No riding for a while…

 

Just when the weather gets nice (not too hot, not too cold) something has to happen to muck up the works. Ok something is always happening to muck up the works, but that’s beside the point. I never should have bragged about the new chickens. Wouldn’t you know it, Bear ripped open the chicken wire on the chicken house again. I don’t know what set him off this time (no skunk), but it could have been the squirrel that has been helping himself to the extras the chickens leave. At any rate I lost six chickens, three babies, and three hens. With the help of my father, I managed to save two babies that were staked out under the tree next to the run. That was fun. Here I am kneeling in the mud under a tree trying to convince two little hens I’m not going to kill them. It was not a pretty sight let me tell you. At any rate I got the hen house temporally fixed. That means I repaired the chicken wire put up new boards, and screwed a big board on the corner so he can’t get at the chicken wire to pull it out.

 

The only reason I say it might have been a squirrel that started the whole thing is that Rudy noticed one in the chicken run. The dogs have chased that particular squirrel many a time. On top of that there’s one in the barn that is driving the dogs crazy. The barn framing is metal, with regularly spaced holes. This makes it very convenient for the squirrel to escape from the dogs. For over two weeks as soon as we enter the barn I hear squeaks, and paws skidding on the cement. I tell them to leave it alone to no avail. Now while Bear isn’t too smart he is persistent. One day as I was leaving the barn I hear this terrible howl. I run into the barn, and sure enough Bear has his mouth hooked inside the hole. I said he wasn’t too smart. As soon as he saw me he gave one last yank, and pulled himself free. He was trying to tear the girder to get at the squirrel. Thankfully he only tore up his gums, and he hasn’t tried to pull the metal apart again. He does learn eventually. Also thankfully, the squirrel hasn’t been in the barn of late when I go in. Maybe he learned too, or maybe he just learned to time it for when he hears the gator. Of course I keep the barn pretty clean of goodies to steal. He did steal two of my measuring cups though, and he’s ever hopeful that I will forget to cover something (which I do often enough). If Bear saw a squirrel in the chicken run that’s all it would take. If he couldn’t get one squirrel another would do, and since the chickens are easier to catch they served the same purpose. Then once the chickens started fleeing out of the chicken house it was nothing for the other dogs to catch what they could, pack mentality you know.

 

I was ticked off all day, and I finally came up with a re-model plan. We have lots of tin roofing left by previous owners. I’ll put a tin border all around the bottom of the chicken house, and make a proper door to let them into the run. I have three 2 x 4’s from the roofing that blew off last year (shuffling barn) to make a frame around the tin. Bear can’t get through that. It won’t look godawful, and it will keep the chickens safe. I haven’t quite figured out how to do the door to the run yet, but I will. I want a pulley sort of lift I can attach to a string so I don’t have to go inside the house just to open, and close the door. That may have to wait a while since I can’t operate Rudy’s circular saw, and I need to cut a piece of plywood for the door. At any rate I may not post for a few days, as it will take a while to do the re-modeling. I swear if it’s not one thing it’s another, and just when I was getting into a routine.

Footnote:

 

When I came back from feeding the horses, and went to feed the chickens, lo, and behold one of the babies found her way home. I only found evidence of three dead chickens, the rest I assumed were lost somewhere, and soon enough would be coyote bait. Well one of the babies actually made it home. Trying to catch her was another trip. Pena came over, and when I told her to go she walked off a bit, and waited. Actually her being there helped me to catch the chick. Once I caught her I called Pena over, made her lie down, and put the chick on top of her. By then Bree came over to see what all the fuss was about, and basically ignored us. Pena was very good, and got lots of praises. The boys never even came over. This got me to thinking maybe I was too quick to condemn the dogs especially Bear. There are lots of critters besides skunks around here that would be more than happy to raid my chicken house. That’s why we have large dogs in the first place. Bear doesn’t let anything get on his property unless I say it’s ok (like for people). Some critter could have gotten in the chicken house again, and Bear being Bear would do everything he could to get it out of the chicken house. Besides it just doesn’t make sense him suddenly tearing apart the chicken house for no reason. When the chickens have gotten out before both he, and Taggot ignore them. Bree has always been the one to go after the chickens. Of course once they are dead none of the dogs have a problem eating them, but they eat any carrion. Where they find it I have no clue, but they do. The upshot of all this is I still have to make the chicken house critter proof even if I don’t totally believe Bear suddenly got it into his head to have some chicken for a midnight snack. Actually something else getting into the house makes a lot more sense. We’ll see how far I get tomorrow with my re-model.

Why is it…

 

Why is it that no matter what time I go to the barn, if it’s going to rain it starts as soon as I get to the barn? It was a wet morning yesterday morning, but that’s ok. We’re finally getting into our monsoon flow. The rains we’ve had thus far have come down from the north. They say it’s going to be dry till about Monday or Tuesday, but that’s what they said yesterday too, and it rained anyway.

 

I was able to ride Ibn day before yesterday, and Penny yesterday. It really makes me angry that I can’t ride all day anymore. I took Ibn for another trail ride, and found that meadow I couldn’t remember how to get to. Then I followed the fence line, and tried to crest the ridge. Ibn was just going wherever I pointed him, and I’m thinking, but how are we going to get down??? He is such a great trail horse, with never a misstep, traipsing up the ridge as if it were no more than a grass filled meadow. About ¾’s of the way up I couldn’t see a way through the brush (scrub oak, and pinion) so we started down. On the way down I discovered trees with markers on them. I followed them the rest of the way down the ridge. Someone has marked a trail up the ridge, that’s not to say it was a smooth trail, just passable. I’m going to try again, and follow the marked trees to see if I can top the ridge. I want to see what’s on the other side. People are putting up more, and more fence lines making my rides shorter, and shorter. This could lead to more riding area for me if I’m lucky. I’ll also see if I can get a picture of the ridge we’re climbing to show how rugged it really is. I wasn’t too sore when we got done so maybe I can ride longer than I think. Ibn doesn’t rein well keeping my arm in a position it doesn’t like. I get piercing pain from my chin down my neck, shoulder, and arm. I can relieve the pressure if I let my arm hang down holding both reins in one hand, but most of the time I have the reins in both hands. We’ll see. There’s also a new chiropractor in Capitan, and when we catch up a little I want to see if she can help me. It would be nice.

