About me!

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cmbj67
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Re: About me!

Post by cmbj67 »

I'm sorry that you felt that way, but it's comprehensible after two tough losses. Nobody would want to get hurt again.

But time can fix some problems and I guess you managed to fix yourself later on, since now you love Brandi and Gizmo so much. :)
Claudia
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Stoneridge
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Re: About me!

Post by Stoneridge »

You're correct Claudia, time can ease a lot of heartache. In hindsight I think I jumped (or rather was pushed) in to quickly and I had not even had time to get over Jade and Cody let alone take on another horse.

Looking back I'm wondering perhaps if I didn't take on Fanta so soon and I had a little time to heal then maybe I would have kept going. But as fate would have it that was the definate end of my riding and competing career. The straw that broke the camels back so to speak.

After Fanta was gone and Freddie Ford was sold I took a long break from any involvement with any animals or people for that matter, I don't think I realised how badly affected that I was and I basically took to hiding away so nothing could ever hurt my emotions again. I had a solid brick wall and I was enjoying the serenity, my wall was impenatrable.

After quite some time another chapter opened and my awesome little buddy Yogi came cantering into my life.
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Stoneridge
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Re: About me!

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Yogi

You know that saying which goes something like this “You can take the girl out of the country but you cannot take the country out of the girl” well that would probably be me in a nutshell.

I was cruising around one of our local country fair’s one day and I happened to stop by the horse events arena as I knew quite a few people there. Then something caught my eye, tiny horses! I thought at first they were Shetland Ponies or something similar – I was wrong and soon found out that to call these horses’ ponies of any kind is incredibly insulting and seriously frowned upon.

They were in fact a breed called Miniature Horses, they have no snappy pony traits at all and even though size normally depicts the difference between a pony (small horse under 14.2hh) and a hack (horse 14.3hh and taller) that is not the case with these little guys. A miniature horse is measured primarily in inches, of which there are two height categories, the most desirable being Category A which is less than 34” in height and Category B which is over 34” but not more than 38”. Miniature Horses over 38” are unable to be registered as a Miniature horse and fall into the Pony category regardless of breeding.

I was fascinated and they looked like great fun and so incredibly cute – that’s also an insulting term for a Miniature Horse owner apparently. Even though a Miniature Stallion may be only 30 inches in height, make no mistake about it, that little guy is still a stallion in every way and if he wanted to he could do you some serious damage and mean it. Yep testosterone is still there and a formidable force, unpredictable and never to be trusted because of hormones would be the correct form of approach with these guys.

Well I got talking to a few of the owners that were milling around waiting for their events outside the arena. As fate would have it one woman had a few foals due and told me that if I was interested then she would give me a call and I could come out and see them.

A little time went by and she phoned me, she had a little bay colt and she was intending on advertising him for sale when he was weaned from his mother. I went out to have a look, he was one week old and I fell in love, he was named Bronze Ruler but his paddock name was Yogi because he was so fluffy he looked a bit like Yogi Bear. I bought him almost straight away, he really did pull at my heart strings he was so adorable. All four of his little hooves could literally fit into one hand, just gorgeous!

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Frequently I went out to see him and for the entire six months that I went out there I could never ever catch the little bugger. I could get within about a metre of him and then he would turn tail and gallop away. Frustrated the crap out of me to put it mildly, I had merely wanted to pat him and spend a bit of time with him. I think Yogi thought this was a fantastic game and he was having a ball at my expense.

I finally got him home with me after he was weaned and he quickly bonded with me, he never took off from me again but instead he always greeted me with a shrill whinny and would come cantering up to the fence.

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We didn’t have a lot of fencing back then as we had only just built our house and basically had boundary fencing only at that point, it quickly became apparent after catching him inside the house a few times that Yogi needed to know that he belonged outside and in his own paddock – he was a horse after all. I managed to keep him out of the house with temporary electric fencing. He was very intelligent though and soon discovered that he could get around the back of the house and sleep outside my bedroom window. I felt like I was being stalked by him, he would watch through the windows and would travel the length of the house on the outside as I went from room to room. If I was outside he would follow me everywhere like a little shadow and so close to me that if I stepped backwards then I would bump into him. Yogi was beyond doubt adorable with a temperament that reminded me a lot of Jade and Cody combined, a real little character and oh so cuddly, smoochy and affectionate! He gave nobody any choice but to adore him, it was never optional in his mind. And I for one was thoroughly enjoying every moment with him.

