He still makes my heart go pitter-patter.

Every single day. :)

I need some info that I can't seem to find online. What? Some kind of knowledge that isn't available on the web? Yep. I wouldn't have thought it possible. Maybe it's somewhere and I'm just not doing the right search. Seems like lots of farmers would know this one. Aha! Maybe that's the problem. Farmers don't have the time to be online as much as I am?

(Kara, I bet you know this one.)

If I want to get fertilized eggs and bring them home to put under my broody hen, how do I go about doing this? Will they die if they get cold? Do I have to somehow get them directly after they come out of the chicken? Or is it not as touchy as all that? My sister has an Americauna hen and I'd love to have some of her chicks, but... I don't know how to do this.

By the way, speaking of broody hens, mine that gets broody is a Buff Orpington. (Her name is Goldie, after my favorite hen when I was a teenager.) I recently read that the desire to hatch eggs is strong in the breed. So if you want a good layer that won't cause trouble by getting broody, don't get them. But if you want to hatch chicks (and have very pretty dual purpose birds) I highly recommend them. I love to watch Goldie's fat hen butt when she runs. Cracks me up! She's also the friendliest hen we have.

Another thing I've wondered, although I don't really need to know right now since I don't have (or want) a rooster, is this: How long after fertilization is the fertilized egg laid? Say if I brought a rooster home tomorrow, how long after the two "do their business" before I'd have fertile eggs? I might have this info in one of my books but I'm being lazy.

Sorry, not horse related. But fascinating stuff. Or maybe it's just me...

Something new coming! You'll want to check back Saturday evening. :)

Just so I don't leave you with a two sentence post, I'll talk about the weather a bit...

I haven't been able to do much of anything with the horses the last several days thanks to the weather. The winds are unbearable, and it rains and hails too. Blech. We're in for an absolutely stunning weekend though. I can't wait to get in some good horse time.

Here's a nice sunshiny picture from last weekend:

Wordless Wednesday...

Okay, it's time to confess. I haven't wanted to come out and be all wishy-washy in public. But since I'm continuing to be wishy-washy and some of you have been wanting some info, I better let the cat out of the bag.

I'm not sure I want to do the TIP horse thing. It's strange how things keep getting in the way. First I had my trip all planned and then the crew at the corrals had an unexpected meeting and the corrals were closed. Then my grandma got sick. Then I fell on my head. I finally felt better for one whole day, felt renewed and had the energy to tackle the project, decided I WAS going to do it. And today the chiropractor broke my head again. (Not literally, but it kinda feels like it.) Other little considerations have had me thinking this isn't the time, as well. Like the fact that Bella can be ridden, and shouldn't be put on the back burner, as I had planned to do before I had her lameness diagnosed. Other stuff.

I want so badly to learn from some more mustangs, but I'm starting to think that now is not the time. A friend of mine told me that I'm having trouble deciding for a reason, and eventually something will happen that will make the right thing obvious. I think I'm at that point. For now.

I will do this eventually if they keep the program going. I may do it eventually anyway, but on my own dime, if I have to. I might find another way to help horses and learn from them at the same time.

Certainly, if anyone wants a mustang gentled, I'd be happy to be the one to do it. I would happily drive down tomorrow and get their horse and bring it to them at whatever level of "gentle" they preferred. But I'm not going to go out and do it right now when I'm not sure the horses will even find homes.

So if you know anyone within a couple hundred miles of Potlatch, Idaho, that would like to adopt a mustang and take advantage of this Trainer's Incentive Program, send them my way.

Sorry to disappoint. I'm disappointed too, but I think this is the right decision. Just for now. I still hold high hopes that I'll be able to do this in the future.

(Looks like I went from wishy-washy at the beginning to decisive at the end. I guess I've made my decision. It feels bad but it feels kinda good. I can move on now...)

Oh Noble Steed:

Scout's mane, and no I didn't doctor this picture.
I like the way it came out. Light and darkness.


Bella trying out her pouty super model look:


Soxy has a very nice spotted butt.
That sky is real nice too.


Coming to get me!


Mystical ride


Tonka? Licking me? That was weird!


Those are his teeth. On my hat brim.
He's just a wee bit oral, eh?

Can you tell I had plenty of time on my hands yesterday? It was a wonderful, relaxed day. I wish the good weather would have stayed.

Doesn't Coda just look absolutely wonderful for a 30-year-old?

