Golden Days - Adventures With Indy

Friday, May 31st
Golden Days

Birthday Celebration!

Yo, everybody! Ami and I had a big birthday bash on May 28th! It was my fourth birthday and Ami’s eleventh. Well, Mom doesn’t know the exact date of Ami’s birth, but she does know it was in May 1991, and…

Hey, Doofus! I TOLD you not to DO that!

Uh, do what, Ami?

Reveal my AGE, Goofball! How many times do I hafta tell you that it’s not polite to ask a Lady her age???

But, Ami - it’s not like you’re OLD, for gosh sakes, and besides, I’m not sure you’re a Lady. Anyway, folks, Mom put the pictures of the party on my page on my web site. It’s at http://www.accordingtoindy.com/IndysPage.html Mom’s gonna leave the page up for a little while, and we’d all love it if you dropped by!

You made that comment about me not being a Lady on the party page too. Just what are you and Mom getting at here? (This Kid is hopeless!)

Well, Mom said you bit her, and…

Oh, for Heaven’s sake! I’m gonna to eat my hay! Goodbye!

They go on like this all the time. I think I’m going to invest in some earplugs.
suzym on 05.31.02 @ 09:04 AM CST [link] [No Comments]

Tuesday, May 28th

Happy Birthday!

Today was Indy’s 4th birthday, and he and Ami celebrated in fine style. Since Ami isn’t papered, I don’t know the exact date of her birth except that it was in May. Because DJ was born in May as well, we always celebrated both birthdays together. We will continue this tradition with Indy. Ami says that’s fine as long as she gets her share of the goodies. So, today we celebrated her turning 11.

Brenda had told me that Indy was accustomed to having an apple, carrot, oat mash topped with molasses for his birthday. Since Indy has become addicted to alfalfa cubes and applesauce since being here, I added those to the mix as well. I must say, he and Ami appeared to enjoy this concoction to the MAX. Then they came looking for more - sticky lips and all. Some people are never satisfied :o)

I had hoped for a nice, sunny day to take pictures. But noooooooo - we had to be overcast with the threat of scattered thunderstorms. While I was planning to take the Birthday Special Mash out in the afternoon, I decided to take my pictures at lunch - just in case. Good thing! By the time I started making the B’Day Special, we were in the midst of a thunderstorm, and it was still raining and quite dark by the time I actually went out. Not that Indy and Ami were in the least bothered, but it wouldn’t have made for very good photos.

Another birthday, another celebration, and a fine time was had by all. However, Ami DID remark that it’s not polite to ask a Lady her age!

suzym on 05.28.02 @ 09:30 PM CST [link] [No Comments]

Tuesday, May 21st

Indy, Indy, Indy…

Where to begin? I had a lot to write after yesterday, but I was too tired last evening to start. Just as well - now I can add this morning’s adventures of Indy The Court Jester.

Right now, we have some little kittens by my All Time Favorite Barn Kitty, Socks. She is a wonderful mother, and we want the kittens. There are four of them, and they are just getting to the age where they are all over the place, chasing each other - and anything else that moves… or doesn’t move, as the case may be :o)

The way our barn is set up, the kittens can easily get into the area where the horses are. Not a good thing for babies that don’t have enough sense to get out of the way! We’ve been through this before, and, even though our horses have always been aware of the cats and seem to go to great effort to avoid squashing them, it does require SOME awareness on the part of the cats too.

So, when there are kittens this age, we have to put up some sort of barrier to keep them out of the horse area. A couple of years ago we tried putting a solid board up to divide the areas. Unfortunately, that prevented US from having a reasonably convenient way of getting in there ourselves. Back to the drawing board.

The kittens were really racing around yesterday morning, so after we finished morning chores, Mike stacked up shavings bales - the ones in plastic - to block the kittens out. I had a slightly funny feeling about leaving these bales within reach of You-Know-Who, but he seemed to be ignoring them, so I figured he had gotten bored with them. WRONG.

When I went out to give the guys their lunch, there was Mr. Indy, standing is the midst of a whole bale of shavings that he’d taken it upon himself to open and spread around. Hey, if he felt he needed more shavings in his stall, all he had to do was ask! Maybe he was trying to save me the effort - RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT. The bag was still in the middle area, totally demolished, and Mr. Indy was standing in the middle of the whole thing, looking as innocent as an angel.

