Spike's Little Clone

I've always said Maggie is the spitting image of Spike so I took some pictures tonight.

The sun was going down so the lighting isn't the best. And please disregard the white crap all over them. Jay decided a dusting with Sevin would keep ticks off them. I think he overdid it just a tad. I hope I don't have dead horses outside right now.

Anyway... This was the first time Spike actually "met" Maggie. He wasn't totally thrilled about it, but he let the baby eat out of his tub. Hers was RIGHT there, but I guess his looked yummier!

Brushing and Clipping and Loading!

It's a beautiful day in Nebraska. It's a perfect day to take a nice long ride. It's also a perfect day to drag colts out and play.


My goal was to snag up my sweet yearling filly and really play with her. She had other ideas. What a brat. I never did get to her, but tomorrow's another day. Instead, I took the first horse who came to put her head in the halter. And that was my pretty palomino filly named Sage.

I brushed and combed Sage until I could get all the loose hair off her and got the tangles out of her long luxurious mane. It's down past her shoulder and it's gorgeous. I clipped her bridle path and one foot. That was about all she could stand lol. Then I worked on trailering. We'd get half-way in and that was all she wrote. I was home alone and we were at a stand-still.

Hubby pulled in and helped me for about three minutes until my best bud and her daughter pulled in. Hubby made out like he had been working for HOURS and this "mare" wouldn't listen. Deb asked if I wanted help. Well sure! if you got a few minutes!

And that was all it took... just a few minutes with two of us encouraging Sage to load and unload.

Sooooo I gave Sage a treat and turned her back out to the pen.

My next victim was the little rescue Arab we call Mike. When we picked Mike up from his foster home they told me he was "a little wild". He's ornery sometimes, but he's not wild. He had huge snarls in his long mane that took me a while to get out. He very obligingly let me trim his bridle path. Then he walked over the bridge with me with little fuss. He's such a freaking puppy that we had to have a talk about personal space a few times. But he is so eager to please and loves the attention so much that he'll do anything you ask.

He has only been in a trailer once. That was the day we brought him home a year ago. You would never know it because he jumped right in today. He's a funny goofy guy and I think he'll be a lot of fun to watch evolve.

I turned him loose and sought out my next victim. I tried to get Maggie the yearling again, but she was having nothing to do with me today... brat. But what's this? My fearful wonderfully-bred Arabian, Tres, came up to me. I clipped the lead on him and opened the gate.

Well hell (lol).... this dang colt will NOT cross the invisible gate-line to leave the pen. I hollared at hubby to come help me. No-go says Tres. Ah ha! Mr. Blueberry came seeking the halter. We tried leading Blue over the invisible line in hopes Tres would follow. Nope. We tried taking Tres sideways across the invisible line. Nope. We tried waving a halter behind Tres to get him to cross. Nope. (sigh) Ok. At least he was willing enough to follow me UP to the fence so I took advantage of him letting me pet and rub on him inside the pen.

And since Blue was then haltered for use to try to get Tres out.... we took him instead.

This colt is really really pretty. He's actually my Dad's colt, but I've always liked him. I'm told stories that he was a hellion as a yearling. I was told that he was jumping over panels, trying to breed his mamma and had a halter growing into his face. You would NEVER know that by working with this guy. Dad took an interest in him and I give all the credit to his gentling to Dad. This horse wasn't a rebel. He shows no signs of aggression. He goes along with whatever you throw at him. I think he was scared shitless and opting for fight and flight in the rumored stories.

Look at him. Somebody missed out on a really nice horse. Dad saw it and now he's here with us. Cute cute CUTE!

I brushed him all purdy and then flicked on the evil clippers. Pshaw.... now he has a nice pretty bridle path. He leads like a dream and we worked on setting up for halter and showmanship. Gosh he's sure pretty. It's too bad we don't know his lineage. I'm told he's grade... but what the hell. The horse has a good mind and that's more important to me than papers. He had only been loaded once or twice in his life and he hopped right in the trailer like nobody's business. What a good boy.

We went to catch Maggie again. UGH... what a brat! I didn't want to give up on catching her, but here stood Rojo eager for his turn.

