The Return of Sparkling Adventures - Merge

[dpndetfarm]

Grrrr..... fuck the Nook. No copy and paste!!!!!!!!!11!!!!!!

Anyway, having 6 horses at my home who I work with on a daily basis I will second or tenth what everyone else has said, "put their god damned shoes on!" If I could cut and paste I would show youe what a foot that has been stepped on by a horse looks like. It makes a brick foot look like a scratch (I am not making light of a brick on foot, just trying to show the severity of a hlof on foot). I can honestly say i have NEVER been to a horse/pony ride event where shoes are not mandatory. I bet those kids have worms too based on the places they go barefoot. Most of them can be taken care of with a little ivermectin, but there are some stubborn little buggers.

Second, take a look at the photo where two of the girls are leaning through the fence trying to pet THE BACK END of a grey horse. This is a horse 101 nono. Horses kick. Contrary to popular belief they can and do cow kick. They are also prey animals so when startled may run or KICK! No matter how mellow a.horse is you do not let children whos heads are kick height quietly try to pet a horse at its rear end without visual and verbal notice. Iknow no country is as sue happy as the USA, but im pretty sure this farm would be bankrupt if one of the speshul snowflakes was injured or killed.......hmmmmm............brilliant Lauren! More money for travel, one less snowflake!

Finally chaotic, you took the words right out of my mouth about comparing David to Andrea Yates. Her husband should have been tried for murder in that case. Bastard. But thats beside the point. I imagine David is going through the same cycles as Andrea.

[CheeseDeprived]

Second, take a look at the photo where two of the girls are leaning through the fence trying to pet THE BACK END of a grey horse. This is a horse 101 nono. Horses kick. Contrary to popular belief they can and do cow kick. They are also prey animals so when startled may run or KICK! No matter how mellow a.horse is you do not let children whos heads are kick height quietly try to pet a horse at its rear end without visual and verbal notice.

Yep - as a child I knew someone who'd lost an eye courtesy of a kicking horse.

Though I suppose being one-eyed would give one a certain level of authenticity. Who needs depth perception when you have sparkle!?

[ladyaudley]

Second, take a look at the photo where two of the girls are leaning through the fence trying to pet THE BACK END of a grey horse.

I thought the same thing! She really has zero safety regards.

I'm a little more lenient on the whole barefoot thing, mainly because I walk barefoot for most of the summer. I live in a big city and yes, it's dangerous, but absolutely manageable. I am however an adult who has made the choice to expose herself to those risks. Her children haven't. I wonder if she'd even give them shoes if they asked for them. And to let them run around barefoot in the bush in a country which to this spoilt-by-nonlethal-fauna-and-flora-Northern-European seems like pretty much everything is out to kill you is ludacris.

I also particularly enjoyed the following sentence in her latest post:

As I was approaching this group without anyone knowing me, it was lovely to have such a positive introduction.

Emphasis Lauren's.

Oh Lauren. The positive introduction is probably because no one knows you. Also, the woman said hello. That's called courtesy. Just because you lack it doesn't mean you have to be surprised when others don't.

[BoomerLynn]

Grrrr..... fuck the Nook. No copy and paste!!!!!!!!!11!!!!!!

Anyway, having 6 horses at my home who I work with on a daily basis I will second or tenth what everyone else has said, "put their god damned shoes on!" If I could cut and paste I would show you what a foot that has been stepped on by a horse looks like. It makes a brick foot look like a scratch (I am not making light of a brick on foot, just trying to show the severity of a hlof on foot). I can honestly say i have NEVER been to a horse/pony ride event where shoes are not mandatory. I bet those kids have worms too based on the places they go barefoot. Most of them can be taken care of with a little ivermectin, but there are some stubborn little buggers.

Second, take a look at the photo where two of the girls are leaning through the fence trying to pet THE BACK END of a grey horse. This is a horse 101 nono. Horses kick. Contrary to popular belief they can and do cow kick. They are also prey animals so when startled may run or KICK! No matter how mellow a.horse is you do not let children whos heads are kick height quietly try to pet a horse at its rear end without visual and verbal notice. Iknow no country is as sue happy as the USA, but im pretty sure this farm would be bankrupt if one of the speshul snowflakes was injured or killed.......hmmmmm............brilliant Lauren! More money for travel, one less snowflake!

Finally chaotic, you took the words right out of my mouth about comparing David to Andrea Yates. Her husband should have been tried for murder in that case. Bastard. But thats beside the point. I imagine David is going through the same cycles as Andrea.

