Calming Down A Little and What the Vet Said

So yesterday I was kind of in a tizzy over all my animals falling apart.  Well Mason and Smarty are healing up just fine. So that is 2 less to fret over.

Butch has yet another lesion and a vet visit is inevitable.  But then Butch is also very old, and we have known for a long time that the end was not to far off for him.  Perhaps there is something to do be done, but if not, then it is what it is.  From the day I brought him home, I knew we would not have him for years and years, in fact we have had him much longer than I expected. We have done well by him, he has had a wonderful life with us, being spoiled rotten on a daily basis.  No I am not putting him in the ground yet, I'm just saying I have come to terms with how things are.  Fretting isn't going fix anything.

The vet visit went well and I can say I was so proud of my girl. She was a perfect doll for it all, even the vet said so.   We got some definite answers on some things, and some slightly less definitive answers on others, but we have a plan and I'm going to follow it.

Dr. R, started from scratch.  I had emailed her all of Sassy's history, but since we had gone in so many directions with her, we both felt that a fresh start was in order.  She began by watching her move and could see that she was clearly worse on the left than the right, but that there is lameness on both. Although on the straight away, she was sound.  She did a flexion test on both with no changes, although Sassy did resist the flexion more on the left.

Then she did nerve block.  She started with the outside left and we saw some improvement. Then she did the outside right with out much change. Then she did the inside left and the inside right. By time she was done Sassy was moving at least 90% better.  She attributed the other 10 % to her thinner soles and the terrain that she was moving on.  I had to agree with her on that because she would move perfect for several strides and then take a short step then move good again.

She isolated the pain to her heels, which we pretty much knew already.

Then she did the xrays.  There was no sign of the former coffin bone issue, so it has healed.  She showed us some very mild changes of her navicular bone.  Not the same changes that the last vet showed me, but they are there.  She said that she feels that this is the cause of her pain.

She gave me the option of doing the MRI, but also warned that because this has been a chronic issue, and not an acute issue, the treatment plan will most likely be the same.

Here is what we are going to do.  She wants me to take her to a specific farrier (not the same one who came to trim last time) who she feels has the correct experience to help her.  He is local so that is helpful.  She wants to see what the corrective shoeing does for her.  We may end up adding in some injections into her bursa depending on what we see with the shoeing.  She also wants her on a shorter farrier cycle. She says 8 weeks is too long, 5 weeks tops is what she needs. She also said that an anti-inflammatory dose of bute for a while (2 grams rather than 4) would be a good thing. Especially until she gets her corrective shoes.

She wants me to put her on injectable joint supplements, rather than oral, so that she gets an exact dose. Unfortunately with my job/financial situation, for now we will have to keep with the oral. But of course she said that Oral is better than nothing, so as soon as I can I will be getting some Cosequin. It is still expensive, but from the research I have done and the reviews, it seems to be my best choice for now.  I'm hoping I can get it at a discount rate at work....could I be so lucky?

If the shoeing and supplements don't make any difference, then we can go back to the MRI option. Although truthfully if it doesn't work, I will probably just put her down. I have to draw the line somewhere, and that is going to be it.

We also discussed Danny and his weight loss. She told me not to worry too much yet. She assured me that the move and extreme temperature changes effect an older horse a lot more than the younger ones. She told me I need to micro manage his food intake, keeping him on his own at feeding time to make sure he is getting all of his food. I have put him back on the Platinum performance and she said to keep him on that along with the senior feed. Then she said that even though he just had his teeth checked in April, and they were ok, to go ahead and get them floated asap.  She also said that she felt that he would be picking up very soon.  She said that a lot of older horses really flourish in the fall here, so we will see. I set him up in his own stall yesterday and he is just going to have to deal with it. He gets time out with Trax every day in the pasture, but he is going to have to be stalled by himself.

All in all she was very nice, she explained things on the xrays very well, made sure we didn't have any questions, and once again gave me some hope. We did discuss the option of doing a nervectomy, but I didn't like that plan.  She didn't either.  I liked though, that we discussed all the different options, and she was great about "whatever you want to do, we will do".

I am always afraid that my horses are overweight, but she said that Sassy is a perfect 5 and there is absolutely no laminitis at all going on. In fact, she said that everything in her xrays look fabulous except for those very minor navicular changes and her thin soles and under run heels.

Now after reading back over all of this, I recognize that corrective shoeing isn't going to heal her.  At this point I just don't want her to be in pain and I don't know what else to do except follow the vets instructions and see what happens. I know that there are people who can heal horses like this with the right barefoot trims and stuff. But I am not that person, I don't know anyone who is, so for now I will work with what I have.

Right now her and the King of the Fatties are out there wandering the property eating all the grass grown up around the trees.  They seem to be having a great time...oops no sooner did I type that, but TC came in and told me to go catch my horse. Seems Sassy went under my rope gate and out to the road.   You know what they say about the grass always being greener.  Now she is out puddle jumping in the arena. Digging in the water and just being her silly old self.

TC wants to go up to Globe today, so it is time for me to post this and get all my ponies back in their "homes" for the day.

Fear- Random 5 Friday

I am fearful today.

1. Danny is losing weight rapidly and it scares me.

2. Sassy's vet visit is today, and I am worried what we will find.

3. Butch is erupting in lesions around all his mucus membranes, that worries me too. I suspect it is either cancer or canine lupus.

4. Both Mason and Smarty Pants have either been bit by something or gotten something under their skin which has left an open wound. I started treating with Vetrycin last night, along with some bitter yuck to keep them from licking.  But I fear another vet bill is on its way.

5. I am still only working part time, not getting enough hours, cannot seem to find a second part time job that does not involve telemarketing (which I will do if I have too) and my animals are all falling apart.  I am afraid I am going to have to start selling stuff off to stay afloat. Meaning my car, my artwork collection, any antiques I have that are worth anything.


There is my random five....not all that random after all I guess.

Linking up with Nancy at http://www.aruraljournal.com/

To big for his britches

Last night I rode Killian again.  He hates being ridden, I can tell. He does everything he can to get out of it.  Like tries to run me into the fence, takes control and heads back to the gate on his own, you know, bad horse things like that.

We worked on his manners a lot.  We worked on standing still while mounting. We worked on remembering who is actually in charge, and we worked on softening.  He is like a giant steel gun boat, with about that type of maneuverability.  Basically none.

I worked on letting my air so he would relax, he didn't.  I tried serpentine's, he did them but not very well.  I tried trotting in a straight line while asking him to flex at the jaw...he almost gave on that one.

Then Simon came out after football, still in his pads and stuff, and ran from one end of the arena to the other. As Killian and I stood there an watched him I could feel the tension in Killian building until he was literally trembling.  I don't know why that bothered him so much.  It was as if he wasn't sure what Simon was even though he started at our side, ran to the opposite end of the arena and then ran back. The minute he got closer, Killian relaxed as if to say, "Oh it's just the kid"  I don't know. It was odd.

After that we did some loping.

All I wanted to do was lope in a couple of circles. Circles the size of my own choosing.  All Killian wanted to do was lope to the gate.  I wanted a continuous lope, he wanted to trot lope trot.  His fast trot is so bone jarring I could hear my spine crunching with each step.

I did not have spurs on so my only tools were my legs and smooches.  I was using some roping reins, so I didn't even have a rein end to smack him with...he needed to be smacked though. There will be some tack changes before we ride again.

We were loping (trying) to the left, he would pick up the left lead, then head straight for the fence even though I was turning him with my leg and his head.  He flat out ignored me.  The impending fence would cause him to slow to the trot. I'd smooch him back up to a lope, he'd leave on the right lead, which would keep him from being able to smoothly make the circle.

The word awful doesn't even begin to describe how that gait feels.

Finally he gave me one full circle of my choosing (on the wrong lead) to the left.  I took him to the center and we rested. I got off and called it done.

I let him cool down some and then hosed him down. He was pretty sweaty and really tired, but it is good for him.  I think though that we will start doing some round pen work first with him before each ride.  He has gotten to be a little too big for his britches.

I wanted to ride Trax this morning, but I'm still pretty sore from riding last night.  It should not hurt that much to ride a horse. Especially one that is 17 and "very well broke."  He has lost his status as my "go to" horse.

His Mothers Son

Today after doing a bit of running in town, I was sitting in the back yard enjoying the cooler than usual temps.  Simon had been out there with me, messing with his gold panning stuff, but then he wasn't.  I wasn't really paying attention to where he went off to, in fact I wasn't even totally aware that he was gone.

TC came out and told me to tell Simon to mow the lawn this evening.  I assured him I would after clarifying that "this evening" did not mean "right this minute" but did in fact mean "before dark"  Communication like this is vital in our house.  It is never safe to assume what TC means.  You always want to clarify. Which isn't to say that he is a tyrant or anything like that. But being an old school, small town, Wyomingite, his definition of phrases are not always the same as mine. It is so much easier to avoid an argument by simply asking him to clarify.

Anyway, I knew I had not yet picked up the morning dog poo (even though it was now pushing 5 pm- Hey its Sunday, I can slack a little!) So I did that, put some rose food on my babies and then sat down for a minute waiting for the boy to reappear.

I waited.

And I waited.

Finally I came in to see if he was in his room.

He was not.

I immediately figured out where he was.

Across the road that boarders the back side of our property is a large desert area. It is fenced off and from what I understand, privately owned.  There is a gate, and one of my neighbors has possession of the key so that people can ride their horses there, but other than that your only way in is on foot.  Simon has recently discovered that not only is there good sand for gold hunting out there, there are also "treasures".

So I pulled on some boots and headed out to find him.  I walked out to where I suspected he would be, and I called and called.  There was no sign of him.  Not even a foot print.

I was getting a bit nervous.  I began asking myself what kind of mother doesn't think to pay attention to where her son is going?  What kind of mother doesn't think to tell her son not to just wander off to the desert without telling some one?  Granted he is 14, but still, we should have rules, and I should have noticed that he was leaving.

I totally suck!

I walked North just a tad, calling his name as loud as I could. Still nothing.

I walked South, still nothing.

I walked back home and went to get my car.  The battery was dead.

Great! My son is going to die in the desert from a snake bite because I couldn't get to him in time over a dead battery.

I took TC's flatbed and drove up our road, across the back road and then in the borrow ditch between the road and the fence and I put it first and let er coast while I scanned what I could see of the horizon.

I found myself seriously wishing that I was on horse back, for the higher vantage point and the ability to cover ground faster. Not to mention four-hoof-drive.

I kept calling his name, feeling quite sick to my stomach now.  The sky was getting grayer and I was worried.

Suddenly he pops out from behind some bushes.  Not to scare me but because he just happened to be slipping through the fence at that time.  He had an old worn out motorcycle tire on his shoulder, a cow horn and piece of hide in his hand, and a out of production beer bottle in his pocket.

I seriously wanted to jump his case and forbid him from ever going into the desert again. But I easily resisted that urge.  I wanted to be mad but I couldn't.

I think a large part of that was some weird misplaced sense of pride.

Let me explain.

As a young girl I had a terrible habit of wandering off.  I have always been an explore at heart I think. Or perhaps a gypsy, I don't know.  I can't even begin to tell you how many times my mom was ready to call the police because she thought I was gone for good. This was usually just as I came home completely oblivious to how long I had been gone, or that anyone might have been worried about me.  Not once was I ever lost.  I always knew my way home, and just didn't understand what all the fuss was about. I started this when I was in about 1st grade, and it continued all the way up into my adult years.   It truly has only been in the last 10 or 15 years that I finally started making sure some one knows where I am. Plus I am not as physically fit as I was then so I tend not to walk off as much.

Being a desert dweller most of my life, I totally get how easily he could just be having the time of his life wandering through the desert, picking up rusty treasures, cool rocks, or what ever.  It is the best way to lose yourself, and find yourself all at the same time.

But things have changed in the desert in the last 15 years.  It isn't always quite as safe as it used to be.  Plus he isn't from here.  I mean he is, but he was young when he left, so it is a little easier to get lost.

So we made new rules.  No desert walks without letting us know when and where he is going. No desert walks without a walkie talkie. (set to a prearranged channel) or cell phone. (preferably a cell)  No desert walks without a stick and a knife.

Okay and here is the clincher. When he came in the house to show TC his treasures, I was grinning ear to ear, because lets face it, for the first time in years I will have some one to go rock hunting with me!!!

He is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, his mothers son!

Of Old Men and Great Horse Stories

At my job I am surrounded by youngsters.  They are good kids and I like most of them very much.  They are polite and hard working, and just down right fun to be around.   One of them got a visit last night from his Papaw and Nanna.  

It was the highlight of my evening.

Youngster's Papaw, came to my register, and standing next to me was also his great niece (who also works there). So as she spoke with his wife, he and I chatted.  Very quickly we were deeply engaged in a wonderful conversation about what is clearly his favorite topic in the world.

Horses.

Luckily, that is also my favorite topic in the world as well.

Papaw is a retired roper.  From the sounds of it, he is/was just an amateur, but an amateur with skill.  Even more important, Papaw is a horseman.  He talked about the old cowboys who taught him how to rope. Not just rope the easy steers, but to rope those "trashy steers" that no one else could hit.  Not only did he learn how to toss a loop but he learned how to push a loop with the palm of his hand, and when to use that little trick, in just the right situation.  He learned how to make that rope do his bidding, with the flick of a wrist or just the right little twist to one side or the other.