I raked the shavings into his stall, and moved the rest out of range. Indy felt he should help me with this as well. He pulled a chunk out of the corner of one, and put his FOOT on another. For a minute, I thought he was planning to climb up on it. Better view or something.

When I went back out in the afternoon, all the bags were as I had left them - out of his reach. I guess I didn’t ruin his whole day though, because he was romping around being his usual Goofball self. I went down to the end of the paddock to just check around, and the next thing I knew, he was flying down the hill. He came to a sliding stop right at my feet - and instantly started grazing. When I wandered back up to the front, he did the same thing. He gets a lot of exercise that way :o)

This morning, Mike was giving Ami her ration of the hay we bought last year that has the alfalfa in it. Neither of them get a lot of this stuff- especially Ami, aka Ms Tub ‘O Lard. Indy is ALWAYS on hand for any foodstuffs, and Mike lets him have a bite of Ami’s hay, even though his own hay feeder is FULL. Well, I guess Mike didn’t have a good hold on the flake - and this is VERY tightly baled stuff - because Indy pulled the whole thing out of his hands and proceeded to strew it all over the place before settling down to eat what was left. Later, he managed to stick his lips under Ami’s stall gate and steal some more even as she was eating it. Well, I TOLD her what would happen if she pulled it all down from the feeder and pushed it close to the gate. Nobody listens to me…

Dang, it’s hard to clean stalls when you’re weak from laughing.

suzym on 05.21.02 @ 09:03 AM CST [link] [1 Comment]

Thursday, May 16th

Depressing Morning, Lovely Afternoon

For a day that started off depressing, yesterday afternoon turned out to be very nice indeed. Yesterday morning, I tried yet again to work on getting DJ’s web site converted to a Memorial to him, and change some of the pages to go on Indy’s site. It’s proving an extremely difficult task. I can only work on DJ’s site for a few minutes before I break down. It’s SO hard to look at pictures of DJ and realize that he’s not out in the barn waiting for me. I can’t wait to work on the web site until it gets better, because I’ve already done that. This is as “better” as it’s going to be for a long, LONG time. But, I did manage to make some progress.

I was still feeling down by lunch, but had no time to worry about it because one of my vets, Dr. Karin Jensen, was coming around 12:30 or so to give Ami her second West Nile vaccination and Indy his first. I took the horses their lunches, gulped down my own, and went back out to the barn to wait for Karin.

When Karin hadn’t come by 2:00, Mike came out to tell me that he hadn’t heard anything from her on the phone and had put in calls to her mobile phone as well as to her house. This was VERY strange, because Karin is NEVER a no-show. While I waited to hear from Karin, Mike was getting things ready to fit a load of shavings that was to be delivered sometime that afternoon. Actually, we were waiting for a call from the shavings guy as well, to tell us when he expected to be here.

We got a call back for Karin very promptly, and she said she was sure that when we’d talked the week before, and rescheduled this appointment from that week to this one, that she’d told me she’d be coming later in the afternoon instead of the Noonish time of the original schedule. Aw, she did - I’d just forgotten. Sometimes I wonder about my mind, I really do… but, what the heck. It was a lovely afternoon, one of the very few we’ve had all spring, so why not hang out in the barn with the horses all afternoon?

Since I had plenty of time, I groomed both Indy and Ami - even to putting ShowSheen on their manes and tails. Mike and I put Ami’s flysheet on Indy to get an idea of what size we needed to order for him. These things run SO big, measuring doesn’t seem to work very well. Ami’s sheet is a bit too big for her, and seemed even bigger on Indy, even though he’s quite a bit taller. I guess Ami takes it up in width LOL! Anyway, we decided to order one a few inches shorter for Indy, and we now know for SURE he’ll never be able to use DJ’s.

When Karin got here, she finally got to meet Mr. Indy :o) She and her assistant spent a bit of time getting to know him, as well as admiring his beautiful coat. Indy handled the shot like a pro, which is good since I’m going to be the one to give him the second dose in three weeks. UGH! I DO hate giving shots.

It WAS a lovely day, and spending time with Indy and Ami always makes me feel better. And, it was a good thing we took full advantage of yesterday, because today it was back to rain, rain, rain. Not only that tomorrow is supposed to be chilly with scattered FROST tomorrow night. Good grief! I guess I know why Indy and Ami haven’t finished shedding out yet - they still NEED that hair!

Oh yeah - when did the shavings arrive? The same time as Karin, of course.

suzym on 05.16.02 @ 08:29 PM CST [link] [1 Comment]

Monday, May 13th

Send In The Clowns… Don’t Bother, He’s Here

Where to begin… our feed tubs in the stalls are set up to be removable for easier cleaning. Well, Mr. Indy must have thought he dropped some of his breakfast underneath his tub, because he pulled it out of it’s holder and tossed it in the barn isle! When I came up and asked him what the heck he thought he was doing, he had the MOST innocent look on his face. He was just checking after all. Right.

Yesterday, we were adding shavings to the stalls. We have two brands at the moment, one in plastic bags, one in paper. I had just emptied a couple of the plastic bagged bales in his stall, hung the bags over the stall rail, and was spreading the shavings when Indy came in and decided to play with one of the bags. He pulled it off the rail and flung it around in his teeth for a few moments. Then he decided to play footsie with it. He dropped to the floor and proceeded to paw and stomp on it. When he tired of that, he decided to check out one of the paper bags. Still with the plastic bag underfoot, he picked up a paper one and started swinging that around. He turned to Ami’s stall and was holding the bag high enough that it cleared the gate into Ami’s stall. Ami was nonplussed enough to actually miss taking a bite of her hay - and that don’t happen often. Mike and I were rolling in the isle. I laughed so hard I was almost too weak to finish Ami’s stall. This kid is killing me. Oh, for a video!!

The weather here has been so gloomy and dark ever since Indy got here, I haven’t bothered to even try to take any pictures. I really want to catch him with the sun on his coat. He’s still not all shed out yet - neither is Ami - but he’s turning a dark chocolate with coppery highlights. And SO shiny. Come on Sun!!!

suzym on 05.13.02 @ 07:44 PM CST [link] [No Comments]

Sunday, May 12th

Never A Dull Moment

We had quite a bit of rain today, but at least it was relatively warm - finally. I dunno - if global warming is real, why has it been so *%@#! COLD! Well, Mr. Indy and Ms Ami haven’t been bothered by the unseasonably chilly weather. In fact, Indy has undoubtedly found it invigorating. The large paddock that he’s been living in IS large, and he seems to take great pleasure in tearing back and forth. We can see him from the kitchen window, and one of us will say, “Here he comes again!” He is REALLY beautiful with his dark body and silver-white mane and tail flying :o)

Yesterday, I was walking the paddock, just to check things out and make sure there was nothing that needed attending to. Indy was grazing just outside the barn - staying close to Ami in her paddock. Then he noticed that I was down at the far end, and here he came, barreling down the way. When he got to me, he stopped and immediately started grazing again - EXACTLY like DJ used to do. I hung around with him for a while, and then continued my inspection tour around and back up to the barn. When Indy looked up and found me back at the barn… here he came again, flying up the hill to stop and resume grazing almost at my feet. Is this kid Something Else or what?!

Later, I had given Ami some hay, and she was doing her usual thing of pulling all her hay out of the feeder and eating it off her shavings, but this time, she did a something more. I bit of background first. I’ve been giving Ami the mixed hay that we bought last year and keeping the grass hay for Indy. While this may sound backward since she needs to lose weight and he needs to gain it, Indy has always been on grass hay and very little pasture. Now, he’s on full pasture, and I didn’t want to spring mixed hay on him too.

