Never A Dull Moment

Thursday June 25

I am not quite sure how to begin this one…except it was all I could do to not start off “DAMN DONKEY!” If you know me well, you know that I never ever cuss, so to utilize this language means you have what I hope is a good story coming up.

The day was rather un-eventful after leaving Siena. We went to look at a horse for Vittorio to buy. (We decided she wasn’t quite right. She had some confirmation flaws and was very young…he wants a horse we can use now.) It was one of those things that also taught me more about horses…how I wish I knew more! We came home, watched a movie, and well, that was that. We went to feed – me on hay, Claire on grain.

Let me preface this story with some facts. Due to the unexpected re-education on reproduction this morning, we separated Rusty and Nutella even though she is sterile. It is not good for donkeys to be kicked frequently by irritated mules, it can equal many vet bills. So despite the “okayness” to leave them together persay…we separated them. As the day off, today was supposed to be full of relaxing, chatting, and a simple feeding before dinner and more “ahhh” time with chocolate and tea.

Okay, so…we came home and enjoyed an American girl moment…we watched Cinderella Story on Claire’s computer, talking of our crushes and how life really does not work that way...fantasyically (yes I made that word up) speaking. It was humorous to randomly hear throughout the movie what sounded like a giant semi honking…actually Rusty braying in desperation to reach Nutella. (Braying is also known as donkey noises…which I hope to catch on film one of these days)

After the movie…our “simple” feeding turned haywire for lack of better terminology. Our day off turned into a sweat producing production of donkey chasing, wrestling, blindfolding, tug-a-war-ing, toe bruising, head butting, face in donkey rear end, humorous disaster, to put it shortly. See, during feeding and the humorous braying, Rusty was trying to jump out of the fence (he eventually succeeded). We wanted to switch the stalls that they were in. Donkeys are stubborn, testosterone driven donkeys are impossible. Let me give you the play by play that has led me to a blog simply on donkeys:

Tracie goes to put hay in Nutella’s stall. Nutella escapes, Claire chases. Nutella corners herself in roundpen. Rusty sees Nutella. Rusty starts trying to fit through 3 pole fence. Rusty succeeds (actually humorous to see)…Use Nutella to put Rusty into different stall. Nutella pulls lead rope out of hand. Angry mule and seasonally frustrated donkey loose. Tracie and Claire bribe loose animals with corn. Manage to get Rusty in stall. Realize no upper stall door – Rusty is trying to jump out. Fun begins. Spontaneous attempt to halter break stubborn donkey stallion begins. Manage to get a halter on with 2 lead ropes. Both pull. Fail. Tracie pulls, Claire pushes. Out of breath. Fail. Switch – Claire pulls, Tracie pushes. Out of breath. Fail. Get grain. Fail. Use bandana to blindfold stupid donkey. Fail. More pushing, more pulling, lots of sweat, some frustration. Feet stepped on, donkey mad. Fail. Get Nutella...success! Problem…how to get Nutella out. More pulling, more pushing, more stepped on toes. Small amounts of profanity (to emphasize the pain of it all in reality…now there is humor in it). Success! Oh shoot. Tracie is locked in stall. Claire puts Nutella away while Tracie unblindfolds Rusty. Claire lets Tracie out - squeeze out of stall. High five. Decide vet needs to castrate him ASAP! Eat chocolate.

And so, even on days off of a planned “do nothing” day, there is never a dull moment. The End. And as always, there is so much more, but for now I am going to shower and help Claire cook.

Lessons of the moment:
Stallion donkeys can not be trained
Don’t try to train a stallion donkey in Chacos
After fighting Rusty, humorous braying…not so cute

“Stupid chicken you are like the donkey!” - from Claire as we had to fight freezer frost with butter knives to extract our chicken from the somewhat functioning freezer.


Over the weekend...

I realize in the many new experiences and stories I have hardly talked about the main reason I am here – my job. Or at least, not as in talking about the horses and the “Italian Way.” Italian way being having different supplies, more limited and more expensive than the US. Example: Swat in America is five dollars, tops, here we saw it was twenty five euro!!!