 

 

I rode Penny on the trail for the first time. She tried the moving bit when I went to mount her so I worked her in the round pen until she stood still. It took three tries of hard cantering before she figured out it was a lot easier to let me mount her. The honeymoon is over, and she is seeing just what she can get away with. Unfortunately it doesn’t work, she can’t get away with being a brat. I calmed her down in the arena, and then took her around the property (41 acres all together). Once I was confident that she could handle the trail without much fuss I took her off property to the state land next door. We were on the rode, and all of a sudden she did a 180, which I turned into a 360. The rains left one little puddle that reflected the clouds, and sky. I tell you when she wants to she can turn on a dime (reining possibility?). I couldn’t have asked for anything better on her first time out. Needless to say we got beyond the puddle (after numerous tries, and sniffing’s), and on the way back she was still suspicious about it, but didn’t give me too much trouble. Of course we were almost home by that time, and getting home was far more important than any old puddle. All in all she did very well. We spooked a rabbit, and she didn’t even break stride. Another time I caught movement of deer, and she didn’t even take notice. Ibn stops every blessed time. He doesn’t do anything he just stops for a minute, and then goes on. She also kept a nice even trot. She even collected on her own most of the time. I set my reins, and she would lightly bump up then bring her head down. I’m sorry she’s a long waisted mustang. I’m used to nice short backed Arabians with a very smooth gait. Her trot isn’t as bad as a Q/H, but it’s close.

 

All in all I was very proud of her. It was a short ride (I don’t want to sour her), but it told me a lot. She’ll make a good trail horse, which is what April really wants. We’ll do more trail rides, and then when I think April is ready I’ll let her take her out. By then maybe I’ll have Star ready to do trails as well, and we can go out together.

 

Tomorrow I’ll try to ride Ibn, and Star. I have to get beyond one horse a day. Of course today I was going to work some horses, but when I finished with Penny, it was thundering, and lightning. Best not to work a horse just in case all you know what cuts loose. I’m not stupid after all. It was 3:00 by then anyway, time enough to quit, and rest before I had to feed. Just now it’s time to put this child to rest. There’s time enough tomorrow, and the next, and the next…

 

 

Ibn!!!

The weather has been beautiful. We’ve had spits of rain almost every day. We even had a couple of good soaking rains a few nights. I’ve been able to ride or work the horses almost every day I haven’t had errands to run, for some reason I have to keep going to the Mercantile to get hay once a week. Of course we need to eat as well, and there are the trips to Ruidoso for meds, or tires, or other foolish things like that.

 

Marina is still lame. I was going to check her again today, but I puttered out (more about that later) Ser-Haat has another sinus infection so I had to get more antibiotics. I know it’s the weather that is causing it, but this is the first year it’s been this bad. Jazzy is positively fat. I’m trying to work her on a regular basis, but there is nothing regular about my life. Lizzie continues to improve. Espree is Espree. She has gotten really good about getting the halter on. I think she has finally figured out that it’s more fun going out to get some exercise than staying locked up in her stall all the time. It took her long enough. Stormy forgot all about the saddle we put on him last year. It’s going to take a while to get him back to being comfortable with a saddle on. I don’t even want to think about breaking him. He throws big bucks. I also forgot to tell you about our newest members of this menagerie. I lost some of my chickens (sad story), so Sherry said she would buy some chicks if I took care of them. That way we could simply split the eggs once they start laying. I got her seven chicks, and kept them in my bathroom (of course) until they were big enough to put with the others. They are now about half grown, and as cute as they can be.

 

 

Star is doing very well with her training. She was getting a bit overwhelmed with the arena so I enlarged the round pen by one panel (10’), and rode her in there. She did much better. She can walk, trot, and follow my direction pretty well. I’ll wait until she’s completely comfortable with that before I try to canter her. I haven’t been collecting her at all, but the last time I rode her I used a martingale. She was much calmer, and I got a hint of what she will be like to ride once she is well broke. I won’t use it again (I don’t think) till she knows more, but I wanted to stop her head flipping before it became a habit (like mother, like daughter). Rudy said he doesn’t introduce a martingale till after a couple of months, but he knows some trainers use it at the get go. Since I really don’t know what I’m doing I’m relying on my gut for a lot of my decisions. I wasn’t hard in her mouth, but she got the idea that she can carry a rider comfortable w/o all her antics. As I said she seemed to calm down, and relax during the ride. We’ll see if she remembers what she learned with the martingale, and carry it through with her next ride.

 

 

I learned a little more about Penny. While April was here I rode her to show April what she can actually do. When I put her into a canter she bucked on me (first time) so needless to say she got a harder workout. When I was done I put April on her in the round pen. I’m having April ride w/o stirrups, which worked fine since Penny still had my saddle on her, and her feet only reach to the top of the stirrup. She was doing so well at the walk that she wanted to try to trot. I told her to go ahead, and she was amazed at the difference in Penny. Part of the reason she was afraid to trot was Penny trotted off like a mad woman. She now trots like a lady. After her session (which went very well) we were talking, and she told me that the woman who had Penny got rid of her because every time she went into a canter she bucked. Of course she never warmed her up (because a horse shouldn’t need to be warmed up), and she was training her for barrels. That of course puts a whole new light on the subject of Penny. No wonder she tears off like a bat out of Hades, and jumps whenever she gets the lightest touch. She was probably whipped too. I use a whip, but lightly especially with a youngster. A tickle is generally all one needs. At any rate it explains a lot. Once she discovers she doesn’t have to bolt every time she’s cued I think she’ll be fine. She even kept a perfect headset all the time April was riding her.

