Had a great ride on Tonka today with my sister and her friend. It was funny, her friend and I had matching helmets, boots, and horses.

Here's a picture looking from Washington into Idaho. (Tonka's ears make me laugh. He's always "watching" stuff.)

And here's Kamiak Butte:

Our destination was a little grove of trees that was so nice and cool and relaxing.

Tonka didn't agree, the whole thing kind of creeped him out a bit. But I let him eat some grass so he was happy.
But not really.

Sorry, Shel Silverstein moment there. And it's true, he was still worried. Not too bad, but then the wind came up and that made him edgy. He managed alright until we were leaving the trees and going back into the bright light with the sound of the wind in the dark trees behind him. He was reaching down to grab a bite of a weed and suddenly did his famous "leap of the goat." Except it must not have been so bad this time because I didn't come off. So we went back in and came back out, tense and twitchy, but no more leaping.

On the way back we went through some plowed ground. Tonka didn't complain but it must have been hard work to walk through that deep dirt.

And here's one of the things he used to be really worried and scared about, but now just watches carefully as we pass.

I love that he's getting steady enough that I can take pictures while I ride. Today was, overall, a really relaxing ride.

Reflection of an alder.

The Deep Creek Project. I've decided to finally start using the labels option on my blog and my first one will be for this project. So if you want to follow the progress over time, you can hopefully do that somehow. There should be a place to click certain labels on the sidebar so you can see what you're interested in. Eventually I'll go back and do that for the older entries as well, so you can see all about Tonka, or my cats, or whatever.

PCEI is doing the work. Palouse Clearwater Environmental Institute, that is. It's partially funded by some other groups. If you want more info on that you can check out their site.

The basics - they're sloping and stabilizing the banks along our section of creek to control erosion, planting trees to provide shade, and well, that's about it... It's supposed to help water quality, especially important because our creek joins the Palouse river just about a mile or less downstream. Oh, and they also created a few small wetland areas. Two are at the end of drainage ditches. This'll help filter any contaminants out before the water flows into the creek.

So, what can a girl do with 7 buckets, a 50 gallon barrel, and a truck? Break her back! No, just kidding, I only watered some trees. The ones we first planted needed some attention.
Unfortunately I forgot I can't dip a 5 gallon bucket into the barrel. Doesn't fit. So I had to fill buckets by dipping in a couple small coffee cans. Fun... I think I'm really going to beg John to get a 275 gallon water tank I can attach a hose to.

After I was done I played around in the creek to get some pictures for you. Here are some deer prints, a coyote print, and maybe some racoon prints? Or who knows, maybe the beaver. I'm not an expert tracker.

Eww, somebody lost their ear! Just kidding, it's a shell. We have clams down there too, but I didn't see any shells. I think my neice gathered them all up.

Here's a beautiful bit of architecture. I suspect this is where my son's really, really bad sting came from. It swelled up like a baseball and the whole area was a big purple bruise for weeks. It's a pretty nest though. I don't know if we should try to get rid of it or not...

This is one of the "wetlands" or "swales." Not sure which to call it. It'll catch water that flows down through our front pasture. Actually the horses only have contact with about 100 feet of the ditch, so the water shouldn't be too gross.

A stalker's view of my house, taken by John from the other side of the creek.

Here's Scout wondering what I'm doing way out there. He's a cutie.
Here's what I was doing, besides taking pictures. Had to pick up my temporary fencing and the trough that was out there. I think next time I water trees I'll use the trough to carry my water. Easier to dip buckets into. Good old Thor, I love that truck:

Now I'm going to go take a bunch of ibuprophen, get a dose of coffee, and get into my painting clothes. We've made almost zero progress in the last week.

Yesterday I was up before the sun. It was a beautiful morning, cold and clear. As I headed out to feed the horses I saw a family of deer wandering through. For once they didn't notice me and run, they just peacefully ambled and grazed.

I was up early so I could get out of here in time to go have a great girls' day out with Laura and Lea. We had a very peaceful time loving on Lea's horses. Their new mustang Rusty is about as gorgeous as they get.

Raven is beautiful too, such a rich color and a great face. She's the dark one here.

But my favorite of all wasn't a horse. Sweet little Yuma stole my heart. If he'd have fit in my pocket I might have tried to sneak him home with me. His ears are so wonderfully big, and incredibly soft. (Lea, if you ever want to send him my way, just let me know :) )

Laura had a fan club right away. And the great thing? She wasn't even bribing them with treats, they just loved her.

Here you can't really see her, but they're all following Laura.

Then we went out and had a great visit over lunch, then went to see Lyric. He's looking so much better now that he's moved. Laura is loving every minute with him, and it shows in how much he loves her back.

We also got to walk down the road a piece and see two other mustangs that I really like. Mestino was adopted at the same time I got Tonka. He is a gorgeous black fella. Leslie Neuman did a gentling demo with him, I still have the pictures. I had a little surprise too. There was a face in their pasture that looked incredibly familiar. A lot like Tonka. I thought it might be the filly from the gentling demo in Odessa. But I thought they'd said that was their Tennessee Walker. I asked, and sure enough it was the filly from Odessa! I'm so happy to see her with a home.

