horses – Page 6 – The Hermits' Rest

Suna’s Longest Day

Today was quite a slog, but not without its highlights. I have not been sleeping well for a few days, so 6am came quite early. Sigh, as hard as I try not to turn other people’s issues around and blame myself, it sometimes happens, especially when I’ve messed something up. Hence, little sleep.

But it was worth getting up early to make it to an 8am horse lesson with sleepy Apache. He was feeling a bit better today, plus he had some excellent entertainment in the form of two curious foals who shared the training arena with us. Those babies have lost all their shyness and found Apache fascinating.

He did a great job playing the patient but grumpy uncle role. The filly just marched right up to him and said HI. She only left when he snorted at her. The colt, who has been less brazen in the past really wanted to be Apache’s buddy.

Both foals did that cute mouth snapping they do to show they mean no harm, but the little guy did try to taste Apache’s mouth and substantial hindquarters.

Tarrin road Apache a bit to work on his turning and the little guy followed them like he wanted to do some work, too.

His mom, who’s trying to recover from a rough patch, kept telling him to stop, but it really didn’t work. That’s okay, it was great practice for Apache (and me) to focus with lots of cute distractions.

All that circling and baby stuff wore me out. Gotta pee.

We made it home in time for me to shower before work started. That’s good, because things did not let up for the rest of the day. Finally, at 7:30pm I was able to leave my desk. Whew. It’s a good thing I’m so peppy for an old gal. I wasn’t even phased to walk into the chicken coop in time to see a turkey egg going down a rat snake’s throat.

Tomorrow I hope to have a book report for you!

Drew Makes a New Friend

A quick note about some fun we had today. My neighbor Vicki is looking for an energetic horse to ride, since she hasn’t had a horse in some time. Today she came over to meet Drew, who was quite happy to meet a new human.

He was a good boy and came running when called and walked up to be haltered. Of course, he showed Vicki his pushy side, but she handled it just fine. We groomed him all up and I did some ground work to show what he can do. He was extra perky, having not worked in a while, and really seemed to enjoy himself.

It was a very positive first meeting! She’s hoping to lease Drew and do lessons on him.

Later in the afternoon, Vicki came to watch my lesson on Apache, which was good for all of us. We hadn’t had a lesson in a while, and not much practice thanks to the rain and my job’s hours. But we learned through his stiffness and had a good time. I’m glad Vicki got a chance to see a lesson before she has hers with Drew next week.

Hoping some fun times are ahead. I need encouraging horse experiences! And Apache needs more exercise with all this green grass around.

My Favorite Thing about Me

What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

I didn’t have too much to write about today, other than that horses are cute and I have a new favorite light fixture. So, let’s find out what my favorite thing about me might be.

But first, look at the fun Apache and Rylie (probably not spelled right) had today during warmups.

Okay, so, answer the question, Suna. And don’t say you like something except for this that or the other. No self put-downs allowed.

Oh, second, hey look at this light fixture. It looks like planets made of rock crystals.

I used to always say my favorite thing about myself were my feet. They were not too big or small, medium width, and had nice toes. Now they are more mature feet with mature person issues. So, nope, it’s not my feet.

Sorry, feet, you also always have fire ant bites.

All right. I’ll refrain from pointing out the obvious negatives for this, as instructed, and declare my favorite thing about myself is how I can empathize with others, care deeply about people who don’t care back, and always see our commonalities as humans. That boils down to one concept but I don’t have the right word for it.

Take a seat while I add unnecessary explanations, as I tend to do.

Note that I can now set boundaries, so my character feature is one I can now embrace without fear of hurting myself. I’m not going to run out and embrace the toxic people in my life, but I can try to understand them and care, from a distance.

They can’t hurt me, even though I may appear vulnerable, just like today’s maize calligrapher fly can’t sting me, even though it looks like a wasp.

Super Sensitive Suna, as I labeled myself on Facebook today, can take the occasional sadness and hurt that comes from all that caring, but it’s worth it. I just have to expect to have the occasional down periods. It’s a small price to pay to keep cherishing my favorite thing about myself.

