Reflecting On a Whirlwind

It’s hard to believe two weeks have gone by already! Where did it go? I have had quite a few ups and downs, a major break-thru after a much needed cry, and so far a great weekend. Right now, it’s early Sunday morning. Jake and Makenzie are still asleep. I woke up a few hours ago, refreshed from falling asleep early, and decided to enjoy the silence. I glance out the kitchen window. It is still raining, a slight mist, and even though we aren’t going to get a whole lot done out there today, my grass is starting to finally turn green. Half of the pigeons, who without babies to watch can enjoy their freedom, are sitting on top of the coop. The girls are standing over by Chex. They like to keep him company in the morning until we come out to feed.

I notice right away, the girl’s tail bags are still in! You may not think it’s an accomplishment, but one whole day is amazing for my two girls. These two are like Houdini with their tails. Somehow they can make everything come out. Don’t believe me? The tail bags that I put in after “bath day” barely made it a week! And all I did was braid fabric around their tails. How do you get the fabric out without undoing the braid? I mean, really? How is this possible? My sewing skills look like they might just pay off this time! No, a tail bag is not that hard to make. I will admit that. But the right material, the right set of stitching, and the right alignment of the stars during the right phase of the moon seem to be my only answer. So, we shall see if Makenzie’s sparkly turquoise swimsuit material, a X-box stitch, and two rows of straight stitch will be the million-dollar ticket.

So much has happened the last few weeks. For starters, my 4-month-old daughter, Makenzie rolled over for the first time! It is amazing how such a simple task for us is such as astounding accomplishment for a baby. More than anything else, I loved watching her face the few days before she figured out how to successfully check another milestone off of her big lists of “firsts.” For days, Makenzie experimented with different arm placements, differing amounts of push-off power, and other reasons to look at the ceiling besides hearing a voice above her. Just as expected, I was alone and her surprise was totally unexpected. Jake wouldn’t be getting home from work for another couple of hours and how was I going to make sure he got to experience that “first time” too? So, like any overly enthusiastic new mom I dig out the camcorder, blow off the dust, and go running back into the room. Turn it on, here we go…no battery power, how could that be? When was the last time we used this thing anyways? Ok, battery charger found, power on, record… no tape left! So, I rewind thru two tapes of horses to finally find something I can record over. Flip the baby back over, here we go…what! We want to sleep now! Four minutes later of showing Makenzie how to roll over again, refocusing, and my spectacular commentary and we accomplished our mission! Roll over #2 successfully cataloged for Daddy!
I took some time to play with the baby, Chex. I learned a lot about his personality. On one, non-rainy, but still windy day, I took a piece of carpet with me. I figured that he would go crazy seeing the strange thing I put on the ground in front of him. I expected jumping, leaping, and was wondering if our 60’ round pen would contain the crazy I was about to unleash. He didn’t even give me a reason to continue with these thoughts. Chex circled the carpet, sniffed it, and then walked over to me. What was I so worried about? Am I conditioned to see the “what if’s” and too quick to judge? I proceeded to shake the carpet, drag it behind me, and hang it on the fence. No dice. No jumps, leaps, snorting, tail in the air, head up, and nervous behavior whatsoever. Yes, he watched me closely and was curious, but never a bad reaction. We continued this lesson over a few days with coats, gloves, and spraying water into his water bucket. I’m very happy that he is level headed, not quick to react, and I noticed his unique way of presenting his body to each. His natural instincts take over as he sees each new experience. Chex approaches everything as he would a cow. He walks from a far off distance and in a semi-circle starts to work toward the “head.” He is cautious, slow, no nervous energy apparent, just nice, calm and fluid. I can already picture how he is going to be when he is finally big enough for us to ride.
Chex also completed a milestone of his own. We have been working on willingly being haltered. I hate chasing horses in the pasture just to catch them and have them refuse the halter. We worked on slowly introducing the halter and lead rope. I let Chex smell the halter, rubbed it all over his body, and sacked him out with the lead rope and went as far as leading him from his hindquarter with one end of the leadrope around his belly and the halter behind his rump. Slowly, day-by-day, we inched closer to the halter going on his head. I love how babies try to understand new objects. Chex chewed on the lead rope, halter, and my boot as I moved into a haltering position. After rubbing his nose, the front of his nostrils, and under his jaw, he slowly became less sensitive to the feel of a halter. Chex willingly let me put a halter on his face, rub it around, even move the lead rope back and forth causing him to take a few steps forward. I love how he is beginning to trust us. That trust is growing each and everyday. As we leave Chex’s side, we are rewarded by a colt following us with his nose against our jeans just hoping for us to turn around and give just one more rub on his sweet little head.
I love springtime. Warmer weather, flowers blooming, and the chirping of birds flying about once again. I have been feeling guilty about how little time I spent with the girls last year. Between buying a house and getting settled in, morning sickness and a full workday, there was little time to pamper my other two big babies. We have had a couple of days in a row in the 80’s. It is perfect spring bath weather. Makenzie was being cooperative. Happy as could be in her own horsey, I decide on giving the girls a well-deserved spa day. After standing perfectly still thru a bath, shampooing, and conditioning, I was quite happy with the magic powers I had over Peaches and Roz. Can you believe it? Perfectly still! Okay, okay…I don’t have any magical powers, even though I think I could make a fortune if I could create some sort of “fairy horsey dust”. I never said I wasn’t above bribes. Half a flake of alfalfa given to two very rotund horses is all it took. Makenzie plays in her horsey as she gabbers away. She loves telling the girls all about her day as I braid tails and brush out manes. I am so pleased how level headed they stayed while Makenzie jumped and bounced and as her horsey sang songs and light up. I think they too have the song “On the Farm” permanently ingrained into their brains like I do.

