The Mystery Horse Unvieled.

I've been gone some time. I don't want to go to much into it, suffice it to say our renter is not paying her rent and we are scrambling. I don't know if we'll be facing an eviction and two mortgage payments, moving out of our lovely dream, or if this is just rough water that will pass.

But it's made it tough to write.

Still, I remind myself that is just one part of life that is difficult. Everything else is going very well. DH has mowed the entire place, and it's simply stunning. Every day we discover a tree, a frog, a feature of the land, something that makes us feel so fortunate to be here. I want to live here forever...




Like this guy, who decided he loves horse trailers.
He had the most amazingly yellow markings on his
legs, the color of daffodils.

And we found a family of birds built a nest in Mireya's bike helmet. we've moved it to a cat proof perch, and once flying lessons start will move it to a grassy area.

Hey. Got a worm? Bug? How about some grub, lady!

Every day there seemed to be a dozen things to get done. Fix the internet. Figure out trash collection. Get hay in here without paying an arm and a leg. Recycle 500 cardboard boxes.  But it's just the usual kind of stuff when you move, really.

Then, there are the other things. There really have been just two challenges. The first is the scorpions. My first night here I nearly packed my bags to leave after killing five scorpions.

I have a thing about scorpions, which you can read about here. 

But, I'm a rancher woman now, and I cow girled up and bought me some poison. Yeah, that greenie, love the planet thing went to heck in 24 hours. Now that the hordes have slowed down, I'm willing to consider less damaging methods. Unless I see a whole bunch more of the buggers. Suggestions are welcome.

The second challenge has been the burs. We have a small dog that is the mayor of bur town. She's a bur miester. Burs will leap fifty feet to embed themselves in her fur. It's absolutely incredible. We've shaved her down but I'm thinking we are going to have to go all the way down to keep her bur free. Or maybe that's just the impossible dream...



She does take her ranch duties quite seriously, though.
She has already figured out how to drink from the horse
trough and assist with hay distribution.

 But that's not why your here. Heck, that's not why I'm here! LOL.

It's the horses. And I'm here to tell you it is incredible to live with your horses. Yes, horses. First of all Sierra is riding Lily almost everyday, bareback throughout the property. They've bonded and you can see the confidence in both of them.

And while Lily is still a little tender, she is much improved. Still having challenges keeping her weight on, so I plan on supplementing with some alfalfa. 

Even Mireya is more comfortable doing horsey things.

I remember when getting her to lead a horse was filled with anxiety.
You go, girl!

And then, of course there is our second horse, a visitor for the Summer, a horse that belongs to my good friend Trail Rider, but who doesn't get much riding since Trail Rider is moving into reining. A good, solid trail horse, the horse I've coveted for a long, long time...

Woody.

Ah, yes. THAT Woody. If you just got here, you probably haven't read many of my Woody Stories. Here's a funny one from back in the Canyon the insane horse days.  I like this one too.

Woody is here just for the time being, he is TR's horse, and I'm enjoying him. He's not a pocket pony, and I am careful not to expect that from him, but we had an adventure the other day and I think something clicked. I'll write about it another time, but suffice it to say, I got a horse hug today from a big black horse.

Funny, isn't it? I'm back to riding a big black horse. Like the one I started with. Notice any similarities? Loose reins, flying shirt, little less speed, little less lean.

But it feels the same.




You can learn about Star, my first horse here.



Another new face, herd conversation and Hoppy Easter!

This is Little Dude.



He's at the barn for training. But he may end up for sale. His owner is older and want a very quiet ride. And Little Dude is a bit... over aware, I guess is the polite way of saying it.


He's handsome, isn't he? A bit bossy in the paddock, I had to send him around a few times, now he's pleasant. But I can see he'll be a testy thing.

And here's another shot of Smokey. I seriously love this guy.



As young thing and quiet by nature he's been getting the run around pretty badly. Even in the feeding stalls they were pinning ears and giving him heck. I was getting irritated at this, and left the boss gelding in after feeding for a while to see how everyone else got along. They were fine, mostly.

Then I had a talk with boss gelding as I let him out.

Look, I know you're the boss, but you don't have to be a jerk. You can be a kind alpha - everyone knows you're in charge.

I set him loose and he stood there awhile with me, then slowly walked off.

Then something weird happened. They stopped chasing Smokey. All day.