Don't mind his tufties, he always hangs on to some of his winter hair like that. Anyone else have a horse like that? Does it mean something? Maybe he's missing something in his diet? I'm guessing maybe they're old minor scars that just don't act right on such an old horse.

Oh gosh, I almost forgot to tell you Coda's bean story from today. Poor old guy! He had a big ol' bean that hung out about an inch. I told Liam to watch out because Coda wasn't going to like this, and I grabbed with my right hand and pulled it out with my left. It just came right out, no fuss. But oh it looked like it had been irritating the area. I showed it to Liam and explained what it was. Later John and I were grooming the other horses and Liam came out and asked where that nut was. "What nut?" "The one that came out of Coda's... pee wee."

So check out this picture of Scout. At first I was thinking, "Ooh, hey cool, that's a neat picture." I rarely get pictures of Scout from the side. He's too touchy-feely for that.

But then I looked some more and I think he looks kinda funny. Something about his neck. What is it? Is it too long? Too thick at the base? Set into his chest too low? His throatlatch is not "refined" - maybe that's what looks strange to me? Of course he's not standing in a natural postition, he's on alert looking at something. Maybe that's all it is? I'm not a conformation expert but something about this picture is bugging me. Click to enlarge it if you have a moment, and tell me what you think.

Yesterday Scout had his hooves trimmed. I had left it far longer than a person ever should on a baby. I had mentally scheduled myself to finally do it the day I hit my head. When my sister called and asked me if I wanted to ride I decided I'd trim him later. And then I couldn't... So anyway, he got his pedicure yesterday. He was such a good boy! I don't think he's ever cooperated as nicely as he did yesterday. Even though John was working with an impact wrench, drill, and saw just 10 feet away. Actually, during a break in the trimming, he went and stuck his nose within inches of the work, and was just fascinated by it all. I really wish I'd have had my camera, he had the cutest look on his face. He became quite a pest, nosing into things, and had to be chased off after his feet were done.

(You may assume by this that we are still working on the mustang shelter. You would be right.)

Go to Kevin's blog for an awesome set of pictures that show how they're trimmed at the BLM corrals. Fascinating stuff. I knew how they used the table, and had seen pictures of that, but never pictures of them trimming. Looks like they used nippers and then a grinder. Nice looking hooves on those gorgeous TIP horses. They will be available for adoption (nudge, nudge).

Could any of these horses be Scout's Daddy?

Bay stud, either Hardtrigger or Black Mountain HMA (Idaho)

I was speculating in the comments section the other day about who Scout's sire might be. I thought maybe the above stallion from the adoption, but then I realized he's a bay and Bella's sorrel (chestnut, whatever) and Scout's a dun, so that can't be. Unless Bella really is a dun, because she does have a faint dorsal stripe. But I've never seen a dun her color and I think her dorsal stripe is countershading, not dun factor. So I have to assume Scout's daddy was released back into the wild because of his color. Or just not brought to the adoption. My vet thinks it was some quarter horse stallion that somehow got loose with the wild horses. I don't think he believes mustangs can be nicely built. :)

Sorrel stud, Black Mountain HMA (Idaho)

Another Bay stud, Hardtrigger HMA (Idaho)
The white on his rump is scarring from fighting, not an appy coat pattern.

Hardtrigger and Black Mountain HMAs are near each other, in southwestern Idaho.

How do I remember which HMA these horses came from, after all this time? Because I can see their tags in some of my pictures, and I took pictures like this:

This is the one that shows Bella as unavailable after we adopted her. It's blurry, probably because I was so excited my hands were shaking.

A conversation over a cinnamon roll:

Me: "You need to figure out what you're going to do when you're done with that so you don't get bored and misbehave."

Son, after some thought: "Can I misbehave outside?"

This is the 4th day of the two of us home alone together, and he's not sick anymore, but there's no school today. He's driving me crazy! So contrary. Everything I say is open to question. Or so he thinks.

Actually right now he's being an angel. We played catch for a good hour, and he made a huge amount of progress in both throwing and catching. He's not ducking away from the ball every time it comes at him. And he caught it right out of the air 8 times! Woo hoo! Let me tell you, that was cause for celebration. I think all the positive reinforcement and pride in himself really turned his attitude around. He's being a "big boy" now, very helpful and affectionate.

I almost acquired another boy today. We were at the park and he tried to follow me home. He was sooooo cute! I would have taken him, if it weren't for the fact that I'd end up in jail and all that.