Thanks ladies for such a wonderful day! I had a lot of fun. Hope you two did as well.

Today was full of planting, parenting, painting, and patience.

We planted at least a hundred trees today. Lovely little trees. I sweet talked them as I coaxed them out of their pots, hoping they'll establish themselves well and thrive. The volunteer crew today was a lot smaller, but they worked hard and we got a surprising amount done. Wonderful people, all very friendly.

Oh! When the crew was out here yesterday they were very carefully checked out by a beaver in our creek! I feel so special, to be sharing my place with such a neat little creature. I'm thinking I'll go hang out down there sometime and hope to get a glimpse of it.

A haha funny for you... John asked me a couple days ago "Do you think so-and-so's a little odd? He always has this goofy grin on his face." I didn't think so, but well, okay... So today he says, "I think I know what it is, why that guy bugs me. I think he likes you! He's hitting on you!" Not sure about that honey. But I'm terribly flattered that my husband still thinks I'm hot enough to get the attention of a young good looking guy. :)

Oh yeah, back to the four p's. We then painted, after the planting. I want to have this project done!!!

Parenting... Well, there have been many altercations today, but they all lived through it. Katia has a friend over and Liam wants to be part of the fun and show off, but it's really pretty annoying so it leads to all kinds of yelling and hurt feelings and irritation.

Patience. Oh my gosh. We went out to dinner, a new place that just opened. We were there for over two hours! First we waited about 45 minutes for a table, then about the same for our food to arrive. They gave us some awesome cake free of charge though. So I guess it's all good. Might not go back there on a Saturday night though. And definitely not with kids on a Saturday night. They were great, but they enjoyed it about as much as I did and weren't afraid to tell us.

Now for something slightly more serious. Soxy is eating poop. I think she is IR and her body thinks it's starving. She's fat, very fat. But she has lost some weight lately. The vet told me to cut everyone back more so I did. So now I wonder, would it be better to feed her a bit more hay and hope she won't eat poop, or just leave her on the diet and let her eat poop? I'm leaning toward adding an extra feeding in the middle of the day.

Speaking of which, I better go feed, they probably really are starving by now.

Today has been a good day. Sunny and cool with a light breeze. A lone cricket serenading outside my window.

I did some hoof trimming this morning, then paired a lot of socks. I have this slovenly habit of throwing all the socks in to the Sock Basket as they come out of the dryer. So they pile up and pile up while my children whine that "I don't have any socks" and I dig through and finally find a pair, until I absolutely can't put the socks off any longer. Today we are all rich in socks, with no room in our sock drawers for even one more pair. I also realized I better get myself some new wool socks if I want to avoid getting frostbite again this winter.

As I paired socks, Tonka stood outside the front window tied to the willow tree. He managed to get his rope caught over the top of his head twice, but backed his way out of it. After fidgeting for about 10 minutes he prudently decided a nap would be a better idea.

I went out and took him a nice juicy apple core, for which he was ever so grateful. Then we did some ground work and some riding. Whether on the ground or under saddle, he was reluctant to trot today. I worry... I don't think I'll ever stop worrying about my equine friends. But we rode anyway, and he was his usual quirky self. I went into the round pen to start off, just because our last ride here at home was so frustrating. I wanted to make sure I had his attention amidst the heavy machinery (excavator, dump truck AND hydroseeder today) before taking him out and about. As soon as I mounted up he eagerly placed himself right against the gate so I could open it up and take us out. Which unfortunately wasn't the plan. Poor kid had to do some work first. But when it did come time to go out the gate, he opened and closed it like a pro. We rode around the fields, working on stuff we shouldn't have to work on. Walking in a straight line. Standing still while stopped. Paying attention to his big clunky feet rather than rushing down the hill. He wasn't bad by any means, just exuberant. The boy does enjoy life. We finished up in the round pen to show him that hurrying home doesn't help him get back to the pasture any faster. Had a talk with someone passing in a Blazer, which I think is our first mounted conversation with a vehicle. He's a good, good boy.

I'd like to saddle Bella up this afternoon. I have the saddle out waiting. But if John gets home and concurs that it's probably dry enough to start painting again I'll have to do that instead.

Tomorrow it's out to see the sheepies and my friend Melissa again. Hard work interspersed with great conversation. It'll be a good day.

Friday I'm headed up to see Lyric and Laura. I wish I could take Tonka up to play too.

Saturday we will be planting more trees. I need to get out and take some pictures of that for you. All those wonderful trees.

I was thinking I haven't posted many pictures of Scout lately, so I decided to inundate you with them. He's wearing an adult size halter. I haven't had time to make him one of his own, and this works just fine.

Oh, and contrary to how it looks in the pictures, I think I actually worked him longer in the other direction. Don't worry, I do switch things up and make sure to work him on both sides. His swelling was slight this morning and nonexistent tonight.

