As you've all probably noticed I changed the name of my blog, and you might be wondering why, of course if your not thats okay too. So, I do have a reason for changing the name, and here is why.
I had originally named my blog "Where the Wind Goes" as a clever way of using my Thoroughbred mare's name "Wind". As originally I thought that my blog was going to be all about her and I and the adventures that we have together, but I got to thinking. Wind is not my only horse or even the only critter in my life, so why have a blog that is totally devoted to just her, when I can blog about both of my ponies and of course my other critters too.
At first I wasn't going to change my blogs name, but even though the name was cleaver and I really liked it, it wasn't really conducive for blogging about anything but Wind. So, now I welcome you to "Always An OutLook" Tales of a girl and the horses that make her world go round. I chose this name because for me, I feel that no matter what happens in life, whether it be with horses or just in everyday life, there is always an OutLook. An OutLook could be good or it could be bad, exciting or daunting, but either way there is always an OutLook. This is how I feel when it comes to my horses and all things in general.
So, there ya go why my blog has a new name. I hope that you enjoy my tales of my mare Wind and my gelding Nosey, and all of my critters in between.
Friday, May 24, 2013
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
It's Been Awhile...
Wow it certainly has been quite some time since my last post. Things had been kinda crazy with school and all, but now school has come to an end and I am finally graduating from college. Hopefully now I can keep up with my blog and document Miss Wind's adventures. So, now to catch y'all up on Miss Wind....
Wind Goes To School
The week of April 15th Wind got to spend a week on the farm at URI. She was there to be used in the ELLs (Experiential Learning Labs), see URI offers an Intro to Animal Science class for non-Animal Science students to take as a Gen. Ed. and these students are required to participate in an hour long lab, learning and interacting with the animals on the farm. Now we don't have horses on the farm at URI (crazy I know) so for the ELLs a horse has to be brought in for that week, and since I was required to help out with these labs for a grade I volunteered to bring Wind for the week and teach about horses.
Miss Wind was a very good girl while at school. It took her about a day to settle into her paddock, which was located between two flocks of sheep. All but one of the sheep were afraid of her and ran away when she went near the fence, but this one young ewe (female sheep) who ran right up to her and hung out by the fence next to her all day long. It was too cute!!
For the first two days Wind was afraid of the run-in that she had in her paddock, because of this I was a bit worried about her not getting any sleep or being protected if the weather turned nasty. Then on the third day I went out and checked and found that she had used the run-in! I don't think that she laid down at all, but there was at least one new poop pile every morning. The fact that she was using the run-in made me feel a little more at ease, though I couldn't be completely at ease with her being at school overnight, being the over protective, worried mama that I am. hehe.
So, everyday I took my girly on at least one walk around the farm. She became very comfortable in her little paddock between the flocks of sheep, and Bonnie, the farms guard donkey, (Wind tried SO hard to make friends with Bonnie but Bonnie wanted nothing to do with her, I think Wind's size scared Bonnie a little bit.) but she was not fond of the other animals one the farm. Especially the PIGS! After the first two days of visiting the animals, Wind became okay with the Cows, she even made friends with one of them!
As for the pigs, the pigs never made it onto Wind's friends list, and it wasn't for lack of trying on the pigs part. Every time we tried to get near they would get up and run over to the fence and follow her where ever she went, but Wind wanted NOTHING to do with them and kept rejecting their friend requests. She just snorted at them and stared, on alert, and then tried to run away. What totally turned her off of ever considering becoming friends with the pigs was when we were walking and one of the boars started breeding to one of the sows and there was lots of squealing and moving, and with that she lost what ever last brain cell she had left.
All in all Wind's week at school went really well. She was a very good girl, except for when it was time to go home. On the Friday, a storm came in and it got really windy and began to rain, and by the time my brother-in-law came with the truck to haul her home, it was dark out. So, with all that combined, Wind did NOT want to get on the trailer. It took almost 2 hours, 2 halters, 2 lead ropes, a bucket of grain, and a pitch fork to finally get her on the trailer. Besides that she was a very good girl.
So Wind had a game that she played to entertain herself with the sheep. She would stand still and let the sheep come up to her, once the sheep relaxed around her, she would pounce at them, flag her tail and take off running, scaring the crap out the sheep. I think she thought it was quite funny, lol, it was quite funny to watch.