As a former horse owner I couldn't agree more. I have had a horse step on my foot and had I not been wearing heavy duty work boots, most of the bones in my foot would likely have been shattered. I was very lucky that nothing was broken, even though my foot hurt horribly for the rest of the day. I shudder to think what that would feel like a to a small child who is barefoot. I have never been kicked (thankfully!) but I have seen the damage done to the back of a stall by a pissed off horse that kicked it . One good kick (especially to the head or sternum) could kill someone. I just want to shake this woman.

[August]

Grrrr..... fuck the Nook. No copy and paste!!!!!!!!!11!!!!!!

Anyway, having 6 horses at my home who I work with on a daily basis I will second or tenth what everyone else has said, "put their god damned shoes on!" If I could cut and paste I would show youe what a foot that has been stepped on by a horse looks like. It makes a brick foot look like a scratch (I am not making light of a brick on foot, just trying to show the severity of a hlof on foot). I can honestly say i have NEVER been to a horse/pony ride event where shoes are not mandatory. I bet those kids have worms too based on the places they go barefoot. Most of them can be taken care of with a little ivermectin, but there are some stubborn little buggers.

Second, take a look at the photo where two of the girls are leaning through the fence trying to pet THE BACK END of a grey horse. This is a horse 101 nono. Horses kick. Contrary to popular belief they can and do cow kick. They are also prey animals so when startled may run or KICK! No matter how mellow a.horse is you do not let children whos heads are kick height quietly try to pet a horse at its rear end without visual and verbal notice. Iknow no country is as sue happy as the USA, but im pretty sure this farm would be bankrupt if one of the speshul snowflakes was injured or killed.......hmmmmm............brilliant Lauren! More money for travel, one less snowflake!

Finally chaotic, you took the words right out of my mouth about comparing David to Andrea Yates. Her husband should have been tried for murder in that case. Bastard. But thats beside the point. I imagine David is going through the same cycles as Andrea.

Word of advice: never read her archives. The fence between child and horse is a relief to see. Since the oldest was born they've lived in a house backing onto a horse paddock. You know how they are with supervision. And besides, telling a child to never ever approach a horse from behind would quench their spirits (apparently the spirit quenching effect of a hoof to the temple is different. In the opposite way to what the rest of us think).

[MMS]

Grrrr..... fuck the Nook. No copy and paste!!!!!!!!!11!!!!!!

Yes! My children ride horses at a local stable frequently. Before they are allowed to begin riding, they have to go through a 6 week course (even my then 5 year old) and learn things such as brushing the horse, how to approach a horse, sitting in the saddle correctly, etc. When they ride, they MUST have on shoes and a helmet. Even with the very strict rules, one of the horses stepped on my son's foot. Because he had on proper riding shoes, it hurt but he was not severely injured. I can't imagine if he would have had bare feet. Also, my daughter was feeding one of the horses one time, and he nipped her (he did not mean to bite...my daughter had her hand balled up feeding him rather than flat...her mistake) and that also hurt. Horses are wonderful animals, but they are also large and can injure a child if precautions are not taken. My children's instructor was also adamant about never approaching the horses from behind or on the side because of kicking. Finally, there is no way in the world the children should be walking around with no shoes on. Animals poop on the ground. DUH...Lauren. It's not as if you are at the beach for goodness sake. If your child has a cut in their foot and steps on animal feces, they could get a nice infection going quickly. Her irresponsibility is mind boggling. :o

[MMS]

Wonder if Lauren's latest tweet is directed at David:

You are only a prisoner when you surrender. You are only a victim when you let circumstances manipulate you.

[LilMissMetaphor]

And to let them run around barefoot in the bush in a country which to this spoilt-by-nonlethal-fauna-and-flora-Northern-European seems like pretty much everything is out to kill you is ludacris.

That's the rapper, actually.

The word you want is ludicrous.

[valsa]

That's the rapper, actually.

The word you want is ludicrous.

Can we get an unlike button next?

[Blahblah]

There are a couple more new comments on the bare feet at the farm post. Both call her out on not putting shoes on the kids. This one in particular is asking to be blocked for daring to insinuate that Lauren is *gasp* non-authentic.

8 · Sarah · 7 March 2013, 00:00

Lauren, I grew up on a farm. Its pretty common practice to wear boots. Not sneakers, not sandals, and certainly not barefeet – boots. Preferrably with toes guards. It takes only one false step – and that horse will take off a foot in a minute. Also, walking in barefeet in animal dung is insane. The bacteria that is in manure is pretty epic.

I’m suprised you judged the city families! You look as out of place on a farm to me, as I’m sure the city families did to you. Riding a horse in barefeet doesn’t make you look free or easy going to a farm person like myself – it makes you look like you’ve never been on a farm. It would be like showing up at the didge festival in a three piece suit. LOL!

Sorry Lauren, I like reading your blog -but this blew my mind. Yikes!

