June 2009

The Whistle

Yesterday Joe and I visited our usual time with Doc.  After our chores, we sat a spell enjoying the parklike setting of the estate while sitting, chatting and contemplating  heading home for dinner.

Trina who lives in one of the apartments about the garage came down to say hello.  She informed us that her brother who is a chef was visiting from Georgia and making a delicious gourmet pasta and scallop dinner.

Yum!

AND..she invited us to come up and enjoy dinner with them!   Well..we're ready.  Bring it on.  lol   Joe and I graciously accepted the invitation and headed up to the apartment after feeding the horses.

Trina's apartment overlooks the property and the paddocks.  There is a deck surrounding the perimeter of almost the entire apartment where we sat sipping a glass of red wine enjoying peering through the trees looking down over the paddock area and garden paths.  I could not get over how beautiful this estate is in full bloom with its paved paths and apple orchards.  Doc's paddock and little run in barn are located closest to the apartment; about a half a block away in distance.  Since we had just fed the horses Doc was inside feasting on grain.  In fact, all the horses were in eating.  All we could see were the little barns with empty paddocks.

There is a whistle I use to call Doc which he usually comes to.  Now wondering if he would come out if I used said whistle.  So whistle away I did ..sort of a BOB-WHITE whistle.  Don't ask me why I came up with such a dumb whistle.  Maybe because I can't whistle well and that's the best I can do.  Also because no one else is going to use such a dumb whistle, so horsey always knows it me.

Back to whistling.....here he comes....lol.  He trotted right out looking around with a   "where IS SHE?" look on his face.  I whistled again and he looked around, but not up.  Could not grasp the concept of "up" as I am not usually located up.   Though, I have seen him look up at a gaggle of Canadian geese quacking their way across the sky. 

I stopped the whistling and he went back inside to finish his dinner. Poor horsey... I must have been very annoying as I whistled again. Thinking maybe the first time his coming out of the barn was a co-winky-dink.  Nope...here he comes again!   lol  This time looking UP! 

FOUND ME!  

 He knew it was me ....somewhere.  But where perplexed him.  You could see him looking and wondering where I was till his sense of hearing direction made him realize I must have morphed into Canadian Goose.  lol

lol

Just love that gorgeous horse.

Pasture Panic

Gram!  Gram!  Gram!

What a day I had yesterday!  Mom says I witnessed a rape!  (whatever that is)  Boy I was shakin' in my hooves. 

Looonnnnng story... but... here goes....

Chico is our resident Icelandic pony who lives with Medina the Paso Fino girlie girl. Mom says  Chico and Medina are in love and are so cute together.  Medina will not let Chico move two feet from her without following. I notice she touches him a lot.  They are ALWAYS feelie touchy.  Yuck. (rolling eyes here)

Yesterday, Michelle arrived with clippers in hand to give Chico a haircut.  You see Chico has cushings and his hair never gets short like mine.  So he gets a visit from Michelle with the clippers.  Michelle is a good friend of the barn manager and rides "bossman" Shiloh all the time.  She has been brought up with horses and an excellent rider.  In fact, she rode me once.

When Michelle arrived Mom and Dad were out picking up a truck load of hay with Matt and Kathy (barn manager team). So no one was home but us horses.  Michelle finished with grinding off Chico's hair and decided to turn us all out as it was close to turn out time.  Fine by me.  I walked with Michelle the two blocks to pasture like a good boy.  I REALLY like Michelle.

One by one Michelle walked us all out to pasture.  Let me see now...it was me, then knothead Daz, the thoroughbred, then Simon the App, with Shiloh the bossman QH.  We all have such fun together running and playing and eating grass.  No problems here as Shiloh keeps everyone in their place. Thank God Shiloh loved me from the first day I arrived as a baby.    Never want to get on his bad side.  Good man to know.

So...here we was all happy and munching green grass when Michelle arrives AGAIN....  with Media and Chico!  Oh, Oh..me thinks.  Chico and Medina NEVER get to come with US.  They have their own special pasture to lust in. (pardon the pun).  I did not say anything and no one seemed to care.  Hmmm....but I wondered.

The rest is sort of all a blur.  Cath and Matt came home from hay first  and checked on us.  Cathy was not happy that Chico and Medina were with us (now we were 6), but all was quiet, so she let us stay out together.
Boy that little mare is pretty.

About an hour later Chico arrived back at the barn...solo.  Mom and Cath got VERY concerned and RAN out to pasture to check on us.  They wondered how Chico got out and suspected something was wrong.

