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Year: 2014

My Job at the Cult – The Promotion

My Job at the Cult – The Promotion

Given the turbulent environment at the cult, you’d think there wouldn’t be much room for upward growth.  In contrary, they actually gave promotions out like candy. Unlike candy, promotions weren’t very sweet.  It was more of a curse than a blessing really, because they did not typically come with any raise.  I knew several people who received a lot more responsibility, often switching departments or roles entirely, to bring the same amount of bacon home at the end of the day….

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Summer Grooming Routine

Summer Grooming Routine

Even though we are heading towards fall in many parts of the country, here in central Texas we’re marching towards “later Summer”.  Honestly, it hasn’t been all that hot this year (yay!) but we’re due for some 100 degree days in the near future and I know the heat is not done yet. Now I’m not vain about many things in life, but how my horse looks is one of those things.  I want to be able to see my…

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One Lameness For Another

One Lameness For Another

As most of you know, I spent a large part of July trying to figure out why Simon was NQR.  It has half gone away, and half improved by a mix of strategies we’re currently working through.  Of course we can’t be drama free in the Mauldin household, and another creature is showing lameness signs… but it’s not a horse. Pascale has been NQR for the past few weeks, and I’m concerned she has signs of hip dysplasia. At the…

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Rock Solid Citizen

Rock Solid Citizen

Once upon a time I had a green horse.  Rides were somewhat unpredictable, and some lessons I could do my best and things would still kinda suck overall because he was green. Then I took weekly (or twice weekly) lessons for two years.  I added a weekly training ride.  We went to shows with the only goal being “get around”.  We did more stuff at home on our non-lesson days.  Slowly it started coming together. Simon has always been a…

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A Bit Confusing

A Bit Confusing

I’ve never been a person to have a lot of extra stuff.  I find something I like, and then use it until it dies, hence my one bridle.  Even my bit collection is pretty small, with about 5 bits total. Two of those are for my old horse, and are too small for Simon.  One is western, and one is for my DraftX… so that leaves Simon with his one and only bit. I use a 5″ Myler Comfort (Level…

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Life With an Elder BT

Life With an Elder BT

I haven’t talked much about BT lately, which is a travesty.  Last time I left off with her story, we were having her damaged eye removed.  That surgery went well despite her age and significant heart murmur, so we were pleased and thought the entire situation would be behind us. Then several weeks later, Eliot attacked her again with no warning.  Her other (aka only) eye was damaged very slightly.  It healed perfectly, we thanked our lucky stars and now Eliot…

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Equine VS

Equine VS

I’ve been waiting to post this until it was official, but I’m experiencing something brand new in my equestrian adventure… quarantine!  For those of you who haven’t heard, equine Vesicular Stomatitis is spreading through central Texas right now.  Here’s a little about the disease (from The University of Vermont): Vesicular Stomatitis is classified as a rhabdovirus since it has a bullet-like shape when examined under a microscope.  Signs and symptoms very closely resemble those of Hoof and Mouth disease, which…

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Bounce Baby Bounce

Bounce Baby Bounce

I really wanted to title this post “Baby’s First Bounce” but since no one will believe me when I call my eight year old pretty damn broke horse a “baby”, let’s just simply say we did our first bounce in our Sunday lesson. First, we did trot poles.  Simon started out very tense and a bit worked up about them.  He wanted to be very forward and rushing going into the gymnastic.  With his shorter stride we had a hard time balancing…

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