I had a very good ride on Tonka today. He was really wanting to go somewhere. We went to my sister's and got as far as the water crossing, which Tonka did quite well at, but her horse wouldn't go through. She gets really stressed out and starts flapping her lips then just shuts down and stands there, glassy eyed and sucking on her tongue. Kind of like Bella, but Bella isn't near that extreme. (Right Brain Introvert - and yes, I have been dabbling in the Horsenality thing. ) She's going to take some time. She's doing really well though. Eventually we went for a ride in the other direction with my sister on her bareback, and she was very relaxed and seemed to enjoy herself. (The horse, I mean. But not that my sister wasn't having fun too.)

Tonka was cranky when we did arena work, but when I headed out across the field he was happy and forward and didn't want to turn back. So we went for a the short little jaunt I mentioned and he was happy.

I tried my sister's cutting saddle on him. He liked it, or so she said. I thought he was still crabby about the arena work but more bouncy and lofty in his trot. But she said he was reaching out more, using his shoulders more, and less hollow backed. I think I'm going to have to take him to the local saddler and trade in the saddle I love so much! (Shedding copious tears.)

I was trying to think why on earth he's so good when I take him places, but so irritating when we ride at home. Not that he's always irritating. But I prefer to ride elsewhere. Probably partially because I don't have company when I ride at home. But I think part of it is that the trailer ride on the way to where we're going gets him mentally ready for the ride. So I think I'm going to start tying him for an hour or so before I ride.

Later I rode my sister's gelding bareback. He's not as hard to balance on as Tonka is (bareback) but he's also nowhere near the big comfy couch that Soxy is. He is a sweet boy though, and has the cutest black edged buckskin ears. Never appreciated them much until I had such a good view of them from his back. :)

Can't think of anything else to bore you with, so I think I'll go to bed.

I had some very nice compliments on my little Scout today. I was working him in the round pen while the excavator guy was moving dirt. He maneuvered his truck around, dumped his dirt, drove it back around and backed it into place, then stopped and got out. I thought he had a question about the dirt. But no, he wanted to admire my boy. He thought it was very impressive that I could pick up his feet so easily at his age, and that he was so personable and well behaved. Then when Scout took my whip with its garbage bag flag and started shaking it around, we both had a good laugh. I asked Scout if he thought he could chase me around now. He walked off, taunting me while I followed trying to get my whip back. Goofy baby.

He hasn't been swollen at all since yesterday morning. I think because they're playing so hard in the cold, windy weather. They ran around a lot today. At one point Bella was on a hill above Tonka and reared up, coming down on his withers. It was like a wild horse documentary right in my pasture.

I didn't do much today. Got some housework done. Cleaned both stalls of a couple weeks of buildup. Since they're not in there much that was only two wheelbarrow loads. Picked up a lot of mess in the yard from our painting project. Fed the horses and the people. Read my new book a lot. Can't wait to get back to my book. Thanks to the lazy day and the cold weather, I'm feeling very lethargic and unfulfilled. I think I need to get more exercise tomorrow.

Oh, and if you're in North Idaho or Eastern Washington or anywhere really, I know of a nice looking sorrel BLM mustang gelding (above) looking for a home. He's a special needs horse. Was halter broke and maybe even ridden at some point, but he's really not trusting and needs a loving partner. His owner is going through a medical crisis with her mom and the horse needs a home. She's also looking for a home for a yearling appy filly. Leave me your contact info if you're interested and I'll have her get in touch with you. Here's another picture of him in the middle of winter:


Speaking of re-homing mustangs, I almost forgot to update y'all on my Willow. I finally got up the courage to ask her new owner whether they had kept her or found her a home or what. (I was so afraid they had sent her to auction.) I had offered to take her back and never heard back from them. It turns out she's now the only horse of a 13 year old boy and they ride all over the place together. I'm sure she loves not having to share her human with anyone else. Here's my pretty pony, my first horse. She was one of a kind.

Here's a good one of Lyric I found when I was looking for a picture of Willow. Just have to resurrect this picture every now and then!

Today was dark and depressing, cloudy after a night of steady rain. I don't mind the rain, but I hate the darkness. Couldn't paint the house, didn't want to ride, so we went to town and did some shopping. Here were my most exciting purchases:


I am so happy with my new Mustang travel mug! I bought it at Tri-State distributors, the same place where I got my Mustang playing cards. But they didn't have the nice mugs last time I was in there, just these big clunky plastic ones. Problem though - they also had drinking glasses and aluminum water bottles. Oh man, I had a hard time figuring out what to get. (Shhh, don't tell, but I think I'll sneak back and gradually collect the other things.)

The MSM is to help Bella heal her tendon. I can't afford a $60+ supplement right now. This was only $17 for a 40 day supply. What I've read suggests that a mix of glucosamine and MSM works better, but I do know that the MSM by itself is supposed to have some good effect.

Here are some tidbits of info I found online:

Reduced joint and muscle pain and inflammation - As the flexible bond between proteins, MSM aids in cell regeneration. It reduces inflammation and permits the muscles to heal. While helping to rebuild healthy cells, MSM can increase flexibility in joints and has been welcome relief to sufferers of arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, bursitis, muscle strains and tendon and ligament strains and sprains.

The Sulfur in MSM is good for all sorts of tissues including skin, joints, ligaments, and tendons Methylsulfonylmethane is a relatively new dietary supplement form of sulfur that is found in our living tissues.