When he spoke of roping it was very reminiscent of the way Michael Johnson speaks of roping in Healing Shine.  It was with an adoration that one would speak of a first kiss, or a first love. I have never been into roping.  I always said I could care less to ever learn how to rope.  But listening to these men speak of it...I don't know...it makes me feel a little differently about it all.  To have that passion and that skill.  It must be a beautiful feeling.

He told me about his favorite horses of his past.  The ones he raised and trained from a colt.  He talked about ground work and lunge lines and about how he never once put a tie down on any of horses.  He talked of how it was vital to him to always run on a loose rein, and he never wore spurs.  Yet he said he rarely ever got out run by a steer.  His horses liked to rope, and that is how it is supposed to be.

He also told me a story about a time when he was the working the chute.  A man came into the head box on a horse that was just lathered head to toe. The man (and I use the term lightly) had been out warming up and spurring the crap out of his horse.  When he wasn't spurring him, he was beating him over the head with the rope.  One can only assume that he was trying to get the poor horses adrenaline up to have a fast run. Papaw watched this for a minute and then simply walked away.  He refused to work the chute for someone who would treat an animal like that. Especially since (he said) the horse was not doing anything wrong.  It was that way the entire night. If that fool came to the box. Papaw walked away.  He told me that he has regretted to this very day, that he did not simply offer to buy the horse from the man. Clearly the man didn't think the horse was doing anything right, so he probably would have been happy to have the cash.

Of course I shared a little of my story with Trax.  I told him of his history, about our first show, and how I failed my horse. I'll admit in doing so, I got a little teary eyed. I honestly shared my shame at my lack of understanding for what Trax needed.  I don't know why, but I told him the whole story, what I did wrong, what I did right, how it made me feel, and what I am trying to accomplish now.  I mean I didn't know this old man from Adam, but here I was spilling my guts to him over the register counter.

Do you want to know what he said to me when I was done and tears were running down my face?

He said, "It's okay, we all make mistakes, but you are learning from them and your boy knows that. He will keep trying for you because he knows that you are trying for him."  He was teary eyed too. (I swear it's true)

Then he told me another story.  This one was beautiful.

He told me about his best horse ever, Sonny.  He was a big horse of great breeding.  He had him out at one of the local roping competitions and doing pretty well.  While he was in between turns an old man in bib overalls and a plaid shirt came up and spoke to him. He had a piece of straw sticking out one side of his mouth.

The old man said, "That's a nice horse you got there son."

Papaw said, "Why thank you."

"Do you know why he does so well for you?"

"Because I trained him well?"

The old man smiled, "Well that too, but no. There is another reason."

"What's that?" Papaw asked.

"He loves you. That horse loves you and he wants to please you.  You love him too don't you?"

"Why yes, yes I do."

Then they went on to discuss the special love between a man (or woman) and his horse.

The old man said to him,  "If a man and a woman could love each other like that, there would never be divorce, and it would be a relationship made in heaven."

Papaw agreed, and just then someone called to him and asked him to herd a steer for them.  When he went back to finish the conversation the old man was gone.  No one he asked knew who the man was, or where he had come from. It was as if he had just vanished as quickly as he appeared.

Papaw said to me, "I think that man was an angel."

Yup, we were both teary eyed again.

Finally I stopped to look at the clock. Holy Moly!  Over half an hour had gone by in a flash!  Luckily it was so close to closing time, not a single person had come to the register in that time.

I said, "Well I'd best let you folks on your way."

His wife said, "Thank you!  He'd be here all night if you let him."

I smiled and thought to myself...me too! 

This was a man that is passionate about the relationship he has with his equine brothers.  He cares about how they feel, and that they are treated well.  He has a couple of rescue's now.  He no longer rides, but he still loves his horses (and the donkey and the mule which he rescued and cares for) and appreciates them for the individuals that they are.  Even more important, he is passing his passion on to his grandson as well.

I want to be like him.

Now Here is Something You Don't See Everyday

Not at my house anyways....

One Horse

Two Horse

Three Horse

Four

All four horses in the pasture together

No morning would be complete without the gratuitous shot of Danny's gorgeous color. 

One more time

I have contacted a local vet and am taking Sassy in next week.  I have decided to take one more shot at getting an accurate diagnosis, and trying to heal her.  This will be the last time. I just cannot do this anymore. After hearing the entire story and seeing a couple of the past xrays, the vet did not seem real confident about the outcome of this situation.  So I am preparing myself for the decision I suspect I am going to have to make soon.

In other news, the new job is going ok.  Even the stern old cowboy guy seems to sort of not hate me.  LOL
I am learning the computer system and learning what products are where and what the products are.  In all the years that I have been buying horse feed, I knew there were so many, but to this day I don't know why one is better or worse than the other.  That is my goal. To learn these things.

I rode the King of the Fatties last night. That would be Killian.  As I brushed and saddled him he turned and looked at me and the words were clearly written on his face.

"Why are you doing this after dark?  You know there are monsters in the dark. We DO NOT ride after dark!"

He acted quite foolish to start, running around like a mad man, refusing to stop, refusing to turn, refusing to do anything but go where he wanted and drag me along with him.  It was sooooo not like him. I guess he was trying to convince me that this was in fact, a very bad idea.

But my foolishness outlasted his, and we pushed on. If he wanted to go every which way, we did just that.  We did so many serpentine's and pretty soon he was thrilled to go in a straight line. I asked him to trot and he did the not quite a canter trot, which I hate, but I rode it out and kept him going until he finally settled down into a nice easy trot.  And then we trotted more...and more....and more, until the sweat ran down his sides and onto the ground.

Killian is getting man boobs.  Danny has man boobs, but at his age has earned the right to have them.  Killian is still a bit young for man boobs, and so we will be building them into muscle...by trotting.  Lots and lots of trotting.  He is so spoiled rotten from just hanging out in the pasture, pushing Sassy around and making mean faces at Danny.  Little does he know vacation time is over.

This morning I rode Trax.  He has a thing where he doesn't want to lunge to the left at a lope.  so we worked on that.  We lunged until he was soft in both directions. You know, back how he used to be.  Then we rode.  We did very little fancy stuff, just loped circles until they became easy circles. We did lots of trotting while flexing towards the fence. We did this back and forth until I could get him to flex with just the slightest touch of the rein.

At one point I looked over towards Danny's pen and noticed it was empty. It seems as though someone forgot to latch it when removing Trax.  If I catch that person I will kick her butt!

So Trax and I rode towards the arena gate. He moved right into position to open it but then did not want to stick around to close it.  Since I knew we were coming back and I needed to go find Danny, I let it go...this time.

