Someone asked what kids of birds are still hanging out at the ranch. In addition to the ones I mentioned yesterday there are some interesting ones.
Scissor tail family
It cheered me up greatly this morning to see this family. I love these beautiful birds, and I’m glad they fledged at least one baby!
At least we had some clouds at sunrise.
The other birds we’ve been seeing are our friendly carrion eaters, who are probably pretty well fed these days. This morning (and yesterday) a large group of black vultures was enjoying the pond behind the house.
Note the patient cow and fleeing heron.
The vultures really like the island made by the tree at right. There were still a few late this afternoon. They were joined by a big ole crested caracara, too. That’s some free and easy bird watching!
I’m good. And pretty.
It didn’t even crack 100° today, so Apache and I went on a nice long ride. It was the longest solo ride we ever went on. We checked out all available pasture. And he was pretty good, too. I handled his one spook at an unfamiliar object and every time he wanted to turn around. It’s getting better!
Seating for 6!
And hey. I ordered an inexpensive desk chair for the tack room and built it today. Makes writing in my horse journal really snazzy. Come visit!
It’s been a hard summer for the horses. Not much grass, much heat, not as much attention as last year. But today has been a good one! To start, I was able to get out early enough to give all the horses nice baths. I know Dusty was happy. He’s such a level-headed dude, but he liked the suds. And he ended up looking fine, considering his scratches from trying to eat on the other side of the barbed wire in the new pasture.
He even has some mane!
Mabel really needed the bath, because she was covered in salt crystals from sweating. She’s sure a lumpy thing, but I got lots of excess hair off her and cleaned her sweet face. She is now shiny, especially her tail, which almost looks normal again. She was so patient as she waited to dry off, too.
Look at my tail!
Drew is looking pretty ragged these days. He’s a busy boy. Somehow he got a big owie on his belly. I treated it so flies won’t get in it. But he enjoyed the suds and drank a lot from the hose. I used enough purple shampoo on him that I think his tail looks whiter. The parts of him that aren’t nicked up are soft and shiny.
Note my shininess.
Apache and I went for a nice ride before his bath. He still seems a little sore, so we mostly walked and practiced transitions. He’s doing so well now with riding around. It’s so fun. And of course he loved his bath. His mane looks so white now and I got all his brown dirt spots off.
Yes. I’m chunky. But pretty.
What he didn’t like was waiting while he dried. He stomped and complained. To make his point, he pooped right after I’d cleaned all the poop up from the grooming area. Message received! But I didn’t want him rolling while wet, which he loves to do.
I don’t care how much you like my blinding whiteness. I don’t like being tied when everyone else is free.
After all that pampering, they got another surprise. The hay ring got set up. I’m told Drew and Dusty ran up and immediately started chewing.
As they say on the Internet, nom nom.
Then the gate was opened! Freedom! Grass! Excitement!
Big deal. I have hay.
I hear that Apache, Mabel, and Fiona exited rapidly, but Dusty and Drew stayed with the dry old hay.
Oh, wait, the gate is open. I’m outa here.
What made me laugh was that they all barely left the area. They found grass and stopped.
The grass WAS greener over here!
Eventually they found other grass and figured out how to cross the trenches for the electric lines (they will get filled in next week). These are some very happy horses. And the grass isn’t so green it will be a problem!
Can I eat this?Nice grass over by the septic area.
Of course, ya get thirsty eating all this grass. I love this one!
I hope your Sunday was as good as the one these guys enjoyed!
There was a surprise waiting for me when I got home last night. My bedroom was no longer a poop brown color. It’s now yellow! Maybe it’s not the exact perfect shade, but it sure is more cheerful than before.
New sitting area
Lee knew how much I liked my bedroom in the Bobcat house, so he had the guys paint it while we were gone. Then he rearranged all the furniture and put up the art again.
The bookshelves show up more!
I’m very happy with the new look. Everyone says the room looks bigger and lighter. I still have some chests of drawers to bring in, along with my good mattress. Then the room will feel like it’s partially mine, not just Lee’s and the dogs. Of course, the dogs slept on me last night, but it was sweet.