 

Now Ibn. Since we’ve been out here he’s had nothing to deal with except his girls, his kids, his herd. He’s become herd bound. He’s a stallion in his prime, and in very good condition. I took him out on a trail ride as I said I would, and he was perfect until he thought we were headed home. We had a couple of battles so when we came to our gate I rode him past it much to his chagrin. Today I worked him again, and he was being such a pooper I took him out on the trail again. It was hot (the clouds hadn’t rolled in yet), and humid so he actually worked up a sweat. We were out for two hours, and he was still full of it. I was exhausted. I took him back into the arena, and he was a little better, but not much. I don’t know what to do about it except work him hard till he figures out that if he behaves himself he can get back to his girls. I hate the thought of riding him down Laughing Horse with all the horses there, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to resort to that battle or no. He has to remember that when he’s under saddle he’s no longer a stallion, but a performance horse. For once I wish he wasn’t in such good shape. I was so tired I couldn’t work anyone else. He does look great though. If I looked half that good…

 

Tomorrow I’ll try to get to Star, and Penny. I’ll do Penny first. It’s easier to retrain, than to train. Star is good, but she still doesn’t know anything, and since this is all still so exciting for her she tires me out. If I have any energy left I’ll work some of the others. If only this were twenty years ago. I had plenty of energy then!

Busy, busy, busy…

The weather finally broke (thank you Lord). It was 66 when I went out to feed, and only got up to the high 80’s, still hot, but doable. Of course as soon as I got to the barn to feed in the morning it started to rain. Thankfully it quit by the time I finished, and we got no more rain. It’s not supposed to really start raining until Sunday so I still have tomorrow to ride. I got an advertisement for Aussie saddles, and come to find out mine is a Kimberly, and to of the line to boot. I also found out that I can get proper leathers, and stirrups. I’ve been using my English irons which I knew weren’t correct, but it’s all I’ve got. Now I know where I can get the proper ones. I can also get a saddle pad there. My saddle is really too big for me, but the horses especially Ibn love it.

 

After I fed the dogs, and inside animals I went down to the barn to ride. Ibn got first pick. He was a total idiot. I discovered in the process that my knees, and thighs have gotten considerably stronger. It was the only way I could keep my seat. Ibn has the smoothest canter of any horse I know, but not today. I described what he was doing to Rudy, and he told me he was cross firing.  He said he had done it to him before, and the best thing was to stop him, and start him up again. Well I did that numerous times, and he never corrected himself. Tomorrow I’m taking Ibn out for a very long trail ride. After the arena I took him out for what was supposed to be a relaxing ride around the property. He couldn’t even do that right. He’s getting ridden till he drops (not really) or until he at least starts behaving himself. This is ridicules. He knows perfectly well what he’s supposed to do he’s just being a little snit to see if he can get out of being worked. Well he’ll get worked tomorrow.

 

After riding Ibn I took Star out. We warmed up in the round pen, and then into the arena. That was a big step for her. On top of that I made her trot. I’m used to the tip toeing thing, but she didn’t tip toe. At first she trotted only about three steps, and then stopped. This was way different, and she just didn’t know what to do our how. She finally figured it out, and while we didn’t go the entire arena, we still went more than three steps. I was very proud of her, and she got three carrots.

 

Next Penny was up. I discovered that Penny has been very well trained. Whoever trained her knew what they were doing. I just have to slow her down, and teach her how to collect. She’s a mustang so she has a very straight neck, but she can still learn to collect.

 

After Penny I rode Star. She did so well I took her to the big arena. This was a big step for her, and she did great. She went all over the place thinking that she’s the boss not me, but that’s to be expected. We also trotted a little. The first time it was a bit shocking to her. It’s different when you have someone on your back after all. Still and all I was very proud of her.

 

This was just the beginning…

 

 

Back again…

June, and thank goodness. May was the pits, two hard freezes in May or was it three? The cold weather is finally done with (at least here it is), and Spring is officially here. May is usually a very nice month, not this year though. It has been windy cold, and just plain miserable. Well actually the last two weeks weren’t too bad, but still no rain. It is bone dry here. I had to put chicken wire around, and over my little (emphasis on little) flowers to keep the deer, and rabbits out. It’s the first year I have had a problem. There is simply nothing to eat for them. I feel kind of guilty about it, but I really want some flowers this year. I started working Marina, and Ibn on a regular basis (as regular as the weather permitted) then all you know what broke loose, and my program broke down. Marina is lame on her right front. We evened out her feet (she paws), and I put her strictly on grass. It’s a problem you have to deal with because of the Cushing’s. She’s 20 (or is it 21) and she’s just now having problems with her feet. We had to put Sarashea down at 21, of course back then we didn’t really know anything about Cushing’s, and the vet back then simply told us to give her pain meds. The Pergaloid has really made a difference. Once the weather breaks (now it’s too hot) I’ll see how she is. When I can I’ll get some Yucca to help with the pain. Hopefully I’ll be able to ride her again. If not I guess we’ll retire her. I really wanted to get one more baby out of her, but if she doesn’t get better…

 

