Monday, May 11, 2009

I Picked Rocks

That is not all I accomplished this weekend, but it feels like it.

The farrier called me Friday and asked if he could move my appointment up two hours on Saturday. I didn't get the message until Saturday morning. The time change worked fine for me, but it meant that if I was going to ride, it had to be after the appointment. Which meant riding might not be possible, because sometimes My Boy has tender hooves after a trim.

My Boy does not always get "owy toes," as my auntie Desert Rose calls them. Typically, he's just tender on his newly trimmed hind hooves, for a couple of days. Most of the fall and winter, his hinds are left unshod. This time, in prep for summer trail riding season, I had the farrier put shoes on the back hooves. I decided to ride anyway, but only at a walk.


After the farrier left, Paint Girl brought out and groomed Brandy, then we saddled up.

When we got to the arena, it seemed like My Boy was walking like he was wearing a brand new pair of stilettos that weren't broken in yet. He was very tentative. I think his toes were a little short. Am I babying him? Needless to say, we didn't get much riding in.

Luckily, I had longed him out in the arena right before the farrier came and he loped a lot, so he got his legs stretched.

Unluckily, I think the sarcoid might be trying to make a comeback. I could see the resurgence of tiny red veins under the skin, which is what happened last time it "fingered" off from the original site a month ago. So, on again went that rust-colored Xxterra.

If I am just seeing things and the flesh is normal, the Xxterra won't do anything, so I'm mostly being prudent. I'm just hoping this doesn't become a chronic issue. If it does, I'll have to have the vet out again to reassess and implement plan B. Whatever that may be!

Indian ponies, checking out the stick teepee.

I didn't ride Sunday either, just to let him stand on those hooves another day. I brought him out for grooming, walking, and grazing. He seemed to be more comfortable. I also picked rocks. Since the pasture has dried out, it's easier to see how the "Painted Creek Rock Breeding Program" has been doing since last summer. It looked pretty successful! I rounded up the rocks and prepared them for shipping (tossed them over the fence.)

Wow, the winter hair is really starting to make itself scarce! My horse is roaning out and what was once copper is turning more of a liver chestnut. I love when their faces and legs loose all that long yak hair. My most handsome boy is back!

Lastly, you might have noticed on my sidebar- I started another blog. Mercy, what have I gotten myself into? It's a place just for my photos. With the new camera, I find that I am taking a lot of pictures. I hate to have them just sit in the files on my computer and they aren't always worthy of a story on their own. So, stop on by and see what you think. I think I am learning more and more with every click of the shutter.....but have many more clicks before I have it all figured out!

One thing I want to do is get the photos to load into a post at a larger size. The quality of the photo is also not as good when at a reduced size. They look great on my laptop, but when loaded into the post- not as good. When enlarged (by clicking on the photo in the post) it looks much better. I've heard some people use Flickr, but I am confused as to how you get the photos from Flickr to the post? Any other suggestions? Thanks!


UPDATE: I played around on Flickr and figured out how to load the photos using code. Now they are nice and big (except for one, which I had forgotten to load into Flickr.) Now when you click on the photo, it goes to my Flickr account. I'm not sure I like this?

22 comments:

  1. The Painted Creek Rock Breeding Program? Shipping them out? You have got to stop making me laugh so hard that I can't type!
    Love the Indian Ponies! Aren't they beautiful?
    I hope the sarcoid doesn't make another appearance! We just want to be done with sarcoids!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I too have baulked at the Flickr thing - more clicks on my super-slow internet connection is not appealing... will watch with interest how everyone responds...
    :-)
    BB

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've used Flickr just posting a link, but I know what you mean. That whole site seems clunky to me. Let us know if you figure it out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ha Ha I too love the "Painted Creek Rock Breeding Program" LOL you always crack me up!! I really hope that sarcoid stays away!!! Keep us posted...OK I'm going to check out the new site now!! Good idea, that's what I do with some of my good extra pictures!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I read you on having more pictures than a blog can take! My Boy is looking handsome in his new coat, but do you prefer the liver color to the copper? Or just the quality of the coat? Arwen is deep reddish right now and Sahara might be going golden again. Sahara's mane also alternates between deep black and dark brown, so it'll be interesting to see what color her daughter Kalahari gets in the end. You asked if Kalahari was tall; I'm not really sure because we only have Isolde to compare with (who was rounder). All other foals their ages are smaller (sometimes way smaller) and our hope is that both the girls will grow taller than their mothers.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Pictures in blogger are a pain - There is a way to make the pictures bigger manually - http://photosbykaryn.blogspot.com/2009/03/tutorial-1-making-photos-appear-larger.html.

