Anchor is still making wonderful progress. Check out how well he's leading!

Yeah, it's not perfect, but it's great.

In other rather mundane news, I cleaned off my desk today! Seriously, I barely had room to use the mouse.

I thought I'd take a few pictures to share with you all.

A beautiful blue won by Tonka, a pot my daughter colored for me, inside which are some dried gingko leaves from my grandpa's tree. Lying flat is the one and only shoe I have that was worn by one of my horses, which I pulled immediately upon purchase and never had her shod again. The cool cowgirl postcard book I got at Cowgirl Chocolates.

Cards I made and never sent. I am horrible at sending cards, even Thank You cards. It's one of my bigger sources of guilt in life.Tonka! Tracey made this for me a couple years ago. It actually lives in a baggie because I can't stand the thought of it getting dusty.

Still a mess, but a more organized mess. Horse books, horse magazines, horse shoes, horse videos, papers about horses... I think I might be horse crazy. And I love that hat. I got it here.
My rope is now out where I must look at it and remember that I meant to make things. I'll make halters with the colored rope, maybe a few fiadors with the white, and I think I'll turn the half finished cotton lead into a couple sets of hobbles.

I adore this bumper sticker that Della gave me a long, long time ago. The cards - Christmas cards I never sent. Hoping to do so this year. Maybe I should start now. The pen cup is one of my treasures. It came from the Appaloosa Museum before they were forced to stop using that design.
So, I hope I didn't bore you to death! This is just a very small sample of some of the things I'm sentimental about. It could never post them all, and if I did it might drive you nuts! If I remember, I might start a Sentimental Saturday tradition here at Mustang Saga. That might be fun.

I challenge you to post pictures of some of your tiny treasures on your blog. If you do, leave a comment here so I can come look!

I have been unmotivated and somewhat busy lately, so Anchor has been on the back burner. Today I finally got some time with him. He's leading MUCH better now. I still wouldn't take him out for a walk, but it's possible that if I had to he would stay with me. I even got him started lunging a tiny bit. I'll have to get a video later.

He has a bellyache. I think it's just gas. Could be he's not drinking enough water, but I don't know. I'll keep a close eye on him.

I was able to get right up close to him while he was laying down, but then he decided it was too much of a risk and got up.

Here he is waiting for me to get done getting after Huckleberry, who'd gotten stuck in the round pen (where he isn't supposed to be) because his e-collar wouldn't fit under the rail he was trying to go under.
Cisco's been in the round pen since yesterday. Fencing issue... Took down the power to the barn, Scout figured it out immediately and plowed through the temporary fence keeping the horses separated, so they were all mixed together. Cisco tried to kill Soxy last time he got in with her so he's in time out now. I'll hook up my battery powered charger and move him back sometime before it gets dark. Isnt' he cute?

Is this not the saddest thing you ever saw?
Actually it bothers me more than it bothers him. He's looking at something intently, not sitting dejectedly like you'd think.

Cone-headed dog on the sledding hill.The view out my kitchen window. I love those tamaracks. Or larches. Is there a difference or do both names apply to the same type of tree?

I think I have the autumn sads. I don't like it. It's hard to get out of bed in the morning and hard to keep moving throughout the day. I haven't even wanted anything to do with the horses lately. Have to find some way to change that. I'm thinking vitamin D and maybe one of those light therapy thingies. And kicking myself in the pants to get up and get moving more. I really should quit drinking coffee but I'm not really willing to do that.

This is the calendar I'm ordering for 2010. You should get one too. Two adorable BLM burros are showcased throughout. I've always wanted a burro, but George and Alan have made me realize I can't possibly just have one. And I can't have any right now anyway, so this beautiful calendar of George and Alan will have to do.

In other news, Huckleberry is at the vet recovering from his neutering. Poor pup. I'll go pick him up this afternoon.

Today is a rainy, nasty day, but I did manage to play with the tractor some earlier. I pushed all the leaves that the boys raked yesterday into a huge pile.

Not much horse work done, other than getting after Scout for thinking he's king of the hill. Butthead thinks he can pin his ears at me when I feed. I think I'm going to have to get serious about putting a stop to that. I still haven't started working with him daily.

Anchor is sad and lonely, he kept calling when I was out and about. I'll go play with him here in a minute, but maybe not for long if it's raining too hard. Yesterday I loved on him, worked on his feet (he's not progressing there, just stays the same) and then stuck my fingers in both sides of his mouth. Today I think I'll squirt some applesauce in there with a syringe and see what he thinks.