A lot has been going on. I’m ready to take Star out to the arena to start her formal training. I also want to start training Penny (April’s horse). For who knows what reason April had developed a fear of riding beyond a walk. I’m having to teach her to ride properly as well. Ibn has been a real pain. Finally I decided to use the Pellum on him as well as my Aussie saddle. That worked really well then I had to stop for a while. Monday I took him out again, and he was a real pain. He finally did something right so I gave him big praises, and quickly got off his back. When I went to take him back to his stall, he started acting up again so I threw him in the arena. I haven’t seen him run like that in the arena in ages. Usually all he does is go from one mare pile to another, and won’t even trot around unless you chase after him. It’s not fun, I don’t need that much exercise (well maybe I do). I hadn’t ridden him for a couple of weeks, and now that he’s in shape I guess he had too much pent up energy. I have to admit he looked great though. He looks better than he did when I was trying to get him ready to do an endurance ride. Now I can’t ride him because it’s too hot. Give me a break. I got up earlier to try, and beat the heat, but at 9:30 it was already 90 degrees. It’s not too hot for the horses, but I can’t take the heat any more. It’s that “O” thing. I’ll try going to bed a little earlier every night to see if I can feed around 6:00. By eight it should still be cool, and I can ride a few horses that way. Then I can feed late in the afternoon, and if it cools down (Big IF) I can ride in the evening if I have any energy left which normally I don’t. The heat is supposed to break by Sunday, and hopefully (we really need rain Lord) we’ll get some moisture. Even if it’s no more than a cool humid breeze I can ride, but I’m praying for some rain.

 

 

I finally decided that Lizzie has Cushing’s so I put her on Pergoloid. First thing of course she went into season, then slowly she began shedding. She’s still not completely shed out, but most of her winter fur is gone. Her appetite went up, and she’s finally putting on some muscle. She almost even has a butt. I have to start working her on a regular basis number one to get rid of her big hay belly, and two to give her good muscle tone now that she has some muscles to tone up. I should have figured it out earlier after all she’s the third mare we’ve had with Cushing’s. So I’m a little slow at least I finally figured it out.

 

Pena (young white boxer) was almost skeletal. I don’t believe in giving dogs people food, but I had to do something. She didn’t like the dog food everyone else ate, so I bought her Beniful, she likes that. I also got her some canned dog food, again a big no, no. She gets two eggs half cooked in the microwave with chicken broth, frozen vegetables, whatever drippings I have if I have them, and finally I had to add cheese. She put on weight, and is finally looking like a boxer should. I cut back on the canned dog food, and the frozen veggies, and then bought some bacon bits for added flavor. Next I’ll cut out the chicken broth. I’ve never had a dog that didn’t inhale whatever was in front of them, but I can’t have her looking emaciated either. Trying to get her to eat is a real pain even with all the goodies. Wish I had her problem. I remember those days, then the “O” thing hit.

 

That brings you up to speed with the goings on here. Whatever I forgot I'll pick up on my next post. I’ll try to be more consistent (like I haven’t said that before), of course if we had fewer catastrophes (hint, hint) I just might be able to have a real routine. Don’t think that will ever happen, besides then I’d probably complain about being bored. Ah well such is life. What is it they say, it’s the journey that counts, and struggles make you stronger. I’m strong enough thank you kindly even though someone upstairs seems to think otherwise. I’ll have to talk to Him about that again…

 

 

Another beautiful day, maybe...

 

Yesterday is what I would call windy, 30 – 40 mph winds with gusts up to 60+ mph. Monday, and Tuesday were beautiful, warm (not hot), and a breeze now, and then to keep things cool. Actually Tuesday was perhaps a little breezier, but still nice. It took two days for me to get all that wood cut. I still have a lot of small stuff to cut, but I’ll do that with the miter saw later. A lot of the wood was light, and eaten, and one log was infested with black ants. I don’t mind black ants as they’re not as aggressive as the red ones, but I don’t know how they’ll fare in a different location at a different altitude. Besides we don’t have any big hills around the house, and I’d rather keep it that way. I don’t need ants in the house.

 

I had to re-arrange some things to accommodate the new wood pile especially since I’m going to try to get a whole winter’s worth cut this summer. With all the work I did the last two days, I may only have a months worth of wood cut. I plan to get some pallets from the mercantile to keep the wood off the ground. It will keep the wood dry, and hopefully free from pests. My biggest problem is still getting enough medium sized logs. Seems everything is either big or small. I’ll check over at the state land to see what I can find there. Ranchers clear land, and then dump the cuttings on state land. They’re not supposed to, but there’s tons of wood stacked for who knows how many years all around us. It’s a fire hazard so I don’t think anyone will mind my clearing some of it out, not that anyone ever checks anyway. There’s a goodly stack just the other side of our property I can get wood from. The rest is too far away, and I don’t think our gator can get up the hills to get to them. Anyway that’s the plan, get enough wood this summer so I don’t have to be running around in the freezing cold all winter long looking for wood. Of course I could buy wood (that’s what we did in CA), but I have to stretch money as far as I can, and it seems a sin to buy wood, when with a little work I can have all the wood I want. Besides it’s good exercise, and I get a nice feeling of satisfaction when I see it all neatly piled, knowing I did that all by myself.

 

It’s cold out, but sunny with only a slight breeze (so far). I had to bring in all my plants last night (that I just put out on the porch) as it got down to 30 again this morning.  I know in a couple of months I will be complaining about it being too hot, but just now I’m really tired of all this cold weather. It wouldn’t be so bad if we hadn’t had temps in the 70’s just a couple of days ago I’m sure, but jeeze louise I had to start the fireplace again. I just started my next year’s stash of wood, and already I’m having to use it. Give me a break.

