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I ran into mega financial problems due to being out of work from an accident. I'm losing my house, my gas and electric has been shut off. I still have water and I refuse to let that get shut off. That bill isn't too bad anyhow. What I'm worrying about is that I have children and I'm scared to death that they could be taken from me. We have an alternate source of power (generator) we have plenty of food, we have a propane stove to cook on, will be using kerosene heaters to keep warm this winter, we make sure they're clean, they have medical care if needed, they go to school, get good grades and are happy kids. They are well loved. Basically, what I'm asking is could I run into problems because of this? I even tried to get help with the utilities, but was denied because I make to much money (which is a load of bull).

Okay, so there is this horse where I board mine who is really sick. He is skin and bones, and can barely walk. His owners are idiots. The barn owner has actually gotten in arguments with these people. They don't take care of him, or one other horse they have. They only take care of the one they can ride (messed up, isnt it!). I swear this horse tries to communicate with me. He'll come up to me almost as if he's asking for help. They won't call the vet. He can hardly bear weight on his front legs. This has been going on for about two weeks now! I've had it. I called my vet to come out for him. Me and my mother are going to pull the money together to pay for whatever needs to be done for him. We are going to try to get the money back from the owners, but I'm not counting on getting it back. All I care about is that he doesn't suffer anymore.

In your opinions, am I being a busybody or not? I guess I'm just looking for some moral support. I know what I'm doing is right...

I'm trying to find cheap off grid land. Preferrably in the area of West Virginia. I have horses, therefore I cannot purchase land that doesn't have abbundant grass growing. I also want to do alot of gardening. We intend on building our own house, so raw land is perfect. Does anyone have any ideas as to which states are best for this while, at the same time, having cheap land...? Thanks in advance for your advice.

There are these horses where I board that are completely neglected by their owners. They only get the feet trimmed of the one they want to ride. If they don't want to ride, they won't get the feet trimmed. At one point one of the horses feet were so bad that they were curling up. I was so mad that I told the barn owner that I would pay to have them done...which I really can't afford, but I didn't want the poor guy in pain anymore. Now the other horses feet are a wreck, They long and cracked and he's having a hard time walking right. He has a skin condition that is being ignored. Both horses are losing weight. The barn owner told the owners to worm them, but I don't know if they did. The one horse keeps walking up to me like he's asking for help. It's breaking my heart! I want to tell the barn owner that those horses need to be taken care of and if he doesn't tell the owners about it, I will. And I won't be very nice about it. To top it all off, they acquired a third horse that I got for the barn owner. What the f? what are they thinking! I feel a sort of responsibility for the third horse, since I was the one that got her from a friend of mine. And the horse with the bad feet now, I love the heck out of him. For some reason I have a bond with this horse. I wish I could afford to have him, but I cant. I already have 4 horses of my own. What do you all recommend? What should I say/do?

do you like or hate people and why??

I've had recurring dreams for years. One that pops up alot is that I'm living in my current house, but I go back to my old house to visit it. It is exactly as I left it. Furniture and all. Even personal items laying around, kids toys, etc. No one has been there for years. It's not dusty or cobwebby or anything like that, though. I walk around it and just feel 'bad' for the house. Weird, I know. I think about living there again, but decide that I like where I'm living better.

Any ideas what this could mean?

I'm having a hard time overcoming the last bit of fear from a pretty bad fall off of my horse. I shattered my collarbone, dislocated my shoulder, cracked some ribs, and had a bad concussion (I did have a helmet on). I was in the hospital for 3 days. After the fall, I was unconcious and I have no memory of the accident. I was transported by helicopter and I don't even remember. This was almost a year ago, and although I've ridden my horse plenty of times since, and he has done NOTHING wrong, I'm still nervous. I'm not nervous on other horses though. Unless, of course, if I know they're hyper!lol! I love and adore my horse, and he is 100% innocent. Even the accident was NOT his fault. But I'm just bothered because I can't entirely overcome that little bit of fear... For those of you that had a fall/accident with your horse..How long were you still nervous and/or afraid??

There is a horse where I board mine who has these hairless circular spots on his shoulders, chest, flank, and one on his face. They're not crusty or sore. Not scabby either. They don't seem to itch him either. They're about the size of a penny. The skin is very dark gray. He is chestnut. I don't know much about this horses past. His owners rarely come to see him and don't take very good care of him. They mean well, but know squat about horses. I've taken this horse under my wing, and I really want to do what's best for him. He's a sweet boy who deserves to be taken care of.

Recently I posted about my daughter's horse falling twice while she was riding him. Well, the after he saw the vet, turns out he has Lyme's disease. I'm still waiting for the vet to call me back regarding the treatment. I'm going to nag the daylights out of him until he gets back to me!! Anyhow, I was just wondering if anyone has had horses with Lyme's and if so, what kind of treatment, how much and for how long? Also, how is your horse now?

First let me start by saying that I do have a call in to the vet. Waiting for him to return my call. I just wanted some opinions while I wait.