MSM supports healthy connective tissues like tendons, ligaments, and muscle.

I always thought of it as a joint supplement, not a tendon supplement, but when you think about it, the problem with joints is usually in the connective tissue, so I guess it all makes sense.

Anyway, that's about all I have, for now...

My kingdom for a saddle! (Not really, I rather enjoy my kingdom, but man I want this saddle!) My sister has decided she's going to sell her dressage saddle that I love so much. And she'd take payments and some hay in trade! It's killing me. But I know what John would say if I even mentioned it... Anyone know a quick way I can make $1000 (that's legal)? S'pose I could sell Mack, but he's actually been kind of useful lately. And John still isn't sure he wants to sell him anyway.

Hmmm. Maybe I could get a short term part-time job. I'm not sure it really means that much to me though...

Aw, nevermind. I just remembered I have a bunch of other bills I have to pay before I even consider spending that much money on something I really love but don't need. Reality is a mean bugger sometimes.

Yesterday was an interesting horse day. Not necessarily the good kind of interesting. I tried riding Tonka in the Orthoflex saddle with my half chaps. They helped a lot. But Tonka was in a weird place. Stumbling, almost unseated me when he tried to fall on his face. Shot up out of a ditch with too much vigor which found me airborne for a minute. Looking for things to spook at. Wouldn't stay in a trot for me. I wondered if it was the saddle and went to change it. Turns out I hadn't paid attention well enough and had left a little end of biothane stirrup "leather" folded under the saddle. Looked uncomfortable. So I'll have to try that saddle again. I rode him for a short amount of time in my saddle, but then a pack string went by on the highway. Weird! Never seen that before. (Turns out John saw them later going through downtown Moscow. Wish one of us had been able to stop them and ask them what their mission was.) Anyway, that just got Tonka all tense and twitchy for some reason. I ended up having to unsaddle and leave him tied for a while, since some people showed up.

Scout also had a rough time. I worked him in the round pen for his 10 minute jog, and at the end left him there for a minute (I was right outside the gate). Suddenly Bella realized he was gone and started running around hollering. So Scout tried to jump out. Twice. Then was so riled he wouldn't stop for me to catch him. Scared me a bit. But I got him.

Today I am madly baking for the crew that's coming to plant trees. They'll be here in 45 minutes... Dang it, I'm a bit behind. So I better go...

Scout learned to lunge yesterday. He's got his walk, trot, and whoa down pretty well. He leans on the halter a bit. I need to make him a new rope halter, all I have now that fits him is the purple nylon web halter, which is too easy to lean on.

He also crossed the bridge several times. The last time I worked him on the other side of it and he was all too happy to cross it again, thinking he might be done if he did. And it was time to quit. So we went to the apple tree for a treat and I put him up.

I got some cheap half chaps in the mail yesterday, so I can finally try out Arlene's Orthoflex saddle some more. I'm going to do my best to find time for that today.

Other than that I'll be painting, caulking, and maybe pulling up some fence posts that I forgot about that're in the excavator's way. I think he can probably just dig them out with the dirt, but I feel like a jerk for forgetting about them...

Well, at least it doesn't say I'm a clod... You Are Clogs

You are a solid and down to earth person. You seek – and almost always achieve – a really sound balance in your life. You are stylish yet comfortable. Mellow but driven. Excited yet calm. You are the perfect mesh of contradictions. No matter what happens, you have the ability to stay well grounded in your life. People know that they can truly depend on you. You should live: In Europe You should work: At a company dedicated to helping the world

What Kind of Shoe Are You?

(I'm not so sure about the living in Europe part, although I guess I can't knock it until I try it.)

Well, we have a new gelding! Just call him Dopey:


I felt soooo bad for him afterward. I didn't think it would bother me, after all it's something almost all colts go through. He was so drunk, staggering around with his hiney tucked like he was hurting pretty good. I had to drag him around like my little puppy dog for quite a while until he woke up enough to be turned loose. He got to meet a huge excavator up close while it dug down by the creek. He was more aware by that point but not freaking out. He made sure to keep me between him and it though.

Good news on Scout - that eye is working! I still don't think it sees totally normally, since he sometimes seems startled when I do things on that side without warning him first. (Picking up a foot, sticking a wormer tube in his mouth...) But the vet confirmed my suspicions, he is reacting to movement on that side. Steve (my vet) is going to give the ophthalmologist an update on it and he things she may be interested enough to take a look at it again free of charge. Steve also wants me to get Scout on a foal supplement rather than the regular supplement he's on. I guess because they're high in the stuff he needs to heal that eye. Although I so love my Horse Guard, I'm going to compare them closely before I switch.

Bad news on Bella though... I can't ride her just yet. He thinks her lameness is probably the prepubic tendon. It didn't feel torn, but if it's strained it will take a while to heal. It's probably from carrying that big ol' baby, maybe made worse by her young age.