I missed you.
Outside of the house things look less good. The drought is taking its toll. The big pond is going down fast and the little pond dried up completely.
Poor pond.
The grass is horribly brown. And it is very crunchy. Of course the grasshoppers are still here, but fewer of them.
Not pretty.
I asked my son to start giving the horses hay while we were gone (I can’t open the door to the storage container) and we’re going to keep that up until we can give them more grazing.
Thanks!
If things settle down a little more we can put some temporary fencing on the part of the front that we’d planned to fence in this spring. Keep your fingers crossed that Kathleen improves! At least the in-law suite is done and Lee’s brother is happily installed there. Progress!
Bonus. I got an Apache horse for the tack room. We spent so much time on Apache land I wanted a tribute. I always feel weird that Apache isn’t a Native American horse, but I guess paints are, historically.
I have to say my horses make me proud. Today was another lesson day for both of them, and you could really see progress, even since last week. Drew. Damn. He just loves to learn new things, so it’s easy to sneak new knowledge.
The goal today was to work on turning right without crowding. He thought it was working on stopping and starting, then going in and out of cones without me following. I walked in a straight line and he had to weave. He didn’t get it at first with Tarrin but got great at it with me. Proud!
He’s a winner.
He also is now jumping higher jumps, which is really going to help his muscles. And today he did it calmly, so he didn’t have to re-do anything. He was cool as a cucumber. In fact he drifted off a couple of times when we were talking. Maybe he will learn to turn more straight and I’ll learn to turn correctly, too. We’re getting instructions!
Q2 Virtual Show ribbons
I’m also proud of these ribbons from the virtual show we did in May. It’s the first time he ever had competition. And I was very proud of both Drew and Sully. They were very close in their scores. This was a great show for Sully’s first one! Sara has done such a great job training her. I’m proud of her, too!
Dog play break
As for Apache, he was moody at first, but he got really excited and seemed genuinely happy when he managed to jump over the high jump twice, in each direction. I think he surprised himself!
And that boy worked his butt off today. His goal was getting under his haunches and stopping properly. He has really been reluctant to stop when he’s anxious. Well he practiced stopping a LOT. He did many of the things Drew was doing, but including lots of stopping. To his credit, he got the idea!
By the time we were doing the “approach the scary trailer” ordeal, he was paying attention and stopping on a dime. Screech! That’s real progress. The whole trailer approach is improving. It’s not there yet, but Tarrin says he’s starting to trust that I’ll keep him safe.
I’m also doing better with my ability to be calm and deal with his stuff. I’m proud of our progress, but feel bad for how wound up he gets. I did give him a nice bath, and I can assure you he had a nice roll later.
Practicality
I thought you might get a chuckle out of how I decided to organize all those Color Street nail polishes I have. I found that one of my shoe boxes fit them perfectly.
Ta da
I felt like decorating it, so I found my 2020 calendar of donkeys and used it to cover the shoe box. It’s certainly cheerful.
Howdy
The donkeys make me smile, and now it’s wY easier to see what polish sets I have. I also sealed the used ones in hopes that I can use them later by warming them up.
Ok. Fun.
And there ya go. Something random and not depressing! And because I want to reward those of you who read to the end, let’s enjoy the dogs on a pleasant evening.
I’m feeling better about some things and I know Vlassic is!
Suna loves me
We had a good night last night. He slept straight through the night next to me on the couch in the future in-law suite. It’s a comfy couch that makes a bed.
Happy little doggie
I did okay. There is apparently something living in a box that makes occasional noise, so I kept hearing it. I wish Vlassic were more of a vermin eliminator. He’s great at eating grasshoppers!
I’m glad I did this, though. He can run again today and isn’t shivery. He’s recovering.
It’s all about ME
But I made it through work just fine and even got out to ride Apache. It isn’t as hot as it was, so we both did fine.
I guess I have to get to work since I’m wearing all this tack.
We did well. He even came when I called! We practiced all our homework and even did leg yield. But best of all, we made it down the paddock and back with no meltdowns. I did it!! So did he, of course.