Rojo is full brother to Sage. He's short, he's stocky, and he's smart. But he makes you work for things. I brushed and brushed and got him all purdy. Then I got the clippers out. He didn't mind until I moved them toward his bridle path. Argh... you want to argue? I'll argue. It took me the longest to do his... BUT! he is the ONLY one who let me clip his muzzle! So he earns extra points for that.

Then Hubby took him for a stroll over the bridge and he did great. We hadn't worked with trailering with him for a long time either, so in we went. His first trip in was near perfect. And he backed out nicely too. The 2nd trip in wasn't so perfect and he held tight with front legs in and back legs out. He must have stood there like that for a good 15 minutes. Finally I put a shoulder into his butt and he hopped in. We gave him a treat once in and let him stand there for a while. He backed out very well and he got big neck-hugs that he likes and he was done for the day.

I regret not going back after the brat... and I worry that I freaked Tres out trying to get him to leave his safety zone... but there will be another day for those too.

I think Wink was a little put out that I didn't play with him. But he's got a lot more ahead than I wanted to fiddle with today.

All in all, it was a very productive day with some babies I hadn't messed with in a while. I'm dirty and hairy and my fingernails are black from the good ole dirty I hand-groomed off these babies. One weekend when I came back from college I came bopping into the house all happily dirty from horseplay and my Mom said "It's like when you were a kid... coming home happy and dirty." Yay!

And, as always, I catch Hubby doing something hubby-ish. Instead of walking OUT of the trailer to retrieve his drink, he opts to squeeze his manly shoulders through the trailer window. Men... (sigh) ya gotta love 'em.

Wallie The Goat

Thursday night Raye arrived at Nate and Jamie's around 10 p.m. Jamie called and said "Your goat is here!" Soooooooo Jay, Dan, Clarissa and I tossed a large wire dog crate in the back of Dan's truck and motored over there. Nate was busy making shadow bunnies on the side of the barn with his flashlight while we tried to get to know Wallie sitting on the ground there in the dark.

We were going to load him in the crate, but noooooooooo! Raye turned to Clarissa... handed over this 50 pound nine-week old goat and said "Just take him in the truck with you!" It wasn't that we had much choice... Clarissa was suddenly in the back seat of the truck and I was crawling in the other side laughing! Omg... we laughed the entire way home as Wallie sat on Clarissa's lap! Sooooooo! when we got home we put him in the barn in this nice big crate with some food and water.

(this pic was taken with my cellphone, but there's a goat between these two!)

We checked him the next morning and he seemed fine. Vanessa was at G-ma's and she couldn't wait to meet Wallie! We were a little concerned about him as we pulled up after the Mother's Day ride because he had been in the crate all day.

Um... guess again! We pulled in tonight and heard some "baa-ing" and the little turd was out in the yard looking around for someone! Vanessa jumped out of the truck and ran over to him. He let her grab him and pick him up. She set him on the ground and ran away and that danged goat ran and followed her everywhere. Up the front steps, tried to get in the house... down the steps... around the yard, everywhere.

Then.... well hell... it was time to put him away so Vanessa could get in the shower and get to bed. That freaking goat is out in the barn now BAAA-ING (notice the capital letters) BAAAAAAAAA-ING (notice the larger font) because "he's lonely". When Ness walks into the barn and sits beside him, he's ok. As soon as she walks away he cries like a baby. Omg. Now... ordinarily (as in with a puppy) I'd give in and say "fine, bring him in with you and he can sleep on the floor next to you". But can you really do that with a goat???????? Pry not! So he's out there crying his little goatie-eyes out. I told Ness she could camp in the barn. If I didn't have to work tomorrow, I'd camp with her. Jay's having a fit at the idea... soooooo poor Wallie will have to learn to bark with the dogs for tonight. I hope the neighbors can't hear him lmao.

But he's REALLY REALLY CUTE! and Ness looooooooooves this new little goat! This is going to be fun lol.

Heck, he may even hop in the truck with us tomorrow to go to the show!

2009 Annual Friday Before Mother's Day Ride

Mom and Dad rode the entire 14.7 miles! WOO HOO!!!!! I'm sunburned and happily sore. They were going to go home and soak in the tub. Mom was so cute. She is so accepting to anything I tell her. She was a little worried that she would be the only one wearing a helmet. HA HA HA I said.... noooooo no no no... you won't be the only one... TRUST me on that. And she toted that thing the whole day. I felt bad for her about 3/4 into the ride because I knew she was feeling the pain... but she was a trooper. And I think she's pretty danged proud she did it.