Fears, I’ve Had a Few

What fears have you overcome and how?

Fearful is not how I’d ever describe myself. I feel more like my horse, Apache, who is always vigilant against the unexpected and anxious when asked to do new things. We have a lot in common, he and I, which may explain why our progress is becoming a skilled horse/rider pair has been steady, but slow.

That leads me into one of the fears I’ve been working to overcome, which is the fear of cantering on this horse. I’d probably have been cantering long ago if I had a different equine partner, but Apache is the horse I was kindly given, so he’s who I’ve worked with. And cantering was never his best skill. His tendency to do a kick/buck maneuver whenever he set off to canter when he was younger is one reason my friend Sara gave him to me. She wanted to canter (as a good rider, she knew how) but his imbalance made it scary on him. Heck, he even kicked out to start cantering without a rider for the longest time.

But years of exercise, bodywork, good medicine, and work on his feet led to much improvement. He now sets off very well and only on the wrong lead some of the time. After my trainer worked with him under saddle, he can now do a fine job, and that led me to overcome my fear of cantering on him. Plus I’m way better at staying on when he has a hiccup.

And if I fall I’m just closer to the rain lilies.

A key to overcoming that fear is a skill I’ve only managed to develop in the past few years, which is to push past my anxiety and DO the thing. Riding horses has helped a lot with developing that ability, one many folks are born with. I was born cautious, very cautious. It’s amazing I learned to ride a bicycle. On the other hand, I didn’t break any bones as a child, thanks to caution.

Even this precious dog didn’t break my bones when he pulled me down a steep hill. Precious.

You might not believe this one, but once I was quite afraid to do things by myself. I really didn’t like being alone (other than teen years of being in my bedroom listening to my records). I can remember how proud I was of myself when I walked out of my hotel in Toronto, and ate a meal by myself. It was a whole fish, prepared beautifully, and I had a good time. Working in Toronto for weeks at a time was good for me. I discovered I could ride a subway without a helpful friend, I could have a drink in a bar and enjoy talking to people, etc.

Now I think nothing about eating alone, walking around a new town by myself, or going on long walks in nature. Of course, I’ve educated myself about safety in cities and nature, and I do prefer nature. I know how to spot the plants and animals to avoid. Learning about what you fear is a great way to overcome fears.

On another note, we almost have a screened porch!

I’m glad I can now take a deep breath and just DO a thing. It’s been very helpful in surviving life on a ranch property. I don’t realize how scary my everyday life can be to others until I get an urban visitor. I just know to check for snakes in the henhouse, watch my steps for fire ants, and avoid the poison ivy and nettle patches. I’ve educated myself so I’m not afraid!

Trip Down Recent Memory Lane

Yesterday I was feeling all sentimental, as well as in need of some different sites, so I took my walk by turning left instead of right from my driveway, to look at the part of the ranch we sold and the part that was my friend Sara’s ranch (visit her new projects on the Wild Type Ranch website).

I enjoyed seeing all the late-spring wildflowers on the roadside and marveled at how fast river cane (Arundo donax) grows back after mowing.

I checked out the abandoned farm next to the Shuffield/Tyson place, which keeps falling down more and more, but that’s just fine, because now it’s host to many birds, and judging from the scat, either a bobcat or feral domestic cats.

Eventually I turned and walked down the road connecting our two ranches and leading by my son’s cabin residence. Wow. There were some beautiful vistas of black-eyed Susans in the fancy pasture.

I got all nostalgic looking at where Aragorn and Spice used to live. There’s a great view looking down from there.

By the way, Spice must miss her old pasture, because she made a break for it when the gate was briefly opened. Luckily some beautiful oats distracted her, making it easy to take her back. She can’t help being so obedient. She’s well trained.

Next I enjoyed the huge tree next to the old chicken coop where I tried to care for all the chickens no one wanted anymore. Maybe my son can fix it up and use it.

I’ve spent a lot of time under that tree, and now my kid can.

The final stretch is where I admired the vistas looking west. There were always beautiful sunsets there, and you can see a long way, which you can’t from my house, due to the woods.