We’re a team. In neon.
I think not only I am feeling better, but so are my dog and horse. We all feel safe with each other. I’ll sleep with Vlassic a few more days, so he will know this is his new home. It’s where his food is, and there’s a doggy door! And one day soon he’ll have his human buddy back!
Today was hot, but it was lesson day nonetheless. I took the time off work, because it’s so nice to have Tarrin come here and work in our environment. There were only a few distractions, such as this extra-cool spider eating a grasshopper! It’s a brilliant jumping spider, and it must have really jumped!
I’m impressed
Apache did very well in his lesson. Since I was ON him most of the time, I didn’t get any photos, but I was really happy that I got to learn a bit more finesse in moving him around. Once I got the hang of what I was supposed to do, I was thrilled to see how well we could do things together. We were trotting around three barrels and up and down the barrel slalom like a pair that knows what we’re doing! He got pretty tired by the end, especially since he’d also done a lot of jumping and trotting over things.
Look, Night Dreamer is up on the wall!
We had to go on a walk, though (and I felt bad about making Tarrin walk, since she’d been stomped on by a young horse over the weekend). He walked down the scary paddock like a pro and even got most of the way back before losing his sh**. He’s getting a lot better! And I coped.
But, I wanted to take a nap.
Drew had a real day, though. He had to wear the saddle again for the first time in quite a while. His rest time is over. Time to build muscle. The saddle may be a bit big for him, but it will be fine for now.
Do I HAVE to?
Tarrin warned me he might have a bit of a baby horse fit about wearing the saddle, but he didn’t have a major one. I was able to deal with anything he did, and he got some good jumping and trotting over the poles in. Then he got to learn a new skill. Poor Drew’s brain. Tarrin taught him how to do the three barrels activity with me sending him around rather than running with him. That’s gonna make things much easier on this chubby old woman, once we get the hang of it. He had a bit of trouble at first and decided that the way to get it over with was to canter the whole while. Tarrin coped, but I sure couldn’t have!
I’ll go fast then I will be done
Eventually, though, that little boy was doing it with a minimum of fuss. You could just see his brain going, “Oh, that’s what I’m supposed to be doing.” He got tired enough and processed enough that in the end, I was able to do it. Of course, I had to practice all the movements (you have to switch hands, back up the right way AND direct the horse’s movements, too). Minor success was had!
After I insisted on showing Tarrin all the other stuff we have been working on, like standing at the mounting block and backing down a corridor, we decided to hose him off. Poor Drew, I turned the thing on him and it made a scary noise. But he eventually settled down enough to drink out of the hose, so I don’t think he was traumatized permanently.
Slurp slurp, maybe I’ll learn to drink like Goldie. Note the water droplets in the air!
As Tarrin was leaving, we took bets on how long it would take him to roll in the dirt. Well, he was annoyed it took me so long to get his halter off (he stomped, not something he does much), so I knew he wanted to do it. Yep, less than five seconds after he was freed, he was down.
That’s better.
He was so darned happy. I couldn’t hold it against him, since he’d worked so hard!
Ahh, dirtGotta shake off the excess
Hoping I feel better soon and can talk about more deep stuff that’s going on. But hey, horses are always good.
I seem to be dealing with the hurt of my lost friendships by replacing it with physical pain to distract myself. I’m pretty sure I have a stress fracture in my foot, because it didn’t bruise much, but hurts unless I wear supportive shoes. And falling in the hole definitely sprained my second toe on the other foot. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I also twisted all my back muscles. I’ve been walking around all hunched over like a person my age. Ha ha.
I did buy these cute boots.
To help me stop slipping and sliding while I’m trotting beside Drew, I got the fine Justin boots above. They qualify as Western boots, but have a rubber sole that will give me traction in sand and arenas. Plus, turquoise and black! Drew’s theme colors!
Too cute!
I’m just pushing through the pain and doing fun stuff anyway. Anita and I went to the local nursery today and I got some bright and happy plants. I hope that cheered her up a bit.
