The proudest greyhound in the world...

Last night, Katie and I were hanging out in the living room. She was about to go to bed, and I asked her to let the dogs in. She opens the door, and too late, I noticed the creature hanging out of Alex the greyhound's mouth. He brings the thing in before I can do anything and drops it in the middle of the room. It's a huge rabbit, and still alive. I am dancing around the living room like an idiot screaming like a girl, trying to figure out what to do with it, when it gets up and runs into my bedroom. I follow it, wondering if it's under my bed, in my closet, behind boxes left over from the move...then the cat runs out of the bathroom. I go into the bathroom preceded by Lucy the Dachshund and find her picking at this poor terrified gigantic rabbit who is cornered by the toilet. I'm still contemplating what to do when the rabbit comes out and Alex scoops it up again. Finally I just grabbed the thing by it's hind legs and carried it outside. Al was none too happy about my stealing of the bunny. I dropped it on the other side of the backyard fence and haven't seen it since. Never a dull moment at the Embry farm.

Chickens and goats!

Last weekend, Katie and I brought home 5 pullets! We think they are Ameraucanas, so we're waiting impatiently for some Easter eggs. Jennifer painted an awesome folk art sign for our ghetto chicken coop made out of a dog house and dog pen. Pics will be posted soon.

I just emailed a farm in McDonough, GA about fainting goats. It's time I finally did it. This farm has the cutest babies ever! Can't wait to go see them. Check them out: http://highfivefarms.com/forsale.aspx

You won't believe this story...

So the plan was to move the horses on Sunday July 4th. I was in GA after my first week at my new job, and my husband and daughter were in NC packing the UHaul for the drive down on Saturday. Jennifer brought her 3 horse trailer from Marietta to pick me up and Lexington, and we drove up to NC on Saturday. Of course, as we walked to the Tahoe, Jennifer commented on how low her back tire was, and we went to a gas station to put air in it. Saw the nail, and also saw the bulge that seemed to be starting... We stopped at a tire place in Elberton and the guy put a used tire on for $40, all without unhitching the trailer. Crisis averted.

We passed the UHaul on I85 in SC and waved as we crossed paths. The rest of that trip went well, and my previous manager and his wife met us at Tylers for dinner and beers. (Thanks for dinner, Bill!) It was perfect weather for sleeping in my 3 horse Sundowner weekender. We had a terrific breakfast Sunday morning at Weaver Street in Carrboro, then went back to the barn to pack up my stuff and load the horses. All was going well until Jennifer opened her trailer door...

The tongue and groove floor had popped out and you could see the ground under her trailer! She had been concerned about her floor but had several people tell her that it was fine. Apparently...it wasn't. The vibration of the 5 hour drive had jiggled it right out. What to do... We were able to put the floor back together and decided to go to Home Depot to have sheets of plywood cut to fit over the floor. We bought a drill, some screws, a sledge hammer, and the plywood, and headed back. I needed some air in my trailers tires, so I stopped at a BP. Something was jammed in the coin slot and I couldn't get my quarter in. I cussed, and we moved on to another gas station and found one with FREE air. Of course I had to cuss all the people who were in my way since I was driving this giant Sundowner, and they obviously didn't realize that they were ticking me off. I have no tire gauge that goes high enough for my trailer tires nor my truck tires. My husband bought me a digital one years ago, but the battery died, and I can't remove the battery to replace it. Jennifer borrowed one from some nice man, so we got the tires done. Went back to the barn, and no problem, we got the plywood down and were very proud of ourselves even though it was much later than we had anticipated, but things happen, and we handled it. Then...

Gem refused to be caught. All 5 horses were loaded, and there was Gem, cantering around the pasture. I offered to leave her with Helen, and even offered $10 on top, but she just laughed and handed me some apples to help catch her. We finally caught her with a bucket of grain and got her loaded. We were off. We were already tired and hot from fixing the floor and catching Gem, and we stopped to get a drink and put air in Jennifer's trailer tires (and the new used truck tire...). We head out of there, then stopped to put gas in Jennifer's truck. FINALLY we get on I85!

Several miles down the road, I notice that one of the plastic bins we'd put in the bed of my truck was blowing around a lot, so I pulled off on an exit to move it. I put in in Jennifer's Tahoe and started back to 85. As I turned, I noticed a bubble in the sidewall of my trailer tire, so I call Jennifer to deliver the bad news. A few more miles down the road, I have to pull over on the side of 85 because the other bin in the bed of my truck had lost it's top completely, and stuff was trying to fly out. The foal blanket had already blown out and was caught and hanging onto my trailer's propane tank. Ugh... I collected my stuff and threw that bin into my cab. We inspected the bubble and decided to try to move on...

