the art of horse shoeing....

My first question is.. why would anyone choose to earn a living by placing themselves under the belly of a 1600lb horse, and work with the part of a horse that could kill you? And then, I think... I'm glad they do, because in the world of the horse... "no hoof, means no horse".. so, we consider our farriers one of the family and very special folks indeed.

We actually have two farriers... Dean takes care of Silver, Mocha and Kringle.. and Ben takes over the big boys.. Tonka and Duke. Knowing how to properly do this job is not just a skill.... it's an art. A good shoeing can really make a horse... a bad one, can in some sense---kill it.

thoughts of our Acadia trip in the fall, getting Duke and ourselves ready, has many "sides". One being, Duke is going to have to go back into shoes. With the driving we have been doing, and the driving we will be doing, it's going to cause wear and tear on the hoof... so shoes are a must. Duke hasn't worn shoes since coming to us, but having been an Acadia horse, we know he has worn them before.

Ben spent much of the time "fussing" with Duke's feet and the shoes, getting the fit to be as perfect as possible. Duke, for the record, is in a size 8.. which is a pretty standard size for a draft type horse.

Ben did what is called "hot shoe" fit.. which means he heats the horse shoe and sears it to the hoof. I'm not sure if Duke has been hot shoed before, because he wasn't standing as nicely as I would have liked.

And when the smoke really began to roll, he actually began to tremble. He's a good boy, which is a good thing considering his size. I hope by the end of the summer, he will be back in the routine of shoeing and it will get easier and easier from here. 

Ben has everything he needs on the truck to work the shoes... including a "forge"...  The equipment alone that one needs to have a shoeing business is something all it's own.

Back feet as well as fronts need to be done.

Shoes on...

And now the finishing touches... rounding the nail heads off... getting them trimmed up....

 And the finished product. A nice new pair of shiny shoes.. that soon will be tromping threw the mud.!!! And that wonderful sound they made on the cement walkway, I can't wait to hear it out on the road... Thanks Ben.. see you in six week!!!!!

a soggy Saturday.....

It was with all good intentions that Kelli, Kathleen and I headed to the first NEADS walk a thon to do the walk route and make some money for the service puppies. But as we drove further and further south, the rain that had been predicted was really coming down. Still, there was a pretty good crowd when we arrived and we still planned on doing the walk.

Everyone dressed for the weather.. including Camille. Since I am "service dog puppy-less" I knew that Camille would be happy to step in.

After signing in, visiting with our NEADS friends, we headed out. Kelli had Moxie...

Kathleen had Monty.....

and the area for the walk was beautiful. Even in the rain. But we hadn't gotten very far, and the heaven's opened. It didn't take very long for us to become soaked. I took a look at my buds and said "sorry girls - this isn't for Camille and me"... and Kelli agreed. But Kathleen, ever full of adventure decided to continue.

A few hours later, she and Monty returned. They got a bit lost along the way, but managed to get a good part of the walk done. All in all, I think the walk was quite successful despite the weather. But truly my favorite part was being with good friends... enjoying the service dogs, and having a nice meal on the way home.

I started the woodstove, got into dry clothes and blogged the rest of the night. What a great day!!!!

bye bye Muppet Dog....

It's hard to believe that another turn in date is here again. On Thursday, it was Norton's turn to return to NEADS and go onto his advance training. He came to me as an "older pup, just needing some finish work", but he caught on so quickly, that he was ready to go back. The night before I used him as my demo dog at dog classes. He love obedience work, and if he wasn't headed for service work, he'd be a great obedience/agility dog.

 But I think he's really going to make it in the service dog world. "working" is his thing....I'm going to miss having him on the floor with me. And I know that Camille always appreciates not having to "do" all the work....

We had to get Norton down to NEADS early on Thursday. They had an opening for him to get his hip x-rays done, so I told Dave I would be happy to get him there. My good buddy, Kathleen, got up extra early and drove down with us. The rest of the group came and we all met at our usual time. A group was touring the academy and we found out that Kathleen's Monty was sponsored by them... so we had to get this photo.

We did all our usual check in "stuff" while waiting for Norton to return from the vets. And then it was off to the big city. Rick and Moxie look like city dwellers (NOT)

Norton was still a bit groggy from having his x-rays done, but the vet said he could come with us if we took it slow. Knowing that he was leaving me at the end of the day, I took advantage of this, and we just followed the group, taking pictures and watching them work. Enjoying the last bit of our time together.

The puppies did well in the train station. It's such a good place to work... shiny floors, stairs of all kinds.. people etc. We get a lot done here.

The Maine puppies, soon to change .... Monty will become the "old" dog of the bunch once Norton heads off.... and little Moxie won't be the baby for long....

The day flew by, as I knew it would.. and it was time to hand the leash over to Dave and kiss my muppet dog goodbye. I didn't have him as long as the others, but I certainly got attached to him... you can't help it.. get attached and give away a piece of your heart when they leave. But that's the joy of puppy raising.

So, Norton heads to "college" and I wait again for his progress reports and the call that another puppy is coming to the farm.... I'll let you know when...

Memorial Day....

Memorial Day this year was just beautiful... the weather couldn't have been more perfect. We had to meet up with Abbie's Dad since Mondays are "his" day, and after we dropped her off, went to the Memorial Day parade. I of course, took Norton along, parades are a great place to do "service dog" training.

 We met up with Kelli, Rick and Moxie.. and Kathleen, Bob and Monty -- and had a nice time watching the parade together and allowing the dogs to meet the people and see all the going on's. Norton thought the parade was quite neat....and watched if for a while.

 Then he got bored and "stole" the toy that Rick had brought to entertain Moxie. She didn't mind at all.....