However, he has figured out that Ami’s hay is tastier than plain vanilla grass hay - mostly by sticking his head under her stall gate and stealing little bits and pieces that have gotten pushed forward. Anyway, yesterday Ami was doing her hay-tossing thing, and he was watching over the gate, hoping she’d accidentally flip some far enough for him to grab. Once Ami got the whole mass onto the floor, she pushed it all the way out of her stall proper, up to and under the gate, to the point that fully half of it was on his side. Then they happily shared it until it was gone! I have NEVER seen Ami volunteer to share ANY food with ANYONE before. Now, maybe it was an accident that the hay got pushed over that far - I don’t think so, but even if it had been, she would normally have been pinning her ears and daring him on penalty of death to set a tooth on her hay. Sure wish I’d had the camera…

I haven’t done any “formal” training sessions with Indy yet. I wanted him to have plenty of time to settle in before starting anything serious. Brenda left me the Richard Thompson book with the ground work that Indy’s done, and the first thing I want to do is repeat all that with him. But of course, as John Lyons says, any time you’re with your horse, you’re training him. There is a thing I do almost unconsciously - which I got from John too :o) - and that is to cluck to my horse when I want his attention and to communicate that I’m about to ask for something - much the same way I would use a half-halt under saddle. “Attention: We’re about to do something different from what we’re doing now.” Well, Mr. Indy has picked up on this already. If I cluck, he stops whatever he’s doing and looks at me, waiting to see what I want. Smart boy! :o)

suzym on 05.12.02 @ 09:23 PM CST [link] [No Comments]

Thursday, May 9th

Food Speaks Louder Than… Anything

Once again, we find that the way to a man’s (or gelding’s) heart is through his stomach. Right now, Ami is getting the hay we had to buy last year that has some alfalfa in it. Indy is getting a mix of the grass hay Ron and Brenda brought down and the last of our grass hay. Unfortunately, he managed to sneak a nibble or two of Ami’s hay, and he’s decided he likes hers better. She’s still confined to her stall and the smaller paddock, so he can’t reach her hay feeder, but he spends a lot of time trying to get any that she might drop and push close enough to the front that he can reach under her stall gate and snab it.

While I was out there this afternoon, Ami was rooting through her hay like always, tossing off the coarser parts to eat later while shaking the leaves off into the bunker. Indy was hanging over her gate, watching. She naturally assumed he was watching HER, so she came over and pressed her entire side against the gate. While she stood there expecting him to nibble her haunch, he had his muzzle as far under her gate as he could manage, nibbling up the hay she had pushed far enough aside that he could get his lips around it. She couldn’t believe it when she finally realized her was ignoring her completely.

Matt was here yesterday and was quite pleased with the condition of Ami’s feet. He felt she was ready to ditch the glue on shoes - well, she’d already done that anyway - and go back to being barefoot. He also agreed with me that her lameness in back was probably a strained pastern and not a sole bruise. And, while he suggested waiting a few days before turning them back out together, he didn’t think it would be long.

Indy and I had a wonderful bonding moment yesterday. He was dozing, and he put his muzzle in the hollow of my shoulder, just like DJ used to do. The horsy smell, the warm, sweet breath on my cheek, the trust that such an action implies - this is what horse ownership is REALLY all about to me. Thank you, dear Indy, for giving that back to me.

suzym on 05.09.02 @ 08:46 PM CST [link] [1 Comment]

Tuesday, May 7th

Indy, Ami - And An Anniversary

Poor Ami. Indy is turning out to be as big a Stud Dud as DJ was. This afternoon she was eating her hay, but stopped to try to flirt with Indy. She came over with a bunch of hay hanging around her ears and over her face. That would have been funny enough in itself, but when Indy came and, instead of nibbling her face as she expected him to do, he grabbed the hay and started munching it, completely ignoring HER. I don’t think SHE thought it was particularly funny, but I laughed until I nearly lost my balance and fell into the stall shavings.

Indy is getting less “studish” by the hour, even if Ami isn’t getting any less “marish.” LOL! I suppose she’ll have to face facts eventually. Yesterday, I was scratching him on the withers, and he started nibbling her on her tush - not like a stud, but just as in mutual grooming. She decided it was better than nothing, and besides, she loves a good butt-scratch. So, there we were - I was scratching him and he was scratching her. Just one big happy herd - that’s us :o)

Unfortunately, we have to keep Ami in her paddock instead of letting her and Indy run and play together. Just when they were really starting to have fun just romping around as buddies, she tossed her other shoe AND came up sore on the same back foot that she bruised so badly last summer. I’m not sure if the soreness is in the foot or the pastern - she was doing a lot of rearing in playing with Indy, and it was wet and slippery. Whatever, we can’t take ANY chances with the front feet or the back. Matt will be here tomorrow, so we can see what he thinks about the back foot and discuss ways to SOMEHOW keep shoes on her fronts until they grow out enough that she - hopefully - can go barefoot again. Duct tape, anyone?

I used the shedding blade on Indy today, and he said that was good - VERY good. In fact, I couldn’t find a single square inch on his body where it WASN’T good LOL! He does love attention. Well, Ron said he was a pocket horse, and that’s exactly what I wanted. Indy’s a dear, sweet boy.

Thank God Indy was here today. Today would have been DJ’s 24th birthday. Twenty years of celebrating this day with him. I don’t know how I would have gotten through it without Indy.

Happy Birthday, DJ. This day will always be special because of you.

suzym on 05.07.02 @ 07:52 PM CST [link] [3 Comments]

Monday, May 6th

Indy - Day 1

Of course, Brenda and Ron didn’t get off quite as early as planned. Does one EVER get going on time with a horse? If so, I’ve never known them - certainly, I never have! They called us as they were crossing the line into Indiana, and they were running about an hour late. It wasn’t a problem because we would still have plenty of daylight left if they got here at 5:00 instead of 4:00.

They called again as they came to Columbia City as planned, and we hurried off to meet them at the Shell Station. Somehow, they beat us there, but I think they were glad to take a break and get something to drink. Also gave Indy a bit of rest after the longest trip he’d ever been on in his young life.

There he was, in that huge, nice trailer, with his own box stall to travel in. They were a little concerned because he hadn’t been drinking much, but he was munching his hay, and was in fact on his second bag. He was munching away on it when I stepped up to meet him. He sniffed at my hand - then went back to his hay :o) Mike took a picture of us with Indy looking out of the trailer behind me. So, after a brief stop for rest and pictures, we led them on in to Indy’s new home.

Naturally, Miss Ami was tearing around her little paddock as we pulled in the front gate into the pasture. She started ripping even more when she saw Indy. Another HORSE!!!

We brought Indy around and took him into the big paddock, where I took him and led him around his new area. Ron said this was about as worked up as I would see him. I HOPE that’s true, because Indy was a perfect gentleman. Even with Ami running and screaming, all new stuff like big boulders - that took a snort and a closer look, then were ignored - Indy was obviously uncertain, but he stayed light in my hands and was a pleasure to lead around.

We were all sitting around talking, letting Indy settle in and Ron and Brenda get some rest before hitting the road again when Matt showed up. I was SO glad he was able to make it! As always, he was a great addition to the conversation, and he loved seeing Indy :o)

I let Indy go ahead and stay out overnight last night, and all seemed well. Ron and Brenda said he’d lost a lot of weight after his castration. He IS underweight by quite a bit, so I would like him to have all this good grass he can handle. I will watch his manure closely, and if it starts getting sloppy, I'll cut down on the grass. He still ate quite a bit of hay, even though he had free access to the grass, so that's all to the good.

We let Ami out into the big paddock with him this morning while we were cleaning the stalls. What a riot! Ami was giving him all the come-on signs, and he actually mounted her - but that's ALL he did. He just sorta lay there on her back, nibbling her neck. I can't describe the look she gave me. It was like, "After all the hullabaloo, THIS is IT???" They tore numerous laps around the paddock, and she evidentially figured out that he was all talk and no action, because she kinda started telling him to back off - not real seriously, you understand - after all, she always loved to tear herself - but she started hinting at it. Once when they were tearing around, she just stopped and started grazing. So did he. Just like that LOL!

The only problem was, she tossed the other shoe - no shock THERE. That's why I didn't bother to call Matt about the first one. I was surprised it stayed on as long as it did, all things considered :o) However, that means we don't want her racing around TOO much until Matt can think of something to keep those darn things on. Maybe duct tape, huh? She didn't seem a bit sore for all the running, but bruised soles were what got this whole thing started last summer, so we SURE don't want a repeat of THAT.

This afternoon when I let them out together, they did pretty much the same thing, but with a little less intensity, and they spent more time grazing and less time playing smoochie-coo. Even with all the melee, they were very gentle with each other. I inspected them both all over, and there were no bite marks - not even a nip mark or any hair knocked off on either one.

This evening when I tried to bring them in for dinner, they started playing again. They were racing all over, getting into each other's stalls, trying to get to each other's food - all that stuff. I know how hard Ami is to catch and halter when she's in a mood like this, so I decided to try Indy. He was all excited, but he stood quietly while I put the halter on him, led him into his stall and tied him while I went to round up Ami, get her in her own stall and close the gate. He pawed just a little bit, but otherwise was fantastic. I gave him a good face/ear scratch as a reward. Boy, did he love THAT.

Overall, Mr. Indy is EXTREMELY sweet, gentle, easy going and NOSEY. Yep, he’s just like DJ.

suzym on 05.06.02 @ 07:31 PM CST [link] [No Comments]

Friday, May 4th

It’s I Day!

Indy’s coming! He’s on his way even as I write this. Ron and Brenda started down from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula sometime around 6:00 AM, and should arrive here about 4:00 PM. When they get to somewhere around Columbia City, Indiana, they are going to call us on their cell phone. We will go out to meet them at the Shell Station in Pierceton - which is about halfway between Columbia City and here - and lead them on in. It’s just TOO confusing to try to explain all the twists and turns one has to make to get to our place.

When we talked with the on the phone Thursday evening, and Mike started giving them all the directions they would need to get here on their own, they expressed GREAT relief that we would be meeting them LOL!

I got an email from Brenda last night saying that they had given Indy a bath, and that Mr. Stud Muffin knew how Fine he was and was Strutting his Stuff for their mares - who, according to Brenda, come into instant heat at the sight of him. She said they would be the ones who will miss him the most - except her. She also said that Nick had almost decided not to come, but changed his mind after trying to say goodbye to Indy. He just couldn’t let Indy go without seeing for himself the kind of home Indy will be going to. Ah, well… this is going to turn into one monster Blubber-Fest, I can tell you already.

I’m still very much still in the Grief Journey for DJ, and, as I posted before, Brenda is still trying to cope with the death of her Mother, and now losing Indy. Even if it is to a new home and not to death, it will still be VERY hard on her AND Ron. Not to mention Nick. Better have lots of tissues out there in the barn. We’re gonna need ‘em.

MUCH more later…

suzym on 05.04.01 @ 07:19 PM CST [link] [No Comments]

Thursday, May 2nd

Almost Here!

Only a couple of days now and Indy will be here! I can hardly believe it. I’m so glad he’s going to be here at the first of the month instead of the last, even if it HAS made Mike and me get cracking of some stuff we’d been putting off :o)

The main thing we’ve had to work on is the fencing around the greater pasture. It needed work anyway, and that ice storm we had at the end of February sure didn’t help matters. Seems like the parts that needed the most repair anyway got hit the worst - maybe that’s WHY they needed the most repair! Whatever, the east fence has needed help since we moved here. It’s just old, and the people here before us just threw up some wire that didn’t do much for it. It was okay for DJ and Ami because they wouldn’t have gone anywhere even if there were no fence at all, but it’s different with a new horse.

It’s the fence along the front that’s in the worst shape. We had planned to just replace it entirely with ElectroBraid, but we’ll just put up some make-do repairs for now. The problem is that we get ponding in that part of the pasture whenever we get a serious rain, and the fence posts just sank into the muck. We decided to replace this section with ElectroBraid because you can have long spans between posts, so we can just hop over the worst spots. We also plan to use wooden posts. Maybe they’ll float :o)

Ron and Brenda Vincent are going to call us this evening to work out any last minute details. You know, I really feel for them - especially Brenda. They love Indy SO much themselves. He was their “first-born” in their breeding program, so naturally, he’ll always be special, but I think Mr. Indy is just special period. I can tell how hard it is for them to part with him. It’s especially hard for Brenda because she just lost her mother. She is an only child and was always very close to her mother. I can REALLY relate to that because I was the same. Even though my mother has been gone since 1978, I still miss her. And, of course, I’m going through the grieving process now over DJ. I’m not even close to dealing with that one yet.

But, life goes on, and I’m SO looking forward to having Indy here :o) Ami is doing okay, but I know she isn’t really happy being alone. She’s gonna go NUTS when they pull in here with Indy. Guess I will too.

suzym on 05.02.02 @ 08:41 AM CST [link] [No Comments]

May 2002
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