Yesterday was a good horse day. Well, it started out that way.

Scout got to stand tied while I groomed him and played with his feet, then I left him alone for quite a while. I thought he'd fidget a lot but he didn't. He just stood kind of sideways with his butt dangerously close to the electric fence.

I brushed his mane and forelock. I think it's the first time I've ever done that, other than just some spot work on tangles. His mane is very long and thick, and it's lost that puffy punky pony look but it's still not as sleek as his mama's.

He has his mama's mustache though! It's not as long and impressive as hers, but then he's still just a baby.

Huckleberry, my good little sidekick. He's getting so big. He starts Kinderpuppy classes next week. I figure with a dog this smart I better do this right.

Then I got Tonka out, and it was one of those days.

He says, "I feel much better now!"

Look at this sweet face. He's so cute and innocent.
Or not.

I tried something yesterday, and I thought I was being careful and smart. Last time Soxy got beat up she was in with both geldings, and I thought maybe they were both trying to claim her. I had her in with Tonka and Scout for a few days recently and it was fine. It would make more sense for Soxy and Cisco to be together because they're both fat. So I tried it. I put them together yesterday morning and watched them all day. Not a problem in sight.

Last night when I stepped out to feed though, it was a different story. There were thundering hooves. In the moonlight I could see him latched onto her neck, she was running as well as she could with him hanging on to her, trying to kick him. One of them was squealing but I'm not sure which. All this time I'm running. She got away from him but he kept at her and was kicking her. It was awful. I had to get in there and smack him with a whip until he moved off, then I had to continue to hold him off because he kept trying to come back. I finally got her out of there and we did some walking to cool her down. When she dropped her head to graze there was a squeaky sound. So I think there is probably a broken molar. She had a slightly bloody nose but her front teeth are okay.

So now I'm trying to get a hold of the equine dentist, but she's not answering, and the other vet isn't sure he can do much besides look at her and see how bad it is. Sounds like if it's a real bad break we'll have to get it extracted at WSU.

Sometimes I wish I didn't have to muddle through life learning from my stupid mistakes. But really I thought they were okay with each other after such a peaceful day. From here on out I'm not going to put Cisco with any mares, period. He and Bella really went at it too.

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.

My darn horse ran me over! Well, almost anyway... I was soaking his jaw, squatted down next to him while he munched away on his hay, thinking sweet thoughts about what a nice picture he made out there in the dim moonlight. My mind wandered to John's riding lesson and I don't remember exactly what I was thinking about when suddenly - wham! Tonka's leg slammed into mine, and I would have stayed on my feet except his lead rope (which I didn't even need on him, but had left on after giving him his antibiotics) was kind of part way around my leg on the ground, so down I went, Epsom salt water flying. Boy did I cuss. I'm probably lucky I wasn't hurt, and with nobody here to save me... Good thing Tonka was bolting away from me, not over the top of me.


We had a good but short ride up at Melissa's today. I found one of my tires almost flat when I was going to leave, then she had a few things to work on with one mare and a tack issue with the other, so we didn't actually ride for very long. Which was fine. Tonka took a long time to relax, so it's probably good we didn't just get on and go. He was tense and twitchy and not listening. Too much inactive time while he was in quarantine.

The sheep wandering through the trees seemed to be something he wasn't too sure about, even though he's seen them before. They sure look sinister, drifting from shadow to shadow...

Definitely need to keep an eye on those creepy sheepies.

And when we got back Fiona and Wilbur were there to greet us.
John and Cisco's lesson went really well yesterday. The trainer likes Cisco and thinks he's a good match for John. Said he probably wouldn't be winning any races, but that's just fine by us!