Just call me ... the herd negotiator.




Just something fun for your Easter viewing:

Miracles in the Round Pen

It's amazing.

This is not the same horse I started with a week ago. That horse couldn't go in a circle if you hitched her to a merry go round.

She ran like her tail was on fire and turned for no reason.

She stopped at the gate, turned her butt (more like side, like she knew her butt to me was really bad manners), never kicked, but certainly was reluctant to listen.

We've had four round penning sessions and she is now:

changing gaits when asked,

turning only when asked,

staying on the rail (after about two loops),

no longer stopping at the tree (where the other horse is standing)

going from trot to canter to trot (the down shift is still a little sticky, but at least it's there)

She is still testing with presenting her 3/4 butt, and taking a LONG time to join up, but I think I'm spoiled with Canyon. He's at least half joined up when he walks in, round penning with him these days is just insuring sincerity. And he never presents his butt, 3/4 or 1/2. lol

Lily, however, is the kind of horse that doesn't fake it. She's on, or she's off. And it takes a long time for her to be on. I think part of the issue is that Canyon is right outside the pen and she still gravitates to the horse - so we aren't just trying to join up, but also break away.

That's okay. This way I know she's really hooked on, even if it takes twice as long.

She's also dropping her head in response to pressure, finally. We got her a nice blue rope training halter and started to work on her dropping her head when I pull down. Initially she'd give after a good three minutes (no kidding). Now she's dropping her head instantly and I've gotten her head down to her knees.

"She's like a different horse," said Sierra today. I think she thought I was crazy if I thought this was a good horse for her. When she saw how nuts she was in the round pen that first time, she got a little worried. I told her then that I needed three weeks.

After a week, I think my estimate was right - if I can keep up the pace. And Sierra is hopeful.

This has been a magical experience for me too. This is the first time I've taken what I've learned and applied it to a different horse. I've never been the type to offer to work other people's horses, people are so ... possessive, and rightly so. So I've been satisfied to be a sponge, soaking up every bit of knowledge I can from everyone I see working their horse.

It's gratifying to not only get a better response from Lily, but to get a sense that she is calming because someone else is in charge. Like it's supposed to be.

She's still giving me a bit of a fit with her back feet. Not as bad as the first time I picked her out, but still...

Tomorrow she gets new shoes and, if she's anything like Canyon, she may get better with her hooves. Something about those natural balance shoes.

She and Canyon seem to be making friends too, and I hope soon they'll be turned out together. Some of the other geldings are running her around a bit. Canyon, in the meantime, is getting run around by an old arabian mare. Maybe if Lily and Canyon were together they'd just graze.


Mustang update
Here's an update on the Madeline Pickens' attempt at saving the Mustangs. Kind of interesting, looks like she's not "adopting" but offering to keep them on land if the gov't pays. Which wasn't the point, really. I'm conflicted, but like most things, I'm sure there's more to the story...




Btw, here's what I told Canyon was the internet in his stall. Don't tell him...

Meet our new horse - Lily

This is Lily. (and Sierra)



Now we have HORSES!

Lily is a horse I have had my eye on ever since our stable owner bought her. She had a kind eye, was fast, but sane.

Since then she's had a foal, gotten a little cinchy and is now pretty rusty from lack of riding. Still, I know this horse. She has almost no spook. She has had western pleasure training. She has a lot of experience doing play dates and barrels. She likes trail riding. She'll be great for Sierra and Adam.



But, boy, is she rusty. That's what having babies does to you, I guess. :)



We round penned her and it was as if she'd never round penned before. I haven't run into that before, so if anyone has any advice, send it on. She keeps turning early and it takes a while to get her into a rythmn. She runs in toward the center of the circle, and is just a wreck. Every now and then she runs in a sort of panic, although I'm working to keep her in a trot. I'm going to video tape her tomorrow and try to see if I can get some ideas on how to approach her.



She also has a bad habit of storming out of the trailer. Goes in fine, comes out like the place is on fire. Then stops and waits patiently. It's wild. Ideas? Help? Please?

Time will bring her around. That much I'm sure of. As long as we're consistent and don't screw up too badly. There's so much to say, but I'm a little worn out - we are in quarantine, sort of and I've stayed up too late again. More next time, I promise!

In the meantime, welcome to the family, Lily.