Saddle Woes
Wind Goes To School
The week of April 15th Wind got to spend a week on the farm at URI. She was there to be used in the ELLs (Experiential Learning Labs), see URI offers an Intro to Animal Science class for non-Animal Science students to take as a Gen. Ed. and these students are required to participate in an hour long lab, learning and interacting with the animals on the farm. Now we don't have horses on the farm at URI (crazy I know) so for the ELLs a horse has to be brought in for that week, and since I was required to help out with these labs for a grade I volunteered to bring Wind for the week and teach about horses.
Miss Wind was a very good girl while at school. It took her about a day to settle into her paddock, which was located between two flocks of sheep. All but one of the sheep were afraid of her and ran away when she went near the fence, but this one young ewe (female sheep) who ran right up to her and hung out by the fence next to her all day long. It was too cute!!
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| New Friends Meet |
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| Awwww Kisses <3 |
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| Just Hanging |
For the first two days Wind was afraid of the run-in that she had in her paddock, because of this I was a bit worried about her not getting any sleep or being protected if the weather turned nasty. Then on the third day I went out and checked and found that she had used the run-in! I don't think that she laid down at all, but there was at least one new poop pile every morning. The fact that she was using the run-in made me feel a little more at ease, though I couldn't be completely at ease with her being at school overnight, being the over protective, worried mama that I am. hehe.
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| Oh Hello! |
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| Making friends with Sully |
As for the pigs, the pigs never made it onto Wind's friends list, and it wasn't for lack of trying on the pigs part. Every time we tried to get near they would get up and run over to the fence and follow her where ever she went, but Wind wanted NOTHING to do with them and kept rejecting their friend requests. She just snorted at them and stared, on alert, and then tried to run away. What totally turned her off of ever considering becoming friends with the pigs was when we were walking and one of the boars started breeding to one of the sows and there was lots of squealing and moving, and with that she lost what ever last brain cell she had left.
All in all Wind's week at school went really well. She was a very good girl, except for when it was time to go home. On the Friday, a storm came in and it got really windy and began to rain, and by the time my brother-in-law came with the truck to haul her home, it was dark out. So, with all that combined, Wind did NOT want to get on the trailer. It took almost 2 hours, 2 halters, 2 lead ropes, a bucket of grain, and a pitch fork to finally get her on the trailer. Besides that she was a very good girl.
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| Staring at the Sheep |
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| What Wind thought of sheep poo |
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| That sweet face |
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| Pretty Girl! |
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| Relaxin |
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| Wind has Rhody pride!! |
So, I had the chiropractor out to adjust Miss Wind and he was very pleased with how well she was doing since her last adjustment. Like every adjustment, the chiropractor checked the fit of my saddles, and this time he had some bad news for me. Neither of my two saddles fit Miss Wind anymore, I am extremely bummed about this. Now I have to buy two new saddles, which I cannot afford, especially since I have to buy a new truck. So, as of right now I have no saddle, though my amazing friend Kate has let me barrow and try out her Stubben for a little bit, and I can't buy another saddle until I sell my Dressage saddle, which I am having a hell of a time selling. So, until I sell my Dressage saddle and get a new saddle our competition dreams have to, once again, get put on hold.
So, thats pretty much whats been going on with us, not much riding, but hopefully that will change very soon. As always we will always have adventures and I hope I can share them with you all.
For now, Where the Wind Blows is Where The Wind Goes.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Born To Run!
I had it in my plans to ride Miss Wind today, but as it always seems to do my plans didn't go exactly as planed. Technically riding Wind was the only thing that I didn't get to do today, hehehe.
First thing I had to do today was go to campus(URI), on my day off, to help proctor an exam at 11am. So, I drive 45 minutes one way to school, hop on one of the shuttle buses and get to the lecture hall only to find out that the exam had been rescheduled to next week. Ugh, I drove all that way and wasted a 1/4 of a tank of gas for nothing. Oh well, back home I go.
I didn't get to ride Miss Wind today because I promised Nosey (my Quarter Horse Gelding, my first horse) that I would take him for a ride today. So, by the time I got all my barn chores done and rode Nosey, I was rapidly losing daylight. Though she didn't get to work under saddle, she did get to blow off some steam in the ring.