After the parade we went over to "the" bridge. Rick has been talking about this footbridge that he discovered and thought it would be good place to try the dogs. The trouble is, the dogs don't have trouble crossing bridges... I do!!! This is a nice sturdy bridge, but I couldn't help but keep my hand on the railing.

And if you look carefully, you can really see what this bridge looks like. The dogs must certainly think this grate feels strange on their feet, I simply don't like how open it is. But, it is a good test for the dogs.

Rick took little Moxie over it several times and she just plodded along. I will certainly keep this in mind for any future puppies in training...

In the afternoon we went to my Mom and Dad's for a family cookout. My Mom is doing very well after her hip surgery a few weeks ago, and it was nice for us to all be together. We decided to pull out the old croquet set and give the game a try. We didn't finish because the food was ready part way threw, but we need to do this again.

Then after all that good food, it was time to get the doggies out for a little walk. Kas took her two, Becky too Amy and I had my four... we looked like a doggie parade.

Abbie's Dad dropped her off later in the day, and it was so cute to watch the little cousins playing together. My Mom has saved some of our old toys and the little girls love to play with them. I don't think they even make this Fisher Price garage anymore.

Abbie tried her hand at the croquet game....she got a couple of good hits on the ball.

And it seemed all to soon, the day was over and we were picking things up and heading for home. It was such a great day... family, friends, fun and food... we are truly blessed.

a trial run (er, drive)

Now, some of you know that Ed and I will be spending a few days next fall in Acadia National Park. We are going to take Duke with us and drive the carriage roads around the park. These roads were put in by the Rockefeller family for the use of carriages and our Duke used to be a horse that pulled the public carriages there. We figure since he spent so many summers there , he will be able to "show us around". We are already preparing for this trip, working on our driving skills and getting Duke conditioned for it all. I have been driving around the farm, but we need to practice "away from home as well", so last Sunday I called Becky and Butch and made a plan to go to their house and do some driving with them. They have a wonderful dirt road that they drive all the time and I figured it's a good place to start. So.... we loaded everything up and headed in their direction.

We've been to their house a number of times, and know how to get there, but I said to Ed, why don't we put it in the GPS.. just in case. Well, we're driving up the highway, talking and have a good time, and go right past the exit we're suppose to take. I said to Ed, we were suppose to get off there, but the GPS said differently. And since we had missed the exit, we decided to just follow what it told us to do. MISTAKE!!!!! There are two ways to Becky and Butch's.. the "main" road or the "back" road... guess which one the GPS chose... the back road!!! Which isn't a bad road.. it's the one that they drive the horses on... it's just that it's dirt, it's narrow, it has bridges that have no sides... oh ya... it also has water that very often goes over the road. And when we came upon this - not knowing exactly how deep it was (and pulling our horse trailer).. well... I had a melt down. But since there was no place to turn around... we took our chances and drove threw. All I can say is--- I'm glad we have a good strong truck!!! and we made it safely to the other side and FINALLY got to Becky and Butch's....

Duke was no worse for the wear, he hasn't been off our farm since we bought him, but handled everything like he's done it a million times. What a good boy......

Becky made a nice lunch for us, and then we began to hitch. Butch is working on this young team, and with all of us going out together, took advantage of it.

All hitched and ready to go, we started out on our drive. As I said, they drive on the dirt road that we had just come threw.. so as we started out, I knew what we were in for. Three bridges.. one cement and two wooden. Those had me the most worried. We came across other cars.. no worries, people walking dogs.. no big deal, a camp that had a generator running... no trouble.

And then came the bridge!! Elevators and bridges... I just have "something" about them. To be honest, I almost got out of the cart and had Ed drive Duke across. But, there are alot of bridges on the carriage roads, and I know I need to conquer them.. so, I held my breath and over we went. Duke was thinking the whole time "what is your problem???" We drove the whole road and yup came to the water, I wasn't even worried about that... but Butch's little team certainly was. Now we have know Becky and Butch for a few years, and one thing I have learned.... don't tell Butch what worries you.. or you'll be finding that you're doing it. And that's what his little team discovered. They said... "we don't like the water, we can't cross it"... And Butch said " let's go swimming!!!" He has such a great way with horses and by the time they were done, he had them in up to their bellies, and they were actually enjoying it....Duke was "mr cool" when it came to the water. He plodded right in and then enjoyed standing there watching the team have their lesson. The day was fairly warm, so he probably enjoyed cooling his feet and was thinking ---- better them than me. It was such a fun day, the drive was eight miles and took us most of the afternoon, and we got exactly what I wanted. Lots of different "things" and a drive away from home. Now, it wasn't without some "small issues".. Duke was very hard on the bit, so Ed and I had to take turns driving... he pulled on us so hard. However, we also found that we needed to make some adjustments in his harness, so with that being figured out, I am excited to get him out again and see what differences that makes. He also is going to be needing shoes, especially if we continue to drive this much over the summer, so that will be addressed very soon. And we defiantly going to make more treks to Becky and Butch's and practice our driving skills up there.

but overall it was a grand day, and what a nice time to spend with good friends and your horse, traveling threw the woods. Was it a lot of "hard work" packing, harnessing, unpacking... yup... was it worth all that... Of course!!!!

another turn in date.....

It's hard to believe, this sweet little baby....

 Is all grown up...... and has been given his turn in date... Thursday, May 31st. It's onto college....

 We took Norton in to say goodbye to our friends at DownMaine Vet clinic. They really didn't get to know him much, because we got him as an older puppy... but it's nice to know that these wonderful folks are always there for us. Norton's "exit visit" was perfect...

He hopped onto the scale like a pro and got a "clean bill" to move on...

So, now.. the goodbyes begin.... can't believe we're already at this point!!!