I could rave about him all day every day!!!! No doubt everyone everywhere would get sick of hearing it but he is just so wonderful!!!! We did a lot of canter work at our lesson on Friday, we even went overtime to try to get the breakthrough but he was just too tired and it was too much. So he's had a couple of days off and jumped on him today, a nice gentle warm up working all the cricks out of muscles for him and then into canter, about 15 seconds into that first canter and wham bam thank you ma'am he softened, rounded and his balance was 100% better than it has been. Did another 3 canters in total and finished, what a short but great ride :o)
I don't think he ever wanted to be a wee dressage horse but he's shaping up nicely :o)
Mac on the other hand is as frustrating as hell, it's like a roller coaster ride with him. He was so great on Wednesday I could have jumped on him, today he didn't even want me catching him! So FRUSTRATING! Still, he did get caught, and we did get some ground work done and he certainly earned that feed he got! Brat!
Chooks are still alive and kicking, one of the scrawny girls got stuck (upside down I might add) between one of the dog shelters and the fence (they are in the unused dogs pen!) Was fun and games to get her out, but she hadn't been there long and was OK :o) All the older girls are pretty good with them, not going out of their way to harass them which is great (and expected! I tell all the new comers my girls are lovely, gentle girls, I expect them to live up to that!)
Don't forget to check out FaceBook page - Talk To Your Animals for discussions, communication tips and all those quick day to day updates :o)
Monday, April 5, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Love Hearing Good Feedback!
Who doesn't?! But it's so rewarding to hear of the animals who having shared what they needed to share, then modify their behaviour after it's explained to them why it would be preferred if they did. They are smart little guys who know they've been heard and know they can relax again.
Unfortunately there are those around who even if the message has been passed they know the situation won't change and it's a little harder to convince them they should still alter their behaviour, particularly if they feel what they are warning their family about is dangerous :o( I feel for them because they put an awful lot of stress on themselves trying to pass these warnings on...
On a more personal note tried to rescue another couple of sick chooks a week ago but they only lasted 1 day max, but died peacefully in their sleep without being pecked to death so I'm OK with that. Unfortunately I lost one of my girls too a couple of days later. She was into her moult and had been "off" for weeks and not eating much, but she had just given up and got too weak and died unharassed too and had lots of cuddles before she went (probably hated that but couldn't really complain LOL)
Have 4 more here today as one of the other sheds "goes" next Saturday. Two are girls I would have removed from the shed anyway as they'd have been dead by tomorrow the way the others were ripping into them, both skin and bone, but both still have a spark in the eye so hopefully will pull through. A bigger girl who has no tail and was just terrified of any other chook (all the "no tails" are picked on something chronic!) She was so terrified of being hurt she tried to take a chunk out of me after I nabbed her and then tried to escaped the box every time it was opened! Silly chook, still she was straight into the free range thing when we got home and happy to be ignored for the most part by my girls.
Lastly is Angel who made herself known to me yesterday and was just identifiable enough that I thought I should be OK trying to find her again today. Got the eggs done, got the 3 other girls sorted and went back into the shed for a quick look to see if I could find her. Within 4 steps into the shed there she was spotted and she turned to the feeder and started eating (permission for me to grab her without her stressing about it) and no room in the box so she was carried home.
She is a big healthy girl, lots of meat on her so she's done well at the farm, but is gentle enough (not a bully) and gentle with me and when put down in with my girls it was like she'd never been anywhere else. Just getting dark now so I'll zip out and make sure they're all in bed somewhere :o) (there weren't all sorted but are now, Angel has found her way straight to the nesting boxes and the other 3 are huddled in the same place as a photo I took a couple of hours earlier will show.
Mac is getting ready to be ridden again, touch wood, no pain issues for a while now, no trying to avoid being touched, and he is now watching me intently every time I ride Smokey, so a lesson booked for him just over a week away and Smokey's first dressage next weekend, can't wait, I am just soooooooo proud of the wee dude! Here he is at our lesson with Saskia a couple of days ago, just about to breakthrough with his canter work and then it'll be full steam ahead!
It was a hard lesson for both of us, both absolutely SOAKED with sweat (it was a hot day!) and he sure thought he deserved Saskia's lunch she was about to start!
Unfortunately there are those around who even if the message has been passed they know the situation won't change and it's a little harder to convince them they should still alter their behaviour, particularly if they feel what they are warning their family about is dangerous :o( I feel for them because they put an awful lot of stress on themselves trying to pass these warnings on...