Side note: Today we turned on the TV to try and find the forecast (failed) and stumbled across MTV, which was playing in English Michael Jackson’s song Black or White…random! (until later last night when we saw that this week is Michael Jackson week)

In riding the same horse for nine years I have come to know her very well and she doesn’t challenge me as much as she used to. I know when she is being silly and when she doesn’t understand. She is a seasoned, well trained horse with good days and bad like any of us. Out here, riding younger, less well trained horses has given me a greater appreciation for all the time I put into knowing and training Precious. Sometimes I wish she were here. On the same hand, riding so many different horses is challenging me to be a better rider – mainly in the department of patience, calm, and accepting that I am less experienced in the problem shooting training department. There is a saying in the horse industry that “a horse is always honest.” Given, you can have a poorly trained horse, but for the most part in the honesty of a horse, it is humbling and hard to recognize my faults, or at least to try and see what I am doing wrong, or could do better. I find that I don’t trust unresponsive horses. Today (Saturday June 27, 2009) on the way home, I was riding a three year old, Saturno, and he grabbed the bit, ducked his left shoulder and pulled a hard turn on me…thankfully I have a strong seat, but I nearly came off…it shook my nerves! It was hard to not get mad at him! Saturno is young, so he gets some slack – but his responsiveness is that of a brick wall with a few loose bricks, and it is unpredictable which bricks are loose…not so much slack in that department.

Last semester we had a woman’s night at Church and the speaker, Dr. Kim spoke of two emotions – fear and anger – and all the side effects they can have. The best cure? Deep breathing. I never thought I’d actually use it!!! After all, I am NEVER scared or angry. I have used that “trick” more often this month than I ever thought imaginable. Oh that night I was not feeling good, sitting at the commons on the back couch next to Allie, Michele and Ashley. Another lesson that is actually applicable out here is HALT – when I feel my emotions getting out of control, I think of this acronym Monica taught me. Am I hungry? Angry? Lonely? Tired? 9 out of 10 times, the answer is yes to one of those. Who would have thought I’d actually utilize the wisdom taught to me by others?!

Speaking of utilizing information, as Claire and I try to make this place into a more efficient stable we are realizing the value of business plans and budgets that exist (or in our case don’t exist…). I have decided that having the materials you need to take proper care of the horses, a stated business plan, and job descriptions are completely overrated, along with clean floors, ovens, microwaves, toasters, dish washers, bathtubs, normal refrigerators, freezers, dryers, function-able screen windows, bug free living quarters and cars. Side note: Why job description? Claire and I have recently received a request/goal/need to have done task of…training donkeys. I am sure one of you giggled out loud. Well, every time I think of it I laugh. Do you KNOW how stubborn they can be? After trying to get Rusty in the stall, I can only laugh at the tasks Claire and I are now in charge of: the care, training, and conditioning of 13 horses, 2 ponies, 3 donkeys, and 1 mule…along with an endless to do list of cleaning, organizing, and more cleaning. Busy much? Yes.

I frequently laugh at our desk…a mixture of random lists…you could say we have mastered the art of to do lists: what needs to be done when the vet comes, what do we need to talk to Vittorio about, what to do next time we get to the internet, what do we need at the store, what places do we want to see when we take our day trips, what needs to be cleaned, what needs to be done around the barn and probably at least four other categories of “to do/get” lists.

The last few nights we have been hearing really weird noises in our wall…I assumed it was just a horse fly caught somewhere. I was wrong. Last night we were watching a news clip on the Palio and we heard the noise. Claire looked above her head and we found the source…a scorpion. EW. She grabbed the Raid and well, that was the end of that. As I have mentioned before, here, bugs are our constant companions. We have ants in the walls of our living room and seem to be constantly battling with the flies and (now) scorpions (hopefully that’s just once though). Luckily, the both of us aren’t easily grossed out and find our constant horse-like swatting pretty funny. A can of Raid is by far the best investment made thus far. We have been waging war with the ants and victory is imminent! Updates from the front to come soon.

And every now and then I get to go on little adventures. Today Thomas took me to run an errand and we ended up in the kitchen of a little old woman, who gave us sheep cheese and bread…it was pretty good and another awesome cultural experience. (Yes, I had to mention food!)