Before I got that happy call from my vet I went out and spent time with Bella and Scout. They've been kind of neglected lately. Bella was doing that "if I don't look at you, you don't exist" thing again. Scout was getting kinda big for his britches, trying to come in with his ears pinned at feeding time. They were both angels today. Bella did a little groundwork and then got groomed and had her hooves trimmed. Scout just got taken out for a good grooming session. They both worried about each other while the other was gone. They were also both very muddy. I renamed them Clumpy Mud Mama and Clumpy Jr. Oh, and I measured Bella. She's 14.2 hands. Which is a bit short, especially since she's not real stout. Hopefully she'll grow some more, she still has time. Maybe.
Below is Tonka's abscess. Not that gross, really. The raw part is the size of a quarter, and the swollen part is about the size of a ping pong ball. I asked the vet if I had to do the antibiotics, because they make me nervous, and he kind of got irritated with me. Not that he showed it, really, but there was a long pause there... He basically said I had to if I didn't want my horse to have to have surgery eventually. Good news is we're keeping him on the mild antibiotics for the first two weeks, and hopefully we won't have to use the "big guns."
See Tonka's bad haircut on his forelock there? He got a cockle-burr in his forelock that got stuck in his ear and he must have rubbed it and felted it in there. Nothing I could do but cut it out.
This here picture is just plain weird. Looks like a two headed horse with one head attached backward, with the ears at the shoulder. Actually it's Tonka making a face and Scout looking at him. Tonka was so glad to be free. He ran and bucked for about 10 minutes, but of course he waited until after I had gone inside.

So I guess Tonka's problem isn't a fungus, but it acts like one or something like that. It's a bacteria called actinomyces. The vet wasn't at all worried about it being contagious. I don't know if it's from the same thing as it was a couple years ago, or if this was a new piece of cheat grass or splinter.

John asked me to hitch up the trailer for him today so he could practice loading Cisco before they go to their lesson on Wednesday. He's showing a serious interest in working with his horse! I love this! Cisco was a good boy. He is worried about the trailer, but he loaded well many times. The only time there was a problem was when I hooked his lead through the Blocker tie ring. He just backed right on out of the trailer when I turned to leave him there. So then I hard tied a rope and John loaded him and snapped it on his halter and shut him in the divider. He did some serious leaning trying to back up, but it helped when we stood and petted him, me at his head outside and John rubbing his back inside. I think he's afraid of being alone in there.

I have a head cold and I'm alternating between feeling pretty good and staying busy, then feeling awful and wanting to crawl in bed. I think I better get Tonka's compresses and medication done early so I'm not exhausted and feeling sorry for myself later. Have a good night!

John worked with Cisco in the round pen today. It went very well. I think Cisco knows what round pen exercises are all about, except maybe inside turns. He hooked on to John and was doing great, then John worked on rubbing him all over with the training stick. Cisco is afraid of it, so it will take some time for him to relax with it, but he wasn't taking off or anything, just tense. Then they did some work on the halter and lead and we talked about where a horse should walk in relation to his human since Cisco lags a bit behind. After that we walked to the trailer, John asked him to just consider going in, and he did, so we put him away.

Meanwhile... Tonka was having a little fit! Squealing and grunting like a pig, bucking around in his quarantine pen. This was the first time he's seen another horse for almost a week. He wanted to play too, poor guy. It's got to be awful being locked up like that with no outlet for his energy and no company.

This afternoon I was thinking I wanted some coffee but I got out my new Pilates DVD instead. It was hard, but not nearly as hard as I expected after hearing from other people. I did a 20 minute workout and part of another one. I'm going to start doing Tai Chi as well, and we're going to get John's parents' treadmill. We've also made a commitment to start eating better again. You could say we're starting our New Year's Resolutions a month early. I'd like to be a better horseman and rider, but I'm so out of shape it's not even funny. I've been watching Chris Cox and dreaming of going to one of his 6 day clinics (never going to be able to afford it, but I can dream) and thinking there's no way I could do it, it would kick my butt. So I'm going to do my best to get my "powerhouse" more powerful, myself more flexible, and just overall more able. And maybe I'll look better in the saddle next year too. :)