He said I need to feed them less. I feel like I'm starving them as it is, I feed the three of them as much as I'd normally feed 2 horses. But yes, Bella is definitely fat. A little cresty, even. So I cut them back more tonight, and I'll start getting Bella out for some walks so she can start losing that baby belly. I am so bummed that I can't ride her. He said I could ride at a walk, but then when I said I hadn't been up on her, he said to wait in case something scares her and she bucks or jumps and hurts herself.

Here's a couple pictures from before the vet got there. We are so ready for this! If only she was sound.



They liked my baby boy a lot. One of the techs that was with them has a QH filly just a couple weeks younger than him, and she said he's huge in comparison. :D Then she commented on his tough feet as we sat there and watched him sleep, and my vet said, "Mustang." ;D

No wolf teeth on either of them. Yet, anyway. And Bella's teeth are fine for bitting. Maybe I'll start ground driving her if I can't ride her.

Scout had no swelling as of 5 hours after his "brain surgery." I opened up a couple pastures for them to wander so he's moving around more.

We had some good firsts today! All went off without a hitch.

Bella took the pad and saddle like we'd been practicing this a lot, which we haven't. I've had the pad on her a while back, and myself just recently, and I had set a saddle on her last year, but never cinched up. No problemo today.

Would you look at these eyes? Go ahead, click on it to see it bigger. Aren't they just dreamy? Here eyes are what caught me at the adoption.

Meanwhile Scout was tied for the first time. (Yes, I waited too long, and Yes that's a Blocker tie ring. I love it.) (Oh, and yes, that's not a very manly color to put on a boy, but it's what I have.)
He didn't like it much, but by the time we were done he wasn't fidgeting, he was pouting.

Bella tried on a bridle for the first time too. She did like they all do with the bit. She'll wear it longer next time and hopefully will have enough to keep her occupied that she'll quit fiddling.
Tomorrow I'm going to put my new saddle on her so she won't look so awkward with a big icky synthetic saddle.

Guess what else happens tomorrow. Scout's castration! And Bella will have her teeth and hind end checked. She's still lame back there.

Here's what I found when I came back from the round pen:
I hate seeing him up on a wobbly ladder almost as much as I hate being up on a wobbly ladder. **Shudder**

Lest you think I was slacking with the horses while John worked, I'll have you know I painted for4 hours today (until my painting hand wouldn't paint anymore) after trimming hooves, then did laundry, and now I'm getting ready to go to the school. So don't call me a slacker, darn it.

Remember the abandoned blind horse I wrote about not long ago? Well, she is in good hands now at Shiloh Horse Rescue thanks to four wonderful ladies. Read the story from two viewpoints at Juli Thorson's blog and Mikey's blog. I want to say a big "Thank you!" to everyone who was involved. Wow, the things people can do when they get together and decide to make a difference.

Me, I'm not much use to the world... Have hooves to trim today, house to paint, and I think there will be a bunch of heavy machinery coming in. Yesterday a porta-potty was delivered for the crew. Can't wait to have our creek banks remodeled. I'm a little disheartened about the whole thing after some lack of communication and a screw-up in planning, but it will still be nice for the little fish. Hopefully they can still build a kinda-sorta creek crossing that I can use to take horses over to the arena in winter when I can't use my trailer.

Hope you all have a wonderful day, and watch out for yellowjackets! They're quite fierce and a little confused here lately...

Check this out! We spent the whole weekend, other than the parade, scraping and painting. I was so happy to finally open up the paint after all that scraping.

Here's my "before" picture. But it wasn't before the scraping. Honest, my house wasn't this gross looking until we took a bunch of the paint off.

And here's "after." In reality it isn't quite done on this end, there's some more trim paint to go on over the first coat, and I'm going to add an accent color (this is a bit bland) but this is the basic idea. I love the light silvery-green paint.
We have maybe 30% of the house done. Maybe. So there's a LOT more work to do. My right hand is sore, but what's really shocking is that my right knee is in a lot of pain. I really have to be careful just to walk without hurting myself. Must be the way I was standing on the ladder.

If you were to paint a house with wood shingles (deep crevices) would you brush it, spray it, or roll it? Or a combination of more than one method? I chose to brush it. My hand hates me. But I was told that if I sprayed it, which would require renting a sprayer and doing a lot of masking, I'd have to brush it also to get good coverage. So I figured why not just brush it. This way I can do it on my own time too.

Today I had lots of help from my parents, John, and the kids (kinda) but tomorrow I'm on my own. I'll try to stay on task and not run away with the horses.

If I'd known I was going to be in a parade today I would have dressed up. I was supposed to just take Coda over for my niece to ride, but I ended up getting drafted to lead the other old horse (ex-gaming horse) through the parade. Glad I did, she was in a bit of a hurry, and nervous about a few things.

Here's good old Coda and my very worried niece, ready to go:

My other niece on my dad's horse:

Coda again, with Grandma as support crew, and my brother-in-law on his excellent 4 year old paint:

Here's my nephew on his old mare, and me barely keeping up:

It was a lot of fun. I'm hoping to ride my horse next year. I agonized over whether I should this year, but I think it was a good thing I didn't. I don't think he's quite ready for all the balloons, flags, vehicles, and railroad crossings.

