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Saturday, February 27, 2010
A Maine Horsewoman with all her teeth
I love all the comments - positive and negative that have been flowing through the NickerNews portal lately.
I'm particularly amused by the "Go Back to New Jersey" comments -- those left by folks who seem to think I'm some out-of-state interloper, here to bring down the locals and institute a new foreign order.
Hello?
Just because I managed to get an education, manage to express myself alright, and have all my teeth, doesn't mean I'm From Away! And guess what? There lots of folks just like me around here!
Yup, Born and Raised in Maine. And proud of it.
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Open Gate? Mares don't Care
Open gates are a scary thought at my place. Twenty feet from paddock, there is a lovely lawn covering an aging septic system. It would not be cool for horses to hang out and graze over there.
So I'm usually extra attentive with my gates.
But during this week's deluge, I left a gate accidentally open while I hustled a bale of hay from the shed, into the paddock. Yikes!
But when I got to the gate, the girls were looking at it with indifference. They could have walked right out and grabbed the first mouthful of grass in months.
But they stood contentedly in their stalls - out of the downpour, sheltered from the whipping wind. We'll pass on the grass right now. Thanks, anyway.
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Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Maine Horse Community's own earthquake
I met last night with a fantastic group of Maine horse ladies. We shared our distress over the horses in Clinton and exchanged information about animal welfare (or lack thereof) and the latest scuttlebutt on blogs.
But we also talked about our own recent news, long-suffering-horse-husbands, the upcoming mud season, and the planning of our summer's exciting adventures.
New readers might think NickerNews is just a place to disparage the state's animal welfare program OR to report on abusive horse farms OR hound for public outcry.
But look farther.
Explore the articles.
Check out the Your Horse and Memorial pages.
Check out the fun videos. (Especially the cutting horse on his own!)
You will see that NickerNews is actually devoted to the positive side of horsemanship and horse ownership. My usual policy is, "If I can't say something nice, I won't say anything at all."
But this crisis demanded outcry.
When there's a calamity as big as a Haitian earthquake, you have to cover it.
We look forward to better times and hope you all stay along for the ride.
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Thursday, February 18, 2010
All Riding is Therapeutic
Sorry to be waxing philosophical, but that headline has been looming large  for me lately!
I had a few minutes today and threw a rope halter on Shea and hopped aboard.
All of a sudden, thoughts of threats, survey results, more abuse complaints -- all that stress faded down through my lower back, down each leg and out my toes.
All of a sudden, what mattered most was connecting with my horse and not screwing up...Trying to improve on some riding elements shared by my friend, Kim...Trying to breathe. Of course, I screwed up a little. We got confused and worked through it, walking, trotting, backing, cantering...It was the best thirty minutes I've had in days!
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Wednesday, February 17, 2010
There are still horses to feed
I was having a sleep-deprived meltdown yesterday. Along with many members of the horse community, NickerNews has been working around-the-clock to advocate for the horses in this wretched, wrenching story of abuse.
How can people be so evil?
How can animal welfare officials be so negligent?
The world is a terrible place!
Then I caught my horse looking from the paddock in my general direction. It was like someone shaking me by the shoulders.
C'mon, Maddy. Get your head out of your hands and give us some hay!
Soldier on, folks. Soldier on.
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Monday, February 15, 2010
Clinton Horses - dead or alive
 I'm guessing you all know about the devastation going on at Fair Play Farm in Clinton.
But I'm told all the neglected horses have been removed.
To another farm where they will be lovingly rescued?
Not likely.
My guess is that they've been hauled off and unceremoniously put to death.
If so, I hope their suffering ended quickly.
If not, I hope they will see better days soon.
If you haven't already, please do what you can to provoke change at the state level.
If you can, please offer an empty stall or donate to your local rescue agency.
If you haven't picked up the phone or figured out how to contribute positively to this situation, what's holding you back?
Thanks and stay tuned.
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Friday, February 12, 2010
WCSH and me
This morning I had the dubious honor of being interviewed by Vivian Leigh, a reporter for WCSH 6 news.
It was about the Clinton horses, of course.
Later, she phoned to say that the owner of all these starving horses wanted to talk. Yooray! But, said Leigh, she wanted to talk with her attorney first.