When we got back, Deb and I were whining about our sore spots... then Deb said "Here we are whining and your Dad isn't whining a peep." So she went and asked him how he felt. He kinda groaned and nodded and said he was sore.. but he didn't whine!!!!!! HA! Cuz, ya know... there's no whining in horses! :-D

I learned there were a total of 128 riders.

Naturally, I didn't get pictures of everyone. I didn't even SEE my friend "TV" until we crossed the big bridge at the end of the ride. Heck, I didn't even see my HUSBAND other than the beginning.... the middle... and then the end. And not even then so much as he was having too much fun socializing with everyone! Vanessa found a gold horseshoe and the gift bags are GREAT! Thanks to those who donated! Deb made me laugh like she always does. Delisa said my butt looked good in these jeans (lol).

Terri was kind enough to hang with me the first half of the ride to help watch out for Ma and Pa. It was great riding with her. I only get to see her a few times a year, and it's like we've been friends all our lives. We missed our other friend, Colleen... but we talked about her! Terri's horse, Donovan, is a sweet guy.

Oh! Vanessa is completely in love with Tanya's Cinc. She even swept him away after dinner and rode him around bareback for a while. She threatened to sneak LG into Tanya's trailer and take Cinc and see if Tanya would notice the difference. I must admit... I really like Cinc too and would be thrilled to have that boy in my herd. Judging by this picture, it appears Jay's liking the scenery too! HA HA! One cool thing about my friend, Tanya is the fact that while she's so pretty, she's such a fun nut that we just can't hate her for being beautiful. :-) Besides.. I have pictures of her climbing out of a dumptser (snort!)

Janie started out pretty high and excited but she was steady and reliable on the 2nd leg of the trip. She and I even went trailing on our own when I told Ma and Pa to stay up on the limestone on the way back in some areas. She did me proud. One step closer to perfect, right?

It was great seeing everyone. I spent some time with Marie and her family after the ride. Her G-ma is a hoot and her Mom and Aunt are hysterical. Aunt Amy arranged for a horse for Marie's Mom to ride.... but she failed to tell her he was just a 3yo. Julie rode that horse like he was seasoned because she didn't know any better... and he went along with it!!! lmao. "sisters" (snort)... ya gotta love 'em. That just goes to show ya... a lot of it is in how you anticipate the ride will go. I thought it was most cleverly funny! :-)

I'm sunburned and sore today and it feels great.

Janie

Most of you who read this know about my Johnnie horse and his horrible demise. It was something I never want to go through again, but his passing has led us to some other horses with great potential.

Enter Janie. I'm sure I was emotional and overwrought when I saw her standing at a local sale just two weeks after Johnnie's death, but there she was and she reminded me SO much of Johnnie that I wasn't about to let her go to someone else for a mere $250.

She's very nicely bred with Obvious Prophet as her grand-daddy. She's pretty sweet, but boy does she have some issues! We've had her for 15 months now and she still has fits when I touch her ears... BUT she's much much better about her feet. There were many times when I'm certain she was hoping my brush or carrot-stick were my head when she lashed out with those hind legs.

She had a big bump on her face when I first met her and we were told they had some trouble trailering to the sale. I didn't ask for further details, but it made me wonder. Heck, she loaded fine into my friend's 3-horse slant to bring her home. Maybe it was the drugs? lmao.... dunno.

Soooooooo... over the year we've ridden her, gotten bucked off... realized that she did NOT like a bit or headstall put on. We backed down to a bosal, but the first several times we had to unbuckle the headstall to get it on her.

Once it was on, she was ok, but she was pushy with her head.

She and I had an episode where I got over-confident and hopped on her bareback next to the trailer. The tack-door was open and we skittered into it... it caught us (I swear to everything I find holy, that trailer door is out to get me) and off we went in a bareback buckfest with me stupidly grabbing on with spurred feet trying to hang on. That didn't work.

I must admit I stepped back and took a second look at her and I had some hesitance wanting to get back on her.