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bftlovesRDA
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Re: About me!

Post by bftlovesRDA »

So glad to read a happy story - and I know that little fellow is sweet (and cute if I can use that word). Hope the ending for him is happy also.
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Stoneridge
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Re: About me!

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Sure is happy B. Yogi is alive, well, happy, adorable and as cuddly and friendly as ever. Bless his little hooves.
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Re: About me!

Post by Stoneridge »

Snicker, he's very very old now though, except he doesn't think so!
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Re: About me!

Post by cmbj67 »

Thanks for sharing your story and the pictures of Yogi, I never heard about Miniature Horses until now. :D

Are you fine Storeridge? Is Snicker your next story? I'd like to read it, whenever you're ready. :)
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Re: About me!

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Hi Claudia, Everything is fine, I have just been a bit busy lately - actually that is probably another story to be honest. Nothing bad at all, quite the opposite. However, I am fine and thank you for asking that's very sweet and kind of you.

Snicker is not another story it was just me putting a bit of laughter in there about Yogi - he's so gorgeous, like a little boy that refuses to grow up.

I have loads more stories but have not had a chance to reach into my mind to put them on here. I will do so soon though when everything here settles down and has been co-ordinated. I'm instigating what could be considered something of a military operation over here right now, but I will post as soon as I can. So watch this space.

Kind regards - T
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Re: About me!

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I will watch. :D Take your time to do whatever you're doing well, I can wait, I don't want to push, real life is more important. I'm glad it's nothing bad and you're fine. :)

I was so sure that "snicker" was the name of another animal that I didn't even check Google Translate :oops: :lol: I learned another word, thanks. :D
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Stoneridge
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Re: About me!

Post by Stoneridge »

Country Life

My parents and I had purchased a block of land commonly referred to over here as a lifestyle block which is big enough to have a great lifestyle but not so big that our entire lives were working on the land and no other life to speak of.

We set about designing a house to be built on the block with the help of my brother who was a qualified registered builder at the time. Everything was going great and we had sold our current house and work began building the new one while we were temporarily renting a house to live in. These were exciting and interesting times as there was so much to learn in respect of “builder’s language” so much new terminology. I learned a lot during this time and me being me I was never short of a question or two, perpetually nosey and attempting to learn all that was going on. Once again my incessant inquisitive nature was on the prowl with my desire to know, learn, absorb and process any and all information and new experiences that I could possibly cram into my head. I love this stuff! I thoroughly enjoy picking up a hammer or a saw and giving everything a go, I love building, designing, renovating, creating – just cannot get enough of it all and the more information and knowledge that I can glean from anything then the happier I am. You would not be incorrect if you were to surmise that these situations plonk me right into my element!

The house was eventually built and could not have been better, what a lifestyle it was, no concrete buildings for miles around, very few people or vehicles. Everybody in the country is so friendly and wonderful, there is a true community spirit and country people have a real tendency for looking out for each other and noticing anything untoward happening in the area.

It really is another world apart from the rat race that suburbia creates. I guess the country is in my blood, there is something truly beautiful about waking up in the morning and hearing nothing but birdsong, crickets chirping away at night time and sitting outside night after night on the deck with a coffee in hand just star gazing. I could hear the waves crashing violently against the rocks down at the beach if bad weather was coming. It’s amazing how your senses change and you become very aware of your surroundings.

You could even smell and sense rain coming, senses that elude city folk I think. It’s amazing how your perspective changes and you soon notice subtle changes in weather patterns, cloud formations and different scents through the air. I must admit that as far as the weather is concerned everything that is thrown at you in the country really does come with full force as you don’t have massive buildings shielding, blocking and dampening down howling winds and torrential rain. However, I love that – Mother Nature in full fury! Rain pelting down on the roof at night is a really special and mesmerizing sound. Thunderstorms were quite rare but when they did happen I could sit for hours watching the lightening light up the hills around our home, just stunning!

As time marched on it pretty much ended up being my awesome pleasure to stock the farm with animals – How on earth could life ever get better than that. I loved and cherished every moment of time there. I had a couple of friends come over to NZ from Germany and Thomas summed our farm up in three simple words. As soon as he saw our place he proclaimed “Paradise on Earth” you know what, thinking back to that time Thomas could not have been more correct!
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