Happy Friday! ....And Badgers.

Sooo..... Steph II, the evil pastry chef, has been stealthing about planning a ball in honour of... well... me. It's my own birthday Regency ball! How COOL IS THAT?? I've NEVER had anything like this happen on my birthday before. Nobody's ever planned such a fête for me! OMG! I'm so excited! And humbled too! I'm so afraid I'm gonig to burst into tears and weep the WHOLE night. How embarassing. ::heh heh:: I will NEED a new gown for this event, no doubt. I will have to start researching the extants again. I want something beautiful. Maybe in silk taffeta? I dunno. But ... YAY!

My Husband comes home tomorrow! YAY! I'm so excited to have him for TWO WEEKS! This is huge. Six days is barely enough. Of course this means it will be through the holidays, which is stressful, but nonetheless, he'll be there with me. I won't be alone--thank God.

I have FINALLY found a farrier to trim Tag's feet. Apparently American farriers are afraid of large horses. Many, many of refuse to do draft horses, and those who do, charge 'California' prices to do it. It has been a task and a half to find someone to trim and balance my boy. I found a reasonable farrier who seems excited to meet my stompy fellow. What makes me laugh is that Tag; relative to most standard European horses, is really not that big. Tag is only sixteen hands. His legs are thick, his hoofs are biggish... but my first full-sized horse, Tequila, was taller than Tag, and had the same size hoofs (she was clunky, an ex police horse, not exacty graceful, but she was the best horse in the world). Apollo, a Dutch Warmblood, was almost 18 hands. American horses (Mustangs, quarter horses, etc...) are pretty dinky in comparison to the warmbloods and heavy European breeds. The farriers apparently balk at anything that has a little size and heft. And Tag has both.

I was offered another free draft. A black percheron mare named Katie. She is huge. Taller than Tag by a lot, and beautiful, with wavy raven mane and tail. If I could afford the keep and the time, I'd take her in a second. Alas, it isn't practical. Another will come along at the right time. I want to focus on training my big boy Tag (besides, Mares are such a pain in the rear, temperamental and PMSey; Geldings are much more pleasant to work with).

This is a new office special! OMG! it's my Mr. and Mrs. Badger go for a stroll picture. I finished it no more than half-hour ago.

Happy Friday all. ;)