On Tuesday, my daughter was riding her horse and shortly after he started cantering, he fell. I didn't see it and from what she could tell is that he just lost his balance on a turn, stumbled and fell. He got up without a problem. She was okay. She was more worried about him than herself. Of course, she unsaddled him. We really didn't think too much of it at that point. Anyway, yesterday she saddled him up and once again, when he started cantering, he fell. She only got hurt a little bit, a scrape, thank God. This time I saw the last few seconds. They were cantering in a straight line and it look like his front legs just gave out. He went down on his knees, slid a little, went over on his side, kind of rolled on his back, then got up. Now we're worried. He's a tennessee walker so his gait is a little 'different', but I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary as far as walking is concerned. His appetite is good, he seems happy and affectionate as usual. He's not even due to have his feet done. So his toes aren't long.

Anyone have an experience with anything like this? I'm going half crazy with worry waiting for the vet.

My horses are on round bale and get grained twice a day. Before, when they were at a differently place, the would get grain and two flakes of hay in the morning and evening. So they would most likely get more sand in the guts than they do now on the round bales. My question is: how often do you all sand clear your horses and are they on round bale all day or divided meals?

Kind of a curiosity question, because I'm just wondering if there is a difference for anyone else. I give them sand clear between every four to six weeks, for seven days straight.

Mine is the tail lights on a 2000 ford f150. Don't know why...it just does...

The reason I hate it is cause the prisoners get treated better than most of our regular citizens. They get complete medical care for everything from a cold to STD's. They get activities including 'art therapy' and recreation time. They automatically are the first people in the U.S. to get a flu shot, while the rest of us have to hope there's enough left to give everyone else. So much money is spent trying to make their 'stay' comfortable, while we have homeless, starving children with no medical care. WTF!!

My daughter had a approximately 13 hand welsh pony, about 850 pounds. He is a spirited fellow to say the least. He can be hard to handle and has always had a reputation for that (even before we owned him). He can be sweet, when he wants to. But when it comes time to mount him, he side steps ALOT. Once she finally gets on him, he just wants to go...and not stop. Eventually he gets the hint. The problem is that she is getting very discouraged by it. She is 10 years old and capable, it's just that now she has taken to riding an old gelding who does no wrong. My question is: in your opinion, are most ponies like this? Also, I wouldn't mind working with him, but I'm afraid I'm too big. I'm 5'5" and about 125 pounds. What do you all think?

I have a 94 explorer and lately after I've been driving for about 15 minutes, the temperature gage goes pretty close to hot and the 'check gages' light comes on. I turn on the heater and then it goes back to about halfway. Then engine isn't smoking or anything. I added coolant, but that's not helping. I don't really know too much about cars, so any advice would be appreciated.

and, if so, why?

"Good guys finish last"

I'm warning you..I know nothing about cars! Anyway, car starts up fine. But when I accelerate, the battery light comes on and the gauge thingy (sorry about that) goes down, but once I let up on the gas, it goes back up. When I'm idle, if I rev the engine, the headlights and interior lights dim. Once I let up on the gas, they go back to normal. I also noticed that my drivers side window goes down/up extremely slow, although this has been going on before the other stuff. I've only owned the car for couple of months, so I don't know how old the battery is. One person I asked, said he thinks it's the battery going bad because of the cold weather killing weak batteries. Also, all of the dummy lights stay on... Everything else in the car is working fine...(I hope!). Any advice would be appreciated.

Everyone at the barn where I board has a different answer. Some say to blanket in the 30's, some say to wait till 20's...others say don't do it at all. I'm trying to stay as close to the way nature intended for my horses in all aspects, but this is one of the ways I'm a little on the fence about. What temp does everyone blanket (or not), what about wind, snow, etc? Also, what about stalling? I have stalls, but I want to do what makes the horses happy. Personally, if I were a horse, I wouldn't want to be cooped up in a stall all the time.

I have three horses, two in a paddock together and one by himself in another paddock. All three eat the same exact thing every day. The two that are together both have diarrhea, the other one doesn't They are acting fine otherwise. Still have energy, look good, eager for dinner time..etc. Grain is the same but I did switch hay. They have had this 'new' hay before, though. I'm giving them sandclear. They have been wormed about 1 month ago. I'm pretty sure it's probably the hay switch, but they've never had this problem before. We've switched hay before without a problem. Before I call the vet out, I want to be sure I've done everything I can. Anyone have any advice for me?

I've had my horse for 2 years now and he is still scared on the trail. But not all the time. Sometimes he acts like he owns the trails; other times he acts like he's gonna be eaten. It doesn't matter if he is with one other horse or 10 other horses. Surprisingly, when he's alone, he is fine. When he spooks, he really does it up good. He either bucks hard, sometimes throwing me, or just the other day, he spooked and went flying up a pretty steep hill. He really is scared out of his wits too. Eyes all wide and snorting. We've ridden on these trails more times than I can count, so it's not that its new to him. It's funny, but when we're on 'strange' trails, he's more confident. Also, other things don't spook him, like in the arena, etc. Today, I'm going to hand walk him on the trails to see how he reacts. See if he's scared with me 'out in front'. Does anyone have any ideas and/or experience with this sort of thing??