We do have a few issues to take care of. Somehow, Peaches has lost most of her tail. How? I have no idea. I got some hair re-growth to put on it and as I start massaging it into her tail head, I get a good whiff and proceed to feel like I am going to die. This stuff smells worse than rotten eggs! No wonder why everyone I know has had great success with it. No horse or any other animal in his or her right mind would come near that smell. Roz’s scratches are back. Her two hind legs are white and seem to constantly need some sort of medicated application. I am going to have to keep a better check on her legs to keep them from getting too bad.
I love watching horses jump and run and play when they feel good during springtime. I turn Peaches and Roz back out expecting this and probably a roll or two. Just as I expected, the running, leaping, snorting, tail raised prancing was what I saw from Roz. Peaches, on the other hand, laid down right away and rolled. That must feel so good! Except, in the manure pile? Really Peaches? Wow, what a wonderful thank you for all of my love and hard work in the last hour! As I watch her get up to run and play with Roz, I wonder is there some sort of grime to cleanliness ratio we are all unaware of? Is there a scale? Mane brushing = head tossing so that the hair isn’t all on one side still. Full on bath = getting as dirty as possible in the first minutes of freedom?
I got the chance to do a little riding. Jake and I even went for a little trail ride on our property. We had to pony Roz in the beginning to get her to behave. Didn’t I say I wasn’t above creative thinking? Peaches and I stretched our muscles with a nice long trot. Dropping my stirrups and I start to post. Ouch! That hurt. Not 30 seconds later and my butt making it not even a ¼” out of the saddle, I realize just how out of shape we both are. We are just going to have to fix that! Pathetic, I know!
This week has also had its downs. The anxiety, inability to sleep, massive mood swings, and doubt about whether or not I even know who I am anymore finally hit a breaking point. A very special pearl earring fell apart. Such a small thing that can easily be fixed was what broke the camel’s back. Even with all the lingering concerns about my post-partum depression and worries about the days to come, looking over all of the great things that happened as of late makes me realize that I am doing better. I am seeing the good in things again. I am starting to be able to take a deep breath again and just relax. I realize…today is a good day! I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!