A Roof of My Own
So something really big happened last weekend that I haven’t mentioned on this blog yet. Mostly I’ve held back about it because I guess its not really “trick pony” related. And while I like to keep this blog mainly devoted to the Trick Ponies of Chincoteague (and the occasional Dachshund post), I couldn’t not post about this because its a pretty big deal, in my life atleast. Anyway….I bought a house!
Really scary actually – I was on the verge of a mild heart attack throughout the whole process. At 25 years old, my husband and I have been saving our money for this day since we were about 16 years old. You probably don’t believe me when I say this, but its true. We met when we were 16 – at our very first jobs. We have both always been really really good savers (I guess something we can thank our parents for instilling in us at a young age). So since we were 16 years old, and started our very first jobs at a local art store we have been stashing away our hard earned cash. Now mind you we weren’t hermits, and he did go out and do things, we went to college (bought expensive books) and basically lived – but cash consciously. No big ticket purchases for us (well ok my husband bought his beloved big plasma tv and I bought a pony last year….but thats it I swear!). But our main goal in saving has been a house. Being design oriented people we both have dreamed of the day when we could own something that would allow us to paint the walls, decorate the way we see fit, and basically do whatever we wanted!
Now neither one of us has high-paying jobs (actually far from it) – but the fact that we socked away enough cash for a down payment really “payed” off. Not to mention our parents were great enough to have us get credit cards at a young age which allowed us to rack up a pretty high credit score. We were always sure to pay off our bills in full each month.
So now onto the house part. The process was rather nerve racking – looking at houses was the easy part. But when I first saw “our home” I wasn’t totally convinced it was the one I wanted. I liked it, but I didn’t feel that “oh my god I have to live here” feeling. You know the feeling you get when you see a horse you must have! 🙂 So I took a little convincing to get on board with the home. So we made an offer – which the sellers countered and then of course being first time home buyers we chickened out and walked away from the table. After saving our money for so many years it was hard to us to justify letting it go all of a sudden. But a few weeks later (and after seeing a few more dump houses) we finally came to terms with letting our money go. So back to the table to make another offer.
Late night pizza while we work
This time it was accepted and we were on our way into the process of scary home buying. Inspections and snags that come with buying a 40 year old house began to pop up. And with each little road bump we got more and more scared we wouldn’t be buying this home. We worried about affording the monthly payments, we worried about everything. Luckily we had a great realtor that kept us on track, and my dad who is infinitely filled with knowledge about everything never failed to calm our nerves.
Ammo settles into his new home
So last Friday, we signed a few papers, forked over a majority of our savings, and got keys to OUR HOME! Ahhh! I of course then I hopped in the car and headed to a competition with the ponies – I think I have my priorities straight!
So since I got back last Sunday my husband and I have been hard at work getting ready to “officially” move in this weekend. We’ve been staying at the house until the wee hours of the night painting walls and stripping carpeting. I’m so exhausted, but so happy to be doing this manual labor. And as we are nearly finished “re-doing” one room I feel this great satisfaction. Not only did we buy a house at 25 years old (rare in this economy and at our age) but we’re making it our own with our bare hands. My blistered and sore bare hands that is.
Painting
I’m looking forward to many happy years in this home with my wonderful husband and our Dachshund Ammo. Its just a shame there isn’t a little shed barn in the back yard for the Trick Ponies. (humm..project in the future?? haha)
So as a final thought I leave you with a little video about how Ammo decided to help us christen our new home. Don’t you just love a Dachshund!
Hot Dog in a Tent
So during our camping excursion in New Jersey last weekend I had my special little buddy tag along for the adventure. Ammo, my Dachshund, is what I call my “tag along” dog. He’s easy to tote around anywhere and pretty much adapts to any situation. But being 10 months old, Ammo was about to go on his first camping trip. I knew Ammo would be fine with the horses, he LOVES all of the ponies (especially Minnow) and as we take daily trips to the barn he has become quite the farm dog. I still get laughs when people pull up to the farm and see this squaty little dachshund waddle over to say hello instead of the typical lab or jack russell. I have to say I don’t think I’ve seen a dachshund at anyone else’s farm. But infact he is an excellent farm dog. He keeps his distance from the horses (except for his occasionally playdate with Minnow) and when I ride he sits quietly in the barn and out of the way. If I need to tie him up for any reason he stays in his spot without so much as a peep.
So being toted around and tied up while I rode was a non-issue for Ammo. But camping was different. How would he do in a tent, on an air mattress? After I read the Mattress & Sleep Product Reviews – Cosy Sleephttps://cosysleep.co.uk/ advice, Ammo was no longer allowed to sleep on my bed with me – as he likes to be VERY close to the ones he loves and I end up with a dachshund scarf. So for sake of getting my full 8 hours I request that Ammo sleep on his little bed on the couch.
I think Ammo thoroughly enjoyed getting to sleep in the tent with me – this time I had a Dachshund belt – very stylish. But being a small dog who thinks he’s the big guy, with every nightime noise Ammo felt as if he had to protect me. He’d let out these tiny barks and at one point in the night he some how got stuck in between the window screen and the flap that closes it up. (don’t worry I rescued him). So the first night of tent camping was a bit unrestful as I dealt with my guard dog dachshund. But by night #2 Ammo was utterly exhausted from the day’s activities that he pretty much slept all through the night.