I better get back to scraping paint. John is calling me "productive." I think that's an excellent example of the use of sarcasm. :)

See, I really did do it. This was the first time she's walked away with me up there. I just kind of slid off and tried again.
Ignore the messy background, this one shows that I'm all the way on:

And here's a cute picture of Mack that Katia took today:

Scout is scheduled to lose his jewels next Wednesday! Yay! He's the only critter on the place with testicles, must amend that. Not that I have anything against boys, if I needed an intact male of any kind (other than human) around here. But I don't. I'm glad we're getting it done without him ever realizing he's a boy.

Anyone want to share any stories of gelding with me? Preferrably more good than bad? I don't know what the percentage of complications is, but I'm a little worried something might go wrong after the fact. We have a vet around here that's been known to leave sponges in there. And then try to charge for the farm call to remove it and the treatment of the infection! Not my vet, thank you very much.

Linda mentioned gelding after the first frost to make sure flies aren't a problem. Amazingly enough, we have very few flies right now. I heard that we've already had a frost. Not sure if that's true, but I have been able to see my breath at night when I feed.

The main reason I'm not waiting another month to geld him is that I want to wean him. But I want to geld him and have him recovered before I wean him. So I'm kinda in a hurry. Bella is only 3, and I would LOVE to get a little more growth on her if at all possible. Taking the baby off her might help with that. I know, it's a long shot. (Reminder, I did not breed Bella, she was bred on the range before the BLM roundup. I would never breed a 2 year old. Or a 3 year old. Or maybe any horse...) Also, I want to start working with Bella, which I can't do with Scout pulling on her halter and getting in the way of her lead rope. I could take her out, true, but it would be more convenient if he were weaned. I'm not weaning early, he'll be at least 6 months old when I separate them. Not sure why I'm getting all defensive about weaning the boy. Anyway, there's my rambling on that subject.

Sooo... Just to bore you a bit more... Today I took in the recyclables, went to the feed store, Taco Bell, grocery store, fought with my son there, came home, sat on my butt, scraped and sanded trim, picked up the in-laws' mail, went to my sister's to get back some borrowed stuff, lend some stuff, and borrow some more stuff, dropped off the in-laws' mail, and then came home and worked on dinner. Ooh, that reminds me, I need to work on chocolate chip cookies. And separating out some sourdough starter for bread tomorrow. Mmmm, cookies. Mmmm, homemade bread. Better make sure I work extra hard tomorrow to make up for my gluttony.

Tomorrow I think I'm supposed to ride with my mom and her friend (who I'm nervous about putting on Mack) and then scrape and caulk and maybe paint, and then go to the fair.

Good times, my friend, good times! Better to be busy than bored.

I have big news! I was going to wait to tell you until I had pictures to prove it, but I haven't had anyone to take them for me.

I climbed up on Bella! Several times now, from both sides. But I didn't get all the way on. Just draped myself over her back and wiggled my legs around in the air while I petted and made a big fuss on the other side. She's really tolerant, doesn't care much, just keeps eating.

Soon I'll throw a leg over. But I'll be better prepared for that, with my helmet and a halter and lead on her. I may have John hold her for me and lead me around, but I'm not sure.

Check out where we were on our lunch break today:

My friend Melissa and I took Soxy and Tonka out for a beautiful ride today. The horses were relaxed and seemed to enjoy themselves too. We saw some deer and some cattle. The fall colors are just starting to come on, and with the recent rains there's a fair amount of green too. Very pretty.

Here's Tonka playing hide-and-seek at lunchtime:
And a picture including Soxy's big beautiful arse:

I tried to schedule the farm call for Scout to be gelded today, but they never called me back. Sounded like they were really busy, and it's not like it's an emergency or anything, but I really wanted to set a date! I'm also going to have them re-check his eye and look at Bella's teeth and hips. Her teeth are probably fine but I want to be sure there isn't anything that needs to be addressed before I start bitting her. And she's had a weird hitch in her hind end, I'm hoping they'll tell me it's just the ligaments relaxing from birth and nursing. I know that humans continue to produce the "relaxin" that keeps things loose up until the baby is weaned. I haven't seen her have an off stride in a while, so hopefully it's not a serious problem.

I'm worn out, headed for bed. Good night!

My son is weird! I was just standing in the living room, and he's in his room, and he says in the weirdest voice, out of nowhere, "Hi. My name is Joe and I work in a button factory. Once day my boss came up to me and said, 'I am a dog.'" He can't read that well yet, so he's not reading a story... I have no idea where that came from. Oh! Now it makes more sense. Part of it was from a song they sing in music sometimes... But not knowing where it came from, it was funny. Probably one of those things where you had to be there.

We have been so busy this past weekend. We're doing some home "improvements" that actually make the house look like terrible, but when we get the painting done it will be nice.

Here's my before photo:

Then we tore out the bushes, powerwashed, and are in the process of scraping.

Here it is now:

Here's where the bushes went, along with some tree branches that needed to come off:

Here's a baby trail horse in training:

Here's what John did for the past 24 hours:

Well, he didn't tow around a tractor for that long, he used the tractor to mow weeds. I want a tractor. Really bad. And this one was really fun to drive. But this tractor, used, goes for around 20k, and it doesn't have anywhere near the power we'd need.

