony in the nurse having to drip Children's Motrin into my mouth via a syringe...it even smelled a little like bute. Although I always offer the horse's a treat after being given bute...the nurse did not!

Thanks to Nicole, Laureen and Carolyn (tamara's mom) for helping out today!

And the sick horse seems to be getting better, so fingers crossed for her too. It doesn't seem like anything contagious, just some odd, albeit mild, symptoms....that of course had to show up on Christmas morning. I am sure Lana (our vet) was thrilled to hear from me on Christmas day!

I hope you all had a great Christmas though!

Karen

Anyone else have this problem?

So why am I planning to be out shopping on Christmas Eve Eve? Because I have a significant other who goes out and buys himself gifts on the week before Christmas. And not obscure things, but something he had been talking about wanting.

Isn't there an unwritten rule about not buying things for yourself in the week before Christmas?

But I have learned from past years, that this is the case, so off I will go later today to fight the crowds to finish my shopping.

As an aside, I didn't think there was a good toy store in Sherwood Park, but the Laugh n' Learn on baseline near Save-On has some pretty cool stuff!

I hope everyone else is done there shopping so they can sit back and enjoy the holidays!

Karen

Finally a Christmas party when it isn't 30 below out! Thank you to everyone who came, and I hope that all of you who spent the day at home sick are feeling better soon.

Miranda won the match the poopy stall contest, and we had a three way tie for the "which horse is this" contest where I took close up shots of certain distinctive parts of horses and had people try to match it with the horse. Three people got 7 out of ten, with Kelsey winning in a draw. (Clare and Joan were the other two top finishers I think). I still have the poster in the barn if anyone else wants to see if they can make a guess.

We might need a bigger barn for next year's party!

Yesterday I spent the day judging an in barn show at Cholchester. They had a variety of classes including dressage, hunter, western, english, command class, and showmanship. It was a long day with the judged classes going from 9 to 4:40, but we managed to stay close to on time.

Judging dressage was harder than I expected, particularly in a small ring, as the different moves happen so quickly that it is hard to find time to make a comment on one move, while still watching/judging the next move. The first level tests were the worst as they way they have some of the scoring isn't even in the same order as the movement; The rider has to do a free walk a short diagonal, then turn fairly sharply and do a medium walk across the next short diagonal....yet the score card has you mark the free walk, then the medium walk, THEN the transition between the two...which is followed right away by a score for a trot and canter transition, and then another score for a canter circle...comes up way to quickly! Thank goodness my scribe was on the ball.

I am surprised to find though, that I am SORE from judging! How pathetic is that? Standing for that long or sitting on a hard bleacher is apparently harder than cleaning stalls and riding all day. if I judge jumping there again, I must remember a seat cushion!

Karen

When I was young I remember there being a lot of snow before Christmas. I only remember one "green" Christmas in my childhood...and being a kid, not having snow was such a disappointment! Lately though, it is seemed that December is just as likely to have grass still showing as not...and as an adult it is such a pain in the butt to have so much snow while doing Christmas running around! Amazing how a few decades of age can change perception so much. I guess the skiers and snowmobilers are likely happy though...and kids under the age of 12!

Natalie and I decorated the barn yesterday; Flair was not impressed by the little Christmas tree. Not sure if her silliness was due to her knowledge that trees do NOT belong in the barn, or if she was making a commentary about our decorating skills...everybody is a critic. Milo on the other hand seemed oddly disinterested in the garland and Christmas balls. What sort of cat isn't fascinated by shiny objects?

Speaking of cats, our stray has a name now; Rolo. You may have seen Rolo without knowing it; he is a tabby so can be mistaken for Milo at first glance, but he is a little fluffier, and a lighter coloured tabby with more white on his chin and chest. Rolo is also likely to be the fattest stray cat you will ever see. We feed our stray cats well.

I am hoping that if the weather stays cold he will move on to our covered deck as Milo did a couple years ago, and we can catch him that way and get him looked after at the vets. I think Rolo is a true feral cat though, and not an abandoned pet who was pretending to be wild like Milo.

I know the roads have kept many of you safe at home, but fear not, the horses are doing well and seem to be enjoying playing in the snow...well except Lily who cannot comprehend what she did to deserve this, and Brie who didn't want to leave her shelter all day yesterday despite being fully covered in a fluffy blanket.

