Mabel – The Hermits' Rest

Good News and Fun

I know I’m getting pretty dull, you’ve noticed, judging from my sad stats and lack of comments. But hey, that’s not stopping me from my relentless blogging. I’m pretty pleased by the lack of drama in my little world (as opposed to outside of my hermitage).

But look! A frog! *Lithobates sphenocephalus*

Yesterday’s drama with Big Mabel seems to be resolving. Once Tarrin looked at the video I sent her, she put together what the symptoms meant: Mabel wasn’t eating and was pawing at food because an adverse reaction to a vaccine made her unable to lower her head! Poor horse!

The Gang of Three were not amused. Mabel is the big one.

This morning I fed everyone early so I could test out the theory that she’d eat if the food was higher. See for yourself.

Thank goodness! After a day on hay only, my ribs were starting to show!

She ate her food, the food Fiona rejected, and Apache’s leftovers, which I held up for her. I did notice she could put her head almost to the ground, so she improved. Fiona was grazing on the edges of the pen, so I felt good about her, too. They all had good times the rest of the day, helping Mabel find stuff to eat other than the three hay bags I put out.

Greenbrier shoots. Taste like asparagus.

A busy weekend is afoot. Tomorrow is horse stuff, as Drew gets to meet a new human and the herd gets a new member. You’ll have to check back tomorrow for details!

Meanwhile, you can ponder what the back of this tanker truck means.

After that I set out Sunday for another visit to Hilton Head, though without any fun sisters. Boo hoo. I’m glad Kathleen is back and able to help with horse stuff. I dread flying. I don’t want COVID again.

We did do exciting errands this afternoon. I returned my underperforming Viasat satellite receiver and got more horse food. The reward was going through the fancy new Buc-ees car wash. It has that dang beaver all over it.

Hmm. Perhaps my readers are right. I’m pretty dull these days. I didn’t even find an exciting snake skin today. This one is tiny.

Animals’ Behavior – Good and Weird

I thought today would be uneventful but there were many events, many, all of which involved our precious animal friends. Let’s enjoy the fun one first, shall we?

No carpenter worm moths are part of this story. Other than this one.

I was up nice and early to meet Sara and her horses. I got to go with her for her and her filly Jhayati’s last lesson with Tarrin. She also brought Aragorn, to practice for them all driving to their new and beautiful pasture in Wisconsin. Want to follow their journey? Sara has a blog! Learn all about their regenerative farm there.

Jhayati is so big! She will be two in May.

Anyway, it was a joy to watch the young horse wearing a saddle for the second time like she’d done it for years. Then she wore a bit for the first time, and she explored it but did fine and followed all her instructions fine. This is a smart girl.

I e learned so much from these two women. I’ll miss my horsemanship friend so much, but look forward to hearing about Sara’s new adventures.

Meanwhile, Aragorn wasn’t acting like himself. He did not like being tied to the trailer. Much pawing and agitation occurred. This is more than his usual opinion. But I’m not worried. Sara is well prepared for travel, and Tarrin shared lots of travel tips. This was the only first animal oddity of the day.

I got home, and Lee told me Carlton was acting strangely. He would not eat his food and was limping. He’d needed help getting into the bed to go to sleep last night. It turns out he hurt from having two of his nails trimmed too close yesterday. And to top it all off, Harvey picked fights with him all day. He seems better after some pain medication, though.

The chickens are acting oddly, too, and I found feathers in the henhouse. Has Connie gone broody? She has nothing to brood though. It seems our egg thief has been so well fed that she had to shed. It’s longer than my height.

Things were calm until I went to feed the horses. They were very well behaved and I was happily watching them eat when I realized Mabel was not eating. She was sticking her tongue out and then yawning. Her food was no different from any other day.

Eventually she knocked all the food out of her tin and kicked it around. I caught that in 27 seconds of cinematic drama.

Mabel expresses her opinion of food.

I got really worried. I went to let the other horses out, but when I let out Fiona first, I realized that she hadn’t touched her food, either. She just walked away.

As soon as Fiona left, Mabel marched over to her food dish, sniffed it, then kicked the tub over. As an added flourish, she stomped on the tub. Here’s a video of that.

