Animals

Trees, forests, silence and animal deaths.

by Veronica on March 7, 2010

So the protesters are doing their thing and shouting about the annual duck season. AGAIN.

‘Scuse me for a minute while I laugh a little.

Okay, protesters? You know who is out of a hobby if all the ducks get shot and can’t re-breed? The duck hunters. So don’t you think, that maybe they’re invested in the well being of the ducks as a whole? Just a teensy little bit invested?

And yes, there might be cowboys who are shooting for the sake of shooting. Screaming at them and disrupting the hunt is probably not the way to go about reeducating the idiots. Personally, if it’s the idiots you’re targeting, you couldn’t pay me to stand in front of them and whistle and dance while they try to shoot ducks.

So they’re probably not targeting the idiots.

Surely, just surely, there are worse things involving animals and turning them into food (because trust me, if you’ve gone to all the trouble of dodging the protesters and shooting a duck, you’re fucking well going to eat the thing). Like maybe, OH I DON’T KNOW, commercial pig farming? Just MAYBE, we ought to be protesting at a pig farm, or a battery hen farm. Or for those of you in the USA and Canada, the horse slaughter trade and auctions. Because it’s not that the animals are slaughtered, it’s the way they do it and how the animals are transported in the first place.

So MAYBE, just MAYBE, we have bigger issues than the fuzzy wuzzy ducks and cutsie wootsie wallabies being killed. Wallabies btw are vicious little things, invested in the serious business of garden and fruit tree murder. I’m pretty sure if you look at one wrong they’ll stab you with the knives they keep in their pouches. Kill em before they kill you is my theory [so long as that death is quick and humane. Please don’t try to suffocate one, or shoot it with little darts and a blow gun. Please].

Also, for the record, if a wild duck or two dropped into my yard, they’d be dinner, pretty fast. (My actual plan is to breed and eat Muscovy ducks, but that’s not happening. YET.)

***

Quick question: If a blogger posts a post on a Sunday – and no one reads it, does it still exist? Enquiring minds want to know.

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Additions

by Veronica on January 27, 2010

in Animals, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome

I did tell you on twitter that this wasn’t all that exciting, just exciting for me.

You know what you need to do when life is stressful? You need to add more things to the family, so you don’t have any time to worry about anxiety or panic attacks.

So would you please all welcome Susie, the newest addition to our family.

Please, ignore the fact that my feet are purple in that second photo. I’m a bit EDS-y lately.

Susie’s Mum was a Springer Spaniel x Border Collie and her dad was a purebred Springer Spaniel. This is the closest to a purebred dog I’ve ever owned in my LIFE! Normally I go in for mongrels (like Seven, she’s a terrier x daschund something mix), but Susie needed a home when I needed a puppy, so here she is.

I suspect we’ll have a bunch of OMG puppy stories coming, but for now, she has fit in really well. Seven is following her around, doing nothing but wagging her tail and trying to lick her.

The cats however, they’re not too keen. Both of them still look a little like I plugged them into an electrical outlet. They’re going to be sulky for weeks and I fully expect a display of decapitated birds to be awaiting me when I feed them tomorrow.

Hehe.

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Arena!

by Veronica on October 31, 2009

in Animals

Friday, Nathan and I spent most of the day moving tyres from one spot on our property to another.

And this is our end result:

Arena

An arena for the horses!

It’s not quite finished yet, it needs another layer of tyres (arriving next week) and some hot tape around the outside, but I’ve got an area I can work the horses seperately in.

Emma and I have been working on ground manners lately and she’s getting better. She’s not as pushy anymore and accepts that I won’t let her rub her head on me, not now, not ever and that if she requests, I will rub the itchy spot on her forehead with my hands.

And I mean, sure, after all that work I’m having a hard time walking today and Nathan has had to relocate one of my ribs at least every hour, but it feels good to have it done.

It feels really good.

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I have a confession

by Veronica on October 16, 2009

in Animals

I have a confession.

You know how a lot of people worry about messing up their kids? Yes? Well… I don’t. I never soul searched while pregnant with Amy, wondering how it would go if I did everything wrong. How she’d grow up if I fucked it up.

Never. Not once. I still don’t. Somehow, I trust implicitly that I’m not going to fuck it up, that even if I make mistakes, I’m pretty sure both kids are going to be okay. I love them unconditionally and I’m happy that some days, that’s enough.

However, I worry that I’m going to fuck up these horses.

I worry about that a lot.

I think part of that is the fact that I haven’t actually ridden in oh, about 6 years? And that now I’ve got horses that I am responsible for and ohmigod, I think I’ve forgotten how to put a bridle on. How am I meant to be the ‘alpha mare’ if I’ve completely forgotten what I’m meant to be doing?

Emma is forgiving. Belle, probably not so much. Belle is highly strung. She’s more interested in being a horse than having human interaction. Getting a halter on her the other day was an exercise in patience.

Cue minor panic attacks.

And it’s stupid, truly it is, to be having panic attacks over horses. Horses for goodness sake.

I think I just need to remind myself that everything will be fine. That doing something wrong once is not going to fuck everything up forever.

You know, as long as the ‘something wrong’ is not something major. Like uh, forgetting everything I’ve ever known.

I wish Nan were still alive.

And breathe.

***

I suppose this is as good a time as any to announce that my other website ‘Two Mares‘ is live. I’m over there writing about the horses and the issues I’m having/not having with them.

Feel free to click over and have a look. I’ll be editing this post for language and cross-posting it there too.

You could even subscribe for me…

If you’re interested that is.

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Welcoming…

by Veronica on October 10, 2009

in Animals

Firstly, lets get the freak-out out of the way: My laptop charger is DYING, like it won’t work properly and I can’t get it to work and the replacement won’t be here for another 2 weeks.

Sob.

Commence freaking out. (Edit: I’ve gotten it working again. However, I think it’s only a matter of time before it dies for good.)

Now, I’d like to welcome some girls to my family.

Emma

This is Emma.

And this is Belle.

They were delivered (delivered! yes! I know how lucky I am) early this morning and have spent the day making themselves at home.

I couldn’t be more pleased.

Emma is the dominant horse. She can get a little bossy.

Bossy

But she is more than happy to be patted and brushed. We’ll get some halters this week and see how she is to be handled. They are both very sweet tempered so I don’t foresee any major problems.

They’re both in need of a good home and lots of food. Both have been a bit neglected prior to ending up at the place I got them from.

Belle was an ex-racer. However, she wasn’t fast enough and ended up retired. She’s long and leggy and will probably be the horse I ride.

Emma is stockier and stronger. She’s good natured and dominant. Prior to ending up at my place, she was ridden by children and beginners. She will be the horse I teach Nathan to ride on.

Both horses were a bit wary of the camera. Until I let them sniff it. And honestly, what’s a little bit of horse snot to worry about?