HOLY COW!  I was in the throws of Horse Hell.  Shiloh attacked Medina! She was running for her life!  She usually takes such cute little steps, but she was cooking chicken now.  Shiloh was in hot pursuit.  She was no match for his speed. Then all of a sudden EVERYONE was running....Running, running, running.  Running for my life!  I did not know where to run.  Mom and Cathy tried to split us up and Cath was screaming at Shiloh.  She was trying to catch Medina and Mom was trying to catch me. A couple of times I tried to go to Mom .I wanted outta there.  Too scarey for me. But each time I would try, I got caught up in the chase again.

Poor Medina...she tried to run THROUGH the fence.  :|    We all got piled up and then she broke loose with Shiloh in hot pursuit.  He was biting her withers holding on and running at the same time!  It was just awful.  Her eyes were wild as she passed me by.  Shiloh had turned into a wildman.  His evil twin Holihs (that's Shiloh backwards) took over. The ground shook as we all ran at top speed. 

Finally, finally Cathy got close enough to go after Shiloh and put the fear of the Lord in him.  He let go for that split second and Cath grabbed Medina and got her out of there.  Poor pretty little girl all wet and shaken up.  She had  some scratches and bites and I think she was crying too.   I really, really felt bad for her and walked up to Mom right away for comfort.  Mom got me outta there fast.  I was all foamed up and breathing hard.  As Medina walked past me, I sniffed a strange girlie scent....curled my lip up for a better sniff.   No wonder Shiloh
lost his mind.  She sure smells good. Mom says Medina is in season. Looks like Spring to me.  So many things I don't understand here.          

So Medina and I walked quietly back to the barn.  Mom had Dad "walk me out" as she prepared a buck of water and towels to wipe me down.  I stood quietly as Mom cooled me off, trying to hear how Media was.  Mom
said I was just fine and a good boy.  I got a treat too!

Cathy tended Medina's cuts and scraps with the hose and Mom offered to share some of my smelly ointment medicine.  Medina got all gooped up and was put back with Chico.  They stood side by side with their heads over
each others withers while he comforted her.  Thankfully she  was ok and happy to be back with her sweet Chico.  After all he ran and got help. (Still not sure how he got out of that fence.)

So... I have learned about seasons, girlie smells, rape, lust and that Shiloh can be scarey.  Enough already for one day.   Next time anyone tries to put Chico and Medina with us....I'm gonna whinny up.
Not going through that terror again.

Luv you Gram,

Doccie
 

LESSON DAY

We arrived at Stonewood to pick up Doc at 8 and were on the road by 8:30.

Arrived at trainer's by 10.  Lesson was at 11.  Wanted to get there early to walk around the property a little

and then tack up. Plenty of grass there.  Doc would eat and investigate taking it all in. He was also watching a

gorgeous huge Warmblood doing high level dressage (piaffe--standing trotting in place).  I told  him that is what

he has to learn to do. No comment... munch, munch.

So...Vickie... the trainer has FORTY YEARS experience and is a dressage judge.  She is very nice, steady

as you go and used to teaching" beginners".  (Ugly word <inside joke>)  She does not lose patience and explains

and explains and explains.  I learned a lot just in the first lesson.

First she removed the "keepers" from Doc's bit, then she rearranged his saddle, shortened his bridle, changed

the length  of his leathers and put another rider on him.   Off to a good start!  Good thing I have a good

sense of humor here.

I remained seated next to Vickie taking instruction as I watched her star Grand Prix rider (Iris) simply WALK

Doc. WOW...who knew there was so much to look for just at the walk.  Had to observe certain neck

muscles and determine when he is relaxed.   My confused mind would estimate that Doc was moving correctly

about 25% of the time.  So there is work to be done here before we trot.  Vickie says: "you never rush a

horse or he will make you wait."  Looks like we will be doing a lot of walking and un-rushing.

Anyhow.... Vickie finally put me up.  I did fairly well.  Except for my hands.  :S   When I stared taking lessons

from Mike Kelly he would always tell me.."HANDS DOWN"  Well I got that hands down and was just fine.

 Till....Mike Schaffer... He would get pissed and  scream at me: "HANDS UP". My damn hands are so confused.

 Finally got my hands up and now it's HANDS DOWN again. (can't these trainers make up their minds???).

Vickie had to continually correct me telling me to put my hands DOWN.  The woman is a saint.  She never got

upset with me and said she was confident given some time, I will get it corrected.  

Doc was obedient and I did manage to get the correct posture and movement from time to time out of both of us.

