Hidden Meadows Happenings

New Year and Big Changes

2012-01-26T07:14:00.000-08:00

I know I have been awol for a while, well since Christmas. Its been really busy and I have been really busy looking to relocate somewhere south of KC. It 2012 now and I am seeing that as a new year for big changes.

I will be starting my life anew once again. Things just have not worked out the way it was planned, which is fine. No harm no foul and no one is to blame. Just is not working out. I sincerely hope that the one that once was my better half finds happiness and joy with someone that is more suited for him. I am apparently not the one to do that. No harm done, we just both need to move on. The farm has not really been like home since I got back anyway and I want to build a home for myself for a change. I am really tired of trying to live my life for someone else and make them the happy one. It just doesn't work out very well. Time for me to be happy too.

All of my horses are going with me as well as my dogs. I am currently looking for a place (pasture) that I can lease until I can find a place to buy and perhaps build a house. Whisper and Cat will be returning home to Missouri this spring and I am looking forward to having them back. I miss them terribly. I hear that Whisper is getting bigger and bigger everyday. I haven't seen her in over two months or Cat either and I really wish they were home now.

I am really looking forward to this new chapter in my life. I know there will be some bumps in the road but nothing that I can not overcome. For the first time in a long time I am looking forward to life. I will still be around to see my daughter and my grand-daughter and I won't be leaving Missouri again.

I hope everyone is having a great new year so far and hope that 2012 brings happiness and great things for everyone.

To all my friends that have stuck by my side.....thank you. You are all part of the reason I don't leave Missouri again. It has really become my home. And even if I do live a couple hours away its better than being out of state.

Have a great day everyone!

The Day After..........

2011-12-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

Good morning to all. I hope Christmas was good to you all. Everything here is frosty this morning and its pretty cold. Its suppose to warm up and I actually hope it does so I can go ride.

Christmas was good here. I cooked most of the day and then we ate and ate and ate. After dinner I went and got the horses fed and the chores done and then came in and got ready to go to the movies. Its funny, Fred and I had never been to the movies together in the 20 years we have known each other, dated and been married. Kinda weird don't ya think? Anyway can't say that now. He got movie tickets for us to go see War Horse last night. It was a good movie but you certainly need Kleenex. Wish I had taken some. It makes you want to come home and immediately go give your horse and extra big hug. But it was good. Spielberg never fails to accomplish what he sets out to. We got some popcorn and a large drink to share as if we needed anything else to eat but who can go to the movies without getting popcorn? It was fun and I enjoyed it, except for the parts where I cried.

Christmas dinner was fabulous. We always deep fry our turkey and oh boy is it ever good. Fred got a nice deer for Christmas. Apparently on Christmas Eve he asked Santa for a nice big deer and well he got it. That set christmas dinner back a couple hours. He texted me said he had a deer and he would be late getting back to the house. I just laughed and said ok. Heck all the food reheats, right?
We didn't even have room for cookies and fudge. It was a beautiful day yesterday. It was warm enough to just wear a light jacket if you were going to be outside long and if you weren't you could just go out in a sweater. The sun shined very brightly.

Today its mostly cloudy, I hope that changes. I'd love to enjoy more of the sun today since I cooked most of the day yesterday.

I guess it will be time to pack up Christmas decorations for another year. Do I leave them up till New Years or put them away??? Oh well I guess I will put them away when teh moment strikes me to do so.

Here is to hoping that everyone is enjoying today and for those that HAD to return back to work today, I'm sorry.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T08:09:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to my friends and family! I hope this special day finds you all well, happy, and enjoying the reason for the season. Lets be thankful for the blessings in our lives for if it weren't for this day we would have none. Bless everyone and may those that have lost their way, reflect and find your way before its to late.

Thank you Lord for all the blessings in my life, they are abundant. Bless my friends and family and may all of you find peace in your hearts and lives.

Merry Christmas to:
Rebel, Trick, Rocket, Buck, Little Man, Josie, Jock, Cisco, Napoleon, Sugar, Dream, Jazz, Belle, Lacy, Whisper, Pal, and Princess.
Max, Teaka, Mouse, Sadie, Titan, Bear, Annabelle, Izzy, Shelby, Jax, Rusty, Rowdy, Allie, Molly(we miss you), Emmy, Bandit, and Lexie.
My birds too.

I love you all.

Its been a long year and I look forward to 2012. It is very nice to be back home with my family and back on the farm.

May the Christmas spirit warm your hearts all year around.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-22T07:27:00.000-08:00

Today I am going to wish Merry Christmas to all my friends because starting today I am going to start cooking for Christmas Day. Yes it takes 3 days with everything I am doing. So this will probably be my last blog till after the holiday. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and thinks about the reason for the season.
This Christmas I am very blessed to be home in Missouri with my family and friends. I don't even mind the cold (to much). Its nice to be able to walk out the door to love on the horses or look out the window to see them enjoying their round bales and playing in the pasture.
I am so very blessed that now I can see my daughter and my grand-daughter any time I want to, I can get those sweet hugs from my grand-daughter when she runs from their car to throw her arms around me and tell me she loves me. Its great to be home.
I am blessed that I have a man in my life that will unexpectedly come into the kitchen and put his arms around me and kiss me on the cheek, that will endure the grocery store right along with me and help me gather the stuff we need.

The cooking begins today. I am going to make some homemade chocolate chip cookies, homemade fudge (this is the season standard) along with the usuals of stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, broccoli and rice, homemade cranberry sauce (which is my fav), dinner rolls and whatever else comes along. Fred is deep frying our turkey (YAY) there is nothing better. I can't wait. So much to do. Might even make deviled eggs because Fred loves them like no other. Christmas morning will consist of Biscuits and Gravy, which he also loves. I need to get the stereo hooked up so that we can have Christmas music during the day.

A few updates: Teaka's puppy (Sadie) is doing wonderfully. She looks to be silver and black. Her little face is all black and she has a stripe down her back but her under coat seems to be silver. This, of course, is subject to change. But she is a butterball and doing great. Teaka has been an outstanding mother. She is spending more time away from Sadie now, curled up in my lap as she always does. When she knows its time to feed Sadie she goes back to the bedroom and gets in the bed with Sadie and does her motherly duties.

If Christmas Day is half way decent weather wise I might saddle up and go for a Christmas ride with Trick.

I found out yesterday that my filly , Whisper, might be put on a transport in January to come home. I can't wait and I hope it will happen in January as well. She will go in the barn with a blanket and then come spring we can resume our training. She had come a long way before I left Texas and was almost ready for her first ride. I can't wait for her to be home.

Well everyone, Merry Christmas. Feast and enjoy family and friends.

Almost Christmas

2011-12-19T07:39:00.000-08:00

In case I am not on here for Christmas due to massive cooking, MERRY CHRISTMAS to my friends.

Good monday morning everyone. I am finally back online once again. I got everything all set up and my original computer seems to have an issue so it will go off to the computer doctor. In the meantime a very good friend of mine told me to come over and get the tower that she had that she never used. It is fantastic. Thanks Melissa. It is much appreciated. Now my job search can continue.

I am charging my camera so that I can get some new pictures of everyone up. Stay tuned.

Life back in Missouri is good. Fred and I are doing well and work hard continuously to put things back together. Its working. We are doing more together including playing the Wii together and boy is it hard for me to beat him at anything. LOL. Thats ok, we laugh and have a great time. He has been a great help to me with my back being all messed up. There is something terribly wrong with it.

Saturday I did saddle up Trick and went riding with my brother in law. I have been wanting to go riding so badly since before I moved home. I rode Rebel a bit before I moved home but to get home and have Trick to ride again was great. Don't get me wrong, I ride Rebel too and will ride him a lot more this summer. But I took my Tricky for a nice long ride on Saturday. It was a really nice afternoon to ride so I took full advantage of it, and as usual Trick was just like I had ridden him every single day. He is my short fat horse that I absolutely adore. He enjoyed going out to ride too. Rebel and Rocket were a little put out that I had taken Trick but they dealt with it. Can't wait to take Rebel out on trails this spring/summer. They are my best boys ever.

New pictures are coming soon so check back.

Have a Merry Christmas and be safe.

Teaka

2011-12-14T10:54:00.000-08:00

Well I got up yesterday and got ready to head into work to watch some video things. I found that I couldn't do that till the afternoon so I headed back home. All of this took about a half an hour.
Now this is about Teaka so let me tell you that Teaka is my 2 lb long hair chihuahua. She is the love of my life and my little traveling companion not to mention ever since I got her she has been with me non stop. She would even go to work with me when I was living in Texas. I was lucky enough to have a job that allowed that. Teaka is my best little buddy. Teaka was accidently bred by another one of my Chihuahua's but as far as I knew it was only one time and I immediately started keeping them seperated. I started calling around where I lived in Texas to see about the chances of her being pregnant, what about a shot to keep her from being pregnant and so forth. They said the shot is very hard on them and she would have to be hospitalized for several days and they said something about spaying her. So I started asking how much to do that. Well I called several clinics and the cheapest was $300 and the rest were around $400. Now come on, she is 2 lbs, not like she is an elefant. So I decided I would wait till I got back to Missouri and check and well it didn't appear after some time that she was pregnant anyway. About a week after I got back to Missouri she started really getting plump. Which was odd because if she was pregnant she was due to whelp in about 2 to 2 and a half weeks so I would have thought that she would have shown sooner. Well in the last two weeks she started growing like crazy and I started feeling the baby or babies move. I thought there were two of them. Since I have a vet I have used for years here in Missouri I decided to wait and see and just keep a very close eye on her for any problems with delivery. WELL GUESS WHAT???
I get home from town yesterday morning only to find that her water bubble is sticking out and she is having contractions. Her water broke about 10 a.m. and she was contracting for a little while but then it stopped. It did not appear to be progressing. I waited till 11:30 a.m. and still nothing so I called my vet. They said yes bring her in so we can give her a shot to start things back up so I loaded her up and off we went. They gave her a shot and contractions started again. Upon being checked we didn't think there was any progression so they gave her a second shot. Labor continues and upon being checked at 1:00 p.m. still no progress. At this point it is the 3 hour mark which is usually the cut off time for waiting. We make the decision to go ahead with surgery to deliver the pup/pups and spay her. I was not going to risk losing her and I didn't want to put her through this again. I asked if I could stay, they said absolutely and I asked if I could assist in surgery and they said yes, which wasn't the answer that I was expecting but they knew I had grown up in the veterinary field and knew that I was experienced in the field. So I carry her into the surgery room and I put the little mask over her nose to sedate her then one of the techs inti bated her and I helped get her ready.
Surgery begins and the doctor has to enlarge the incision because the pup is to big to get it out. It turns out there is only one puppy and Teaka would have never been able to deliver it herself. The puppy is still encased in its sack and so there is a great chance its alive and ok. In the meantime Teaka's vitals are doing great on the monitors. She also had some puppy teeth that never came out so while she was under they pulled those. We get the pup out of its sack, clamp off the cord and tie it off and I am massaging the pup to stimulate it. Its a little girl, it is sable colored and very cute.
We get the puppy up and going and its nice and pink and doing great. I wrap it in a towel till Teaka is done with surgery. While she is waking up from surgery I go into town to take care of work stuff and come back and she is awake but not wanting anything to do with her baby. We all talked about the fact that it could be because she is still dopey from surgery because she will let the baby nurse. Its agreed that we watch closely to see if she will come around.
Well by last night she was cleaning the baby, feeding the baby and being very protective of her new daughter. She would have had a better chance of being able to give birth on her own if there had been more than one puppy. The one puppy got all of the nutrients and therefore grew bigger than if there had been two or three of them. Either way, she won't be having anymore. She will just be my little companion and sweet little girl that will have many many years ahead of her. She is on antibiotics right now as a precaution because of surgery but is eating again and doing fabulous. She is eating like a pig again, drinking a lot and the puppy seems to be getting everything she needs. I have them next to my bed where I can watch them throughout the night.
I am so thankful that my little girl is ok and taking care of her baby.
Today I start my job and now I can go without worrying if she is going into labor or not without me being there.
Life is good and our little Christmas present is just precious.

Home Sweet Home

2011-12-12T10:19:00.000-08:00

Well hello everyone! I am finally home again. Well I have been home a few weeks now but took me this long to get internet service scheduled and set up. But I am up and running again as of today. I still have tons to do then I will upload some updated pictures and such for the blog. Oh I can't wait.

Its good to be back and the cold isn't really that bad. LOL not yet at least. No snow yet to speak of, got the horses home with the exception of Whisper and I will be going to pick her up in the spring. No way and I crossing Kansas, Colorado and into New Mexico in the winter time when they are getting snow. I can't wait for her to come home. Lacy is doing fabulous and getting bigger and bigger. She is due in April. I do not think Belle is in foal. At the time of breeding the weather was very weird and the stallions (both of them) decided that they were not breeding anyone. Well they finally did get the one I wanted to breed to Belle but I think it was to late and I don't think she was settled. At that time everyone's horses were acting weird. We attributed it to the very strange weather patterns in the region at the time. Seems to have affected the mares and the stallions both. No doubt that Lacy is in foal though. Just when you think she can't get any bigger, well......she has and continues to do so. I am excited to see what we get from her. I will get out and get some new pictures of her soon.

I am back to work and still trying to get settled and unpacked all the way (that will be a while) and I will be back into the swing of things again.