[happy atheist]

I'm glad someone called her out on the bare feet. I wonder if she'll leave the comment, and if so, if she will reply. I'd love to see her justification.

[kunoichi66]

Word of advice: never read her archives. The fence between child and horse is a relief to see. Since the oldest was born they've lived in a house backing onto a horse paddock. You know how they are with supervision. And besides, telling a child to never ever approach a horse from behind would quench their spirits (apparently the spirit quenching effect of a hoof to the temple is different. In the opposite way to what the rest of us think).

But of course! Permanent spirit quenching via death is so sparkly!

Excuse me, I have to go and vomit.

[CheeseDeprived]

I'm glad someone called her out on the bare feet. I wonder if she'll leave the comment, and if so, if she will reply. I'd love to see her justification.

I'm surprised she doesn't get more comments along those lines. Not that I read her comments all that often... so maybe she does and just deletes them quickly. I noticed someone pointed out that the creek they played in recently used to be off limits due to pollution. I don't know if she left that one or replied to it.

I've been getting the impression that she's actually daring people to say something about her parenting or lack thereof, IRL or online - almost as if she's looking to start an argument.

[truthseeker]

Maybe it's just because I'm in a bad mood, but check out the website for the Peninsular Wildthings that The Sparkly One gatecrashed the other day.

Spelling? Grammar? Punctuation? And these people are home educating? :shock:

[Blahblah]

Maybe it's just because I'm in a bad mood, but check out the website for the Peninsular Wildthings that The Sparkly One gatecrashed the other day.

Spelling? Grammar? Punctuation? And these people are home educating? :shock:

Someone needs to send them a bucket full of apostrophes. And they committed my pet hate and lobbed a "should of would of could of" in there. Grrrrrrr.

[happy atheist]

On the menu board at the didge fest, there is something called Bushman's Beef.

Do I want to know what that is? It sounds like a euphemism.

[lilith]

On the menu board at the didge fest, there is something called Bushman's Beef.

Do I want to know what that is? It sounds like a euphemism.

It's them wanting to make plain beef seem "Aussie" and exotic for those who don't want to eat kangaroo, crocodile etc.

[happy atheist]

That's a relief, really.

[already hungover]

There are a couple more new comments on the bare feet at the farm post. Both call her out on not putting shoes on the kids. This one in particular is asking to be blocked for daring to insinuate that Lauren is *gasp* non-authentic.

8 · Sarah · 7 March 2013, 00:00

Lauren, I grew up on a farm. Its pretty common practice to wear boots. Not sneakers, not sandals, and certainly not barefeet – boots. Preferrably with toes guards. It takes only one false step – and that horse will take off a foot in a minute. Also, walking in barefeet in animal dung is insane. The bacteria that is in manure is pretty epic.

I’m suprised you judged the city families! You look as out of place on a farm to me, as I’m sure the city families did to you. Riding a horse in barefeet doesn’t make you look free or easy going to a farm person like myself – it makes you look like you’ve never been on a farm. It would be like showing up at the didge festival in a three piece suit. LOL!

Sorry Lauren, I like reading your blog -but this blew my mind. Yikes!

Since the commenter suggested that Lauren is not authentic, is it safe to assume that she has yet to notice that Lauren has dreads?

[wild little fox]

I am betting that the girls have little or no impulse control. They are not being taught how to function in societies norms. With that and the neglect (both physical and emotional) these girls don't stand a chance. It breaks my heart every time I come here to read.

[Sola]

I called her out on it. I remember the screams from my little brother when he dropped the house brick on his foot at age three. I a lso remember the blood, the torn flesh, the ripped off nails and the bone sticking out.

As for education, how are these kids learning? Oh yeah, they're not.

[ladyaudley]

That's the rapper, actually.

The word you want is ludicrous.

Oh no, someone whose first language isn't English misspelled a word and the message still came across! Shocking.

I'd amend it for your viewing pleasure; sadly, the time for editing has passed and you'll just have to put up with it. There there.

[August]

That's a relief, really.

Beef! Now with more Bushmen!

Sola, she did a "day in the life" thing for an unschooling site. There was no learning in there. I'm seeing half a dozen interesting points of investigation for a farm visit. I would put money on her not having any of those coversations.

[MMS]

I think she will keep the dissenting comments and won't delete. She likes to leave them up so her supportive authentic readers can come in and defend her.

[Big_Miffy]

I called her out on it. I remember the screams from my little brother when he dropped the house brick on his foot at age three. I a lso remember the blood, the torn flesh, the ripped off nails and the bone sticking out.

As for education, how are these kids learning? Oh yeah, they're not.

Uh oh, now you're probably going to be banned from her website. After all it is VERY authentic to dismiss the ideas and suggestions of others.