On a more personal note tried to rescue another couple of sick chooks a week ago but they only lasted 1 day max, but died peacefully in their sleep without being pecked to death so I'm OK with that. Unfortunately I lost one of my girls too a couple of days later. She was into her moult and had been "off" for weeks and not eating much, but she had just given up and got too weak and died unharassed too and had lots of cuddles before she went (probably hated that but couldn't really complain LOL)
Have 4 more here today as one of the other sheds "goes" next Saturday. Two are girls I would have removed from the shed anyway as they'd have been dead by tomorrow the way the others were ripping into them, both skin and bone, but both still have a spark in the eye so hopefully will pull through. A bigger girl who has no tail and was just terrified of any other chook (all the "no tails" are picked on something chronic!) She was so terrified of being hurt she tried to take a chunk out of me after I nabbed her and then tried to escaped the box every time it was opened! Silly chook, still she was straight into the free range thing when we got home and happy to be ignored for the most part by my girls.
Lastly is Angel who made herself known to me yesterday and was just identifiable enough that I thought I should be OK trying to find her again today. Got the eggs done, got the 3 other girls sorted and went back into the shed for a quick look to see if I could find her. Within 4 steps into the shed there she was spotted and she turned to the feeder and started eating (permission for me to grab her without her stressing about it) and no room in the box so she was carried home.
She is a big healthy girl, lots of meat on her so she's done well at the farm, but is gentle enough (not a bully) and gentle with me and when put down in with my girls it was like she'd never been anywhere else. Just getting dark now so I'll zip out and make sure they're all in bed somewhere :o) (there weren't all sorted but are now, Angel has found her way straight to the nesting boxes and the other 3 are huddled in the same place as a photo I took a couple of hours earlier will show.
Mac is getting ready to be ridden again, touch wood, no pain issues for a while now, no trying to avoid being touched, and he is now watching me intently every time I ride Smokey, so a lesson booked for him just over a week away and Smokey's first dressage next weekend, can't wait, I am just soooooooo proud of the wee dude! Here he is at our lesson with Saskia a couple of days ago, just about to breakthrough with his canter work and then it'll be full steam ahead!
It was a hard lesson for both of us, both absolutely SOAKED with sweat (it was a hot day!) and he sure thought he deserved Saskia's lunch she was about to start!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Home Sweet Home :o)
Was a fantastic time in the Nth Island, caught up with friends, family, met new people, met some wonderful and cheeky animals. Had a great day at the Kaimanawa Range Trip, apparently we didn't see as many horses around as other years (Army was doing exercises in the Valley they are usually seen in) but those we did see kept us company for a good distance, racing along side the bus something they don't usually do (a little encouragement at the beginning and a lot of flattery helped hehehe). A beautiful piece of "desert", some lovely land in there! Very worthwhile trip to do!
this is where we stopped for lunch, the horses obviously spend a bit of time in here amongst the trees as there was poop around :o)
Got a feel for where some horses were and it felt like some off to the left and forward of the hut so asked if they could come down towards the Valley floor (where the Army was). We headed out in the bus after lunch and saw these 3, a young foal ...
We also stopped at the yards and saw where Smokey made his break for freedom... the yard on the right was where he should have been and they went to the works, the yard on the left was where he ended up with the babies to be rehomed, and the gate he barged thru to earn his freedom :o)
this is where we stopped for lunch, the horses obviously spend a bit of time in here amongst the trees as there was poop around :o)
Got a feel for where some horses were and it felt like some off to the left and forward of the hut so asked if they could come down towards the Valley floor (where the Army was). We headed out in the bus after lunch and saw these 3, a young foal ...
We also stopped at the yards and saw where Smokey made his break for freedom... the yard on the right was where he should have been and they went to the works, the yard on the left was where he ended up with the babies to be rehomed, and the gate he barged thru to earn his freedom :o)
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Autumn here Again Already?!
A nip to the air in the mornings, getting dark earlier at night, but still glorious hot sunny days :o)
We're heading up to the Nth Island on Friday, looking forward to meeting some people I've previously done some work for, will be nice to put faces to names and meet some more of their babies in person :o)
I'll miss my babies though, it's 10 days! Ah well, we'll all appreciate each other when we get home I suppose!
