WOW! The price of Woody Pet jumped almost $2.00/bag since I bought it last month! That's insane!!! Maybe it depends on the feed store...I did go to a different feed store last month. Maybe that price was a mistake...I'm hopeful but doubtful, and I'm not sure if I can continue to bed my run-in shed at those prices! I try to bed very lightly, as my horses have free access in and out, but I guess I'm going to be bedding even lighter!!!!!

I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday, but I can't believe it's August 1st!

I think the fly predators are working!!! I was really hesitant to try them, and I started quite late this season, but I do think they're making a difference. I've used a lot of traps to keep the flies under control this summer, but I bought the predators as extra reinforcements with all the rain and humidity. I will definitely try the fly predators for the full season next year!

Now if only something would kill mosquitoes!!!

I've been doing some research on joint supplements for my ponies. They're getting older now, and I suspect they both may have had a bad injury at some point. I'd like to get something with glucosamine and chondroitin (not necessarily MSM), and I'm also really interested in hyaluronic acid. People say they've had good results with it. Any suggestions?

It's raining, and I'm having a lazy Sunday morning in front of the computer. It's kinda nice, as yesterday was sunny and beautiful, and I was busy outside doing lots of stuff! I washed horse blankets, washed down my run-in shed, mucked my paddock and pastures, scrubbed water buckets, sprayed hornet nests, and went to visit a good pal and her two dogs (very energetic little beasts!).

So it's been a good weekend. If it keeps raining, I'll probably just spend the day surfing the Internet. If not, I'll be back out there finishing up the horse blankets and doing chores. I love how my life is so dependent on the weather. :P

My tummy hurts. I think I ate too many cookies at work today. Whatever kind of cookies we get at work, they always make me sick. You'd think I would stop eating them then, wouldn't you? Yes, yes, yes, I must stop eating those cookies!

It rained most of the day today. It was kinda nice, as we really needed it. I hope this helps the pasture and the hay fields grow. It was a little dark and windy this evening, although I think the rain is mostly gone. The horses were a little spooked by it.

Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful, but unfortunately, I have to go to work. Thank goodness it's Friday. I hope the weather is nice this weekend...I want to ride!

But only if my tummy feels okay. Ugh...cookies. :P

We finally got some rain today! Actually just in the last hour and a half there was a major downpour. I went out for nightcheck on the horses, and there must have been an inch of rain puddled at the bottom of their paddock. Well, I was hoping for some rain, and I got it! :D We really needed it...my pastures were getting really short, and the paddock was SO DUSTY! It's supposed to rain tomorrow, too.

My hip really hurts today. Must be because of the rain. Ever since my car accident, it has been able to tell me the weather. However, it has been fine for quite some time now...this is definitely strange. I might take some Ibuprofen before I go to bed tonight.

I ordered an extra batch of fly predators last night. I knew it was going to rain, so I thought the little fly guys could use some reinforcements! :D

I'm still trying to decide on what kind of computer to buy and whether or not I currently have the funds to buy it! I was just looking online at the Dell Inspiron 530. I want to get one with good memory and hard drive space. I can't wait to get a flat panel monitor, too! My current monitor is old and clunky, and there is a lot of glare on the screen.

Well, I must go locate some Ibuprofen and go to bed. Good night!

My mom reminded me that two years ago today I brought my horse home. :)

Due to some unpleasant boarding situations, she was literally a bag of bones. She was maybe a body condition score of 2 or 3. Her eyes were dull, and she was so cranky and nasty. All she did was eat and eat and eat. I worried so much about her. I started her on a diet of 2 pounds of Blue Seal Demand + 1 cup Omegatin + 5-6 flakes of timothy/grass hay per day.

After doing much research about equine nutrition, I steadily increased her to 4 pounds of Omegatin + 1 pound of ADM NaturalGlo rice bran nuggets per day. I also started weighing my hay and feeding more hay, and my little 14.3 hh mare scarfed down 45-50 pounds of hay a day. JUST BY HERSELF!

Today, two years later, she is fat and sleek and shiny. Her eyes are bright, and she is friendly and full of energy. She is currently eating 10 pounds of hay, 4 hours of grass pasture, and 2 cups of Triple Crown Lite per day...what an easy keeper! :D

To anybody who is trying to put weight on a horse, I highly recommend free choice 2nd cutting hay. If my little mare needed to eat 45-50 pounds per day, I can't imagine what the bigger horses need to eat. I also recommend Omegatin, as it is high fat, low starch, and full of calories, vitamins, and minerals. See www.omegatin.com.