What I saw next gave me a laugh, the tank/pond where I went on my first ride on Apache outside of the round pen.

He followed Spice and Sara up to the berm that makes the pond, straight at a mesquite tree. Rather than get mauled, I bailed.

That was my first unplanned dismount from that boy. Memories.

Back at our pasture, I hung out with the chickens and horses and once again expressed gratitude that I have an opportunity to explore this area in Central Texas. It’s not much, but at least for now, some of it is still ours.

Apache and Suna Get Presents

While I was wandering through ghost towns yesterday, things were hopping on the home front. My horse and I were the beneficiaries of it all.

First, Lee was kind enough to mow the area where our round pen got moved. I was a bit afraid of snakes in the long grass. He then mowed some nice paths through the field, even nicer than his last ones.

That’s not all! Work has begun on a new horse playground for me, Apache, and any other horse I can get practice on obstacles for shows, entertain ourselves, and have fun. The first item is a little hill, like the one at Tarrin’s. It’s more of a berm.

The darned backhoe decided it was time to have yet another new problem (hey, it’s older than my kids), so it didn’t get done. But Apache and I tried it out and loved it. We will get so much use out of this tool.

The backhoe has plenty of stinky dirt to move.

Apache and I also tried out a turn in a box and corridor obstacle. I’ve made copies of the obstacle instructions from the Working Horse Central book, so I may be getting more obstacles as well. Riding will be so much more fun.

One path we walked on, framed by flowers.

Later in the day Apache and I rode out to the paths and pen to test them out. We both liked the mowed round pen, and he did pretty well in there. We even walked along much of the paths.

But, the end of the ride was not ideal. I guess Lee had run over some rodents while mowing that were starting to smell good. A Turkey Vulture decided to check it out, which was not at all fun for an already nervous horse.

Bonus: he didn’t flee into the poison ivy patch.

A great deal of crow-hopping and jumpiness ensued, but I didn’t panic. I did allow him to briskly head to more familiar ground, but I eventually helped him calm down enough to walk over some poles and pay attention to me. That was a win as far as I’m concerned. He even let me wash off all his nervous sweat.

He deserved a piece of weird ice cream cake. It’s made with ice cream and self rising flour. We humans ate it for him.

Poor Apache. That was a lot of new stuff for one day!

Horsey Improvement

My riding lesson was the only real highlight of today, since otherwise I did volunteer work and tried to figure out my financial status with Social Security. 💤

I watered my plants. So proud of them for growing from seed.

But Apache and I had our best day ever! I was so pleased to hear from Tarrin that Apache looks better than she’s ever seen him. I have to agree. He has more muscle and less fat than ever, and even his mane is longer than ever. Just a bit of cresty neck is left.

He really has improved in so many ways, and I’m supposed to tell you that the work I’ve done with him at home has helped (that means it’s not just Tarrin’s work). His turning, trotting and gate changes are improving by the week. Today it was so much fun practicing. We work well together at last.

Me getting ready today, as reflected in the horse trailer.

Then we went back to the round pen to practice cantering. I lived! I feel like I’ll be comfortable at it soon. I never thought I’d be able to say that, being so poor at trying new scary things. But hey, I was petrified of trotting when I started taking lessons with Tarrin (and Apache trotted with his head straight up and bouncing).

This morning, we cantered like a normal horse and human. I wish I had photos, but we were busy. Apache sweated a lot.

Good news. I can erase the horrific memories I have of when Sara tried cantering on him when he was young, before the bodywork, muscle building and training both she and I did with him. He was so unbalanced he couldn’t start to canter without a little hitch in his step or a buck…which is exactly what happened when I tried to canter on Drew and I hit the dirt. Geez. No wonder I was a bit hesitant!

But all the preparations Tarrin carefully led us through, including my one step in January, had us both ready. I think we were equally happy to achieve this. This slow and steady approach is really slow, but sure seems to work.

Becoming a better rider and partner to Apache has been a dream of mine for over a decade. I’m enjoying this process so much.

Onward, I guess.

