Swenson Family

OK let's try this again

2009-03-25T21:01:00.000-07:00

Ok so I post only once in a great while and I really want to keep this thing going so I am giving it another go. I would say there is not much going on around here, but I think I would only say that because I do not have time to say anything else. The boys have started their first year of Little League. It is very time consuming, but heck so are kids so what's the difference right? They are in two different age groups so they have thier own practices and games. It use to be that Alex practiced Tuesday and Thursday and Saturday at noon. Zach was on Monday and Wednesday with Saturday morning. Now games have started. We spent 12 hours at the park last Saturday. Opening ceremonies were at 10, Zach's game was at 1:30, and Alex's was at 5:30, or actually I should have said they were scheduled for those times, they were not really at those times. We left the park after 8, we were all wiped out. Niether team is really that great, but both have great coaches. They really try to make sure all kids understand what is expected, they just both have quite a few kids who have never played ball before. I will work on getting videos of the boys playing and post them.

We are going on a family vacation the week before Easter. We leave the evening of April 3rd to get to my mom's. In the morning we will head to the Grand Canyon. Then we will spend a couple days with my uncle in Tuscon, then on to Sea World for two days. We will end our time at my parent's house for Easter. I am still working on getting the horses after that. I hope to bring the truck and trailer home from there with horses. We will see.

Sorry this post is kinda boring with no pictures, but I had to get started someplace.

Snow day

2008-12-16T15:09:00.000-08:00

Boy I have not had a chance to write on here for some time. I do not have great internet service at home so posting pictures is difficult. I brought my computer to work today so that I could work on it after I was off. We had snow on Sunday and Monday. Today it is beautiful! Sun is shinning, blue skies, and white snow everywhere. I took a picture from one of the office windows that over looks the - what normally is the grass field. That will have to wait though because I did not bring down my camera cord to download the picture. I should have gotten a picture of the pond this morning too, it was a wonderful sight. Sure is funny how my outlook on this weather has changed. I use to absolutely hate the cold.

This was taken when the snow first started. It had only been snowing here a couple hours. Just a light dusting compared to what we really got.

Our poor snow dog does not really like the snow. She thinks she should be in the house with the rest of us. She is getting too old for this.

Zach and Toby playing in the deep stuff. The dogs really had a hard time staying on top of the deep areas. They would get carried away and jump in then fight to get out.

Chloe likes running in this stuff. Oh wait Chloe likes running. She is such a nut.

Tahoe and Alex running down the hill. The dogs loved the plowed areas.

Our newest addition

2008-06-09T22:11:00.000-07:00

Well I was doing some running from work to the vet, back home and back to work. Nothing was going as planned. So as I pull into the driveway I was pleasantly surprised to see this new addition. She is out of mom's Chincoteague Pony and by the same grulla stud that two of my babies are by. Rain is such a great momma, but both her and the baby are not nice to me. Mom acts like she is going to do something to me and baby runs from me. She does not run from my mom. she runs to my mom, and my son can pet the baby. I was the first one there after she was born and I get the cold shoulder. That is ok she is so stinking cute to look at. We, ok I, was so surprised to see a grulla. Yes the stud was homozygous for Black, but I know nothing about the genetics of the pony. And this stud now has three foals on the ground and all three have dun factor. He did a good job.

And pictures of hte others

2008-05-31T10:05:00.001-07:00

Ok Cricket is very difficult to get pictures of. I will have to admit that she seems to have had a growth spurt and lost a little fat in the process. I asked dad to throw her a little extra. She may need to come in the barn and get some Strategy or Safe Choice. She has a little mud in her mane from the rain we had last weekend, so she looks a mess. She does though have a wild mane even when it is clean.

These are the yearlings that were trying to stay out of Jessie's way. The one that is easier to see is Lilly. Her dam is a smutty buckskin, sire is black, want to guess on Lilly's color? We give up, but leaning towards smokey black. We plan on color testing her, just have not done it yet.

The horse in the middle is Gen, her dam is smokey black, sire sorrel. We will take any guesses on her color also. I forget what her foal color was. They are pretty yearlings.

Indi one month old

2008-05-31T09:55:00.001-07:00

Yes that is a piece of twine in her mouth and yes the stinker ate it. Now I guess she is on close colic watch. I let mom know that there was twine in her pen and hope they will watch closer now. But while it was dangling from her mouth she was playing with it. It was funny to watch her with it. I even have a short video of her lounging around the pen with it still in her mouth. She would not let go of it.
Just love this little butt, but I think I have already said that once. She is also shedding around the eyes, and it looks pretty bay color to me, she may not have the creme gene after all, but that is ok I still love her. I love bays, and I really wanted a horse with dun factor so bad, so here she is.
Kind of funny how all three of my foals have the same pose in every picture I take of them, regardless of their age. They just have a look that is them, not a fluke.

Rico - 3 and a half weeks old

2008-05-31T09:46:00.000-07:00

Rico is still looking the same, thick little boy. He is about 3 and a half weeks here. He does not leave his mom's side if anyone is out there. When he thinks no one is watching he runs like crazy also.

Later's update

2008-05-31T09:33:00.000-07:00

Whoa, watch out for that fence. This boys loves to run and play, but mom says morning is his best time.

I noticed all these bite marks on his but and kept blaming Jessie, she use to be next to him, but I actually saw his mom doing it. When he goes to nurse she bites him. It is weird. She bites him a couple times then lets him nurse. Not sure what is up with that, but he does have a creep feeder available to him.

I can never get a good picture of him just standing. He really is not this funny looking. He is shedding around the eyes and it is a little darker. My real plan was to turn him out with Rico, the grulla colt, but that dam is a little protective still and Shila can not run away to protect herself.

