Every afternoon, evening, late-night (depending upon the Marine Corps requirements for that particular “work day”) Joel comes home and the dogs know the sound of his car as most dogs do and as most dogs do they completely freak out that he’s back as if it’s been eons since they’ve seen him. It’s definitely fun for me as while I’m not jumping up and down wagging my tail, I am excited to see him too. One particular night Zita was extra excited and extra pushy so Joel picked her up. Now here’s my ramble about all that went through my head when he did this. It’s been an amazing journey for me to watch Joel grow in his love of dogs and how his personality has made little shifts as that love of dogs developed. When I first met him he tolerated Picollo and (I would guess) thought I was just one of those weird Ashland people who had a paralyzed dog that traveled the world with me. While one part of me might be a weird Ashland type person (think granola Pacific Northwest, tree hugger type) another part has just always loved animals, especially Picollo.

After we got married it was the sweetest thing to hear Joel say with much weight in his voice, addressing Picollo directly was “Well Picollo, I guess I’m your stepdad now.” I won’t bore you with further details on my thoughts of the little changes here and there but I must include it was a shock when Joel came home from work a year ago and said “Would you like to adopt a Weimaraner?” whoa! Those dogs are insane, big, with lots and lots of energy which are all reasons why she was being given away. A colleague of Joel’s had bought her and she was just too much dog for their suburban lifestyle with two little kids that didn’t take fondly to be jumped on by an energetic pup about their size. It was with a little apprehension I said yes if they are okey with us doing a trial for her to meet Picollo. Long story short, we did the trial, we adopted her, sent her to much needed doggie obedience with an AWESOME trainer (check them out at http://www.rwrkennels.com), we closed escrow, moved to the farm and it’s been a great decision since! It was with this photo I realized Joel had completely converted from this kid who only ever had a goldfish as a pet in his childhood to this full blown dog lover. It’s been a nice evolution to witness!



Oh the irony! While I was typing this blog I notice Picollo and Zita curled up in the sun together. If you’re a dog lover and one of those “weird Ashland types” then you’ll completely understand how sweet this sight was for me while I was typing this particular blog. I love my little family!

Tweet This Post Digg This Post

While I was training with Anky, I took plenty of mental notes about how they did things like feeding schedule, turning out in fields, what type of stalls, footing, fencing and in general how they had their set-up operating. Of course this is just part of my MO when I’m at top barns and I love to see how the best facilities organize their horses lives. Of course my all time favorite public USA place is in the heart of the awesome Pacific Northwest is Devonwood. Those are the nicest folks with the horses safety so seriously in mind. They created a haven for horses and humans to work together not to mention their facility is absolutely GORGEOUS. They host a pretty fun show(s) as well and are home to some of the amazing FITS breeches photoshoots!

So, one of the things I thought that was really neat about Anky’s is how they setup their fields. I was imagining this massive barrier built from teak, old growth oak or some amazingly crafted fence posts when really it was a simple and functional series of 4×4 posts with 2 rail 1×6 planks. It gave me this great idea for the fields we’ll put around our arena and while it’s still a work in progress I have it functioning. Zita and I went out this morning with my awesome J&N Structures mug full of coffee to reconfigure the dividers. Once we get this rolling it will be quite easy to resize each field to accommodate just about any horse. Like Anky’s we have the step in posts and 2 strand rope as dividers with sold fence posts across the front and the back.

It was a beautiful morning, fun to get a little bit of physical labor to let my mind wander and we have four 60 feet by 90 feet mini-fields now for the horses! Here’s Zita. She loves to “kennel” in the back of the Jeep. Do note the awesome J&N Structures coffee mug they sent me for Christmas!



Oh and here’s Carrara grazing at Anky’s this past November. I need to get a picture of her and the little guy grazing here in our configuration!

Tweet This Post Digg This Post