A few more miles down the road, I hear a tire blow. If you've never experienced this, it will scare the s*%# out of you. I pull over on the side of 85 AGAIN, and guess what, it's not even the tire with the bubble in it!!! It's a trailer tire on the OTHER side of the trailer. So we discuss our options, and we get back in the trucks and limp along to a gas station. Jennifer goes in to ask if anyone knows of any tire stores that might be open, not that any would have two trailer tires in stock, but anyway...it's the 4th of July AND a Sunday, so no go. I start changing the flat tire while Jennifer calls around to see what we can do. I called a friend back home to get on the internet and find a boarding or lay-up barn near Charlotte, cause at this point, I'm ready to scrap the trip and come back for the horses.

The general consensus was that we could use Jennifer's trailer spare for the bubble tire as long as it was on the front axle, and as long as we took it easy, it would get us home. So we did that. Changed two trailer tires in the gas station parking lot in Charlotte, NC, and not one person asked if we needed help. Screw 'em, we did it ourselves.

After having one tire blow out, driving after dark on the 4th of July will shoot your nerves. Every firework freaks you out. I just kept driving and wished for the best. My mantra was: Slow and steady gets me home. Slow and steady gets me home...

We made it home at 12:30 that night. Let me tell you, those horses were never so glad to get off a trailer. And I was never so glad to be home.

Things I learned:
1) Replace tires at least every 4 years, no matter what they look like.
2) If you have trailer tire issues, a smaller trailer tire that fits the lugs will suffice as long as it's on the front axle.
3) In an extreme emergency, you can take the tire completely off the front axle and limp along to a safe place.
4) If you don't have a Trailer Aid or similar ramp thing to change trailer tires without unloading, you need one. Today. I've had mine for years and it finally paid for itself a million times over.

Moving back to GA!

We've been in NC for close to a year now, and not a single person came to see our farm in GA. Paying a mortgage, apartment rent, and horse board has stretched us pretty thin, so I found a couple jobs in GA to apply to. Earlier this week I got an offer at the UGA Vet School, and I accepted! We'll be moving back to GA at the end of the month.

So now I get to move all 6 horses back to our farm in Lexington, move all of our 2 BR apartment, Kelly has to find a new job in GA, and I'm supposed to go on a business trip the week before I start my new job. All of a sudden, the month got super busy!

I'm sad about leaving my new friends here in NC, but I'm super excited about going back to our farm! After living on my own horse farm for 10 years, living in a 2 BR apartment with no porch or patio has been a harsh change. It will also be nice to be able to see my family without having to drive 6 hours.

Wish us luck on the move!

Red Mountain Hounds Hunter Pace

I convinced a friend at work to ride with me in the Red Mountain Hounds hunter pace last weekend. She loves horses and took lessons for 5 years, but hasn't ridden in about 10 years. I met her out at our new boarding barn on Saturday to let her meet Tucker and ride for a bit. She did great and wasn't discouraged at all about going to the hunter pace the next day. We loaded up the next morning and upon arrival, Maggie decided she didn't want to get OFF the trailer! We tried everything, and finally we ended up folding the rear tack so she could go off front-ways! (Thanks TJ!) We met up with a friend I had made at the Horsemasters meeting the previous week, and the three of us came in fourth in our division! Of course it was the slowest division, the "strollers", but we had a ton of fun, and Maggie did great on her first hunter pace. We have big plans to ride in the next one on November 1. It's great to be meeting so many people in the NC horse community, and I love the Horsemasters club!

moving to North Carolina

OK, I've been horrible about updating the blog, but a lot has happened since I did! I've taken a new job in Durham, NC and already moved to an apartment in Hillsborough, NC and been at work for a month. I brought Tucker, Maggie, and Sandy up Labor Day weekend. I will be moving them from a boarding farm in Stem, NC to one closer to Hillsborough this Saturday. We are planning on going to our first NC show on Saturday as well. I am considering bringing Nick, Gem, and Rosie up to NC the weekend of October 24.

Katie and I looked at two houses (potential farms) yesterday, but I think they both will require too much land-clearing to be worth it. I'm hoping to find something with established pasture, but we'll see. Our Lexington, GA farm is on the market, and as far as I know, there hasn't been any interest yet. Wish us luck on finding a new farm, and if you know of anyone looking for one in the Athens area, tell them about mine!

Rosie update 3.5 months old

Rosie is so inquisitive and smart. I've adopted the habit of sitting on a bucket in the paddock while she and Gem eat, and as soon as she's done, she's snuffling my hair, my shirt, and asking for rubs. She's an amazing filly.

Haltering was an interesting show. I had tried a few times to no avail before the shoer came last month. He and I ended up getting a halter on her after a "rodeo" in the stall. She's quite agile and definitely has a mind of her own. She stood relatively quietly for her first trimming; I like to say it's because I'd been handling her legs a lot, but maybe I give myself too much credit

It seems that Rosie will be bigger than her mom. Gem is less than 15 hands, but Rosie's dad Pepper is 15.2 or 15.3. Everyone makes a comment about how big she is.

Tonight I'm working on registration papers for her and Gem. I'm going to register Gem with ICAAP and Colorado Ranger Horse Association, and hopefully I can get Rosie's ApHC Foundation Pedigree Designation.