A lot of horse trainers like to make a big deal about how we're the predator and horses are the prey. I've had a couple instances lately when I realized what a pathetic predator my soft human body really is. Not a great design, unless we're holding a weapon. The first was the other day with the moose. I was walking the property, hoping to get a last look at them, but keeping in mind that I needed cover nearby in case she decided to charge. I was armed only with my camera. Of course I didn't see them again.

Tonight was really creepy. As I was walking with Scout and Tonka toward the hay out by the creek, armed only with my head light, both horses suddenly perked up and started watching the creek. I look over and see a reflection of two eyes. Something watching. Too big to be a little kitty cat. Made my heart go pitter-patter, and not in a romantic way. I hollered for it to "git outta here" and clapped real loud, and the eyes reluctantly disappeared. But I don't think it completely cleared out right away, the horses kept running around for a while. It was probably just a coyote, and I love to see those in the daytime, but night time is different...

And my dog is missing... I know she's not terrorizing the cats because they're right at the back door. I hope she's just out exploring. But this isn't like her.

Okay, on to better things. I got one post for the shelter in the ground today. Digging in the mud is no fun. You end up hefting up the same darn clump of mud 5,000 times because it sticks to your posthole digger. I did finally get it deep enough though. In the sleet, mind you. Fun. We went out to start on the second one later in the day after John got home, but we just about got hit by lightning. My son and dog were toward the top of the hill when it struck and boomed. Scared me, but it scared them worse! They sure can run! Poor Tonka was tied to the trailer and that big boom really shook him. We decided to call it a day. (Really the lightning was on the other side of the hill, but that's still too close for me!)

I think I'm gonna go call for my dog again.

She's back! What a relief.

Happy Birthday to Scout!

Today he is a year old. What did he get for his birthday? A strangles booster, and boy was he NOT happy about it. In fact, he's the only one who threw a big fit. I tried to offer him treats afterward, but he was having none of it.

He's not clean enough for a birthday picture, but here are some old pictures for you.

NEW BLOG: www.adoptamustang.blogspot.com. This is where you can meet my new Trainer's Incentive Program horses and follow along in their progress. I'm going to keep that blog free of personal blather, it's just for promotion of the TIP horses. Although I probably won't be able to keep myself from being long-winded. As evidenced by the first post there...

Today was a long day. The very best part was that I got to cuddle my little lamb "Skinny" again today. He was sooooooo sweet! I picked him up and he snuggled into my neck under my hair. I'm in love. Oh how I wanted to bring him home. But as John so wisely pointed out, we're not fenced for it. Melissa and I got some work done on the fleeces, and hopefully will be done after another couple days of work. With the part I'm needed for, that is.

When I got home I was tired, but I knew I needed to get ready for the TIP horses. We still have to build the shelter. So we spent 2 hours moving all the rotten hay and pallets out of the area where we're going to put one of the horses. I have the spots marked where I need to dig post holes for the shelter, and I think I'm going to go get lumber tomorrow. Work, work, work. I'm so glad John helped me. Not only does work like that wear me out, but it's no fun to do all alone.

Tonka just stands around wishing for something to do, poor boy. I may go ride at the arena tomorrow. You know, I really think I should. But there are those holes to dig and lumber to buy... We'll see.

More baby pictures! Aren't they cute? Not quite as friendly as the little lambs though.

Later in the day we had a surprise visitor. The boys weren't sure what to think of that strange looking horse.What do you suppose she's looking back at here?

Her baby had fallen behind, not able to jump fences quite as easily as she could. But he soon caught up and tried leading the way.

Pretty neat. I love moose. At a distance, that is.

I'm starting to think about when I'm going to make the trip to Burns for the two trainer's incentive program horses. I think I might try to go durning spring break, which is just the week after next. eek! Better start getting ready for them.

I've been tagged by GTYYUP! I like it when I get tagged for a photo tag, it's fun. The rules this time: open the 10th folder and show the 10th picture. My folders are more complicated than that, but here's where I ended up:
Wee Emma, the first foal born to me. I bought her mama already bred. It was fun, waiting for her to be born, watching her grow.

I'll never say never, because I have a soft heart and will probably change my mind someday, but I'm done with baby horses for now. They're cute, but... Well, there are plenty of buts. Mainly to do with work, worry, and waiting. And expense... Although I am very pleased with Scout, he is a good baby. Someone at the Extreme Cowboy Race, when asked how old her horse was when she got him, said, "He was born into my lap." Someday when Scout and I do great things together, I'll be able to say something similar.

On to other babies! The lambs, oh my, the lambs... They are so soft and cuddly and still the perfect size for picking up and snuggling.