It also takes time. I was so frustrated and so impatient to see a difference in my mare. I would say it took a good three months before I started seeing a difference, and a good six months before her weight was back where it needed to be. She has continued to improve over two years, and today she looks the best I've ever seen her. :)

Once somebody asked me what my greatest accomplishment was. It was definitely bringing my horse back. :)

By the end of the day, I have very little energy left to ride my horses. On weekends I try to ride super early in the morning, but that doesn't work on weekdays when I have to go to work.

The other day I was trying to remember how I managed to go to school, do homework, and ride five or six days a week. Why do I have so much less energy today? Is it because I'm older...well, yes, but not THAT much older. :D Is it because I'm fully responsible for the care of my horses now? That's probably part of it, as running a farm is very exhausting! Is it because I get home at 4:30 PM every day instead of getting out of school at 2:00 PM? Yeah, that's a major part of it, too, as I'm an early morning person and NOT an evening person. And school was so much more flexible, and I didn't sit in front of a computer ALL DAY EVERY DAY. And I could do homework at random times if I knew I would have a hectic riding schedule during the week. The work schedule is so much more rigid.

I would love to work 8-1 or 9-2 every day. That would be so nice. :D Even 10-3 would be okay, as then I could ride early in the mornings. But that will never happen, as I could never make enough money. Oh, well.

Not that it's great riding weather anyway. It is HOT and HUMID. Yuck.

My ponies got a full bath today! They look remarkably clean right now. Ha ha ha, they won't stay that way for long. They were very good for their baths...the cool water must have felt great today. It was so hot and humid! Then afterwards they got a molasses Rounders treat...they LOVE molasses Rounders treats! :D

My pony is rubbing out her tail, though. :( The hair is dry and brittle, so maybe she just needs some moisturizer! :D They are dewormed regularly. I better do some research.

I went swimming yesterday...it was awesome! I haven't been swimming in a long time, so I forgot how much fun it is! :D

But now the weekend is over. So very sad. Back to work tomorrow.

I've been doing a lot of financial stuff this weekend. In the next couple of months, I can either pay off more of my car, or I can buy a new computer. This computer is so old and so slow...I'm afraid it's going to die on me any minute. However, a really good new computer is quite expensive, and I really do want to get one of the top models. Maybe I should just save a little longer and work on paying off my car for now.

We might get some thunderstorms tonight. Whatever we get, it probably won't be enough to really soak in. It desperately needs to rain...my pastures are so dry, and the hay isn't growing!

And it's Friday again! Yay!

I was just doing some financial stuff. It looks like I'm going to have a little extra money to pay off more of my car loan next month. That's awesome. :)

It was hot and humid today, although not as bad as the weather people were forecasting. Tomorrow is going to be worse...but I'm going swimming!!!!!!!! And the ponies might get a full bath. They got a quick rinse this evening...I think they liked it...they both stood very quietly...usually they freak out about the water.

The mosquitoes were pretty bad tonight. I've been using Ultrashield on the horses for the past week or two. I'd like to go back to Equisect...I just bought a new gallon, and it's less toxic and a little gentler and not as nasty smelling. I also got my fly predators today. I'm a little creeped out about hatching insects...well, they haven't started hatching yet...I'll check them again tomorrow. I sure hope they work on the flies...now if only something would eat mosquitoes!!!

We do have a lot of dragonflies this year...must encourage more dragonflies!

I just ate some cookie dough ice cream...yummy!

Good evening. It is getting quite late, but I thought I'd write a little bit before bed.

I took yesterday off from work and got a lot of stuff done around the farm. Lots of weedwhacking! And I also fixed the fly traps and turned the manure pile. It is turning into great compost, so if there are any gardeners out there, let me know! :D

I also ordered some fly predators...it is late in the season, but the flies are mostly under control due to the fly traps. I figure this will just be a little extra boost for the end of July and August, the worst part of the summer. I'm a little disturbed about releasing MORE insects onto my property, but everybody raves about the fly predators, so I figured I'd try it!

The ponies are doing well. I'm not sure how much riding will be done this weekend because it is supposed to be 95 degrees and humid. YUCK! More like good horsey bath weather. Also good swimming weather...I might be going swimming on Saturday! YAY! I hope I don't have another allergic reaction to something in the water...although maybe it will help my super hypersensitive skin get over this annoying allergy!!!

I'm trying to figure out how to pay off my car loan faster. Hmmm...better do a little budget work this weekend. We should be getting our annual pay raises soon! :)

Okay, time for bed. Good night!