Jessie's turn out

2008-05-31T09:19:00.000-07:00

Turned my two year old, Jessie out yesterday with the yearling. She loves to run and has been kept up in the barn too long. This is the first year she has shed out so golden. I really think she may be carrying dun factor. It is so light though I can not get photos of it. For the first time today I saw bars on her legs. When she was born she was almost perlino looking. By about a month old I thought I saw a dorsal stripe, both parents have dun factor, shaved the dorsal and it was still there. But she was almost always so light that I did not see it again till this year. She is starting to turn into a nice looking horse. In the above photo that is Cricket and the mule, Windy in the back ground.
She was never after the yearlings, but they should could not figure out how to get out of her way. They wanted to meet her and check her out, but she just wanted to run. They all settled down after a while.

More pictures of babies

2008-05-08T19:33:00.000-07:00

I just love the bubble butt on my new filly. She really is a looker. I am not sure where she got her perfect little head, but her sire had an ugly head till he got his jowls then it looked better. Her dam has a big head, but she is a big mare. It is just nothing fancy. Both of these newest babies are so curious. If I get down to their level they really want to check me out. The filly's dam tries very hard to keep her baby away from humans. She is also very good at staying between me and the baby, but I got a few good pictures of her.
And Rico my Cinco de Mayo baby. He is so funny. If he is off messing around away from his momma, the minute he sees someone he runs to side. He is for sale folks.

Look at that butt! He is only 3 days old.
And timing is everything. He was very irritated at the flies. Kept shaking his head, kicking his feet, and backing into momma.

The old mare

2008-05-08T19:09:00.000-07:00

This mare is Roxie, the grandma to two of my babies this year. She is the dam of Lil Bit, the sire. She is 23 years old this year. She is looking pretty good I think. If you think her head is tilted to the side it is. That was not a fluke. As a 2 year old she was tied to a two horse trailer at a show. The owners unhooked and went to dinner. When they came back the trailer and horse were gone, to be found down a slight hill. Really not sure what kind of hill it was, but enough to break her neck, but not kill her. The owners had more money than they knew what to do with apparently because they had her neck fused, near the poll. She would be a great WP horse, but she can not flex at the poll very well. She is funny looking with her tilted head.And just because, her stall mate. Mystery is my lesson horse when I did lessons. She has been around since she was 3 and is 15 or so. She is the horse I had problems with last year putting weight back on her after her foal was weaned. She is a grade mare, but has wonderful babies. She is smokey black and has thrown the creme gene all three times she was bred.

And a Colt

2008-05-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

Well the last foal for this year is here. I was NOT expecting a colt, but that is what I got. Also did not expect a solid, but that is what I got. Did get the grulla color though. And boy does he have dun factor. He is kinda cute and is for sale.

Baby update pictures

2008-05-04T15:41:00.000-07:00

Later at just over 3 weeks old is looking good. Already enjoys helping mom eat her hay, so today I made a creep feeder for him and will start filling it with Foal Lac and Safe Choice. My parents say he loves to run and does a lot of it. He is for sale.
Also took pictures of the new filly. Here she is at just 5 DAYS OLD. Look how she has matured already. I am so pleased with her. She is not for sale at this time.

New foal

2008-04-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

I was pleasantly surprised with a perfect looking filly this morning. I kept asking mom yesterday if Misty was acting any differently, but did not push the issue as today was day 340. She was checked on at 10 last night, then just after 6 this morning they find this little girl. OK big girl. This mare foals with no signs at all. She sneaks them in there. She is not very fond of people so she likes to have them on her own. She is a great momma, and was dripping milk as she walked. I am thrilled with this foal. I just may need to keep her for my next gymkhana horse. There is a price tag on her till at least she is broke to ride, then I may just give up and keep her, if I can.
She does not have a name yet, but all of this mares foals have had a patriotic theme to them. Sire's name is Lil Bit O Passion. At one time I was thinking Lil Bit American, but that does not seem to fit her.

She is still perfect.

2008-04-27T20:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a very dirty update picture of Cricket. She is loving all the scratching she is getting while trying to help her shed. She still has a tone of hair to go.

Introducing Later

2008-04-26T20:43:00.000-07:00

Yes Later, that is his name. Registered pending name is Jessa Delayed Dignty. He had a little bit of a rough start. He was a little thin and had trouble figuring out how to nurse. Mom was very skinny, but now have her looking better. They are all doing much better and look much better. He is still a little awkward. He does not know how to lay down. He turns several circles, gets down on his knees, gets back up and does it again, about three times, then finally lays down. He is two weeks old in these pictures.

He did not lay down on this attempt. Look how close he gets then changes his mind.

Playing catch-up

2008-04-26T20:33:00.000-07:00

Oh boy where do I start? Frank has left to start his new job, leaving the boys and I here to sell the house, complete school, and miss him terribly. We see him about every other week right now. He is really enjoying his job, but he is missing us also.

I have also started online classes. I am attending University of Phoenix. I am working on my bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice. It is really keeping me busy. I no longer have any free time.

My late foal is finally here. It is a colt just as I expected, but got a dunskin, which I did not expect. And a solid but he is cute. I will give him his own post with pictures.

Kinda Quiet around here

2008-03-26T21:52:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-23T20:36:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-03-18T21:55:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-16T16:53:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-03-14T20:44:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-10T19:08:00.000-07:00

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.

She is still a brat

2008-02-28T20:43:00.000-08:00

Went out today to play with Cricket. She now plays hard to get. Glad she is in the round pen, I can work her with out catching her. Finally caught her and made her flex and stretch. She really does not like it, but does it. Then curried her, she is shedding sooo much. Can not wait till she is all shed out and I can see that pretty bay color of hers. She loved the brushing.

Left Chole the momma dog out of the puppy pen today. When I got home I let the puppies out to run like I always do and all they wanted to do was nurse. Chloe does not want to nurse them. I will put her in the pen with them tonight. She may not be happy. They may all be gone next Friday. Want to get them vaccinated and make sure they are eating well.

Mom's puppy is doing much better tonight. He is outside again with one other pup. She sold another one last night so just two left.