Today’s Holiday

I set a record today. I was only glum about Mother’s Day for a half hour or so. Two things helped. First I gave myself a good lecture on how this holiday was originally (1870) meant to be a day where mothers celebrated peace, started by Julia Ward Howe. Yep. The same one who wrote the Battle Hymn of the Republic. It’s a pacifist holiday at heart. I’m a pacifist and I produced two babies, so I can celebrate!

I was cheered at the idea of so many fascist pro-patriarchy women getting flowers and cards today. I’m not sure what emotion that really was. But, yay for peace on earth, end to wars, and love for all. That probably makes me a criminal these days, but I’m sticking to my figurative guns.

The other thing that cheered me up was taking my morning walk, which once again was filled with birds and flowers. Oddly, I walked for over an hour, and the only vehicles that passed me were members of my own family. Country life.

Just me, mutant flowers, and flower scarabs.

The second vehicle contained my next-door neighbors, also known as my offspring and his partner. I pointed at them so they’d stop, just hoping to say hi, but they gave me gleeful greetings of the day and said they’d go eat with me next week. Those smiles made my day.

Mama cows approved. These are solid animals.

I walked all the way to Walker’s Creek Cemetery, where I paid my respects to the mother and grandmother of the guy across the road, and my friend’s mother, who just passed away, making it a hard holiday for my friend. My mom died in 1984. So long ago.

So I’ve had a fine day, though I’m still feeling poorly. Just tired. I think adjusting to not working is harder than I’d expected. But the weather is beautiful and I can ride horses anytime I want to.

Someone is still not thrilled with his new “round” pen, but he did his trotting practice, which included mostly walking due to him being jittery.

I hope you all found a way to make peace today or enjoyed your traditional celebration. It’s all good. Now I must go re-dye my hair ends orange. I accidentally neutralized it by using purple shampoo. Oops.

Here are some photos from my walk.

May Ranch Update

I’ve been home a few days and haven’t updated on what’s going on here. May is always a fun month in central Texas, because it’s not too hot or cold, rain falls every so often, wildflowers are in bloom, and bird migration is in full swing.

Texas Striped Sweat Bee with a lot of thistle pollen.

I’ve been enjoying the birds especially. I thought I’d seen a lot on my trip, but whoa, I’ve seen a lot in the last few days. Yesterday? I identified 74 birds between my house and Tarrin’s. That’s way more than my previous one-day high total!

Here’s an Eastern Kingbird, which I’ve seen in both locations.

I was sorta giddy when I saw the list I ended up with. There was even a new lifer, the Magnolia Warbler, one I’d always wanted to encounter.

I do use a lot of abbreviations. It’s hard to fit that many birds on a page, you know?

In other areas, the horses seem good, except that Apache’s expensive boots got lost while I was gone. All my fault. I didn’t remember to take them off before I left.

Spice is all settled in, too. She has taken over as Head Honcho of the herd. Drew and Mabel follow her everywhere.

Your boss mate doesn’t have to have perfect confirmation or perfect feet. She has to be firm and smart. That’s Spice.

With a swish of her tail, she gets things done.

Apache and Dusty just hang out with Fiona and eat. I guess they’re the second tier. They all seem happy.

Everybody but Dusty, who’s at left, eating.

Apache really is doing well, even though it’s been raining, which makes grass grow, which isn’t good for his metabolism. We had a lesson yesterday, and he was just fine, health wise. He did forget how to trot all straight and soft, but it was fun to work on it.

Funny story/segue: I had a very pleasant morning yesterday. I woke up plenty early to make coffee, get Apache ready, and drive serenely to my 9am lesson. I had a nice chat with a friend who was also at Tarrin’s and was about to saddle Apache when Tarrin yelled at me, “You do realize your lesson is at ten, right?”

I heard the Mockingbird mockingly laughing right then.

Of course it was. I wrote it down in the wrong time zone. But did I let that intrude upon my serenity? Nope! It was a beautiful, cool morning, and there were all those birds! So, I got out my portable chair, drank coffee, and listened to birds, even Tarrin’s ducks. I was completely happy, except when Apache pooped upwind from me.

Yow, it’s taken a long time to get to where I can at least occasionally stay unfrazzled. This is good!