Which got me thinking about the dream I had the other night where I was pregnant and the baby was rolling around in my belly. Oh how I did love pregnancy. So today I was toying with the idea... I'm not getting any younger. Milky baby smell, baby curls, cuddly toddlerhood, and all the many many silly things they do. Then I came back to my senses. Health insurance, diapers, car seats, the eating of every object that comes within reach, the need for constant vigilance. No. I'm enjoying my freedom now that my son rarely drools, can strap his own self into his booster seat, go outside and play by himself, wipe his own butt (kind of), and catch the ball right out of the air eight times. My daughter can do all those things too, being 11 years old.

She used to want to be a princess. Now she's tough as heck. No blushing Cinderella here.

I'm enjoying my growing freedom as my kids are growing into real people. I guess I'll have to be patient and hope my kids have kids. Eventually. Very eventually.

So what does this have to do with horses? Nothing... I just can't help rambling sometimes.

Handsome on the Horizon:


See Scout's curly locks?

By some strange trick of the camera

Tonka looks like a beefcake.
Just look at that Fabio mane.
(Ignore the mud)

Today's pace is completely different from yesterday's. I've been sitting with a sick kid all day. We did word searches, we camped out on the bathroom floor, we took a nap with the puke-pot handy just in case. Poor kid, he's totally miserable. I hate stomach bugs because there's nothing I can do to help other than just be there.

The above was written 2 days ago and I haven't had time to write any more since then. The little man is still sick, but not near as bad. I think he might be able to go back to school tomorrow.

I was thinking just now about signing wee Scout up for a clinic. There's this "Kinder-foal" clinic that was supposed to be last weekend but I think it was postponed. So hopefully we can still do that. Would be good exposure for him, and some one-on-one structured time, which I rarely spend with him.

Tonka's getting a little big for his britches. He was trying to run Scout over the top of me out in the pasture. He got a dose of my pissy mare face and ran off. I think it might be a good time to stick him back in with Cisco for a while. Too bad the two of them have totally different dietary needs. I could kinda compromise somewhere in the middle though.

The last few days the weather has been nasty and uncomfortable for the horses since they have shed most of their winter coats. I've been blanketing Coda and stalling him at night with his lovely Soxy as company. They're so in love. He is very happy to have his mare back from that nasty mean Cisco. The other horses choose to stand out in the weather. Crazy animals.

Holy cow I almost forgot my son's birthday! I have a party this weekend that I need to get ready for. Wow, bad mom.

If you go to do some laundry, you might find that the previous load needs to be rinsed again. While the machine takes care of that, you notice that there's a pile of dog hair on the floor. You sweep the entire kitchen only to find that the garbage can is full. So you take it outside and find that the outside cans are also full. Then you take the two cans to the truck (2 cans because you had a concussion last week and forgot to take the garbage up). About now you decide to forget you feel sick and just work like you normally would and see how it goes. You might see a chicken and remember that you forgot to take care of the turkeys this morning. So you feed and water them and while you're at it you put down some fresh shavings and start to wonder if you ought to go sit down, but you don't. On the way back to the house you grab an empty garbage can (glad to have so many extras) and curse yourself for leaving an unattended bag of garbage where the cats can get to it. But they slink away and you find it only has a small hole in it. Once the garbage is contained you go in to continue sweeping and you track a big wet nasty gob of chicken poop and leaves into the kitchen. Once that is taken care of you go back to the laundry and get that moving again. You realize you need to boil more water to sterilize it for the turkeys, but both the big and medium sized pot are dirty, so you continue sweeping. You count the pairs of shoes under the edges of the bed as you move them to sweep there. Your husband has 7, you have 5 1/2. Wonder where that other slipper is. As you look at one pile of shoes you wish you could wash that nasty rug the dog sleeps on every night, but the dryer can't handle it and it's not warm enough to dry stuff outside, plus it's supposed to rain. So you continue sweeping, marveling at the amount of hay, dirt, and dog hair that can accumulate in just a couple of days. While you sweep you think of the strange chain of events that always seem to happen with housework, and you start reciting "If you give a mouse a cookie." Then you go take a break at the computer for a while, writing a draft of tonight's blog, but not uploading photos yet. And then you decide to get a drink of water and move on...