Today we bought primer and paint for the bathroom, which my mom has made her pet project. It was pretty bad. The paint on the ceiling was peeling, there were tobacco stains bleeding through the paint, and there were some cracks in the plaster. So it's getting a facelift too. I didn't take before pictures, and I probably won't take after pictures. It's really not that interesting...

Once we were done at the paint store, John came back with the tractor, my sister showed up with her horse, the Roto Rooter guy came several hours early, the PCEI people who are working on our creek showed up, and it was crazy. Oh, and I had bread dough to tend to this whole time as well. Finally everyone left, except my sister, and then she and my mom and I went for a ride. It was interesting. My horse was pretty good but not perfect. Soxy was trying to eat and not listening

I just heard a big sploosh and an "oh shit" from the bathroom gotta go.

Update: Yep. My mom spilled a gallon of paint in my bathroom. She assures me she has it under control now though. I'm going to go do dishes while I enjoy my state of denial.

Well, I was able to upload one video anyway. Here's my mom on Soxy, and my Tonka's colorful and expressive ears...

We went out to Laird Park in the Clearwater National Forest and had a nice little ride.

Here's John on Mack. Sorry for the blurriness, I was taking a picture over my shoulder as we went along. Mack was a pretty good boy once he got over being in a hurry in the beginning.

My mom on Soxy (below). She was also a very good girl but doesn't seem to realize that tree boughs that are above her head might still be a hazard to her rider. She has no leg cues so that makes it harder... She had a hard time on the really steep downhill stuff. Her left hind leg has a hitch in its giddy-up and it didn't do well.

Tonka, begging for some Backcountry Bar: (Don't mind the ugly breastcollar, he had to give his good one to fat old Soxy because none of the others fit her.)

And Soxy REALLY wanted some Backcountry Bar:
I haven't mentioned the Backcountry Bars before, I don't think. They're the food of the gods! Perfect for a trail ride. Lots of protein, nuts, fruit, brown sugar. A meal in a bar. And way tastier than a Power Bar. AND all the ingredients are pronounceable. You can order them online here: http://cookie-queen.com/ You can also buy them in the bulk section of the Moscow, Idaho Winco. John and I, and Soxy and Tonka, highly recommend them. Mack isn't quite so sure...

Oh, and since my mom doesn't know how to email me pictures from her iPhone, here's the only picture of me I have:

I wanted to say thank you to Barbara at the Serenity Room for the beautiful gift she sent me. It was an unknown prize, and she chose something very special for me, a rearing horse necklace. Thank you! What a fitting choice. :) (Not that my horses rear, the fact that it's a horse is fitting. Just thought I'd clarify.)

I rode my boy for two hours today, and tried 3 saddles, and still don't know which one he prefers. He seemed irritated when I rode him in the Orthoflex, but that could have been because I'd taken the first saddle off and he thought he was done. The third saddle was my dad's, and he seemed a little irritated at it too. But then maybe he was bored with the whole proceedings and wanted to be done. I am so tired of trying to figure out saddle fit on this horse.

We're going on a trail ride tomorrow, and I don't know which saddle to use. I really would like to ride in Arlene's Orthoflex saddle, but it hurts my calves so bad I can barely use my legs to cue him. I wish I had some half chaps or tall boots. I guess I'll play with different saddles and pads on Mack and Tonka before we go. My mom will be coming along too, riding Soxy. This ought to be interesting...

First of all, Mikey is looking for a home for this blind horse abandoned in Lewiston, Idaho. If there's anything you can do to help, or if you know of someone who might want the horse, please step forward.

On a happier note, I got to go for a ride again yesterday. First time I've used my trailer in probably two months. Felt good to be getting out there again.

However, if I'd have known my sister was riding this horse I might have stayed home.
Not really, I probably would have gone anyway. It just made me a bit nervous, seeing as how this horse has only been ridden a few times and my sister barely knows her. At one point I was a little worried she'd buck into Tonka, but she never did break into a buck.
She's really a nice little horse, just has never been taught anything. She's mainly been a pet and she's 12 years old. She's not mean or even very stubborn, and she's not spooky. So my sister is hoping she'll be a good replacement for her horse that can't be ridden much anymore. I think she looks like she could be part mustang. Who knows though...

Tonka didn't get the long-striding, ground-covering ride we were both hoping for, but he did get to play the 'ol broke horse that goes along with the greenie for comfort. New role for him. He was a little impatient at times, but really our only problem was that he wanted to eat really bad. He REALLY wanted to eat the wheat straw. Odd...
We travelled a distance along the highway and he didn't really even notice the traffic. He also got to follow a big huge loud combine down the road a bit. We weren't that close, but close enough that it had his attention. He wasn't afraid, just a little unsure.