Also good: my first zinnia blossom from seed.

Today has also been fun, though with not quite so many birds. I’ve been logging them all on eBird, because it’s the Global Big Day. But while I was out, I checked out the wildflowers and their pollinators. Let’s take a look. I’ve got more coming later, I hope!

Horses Coming and Going and More

Whew! I’m glad to be in my spacious, bland hotel suite and resting up for a bit, because it’s been quite a day of coming and going. It started early when I blasted through tons of errands and things on the to-do list so that I could focus on the horses for most of the day.

I guess I could have concentrated on caterpillars. This grows up to be the pretty salt marsh moth. *Estigmene acrea*

The horses had no idea what they were in for, though to be honest, they never do, except they know food shows up when I pen them up. I had a terrible time getting them to come in to eat. That all ended when the familiar rumble of Sara’s trailer coming up the driveway. They know that means someone is coming or going.

I ran around and arranged the gates so that the paddock with rocks in it is separate from the rest of the pasture. That way, our surprise arrival will have her own space.

Well, VERY long-time blog readers may remember this red-and-white mare. It’s Spice! Spice showed up a decade ago when Sara realized Apache had so many foot issues that she couldn’t do what she wanted to as a rider. Spice had more of a spicy red mare temperament and love of movement. So, Sara started working with Spice and I inherited Apache to groom and love on (and ride when he felt good). When Fiona showed up, we had quite the riding group.

Eventually Spice started having pain issues, which is when Aragon showed up with his fancy moves. He was quite a few levels up from Apache and Spice! Thus, Spice retired to hang out with the other horses for the past few years.

See? From Sara’s memories. Past Spice and Apache in his standard high-headed stance.

Apache has always loved Spice. He looked longingly at her sometimes after he moved to our pasture. So when Sara planned her move to Wisconsin, knowing her older and arthritic mare couldn’t come, I offered to take care of her for her remaining years. Happy to help out my old friends!

Fiona and Dusty haven’t reacted much to Spice.

We will try to keep Spice separated for a few days so the herd can get used to her.

But wait, there’s more. While Spice was coming in, I got Drew all dressed up to go on a date. I think he knew it was important, because he was a perfect gentleman as I groomed him. I even got burs out of his perfect hooves. That cracked me up.

It was my turn to drive a horse in a trailer, as I took Drew over to Tarrin’s. He met a woman who needs a second horse without some of the issues of her other one. They got along great, too. So, there’s a chance Drew may have a more appropriate place to live with someone who can keep him working and sound. I’ve felt sad that I’m unable to do what he needs to feel good.

Because as you can see, he’s a cutie pie. And I want him to have his needs met.

Anyway, Drew was on his best behavior and made a good impression. We will see if anything comes of it, but I was proud of him no matter what. The idea of rehoming him has taken a lot of thought. I wouldn’t do it with anyone Tarrin didn’t recommend. And I felt good having her share about Drew honestly.

A funny thing happened as we were talking in Tarrin’s parking area/pasture. Drew found something interesting on the ground and started sniffing it. Then he curled his lip in a spectacular Flehmen response.

He kept sniffing and curling for a long time.

He finally settled down. Tarrin thinks a wild animal must have peed on the ground, which no doubt smelled extra intriguing!

When we got home, Drew immediately checked out Spice, very politely. However, Apache was having none of that. He inserted himself between Spice and Drew. When Drew tried again, Apache was very firm. We will have to see how this additional feminine energy will affect things. Luckily, Mabel and Spice seem fine together. I hope I won’t have to separate the boys and girls!

The weird thing is I was supposed to leave for Hilton Head today. I moved it to tomorrow so the horse stuff can happen. So, as soon as I got everything settled, Lee and I took off for the Austin airport. I leave in the morning.

Yeah, we got the upgrade for no good reason. It’s pleasant, and I got to eat at the restaurant at the airport Hilton, which I always like, even though the menu was different. I had celery root/asparagus soup and zucchini noodles with rainbow broccoli and delicious mushrooms. No photo of the food, but here’s a sparrow that got into the hotel.

Sorry this was so long. It was an emotional day.