Buff Teagan of NEADS*** Dec. 6,1996-Aug.30, 2011

In 1997 we became involved with NEADS. It is an organization that provides Service Dogs for the deaf,disabled and combat veterans.Puppys are either donated by breeders, or adopted from shelters, and trained for the many tasks they may be required to perform. When the puppies are young, volunteers called "Puppy Raisers" train the puppies for basic tasks like housebreaking, walking calmly on a leash, basic commands, behaving in public situations, ect. When the puppies reach a certain age, around 8 months old they are returned to NEADS for more in-depth training and then placement into a home. We had the privlage of being a puppy raiser for a yellow Lab named Teagan. From the beginning she was an easy dog to teach. Eventually she went back to NEADs to be "fine-tuned" and then placed. A few months later we got a phone call asking us if we would like to take back Teagan. She had flunked her final training. We rushed over to get her, and she has been a beloved member of our family for 14 years. What a great dog she has been. Children could climb all over her, She was a jogging companion for Tom,until her hips got bad,was mother to our bassett hound Talullah, and as Mark once said "her heart was bigger than her body". After a year of incontinence, repeated UTIs, inability to use her hind legs to raise, we made the difficult descision to have her euthanized. The entire family accompanied Teagan for her final trip to the see our veterinarian. There was not a dry eye in the room, as Teagan fell asleep forever. Rest in peace sweet Teagn. There will be no more pain, you can bounce and run around again, and can mother all the other dogs in Dog Heaven.

Hurricane Warning

As if Junes' tornado wasn't enough, know we have a hurricane coming our way! I've had several people ask if I'm ready for the storm.My sister even called from her vacation in PA. You know the drill-water, batteries, candles, food, radio, charged cell phones. My response to this question is always the same."If the horses have everything they may need, then I'm prepared!" The first task is to figure-out where to house everyone. Are current number of horses is 8, and number of stalls is 5. We decided to have Stitch and Lilo co-habitate in one of the 12x12 stalls, Mudslide gets the other 12x12, Fancy, DB, and C'est Bon can use the stalls in the main barn. This leaves Trick and Eva to brave the elements wearing their raincoats. They will have one of the run-in shelters for cover, so long as it doesn't blow away. Every available container of water has been filled, hay has been brought down from the loft, and hopefully we have battened down all the hatches! If all goes as the weather gurus are predicting, we will all be blown to the Land of Oz by Sunday night. Do you think Toto is an acceptable name for a polo horse?

He's Got Personality

Today I attended a gathering of friends for dinner. We got to talking about animals and their personalities. Our horse Trick is big goof. He is built funny with all kinds of odd angles and slopes, in all the wrong places. He's definitely not a horse you would buy, just for looks. His attitude is usually very lackadaisical. For the final game of last week's tournament, Trick was the "extra" horse. I sat in a chair holding his reins, as he fell asleep, practically resting his head on my lap. Stitch was suppose to play the last chukker, but hadn't recovered from the 2nd chukker, so poor Trick had to wake-up and play polo. He not only played well, but as Mark commented while coming off the field "Mom, did you see Trick fly down the field?"
The above photos are of Trick falling asleep, and of Trick "flying" down the field. What a crazy horse!

Northeast Circuit Amateur Cup Winners

Guess who?? The handsome guy on the far right is Mark.

Weekend Preparations

This weekend Mark is participating in a tournament in the Cortland, NY area. His first game is Friday afternoon, in Skaneateles, second game is Saturday in Ithaca, and hopefully there will be a championship match on Sunday. For anyone that has had to travel with horses a long distance from home, for any length of time, it is a huge process gathering together all the "stuff" that you will need, might need, and doubt very much you will need, but bring "just in case"! My first job is finding a place to stay that is near the games, and making arrangements for all our animals that stay home. Mark needs to work on getting a team together, finding stabling for his horses, and getting the playing schedule. Between the two of us there are blankets and the "dredded" polo wraps to wash(5 horses times 4 legs times 3 games equals 60), tack to clean, lists of food and clothing to bring for both horses and humans, and the horses must be in top condition, and of course, looking beautiful. Looking beautiful and having enough feed for the horses is my biggest concern-big surprize! No matter how much time goes into the preparations there is always a last minute frantic rush. The "stuff" necessary for 3 people and 5 horses is monumental. It reminds me of vacations with my 3 children, when they were young. Cribs, walkers, car seats, toys, diapers, clothes, thing to entertaine them in the car, medicine, sunscreen, strollers, ect. This doesn't even cover the adults! Then just as you are about to drive out of the driveway,or worse yet, a few miles down the road, you remember that you forgot a favorite pacifier! Mark left with the horses on Thursday, Tom and I left early Friday morning, so it wasn't a problem gathering together last minute/forgotten items like an extra bag of grain, a different size feed scoop, and a toothbrush. After all of this we finally got to the designated location of the first game in Skaneateles, and during the 2nd chukker a stirrup leather breaks and then a set of reins. Did we have extras? We used to have some in the trailer. I know I have a new set of leathers, and reins back home, which is 6 hours away. Panic starts to set-in, and then you remember that Mark is stabling his horses with a family that owns a tack shop.

Baby Come Back aka Lilo; Bay mare; DOB April 24, 1998 in LA; by Dusty Sassafras out of Little Rumble.
Nuces aka Stitch; chestnut mare; DOB Feb 17, 1995 in IA; by Give Me Strength out of Noose. Raced until age 5.5 in OK and IA.
Introducing the 2 new additions to our "herd". I have mentioned in previous blogs about a polo rescue in Montgomery NY. Mark and I went on a road trip to look at 2 rescue polo horses currently in their care. Mark rode both very sweet mares, and I even wanted to climb onto Stitch. It was decided to adopt Stitch. Both horses had been together for a year, and Beth, the manager/owner of Squirrelwood, asked if we would also take Lilo, at least for 6 weeks to see if she would also work out as a polo horse for Mark. How could we say NO? Home they came and settled in nicely. Mark has already taken them to a few polo games, and has gotten several compliments on Lilo and Stitch. Now, if my ankle would just heal quickly so I can ride Stitch!

Mom, can you---?

Whenever I hear these words, I know I'll be asked to do some task. More often than not, its not a simple task like "turn on the TV". The other day Mark brought a mountain of polo wraps into the house to be washed. He didn't specifically ask me to wash them, but strategicly place them where everyone had to step over them to get to our foyer. Right know I have nothing better to do, so of course I washed the wraps. Once they were washed he asked "Mom, can you roll-up the wraps"? I don't know exactly how many wraps Mark owns, but he once told me that he only needs to wash the wraps every other week. His math is 5 horses times 4 legs, wearing wraps at least 3 times each week, so 60 wraps each week. This means he has approximatley 120 wraps! No, these were not all purchased! The majority of the wraps were ones that went unclaimed after polo season ended at Blue Sky last year. He also does a similar thing with dirty, stinky, saddle blankets. These, he conveniently hangs these on the backs of the kitchen chairs.Todays "Mom, can you" was to make egg salad sandwiches (he did boil the eggs), and fill bottles with water, and put them in the freezer so he would have cold water at todays' polo practice. He didn't ask me to roll polo wraps, but brought a bunch into the house, and piled them in the middle of the living room floor. He started to roll a few, I started to help him, and then he went to do something else, leaving me to finish the job. I commented on the fact that some of the wraps were very thick and wide, while others were very thin and narrow. He told me that he uses the thin ones under the tendon boots, and the thick ones on the horses'back legs. "Mom, can you maybe sew some bright colored thread on the ends of the thin wraps so they are easier to find"??