Blah. It's a very blah day.

Tomorrow I head up to hang out with my sister in the Chemo Suite. One of these days I'd like to write about that. It's quite an experience. So many people, all with different cancers. So many beautiful, bald women, with hats and handkerchiefs, wigs, or even going au natural. Somehow the men seem to lose their hair less. Different chemo I guess. People from all walks of life. Some are hopeful and bright, looking forward to their cure, some are barely hanging in there, not doing so well. My sister said last week, "You don't have to look far to find someone worse off than you. Especially here." It's sobering and sad but also surprisingly somewhat uplifting, seeing the love of a wife for her husband having chemo, or the courage of every person there. Lots of people sit and visit with their neighbors, or you can watch TV with headphones. Some sleep, or just zone out. A common thing to hear there is, "So, what's your cancer?" which leads to stories. Stories that make me wonder at how strong a person can be. Pretty amazing.

I've got an award from Tracey at Mustang Diaries. It's a little different from a lot of the ones out there. See below for the info on it. It's a bit more flattering, since it's only passed on to one person at a time. And while I don't see myself as fearless, I really appreciate the award! I didn't expect to get one. (Keep reading to the bottom and you'll see that I'm breaking the rules by passing it on to two people but I think I'm justified.)"This award is dedicated to those horse lovers and riders that inspire others to go deeper in ability, knowledge and understanding of the equine(s) they have been entrusted to."

"The good of the horse is the ultimate goal apart from pressure's to achieve ribbons and fit into lesson schedules."

"These riders are fearless, when it comes to weather conditions and the forecasting of them...being with their horses, fills these folks soul and takes the cares out of the daily routines."

"They are unconditionally loving to the horse and may have rescued it from known ailment or living condition. Others have researched and purchased/acquired their horse, to find a difficulty in temperament or a physical burden within the animal. Yet, being dedicated, they have persevered to proudly be in partnership with their horse, lovingly striving for deeper awareness between them."

"They might have been riding for years and suddenly had an accident that takes them away from the great joy and freedom they have, being aboard such a magnificent animal. They have allowed the healing horse to rise in their hearts once again, and beckon them back."

Intrepid Riders Faction~ "We strive to go where others only dare to go with our horse loves...healing, riding, playing, camping, jumping, swimming and traveling down the trails of life...with the horse in heart~overcoming many obstacles and sometimes weather, to ride!

"There are not many rules to this award- just:

1. That you give it to only one person

2. Link back to this post, so they may have an understanding of it's nature, and

3. You may use any or all of the above written descriptions."

I've given some thought to who I'd like to give this to, and I'm going to give it to someone who doesn't have a blog, or even internet access. My sister Amy totally deserves this award more than I do.

About eight years ago she bought an emaciated quarterhorse yearling with slipper feet and a horrible load of worms. It was love at first sight. She eventually got him healthy, although he always did have problems after being so infested with worms. He gave her so much trouble. He was a pill. One story she told me had his butt so high in a buck that it was against the back of her head, and he had his head tucked so she couldn't see any horse at all below her. She stayed on somehow, and the guy she was riding with was white as a sheet, telling her he thought she'd be leaving there in an ambulance. Many a time she had to match her move to the rhythm of his buck, wait for his head to come up so she could grab his halter and pull his head around, with a few choice words about his parentage. He wasn't an easy colt to ride. Unwilling and opinionated. But no matter what anyone said, she never gave up on him. She put so much blood, sweat and tears into that horse that she could never, ever consider selling him. Despite it all, she loved him deeply.

Well, years later she finds that he has a genetic disorder that makes certain things very uncomfortable for him. EPSM or PSSM is a disease where the horse ties up. He was in pain all those times he said he wasn't gonna do what she asked. (Well, maybe sometimes he was just having a good time.) It had gotten so bad that his kidneys were compromised. Now he's on light work only, and nobody knows how long she'll have him.

She held him up despite all the people who put him down and she made him into a darn good horse.

Now it's his turn to hold her up. She has advanced breast cancer that is requiring very aggressive treatment. He carries her steadily through her chemotherapy, giving her something to lift her spirits between the bad treatments. Taking care of her. Nursing her back to health. Giving her something none of us can give. He's an angel in horse's clothing.