You will note in the video that she cones over to me at the end. She kept doing that, coming over to tell me something I didn’t understand. I worried that she was colicking. So, I called Tarrin.

Luckily, as I dialed, Mabel went to the water trough and drank. That made me feel better about colic (very dangerous horse issue). Tarrin suggested I see if she’d eat a horse cookie. I was relieved to see she would. Fiona reluctantly ate one, too. Whew.

The theory we came up with is that Mabel and Fiona were reacting to their vaccinations yesterday. That makes senses

I do wonder if they ate something less than ideal down by the pond. They were all chomping away there, too.

I watched the horses a long time after they ate the treats. I was relieved to see Mabel nibble some hay and Fiona grazing.

More horse surprises coming this weekend. Stay tuned.

A Little Scare, a Lot of Care

Today was a test of my ability to be calm in a (perceived) crisis. I’m still here, though covered in white hair.

Most of today was fun and productive—a highlight was visiting a house a friend is renovating accompanied by two women who had lived in it in the 1950s and 1960s. The house is all modern now, and it was fun watching them figure out what happened to old features.

Later, after a bunch of retired person work that made me fall asleep, I headed out for a grooming and riding session, since the weather was cool and cloudy.

And hooray, we finally have Texas paintbrush! I was worried.

First, I realized poor Dusty’s hair issue is rain rot. All that hair, sigh. I felt so bad for him, but he will get better. Poor boy.

While I worked with Dusty, Apache ate tied to a post where he could get some grass when he was done. Normally that’s fine, even though it was sort of close to the welding station. However, I hadn’t banked on the arrival of Apache’s nemesis, the riding mower, which had made him jumpy last week when I was trying to ride.

I guess he won’t want me to learn lawn mowing sounds. I’ll stick with phoebes.

My son had been mowing at his house and drove the mower back here, which I should have figured would happen when I saw his truck. Anyway, the mower’s appearance startled Apache as I was grooming him, and since I’d given him some extra rope for grass eating, he got his foot hung up in it.

The ensuing thrashing got both me and him some cuts and bruises, though once I got him still, I could easily get him untangled. Training him to lift his feet was a smart idea.

I was annoyed that my knot that was supposed to give way easily did not. In fact, it took my son quite a while to untie the lead rope. But he did it!

After moving Apache, I assessed the damage and did first aid. One scrape and one cut needed bandaging, and everything else got nice aloe spray.

While I was working on him, Mabel and Drew stayed right with him, checking on him and helping calm him down. Their caring was very sweet to see. Apache seemed to appreciate it, too, as well as my soothing and grooming.

I finally finished and decided riding would not be a good idea, so I walked him towards the pens, but he headed straight out to the exercise area, like he was ready to do groundwork. So, we did it and he was just fine! There was nice cantering and trotting and jumping, so I guess he felt okay. It’s a good thing he already had some pain medication in him.

The worst scrape, the only one that bled.

I’m proud that I didn’t panic and just took care of things. I’m also glad neither of us was hurt more than we were. The other horses being so attentive warmed my heart. I even had a hard time getting Apache into the pens, because Drew and Mabel wanted to check on him.

So far, retirement is not boring.

Mabel Takes a Trip

I’ve been writing a lot about Mabel, the Thoroughbred mare that Kathleen rescued in 2021 and who I’ve been caring for and rehabilitating since. In the past few months she’s blossomed. I guess the time to regain her health both physically and mentally was just what she needed to come back and do more than eat and sleep (though she’d be happy to do that).

Look at that engaged and interested face!

So today, not only did I take Apache for a lesson, Mabel went, too!

Now, Mabel obviously had training before we got her, since she was willing to let people ride her and trailered well.

But she looked sad and was so thin (this was not too long after we got her, and she’d filled out some already.

I was interested to see what she retained and where I could help her develop stronger muscles and a stronger relationship with me. So she walked into the trailer like a champ and went to Tarrin’s. Apache was gracious.

She did not enjoy the trip and pooped everywhere and made a slippery mess. So Apache did his lesson first while Mabel neighed a lot and was agitated. Tarrin said that shouldn’t be surprising in a new space where she didn’t ask to go. Poor dear. It was also extremely windy (again), which wasn’t fun for horses or people. So much dust.