My little long hair chi is due any day now. Can't wait to see what we get there either. My male long hair chi got her which was a complete and total accident but they will be purebred long coat chihuahua's. Teaka is my female and she is adorable and is only about 3 lbs at the most. So they will be tiny little babies.

Well I will update again later today or tomorrow. I have lots of stuff to get done around here today and I need to get cracking on those things. Have a great day everyone.

What a Beautiful Day

2011-11-10T09:56:00.000-08:00

First and foremost, tomorrow is Veterans Day. GOD Bless our troops. Remember our fallen, they died for your freedom.

I am gettting a lot of things accomplished around here today. There has been lots of work going on around here. Our stud pen is DONE! YAY! Cisco is happy go lucky in his own bachelor pad now. Everyone seems to be enjoying the nice cool weather and doing fantastic.

Things are rolling right along these days. I have been keeping busy doing various things. Some days are more productive than others but I stay busy.

My two baby birds are about weaned now and they are so sweet. They will be going to my grand-daughter as soon as they are completely weaned. They keep me busy for sure.

Sun is shining today and its really nice outside. I have been doing some burning of trash today since its not real windy.

Its hard to believe that Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Jeesh its in a couple weeks and then boom there will be Christmas. WOW! This year has flown by. I have to say its been one hell of a year. So much has gone on and happened and the clarity of certain things was amazing. I discovered a lot about myself in the last year and a half. I also discovered a lot of stuff about others as well. I made some really good friends in Texas when I was there along with getting back in touch with some old friends from school. Its nice to be in contact again.

I think 2012 will be a banner year. I think some things will get resolved during this coming year and I just have a great outlook for the coming year. I am especially looking forward to next summer when we can be out and doing a lot more things. Now that I have my horse trailer we will be able to go a lot more and do a lot more with the horses. I can't wait.

Well that is about it for now. Everyone have a safe and wonderful weekend.

Fall - Tis The Season

2011-11-05T13:21:00.000-07:00

Well its that time of year. The trees are changing and we are headed for winter.....
Mornings are crisp and great for a nice hot cup of coffee, days are sunny but not hot, evenings get dark earlier and you snuggle in for the night.
As this fall gets into the swing of things I find myself getting settled into a old but new life. One that I missed for about a year. I love living where seasons actually change.
We are around the corner of Thanksgiving and a time to reflect on the year that is rapidly coming to an end making way for a new year and new beginnings. Its a time for us to reflect on our families, the things and people we are thankful for and the ones we so unfortunately lost during the year. Remembering them fondly and knowing they are in a better place. Reflection on the loved ones that are away and can't be home but thankful they are still safe.
Its sad that times have gotten to the point that during the year we get so wrapped up in general stuff that we can't reflect on these things all year around.
I love the holidays and moreover I love the holidays with my family.

As I sit here and write this on a Saturday afternoon where the sun is shining and the wind is blowing gently through the trees I have two precious fur kids napping in my lap. They to are enjoying the fall afternoon.
The horses have been out playing today, they are feeling especially frisky today. New fences are being put up today and hopefully horses will be moved around some today. The weather is incredible today.

Lets take some time to slow down and look around and actually see the beauty that surrounds us this season. Have a wonderful weekend everyone. I know I am having one.

Halloween Over and Thanksgiving on its Way!!

2011-11-02T13:15:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone enjoyed their halloween, I am sure my grand-daughter did. It was a quiet uneventful night for me which was ok. I did take a road trip to someone's house to take a look at something but other than that I did nothing but watch tv and read my book.

Thanksgiving is on its way and will be here before we know it and then Christmas. Wow where has this year gone.
A few things I will mention that I am thankful for this year:

I am forever thankful for my husband Fred, without his love and understanding I don't really know where I would be at this time. We have tried to live apart and it only makes both of us miserable.

I am thankful for the ability to return home to Missouri

I am extraordinarily thankful for the fact that my daughter did fabulous through her surgery this year and came through it with flying colors...I don't mind saying that I was a little worried.

I am thankful that she is no longer attached to that boil of a husband that was a LOSER from the get go and the courts were smart enough to see this and granted her divorce.

I am thankful for the TRUE friends that I have and for their constant support of me throughout this year. They have asked nothing in return which makes them the truest friends one could find. Constant encouragement and the ability to make me laugh at times that laughter is the farthest thing from my mind.

I am thankful for the ability to see the truth about a lot of things this year. The clarity has been amazing and all I can say is "What was I thinking" about a lot of things and a lot of people.

I am thankful that I get to start over, that WE get to start over putting behind some very bad things in the last year and a half.

I am thankful that there is natural stuff to combat my hot flashes.....ok I just had to mention that since I am sitting here under the ceiling fan, windows open and still sweating in NOVEMBER!!! GIVE ME A FREAKING BREAK!

I am extremely thankful that I got to see my son this year out in New Mexico. That made the trip to New Mexico worth it. I hadn't seen him since he graduated high school and that was 9 years ago. We had a wonderful time, went to eat and sat in the park for hours. It was wonderful. Thank you Lord for the time I got to spend with my son.

I am thankful for such a wonderful family. I love you all.

I am sure there is so much more and as Thanksgiving draws closer I am sure that I will update the current list of the things I am thankful for.

Happy Halloween Everyone

2011-10-31T11:47:00.000-07:00

First and foremost I hope everyone has an enjoyable halloween and is safe.
Now for some reflecting.
I am happy to be back in Missouri. I guess Missouri is where I was meant to live afterall. Texas doesn't hold for me what it once did. As a matter of fact, its just another place on the planet. I guess the old saying "home is where your heart is" stands with some truth to it. Do I regret that move? No not really. Some very good things came out of the move and living down in South Texas. For one an appreciation for the cooler weather and the fact that in Missouri you have a noticeable season change. In South Texas you don't really have a season change that is that noticeable. I will admit that having one winter that was mild and I could ride more was nice but you know I have discovered that I miss the white stuff falling out of the sky and the look of purity that it gives the earth it covers. I have also discovered that I do not much like Cedar trees. They aren't my idea of a real tree, they aren't pretty, you can't burn the wood because it burns to hot and will catch your house on fire, and no I didn't learn this from experience, and there is very little green grass, REAL GRASS that grows in South Texas especially since it is so drought stricken. There were other perks about leaving Missouri for a year. I was able to filter out some bad things and I will continue to keep the bad things filtered out of my life and the lives of my family. I gained an appreciation for a lot of things that were otherwise taken for granted I think. There were some valuable lessons learned by myself and others along the way. I gained a deeper appreciation for what "HOME" really is and what "Friends" and "Family" really are. I discovered how much can change in a years time, how much my grand-daughter had grown, how much my daughter had changed and how much I truely missed. I am glad I won't miss it anymore. I gained an appreciation for stability and responsibility and the ones that I loved and that loved me. There is no place like home thats for sure. During my time away I was fortunate enough to meet some really nice people in the horse world that will always be good friends as well. I was able to connect with a lot of school mates that I had lost contact with for many years. Old friendships rekindled. So as I said before there were some really great things that came out of me living in Texas for a year.
Well thats about it for now anyway. I hope everyone has a great Halloween and had a lot of fun. Watch out for the little ghosts and goblins and everyone be safe. Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner and hopefully I will have everything set up by the time Christmas gets here so I can do my Christmas and end of year blog.
Have a Boo Good Time Tonight!

What a Great Sunday

2011-09-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

I got some things accomplished with Whisper this morning. We saddled up and worked in the pen for a little while and worked on desensitizing. SHE DID FABULOUS! She is fairly use to being saddled though since I introduced he to an english saddle when she was young and a saddle pad and all that kind of stuff.
Today we got backing down pat! I can barely touch the reins and she will back up. She caught onto that with extreme quickness. We worked on flexing and whoa and she got all of that down pretty well too. Whoa is perfect, flexing still needs a bit more tweaking. I was able to step up on her and lay over the saddle as well. She was comfortable with it and the only movement on her part was to rebalance herself.
She switches directions when working with ease and grace and she is coming along very well. She is a big girl and is getting bigger every single day. I am so proud of her. She is amazing.

Heat Heat Go Away!!!!

2011-09-13T17:04:00.000-07:00

Okay so I have been off the computer more than I have been on cause I have been outside doing stuff, loading stuff, and well just lots of stuff.....
I woke up this morning, got ready for work, went out to feed only to find I was missing two horses. Well I live at a dead end dirt road and I use to keep a couple of the horses in the pasture that backs up to the property I live on. After looking around and not finding them hanging out on the place I went down the street on a hunch. Yep hunch was right. There in the front yard were Rebel and Little Man happily (or unhappily) grazing on what use to resemble grass. Nothing resembles grass here in Texas anymore. Its just brown dry stuff. I parked the truck, walked over, got the boys and we walked back to the house. I put them up, repaired what Rebel had pushed over (big bull moose) and headed off to get my truck. I came back and finished the fence and headed to work. To my amazement I was on time. SHOCK! So I worked my half day today and came home and decided there was another section of fence that really needed to be replaced. So, of course, I set out to replace that section of fence. Tools gathered, fence dragged over, I proceeded to start fencing. Rebel decided that he would try to sneak passed me in an effort to go on a walkabout again. No sir! Got the fence section replaced. And ya know? It was only 102 degrees today!!!! It had cooled off for almost a week and just when we thought it was not going to get raging hot again.....well here it is.
Whisper got to play in the water as usual today. I have been working non-stop to save money to get moved so I haven't had a chance to work with her again since the weekend.
As I write this I am looking out the window in Whispers pen and there is Max (my guardian dog) laying in Whisper's pen in the shade. He goes and lays in there every evening with her. She just walks around him. She actually plays with him and pulls his hair and heck, he doesn't care. I think they are best friends. She never steps on him either.
Trick and Belle and Lacy are doing very well. My aunt and uncle actually asked if they could borrow a couple horses to "mow" down their pasture so those three are going over there for a month to six weeks to "mow". They will have a ball. They don't live far so I had someone go get them and take them over there. I have plenty of pasture and room at the farm but I figured those three would be the best ones to go together since they have lived together for so long. Besides the horses may as well eat it rather than it being brush hogged and wasted. They will all come home before the weather turns to cold or bad.
Can't wait to get everyone back up to Missouri where I don't have to pay $15 for a bale of alfalfa and $10 for a bale of coastal hay. Feed stores in this area are even limiting the amount of hay you can buy at one time because they can't keep it in stock for very long. We sold over 500 bales of coastal in a week and we just can't get it in fast enough. The hay growers are making a ton of money cause they just keep raising the price because of the demand. Its terrible. The drought is being compaired to the drought in the 50's. There are wild fires burning EVERYWHERE and more starting every day. Our latest is near Houston. The get one half contained and 20 more start. Not all are huge but the fact that they exist at all is just bad. There is a lot of worry and fear from those of us that live in the country but then some of the fires have spread to housing additions as well. The Bastrop fire claimed somewhere in the neighborhood of 1500 homes. Its just sad. Makes you want to water your house daily.
Well time to get busy doing more STUFF. I mean its not like I can sleep lately anyway so might as well get things done.
Homeward bound soon.................I hope!

Whipsers Day

2011-09-10T14:18:00.000-07:00

Today was Whispers day. Whisper was foaled April 23,2010 so she is not yet a year and a half old. She string tested for 16 hands and I have no doubt that she will make it with ease. I went out and worked with her today partly because she needed it and partly in an attempt to lift myself out of this funk that I have been in for about 3 days running now. It just keeps getting worse.
Anyway, here are some shots I took of her working all tacked up. She never once even tried to buck or anything. She can stop on a dime and turn and she has a great slide stop. She is a very quick learner and she is going to develop into a great rider and show horse. She loves praise and when you praise her and ask her to repeat something you have shown her she does it with ease.
Hope you enjoy these as much as I do.

Need to work on dropping the head and lengthening our stride a bit. But all in all she did very well.

Gathered up and taking off. She really wasn't as flighty as she looks in the picture. She moves rather well.

Whisper looks really good with or without tack. Can't believe she is under a year and a half and the saddle does not swallow her.

Fall Arriving......(sigh)

2011-09-09T14:02:00.000-07:00

Well fall is arriving, not much different where I currently live. Looks the same pretty much year around. With the drought it is just brown, no colors, a little weather change (its finally getting cooler) yet I sit here and look at a picture and wish I was some where else already. I am passing the time packing up boxes, wondering what came over me to move in the first place. Actually I know the answers to that but shall keep them to myself.
Wishing I was watching the trees change at home, the horses growing their winter coats, waking up to the crisp cool mornings next to you and enjoying nice long fall rides on the back roads. Soon I pray...soon.

I spend a lot of time on the phone with loved ones. Hearing about my families changes and yet I sit here....wondering when. Waiting............waiting................waiting.............

In the meantime, the horses I moved are doing very well, the ones I still have with me are enjoying the cooler temps. Whisper continues to play in the water, Cat continues to play untiringly with his jolly ball and Rebel and Little Man spend their time watching the house for the next feeding time or snoozing under the tree.

Its very quiet around here, don't turn on the tv much, its just a source of noise without someone to enjoy a movie or a show with. What I wouldn't give to be able to lay on the love seat and watch something with you, or just sit and talk to one another. Its lonely being without you. I thought I had gone numb permanently, apparently not. It just took a while to find myself again.

Everyday is just going through the motions to get through to the next. Being alone sure gives you a lot of time to think about things. I wish gas wasn't so expensive. I'd be home tomorrow.

Well nothing more right now. Need to get some more things done.

Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday and HOT! Celebrate Bandera is going on, almost to hot to go. Still sitting here in Texas, NOT enjoying the nice cool weather up in Missouri. Wish I was. Will get there some time soon.

Lots to think about lately. I am done opening myself up to things. I am tired of being the one that others get pissed off at just because I relay what I was told to relay. That is fine though. I will return home and will concentrate on "Our" life there. Never will I let anything get in the way of home life. Its just not worth it. I am lucky, we get a second chance in life and that is rare. There will be no time for bs gossip or drama anymore. I am done with it all. I have grown tired of it all. I have removed myself from all of the drama of others.

When I get home I will be getting Whisper fit for show next year, will be working on Cat for riding and we will start working cattle with the horses. They will have a job. Well except for Belle and Lacy, their job is to be pregnant and raise happy healthy foals. They have already arrived in Missouri and are happy and healthy and enjoying the nice weather. Love those girls. Trick is going to be joining Rocket and Buck in the big pasture and well Cisco is going to have to go into his own turnout. He just thinks he is big man on campus and its time for him to be seperated. Just being to pushy with the geldings. What a brat. Don't get me wrong, he isn't mean he is just all boy and gets a bit to big for his britches sometimes. So up goes the electric fence. He will have grazing and his own shelter so he will probably be happy to be boss of his own area. When I get home I will be working to get the foaling stalls ready for April. So excited. Roundpen will go back up and training will resume. Whisper will get her own section of the barn with a run out so that she is not stalled all the time. She won't go out to pasture with the population. She is such a good girl.
Rebel will join the boys in the front pasture and Little Man will probably hang with Whisper. Cat will have his own pen as well.
Lots of things will be changing in 2012 and plans have been set in motion already.
Stay tuned...........................

Heat, Drought and Other Things Disgusting

2011-08-24T14:21:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. I know I haven't done this in a while so lets make an attempt to catch up. It has been extremely busy for me since the end of July. While currently working at my job I am using my days off to make runs up to Missouri. The first of many loads is going to be 3 of my horse children. It will be a long drive but I have done it before and as a matter of fact, very recently. Two of my mares are in foal so I really need to get them moved so they can get acclimated to the change in weather and have a chance to grow their winter coats. I also do not want them undertaking such a long trip when they are to far along in their pregnancy, so its important to me that they get settled while they are still under 6 months along. At this point they are barely under 6 months along. Its so dry down here and there is almost no hay to be found and when there is, its sky high. There is no pasture because its all burned up from the heat, lack of rain and the sun. The horses will get to be back out on pasture when they return to Missouri. I am returning back to the farm so the horses won't have to get use to another "new" place. Oh and for those of you who read this and have raised an eyebrow about me moving back up to the farm....I guess you are pretty much feeling like total asses now for what you all said and thought about me leaving there a year ago.....just goes to show you shouldn't believe everything you hear.

I recently ran across some reading material that I found very interesting. Its author was someone who has written things before on many subjects that they feel they are expert on. I found it interesting that as much as they preach about others and the way they do things (in the eyes of the author these things are WRONG that others do) I find that the author has now joined the very people that were criticised. Some of the subjects that have come up in the past are things like breeding or as the author called it "backyard breeding" and the irresponsible behavior of the people regarding care of their animals. Funny thing is I seem to have heard or read somewhere that the author has bred for a foal and now that its a viable pregnancy has now gotten rid of or free leased the mare because now the author doesn't want the foal. WOW! HYPOCRITE MUCH?
Lets just for grins talk about another subject. The subject is Two Wrongs DO NOT Make A RIGHT! I don't care how you slice this it is the same answer ALWAYS! Lets use an example: An irresponsible individual dumps an animal and it shows up on your place......
DO YOU:
A: catch the domestic animal and go re-dump it (which by the way makes you no better than the people who dumped it in the first place)
or
B: contact a shelter and turn the animal in so that it gets fed, cared for, has shelter and has a fighting chance to get a suitable home.
If you are a person that holds everyone else to such high standards I would think that you would take the few minutes out of your schedule (don't cop out by saying I don't have time) and you would take the animal to the shelter. Apparently the author doesn't hold themselves to as high a standard as others are expected to be held at. SO the CORRECT ANSWER IS "B". Well it turns out that the very person that tells others how to take care of their animals has chosen "A". Which now gets me to my point of TWO WRONGS DO NOT MAKE A RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do not justify your actions (wrong actions) by saying "I wasn't the one that originally did the deed". It doesn't matter. You still did not do the RIGHT THING! Either practice what you preach or shut the hell up!

As the drought continues down here in South Texas, we (the community) continue to buy deer protein and feed the deer in an effort to keep them from starving. There are a lot of twins this year. I, myself, have kept alfalfa hay out for them and have also been putting feed out for them. The doe's are looking better, especially the ones with twins. The fawns are looking better as well. I have gotten to see a couple spikes spar over the food. It looks like a girl slapping fight. Its really kinds comical. The lakes and rivers are drying up around here. One of the lakes is down about 50 or more feet. So much for boating! I can't wait to get to cooler climate.

I can't wait to get everyone back into pasture. My 16 month old filly won't go to pasture though, I don't want her getting nicked up or anything because she will be going to show. She will have a run out off a stall and will get turned out for exercise. Her best buddy is my mini which will, I'm sure, be right by the filly's side always. They are like two very different sized peas in a pod.

Well I think its about time to go take care of my responsibilities and get ready for 4 a.m. to roll around. Take care everyone and if you are in a not so hot part of U.S. then enjoy the cool.

Fun With Water Today

2011-08-10T20:55:00.000-07:00

This was our afternoon play time, this is an everyday thing. Whisper is such a good girl and we have so much fun playing in the water every day. She loves to play in the water. When SHE thinks its time for her daily water playtime she starts stomping in her waterer. Then she knows I will come out, clean out the waterer, and squirt her down. It never fails, its always about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. I have raised her from a weanling and had no idea she would be my water baby. I have played with her everyday and she is like a big dog. I think she will be really easy to train. I have been putting saddle pads on her since she was six months old and I used the english saddle on her too. We moved up to the western saddle this year and she doesn't care one bit. Its been way to hot to do anything but play in the water though so that is what we do every day. Note: Little man my miniature is no where in these pictures although he does live with Whisper. But when the hose comes out he doesn't have the same affection for it as Whisper does.

She really does like the water.

Whisper turns her butt around so it can get cooled off too.

And here we go.....time to play in the water.

Okay, trying to squirt you off Whisper!

Ok so I think now I get to hose you off.

Ok I will drink from my trough if you INSIST

Whisper all wet and shiny from her playtime. We made a really big puddle today but she doesn't care.

Sixteen months old and what a big pretty girl. Nice and cool from her daily bath. The below picture was taken BEFORE she went and rolled in the dirt and then took her nap.

Drinking from the hose once again. Its really hard to wet down a horse the insists upon drinking from the hose. Whisper just loves the water. Drinking from the hose is something she has discovered in the last week and now I can't keep her away from it. She is so silly about it.

What a ham. She is such a silly girl.

Well its a shame that she will finish playing in the water and then go roll in the dirt. After playtime she usually goes and rolls and then takes a nap all stretched out in the sun. Its the same routine daily. I sure do love this filly. She is going to be such a nice mare.

Soul Searching.............

2011-08-04T17:35:00.000-07:00

Well I have done some extreme soul searching and still am I suppose. There are lots of decisions for me to make. In the last few months (or longer) I have felt very lost. It appears to have gotten worse since I visited Missouri for my daughters surgery. I was suppose to spend one week there and spent two weeks there and really didn't miss Texas at all. This added to my questions of where, why????
I miss my family. I have thought about the bad winters, knee high snow, subzero temps, breaking ice and driving conditions. None of which have made me want to stay away any longer. In the last year I missed so much. I am still not sure that I am not lost but I think there is a light and I know the person holding it and hoping for me to find my way back. I am still amazed that there is anyone holding a light for me to find my way back. Even in the bitter cold winters there was warmth that I managed to forget about or got lost somewhere along the line. A lot of things got lost along the way. There is a verse in a song that says it best "what kind of love this must be". Well I am totally amazed by it and I think some things were realized by a lot of people in the last year. I am working on finding my way back, not sure the path won't be bumpy.
This journey actually started 20 years ago and I am not sure how it got off track but it did. I want back on track, just not sure how to get there. Still working on it. I think I can do it though.
I think its going to lead me back to Missouri. Journey's are scary but I suppose they aren't suppose to be easy.
I am missing a part of me, several parts of me by being so far away. Going back mean finding a way to deal with things differently. Am I strong enough? Don't have that answer yet. I think I need someone to be strong with me cause I am tired of doing it alone.
So it looks like hello Missouri and goodbye Texas. Now just have to work out the logistics of it all. Wonder if I could teach a couple of the horses to sit in the backseat of the truck....LOL. Little Man might fit.

Time Fly's........

2011-08-01T18:40:00.000-07:00

Well no excuses why I let an entire month fly by without so much as one post. Can't believe I did that.

I just got back from Missouri last night. It was a very long drive.

I thought I'd never get out of Kansas

Or Oklahoma

And driving through Texas took the absolute longest....Texas is a huge state when driving across it. Seems like it will never end.

Anyway, I embarked on this adventure with my pickup, gooseneck horse trailer and my little long haired chihuahua Teaka.

My daughter had her surgery on July 18th, I arrived in Missouri at her place on July 16th and just came back last night. The original plan was to stay for a week. That turned into two weeks and I am glad it did. It was an interesting trip.

I picked up my mare Jazzy and took her to the farm and put her out on pasture. The very pasture you see her on in this picture and she still looks just like this. My daughter expressed an interest in Jazz being her riding horse and so I didn't bring her back to Texas with me. I will have someone work with Jazz for my daughter. She is a very sweet mare and I really like her and she doesn't cause any problems.

While I was there I got to see some of my family besides my daughter and my grand-daughter. Oh my has my grand-daughter grown in the last year. I have missed so much in just a years time, it makes me very sad. We went swimming and took care of my daughter and logged in a lot of hours at the hospital for two days. But my daughter came through with flying colors and is now doing fabulous.

While I was there, since I had my trailer, I decided that alfalfa was a good thing to get since the price difference is so great. In Missouri I can get this years cut for $4 a bale but in Texas it is between $13 and $16 dollars a bale. Trust me I crammed as much into my gooseneck as I could and probably should have thrown some on top in the rack as well but I didn't because you know how that goes....if I had put it up there it would have rained on the way back but since I didn't then I of course I hit no rain. So there you have it. I did manage to get 50 bales in there. Not to bad for it being only a 3 horse slant.

So now I have it full of hay and in the living quarters, well I have the rest of my crap that I had stored up in Missouri.

I was actually sad to head back to Texas and leave everyone behind once again. There were tears a plenty flowing. While I don't miss winters up there I guess I miss everything and everyone else.

I have to say I think I am feeling a little bit lost. Its a little depressing.

The dogs were glad to see me when I got home and so were the horses. No one takes care of them like I do and Whisper was the one that was the most happy to see me. She is use to getting sprayed with the hose every day and no one did that while I was gone so for two weeks she didn't get hosed down. So today she came up and after nuzzling me she stood right there by the panel and let me wet her down all over and even turned slowly around so I could get all of her. I love a horse that loves a bath without any effort at all. And they all love the fact that I brought them alfalfa.

While I was back in Missouri we had to put down my beloved dog Molly. I'd put up a picture but they are all on my other computer. She had a stroke the day before I got there and Fred kept her going till I could get there and say goodbye to her. Molly was our Chow mix that I found on the streets of Kansas City and surviving on the generosity of others leaving food out for her. She was down off of Southwest trafficway and in the general area. I finally caught her and had her for 13 wonderful years. She was the best dog and there will never be another like her. She will forever be missed but will always live on in our hearts. She had a long wonderful life and is buried where she loved best which was on the farm. Funny thing is, its like she is still around. There were a lot of tears shed over her passing. I did get to say goodbye and for that I will forever be greatful. I didn't bring her to Texas with me because she knew every inch of the farm and this would have been foreign to her since she had limited eye sight and hearing. She was better off living the rest of her life on the farm. Now she is up in heaven with my dear mother (Fred's mom) and they can take care of each other now.

I am at a loss for the feelings I have been having about returning to Missouri. There is a lot to work out if that is to happen. I guess if I say goodbye to Texas this time it will be for good.

This trip was an eye opener I think.

A Little of the Past on this one year anniversary

2011-06-30T13:28:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd put a little history down since its the one year anniversary of me being back home in Texas this weekend. Below is a picture of the house I grew up in. Ok so that is NOT what it looked like when I lived there. Picture a white house, no upstairs balcony so therefore no doors coming out the bedrooms. The top left was my brothers bedroom and the top right was my bedroom. The big window to the left of the front door was an office and the extension to the house to the right was the livingroom. To the left was the upstairs master bedroom and below that was the game room. In front of the house beyond the landscape and yard was a beautiful pasture that is now a freaking parking lot. It was a beautiful white colonial home that was warm and inviting. The entry way is marble or at least it was, who knows now. Now its a disgusting SPA. I had horses on this place, a big barn out back that had also been used as an antique shop by the previous owners and we use to have parties there. There is a nice creek with a wonderful swimming hole that I use to go down to and just sit where it was peaceful. My bedroom (upper right) didn't have a door then, just windows. I actually climbed out and jumped to the ground below one time. There was no balcony then. It was a long jump let me tell you. If I won the lottery I would go buy it back and restore it to what it once was. Makes me sick to look at it now. After I grew up and moved away, I had come back to visit one time and the house was still the same as it had been when I lived there. I went and knocked on the door and told the people who I was. She was very nice and let me come in and walk through the house once again. At that time it was a group home. A couple owned it and they had many many foster children. Now it commercial crap. I haven't been by it since I have moved back to Texas. I just can't do it. It was a beautiful home back in the day. I lived there till I was 17 years old. I sure miss the place.