Her courage kept him, and now he gives it back. I think they both deserve the Intrepid Rider's award. (And of course my Tonka sneaks his way into the show here.)
Now, I don't want to end the chain of Intrepid Rider's awards in the blogosphere, so I'm also going to have to award it to a blogger. So I'm kind of breaking the rules, but I can't help it. I know just who to give it to, but I'm not sure if she'll be real excited to get an award. I tend to worry that people will be irritated at the trouble they have to go to for them.

I award it to Carmon of Life at Star's Rest. She has been struggling with cancer over the past year, but has had some excellent news recently. She works with mustangs, often troubled mustangs, bringing them back to mental and physical health. She also teaches people, and I'm sure her teachings are the kind that should be passed on. Her compassion and love for horses is great. Her horse Griton is absolutely beautiful and he is just ready to start working again after training, learning to trust, and then a long period of intermittent lameness. For many reasons Carmon absolutely fits the bill for the Intrepid Rider's Faction. If you don't already follow her blog, check it out.

The Old Red Barn Just Ain't What She Used to Be
It wasn't built with that forward tilt.

It really seems a shame to have to tear down such a neat old barn. It's much older than I am. But it could kill somebody one of these days. So today I backed the horse trailer up and started loading it with junk from in the barn. Mostly garbage, but some of it was still worth keeping. I also started taking off some of the old metal hardware on the doors, and took a few of the siding boards off, just to see how that would go. I'd like to save as much as I can, maybe to side a smaller shed or make rustic picture frames or signs.

I couldn't stop taking pictures of this window. None of them seemed to turn out as emotionally moving as the scene seemed in reality. I love the piece of grass that's growing inside though.

Then there's this door, which wasn't quite as photogenic as I thought.
Or maybe it 's my photography skills. Or the camera. Must be the camera's fault.

We took a little trailer ride over to my sister's barn for a ride today. I picked up a friend of hers along the way, and her young horse was very cute and very well behaved.

I tried out the new bit. It was fine but he was a little heavier in it than he is in the bosal. I'm not sure if part of that wasn't because he had thought we were done but then I bitted him and got back on. He wasn't extremely well behaved after that. Not that he's ever all that bad.

Amy's dogs hung out hoping someone would throw a dirt clod for them.
Here's my sister, in pink of course, and her friend in the background. Tonka's ears were stuck like this today.Levi, being cute:
It was a good day but now I'm tired.

Today I went on a fun field trip with a friend. We went to look at used tack up near Coeur d' Alene. That woman has my dream job! Rooms full of glorious used (and new) tack! I was like a kid in a candy store. Even so, this is all I walked out with:
I passed on a padded britchen and now that I'm home and looked up what they cost new I'm kicking myself. I might call her and ask her to hold it. Or just wait to find one another day. It's one of those things I want someday, but I don't need it now.

I can't wait to see what Tonka thinks of that bit. Hopefully I'll find time to try it out tomorrow. I might even just slip it into his mouth tonight. I'm a little worried it might not be big enough. It's a 5 inch and I've been riding him in a 6". (Update - I tried it on and it fits just fine!)

I didn't have any time for Anchor today, but I did hear from his owners. They didn't offer to let us keep him. :( It bummed me out a lot more than I thought it would. I don't know yet when he'll be going home. I'm hoping I'll get his feet fully trimmed by then, but we'll just have to see how it goes.

Anchor leads! He followed me all the way around his pen and then got some treats and gave a big sigh. I think he was relieved to realize that's all I really wanted.

However, going around the other direction with him wasn't as easy. He'd get stuck and he did bolt a few times, but he only spun and got the rope around his neck once. The other times he gave to my pull on the rope, turned toward me and stopped. I'd call that great progress.

In another exercise he was having trouble moving his hindquarters away and was crowding me with his head/shoulder so I did have to bring my hand up and block his head at one point. He didn't like that but he didn't crowd me like that again and he started paying more attention and moving his hindquarters the way I was asking.

I put more pressure on him today, just expecting him to step up to the plate and do what he was asked rather than being reactive. It worked beautifully. He was a little shaky but he was responding correctly and in the end he did lead around the pen in the way that had been difficult for him. I gave him the last of my treats (which he consistently takes from my hand all the time now!) and gave him a good jaw rub and called it a morning.

Poop. It's everywhere. This is how much Anchor has pooped while he's been here. Actually, John took one tractor bucket full away, so he's pooped more than this. He's a poop machine, even more so than the others.
What's your poop plan? Do you clean stalls daily? I try to, but don't always. Do you clean outdoor areas also, or just indoor? I should, but I don't. What do you do with it once it's cleaned up? We have a big poop pile. Someday we'll have to get rid of it somehow, but not for quite a while yet.