Smokey is going to have his first dressage competition on April 11th :o) Mac will sit that one out, by the time we get home and I get back on him again he'll have a week or 2 of work under his belt after nearly 4 months off and for level 3 he needs just a little bit more work than that!
Dogs are good, chickens are cute and good, Marcus is nearly 4 eek!!!
Finally emailed the Kebzeh foundation again in relation to doing their course, looked at when I was last enquiring and it was 2 1/2 yrs ago!!! Where has time gone?! Will be interesting to find out where expanding the energy work in that direction will take me :o)
We're heading up to the Nth Island on Friday, looking forward to meeting some people I've previously done some work for, will be nice to put faces to names and meet some more of their babies in person :o)
I'll miss my babies though, it's 10 days! Ah well, we'll all appreciate each other when we get home I suppose!
Smokey is going to have his first dressage competition on April 11th :o) Mac will sit that one out, by the time we get home and I get back on him again he'll have a week or 2 of work under his belt after nearly 4 months off and for level 3 he needs just a little bit more work than that!
Dogs are good, chickens are cute and good, Marcus is nearly 4 eek!!!
Finally emailed the Kebzeh foundation again in relation to doing their course, looked at when I was last enquiring and it was 2 1/2 yrs ago!!! Where has time gone?! Will be interesting to find out where expanding the energy work in that direction will take me :o)
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Long, but nice :o)
The Invitation
By Oriah Mountain Dreamer
It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for,
And if you dare to dream of meeting
Your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
For love, for your dream,
For the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow,
If you have been opened by life's betrayals,
Or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.
I want to know if you can sit with pain,
Mine or your own,
Without moving
To hide it or fade it or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy,
Mine or your own,
If you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
Without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself,
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.
I want to know if you can be faithless and therefore be trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty
Even when it is not pretty every day,
And if you can source your own life
From its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure,
Yours and mine,
And still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"Yes!"
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,
Weary and bruised to the bone,
And do what needs to be done for the children.
It doesn't interest me who you are, how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
In the center of the fire with me
And not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
From the inside
When all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone
With yourself,
And if you truly like the company you keep
In the empty moments.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
what a relief!
Didn't realise quite how much it was weighing on me until he's fixed and NOW I get a tension headache LOL.
Mac got to finally see the chiropractor today, 4 mths after banging himself up, his poll was out, under his saddle was out (and very reactive to that point!) and back by his tail.
Hugest thanks to Jeanne Northwood from Energy Works and to Kimberley Harrison-Jones a Bowen practitioner in Marlborough and Wellington for working on him in the meantime. Aunty Jeanne will do a last wee clean up on him now he's "fixed" and a week or so of groundwork and we should be ready to rock again, actually fixed this time! (fingers crossed!) So his headaches should be finished and my smoochy boy should be back full time instead of part time :o)
Poor wee angel, he is so staunch with pain, this stuff must have been hurting him SO much :o(
Amanda the chook is settling in with the other girls, still skinny but her new feathers are already poking thru!
Panda didn't make it, but she died with company but in peace and had lots of love before she went.
Smokey had another lesson with Saskia Ostermeier today, not the best work he's ever done but great that he shows his evasions to her because she can teach ME what I need to do. Another lesson tomorrow morning for him too...
Pete had his birthday on the weekend and it was the perfect excuse to give him some more stuff for the bathroom hehehe. Will get the house finished eventually, Christmas, Birthdays and Fathers Day are the perfect time to get Pete something for the house that he then has to finish. So the bathroom is nearly done, new big mirror meant he had to finish plastering, new towel rails meant the tiles get finished, then he did the coving and hey presto not much to go!
Now to get onto sorting travel for the Nth Island trip next month! Wellington 12th March, Auckland 15th March for a week, and then heading south again, so anyone wanting any in person consults contact me and we can sort dates and times. Anyone not in Auckland or Wellington but on the path North or South, give me a yell, we should be able to sort something out for you.
email is KA@talktoyouranimals.co.nz links to that are right through the website :o)
Mac got to finally see the chiropractor today, 4 mths after banging himself up, his poll was out, under his saddle was out (and very reactive to that point!) and back by his tail.