This little guy stole my heart. I want to bring him home so bad. I tried to talk John into letting me ask Melissa if I can buy him (and another for a buddy) but he talked me out of it. I told him I WILL have sheep again someday. I'll do my best to be patient. But it's really, really hard. Just look at him! It's almost too much to bear. His name is Skinny, because he was born with one skinny leg. Odd...

These two looked cozy.

This little boy I'd like to bring home also. He is wonderfully soft, and he's a neat color. And he's sweet.

Here's another hungry lamb, looking for more milk.

Oh no, I'm being mobbed!

"When lambies attack!"

I think I'm totally okay with this kind of attack.
(Look at those little feet!)

This little guy has sharp teeth.

Here's a bunch of lambs hanging out while the mamas get a little grain. Look at those very black ones! Those fleeces won't be hard to sell.

Stick a fork in me, I'm done! Had another rough night with my son being sick, and I have GOT to get some better sleep tonight. Tomorrow we're going to the Backcountry Horsemen's Outdoor Show down in Lewiston. Hope to see Bob and Lea there. I also hope it doesn't rain too much. Tomorrow is John's birthday too! Fun stuff.

What a weird day it's been! My son got sick last night, bad fever, ears and sinuses hurting. I can't say I mind too much, he's so cuddly. As long as I keep him medicated he swears he's not sick and he wants to go play. But this afternoon his fever was up to 102 and I figured I better have him checked for an ear or sinus infection. So we made the trip to Pullman, which takes about 40 minutes. Right when we were ALMOST to the doctor, my cell phone rang, and it was the school telling me my daughter is sick. With something completely different. Sounded like a stomach bug. John was in Seattle so I didn't have any backup. I turned around and made the 40 minute trek back. When we got there she was in an incredible amount of pain, couldn't sit or lay down, she was just pacing the hall. Said it felt like when her appendix ruptured. So I figured we better get her to the doctor too, and turned around and headed back to town. We drove through every kind of weather today. Hail, snow, wind, rain, glorious sunshine. It was definitely spring weather. The doctor, if she was one, couldn't help us, other than to tell us we can't be helped. They most likely just have viruses. Which is good, but it's been a crazy day.

Sorry, no horseplay today! I might get out there and play with Tonka before the sun goes down. I'd like to try his new Easyboots on him.

Oh yeah, I forgot to write about his Easyboots. I have been wanting a set for him, for when we go on rides that just might be too much for bare feet. Not that he's ever indicated that he can't handle it, but he does get abscesses every now and then, and I wonder if it might be from bruising. Anyway, I got a great deal on a once-worn pair on eBay and they got here yesterday, with comfort pads in them and everything. I've never seen Easyboots this big! They're weird looking. They should fit his big feet just fine. Now I just need to be on the lookout for some size 3's for his hinds.

"For what the horse does under compulsion... is done without understanding; and there is no beauty in it either, any more than if one should whip and spur a dancer."

Xenophon.

Tonka and I had an absolutely wonderful day yesterday, and a great one today as well, though our time today was short.

I've been knowing that I need to work on loping the boy, but haven't done it. Footing, laziness, aversion to arena work, etc... There are always excuses for doing nothing. But the Expo made me realize just how badly I've been allowing my horsemanship to stagnate. Gotta move forward... When we worked on loping before he was having trouble picking up the correct lead. I think it may have been mostly a saddle fit issue. Probably not helped by my riding. :) Yesterday we made a couple trips in either direction at the lope, and he did great. It's nice to have the safe footing and clear area of the arena to work in. I think I'm going to start trying to get over there 2-3 times a week. Hopefully he'll soon start to get some muscle tone back. He's not looking so hot lately.

Today I watched a video on clicker training. Alexandra Kurland's The Click that Teaches. It was basic but good. There are a couple really basic things I've done wrong when trying it in the past. So today I went out and found my clicker in the tack shed and tested it to see if it was clicking right (my son messed it up a little). Tonka headed eagerly in my direction and followed me along the fence to the gate. Think he remembered that sound? We did do some very basic preliminary work with it a year or more ago. Maybe he just really wanted something to do. But I think he probably remembered the clicker.

I filled my pockets with treats and haltered him, then worked on targeting. I didn't have a lot handy, so I grabbed an empty wormer tube. He didn't like that a lot, but he's not a freak about worming so I figured I wasn't setting him up for failure. He'd touch it, I'd click and treat. He got his targeting on that down pretty good, then we went to a lariat and I pointed to it and asked him to touch it, and he did several times. Then I put him away. He really didn't want to go back through that gate. Maybe I should have taken him for a walk. I wanted to keep it short and sweet though.

