Welcome Home Dexter!

I think losing Crunchy was the hardest thing I've ever had to go through. After 20 years of wanting a  horse more than ANYTHING and only having him for a year, his loss hit me hard. Though my time as Crunchy's official "mom" was short, I had known him as my favorite horse for around seven years. At 24 he had lived a full life, but that didn't make the loss any easier.

After working through the major part of my grief I became more and more aware of the emptiness I felt of being a "lost horse owner." I wasn't a horse owner anymore... But I was! It was an obscure limbo, a type of heart wrenching purgatory that couldn't easily be explained. Suddenly the thing I loved most, horses, became a painful topic to discuss or involve myself in. I still haven't totally moved on from Crunch Time, and I never will, but as time progressed day by day I found ways to keep happy.

Finally the time came. A couple hours before going to work I decided to look at local horse ads just in hopes of getting a look at what was out there-- I had no idea that such a simple spur of the moment decision would change my life forever!

I knew what I wanted... At least I thought I did. a 10 y/o or younger, dead broke, gelding in any color but brown, located less than 2 hours away, and under $1000. I mean jeez that shouldn't be so hard to find.

Apparently pretty damn difficult.

And so the epic journey began. In all I test rode five horses but I could easily write a book about the entire adventure, which played out like something along the lines  of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy meets Goldylocks and the Three Bears meets... Horses. Because all the horses I tried are still on the market to be sold and can rather easily be googled, for the privacy of the owners I won't disclose the names or pictures of the people or horses we went to see.

But this is a comedy blog so for the benefit of you, the audience, I will give each horse and owner a fitting pseudonym. You know, just to make things easier. 

The first horse I tried out we'll call Mashed Potatoes. Now MP was a cutie-- a really nicely colored little paint gelding located about forever and three-quarters miles from where I live in a part of the state I've never even heard of. I was certain this was to be my horse, and so I loaded up Mom, Rhiannon, our friend Peppy, and of course the boyfriend Jericho to traverse the Bluegrass to go meet Mashed Potatoes. The entire situation turned out to be rather sketchy... The location, the equipment (or rather lack there of), the fact that the horse hadn't been seen by a farrier in over a year and the conflicting stories from the owners and their children were all huge red flags, ones which I continued to try and work past up to the very end. I kept in contact with MP's owner, even coming to an arrangement on a price, but after her flustered response upon telling her I wanted to see other horses first and the lack of response when I kindly told her I had purchased another horse were all signs that this situation was TOTALLY. LEGIT.

About this legit.
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after seeing MP I continued to look at other horses and had one more day of shopping before I found Dexter, all of which were much better experiences. The first horse I tried was an amazing OTTB named Paul who came from the same owner Rhiannon had purchased Oz from, and who I was very interested in, but unfortunately after I left to view the next horse was purchased by the next person who came to buy him. The third horse was a black and white TWH who I VERY nearly purchased, who had many conformation problems but reminded me in a lot of ways of Crunchy.

Finally it was time to visit the barn I was actually most excited to see. I was on my way to try out a "Dead broke and amazing" palomino gelding named Montana. The reason I was most excited about this prospect because it was the first horse I had gone to see who I truly had no opinion on either way. More than anything I was trying him to just to get a third horse in for the day and figured it'd be a free ride. After some confusion on finding the place and a phone call to the seller I found out she was a broker who was selling horses off of an old lesson barn that was being foreclosed on, and that Montana was the most expensive horse on the property at $1000, but that the other 15 or so horses on the property were considerably cheaper.... and that's when Rhiannon and my mom and I got EXCITED. 

Cue my overactive imagination
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Ok so in reality this barn was far from what I imagined, but it was full of rescue stock yard horses who were very underweight, and recently  due to lack of funds had not gotten to get in shape as quick as the owner would have liked. The broker was right, there were many horses on the property to look at and we were feeling excited about the possibilities. An older couple who fed the horses while the broker worked her other equine job met us there and assisted us with what they could. They brought Montana in for me, a well shaped palomino who acted a bit nervous, and the moment I stepped on him it was obvious he was not the dead broke horse I was told he was. Before even getting my right foot in the stirrup he was trotting off to the gait, wanting nothing to do with me and only wanting to be with his friends. I worked him for 45 minutes, couldn't get a canter step, and decided that the ride was fun, but that was all. 

We looked at other horses on the property and none were much to my taste aside from one little grey, very skinny, but who had a surprisingly good coat condition. Originally the stable hands told us the horse hadn't been ridden in over a year, and after a call to the broker we were told they weren't sure how broke he was, and he was approximated at 4 years old. Rhiannon and my mom convinced me to try him our after double padding his bony back, and Rhiannon attempting the "lean test" to make sure he knew was somewhat broke. I got on reluctantly and made Rhiannon walk with me. The dull, sad, little colt lit up instantly, nickering and excited to be working-- so I decided to try him in the big arena...

No hands!