Scout had a swollen leg for some reason but it's better now. I cold hosed it once and then I remembered that I have these nifty ice pack inserts.

They go inside a support boot. I love them. I loved them a lot more after I came off Tonka the last time. I would lay down with one under my head and it really helped with the pain.
They don't give you the massaging action of pressurized water from the hose, but you don't have to stand there forever making mud. Apply, go do some chores, and then come back and take it off. It's great. My only wish is that they'd stay cold a little longer.
Isn't Scout getting big? He still looks like a baby but in these pictures he's shockingly stocky. Maybe fat would be a better word. I need to get this kid some exercise. (See, more poop).

Speaking of fat...

Cisco says Hi! (Even more poop.) He'd also like to tell you that he's hungry. All the time. So much so that he'll eat poop if there's nothing else to eat. Anyone know of a good treatment for that? Or a source of info on lifestyle changes for fatties? I'm pretty sure he's insulin resistant. Our mare Soxy is the same way.

Tonka says Hi too! He was a big help while I adjusted tension on the fence today.

Hope you had a wonderful day today! I did.

Anchor had a very big day today, with many visitors.

Anchor is such a handsome fellow.

Here we have just a touch of gore to brighten your day. My friend's horse Lyric had some stitches that needed to come out.

So I pulled them for him. Looks like the wound is healing very well! He was an angel, didn't even flinch.


Here we have Anchor learning to lead. I love the look on his face.Asking him to back for the first time. It didn't scare him as much as I thought it would.

He took a treat from my hand! I had to kind of make him keep his head in place and hold it on his lips. It took a little bit but eventually he took it. And another, and then a handful.

I stole a kiss too! I've been wanting to kiss his soft nose for a while now.

A classic Mr. Ed moment:

Things didn't go extremely smoothly today. He bolted away and got the rope stuck under his tail twice. He didn't like that. But we did manage to end on a good note, and I found out that he loves Berry Good treats. Unfortunately they're expensive and I'm out. I'll see if he likes peppermint horse treats tomorrow. I have lots of packer pellets and they work well for him, but they don't inspire him like the Berry Good treats did today.

Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts about Coda. It was harder than I expected, but I still believe it was the right thing and that helps.

Five years ago a horse was rescued. He could have died that year, horribly, in a slaughter house. He didn't, and he has touched so many lives since then. He has brought joy. He has been Golden. Every child who has had their first ride on him will keep him forever in their heart. As I will keep him in mine. He has been loved by many, many. He has kept our little ones safe, and brought smiles to their faces.

He has done his job well.

Rest in peace, old man.

Coda (Skipper's Gold Rush)
April 1, 1979 - October 14, 2009

Scout is a baaaad baby! Here I've been thinking how sweet he is, and it turns out that's just because I haven't been asking him to do anything. He had his hooves trimmed today and he was a HUGE pain in the butt. I've got my work cut out for me... I'm going to start tying him for long periods and he's got to learn to behave better with his feet and quit being so pushy in general on the ground. Probably not a lot of work involved, but handling him every day would be a good starting point. Although right now I'm frozen, I smell like a horse turd, and the idea of working with a horse isn't very appealing.

Tonka wasn't extremely well-behaved either. How embarassing. He tends to test me a lot, I just expect it, get it over with, and go on. So I guess it makes sense that he'd test a new person trimming him. He learned not to do that. Hopefully he remembers and we don't have to go over it again later.

John made Coda's appointment for tomorrow. We decided to take him to WSU to have him euthanized. I realized the only reason I was thinking about burying him here was for the kids, and I don't think it will really matter all that much in the grand scheme of their lives. The longer Coda has to stay in this cold the more miserable he is, and getting a backhoe or excavator just wasn't happening right away. I am so glad John is taking him in for me. I can't hardly stand the idea of it. If it was at home I think I would have been able to handle it, but not at WSU.

Boy, now that the appointment is made it's really getting to me. This is real, and it sucks.

I think I'll go take a hot bath, get warmed up and wash off the horse stink.

Well, for the first time since the saddle rolling and concussion incident, we loped! It was way more nerve wracking than I thought it would be. But I didn't fall off, he didn't fall down, and it was actually kinda fun! He picked up the wrong lead a couple times and crossfired once, but mostly we did just fine. I'm sure I'm the one screwing him up there because he's been loping pretty nicely in the round pen, for the most part. I wish I knew why he is suddenly okay with loping after hating it and being totally uncoordinated earlier this year. The cold weather making him frisky is all I can come up with. Or maybe there was a physical issue that got better. I would have possibly thought it was this new trim, but he was doing fine that same day before the trim. I really don't see a difference in his way of going since then. Whatever it is, I'm glad he's moving better. Because I can learn to ride better but I'm not sure I could have made my horse quit being a klutz if he couldn't even lope on his own.