Since moving back I have gotten to reconnect with a lot of high school friends and one of my childhood best friends that I had lost contact with for many years. Some are ones that I would go riding with a lot. I had a big black horse named Truckelberry Fin when I lived here. I had a big dog named Lincoln that would walk me out to the bus every morning and meet me at the end of the driveway every afternoon when I got off the bus from school, the driveway was a very long one and it was always nice to have him walk with me. We had great danes as well but they were in the huge fenced back yard behind the house. In the livingroom is or rather was a nice big rock fireplace all along one wall. I wish I had a picture of what the house use to look like before they modernized the crap out of it. Looks like some kind of villa now which is so out of place for Weatherford, Texas.
Oh well....time marches on I suppose.

Like I said, I moved back home to Texas after having spent about 20 years in Missouri. I don't miss Missouri. Its nice to be home. Like they say "you can take the girl out of Texas but you can't take Texas out of the girl". Its a very true statement. My southern accent is back with a vengence, which is fine with me. Never lost all of it but had lost some of it. Texas just feels like a part of me. This past year has flown by. I took time and didn't go back to work till November of 2010 and then it was at the feed store that our friends own. I work 2.5 days a week and that is fine with me. Sometimes I work more depending on who is going to be gone that I need to cover for. I got to start my own tack area in the store which makes me very happy and I have fun with it. Love my tack Rep. Heather. She is the greatest. I have made a lot of new friends too and it has been said that it is amazing how I settled into living down here so quickly. Well its home. Actually Weatherford, Texas is home but living about 30 minutes northwest of San Antonio is great too.

When I moved back I brought with me 5 of my horses, well really 4 and a quarter because one of them is my mini. In the last year I have bought two others, one being a weanling that is now my yearling and the other was a yearling that is now a 2 year old. I still have the others too. When I go up to Missouri in a couple weeks I will be picking up one that I use to have too. I had dispersed some of the horses in the herd and other horses that I had were given to my ex because they were horses he wanted to keep. That was fine with me. I couldn't bring them all and he does fine with the horses. After all the complaints and bitching about the horses I was amazed that the wanted to keep any of them. I figured he'd boot them all off the property except maybe the colt that I gave him the day it was born. Wow he is about 3 years old now I think. In the year I have been here I have been able to get a 3 horse slant gooseneck trailer with weekend package living quarters, I love this trailer, and I have been able to get a newer truck to pull the trailer with. Its a pretty nice rig and I am happy with it. None of it was brand spanking new but both were in excellent shape and well I didn't want to pay NEW prices for them anyway.I have put pictures of the turck and trailer on here before I think.

I have been looking at other areas to maybe perhaps move to that are a bit cooler and a lot greener. We are going through a horrible drought right now and well everything is icky brown and the cost of hay is totally rediculous. Would like to have some green pastures for my horses to romp and play and graze in.

I also raise parrots now too. I have Alexandrine's, Indian Ringnecks, Cockatiels and Umbrella Cockatoos. There are a few other species as well but they are little birds. These are my fav's. Especially the Alexandrine's. There is a picture of a male Alexandrine.

This is a male and female. I adore Alexandrine's. They are great pets, will talk and are very sweet. I only have one breeding pair but hope to get another.

An Umbrella Cockatoo. I love to hand raise these birds. They are very loving.

This one has its umbrella up. So cool. I only have one breeding pair of these. They are kinda hard to raise babies out of though. You have to pull the egg and finish it in the incubator because the parents will step on the baby and crush it.

I also have some fancy chickens too. A friend of mine gave me a bunch of eggs that I hatched out and the chicks are so cute. One of them has a head-dress and its adorable. I will have to get a picture of it when it gets a little older and bigger.

I have Indian Ringnecks too (pictured below) and I have a variety of colors including blue and Lutino (yellow) which are pictured below. I have several of these. They make nice pets if you mess with them all the time.

So my life isn't just horses anymore. I adore my two Long hair Chihuahua's. They are the apple of my eye as well as my min pin that I have had for almost 10 years now. I have a guardian dog named Max and he loves to play with two of the horses that I have. He even sleeps in their pen with them. He is almost the size of the miniature horse that I have and amazingly enough they are pretty gentle with him. Then there is my farm dog sheltie that is a little spastic. He is a good dog though.
All of this has kept me busy this last year. I have raised several baby parrots, sold them to really nice families that treat them like they are their kids. Each year I have babies to raise. I hand feed the parrot babies and some cockatiel babies as well. The cockatiels go to the petshop or to some local people looking for a smaller bird to have as part of their family. Even in this economy people will still buy a bird or two.
This next year I will be adding two brand new foals to our family. I am excited and its going to be a long 11 months. Well its not 11 months anymore, more like 9 months now. I have accomplished a lot in the last year. While I do not miss Missouri, I do miss my daughter and my grand-daughter who still live up there and I miss some friends and family as well. But my heart belongs in Texas and it always will.

GOD BLESS TEXAS!

Another Hot One In Texas

2011-06-29T20:50:00.000-07:00

Well its been another hot day here in Texas. We sure could use some rain. It just seems to split around us. I guess we will get some at some point. Each day I go hose down the yearling filly. She loves it. I have also hosed down Trick and Rebel and well the two mares, Belle and Lacey aren't that crazy about it. Cat wants no part of it at all.
I did manage to go for a short ride today. I threw Tricks bridle on him and jumped on him bareback and we went up the road. Nothing major just a nice little short ride. Trick is different. He LOVES to go. The girls will holler for him over and over and carry on and he never says a word and never tries to turn back. He is such a good horse.

On another note......

July 4th will be one year since I moved back to Texas. It has flown by. I can't believe its been that long already. It feels like I have been here forever really. I have great friends a really good job that I love. No it doesn't pay the greatest and I made more as a pharmacy tech but I didn't love that job. I love where I work now. I have gotten to know so many of the people in our community. There is just no place like Texas and its really nice to be home.

In a couple of weeks I am making a run up to Missouri for several reasons. The biggest is to help out my daughter since she is facing surgery. I will be helping with my grand-daughter while she is in the hospital and then helping her around the house when she gets out. I also have to pick up the rest of my things from being stored at a friends house. I am sure she will be thrilled that it will be gone. I am also picking up a horse that was mine before I moved. I will also be trying to get a little bit of hay to bring home with me. Since we are suffering from such a bad drought the hay prices have sky rocketed. So might as well pick some up while I am there. Then it will be the long drive home. It looks like I will be there a week but its possible I will be there for two weeks. Have to play that by ear and see. I am taking my Chi, and my min pin with me when I go.

I am peeling like a snake now from my horrible sunburn. Would love to go back to the river but I think its still to soon.

I am going to have to take a video some evening and post it. Its of my guardian dog with Whisper who is my yearling filly and my miniature horse Chico better known as Little Man. Max, the guardian dog, only goes in and plays with Whisper and Little Man. Not any of the other horses. He plays with them like they are other dogs and Whisper grabs his fur and pulls on it and Max and Little Man paw at each other. Max will even go in the pen and nap with those two horses. I have never seen anything like it before in my life. I am not sure if he thinks he is a horse or if the horses think they are dogs. I am always afraid he will get hurt by the horses but I have noticed that they all seem to have an understanding regarding how rough they can play with each other.

I am very fortunate to have such wonderful horses. I adore them all. Whisper is growing into such a beautiful and big mare. She is still a filly but she is looking more and more like a mare every day. I absolutely adore her more than I ever thought I would. I can't wait to break her out and have her to ride too. I don't think I will finish Lacey out. She still has occasional lameness due to being so thin soled. I have a wonderful farrier and I may change my mind but really I don't see the necessity since I will be having Whisper trained which leaves me with Rebel, Trick and Whisper to ride. Since I only have one butt I think three riding horses will be enough.

Well I wish I had some updated pictures for this post but its been a busy week and I haven't had the chance. I will get some updated pictures soon.

Off to bed for the evening......More later. :)

Busy Week and So Tired......

2011-06-22T20:22:00.000-07:00

Well its been a really long week so far and I am so tired but have reached the over tired point. Now I am just waiting for sleep to take over.

It did finally rain here in our neck of the woods. We are ever so greatful for it really we are. I didn't even mind when I had to put the truck into 4 wheel drive to get out of the driveway this morning. It was great.

Well in my attempt to find sleep this evening, I happened to notice something about two of my sweet babies. Trick (pictured below) arrived into this world on April 23, 2005.

I was also looking at Whisper's papers and noticed that she too was foaled on April 23,2010. What are the odds. I have to say April 23rd is a very good day in my book. Both of them are wonderful horses and she appears to be just as easy going as Trick.

Whisper (pictured below) is now a yearling, and she is such a good girl. As a yearling she stands perfectly for the farrier and is just generally a very easy girl to work with. I really wish I had the time to put her in the show ring where she belongs. She is futurity eligible and I also have two of my mares bred to her sire. Can't wait till 2012 and both mares should be due in April. It would be really nice to have another April 23 foal.

In writing this I have just caught my long hair chi "Mouse" dragging off my remote control to the tv. Yes he was going to use it as a chew bone and when I took it from him he looked at me as if to say "What? I didn't do anything". So much for being able to get all sentimental about the horses. Thanks Mouse. Rotten boy.

Well goodnight everyone.........its sleepy time now.

Flea Problems and Natural Remedies

2011-05-31T15:47:00.000-07:00

I looked up some natural remedies for the fleas on dogs today because I have a 2 lb chihuahua and I was not going to risk her health by putting chemicals on her. I have heard to many people losing their dogs lately because of that. So I started looking on the internet. Below is some of the things I found. I have done them today so we will see how they work. I have also gotten some stuff that has garlic, vinegar, salt and water and you add 1 tablespoon to a quart of water and that is the dogs drinking water. I know people who use it and they swear by it. I was tired of spending tons of money on Frontline only to find that two days later my dogs had fleas again. I think they have become immune to it. Another home remedy for cuts and abraisons on your pets is Pickling Lime. You can find this in your grocery store in the canning section. It is a fine powder and it will heal a wound really fast and leaves no scar and the flies hate it so therefore they stay off of it. Its great for cuts and abraisions on the horses and I even sprinkled some on one of my horses to see if it would repell the flies and it seemed to work well. Its cheap and it works. Here where I live its costs about $2.65. This is better than the $8 or $9 stuff that you buy for horses. I know this stuff works I have used it for several years.
I have had people say, "You have to solve the problem in the yard before you can solve the problem on your dogs" well it amazes me that they can say that when they don't have a clue where I live. My so called "YARD" happens to be between 14 and 15 acres. So therefore I would have to treat the entire property. I live in the country but then this was suggested by someone who lives in the city. Anyway I have found what seems to be working and it all natural and will not harm my dogs.
I thought I would just pass along what I found in case anyone was looking. I will find out soon enough how well it all really works. I am doing the apple cider vinegar and water as well as the lemon and water thing. I have not tried the lavendar yet but that will be next if I should need it. I have also done the additives to their drinking water that has garlic and vinegar in it. Everyone tells me that the dogs LOVE it. We shall see. Mine seem to be drinking it so here is to keeping my fingers crossed.
I also read that if you sprinkle salt in your carpet in the house it will kill the fleas too. It dehydrates them and they die. Do not do this if it is hot and humid in your house or you will end up with damp or wet carpet since salt attracts humidity. Leave it in for 24 to 48 hours and then vacuum it up. I haven't tried this but I read that it works if you have a flea problem in the house. If your dogs had fleas then you probably have them in your house. Another thing I heard about is Diatomaceous Earth. This is natural and you can put it on your animals (do not get it in their eyes) and you can put it on your yard and in your house. This is suppose to cut up the fleas and someone also said it worked on scorpions. It is very fine and spreads easily. Looks like dirt and feels like very fine dirt. You can also ut this on your dogs but then they feel dirty. I didn't like the feel of them when I put it on them. I'd use it on the floor and such. Leave it down for a day or two then vacuum it up. I haven't used it in the house so I don't know how well it works. I only know what I have been told.
Thought I'd pass all of this along.

Mix a solution of 1/3 apple cider vinegar to 2/3 water. After regular shampooing and rinsing, pour this solution all over the dog. Squeeze out the excess water and towel dry the dog vigorously. He will not smell like vinegar very long, except to the fleas who will stay away.

Feed the dog very small amounts of garlic or brewer's yeast in their food. Some will advise against using garlic. According to Pets Pourri, garlic is not only good for fleas, but it helps with other ailments as well. Dr. Pitcairn, a veterinarian, also recommends the use of garlic in his book, "Complete Guide to Natural Health For Cats and Dogs."

Seep a cut up lemon in 8 oz. of water for a day. Pour this into a clean plastic spray bottle; spray the dog's coat. You'll need to brush it through if the dog has long hair. The dog will smell fresh to you, but fleas will not like the smell.

Repel the fleas with the scent of lavender. You can add several drops of lavender essential oil to the dogs regular shampoo bottle or its bath water. Be careful not to get essential oils in the dog's eyes. Mix a spray bottle with eight ounces of water and several drops of the lavender oil. Mist the lavender water over the dogs coat either after bathing or on a dry coat every couple of days.