We found Danny peacefully grazing out in the long grass by the road.  I didn't think he'd really go anywhere but then decided I didn't want to risk him getting hit by a car, so we herded him back in to his "home", and then went back to work.

This time I made Trax close the gate, and then we took some time to work on our rope gate.  He kind of relapsed a little, not being afraid, but just being stubborn, so we kept at it, till he executed perfectly on each side.

That got him a nice cool hose down (which he has decided that he loves now) and some pasture time.  He and Danny are out there right now.

Now I get to go do domestic stuff, but first I shall go check out some hay sources.  Much more fun that domestic crap!

A little water does wonders

My new "bud-ee" and I have been having some conversation over a nice long drink of water.  We have become good friends and he has really opened up to me.

This morning over coffee and water he said he has enjoyed our time together so much and asked if he could bring a friend.  

Of course I said yes.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that his friend is quite lovely....

Even better, down the row a ways I think some of the other neighbors are going to start coming out to visit as well.

I'm not positive but I think that many of them are mini-roses. Or maybe their growth is just stunted due to lack of H2o.  I am doing my best to nurture them back to health.

Just goes to show that a little nurturing and water go a long ways.

Hello Buddy

Old Buddy

Spotted Buddy

Best Buddies

New Bud-ee

Feeties- and all the headaches that go with them

The New farrier was out on Thursday. Some things about him I liked, other things I'm still not sure about.  The main thing I liked is that although he is old school, he is actively seeking out new information on shoeing and trimming.

He did Killian first who can sometimes be a tad of a butthead, and he ended up smacking him on the stomach with the file. Not real hard, but enough to get his attention. I know this is fairly common practice among farriers, and he wasn't beating him, he was just disciplining him. BUT I have a different method which I think is much more effective.  I push them sideways. I move their feet in the most difficult way possible and suddenly standing still is the best idea ever. With that being said, Killian did not give him another second of trouble, so at that point I left it be.

Killian's feet were a mess. I should have taken before pictures but I was so embarrassed about how they looked. I decided not too. The thing is, it had only been 6 weeks, so it isn't like I have been neglecting my horses. But they all sure looked like it.  Because they were so bad, he ended up having to be trimmed a little short. So now he is a tad sore on the gravel.  Not limping sore, just tender footed. It isn't the first time this has happened with him.  So I wasn't surprised. He'll grow out and be ok. He is pretty dry though so I think I need to get him on some Biotin and possibly go back to those flat shoes he had before. He sure did move nice in them.

Next was Sassy. I know that Sassy will get antsy so before I ever let him touch her I moved her feet a little just to get her mind right. She was good for him till the last hind foot. Oddly enough everyone does her right hind last and that is the one she always gives trouble on.  Still she wasn't bad, so that was good.  He noticed her limping right off the bat.  Left front- he called it.

So we started discussing her and her issues.  He began to tell me of some new stuff he has been learning, with new equipment and a boot that you strap on....

I interrupted him,"Oh Gene's stuff"

As it turns out, when I wanted Gene Ovnicek to see Sassy, he could not because he was in Arizona at a clinic.   What I found out, is that one of the "test horses" they used for this clinic belonged to none other than this farrier who was working on my horse.

So I told him the whole story of Sassy and her clogs, and working with the ELPO Farrier (Steve) and everything we had been through.  Turns out he has met Steve as well.  

One of the things he told me is that he was ready to put his horse down.  He was very skeptical of the whole thing, and they ended up putting clogs on his horse as well. They worked great for a bit but then they didn't.

He called the other farrier (not Gene but another guy) who initially brought him on this deal, and said, "Hey this is crap that you are feeding me, his is as bad as he ever was."

The other guy said, "No if he is limping again it means the soft tissue is healing and we need to take the clogs off"  So they took the clogs off, and he was better.

What my new farrier told me he has found is that with the clogs, is that you have to do constant maintenance every couple of weeks.

That was not even possible with Sassy when I was using Steve  because there was 500 miles between us.

So with that in mind this farrier has offered, if I am interested, to call up his buddy who got him started on this, and have them come and do another evaluation on her.  Then he will make himself available for maintenance anytime I call him and say, hey she is limping again. This buddy, is an ELPO farrier, and has all the same training and equipment that Steve did.

Here is where I am at on this whole thing. First off, I have Gene's number and he comes down here regularly. He has already agreed to see Sassy when I am ready. He is the "Godfather" of all of this. So common sense tells me to go to "the man himself" rather than his students.   On the other hand, if she does need the bi-weekly maintenance, Gene will not be available for that. So that kind of puts me in the same position I was in before.

Secondly, her left front was where the original coffin bone injury was, that is where she is limping the worst. Common sense says we still have an issue there.  I think before I spend any more money on special shoes or anything else. I need to get her looked at again, by a new vet.  I need to know if it has or has not healed. I need to know what exactly we are treating.

Now, with all that being said, once he was done trimming her, she should could barely walk across the driveway. The driveway has some large rocks and all my horses walk a little slow across it, but she really has a hard time. I am not blaming the farrier because he barely trimmed anything off of her at all. Trust me I was watching.  The girl is in some serious pain right now. Enough pain that I'm headed out to bute her here real soon. She had trouble with it before the trim, now it is bad.  I still think she needs boots or casts or something.  Argh!  I just don't know what to do with this horse!

One thing we did was look at her hoof health-wise. She no longer has those deep grooves that she used to and over all her hoof looks healthier than they used too. But clearly she is "Hoof Sore".

Trax of course stood like a champ, and was sound before the trim and is still sound after. For a horse with 2 different front feet, it amazes me that he is the soundest horse I have.

Danny has always had the best feet of any of my horses.  I mean as far as actual hoof condition goes.  This was not the case on this day.  He was starting to splay out to the side real bad and is starting to show signs of white line disease.  The farrier was able to trim it all away, but why his feet were so bad after only 6 weeks makes no sense to me.  The farrier said he looked like he had foundered at one time, but I don't see how.  Danny is getting hard to keep weight on.  Even when he is out to graze he spends half his time at the gate wanting to go inside and rest.  So of all my horses he is the one least likely to founder.  At least with my understanding of founder, that is what I believe.  I am willing to admit that my understanding could be wrong. So more research will be involved for sure.

One thing I am keeping in mind is that so much has changed for these horses. They are still in a dry sandy environment, but they have never had Bermuda grass, which is basically what that pasture is.  So there is something to factor in.  Their water has changed and there for are getting different minerals there. I suspect that there will be a lot of trial and error going on for a while until I figure out what the right combo of food and grazing is for these guys.  I don't know much about Bermuda grass, so I guess it is time to learn.

3 of my horses are getting pretty fat.  That is coming to end NOW.  I have cut everyone's haycubes back except Danny's.  And the amount of pasture time they get now is no more than a few hours at a time.  I have also started separating Danny and Trax at meal times, because I think Trax is getting some of Danny's food. Danny just eats slower than "Traxster the pigster".