So it was all good.  Feeling confident I made the right decision to go with Vickie.  Her students stay an average

of 3-4 years and win in shows.  Everyone loves her and has fun while learning.  There are always

bar-b-ques and get-togethers to enforce the positive atmosphere.  In fact, Vickie has written a couple of books

about riding and positive thinking. 

When we arrived Vickie's husband, Rick came over to greet us.  He stood back as Doc unloaded and just stared.

Meanwhile I felt all eyes on us. Some people down at the ring area and Vickie peering in our directions

as Iris was riding her high level Warmblood.  Guess everyone wanted to see the new kid on the block.  

Well... Rick was impressed.  Asked if Doc were an Arab then realized Morgan.  He kept staring and saying: 

"What a nice horse, and I like HIM."  

Iris loved Doc....came over later to chat and pet him.   I am sure Iris has never entertained a moments thought of

 riding a mere Morgan. Warmblood people are usually true to their breed.  But I could see ahuge interest in

Iris's eye  after she had ridden Doc. (Iris is also a small animal vet...surgeon)

Vickie told me we will be ready for our first show by the end of the summer.  HOLY SHIT!  She said she sees

a lot of potential in Doc.  (shedid NOT say she saw a lot of potential in ME; just the horse...lol)  The

other ladies there were asking all kinds of questions about Doc andcommented on how beautiful he was.

"Meet the Morgan" is a promotion by the Morgan Horse Association.  I think we qualified for a "meet." Of

course I was the proud Mom.

Very happy with the entire process and can't wait to "walk" today.  Next lesson is Monday again.  

See ya later

Barbara

Too Many Vets

Well.......you both know my vet had open heart surgery and prematurely went back to work.   THEN....gets into a terrible car accident and makes the newspapers...ugh

Meanwhile no one is manning his phones. If you call his office phone you get an answering machine.  No one returns your call.  If you call the cell number, the mail box is full and cannot take any messages.

Whose manning the store?  Obviously no emergency contact in place.  :@ I am vetless.  :( 

Hmmm.....so whats going on with Good Ole Dr. Kaplow me wonders. Spring shots and Coggins are needed here to start new dressage lessons. Rumors are flying that the good doctor might not be coming back at all.  Heard through the grapevine that he had to be resuscitated three times. 

  So....I read the newspaper and find out Dr.Seth Kaplow was shipped to  Jersey Shore University Hospital.  Call the hospital and Good Ole Dr. Kaplow answers the phone!  Paydirt!  He informs me he has a concussion and that the deployment of the air bag during the accident caused some heart distress since his open heart surgery was only a month prior.

Ugh.....Now I am wondering how much he realizes and how bad that concussion is.  He also informs me that he is on his way to JFK Rehab facility in Edison.  For what I don't ask and he does not offer any info.   Joe gets on the phone to say "hi" and offers his services as a driver for the good doctor when he is able to resume  work.  Seth tells  Joe he hopes to start part time just doing spring shots and will see how it goes.  If he finds it is too much...he will retire.  :( Who knows when, if ever; Seth will be able to go back to work.  It's allan unknown.

Meanwhile I already have a date with him for Spring shots for April 14th at 2 p.m. Obviously he will not be able to make the appointment and I am not going to start asking him if he is planning on keeping it since he has a concussion and on the way to a rehab.  Joe did advise Dr, Kaplow that his cell phone mailbox was full.  Seems doctor's girlfriend took the cell phone away from him.  Hmmmm..... 

Then begins the search for a vet.  Called Mid A and asked for a recommendation. (by the way...no one EVER returned my phone call) Called around and finally found a Dr. Newman who said he would come and be my vet.  He knew of The Doctor Kaplow story and had received other calls from Dr. Kaplow's clients who also were looking for a replacement vet. Doc Newman gives me an appointment for April 14th at 3 p.m.  Same date coincidently I had with Dr. Kaplow originally.  Fine by me. 

So...yesterday was April 14; rainy day.  Joe and I were home and planning on heading out to the stable around 2 to meet Dr. Newman for 3. At 1:45 my cell phone rings and its Dr. Kaplow...????  He is calling to inform me he will be a few minutes late!  ????????   :@   While I am talking to Seth Kaplow my house phone is ringing...Dr. Newman calling...he is on way!   :@  :@  :@  Joe's  on the phone with Newman and I am on the phone with Kaplow.    OMG....my brain turned to mush. Had to tell Kaplow not to come... told him I did not realize he was back to work and had no communication with him other than he was in rehab...omg again.  Told him the truth.. and he asks about Cathy and her horses....He was going to give her four horses shots also. 