Comb the dog with a flea comb. The teeth are very tight and will trap the fleas as you comb. Dunk the comb into a bowl of soapy water to dislodge the fleas and continue combing. You can also add a couple drops of the essential oil to this bowl.
To remove a severe flea infestation, shampoo the dog with dish liquid. Suds the entire body up and let it soak several minutes. Rinse the dog exceptionally well to remove all traces of the dish liquid.
Keep the dog bathed, groomed and healthy. Fleas will thrive in long matted hair that may contain dust, debris and skin irritations. A regular routine of grooming helps you be aware of fleas before they become overpopulated.

Fun Fun Fun

2011-05-30T18:19:00.000-07:00

First and foremost, Jazz, whom I owned when I lived in Missouri, is returning home to me but will live in Texas. That is pretty fitting for Jazz because that is where she was born.

I am glad to be getting her back. I will be picking her up mid July when I travel to Missouri to see my daughter.

Jazz is a very good mare. In 2009 she had her first foal and one of my other mares that was my favorite also had a foal. That was Sissy. She was a big solid black hunk of a mare. Unfortunately we don't know what happened but one morning I went out and found her bleeding from her nose. I called the vet immediately and they didn't even know what was going on with her. Sissy wasn't in any condition to be transported and as we were talking options Sissy went down. The vet recommended putting her down which reduced me to rubble right there. But for the sake of what was best for Sissy that is exactly what we did. That left me with a two and a half month old filly that now had no momma. Well the filly had been playing a lot with Jazz's colt as they were the same age. Born one day apart. Jazz automatically took the filly as her own and would nurse both her colt and the filly. I never coaxed her to do so or anything. She just did it naturally. I was very proud of her for that and also very shocked. She has a great future here. I am thinking about sending her to my trainer and making a nice riding horse out of her and I will raise a baby or two out of her and my stud. I think we will get a wonderful foal out of her.

I am pretty tickled that she is coming home. These are old pictures of her and I will get some new ones as soon as I can. I don't know if I will get some before I get her home or not.

This weekend was long but it was fun and a weekend for reflection. We went to the rodeo in Bandera and it was super fun. They paid tribute to our soldiers and had put on a great rodeo. It was just a relaxing and fun night. It was nice and windy which made it not so hot. Next year I think I will ride in the rodeo. I need to get the boys going.

This week is going to fly by. I am going to pick up Lacey and Belle this weekend. While there I think Brooke and I are going to saddle up a couple of the horses and go riding. That will be fun. I truly can't wait to see what Lacey's foal will look like. I am so anxious. Its going to be a long year.

Well I am sick of the flies now and am ready for winter, well such as winter is around here. Lets put it this way, nights are great, days contain NO FLIES, and there for there is no sore under my horses which makes it impossible for me to ride him. Now its pickling lime time. It will be healed in no time and flies HATE IT!

Well back to work tomorrow so gotta get some things done before I retire for the night.

Updated News and Pictures

2011-05-26T20:05:00.000-07:00

First of all I'd like to take the time to say God Bless all those so horribly affected by the horrible tornadoes this week. In Oklahoma and Missouri as well as other places so many people lost loved ones. My heart goes out to you all. Prayers to you all in an effort to move forward and deal with the emotional devastation.

OK, on a brighter note....everyone needs a brighter note.........its been really busy around here. I have become quit talented in hatching baby chicks. We have chickens and well we were getting so many eggs and we do have a commercial incubator that holds about 2000 eggs, so we decided to hatch some chicks. I work at a feed store and well the waiting list for the hatchery was way to long and people wanted chicks. So I started raising some and my boss would buy them from me and we would sell them at the store. It has been a lot of fun. I also got some eggs from friends of ours when we took the girls up to be bred. They have some fancy chickens and so I brought home the eggs to see if I could hatch some of the cutie chickens. Well turns out that my hatch rate for those has been great. I have all kinds of little chicks now. Some of the recent ones have little top notches of hair or feather or whatever on top of their heads and are just cute. I will take some pictures of them soon.

We took Belle and Lacey up to NE Texas to be bred to Encore's Secret. So far Lacey has been vet checked in foal and we will know in a week about Belle. I left it to Brooke and Jeff as to whether or not to have caslicks put in Belle. She said she appeared to be sucking a little wind so it was a consideration. I will be glad to get the girls home. I do miss them. I am very excited about having two beautiful foals for 2012 especially out of Secret. And before any of you self righteous people get on your blog and write about the irresponsiblity of breeding in this day and age, I am not breeding to sell the foals. These foals are for me and me alone. I have plans for them and will be keeping them. At least I don't get up on my soap box and preach about not breeding and then turn around and do it like some that I know. I have a job to support what I do.

In the meantime I went out today and took some pictures of the rest of the kids.

Well above we have Whisper doing what she loves to do best......EAT! No really in all actuality she loves to run and buck and rear and play and she loves to give her pen mate a really hard time. She and Chico (pictured below) are the best of friends and to watch them play is so much fun. They get along like brother and sister and pester the heck out of each other. Whisper gets hosed down daily as she is my water baby but she was already dry from her daily cool down when I took the above picture. She decided one day not long ago that the water felt pretty good and she like to play with the water coming out of the hose. I can't leave the hose in her waterer because she will take it and stretch it out into her pen. She is a really sweet and people friendly yearling. I have horse balls for them to play with and to watch them is so entertaining. I even go out and play with them. Whisper can be standing in one spot and go straight up and catch a bunch of air. She is a very big girl and is maturing so nicely. So far I haven't found one to compare to her. I was looking at another yearling but I could see a few faults. Not big ones but you just about can't fault Whisper at all. Besides she has such a good personality and is so eager to please. She is going to be very easy to train.

Below is a picture of Cat sporting his new fly mask. I went to put it on him the other day and well need I say, he was having none of that! He thought it was going to eat him alive when I first took it out there. Well after a few minutes of letting him see that it was really not a bad booger and I rubbed it on his nose then face and then he realized he could see out of it, he was all for me putting it on. Now he loves it and is so much more comfortable with it on. He does like to take Whispers off of her and play with hers. I am going to have to get one like he has on so he can't get it off Whisper.

What do you want? Trying to have dinner here............Ok ,ok, take the picture already and let me eat

Trick is sporting his new fly mask. He is loving it as well. His eyes were really bothering him with the flies and all and now he is very happy with his mask. The first week he kept taking it off. He doesn't do that anymore. And as usual his nose is buried in his feed. He is such a wonderful horse. I adore him.

My Rebel who doesn't normally stand to be hosed down if you aren't holding him decided today that water felt darn good and he let me soak him while he was eating. I am sure it made him feel a lot better. I so love this horse. He is a big, giant baby. My baby. His favorite thing? EATING of course.
Flies haven't been bothering his eyes but I am getting him his own mask anyway.

Can't see it in the picture to well but he is dripping with water. And enjoying it!

Another picture of my Trick.

Now here is a subject with pictures that I haven't shown yet I don't think. Its a bird? Its a plane? NO its a Teaka! This little ball of fluff is actually my long hair Chihuahua puppy. She is my little sable that is turning fawn. She is so sweet and she goes to work with me every day that I go to work, which is three days a week only. Typically she goes everywhere with me unless its going to be to hot.
Nap time for little Teaka. She weighs a whole two pounds. What a sweet girl.

Hi Mom, aren't I cute? Can we go home yet? I have been good all day at work.
I swear if a stiff wind comes up she will take flight with those ears.

Teaka loves her stuffed little lion.

Napping with little lion

I will get some pictures of the chicks soon. There are also some really good pictures of Teaka with one of her playmates that comes to visit occasionally at work. They play together and have a great time. I will get some of those up next time.

Its getting late and since I have to work tomorrow its almost time to get this done. This weekend is Rodeo weekend in Bandera, Texas and I intend to make a weekend of it. It will be great fun even if it is a bit hot. If I didn't have to work tomorrow I would be going on the longhorn cattle drive through town. But I have to work and my horse trailer is parked in NE Texas right now where the girls are so maybe next year.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend everyone and stay safe.

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS AND LETS REMEMBER THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES FOR OUR FREEDOM AND CONTINUE TO DO SO.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SACRIFICES THAT ALLOW ALL OF US TO LIVE IN THIS GREAT COUNTRY OF OURS!

A Play Day With Two Of The Kids

2011-05-10T17:59:00.000-07:00

Today I got off work at one so I decided to come home and mess with the two youngest horses. It was fun and we got some benefit from it.

Whisper wasn't to cracked up about the whole photo session. Of course I had already tortured her by leading her around and just doing some general ground work with her. She was not in the mood for it today.

She just turned a year old and she is so tall. She is a really nice filly and I can see both her Dam and her Sire in her in so many ways. Her Dam is WD Impressive Play and her Sire is Encore's Secret.

She does give me a good pose occasionally.

Now here is Cat Sheik. He is a character to say the least. He is our stud. He just turned 2 years old. His Sire is WD To A Sheik. I see so much of WD in him and we just love the way he is turning out. He still has a lot more growing to do. He is loveable and has such a personality.

He knows when I go to take pictures and there are some things I can't get fast enough on film that he does on purpose when the camera is pointed at him. He is just to funny.

He give me funny looks.......

Sometimes he sill stand nicely..........

Then he ignores me in hopes I will go away I think................

So then he will resort to pestering the neighbor.........in this case Little Man. Little Man (Chico) lives with Whisper. Believe it or not she is the only one that he really gets along with very well. They play together and its so funny, but they really do enjoy each others company. Cat likes him too as long as he is on the other side of the panel.

Now he resorts to face making..........

"Stop taking my picture"

Really I am watching you and you are continuing to do this nonsense.

"Are you DEAF? I said to STOP"

"FINE! If you insist on taking my picture then take a picture of this!"

You're still here...........

"Okay so I will hide behind the tree....you can't see me now"

"Ok so now I will run around, let you take pictures if you promise to go away"

In all seriousness....I do love to take pictures of him moving. He moves really nicely and is built really nicely as well.

He will rear ocassionally in an attempt to play with me...he doesn't see himself as a big boy like he is...he tries to play with me and we are learning that we can't do that. He really is a people oriented horse. He is a very controllable stud but we still respect the fact that he is a stud. With as loving as he is we still have to be careful. Cat has never been hurt, doesn't fear human or their contact and sees us as a part of his herd almost.

Cat loves to "perform" for us when we are outside with him. Thats okay because we enjoy watching him do it. Cat is currently green broke. I have been doing ground work with him since last year when we got him as a yearling and this year I have ridden him in his pen (its a very big pen) and he does great. He doesn't act stupid or buck or rear. He seems to know that when the bridle and saddle come out its time to work and not play. Although I do try to make learning a positive experience for him.

Below is another shot of Whisper. As a yearling I am just amazed at her build and how she is just generally put together. She is going to be a really nice big mare when she grows up.

Below are a few horses of Jim Eaton's. We were priviledged enough to be able to visit his wonderful farm and see some amazing horses from the same bloodlines that my horses have. These horses are related to both my stud and my yearling filly.

The below two pictures do not do this horse justice. This is an amazing animal and I wish I could have had a better camera to better capture him. He is the total package I think. Some of these pictures seem squished up and I can't figure out why. But trust me this is an amazing horse.

Below: Encore

Encore is the Grand Sire to my filly and to my 2 year old Stud. He is almost 30 years old, they ground collect him some but not much. His arthritis keeps him from being able to stay mounted on a mare until he is finished. He would also mount a fantom in order to be collected. Encore has an amazing history. I was suppose to have a foal out of him this year, but sadly, I lost the mare which was also Whisper's Dam. She was only about 4 months along in her pregnancy. Encore has been in APHA Connection many times and most recently I believe was in the March Issue. Its an amazing picture of him.

My yearling filly's sire is Encore's Secret (pictured below). He is the son of Encore.

I currently have my two mares being bred to Encore's Secret. I should be picking them up in the next few weeks after they have been checked in foal. I miss them but we will have 2 amazing foals next year. I have not doubt. They will not be for sale either. I will be keeping them.

I am going to be very fortunate to have more of Encore's Secrets foals.

New Addition (Soooooo Cute)

2011-05-07T16:47:00.000-07:00

Please help me welcome our newest addition to the family. This is Teaka. She is a long hair Chihuahua and just the smallest most adorable little girl I have ever seen. She is a sable and probably will change color. Sables are known for turning fawn or red fawn. I don't care what color she stays. She has a black tail that is fawn on the underside. You can't possibly imagine how small she is in this picture. I am not sure she weighs 2 lbs. She is 10 weeks old and so very smart. This picture was taken when I was at work. Yes I have a job where I can take my dog with me. She follows me everywhere and when I am done doing something and go back behind the counter she goes and jumps in her little bed and stays there. At 10 weeks of age she was obviously not trained to do this but just does it on her own. She is such a sweetheart.

Well today is the 137th Kentucky Derby. I plan on making it there one day very soon. It appears that we are going to get back into racing. (possibly...not sure I am up to it) We shall see.

Animal Kingdom took the win and Nehro took 2nd, Mucho Macho Man 3rd and Shakleford took 4th. I had hoped that the female jockey would have won it today. Better luck next time.