I joined HorseFlix today and I can't wait to get my first video. I'll probably be doing "reviews" on the stuff I watch in case anyone is interested. At least a thumbs up or thumbs down I suppose. Speaking of which, I watched GaWaNi Ponyboy's Horse Follow Closely for the first time yesterday. It's very basic stuff. In the beginning he had some ideas I hadn't heard before, so that was food for thought, but the rest is just round penning, sacking out, giving to pressure. It also really bothered me that he chose to use a lame horse for his roundpenning demo. Its hooves needed a trim pretty badly, so that might be all the problem was, but whatever it was, it was enough to make him limp, which to me says he doesn't have the horse's best interest in mind. You don't run a lame horse if you don't have to. And even if you somehow know it's not bothering the horse, why choose that horse for a demonstration that is going to be put on a video? For my purposes, I'd give it a thumbs down, but for a beginner it's decent information. You'd probably get more from watching a different clinician though.

I just thought I'd check in and let everyone know that nothing has changed here. It's all become so boring and regular, and I haven't got much to write about.

The weather has been awful and the ground is so saturated that the horse areas are muddy even in places where the ground usually stays fairly solid. I'm glad that they at least have their dry stalls to go into. I cleaned the stalls today and had fun hanging out with the horses. Cisco and Bella don't like each other, they make seriously nasty faces at each other over the panels. He's nice to Scout though. Scout got a hold of my broom at one point and was flailing it around and Cisco really wanted to play too, it was cute. Later I left it where Cisco could get to it and he pulled the top off of the handle trying to pull it through to his side. I think I may have some great entertainment someday when all the boys are pastured together. I might have to get them some toys.

Tonka wasn't as accomodating about having his warm compress done tonight. He was just a little fidgety. It seemed like it might not be draining as nicely either. I might have to really work at the scab with a scrubby rag tomorrow. Ouch. I keep complaining about having to do all this but tonight I realized I should be glad I'm not him. All alone except for two visits a day that include doctoring that is probably at least a little unpleasant. And the abscess probably hurts all the time. Poor guy.

Sorry I don't have anything more interesting to write about. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to get something done with a horse or two so I'll have something to tell you about.

Today I took Soxy for a ride out at Melissa's. Tonka got the day off thanks to an abscess that is brewing under his jaw. I really think it's just caused by cheat grass or something since he doesn't seem the least bit sick, but just in case, I left him home.

It was fun to ride Soxy, she's just a steady old horse. She was kind of eager to move out, which is funny because she's so out of shape and gets winded so easily. But I'm glad she had fun.

Here are some of the sheep. They all cleared out when they saw us coming, so this was the best picture I could get.

Melissa's sweet Angus. Isn't he just the cutest dog?He sings with her donkey, Peaches. And he's an excellent livestock guardian.

My sweet Angus. Isn't he just the cutest dog?

He was giving me puppy dog eyes because he wanted food and he knows he's not allowed to whine at me or I won't feed him. He is an excellent eater of food.

They don't know that I think they're both the cutest. But they are.

Oh, and in other news... Tonka got his jaw clipped. He is very afraid of the clippers. His legs were shaking and he was kind of jumpy, but he stood still for me like a good boy and let me get the job done. That'll make it a lot easier to see what's going on when the abscess ruptures or I lance it. Will keep it cleaner too. Then I moved him in the dark, took him up to the front door to recruit help and put him out in the mustang pen all alone. I hate making him live by himself. Hauled him some water and gave him lots of hay and called it a night with him. Tomorrow I'm going to try to get a sample of the goo so the vet can culture it. I'd hate to have strangles on the place and not know it, go about my business and end up infecting other horses. So I'm going to cover my bases.

Today Cisco redeemed himself after his bad day last week. He had decided that instead of getting into the trailer he was going to spin and bolt. I couldn't stop him and he got away 3 times. Tried more often than that, but I'd found a way to anchor him with a long rope and stop him. He still kept trying though. So today when I got home I decided to try loading him with Soxy already in the trailer. He loaded very well. A little skeptical at first, he had to back out a couple times, but then he stood in there with me very nicely while I fawned over him and told him he was a good boy. Then I put him away.

That's my horsey day!

I forgot to tell you all about the crazy weather that came up yesterday. It was nuts! I was out riding Cisco and my cell phone rang. It was my sister so I assumed she just wanted to chat and I ignored it. Turns out she was trying to warn me to get off the horse. The weather hits her house before it hits mine since she's west of me.