I like the idea of the full neck blankets on windy and snow days like yesterday, so I am slowly trying to outfit the lesson horses with new neck covering blankets. So far Zander and Rocket have been the lucky recipients of new blankets. Zander was less than thrilled as he ended up being allergic to the blanket I got for him....fortunately he is not allergic to his new blanket, and the one I bought for him has been passed to Rocket. Of course a side effect of the full neck blankets is that the horse's name will be pressed flat...is Rocket still Rocket if his mane is not standing straight up? I hope his super powers are not contained in his spikes....

karen

This week in lessons...

This week in lessons we are working on Broken Lines and different ways to ride them. Hopefully the snow we are supposed to get today doesn't make it hard to get to the barn!

We are also doing a little work on Counter Canter.

...

Christmas Party Update: Thanks in part to Tudor Tack Shoppe, we will have Door Prizes at the Christmas Party. Names of clients that come to the party will be drawn throughout the afternoon to win one of 10 or so horsey prizes! If you have any questions about the party, post them in comments, give me a call, or send me an email! Anyone who has been a Hillside Client in 2010 is welcome to come, as are family members!

Karen

Wow, it is actually looking like it might be warm for the Hillside Christmas Party on Saturday! That would be nice for a change...

Went to Rob's work Christmas party on the weekend. I like dressing up, but hate the late nights, particularly with Flair needing medication that takes a fair bit of time to give at night. It is just no fun staying up late when I have to be up before 7 each morning. Fortunately Rob has a cold so didn't want to stay late for this one, so we had planned to be home at a decent time...but the company held us hostage with the lure of door prizes! Not not just any door prizes, they had big screen TVs, a fancy Bar-B-Que, Blue Ray players and so on... and they dragged out the draws....draw a few tickets, then give some speaches. Draw a few more, then have some loud music playing for dancing (music from the 70's it seemed....). But the lure of the big ticket items held us captive even though I was pretty much falling asleep on Rob's shoulders. But did we win any of the 50+ door prizes? Nope...and neither did anyone at our table.

The most entertaining part of the evening was the eclectic mix of outfits; from people in jeans and a sweater, to the girl in a short black dress with BRIGHT PINK high heels. Then there was the girl with the veil. Who wears a veil? Looked cool, but out of place.

I escaped the music briefly by making a run to the ladies room...which I thought would be a nice quiet place, but this girl was having a very loud conversation while sitting in a stall, with two people at the sink...two people she apparently didn't even know! (she was complaining about the prize she won...she was bitter she won something before the TV's had been given out). I found the toilet talking very odd. Maybe she was trying to talk over whatever she was doing in the stall?

And it seems my Luminosity training to help with remembering names isn't helping so far...I only remembered 4 names from the party...unlike in the games, I can't really sit and just stare at someone for a minute to try to figure out how to remember their name. Fortunately I am unlikely to come across most of those people anytime soon! Still, I would like to be able to remember people's names as well as I do horse's names!

Karen

Brie

Had some fun trying something new with Brie today.

It was harder than I thought; Brie was good, but perhaps I should have started out by practicing flatwork without a bridle before attempting to jump without one. The tricky part was knowing what to do with my hands; when I would pull left, the neck rope would slide left and I didn't know what to do with my right hand and vice versa. The other tricky part was steering with leg but not having her interpret that as an invitation to go forward.

She is a super fun mare who tolerates my foibles well. Hopefully we can find her a great home that appreciates her and will treat her in the manner to which she deserves!

Karen

This week in lessons

This week in lessons we are working on:
1) Bending lines.
2) Trot and canter cavaletti grids (to improve gaits and rider balance)

It will be fun.

Karen

Ginger

Poor Ginger had been behaving oddly of late. Looking sad and mopey. Alternatively staring at me like I should do something to help her, and shunning me. I thought she was in mourning over the loss of Mike as the timing fit. But no, she was in mourning for the loss of her green ball. She is now revived, rejuvenated, and regingerfied with the purchase of a new green ball...one that mercifully does not squeak. She even slept with it a few nights.

She even picked the ball over a visiting puppy. If only we could all find completeness and happiness in such a simple (and cheap) way.

I should learn and stock up on balls though...hopefully this one isn't left in the snow to hide until spring...

Karen

Christmas Party!

The Hillside Christmas Party is scheduled for the afternoon of Saturday December 18th, from 2-4 pm. As per usual we will have a secret Santa gift exchange ($22 value), Hillside trivia contests for prizes, and a snack type potluck with Hillside providing the drinks, plates and cutlery. We are also hoping to arrange to have samples of our logo wear for people to try on for size in case they wish to place an order. We will also be discussing our show schedule for 2011.