By the time it was her turn, she had settled down and we did work with her. We made lots of progress together and I have lots of things to practice with her now. She never stopped looking engaged and happy, even with some corrections needed. Tarrin said she was smart. She probably says that to all the horse owners.

Backing up was fun to work on. We will get it all figured out, I’m sure!

Apache had an excellent nap during Mabel’s lesson. He’s a bit stiff so he’s getting pain meds for a short while until the grass settles down. At least he isn’t lame!

Wake me up when it’s time to go home, says Apache.

Before we left, Tarrin fitted the black saddle Drew had been using on Mabel’s shape. She has asymmetrical shoulders. Huh. Apache’s old cinch worked fine, so I can exercise her with the saddle to build more strength up. She isn’t ready to be ridden again yet, but it shouldn’t be too long.

Saddle fitting. It’s great to have an adjustable saddle that works on all shapes and sizes! Bonus dog butt.

One more thing! When we got home, Dusty and Drew were crowding the gate wanting to greet Mabel. I guess she’s their girlfriend. It was hard to bring her in until I shooed the boys away. It was sweet.

She already stopped pulling when walking the circle. Good girl.

I hope tomorrow is less windy. I have a bunch of things to do! But for now I’m enjoying a lavender face mask to get rid of the last of the dust!

And in the End…

…the love you take is equal to the love you make (Lennon/McCartney)

I re-learned this from a horse today, dear Mabel. Coincidentally, the blogging prompt today was about animals:

Which animal would you compare yourself to and why?

I have had an affinity with horses since I was a toddler, as I’ve frequently mentioned here. Even before I met my first horse, they made an impression in books and on television (I was a child when Westerns were popular, so you got to see lots of beautiful horses, and I read every horse book in the school library).

Horses always seemed to have good lives, mostly eating, hanging around with friends, and sleeping, with some running around to liven things up. That would work for me. Plus, as prey animals they look out for each other, but low rank horses get picked on by insecure bullies (a drama I often witness). That reminds me of how I ended up being very protective of friends and team members after dealing with a lot of bullying.

No wonder I like horses. They even have delicate digestive systems like me.

Mabel certainly has her issues. She’s choked twice.

As I’ve learned more about horses and how they interact with humans, it’s become so clear that your intention, your mood, and your demeanor affect them. It’s made a huge difference with me and Apache, and I’ve seen it break down with Drew due to his issues — no amount of good intentions has broken through his pain.

I’m just not able to help him like he needs to be helped. Makes me sad.

Healing can take time, and a horse in pain has trouble trusting people. That’s how Mabel was at first. Gradually, with good nutrition and care, she’s become healthy. And her attitude has shifted as well. I didn’t realize quite how much until the last couple of weeks, when she’s become downright friendly. All the love I’ve tried to pour into her may have helped, too.

This friendly expression makes me so happy.

This afternoon, after feeding everyone, I spent time removing winter hair and any new burs from each horse who’d let me. The last horse I groomed was Mabel, who isn’t as fuzzy as Dusty or Apache, but needs de-winterizing. I noticed how nicely she stood still and let me spend time on her, even lowering her giant head and asking to have it rubbed (I didn’t touch her head for at least two years).

I finished up, opened the gate to her pen, and set the grooming bucket down to keep the gate from hitting her when she left. But she didn’t leave. With her ears forward and eyes bright, she lowered her head so I could massage her neck. I ended up just holding this animal who’s as tall as me at her shoulders in my arms with her leaning her neck on my shoulder and her head cradling me. Other horses walked by us, but she didn’t move.

I remained with her. We watched a rabbit flee from a Harrier, then watched the bird hunt all over our field, still calmly sharing love (or safety or whatever a horse would call it) with each other. It was the most peaceful time I’ve ever had with Mabel. Since I’d already exchanged hugs, love, and peace with Dusty and Apache, I was all full of endorphins.

It’s not always this way, but lately these animals have repaid me for my efforts with so much. It’s the way relationships should be, giving and taking love as needed. It helps to identify with the animals, perhaps.

Let’s Pivot with Cautious Optimism

All the ideas I got from reflecting on my tarot reading last night swirled around me today. With the nudge I got that maybe I CAN get through these times and help others if I do what it takes to keep me centered, I decided to up my grounding ante.