Enter, hubby Jay. He's a cowboy from years and years of being put on green stuff from a young age and his testosterone led him to take on Janie as his own. He worked quite a bit with her and took her out on quite a few trails too! That's all grand and fine other than he broke his ankle in January of this year, and he doesn't trust that lack of strength yet to start working with her again.

Sooooo here I go again (snort). I've been playing on the ground a lot with her over the winter. I got her to let me stick my fingers in her mouth.. and from certain angles I can touch her ears. She's doing GREAT with her feet too (carrot sticks are a wonder distance tool). The farrier had very few problems with her last week.

Anyway... since I started playing with her, I found myself really wanting to ride her again. She's so dang pretty and I know she can do a lot more than moseying down a trail (although that is one of my favorite past-times). But I just have a feeling that she can grow into something so much beyond that.

After all the ground work and bonding, I decided it was time for me to suck it up and take her on again.

So off we went! Ok, so our first outing last weekend didn't go QUITE as I had planned when she planted me after getting poked in the butt by a dead branch. But the next day on the trail went GREAT!

On that second adventure of the weekend, I had her ponying the 23yo gelding... backing to maneuver in a small area... tiny sidepasses... she was willing to try to take me up a sand cliff, and she bounded up a smaller steep trail as eager as you please! Then she came back down very controlled and happy.

She has a very sweet collected trot and she pays attention to her surroundings. She's not "slow" like her former owners led me to believe. I know she has some pep, but she prefers to move along at a fairly nice pace.

I will ride Janie at the annual Friday Before Mother's Day Ride coming this Friday. I'm really looking forward to spending more time with this girl and seeing what we can do.

My Family

Dad is now retired and spends a lot of time out here with his three horses and gentling all the young horses we have on the place. He's very good at that and he is a lifetime horseman who has taught me a lot whether I agree with all he says or not!

Mom is recently retired and it dawned on me not long ago that she may have felt left out all these years when we were off riding somewhere and she sat on the sidelines and watched. She made a comment that she would go with us if she could ride Spike. It went completely over my head when she said it. It dawned on me several hours later that she was trying to hint that she wants to ride too!

I think it's fabulous! Her mother didn't get her drivers license until age 60... and now my Mom has found a new hobby that has her smiling and giggling and that's not something I've seen a lot from her over the years. It truly makes my heart swell.

I invited her to ride on the annual "Friday Before Mother's Day Ride" that a friend of mine started up several years ago. It's a ride that has drawn over 100 women in the last couple of years. You start in one town... ride approximately 7 miles down a converted railroad track to another town... eat lunch, socialize some more and then ride the 7 miles back.

I told Mom we could have a trailer at the half-way point if it got to be too much for her. She said "If I'm going to do this, I'm doing it all!" That made me smile. But in the MEANTIME she's coming out and riding to get herself into some riding shape before the big one. She's doing great. I've been teaching her some little things at a time and she's a very willing and eager student.

Yesterday we had a debut with a ride at a local lake. There are miles of trails and you could spend quite a few hours out there puttering around. We ended up riding about 2.5 hours. I thought that was a good start and both she and Dad hung in there like champs.

ME, on the other hand.... had an episode with our green 4yo Paint mare within the first 1/2 hour! A sharp stick poked her in the butt and sent her into accordian-style bucking and blowing. I lasted about six jumps (according to my husband) before I lost my seat and gravity took over. I must admit that I consider myself a pro at "landing". Lord knows I've had enough practice in my 47 years of learning horses the hard way. I did bounce my head on something, but I'm not sure it was the ground when I landed, or when I tried to do a back somersault to tuck and roll out of the way of my still frenzied horse.

Anyway... it's all good. The mare settled and stopped with the other horses rather than fleeing the scene (yay). And she stood nicely for me to get back on. And then we rode for another 2 hours! So it was just a random stick-in-the-butt incident that turned out ok.

Oddly enough... nobody was really worried about me lmao!

Oh well! Today we'll try 'er again. :-)

A friend of mine who is a CTR veteran came along and was kind enough to take a family picture of us. Starting from the left is Dad on Sunny (aka LG), Vanessa on my Rosebud, Mom on Vanessa's Annie, Me on Janie! and Jay on good ole Spike.

This photo is priceless to me. My only regret is that it doesn't include my other two daughters. But it's one I will cherish.