So I'm sitting there on Cisco and this noise starts building and building. The trees start blowing and it just keeps on building. A tumbleweed blows by and leaves are coming down the driveway like they're out to get us. And the wind is still building. I decided to get off just in case, and watched the show. Huge patches of dark fog were blowing by very quickly. The temperature dropped 20 degrees in about the same number of seconds. Cisco wasn't acting worried so I got back on and worked a bit more. Which I later regretted because by the time I got him put back and everything put away I was FREEZING. But it was probably good because I don't want him thinking I'll get off every time the wind comes up.

What was interesting was the way Cisco reacted to the storm. While I was with him, and while he was tied and I was putting things away, he was fine. Watching everything, but not worried. As soon as I put him out and he was on his own he was scared. Not freaking out and running around, but obviously uncomfortable. I think that says a lot, that he is willing to trust and that having someone with him makes him comfortable. I'm still just tickled pink about this horse.

Cisco has been ridden every day since we brought him home. John and I rode together yesterday. It didn't go as well as it could have. Cisco was a little bit quick on his feet and tried some head tossing. Next time I'm going to ask John to practice one-rein stops. I think that will be the key to solving the problem. He'll quit rushing if he has to stop all the time and he won't toss his head if he isn't being pulled back on.

Today I took Cisco out to the round pen. (Tonka was watching very closely from back at the barn, I think he was jealous.) Poor Cisco totally doesn't understand why anyone would want to ride in a small enclosed area. He's all about going somewhere, and he knows where the gate is. :) I tried the one real curb bit I own, a really gentle low ported one. It was no good, we weren't communicating. I went back to a snaffle. That was SO much better. I think the key with him is going to be one-rein stops and riding with two hands. I don't know how anyone every got along on him in a curb, unless he was just going down the trail with his nose up a mare's butt (as his old owner put it). He stops great no matter what bit, but he wasn't neck reining very reliably. Then again, it could be me.

Tomorrow I'm going to very reluctantly leave my Tonka at home and take Cisco out for a trail ride at Melissa's. Not that I won't enjoy riding Cisco, but I wish I could ride two horses at once. I need to really get an idea of what makes him tick and how he's going to behave before I ask John to ride him again.

Oh, and I trimmed his front feet today. He was pretty good. He's not perfect, but then they only trimmed him twice a year. And come to think of it, he behaved about as well as Tonka does, which isn't bad at all. His feet are good but small for a mustang, and they were kind of off balance since his last trim was done by a rocky trail.

Hopefully I'll get some pictures on the ride tomorrow.

Cisco is from Nevada! I got the info from a very nice lady named Amy at the California BLM office. He was born in 96, captured in 98 and adopted the next spring. Lucky boy.

Information on Stone Cabin HMA:

The very first Congressionally approved wild horse gather after the passage of the Wild Free-
Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971 was conducted in this HMA.
In the late 1980's, the University of Minnesota conducted a fertility study in the Stone Cabin
HMA. There are still two collared horses from that study in this area.
This HMA was historically home to the "Stone Cabin Grey" type of horse. Recent gathers and
drought have reduced these animals, so few remain.

That's sad.

I do know of one other horse from Stone Cabin. Augustus! He seems like a sweet boy and he and Eric are really going to go places, I can tell. :)

I was going to try to upload a map that shows where Stone Cabin HMA is, but it didn't work. So I'll just mention that it's in south central Nevada, and US HWY 6 runs though it. One of these days I'm going to have to go on a road trip and see the areas all my mustangs come from. Would be a long trip though, with them coming from 4 different states so far...

Oh, Linda, you asked about who trained him. As far as I could tell it was the lady's husband. To be honest, she talked so much I couldn't make sense of a lot of it.

Amy the nice BLM lady is going to send me a letter stating that he was titled, but they can't send me a replacement title. Makes sense, since it's not their job to keep track of who is the legal owner. I wish I could have a pretty title for him though!