Today is stall cleaning day (maybe). At least that should warm me up. I cleaned out the barn (which was a mess again) this morning when I fed. The girl’s waterers are full of dirt (thank you Spirit Wind) so they all have to be emptied, cleaned, and Sere’s stall has to be cleaned. Since taking her out of the pasture Sadie, and Star are much happier. Already Star is putting on weight, and Sadie is starting to act like her old self. A few years ago we had Sadie, and Sere in the arena, and Sere kicked the living daylights out of Sadie. None of our mares ever really fought like that before, and Sadie hasn’t been the same since. Star’s her baby so there’s no friction there, and Sadie is much happier. At feeding time they have both been running, and jumping, and kicking up their heels just for the sheer joy of it. With Sere in the pasture Sadie is always off by herself, and both her and Star cautiously walk over to be fed, big difference. This causes a problem since both Sadie, and Sere really need to be in pasture. When Sadie is in a stall all she does is stand around. In pasture she at least moves, and kicks up her heels once in a while. That keeps her hooves trimmed nicely, and her muscles toned up. At 24 she needs the exercise, and since I can’t work her anymore (stress colic) the pasture is a good solution.

 

 

Sere needs to be in pasture because of her navicular. In pasture she moves more, and the hoof gets more circulation (at least that’s the theory). In any event she’s not nearly as lame when she’s in pasture. I know some day we’ll have to have the nerve frozen (and teach her how to walk again) because of the pain, but until then I want to keep her as pain free as possible without drugs. She’s not there yet. When she’s in pasture you can hardly tell she has a problem. It’s only when she starts trotting for more than five minutes or so that she starts limping. When she’s in a stall, and we only let her out for some exercise she’s lame most of the time. That’s why I put her in pasture in the first place. Unfortunately we only have one pasture. It will take some time before Sere’s hoof grows out so I won’t have to worry about it for a while.  Who knows what will happen between now, and then, something good I hope (hint, hint).

 

Well it’s about noon now, and it hasn’t really warmed up. The wind has picked up so I guess I’ll wait to get the stalls cleaned. Of course that means that I’ll just have to work on the house instead, yuck. It really needs it. Maybe I can start on my little projects, like the wood gate for the living room, and now I have some planters I want to make. Rudy sent me a picture of a cool planter, that I can make without a lot of trouble, and that gave me an idea of what I can do around the porch to hide the falling down, ugly rock planter box we inherited. See there’s always a way to get out of doing housework. Now if I could only manage to find someone to do it for me I’d really be happy!

 

 

Breezy my foot…

 

Well day before yesterday was supposed to be warm, and breezy. It was warmer (like in the 40’s) but you’d never know it. That wind (not breeze) is cold. I was going to try to at least get some work done with the horses, but forget that noise. We only have like three days before the winds kick up again, make that two.  If it warms up a little I will go out to work on my little inside gate for the dogs. I can work on it in the garage. I won’t be able to stain it for all the dust blowing around, but I can get it sanded, and put together. That will take a while anyway since I have to pull the pallet apart to get my 1” x 6” panels. Then I suppose I could do some housework. I really hate housework. I wait till it’s disgusting, then I get on a roll, and clean till I’m exhausted, usually all day, and night. On the other hand I love working outside.

 

I’m waiting, and waiting, pretty soon I’m just going to go ahead and start cleaning the little stall so I can put Sere in there. It’s already starting to cloud over. Sherry called, and now I’m supposed to go over there at 2:00 to get the horse tank. She also said there’s some wood for me to pick up. I always need wood.  I don’t know if I’ll have time to move Sere before the winds pick up or not. The weather report was ify about when the winds are going to start. I really want to get her in a stall before then. She had a horizontal crack that I was hoping would just grow out, but two days ago it fell off, and she has the tip of something sticking out. I don’t want her to further damage it especially since it’s the same hoof where her navicular bone cist is. She’s would have been such a great show mare if she had papers, and sound feet. Breeding her to our horses will solve the foot problem, but at the rate she’s going we won’t be able to get many babies out of her. With the market the way it is by the time we can breed her who knows what shape she will be in.

 

We are talking about breeding Jazzy, and Espree this year. I’m dying to have some babies, and if things continue to improve by next year the market should be better. I don’t know if Jeri is still fertile, but we can try. I want to breed him to Jazzy as his kids are calmer in disposition than Ibn’s. We want a boy out of each of the boys to continue our breeding program. If we can’t get two boys we will probably try to get one of Sandy’s boys to continue the Aulrab line in our horses. Of course if we get two boys we won’t have horses to sell. If we can just get a boy out of Jeri I’ll be happy. Ibn has a lot more years of breeding ahead of him, Jeri doesn’t.

 

Well I’m off to clean that stall so I’ll continue this later. Depending on how tired I get it may be a lot later.

 

Later:

 

I said it could be a lot later. As it turned out the day went just fine, not as expected, but that’s normal. Things got postponed again, which gave me time to finish Sere’s stall, move her, brush her, and all the kids in the barn stalls. LBM was a little turd so when I finished with him, I left him tied up while I went up to the house to get something to drink, and rest a bit. Of course that’s when Sherry called. She was about 15 minutes from her house so I’d best start out before anything else bad happened. I ran down to the barn (ok so I didn’t really run) let LBM free from his tether, went back to the house, and off I went. Naturally on my way out Sherry called again, and told me that the new neighbors were already at the house. She didn’t want to disturb them first shot out of the bag so she was going to wait till she saw them out, and about to ask about picking up the water tank. Since I was already on my way there was no sense in turning back so off I went. I picked up Sherry, and we went to see what kind of wood there was for me to pilfer. Driving over there also gave us time to catch up with each other. She has been terrible busy, and it had been a while since we chit chatted. When we got to the dumpsters on Fire Road (that’s where the fire station is) there were three neat piles of wood. I told her someone cleaned up their yard, and piled it there for the grapple truck to pick up. This is a rural mountain community. To keep things safe as possible from fires, people clean up the needles, broken branches etc. in the spring, and the city sends around a grapple truck to pick up all the debris. The less fuel there is to burn the better the chances of controlling a fire if it does break out. People are pretty good about keeping their areas clean out here. Of course if someone wants any of that debris (like me) they are free to pick it up. It makes less work for the city. Why pay for wood when there is so much around.

