HeART of the horse, & other news

Hi all, I wanted to plug for a wonderful rescue today!

Save a Forgotten Equine (SAFE) is everything I think of when I imagine the perfect rescue.  They only take in the number of animals they can afford, they provide cutting edge veterinary treatment for all the horses they rescue, and they make sure all SAFE horses are safe for life--if they don't work out with their adopters, they come right back to the rescue until the right match can be found.  This means they have many of their horses for years on end, and they never slack on feed, farrier or veterinary care.  They also put training on horses whenever they can, and use professional trainers to do this.

It may come as no surprise to you all that I am a very poor person--I think the correct descriptory phrase is "horse poor".  I am rich in many areas of my life.  Just not in a money area.

I've always wanted to support SAFE, but all my extra money goes toward my horse, and I'm 2 states away so volunteer work isn't an option.  But they're having this incredible fund raiser this year called HeART of the Horse--and I'm finally getting to make a contribution!

Here's the website for the HeART of the Horse auction that will be taking place May 12th, 2012 at the historic Hollywood Schoolhouse in Woodenville, WA:  http://heart.safehorses.org/


It's sure to be a great time and it's for a wonderful cause!

There are some national-caliber artists contributing to this auction benefit.  You can read about some of the artists here:  http://heart.safehorses.org/heartists/


I will be contributing my first print from my very limited first edition 18" x 24" giclee of Sparkafide, a print that I had been holding onto as part of my personal collection.  I feel honored to be able to contribute to this wonderful event!  The print is signed, dated and numbered, and printed on heavyweight archival matte paper.

 He could be yours!

I also wanted to include the website for SAFE, so you can meet them & see what a truly awesome organization they are.  Please take a peek:  http://www.safehorses.org/

In other news, I rode my horse today!

I did have to lay into her a little about getting off my inside leg.

She's got a really bad habit when she's out of shape of drifting in on your right leg when you're circling to the right.  She does not respect the inside leg and would much rather dump her shoulder and bulldoze along.  So I think we made some progress on that front.

We also worked a lot on cues for shoulder, sidepassing, and moving the hip, and turnarounds, and she's really starting to get some consistency there.

I also had a brief washrack session with her today.  I remembered that I had bought a super long dressage whip a few months ago thinking it would come in handy.  And today, it did!  I just led her up to the mats, rein in my left hand, whip in my right, and whenever she went backwards, she got a few sharp taps until she went forwards again.  She was standing on the washrack nicely after a few minutes of this.  I didn't try to tie her, but I think a few more sessions of that and she'll be back to normal.

It was even warm enough to rinse some of the entire winter's layer of sweat off of her!  I also can't believe how long her mane is getting.  I'm letting her try the au natural look this year.

She looks less fat in that photo for some reason, but she's not.  Look at this one:

And finally--Chevy and Speedy love:

d'awwww.

Shameless plug

For my new Etsy page!

I know it's not horse related, but it kind of is, indirectly, because if I sell work than both the horse AND I get to eat.

Please check it out!

clicky --->  M Andrews Gallery on Etsy

There's not a lot of content yet, but I should be adding more soon!

Big bad life woes!

I think there may be some big changes on the horizon.

I am struggling with a desire to move back to my homeland.  I deeply miss my family and my close friends, my art connections, my equine connections and the availability of good jobs.

I know this is going to come as a shock to many of you--but I am really, truly, a very poor artist.  While it's great to not have a day job (haven't had much luck in finding one, actually, in this bustling metropolis of 6,000), it's not great having no money.

Plus, I miss my farrier.

I know that last thing is something only horse owners will understand.

Anyway.

All this has combined to make me feel sort of down in the dumps lately.  As I mentioned last time, I just returned from a lovely visit back home, where I remembered all the reasons I love Oregon.  I can deal with the rain.  Seriously.

But there are bills bills bills, student loans to be paid, etc, etc, etc.  Sometimes I feel like there isn't any way out of it all.  And then I think I'm being ridiculous.  Because of course there is.  I just need to find a job.

My work experience so far has been eclectic.  I am highly skilled in high pressure and customer service type positions.  I worked for 3 years in a high profile, high stress medical testing laboratory, where I climbed quickly through the ranks of temp-hire to workflow coordinator.  Did I like it?  Heck no.  I was exhausted every day.  But I had a lot of money in the bank.  And there were a few things I did enjoy.  I loved helping people.  I loved working hard.  And I loved making sure everything was done RIGHT.