The weirdest thing happened yesterday. My friend Laura was going to look for a new place to board Lyric. I saw an ad on Craigslist that was affordable and in the right area, so I gave her the number, had her call, she went out same day to meet the lady. Turns out it's someone we kind of know, who has a mustang! We met her at a Mustang Mentors meeting in Spokane. Very nice lady. Laura mentioned Tonka, and then it all fell together and they realized we all had met before. My boy is famous. :) Anyway, the way it all happened made it feel like one of those "meant to be" things. Lyric will be moving there on Friday, for which I am greatly relieved. It will be nice to know he's at a place where he'll get fed even if Laura can't make it out for the day, and he'll be in safe fencing and in knowledgeable hands. I can't wait to go visit him there!

My trail ride got called off. :( So I guess I'll be doing other exciting things today. Like laundry, grocery shopping, taking in the recyclables, and maybe taking down some old fence. My trailer is still hitched up, ready to go, but I'll have to go put it away and get on with my day. Maybe I can get my mom to come down tomorrow and ride Soxy on the trails with me.

I just came in from a beautiful little ride on my Tonka. I forgot how much fun it can be when he's relaxed and in a working frame of mind. When I took him out into the fields I had to work to turn him back toward home. He really wanted to see what was over the next hill, so I gave in and took him that way. After he'd gotten his look we headed back with just a few little hints from him that he'd rather keep exploring.

Scout was having a fit, I thought he was going to get stuck in the gate. I'm going to have to wean him from Tonka if I want to have any fun. I had to get down as we rode by just in case Scout did get stuck and all hell broke loose. But nothing happened. I almost put Tonka in with old Soxy, but now I'm glad I didn't because it turns out I can't go trail riding early in the morning like I had planned.

I tried the Orthoflex saddle today. It's really different. I think Tonka liked it, just judging by his willingness today. It was weird when we trotted and the springs in the stirrups came into play. I had no idea what that weird feeling was, thought maybe it was Tonka starting to get twitchy and think about bucking, but after I stopped I realized what it was. The saddle wasn't totally comfy for me, but nothing major to complain about. I think if your rode in it a lot you'd have to either get some tall English boots or half chaps to protect your calves when you ride. I loved the fit though, and the idea that it should fit most any horse. I'm definitely going to ride in it again, on another day when I can use both saddles and see which he seems to like better.

I'm going to go trail riding with a friend this week. Was hoping to go tomorrow but she has some sheep to wrestle so we're going on Thursday. I can't wait. I'll make sure to take the camera.

What a full day we had! I never did get to ride yesterday despite my insistence that I absolutely would. I had some sort of bug in the afternoon, or maybe I ate something that didn't agree with me.

So this morning I got up secure in the knowledge that I had to ride today. But while I was brushing him I realized that he really badly needed his sheath cleaned. I was supposed to do it every 3 months, and it's been something like a year and a half. So I broke out the Excalibur (that name just cracks me up) and got him all gooey and then rinsed it with some washrags and a couple buckets of warm water. It's still pretty nasty, but not near as bad. I was getting some rather large chunks of smegma out of there. He didn't let me get his bean, but I'll keep trying. He is more comfortable with the whole process now. :)

(Haha, when I went back inside my son asked me to wiggle his loose tooth. I said, "Honey, you don't want my hands in your mouth right now.")

Then we saddled up and did a lot of stupid desensitizing stuff. He hadn't been ridden in over a month, after all. More like 6 weeks. Holy cow, I am a bad horsey mama.

We practiced walking around in a cloverleaf pattern and stopping and backing in the center. Oooh, fun... But much needed. "His" baby was calling from afar, the wind was blowing, stuff was happening, and he needed to be tuned back up. By the time we were done I was getting a good stop or turn without touching the reins (mostly anyway). He wasn't as good at the trot but was rating a bit better without getting excited and rushing.

When I took the saddle off - my NEW saddle, which I LOVE - he hadn't sweated at all so it was no good for figuring out if this pad is a good one to go with this saddle. I did feel like I was moving with him better, and my leg to horse contact was very nice. I didn't try out the Orthoflex today. Hopefully I'll get a chance tomorrow. It might be nice to ride in one and then the other to see if there seems to be a change in his performance.

Then I trimmed his front hooves, which took a while because I'm slow as molasses and he'd built up a lot of sole. They look nice now, but my shoulder is acting funny...

Just when I was finishing up his hooves Henry showed up for a visit so I went to put Tonka away. Which was apparently Scout's cue to rip down the temporary fence and go prancing about loose with his mama. I put Tonka in the round pen because Mack was freaking out and blocking the gate to the pasture, then I followed Scout and Bella around until one of them decided to let me catch him or her. Her, it turned out to be. Once I caught Bella and took her into the round pen, Scout followed right with her. That kid...

Then we went up into the mountains to explore and see if there were any huckleberries left. I think we found 5 berries total. But we did find an awesome trail I can't wait to ride my horse on. And that's just one trail out of many that I can explore. Now I just hope my sister either finds a horse to ride soon or gets brave enough to borrow a horse. I could let her ride Soxy or Mack, or she could ride her husband's horse, but noooo. If she won't go I'm going to see if my friend Melissa will ride one of mine or take hers up and we could both go "horse hiking." Who says we have to ride anyway? I know a couple other people who might be able to go, but I think they have day jobs.

It's been a long day and I'm off to bed. Good night!