 

Not all the wood was what I wanted (like large pieces for a stove) so we left one pile, and part of another. I have enough kindling around here for a lifetime. I don’t need more. Still, and all by the time we were done I had a good truckload. Then when we got to Sherry’s house we piled on some branches she had left by the side of the road she had cut. They still had all the needles on them (for the most part), and they are the best fire starters. We went in, visited for a while, got some baling twine to tie down the loose branches, and off I went. She also looked at the photos I took of Sere’s hoof, and told me not to worry. What I saw sticking out is the laminas (at least I think that’s what she said), so while it looks bad she’ll be fine once it grows out. I was right to take her out of the pasture, and put her in a stall. She told me to keep it dry (not a problem with no rain in the forecast), and clean, and do nothing else to it. That’s a relief. I was afraid it might be something more serious. At least I did the right thing by moving her. My instincts may be good, but it’s a great relief to have someone like Sherry for a friend.

 

By the time I got home it was 5:00, and time to feed (naturally). I sat for a minute, caught a bit of the news, and off I went. I still haven’t unloaded the wood I’ll do that today. Give me a break, yesterday was Sunday, and I just didn’t feel like doing anything other than the normal stuff that is. Besides my head was killing me. All the dust, and pollen kicked up by these winds will be the death of me. I finally took an allergy pill, but by the time I felt like I could move it was to late to start a project. It’s not so bad today, just gusty breezes. If I can get the wood unloaded, cut, and piled it will be a good day’s work. Now if my accountant would call me, I’d feel a lot better. Taxes are supposed to be filed today, and I haven’t heard from him since I dropped them off. That’s why I never became a tax accountant. SEC filings are bad enough, taxes are the real stressors. I’ll take a normal accounting deadline any day over tax day. Of course being retired it the best still. No more deadlines. We may be poorer now, but I love being retired.

 

 

Oh I almost forgot the humming birds are back. I had to make a special trip to the grocery to stock up on sugar. I only have two feeders up for now. Give it a month, and I’ll be filling feeders daily watching my little friends fight over a porch full of them. I do love spring. Soon I’ll be going to town to pick up some pretties for my flower garden, and maybe some vegetables too. Rudy sent me a photo of some planters made of 2 x 4’s, and tin roofing. Looks like I have another project on my plate. Isn’t life fun in the spring?

 

 

Snow in April? Give me a break…

 

I realize that we need all the moisture we can get, but this is the southwest, and it’s not supposed to snow the second week of April. It was 25 degrees this morning, and now I’m going to have to go cut some wood so I can warm up the house. We had a little snow yesterday, and woke up to about an inch of snow this morning. The good news is now that I have chicken wire around my little flower garden my tulips, and daffodils are coming up. They don’t care about the snow thank you kindly. Some of my chocolate mint I planted last year is also coming up.  Now if the weather would cooperate, I could buy some more flowers for my burgeoning garden. My rhubarb is also doing nicely. I’ll have to wait till next year to actually harvest, but I can wait.

 

All this beautiful weather (ha! ha!) has put a damper on my working with the horses. Actually I’m glad I didn’t get them all brushed out. That extra fur is keeping them warm. Thankfully it hasn’t gotten so cold that the water has frozen. Breaking ice in April would be a bit much. Now to you northerner’s I’m sure this is no big deal, but remember like our horses I’m desert born, and bred. My poor father is camped out in his room, where he has a heater. At 88 (almost 89) he doesn’t deal with the cold very well, so he keeps his room at a toasty 75+ degrees, tank top weather for me.

 

Later:

 

Well I got my wood chopped. I had a couple of big (meaning thick) pieces, trunks really, and after splitting them I was able to cut them. It’s a tricky business splitting logs since my little sledgehammer is no longer attached to its handle. I have to use Rudy’s big sledgehammer, which is loose, but still attached. It must look pretty comical as I have the handle between my legs, and I only raise the hammer up to about eye height. I’m bent over at the waist so that’s not very high. It’s mostly the weight of the hammer that splits the logs. Boy am I out of shape too. After a month of not having to cut wood, I’m huffing, and puffing like a city girl. Still I got it done, and there’s enough wood to last a few nights if this weather doesn’t break. The way it looks now we’ll have snow again tonight. It hasn’t really stopped all day, a little flurry here, a little flurry there. You know what I mean. I had all these plans too. I found some more 1 x 2’s, and a pretty descent wood pallet so I can finish the gate for between the wood stove, and the wall. Right now all I have is a frame with chicken wire on it, not very pretty for the living room. The other gate (other side of the wall) looks nice now that it’s all stained, and finished. Even Rudy thought it looked nice. This time I’m going to varnish all the pieces first then when it’s dry put it together. It’s too hard to sand otherwise. Maybe I’ll just sand it, put it together, and then stain, and varnish it. That way I can have it up while the little ones are in the house at night.