You head out the door to plant some flowers but then you remember that you are supposed to bring the fat horses in from the pasture about now. On the way out you say hello to the sweet and very handsome (yet tufty) old horse, Coda.Your very happy dog accompanies you. When you get their grain the horses start heading in from the pasture. "Grain for fat horses?" you may ask, but really it's not much, and they get their vitamins this way too.When you go in to get some alfalfa for the old man, Bella expresses a wish to come with you. But that's just not part of the routine. Once the old man is fed, you go look for some scissors you thought you left outside when you were planting trees. You decide to check on the trees, and they look pretty good. And then you make a very interesting discovery.
You never do find the scissors but then you remember you have some in your grooming kit, so you get those and you cut out the landscape cloth you need to line your planter. Then you plant.When you're done with that you go in for some food and the phone rings. With some irony, you discuss "being present" while doing the dishes. Then the kids come in the door and your mind scatters and you are not really present for anyone. But once you're off the phone you can take pictures of a silly boy, and then manage to catch him with his normal face.You send your daughter to take the compost out and she hurries back, totally unaware that you are taking her picture. Until she gets to the door and you scare her.Then you all gather around and laugh at the funny pictures. While you're uploading photos and blogging, you nag your son to do his homework and the phone rings 3 different times. During your last phone conversation you realize your plants are in need of water, so you take care of that. Then you sit down and finish your blog, during which time you hear the dryer stop. SO... You go to do some laundry.

I don't really have anything interesting to write about. Just thought you should be forewarned about that.

I'm still having trouble getting over this stupid head injury. It's not bad enough that I feel like I need to take it seriously, but then I overdo it and I HAVE to take it seriously and end up laying down and sleeping a lot. I never thought I'd say this, because I love to sleep, but I'm TIRED of sleeping. I have nothing better to do though, if I can't work. What a boring week it's been. Any good reading suggestions? Articles I can check out online? Anyone know how to make one of these? I think that's what I want to do with my sweet Roseanne's fleece. But I can't figure out how you'd do it double-sided. If I can't make one of my own, I may just have to buy one someday. They look like very good pads and I've heard good things about them.

I've been spending most of my outside time just standing with the horses, pulling hair off them. Discovered a big roan spot on Cisco, the size of my hand. Saddle damage, up by his wither, but only on one side. Weird. I doubt it's from his time with us, but I'm going to be checking his saddle closely next time John rides him.

Today my goal is to get the big hill fenced with temporary fencing for Scout and Tonka. I don't know if I'll get it done. It's a lot of walking, and it's a very steep hill. I got started earlier but had to come in and sit for a while.

I also need to get caught up on my skirtwork. (Stealing the term from http://prairierunner.wordpress.com.) My son went to school in sweats this morning. Gasp! In my defense, I just didn't know he was out of clothes. Seems like I just washed several pairs of his pants.

I just walked to the calendar and back - a total of about 8 feet - and it made me woozy. I am so sick of this! I know I shouldn't complain, I could be so much worse off. But I want to be doing things!

I think I'll go now. But to entertain myself I might just force you to endure a photo documentary of my day later.

I had a lot of fun not riding my horses yesterday. I just hung out with them instead. Brushed them and scratched them and warmed my hands on their sun-drenched hides. We had a good time. I even remembered my camera one of the times I went out.

Scout has the coolest spiral curls in his long forelock, but they're kinda hard to see in this picture. What you can see here is that his right eye (your left) is flatter than his left, and the eyelashes are at a different angle. Over the last few days I've been suspecting that eye isn't completely functional, as we had hoped.

Hasn't he grown into quite the handsome beefcake?

He loves to play "chase the cat."
(Yes, that is a cat. No, she doesn't have a disease. She's the one I have to clip every spring.)

I don't have any pictures of Tonka from this period because he was right next to me being an attention hog.

Then I went and loved on sweet Coda. He really enjoys a good scratching. Isn't that just about the cutest face you ever did see?

Now I have pictures of Tonka. He was really putting on a show.

I think he wants a part in the next "Alien" movie.

But he's not too picky.

He'd settle for a part in "Hee-Haw."

Lookit the difference in those butts. Scout has a much rounder, more filled out physique, even as a yearling. I wonder what he'll look like when he's old enough to go through that filling out phase. I better watch his diet!

And here again we have Mama Cat, waiting patiently for some attention.

She really should have had a better name than that, but that's the name she came with and it stuck. We should have named her Mattie. But at that time I was told her coat was nice, never matted. Yeah, right.

Today I plan on doing more of the same. Quiet time with the horses, maybe a few easy chores. My head is much better, but still tender and I have to make sure I don't overdo it. John is going to work on getting the tin up on the shelter.

Speaking of which. I had roughly planned on going to pick up the new horses next week. Now I'm not sure that's going to happen. I don't have a trip partner, for one thing. And you know, the head thing... So things are still up in the air on that.