I'm really considering going to some grass hay for these guys, in some slow feeders.  They need something to do during the day besides tear down my fly traps, and ruin my automatic waterers.

So here I am still beating my head against the wall with Sassy, and now with Danny too. It seems like it is always something.  Time to start scraping some vet money together I guess. Dogs to get fixed, mares to get looked at....it never ends! LOL

Random 5 Friday

I'm going to do a real quick one this morning due to lack of time.  Linking up with Nancy at A Rural Journal


1. I think my priorities are a little out of whack. When unpacking, it was much  more important to me to get all my artwork hung up, than it was to get my clothes put away. So at this point, most of my clothes are still in big black trash bags.  On the other hand, my walls look fabulous!

2. My ponies are visibly upset at the lack of pasture time the are receiving these days. But alas, it is for the greater good.  I am trying desperately to get some good growth out there and if I let them out for as long as they wanted it won't happen.

3. I am seriously having a hard time coming up with 5 things today.

4.  My four dogs are all around me, doing their best to convince me that they are starving to death.

5. Last night TC sent me a text from WY.  Basically he said that it is not the same with out me there, and he can't wait to get back here.  Awwwwwww!


Peace out!

Note To Self

Note to Self- morning rides must start before 8 am.

By time I got dressed and out the door to work with Trax it was already almost 9 am.  It was already too hot by then, but we persevered (and by we, I mean I) and got to work.

I decided that since I haven't even had a chance to try out the side pull which Louisa was so kind to send to me (and Crystal was so kind to send to her) so today was a good day to give it a shot.

We started with lunging in the arena but when I asked him to kick it up to a canter to the right he kept just backing up and trying to pull me off my feet.  This is something he has done a few times as of late and it is getting pretty old.  So we changed the game plan.  We moved to the round pen.  I tied the lead rope on the saddle horn and drove him to the right.  Funny how suddenly cantering to the right was the best idea ever. Then we switched back to the left. His downward transitions were wonderful.  I was a little surprised.

I worked a little on his foot work. You know, asking him to yield left and right while crossing his proper foot in front.  He usually wants to cross in the back. Each time he crossed correctly I removed the pressure.  Eventually I was able to get a few proper steps in each direction, so we called it good there.

I "installed" the sidepull, I'm hoping correctly, tightened my cinch and got up on him. We bent left and right and that was nice and easy.

We stayed in the round pen, since I did not know how much control I would have and figured that since I had one, I may as well be safe and use it.  I'm kind of glad I did.  Not that he was bad or out of control, but he felt like he really needed to move his feet a lot today.  He wanted to lope and so I dropped the reins and let him.  My round pen is a nice size, big enough to canter in, small enough to keep him from getting up to much speed.

He loped a nice easy lope and I just sat there doing my best not to lean to the inside.

He in turn did his best to not drag my ankle across the side rails.

A fair trade, I think.  One time he got a little close.

I said to him, "Hey Bud, lets not break my ankle ok?  If my ankle is broken I can't work, if I can't work I can't buy you food."

With a flick of his ear and a shift of his path, he replied, "Sorry about that."

After a bit he slowed to a trot, turned towards the middle of the pen and then switched directions.  Then he went back to his lope and we repeated scene 1.

I haven't quite figured out where his head is at during these times. Especially this time. I mean he was perfectly happy just loping in circles.  If it had been cooler outside I'm sure we'd still be out. But he wasn't like crazy running away, because these were smooth easy circles.  He could have gone faster than he was, I have seen him run smaller circles at a much higher rate of speed with out any problem.

I haven't decided if running just makes him happy or if it is his way of getting out of working.  Not that he is trying to scare me, or lose me or anything like that. I mean if he was trying to get rid of me, he knows how.  I mean that for him running in circles takes zero thought what so ever and he can do it all day.  Working on serpentine's, leg yields, side passes, spins, backing up, all of that takes brain work.  It is more challenging for him.

Anyway, after he finally decided he was done, we worked on moving off my leg without spurs. He did just fine.  So I rewarded him with a walk around the block.  As we walked we ran into a gal who lives two doors down. We have spoken a few times when she rides her roan mare past. This is the first time she has seen my horse up close. We chatted for a bit about lameness and roping and houses, and such, then I headed on my way.  By time we got back home I was ready to get my jeans off and some shorts on!

Gave Trax a quick hose down and put him away.  But not before I took this.

Modeling the new head gear

A Day To Myself

I don't have to stand around pretending like I am working for 4 hours  work today, so I am taking a day for me.  Well mostly for me.

CNJ was nice enough to give me the number of her farrier and he is coming out this after noon, but I fed my ponies first thing, and as soon as the boy gets off to school, I'm headed out for a training session with Traxster.

I'm rolling things around in my mind of what I would like to do with him today. First and foremost, the ride WILL be long enough to get him back in training mode.  Second I think that I really want to lose the spurs and go back to basics with asking him to stop and move off my legs.  The impatient person in me wants to get out there and really get to moving around a working on the fun stuff.  But the voice that I have learned to actually listen too, tells me to back up and go slower.  So that is what we will do.

A week or so ago I was driving home and there were a bunch of cows out and so I stopped and knocked on the door of the house whose yard they were in and told the guy his cows were out.  As it turned out, they were not his but belonged to the neighbor across the road. I assisted with the "round up" and we introduced ourselves briefly.

I told him where we lived and he asked if we had horses, so of course I told him.  (duh, when am I going to pass up a chance to talk about my Trax)  I told him I am trying to get into ranch versatility.  He told me that he has a string of bucking horses and bulls and that on Wednesday nights they run practice.  He invited us to come over any time.

Last night as we were driving home from football practice the corner where he lives is wall to wall pick ups.  Young cowboys were headed to the pens with their bags of gear, old cowboys were on the pick up horses, and the cloud of dust was huge.  I wanted to stop and watch but knew I needed to get home and let my doggies out. (must get doggie door soon)  At least I thought I might want to watch.  In some ways I am not sure.  It is very possible that I don't want to see what really goes on there.  Does that make sense?

Well the sun is coming on high and the temps are rising, time to get my butt in gear!

The job

So far the new job is pretty nice. Everyone there says they love working for this company because they are treated very well.

The young gal who worked on training me today is another one of those young women who I believe is going to take over the world. She is truly an "old soul".  I enjoyed every bit of our time together, even though I didn't get to learn a whole lot.  We just don't have enough customers yet, but we will soon I am sure of that.

The man in charge of the equine dept is an old cowboy, who is quite knowledgeable about his products, and his customers. A great quality to have.