The party is open to all Hillside Clients and friends, as well as their families. We have lots of new clients this year and want to give everyone the opportunity to get to know each other!

Hope to see you then!

Oh...and it tends to be -30 on the day of our Christmas party so plan for a cold weekend!

Karen

Games

Games make learning fun, and work less boring. I try to think of games or other fun ways to train the horses or to keep riding interesting so I don't get stale and the horses don't get bored with a winter in the indoor arena. Today's game for Tango was a new invention that I shall call "Flair Attack". The game involved turning Flair loose in the arena while I ride Tango. Tango and Flair are friends, and as Flair can't go outside for a while, it is a good opportunity to get her out of her stall yet under supervision.

Phase one of the game involves riding Tango while Flair tried to cut us off, or stops dead on the track because something catches her attention. What is really interesting is how much faster Flair can trot vs Tango!

Phase two of the game is tricky...once Flair tires of cutting us off, I have to be on the watch for her attempting to roll...she is not allowed to roll until her eye is more healed, but the tube going into her eye is getting itchy, so she really wants to roll...so at the first site of her going down to roll, Tango and I have to race over to distract and discourage her...at which point she swishes her tail at us to show her displeasure. Tango is better at racing away rather than towards something...so this is a good game to get her more alert and ready to go.

Perhaps all dressage riders should ride with a loose horse in the arena...there would be a lot less staring down or at the back of their horse's head if that was the case!

For non-barn/horse entertainment to fight my brain turning to mush over winter is :http://www.lumosity.com Very addictive. I like the word games. The Penguin game is painful for me...I am NOT good at it and my poor penguin keeps finding himself being rammed head first into the walls....

Have fun this winter!

Karen

Important information for cat owners.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/kitty_pet

Karen

Did the dvd fairy visit your house too?

I went out to the barn to feed last night, and found the dvd fairy had visited, leaving a video on how to get your %!&@(^ horse into the trailer...well, that is not the actual title....I think it is something like "Get'em in the Trailer", but I like my title better. I wonder if the fairy left it for Laureen...curious.

I wonder when the Chocolate Fairy is due to come? Or the New Laces for my Boots Fairy?
....
I went to visit little Morgan mare at the vet clinic yesterday. She seems quite happy despite now having a tube sewn into her head. The tube was inserted so that eye drops could be administered more easily, with less risk of accidentally poking the eye. Her eye looks good and isn't goopy. Hopefully she is able to leave the vet clinic on Monday. She will have to be in the barn for a while though to keep the eye safe and warm.

Karen

Experiments that just aren't worth it...

You may not want to read this if you are squeamish..

You remember when you were young, kids would dare each other to lick a metal pole? The metal in the pole would conduct its cold to the tongue and cause insta freeze of tongue to pole...and unless the victim was patient enough to wait for someone to pour warm water on the tongue, then a portion of tongue is left on the pole.

That is bad enough...now imagine it was your eye and not your tongue stuck to the pole. And it is -30 out.

That is what we speculate happened to the poor little Morgan I am training. Found chunks of ice stuck to her face when I fed, so had Natalie bring her in to clear her up...but we couldn't seem to get all the puss/gunk out and it just didn't look like a case of hay stuck in the eye so we called Delaney Vet to come out. Meagan was also expecting a mere eye infection. Instead she found that the remaining white stuff pooled in her bottom eye lid was not in fact puss, but rather rolled up cornea. She had peeled the front half of her cornea, with just a 1/4 thickness left to hold her eye in. That is gross.

No noticeable tears or damage to any other part of her eye, so it doesn't look like it was hit...it was as if (in Meagan's words) someone just peeled it off. Our best speculation is that she somehow hit her open eye to something very cold and metal. And the cornea stuck. Fortunately enough was left so that the eye innards didn't fall out.

So, the poor mare is in the barn for a while. She is on multiple eye drops 4 times a day and pain medication. The vet will be in touch and will come back out for further treatment once we know how much of the cornea is still alive...the dead part will be removed.

And I hate the idea of even putting contact lenses in...

Poor little girl.

Karen

Welcome Perseus

Nicole's new horse arrived safe and sound yesterday and proved himself to be sane for his first ride today. Percy is a tall black gelding who is being kept with Coda and Chris for a while so we can pile hay into him...he is a tad on the thin side. He is also a tad on the obnoxious side. Reminds me a LOT of Jerry, not only in look, but also in how obnoxious he is in the barn! Nicole has her work cut out for her in that respect.

karen

The benefits of aging

Despite what young people think there truly are benefits to getting older.