Please do your part to stay on the case and demand that justice is served. Make phone calls.
Agitate.
We need to beat down the doors of complacency at the Animal Welfare department!
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Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Mini Donkeys Are the Bomb
I had the distinct good fortune of caring for a pair of mini donkeys this week.
They were uncut jacks, about eight months old. Cute as buttons!
They were alternately shy, guarded, playful, and bold. But never rude. Kudos to their owner.
Check out their feet! Don't they look like little leads on the end of little pencils? I swear their hooves were no bigger than my two thumbs put together.
And their ears! So long, fuzzy and telling. I was tempted to open my car door and say, "c'mon boys, let's go to my house!"
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Monday, February 08, 2010
Shipped Out to Footloose Farm
After the skeletons came out of the closet and Yours Truly literally ate dirt at the Cabin Fever Clinic last month. I thought long and hard about the next step for me and my beloved rescue mare, Brooke.
So last week, I headed north to Footloose Farm in Brownfield. Home of trainer Terry McClare.
I knew within a few minutes that it was the right call.
Terry had Brooke figured out quickly. She rode her. I rode her. We talked about specific issues and I left Brooke there for a few weeks of training. 
Hard things to do:
Leave your loved one, of course.
But also, to admit that you need help and place your trust and your horse completely in someone else's hands.
Nonetheless, I'm really looking forward to working with Terry!
Stay tuned for more reports about progress made and steps towards improvement -- like the change to a snaffle and why the hackamore was sending mixed messages.
...Meanwhile, certain equines are downright depressed by Brooke's sudden departure. Shea stares down the road, wondering when she'll see that trailer returning with her girlfriend. She mopes around the paddock, nibbles indifferently at her hay.
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Sunday, February 07, 2010
Sheddy Already
 I've noticed most of the horses I see on my weekly rounds are starting to shed out their thick, winter coats.
How about yours?
Spring can't be far away! Considering this week, I'll take a good thaw or even a few afternoons above freezing.
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Tuesday, February 02, 2010
I'm NOT complaining
 It being 10 degrees, windy, and all, I was starting to piss and moan about the cold this morning.
That was until I saw these guys out clamming.
I may be outside all morning, but I’m not literally sinking my hands and feet into cold, unwelcoming mud.
I know that mud. I grew up trudging across the flats of Middle Bay. That mud clings to you like burrs in a field. It gets into the cracks of your skin and tints your hands four shades darker.
But I know this from summer months. Then, you could just jump in and swim it off. Yippee!
My friend, Rick, was telling me about winter clamming when he was a kid.
“It was a matter of survival,” he said.
Rick, his father, and brothers went clamming to earn enough to put food on the table. (Half a bushel yields about a gallon of shucked clams – that’s about 80 bucks wholesale.)
He remembers clamming one winter day. His gloves weren’t keeping his hands warm enough and he was complaining. His father gave Rick his gloves and he continued on, barehanded.
Barehanded!
So I have respect for winter clammers and I appreciate them showing me that Everything is Relative.
I have respect for winter water, too.
My brother and I used to go iceberg-hopping with friends. We were a band of dumbasses, I guess you could say!
The tides break up the ice into table-size chunks. And at high tide, they float around in loose groups. If conditions are right, you can jump from iceberg to iceberg.
It’s fun, until you fall in.
I fell in once or twice (yes, I am a slow learner) and found out how quickly five layers of warmth can become fifty pounds of ice cold.
Kinda scary. I was glad I wasn’t over my head.
It took a long time to warm up.
So now, like I said, I try not to complain! But I do love visiting barns with heated tack rooms!
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Monday, February 01, 2010
Poor Charlie
 Charlie is a friend of mine who gave me this horseshoe. He bought it at a flea market for me to hang on my wall.
But no wonder it was for sale...do y'all notice what I noticed right away?
Yup, it has to be hung upside-down. As any superstitious, horseshoe hanger would know, you simply cannot hang it with the ends pointing down. And if I were to hang it correctly (according to superstition), the horse head would be upside down. And that wouldn't work, either!
I was polite and accepted his gift. But it won't ever go on my wall. Too darn superstitious. So there it sits horizontally on a coffee table. That's the best I can do, Charlie.
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