Kinda Quiet around here

Well I am on spring break and there is not much happening around here. Frank is leaving for his new job on Saturday. He has spent his days home trying to get a 1990 Volkswagen Cabriolet running that has been on blocks for at least 4 years. He finally got it running tonight, but not sure if it is completely fixed.

I have spoke with a rep. from University of Phoenix this week and got all paper work turned in. I will be starting online classes as soon as my financial aide goes threw. I will be getting a BS in Criminal Justice. I have decided finally that I really want to be a Probation Officer. I am so excited to finally get a career going. It has taken me long enough to decide what the heck I want to do with my life.

Still no foal. I think you will all hear me when this foal comes, especially if it all turns out all right. I know she looks horrible. She is on 6lbs of Strategy and extra vitamins and minerals, has a mineral block and today I took dad some Red Cell to add to her mix. I can not get the bones off this girl. And she is halter bred! She is just in very poor shape. She gets her feet done, but the last time was probably the very last time as it was very difficult to get done. It did not use to be so much work.

I also got an update from a lady that bought my other 2006 palomino filly. She has two fillies that look very similar. The trained eye can see that one has a star and the other has a blaze. My filly, "Hope" is the one with the blaze. She is also sending me better pictures soon, I will post those.

I am SICK of waiting

Have I told you how tired I am of waiting on this mare to foal? She is one year and one day today. She is a maiden mare so no telling what she is gonna do. She does not have much of a bag, but her vulva is pretty darn relaxed. I am so stressed over this mare and she just makes me wait longer. I am gonna go squeeze it out of her. She is not even at my house and I still can not stand it. My horses have to foal out at mom's because my dogs are not nice to baby horses. Heck they are not nice to the big horses, but at least they are big enough to fend for themselves. My other two are not due for another 5 and a half weeks, and they look more ready then this mare, but they are seasoned mares. They so know the routine. My first mare is definitely in foal as I had her checked in OCT, and she has a big ol' belly. She really does look horrible. It is embarrassing.

Then while we are loving our CA weather, we got a taste of the bad things that come with it. We had our first rattlesnake this evening. We have lived here 6 years and this is our 3rd one, so not too bad. Toby was just yapping in the yard and would not stop. This is not like him so I finally got up to see what the problem was and he came in. I went outside and was sure I heard a pissed off rattlesnake and told my husband so. He said no all I hear are crickets. I was not convinced it was just crickets. Just as I went to step off the porch I shinned the flashlight right in front of me and just about 3 feet in front of me was a tiny rattler. And yep sure was pissed off. Toby was keeping it away from the house. So Frank ran in the house and grabbed his little hand gun that had bird shot in it and got to shoot the little bugger. This is the first snake that he got to shoot. The first two were on cement and one was right up against the gas line. So he was glad he got to finally shoot one. So now I keep harassing him and telling him don't tell me I don't know what a snake sounds like. Glad I was so sure there was one out there because it could have gotten one of the boys on another day.

Finally Jessies video of first ride.

Yeah I finally got the video loaded. A little edited, but had to make it shorter.

Also took some pictures of the mare that are here this morning. They looked so pretty, and the background looked so nice. Gotta love California. My only complaint about the pictures is the sun was not quite high enough to make the horses shine.

AW the Pac Man, and some others

Well the Pac Man actually got out today. He never gets any loving. My sister told dad if he did the groung work she would ride him. He is two now, well actually this summer he will be. He also really needs to be gelded, more for convience at this point because he is not out of control, yet. I just love the tail on this boy, but he has rubbed his mane out in the middle. The front is long. He is very nicely built for being mostly TB. He would make someone a nice barrel horse someday, would also make someone a nice buddy. He LOVES attention.

Also took pictures of other horses because I got a new camera and I was just trying it out. Got some of Cricket in her new blanket that I thought she was never gonna wear because it is a thick blanket and it got warm already. But luckily another storm came our way. It was not a bad one but it sure got cold. It is harder to catch Cricket than it is to get a blanket on her. She is such a stinker. The mule was afraid of her with her blanket on for a while. Also took a picture of Jessie in her new waterproof sheet. She did well with it. It took a little convincing to get it on but once it touched her she was fine. And then there is Tilly. Tilly is Zach's pony but we are gonna sell her to a family that we have known for many years. She has a 2 year old daughter that they want to get a pony for, and Tilly just loves attention. I think it will be a good match.

First Ride?

My sister and I are always changing what constitutes the first ride. So that is why the question mark in the title. This week I have started really working with Jessie. Monday, I saddled her for the first time, Tuesday I saddled her and ponied her from a well broke mare. Sister comes along and trys to give me pointers, better ideas. The well broke mare was not cooperative. Making things more difficult. So sister starts patting the saddle, and eventually ends up on top of Jessie, from Mystery. Gets her moving and then I walked Mystery around and she sorta followed. Photo taken with phone, so that is why the poor quality.So then she had two days off. No time to get out there. Today I go out and catch her, take her to the hitching rail, and saddle her up. Treating her like a well broke mare. Not a flinch. So easy. Walk her to the round pen, and lounge her. A little on the lazy side, but picks up gates quickly and easily, but has a difficult time staying at the lope. So I decide to see if I can get on her. She lets me with no problems, not second guessing. Oh yeah before I got on I put a bit in her mouth and worked on getting use to that, but I did not use the bit when I rode. I just used the lead rope. You will see me flipping the lead over her nose to switch directions or trying to keep her on the rail. I have asked to borrow my sister's loping hackamore, kinda like a bosel but softer. Here are some pictures and a video taken by my mom. I called her on my phone ans asked her to come out with the camera after I was already riding her for a few minutes. OK video is not loading right now because I am on WiFi and it is a weak connection. As soon as I can get plugged in directly, I will try again, probably tomorrow.

Jessie

Well today I finally threw a saddle on my 3 year old filly. She took it like she has been saddled everyday for years. I was tempted to jump on her also because she has taken everything else I have thrown at her like a pro. Well she did not like me jumping around her. I jump, she move. I kept doing it as long as I could, but dang it I got hot and tired. I climbed up on the fence and sat talking to my sister, and she walked up to the fence with no worries, just does not like me jumping. I can not wait till I get her ridable. I do need to slow down though because I do not want to rush through things then have to back track later. She is still on the ugly side, but her temperment sure makes up for any lacking looks.