I think the next thing to work on is counting cadence at the trot and feeling when I need to cue for the lope so I'm not messing him up.

Oh, and he's mighty handsome in his new pad. I found my camera but the battery was dead. One of these days I'll get a picture.

I'm not sure where my camera is so I'll give you pictures from the other day. I never was able to edit the video. Just picture me on all fours cutting his toes and baby talking, with him watching suspiciously, checking with me every now and then by sniffing at my face.

Where'd my toes go?

Before:

After:

You can see he still needs his heels brought down as soon as we can manage it, and there may have been a little founder going on in that foot, but I think he'll be just fine.

John and I had a wonderful anniversary weekend. What's with all the anniversaries? Linda, Lea, and I all chose a great time of year to get married. Unless you were getting married this year. It's too darn cold this year. Although I suppose you could get married inside.

John bought me an awesome new saddle pad. I hope it's as great as I think it's going to be. It's a Classic Equine ESP contoured pad. I used to scoff at memory foam pads, because I know they compress when heated, but this one has so much felt bottom and woven wool top, I think it will be a good pad. The pattern isn't as pretty as the non-contoured pad they make, but it was so stiff and square I was afraid it would press down on his withers. On this one there's lots of soft padding through the bars and relief through the spine, without bulk at the bottom. Tonka and I tried it out last night but it was COLD and my legs were going to fall off so we didn't ride long.

We rode right in front of Anchor's pen, and boy howdy did he think that was strange! He staaaared at us, and if we got too close he'd do a little spin and then stare some more. Funny. I wonder if his owners ever ride around his pen at home. I made sure to dismount while he was watching, then I petted Tonka a bunch and put away the tack. After that I took Tonka up to where I keep Anchor's treats and fed him a bunch right in front of Anchor. He got interested enough to come up and sniff real deeply, but he wouldn't take a treat from my hand. I've also been making sure to pick up all of Tonka's feet whenever I'm sure Anchor is watching. I don't know if it makes a difference, but I'd like him to see that it doesn't hurt.

Today Anchor made progress toward halter breaking. He's giving to pressure pretty well and was even following me around in one direction. In the other direction he'd cheat. He'd step sideways kinda sorta toward me, but the foot that was stepping would always sneak behind the other foot, so he was kinda sorta stepping back at the same time. He would also occasionally get overwhelmed and spin/bolt/rear away from me. Which would get the rope wrapped around his neck so I'd have to flick it forward over his head, which he didn't like but oh well, he made the decision to put himelf in that situation. After a few times of that he realized it was easier to give to pressure and get his release than it was to bolt. But we're really going to have to work on getting to the point where he realizes bolting isn't going to do him any good. Otherwise once he goes out he'll get loose.

All in all, things are good.

Two posts in one morning. Yeah, I'm bored. Not that I couldn't be doing dishes or something. But I don't want to.

So I saw this dogfood commercial recently that advertised "prebiotics" in their food. I had never heard that term before. I finally got around to looking it up.

Probiotics (which I feed to my horses) - dietary supplements that contain (rather than promote) beneficial bacteria.

Prebiotics (which I just learned about) - non-digestible food ingredients that stimulate the growth or activity of bacteria in the digestive system which are beneficial to the health of the body. Typically, prebiotics are carbohydrates (such as oligosaccharides), but the definition does not preclude non-carbohydrates. The most prevalent forms of prebiotics are nutritionally classed as soluble fiber. To some extent, many forms of dietary fiber exhibit some level of prebiotic effect.

I stole this info from Wikipedia. My niece isn't allowed to use Wikipedia for reports at school because "anyone can put info on there" but I consider it to be at least somewhat reliable, and good enough for my own needs most of the time.

I don't think I'm going to worry too much about whether I'm adding prebiotics to my horses' feed. They get plenty of fiber and carbs in their hay.

On another note, I am so excited! We get to go drop the kids and have a fun time shopping around Spokane and go out for our anniversary dinner. If John doesn't mind Greek I'm hoping to go to Opa! They have this appetizer called Flaming Sagnaki that is really good even though I'm not usually a fan of that kind of cheese. And it's served on fire, which is always really fun.