I sat down to break the treats into smaller pieces and of course I had a very interested audience. Cisco and Bella were dying for some goodies too. I decided to try it with Cisco, over the gate, because he is very pushy about treats. I used the end of the lariat as a target, a wormer tube would have been too hard for him. It took him a little longer, mainly because he was so focused on my pockets. I was also not using the voice command "touch" to ask him to touch it. I was just sticking it out there. He did a lot better when I added the voice command, and was consistently touching the lariat instead of mugging my pockets and hands. Good boy. Then I let Bella touch it once and clicked and treated her, but I'll have to get her out away from the other horses for a real session. I could work with Cisco with Bella there only because he wouldn't allow her to interfere. Bella would have gotten pushed away by Cisco if I tried to work with her over the gate.

Boy, sorry for the long and boring post. I better get back to doing more productive things now.

I think John found a new sport to love. I'm so glad he went with me to Albany. He kept dragging me back to the Extreme Cowboy Race. I wasn't complaining too much :)

So guess what we did on our first full day back?
Loaded up and went to play in the arena.

Yep, I think he's got the bug.

The absolute best performance

Mustang Sally and Laird McCabe

Stunning. You had to be there.

Because my pictures definitely do it no justice.

That's it for me tonight. Going home in the morning, and maybe tomorrow night I'll have some pictures of mustangs in the Extreme Cowboy Race tonight. Maybe not though, these pictures are wearing me out.

Those of you staying for the Cowboy Race finals, have a blast! Wish I could join you!

After a tack change, Jackie and Kahlua

Bella and Kyle jumping

Dribbling

Keith Danielson and Hooper Hannah finished 9th

The way she carried her head was not very attractive, and I wonder if that affected her price.

Keith didn't do anything flashy, which sounded like the right thing to do for Hooper Hannah, since she was still not real relaxed about people and their crazy ideas.

Kahlua and Jackie Sigloh finished 8th

More...

Meg and Dave

Nope, he's not beating his horse, just cracking a whip.

This was pretty cute, she made sure she got her treat for laying down before he could get started with his whip.

Still Meg and Dave
She's a good cowhorse

Bella and Kyle Churchill finished 5th

I still have about 300 pictures to go through and post the decent ones, bear with me...

Dave and Rudy did take this jump bareback, but my camera didn't catch it.

Kevin and Princess finished 10th

David Bosen and Meg finished 3rd

More...

Corinne and Wild Horse Annie stopping that calf.

By the way, in the previous picture of her jumping the faux flames, she would have used real flames, but the facility wouldn't allow it.

Scott Zimmerman and Dynamites Destiny finished 6th

They're dragging tin cans here:
That's a stock whip in his right hand.

"My" horse, Rudy, with rider Dave Weeding finished 2nd

(No, I didn't adopt Rudy, I just called him my horse all weekend)

Side passing:

Still more to come...

Nine of the top 10 Weston with rider Jasmine Ison finished 7th

Corinne Elser riding Wild Horse Annie finished 4th

Posting pics 5 at a time to keep them in order. More to come.

I wish you all could have been here! It's been quite a good time. I'm exhausted and I never want to sit in bleachers again!

Here are the results in the bidding:

Hip number, horse name, trainer name, adoption amount, placing

(I apologise in advance for my misspellings of names and gaps in information.)

1. Meg, Dave Bosen $850 3rd place
2. Flicka, Whitney Campbell, $125
3. No info (horse didn't come?)
4. Bella, Kyle Churchill, $2700 5th
5. Hooper Hannah, Keith Danielson, $175 9th place (poor girl didn't have the looks)
6. Wellinton, Cheryl Elser, $675
7. No info
8. Wild Horse Annie, Corinne Elser, $400 4th
9. Charlie, Josh Fitzgerald, $600
10. Traveller, Erin Gray (Grey?) $800
11. Chino, Scott, $1100
12. Weston, Jasmine Isen (sp?) $2000 7th place HOME with trainer
13. Robin, Erica, $825 HOME with trainer
14. No Info
15. Faith, Dawn, $1000 HOME with trainer
16. Mustang Sally, Laird, $2000 1st place
17. Miata, Becky McPeters, $1400 HOME with trainer
18. No info
19. Hope, Denise, $350
20. Visalia, Brent Rawlins, $475
21. Aspen, Kimberly Ross, $500
22. Candace, $1500, HOME with trainer
23. Kahlua, Jackie Siglow (sp?) $725 8th place
24. Atta Girl, Shelley Simmons, $625 HOME with trainer
25. Princess, Kevin Sink, $1650 10th place
26. Mini B, Cassie, $600
27, 28 No info
29. Rudy, Dave Weeding (sp?) $3500 2nd place
30. Steve Holt!, Tracey Westbury, $575, HOME with trainer
31. Malachi, $375 HOME with trainer
32. Cayuse, Janie, $5000 (trainer included a cattle dog pup with horse)
33. Dynomite's Destiny, Matt Zimmerman, $1500, 6th place.

I got lots of pics (895) but I'm going to take a nap before I go through them all and get them ready to post.

'Nuff said, eh?

Results for Day One of the NW Extreme Mustang Makeover. Finally! Click on this picture for a bigger view:

I'm not able to click to enlarge that, so if you have the same problem, go here: http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b189/mesteno/MakeoverDay1Results.jpg

Here's Kevin on his Kiger Mustang, Dino, in the Extreme Cowboy Race. Boy that is one nice horse. I saw him in the stalls and he stood there calmly, with sweet eyes, not showing any of the nervousness or strange behavior a lot of the other stallions exhibited.

Here's my nifty new shirt. I love the design and colors.

Going back for the riding portion of the Makover tonight at 7:00. Wish them luck!

So yesterday was lots of fun but it took a lot out of me. I was up at 5:30 to feed, then in the car at 7, didn't get here until 4, immediately went in and sat down on bleachers until 8. My back is already starting to complain today.

BUT, it was worth it. Here are the pictures I promised. Bad quality, I suppose I picked the wrong setting, but I got some that weren't blurred, which is a plus. These are in no particular order, I'm having trouble moving them around on the blog for some reason.

Keith Danielson of Hooper Crossing Ranch is a trainer who has trained a couple of my sister's horses. He makes a nice soft, responsive horse. I think he'll do real well in the ridden part, and he did well in the in-hand.

Kevin and Princess. They did AWESOME.

Kevin and Princess coming into the arena. Isn't she a good looking girl?


Tracey and that handsome Steve Holt!

Tracey and Steve Holt!

This horse here is the one I would bid on if I were going to take a horse home. I didn't get his name or his trainer's name, but they're from Montana and the horse is super furry. He is hip #29.

Here's a picture of all the NW Extreme Mustang Makeover trainers in a huddle, discussing the course with the judges. While I was looking at this picture I realized I never saw Jamie, who was supposed to be competing, go through the course last night. I know she was having some trouble with her horse... I wonder what's up.

This lady and her mustang (from a Makeover last year) competed in Craig Cameron's Extreme Cowboy Race. This horse has only been in training for 10 months and competed with a lot of older seasoned horses. They did pretty well. This lady is also competing in the Makeover with another horse. You can tell her NW Makeover horse trusts her. The horse is quiet and not too worried, putting her faith in her human. I like to see that.

Those are all of the pictures I have to share right now. I'll definitely have more. The show ends pretty late tonight so I might not post the pictures until morning. The Horse Course, which is the ridden part of the competition, starts at 7:00 tonight. I'll be Twittering along, but I won't promise up-to-the-minute scores, since it seems that's not the way its done. I will post yesterdays scores when I get them, hopefully this morning, either in the body of the blog or via Twitter.

Oh, so someone who shows - can you tell me, why do people hold the lead so close to the horse's chin? Is that good show form? I don't know much about showing, but I know my horses prefer to be left a little room on the rope.

I'm off on my Horse Expo Adventure! I can't wait to check out the vendors. Maybe I can buy a new saddle pad and use it as a butt cushion on the bleachers :)

Hey all. Sorry I didn't get scores for you tonight. I'll get them as soon as I can. Maybe they'll have them available tomorrow.

It was lots of fun tonight, but I am toast. I got lots of pictures for you but they'll have to wait until morning.

And I'll just share with you something you probably don't want to know. I sat for over 13 hours today, not counting dinner because the bench seats at Denny's aren't too bad. My butt hurts...

I promise, I'll post pictures as soon as I'm up and have my coffee ready.

I'd like to say I'm all packed and ready to go, but that's not quite true. But I'm close! Here's one of the things that sidetracked me:
I put a cool new decal on my car! I didn't mean for it to come out so small in the picture, but I don't want to take the time to go back and edit and re-load, so I'll just tell you it says, "My other ride is a mustang." I like it! I ordered it on eBay, and it came in more of a square format, with the horse underneath, which I didn't like. Then, duh, I figured out I could cut it and put it however I want to.

K, I hate to do this to you. I mostly hate to do this to me. I hate pictures of me. It's like self-torture. I don't so much mind candid pictures, but mug shots I do not like. I never figured out how to smile for the camera. But, in case you're going to the Makeover, and I don't know what you look like, but we pass each other, maybe you'll say "Hey, are you Andrea?" Here's my mug shot. Blech.
If it's really cold I'll be wearing a green ski-coat. If its not so cold I'll be either in a green Cannon Beach sweat shirt or a brown sweat shirt with a floral pattern on it (not as dumb looking as it sounds. At least I hope not.) And if it's warm, who knows, I have several shirts packed...