New Puppy Pics

2008-02-27T19:31:00.000-08:00

I have a few more new pictures of my puppies and a couple of the one mom has left. Also a picture of the mom of the lab mixes. She also has one more pup left but he had a reaction to his vaccination given 2 weeks ago. He would not get up on his hind end on Monday. Mom brought him in the house, and I suggested making sure he was hydrated. She she offered him water and he drank also offered him canned puppy food and he ate. On Tuesday he was not any better and I noticed his eyes were very gooey. Mom said his ears were worse. She took him to the vet. She said one in a 100 pups of a over-reaction to the vaccination. His body was working overtime time trying to kill off the yuckies. Nothing could have been done to prevent it and it is not contagious. The goo from his ears was like multiple puss pockets. Just his body over working. Had a slight fever, but liver and kidneys were fine. If left untreated it could affect them. He is now on antibiotics twice a day for 7 days then once a day for 7 days. Oh and she said that he was not using his hind end because it hurt. So today he was still down, but mom would make him go out once in a while. He was very vocal, crying. But mom said at least he felt up to at least crying, but it is sad to listen to him. So hopefully he will get better soon.

Can not get pictures loaded right now will have to work on that later.

Oh Boy Do I Need To Catch Up

2008-02-21T18:10:00.000-08:00

So I really do not know where to start. I have 5 week old Queenland puppies. All three females, one blue with lots of darker marks, one blue that is very frosted only her ears are marked, and a red with only ear marks, and a spot around her tail. She is the wild one. Very active, but all three love people. Not so much into eating. I wish they would eat a little more because mom is having a hard time keeping up with them.

Now a little up date on Cricket. About two weeks ago, I really wanted to get Cricket out of the yearling pen. The colt in the pen was not being nice to the two fillies that were not his sister. One filly is his sister, and that was the only one he would leave alone. So I pull her out, and she was very ready to get out, walk her out to my mare who is due to foal in a couple weeks, open the gate start to walk in and see a huge blob of snot hanging out of her nose. So nope not putting her with a mare that is due to foal. So now a delima as to where to put her. The round pen is available, but did not want to tie it up so that I can work my two year old when I have time. I have a 12 X 12 box stall, but she has never been in there not sure how she would handle it. I go ahead and put her in the round pen. Also there is no shelter there and she has never been without shelter and appears to have a little cold. Well of course it POURS that night. I go out to feed the next morning and she looks like a drowned rat, and so sad. It was suppose to be raining all day, so I put her in the box stall, and put the pony blanket on her. It was the first time she had ever had a blanket on and it went over her head, closed front, and she did great. The picture was taken with my phone, so not the best quality.

Just as I thought though she did not like being in the box stall and not able to see anyone. She cried a lot. I left her in there for probably a week and then turned her back out. This time turned her out with the other yearling that was being picked on. Oh yeah and Cricket was turned out one day for a couple hours with the 2 year old mule, and she loved chasing the mule. The cow horse came out in her. So when I put Lilly in with her, she went right to chasing her. They settled down, but dad said Cricket was always a bully when it came to feeding. So Frank goes out to pet Cricket and she ran from him. I was shocked because that was not the way she normally was. So the next day I go out to mess with her and again she would not let me touch her. I thought this was weird, but started to chalk this up as being a bratty yearling. I lounger her to tire her out to catch her and I thought she was loping funny, but did not think much of it. Finally she stops, I put the halter over her nose and BAM! she blows up, rears, and falls to the side. So we go threw the whole process again. And again she does not want me to put the halter on. Something is wrong with my baby girl, but what, and I am freaking by now. I pull the other filly out. Cricket will not let me flex her neck. She was in pain. I get her to the box stall again and decided I will keep an eye on her. Took her temp, no temp. So thought it could not be that bad. Called the vet yesterday and she was scheduled to come out next Tuesday. Then decided to call the chiropractor, and he called me back within two minutes. He came out first thing this morning. Sure enough she was out of wack pretty bad. Worked on her for about 40 minutes and got her all fixed up. So much so that she was feeling much better and being a pistol. I put her back in the round pen. She ran like a fool. She felt so good. Got home after work and still she does not want me to catch her. This time I think she is just being a bratty yearling. Oh let the fun begin. Wile lounging her she would try to run over me. I love this girl, but I think she will be a little pistol. What I really like about her though is if she does not like something she will let you know, but let you win also. I hope she keeps this attitude.

So I will work on keeping my blog up to date as we may be having some changes happening around her, foals are due, and I have a 2 year old that needs to be broke.

Been a While

2007-12-14T16:27:00.000-08:00

OK did you get enough of her yet? I sure have not. I love this filly. Also have a small video. Don't mind me yelling at her, she is getting a little brave in testing fences and it is stressing me out. Little turkey. It is like she likes getting me upset. I also can not believe how big she is getting.

Cricket Video and a little update

2007-10-24T18:07:00.000-07:00

Yeah the video finally posted. Look at this little snot, running right towards me. This is her idea of a joke. Dad says till she does not turn one day, then I will have an America's Funniest Home Videos Video. I only stood there to get the full effect of her little game, I do not usually let her do this to me. She got her first "real" lesson with me on this day. I made her walk on the lead like a real horse, not just however she wanted to. And she was expected to stop and stand still when I stopped. She got quite the little sweat going on. I also introduced her to a sheet. I bought her a blanket so I want her to wear it of course, so gotta start somewhere. She can be a handful, but she is so smart and sweet she will straighten up. She is only 5 months old. She is soooo dirty. I really wanted to give her a bath also, but I did not. It gets too cold once the sun goes down and I was worried about her not being dry by that time. Oh yeah forgot to mention. Notice her head shaking. She seems to only do this with the halter on as I have not notice her do it in her stall. I do not want this to end up being a learned habit. I need to stop it, but don't know what to do about it. I was trying to check her ears and I stuck my fingers all the way down her ears, she just stood there. I think she liked it. I got gross black stuff on my fingers. So any ideas?

One still shot to see that cute little butt of hers. This was the second time I trusted to turn her out in the arena. I was worried she would run through the fence. She could but she has no desire to yet. I also try to be careful about turning horses out in the arena for fun time, because a day will come when the arena is not just fun time, but work time. I have had wrecks because a horse thought it was play time instead of work time.

