It's a tough job...

But someone's gotta do it!

Yesterday after trimming horses in Santa Ynez at a barn that belongs to Monty Roberts (Flag Is Up Farm) - the "horse whisperer", Mario and I found ourselves with an extra hour or so... so we stopped by an old stomping ground of ours known as Bridlewood Winery. Used to be members, but in the ole money crash of late '08, we stopped all winery memberships and cut financial corners whereever possible. Yesterday we made the decision to re-join, in honor of recovering some financial freedom. (hey, it's more moral support than anything, but who cares!)

After getting home last night we went to the Pierpont Inn and met up with my friend/fellow trimmer Miranda, whose boyfriend plays in a local reggae band. We sat out on the lawn and had some drinks listening to the band and basically complaining about crazy clients. Today I have off!!

It is SO nice to have a little respite from work, and working so hard makes me appreciate my days off that much more. I did end up getting that cutting horse barn... awesome opportunity for "barefoot" and me, as this is a very high profile/known trainer whose horses sell for 6 figures. Thank God Mario is trimming with me!

Little update on the house guest... She didn't go to NJ! The night before her 6:30am flight, I spent 1/2 the night in the pet emergency clinic with my mom and Willy. Willy had a systemic infection that started from a foxtail in his right hind leg. He was in bad shape with a fever and unable to bear weight on the leg, dehydrated, and depressed. The vet said, "no traveling for this guy!!" He spent the night in the ER, then we picked him up at 7:30am and took him directly to another vet for surgery. That vet noted that he has chronic conjunctivitis in his eyes, and also shows classic symptoms of canine Cushings disease. If you remember, my mare Hope had Cushings. It's a little different mechanism in horses, but alot of the same symptoms and problems. In dogs it can present as increased hunger and thirst, diminished ability to fight off infections, susceptability to allergies, thin hair coat, pot bellied appearance and elevated liver enzymes - all of which Willy has! The good news is that he came through the surgery well, his eyes are clearing from the new medication so he can see better, and the Cushings is treatable. He was walking around quite perkily this morning with his little cone head.

It's a gorgeous sunny breezy day as usual, and I am going to RIDE today - novelty!

Driveway at Flag Is Up. Not too shabby.