Still Catching Up

I still have some catching up to do after being gone for so long.  I try to keep it pertained to just the big events, which is easy because my days pretty much run together and become a blur.  Day to day happenings seem to just be part of the routine and are filed away in the "not so important" part of my brain.

Last month TC's 92 year old mom came down for a visit. She lives in WY, and wasn't really up for a drive so TC drove up and got her, they hopped on a plane and flew down. Then he flew with her home again and then drove back to AZ.

She is a lover of all animals, has donated most of her children's inheritance to various different rescues, and has a little dog and an angry cat of her own.  It was hard for her to leave her critters behind, but her younger sister stayed with them for her so that she could enjoy her visit without worrying.

It was hard to know what she could handle and couldn't handle as far as sight seeing, and for the first few days she was here, one of TC's daughters was also here with their kids so we stayed pretty close to home.  I did quite a bit of cooking and Edith was always asking what she could do to help. I didn't want her to have to work while she was here, so I told her "nothing" and urged her to go enjoy her time to relax.

On the 3rd day she got up and said very sternly, "I have to have something to do!!!" So I handed her a broom and let her go.  She pulled weeds for me, and helped with the cooking, and was much happier then. She liked to pull the weeds and give them to the horses.  She decided that since only some of the horses would eat them, I was not feeding those horses enough.

She absolutely loved the kitties, and the dogs.  

Oh...the dogs.

I almost forgot.   How could I forget?????

The first morning she was here we lost our sweet old dog Butch.

He had been fine the day before, had his walk, fought with the dogs next door through the fence, ate his dinner just fine, laid there and barked at the voices in his head as we watched TV, and then went to bed in Simon's room. The next morning I got up and could not find him.

I went to the back yard and he was laying in the grass which was soaking wet from the sprinklers.  His breathing was very labored and he was shivering.  I brought him inside and we wrapped him in a fuzzy blanket.  I knew what was happening.

We all knew.

Simon sat there with him for a while, while I went and got TC.  We gathered around our sweet old guy and rubbed him till he stopped shivering.  He took a deep breath and exhaled and that was it.  His heart stopped and he was gone.

It was hard....oh so hard, but I could not have asked for a better ending for him, or for Simon.  We dug a big hole out behind the arena, and laid him to rest. Simon made a cross for him, and every time I ride, I get to say hello to him.

Even Edith cried for that one.  It was almost as hard on her as it was on us.  Like I said, she is a true lover of animals.

I believe these were the last two photos I ever took of him.  He was such a good dog.  Never gave us any trouble from the day I brought him home.  Morning walks just aren't the same without him.

Anyway, we did finally take Edith to see some sights.  She insisted on walking everywhere. We went to the Casa Grande Ruins, and the Desert Botanical Gardens.  I believe she enjoyed them both very much.

We also drove around the Superstition Mountain a little bit.  I think she is less impressed with the desert than I am.  Understandable I guess.

So now it is back to life as usual, I am at full capacity on boarding now, but am loosing two horses in a few days.  They are going up north to cooler weather.

I have gotten all my pens divided so I have 9 all together.  That is enough boarders to actually support all of my horses.  I will have 2 empty spots when the two walking horses leave, but I don't think they will stay empty for too long.  I believe I have gained a pretty decent reputation in the area for being a great place to board at.

Two of my boarders you folks have not met yet.

One of them is "Buddy", a retired rope horse of about 20.  He bears the marks of a horse who has worked hard most of his life, is easy going, and starting to thrive nicely with his new owner.  She is very hands on, stops by several times a week, and is great fun to hang out with.  She is a retired roper too, so they are perfect for each other.

The other one came in with no real name.  They just called him Mr. Grey.  Mr. Grey has a truly touching story.  He was at an auction in TX, was purchased by a kill buyer, and was waiting to head to slaughter.  The kill buyer has a sister in law who rescues, and he is always will to sell her any horse she wants off of his truck at meat price.  She found the big grey horse a new owner, and he was transported to AZ.  They had a temporary housing for him while he was fully vetted and quarantined. His new owner is just getting back into horses with the help of a friend who barrel races, and so a boarding facility needed to be found.  Turns out, barrel racing friend and I know each other, although the new owner didn't know that when she called to inquire about boarding.

Mr. Grey came to us just last week. He is still a little underweight but his owner has been working hard to get him healthy and he is starting to look good.  He is huge!  Bigger than Melody and when he gets back up to full weight, will be as wide as Killian.  Mr. Grey also just got his name yesterday.  It is Sterling.  It fits him perfectly.

Sterling is another wonderful horse.  11 years old, he is actually a registered QH and they are working on getting his papers.  His original owner loaned him to a guy to try for heading, and the guy was supposed to come back and pay for the horse.  However, he never came back, phone got disconnected, and owner never saw his horse again.  The rescuers contacted him and asked if he wanted his horse back, but he is just happy that he has a good home, and said no.

Buddy is the dark guy and Sterling is the big grey

Buddy and Sterling really like each other.  They spend a lot of time grooming each other, and hanging out together.  Trax hangs out with them too.  I am really hoping that once the two spotted walkers are gone I can put Killian in with the other three geldings and have an all gelding herd that gets along.   OR....Killian will just have to be alone.

For now it is time to go clean pens, and get some saddle work done.  The season has slowed down here, but I still have lots to work on out there.

I think that catches me up on all major events.