My horse! (More Info)

If you know me, I have loved the Icelandic Horse for most of my life. Faldur is an Icelandic (aka Icey). He is 5 gaited, so he do the standard gaits plus tolt and flying pace. Faldur actually prefers to pace at any speed, which I don't mind because its pretty comfy! Faldur was imported from Iceland some years ago, I am going to guess before he was 8 years old, but its just a guess. When he was brought over, he was the highest scoring stallion in conformation in the United States. At the age of 21, he is still one of the highest scoring stallions in conformation. He is still a stallion, too.

Its strange owning a stallion. Most of the time he just a big teddy bear. I forget he is a stallion. He follows me around the pasture when I clean it. He takes me on trail rides without any trouble. I turn him on loose on my front (which is not fenced) so he can graze and I can read a book. I don't get much reading done, sometimes its more relaxing just to watch him eat and get lost in my thoughts. He took my mom on a trail ride, while my mom rode bareback and he was ever so kind and careful with her. My mother groomed him afterwards and he let her know where all his itchy spots were. He took cookies from her like a gentleman. When my neighbors bring him treats (bread slices) he takes them nicely, too, and begs for more. But he is a stallion. He lets me know when he sees my other neighbor's 2 mares. He talks to them but he lets lead him away with out issue. Because like I said, he is just a big teddy bear.

I own a Horse!

Ok, really Faldur is a pony but still I own him! He became mine on Sept 3rd. This past month has been a lot adjusting for me. I have never owned a horse at my own house. I have always had a horse at a ranch or stable. Someone else did the feeding and daily check ups. Compounding my care taker issues is the fact that Faldur was a rescue case. He was given to me with the understanding I would bring him back to good health. He had a severe reaction to flies and was missing hair on his muzzle, around his eyes, right side of neck, and point of hips. He was a also massively underweight.

A month later, my boy has a healthy sheen to his coat, has regrown most of the hair (except around the eyes), and has less than a hundred pounds to gain. His top line is filling in and once that is done and his eyes healed; he will be 100% healthy.

This past weekend, I dressed him as a Jack 'O Lantern. He was pretty good about the spray paint and looked so cute!

Yup, Updating is not my strong point

So another round of updates since many months have passed.
Big things:
My husband took riding lessons at the local college for a semester last fall.
My husband now works for The Man. He works four days and week and gets to do a lot of travel on the company's dime. He is overall happy with his new job (3months and counting)
We moved again. We are now in Central Cali. Husband does not like how hot it is in the summer. However, he doesn't like heat in any summer no matter where we live.
I have opened up a shop on Etsy. I make things out of wire. I love it. Now I just need to have more people buy my stuff!


Little things:
I went Comic Con for the second time. Loved it even more. Mom even got her pic on imdb.com!
I have a new helmet, saddle, and bit. I love collecting horse tack for that eventually day when I own a horse (or two or three).
My closest cousin has spent the previous 9 month interning in Cali (yay) and will be leaving for Germany again (boo).
I have a new cooking passion: pies in a jar!

Most recently:

We moved to a country home that we are just renting. I love most of it. The kitchen is huge and has been updated. Every room has windows so the house is filled with natural light. I love not being in the gloom anymore. This home has rooms! I have a room all to myself, where I can use my computer in private and work on my Etsy stuff. We did have a problem with bugs (ick!) but we are winning the war. We have had several friends and family members come and visit. It was wonderful being able to offer them a room to stay in!

This house is located on 2.5 acres of horse property! I might be able to have a horse here at the house. I think it would be totally awesome and a bit of hard work. The problem is the best horse pasture isn't fenced and I really don't want to invest that much money on safe fencing on a property that we will most like move away from in a year or so. The other problem is that half the fence is bordered by oleander, a stupid, sturdy, toxic plant. The home owner won't let me rip it down. The next best spot to put a horse is missing fence on one side plus houses the well. The place I would most likely board the horse is fully fenced but an old garage takes up the middle. However, there is a little carport next to the garage that would make a good lean-to. Here is hoping that I can have a horse because I have two prospects lined up.

Horse one is my favorite stallion. I love him silly and he loves me. He is around 21 years old and has feet like a mule. The major set back to me, is he not multipurpose. What I mean is that he is not the best beginner horse and I would feel comfortable letting my husband go off on trail with him or let my mother do the same. He is safe to handle, easy to work with and will do anything I ask of him. I just think it would be in his nature of take advantage of a beginner when ridden. His other draw back is he is sick at the moment and needs to be nursed back to health. He has a fly allergy that was not properly handled this year and has lost some of his coat and some weight. My poor baby would need some loving before we could romping around the trails.

Horse two is a gelding. My favorite gelding. He kicks ass at games, loves trails, and is a giant hug monster. A totally sweetie. I want this horse so badly because he is the same personality as my husband. If any horse can get my husband to like riding it would be this horse. However, he was donated to a summer camp a few years ago and I don't know if he is for sale. If he is, this is the horse I would pursue first. While he is not as fast as my stallion, he is the type of horse I could put beginners on, and I can still have fun rides on.

Ideally, I would take both. I love them both so much that I can see the positives to owning either horse but I would miss the presence of owning the other. Its also much harder to go a trail with Husband if I don't have a second horse.

This could all be a moot point anyway. I could have a mean a landlord who won't let me keep a horse here. Husband has made it fairly clear that we don't make enough to board a horse at a stable. Which I can see his point since we are looking at selling my truck and getting a more fuel efficient car. We currently really like the Jetta TDI.

Frustrated

We lost another house. This time its hurts b/c we actually got to the point of putting in an offer before losing it. We were given the impression that no one had put in an offer or was even really looking at the house. This house was not perfect but it was really close considering the price point.

Now we are back here, in this studio. Its a converted garage. It still has the garage door. It was converted by our landlord when he lived in it while he built his real home. So it is furnished with his furniture and belongs. Our stuff is crammed around his. All of furniture and most of our stuff (minus clothes, computers, and a small selection of books) is in storage. All of my kitchen stuff is in storage. I thought I was leaving this place in mere weeks to be reunited with our stuff. Disappointment.

I am also grumbling about my lack of hobbies, but that is for another day. Hubby just drove up. He was down in SoCal for the past week.

Update: Since I suck at updating

So a lot and seemingly little has changed this past year. Here are the big changes:
- Both my husband and I have moved to our small mountain town.
- My hubby still travels to So Cal monthly to work
- I rode my first endurance ride and I loved it!
- I went to my first Comic Con and had a blast!

Here are the small things:
- We are still in the same little studio apartment
- We have been house hunting but its slow and most of the homes are massive fixer-uppers that are over priced
- We have gone camping, hiking, and off roading. We explored our local forrest and historical places like old mining towns.

Currently, my man has been enjoying his season pass for skiing. I encourage him to play and relax when he is up here. He works too hard and way too long when he is in SoCal and he needs some down time. I am doing the house wife bit as I look for a job the brings me some income (and maybe some joy). We have found a house that seems to be the right price but its not in this town. Its in the mountain town to the East. Which puts us further away from our friends but closer to a big city and the air port. Actually, it puts us closer to many other larger towns. Husband is concerned about committing to the loan and I don't blame him. We currently carry no debt (no credit, car, or school loans) and we have enjoyed the freedom that brings. So life is tense as we struggle over this fork in the middle of our path. Choose a house that could be a real home for us or hold out in case something better comes along (or in case we have to move to the Bay Area for more corporate jobs)?