    I also found a few links explaining how to put pictures into a blog when they are hosted somewhere else - like Flickr or Photobucket. Here is a link: http://www.blogbulk.com/2009/03/uploading-pictures-in-blogger-advices.html. I haven't tried this method yet, so I don't know how well it works...

    ReplyDelete
  7. I just checked out your photography blog! It is wonderful. You are going to have so much fun with that!

    ReplyDelete
  8. {Esther}~ I prefer the copper....because he's less roaned out in the winter. When he was younger, he was mostly sorrel with a white blanket. As he's aged, he's "grayed." But of course, I prefer the sleek summer coat! ;)

    {Laura}~ Thanks so much for the tips, I'll check out those links!

    ReplyDelete
  9. regarding Flickr, once you upload and edit them-you can do that in flickr. then you click on a photo and it will give you an option at the top of the pic, that says, "Blog this" click that option and you can blog right there. you will have to set that up on flickr in your account settings. i love flickr!

    i hope the sarcoid on his face does not come back. poor baby.

    i remembered for a post of your awhile back that you were having macro probs. i am having trouble taking macro shots on the manual macro setting on my camera. i took my camera & went back to the camera store for a 25 minute lesson. i have some tips to share. i will send you them sometime.

    off to check your photo blog.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Those rocks do pop up after winter, don't they! As for flickr, once you have uploaded your photo, click on the all sizes icon, then click on the medium size. At that point you can 'grab' (copy) the photo's url and paste it into the slot on your blogger photo pop-up page thingie (does that help?) the photo will be quite large, and it's fairly quick.

    ReplyDelete
  11. {Misti & Hayseed}- I will have to play around with it again. I looked at Flick last night and the screen they showed me when I clicked "blog this" after editing a photo was just a blank box, no html, nothing to make a link, change color/font....it was like they wanted me to write my whole post in that box? I was confused. Also, I do fear that loading pictures at a large size will eat up my Blogger photo space- or, does loading/hosting them via Flickr not count towards the Blogger space? Oh, so confusing! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  12. LOL, I just struggled with getting a playlist added! Your, "My Boy" looks great!

    ReplyDelete
  13. My Boy looks good ! , glad you got at least a little saddle time!
    I love the "Painted Creek rock breeding program" Hubby always says about picking rocks "you gotta get the little ones tooo, before they grow up and begin to reproduce"

    ReplyDelete
  14. Your horse is so sweet. I love flickr, but I'm into it for the "social" aspect. I'm off to see your photography blog. I love your horse photos. I live near several stables, and I've wanted to photograph horses, but wow, that's a whole other world of photgraphy. You do a great job!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I use flickr for all of my photos and I love it. The big ones lately have come SOOC. I might scale them back a bit since they seem a bit large. What do you think?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hey Pony Girl....no need to fear. When I first used flickr I used the 'blog this' at first but that isn't what I do now. Send me an email if you want some tips on what I do.

    ReplyDelete
  17. {TB}~ I love them big! I'll send you an email...thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  18. So much technology, so little time. If you figure it all out, let me know!

    ReplyDelete
  19. your Boy is looking very handsome.. and you can beat that chestnut color when he sheds..I love the shots you got!

    Jan

    ReplyDelete
  20. correction...as my brain and fingers do not work in rhythm all the time.. I meant you can't beat that wonderful chestnut(copper) color!

    Jan :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Your title reminded me of what I'm NOT missing by being away from home this week!
    Kimfer is working the arena and picking rocks. Normally I help out but I'm not there this year (shucks! lol)

    ps - let me know who your buyer is, maybe they want some imported rocks! lol

    ReplyDelete
  22. This whole blog thing is still confusing to me! And my new camera...still don't know what I am doing there either!!! Your Boy looks wonderful...!

    ReplyDelete

I love hearing from my readers!! I truly enjoy all of your feedback, advice, helpful tips, and stories. You all make me laugh and I learn so much from you, too. I will try to post replies to your comments as often as I can.

Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin