My muddy, muddy boy.

Before:


And after (better but look at that filthy mane!):


Today I checked his weight and height, with no halter or anything. He did really well with the weight tape. Took off the first time when I tightened it up, but the second and third times he stood for it. He's just about 950 lbs. Then I checked his height, as accurately as I could, which isn't very... I came up with 15 hands. My sister came by later, she hasn't seen him in a long time. She said he looked more like 14.3 to her. One inch difference, and how accurate is an eyeball guess... she could be right but does it really matter?

Tried his new splint boots on him, and apparently he has really short cannon bones... The mediums don't fit right! I can scoot them down a bit, and they will still work, I think. Will have to try it and see what happens. HOWEVER, I finally got a chance to ask my vet what type of splint boots he recommends for this specific situation (pigeon toed, previous splints) and he said Professional's Choice SMBs. Which is NOT what I bought... But then he also said only use them when he's working hard, doing maneuvering or circle work. So I think these ones will work at least until he goes away to training. If I test them out and they seem to work fine, maybe I won't get the SMBs.

Oh, by the way, Tonka tried on his splint boots without a halter too, even though at first he was skeptical. He wasn't very nice to my sister though, kept pinning his ears at her. Not in an "I'm going to eat you" sort of way, just more like, "Let's see if I can get away with this." They're all acting weird though, the girls are in heat and he's acting like a boy, and they're just flighty and odd. Danni followed my sister around, kept going up and resting her head against her. It was very sweet. I was a bit jealous because she never does that to me, but then she did. She must just be feeling weird. Soxy was more lovey than usual today too. I thought it was just because she was waiting for her turn to be brushed, but who knows.

Click here to read Lesley Neuman's awesome poem.

I think Lesley is a great gentler/trainer, and she sure seems like a good person too. If you ever get a chance to see her work, do so. Check out the rest of her website for more info.

Yesterday they sure tore it up. Lyric started it, and then they were all happy to do some running. Silly horses. Back and forth, back and forth. My poor pasture. But I sure had fun taking pictures.


Eventually they stopped. Danni was done first, but then she's an old girl. Doesn't Tonka look handsome here? (But look at the poor torn up pasture!)


I made him a new burgundy halter. Really all I wanted to do was try it on him and go for a short walk and groom him, but he apparently thought I was going to do mean things, judging by how happily he ran with the others instead of being caught. I did ask him to do a couple quick obstacles, but kept it very low-key, because I don't want him to think every time I catch him we're going to do something long and hard and scary. Then I turned him loose, made a couple adjustments to the halter, and caught him again, tried it on, and turned him loose. So hopefully it was a good experience for him.

Oh, and back to the burgundy. It's going to be his color. Not overwhelmingly, but with some taste... I got him some burgundy splint boots too. And eventually will get a nice woven pad with burgundy. I think it'll look nice with his darker burgundy-ish dun characteristics.

And here is my really actually final decal... I think. No, really, it's the last one, the one I'm having made... I really need to quit fiddling with it!

Our day in pictures:

Tonka following me on Danni, ponying himself. He looks so small from way up there!


Only pic of ponying. He did pretty well, but tried to refuse to go quite a bit.


After ponying, Danni napping, and Tonka a little sweated up but not worn out.


Just after the two of them went through an electric tape gate together. Good horses!


Doesn't he look so grown up, tied by his friend like that? All he needs is a saddle.

Lyric all bug-eyed and hollering, freaked out because BOTH of his friends are out playing.


My favorite grooming tool in spring.



Tonka, directly after:


Trying out my favorite grooming tool. I don't think it was his favorite!


Lyric, coming to greet his buddies as we head back for the gate.


Later in the day, the "horse playground." It's hard to see, but there are a bunch of branches on the ground, that's the "clearcut area," the tarp is our horse-eating bog, and the sheet of OSB just may be horse-eating too, and the bales with pole are just to get them stepping up and over. Can't think of a cool nickname for that. "Gigantic log" maybe.


Soxy, the good, steadfast ole trail horse.


Aren't they cute? They rode over all the obstacles too, but these were just the cutest pics. Katia saddled her own horse today!!! Yay!



These are the same pictures, with my possible future pickup decal in black and white. I'm not sure, I may want to wait until he sheds out and get a better picture. Heck, maybe I'll just have to put two decals on, one for winter and one for summer.

Tonka did the obstacles pretty well. The tarp was his biggest hang-up, but I did get him to put 2/3 of both front feet on, and one whole front foot.

It was a great day! Now I have a slight sunburn. It's definitely getting on toward spring.

(Just a quick reminder, because I NEVER rember this... I think you can click on the picture to see it full-size.)

Tonka stood tied for the first time today, and he did wonderfully. He was a bit unsure at first, and he fidgeted a bit. It was definitely anti-climactic, which is just fine by me! I used a Blocker Tie Ring, and if you haven't heard of it you ought to check it out. I believe both Clinton Anderson and Charles Wilhelm sell them on their websites, but you can probably find them elsewhere. The ring causes the rope to give when the horse pulls back, but only grudgingly... Enough that they shouldn't panic, but it gives enough pull to let them know they need to give back. This is the first time I've used it, and I have to say I like it. I can't wait to try it on Lyric, my chronic panicked puller-backer.



Look at that butt! I love horse butts. Does that mean there's something wrong with me? I don't think so. I know other people who feel the same. This is a big, raw-boned butt, as opposed to the ever-beautiful apple butt, but I love this butt just as much, if not more, because it's on my Tonka. And it's just a nice butt.

Purty boy, wish the flash hadn't caught his eye like that.



The other two are 15.2 & 16 hands. Tonka's just about right!



My mud moose. He was blowing bubbles with his nose while he ate. Funny.



Dribbly.



He wet my pants!



Love this one, great reflection.


Tonka Tonka! He was nosing it around, but my camera was too slow to catch it!

It was a wonderful day. I was grinning like a kid in a candy store, or a girl newly in love. He's a very special horse.

Tonight Tonka seemed a little odd. Just slow. Didn't come dashing to the hay. Lollygagged along... The others came running. I checked him over and he seemed okay. Hooves slightly warm, but no warmer than Lyric's. Danni's were ice cold and wet, so I don't know who's normal and who's not. They're probably all normal for themselves. No dripping eyes or nose, no blood anywhere, gut sounds normal. After what happened to Roseanne, I am scared. I hope my assessment is correct. I can't imagine losing him. And I'm too tired to deal with another struggle to live. So I'm hoping that my fortune today is correct, at least for today. It said "God will give you everything you want." We all know that's absurd. But tonight, I want all my loved ones to be well.

Mud monster!


Pretty foot!


What's over here?


This is kind of scary!


I don't wanna!


Okay, I did it, now I get some grass...

What a beautiful day today! Bright sun, a little less mud, and lots of time spent with my boy. I trimmed his feet, which he was very good for. Well, he did kick me... I'm not sure he meant to, but I think he probably knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted his right hind back, and I didn't give it to him, and he ended up taking it, with a little tap against my thigh JUST after he got it back. Quite quick. He got in big trouble, had to back all over the place, circle and yield a lot, and then right back to trimming. He didn't do it again. Other than that he did really well.

Then I got him onto the driveway to check my trim, since it's a hard level surface. And we went for a small walk halfway up the driveway, played in some puddles, and then walked out into some standing water in the long grass. Went back, looked in the tack/feed shed, gave him a bite of Roseanne's alfalfa. Sniffed a tarp. Then on to the field where the board and the branches are, and walked over both, calmly and slowly. Took some patience, don't get me wrong, because he didn't really want to, and then he wanted to rush the second half, but we got it done right after a try or two. Then on down the driveway to see the Sox's and check out the drainage ditch there. I got him to WALK over it, rather than jump, at a point where the banks weren't high, but where the banks were higher he insisted on jumping. I think he knew what I wanted, as I could shut down his jump and get him to step one foot at a time at the shallow spot, but he just didn't want to walk down into the creek where the banks were higher. Went back, did a slight amount more work on one hoof, and then reluctantly put him away.

He was so relaxed today! Not so boogery around the yard where all the toys are. And happy to be out and about, I think.

I love this horse!

Tonight I took a step stool into the stall with me when I went to do the compress and antibiotics. I figured I could stand on it and groom him, see what happened. He really needed the grooming, he is a mud monster! I expected him to act funny just seeing the step stool when I led him into the stall, but he didn't care. Cozied right up to it while he ate his hay and I "compressed" his owie. Climbed up and brushed both sides, being pretty ostentatious about the fact that I was on both sides at once. He sure didn't mind. He did pay attention to what was going on, but was not at all worried for the most part. Went to other side, my natural mounting side, did same. He was goofier about that at first. Still didn't actually move, but really watched me, and tensed up a bit at first. He settled in, and I bumped his side, brushed both sides, leaned way over, thumped the other side gently with the brush. Pretended to be about to throw a leg over, bumping and rubbing the side of his rump with my knee and foot. He thought that was weird at first. Finally I put almost all my weight on his back several times, but I couldn't totally commit because I had lumpy objects in the front of my coat (ouch on his back) and I wasn't wearing a helmet, and I had told nobody of my plans... He was wonderful through it all. What a great horse! Then I moved my stool back, unhaltered him, and just sat and listened to them all munching.

What a great night.

This morning is an odd one... I'm feeling a bit off. Ever have days like that? Not bad, just weird. I think the horses are feeling that way too. Or maybe they're just feeling good! I had to leave the bucket for the warm compress inside so I could take the dogs out, so I got everyone's grain (minimal+vitamins for the horses, lots of grain for the calves) and went to give Tonka his antibiotics. He decided to let me know he wasn't interested in being caught. He hasn't done that for a long time! He was bucking and running, and Danni (the race horse) was REALLY putting on some speed. Lyric of course was being a basket case. I'm not sure if he was enjoying himself as much as the other two were, or if he was just reacting. Finally Tonka turned back before I asked him to, turned back again, and faced me. In essence, he said, "Okay, I'm done now." I haltered and medicated him, and gave him some love.

Then I went to feed the two Soxes at the other end of the driveway, COMPLETELY forgetting to give anyone at this end hay. So had to go back out there. They're all looking at me like, "What? Why? Where?" And soon I will have to finally get around to the warm compress. I decided to have another cup of coffee first.

Tonka is SO covered in mud. It's disgusting. Most of the others are too. I need to get some chips or gravel or SOMETHING. I wish we had a big farm truck to get a load of hog fuel (wood chips/strips, don't know why they call it that) from the local mill. But one pickup load wouldn't go far... Could make several trips... Spring is good, nice to have more daylight, but I hate mud.

If those of you who are horse owners don't mind, I'd love if you answered some questions on my hoof care survey.

Thank you!

YAY! Vet came out, said he could be wrong (longshot) but it's not strangles! Not the right size/shape or in the right spot. Lungs good, eyes good, no nasal discharge... I do have to put him on antibiotics for at least a week. Yuck. Steve (vet) started talking about penicillin and I cringed. He then asked if I had sulfas, and YES, I have LOTS, and they don't involve painful injections. Wonderful good. I like to mix pancake syrup (low-cal) with my drugs, it makes it so much easier. The reason for the antibiotics is some nasty bacteria that can get into wounds like this. Steve's horse recently got a splinter under the jaw and had to be on antibiotics for a month. Hope I don't have to do that!

He was really impressed with how well behaved Tonka was, and liked the way he was put together, other than that he's pigeon toed. Then he went on to say that his horse is pigeon toed so it's no big deal, just makes them more predisposed to splints. That explains why Tonka got that splint so easily. I love talking about my boy and having other people admire him! He's so great.

Steve agreed that he shouldn't be doing any long hard rides this year (the trainer I'm considering takes them on 15 mile rides). So I think I'm going to pony him, saddle him, ride him around a bit, and send him for serious training this time next year when I'm gone for farrier school anyway.

He's just starting to lose the first of his baby teeth, so he's probably closer to 2 1/2 than 3.

Tonka is a darn special horse. I just love him more and more all the time.

Just quickly updating. Nothing new with Tonka's sickness. He appears to be happy and healthy. Except for that little abscess. Which still looks the same. I think I'm going to urge the vet to come out, unless he thinks there's a good likelihood he won't find anything. I'll keep you posted.

Tonka is sick! Well, not really sick. He acts the same as ever, but he's got an abscess under his jaw and one eye is goopy. So of course we have to worry about strangles. We won't know for sure until I can get it to come to a head so I can get a culture. In the meantime he's in quarantine, back in the "mustang pen" he lived in when he first came here.

Quarantine is a nasty word and I hate it! It's really hard to figure out how I'm going to keep from getting germs anywhere. Separate clothes/boots when I deal with him... bleaching everything... Ugh. I am not generally a clean freak and this is so weird for me. Slipping into cold boots and clothes left outside just for the purpose of dealing with him... Brrr. And he's so unhappy out there. Not depressed, more keyed up. It is a good bonding time though. I just hung out with him for a while this morning after we did the warm compress. He'd stand with me, go look for other horses, eat a couple bites, come stand with me again. It's nice to have him looking to me for comfort. Not that we didn't have a good relationship, but this kind of forces us to spend time together, with nobody else to distract us. Like a second honeymoon... Gotta look at the bright side, right?

Well, I'm off to shop and try to find some cheap or disposable coveralls... what a nightmare.

(I had to come back and edit, I realized I don't sound worried about my boy... I'm trying not to be, because it's probably not strangles. I'm trying not to think about it too deeply. I start thinking about him getting really really sick, or the whole herd getting sick, and I get pretty freaked. So yeah, I am worried. Not being heartless, just trying to keep my chin up!)

Check out this other mustang blog. http://mustangdiaries.blogspot.com/ This is Tracy, who adopted her Quiet Storm at the same adoption I got Tonka at.

She has, on one of her blogs, tagged all who read to tell TEN things about themselves that others may not know. Here goes...

1. I seriously need to lose weight... Like, lets see, at least 45 pounds... Working on it though! Gotta get slim and strong because I'm gonna be a farrier!

2. I may live on a wee farm, but I am NOT a morning person. When we get the milk cow, she will have to adhere to my schedule, which will never include getting up at 5 in the morning.

3. When I was about 11 or 12 I wanted to fly a Cobra helicopter in the Army. I seriously can't remember why I chose that specific aircraft. Would've made more sense to choose Air Force since there was a base just over the mountain.

4. At that age I lived in Tijeras, New Mexico, which is in the mountains outside Albuquerque, and the air force base was Kirtland. WEIRD goings on in the skies over our place sometimes. Lazers, sonic booms... Aliens???

5. I moved around a lot, but I wasn't a military brat, as some assume. Henry, my stepdad, was in school to become a psychologist. UNM is a cool school. NM is a cool place. WOW, the desert is beautiful. They call it the Land of Enchantment for good reason.

6. I find it weird, after living in areas of such cultural diversity, to live in such a non-diverse place. It takes a lot of the spice out of life. It's hard to relate to some of the innocent racism here... People don't even realize their statements are racist.

7. I used to LOVE the Native American area of the NM state fair. The dances, all the hot guys with the long black hair. Oooh, there was this one time the hottest guy there asked Carrie and I to dance with him. Luckily it was a really basic dance. I got to hold his hand...

8. I'm finding that I like bluegrass music. Only the good stuff though! And most assuredly not country. Except a couple songs. I'm slipping! Becoming a Yokel!

9. I have very few friends. I mean, like just a couple. But I love them dearly, and they make up for all the "acquaintance" type friends I could have if I were a more sociable person. I just don't do well with meeting new people.

10. People think I'm stuck up. I don't like that... Actually I'm just shy, as I said before. Weird to think that someone could think *I* am stuck up, but I can see their point. I've met shy people before and my first impression was that they thought they were too good to talk to me. So I better work on that.

Oh, and about that other list of things about me... No, I never rode the goat... I've always been a pretty obedient child (at least, when I might get caught).

Look at my boy! This is a before and after comparison with exactly 8 months in between. The first picture is his second day here, learning to put a web halter on over his other halter. The second was yesterday. (Do you see the white stuff flying in both? Neat. Cottonwood cotton in one, snow in the other). He's sure grown. Probably about a hand in height, and you can see the difference in bulk. Some of that is winter fuzz, of course.

I have another blog here, www.horsetales.blogspot.com. I wrote a post there tonight that I like if you want to check it out.

Question for you: Do you think it's silly that I keep my mustang blog separate from my general horse blog? So much overlaps, but I wanted a blow-by-blow of just the mustang training. Not a lot of training going on lately... And, I must admit, I have even a third blog, which generally does not discuss horses, and is mainly for family type stuff that my family type people might be more interested in. My only family member that likes horses doesn't read any of these. I was thinking I'd spare them the horse chatter. Actually now that I think about it, my family doesn't read that one either... I'm not talking about my husband, I think he reads them all.

Okay, now I realize I'm just babbling. Good night!

I've been tagged by Patricia at www.dinetahtrails.com/blog to tell y'all 5 things you probably don't know about me...

1. I lived in New Orleans for a year when I was 15. A friend lived on Bourbon street so I practically lived in the French Quarter when I wasn't in Catholic school. (We're not religious, but you can't go to public school there if you want an education). It was a heckuva lot of fun. Not the Catholic school though! To make it horse related, that friend also had a filly named Georgia boarded at the stables by the zoo, and we got to help get all the horses ready for Mardi Gras.

2. I am HORRIBLY shy. Just not in text. And not when talking horses!

3. I totally made fun of people who looked like cowboys when I was younger. (My friend Carrie had a really good one - she called the big rodeo belt buckles tombstones for dead meat. Heehee...) In fact, I once had a mohawk and later had partially royal blue hair. But I still loved horses.

4. Okay, so I asked my husband for help on this and he said. "You have a foot fetish... A HORSE foot fetish!" I am really into hooves, and I'll be going to farrier school next year.

5. When I was 2 years old my sister and I used to CONSTANTLY bug my mom to let us ride our goat, Mitzi, since we didn't have a horse. She never let us.

Gosh, this has been fun. Don't be surprised if I subject you to a longer list one of these days...

And just for fun, here's a not too great picture of Tonka on January 14th. His butt looks all teeny-weeny, but it isn't as bad as it looks. Hey! John and I were visiting with them today, and he noticed that Tonka and Danni's rumps are about the same height. So maybe I'm looking at having a 16 hand mustang boy... Withers aren't that high yet, and Danni has an uphill build, so hopefully he'll fall short of that just enough to be balanced front to back. He's getting so big and bulky, and his feet are so beautiful, he just about makes me drool. I have got to get a better picture!

Not much going on with the horses here. The weather has been TERRIBLE. Can't wait for spring! Or wind-less, rain-less weather cold enough to keep the ground frozen...

I read this elsewhere, and I like it enough that if you read all my blogs you'll find it on all of them:

A Simple Statement "I Ride."
I ride. That seems like such a simple statement. However as many women who ride know it is really a complicated matter. It has to do with power and empowerment. Being able to do things you might have once considered out of reach or ability. I have considered this as I shovel manure, fill water barrels in the cold rain, wait for the vet/farrier/electrician/hay delivery, change a tire on a horse trailer by the side of the freeway, or cool a gelding out before getting down to the business of drinking a cold beer after a long ride.
The time, the money, the effort it takes to ride calls for dedication. At least I call it dedication. Both my ex-husbands call it 'the sickness'. It's a sickness I've had since I was a small girl bouncing my model horses and dreaming of the day I would ride a real horse. Most of the women I ride with understand the meaning of 'the sickness'. It's not a sport. It's not a hobby. It's what we do and, in some ways, who we are as women and human beings. I ride. I hook up my trailer and load my gelding. I haul to some trailhead somewhere, unload, saddle, whistle up my dog and I ride. I breathe in the air, watch the sunlight filter through the trees and savor the movement of my horse. My shoulders relax. A smile rides my sunscreen smeared face. I pull my ball cap down and let the real world fade into the tracks my horse leaves in the dust. Time slows. Flying insects buzz loudly, looking like fairies. My gelding flicks his ears and moves down the trail. I can smell his sweat and it is perfume to my senses. Time slows. The rhythm of the walk and the movement of the leaves become my focus. My saddle creaks and the leather rein in my hand softens with the warmth.
I consider the simple statement; I ride. I think of all I do because I ride. Climb granite slabs, wade into a freezing lake, race a friend through the manzanita all the while laughing and feeling my heart in my chest. Other days just the act of mounting and dismounting can be a real accomplishment. Still I ride, no matter how tired or how much my seat bones or any of the numerous horse related injuries hurt. I ride. And I feel better for doing so. The beauty I've seen because I ride amazes me. I've ridden out to find lakes that remain for the most part, unseen. Caves, dark and cold beside rivers full and rolling are the scenes I see in my dreams. The Granite Stairway at Echo Summit, bald eagles on the wing and bobcats on the prowl add to the empowerment and joy in my heart. I think of the people, mostly women, I've met. I consider how competent they all are. Not a weenie amongst the bunch. We haul 40ft rigs, we back into tight spaces without clipping a tree. We set up camp. Tend the horses. We cook and keep safe. We understand and love our companions, the horse. We respect each other and those we encounter on the trail. We know that if you are out there riding, you also shovel, fill, wait and doctor. Your hands are a little rough and you travel with out makeup or hair gel. You do without to afford the 'sickness' and probably, when you were a small girl, you bounced a model horse while you dreamed of riding a real one. author unknown

I tried bitting Tonka right before his good feed, and he was agitated the entire time. Did this for 3-4 days. So this morning I decided not to, and good thing too because he has NEVER acted like he did this morning. He was rearing in the stall, tossing his head around, kind of throwing his back feet up, but not far up. So I chased him out of the stall a couple times and I didn't give him his good grub. He just got hay. I think I may cut out the good grub completely, or at least cut it back to just a bite or two. If he's feeling that frisky he obviously isn't putting whatever energy the feed is giving him into growth, which is what I intended it for. Not that he was getting much, and it wasn't precisely "grain." I don't like feeding grain unless necessary. It was 1.5 cups of beet pulp, less than a cup of alfalfa pellets, and 1 cup of pea pellets, which aren't 100% peas, there is a lot of chaff and other filler in there. Now that I look at it that sure seems like a lot of extra feed for a mustang. I guess when I think of it in comparison to what the old horses get it didn't seem like much. He's not fat though, so that's good. I'll just cut it back to a sprinkle of each... Or none at all if he keeps acting like that.

Anyway, back to the bit. I have decided that it will work better to put the bit in his mouth and then do something else to distract him from it, so he'll know that life does go on just fine even with a bit in his mouth. BUT it's raining like crazy and the pastures are flooded and the mud is not conducive to training, so it'll have to wait...

Above are some pictures of our creek, which is now a little river, just got that way overnight. Normally it'd be about 8-10 feet lower than what you see there, with tall dirt banks.