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joflasherMy weekend started Wednesday afternoon and ended this morning and it still wasn't long enough.
The horse show was exausting and not a good experience. On the plus side, Tequila was an angel 95% of the time. I even took him out to the warm up ring and lunged him a bit with other horses in the ring with him and he behaved himself. Every few hours for three days, I'd take him for a walk around the grounds. He stuck right with me, didn't give me any fits about being near other horses and was a gentleman to handle outside of the show ring. Paul Santos, one of the really BIG name trainers, told me I was doing an excellent job with him.
On the minus side, he was entirely outclassed in the show ring. He needed about 200lbs more weight to match the condition of the other horses in his class. He was also the only one scarred up and missing part of his mane. We took last place. His 5% of bad time was during our class. He didn't want to stand for his inspection, though he stood fine for the lineup. He also wanted to run on top of me instead of beside me but that's a common "I'm scared" reaction for him. He bucked the whole way out of the ring and tried to get away as we passed the gate. One of the gate keepers laughed as we went through and asked me why we attached rocket launchers to him.
I also ended up blowing up at Carol. She decided to try pulling the same shit she does to the others on me the night before our class and I just wasn't in the mood for it. First she drug me over to one of the professional showman and told me to ask for advice in the ring. Which I did, very politely. 20 minutes later she came over and started bitching me out for HOW I asked for advice, for telling the showman that I was an amateur, how dare I make it look like her farm wasn't a professional operation and was using people who didn't know what they were doing. I flat out told her that I AM an amateur and if she wants professionals, she needs to start paying for professionals instead of harassing me into it because I don't need this bullshit. I was doing her a favor, no one else, including her, were willing to get in the ring with Tequila and I was not going to lie to people just to inflate her barn's reputation. Critism on how I deal with Tequila is one thing. Critism on how I talk to people? I don't think so.
She also had the absolute gaul to complain about how Laura was showing George even though Laura was paying to show him with her own money. Laura, who just graduated college and has no job abd laid out about $100 in show fees to advertise Carol's horse, was getting bitched about behind her back because she wasn't acting professional enough and why the hell was she riding him like THAT?!?! I told her I didn't want to hear it, if she has a complaint about Laura, she needed to take it up with her and the discussion was closed.
Needless to say, she's not happy with me. That's fine, I'm not happy with her. She has no concept of gratitude and I'm sick of dealing with her and her ill mannered horses. I'm going to miss Tequila, he really is just untrained, but its time I got out of there. I've had enough and I'll be DAMNED if I show another horse for her.
The kittens are now at home and locked up in the upstairs bathroom. Originally we locked them up because they had a ton of fleas and we didn't want the ferrets or the carpeting infected. Now they're locked up because apparently life at Carol's didn't involve proper litterbox behavior. One or both of them decided to piss on the papazan yesterday. Its not like there aren't half a dozen litter boxes in the house (ferrets have short memories and shorter digestive tracks), all of which they have used at least once. I've never had a cat who didn't use the litter box by default. The Boy said one of his did something similar and we just need to treat them like un-housebroke puppies. Either way, I am not amused. The papazan cushion has been soaked in vinegar and is now out on the porch banister getting rained on. Hopefully that will get rid of the smell.
The scooter blenny died while I was away at the show. Poor blenny :(
The horse show was exausting and not a good experience. On the plus side, Tequila was an angel 95% of the time. I even took him out to the warm up ring and lunged him a bit with other horses in the ring with him and he behaved himself. Every few hours for three days, I'd take him for a walk around the grounds. He stuck right with me, didn't give me any fits about being near other horses and was a gentleman to handle outside of the show ring. Paul Santos, one of the really BIG name trainers, told me I was doing an excellent job with him.
On the minus side, he was entirely outclassed in the show ring. He needed about 200lbs more weight to match the condition of the other horses in his class. He was also the only one scarred up and missing part of his mane. We took last place. His 5% of bad time was during our class. He didn't want to stand for his inspection, though he stood fine for the lineup. He also wanted to run on top of me instead of beside me but that's a common "I'm scared" reaction for him. He bucked the whole way out of the ring and tried to get away as we passed the gate. One of the gate keepers laughed as we went through and asked me why we attached rocket launchers to him.
I also ended up blowing up at Carol. She decided to try pulling the same shit she does to the others on me the night before our class and I just wasn't in the mood for it. First she drug me over to one of the professional showman and told me to ask for advice in the ring. Which I did, very politely. 20 minutes later she came over and started bitching me out for HOW I asked for advice, for telling the showman that I was an amateur, how dare I make it look like her farm wasn't a professional operation and was using people who didn't know what they were doing. I flat out told her that I AM an amateur and if she wants professionals, she needs to start paying for professionals instead of harassing me into it because I don't need this bullshit. I was doing her a favor, no one else, including her, were willing to get in the ring with Tequila and I was not going to lie to people just to inflate her barn's reputation. Critism on how I deal with Tequila is one thing. Critism on how I talk to people? I don't think so.
She also had the absolute gaul to complain about how Laura was showing George even though Laura was paying to show him with her own money. Laura, who just graduated college and has no job abd laid out about $100 in show fees to advertise Carol's horse, was getting bitched about behind her back because she wasn't acting professional enough and why the hell was she riding him like THAT?!?! I told her I didn't want to hear it, if she has a complaint about Laura, she needed to take it up with her and the discussion was closed.
Needless to say, she's not happy with me. That's fine, I'm not happy with her. She has no concept of gratitude and I'm sick of dealing with her and her ill mannered horses. I'm going to miss Tequila, he really is just untrained, but its time I got out of there. I've had enough and I'll be DAMNED if I show another horse for her.
The kittens are now at home and locked up in the upstairs bathroom. Originally we locked them up because they had a ton of fleas and we didn't want the ferrets or the carpeting infected. Now they're locked up because apparently life at Carol's didn't involve proper litterbox behavior. One or both of them decided to piss on the papazan yesterday. Its not like there aren't half a dozen litter boxes in the house (ferrets have short memories and shorter digestive tracks), all of which they have used at least once. I've never had a cat who didn't use the litter box by default. The Boy said one of his did something similar and we just need to treat them like un-housebroke puppies. Either way, I am not amused. The papazan cushion has been soaked in vinegar and is now out on the porch banister getting rained on. Hopefully that will get rid of the smell.
The scooter blenny died while I was away at the show. Poor blenny :(
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no subject
Date: 2004-08-17 08:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-17 09:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-17 10:56 am (UTC)You have to watch, though - rubbing a cat's nose in their mistakes will actually re-enforce the behavior. Putting them in the box after a meal, when they wake up, after exercise, that's what gets them used to it.
For de-stinkification, may I recommend Castor & Pollux's Out Spray (for carpets and non-washables) or, for the laundry, Febreeze Laundry Odor Eliminator (this is NOT the spray bottle stuff!!!).
no subject
Date: 2004-08-18 06:21 am (UTC)Regan's advice is spot-on, put them in the litterbox after they wake up and after they eat. Also make sure the litterbox is close to and visible from their food dish (2-3 feet away to start). If they pee or crap in an inappropriate place (make sure to check the backs of closets, those are popular), shut them out of the room for at least a week or so, and preferably until they seem to have gotten the hang of the litter.
Also, if they're males, get them neutered as soon possiable (and they're old enough). Mature males will mark with urine, littertraining or no.