We got hay today! It is late 1st cutting, so it is a little stalkier and browner than I would have liked, but nowhere near as bad as it could be. There IS still some green in it and some softer stems. And it appears to be very dry. So I am happy. There's nothing like a full barn of hay to make a horse person very very very happy.

The weather was nice this weekend, but my allergic reaction is still bothering me, especially when I get dirty and sweaty. I tried to ride yesterday, but I was so uncomfortable that I had to stop after 10 minutes. :( Maybe next weekend. I just finished my prednisone today, and I am still taking Benadryl.

It's supposed to be hot this week, so I hung up some more fly traps today. I want to try the fly predators, but I think we might be too late this season. Fortunately, the fly traps are doing a pretty good job! I forgot to turn and lime the manure pile today...that also helps keep the flies down.

Back to work tomorrow...ugggggh...the weekends are just not long enough!

Yay, it's Friday night! My favorite evening of the week! And it has been beautiful weather the past couple of days...finally a change from the nasty heat and humidity. All of the hay guys have been out cutting hay. We're getting a hay delivery on Sunday. I hope it's good stuff! :D

The ponies have been out on pasture a lot more, so they are actually eating less hay. They are getting really fat. It didn't help that they had a couple of weeks off due to the weather and my icky allergic reaction (I am STILL a little itchy!). :( I'm hoping to finally ride this weekend!

I went out for Chinese food last night with my very best friend. It was SO YUMMY! I need more Chinese food...mmmm...craving!!!!!! I have been eating a lot of italian ice recently, too. It helped cool me down when my skin was all red and splotchy, so I sort of got addicted. :P

Work was pretty quiet today. It was nice. I wish it was always slow like in the summer. :)

I'm trying to clean up my room tonight. I have so much junk that I don't know what to do with! Must de-clutter!!! I sold my old saddle a couple of weeks ago...that was great! Hmmm, now what else can I get rid of?

Three blog entries in a row...I am on a blogging roll! :D

I am feeling even better today. Mostly just tired now. Still a little red and itchy, but the prednisone is helping a lot. I think I will take some Benadryl before going to bed, too.

The hot and humid weather is NOT helping. And I had to spend most of the day cleaning up my hay shed in order to make room for new hay this weekend. Hay buying...one of the toughest parts of horse ownership, I tell you! The weather has been very uncooperative lately...I sure hope they can get a good hay crop in this year!

The flies are SO bad out there. We were doing great for a while there, and all of a sudden, they just exploded with this wet/humid weather. I feel bad for the horses. I bought some more fly traps and will hang them up tomorrow. I've also considered buying fly predators, but I'm not sure if it's too late. They are a little expensive, too...I'll have to check the budget!

Almost time for bed now...must go take Benadryl...zzzzzzzzzzzz...

Wow, a blog entry TWO NIGHTS in a row! :D

I am feeling better today thanks to massive doses of prednisone. The medicine makes me feel tired and sad, but at least the allergic reaction has gone down. Thank goodness!

I ordered some fly spray and fly ribbons today. The flies have been really bad the past few days, so I hope the JUMBO FLYCATCHERS will help! :D

I've been trying to figure out how to track my budget this year. I keep very close track of all the horse expenses, and I always make a list of upcoming expenses, but I'm not sure how to keep track of non-horse expenses. All the non-horsey stuff just sort of gets lumped into one amount if I'm paying off my credit card bill. And if it's not on my credit card bill, then there is just so much little stuff to keep track of. Oh, well. As long as I have enough money to pay my bills, I guess I'm okay!

Almost time to feed the horses, and then it will be off to bed!

Sigh. I am not feeling very well tonight. I haven't felt well all week. I had a bad allergic reaction to sunblock and have to take lots of prednisone now. :( It makes me very tired and sad.

The weather has been terrible, and there has been a lot of rain, and I am worried about the upcoming hay season. My ponies are bored, as it takes all of my energy just to go outside and feed them right now. I wish I felt better.

People were setting off fireworks very close to us tonight, and it scared the horses and the cat, and I saw a few bats flying around, too. I think the only animals that aren't scared by fireworks are MOSQUITOES. Uggggh...if anyone has any good non-toxic mosquito trap suggestions, I would love to hear them!

I need to start getting the horses out on pasture more. I am very cautious about letting them out on spring grass, but it's July now, and I really need to get them up to several hours of grass. I need to feed less hay.

I need to order some fly spray, too. I better start looking online and comparing prices. I sort of want to buy my ponies some treats, too. They don't get treats often, but today I am in a generous mood. Must be the steroids. :P