Lacey went to Naples to be bred last weekend and she has been bred now. We are just awaiting Belle to come in so that she can be bred too. Then the vet will come out and check them and I hope they check in foal to Encores Secret. We will have some amazing foals next year. Neither foal will be for sale. We did this for us so that we would have more of Secrets foals. Next year we hope to breed to WD To A Sheik for some equally amazing foals the following year. Looks as if I am back into breeding and raising foals and training. Every time I say I am not going to do it anymore something happens and well................I end up doing it again. We just enjoy it so much though.

It looks like in the next year we may move up to North East Texas. We are looking at a place up there that we really like with 34 acres and is ready for horses, complete with house and all. That would be nice and it would put me about 8 hours closer to my daughter and friends. That would make it even better. Besides it is ssssoooooo pretty up there. I hope we do make that move. Although by the time we do it we will need two trailers to move all the horses at one time. Not a problem though we could round up more that a couple if we needed to. I'd miss my job and Carol and Dan but hey they could come visit often and we would have a blast.

Life is good. Never expected it to be this good though. Just hasn't been my luck. I grew up privileged but adult life sure wasn't that way. Anyway life is good and I am lucky.

All the horses are doing wonderfully. I need to get some more pictures of Whisper up. She is totally slicked off now and looking marvelous to say the least. Since I have switched her to Safe Choice we have not had any issues with her and everyone else looks amazing too. They all looked good before but they look even better now. Heck even little man gets some morning and night. And he isn't a fat boy like he was. He is still pudgy but he is in better shape with this feed.

We have so many parrot babies right now. The beginning of the week I will be getting rid of 4 cockatiels. They will be going to the pet shop. The Alexandrine's are doing wonderfully and so are the Indian Ringnecks. I need to get updated pics of them too. Tomorrow just may have to be picture day.

Well Happy Mothers Day to all you Mothers out there. I hope you have a nice one. I intend to even if I don't get to see my kids tomorrow. But I know I will get to talk to them. Still trying to convince my daughter to come live in Texas.

Have Some Cheese with that Whine?????

2011-04-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

Well I get the topics for my blog from the strangest places....it cracks me up. I ran into something that I read and had to chuckle because I wasn't really aware that people could be self righteous know it all whine bags. It was kinda funny as in made me laugh....almost out loud. But I did the usual and just shook my head. It actually reminded me of the "Dear Abby" type...you know the kind of self appointed expert on well just about anything....or so they think. It amazes me how "Tact" doesn't seem to exist anymore. Anyone will say anything without so much as trying to put it in a tactful way as to not hurt others. Its amazing to me that there is no consideration for others. You can be honest with people about what you think but you can also put it in a way that you aren't going to rip them to shreds. They are obviously in pain already so why is it that the self appointed, self righteous think that they are above being tactful? Ok just had to get that out there.....on to other things.

Today was a very very busy day. I have been working on getting the wiring straightened out on the truck in order to run two of the horses up to North Texas this weekend. They will be visiting up there for a few weeks. Well got the truck all squared away and so now was the problem of the wiring to one little light on my trailer...unfortunately it was an important light, the drivers side brake light. Darn thing was just not coming on and couldn't figure out why. Well turns out there was a loose wire and that will be fixed before we leave. However, while trying to figure this out I had run down to the Napa store to get a new light, thinking that it was the actual light fixture. Well I must have picked up a piece of metal in one of my trailer tires because I got back to where I was working on this with a friend and one of my tires went FLAT! Ok so they brought out the forklift, raised my trailer up to get the tire off, put on the spare and off I went to get the tire fixed. Then back again to once again raise the trailer with the forklift (so much easier than a jack and if you have access to a forklift I highly recommend using one) and put the fixed tire back on my trailer. OK so NOW can anything else not go as planned today????? We worked on the wiring till about 2:00 p.m. when my plan was to spend the day cleaning the house. So guess what I got to do all afternoon and most of the evening? Yep! Well I got a lot of it done and will do the rest tomorrow. Sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done.
The Directv guy is suppose to be here tomorrow to hook up the dish. TV here I come. (like I really have time) I do miss watching in the evenings and finding a good movie. I rearranged some things, not really as I wanted them because that would have taken moving a very large bed that is very heavy and moving a dresser, chest and bookcase. Never could muster up the energy to do that today, or the time really since the wiring things was kicking our butts and my schedule went out the window. I did get to vacuum and mop and do dishes. So that is a plus. Everything still isn't done but it will get there. Along with this I am also hand feeding 10 baby parrots of various different kinds. I don't mind that so much. Its only 3 times a day and they are good about eating.
Allie's puppies are growing and have learned how to growl and play with each other. There are only 3 of them so they are more than manageable. One of the girls already has a home. Just waiting for her to be old enough and for them to get their first set of shots. I am keeping one little girl and there will only be a little boy left. He is really unique and I like him. I am sure I won't have any trouble finding a loving home for him. They are always people that I know. Usually customers of mine.
The horses are doing great on the Safe Choice by Nutrena. I really like it a lot. It is amazing how well everyone is doing on it. I went ahead and switched everyone over to it and the difference is amazing. I was using Nutrena before but there is something about the Safe Choice that is just a bit better. Its a little pricy but compared to some other formulas its not the highest in cost. Whisper has done exceptionally well and seems her old self again. This in itself makes me very happy. Everyone seems to be doing better on it. Not that they were doing bad on the other but even their attitudes have changed.
As some of you know I did the no smoking thing again. Well so far so good. I didn't make it over 3 months the last time so I am working on that now. It hasn't been that long yet but I am finding it easier than it was the last time I tried. I will be the first to admit that I DO MISS IT! Its not the taste because that was nasty, its just something I miss doing. Not sure why. I am doing the patch thing, its working rather well, seems like better that last time.
Well its getting time to go feed the baby birds and then hit the shower.
Have a safe rest of the week everyone and have a great weekend. OH and if you are getting any rain could you please package some up and send some down here???? :) Thanks bunches....lol.
Night All!

Catch Up Time

2011-04-20T13:18:00.000-07:00

I realize its been a while since I have updated the blog so today I will try to get that completed. I have been so busy. Spring is here, summer is fast approaching, my two mares need to get their breedings done and me working and raising baby parrots leaves little time for updates.

1. Whisper (Secret Player): Whisper continues to do well since I took all of last week to get her switched over to Safe Choice horse feed. It seems to agree with her better. Her level of spunk has returned and well we haven't had her showing any signs of trying to colic as of yet. She would never totally colic but she would go off her feed and you could tell she was generally uncomfortable. I started doing some research prior to switching her feed based on what I know as of right now. I am sending off hair samples for her HYPP test. Her Dam was N/H and I lost her last year do to complications that started out as colic but since she was in foal it made things worse. Everything that could be done for her was done but nothing would have been enough. So that was the day that Whisper got weaned and well I can't part with her. As I sit here and type this she is playing and bucking and having a good time with her mini friend. Cat Sheik who is in the pen next to her is doing the same thing. They love to play through the dividing panels. Its good to see Whisper being a typical yearling. Anyway, part of the whole program for her was getting her feeder hooked up to the top rail (she was notorious for dumping her feed), getting her switched over to Safe Choice, and starting her on Probios. All of these things have helped a great deal. After her test comes back then the veterinarian who works for Nutrena and sees customers regarding nutrition of their equine will devise a plan for Whisper that will remain with her for the rest of her life. He is very familiar with HYPP and said there is a plan of attack to keep her safe, happy, healthy and give her a long life. Whisper, as far as I am concerned, will not ever go anywhere. I am going to be training her ( a lot has already been done since I have worked with her since she was 6 months old) and she will show and be ridden. I hope that we can possibly do western pleasure with her but will have to wait and see. She is all legs at a year old and is going to be at least 15.3 to 16 hands when grown. People thought she was a yearlling at the age of about 7 months. She is tall. She is my #1 priority on projects right now.

2. Tests: I am getting testing done on Lacy (RT Ruffles N Lace) for Lethal white syndrome. I will also be sending in hair samples for Cat Sheik for the same test. This way I can breed without any guess work or risk taking.

3.Lacy is going to North Texas to be bred to Encore's Secret (he is lethal white negative) in a week and a half. (picture borrowed fron Brooke Smith of Secret Meadows Ranch www.encoressecret.com )
I will also be taking my other mare, Lady Belle Bandit, up there with Lacy to be bred so that we will have two of his foals April 2012. These foals will NOT be sold and will be part of our own stock. We have had the unfortunate news that Secret has got a rare form of Cancer and so therefore no one knows how long we will have the pleasure of his company. Each day for Brooke and Jeff is a blessing to have him in their lives. He makes such an impact on everyone. His loss will be felt by many and will be felt for a very long time. We hope that it will not progress with speed and that he will still have many years at Secret Meadows with Jeff and Brooke. My heart goes out to them and even though he is not my horse I do feel their pain. To learn more about Encore's Secret please visit his website to see his many many accomplishments. At 19 years of age he still looks fabulous and has a heart of gold.

So now that we will have foals on the way, it will be time to redo pens and turnouts and get some more accomplished in the coming 11 months. We are very excited at the prospect of having 2 wonderful foals out of Secret. Since he does not carry the lethal white gene but is an Overo I am very excited to pair him up with Lacy. I sincerely hope that we have a colt from the two of them but if its a filly I will not be disappointed. A nice frame overo would be a wonderful but any healthy foal will be a blessing. I have had the pleasure of working with Brooke and Jeff for the last year. We have purchased some very fine horses from them and have been completely satisified. This is why we return. While we are up there we will be going to see Encore if it can be arranged. He is the sire to Encore's Secret and I was to get a foal from his this spring but that did not happen. The mare that was carrying the foal passed away when she was about 3 months pregnant so sadly I lost my precious mare and the unborn foal. She will forever be missed.
I am looking forward to the trip up there. It will be a good time a great visit and will be relaxing and doing what I like best, which is surrounding myself in some magnificient horses! Stay tuned to see what might come back in the trailer with us....LOL. Just a dangerous thing for me to go up there with a trailer attached.

4. Have to get the wiring done on the truck this week to make the trip. There is a problem with the left side brake light and blinker so need to get that issue addressed before we take off up there. Fun stuff....not.

5.Baby parrots have started hatching and so are the baby chicks. So needless to say I have babies running out my ears. The baby parrots are great. I have Alexandrine's, Indian Ringnecks and Cockatiels. My fav is the Alexandrine. I am planning on keeping one of them for myself. I am hand feeding them 3 times daily and they are growing so fast. The chicks will go to where I work and be sold once they are a couple days old. Last time we had chicks at the store they were all sold out within a day and a half. (I work at a feedstore/petshop/hardware store). I do enjoy working there, its a lot of fun and surrounds me with what I love best. I have recently opened up a tack section in the store and am building a wide variety of western tack and may eventually throw in some english tack as well later on. I also order upon request for items that I would not usually stock but can get. The owner has turned it over to me completely and I am having a lot of fun with it.

6. I quit smoking.....yet again....this is the 3rd try I believe. I have to admit I will miss it. I don't remember it being this hard to quit when I was in my 20's and had quit for several years. It was the years that I was pregnant and nursing my kids and raising them. I started smoking again to help lose the weight. Believe it or not there is something to the whole weight thing and smoking. Oh well. Guess I will just have to battle it alone. ARRGGGG! I am not happy about this at all. Feels like something is missing. Ok moving on cause I can't think about it.

Well I guess that is about all I can think of at the moment. I know there is more that I have not caught up on but its taken me so long to get on the blog to catch up that I have forgotten half of it. Need to get some things done around here before we go out for birthday celebrations this evening with friends. It will be fun....
Stay safe everyone...be back later for more.

Recent Pictures

2011-04-02T13:51:00.000-07:00

Cat Sheik (paint stud) aka Cat, Secret Player (sorrel filly) aka Whisper and the short stuff is Chico aka Little Man.

Cat has had his first 3 or 4 rides and a few baths as well. He is so easy to train. He has one of the best minds I have ever encountered. He for sure was not bred to be a stupid stud.

Whisper and Little Man, they love to play together and do it ever single day. Whisper is just now coming a year old and she is all legs. Even though she has no spots she is registered with APHA as breeding stock paint which is fine with me. She is out of a championship mare and her sire is a world champion as well.

Whisper is getting so big and has a very loving personality. She still has her winter coat is this picture but they are all shedding now.

"GOT TREATS?"

Cat is just a wonderful boy. I will have to catch him playing with his jolly ball and post some of those pictures. He gets a little carried away with it and it has seen better days. Whisper has started playing with it too.

This is the reason I have the pictures below...This is Mouse. Really he isn't growling his lip is just stuck at the time. He is looking in to check on what he did. See the following pictures.

Mouse is my long haired Chihuahua.

This is Alley and the products of Mouse. You see when Alley was in heat, Mouse was only about 4 1/2 months old. So I really didn't think he could get it done so I didn't seperate her from him, just from the other dog. Well I guess I was wrong. Alley was not spayed because she has a problem with her throat that was caused by her being attacked by either a coyote or a bobcat several years ago. She is 9 1/2 years old but is in the shape of a year old dog. She is very healthy and a very good momma. Next heat she will be seperated from EVERYONE!

The pups were born March 31, 2011 pictures taken April 2, 2011.

We have 2 girls and 1 boy, all are marked like mom but one tiny little girl has merle on her feet and her chest. There is one little white dot on the neck of one of the pups in the picture above.

WHO TURNED THE MILK MACHINE UPSIDE DOWN?????

Above is the tiniest little girl with the merle feet and chest. She apparently got confused about which way her feet were suppose to go or her sibling pushed her out of the way and rolled her......She finally found peace at the fountain though.

About Training - Saturday March 26, 2011

2011-03-27T10:02:00.000-07:00

Cat's training continues....I am charging my camera so that I can update pictures and maybe be able to get some video of his training as it is ongoing. This colt is amazing. It took me all of one training session (approx 1 hour) to teach him to listen to voice commands off lead. He is exceptionally smart and is very eager to learn and please. He is going to make a wonderful stud, very well mannered. He is so easy to train...he listens well and our training sessions have become even shorter because he has picked up everything so quickly. We have started under saddle. He has done wonderfully. We are working on some finer points and he is picking them up well. He knows that when the lead goes on and he gets tacked up its time to work and not be silly. He becomes the perfect student. I wish they were all this easy to train. I have put 3 rides on him now, official rides. He has started out with the sidepull which has done wonders for him. His flexing is perfect and he got that down the first day. When I go to feed him he gets excited and silly and likes to do circles around me. He tries to play with me but with him being so much bigger that is a dangerous thing so the fact that I can ask him to back without touching him or him being on lead is a big plus. When I went to feed him he was doing his circles thing and I got to his feeder and told him to back up....he IMMEDIATELY started backing up and stood there like a perfect gentleman while I poured his feed. He did not attempt to get his feed until I told him it was ok. I feel that this is a good thing especially since he is a stallion and I want to be able to control him in any situation. Cat also had his second bath and is not minding that to much now.
After working with him we moved on to Whisper, who I will also update pictures on. She is a yearling now or coming up to that anyway and is very very big. She is also just like a kid. She is very mouthy and we are working on that. She also uses her mouth out of nervousness. She has been carrying an english saddle around on her on and off since she was about 6 months old. I wanted her to be use to something being on her back so that when she got bigger it wouldn't be so frightening for her and such a chore. Well it has been some months since I had the pad or saddle on her and she is now big enough that she doesn't need the english saddle anymore and can have my western saddle put on her. So when we were done with Cat Sheik we put the saddle pad and saddle on Whisper. Cat stood in the next pen watching intensly and it was really sorta funny the way he was watching. Well Whisper, as usual, didn't care that the saddle was on and I led her around and she just walked quietly. She also has learned to back very well. Actually she does it almost on her own. I really think she is going to be as easy to break as Cat is. Of course she will not have anyone on her back for almost another year. I do not start them out that early with riding. I want them to have the basics and a good solid foundation before we go into riding and have their bodies be ready for that. In the meantime we work from the ground doing all the little things that end up being so important. I am seriously considering putting her into western pleasure when she gets older. She is starting out right and comes from a world champion Sire and Dam. Even if I never take her that direction she will be a wonderful addition to our riding/pleasure horses. The girl is all legs. Whisper hasn't been started on her baths yet but she loves to put her feet in the water and splash around. This is one reason I have to clean her waterer out every day. But that is ok, she is at least comfortable with being in the water. Always a good thing.
Both Cat and Whisper, along with Little Man, live beside the house and each day I get to look out my bedroom window and see them right there. The other 4 of my horses live behind the house is a huge area and I can see them from the porch and I often find them watching me.
All are doing really well and the move didn't seem to bother any of the ones that I brought down from Missouri. They especially loved the mild winter and I continue to ride them all, except for Belle. She has not been broke to my knowledge and was just primarily used as a broody but that is ok. She is still my loving sweet Belle and gets no less respect.
Trick is well....what can I say, ever faithful Trick, my buddy. Rebel is the same.....he is sweet, loving and a very very big horse. I continue to work with him although the mild Texas winter seemed to give him extra spark. Lacy well she is herself, sweet, built like a tank still, no matter what I do and we managed to get her hoof problems rectified. She is just very tender and if being ridden in rough area really needs to have shoes on. Anyway that is about it for the horses. The continue to be my priority and one of the big reasons I work so hard. They sure aren't cheap to have but they are worth every penny I spend to keep them and more. Times keep changing and gas prices keep rising and well I think people will start finding alternatives before long. I think horses are going to become a staple once again. I think I will start riding to work to save on fuel costs.
Time to go outside, take some new pictures and just generally enjoy the day.
Happy Sunday to yall from us here in South Texas.

Really????? Exaggerate MUCH??????

2011-03-27T09:28:00.000-07:00

Well Good Sunday Morning People. Its a beautiful day in South Texas once again. I was going to write some about Cat's continuing training from yesterday but that will be put on hold for a bit. I feel I need to address something that just really pisses me off right at the moment. There is a blog out there that tells a story about a horse named Bambi. It is grossly exaggerated to say the least. I can't believe that people have nothing better to do than REPEATEDLY trash others. And when I say repeatedly I mean this person does this over and over and over and over again. WHY? The story of Bambi, like I said is grossly exaggerated. You see I knew this mare and I knew the foal. The foal, despite what the story says, was NOT on deaths door and the fact that she said that she was surprised that she made the move alive is unbelieveable. The filly had nothing wrong with her and this person and her friends were considering putting down (killing) a perfectly healthy foal for no good reason. Why is it again that you even own horses????? You need to do some serious re-evaluating of your thinking process.....
Everyone suffers hard times and you would think that by this persons story that the one that she is slamming was doing things on purpose. I can assure you she was not. The person she is slamming has saved and helped more horses than I can count, rehabbed them, found them great homes and sure as hell wasn't getting rich doing it. Why the person that writes this malicious stuff can't just move on is beyond me....oh no wait.....she has nothing better to do because she lost her job (and how is she going to feed her horses) and is bored out of her mind apparently......oh wait I know how she will feed her horses.....Daddy will help just like he is doing the improvements to HER property. Well must be nice to be a full grown adult and still depend on daddy to get things done for you. Really, move on with your own life, stop living in the past and for goodness sake stop trashing others. You may very well find yourself in a tough position one of these days. What goes around, comes around.
If this person is so high and mighty what is she doing to help any horses? I don't see her rescuing any and no the mare an foal she speaks about was NOT a rescue. Like I said the foal was healthy so why even consider killing a living thing? Was it that you thought it might be to much trouble? Her name Bambi didn't come from the fact that she was like a fawn, it came from the fact that she had big doe eyes with long lashes. Can you even get your story straight? People like you make me sick. Why don't you go on with your little small minded life and stay out of others lives. The woman that you speak of takes good care of her horses, I know, I have seen them and as a matter of fact she has two of my fillies. Both of which are growing and heavy and doing fabulous. I made the grave mistake of selling the fillies to someone that I THOUGHT would take care of them but as it turns out that wasn't what happened....again there were circumstances involved with her. My friend who is getting trashed by this other womans blog, got those two fillies I sold and has done wonders with them. They were fat and healthy when they were picked up from my old place in Missouri and one of them went down hill fast. My friend (the one being trashed) took and got that filly back where she was suppose to be with her weight and everything. So before you go and trash someone why don't you get the whole story first and not the story that you have fabricated in your own mind. Assuming things only makes you an Ass!
Thank you Nicole for ending up with Dusty and Tiny (who isn't so tiny anymore) and for saving Tiny's life. Not sure she would have made it without you and with me being a couple states away I couldn't have done anything. I know you will get many happy years out of Dusty and she will be everything you want. Tiny will flourish as well under your care and I know you will place her in a good home that will love her.
As for the blog that seems hell bent on trashing others.....you might well look at your own life, its not perfect and you DO NOT know it all despite the fact that you think you do. Move on, stop living in your fabricated past. Do you have nothing else to consume your life but your own willingness to hate and trash others? I feel sorry for you. You are to be pitied. I hope one day you find something in your life that makes you happy so that you don't feel the need to blame others and be so hateful. You are not the saint that you paint yourself to be. You have short comings like everyone else so stop thinking you are so much better than everyone else. You are a bitter woman who has nothing better to do........
With that I will say good day to you. I am moving to more positive things for my blog.

Training Day Again

2011-03-23T14:08:00.000-07:00

I seriously need to get some updated pics of Cat. I thought I had taken some but who knows where they are. I can't find them. Anyway, today we continued out training and all I can say is WOW is he ever easy. We did the saddle thing today, sent him around the pen several times in both directions and ground drove him with his bridle on. He works so well. After having worked him all tacked up we worked on ground tying. He did perfect. We then worked on doing things on voice command and hand signals without being on lead. I sure was surprised when he did it so easily. I asked him to back and only held my hand towards his chest but not touching him and I backed him across the pen. I would tell him to stop and he does without being touched.

I am so proud of this colt. He is going to be amazing. We want to get him trained BEFORE he becomes a breeding stallion as well. His sire is both a breeding stallion as well as a rider and show horse. Cat will be the same way. He is so much fun to train. He was rewarded handsomely today.

Its Been A Great Day!

2011-03-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

Well I am completely exhausted but it was one hell of a great day for sure. I went to work this morning and worked half a day which is the norm on Tuesday. Then I got off a half hour early and headed to Bandera to get a couple things done that needed to be done today.

The best part was heading out of Bandera, headed back to Pipe Creek to pick up my horse trailer. Yep it came home today. I was so excited and it really didn't seem like a reality until I was driving out of the driveway with it hooked up. This is the trailer I wanted EXACTLY! I am tickled to death to have it. Believe it or not it ended up here in Texas from Missouri....its a very small world. The people had moved down here to Texas from the Columbia, MO area. They love it here just like I do. They decided to downsize to a 2 horse trailer to pull behind their RV. A friend of mine also bought their

Tennessee Walker mare. So we are about to have a lot of fun this summer. I have waited so long to get this.

As you can see below it has drop down windows which is what I wanted. I love the hay rack on top.

Below is the cowgirl shower. Its actually located in the first stall in the trailer and is hooked into the 30 gallon fresh water holding tank. Its not gravity fed there is a pump on it so we do have running water in it.

Here is the nice spacious bed with cabinets up front. Nice horse curtains in it too.

Can't wait to go camping!!!

Its a 3 horse slant, plenty of room even for my really tall boy.

Love love love the awning. Can't wait to roll it out and sit there and enjoy a roaring campfire this summer.

Very nice oversized escape door with a safety bar across it to keep the horse from going with you.

Sink with running water and cabinet below, built in heater, even a mirror on the wall and some cubby space by the end of the bed. It also has a working air conditioner. There is a door going from the living quarters to the stalls as well which makes it really nice.

Its fully enclosed and has nice vents in the roof and the windows slide open with screens on them if you don't want to use the drop down windows.

Really nice rear tack area, that I have already filled and I am still not done. Going to have hooks installed on the side of the door so I can hang stuff there as well.

Can't beat the trailer really. It was a find for sure and has been well cared for. We will repaint it hopefully this summer, it will remain white but we will do some stenciling on it and some pin striping on it. It is fully lighted, has about a 20 ft cord so you can plug in if you have electric available where you are going, also runs on propane (for the heater) and there is a battery to operate lights, pump and everything too. It even has an automatic jack on it but I don't mind cranking it. So either way I could not be happier with it. It backs really easily and I was real surprised. You hardly know its behind the truck. It pulls like a dream. Its ultra easy to hook up too. Slips right on and closes with ease and the same for unhooking it.

It was a very busy day but got a lot accomplished. I love my new trailer and it should serve me well for many many years to come. Now just to go get it licensed and ready to roll. That will come next week. Got to get new coggins done on the horses now too since we can now go places. I can't wait to go riding at all the places around here. Will be fun!

A Perfect Day

2011-03-20T17:28:00.000-07:00

Well its another just about perfect Texas day in the books and now its just a wonderfully breezy, warm Texas evening and time to settle in. I got a lot accomplished today. I didn't get to get any pictures because of two reasons, one: battery needs charged and Two: there were not an extra pair of hands to take the pictures so I will just tell you about it.
First of all was up late last night watching a really good movie with Sandra Bullock in it along with Keanu Reeves in it. Its called The Lake House. I really would suggest it but you have to pay attention to it. It is worth watching. Then I layed in bed looking out my window at the FULL moon above. It illuminated everything around and it was absolutely beautiful. Then woke up this morning although not to early and kinda kicked around for a little while.
Mel decided he wanted to saddle up Cat, I was not totally on board with the whole idea for reasons that most of you know, at least the ones that know me well. Anyway, off he went with saddle and blanket in hand and I said I'd be out directly. Well Cat wasn't to happy to see the blanket but then he never really is, but it only takes him about 30 seconds to get right with the idea. By the time I got out there he was saddled. I went in and started free lunging him and he did really well. He worked up a little sweat but wasn't really wet. I went and got one of the bridles but it was clear that we needed to start with the side-pull. I just like it better for the newbe's. I was right, it made all the difference in the world. The thing that amazes me about Cat is that he is very eager to please and he catches on in about 2 minutes, just like Rebel did when I was training him. Cat is just as easy as Rebel was. Anyway, Mel decided that he needed to be ridden, well that is with Mel holding the lunge line of course. I had no desire to become close friends with the nearest tree or the ground for that matter. Well as it turns out we really didn't need the lunge line. Cat picked up right away on the light kick to ask him to move forward and is getting his stop down pretty well. He flexes to both the left and right without issue and backs fairly well but we still need some work on that. We worked on riding around in figure 8's, working on turning both left and right and he was amazing and caught on very well. There really isn't anything that bothers him to much at this point but then we haven't been out on trails yet either. We won't do that for a while. We are getting him trained and prepared for life as a really nice, under control stallion as well as a breeding stallion. We want to have a good handle on him with plenty of control before we let him discover the world of breeding. He has such a good mind that I really don't see this being a problem at all. His sire is both a breeder as well as a pleasure horse and show horse. It looks as if we will be breeding Lacy in April of this year. She is in season now but we want another month of training on Cat before we do that and it will be a totally controlled situation. We are training Cat that when its breeding time we put on the stud chain and only at breeding time will he wear his stud chain. Its not for control but to let him know the difference in when its time to breed and when its not. This method works very well. So March of 2012 I will have my first foal out of Lacy.
After Cats ride today he got his first bath as well. He was not liking it at first but then realized that it felt pretty good. Needless to say after he was done he went and rolled. Oh well. It cooled him down and he felt great. This evening he was playing with his ball and he was having a great time. He would stand straight up and try to grab it out of his own mouth with is front legs. He is very athletic and is hilarious to watch. He is very agile.
I go to pick up my horse trailer this week. I will be excited to start putting all my things in it and start getting it decorated and feeling homey.
It looks like the end of this month that my daughter and my grand-daughter will be coming to see me. I can't wait for that. I am so excited. We will have fun. I am going to try to make some time for us to go down to the coast but I don't know if we will be able to do it this trip. If not then later this summer we will work it out where we can. We will still have a wonderful time.
There is more but I have to get some things done and will try to catch up on everything a little bit later. Have a great Sunday evening everyone and be sure to watch the moon tonight. They say its going to be the closest as its ever been to earth in 20 years. I hope I get to see it but we have some cloud cover right now. Maybe it will clear. No rain in the forecast even though we need it.
More later everyone. :)

