As if I Didn't Have too Many Animals Already...

I brought home a goat!

Meet PJ:

(Hi there! Why yes, yes I am standing on the front porch)

PJ is a 4 month old Nubian goat.

After I lost my mare Fun earlier this year, my other mare became the one and only pony. Horses are naturally herd animals, so Little Amber, as you can imagine, is a little bit lonely. Here where my bright idea to get her a goat comes in to play. I have had goats and horses as buddies before, so I stupidly thought that the new goat and the current horse would hit it off. I was wrong. This is as close as Miss Pissy Pants will get to harmless little PJ.

(Holy shit! That thing is going to eat me, isn't it?!)

The last pet goat I had was a pygmy, and she was an independent little booger. She spent her days in the pasture, happy, on her own or with the horses, she really didn't care. Abby was just happy to be alive and have weeds to eat. I wish I could say the same for PJ. Nope, he FREAKS if you get out of his sight. I tried putting him in the run in front of the barn but he escaped. So, like all good rednecks, I spent the evening on the back porch by the pool, with my goat faithfully laying at my feet.

(Where's Jethro?)

I have a picture of him in the house but I think this post is redneck enough without it, don't you?

I'm hoping that if I'm patient, and diligent I can get Mr. PJ and Miss Pissy Pants to happily coexist...away from the porch I hope.

Oh yeah, and a quick little note: I'm going to be an aunt again! Congratulations to Baker and Jo! Who would've thought. Just when I"d given up on them they go and surprise me! The new little Pulliam should make it's entrance into the world sometime in April. I hope it's a girl!

I'm Still Forcing the Crafty Thing...

I am always oddly surprised every time I finish a project. Especially when the project is making something that can be used later. I know, it's sad, people make stuff all the time. But those people aren't ME. I don't have a crafty bone in my body. OK so maybe I'm trying to force at least one bone to become crafty with the whole knitting hobby, but honestly craftiness does not come easy for me. I suck at it. Need a website designed, no problem, need spec sheets made for a new wheel or a creative ad campaign for a stallion, check, but sewing, knitting, cooking, etc. OMG SOMEONE COULD POSSIBLY DIE IF I ATTEMPT IT. I'm not kidding, I break things, drop stitches, drop needles, break needles. yes I BREAK needles, did that today as a matter of fact. But I digress, you get the idea. Not. Crafty.

My not so crafty self (with the help from a friend) decided to attempt a blanket. I wanted something funky and cute. That's all, nothing to frame or enshrine or display, just a warm, funky blanket to cover up with late at night when I'm watching a movie. I emphasize this point because I think that is what my mother thinks I set out to do. It's not a family heirloom here people, it's a blanket that the dog is probably going to get hair on and drool all over before too long.

I had photos from various stages, but I can't find them, so these will have to do. Gucci was more than thrilled to lend a helping paw. The way I see it, if I can finish a project without injuring myself or the cat it's a good day.

Gucci helping me pin the last section after I flipped it right-side out:


Gucci falling asleep on the job:
And finally I got it all pinned, sewed and got the little ties in it so the blanket won't shift. I cheated and didn't use batting. I used a fleece backing instead. I never get super cold so this should be enough to keep me warm while I'm getting full use out of the Netflix subscription:

I'm so proud of myself! My first blanket! Yay!

She's still alive, and happy to be home.

She's already filled out some since returning home yesterday. I'm still treating her stings, and the farrier is coming out later this week to fix her foot, but otherwise she's back to her old self. And she hasn't attempted another escape....yet!

My horse ran away from home!

I've heard of dogs doing it, cats doing it, sometimes even children do it, but not once have I heard of a horse doing it. Leave it up to something that belongs to me to do it...my horse ran away from home! The experience most definitely makes it on my top ten list of things that scared the living bejesus out of me.

It was a quiet, hazy and hot weekend like most July days in Georgia. Nothing out of the ordinary, just life as usual, until I realized my pasture was empty! It's a strange feeling. Standing in the middle of my pasture, with nice safe fencing, a nice big barn and NO HORSE. A quick run of the fence revealed the escape route. I really should take a picture of where she escaped. It's tiny, and totally overgrown with trees and weeds and such, I have no idea how she made it through, but she did. And then made it through 1,500 acres of thick woods. How she is alive or not torn to shreds I'll never know.

I found her A DAY LATER (after looking for two straight days and immediately alerting everyone in the area) at the jumper barn a few miles away, safe and sound in one of their small paddocks. I know the guy thought I was a crazy woman, I was so nervous, relieved and embarrassed all at the same time. I mean really, what responsible horse owner loses their horse!? Me! That's who!!

In all truthfulness I'm not actually at fault here. After further inspection one of the panels was physically unlatched, unhooked and lifted up and moved...BY A HUMAN. And it wasn't THIS human. I really despise people who don't have respect for animals or other people's property. I got off so lucky. Besides a tiny (horizontal) crack in her hoof and roughly 100 bee stings she got out of the ordeal unscathed. No cuts, no gashes, no strains or breaks. Whew! I think I know who took the panel down, and if I figure out it was them I am going to let them have it!

This is all the more reason she needs a buddy. Of course the buddy could've kept her from wandering off, but then again I could be writing this blog post about the runaway horse and her buddy the goat!

Amber the short pony horse made it home safe and sound today (Monday) I guess she just needed a little vacation. Here she is with my mom (who is terrified of horses). Other than being a little drawn up and covered with bumps from the bee stings she is OK. (I just hosed her off, that isn't sweat)
She's a little drawn up and she lost a little weight but otherwise she is OK.

I didn't use their services (although if I hadn't found her by Sunday afternoon I was going to) but it was such a relief knowing that there is a service like NetPosse available to horse owners. The whole ordeal reminded me the importance of having new, updated, clear and detailed pictures of my horses. (or really all of my animals) I have also implemented a new policy wherein I threaten the life of any visitor that goes through any gate on my property.

I know I only have a few readers, but I have been a responsible horse owner my entire life, and have never so much as had a problem with a gate being left open (ok maybe once or twice but I've always caught it before any horses escaped), but my incident just goes to show that you can never be too careful, and never let any guests go near gates, barns, or fencing unsupervised. And if you do be sure to check up on them! Even the most responsible people can do stupid shit like take a fence panel down and not put it back!

There is only one small section of the property that isn't fenced (there is a pasture fence and then fencing all and the perimeter and a gate at the driveway. The plan is to have the remaining part of the property fenced with posts and electric fence wire. This way if the horse escapes the pasture she won't be able to leave the property. My dad also suggested wiring the panels and gates to keep unwanted creatures of the people variety from unlatching gates or moving panels. I also suggested razor wire, but he thought that was a little harsh. (I'm kidding of course...well kind of;-)