Hugest thanks to Jeanne Northwood from Energy Works and to Kimberley Harrison-Jones a Bowen practitioner in Marlborough and Wellington for working on him in the meantime. Aunty Jeanne will do a last wee clean up on him now he's "fixed" and a week or so of groundwork and we should be ready to rock again, actually fixed this time! (fingers crossed!) So his headaches should be finished and my smoochy boy should be back full time instead of part time :o)
Poor wee angel, he is so staunch with pain, this stuff must have been hurting him SO much :o(
Amanda the chook is settling in with the other girls, still skinny but her new feathers are already poking thru!
Panda didn't make it, but she died with company but in peace and had lots of love before she went.
Smokey had another lesson with Saskia Ostermeier today, not the best work he's ever done but great that he shows his evasions to her because she can teach ME what I need to do. Another lesson tomorrow morning for him too...
Pete had his birthday on the weekend and it was the perfect excuse to give him some more stuff for the bathroom hehehe. Will get the house finished eventually, Christmas, Birthdays and Fathers Day are the perfect time to get Pete something for the house that he then has to finish. So the bathroom is nearly done, new big mirror meant he had to finish plastering, new towel rails meant the tiles get finished, then he did the coving and hey presto not much to go!
Now to get onto sorting travel for the Nth Island trip next month! Wellington 12th March, Auckland 15th March for a week, and then heading south again, so anyone wanting any in person consults contact me and we can sort dates and times. Anyone not in Auckland or Wellington but on the path North or South, give me a yell, we should be able to sort something out for you.
email is KA@talktoyouranimals.co.nz links to that are right through the website :o)
Monday, February 15, 2010
2 new additions...
luckily the owner of the free range farm wasn't home over the weekend and the person looking after the farm doesn't do neck wringing so these 2 girls have come home with me.
Chicken #1 is Amanda (or Mandy as Marcus calls her) she could stand and walk about 3 steps before having to sit back down on her "heels". She was being attacked mercilessly by the others, and when put outside the paddock in some green grass she got stuck into the grass so obviously hungry as. Got her home and she drank so much I thought she would pop. Then got stuck into some wheat and little bits of apple I put out, then cleaned up an egg. Cleaned up 2 eggs the next day and more wheat. Is bright eyed but still very weak in the legs, when she stands up she stands up very straight and tall and when she walks she tends to stand on her own feet. Pretty sure she should come thru OK.
Chook #2, called Panda by Marcus to go with Manda. She was found on the Sunday, being left alone at the time and huddled under a ramp leading up to a nesting box. Eyes stuck shut, right leg she won't stand on and is very sore. I actually thought she'd be dead within 10 mins of putting her in the trailer while I collected the eggs but lo and behold she lived, and is still alive altho it is a case of "just" at the moment.
She too is starving, drank like a horse when she got home, pecked at a bit of wheat in a manner that actually showed her hunger, but not too interested in the egg yolk (unusual!) and not interested in anything else. Started off this morning with more to drink and a little peck at the wheat but not interested in much at all this afternoon :o(
Still hanging in there however...
Both girls are recuperating in the dogs crate (first time the dogs crate has ever been used to be honest!) Fingers crossed for Panda, I think it'll be a while before either of them is ready to meet the other girls...
Chicken #1 is Amanda (or Mandy as Marcus calls her) she could stand and walk about 3 steps before having to sit back down on her "heels". She was being attacked mercilessly by the others, and when put outside the paddock in some green grass she got stuck into the grass so obviously hungry as. Got her home and she drank so much I thought she would pop. Then got stuck into some wheat and little bits of apple I put out, then cleaned up an egg. Cleaned up 2 eggs the next day and more wheat. Is bright eyed but still very weak in the legs, when she stands up she stands up very straight and tall and when she walks she tends to stand on her own feet. Pretty sure she should come thru OK.
Chook #2, called Panda by Marcus to go with Manda. She was found on the Sunday, being left alone at the time and huddled under a ramp leading up to a nesting box. Eyes stuck shut, right leg she won't stand on and is very sore. I actually thought she'd be dead within 10 mins of putting her in the trailer while I collected the eggs but lo and behold she lived, and is still alive altho it is a case of "just" at the moment.
She too is starving, drank like a horse when she got home, pecked at a bit of wheat in a manner that actually showed her hunger, but not too interested in the egg yolk (unusual!) and not interested in anything else. Started off this morning with more to drink and a little peck at the wheat but not interested in much at all this afternoon :o(
Still hanging in there however...
Both girls are recuperating in the dogs crate (first time the dogs crate has ever been used to be honest!) Fingers crossed for Panda, I think it'll be a while before either of them is ready to meet the other girls...
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