My Girls are Home

The Latest Adventures of Sopha Dog

Well, until the horses arrive there's not much to mention about what's happening at the ranch other than the antics of the other animals present. I probably have mentioned Sophie too much already, but just had to share a few things she's been up to.

Some of you already know that I've been having some bad back issues here lately, and needless to say moving didn't help that at all. The sciatica has been the worst of it, and my refusal to lie around with an ice pack on my back and leg have only made matters worse. I HAVE been trying the last couple of weeks, though, to sit in bed, ice my back and in order to force myself to sit still I've taken up crocheting. Not sure how sad this will sound, but my newest project is crocheting sweaters for Sophie. She's got short hair and definitely wants let back into the house much faster now that it's gotten colder out. I looked for some jackets for her but they were both ridiculous looking and expensive, especially considering she's a farm dog and will surely tear up any non-utilitarian garment she would be wearing. I know a crocheted sweater probably won't be exactly durable, but it will be cheap and easy to make, washable, and a lot less ridiculous looking than outfits with frills and lace and glitter.

So I'm sitting in bed the other night, watching TV, icing my back and crocheting, and the remote falls on the floor beside the bed. My back is screaming this day and getting up means trying to save my stitch, get out, get the remote, and try to resituate my pillows, blankets, and ice pack. I noticed that Sophie (who lays beside me in bed) saw the remote drop and she's still looking in that direction. So I tell her, mostly as a joke, "Go get it, Sophie. Get the remote!" She looks at me and then looks towards the fallen remote again, so I ask her again to get it for me. What does she do? SHE JUMPS DOWN, GRABS THE REMOTE AND BRINGS IT BACK UP ONTO THE BED TO ME!!! I couldn't believe it! She's really incredibly smart--her main problem is she has the attention span of a fruit fly. At that moment she was slightly sleepy so she was much more focused than she usually is. It was really cool, though. I hope as she gets older I can teach her to do many more fun things.

She does love to play keep-away. She'll pick up a toy and egg me on to run after her. Of course she's a lot faster than I am so she will stop, put down the toy, and the minute that I'm almost about to get she picks it back up and runs off again. She also knows what "Go get your toy" means. We were sitting on the bed last night and I tell her to "get your toy" and she looks around, spots her blue chewy, jumps down, grabs it, and brings it back up on the bed so we can play. She'd be brilliant if she could just stay focused for more than .5 seconds!! LOL.

Another Request

Recently a few of my friends (I won't invade their privacy by mentioning names) have had health problems. These people have been very good friends to me. They are good people who only deserve the best, yet it seems that most of the time good people are the ones that are put to the test the most. Whatever you do, whether it be pray, send well wishes, transfer good karma--please keep these people in mind and value your friends. If you have the opportunity to do something good then do it, pay it forward, and do your part to make life easier for those around you. I know times are tough, but in the end all we really have is each other. To my dear friends, I pray that your good health returns to you tenfold. You've all shown what it means to be a true friend and one day I hope to repay your kindnesses. Until then, I'll pray.

Updates

Well, I've finally gotten moved in. I love the place, but it is a bit spooky being out there by myself, then to have Sophie sit on the couch and growl out the dark windows! The girl is freaking me out! I am considering asking my landlord if I can bring out my 87-year old grandmother's Great Pyrenees. She is getting where she can't take very good care of Dutchess, the 140 lb wonder dog. Last I saw her she had hairballs all over and she is still young and so big, my grandma just can't teach her very good manners. It's tough to ignore a dog like that when she wants to play! We'll see...I don't need the food bill but the security would be nice. She'd never harm a soul, but she's intimdating enough to keep anyone meaning harm to the place to find out!

I did want to mention that in the next few months, in an effort to avoid additional costs, I will have no internet service at home, so I apologize in advance if there is a delay in my response. Work has been incredibly busy as well. I love my job, so no worries, but my love for my work certainly doesn't create any extra time--in fact, I think it may be just the opposite!

That's it for the updates. As far as what's on my mind, it's probably the same as what's on everyone elses--money. I've been thinking hard of what I can do to cut costs or make a little extra on the side. Let's hear it--leave a comment and let everyone know what you're doing to save/make money in these tough times. Here's what I'm doing:

--Stop eating out--even for one person it can add up. Along the same lines, renew your love for Ramen--try differnet flavors, you never know :) Other cheap meals include grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup, chili, burritos, and peanut butter.

--Only drive when you absolutely have to. Look up "hypermiling:" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermiling

--Watch your consumption with everything! Conservation in every aspect cuts costs.

--Learn what you can live without. Mine is TV. While cable is nice, it's something I can definitely live without.

--Cut out the waste. If something goes bad in the fridge, don't buy any more for at least 6 weeks. If you didn't use it up then don't keep buying it. It sounds simple, but if you think about it, repurchasing spoiled items is something we tend to do a lot of, just because we get comfortable in buying certain things all the time.

I'd love to hear what everyone else has to say!

Eddie's Ladies in Waiting

Just one more post (ok, there will probably be more, but just this one more for now) bragging about what a good job Kelly has done getting top quality mares lined up to breed to Eddie. I worked very hard with very little disposable income to improve my broodmare lines expotentially in the three years that I bred Eddie. One of my greatest fears while falling was that I would fail to continue this trend and never really be able to get Eddie bred to the quality of mares that he deserves--the mares that will get his name out there. Thank goodness Kelly came along. Her love of Eddie and her belief in his capabilities are as strong as mine are, and to find someone to believe in the horse that you believe in so much is rare, and is even rarer when, let's face it, Eddie doesn't have the most popular bloodlines listed in today's fancy, glossy ads. Eddie has great bloodlines--solid with proven champions and producers of champions, but none of them are the flavor of the month. However, that is exactly WHY I believe in him so much. He delivers strength and vitality into lines that have been inbred to the point of weakness (displayed in poor temperments, weak legs, hooves prone to lameness and founder, and very short careers). Our contemporary halter horses are beautiful--there is no arguement there, but a beautiful horse does the average person no good if they cannot afford the specialty shoes to keep them sound, the top vets to keep them healthy, and invest a significant amount of money into a horse whose career is over at 4 or 5 years old. Eddie's sire was out at rodeos rounding up bulls (keep in mind he earned his APHA Championship long ago) when he was 21! Eddie survived a horrific injury and has surpassed his life expectation--and we are so thankful that he is still as healthy and sound as could be possibly expected given the severity of the injury he survived. My point is, it would have been much easier for myself, or for Kelly, to go out and buy the flavor of the month to promote. However, I don't think I'm speaking out of line for her if I say I think we both believe in Eddie because we believe in improving the breed for the longrun, and he is the stallion to do it.

That being said, here are a couple (among many) of the outstanding mares lined up to be bred to Eddie for foals in 2010:

Margie's Girl--APHA Solid Barlink and Mr Norfleet bred mare. "Bambi" is a producer of Champion halter horses, ROM earners and multiple futurity winners. I'm very excited about this mare not only because she is gorgeous, a proven producer, but also Mr Norfleet and Red Sonny Dee (Eddie's grandsire) were the foundation from which the Sheriff's built their successful breeding operation--producing many champions from this cross.

Tandy Rocket Ballew--AQHA Cremello. "Sugar" is an outstanding granddaughter of Mr Yella Fella. She is a 3 time World Champion producer! Eddie will not just be bred once to this outstanding mare, but TWICE--for a guaranteed QUADRUPLE-registered foal!! This foal will be eligible for APHA/AQHA/PtHA/PHBA. The first foal will be promoted by Kelly's very capable hands and the second one will be promoted by Arroyo Quarter Horses, who have done an outstanding job in breeding and promoting some of the top dilutes in the industry. I just can't thank both Fulton's Crossing Ranch and Arroyo Quarter Horses for making this amazing cross possible!

The last year has been incredibly difficult, as so many of you know. It seems like there has been heartache after heartache. However, my dreams for Eddie have always been that--dreams for him to have the opportunity to first and foremost live a happy life, never again in the state of neglect I found him in when I bought him. I had also hoped that he could go on to be proven the outstanding sire I believed he could be. It makes this past year so much easier to bear knowing that Eddie is not only happy, well cared for and loved, but that he continues to have the opportunity to show what he can do as a sire and hopefully fulfill a lasting legacy.

Eddie's Girls

You might have noticed that I added some of my favorite links to the left side of my blog page. All these people are friends and/or people who have supported Eddie and believe in his potential as a sire. I'm very excited for the next few years for him--he is breeding at a level I was close to achieving but just wasn't able to accomplish due to factors in my life beyond my control. I am so incredibly proud to have Eddie promoted at his high of a level. I've never had a doubt in my mind that he absolutely deserves it, and I'm incredibly happy that I'm not the only one who can see that he has a lot to add to today's APHA and AQHA horses.


This year he was only bred to two mares due to my loss of job and home (and therefore place to keep him and my mares), but they are two truly outstanding mares. The first one is Shameless Traditions, a point-producing daughter of 4-Time World Champion (the ONLY horse to ever win consecutive AQHA world championships from his yearling year to aged) Noble Tradition and out of a Conclusive-bred mare with a fantastic AQHA All-Round Champion bottom line. "Rita" has been verified in foal, due 1/30/09. I absolutely can't wait for this foal and am very pleased that he or she will end up in the hands of a very capable promoter--Kelly Fulton. Eddie and Rita both now reside with Kelly at Fulton's Crossing Ranch in Hermiston, OR. Here is a very pregnant Rita just last week:

The second mare to be bred to Eddie this year was Seza Impressive One, aka "Crazy." This great old mare came to me from Linda Cole near Topeka. She is a ROM producer that has been bred to some outstanding horses during her career as a broodmare, including the great Zips Chocolate Chip. She is older, but in excellent health and despite her name is a very sweet, lovely old mare. She was pasture bred to Eddie during his stay with Vicki Morgan (thanks so much Vicki for taking such amazing care of my special guy), and Crazy has not been vet checked yet, but we are keeping our fingers crossed!! Here is a picture of this grand old gal:

I will make another post soon of the outstanding mares he will be bred to next year. I can't wait! Thanks again Kelly for believing in Eddie and taking him that next step when I was unable to. You're the answer to my prayers for him! :)