Gotta Give Him Props!

The hubs held down the fort....errr, farm, last night after work for me. 'So what' you say? When I came home, he was EVEN still in a good mood - that's what! :) Ha!

I had to take Maggie back to Kitten Krazy after work last night. Turns out the kittens that were supposed to be coming in for me to foster never showed up. Since Maggie puts herself through such turmoil anytime she is around other animals, I just brought her back home with me so she could chillax! She spent time in my lap while I worked on the computer and when the dogs went to bed, she roamed the house. She was happy & content.

Anywho, back to the hubs. Sometimes he gets flustered and then completely aggravated when he has to handle the dogs and tend to the horses all by himself. Not that he can't - it's just how he is sometimes *sigh* However, last night he fed the dogs and took them on their walk, then cleaned stalls (all 4 to be exact...but I did Gypsy's in the morning so hers couldn't have been that bad...ok, besides my point again!) and fed the horses.

I am sure you are scratching you head still saying "So What?" right? Well, I forgot to remind him that I asked the Amish guy down the road to stop by any night this week to trim the horses hooves! ;) hee he hee he - I wish I could have seen the look on his face while he was cleaning Daisy's stall and turned around to a "Hello" from a Amish guy, standing in the dark, with a pair of nippers and a file! This is where he probably got flustered.

You see, our usual farrier is MIA and I ran out of other options so I figured I would ask Amish Joe - seriously, that's his name - Joe - down the road from us if he had time to fit us in. He does have a sign at the road that says 'Farrier'. One problem, my golden child, Apollo, has had many issues over the years with having his feet done which stems from his trust/rear end issues. I have worked long and hard with him to overcome this and for the most part, he now does so well I barely have to hold the lead. HOWEVER, anytime we introduce a new farrier, he always likes to try and be a major BRAT. (And this is with me as his handler - let someone else, like hubs, handle him and forget it!) If you combine this with rough handling, everything I have worked on with him for the last 4 years will be blown right out the window....and the hubs knows this.....so he scheduled with Joe to come back when I am home! There was no way he was chancing Apollo and a new farrier on his own ;)

Most farriers are no nonsense kind of people. Your horse acts up and they won't stand for it. In my own experience, they will find the quickest way to nip the issue in the bud. Seeing as farrier work can be a dangerous profession, I get that, but it's not for me. All my handling [with the horses] is done with trust and patience's at the horses pace. There is no smacking, rough handling, yanking, pulling, chains or twitches. NO WAY! And I am not saying Joe would do that....but if he did, I'd need to be there to say "Uh, I don't think so buddy!" ;) This is how we do it over her at Apolloson Acres ;)

So everyone was tucked in and happily muching hay when I got home, Joe is rescheduled to come out Saturday morning and the hubs was still happy - works for me!


*Side note - leave it to my husband.....

He asked Joe where his horse and buggy was as he looked into the driveway and Joe said he just walked over!
Read this story to find out how else we make complete asses of ourself with our Amish neighbors :)