Dogs and Cats, living together!

Dr. Peter Venkman would say that these pictures would herald the arrival of Gozer, but I just thought it was cute. (Bonus points if you can figure out what the title and that sentence actually mean...) This last picture is a close-up of Patchy the Pirate, the latest addition to the family. The lack of a right eye does absolutely nothing to slow him down either. You might think that he would run into things on that side, but he doesn't.

Patchy the Pirate

About a month ago now Stefanie was coming home from work. When she went to open the garage door there was a small kitten right in front of the door. He (as we found out a few days later) was so lethargic that he didn't move at all when the door started to open--in fact it was the door itself that pushed him out of the way. Stefanie, being the animal lover that she is, took pity on the poor kitty and went to get him a dish of water. She let him stay in the garage until she left later to go to the embassy. As she was in a hurry to get there she didn't have time to help him out more, instead she told him, "if you are still here when I get back later, we'll see what else you need." She noticed that his one eye (the left one) was crusted shut. Her heart went out to him, but she knows that she can't save every broken animal in the world. So anyway, the cat is now part of the family of course, I mean that goes without saying really. When Stefanie had left the house earlier she had seen him trundle up towards the neighbor's house. I arrived at the house before she and the kids at about 9:30 PM--when I pulled up he was sitting right in the middle of the driveway, making it impossible to pull into the garage without running him over. I moved him up on to the curb and pulled in. Stefanie arrived moments later and pulled in. I dealt with kids while she brought the cat inside to the basement. I brought her a warm washcloth so she could wipe the crust from his face--he was so thirsty that he was lapping up the warm water. She got all the crusty nastiness off his face and found that his left eye had a puncture wound. Not to be too gross, but it wouldn't have been surprising if his eye would have fallen out on its own. As it was though it was hanging on, well, by a thread I suppose. We called the after-hours vet who said, "meh...give him some food and water and bring him to me in the morning and we'll take a look." Stefanie knows the guy--he's come out to the riding club in the past. I brought him to the vet the next morning and Stefanie and the kids picked him up that afternoon after he had his emergency surgery. The vet had removed his left eye and sewed the lid shut. Of course there was no way we could leave the poor cat on the street--we had to bring him back to the vet 10-12 days later to have the stitches removed. The dog gets so excited whenever she is around other animals, so we warned Sofia and Dylan that unless the cat and dog got along we'd have to move the cat out to the barn after he healed. So of course the dog and the cat get along fine now. There was some remedial manners training for Fabienne for about the first week or two, but they are getting along fine now. At first the dog thought that she was the mommy-figure, trying to pick up the cat and move him around, but I think we have her convinced that they are just playmates. The dog is 130 some pounds and the cat can't be more than a pound, so it makes for an interesting dynamic between the two. I'll update this post later with some pictures--but in the meantime you should know that the latest addition to our family is "Patchy the Pirate". Sofia and Dylan name him after this guy, by the way.

"Sofia has a surprise for you..."

Dylan was at a friend's house yesterday, when I went to pick him up I mentioned to him that "Sofia has a surprise for you!" He immediately said, "is it Lego's?" I said, "no, not Lego's buddy. It's not a thing for you, she has a surprise, something that she has to show you." "Oh," he said a bit disappointed. When we got home he raced upstairs, still not convinced that it wasn't going to be Lego's, but oh well. Anyway, the "surprise" speaks for itself: Her mom cut about 10 inches to donate to a charity to make wigs for cancer patients. And yes, that is a cat on her lap--more on him later. Update: should have included originally that the charity is Pantene's Beautiful Lengths.

You know your daughter is crazy about horses when she...

1. Tries to longe the dog 2. Takes the dog's collar off and tries to run it through the dog's mouth like a bit 3. Straddles every swing that she sits on so she can "work on [her] position" 4. Claims often to be too sick to go to school but never too sick to ride 5. Clucks at her brother to come to her or to scoot him over

Hippoclub Dar Naouar

We wanted to send out some photos of the kids riding at the club where we are members.

I can't believe I don't have more. I always seem to forget my camera but managed to snap these about a week ago.

These are of Sofia with my mare Farhouda. I was a little nervous at first letting Sofia ride her but in the end they worked well together. But we will stick to arena work for now just since Farhouda likes to get her kicks out on the beach.

Sofia's instructor wants to them to work together toward showing come fall. I prefer dressage while everyone else at the club jumps. They tease me about my horse "dancing" rather than jumping. But at least they all admit that she is beautiful :)

Here is Dylan with Caramel. She is one of the club ponies. Dylan prefers just riding the ponies on the beach with his friends. The passion Sofia has for horses is about equal to the passion Dylan has for guitars. Hopefully I will get some video of him playing and send that out soon.

Our Hairy Kids

I thought I would do a post to include a little about our four legged kids to introduce them to those of you who have never met them. This is just so you have an idea who/what in the world we are talking about when we refer to Pancho, Sasha, Fabienne and now Farhouda. Plus, I like to brag about them as well as my human kids :)

This is me and "the other man in my life". Pancho and I got to spend some quality time together this summer while I was home in Pennsylvania. He is older and much quieter now than when I first got him. He takes good care of any kid that rides him. But he still likes to take adults for a quick spin.

Thanks to all the folks at Paradise and of course to Aunt Laura for keeping him in good shape and making him mind his manners.

Sofia couldn't get enough of Pancho this summer and he couldn't get enough of the attention she gave him. He was patient enough to deal with her mistakes and quick enough to keep her attention. He helped boost her confidence and got her interested in jumping. Too bad they are so far apart now because they make a perfect pair.

Sasha (for some reason looking rather small in this photo) also known at the barn as "The Tank" with her "Mommy". Although she isn't mine anymore, I know that she is in good hands and that I will always know how she is doing. Laura loves her as much as I do and so my difficult decision to part with her was made easier by my sister. I didn't have to really part with her after all. And more importantly, Pancho didn't have to part with her either.

The kids (Fabienne, Sofia and Dylan) "watching" television the night Fabienne arrived to Cambodia from Germany. At 10 weeks old she was 9.8 kilos. Poor thing had a bit of jet lag.

Fabienne and her Lab cross puppy friend Leila in our yard in Tunisia. Fabienne thinks for some reason that she is the same size as other dogs (now she is over 60 kg) and just doesn't understand when they run away and don't want to play with her.

Fabienne with her "Aw do I have to sit for another photo" face on.

Our/my newest baby is a 6 year old Tunisian Barb named El-Farhouda. It was inevitable that I would buy a horse in Tunisia. It is affordable, the horses are great and the barn is right near my house :) I would spend alot paying to ride regularly on the beach anyway so I figured why not? I asked my riding instructor to find me a suitable horse. I told him that I trusted his judgement since he knew my riding capabilities. I was a bit surprised when I realized he had chosen her for me. She was a desert horse used for Fantasia and celebrations. She didn't know much more than stop, go, and go really fast and only in a staight line! I was flattered that he thought I could train such a horse. Well, she is coming along nicely. She is a joy to ride, eager to learn and is unbelievably smart. She has really muscled out since the photo and in the two months I have had her I have really grown to love her. Unfortunately, the deal with David was "only animals that came with us to Tunisia will leave Tunisia with us." :(