Photos of the plants are to come, when it’s light. I was too busy all day to take photos. There was lots of work, Zooms with friends, and fun chores like hauling horse poop. I think I should have dumped this load sooner.
Growing a mushroom crop.
But, everything is clean, including the trailer. I even towed it all the way to Sara’s tonight! That’s maybe a mile on the main road.
Here we go
It wasn’t all work today, though. I managed to work with both horses while waiting for Trixie to come do feet this evening. Drew really paid attention in his last lesson, because since then he’s like a new boy, with no more Zoolander problems. We turned right at all speeds, transitioned between gaits, and stopped on a dime consistently. There was no crowding or pushing. All his lunge line work was spot in today, too. He got the reward of being done quickly, because he did exactly what I asked!
We were all tired, too.
Apache, well, he was an absolute DREAM today. We had the best ride of our lives today. It was relaxing and fun. I think he may be a bit woozy from all his shots yesterday, because he was not terribly interested in trotting fast. But, he trotted when asked, and did his jumps like a man. We rode all over the pasture with zero issues. Once or twice he started to go astray but all I had to do was refocus him. It was GREAT. He’s becoming the horse I knew he could be.
I’m tired, but a very good boy.
It’s been a good week of spending time with all the horses. Even Mabel and Dusty are enjoying all the togetherness.
Nap time.
When Trixie got here, she was able to just do Drew and Apache’s feet. She has only one good hand after being scratched by an angry cat that didn’t want to get in a crate to go get neutered. Cat scratches go septic so easily! I’m amazed she could get anything done, so I’m happy to wait for Fiona and Dusty. But Drew is now ready for the clinic tomorrow, since Apache’s Coggins results aren’t in yet (not surprised).
I’m more ready after pain pills and a visit to Carlton’s favorite chair, the massage chair.
It’s really great to enjoy all your tasks so much that pain is inconsequential. I just looked at the sunset and felt better. I’m content right here. Where I belong and am loved.
I was browsing through my horse material when I saw something that concerned me: Apache’s Coggins certification had recently expired. Oops. Horses that travel need those to ensure they don’t bring a bad disease to other horses. For non-horse folks:
A “Coggins” is a blood test that detects antibodies to the disease Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA). This is a virus that can cause affected horses (or donkeys) to have fevers, anemia (low red blood cell count), edema (stocking up), or weight loss/muscle wasting.
Of course, Apache is scheduled for a clinic on Saturday. Shit. Since all his other vaccines were done at the same time, I figured I’d better get him looked at sooner rather than later. I hadn’t been worried, because Lee had been saying he would schedule the vet to come do all the animals soon. Soon hadn’t happened and Apache’s time was up.
Wait, am I a goner? No!
Lee was nice enough to agree to take me and Patchy into Cameron, where Dr. Amy and her mobile vet office are on Thursdays. I was really proud of my old boy (he was born in 2005). We got out of the trailer and just hung out together.
A car with a puppy in it, our rig, and the mobile veterinarian office.
He didn’t act bothered at all by all the traffic, the thump-thump radios, or the smell of barbecue (that made me hungry).
I have grass. Grass is good.
There was a young Siamese cat on the lot where the trailer parks. It had obviously never seen a horse. Apache was very interested in the kitty, and the kitty crept closer and closer until it got to the edge of its comfort zone, at which point it studiously cleaned itself. Cutie.
That’s a BIG dog!I better get closerI see a very small dog that says meow. Hmm. La dee da, I’m over it.
We waited an hour (there is always an emergency going on, and today’s was an old lab). I don’t begrudge the time, since I remember how long she spent sewing up Harvey when he was hurt.
Apache was deemed in good shape and declared beautiful. He had a few fly bites, but Amy see asid she could tell I used fly spray. And he needs to get his teeth floated, so that will get done when Amy comes in two weeks to give all the ranch animals their shots, spay Goldie, and take care of other issues.
He posed for his Coggins drawing like a model, too. Like a man, he took all his shots without flinching. What a guy.
I’m beautiful.
All in all, I think he actually had a good time hanging out with me, meeting new people who told him how pretty he was, and eating new grass. And he will be all certified healthy in just a little while. A little late for Saturday, though, so I’m prepared to take Drew and do the whole clinic on my feet.
