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!

Trax - Herd Spokesman

Hello nice ladies of the world who have big hearts for their ponies.

I am here today to tell you that my lady does not love me, or my herd any more.  She has done terrible things to us, that we do not understand.

It all started after our wonderful ride at the horse show.  We did so good and she said she was so proud of me, but I am not sure that she really meant it because she stopped riding me!  I mean she didn't do anything but give me food and spray me with that stuff.  No grooming, no trailer rides no nothing.  Well that is not totally true. We took one trailer ride to the vet hospital where they poked me and stuck things in my butt (which made me want to kick them) and then loaded us all up and took us home.

Then she went away for several days. When she came back she still did not ride me, all she did was keep giving me food. Now don 't get me wrong, I like a vacation as much as the next horse, but I mean we finally had some really good weather, and she was home all day long, so how come we did not ride?

Then things went really crazy.  One morning her and the Nice man, and another nice lady put halters on me and the rest of my herd. They put Danny in the trailer and then me, then Sassy and Killian was last.  There was yummy cubes in little feeders for us, and lots of nice soft shavings on the floor. I thought maybe it was time to go to another show, although I thought that would be odd since we didn't practice at all, and usually my friends don't go to shows being that they don't have any skills like I do, but I thought maybe it was like a show for handicapped horses.

Anyway we traveled for most of the day, it seemed like we stopped a lot and thought maybe we could get out, but no. They just made us stand there in the trailer.  They gave us water to drink but they did not let us out to run and play or graze on yummy grasses.  So then I decided that there probably aren't many shows for handicapped horses and so maybe we had to drive really far to find one.

Danny the old man, was kind of nervous, but I talked to him once and a while and calmed him down.  As we were riding Sassy told us that she had been on a long trip like this once before too. I did not believe her at first, but then I noticed that every time we stopped she was the only one smart enough to drink lots of water. She was the only one of us that did not get thirsty on the long road.  She said that she came from a place called Tex Ass. But I have never been there so I don't know if it is real. She tells stories some times.

As the sun was going down we finally pulled into a place that I thought for sure was where the show for handicapped horses was, but I was wrong.  I mean there were all the things that you expect to see at a show...arena, grandstands, stalls and cages for smelly cows, but we were the only horses there.   Killian said that we must be early, and I thought that maybe he was right.

Then my lady put us all in little boxes. We couldn't see each other but we could talk and hear each other so we yelled back and forth alot. It made us feel better to hear each others voices.   The boxes were smelly and did not have any soft bedding like the trailer, but at least we cold move around.  Our lady gave us turns out in a big arena with soft sand and we took turns rolling and running around. That part was nice, and I was hoping she was going to let us stay in the arena for a long time, but she only let us stay for a little bit. Then she put us back in the boxes and gave us food and left us by ourselves all night. She also did something else really strange. She had all the canine's with us too and she put them all in a box too!  She always keeps the canine in the human barn with her, so I did not understand what was going on.  The other horses didn't either. We all wondered if maybe she had bumped her head again.

The next morning we all got turns in the arena again, and then back in the trailer we went.  There was no show for handicapped horses there either. Maybe my lady was lost?

We drove again for a long time, sometimes it was kind of hot, but never too bad, especially since the wind was blowing in the windows.  I thought that maybe we were headed home finally but nothing looked right.  We just kept driving and driving.  I was getting tired, and Danny was getting stiff.  Sassy whined and complained about her hooves the whole time, and Killian just kept eating.

Finally we stopped again and got to get out. It was another place for horse shows, but it looked like a place for poor horses who don't have really nice ladies to take care of them. There were some other horses there, but I think they lived there the all the time. They did not have nice big pastures like we have at home. I felt bad for those ponies and I told them so. They just ignored me though.

They put us in some big pens that had great big water troughs, we were so thirsty we all took big long drinks. Even Danny who can be kind of finicky.  We could all smell that there was a storm coming but we were so happy to be out of the trailer we didn't care. The air was nice and cool, and we rolled around in the dirt and looked for things to nibble on. There was lots of wood chips in these pens and Danny tried to eat them.

They gave us some food and then left us by ourselves for a while. I think they went to eat too.

Pretty soon the storm was right on us and there were big crazy clouds. Sassy was getting kind of crazy, she is weird like that when there is a storm.  My lady came racing back to the place with the truck and trailer and they ran to get us in the trailer. Just as they shut the door the rain started pouring down.  It was coming in the windows and in our faces, but we did not travel, we just sat in the trailer and waited for the storm to pass. Pretty soon it was gone and we started moving again.

There were lots of big trees and Danny said we were in a place called Or-we-gone, but I have never heard of such a place so I don't know if he was telling stories are not. You know how old geezers are, sometimes they don't remember so good.

The sun was gone and the road was windy and twisty and made me wish I could throw up.  Of course I only know what that is from watching the canines, who seem to do it a lot.  I cannot throw up, but that road made me wish I could.

Then all of a sudden the air changed. It went from being cool and brisk to being hot and thick.  I've never felt air so thick in my life. We went through a big city and then finally we stopped and got off the trailer. My lady put us in pens and gave us fresh water and food. We ate, but it was so hot and yucky, I was not enjoying being off the trailer.  I was hoping we wouldn't stay in this place for very long.

But we are still here.

Sassy says we are in Tex Ass, but my lady says we are in a place called Aree-zona. All I know is that it is not like our home and I am not sure I like it.  I live in a big pen with Danny and that is kind of nice because we can swish flies for each other. Sassy lives with Killian (of course).

We do have a pasture and it does have a little bit of grass but if it doesn't rain here soon, there won't be any left.  Big fat Killian goes out there and eats it all. Yes yes I eat some too, but that guy is a pig! We get to take turn eating the pasture grass.

So now you see, my lady brought us to this awful place where the air never gets cool, and there are these bugs called mosquitoes that like to bite us.  We don't have our barn anymore, and we have flies really bad. She sprays us with that stuff everyday, but it only helps for a little while.

I don't know what we did to deserve this terrible treatment. She said she loves me and will always take care of me, but I think she lied. She is torturing me.

Oh and THEN, she decided to ride me...while it was hot!   See....clearly she hates us.  I am a sad pony now and am looking for a new place to live. If any of you nice ladies would like to have a slightly crazy paint horse come and live at your house, I will gladly come as long as you have cool air at night and plenty of green grasses.  Please send directions as I cannot work a gps by myself.

Also, please let me know if it is okay to bring the rest of my herd.  I will feel bad if I have to leave my friends behind. We can sneak out in the night when she is sleeping.

I have Internet Again...Just in Time for Random 5 Friday

Last week I forgot to link up with Nancy At a Rural Journal. This time I remembered, well, because I have internet again.

So here we go.

1. This morning I rode my horse...for the first...in my very own arena.  IT WAS AWESOME! (imagine little kid jumping up down there)  Trax was a little sticky, a little rusty, and a little chargy, but it was nice to ride.  I'm not sure Trax thought so, but he got to do some razing afterwards so it made it all worth while.

3. As I type this it is starting to sprinkle outside

Those spots are rain drops..sort of. yay rain!!!!

4.  My ponies say it is past their dinner time...but then they always say that.

5. This is the newest addition to our family

Her name is Dakota...I guess that pic is a tad blurry isn't it?  She is such a good girl, and I am glad to have her back in my life.  She was mine, but when my husband and I split up he kept her and I kept Mason. Then when he heard we were moving he asked if I wanted her back.  She is getting older and has a harder time with the cold.


So that is what I have for Randomness today.  I have so much to catch up on with everyone, and hopefully can do that tomorrow.  \