1 month of puppy

So its been just shy of a month with Mr Lucky.


He's still super adorable, and apparently already 3 lbs heavier as of last week.

Power of depth of field- his ears look normal sized :P

Integration: My Aussie has decided playing with him is worth getting puppy-drooled-dread-locks on his belly and being constantly nipped on the legs (corgis are true ankle biters lol).

So happy they get along

Training: He came with Sit command already nearly installed, Go Potty works (at least as well as it does with my ADHD-ish son). He gets Up, he just still doesn't have much hops. Watching him on stairs is incredibly entertaining. 

This will be the first dog I likely take to training classes because there are a lot of holes in my Aussie's training (because I trained him) and after years of paying for a horse trainer, I realized its ok to enlist professional help for dogs too. Ain't no shame in wanting your animal trained right. Plus I get to tote around Mr Sassy-Pants-Adorable-Fuzzy-Butt.

Lifestyle: I have never had a smaller dog and couldn't resist a little dress up as we wait for him to get current on all his shots so we can explore the great big world.... I'm sure it will then rain incessantly.

Tuxedo harness, but of course I NEED :)

My kids adore him and still help out with feeding him etc. I am excited to have a dog they can walk that won't drag them along like my Aussie.

Seriously such a snuggle-butt

Please excuse my techno-addicted kids

I Blame Hormones

Meet Mr Lucky

Because, what do you need when you are horse-less, pregnant with your 3rd child, and already have pets? A CORGI!!!

I had been stalking following a corgi breeder on FB and last week she posted this little guy up. Hubby and I = instant love.. D'oh. Messaged breeder and inquired about him, figuring there'd be someone with dibs. But...

We filled out the application while taking son to haircut, making dinner etc and followed her directions of what to do to a tee, and we had first rights to him. 

Then woke up to a message that since we hadn't put down the required deposit, so she was moving on... 

I was dumbfounded, and managed to send a polite text back with screen shots (despite hubby ranting and my hormones flaring) and she instantly apologized, and he was ours again.

She took him to her vet when he flew in, cleared his health, caught him up on shots, and scheduled our pickup. 

So much quieter in the car than my kids

He is from a ranch in Texas and already 12 weeks old. 

He is half Cardigan, half Pembroke, and 2/3 ears lol.

Breeder was awesome, had him playing with her kids and was a wealth of knowledge (also bred Aussies and had horses, so extra points there). 

We drove nearly to Mexico to get him. Like past San Diego, crazy far for a one day trip from our place. 

And since we were in San Diego area.....

I got to visit L.W. ,Dante, and get tacos (bonus).

 Since we had puppy in car we made quick work of the tacos and went to see Dante. 

Shameless selfies while LW was getting ready

Hubby is awesome because he drove the whole way down, took a power nap while I got my horsey fix, then drove the whole way back.

Dante was such a good boy, honestly she just grabbed him, tacked up, and hopped on. It wasn't warm out and he is young. His trot is dreamy to watch, I can't wait to see him progress.

Totally forgot a pic of us together
but got her and Dante at least

Got home and have been in puppy-integration mode since. Its been 9 years, you forget all the little things, but he is such a little cuddly bugger and likes naps as much as I do.

My son named him Mr Lucky. For a 5 year old, it was probably about as good as I could have hoped for a name. I probably would have picked something more Dingo-ear related.

Champion snuggler

Can't wait for him to get his 16wk shots so he can go out into the world. 

Surprisingly happy to have a n ankle-biting playmate

More puppy spam to follow, because no ponies for now :)

Sold

So part of my silence has been because Holly has been for sale. Like real for sale. Like weird people coming and riding her, showing off their weird family dynamics, for sale. I finally stepped back and let trainer do more. I had all the feelings over it.

So after a few adult ammy's, a few eventers wanting her to be something I never said she was, and a few juniors who well, needed to keep taking lessons, I found what I pray is a good fit. Trainer and barnmates saw her test rides, she did a trial week and vetted her at their barn.

She's going  gone to a 20 something who is sweet and calm. She's fairly nearby (if we didn't have such crappy traffic, she'd feel much closer). She plans on being out there every day with Holly, something I lost the ability to do a kid ago.

Her trainer is someone who my trainer has known for decades, he's got tons of experience and clearly is still a very active rider (I saw him finishing up a ride as I came to the barn). Which is nice knowing if there's anything she has trouble with (like suddenly not doing lead changes for the gal, really Holly?!) the trainer can ride her through it.

I went to sign papers and Holly was out in cross-ties. She nickered softly at me and nuzzled me when I got close. She's a sweet one, that's for sure. New owner gave me her number so I could text for photos and updates.

Always have a soft spot for this doe-eyed girl

I still need to clean off her stall door, take blankets home or sell, etc. Still not fully grasping being a non-owner. I'm sure my replenishing bank-account will help it feel real. Gotta do the adulting stuff for awhile, then hopefully come spring comes pony shopping.

Like Riding a Bike

Awkward, off-balance, a little self-conscious... how I feel about riding a bike or restarting this blog.

OK, so it's clearly been awhile.

So things that have happened.

Aging and progressing...

Lily is 2

Holly is 9

Shh... none of the geldings know she's that old

Liam graduated Pre-K
(and will be 5 next Sunday)

Adding Variety...

I really did start riding a bike again. My knees aren't super stoked, but I am pleased that it's not as awkward as I thought it would be after at least 5 years of not riding. We got one of those bike trailers for the kids which is one of those cool things I missed out on as a child.

I also started riding my friend's pony one of my lessons per week. Its a two-fold thing.

First its my less-brain-more-leg ride. Trooper is super calm, but the little masochist takes some serious leg and crop to keep forward. Its awesome riding him then back to Holly the next lesson. I now know I don't mind a little forward, its a LOT easier then pony club kicking around the ring.

Secondly, a barn mate lost her young horse fairly recently. Heartbreaking for everyone in the barn as he was a big sweetie. SO, on Saturdays, when lesson horse is booked solid, I let her ride Holly, since she has a bad back that pony trots don't sit well with, while I ride Trooper. She's a quiet rider, and its fun watching how Holly behaves with her (usually better then with me lol).

Holly has been great, especially considering it was spring, with ya know, hormones, and 40mph wind. She's definitely calmer than when I got her and now we get to work on the harder stuff like counter-canter without taking out other riders in the turns and the dreaded turn on the haunches to the left.

I've been back to doing super baby, tiny jumps with some of the younger lesson girls. Holly gets upset if I don't jump something in a lesson. When I was jumping her all the time, I as never sure of her desire for it, but now that we barely jump, I see her lock onto jumps as we canter by, ears perked, body game. If I could just shrink her down 2 hands I'd keep her forever. Or lotto. Need to win lotto.

That's the brief update, leaving out the unhappy stuff like illnesses in the family, finances, super-stressful work crap, etc... its too sunny out to dwell on right now.

Now to get hubby/ photographer back out because I am in need of some better then cell phone pics. ;)