I got enough time in today to enjoy nature, meditate well, and really see the big picture of what I’m surrounded by—the natural world and its order. Not always peaceful or perfect, but adapting as things change. Thanks, birds and clouds!

The clouds and sunset were gorgeous today.

After all the warmth and grounding I got from Apache and Dusty yesterday, I decided Mabel from the Stable needed a turn. She’d been looking at me with kindness and interest lately.

So, after Apache did his workout, I haltered Mabel, which is her least good skill, and gave her some extra alfalfa while I groomed and de-burred her. Neither was easy. She had mud dried into clay on her coat, which even with my nails I couldn’t completely eliminate. And while her tail is a breeze to get smooth, her mane is another story. For one thing, it’s way up there. She’s a tall Thoroughbred-style mama. And it’s very fine. But I did it, and noted that she was pretty patient.

As her “reward” I took her on a walk, and just for fun, did some longe-line work in the round pen. She was fine, other than getting a little excited toward the end. Her ears were always forward and she stayed focused. I got her to back up and side pass a bit. Well.

That was a lot more fun than working with Drew has been lately. I think we will pivot and play with Mabel while Drew gets a break and maybe finds a home with someone who can work with him the way he needs. If not, he may be the pasture ornament for a while. An expensive one. But I still love him! He’s just too much for my skill set.

I’d look much better without the burs. Yes, I’ll working on him tomorrow.

On the other hand, I feel very calm and centered working with the other three, so that’s good!

Another bucolic scene of nature and peace, brought to you by our back pond.

How Are the Bur-heads?

I haven’t done a horse update in a while. That’s because not much has changed and I’ve been focusing on sick dogs. But today Jackie came to do bodywork for the first time in a while, so there’s a little more news.

I’m here, too. I enjoy taking food containers out in the pasture where Suna can’t find them. Fun!

All the horses have decorative cocklebur crowns these days. It only takes a few days to replace them, so I’ve given up on daily removal. It’s too hard on my hands and my gloves.

Why remove them? It’s a fashion statement.

Drew, as I’ve noted, is having some movement issues. Jackie determined that his back end is doing way better, so yay for that, but he’s still stiff, sore, and unhappy in his neck and shoulders, including the ribs. He let her know just how it feels, like he was doing with me earlier this year. She worked on him a lot and gave me suggestions for getting him to swing his front legs out and round his ribcage.

I’ll do that stuff and continue to work on extended walks on the ground and in the saddle. At least he still likes doing that, until he stomps his perfect little feet. By the way, I got his tail and back 3/4 of mane cleared up, but he was in no mood for forelock work after his adjustments.

Apache with invisible bur crown, last week.

I got no photos of Apache, because I was busy removing a bucket o’ burs this morning. He is the only horse that got completely bur free. I was happy with his body report. For a horse who eats no supplements and tries to spit out his daily medication, he’s doing well! His feet still look good, too. He’s been fun to work with and ride, as well. I think he will do ok at this weekend’s horse show. We need to get out there and just have fun doing our best.

Mabel is still great. She’s shiny, fit, and pretty darned sound. There’s only one crack in her white hoof! She let me get all the burs out of her tail, but only a few out of her mane. I’m just happy she’s happy and holding her own in the herd.

This is Mabel booking it to get away from my picking at her mane. At least she has one.

Dusty is still Dusty. So gentle, kind, and compliant. Well, unless you’re messing with his tail. His mane has no burs, but I only got a few out of his poor tail, which looks like it’s been braided with burs.

Dusty has been getting extra grain most days, because he is looking thin. But he eats well and is cheerful most of the time. I know his back hurts, even with supplements. But he still loves to hug and craves attention.

Goldie is improving. She’s tapering off pain medication and is getting around better. She can pick up the pace when she wants to, and now easily climbs the steps on the patio. She even managed to tell me her water dish was empty this evening, got me to take her out to drink, then stared at the water dish spot until Lee remembered it was in the dishwasher. Clever.

Goldie and dead house plant. I travel too much.

No one read my post yesterday about moths. Oh well. What I find fascinating isn’t always what the audience finds fascinating!