We'll be off bright and early in the morning. I love a good road trip. I will probably take a bunch of pictures of scenery that looks great in person but not so good on the camera. I might even bore you with them later. I've driven this route so many times I could do it blind-folded, and I have all my favorite stops planned out. But usually I turn right at Portland, not left. I've only done that once in my adult life, on my way to a Pete Ramey clinic. The traffic was awful. We should do better this time, hitting it sometime between 1-3 instead of right at 5:00. I'm hoping we'll have enough time to spare to shop at Culpepper & Co in Troutdale. I've always wanted to stop there but usually I have kids and it's too much trouble. I was going to link to their site but it's not working. It's a big western store, with Pendleton blankets, western art and housewares, stuff like that. I haven't been there but I've seen some of the stuff my sister bought there.

I should stop babbling and go to bed. Well, finish packing first! So, good night!

Results for the NW Extreme Mustang Makeover will be sent to my Twitter, and thus my Blog, through my handy Cell Phone. Ahh, the joys of technology. You can see the Twitter widget to the left there. I could probably have posted directly to my blog through my husband's even handier cell phone, but that would be too complicated for my techno-tard brain.

I never thought I would be a Twitter-er. But it's just too handy for this sort of situation. I stole the idea from the Pioneer Woman.

Getting ready for the big trip! Taking the car in to be worked on today. The brakes are acting suspicious. I figured I better get that looked at before we go on such a long trip.

I've also got to move a stack of hay that was rudely left naked to the elements when my hay shelter (Costco tarp carport) ran away a couple days ago. If anyone sees a stray carport, let me know, it may be mine. Probably crumpled up in a ditch somewhere like a dead spider.

Then I'll fill all the troughs, mix Coda's supplement in handy one serving baggies, and go get my mom so she can sit on the kids. Whoops, I mean babysit. Farm-sit. Whatever. I'm just glad she's willing to do it! We haven't done anything like this, with no kids, in years! Can you tell I'm excited?

Wow, that health clinic was fun. Cisco wouldn't load. My bad. I haven't worked with him on loading for probably 3 months, and I knew he had a problem. I think it took a half hour. He finally went in when I put treats in for him. I don't think I could have gotten him in otherwise, short of force. I thought he'd be fine with Tonka in there, but apparently it's not a herd-bound problem, but a trailer fear. Tonka and Bella both loaded right up. I had Scout all ready to go too, but after the fiasco with Cisco, I just didn't want to deal with him. He would have been a handful at the clinic, and it turned out even well-behaved horses were a lot to handle there, due to me being only one person... This is the only picture I took:
You can't really see them in there... I wish I had taken more, this was Bella's first big girl trip, not hauling loose. Really kicking myself now. She rode in the back on the way there, and in the middle on the way back.

I am so impressed with Bella, she was the most well behaved of the three of them at the clinic. And no shutting down today. Cisco and Tonka weren't bad, but Tonka was fidgety (he'd been in the trailer for at least an hour by the time it was his turn) and Cisco is pushy as heck.

I assumed I'd be able to tie them at the trailer but there was no room to do that, so I was one adult with 3 horses to manage. I am so glad my daughter was there to help me. She held horses while others were being worked on. There was another guy there who held Cisco for me for a long time. Very nice of him. Finally I was able to load up Tonka and Bella (Bella again loaded like a pro) and had only Cisco to manage for his brand inspection.

When I got home I gave Scout his strangles vaccine. I wasn't quick enough to get it on the first try when he didn't know what was up, so it became a little bit of a struggle, but finally I just grabbed onto his lip real well and got it done. They sure don't like that tube in the nose. I wouldn't either. Will have to do boosters for the 4 of them in a few weeks. Fun. Seems to me I shouldn't have to boost Tonka, since he did get the strangles vaccine 2 years in a row, but since he didn't have it last year they said I need a booster.

So now my 3 adult mustangs are legal to travel. Yay! I have lifetime brand inspections on the three of them now. Nice to have that out of the way. I just wish you could get a health certificate that lasted longer than 6 months.

I watched my neighbor pull a calf today. Poor cow! She was really thrashing. But when he backed the tractor away she stood up and there was the wee calf at her feet. Like a good mama she started to clean him off. I hate watching things like that. I think I may be too much of a worrier to be a farmer. Glad it ended well.

This afternoon I went out and did the various methods of estimating Scout's adult height. All of them, aside from one (which said he'd be 21 hands, teehee) agreed that he will be between 15.2-15.3 hands. That's about Tonka's height, and that's just fine. I'd also be happy if he stopped at 15. I just hope he doesn't stay small like his mama. He's currently 13.3 hands, and almost a year old.