Right after I got home from URI, I went and pulled off their blankets, since it was going up into the 50's today, and I let the two of them out into the ring to play! Their favorite thing to do!!!
They say you can take the girl out of the honky-tonk, but you can't take the honky-tonk out of the girl. Well, you can take the Thoroughbred off the race track, but you can't take the race track out of the Thoroughbred. Though Wind's been off the track since December 1, 2008, there are times that you would never know it. She was definitely Born To Run!
She LOVES it!! When she gets running, you best make sure you stay out of her way (I learned that the hard way last year, when she slammed into me going at least 35 mph and sent me flying. Not Fun!) The moment I opened the gate between the paddock and the ring, the two of them went flying down the hill and into the ring. Nosey chased her once around the ring before stoping to roll about 5 or 6 times in the snow, but did Miss Wind stop or even slow down?!?! NOPE. She just kept running and running, and bucking and rearing. She kept going for about a good 5 minutes before stopping for a minute to roll in the cold snow.
So, though I didn't get to ride her today, she did get to blow off some steam, and she got a nice grooming!
First thing I had to do today was go to campus(URI), on my day off, to help proctor an exam at 11am. So, I drive 45 minutes one way to school, hop on one of the shuttle buses and get to the lecture hall only to find out that the exam had been rescheduled to next week. Ugh, I drove all that way and wasted a 1/4 of a tank of gas for nothing. Oh well, back home I go.
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| My Noseman, first time under saddle in quite a long time |
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| Yippie Mom opened the gate!! |
Right after I got home from URI, I went and pulled off their blankets, since it was going up into the 50's today, and I let the two of them out into the ring to play! Their favorite thing to do!!!
They say you can take the girl out of the honky-tonk, but you can't take the honky-tonk out of the girl. Well, you can take the Thoroughbred off the race track, but you can't take the race track out of the Thoroughbred. Though Wind's been off the track since December 1, 2008, there are times that you would never know it. She was definitely Born To Run!
So, though I didn't get to ride her today, she did get to blow off some steam, and she got a nice grooming!
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| Monkey see, Monkey do! |
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| Synchronized rolling, and 1, 2, 3...up |
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| My Handsome Nosey Boy |
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| My pretty Girl!!!! |
Thursday, February 14, 2013
First Time Blogger
My first post on my first blog, this must be the hardest post to write, where to begin, where to begin?!?!?! Well I suppose a good place to start is with an introduction.
Together Wind and I primarily train and compete in Eventing, but we are always game to try our "hoof" in any discipline that we come across. This year, we are really hoping to get back into the show ring, finances and training/health provided. So, I hope y'all will join Wind and I on our journey together, as we bond, grow, train and show.
My name is Cassie, and this blog is about the adventures and happenings in the life of my mare Wind and I. Sharing out ups and our down, our progress in training, both forward and backwards, our adventures at competitions, whether we are victorious or not, and anything else that will come along, like they always do when you live in a life with horses.
So, a little about Miss Wind! Wind In The Forest, or Wind for short is a 2003 Off The Track Thoroughbred (OTTB) Mare. Wind was born on May 19, 2003 at Rojan Farms in New York. Wind is by Forest Camp, out of Even The Wind by Irish Tower. Her whole pedigree can be found here: http://www.pedigreequery.com/wind+in+the+forest2
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| Baby Wind (1.5-2 years old) |
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| Forest Camp (Wind's Sire) |
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| Forest Camp (Wind is a spitting image of her papa) |
Wind started a total of 27 times, earning a total of $97,434, she raced at every track in New York, but mostly she raced at Finger Lakes Racing Course. Wind's racing career ended on December 1, 2008 where she won by great lengths. Wind and I came together on February 1, 2008 where I payed a whopping $1.00 for her, and she was mine all mine!!
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| It was Love at first sight <3 |
Wind and I have been through a lot the past 5 years, but our battles with training problems, injuries and lameness issues, have made us stronger as individuals and has made our bond stronger than ever.
Together Wind and I primarily train and compete in Eventing, but we are always game to try our "hoof" in any discipline that we come across. This year, we are really hoping to get back into the show ring, finances and training/health provided. So, I hope y'all will join Wind and I on our journey together, as we bond, grow, train and show. 
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