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AND MORE SURCINGLE WORK For this week, Jean-Luc has had to share some of my time with a new addition to the family. Mr. Theodore “Teddy” Jones, joined the family on Saturday, October 7, 2017. While I don’t talk about my other critters much, my husband and I have a dog, April. We also had a cat, B.G. (Baby Girl), until this past July. She passed away of a sudden kidney failure while I was away on Jean-Luc and mine’s first ride through Durbin.
The entire event was heartbreaking and one I’m sure many of you have experienced. B.G. was my girl. She was a beautiful Bobtail/Manx-Mix. She truly had one of the most chill, dog-like personalities I’ve ever experienced in a cat. While I took her lose hard, I don’t know that anyone took it harder than our 8 year-old German Shepherd-Mix, April. For weeks April would walk up and down the street in search of her best friend. They had been together, just the two of them, for 6 years. April’s immediate instinct is Alpha Dog, followed closely by, “mother”. When we adopted her from the pound, we learned that she had puppies, and that they were likely taken from her too soon. Anytime she has the opportunity to be around something even remotely similar to a puppy, she will go into full-blown mother-mode. That is why my husband and I decided, “April needs a puppy.” We have joked saying this for nearly two years now, but with the loss of B.G. Cat, the jokes became reality. Since July, we have attended several animal shelter events in search of April’s puppy. We are pretty big proponents of rescue animals, and as much as I would adore adding some kind of Corgi, or French Bulldog to the mix, we really wanted to stick to our philosophy and provide a home for some critter that needed it. We decided to not rush things and be somewhat picky when it came to things like size and temperament. Last Friday, on his lunch break, my husband noticed a sign outside of a little country gas station/market combo known as (brace yourself, it’s bumpkin) “Bob’s Mini Mart,” up the valley. The sign said, “FREE PUPPIES.” While we usually question things like “Free Puppies” he thought he’d call the number provided. They sent him a photo and it might have been love at first sight. The woman who owned the puppies showed a momma pekingese and poppa beagle with two adorable brown eyed fluff balls. There had been a total of six in his litter and these guys were the only two left. I’ll admit, I know there is a ton that goes into raising a puppy and I wasn’t sure we could handle it. At nearly 8, April isn’t a spry young thing anymore (even though she sure thinks she is). I wondered if she’d even be up to the task of raising a pup? Would her alpha personality kick in? She could really hurt a puppy if she wanted to. Saturday morning I enjoyed the last of the fun Mountain State Forest Festival activities (lumber jack contest, mini-horse show, and craft fairs). Then I hurried home to start puppy proofing the house. I purchased a few new toys, one of which is this really fun fried egg with wrapping paper inside that makes it sound like it’s actually sizzling when you move it. God bless the clearance bins! And awaited the new little guy’s arrival. At approximately 4:30 PM on Saturday, the husband walked through the door with the most adorable bundle of furry joy I’d ever seen. It was strange, he immediately took to me. I, for whatever reason, am his “safe space.” And our dog April has adopted this little guy like he is one of her own. B.G. Was my cat, and I wasn’t sure the next animal we brought into the house would love me as much as she did. I think this guy might love me more. Together, my husband and I went through nearly 100 names, but on Sunday we dubbed him Teddy. I mean look at him! He just looks like a Teddy. He has a few small, and relatively normal puppy health issues like intestinal parasites from the fact that his previous owners never took him to the vet. In fact, had we not adopted him the day we did he was on his way to the pound. My hope is to be able to bring him out to the barn eventually, and maybe one day on trail rides with the group. His legs are WAY too short, so he would have to say behind or ride in my saddle bags. That said, this guy exactly what the family ordered. Welcome to the family Teddy. Also, Jean-Luc and I have continued focus on shorter surcingle work and I think the shorter amount of time is helping. We usually work for about an hour, but with Teddy at home I have had to cut it back to a half an hour. I am a very routine person, and this reminds how important it is to sometimes toss in a few surprises.
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AuthorMy name is Chelsey. HorseGenerator's Cuevo Gold, or as he's known around this barn, "Jean-Luc Ponycard", was foaled in 2004 from Generator's Hurricane & Cheyenne's Little Bit. Top 10 Blog Favs.Archives
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