I thought I'd share my favorite shedding tool with you all. Again. I know, I do this every year, but I love these shedding blocks. Farnam sells them for around $5 to $7, but I go to the restaurant supply store and buy a grill block for $2.50 and cut it into probably about 5-8 shedding blocks. You run the corner edge along the horse and it pulls off the loose hair. When the corner gets dull or dirt-clogged, you scrape it on a t-post until it's square again. Works great. Smells like rotten eggs.

Here my handsome (and hairy) assistant will help demonstrate:

(That's Scout in the background. Growing as we watch.)

I think we're going to be able to get out to go to the health clinic tomorrow. Here's the hill on our driveway that I was worried about being too icy. It melted fairly well, and I did a silly jig all up and down on one side to try to slide the slush out of the way.

From the top:

From the bottom:

It was good for Tonka to have to chill with me while I did my silly slushy shuffle, because he's been worried about the driveway lately. Some birds scared him, and then the neighbor horses scared him (well, actually just the one hiding behind a bush) and he figured it was a bad place to be. Today he stood there and gave me his dopey face. Then he browsed on some bushes. I gave him an inch and of course he took a mile, and I had to drag him away from the grass and bushes the rest of the way.

When we got back down to the bottom, here was beautiful Bella waiting for us.

I made this Google Calendar a couple weeks ago to try to organize in my mind what events I want to go to with my horse. I thought I'd share in case anyone local finds it helpful. What's really cool is that you can click on the day you want to look at and all the detailed info pops up! Neat! I plan on updating it periodically, but it's kind of time consuming so I can't guarantee everything is on there. If you know of an event in the Eastern Washington or North or Central Idaho area that I don't have on there, tell me and I'll add it. Here's the address for the calendar: http://tinyurl.com/b48dyd

Hmm... It will only show this month. How irritating. I'll try to figure that out later.


I took Scout for his little walk yesterday. He was very alert and a little worried at times, but really a very good boy. We didn't go to the highway because the road right near there was all packed snow. Too slick to be on the end of the lead rope of a freaked out horse. We went the other way instead, and then turned around and headed home. Some horses were calling to him and he got pretty excited, tried a little hop skip & a jump, twice, but came back under control fairly easily. Then when we got home I tied him up and groomed him and touched up his hooves. He's a little crooked in the hind feet so trimming a tiny bit more often is a good thing. I also wanted to make sure he looks good for his trip to the health clinic on Saturday.

Alas, it looks like he won't be going to the health clinic. My son got a pretty bad fever yesterday, along with a bad cough. My mom was going to watch the kids while I took the mustangs to the vet, but she has a bad immune system so can't do it with sickness around. I may still take the ones I know won't freak out, Tonka and Cisco & maybe Bella, and make the kids sit in the truck. Assuming the snow on the driveway melts...

Thanks to having a sick boy to cuddle, I didn't play with any of the big horses yesterday. And I had wanted to ride while the ground was still frozen. Oh well...

A funny quote from my son last night: "Oh thweet! I just coughed up some phlegm!" We all cracked up. What a strange thing to get so very excited about.

Now that I've grossed you out, let me share a totally unrelated discovery with you. Splenda may not be not good diet food. I'm not talking from the point of view of those people who think processed foods are bad. But yesterday I was looking around, and it looks like Splenda may have a higher glycemic index than sugar. Which means that it raises your blood sugar even more than sugar does, which will keep weight on, not take it off. Not to mention being bad for diabetics and hypoglycemics. Straight sucralose is fine, it's the filler they put in Splenda, maltodextrin, that raises the GI. Now, I also found sites that recommended it as a good sweetener for diabetics, so either they didn't do their research, or the other sites were wrong. I don't know which is the case, but I'm going to switch to agave nectar, which has a low glycemic index, for my coffee.

It's still cold. It was below zero when I got up yesterday and 4 degrees this morning. Luckily though, it's supposed to get above freezing today and way up to 47 tomorrow. I sure hope so, because I need to be able to haul horses out of here on Saturday, and in order to do that I need the snow on the driveway to melt.

Angus, ready to go potty:

Poor guy, this cold weather really hurts his feet when he goes outside. It's funny how putting socks on him made the rest of him look so naked. But don't worry, we put his foal blanket on him before he had to go out into the big cold world.

I'm not going to let the cold keep me from the horses today. First order of business is to take Scout for a walk. I might take him down to the highway again. I need to see if he can be calm there, because the vet's office where the health clinic is being held is next to a highway.

Hope you all enjoy your day!

It's COLD. I went out to feed and it didn't take long to realize I was under-dressed, even with my coveralls and big huge coat. I needed a gaiter for my face and a scarf and a sweat shirt and, most of all, gloves that weren't wet from a day of horseplay and hoof trimming. They were soon frozen, as were my nose hairs and lungs. It's 4 degrees, which I realize could be worse, but for some reason I was expecting teens and dressed for that.