Now I know Cath is not expecting Seth either and I also know she is planning on using the new resident vet on property.  SO......I tell Seth to give Cath a call as I have "no idea" what she is doing.  (small lie). Next thing I know...Cath is calling me to inform me "Seth is coming"  for her.  She is not aware of the fact that Dr. Newman is coming for me AT THE SAME TIME...  OMG... I am sooo confused.  What do I tell Dr. Newman. ???? I am in vet hell.  Joe just keeps shaking his head and wants to smack me.  Not MY fault!  How was I suppose to know that my half dead vet was gonna arise on Easter Sunday.

As it turned out, Dr. Newman arrived first. He asked about Dr. Kaplow and I told him the truth.  That with a little luck, they would be running into each other outside. He looked amused and told me he understood if I wanted to stay with Kaplow and it was nice meeting me. He was probaly really thinking..."Lady, your a nut case and I'm outta here." 

We watched Dr. Newman pull out of the long driveway holding our breath that Dr. Kaplow was not on the way in.  Newman left and about five minutes later Kaplow arrived (with defib box attached to his side...omg). Cath arrived and her horses got their shots.   Joe and I went home for an adult beverage.

Now me wonders..."who is my vet?" 

Shhhhhh...I'm getting a saddle for my birthday.  The man is coming Wednesday for me to pick one out.  It's a secret. Life is good...carrots and all....:D

Love

Doccie

Yesterday our barn received our first package of Fly Predators.  They look like little brown cacoons about 1/8" long packed in sawdust.  They come in a zip lock baggie and you can see some flies already hatched walking around in the bag.  They look like gnats to me.   

Anyhow....the instructions say to keep the bag at room temp for a couple of days till you see some life.  So..small gnats milling about is a good thing.

 Now you have to sorta scratch up the dirt in strategic places( manure pile, stall, hang out areas and by the water) and sprinkle about a teaspoon of the fly predators, then throw some dirt over the spot. Sounds easy enough.  So off I go, trying to balance the plastic bag of critters so they don't fly out, the little dispensing spoon,  a shovel to scratch up the dirt ..........AND DOCCIE    :@

 Mr. Horse was alllllll the way in the back end of his paddock when I arrived with bag of bugs in hand.  Preoccupied with finding tiny blades of grass, no doubt.  Good...let him stay there.  I'm not calling him, and for sure not drawing attention to what I am doing.  First stop was his stall. He has mats in his stall so a little corner was the only exposed area.  This ought to work good, I thinks to myself.  The ground is awful hard and I need to work at it to loosen it up some.  But worked it out and proceeded onward to the next spot, water trough.  Too late.....here he comes...at a trot no less.  "WAHTCHA DOIN?"  sniff, sniff sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff!  All right already...go away.  He was not going anywhere and was GLUED to me with that bag of bugs trying to get it.  One tooth puncture and there would be bugs everywhere.  He was sniffing so loud it almost sounded like snorting. Afraid he would suck the bugs up into his nose.  Tried to push him away to no avail.  Then found myself trying to get away by going around a  ree.  He just bent HIS ENTIRE body around that tree with me in the middle!   HELPPPPPP!!!    Joe to the rescue.  Haltered up the inquisitive child and took him otta there so I could finish my task.  No complaints from Doc.  Going for a walk with Dad is one of his favorite things to do.

 So, in peace I was able to finish the fly installation.  Beautiful day, just the right temp and the bugs were at the perfect stage for placing. Sure hope this works as last summer's flies were unbearable.  Feeling very confident about the entire process.  Purchased the flies direct from a breeder and got the best price.  Made sure the right amount was distributed in the correct places at just the prime stage of development.  Whooo Hooo!  I did a great job!  Researched this predator thing a couple of months ago for the barn manager. Got educated on how they work when and how to distribute, how often, and the life cycle of a fly.  Set up a shipping schedule and got the first shipment FREE!    Too much information here, I know.  But point being I really, really, wanted  his to work and had to sell the idea to the barn manager.

 Now back to the paddock.  Enter returning Joe with Doc.  Do you know that horse went right to his stall to the corner where I buried the fly predators??????   All sorts of sniffing and snorting going on in there.

UGH......AND....DIGGING!   :@  :|  %#.

 Have no idea how many other Easter Egg Hunt Predator piles he found and dug up.  :(   So much for all my research and planning.  Buying some fly spray today. 

