Doggy Boots

The bitter cold here continues. This is this morning's temperature at 8:00 AM.

Poor Molly - when we take her outside, sometimes she begins lifting her paws in reaction to the cold weather!

My friend, Kathy Nimmer, loaned me something I had not heard of - doggy boots!

She explained that every guide dog comes with a set, but that she had gotten Nacho a set that had a fur lining. ("He's not spoiled!" she said sheepishly.)  And since she had a second set, she loaned me Nacho's first set for the winter.

Kathy and Nacho.

"Most dogs go crazy the first time you put them on, and they take some getting used to," she warned. Uh oh. That was not going to work for Molly. She is already skittish, and we are working so hard on helping her see that she now lives in a safe and secure spot where no one will hurt her. I think trying to put boots on her that we already know will upset her is not in her best interest right now.

So, I will hang onto them and see if we get to the point where I feel comfortable introducing them to her. And in the meantime, we are going for shorter times outside and staying out of the deeper snow which seems to activate the paw lifting.

She's come a long way in the month we have had her. It's been a lot of work, but we are making progress. 

The Car of a Horsewoman

When I was a stay-at-home mom, my car was full of the usual mommy-type paraphernalia - car seats, diaper bags, toys, cookie and cracker crumbs, books, and lots of other "where did this come from?" things.

Those kids grew up a long time ago, and for about ten years now, my car has been nice and clean inside, with maybe my teaching bag, a coat, and my purse inside.

Not anymore.

Not since April 27 when I brought Abby home. Now, my car looks like this:

A five pound bag of carrots is stored between the two front seats. Also tucked away in there is a box of sugar cubes.

 My daily ziploc bag of apple cores from lunch. The teachers and office staff at Hershey have begun saving their apple cores for me, and I never know how many I will find in my mailbox after lunch! (Today, one teacher walked into my room and stood at my desk finishing her apple so I could have it!)

 My purse (orange, naturally) and my crop with which I use to ward off Trouble when he becomes overbearing.

The back seat has items as well.

My paddock boots, my barn shoes, and the string girth from my western saddle which needs replacing.

A far cry from the diaper bag days, that's for sure!

Wait a Minute...

Since it has been years (okay, DECADES) since I owned a horse, my barn attire is sadly lacking. I'm no fashionista, but I do want comfortable clothes to work in, and boots to protect my feet from dancing hooves.

Dover Saddlery, a well-respected retail company for horsepeople, had a clearance sale after I got Abby, and so I ordered myself some paddock boots. They arrived two weeks ago, but with school and all, I only just opened them tonight.

 I was really excited to open the box. Although I did not go for top quality boots, I did get a high quality pair.

Aren't they purdy? Love the leather color and the design across the bridge of the boot.

 Hmmm.... the color is a bit off - one boot is darker than the other.

 And the birdseye tooling is different, too. So are the zipper pulls.

Oh, my goodness! They sent me two left boots! From two different brands of bootmakers!

Yep, flipping them around to the back confirmed it - look at those labels. (Oooo!! Ariat! That's top quality! But not the boot I ordered.)

Honestly, I got a good giggle out of the mistake. And when I called Dover, they laughed, too, and are sending me a new pair of the SAME kind, with one right and one left boot, plus they are paying for the two left boots to be returned as well.

Guess I'll have to wait a while to clomp around the barn in my new paddock boots!