 

I have work to do down at the barn too. I swept about a foot of dust, and debris out of the barn after two days of high winds. I still have to tackle the stalls. The manure is piling up for some strange reason. I want to put in a small vegetable garden by the chickens, and all that manure will come in handy. I have figured out a way of watering them too. I’ll dig my trenches for irrigation, and then make a nice pvc pipe frame with holes drilled out. I’ll have one pipe going up so I can put the little water tank on the gator, open the spicket, and voila the water will be distributed evenly. It’s a miniature version of what the farmers use. I think I have another gate, and I definitely have enough chicken wire to go around the garden. I’ll use the same method on top that I used for the chicken run to keep the birds out at least until my seeds sprout if I can’t find enough small plants. I’m pretty sure I found another small gate in the pile we have of odds, and ends when I was rummaging around for another panel for the round pen. I need to measure that as well. I found two battered panels, but only put one up. I don’t want the round pen too big, but I do want it at least 60’. That’s the perfect size for training according to Rudy. It’s the only size we’ve ever had so it’s all I know. Once the round pen is right I can start training. Of course the weather has to get nice enough for any of this to happen (hint, hint). It’s not going to happen this week I’m sure. Not that it’s not supposed to warm up, mind you, its just that as soon as it does the winds are supposed to start howling again. April is typically our windiest month, and so far it looks like that the way it’s going to be, windy. On the bright side there’s no La Nina, and no El Nino. Bro, and sis are staying away this year so maybe just maybe we’ll have a normal rainy season. Something has to break this drought cycle.

 

Yes I have all sorts of plans, and all kinds of work to do. Let’s see if I manage to get it all done this year. Of course it would be helpful if nothing broke this year. It will also help if April can spend some time here, and if I can buy the few little tools I want to make my life easier. Jo will be spending a lot of time here (April’s boyfriend) as well. He’s buying Ser-Haat so I’m sure he’ll spend as much time here as he can spare training him etc. Ser-Haat is already letting him brush him, and giving him hugs. I just knew they would make a good match. It also means I can spend more time with the rest of the young’uns. Both Ser-Haat, and LBM are going through a growing spurt. I may even be able to start working LBM with a saddle on by the end of the summer. I think he’ll be big enough. Did I mention that he’s in a big boy’s halter now? I can’t wait till he’s big enough to ride. God willing it won’t be the end of me. I’ve never started an un-cut boy from babyhood to adulthood. Oh well such is life. Who knows if he’s sweet enough I may even get on him first. Yeah right. Yes I’m insane, but he’s my boy after all. We’ll see how brave I am when the time comes!

 

 

Free again...

 

Yea, my taxes are done for another year. Of course if I were smart I’d work on them during the year then it would take no time at all to get them done at yearend. Maybe this year I’ll be more organized, yeah right. I have an excuse for last year because of mother, this year I don’t have an excuse, so we’ll see what happens. First off I have to protect my meager flower garden. Because there’s no feed anywhere the deer are doing a job on my flowers. They’re even eating my red hot pokers. It wasn’t cold enough this winter, and we didn’t get enough snow for them to die down, and since it’s the only green around the deer are helping themselves to my meager garden. I planted bulbs, and they are eating them too so I’m putting up chicken wire around the porch. It won’t be very pretty, but it’s better than loosing everything. Of course they are leaving the weeds alone. If they insist on eating my flowers they could at least eat the weeds too you’d think, but no they only eat the stuff I don’t want them to eat. I chased them away four times last night. You’d think they’d get the hint. I can’t really blame them but I want my flowers.

 

Next the stalls need attention, and so do the horses. They need to be brushed in the worst way. After that comes hooves. I got LBM started (much to his dismay), but I have to work on him some more. I’m afraid I’m going to have to use the age old method of tying him up for a couple of hours so he gets the idea that yes you do have to stand still for more than a few minutes, or until you think you’ve stood there long enough. He is going to be one handsome boy though. He’s starting to mature physically. He’s still real little (except for his head), but that’s typical of our horses. They mature very slowly. I’m already having to use Ibn’s old halter, now his body just has to catch up to his head. Marina’s first filly was like that. She had this huge head. When the rest of her finally caught up to her head, she stood 15 hands tall. I’m hoping the same for LBM. I haven’t measured him, but I think he’s still at 14 hands, and he turns three this year. He’s loosing that baby look about him, and thankfully he still has his dam’s movement, but he has a long way to go if he’s going to be as tall as we all think he will be.

 

I’m really not as far behind as I was last year, and now that I have more time I should be able to get Star, and Stormy under saddle. Unfortunately April screwed up her leg, and she will be down for at least another two weeks. After that if she has to have surgery, who knows how long she will be down. She has a boyfriend now (that I actually like), and he’s making sure she follows doctor’s orders. He may also buy Ser-Haat. He lost his horse in a divorce, and is aching for another. He’s worked with race horses (his brother is an ex-jockey) all his life, and is totally enamored with our Arabians. I think they will be a good match. He has the patience, and sensitivity to be able to deal with Ser-Haat. He knows good breeding, and has a good heart. He plans on coming over Sunday to work with him to see how they actually interact with each other. As sweet, and loving as Ser-Haat is, once he starts working with him, I know they will bond. It may take Ser-Haat a while to warm up to someone, but once he does he gives his all.

 

That leaves Star, and Stormy to sell. If I can get them solid under saddle I should be able to sell them. I’m not asking near what they’re worth because we’re so broke, and the market is so bad. I really need to sell some of the brood mares also, but if I do that we won’t be able to start back up. Our girls are getting too old. We’ll get Angel back in four or five years, but by then she’ll be in her twenty’s. Oh well I guess I’ll cross that bridge when it gets here. Right now we’re just on survival mode. I don’t want to give up breeding, but I may have to. Star, and LMB were the last foals we had. LBM is half Arabian, and the only up coming stud we have. I don’t know if Jeri is still fertile or how long that will last if he is. Ibn is only 17 so he should still have a number of years of breeding in him. I pray so. Eventually the market will turn around, and God willing we will still have breedable horses when it does. If not we’ll deal with it when the time comes. Right now I have to deal with my garden. I’m bound, and determined to have flowers this year deer or not!!!

 

 

So what have I been up to????