A guy came out to look at my palomino yearling today, but he is worried that she is too short for him. I told him on the phone she is little, but her brother was a late bloomer. I expect the same for her. She was so sweet though. Just did what he asked, nothing more, nothing less. I brought this filly to my house on Saturday and she just seemed a little off. Could not really pen point it. Thought maybe a little colicky, but was not giving very many signs. Was not into her Stratagy, which she has never gotten before, and really did not like the oat hay. This morning I go out to feed and her poop looks like it has chocolate chips in it. I get a sandwich bag and pick up a handful and they are little black rocks. No idea where these came from. She has not been on DG, it was really strange looking. But I think she is getting back on track now. Started her on Syllium this morning with her Stratagy. Hopefully she gets her energy back soon. She has already put on a little weight, which is why I started the Stratagy to begin with. She looked horrible this weekend at the sale. Nicks all over from the other mare, underweight, she looked like and orphan. She got here, got dewormed and pushed the feed to her, all at the same time she was trying to colic on me and I did not even notice it was colic. Boy I am lucky sometimes.

Horse Facts

2007-10-18T10:36:00.000-07:00

WHAT DO YOU DO ...
To induce labor in a mare?
Take a nap.

To cure equine constipation?
Load them in a clean trailer.

To cure equine insomnia?
Show them in a halter class.

To get a horse to wash their own feet?
Clean the water trough and fill it with fresh water.

To get a mare to come in heat?
Take her to a show.

To make sure that a mare has that beautiful, perfectly marked foal you always wanted?
Sell her before she foals.

To get a show horse to set up perfect and really stretch?
Get him out late at night or anytime no one is around to see him.

To induce a cold snap in the weather? Clip a horse.

To make it rain?
Mow a field of hay.

To make a small fortune in the horse business?
Start with a large one.

Cricket the Cutter

2007-10-14T17:30:00.000-07:00

When I went to feed for my parents this weekend I noticed Cricket has some dark spots on her. I am not sure what is going on unless it is her way of bringing in her winter coat. I told myself to take a camera when I went back that evening but of course I forgot it. And boy was Cricket full of herself last night. I then remembered that I had a camera on my phone. I got some shots of the dark spots, but then I was able to get a really cool picture of her cutting me. It was actually a fluke. I was chasing her, she turned and came towards me. As she spun I clicket the camera, then realized she was coming at me so I jumped and still got this great shot. She had her eye on me the whole time. Just look at those eyes.

Why do I let things get to me so bad?

2007-10-10T20:07:00.000-07:00

OK why do I have to be so dang sensitive? Sometimes I hate my personality. I have always been more of a follower than a leader, but something has come up at work that I have to stand my ground even though I am standing alone. Next week is Boss's Day and the office manager suggested that we dress up as gang bangers like our students. Now here we are fighting these students everyday to not were "their" colors and now we are going to dress like them, throw signs, take a picture of this and give it to our boss? I just don't get it. So I told the office manager that I do not agree with this. I do not want to glorify the gangs. She tells me we are making fun of them, like that is OK. Now this gift that we give our boss he can not display it in his office. Can you imagine the response if our students or parents saw it. I think we would lose some respect that we have worked hard to get. So after work today she tells me that even if I do not want to dress out that is OK but they want me in the picture. I feel so strongly against it I don't want anything to do with this project. I will not be in it at all. Now the only person that agrees with me is our campus probation officer, but did she speak up for me, nope. I am so darn stressed about all this. I really do not want to go to work tomorrow, but I can not hide from it, but I will go home after work and have nothing to do with the picture.

My fingers are crossed again

2007-10-08T18:35:00.000-07:00

Well Saturday morning my family went out to look at a house. It is 2.46 acres, decent size mobile home, 30X40 shop, and a huge, wonderful landscaped yard. Oh I just loved the setting. When we got there the current owners said they had an offer the night before but had not looked at it yet so did not knoe if they were going to except it. We looked at the house and I immediately wanted it. So our agent, really a good friend, worked some numbers to let us know what we needed to sell our house for and how much we would have to put down on a new house.

Today we found out that the offer was not excepted and we still have a chance. We have an idea what we need to sell our place for. So last week we told our neighbor that we may be moving, and this evening she told Frank that her daughter would like to look at our house on Sunday! Oh that would be so awsome if we could really sell it that fast and get that other place. So everyone needs to be praying for us all at once and it could happen. Now I feel like oh crap I really need to clean this place up. I just do not know where to start.

I will keep you all up to date.

Mares and their foals

2007-10-05T20:09:00.000-07:00

Ok as promised I am posting the mares with the foals they have had for me. The bay mare has had three and the grulla mare only had one for me.

San Lasan

Feb 2006 "Glory" Sold at 6 weeks old. She is 2 weeks old in this picture. Sorry about the mud on her face.

Glory a little older. She was weaned at 4 months and gone right after that.

Apachedansmst Dawn

Tuf Lady Liberty "Liberty" Feb 2004
On breed lease and training for exchange. Will be home next August.

Smokey Mountn Majesty "King" March 2005
Sold to a 14 year old girl and she was riding him within a month of buying him. While I had him he had only carried a saddle and I sat on him bareback once. This was taken the day after he was gelded. Sire is a grandson to Just Plain Colonel who is by Colonel Freckles.

Jessa Mst Of Hope "Hope" April 2006
Sold this year to a very excited lady. This picture was taken as a yearling and you know we love those yearling shots, so out of wack.

What a difference

2007-10-03T16:59:00.000-07:00

Ok these pictures really do not show how bad this mare really looked. I thought she looked like death. Pictures below were taken today. She was immediately started on Nutrena's Safe Choice, but is now on Purina's Stratagy. She is also back in foal as we discussed yesterday, but only just under 5 months. So I am happy with the way she is looking. She does still need muscling, but that is probably not gonna happen as she does not get ridden. We are now working on selling our house and buying another place that is 2.5 acres. We will have more room to make better pastures and more room to run. We are first waiting to hear about a new job for Frank. They said they wanted him, gave him an offer on pay per hour, but said they would email the other info like 401k, health insurance and that good stuff. I really wish they would hurry up and do it so that we can decide what to do. We do have plans to see this house on Staurday. It is right around the corner from the friend of mine that does all the AIing for us. That is also where my sister's stud is standing next year. She also does our ultrasounds for free. Now she is not a vet and sometimes we do need a second opinion, but for the most part she can do it all. That will be nice.