After I was done for the day, I decided to go pick up a new manure fork, since mine is missing rungs and all the poop falls out.  I also decided to just browse the the Equine section a little bit.  I always look at supplements and things along those lines when shopping through stores like this. I'm not sure what it is I am looking for, perhaps the miracle quick fix that I can give to Sassy to make her all better over night.  But really I was just looking.

As I was looking the old-cowboy-turned-salesman came up and asked if I was finding everything I was looking for.  I should have recognized that he was probably just honing his customer service skills, but for some reason all common sense left me.  It flew out of my brain and off into the sunset right at that very moment.

"Oh I don't know, I have a yard full of lame horses." (Why did I say that?)

"Oh? Lame from what?"

"We don't know, well we know one has stringhalt, but one is a mystery..chipped coffin bone...fixed...but didn't...MRI...ack...er....um....something....switches feet....supplement?" (This was my attempt at sounding like I had some sort of clue about what I was talking about)

"Well, you can feed all kinds of different supplements or you can feed one that has it all..."and then he switched into his sales pitch for Total Equine. (clearly undeterred by my total lack of a complete thought)

By this time my brain was reeling, I had no idea what I was doing there and just wanted to run.

"Is that anything like Platinum Performance?"

"Well I don't know much about Platinum Performance, but Total Equine is completely natural and has every nutrient a horse needs."

"Er...Um...full bucket...broke....derrrrrr....um...Vet...Um"  I'm really not sure what happened to my ability to form a full sentence.

At that point it became obvious to him that I was the token handicapped person that they hired in order to prove that they are as good as Walmart, and he slowly backed away being careful to avoid eye contact. As soon as he felt he was a safe distance away he turned and ran away as quickly as he could without being obvious that he was running from me.

I stood there wondering if I should go after him and try to tell him about my paint horse and all his baggage.

The mental image flashed across my brain (Crazy chick with poop fork chasing nice cowboy around the store "But..er...um...wait...I haven't told you about my crazy paint yet!  He was all messed up...fixed...still working...come so far.....3rd place!" As he dives into a stack of feed hoping to lose me.   Store manager comes and fires me for scaring his other employees.  I am removed from store and told never to come back.)

I decided I'd better just get the fried chicken out of there, and made a beeline for the register where I managed to almost stab someone else with my poop fork.  

That was my first real day on the job.

Thank goodness I have tomorrow off and don't go back till Friday.

Depression????

I have to admit to suffering through a small bout of depression since moving here.  I had envisioned riding every day, and wanting to do things, but I don't.

I don't want to do anything.

It is nice and cool out this morning (ok well relatively cool) and I should be out with my horses. But I don't feel like it.

I don't feel like sweeping up the ever growing piles of dog hair in my house.  I don't feel like cleaning pens. I don't feel like finishing the last of the unpacking, and I darn sure don't feel like going to a job today!

I fell like sleeping...for a week.

Instead I got up at 5 had 2 cups of coffee, sat in the back yard and tried to change my mindset.  No it didn't really work, but in just a second I'll be out with the ponies getting them fed and the manure scooped. Not because I want to but because I have to.

I did take a couple of pics this morning.

This is the gorgeous sunrise that was present as I sat in the back yard with my dogs

My herd in their pens wondering why they cannot go and graze in the pasture.
Interestingly enough, I have not seen Killian make ugly faces at Danny in a while.
They spend a lot of time at the fence together just hanging out.
I always wonder what they are talking about.

 I chose to sit in the back yard today, so I could watch the sun rise.  The down side of that is that the mosquito's are worse back there. So it was a great chance to try out my new weapon.

It is the little thing that supposedly creates a bubble barrier around you that the little suckers
cannot penetrate.  FYI- it only works if you are sitting still, and only if the dogs are not
waking all the mosquito up out of the grass.

When Jamie was here with us, she showed me a great way to keep the little buggers off of you.

Rub yourself down with a bounce dryer sheet and then stick it in your hat
or your bra, or your shoes or where ever.
It works much better than spray and you smell good too. 

Did I mention that I have rose bushes?  No?  Well ok then, I have rose bushes.  Or at least I have what is left of rose bushes.  I love roses and have always wanted to have some growing in my yard. Now I do and guess what?  I have no idea what to do with them.

They had bloomed beautifully before we moved here, but I didn't get to see it.
All I got to see were a bunch of dead buds. 

I think I am supposed to prune them back so that they can grow again.  I guess I need to google it and see what I come up with. 

Well now the sun is up, and it is time to get moving.  ARGH!  Why can't I just hide under the covers today?

Officially Employed

Yes yes, that would be me.  Among the officially employed.

You are now speaking to the new store manager of the "Sh@&&#%$" (Ranch Supply Store) for my area.

Well, no there isn't actually a location of that particular chain in my area yet.

So I am temporarily filling in as a part time cashier.....at a different location a bit further away.

But hey, it is just a matter of time before they realize how awesome I am, and open a location close to home just for me to manage.

I start my training today.


I can only assume that this is the place where God wants me, because not one single other company that I applied at has called, emailed, or sent up smoke signals.

Can you say "Employee discounts"?????

(AKA: paychecks spent before I ever get them)


Now it is time to go clean pony pens, and dog poo, and vacuum up the dog hair that seems to multiply worse than rabbits.

Take care everyone.

Sunday- Equine Spa Day

Saturday night we had a small birthday party for Simon, so my day was filled with cooking and cleaning and trying to make my house appear as though we might actually live here.

Sunday though was my day, and except for irrigating our pasture for the first time, I was able to pretty much do as I pleased.

Who'd have thunk that a ditch full of water pouring into our pasture could be so exciting for me!  I couldn't believe how quickly the ground soaked up all the water though.  I mean it was gone in an hour.  But it already looks greener this morning than it did before.  It has not been irrigated in a long time, several months I know, so I was surprised that there was any grass at all.  I will keep the horses off of it for a while to give it a chance to really grow, and we will irrigate weekly for a while. Once it comes back we should be able to cut back some.

After we finished that, we came in and I took a little nap.  I love naps!

Then I decided it was time for some long past due grooming on the ponies.  I ended up buying some of the "Shoo Fly" fly spray before we left WY. It is good stuff, thick and oily so it sticks well, but everyone's coats were icky and sticky and full of dirt and crud.

So I brought each one to the dog yard (so as to maximize water usage) for a "Spa Day"

Killian is the great pretender. The minute I turned on the water he backed up at mach 9 acting like I was spraying him with some sort of skin burning acid.  I know for a fact that he has had many baths and is not really afraid of water. This is how he tries to get out of things.  He acts afraid.  He is so good at it too, until he finally realizes that I am not going to buy into his game. Then he stands quietly and even drops his head so that I can wash his face.  He doesn't even mind being sprayed in the face.  Such a goof ball.

Super Shiney! 

The gratuitous tail shot.  

Next was Sassy, she loves baths. She stands quietly and thrives off the attention.  I tried to get a picture of her lovely head but she wasn't cooperating for that. She was ready to have her turn at grazing.  I forgot to mention that last week I got a text from her former owner, who was just checking up on her.  We chatted for a long time, she says that Sassy looks just like her dam, only a different color.  We talked about her lameness and she apologized for giving me a horse with problems, but I told her it was not her fault.  She wasn't lame when I got her, and it is just one of those things that happens.  She told me that she hopes to get another horse out of the same dam from the guy in Texas who bred her.

Then it was Danny's turn. Poor Danny kind of gets a little neglected.  In the grooming dept I mean.  He rarely ever goes anywhere, so his main and tail were turning to dread locks. Danny really has never cared for baths, and especially hates getting his face washed. He kept trying to leave, I mean like if I turned around to grab the soap or the brush, when I turned back he was headed out of the grass and over to the gravel area behind us. I'm not sure where he thought he was going as there is fence all around, but he was getting the heck away from me.  I also found that he has a sore spot from the fly mask, so I had to leave it off for a while.  It must have just happened because I check them every couple of days for rub marks.  I put some natures edge on it to help it heal.

Looking alright for a horse his age. 

Finally I did Trax. By time it was his turn I was sun burnt, tired, and covered in bug bites, so I'm not sure I put as much effort into him as I did with the others.  Not that it matters anyway, even though I waited till he was dry to put him away, he immediately rolled in the dirt. The others didn't.  I some times wonder if the other horses make fun of him for having so much white, so he gets dirty to blend in with the others. LOL  He is getting better about baths. Still doesn't like to have his face sprayed, but loves to have it washed. I think it must itch a lot and the scrubbing feels good.

Love that butt

I was trying to get him to lift his head for a better picture.
This is him expressing his displeasure at being pulled away from the grass!

In other news, TC is headed back to WY for a week so I am on my own.  I was called on Friday for 2 different interviews.  One I did Friday and they guy wants to hire me. It is as a part time cashier for a Ranch Supply store. It will work into more hours though and possibly even "Head Cashier". So that isn't bad. The other interview was for today for an office manager position.  They just called and canceled. I guess they already hired someone. Um....ok?

I have put in a lot of resume's and no one really seems to be interested in me except the Ranch Supply store, so maybe that is where I am supposed to be.  The guy said they are looking to open another store closer to my area, so perhaps if I do well at this store I can work my way into a management position in a new store.  I don't know.  I'm a little discouraged, but have faith that God will provide as long as I keep doing the foot work.

When I first started applying, and you have to do everything on line, I thought, "Great! Saves money on gas!"  But now I see that it hurts me more than helps me.  My resume' is decent, but as a general rule it is who I am as a person that gets me in the door.  Once I get in the door, I have no problem showing that I am right for the job, or that my skills, are every bit of what I say they are.  If I can't "sell myself" then chances are I will be passed over.  The reason the guy at the ranch supply store wants to hire me, is because I walked in and handed him my resume' and we talked.  It took 3 minutes of telling him about myself to convince him that I would be an asset to his company.

Speaking of this job potential, it is time for me to get dressed and go take my physical for this cashier job.

Hope everyone had a great weekend..

New Spurs- the voice- 4 very happy ponies

After watching my video like a thousand times, and picking out all the things I see that I do wrong, I am going to be implementing some changes.

A big one is going to be my spurs.  (besides all the other stuff I listed yesterday)

I see myself over using them, and I see him getting more than a little miffed. I don't blame him one bit.

Unfortunately no spurs at all has me having to actually kick him in the sides to get him to move off my leg.  Common sense tells me that it shouldn't be that way, but it is.

I saw a gal at the Ranch Horse show wearing a different kind of spur, and I was intrigued.

It was very much like this.

I like the ball end which I think would be a much nicer way to communicate to him that I need him to move, this way or that way. I know I would like it more if I were him.

Here is another version

This set (obviously) has a shorter shank. They are reasonably priced and once I am working I think I will try ordering a set.

I'm curious if anyone has ever tried these.

The down side to this is that there is a nagging little voice in the back of my mind that says "Wrong answer- you are still taking short cuts.  Slow down, go back to the beginning and teach him to move off the slightest leg pressure."  I suppose the fact that I can hear the voice is actually an up side. I think it means I'm finally getting a clue.

I rode after dark in the arena Friday night.  A few of my lights aren't working, but it was still plenty bright enough to see. Trax doesn't seem to care for being ridden after dark. In fact he doesn't seem to care to be ridden at all these days.  We have pretty much backed up to where we were when we first started working with Mark.

I understand all the reasons why, but still it is a tad annoying.   I understand that he hasn't been ridden at all since the show.  He is in a new place and it is hot and the bugs drive us crazy when we are riding- even with  spray.  The few times we have ridden since we got here were short rides which really doesn't even give him time to get into the mind set to learn.  So because I know all these things, I don't get upset at him, or even at myself. Right now I just roll with it, knowing that better days are ahead.

For now we just do things like this....

"Hmm, maybe this place isn't so bad after all"

"Bad???? Dude I think I'm in heaven!"

"Hey guys!  The grass is so tall here you can't even see me?"

"This grass makes me so happy I don't even feel like beating Danny up today!"

I swear Killian grazes like a swather. He mows back and forth in front of him just clearing a path.  It was kind of cool to be able to bring them out by the road and drop the lead ropes and just let them enjoy for a while. No one tried to leave, and there was not a single pinned ear between them.   I only let them graze for about 30 min though. I had pens to clean and it wasn't getting any cooler.  But I will take them out again either this evening or again in the morning.

Talk about 4 happy ponies!

At long last...the video!

Now that I am "techno" again, I was able to finally upload my video of the ranch horse show.  I didn't bother with the trail class as it was pretty boring, but I did do the ranch riding and cow work portion of the day.

I want to apologize ahead of time for the seriously bad camera work.  TC is so "not techno" and also kept forgetting that he was holding a camera.  So when the pictures sort of wanders off to  nothing, that is forgetting to watch through the screen.

Also I started before the judge was ready so they sent me back to start over. That was because I couldn't hear what they were saying.  Oh and that hat....3 sizes too big. LOL


Before I upload it here I want to give my own personal critique of what I see.

1. I HAVE GOT to let go of his face.  I am so used to checking him all the time, and he just pushes into it.  We have so much more work to do on this, and when I say we I really mean me.  There are times when I give him some rein, some times when I give him one rein, but I need to be giving him more rein.  It makes me cringe the entire time I watch this.

2. Flying lead changes-Or lack there of.  I check him down to do a simple lead change. When I do his head goes up and he fights the bit.  On this day I over heard a gal (who rides super well-btw) discussing with a less experienced girl all the reasons why checking down for a lead change is ass backwards for the way a horse moves physically.  So with that in mind, goal number 2 is to work on driving forward into those lead changes rather than checking down. Even though I do not actually know how to do goal number 2, I know I want to do it, and once I know that, I will find an answer.

3. Equitation-  What the hell am I doing up there? I'm bouncing around all over the place looking like a sack of potato's. Especially when we are working the cow. Why am I trying to fly with my elbows? Goal number three is to learn how to sit and ride like a horseman. Or more like one anyway.

I'm sure there is so much more but those are the big 3

Now some good stuff.

Watch his stops.  No he doesn't slide, but not once on any of the stops does he fight me.  Yes I am back in his face a little bit, but not near as bad as I have been in the past so that is progress. Yay!

I see him drop his nose some when we are working the cow. Not sure if I was asking for it, or if he was just doing it, but either way it is happening.  Always a plus.

When we are doing the circles to the right he really rates his speed well on the smaller circles.  He actually appears to be relaxed an enjoying himself. At least it looks that way to me, does anyone else see it?

The back up isn't bad. Not pretty but not bad.

So here is the video,

Feel free to offer up any constructive criticism on my riding that you may have. I know I need all the help I can get.

Random Five Friday

Well here it is Friday already, time flies when you are unemployed and just sort wandering through your days!

Linking up to Nancy at a Rural Journal for Random Five Friday.

1. I finally found my camera cord and so now I have pictures to post.  Check it out...I have flowers

2. Every day at 6pm I go to watch my son's football practice.  I never used to enjoy it this, but this year he has great coaches who are really pushing these boys to learn the skills needed to win. It is a blast to watch him push himself beyond the limits of what he ever thought he could do.


3.  Every morning I take at least 5 min on my front porch to sit and drink my coffee and do my own form of meditation.  I give thanks for what I have, and just take the world in around me.  It is my favorite part of the day.

4. As I type this, TC has the local news on.  He tends to do this every morning.  I hate watching the news, it is so depressing.  In fact I am not even enjoying having cable TV again. I was quite enjoying not having any TV at all. There for I chose not to watch much.

5. Yesterday I was very happy for the hot temps we have here.  TC and I left one of the gates to the dog yard open. Then a little later let all the dogs out to potty. I happened to step out front a little bit later to find 3 out of 4 dogs at the front gate (which was shut) begging to come inside where it was cool.  Mason, of course, was not one of those 3. I saw him over in the empty horse pen trying to jump up to get the fly trap bag I had just hung up this morning. By time I got the other 3 put away and headed after him he was headed down the road.  I tired whistling and calling to him, although I know he can't hear me so I'm not sure why I tried that.  It was funny to watch him though because I could tell that he was totally questioning in his own mind whether or not he wanted to continue on his jaunt in the heat.  I finally got his attention by waving my arms around in the air. As soon as he saw me, he came running.  "OH mom, thank you for saving me, it is too hot to go exploring today!"  Usually he runs the other way.  I was glad he didn't this time because I really didn't feel like chasing him.

The Desk

As we started searching for furniture to replace the stuff we gave away, we decided to go ahead and hit the antique stores first to see if we could find some cool and unique pieces that we really liked, before settling on junk that we didn't want.  We hit many stores and found a great entertainment center type thing that looks as though it is made out of old barn wood.  It is new construction but is very rustic looking and was a fair price so we brought it home. We also found an empire style dresser made of cherry wood, that I just loved. The price was high but we did some haggling, and brought that home as well.

Yet as much as we looked, we could not find a desk that suited our needs.  TC had his heart set on a roll top desk. I was leaning more towards an old solid table with lots of space.  We found several roll tops but they were just too small and cheaply made.  So we made the decision last Sunday to make a run up to Globe and Miami. If you have never been there, and you get the chance....go!  What a couple of neat little towns.  

I have been there many times, even worked a week or so up there in a store called "Wild Bill's Emporium"  owned by none other than Wild Bill Stolzey. What a character he was!  I really just can't even describe what he was like, just an old desert rat who had been around since the dawn of time.  It seems like everyone in Arizona knew him, or knew of him. He was a legend in his own time. Bald head with a ring of white hair that stood straight out on end. He always wore old cowboy boots and in the summer sported along with those boots some lovely cut off polyester cut offs that he picked up at the haberdasher across the way. His shirt was always plaid button up, with cut off sleeves in the summer.  He knew more about antiques and treasures than anyone I have ever known.   The way we met is a story in itself which I will share another day. He has long since passed away, but no one who had ever met him, has forgotten Old Wild Bill

Anyway, I digress.

TC and I drove up and went to every store that was open. At the very first store we found exactly what he was looking for. A solid oak roll top mission style desk from the early 1900's I think.  We checked the rest of the stores just to make sure there wasn't anything we liked better, but there wasn't.  so we went back and purchased it for what seemed to be a fair price.  As they were loading it, I noticed it was starting to come apart in one spot. By time we got home is was coming apart in a couple of spots. By time we got it unloaded it was in pieces.

Bummer!

But TC being who he is, managed to take the next 2 days getting in back together and now I have a desk for our new computer. (love windows 8 by the way)

Taa Daa!!!!

I have to keep the tower and printer up on top but am able to bring my screen down to the desk level behind the key board and it works quite well.  I love it!

Now we just need to find a wood filing cabinet.  We found a set of 3 but they won't split up the set and it is more than we need, so we keep looking.

Slowly but surely we are getting settled in. We finally got set up for irrigation, so this Sunday we can irrigate and get that pasture growing.

Yesterday was so nice and over cast I took Trax for a quick spin around the block. Once he got over his bucking fit in the arena (before I got on him) he was easy peasy.

Danny managed to get into something and got a nice cut along his flank.  Not deep, but just enough to attract flies so I am keeping it covered with natures edge.  Killian's feet look terrible already, I don't know what it is with his hooves. They aren't even that long, but they are already chipping apart. So I need to find a good trimmer pretty soon.  I'm considering trying it myself, but am still leery of that.  We will see. I suppose I could get a file and at least file them down a little, right?

Met a couple of our neighbors already, this is a fantastic neighborhood. Very close nit and friendly. I love that!

My job search hasn't yielded anything yet, and I was getting frustrated looking in the east valley paper and on Monster.com.  There just wasn't much to chose from. Then someone said, "hey try craig's list"  Duh! Why didn't I think of that!  Today I applied at about 15 places within 10 miles of here, one of them even being a vet's office in Gilbert, which I think would be perfect!!!! So keep your fingers crossed for me.

Well time to go back to unpacking. My sons birthday is coming up and we are having a small get together for him this weekend and my house is still in boxes. Lots and lots to do!