We're hopefully going to stop off at a tack sale and then drop the kids, then shop for a TV stand at my favorite store in all creation - Cost Plus World Market. I might buy some new glasses for the kitchen. We have too many that match right now, I like to keep them all different so we know whose is whose (and variety brings spice to life). Then a stop at the feed store. My dream day! We'll have to go to Home Depot too so John can look at tools. I feel like there was something I needed from there too... My memory is terrible lately! I was telling my sister yesterday that I think I caught her Chemo Brain somehow.

Speaking of which, funny story. My sister was visiting with one of her neighbors, who is kind of a smartass, and he suddenly blurts out, "So what's with the hat?" like it's ugly and why would you wear it. She, being a smartass back, says, "I'm bald. I have cancer." She assumed he knew, but he didn't. He was mortified, but she had a good laugh at his expense. Poor guy.

Yesterday was a good horse day. I let Anchor have the day off and I hauled Tonka over to my sister's. It was cold and windy so we never did end up riding, although I did ride for a few minutes when I got home. But I did work with him in the round pen a bit. He had more energy than I've seen in him for a long time. Probably mostly the cold and wind getting to him, but I haven't ridden him in a month or so either. He was offering to lope! He hates to lope. So I took him up on his offer and he threw in a rude buck or two but he did lope nicely around quite a bit. Perhaps we'll be able to get to work on that under saddle soon.

On another excellent note, I got to watch someone else toil away trimming his hooves. It was wonderful! His sole gets so hard and it's a job I really wish I didn't have to do. Now I may not have to, because I think I may have finally found someone who does a good job. I'm excited. A friend of Amy's is working toward certification as a Natural Balance trimmer. She's new enough to it that she still cares about doing a good job, and her trim looks great. I love it. I have a few reservations about Natural Balance, mainly how they do their rocker and dress the hoof wall, but I'm willing to give it a try.

So I think I'm a saddle junkie. My sister bought a Wintec western saddle, and aside from the fact that I'd be embarassed to be seen riding in a synthetic saddle, I really like it! It's way more comfortable than my heavy, expensive, custom saddle. Tonka seemed to like it too. And she's wanting to possibly get rid of it. But three saddles for one horse - ridiculous! Ooh, but hey, Scout will need a saddle next year... I wonder if it would fit him. And then I'd have to get a job to feed my saddle habit.

Oh, and Tonka kicked my puppy yesterday! The dumb puppy insisted on playing behind him, and I was distracted by my sister, so I didn't catch it in time, and next thing I know - yipe yipe yipe yipe yipe! He was fine, although my sister said he did get launched a little ways. Hopefully he learned a lesson. I got after Tonka too, but I'm not sure he really got it.

12 degrees when I got up this morning. Frozen pipes. Dang it, I forgot to close the pumphouse door. Luckily the pipes don't burst when they freeze. We've got a heater on out there now.

"School is a safe and inviting place to learn and take risks." This is something my son's teacher said, and I'd never thought of school that way. I've never really thought of taking risks as good, but duh, kids do that all the time in order to learn what works in the world and what doesn't. I myself could do with taking a few more risks instead of constantly worrying about what might happen.

I thought of the teacher's statement this morning as Anchor bobbed his head up and down, back and forth, unsure, obviously wanting to try something but not sure whether it would be okay. I love that he's thinking about trying things, seeing what works. I love that he's starting to see me as a safe place to try. I especially loved the two times he touched me today, even though he startled and thought something terrible was going to happen after he did it. He sniffed me lots of times today, and he wasn't willing to do that before, other than the one time a while back.

I will get back to Anchor in a minute.

Tonka went back to the vet for a re-check on his eye today. The vet was stumped, because it's not bothering him. So the little bit of cloudiness that's left could be scarring, but it was never a big enough wound that it should scar. She introduced me to a new term. She told me to "benign neglect" it, which apparently means look closely at it twice a week, make sure no blood is pooling inside the eyeball, and leave it alone unless something is wrong.