Expecting next year

2007-10-02T19:08:00.000-07:00

Well I am expecting 3 foals next year. May only get 2. The first two are bred to sister's smokey grulla tobiano, Lil Bit. He is tested homozygous for black. Mare one is a grulla tobiano, so her foal will be black. Then add any of the following modifiers, dun (making a grulla), creme (making a smokey black or smokey grulla), and tobiano (possibly even homozygous). The other is a bay tobiano. Her possibilities are bay, dun, buckskin/dunskin, slight chance of grulla or smokey black. She has never been tested, but I suspect her to be homozygous Agouti, so that is why I say slight chance of grulla/smokey black. Her baby is the one that is like waiting for Christmas day. So many options. Also adding, on the tobiano. If the grulla mare has a homozygous tobiano filly I plan on keeping that one for my paint. I will sell all other paints. The bay mare is for sale and really would like to sell her before she foals since that is her only real selling point.
The other mare I am not sure what I am going to do with. She is the crippled sorrel overo. She is in foal (? to be rechecked soon) to a perlino QH. The sire of the two palominos I had/have. I only have one now. Her leg looks to be getting worse and I am really worried about her being able to get around, and even lay down to deliver. It looks like it is about to snap at the hock. I may have a vet look at her, maybe x-ray, and give me her opinion. If she thinks it seems to be as bad as it looks I will put her down. If she has already lost the foal I will put her down. I gave her a chance at life and if she can not handle it then the fair thing to do is let her go. She is so young, but crippled.

This is a VERY dirty picture of JB the stud. That is my hand on his nose, we were trying to get pictures but he just wanted some scratching. He was in a huge pasture and was following me around.

One Month ago today

2007-10-02T17:18:00.000-07:00

Well I had a little available time so I went out and played with Cricket. The first thing I noticed was she has quite the belly. So I thought I would let her run. I put her in the round pen. I keep using the round pen because she can not get out of it and it has sand. But it is too small for her to be able to stretch so I put her in a dry lot. The ground is very hard and lots of rocks, but she did not hurt herself. So I decided I should go get the camera since today is the one month anniversary that I bought her. And of course when I got back outside with the camera she was done running. So I chased her a little and just got a bunch of pictures of her wondering around. She is also getting a little confident and getting a little of that yearling attitude, and she is only 4 and a half months old! After she got to run a little I took her out for a walk. I took her to the back porch and asked her to walk on the spa deck and back off, to give her confidence of backing out of the horse trailer. She got on pretty good and walked across it very nicely. Then on the other side she kept wanting to walk directly behind me. I hate this with young, unpredictable horses, because if they spook or get a wild hair they run over you. So we fought a little about her being next to me not behind me. Then one more pass over the spa deck and off again. Now we are heading towards the barn and she thought she would run, of course I said I don't think so, and she hit the end of the lead rope and stopped her in her tracks. At least she responds quickly to pressure, and not fight it. She did make me work at making her walk to the barn. I should have made her walk past her stall, but I am not real sure her intentions were to just get back to her stall. I just think she is getting a little confident. I still would really like to pony her as I have two mares that will not put up with non-sense.

Wachee pictures

2007-09-26T19:51:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the picture of me and Wachee. I did not find any drill pictures that really show him yet. I found one of the first four leaders, carring flags, but it is hard to see Wachee. So here are the others. Now remember these are very old pictures of me. The hair is hideous in most of them. And damn I was skinny.

Gymkhana. Don't know his age here, but in his 20's.

Wachee giving kisses. He was quite the kisser.

One of my senior pictures with Wachee

Another senior picture with Wachee

Another of gymkhana at the ripe ole' age of 23 years old, Wachee not me.

Wrangler going for a ride with me. This was my first Queensland.

Wachee at the age of 27, and still holding his at gymkhana

My sister and I traded horses when Wachee was 21 & 22 years old. Both years they won the saddle in their age group, 13 and under. I think she was one of the youngest competing then.
He was 100% retired at the age of 30 due to his hips being unstable.

Nothing much around here

2007-09-26T19:11:00.001-07:00

I don't like to not write to many days in a row. So I am doing my check in today. not much is happening around here. I have been working on my website, which I have not done in some time, and making flyers for two horses I would really like to sell. There is a ranch sale in a couple weeks, like 3 I think, and it would be really nice if I could sell one or both of these girls. I have my eye on a mare I would love to add to my herd. I don't know why I am so attached to her already. I have not seen her in person, but will probably make time to go see her next week. And get this, she is very close to me. Wow what a concept, buying a horse I do not have to be on the road at least one day to get. Ok so two of my current horses I also got locally, but still we usually travel for our horses. Today my mind has been fixated on selling a horse and buying a horse. I could probably convince husband we need this mare, and we could afford the price tag, it is just the idea of my numbers adding up again. Right now I am at 3 broodmares, a yearling, a weanling, and the pony. I would really like to sell one broodmare and the yearling. I have had a couple emails on the yearling. Only one sounded like a serious potential buyer, but she is in the same boat I am, need to sell one to buy one.

On another note I did find a bunch of pictures of Wachee. I also found the pictures of one of my litters of piglets, oh they are so cute, and a super cute picture of my sister at the age of 6 showing her old horse english. When we bought the horse we also bought his tiny english saddle. Now we were new horse owners and new nothing about english, but it was a cheap saddle.
Borrowed clothes and threw her in a ring. She looked like she knew what she was doing. I believe it was a walk/jog class.

Darcy and Mr Tator. He was her first horse and we bought him at the ripe ole age of 21. What a wonderful horse he was.

My first litter of piglets. The mama's name was Kanga. This contraption was a portable birthing barn. Sorry the technical name just escaped me. It has been many years since I have bred piggies. Kanga weighed a wopping 600lbs.

