Looking for the Good 👀

Nov 09, 2024

It's Saturday friends,

Ping ponging thoughts and emotions this week. You might be feeling the same.

This week of the election has not been great for me and 68 million other people. The prospect of Project 2025 is terrifying. If you've adopted internationally, please make sure your child's paperwork is up to date and they have both their Certificate of Citizenship and their passport. If you are a woman, neurodivergent, a person of color, part of the queer community, or any other marginalized community, or a man who loves any of the above, I'm here for support—the farm is a safe space.

In my little world now more than ever, I have to focus on the things that surprise me with their trustworthyness, goodness, and kindness:

First off, I've been walking the ponies every day, sometimes down into the forest, sometimes over to my neighbor's who has a beautiful unused pasture and loves to hang out with them. On Tuesday I took the ponies out for their walk, then took Tori (extra calm) out with Sweetness (extra worried about new stuff) around the pond (he did great!), and then took Jaffee out on his own. Jaffee pulled me down to the exact path I had taken with the ponies earlier, down to the forest. As we were walking and I was questioning him the whole way, I kept hearing, "I want to see what they saw." over and over. I finally realized that it was him. Funny that it took me so long but OMG! First words! I was shocked! I was shocked he trusted me, shocked he would walk off into the forest with me and no other animal with us. Donkeys are known as being stubborn but really I think they are just more careful and they need to go slow to make sure they feel safe. But he trusted me to go with him! Wow!

He stayed curious, not scared. I'm trying to remember this myself, it's a life skill:

I'm so focused on my footing and my animals that I don't take as many pictures when I'm out on a walk with them but here are a few:

•••

I was sitting on the stoop of the barn, waiting for a water tank to fill when I felt a tiny plop on my hand. I looked down and it looked like an itty bitty bird poop, about the size of a few pin heads. I looked up and there was a spider up in the peak of the barn.

A spider pooped on me.

I said, "Hey! Don't poop on me!"

And the spider said, "It's a blessing. Everything will be alright." 🥰 I don't often hear from wildlife so it's always a surprise when I do!

•••

On Wednesday I met a new barefoot trimmer. I like my old guy, but he trims on such a short schedule that I thought I'd look around. Jordan, my new mini gelding, was the only one who needed a trim so I had him come out to do him. If you remember, Jordan has had some abuse and neglect in his past. After I made the appointment, I thought I better see how he was with his feet. Not a big fan of me trying to pick them up. Oh dear. So, I practiced a bit with him, just petting him and then running my hands down his legs. He obviously was originally taught the right way, he lifted his feet right away but didn't want me holding them up.

The new trimmer came and I was prepared to snub Jordan up close to the fence, as that was the way I was always told to do it for Sweetness and Jaffee for all the other trimmers I've had. Branden said, "That's ok, I'll hold him." and proceeded to slowly, methodically, coax Jordan into trusting him. I was shocked. I've had really good trimmers before but no one has tried to get the animal to trust them. Sweetness and Light were a nightmare when they were young, quite the rodeo. From that point on, everyone had me tie their lead line to a fence—so while they could move side to side, they couldn't go forward or back. Not my favorite, but not the end of the world either. It went fast at least. This guy was just patient and sweet and he trims on the schedule the horse needs, yay!

•••

I'm in a Shetland ponies group on Facebook and someone posted about having 20+ minis and out in public if she mentions them, everyone asks what she does with them—she was looking for a funny answer...here are a few:

"Just tell them your age and you are going through the "mini pause." (OMG! Yessssss!)

"My husband told me I couldn't buy any more ponies so I keep three stallions and now I make my own."

"I say that I play My Little Pony."

•••

Just things that made me laugh this week, I needed a boost!

Introvert baby after socializing...

Can you relate?

Barely surviving ADHD then menopause shows up to finish the job!

Mom coaches young daughter through a naughty pony's bolt while galloping to catch up This one was so cool with the mom calling instructions (all while galloping her own horse) and also yelling, "I'm here! Don't worry!"

I remember seeing this one years ago about a hero cat who saves her boy from a dog attack. They show the boy and cat together now!

The hero kid that became a man this day!

A mistake is not the end. We all need a #21 in our lives!

Real life on a real farm lol! We show all the pretty but sometimes it's just crazy! This one really made me laugh hard, her screams when she thought the chicks were going to get caught up in the traps and then the dog at the end! People were saying, "Why didn't you fix it!?" She did, but it took a second because guess what? When crazy things happen, we can get flustered and freaked out. Sometimes screaming is all we've got lol. Then suddenly the brain kicks in and hopefully the problem gets solved. And boy do we remember those lessons forever!

•••

More real farm life: I saw on Nextdoor this week that a horse was wandering loose nearby. By the time I saw the post, it had been reunited with its owner, yay! But of course people were being nasty in the comments about how the owner should have better fencing. Jeez. I had no idea all the crazy that happens on a farm until I owned one. Even with the best fencing and secure everything, accidents happen. On my last farm in Colorado, I forgot to tell a client to close the gate behind us, the horse turned, saw it and quick as a bunny was tearing down the driveway at top speed. She was an off the track thoroughbred and SO fast. We got her back but jeez. Visitors for goat yoga classes would leave goat gates open all the time like they had never had a pet. Maybe they hadn't, who knows. So I started training my goats to stay nearby and to come when called. I once had a boarded horse's mom bring her young son who promptly opened the gate and let my two yearling mini donkeys loose--who also took off. We got them back too :-) All that to say: even with the best intentions, stuff happens!

Here are a few funnies that have happened to us on the farm:

Sheep wrecked

Donkeys run wild!

First lambs of 2020!

Stuck on the garage roof!

I was walking back up to the house from morning chores and found this on the ground. If you're ever a visitor here, please know, we are not drug addicts lol. We just do most of our own animal shots :-)

The ponies are enjoying their little barn. They like to watch me get their hay ready:

Hurry UP!:

The donkeys continue to be love bugs:

I'm not sure what the green haze is on his muzzle, I'm guessing he rubbed it on the fence which also has a green haze on it because it's so...moist here. And! Plans have been made, shipping lined up, and Wynter will be on his way to California around December 1st! I can't wait to see his reunion with his other mom and Wynter's two girlfriends! Imagine the joy, he hasn't seen those mares for 3 years! I'm sure I've posted this but in case you haven't seen it, this is his other mom's reunion with Wynter, Rayn, and Sweetness a year ago when she came to visit.