John had to work late tonight because one of his employees was "sick." He's making his way slowly home on very icy roads. I tried to talk him into getting a hotel room for the night but he "didn't want to deal with that." I'd rather he dealt with that than wreck our truck or worse. But he knows what the roads are like and I don't, and he'll be careful. I have a feeling it's going to be a long wait though. Which is why I'm here babbling at you.

Tomorrow India goes in to the vet to get a tiny suture taken out of her eyelid. And then I hope not to talk to them again for a LONG time.

I can't think of anything else to bore you with. Ooh, now it's 3 degrees. I think I'll go climb into my warm bed.

Scout.

He's still a cute baby.

He's enthusiastic (and did I mention cute?)

He's very kissable.

And he could totally be a rock star.

He cracks me up. He'll come up and do something he knows isn't acceptable, all the while mouthing, "I'm a baby I'm a baby, don't hurt me!" Do all babies do that? I figure he'll grow out of it in a year or so.

His mama on the other hand, she didn't have me laughing today. I feel like she may be more than I have the patience for. Don't get me wrong, she is NOT a bad girl. But she shuts down when she's worried. Just closes her eyes and stands there. Which requires great patience. My gut reaction is to startle her back "awake" but that's what not to do. I need to wait her out, show her it's not scary, and build her confidence. And find some more info on how to train a horse like her. I'm going to rent the Parelli horse behavior DVDs. I know there's some good info there. Any other suggestions?

It's been a weird weekend. Friday at 2:30 am I woke up with a horrible migraine type headache. Numb tongue and hand, my head hurting so bad I thought I would puke. I haven't had one of those in many years. I spent most of Friday in bed feeling like I'd been hit by a train.

Saturday we went shopping in Spokane and came home on some really nasty roads with bad visibility because of the snow. I couldn't drive because of my head, and usually I'm a really bad passenger but I did just fine. Only once did I grab my "oh shit" handle and hit my imaginary brake. Then we headed over to Palouse for dinner with the in-laws.

Sunday, the first day after the time change, was a little weird. Too lazy. Not enough structure...

Now, to horse things. Today I had fun with Scout in the round pen and then trimmed his hooves. The idea was that I'd go for a walk with him while Coda ate his goodies, but Coda freaked out and forgot all about his food when I took Scout away, so we had to work close by.

Later in the day I went out and grabbed Bella for a walk up to the mailbox and down the road. It was pretty unremarkable.

What is with this? It's got to be Tonka's doing.

"Care for some apple pie?"

I spent some time kissing on my goofy boy and being mutually stand-offish with Bella. I find that sometimes she's more willing to interact if I don't invade her bubble. Then she'll invade mine, sniffing noses, and we'll end up on good terms, rather than me forcing my attentions on her while she leans away.

Later I had more horse work to do, but it was more of the gate-opening, trough filling, fence fixing type of thing. Not very interesting. I suppose most of this post has been a little boring. Such is life here lately.

There's a horse health clinic on Saturday that I need to take some horses to. Unfortunately I forgot John isn't available on Saturday. I was going to try to cram 4 horses in the trailer but now I'm not too sure I can do all that at once by myself. This vet is only 5 minutes away so I might make 2 trips. I'd like to get health certificates for Tonka and Cisco for sure, and maybe Bella and Scout. At this clinic they're only $35 each instead of the usual $90ish. Good deal. I think I'd better take all 4 of them. I hope they have a brand inspector there too, but I forgot to ask.

Gotta read to the boy. Good night!

Linda asked about halters, and I have some new pretty rope (plus it wouldn't hurt to bring in some funds for my health certificates for the year) so I thought I'd post an offer to make some halters. Halters for $15 and halters with rings for $20 (including parcel post shipping). 2 or 4 nose knots, your choice.

The left rope shall be named rope #1 and it is 1/4 inch. The middle rope shall be named rope #2 and it is 3/8" thick. Please ignore the right hand rope, I used it yesterday for my makeshift rhythm collector. Rope #1 would be better for a 4 knot halter. It is possible to make a 4 knot halter out of rope #2 but it's bulkier.

I also still have lots of 5mm thick black kayak cord, like this halter Tonka is wearing here:

Here's an example of rope #1 with 4 knots and rings. This is Kristi's new halter. The colors don't show correctly in this picture.

One other thing I have, and I think they're pretty nifty, are these nigh-unbreakable "clips" for lead ropes or reins. I say "nigh" unbreakable because I think they actually are unbreakable but I can't guarantee it. Haven't the facilities here to test their strength. :) These sell for $17.95 each at the only other place I know to get them. I'll offer them for $10 each or $15 for a pair, including shipping.

