We had a wonderful evening ride last night.  I couldn't decide which picture of Tonka's ears was my favorite, so I added them all.

 Even the sun thinks my horse is special.  :)

There were lots of pretty flowers along the way, but yarrow is one of my favorites.  Read about it sometime, it's really an amazing plant.  And it's beautiful and it smells good too.  Tastes terrible though.

 

It was a rather short ride, but that's okay, Tonka liked it that way and so did I. 

 My sister got some good pictures of me and my boy.

 I like this arch.

I rode Scout the other night too.  I overestimated a lot of factors, and ended up walking a lot.  Not his fault at all.  If I'd had time to mount back up instead of just trying to keep up with the group I probably could have ridden the whole ride.  I learned a lot that day, mostly about poor planning on my part. 

 

I've been getting Bella used to a bit just by letting her wear it.  The bosal is fine but sometimes I think more clear communication would be better.  And I hauled her and Scout over to my sister's for a field trip, but then just left them in the round pen.  I think I rode Bella recently too but now I can't remember.  I need to do a better job of tracking my riding hours...  And I guess that shows how inconsistent my riding has been with her.  I think maybe it always will be.  Oh well.

We're ready to make an offer on the house we want.  Still not much going on with the sale of this place though...  So we're still here.

Summer has finally arrived and I tried to hide from it in the coolness of the house, but eventually that got way too boring.  So I'm riding again, when I can, and I've been mowing and working on moving fencing, and playing around some out in the cool waters in the mountains. 

We've had a lot of frogs this year.  To the point where I'm finding them in odd places.  One was in my car, and died a horrible death on the dash in the heat, poor thing.  One was in my kitchen, and Huckleberry found it.  You should have seen him.  He wasn't sure what it was and he was scared of it, but also very curious.  It was pretty funny.  I had a couple in my recycle bins out back, and had to empty it out to save them from being recycled.  Then John almost stepped on one the other evening.  We also have a couple toads who are super cute.  I like frogs, but I find I like toads way more.  They're just more personable somehow.

While I was mowing pastures with the tractor I saw some good-sized snakes.  I like them (as long as they don't surprise me).  They can eat all the mice and voles they want, I don't mind. Then this one showed up in our driveway.  He was very shy, and not at all aggressive.  I herded him a bit to get him in a safe place with no chickens or dogs.

On the 4th Liam was making balloon "things" (they definitely weren't animals) and I introduced them to the horses.  They were very alarmed at first but got over it pretty quickly.

 

 Here's my 4th of July creation.  It was tasty and fun.

 

The next day Scout got to be our pony ride horse.  He did a good job.

Then we headed for the woods and water.  I love this picture of my friend's little girl.

All the dogs had a blast. And came home smelling of "cow plop."

We had so much fun we went back a couple days later.  I wish I could stay there for a week.

Huckleberry found a treasure, buried it, Blue found it, lost it, and eventually Huck found it again and was not going to let go of it.  But alas, soon we had to leave and he didn't get to bring it home.  Poor guy.

 

Yesterday John and I went on a little trail ride.  It started out with a little too much energy and nerves but the rest of the ride was relaxing and enjoyable. My two geldings sure do look good together.  :)

  

Today we'll go on a longer and more scenic ride, Scout and I and my sister's group.  I can't wait.  Hope it stays cool.  This morning we had some rain and it was very nice.

I almost forgot to mention, I met Soxy's owner from when she was younger.  She's a very nice lady, and it was such a lucky coincidence.  I was at her place helping with dental work for 4 horses. We were chatting and might never have realized we had a horse in common.  I guess back then Soxy was naughty and scary.  She must have had a lot of good experiences before I had her, because she was such a confidence builder for me, and so good for my kids.  What a lucky horse, she's been very loved by everyone who has owned her, even when she was naughty.  :)

And speaking of dental work - miniature horses have huge teeth!  We did 3 of them yesterday and they were lovely, sweet patients.  But they're still hard work because their teeth are funky and you have to get down on the floor to work on them.  Luckily these three get their teeth taken care of once a year so they don't get too out of hand.  What an interesting experience.  We had a lovely Arab gelding for a patient too.  I'm not an Arab person but I really liked this fella.  He was well put together and really sweet.  

Nothing new on the moving front.  And that's about all I've got!  I'm going to get back to work and maybe ride my Bella mare.

 

 Journey to Black Mountain

John had to make a trip to Boise to pick up his company car, and I got to thinking.  I could go along and realize my dream of seeing where my Bella and Scout came from.  Her herd management area is Black Mountain, which is just an hour from the hotel we'd be staying in.

It only took me a few minutes to pack, I was so excited!  We drove down on Tuesday.  It was afternoon by the time we got there and Katia wanted to check out the downtown area (she really wants to be a city girl) so we did that.  Downtown Boise is kinda cool.  I had more fun than I thought I would. 