Sam the retired serviceman arrived as usual at 6 a.m. to feed the horses.  Beautiful morning and all looks normal....except....can't get in the barn.  The door is locked....... from the INSIDE.  ?????

Returning with screwdriver, hammer and other mass tools of destruction, Sam sets to work trying to pry the door open.

A little barn picture painting here:

This small makeshift barn consists of a "horsey side" and a "people side" separated by a door with a low overhead that one needs to duck one's head under.  Got the picture?  The latch is a heavy duty deadbolt lock which lifts and slides at the same time with 5 inches of clearance to get your hand in to operate. A real pia.

Now back to Sam working on that door. Finally Sam manages to force the barn door open and SURPRISE!  Who is standing there on the "people side'?  You guessed it.  Doc.  How did he get in there?

 The "people side" is quite confined and looked like a bomb hit it. Barn rakes, brooms, containers strewn helter skelter.  A gallon of corn oil on the floor ...ugh.  A bucket of pears rolling under foot all dented with "You Know Who's" teeth marks on them. 

"You Know Who" was helping himself to GRAIN when he got caught.  Said grain bucket; mind you, is a galvanized new trash can WITH a tight bungee in place for insurance.

Don't know who was surprised more. Doc for getting caught or Sam for finding him with his hand in the cookie jar.  As it turned out, not much grain had been eaten.  Thank God.  Apparently due to the business of trying to bite a pear.   "You Know Who" must have  spent most of his "out time"  trying to capture pears.  Poor Doccie tried and tried to bite those rolling allusive pears to no avail.  While "dunking for pears" his big butt must have rubbed up against the barn door latch thus
locking Sam out! 

Holy cows!  How many things can one horse do?  Could "someone" have left the door open or worse yet;  is there a sick person out there looking to do harm to my beloved horse.  A powwow with all barn personnel and  a review of security lock up procedures  indicated that the stall door was DEFINITELY secured.  No oversight here.   Hmmmm........

Back to Sam

Poor Sam...up in years and faced with young horsey out of his stall. The only way to get horsey back in stall is to back him in.  Sort of like pushing a string through the eye of a needle.  Doc had to back up while turning and then DUCK his head to clear the header.  How do you ask a horse to back while turning and ducking???  Don't know how Sam did it.  Thinking maybe Sam just asked and Doc obliged.  In any event, order was restored and mystery of the escape was the talk of the barn.   UNTIL YESTERDAY.........

NOW YESTERDAY
Hubby, Joe was working around the barn, cleaning the stall and visiting with beloved horse.  Horse, living up to his true nature was in the way and trying to steal everything; including said husband's hat and tools. At some point Joe realized that Doc was up to no good..  Hmmm...what's that horse doing over there, Joe wonders.  (It's like leaving a two year old unattended for five minutes and you realize the kid is awfully quiet). So husband sneaks up on horsey to observe horsey STICKING HIS NOSE THROUGH FIVE INCHES OF STALL DOOR SPACE USING HIS LIP AS A LIFTER WHILE SLIDING THE DOOR OPEN!

Mystery solved.

Doc definitely keeps us on our toes.  He never ceases to amaze us with his intelligence.  Now that I look back I recall him watching often whilst we engaged that lock.  He figured it out!  Amazing Morgan Horse.

Anyhow...when we arrive to get them they usually pick their heads up staring at us munching till the last minute.  As soon as we open the gate and step in they start to wander up to us.  Doc is usually the LAST one.  He keeps one eye on what's going on and continues to graze waiting till the last possible minute when all the horses are just about out of the pasture.  Then he will RUNNNNNNN up to catch up.  "WAIT FOR ME!"  Of course when we arrive all the horses are usually all the way at the very end of the pasture; so Doccie's run is quite extensive.  So..... you never know if he is gonna wander or run.

Yesterday he did not come at all.  :S  All the horses were on the way back to the barn except Shiloh, whom Joe had on a lead waiting for "rotten egg" Doccie and I.   Doc was watching Shiloh and  decided it was ok to stay and eat grass because Shiloh and Joe were still at the gate waiting, waiting, waiting, for his dumb ass. 