I decided in the end that the stress was getting to be too much though, and transitioned into a veterinary receptionist position at (probably) the most expensive clinic in town.  I learned that people pretty much trample you when you're a receptionist.  Most of our clients were great, but there were some who thought anyone who was wearing a receptionist tag was a doormat.  I learned the finer points of client services finesse while at that job.

Plus, you have to have a little finesse when you're delivering a $6000 bill.

And darn it, I was great at my job.  If you'd been in the hospital in the last few weeks, I knew who you and your pet were, what you wanted and how I could help you before you even opened the door to come in.  I was that good.  And we had hundreds of clients.

But after about 3 years of some great times, some terrible times, and a whole lot of heartbreak, since it turns out I'm just not able to deal with euths on a daily basis, I moved to Wyoming.

Well, to clarify, I'm able to deal with the heartbreak as it's happening, but not when I'd come home to my kitties and stare at the wall for hours.  That stuff just isn't healthy.  Plus, I kinda had to stop at 3 cats, and it's pretty impossible to not accumulate animals when you work at a clinic.

I wanted to simplify my life.  And boy howdy, I got simple.

So now that I've had simple, I kind of want a little more complicated.  Like maybe a town that has more than 5 restaurants. 

But MOVING is complicated.

I have 2 kitties who are mine--err, I'm theirs--err whatever--Chat and Muffin--and one big, expensive horse.  Naturally there's no question about them coming with me.  I will drag them all over this darn nation if I have to.

 Here's Chaton

Here's the Fluff Man

Of course you already know the Queen Bee

It will be about $800 to ship Chevy back to Oregon.

Somewhere around $700 to rent a moving truck that will fit my stuff and is capable of pulling my little car.

Another $600 in fuel for said moving truck.

So what're we at now?  'Bout $2100 to start?

I need to sell some paintings.  Seriously people, I'm kind of desperate here.

Take a gander over at my webby:  www.mandrewsgallery.com

 Bolt, an APHA--an example of a $150 drawing.

I do custom work as well, and I'm very flexible on prices.  I have clients all over the US, but times are tough and it's hard to make connections in my little town.  If you've ever thought about having a drawing of your pony, now's a great time!  I'm just finishing up a logo project this weekend and then I'm wide open.

 Plains Storm #2

Wyoming Painting

Help me feel like my advanced degree in art was worth it :)

Speaking of money drains, here are a couple pics of Chev from today.

At least I'm not the only one who's getting a little tubby this winter.

A bit of a break

I last rode Chev on 2/4.  We had some good moments, I was brave and went right to the hackamore for the whole ride (no snaffle bit warm up this time!).  But she felt pretty stiff and a little sore and I know we've been working really hard lately, so I'm giving her a few days off.

Chevy has one of those brains that sort of short circuits if you ride too much.  She's not a horse you could do arena work with every day.  She needs a couple days here and there to work things out, and I think the indoor arena rides left her a little frazzled (and more than a little muscle sore, since she needs to be so much more collected to work in a 45' wide space).

So we are both getting a little bit of a break.  I'll go out and visit her tomorrow, turn her out in the arena so she can have some time away from Speedy to roll and charge around on her own terms.  I'm sure she won't mind the break.

Plus she's due for some new shoes in about a week.  So maybe we'll pick up there.

Here's what it looks like around my neck of the woods (errr, prairie):

Platte River path, Douglas, WY

I took this the other day when we went for a walk along the river.  This is in town...so that gives you an idea of the kind of booming metropolis I live in.

On the upside, without horse riding weighing heavily on my mind, I did get some work done in my studio over the weekend, and got back to painting a little bit.  I've been mostly working on drawings and trying to come up with some extra money.

If YOU are one of those rare horse people with extra funds laying around, consider a commission!  I am great at horse portraits, and I really enjoy doing them (after many years of art school and not being "allowed" to draw horses, it's a treat!).  And yes, this is a shameless plug for work.  I only have one small project I'm working on right now--a logo for a horse trainer I know up in Washington state--and heck, even if you don't have any money, looking is free!  I would love it if you went in & had a look around.

Here's the link:  www.mandrewsgallery.com

 Sparkafide print close-up

Happy riding!