RIP Molly Goat

I won't go into lots of detail about everything that occurred. It's a very long, disturbing story about a worthless scumbag of a neighbor. The short of it is that this abhorrent lowlife deliberately shot and killed Molly the goat (I think out of malice and spite). She never harmed him in any way, shape, or form. The saddest part of the story is that this despicable loser has two children, and this is the kind of example he is setting for them.

Some people should be sterilized for the betterment of society.

Following the flood day 2

It's really late (or early, depending on how you look at it), so I am going to keep this brief. I spent most of the day on the phone, rallying the troops I do have available and formulating a plan. It's crude, it's ghetto, but it may possible save my house.

I am just going to post some pics showing the progress of the water. These are a bit dark and blurry, since I didn't make it back by my house until the sun had already set, and I am using the phone camera.

Next to the dike:

Looking toward my house:

The private lane:

Tomorrow will be a day of hard physical labor, but I will try to post when I return to Omaha.

Missouri River dams

It's a bit confusing to try to follow information about what is going on upstream from my house. I always prefer to have a visual, so I "borrowed" this picture from Wikipedia to show the location of the six major dams affecting water levels near my house:

All of these dams will be releasing unprecedented volumes of water by mid-June. To give you an example, I will use Gavins Point, as it is the lowest dam along the river system upstream from me. According to the Army Corps of Engineers website, the record volume of water released by this dam was 70,000 cfs (cubic feet per second) in 1997. On June 4 (2 days ago), the volume going through the spillway was 92,900 cfs. This will be increased to 150,000 cfs by the middle of the month, and that volume will be sustained for the rest of the summer. As you can see, that is more than twice the maximum volume ever released by this dam (in operation since 1955).

How can a small dike just down the road possibly hold back something like that?

Following the flood

I am back in Iowa for the first time since August. Unfortunately, it is not for recreational reasons. As mentioned in my last post, I am facing possible flooding around my house. I came back to monitor the situation, and to see what I could possibly do to protect my house.

I felt incredibly sick to my stomach as the plane banked for landing, and I saw some of the flooding that has already occurred around Omaha. The airport would be under water already if it weren't for the levee system in place.

My friend Julie picked me up at the airport, and we drove to where I had some stuff in storage. I was afraid the storage place would be under water, and I felt at least in the upstairs of my house had a chance of not being flooded. My mechanic picked up my motorcycle (the Drama Queen).

My house was not surrounded by water yet, but the ditch at the edge of my property already had several feet of water because the water table was so high.

Julie and I drove down the road to look at the dike, about a mile to a mile and a quarter away from my house. I felt a sinking in the pit of my stomach when I saw the water already approaching the dike--the six dams upstream will be ramping up output daily to the tune of about 2 inches/day increase in water level until the highest output is reached (about 4 feet total). This water output will then be sustained until the end of the summer, so the water will not just crest and then dissipate. It will hang around until September or even as late as October.

Here is the water creeping closer to the dike:

This is standing next to the dike looking down the road toward my house:

There is a privately incorporated part of Nebraska on the Iowa side of the river on a lane off this road. This lane has flooded and those houses are completely submerged. Julie and I saw this pontoon boat and motor boat near the beginning of the lane, which the home owners are using to access their stuff:

All-in-all a very depressing day.

The only positive note, other than seeing a couple friends again, was when Julie and I stopped by to visit her ponies in their 40 acre pasture. They are all sleek and shiny (unlike my poor mud-caked ponies who have only had one five-day long respite from the rain and water all year).

So much to try to accomplish with time ticking down, so I will update as I can.

Stress

There are a lot of things that have been stressing me out lately. Today I had another HUGE concern thrown into the potpourri of things that are shaving years of my life, potentially causing ulcers, and leading to lots of cravings for comfort foods.

At first I wasn't going to post this on my blog, but then I thought, "What the hell? This is my blog, and if I can't bitch and vent on my own blog, where can I?"

You don't have to read anymore if you really don't care to hear me whine.

Ok, those of you still reading, this is what my (as of yet unsold) house in IA may look like shortly:

 Now, my house is not extremely close to the Missouri River. In fact, it is nearly 2 miles away from the closest bend in the river. There is even a dike between the river and my house.

Flooding in South Dakota has led the Army Corps of Engineers to release a lot more water from the dams upstream from the house. This is a map showing potential flooding around my house:

My house is in one of the purple areas (meaning it might get inundated with up to 2 ft of water). It's part of a "sacrificial" area that will be allowed to flood more than normal in order to save other, apparently more important areas. A mandatory evacuation has already been ordered.

To put this in perspective, the largest flood in the history of my house (built in 1900) occured in 1952. The water did reach my property and created a huge ditch, but it never reached the house or was even really close. Nothing like the projected flooding map I just showed.

This is the image I can't get out of my head:

Nearly six years of investment and personal sacrifice could be destroyed :-(

Speaking of babies...

I posted Wednesday about a couple stallions I would love to use on Layla to get four-legged babies. Wednesday night I drove to Indianapolis, because my sister had been admitted to the hospital in order to induce labor. By late evening I had a new nephew!

