IT'S OFFICIAL! WOOT!!

I checked my grades this morning and what a Christmas present to myself... 4.0 GPA!!!

Rescuing Claude Moneigh

Way back in Sept 2002, on my very first weekend of call, I got a page that Monday morning - a horse running loose on Pasadena Blvd. When I got there, PD had him corraled, and looking at this smallish black horse, he didn't look too bad. As I got closer, however, I could see more and more bones and ribs - this horse was dangerously SKINNY. He was sweet, tho, and loved attention. We kept him at the shelter a few months, then the perfect home came along - ten acres, a pond, a brand new barn, people home all day. Last week I found out he needed rescuing - AGAIN. He was old, and his food was costing too much, and besides, they couldn't ride him. Thanks to Nancy Kelly and Karen Hoffman, we found out about this and arranged a place for him to go, but we had to get him out, first. His people were nice to him, but they just didn't want him anymore, so I borrowed a truck from ETI (thank you, Victor!) and went to get him yesterday. The kind people from Habitat for Horses are coming to take him to his FOREVER retirement home today. Everyone who meets Moneigh loves him - he is homely, plain, and the nicest horse, so I have no doubt he'll be cherished where he's going. We love you, Mo!

Moneigh - the beginning

This picture of Mo was taken in early 2003 - after several MONTHS of good feeding... can you see why we all fell for him? We found his "owners" - he didn't even have a name, just "the black horse." We hoped he'd never need to worry about a home again...

The dead goat game

Sounds pretty awful, huh? Way back when, when Mongolian horseman got bored, they would form two teams, mark goals (sometimes a mile or two apart) and see who could get the carcass of a goat to their goal - I'm guessing they had no soccer balls.... Anyway, at equestrian practice we play a version of "Buzkashi" minus the actual dead goat. My friend Kathryn has a wonderfully sewn stuffed goat, complete with horns and a billy-goat beard! He has a bag of grass seed velcroed into his tummy that makes him weigh about 25 pounds. We tossed that goat around for two hours or so the first day - the horses were a bit shy of Mr. Chupa Cabre, but then decided that chasing each other around the arena was fun, even if their retarded riders kept laughing so hard... I'll get some pics at the next practice in January, and you can all see what a vampire, horse-eating goat looks like.