Yes, Laughter IS the Best Medicine

What makes you laugh?

My dad’s Readers’ Digest magazines always had lots of jokes, with some of the corniest ones in the column labeled “Laughter Is the Best Medicine.” My kid friends and I would go up in our treehouse, where dozens of old RD magazines were stored in an old trunk, and read each other the jokes until our cheeks hurt. Being a kid in the 60s was pretty great.

Now I read most of my jokes on Facebook, but rarely laugh out loud. What does get me going are the antics of the animals around our ranch. Chickens running because you might have food for them always elicit at least a smile.

And when the dogs start playing, Lee and I are thoroughly entertained. They run themselves ragged, with Carlton being fast, Penney being clever, and Goldie falling all over herself. Harvey watches and barks.

Then there’s stuff like this. She jumped up and immediately commenced to licking.

As for the horses, they can be just as awkward as Goldie and as graceful as Carlton. Mostly it’s Fiona who makes me laugh. Today she was begging to be petted, but Tarrin and I quickly realized she was covered in poop. We stuck to picking burs off her head and sides, which she loved so much we just had to giggle.

Today was more of a peaceful and pleasant day than anything else. I managed to get all my work done and still have time for a bakery treat with Anita. Then I spent enough time with horses that I ended up sunburned a little. It was worth it.

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood.

It was Tarrin’s monthly visit to the ranch for lessons. Since Drew is still at her house we worked some with Mabel. She’s really doing so well. You can barely tell her back is messed up, and she has nice muscles. She’s so friendly now, too. When I went to get Apache and called for the horses, she immediately galloped up. Dusty and Fiona trotted. Apache did come halfway…

Mabel let me brush a lot of mud off her before Tarrin arrived. Then I got to watch how Tarrin gained her trust by being patient and calm. Soon enough, Mabel volunteered to be haltered. Tarrin just approached and retreated and let Mabel sniff her hand as she shaped it just like a horse nose. I learned a lot.

By the end of the session I was brushing her mane out while Tarrin got all the burs off her forelock and mane. Mission accomplished with no stress on my lady horse!

Working with Apache also went very well. Tarrin kept telling me how much I’ve improved at things, and I have to admit she’s right. By gosh, I gave some groundwork and riding skills developing!

And Apache stayed pretty calm over by the house.

We practiced doing a variety of circles at a walk and trot in the round pen. He practiced calmly walking (much improvement) and I practiced using just one hand on the reins. I practiced with each hands, which is important to be able to do, according to Tarrin. It was fun practicing.

Learning

I’m impressed at how much calmer I am now while riding. Things no longer escalate like they used to, because I’m learning to nip things in the bud when Apache starts to go wonky. My calm helps his anxiety, too.

This is where Apache was thinking he’d gone far enough.

I also think he was pretty tired after a lot of cantering in the groundwork part of the lesson. I doubt he was up to frenzied uncontrollable trotting, so the whole lesson was quite civilized. I’m so grateful to Tarrin for her patience with us, and proud of myself for sticking with this horse through all our ups and downs.

If only I had on a cowboy hat, I’d feel so Texas.

It’s a lot easier to laugh when you are feeling good about yourself. Dang. I feel good about myself! Past me would be surprised.

Is It Instinct?

Do you trust your instincts?

I can’t top yesterday’s blog post, so I’ll just answer the daily prompt.

I’ve always trusted my instincts. I’m intuitive. Besides that, I think I take in cues I don’t consciously perceive that lead me to know what I should or want to do. It’s just how I’m built. I’m not good at deliberation; in fact many bad decisions I’ve made came from overthinking.

Sure, things go wrong, but often I learn the most when acting on instinct and getting different results than I expected. You just make the best decision with the information you have at the time. The worst thing is to not do anything at all, so my instincts are good enough for me.

Bug of the day is a young green stink bug. Yep, not green at this stage.

Honestly, as I’ve gotten older I’ve quit believing any predictions, promises, or plans for the future. I’m just going with the flow and not trying to influence the outcome. I’ll learn what I’m meant to learn. That has lessened my anxiety considerably.

Bird watching also helps. I saw the kingfisher catch a fish today!

So yeah, I think my instincts are correct for me and I’ll stick with them.