I think a benefit of being truly old (as in people look at you and can see your days are numbered) is that you have the freedom to speak your mind. The withered old lady can get away with commenting on your weight, unmarriedness, or bad hair cut and somehow get away with it. Age gives the freedom to abandon the internal filter of political correctness.

I myself find that I am firmly entrenched in middle age. And with the arrival of middle age comes a certain freedom...the freedom to be comfortable rather than fashionable. Warm rather than "cool". And it is good.

When I was a kid I remember that the "cool" winter boots were either Moon Boots or these tan insulated hiking boots. Everyone in my family had the hiking boots. I wanted the hiking boots, but alas neither they nor the moon boots would fit my deformedly narrow feet and ankles. So what would fit? Ladies dress boots. These were not cool. So instead of wearing the dress boots I wore runners in the winter. Frozen feet were better than wearing uncool boots on the way to and from school...

Now that I am accepting of my middle agedness, I want warm feet, and I don't care what is on my feet to get it....but I still have to deal with my chicken feet. So this weekend I was thrilled to find some insulated rubber boots at Welshes that actually fit my feet and legs. The fact that they are brown, with off-white, rust, green, and yellow swirly patters (aka ugly) matters not. They fit and are warm. And to top of off, I wear them with my pant legs TUCKED IN! Good thing I don't have kids; they would be mortified.

I also would never wear a toque as a kid...it would lead to staticy hair and I couldn't have that. Frozen ears were preferred. Now I am ok going out in public in my goofy looking Mennonite fuzzy ear flap hat. I want warm ears, and I figure the static in my hair will help keep the hay in place.

Yes, I am quite a catch...Rob is one lucky man...

Karen

I think Peter Pan and Rocket are related...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWd_r2sOPhs

Karen

So I know it is cold, and driving is likely not much fun....but isn't it pretty out?

The snow makes it seem so much brighter and cleaner and the early mornings don't seem so dark and dreary with the coating of white.

Now the frozen nasal drippings as I feed hay I could do without...

The horses seem to be enjoying themselves in the snow though. Well...other than Lily who didn't know what to think when the barn door opened to reveal a ledge of snow out the barn door yesterday! She is not entirely sure what she did to deserve being brought here from California...

Stay warm and drive carefully!

Karen

Well it seems winter is here. A skiff of snow was on the ground when I woke up and it has continued to snow since. Good think one of the new training horses is hard to catch...I would hate for it to be warm and sunny while I coerce him to come in to the barn.

Horses seem ok other than being a little miffed that their hay would blow away.

I guess the cold and snow was bound to come sooner or later. It was just the wind I could do without.

Karen

Road Trip!

I have been needing a vacation for a while now. A change of scene to refresh my mind. Rob and I talked about getting away this fall, but with his new work project, Mike's illness, and Coregel's stall rest, it just wasn't to be. So when Rob suggested a road trip to see his project in Hardisty, it sounded like it might be the closest thing to a vacation I might get! I planned to go on Saturday as Nat looks after barns and lessons, so I could leave right after hauling over a new training horse...I figured I could leave by 10 at the latest.

But the fates continued to be against my ever leaving the area; Natalie had the flu and wouldn't be able to work. I was not willing to give up so easily though, so I got up extra early to do barns, rebooked her lessons, picked up the new training horse (cute little arab named Embers...looks like Zander crossed with a Marshmallow), cleaned up quickly, loaded stuff to take (including Ginger) and was off before 11 am. Later than I thought, but I was determined to go!

We arrived at 1pm, which was perfect timing it seems, as Rob was able to take me on site to view the work while the men broke for lunch. It is an impressively large project. As far as I can tell they are building alien landing pads. (you can just barely make out round landing pads in this photo)

Some great toboggan hills around there too (poor Rob was showing me all the work they are doing and that was my comment...)

Ginger was both excited and confused to find Rob at the end of our drive!

We then went to lunch at a small town diner, complete with 5 old farts that look like they spend all day there nursing the same cup of coffee. My tomato noodle soup had carrots, onions and potatoes in it...but no noticeable noodles. I had to pick the potatoes out...I didn't think to ask if tomato noodle soup would have potatoes...now I know to ask...

Time was running out as I had to head home to do afternoon chores, but I got to see where Rob lives when away (not a bad place), and we checked out a touristy looking log general store...which offers things like Tarot Card reading, Rainshower massage, and Resonance Rebalancing.

I would have liked to have had time to take Ginger for a walk down by the lake, but it was time to head home.

So that was my vacation...go me.

Karen