The piggies ready to wean out for a daily romp.

Have I told you ....

2007-09-25T17:40:00.000-07:00

Have I told you all lately how much I love my filly. I went out to the barn just to check on my Stratagy level and of course had to play with Cricket. She was begging for attention. So I gave her lots of scratching. She was getting a little pushy, but I would puch her off of me and she would listen. She had a little sparkle in her eye like she wanted to play, so I went outside of her pen and ran and she chased me. With each run she would get a little more wound up. Several nice spins and a couple nice stops. She would let me get a head start, then take off and pass me. My dad was watching us and he announces "she wins". Yeah she does have a little more speed than I do. I guess I just never had a foal that wanted to be with me. I had a few older mares and my one gleding I talked about last night that would follow me everywhere, but no babies.

I just know that this little girl is going to be so much fun.

A memorial for Wachee

2007-09-24T16:46:00.001-07:00

This is a plaque I bought while on my trip to get Cricket. I will mount it on a wall with pictures of me and my first horse, Watchee. It has been 2 years I think since we put him down and I cried as I read this. I just could not walk out of that store without it. I hope you all can read it, it is sad, as I know we have all been throught this, or will unfortunately have to go through this sometime, but it is worth reading. I will put my senior picture that was taken with him, a drill picture and a barrel racing picture for sure. I don't have any of him on this computer, but when I get some scanned I will share those also. And maybe even a shot of the finished wall.

Pictures

2007-09-21T17:48:00.000-07:00

I had some down time just waiting for my parents to get home with my kids so I went to the barn and started playing with Cricket. Took her out and led her around, got a brush, the camera, and just practice doing basics. Walk, on different types of grounds, stand quietly, back, turn. Nothing too stressfull. Then decided to try and get pictures. Parents got home and mom helped with this part. The top of her rump is black. Her sire gets very dark when he is shedding, that is what it reminded me of. She is also VERY dirty. But here are a bunch of pictures anyway. Also took her to the round pen and let her play a bit. Also notice her cute little newly trimmed up feet.

Well today was the day

2007-09-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

As I was getting ready to leave mom's this afternoon my ferrier pulls up. Oops I had the wrong day for trimming. So Cricket got her first trimming today. She was OK. After I wrapped the lead rope around the panels so that I had a little more strength to hold her still, she learned faster. She had about two good pull backs then stood like a broke horse, even fell asleep. Even my ferrier made a comment about what cute little feet she has. All we did today was the ponies, and Cricket. At least one pony is about 14 hands, but the other three we did Cricket is the tallest. I really wish I had my camera on me just to get a picture of him trimming Zach's pony. She is so stinkin' tiny, it was funny. She was pretty good for a little pony off the reservation. So all in all Cricket gave the most fight. (As expected) So today Cricket got a mini tying lesson and feet worked with. I got a bicycle inter tube yesterday, from my bike, and I plan on trying that with Cricket for tying, even though today she did fine with out any give. We shall see, but I really want her tying out well soon so that I can take her to some gymkhanas with Zach. Also I have a few friends that ride at a covered arena on Thurdays and can take her to tie out and pony.

Well a short post, but wanted you all to know that today was a big day for Cricket. Sorry no pictures the camera was in the car. Besides Brian would have throughly harrassed me for taking pictures.

Been MIA

2007-09-18T19:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have not been around much this weekend. I was swamped. Friday night we had to drive to LAX to pick up my aunt who was coming home from Hawaii. Last year her husband decided he wanted a divorce and left. She had no idea what was wrong, besides he was spreading lies about her. Of course those close to my aunt knew they were lies. So now she had this huge house for just her and her dog. This dog was her beloved best friend. My aunt carried this 60lb dog upstairs everynight because Lindsay could no longer make the trek on her own. She was also affected by the dog food recall. So while she was in Hawaii Lindsay had to be put to sleep. She stopped eating, drinking, and no longer go up at all. So her best friend took her in and the vet talked to my aunt telling her there was absolutely nothing he could do for her. So my aunt did not want to go home to an empty house so we stayed the weekend with her. It was weird walking into that big house with no dog. My aunt is a work a holic. She has said that the only reason she came home when she did many times was to take care of Lindsay. So now I am worried about her. I understand not wanting another dog, but I almost think it would be good for her. She does live in So CA. She could use something to be a deterant for a break in or something horrible. So we had a good but busy weekend with family. Saturday my aunt went to work so we went to this huge tack store that was having their annual sale, where you get a free 4 qt bucket just for walking in the door. They have hourly prizes, where we won a nice tan halter with the leather overlay, and a lead rope. Did not buy anything for Cricket, but mainly because I was not sure what size blanket I should get. Then we went to visit one of Frank's sisters and her family and the kids had a wonderful time playing with their cousins. From there we went to another one of my aunts house and had dinner while visiting with my cousin, and his wife, and again my boys playing with another cousin. With only getting about 5 hours sleep the night before, and then playing very hard all day with cousins, they were wiped out. And another long day. On Sunday they slept in a little, which Zach never does. We then went and visited one of Frank's brothers and got to meet our newest nephew, he is the newest for now anyway, there is another on it's way in the next couple of weeks. So we met Josiah who is about 2 months old. Of course he was quite cute. Then we drove home.

Coming home did not make things easier. I normally get off of work at 2:30, on Monday I worked till after 5 to help the new Adult Ed teacher get his classes started and students signed up to take the CA High School Exit Exam, CAHSEE. Pronounced just like my name, so get confusing around school this time of year, and three other times during the year. I had every intention of spending time with Cricket this week, as she is getting her feet trimmed next week. Well not getting off work till after 5, then I had to be somewhere else by 6:30, so Cricket time got cut.

The good thing is we actually do not have any plans this weekend so I really should be able to play with her for a while this weekend. Maybe even a bath if the sun is out. I am sure it will be. Still hot here during the day. Mornings and evenings are cool though. Oh yeah and Friday there is a tack auction near by I am thinking about going to. We will see. It is hard to go to a tack place when I do not have anything to ride, yet.