I also got quotes on euthanasia for Coda today. WSU charges $265 including disposal. I couldn't possibly be the one to take him, they make you sit in the waiting room crying and filling out paperwork and then a foreign vet you barely understand comes and asks you questions. I've done this before, can you tell? John could take him though. As an alternative (and this was the original plan) this vet charges $150ish for a farm call and euthanasia and we'd bury him here, so would have to rent an excavator. I'm still not sure what we're going to do, but it needs to be done soon. I know we were so lucky to have him for so many years, he really surprised us all, but I wish we had more time. He's very unsteady on his feet and easily confused now. And the temperatures are really dropping. :(

Back to the good stuff. Why would you possibly need a hacksaw and a chisel in your horse work? Hoof trimming! I got Anchors toes knocked off on his front feet today. He wasn't ready to pick up his feet, and my nippers couldn't handle this amount of overgrowth anyway, so I bought a new blade for the saw and dug out a couple chisels and a hammer. He did SO FREAKING AWESOME! I would post a video but my computer is stupid and won't let me edit it, so I can't. I might ask John to figure it out for me, because it's so darn cool I just have to share it. It's the worst trim job I've ever done but it was a wonderful accomplishment. I think he feels better now. I also think he foundered on one front hoof at some point.

Overall, it was a wonderful horse day.

A few quick thoughts on Anchor. Linda asked if he'll keep his training when he goes home. I can't really say. I sure hope so. It really depends on his owners. It's going to be a huge time commitment.

Another thought based on what Linda said about having to hurry with Beautiful's training. I think everyone probably agrees that there's a happy medium. It's not good to rush faster than the horse can handle, but I also think it's not good to take your sweet time gentling a mustang. They're going to need their hooves trimmed and other routine care that you just can't give them if you don't get your work done with them. And wouldn't if be awful if they did something stupid and were really hurt and you couldn't get near them to treat them.

Again, it comes down to a huge time commitment. But all horses should be a huge time commitment. They deserve your time. Especially if they're kept in unnatural conditions (such as a stall). If they're in a herd they probably do just fine if you leave them alone, but you'll find out on farrier day or the day of the big ride whether your lack of time with them was detrimental to their training. Bottom line is, all horses need some care, which means they need some time and training. Whether you're able to worm them, trim their feet, have them treated by a vet, etc. is a direct reflection on the amount of effort and time you've put in. Who was it who said, "Show me your horse, and I'll tell you who you are," or something to that effect? Boy, I'd be nervous meeting that person. I think he's long dead though.

I'm not claiming I'm perfect. Tonka gets rude in situations where he's nervous, like at the vet's. He's fidgety most of the time. Scout still gives me some trouble at hoof trimming time. Everything is a work in progress. I'm just saying horse ownership should be seen as a responsibility, not a hobby, not just fun. Although I do think it's fun. :) And I know I'm preaching to the choir. I guess I just felt a little babbly this morning.

I haltered Anchor again last night, gave him a pile of treats, and then took the halter off.

Today was not a walk in the park. He didn't want that thing going around the side of his face and slipping over his nose. Or maybe he just didn't like the body position I have to get in to do that. Kinda threatening, really, with my right arm raised by his neck and my left arm coming at his nose. While we weren't progressing on that we were making a lot of progress on giving to pressure and even some lateral flexion with the halter on his neck.

I decided to give the other side a try, turned the halter inside out and turned him around. It was a no-go, I could tell right away he wasn't ready for that, but it made me realize how far behind he is on that side. So we got caught up a bit there.

So I went back to his left side and started again and ended up rubbing all over his face except his soft tissue on his nose. His chin was touchy too but I did rub there a bit. His lips were not as big an issue. I asked him to give to pressure off his nose bone, which he did beautifully. Also his jaw bone, but understandably his head had a tendency to pop up a bit. Then I reached under and rubbed his jaw and lips on the other side, eventually slipping the halter up that side and over his nose. Once I had it tied on I gave him several treats, then I took it off and put it on 2 more times, with rewards each time.

So what started out rough today (and I admit I was getting frustrated) ended up passably smooth. I hope he remembers and is easier rather than harder next time.

I have so much to tell you today! I shouldn't have decided not to blog yesterday.

So.. Yesterday I roped Anchor. NOT in the classic sense of the word. I slid the rope over his neck and fed the other end through the metal ring on the end. Then I worked it up his neck and we worked a bit on releasing to pressure, but really most of his time was spent learning to cope with the rope. He'd spin away and get it wrapped around his butt or over his back and he didn't like that.


When we were finished I felt like this whole exercise really brought him forward in the trust department. He was scared to death, and then he was fine. It was a good learning experience.

Later in the day my sister was able to come over and visit with him for the first time. She couldn't stand it, she had to try "round penning" him. In her experience that's how you train a horse and she thought maybe it just hadn't been done right. She was very low key, no agression, just assertiveness when needed, and she just asked him to walk, with a few trot transitions, changing direction now and then. By the end of maybe 5-10 minutes of this he was stressed, breathing way harder than he should have been for that amount of exercise and he had checked out. Head turned away, wouldn't look at her, would do as he was told, would allow a touch, but wouldn't interact in any way.