I almost forgot the best part of that little side trip!  I looked up saddle shops in the area and stopped by Flynn's Saddle Shop and boy was it worth the stop.  If' I'd had any money to spend, it would have been gone right there.  They had McCall saddles, lots of custom saddles, Crates saddles, and even a JJ Maxwell saddle.  I was really glad to get a chance to sit in that one, because it's one of the ones I've thought I'd like over the years, and it is not comfortable.  I looked on their site and I can't find this particular saddle, maybe they don't make them anymore.  Hopefully they have a different shape of seat now too.  Anyway, I got to see a 5 Star pad in person, and lots of other high-quality name brand gear that nobody carries locally.  They had lots of English stuff too, but I didn't look at it.

We had dinner at the Texas Steakhouse and it was amazing.  I ate too much.  Then we went swimming.  I know they say you're not supposed to do that but I lived through it just fine.  :)

The next morning we got up super early and headed out to Murphy, Idaho.  There was a cute little Owyhee county history museum there but it wasn't open yet.  (Did you know Owyhee is derived from Hawai'i?  The area is named after a some Hawaiians that helped explore the area 'way back when.)

 We drove into the BLM land, scanning the area with great determination.  Well, at least I was greatly determined.  I think Katia was less than impressed.  We saw some jackrabbits right off the bat.  And we saw...  POOP!  Horse poop!  But no sign of horses.  Well, one sign about horses:

I think this next photo may be Black Mountain itself, but I don't really know.  It's farther away than it looks.  I hate the way photos sometimes have no depth.

We saw lots of neat rocks.  Some of the rocks I thought might be horses, but upon closer inspection, they were rocks.

I thought this corral area with its picturesque background was pretty neat.  But still no horses to be seen.

And lest you think the whole area had neat rocks to look at, this is really what it looked like.  I just took more pictures of rocks than I did of the barren hillsides.

Oooh!  Excitement!  A sign!  About wild horses!  Where my wild horse came from!  But still no wild horses.  Sigh.

We drove a long time down a road to Black Mountain, which was intended for 4x4 vehicles, which was why we drove for a long time, even though we only went about three miles.  I decided to turn back when the road got too scary.  Didn't want to tear out the underneath of the car when it was just us two girls out there.

This picture below is an illustration of why Bella and Scout are so fat.  This is what they were genetically intended to eat.  There was nothing else out there.  A few trees here and there in the gullies, but not one bit of long, lush, green grass.

 

On our way back to the area where we saw poop, I saw what I thought was new poop.  Got out to check, and sure enough it was still damp.

 After I got my camera I realized there ought to be hoof prints if there was poop.  I love hoof prints of healthy hooves, and these would be my first real wild horse hoof prints.  So exciting!

 Sure enough:

 

 I saw another, some hundred feet away, and slowly it dawned on me that they were facing in the same direction. 

 "Looks like they were headed-"

And I looked up, and there they were, spread out right in front of me like a miracle.

The surprise of it, seeing them there behind where we'd been looking, made the moment so much more potent.

I wish I had a better camera with a big zoom lens, but I don't.

 

If you look real closely you can see a baby nursing though:

 I saw two babies in this group of 25 or so horses.  The mares who were over 2 years old were given PZP contraception in 2010.  I wonder if it's still effective now?  Of course there could easily have been babies hiding in the brush, but I like to think the PZP is doing its job.

Seeing these horses so peacefully living in obviously close family groups, in an area that I think is absolutely ideal for horses, really made me wish Bella could still be out there.  She'd be perfect there.  It would be right. Her mothering, watchful, quiet self was made for that life.

Too soon it was over.  There was no trail or road that would give us any better view, and I wasn't about to go through the brush in rattlesnake country.  Besides, it would have been selfish to try to get closer and possibly disturb them.  They weren't very bothered by us because they see plenty of people, but a few of them did watch us closely. 

From Murphy we headed straight home.  A long drive, but a beautiful one.

Here's what the BLM has to say about the wild horses of Owyhee county, Idaho:

"The Black Mountain Herd Management Area (HMA) comprises 50,611 acres, and the Hardtrigger HMA includes 66,063 total acres of public and other land. The HMAs are adjacent to each other in Owyhee County, south of the Snake River between Murphy and US Highway 95 to the west.  Both HMAs are located within rolling hills and sagebrush steppe. The horses share the HMA with other wildlife, including deer, antelope and upland game birds.  

Of all the HMAs the BLM adminsters, those in the Owyhee Field Office produce some of the finest wild horses. They are known to be of excellent size with good conformation and color.  This is the result of the influence of released Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse studs to the herds periodically up to 1978.  It is also suspected that horses bred for Cavalry Re-Mounts may have also influenced these herds.  In addition to the typical colors of bay, brown, and black, the wild horses include many chestnuts, pintos, paints, roans, grays, duns, grullos, and a few Appaloosas."

 The above picture was taken by my sister on our ride last week.  