Hadn't been ridden in a year?! 4 years old?! Man this horse seemed more broke than half the lesson horses I work with!! It didn't take 10 minutes for me to decide. This was MY horse. After a few phone calls the broker and owner decided they would give him to us for a mere $200, and they would trailer him to my barn early the next morning for an extra 100. It was like a dream come true, so much so I was completely convinced it couldn't get any better. We were all beyond excited we had found the perfect fit for me, and the next morning we all anxiously awaited his arrival. 

Pure excitement!

First time grazing at his new home

After his arrival one of the owners of my barn called the vet to do a coggins blood test on him and get all his vaccinations up to date, as well as to get a specialized diet laid out to help him best build weight and muscle. After lunch the vet arrived with his two vet techs, ready to roll. Itwas decided he needed blood drawn for the coggins, along with three booster shots and nasal route vaccine, all of which I wasn't sure how he would respond to. What if he was needle phobic? what if he got nervous with all the people around? What if he understandably objected to a tube up his nose? 

The moment of truth...

Turns out little Dex didn't care a bit. After a teeth check our vet decided he was in fact three years old, and he behaved so well for them that he taught his youngest and newest technician how to properly take blood from him. The intramuscular vaccines, and even the tube up the nose all went without a hitch. 

After he built some weight up I started riding and with Rhiannon's assitance training Dexter and so far things are going great. While we run into a speed bump here or there he behaves better and has a quicker than mind than any horse I've ever met, particularly a three year old. With time, Dex will continue to grow and get stronger and I can't wait to see what he'll grow up to be!!

July 25th 2013

August 11th 2013

We Had Joy, We Had Fun, We Earned Credits in the Sun!

Ah summer classes, I've completed them at last! It has been a very busy summer for me this year with two summer classes. I complete both Interpersonal Communications and Finite Math online through JCTC online (I know, I thought having a interpersonal communications class online was strange too, but it was the only one open by the time JCTC got all my stuff straight). Which brings us to our actual topic! JCTC!

Jefferson Community & Technical College has various locations in the area. If you're attending U of L, the closes branch is the Downtown Campus. No why am I telling you about another college when you're already enjoying your time at U of L? Because some of you want/ need to take summer classes and JCTC is an option. It's cheaper than taking classes at U of L and many find they like to knock out some of their general education requirements here.

I have personally taken two online classes and one regular class with JCTC in the past two summer. I've noticed that they seem to move at a slower pace and are less demanding in general than U of L classes, some of you might need this, but others are going to get bored. JCTC caters to students from all walks of life, and there are a lot of adults returning to education so just keep this in mind. The online classes weren't so bad since I was able to work at my own pace.

Now folks! How do you get into JCTC? First off, good luck. Just kidding! Together, we got this. Yeah... we got this. I'm going to be honest, I've not been too pleased with the whole process, their a little disorganized and drove me crazy both times so I'm writing this now hoping that should you choose to explore the land of JCTC, you're entrance goes a little smoother than mine did.

If you are currently enrolled at U of L, you'll be coming to JCTC as a visiting student. You will need your advisor to write you a visiting student letter and have it sent to JCTC. If you can get a copy of this letter, get one, it will come in handy when you need to register for classes in case JCTC hasn't filed you're paper work yet (believe me it's happened. I heard one of JCTC's advisor tell a guy it takes about 3 to 6 months for JCTC to file your transcript-- good news for you in just a moment!)  Your visiting letter will inform JCTC of your current standing with U of L (ex: Good Standing), and of which classes they have approved for you to take at JCTC.

You will also need to fill out an application with JCTC. Here's the online form. Again you're a visiting student. Now! What I recently discovered is that if you've taken classes with JCTC in the last couple of years and want to take them again, you do not need to reapply, just get a new visiting student letter with your current standing and approved classes.

And finally you will need your unofficial transcript. On one hand you don't have to wait for JCTC to file your transcript because you can just bring it in with you and have an advisor look at it while you're registering for classes. This is probably where a lot of trouble starts. A lot of JCTC classes have prerequisites that a similar class at U of L does not have. It's totally cool, don't freak out. All it means is that you need to take your transcript to JCTC and have them override the prerequisites. They're going to tell you that you can register for classes online. Don't bother, JCTC's system doesn't have you're actual transcript on file, so trying to register online is only going to tell you that your not qualified. Go in person, it usually doesn't take too long.

Not all classes from JCTC transfer to U of L and you should always talk to your advisor about it, but for now here's the nearly-impossible-to-find credit transfer guide! And when it comes to transferring your JCTC credits, you have to go here, also very hard to find. You have to have your JCTC transcript sent to U of L. They don't do this automatically... apparently (even though you're a visiting student and it seems like they should! But no, they don't).

It's not too bad once you finally get your classes. I wish you the best of luck and if I can think of anything else to help you conquer the great Jefferson Community and Technical College I'll post it here.

~Rhiannon