I was down in Lewiston looking at saddles the other day. I found one I love. Who knows whether it would fit the boy. But it got me thinking I really should get the new saddle sold so I can yet again be on the lookout.

This is a very lightly used (less than 20 rides) Circle Y Flagstaff Flex2 saddle. 16 inch seat. Circle Y calls it a "regular tree" which I think is equivalent to semi-quarter horse bars. The gullet measures 7.5 inches but this is a narrow fitting saddle. Which is why I'm selling it. It pinches my boy. Other than that I love it. It's comfortable and secure, and good-looking too! I'm selling it for $1000 firm (not including shipping).


Not much going on here today. The horses are hunkered down trying to stay out of the storm and so am I. I will probably go pester them in their stalls later. Maybe trim Bella's hooves.

Darn that Tracey, she tagged me. Something about sixth folder and sixth picture. Well, I went to the 6th folder, and then the 6th folder, and then the 6th folder - oh wait, scratch that last 6th folder - and then the 6th picture. It turned out to be in the month of 6/06. The 10th day of that month, which happens to be Lyric's birthday. And this is what I found:

Laura leading Lyric. Lyric was ours then but belongs to Laura now. She loves him. I love him too, but I like loving him from a distance. Isn't he gorgeous? The butt in the foreground belongs to miss Emma. She's a draft filly I sold when I decided I was crazy to want to ride a horse that tall.

Today Tonka and Scout got to come out and play. Scout was just a spectator tied to the round pen, fidgeting and fussing with the rope and occasionally chewing on the wood, the little stinker!

Tonka got up close and personal with the porta-potty.

Anyone in there?

Then we tried out this Rhythm Collector type thingie (stolen idea from Richard Shrake). Tonka wasn't really getting it, but eventually he did start trying to find the sweet spot.

After that we walked up and down, up and down, up and down the driveway. He's become very spooky in the trees. By the last trip up and down he was breathing normally. At the bottom of the driveway I discovered I didn't have any reins, but luckily I had a halter and lead, so we rode back to the trailer.

I decided to turn him out with the fat horses. I don't want him getting any more alfalfa. I had cut him back, but I think none is a better amount.

Here's what he and Cisco are up to now:
Thumb wars, horsey style.
"I'm taller!"
"No, I'm taller!"
"No, I'm taller!"
And then it progresses to:

I finally caught them at it with the camera nearby! Nevermind that the pictures are blurry.

Unlike the fighting between Bella and Cisco when she was trying to keep him away from Scout, Tonka and Cisco aren't trying to hurt each other. Tonka's just trying to annoy his way into the dominant position, and Cisco's not buying it. Yet. Tonka is a VERY persistent horse.

Wow, blogging is a time-consuming exercise. I better get back to my real job. I have kids to nag about homework and chores, and chores to do myself. And I need to locate my husband. He's been all over the countryside today.

Busy busy busy. I finally committed to buying some hay from my brother-in-law's brother (is there a shorter name for that relationship? Drives me nuts having to spit all that out) so we went and picked up two tons yesterday. I barely had to do any of the work since Larry helped load it in the truck. When we got home I just pulled bales down out of the truck for John to stack. I felt slightly cheated, not getting to help out. But not too much. They're big bales.

Then later Scout got to go for a big walk around the property. John and I talked about totally rearranging the way we have the place fenced so we can get more hay out of the place and use the unhayable areas for the horses. So we'd fence the big hill. And I won't be able to watch them out my kitchen window anymore. :(

All of the horses got a little attention yesterday while we were moving them to different pastures. I had Tonka all groomed to ride, but my mom told me it was pouring just west of us so I put him away. It never did come down hard until after dark, but oh well.

Today I went to the feed store. Since the kids were waiting in the truck I rushed through and picked up what I needed. The guy who checked me out laughed and said I know how to spend money fast. These critters are expensive. Luckily part of it was dog food or I'd feel even more guilty about how much these horses cost.

When I got home I had a dilemma. Work with horses or get some work done? Well, I did both. Warning: Unglamorous pictures below.

I cleaned out stalls while these three got to stand tied. So I guess I worked and they didn't, but it was good training time even though they weren't working. They need to learn to take a nap instead of being impatient. Tonka's good at that, but even he was a little antsy today.

I like this BellaButt picture.

Back to the unglamorousness of it all. I wasn't sure whether to post my nasty muddy pictures. But you know, I don't live in sunshine every day, and lately mud is my world. Never fear, they do have places to go to get out of the worst of the mud (my pastures, which they are ruining) so I refuse to be ashamed of their dirty habits. Why do horses love to coat themselves in filth? They all got groomed, which took me forever, and I am now filthy, but they were clean. Probably covered in mud again by now though.

See ya later, more work to do. It never ends...