Meet Owen Thompson:

That's his mom, my next older sister, holding his feet in the picture. I was lucky to catch him with his eyes open, because most of the time I was visiting he had them closed! Beautiful baby and look at all that HAIR!!!

While it may look like he has quite the set of lungs, he actually was very quiet, barely making a sound the entire time I was there.

I didn't get to see my two nieces meet their new brother, but my sister shared some pictures. Samantha was holding him. Nicole has the wildly curly hair (to match her personality).

Notice their cute matching blueberry dresses? My sister caught the sewing bug in the last month or so of her pregnancy and made her girls many new dresses, including these.

Ok, one more picture to leave you with a smile. We all could use one!

Layla's future beaus?

I am in a relatively good mood right now because we've had TWO WHOLE DAYS without rain in a row!! I can't remember the last time I have seen so much sun! Certainly not this year...

Anyway, I have been dreaming again about the time I am free to breed Layla (hopefully before she is too old). Ultimately, I'd like to have a small Arab herd, primarily black, that look like what I consider the classic Arab and have the wonderful temperament I've come to know and love from my own experience with Arabs.

For those unfamiliar with the Arabian breed, here is a painting by Gladys Brown Edwards (a noted scholar of Arabians) of the breed standard. This is what I want, only in more shades than just grey:

Other artists have depicted what I consider the classic Arabian look. Here is an unfinished painting of a grey war horse by Antoine-Jean Gros:

I love the expressive, wedge-shaped face, the tiny ears, powerful hindquarter, and thick mane and tail.

My friend Julie's favorite depiction of a classic Arab is in this painting of Eustachy Sanguszko by Juliusz Kossak:

Not a happy-looking horse, but unmistakeably Arabian!

Now that you have an idea of what a classic Arabian should look like, I will present two stallions I am seriously considering as sires for the two fillies I want from my Layla.

I am not barn blind; I know Layla has some short-comings that I'm confident these two stallions can correct in her offspring. She has a longer back than I like, she is slightly toed-in, and her tail carriage could use improvement. However, these aren't insurmountable flaws. She has a lot of nice things about her or I wouldn't consider breeding her at all. She has a lovely face, a long, pretty neck, good straight legs, and a nice motor (hindquarters). She's a solid trail horse with an agreeable temperament, although she's the bottom of the pecking order wherever she goes.

Originally, I wouldn't even fathom the idea of using a grey stallion on Layla. Absolutely not! Grey is so dominant, and I didn't want to only have grey horses to show for my carefully designed breeding program. Black, on the other hand, is not as common, but it has also proven extremely difficult to find quality in black stallions.

*Warning* If you aren't as fascinated by Arabian bloodlines as I am, this next part may be a little dull for you :-)

I read a story earlier this year about two older stallions, stallions with incredible American foundation bloodlines that I absolutely love. Because of the age of these boys, they have some legends very close in their pedigrees. Here is the story from the Jan 2010 Arabian Horse Times about Gai Trillo++ and Kings Trillomar. Gai Trillo++ is a son of the elegant Ferzon, who appears several times in my Spotted Boy Wonder's pedigree (although much farther back). Kings Trillomar is by Gai Trillo++ and out of a double Azraff mare, Rose of Azraff. The Ferzon/Azraff cross has proven highly successful and led to many gorgeous horses. These bloodlines have become more diluted over the years with crosses to other popular lines that I think are nice enough--but too common and without the "look" I really want in my ponies.

So, to cut short my rambling (I could go on and on, believe me!), I recently found out that Kings Trillomar, now owned by NN Elite Arabians in TX, has been tested and found to be fertile at the ripe old age of 29! As much as I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these old bloodlines and the classic look they produce, I fervently hope I can get a filly from my cool black mare and this awesome old-type stallion. Beauty, temperament, versatility, soundness, and longevity--what more could I ask for?

He made me consider a grey stallion after all!

On to the black stallion...

I have searched and searched for a black stallion who would improve upon my mare and add a little extra "something" to the offspring. I haven't been pleased with what I've found in most black Arabs. While I could breed to a chestnut, bay or grey and hope for a black, I'd prefer a sure thing if I can find it. There are several popular black stallions out there, but they aren't to my taste (as much as I can judge from all the pictures and videos I've seen, anyway). There have been some notable black stallions who have passed now--Cass Ole+ (the original "Black" in "The Black Stallion"), El Mokhtar ("The Black Stallion Returns"), Darq+++, and Haziz Halim to name a few.

Aside from a lovely stud in Germany (Maheeb), I have been disappointed with my search. I am not importing semen from overseas! At last, though, I found a boy I am cautiously optimistic will cross well with my Layla and give me the type I want. I am only going from pictures right now, but I'm liking his pics and those of his offspring that I've seen.

Meet Ali Ajimm, currently at Wojchik Arabians in WI but listed for sale. Ali comes from a long line of beautiful Straight Egyptian Arabians and is double-bred Ruminaja Ali (his parents were both sired by this legendary stallion). I won't delve farther into his pedigree right now, much as I want to :-)

His face is so expressive!!

Ok *sigh*, back to reality. Thanks for sharing my dream :-)