So that is where I have been and I will try to come out of hiding now. There is no new news on selling our current mobile home, and buying a new one. So nothing exciting there.

Selling horses

2007-09-13T16:49:00.001-07:00

I am to a point where I absolutely hate selling horses. There are buyers who think they can buy your horse, use it to no end, then threaten you to buy it back. Here is the story. 2 months ago my sister sold her favorite grey mare. This is a mare that my 7 year old niece rode and both of my novice boys have ridden. While she had her foal at her side sister would hop on her and ride her halterless and bareback around the pasture. Now her background was she has been known to be cold backed, but has not bucked in a year. She was laid off for quite a while while she had her foal, then was back to being ridden when the foal was 2 months old. At this point she did not buck at all, which was expected. So sister sells this mare to a man in Northern/Central CA. She even delivered her. Darcy did tell him her history of being cold backed, but has not had a problem recently. And told him about her step-daughter riding her and nephews. He calls her last weekend and leaves a message that she has to come buy this horse back, she has bucked every single time they have ridden her. He at first thought maybe she has sat too long, so sends her to some Miss CA Rodeo 1995 chick and she continues to buck everyday. So he says. Calls back a little while later and gives her the address where the horse is, like she can drop everything and drive 6 hours to pick up a horse that was sold 2 months ago. Then sometime this week he calls her again and leaves another message, telling her he just re-read the sales contract and he does not care what it says if she does not come get the horse she will be hearing from his lawyer. Now the contract states something about buyer and seller agree horse is sound and there are no refunds for any reason. The hardest part about this is Darcy would drop everything and buy her back if she had the money. The mare is in foal to a buckskin QH for next year, and Darcy absolutely loves this mare but really needs to sell some horses.
I know I sure do not want anything to come back on me as I am brutally honest about horses I sell, and sometimes it has been known to cost me a sale. My sister is the same way. She has a horse out right now with someone who was trying out a horse of hers, and he finally decided he was not gonna buy her but really thinks he can sell her. So he tells Darcy I have been riding this horse everyday and she has not taken a lame step, I would not mention the injury. Darcy tells him if you want to sell her and not mention it that is up to you, but my name is left out of it, I feel I need to let a potential owner know about her injury. I have started a file where I keep every email ever written about the sold horse just in case someone wants to say that I did not tell them about something.

But why do people think they can bully girls around and threaten them like this? Does it really make them feel better? The fact that he can not ride a horse that a 7 year old girl can ride just may make him feel pretty little himself, so he needs to bring someone else down with him.

I am so tired of crappy people.

OK more on the pictures

2007-09-11T19:30:00.001-07:00

This is Cricket (duh) in the round pen with me. Her lead rope is thrown over her back. When she spins away it is because I kicket dirt at her when she decided she wanted to eat dirt.

And then pictures of not Cricket. Yes it will happen from time to time.

Toby looking oh so sad because he has to sit on the floor of husband's new car.

The cat Nemo loving Toby. He missed Toby while we were gone. Toby has to stay with grandma when we are not home.

Mom's very fat pony. She may be in foal to sister's grulla tobiano also. But not that far along. She has started the grass only diet and hates us for it.

Windy the yearling mule out of above pony. Also on grass but taking it better than her mom. I love her coloring, but she did not roan out like I thought she was going to.

And the goat. Just because he is so dang cute. And also fat. Guess we need to start a Jenny Craig pen at mom's house.

Picture Day

2007-09-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

Took a bunch of pictures after work today. Moved Cricket into the barn. She also loaded right into the trailer, just for a refresher, but she refused to back out this time. She even had to go through a down branch to get into the trailer. Did not bother her one bit. I had to run to the front to stop the bus nad she walked right up to it. It was a little scarry to turn her back to it and walk away, but she did fine. Also got her to run in the round pen for a bit. She is next to the mule, and in front of the goat and sheep.

Ooo loving that scratching

Not sure what we are looking at, but must look good.

Will be back later with more pictures and maybe a short video of her following me.

Not much excitement

2007-09-09T16:25:00.000-07:00

Well I got to show cricket off this weekend. My sister came over yesterday morning, but brought a friend so I did not have a chance to say anything to her about her actions. She liked Cricket, but did comment on her little hay belly. Darcy was scratching crickets rear, and of course Cricket was loving it. When she stopped Cricket backed her butt into me for me to scratch, which of course I did. I know I can not do this forever and really need to teach her some manners and I will, I am just enjoying the fact that I have a horse that actually likes me. Then I preyyt much slept most of the day. I just did not have any energy yesterday. I kept trying to wake up but I could not.

Then today my former co-worker came over to see her. Last year I used their pasture to foal out one mare and then took the other mare and foal over there to have on nice green pasture. I eventually took over my Doc's Jack Frost daughter just to have room to run, and they kept her. Their grandkids climb all over her, even ride her bareback and a halter. Before they got here today, I brushed Cricket, combed her mane and tail, and fly sprayed her. She was not haltered and she was not fond of the fly spray, but she was ok. I took her out and led her around while we looked at the other horses. Then we trotted back to her stall. When I turned her loose, she took off running and kicking. Of course I did not have a camera. I did think about taking it, but she has never done that before so I thought I probably did not need it. I hope to get some shots of her playing soon. I love the way she moves. Really goes off her hind end.