Love that view.  Love that horse.  :)

Yesterday I got Scout out in the morning and we did some riding.  His trot is so terrible.  I think because he's all tense and inexperienced and is more sticky than goey.  He wore me out.   Then I made a phone call while I sat on his back and he just stood there like a gentleman for the longest time.  No pawing or wiggling. 

 

So I got this idea that John and I ought to go on a trail ride.  It was great!   Scout did wonderfully, but Tonka was totally weird.  I haven't ridden that spooky horse in a long time.  At one point I felt like I was riding a powder keg and he might blow apart in all directions at any moment.  He was terrified that something was going to come out of the bushes and eat him.  All I had to do was stop and let him eat grass for a few minutes and decompress.  Then we continued on but luckily were almost out of that area so his fear didn't build up as bad again.

See, here he's still looking for boogeymen. 

 

He only actually spooked once though.  Don't even know what it was that set him off.  Might have been a culvert.  I guess he prefers the security of a bigger group of horses, and maybe he's not wanting to be the lead horse.  He relaxed a lot when Scout took the lead.

Anyway, back to how well Scout did.  He was nervous at first but never spooky.  He looked at a burnt log funny once.  Other than that he was very responsive to cues and just plugged right along.  He led for a while, with no fear or worry.  What a good boy.  I wish we had opportunities to do this more often.  Then I'd still get to ride my horse and Scout would get to go out too.  And of course I like spending time with my husband.  :)

This morning I think I'll ride Bella.  She's been such a snob lately.  So disdainful.  Anything that isn't grazing is so beneath her.  She's still a good girl but she makes her opinions known in little ways.  I'm positive she won't be excited about riding, but she's got to do it anyway.  Maybe I'll take her some carrots to make the experience a little sweeter.

 Tonka and I went on another great trail ride yesterday.  We got there before everyone else and got tired of waiting so we went up the trail a little ways all by ourselves.  He wasn't as confident as he is in a group but he did pretty well.  I stopped and took a picture of the flower above so I could identify it later.  I thought it looked like honeysuckle and it turns out that it is honeysuckle.

When we heard the rest of the gang pull up we went back and joined the group.  We did a lot of riding on tiny game trails, which was fun.  We found this elk wallow along the way.

 While one of the riders adjusted her stirrups we stood and waited and Tonka started eating the dirt.  He did this again later in an area that was heavily used by wildlife.  I'm thinking these spots must have natural mineral deposits.  I'd kind of like to try to find it again and see if he eats the dirt again, maybe bring some home.

I like this picture of Amy and Moose going to see if there's a trail over yonder.

 What a view!

We stopped at two watering holes along the way and both times one of the horses blissfully rolled in the water.  He was so funny!  Look how he's up to his eyeballs getting a drink:

My sister was dying laughing.  Well, we were all laughing, but Amy just about wet herself.  Tonka didn't know what to think.  I didn't let him lay down in there.  He thought about it though.  To be honest I'm surprised he wanted to get in.  The mud at the edge was just the kind he doesn't like but he cheerfully plowed right in. I guess he really needed to cool off.

That's my good boy.

I can't wait to go again.  I'd like to get John to go with me and we could take the two green horses out there.  Not both at the same time of course.  This area is full of super easy trails and Bella will love the watering holes.  I think Scout will too, but he's kind of on and off when it comes to water.  It's also really close to my friend's house, so I bet I can talk her into going with me too.  Here's the map of our ride.

I've been having fun catching the horses 4 times a day, to take them to and from pasture.  At first Bella was playing hard to get, but we've worked it out.  Last night Tonka also decided he didn't want to be taken off the nice lush grass, and the two of them ran around a lot.  Surprisingly, it was Bella who decided to stop and be caught first.  Probably from all the work we've been doing lately.  Tonka was easy after the other two had been moved, because he wanted to be with his buddies.  I can't blame them for not wanting to come in since I'm taking them from a lovely green pasture to a small, dusty dry lot.

 

Tuesday night we went on a nice trail ride.  I took Tonka.  I really love that horse.  The ride was pretty easy and he'd been hiking all weekend, so I didn't worry too much about over-stressing his muscles.  He did fine!

  

 

When we were done I didn't like the way the saddle had dug in behind his shoulders, so yesterday I tried my favorite saddle on him, with the Ricotti pad to take up any extra width he didn't need, and it went well.  He didn't take off bucking, so I guess that's good.  :)  I only rode him for a few minutes because I was hoping for another evening trail ride, but that didn't happen.  It's supposed to be super hot today so I'm going to go out pretty soon and ride him in that saddle again.  I'll be tickled if he likes it.  I love that saddle.  I've removed the rear cinch on both saddles, and that seems to have helped with his panicked bucking.  The rear cinch tends to be a problem with EPSM horses.  A lot like a "cold backed" horse (which is also a sign of EPSM) they just can't tolerate that feeling when first saddled up.  

I better get my butt in gear if I'm going to ride.  I want to keep his riding up so we can go on a longer ride this weekend.  We'll see how that goes.