 

Obviously I have been very busy. My father took a nasty fall causing a huge hematoma above his left eye (the size of a baseball). Luckily that was all the damage he sustained, there was no internal bleeding. Of course besides the ER we had lots of doctor’s appointments that we had to go to the upshot of which was they took him off all his blood thinners (except aspirin), and reduced his BP meds considerably. I had been trying to get them to do that for some time as his BP kept bottoming out. My greatest fear was that he would fall, and end up with a severe injury we were very lucky he only got a bump on the head. His cardiologist finally decided that the risk of his killing himself in a fall was greater than the risk of a stroke. Duh! He’s feeling much better now, but we may have to increase his BP med as his BP is now going too high. He just can’t win for loosing.

 

Amidst all this high drama we had two cold fronts come visit us. The first came before Dad’s incident, and temperatures went into the single digits. Everything froze, and not only was I cutting wood every day to keep the house warm, but I was hauling water for us, and the horses. Now I had asked Chuck (pump man) if the insulating I had done at the pump house was sufficient, but of course it wasn’t. When we finally got water again I noticed that the new jet pump was leaking. I turned everything off, and called him. That was on Friday. Naturally he was out of town (a job in Santa Fe that turned out to be more expensive than whatever they made on the job). He was supposed to be back the next day, but when I still hadn’t heard from him on Monday I called again. They were just leaving Santa Fe. When they finally got here he told me the bad news, the jet pump froze, and cracked. Just what I needed another bill I couldn’t pay. He replaced the pump, and told me what else I needed to do to keep the pump from cracking again. We had water for a day when the next cold front came through. This time it only got down to the low teens, but we still froze. The good news was that the pump didn’t freeze. Once it warmed up we got water at the house, then later at the barn. That’s when I discovered we had a leak at the water main to the barn. The pipe didn’t crack only separated, but I still had to dig it up, cut pipe for new fittings, and pray. I put foam insulation underground where the pipe is only buried about 6”, and up to the turn off valve. Lastly we got water to the pasture. The next cold wave we only lost water inside the barn (not to the automatic waterers), and pasture. Yesterday we finally got water in the pasture. I had the tank full so I didn’t have to haul water. Thank you Lord for that.

 

To keep myself occupied while I was filling water tanks I decided to work with Sierra on picking up his feet. His front feet are terrible, as he doesn’t wear his toes down like everyone else. My sweet little baby turned into a stubborn not so little boy. He didn’t remember that he used to let me pick up his feet, and kept walking away from me so he got tied. At first that was no big deal till he couldn’t get away from me when I went to pick up his feet. He only sat back twice, and then he gave in, and stood still sort of in-between trying to bite me for which he was rewarded with an elbow. This is not anything I have ever done before, and certainly not with a young stallion. Getting hurt is not an option, nor is letting him get the upper hand. Again I’m going on instinct, and half the time I was scared I wouldn’t move fast enough when I needed to. He’s not that big yet, but he could still do a lot of damage. Then the weather got bad, and  I had to stop. He was still fighting me, but we were making progress. Now that the fierce winds have stopped I’ll start working on him again. I can’t work him in the round pen until I can get his feet filed down, and I need to start him in the round pen. After all there are lessons to be learned.

 

Everyone is finally up to weight (thank you Lord), so hopefully my feed bill will go down some. Now they need exercise something terrible. Sierra, and Ser-Haat need lessons, Star needs me to get on her back, and Stormy needs to get working with the saddle so I can start him in the spring. How many hours are there in a day again?

 

Katy finally took her horses closer to where she lives giving me two open stalls. I didn’t realize it, but her horses put a lot of stress on my horses. Immediately Espree, and Lizzie calmed down, and finally Espree started filling out. Jazzy who has been in the pasture jabbed herself again (in the same spot), and then a few days later (during the cold snap) she was trembling, and favoring her back leg. I couldn’t see any swelling or any sign of any injury, but just to be safe I took her into the barn. It would give me the opportunity to put a few more pounds on her, and work her in the round pen once the weather turned warm. In actuality I think she faked it just so she could get out of the pasture into a nice warm (ok not so warm) stall, and not only get more attentions, but goodies too. Next morning she was perfectly fine. She has that (whatever it is) stuff on her back legs again. I just can’t figure out how to get rid of it, and now her dam has it too only not as bad. It occurred to me that the only thing that has changed in their diet is I stopped doing the vinegar, and oil in their goodies. It just got too expensive. Well I started both of them on it again, and we’ll see what happens. It can’t hurt, and it may help.

 

What else has been going on lets see. Pena (boxer) has that (again whatever it is) sore on her inner leg. It’s in the same spot as last year. At least I know what to do about that. I tried adding bitter orange to the Tinactin, and she made a face, but she still licked it off. I try to put it on twice a day when I can watch her for a little bit to let it absorb into her skin before she licks it all off. Last night she wouldn’t sit still until I let her crawl into my lap. Ok so I’m a whoose. It was worth it to keep her from licking it off. Then it seems it got too cold for Cheerio (Patagonian parrot). I try to keep the house warm, but I can only do so much with a wood stove. One morning he was all fluffed out, and just didn’t look right. He wasn’t eating, and had gotten very week. I was afraid he wasn’t going to make it he looked so bad. I got out the heat lamp, and bought some vitamins for him. Even if I could afford it, there isn’t an Avarian vet anywhere near here, and there is little they can do anyway except give you antibiotics for them. I’ve been through a couple of illnesses with my birds. He wasn’t wheezing so I hoped that the heat would be enough. Well he’s much better. He’s eating properly, and getting around in his cage, but he’s still sleeping most of the time with his head under his wing. I have a sheet around his cage to keep any cool air out, and hopefully keep the warm air in. This is the first year this has happened so I don’t know if I’m just not keeping the house as warm as last year or what. God willing he will get back to normal soon.

 

I think that’s about everything that has gone on here at the ranch. The weather is beautiful today which is good since I have to go out and get hay today. I’ll just be happy when I can get back into a somewhat normal routine, whatever that is!