Yesterday’s lessons learned were pretty hard to take, but I’m doing better today, other than being a bit overly warm from outdoor activities, dealing with a sore foot, and realizing I am developing swimming muscles thanks to some sore thighs. I survived five straight hours of work meetings, too, so I feel like a marathoner. Who would have known?
Fiona’s exercise routine
Today I learned lessons on both my horses. What a great thing it was that Tarrin was able to come HERE and do lessons! She went to Sara’s and did her horses, then came here. Nice.
I was pretty danged hot.
Having lessons on our property was especially helpful with Apache because we could work on his problem areas here at the ranch. And work we did! I am feeling really good about our relationship and can see that I am making a lot of progress with him. It only takes poor Tarrin a hundred times to tell me something before I get the hang of it, but I am getting there and starting to be much better at correcting him before he gets a chance to try to get out of doing what he’s asked to do.
I’m proud of me, too. But tired.
I’m also much better at not letting myself get upset or feel out of control. This is making all of us happier! We walked back and forth all over the front field like pros, and even did well in the “scary” dry lot pasture going away from home. Coming back, we did a thing where he got to have nice, loose reins as long as he walked calmly, but if he started the squirrelly stuff, he’d have to make circles whether he wanted to or not. I think I gained a lot of confidence doing that and he figured out I was not going to quit. In the end, he calmly walked back to the tack room. Tarrin and I were both pleased. I’m glad she is going to come back a couple more times in June.
I am so displeased that the training lady found out where I live that I THREW my food on the ground!
Drew got a workout, too. We spent a lot of time on right turns. While I was out working on the turns, I finally remembered Zoolander was the guy who could only turn in one direction. My mind isn’t totally going after all!
I can turn both right AND left. When I want to.
I now have many more tools in my toolbox to deal with Drew leaning into me. We will be doing many, many right turns, if I can keep from keeling over from trotting with him in the Texas sun. He also got some reminders of how he is supposed to behave when going in circles on the lead line. He quickly became a model citizen and made me proud. We have some fun stuff to work on that will make our show scores so much better.
I want more.
There will always be ups and downs, but I sure am enjoying working with horses. I never cease to be amazed at how much I learn about myself while doing it. The confidence I’m gaining is helping me deal with all the hard things in life, too.
The day started with an ouch and ended with a painful long-term one.
These two are hanging out so I can quickly get them for a lesson tomorrow.
I was planning to go ride with Sara this morning and ran late, but I had Apache clean and saddled in time. We were walking to the mounting block, which is in the portable round pen. As we entered, the stirrup in the right somehow caught in a panel and started following us. That rightfully scared him and he jumped. Jump number 2 landed on my foot. Ouch.
The inner part here used to be next to the outer part.
He got free, though, and said “oof” then stood still. I got up and went over to him and hugged him. He was fine! I got on him and went over to Sara, apologizing for not making it to the gate so Aragorn wouldn’t have to walk near our horses.
The longer grass shows the former outline of the pen.
We regrouped and had a nice calm ride, since Aragorn is working on a hoof issue. I was really proud of my horse and me. In fact, my foot felt fine in my good shoes. It only started hurting when I took the shoe off.
I forgot to put a picture of Harvey on yesterday’s post. Here he is with his favorite pillow.
The other hurt is one I won’t go into detail on, but I found out I’d lost a friend through misunderstandings. For the second time in recent experience, someone got very angry with me due to associating me with someone else. Assumptions were made and even when it turned out they were wrong, I was guilty by association.
The good news is at least this time I know what happened, how it came about, and that there’s not a thing I can do but apologize for things that came across wrong. Sigh. I hate losing friends I really cared about.
On the other hand, I’m no longer in the middle of something I don’t understand and can move on. I’ll just hang out with people who know I’m me, not anyone I’m associated with.
I made my nails cheerful. So there.
These lessons are always painful, even when you’ve made progress on your desire to be liked by people who matter to you.
The Hermits' Rest 