Saturday, February 21, 2009

no more posts from the past, but now you get posts from the present!

So the last post ended my "Posts from the Past". That was as far as I got in my horse journal. And a few months after that, I started writing in this blog, so that takes over for the journal. So, I guess I'm caught up now! What a daunting process it was to write about all that I've done with the mustangs.

It's so interesting to see how calm and relaxed Catlow was getting toward the end of the journal...because then I went and hauled her and the other two to Wisconsin, and completely upset her. Chico and Cody took the relocating to a new place just fine. They could care less where they are as long as they have eachother. Catlow, however, was not okay with this new place...completely new. New trees, new grasses, new sounds...just altogether, NOT the west where she grew up. I was rather upset that she took it so hard back in November. She took it so hard, that all that trust that she built up in me sort of got buried in her worry. She was no where near calming down even 2 weeks later. Now, they've been in WI for 3 months and my parents say that she seems more relaxed. They don't do anything with the horses except feed them and give them treats. Catlow comes over to get her treats just like the others. I think the couple of months to settle in will have done her good and by the time I get home, she'll be ready to have a refresher and she'll be able to put some trust back in me, since she won't be quite as worried about her surroundings. She was REALLY bad though back in Nov when I took her for a ride. What a backslide she did. I really hope this isn't a permanent thing....

Speaking of getting back to my horses, I am planning to be in Wisconsin by the beginning of April! That leaves me only about 5 weeks left here! I'm excited, but torn too. I have great friends here and I really like this area. But I miss my family and my sister just had a baby!

So, back in December, my mom (who is a computer nut), wired up a web cam in the barn and using her wireless internet, she set it up so that I can access it on a link from here in ID! So, I've been logging in to see my horses most days. It's really cool! I took a few screen captures of them, just because I thought it was so neat. It's pretty much real time, although I know that it is a bit delayed (from the times my dad called me from his cell phone while he was up there and I was watching on the webcam). Here are a few pictures.







The way is looks on the computer screen is much higher resolution than what the screen captures turned out to be.

Now, the unfortunate thing is that my parents sold their house (just the house and 2 acres on the opposite side of the road from the rest of our property), and now they are temporarily renting a place a few miles away. This means that today my mom disconnected her wireless internet....so no more horsecam! I now have to go 5 weeks without even seeing them. I guess I'll have to get my mom to send me some pictures. It is of course, just not the same as being able to walk out into their pasture and touch them, and smell their wonderful horsey scent. I can't wait till to see them...

4 comments:

Andrea -Mustang Saga said...

That camera is cool! My horses are right outside and I still want one. I could sit here on my butt and analyze horse behavior. :D

That's too bad that they sold their house. Does that mean the horses will have to move?

We should ride again at least once before you go. Maybe we could even haul out and ride in the woods a bit. I still haven't watched all the Clinton Anderson DVDs you lent me. I better get on that!

Kara said...

They just sold their house and 2 acres on the opposite side of the road from the rest of the 80 acre property where my grandma's house and horses are. We also own my grandma's house. So nope, they don't have to move. My parents are temporarily renting a house about 4 miles away so I'll be moving there for now. They always planned that they'd sell that house someday, that's why they chose to build it on the 2 acre disjunct land. It's kind of disorienting that they sold it now though (but it's been on the market for a year). It makes all the uncertainty around me moving even more upsetting!

I'd love to ride again and am all up for trailering somewhere now that the snow is receding a bit (hope it keeps up).

Linda said...

That horse cam is so cool!!! My husband and I have wanted to do that for a long time, but the barn is 500' from the house. Can they signal each other from that far?

Kara said...

Linda, my parents house is pretty far from the barn, but it is up on a hill. The barn is down the road just little but, but on the other side of the road (I can't really give an estimate on distance...not that far really). My mom had to get a wireless signal extender to be able to remotely access the webcam. It works as long as there is a clear shot from the house to the barn (no buildings to block it).

The website my mom does it though is called LinkSys something...I can't really remember. But you log in and it's password protected. I works pretty well, although sometimes it does though a fit and kick me off and close down internet explorer.