Well I was not about to walk ALL THE WAY back there to get him.  For one thing the mosquitoes eat my poor legs (shorts on) and for another I want Mr. Horsey to know when he sees me and I call he is to come.  :P  

Finally "Last Man Out" decided "...oh-oh best get going before "I miss my grain meal", and he started to walk up.  The gate was open about three feet and Shiloh's big butt was in the opening so Doc could not go through.  I was inside the pasture about 20 feet towards the middle. Doc started walking up dead center between me and the gate.  I was expecting  him to RUN towards that open fence with the Shiloh butt sticking out.  SURPRISE!  Doc looked at Shiloh and then looked at me as he walked.  I was holding his halter and calling his name.  Well I got to tell you...your grandson.. bless his heart.......WALKED RIGHT UP TO ME!   HE STOPPED AND PUT HIS HEAD DOWN.  He chose ME!  WHOOPEE!   What a good boy!
 

EQUINE TREE ROOT REMOVAL
Yesterday Joe got a pair of huge trimming shears to remove some large tree roots which were growing above ground in Doc's paddock.  (Horsey and us kept tripping over the huge "bump" they created above ground.) The roots were located between three trees near the fence.  Joe twisted himself around the trees and fence trying to get the right angle to "snip" the roots.  Horsey was jammed right in there with him.  lol "Watcha doin?"  As Joe bent over toiling at his chore, horsey lipped his head, sucked on his shirt and removed his hat at least a half doz times. Then he kept trying to take the clippers by sticking his mouth between the handles whilst Joe was cutting.  I was afraid Joe was gonna squish that soft horsey nose.  Horsey thought he was helping.  What a pia. Then Joe started kicking at a particularly stubborn root trying to dislodge it enough to fit the clipper blades around it.  Do you know that horse stepped up and started DIGGING WITH HIS FEET around the root with Joe!  He then put his teeth around it and tried to pull on it.  O M G...    Not to mention the pile of roots already removed that he sniffed to death and flung around the place.  He is just too much. Never misses a trick.  Next time we are just gonna give him the clippers and let him get the job done. 
 

TREE TIE
I don't usually tie him.  He just about ground ties with a little correction every now and then.  But yesterday he was antzy so I tied him to a tree.  Something I never do and something he does not understand from the standpoint of "why am I attached to this tree?"  He understands give to pressure so he automatically does not pull but I can see he does not understand why he and  the tree are an item.  lol  Well he stood quietly and stared at the slip knot for some time.   Something going on in that pea brain.  I was brushing him and asking him what he was looking at.  With that he reached forward lipping the knot around the tree.  He then grabbed the end of the lead and pulled.  In one clean swoop he undid the knot!  So much for tying him up.  This horse never ceases to amaze me.  He truly thinks, and I have a hard time keeping up with his thought process.   Thank you,  Blythewood Vermont Legend. lol

Hi Grandma!

Can't wait to tell you; I went in the water yesterday. Mom calls it swimmin. Oh Boy was it fun! This nice lady that Mom knows goes swimmin with the horses all the time and Mom let me go with her. (Mom can't do the swim so she just watched.)

Whew, it was scary at first and I did not want to go in. That lady was in the water and calling me and pulling on me to come and, and, and.... well I just PLANTED my feet and held my position. No way was I going into that HOLE that went to CHINA! Snort.

The lady had this nice dog, Belle who I play ball with. Anyhow...Belle was in that hole too! Wow...how did she DO that? There was this great grass growing around the hole that looked so sweet and delicious. Figured it was not such a bad thing to just take one little step and get a bite. That lady took advantage of me. As soon as I stepped up to get that grass she pulled some more. Before I knew what happened I was IN THE HOLE....OMG!   

Well...I tried sniffing it FOREVER and snorted at it at least a dozen times. Nothing. Tasted ok. Even saw some little fishies around my legs. Yikes! What's that? Then the lady went round and round and the bottom of my feet was gone! Where'd the bottom go? Oh, oh...she made me go out more and the water was so neat! So cool....and I was not hot anymore. The lady told Mom that "beginners" (????) don't usually do that well the first time and don't understand the swim thing at first. She said I'm SOOO SMART and brave!☺ I did the swim thing PERFECT the first time. WOW it was FUN! You should have seen me, Grandma. I went around and around and around. The water was wonderful! And then the lady hooked on to me and went with me. Belle was cheering me on and Mom was proud. 

But I did do one bad thing. I pooped in the water because I was a little nervous at first. The lady did not seem to mind and Mom was laughing at me. I was embarrassed. Belle tried to remove the poop from the water to help me, but the lady yelled at her. (I guess I got her in trouble). So now I can do the swim! The pond is crystal clear and feels so good on a hot day. If I can get Mom to go in, I can do this all the time. Maybe Dad is a better choice. Mom says I am gonna grow big muskels and be so handsome.

Life is good and I luv you Grandma.

Doccie