Weekend update

Slightly off topic at first. On Friday morning I had my dog put to sleep. I'd had him for 5 years. It was very hard to do and though I've had moments where I've second guessed myself (only natural I guess) I still think it was the right thing to do. I just don't think he was happy anymore. It was a decision I'd wrestled with for months and I think it was time. I was there with him when he went. He was laying on the floor with his head in my lap. I was petting him and telling him he was a good boy. It was very emotional and very hard, but I feel better knowing that I was with him at the end and that his suffering is over. Some thought I should just drop him off at the vet, but I couldn't do that. This was the first time I've made an appointment for something like that. I've had to euthanize horses and I've had all kinds of critters die over the years, but I've never made an appointment for it. The last dog I had, I'd had for 10 years and she died during surgery, there was nothing I could do. The horses I've had put down were because something horrible had happened (ie: severe colic) and right at that moment there was nothing else to be done so it was an "easy" decision. (it's never "easy" but when they are in severe pain and nothing can be done it's not a hard choice) I've struggled with depression most of my life and I've been in a "funk" ever since Friday. As a result not much was done with the horses this weekend.

Sunday was chore day. I stripped Bo and Onyx's stalls and put in fresh shavings. Onyx is SO tidy. Her shavings have been in there for about a month now and were just now dirty. Bo on the other hand? Not so tidy. His shavings have to be changed out every few days. Then I emptied and refilled their waters and gave each of them a turn to wander in the arena. Well, for Bo it was wandering. For Onyx it was stampeding around for a while. She is so funny when she's turned out. She'll run around and run round and then suddenly do a "turbo boost" and take off just as fast as her legs will go, RACING to the other end of the arena. The first time Jeff saw that he was amazed, "she's fast!" he said. Indeed!

They've changed my schedule at my job so now I'm working the day shift. I specfically went for the job there because they wanted someone for a few hours in the afternoons/evenings and that was perfect for me. And now somehow I'm on day shioft, working all day long, all week. And the weather is GORGEOUS here now. Yesterday was in the 40s-50s and today they are predicting 60. The sun is shining brightly outside and I'll be working. "Next stop: Bittertown!" *toot toot*

Anyway... Last night I was on my way out to feed the horses when I passed Jeff on his way home. He offered to go with me to the stables. We fed Bo and Onyx and then we converged on Onyx, rubbing and petting and scratching her on both sides while she ate. At times she acted like she wasn't crazy about the idea of being ganged up on, but her yummy food won over and she put up with us. At one point I said "and what visit would be complete without some jumping!" and I started my trademark (? lol) jumping up and down next to her. She wasn't phased in the least. Then I started goofing around, trying to jump up on her (something that I've already tried - and failed). Again, she just stood, munching away. Jeff asked if I wanted a leg up and I finally gave in and accepted. So then I sat on her bareback in the stall with nothing on her. She had hay in one corner and her grain in the opposite corner, so I started using her food locations as motivation for her to move. The first time she backed up around the stall from one feeder to the other. We both laughed at her. I introduced her to leg pressure and by squeezing and clucking I finally got her to go FORWARD. In the end we walked a couple laps around the stall and I stopped her on "whoa". Then I rocked back and forth (what I've done to tell her I'm going to swing off) and hopped off of her. It was fun and I think we had a good session. I just wish I could hop up on her on my own. I've never been able to hop up on a horse without a saddle and I've tried since I was a kid. I'm so jealous of people who can just swing up there and ride off! Maybe one of these days I'll figure out how to do it...