Aside from tent camping, Ammo had lots of fun meeting all the fun dogs that came to the event. His favorite playmate is a friend’s Australian Shepherd/Corgi mix puppy named Spencer. Spencer and Ammo could wrestle for hours on end. Ammo even picked up a new girlfriend in the form of a female Jack Russell named Roxie. I think he was sad she couldn’t come home with us.
Ammo curled up at home in a pile of clean laundry
At the end of our adventure Ammo was happy to go home. He had a LONG weekend and was all too thrilled when a pile of clean laundry was waiting for him at home. I can’t wait for our next camping adventure together!
Spills and Thrills
As promised I have some videos to share from our competition this past weekend. So here you go!
The crying hyena in the background is actually my parents australian shepherd/lab mix who is DYING to herd all of the ponies together.
You can’t quite tell from these videos, but both my mom and I are riding Blitz and Boomer with our clickers. After each race, as long as our ponies didn’t buck or do anything unrequested, then they received a click and a reward after the race. It has added benefits in that the horses are right there to put on the brakes after they cross the line (which is helpful if there is a missed handoff that has to be grabbed quickly). It also helps in getting the horse to move quicker through the race. Our ponies know that usually at the end of the race they will be getting a reward – so in their minds the faster they go the sooner they will get to that reward.
I forgot to mention yesterday, that my mom actually took a spill off of Blitz during our first session on Saturday. It was mostly an accident, but Blitz began swerving as he was approaching the finish line for a handoff to me – and in doing so he tripped and fell to his knees. My mom naturally went flying and landed on her back. She ended up being fine – and I grabbed the handoff from her and ended up wining the race anyway. I guess it was inevitable – after this time last year Blitz had bucked me off during the first race.
Tomorrow I’ll talk about how my little Dachshund survived his first camping trip!
Weekend Camping Re-cap
I’m back from my mounted games competition in Mullica Hill, NJ. It was a great trip, as I knew it would be, and despite the heat I had a blast camping and hanging out with the ponies all weekend. My team brought home first place in our division with a score of 61 points (second place scored 52 points). I was especially proud of Boomerang, who performed like he had been doing it all of his life. He’s such an easy pony to travel with, infact all of the Chincoteagues are. I look around at some of the wild eyed/crazed ponies that are really upset to be away from home and I’m glad that my boys are so quiet and well behaved. It makes me really appreciate the Chincoteague Pony Breed.
So for today’s post I thought I would share with you some photos from the weekend. And the rest of the week I have videos of the competition, details on how Ammo my dachshund fared on his first camping trip and overnight horse show, and even some training talk as I discuss how I trained while I rode during competition. So be sure to keep checking in the rest of the week!
Chesapeake Boomerang
Ball and Cone Race
Completeing a Flying Dismount
3 Leg Race with my mom and Blitz
Ponies and S’moores
Camping with friends
Today I’m packing up the ponies for a weekend of camping and riding in New Jersey. This is the second thing I look forward to all year with the horses (first being pony penning). Each year in mid-August is held the MGAA Mid-Atlantic #3 mounted games competition in Mullica Hill, NJ. Riders from all over the US (and this year Australia too) travel to NJ with ponies in tow, and tents in the trunk. This is the only competition of the year where pretty much EVERYONE camps. Something about waking up in a tent to the smell of hundreds of ponies is amazing. And to top it off we get to compete!
I’ve always LOVED camping. S’moores around the camp fire, hot dogs on a stick – I love every second of it. This year is doubly special because I get to bring my little Dachshund, Ammo. This will be his first camping experience, and I have to say I’m a little worried his guard dog instincts will kick in while we’re inches away from the outdoors and the sounds that accompany it. He may be relegated to the horse trailer if he can’t control himself.
Minnow and I competing at the Mid-Atlantic in 2004
What also makes this competition special is that I get to ride on a team with my mom and my sister. Usually my younger sister and I play in the masters division, while my mom who prefers a slightly slower speed (despite being an exceptional rider) competes in the fossil division. But this year since my pony is still green (as is my mom’s) and my sister is due for another knee surgery and has to take it easy, we have opted to play with my mom in the fossil division. I think this is the very first time all three of us will have played together. Amazing considering we’ve been playing since 1998 (11 years).
Me after my fall from Blitz at the Mid-Atlantic 2008
Not only that, but this is Boomerang’s first overnight competition. Last year at the Mid-Atlantic #3 I brought Blitz, as it was his first overnight, and as I had just purchased Boomer the week before, he stayed home. (so I guess this also marks a year of me owning Boomer as well). Boomer I’m sure will take to the overnight with ease, nothing seems to ever bother him – I’ve actually never met a pony so unfazed by everything. So I’m basically just thrilled to put our months of training to use and see how he really performs.
So I’ve decided to share with you some videos from last year’s mid-atlantic competition when I competed Blitz – this was actually his very first competition ever.
I look forward to sharing our trip with everyone when we get back! If you find yourself in NJ be sure to stop by!