My instinct today was that I needed to spend some time with my equine friends. So while Drew was being a pain for Sara while she tried to trim his hooves, I hung out with the other horses.

I got burs out of them, which took a while for Dusty. His mane is sparse, but his thick tail was just about all bur. He munched hay and let me work on him. I brushed him, too, which he always likes.

I still manage to get burs in this little tuft.

Mostly I worked with Mabel, though. She’s been on a product called Gut-X for a while and it seems to have done the trick and helped her put on more weight. I’m pleased.

She’d already been getting happier, and now she voluntarily comes up for attention. She let me fix up her tail and much of her mane, but mostly she wanted to be brushed softly and stroked. We spent a long time just being together.

Still has that face only a mother could love.

After I was done, she stood in her pen and yawned over and over. This kind of release is a very good sign in a horse. She’s feeling good, even though one hoof is cracked and her eye had been runny earlier (she got hay in there).

Today’s Bird

Today I saw a bird we all see often, but one I rarely see here at the ranch. It really surprised me, as it was sitting on top of the utility vehicle right next to me as I went through the gate from the house.

The pigeon never moved. Eventually it must have flown off, though. We see doves here (mourning, white-winged, Inca) but not often pigeons. Wonder where it came from?

Not Blowing Away

Uncharacteristically, I missed two days of blogging. I was not in the mood to write nice, thoughtful words. Being sensitive is hard.

Plus, there was my pain stuff. The back pain is manageable with stretching and not bending over too quickly. But it was eclipsed by the pain from getting my darn root canal procedure finished and getting fitted with a temporary crown. Even with the combination of acetaminophen and ibuprofen, I had searing pain if my top and bottom teeth met. I was a grumpy gal last night, so you didn’t need to hear from me.

Let’s enjoy a flying Great Egret, instead.

Then there was the weather. We’ve had a tiny amount of rain (the storms have missed us two days in a row) but yesterday an incredible blast of wind came out of the east (not the expected direction) and blew things all over the place. Patio furniture flew, a window blew open, and the trees looked like they were going to snap. I’m pretty sure it was hurricane strength. At least we didn’t lose power. It was scary for a while. Straight-line winds are something else!

When I went out to assess the damage this morning, it wasn’t too bad. In fact, it was so pleasant out that I spent some time just watching a friendly rabbit chewing grass. I love how the sun shines through their ears.

Later I went to get the mail and I saw black vultures on my horse area. I got all worried that Vlassic was dead.

But it wasn’t him. It was an amazing roadrunner! What the heck? It looked like the wind had picked it up and slammed it into one of the barrels I use for horse obstacles. Trying to get something positive out of the experience, I looked closely at its beautiful feathers and strong legs, which I certainly can’t do when they are alive. Dang wind.

It’s not all bad, of course. I got praised for doing well at work, which rarely happens to contractors. That, along with reduced tooth pain, made getting through the work day today much better than yesterday.

And chickens. They made it fine over the windy period.

The best part of the day was that Bonnie, the equine dentist, was here for the horses’ annual checkups. It’s just fascinating to watch how she does it. I was encouraged to find out they’d all stayed in pretty good shape and mostly just needed routine maintenance.

I love how she climbs the fence and throws her rope over it to set up her dental station

Dusty is older and started out with some weird teeth, so he just got the “keep him comfortable” treatment, because he doesn’t have enough teeth to truly “fix.” He was very good, though.

Apache did great, too. I’m always so proud of him. He really enjoyed sleeping off the tranquilizers. He even snored.

Drew has started growing in his canine teeth. I wonder if that’s what made him so grouchy for a few weeks? Bonnie said he’s definitely just about to turn five years old, which makes me very happy I chose July 2 as his birthday! He enjoyed the whole experience, including tasting all the equipment and snoozing with Apache afterwards.

Mabel went last. She handled this better than she did the farrier visit. Bonnie kept telling me how much better she looks now. That made me feel glad for all the work we’ve done on her. Mabel’s demeanor change also impressed Bonnie. It was cool to have someone who hadn’t seen her in a year evaluate Mabel. She needed the most dental help, so I hope it will help her keep weight on.

So there, none of us have blown away, and things are all right.