I rode Cisco this afternoon. I think we may have finally gotten the dud we were looking for. He was good boy. Very mellow. I wasn't sure what kind of bit to use on him, but since I usually ride everyone else in a snaffle I just rode him in that. He was great. He carries the bit nicely and sets his head and everything.

So far, so good!

I got some new pictures of Cisco this morning. He's so darn cute.

I clipped his brand and he was a little worried about the clippers but he stood nicely nonetheless. No silliness. I like him.

I went for a short ride with Melissa this afternoon. Here's a kind of goofy perspective of my boy afterwards.
Then on the way home I put $90 worth of diesel in the truck. Ugh. Why isn't the cost of diesel going down with gas! Soon I'll go unhitch the trailer for the first time since Friday. There's been a lot of horsey running around going on. I have a lot of dishes to do thanks to my horseplay too. Fun. I think I'll go love on horses first.

Here's our new boy!

Or I should say, "John's new boy!" But I'll have the care and feeding of him so I feel justified saying "our" unless he does something bad, then it'll be, "Guess what your horse did, honey."

Now we have 4 mustangs and only one domestic (but she's special and she stays! ).

He's a good boy. He supposedly comes from California but I can't read his brand and he didn't come with a title. As soon as I get it clipped and read I'll be looking into getting his title (he was titled at one time). He's supposed to be 13, although without a title it's hard to say... I'm guessing more like 15. But who cares really, as long as he's a good boy.

He packs and rides. Supposedly anyone can get on him and ride, he's not spooky at all and blah blah blah. We'll see. He did fine in his test ride, but that was just in the lady's yard. He sure seems like a good horse though. (I guess that's kind of obvious because if he wasn't I wouldn't have bought him.)

We're going to have to watch his feed intake. He's got quite a crest and that wavy hair has me wondering about Cushings. But Tonka's has been kinda wavy too lately, so maybe it's nothing... Cisco's feet seem fine, so I'm not too worried about founder, but from the look of him it could be in his future if he was fed wrong.

Has anyone here had a horse with Cushings? I'm going to have to join the EquineCushings group on Yahoo again, I've forgotten a lot about it...

I'll definitely have more pictures tomorrow! I might clip his brand tonight so I can see what's there.

I got a call today about Mack, and they came and saw him and fell in love and he went away. I am very happy he found a new home with such nice knowledgeable people. I felt bad taking him away from his friends, but when we got him to his new home there was an ultra friendly gelding there waiting for him and they seemed to hit it off right away. There's a weight off my shoulders!

I'm waiting to hear when I can pick up our new horse. I am so excited. His owner works a lot so I may not hear back until tomorrow. And I couldn't go up tomorrow anyway so it would be Tuesday at the earliest.

These may be the all time worst pictures I've ever posted on this blog. Oh well, it was dark, my camera was malfunctioning, and we were lucky to have John's phone there.

I think we're going to bring this guy home. But we haven't slept on it yet so don't hold me to it.

He is stout (needs a diet actually), comfortable to ride, and has a few flaws but is pretty uncomplicated. I don't know what HMA he's from, his brand was too fuzzy to read and they don't have his title. Someone once had it, so I shouldn't have trouble getting a new one from the BLM. She said he was from California, but you never know if maybe he was adopted there but came from somewhere else.

His face totally reminds me of Scout! Same eyes, same expression. He's sorrel and has a blaze, two hind socks and a bit of white on one forefoot. He'll be like a pea in a pod with the rest of the mustangs here.

Cross your fingers for me that this is really a good horse for John. According to the owner he's great for anyone, not spooky at all, but you never know... I have a good feeling about him though. Could just be the really nice saddle she had that I rode him in. Wow, I want one. It's a McCall.

She has I think 3 mules, a couple quarter horses, and another mustang for sale as well. The baby mule is ADORABLE. I think I might try to talk my sister into coming up with me and maybe she'll buy him. I doubt it, she needs another horse like she needs a hole in the head. But a mule, that would be a new experience. And I think its mama is a mustang, which is a good thing. :)

Alright, I better stop babbling and go feed my starving horses.