Going back a step

2007-09-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

Since I have not had time to spend with the horses since Wednesday, I thought it would be a good time to take a step back and tell you a little about the horse that drove me to start a blog. I was suppose to go to Montana with my sister and some friends the end of August, but before I left I had decided that I really wanted this little filly that happen to be in Nebraska. I was going over ways to get her here to CA. When I finally started talking to my husband about it he offered to give up his weekend of backpacking with the husbands from a group we belong to, in order to drive me to NE. I was shocked, but I guess I really should not have been. He is good to me. Cricket is a great granddaughter of Hollywood Dunnit and Shinning Spark. Then one more generation back is Zan Parr Bar. This filly should rein. Yes those names are back a ways, but her sire, and grandsire on both sides, have show records. And now the sire has a son showing and doing well. She is loaded with potential. She was weaned at 3 months and began halter breaking. She had to have a trailer loading and traveling lesson also in order to get her health cert and coggins. So of course being a horse, she banged her leg and head in the trailer. No big deal, but you know how horses are. She did get a clean bill of health and had a mini pre-purchase exam. About a week later the breeder noticed that her head was a little larger, so back in the trailer she went and back to visit the vet. She needed to have the wound lanced because a little abscess formed from the trauma. Again vet said this is nothing that should jepordize her being able to travel to CA. The good side of this is she got more handling and she was able to get some antibiotics into her system before the long haul home. So many times horses stress on a long trip like that and get to their destination and get sick. So now she needed to be treated everyday. She did not like her antibiotics, but she was good to treat.

So on Aug 30 Frank and I left our home at 5 a.m. Our first stop was in Salt Lake City, Utah. Then next morning we got up and headed for NE. We could have been there around 4:30 that afternoon, but then I felt I would have been rushed to see all the horses. So we called Desiree, the breeder, and made arrangements to meet the next morning. So now we had time to play and spent the last 15 minutes of store hours at Cabela's. What an amazing store. Also went to some western stores, one clothing and one tack and western furniture. So finally Sunday morning we make it to Desiree's. Both Desiree and her husband were out waiting for us. The men stood around and chatted while Desiree and I went around the place meeting everyone. It was kinda funny finally meeting the horses that I have seen so much in pictures. Many of them I know from the pictures. I even knew who belonged to which mare. Oh and the two mini's, they are so stunkin' cute. Midnights pictures do not show his short little legs. He is so comical. He has these stubs called legs. I was teasing my husband that Midnight was by Cricket's dad, Bucky. Telling him he was the one with the show points, giving Mooneys stats to Midnight. Of course he did not fall for it. But then again I also had showed him pictures of Mooney before anyway. So we load Cricket up, who jumps in the trailer like a pro, say our goodbyes, and head back out to the road. As we were diving down the road just about to leave NE, I spot a storm up ahead. I tried to get a few pictures of the storm. Sure enough we head right into it. It lasted for a little while, but it was all good. That night we made it back to Rock Springs WY. Right next to our hotel was a Drive-In Liquor Store. This just did not seem right to me. Oh yeah and in Utah there was a huge store that on the front in huge letters said "Liquor Fireworks". Another good combination. On Monday we make it to Nevada. So finally we make it home Tuesday afternoon. I unloaded Cricket, who backed out like a big girl, and put her in her new stall. I really expected her to run and stretch a little but she did not. She was so calm and collected. Just as I put her away the bus pulls into the driveway and my boys are home. All I get from them is, "Can I go in the house and do my homework?" Geeze what a welcome. They would rather do homework then say hi to mom and dad. So Cricket is settling down quite nicely and will probably be moved into the barn soon.

I get to show her off again tomorrow to a few people. My sister is finally coming to see her. And then in the afternoon a friend of mine who has my Doc's Jack Frost daughter is coming to see Cricket. So this will be fun showing her off again. I am very proud of my new little girl.

Storm in Wyoming

Day one with the little Cricket and working with Jessie

2007-09-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

So after work today I went straight to mom's to play with horses. I was a good girl and went straight to the yearling, Jessie. She let me walk right up to her and halter her like a big girl. This horse loves to be loved on, but a halter means work time. As I was lounging her I called my ferrier who proptly called me back, finally. He came out today and trimmed her long as heals. For some reason this horse grows heal like there is no tomorrow. Then we have and older mare that we can not get any heal on. So wierd. She was good for the lounging. We did not work hard, but did not have to when she did eveything right. Then we went for a stroll around the property.Had her second tieing lesson. I clipped her first briddle path, but she has had her muzzle clipped before, and was done again today. Dad and I started giving vaccination to the other horses while Jessie was tied out. She then started throwing a fit, I am not sure why. Maybe because she is a horse and she can? Put her away and continued to vaccinate horses. We were very bad this year and are very behind.

Then while waiting for Brian, the ferrier, I took Cricket out. We strolled around the property also. Was not to sure about going under the big mulberry tree, but we managed to get past it with out it eating us. This was the only time she actually tried to back away from me. And Desiree I never put a but rope on her, it did not have to come to that. She was willing to follow just was not sure if she was suppose to really trust me on this. We walked around the outside of the arena, back up the drive and under that tree again. This time we stood in the nice cool shade for a while. Of course the wind blows while we are under it, but she just tensed up a little, but did not move. I think twice today she tried to run past me, but becasue she is so responsive she was easy to stop. Went into the round pen to see if she would run in the sand. Took her off lead, and she just stood there. I swung the rope at her and she barely walked. OK this was not doing anything, so I caught her back up. Walked around again. Jogged on the lead line, she just followed. So I got brave and pulled out the clippers. Her muzzle got clipped, but she did not want them any higher. I just laid them across her neck where there should be a briddle path with them running, but did not clip anything. I got about half a clip on one ear also, but that was the end of that. Oh yeah and she walked up on some steps at mom and dad's back porch. It is just steps made of DG with 2X4's on top. Kind of gives the sound of walking on a bridge. Again walked on without using a butt rope. And stood there for a while. I do see that I need to work with her on patients, she does not like to stand around for very long. So Brian finally got there and I put her away. He pulls up next to her stall and says "so that is how they breed them back there." I say "what already broke?" To which he replys "yep". He trims and shoes some big boys at the Ward Ranch, and also for Fairlea Ranch. He knows his cow horses. He was impressed with Cricket, of course. Who could not be. So after we finishe trimming up Jessie, who was perfect for once with her trimming, we went back to look at Cricket. I walk in and scratch and lay on her. As I walked away she followed. So I had to continue. I reached down and picked up a front foot, not haltered. I know Desiree told me she had picked up her feet before for practice, but yesterday she wanted nothing to do with it. I could touch her legs, and she would pick up her foot if I asked, but then got mad. Today it was all good. Of course that was one out of four feet. Have I told you all how much I love this horse?