This was a little bit of a setback for me, but not much, and it showed me that I hadn't misjudged when I decided which way to go with this horse. So really it was a good thing.

Someone commented that he's sure setting the pace. He is, and I'm totally fine with that. There are times when the horse needs to be allowed to set the pace, wouldn't you agree? He's been unhandeable for almost 3 1/2 years, I'm not going to feel bad that it's taken me almost a month to get a halter on him while keeping him mostly comfortable with the whole process. And that with over 9 days off because I had family obligations. This particular mustang needs humans even less than any other horse I've met. He could easily have been dubbed untrainable and sent to the canner. But he's coming around. To see his face asking me "What should we do now?" rather than resignedly waiting for what I'm going to do to him is like - well, I can't even tell you. It's beautiful.

This isn't to say I haven't ridiculed myself in my head over the time we're taking. Thinking proudly of how far we've come, looking forward to showing my sister our progress, I then imagined what people who watch Clinton Anderson would think of all this. Why couldn't I just put him in the round pen for a couple hourse and have him broke to ride? Well, I can't and I won't, and I'm not sure anyone could. So that's that. You take the time it takes, and you ignore the jibes, even if they're your own.

Oh wait - did you catch that? I said it's taken me blah blah blah to get a halter on him.

Look at my big brave boy today!
In the picture above he's enjoying his treat reward just after I tied the halter on. Not a flattering picture but it kind of shows my rope setup. The ring allows the rope to slide freely. Don't try this with a rope that's going to bind down on their neck and not come loose easily.

Then my versatile mustangin' rope becomes a very long lead, with just the addition of a snap.

He's doing just awesome.

He gives to pressure beautifully on his timid side, and not quite so well on his brave side. But that's normal. We didn't work long once the halter was on. We'd been at this for a while and I figured this was more than enough progress for one morning.

I told him I'd take it off again if he let me put it on, and I kept my word. We'll go through the whole process again next time. I can't wait to get back out there. But for now I've got a to-do list that's going to take most of the day.

Just Playing. :)

The Many Faces of Anchor

Today we made great face progress, but also something more. It's that intangible thing that he's holding back. Trust, try, interest, working-togetherness, letting-down-of-the-guard, friendship? That thing you can't make them give you. You can't train them to give it to you. You can only keep giving your best until you earn it. All the good intentions in the world won't earn it, but time, patience, and quiet consistency will. I don't know what to call it. It's not really there with him, but there was something like that peeking through today occasionally. I think if I didn't have these human goals he might have an easier time giving it to me, but I'd like to send him home halter broke with his hooves trimmed, so I'm making sacrifices. Hopefully he'll get that "thing" with his owner. Then I wonder, have I got it backward? If I forgot about getting a halter on him, would that "thing" come? Would everything else then fall into place? I don't think so, not that quickly. But there's no guarantee this method will get me there that quickly either. For now I'll keep going, feeling out the situation, and trying to get a little bit of both.

We are back home. And it rained! The dust is gone! Oh glorious day. Eventually I'll get tired of the wet, but not yet.

The funeral was interesting. It was good to see everyone but I couldn't help thinking I wished my grandma was there too. She would have loved a get-together like that.

Huck was so happy to get home. I underestimated how difficult it would be to travel with a puppy. He was attached to me by a leash most of the time. Some of the time he was in his crate. He didn't get a whole lot of chance to run and play. And he missed his doggie friends.

We saw bighorn sheep in the Gorge both times through, and we saw a whole bunch of mule deer somewhere near Hooper. One of them was suicidal, but John managed to hit the brakes hard and fast enough to avoid it. That sure puts some spice in life.

I have a cold, or maybe the flu. I had a fever. That makes it the flu, doesn't it? I can never remember the difference. I think the fever is gone but the coughing and snot aren't much fun.

An update on my dog who "isn't quite right" and I fear she has cancer: bloodwork was normal. Which is good, but we still need to figure out what's up. He wants me to treat her for an ulcer and worm her. If those don't make a difference we'll do a chest x-ray and look for a tumor.

The horses seemed fine when I fed last night, except for Coda, who is having more trouble getting around. I don't want to dwell too much on that right now, but his time is coming. I am very late to feed this morning so I'd better get off this computer and get to it! More Anchor news will be reported as it happens. :)