Update 2011 Drama Midwest

2011-03-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

For all those who usually read this "Hi"....for all the others that use it to sneak around and see what I am up to.....yah well I don't give a you know what. Anyway it has been decided that I will be making a trip up to Missouri (Misery) soon to pick up the rest of my things and also to pick up my daughter and grand-daughters horse to bring her back down here with me. YES JOSIE IS COMING TO TEXAS for all those who were hoping that I would just abandon her so you could get your grubby hands on her. Said it before and I will say it again.......JOSIE BELONGS TO MY DAUGHTER AND GRAND-DAUGHTER AND SHE WILL REMAIN IN THE FAMILY (blood family that is). She will so a lot better in the winter time down here, our winters are so very mild. My horses here don't even realize they went through a winter I don't think. They really enjoyed it this winter, not having to wear a blanket, worry about snow or ice. No frozen water except for maybe 2 or 3 days. She will always remain in the family. We have had Josie now for about 12 years. She is such a wonderful mare and she loves my grand-daughter so much. When no one else can catch her Anjie can go out and holler for her and here comes Josie or walk right up to her and put a rope around her neck. Amanda has told Fred that I will be picking her up and all is good on that front.

Tomorrow I have the day off and I am thinking that its a great time to go for a long ride. I think Trick and I will ride up to work just to see whats going on. Who knows may just ride to town...Nah probably won't go that far but work is only about 3.5 to 4 miles from home and its a nice ride.

The horses have had their evening meal and they are all standing around. An evening ride crossed my mind. Its very tempting. I think I am to tired though. Save it for tomorrow. I will lock up the dog and take off for the day probably.

As luck would have it now that I have a trailer I can go show if I want to with Whisper this year. That will be nice. Everyone around here is constantly taking off with their horses to go somewhere....not sure where they are going but hey I intend to find out now. Lots of horse activities around this area.

Well better go for now. Think I will go read a book and just relax this evening. Have a good one Friends!

Kansas/Missouri Drama

2011-03-10T14:35:00.000-08:00

I no longer live in Missouri.........and btw...good ridence. Biggest mistake I ever made was moving there is the first place. Glad to be gone. For those of you who continue to talk about me behind my back, well here ya go....grow a set and if you have questions about me ask me and stop asking everyone else. They don't know the answers. If I have removed you from one or more of my lists ask me about it, if there is something you want ASK ME ABOUT IT! Damn people, grow the hell up. I am sick of this crap and will no long participate in your childish jr. high games. Get over yourselves. I don't live at the farm anymore, I don't have any control over what is done, and btw, I do still keep in touch with what is going on at the farm. My daughter and grand-daughters horse is still there and if she no longer lives there it will be because my daughter moved her or asked me to take her home to Texas. She is not going ANYWHERE for those of you that wonder. Fred does a fine job of taking care of her and she went through this winter with flying colors. I am tired of being the fall guy for others who have inadiquicies. Mind your own business, get your own lives, you know nothing of mine. I don't live in Missouri (Thank you GOD) and instead of worrying about or talking about me why don't you focus on your own life and taking care of your horses the way they should be taken care of, stop breeding grade horses, this world is full enough of horses that need a good home that don't have papers without you creating more to sell. So glad to hear JC that this is your last foal crop. You don't need anymore. You pawn them off on others that don't take care of them either. I don't give a crap what you do, where you are, what horses you have. You all need to stop being scandalous and trying to sneak around. Word gets out, people find things out. Be upright and honest you will get more respect that way.

I am sick to death of the way people act. If you aren't a friend of mine, then don't concern yourself with anything that has to do with me. I have to say the really nice thing about living in Texas is the friends that I have down here, well and the weather. LOL. My friends are older and more mature and have passed the stage of playing childish games and sneaking around and talking behind others backs. We do wholesome things like go camping, go to the art gallery, go have a couple glasses of wine or go dancing. You know grown up things. I love being back in Texas. Not at all like being up in Missouri. To much bullshit up there. What is the old saying? Something about there being a reason that you didn't make it into my future?????

Anyway those of you that are my friends, please ignore this post. The ones I am talking about know who they are, just thought I would address it one time to them all. They probably all still sneak around and read my blog. I am not concerned enough to send them each an email saying the same thing.

See Ya! OOOPPPSSS no guess there are some of you that I won't see. :)

Things Come So Unexpectedly

2011-03-10T08:20:00.000-08:00

Pinch me please....am I dreaming still? Wow! This fell into my lap. I finally got a horse trailer, the one I wanted. I had a customer come into the store and just ramdomly mention to me whether I knew anyone that was looking for 2 horses a truck and a horse trailer....I said "Whoa back up lets talk about the trailer". Well I gave him my phone number and he called me later after I got off work. End result.....I now have a horse trailer. I have looked and looked and looked. The horse trailers I have looked at were not worth what the people were asking so I had about given up. I had not looked for a long time because I had just lost interest due to not finding anything anything. I was frustrated. Then this happens when I am not even looking. It has living quarters, sort of a weekend package deal, sink, shower is in the first stall and its really a shower, not a bag hanging with water in it. Its actually connected to a 30 gallon fresh water tank. It has a built in heater and also has an air conditioner and a hay rack on top of the trailer. It has the drop down windows for the horses that I like so much and a really big escape door. There is a saddle and tack compartment in the back that will work great for everything that I have. It will be so nice to get all my tack arranged in the trailer and be able to stay there. Heck I may hook up the trailer to the truck and never unhook it.

Here is the truck that I am considering buying along with the trailer. Its immaculate and well I really need a newer truck. The trailer is mine but they also want to sell the truck so we are considering that as well. Sort of a package thing.

Everything work, new trailer brakes, new lights and a lot of them. I can't wait to get the stuff stenciled on it that I want. Its fully enclosed and a 3 horse slant.

I just can't believe I found it or rather it found me.

I can't wait for the first weekend that we can go riding. Oh and it has a nice roll out awning too. Its perfect for all my needs. Its been taken really good care of and is in amazing shape. This will by my last trailer I ever have. I didn't want something that was $40,000 and so fancy that you were afraid to walk into the living quarters after a day of riding and you are all dirty and dusty. I can go to shows now so this summer will be packed with lots of fun and a very busy schedule. I enjoy going trail riding more than the shows to be honest though. So I look forward to getting to go camping with our horses.

It was a very good end to an otherwise stressful week.

I am trying to get my back well again. Its much better but I still think there is a problem with it. I am still babying it but its improving daily. I did something to it when I was helping a neighbor get their untouched yearling mini caught and haltered. She may be little but boy was she strong. Standing for long periods of time takes a toll on it still but that is also improving. Ibuprofen has become a close friend of mine as well as alternating with Motrin. It really helps a lot.

Than came home yesterday to find that the well pump was not kicking on for some reason and since I really don't know much about it I didn't really know what to do at the time. Something I need to learn about obviously. I love having a well and the problems with it don't occur very often its just a matter of me learning what those potential problems are and how to remedy them. I had little to no water pressure and needed to get it working pronto. I put a call into our neighbor who had installed it in the first place but he was at work. So I waited for his call. He didn't get off work till 11 p.m. and well this morning I found that my water pressure was back and better than ever. So I don't know if he stopped by on his way home last night of it healed itself. I am thinking it was him since I have never had much luck with things healing themselves. Anyway I still need to go ask him and thank him and find out what the remedy was so I can do it myself next time. I think it got water logged. What to do about that is totally a mystery to me.

This week I am babysitting a dog for someone. They were going out of town and were going to put him in a boarding facility but he is such a nice dog (fox terrier) that I decided he didn't have to go there and he could just stay here with me. He is a doll. Last night he decided that he didn't want to sleep on his blanket that is under the desk ( a spot that he picked) and he was beside the bed staring at me so I know he wanted up on the bed with me. Well that is where he slept all night, covered up with part of the blanket on my bed. He was very content and I don't think he moved from that one spot all night since that is where he was when I woke up this morning. He is a really good boy and I told his owner he never has to be boarded at a kennel ever again, he is welcome here anytime. Then I told him that he will be doing good to get him back....just kidding of course. They have had this dog for over 10 years and I wouldn't do that. He gets along great with my dogs and they act as if he has been here forever. He is totally housebroken and is really quiet.

Lacy decided to cut herself on something at her jaw line the other day. Yep she got some stitches. Now she is so mad at me that she won't let me catch her easily at the moment. She is a great horse and well she took getting stitched up rather well. She was sedated but not real heavily and could still protest just a bit. But we got her all fixed up. She got her tetnus shot too. Again she was unhappy about that. She is going to be even more unhappy when I go out there to wash the cut since she saw fit last night to roll. So we will have fun with that today.

It was in the 80's here a couple days ago and had my back not been in such bad shape I would have gone riding. I am still planning on riding Trick to work when the time changes and its lighter earlier in the morning. I only work about 3.5 miles from the house and my boss is putting up a pen for Trick over on some grass so he can enjoy grazing all day long. Gas prices are just going nuts and its rediculous so I figured since I work so close to home, am feeding the horses anyway, why not ride one of them to work? Makes perfect sense to me. Don't have to ride down major roads and the one major road that there is has land on either side of it and a lot of it so I won't even have to ride by the road. That will be nice. Not that anything bothers Trick anyway because it doesn't. As soon as Lacy gets all healed she is going back into training under saddle. She had done very well with it so far and I have no reason to think that won't continue that way. She is Tricks half sister and they both have the same personality.

I am not sure but I think my Miniature Pinscher might have gotten pregnant. Time will tell. I really never thought that the 5 month old puppy would do it but apparently I was a little bit wrong on that. I kept her away from the other male dog I have but didn't honestly think that the pup was mature enough do know what to do. We will see if she has puppies. He is a long hair chihuahua so at least they will be cute and I have tons of people who want one. I never got Allie spayed because after the brush with death that she had several years ago when a coyote or bobcat got ahold of her I think it damaged her throat and she breathes funny so I worried about her being put under or them having to tube her. I am pretty sure it messed up her throat. I thought I was going to lose her at that time. She was in shock major big time and couldn't hardly stand up on her own. As a matter of fact she would fall over and was covered in her own blood so off to the vet she got rushed. She survived and thinks she is a pup to this day.

Well gotta go get the birds fed and stuff done around here for the day so everyone have a wonderful day and be safe!

Perfect Day

2011-02-15T18:16:00.000-08:00

I have to say today couldn't have been any better to be honest. I didn't have to work, well I didn't have to go to my out of the house job, I did work.
This morning I started out early to do some much needed grocery shopping. Something I really hate to do but I couldn't put it off any longer. So I spent about 3 hours in the store doing that. UGH! I had to run to Wal-mart to get some copy paper for the printer too and got some vitamins that are suppose to help with the whole Menopause thing. As soon as I got out of the store I open those bad boys up and took one. Time will tell and I will know if they are working mostly at night time. But that is a whole other story and issue. Tires me out to even think about it.
I ran to the bank, another chore I really hate and then hustled home to get the mega groceries put up. After about 8 trips to the truck I finally had it all unloaded. Now came the daunting task of putting it all up. It didn't take that long surprisingly. I would have thought after what I spent at the store it would have taken longer. Huh!
Next, laundry and some house cleaning. Seriously it was really just to pretty of a day to do that but I forced myself to do it for a while. I also was faced with having to defrost the freezer. Yah the ice build up was so bad the door wouldn't shut which is the reason for the ice build up anyway. The rubber stuff has to be replaced on the door for it to seal good. So its now 7:55 p.m. and its still thawing. It will be morning before its all done then I will mop up the mess that the bucket doesn't catch. Fun times.
Well after doing some house work and deciding I couldn't stand the little voice that was nagging me to go ride, I finally grabbed my saddle, blanket and bridle and trotted off to get my horse. Well one of my horses. Today's riding choice was Trick....it usually is though. I wanted to take off down the road and he was the best choice at this point in time. Rebel just isn't ready for that yet. He still get ridden on the property.
Trick loves to go riding. The rest of the horses, especially the mares, threw a screaming fit that I was taking him off but he never uttered a sound back to them. I think he really enjoys getting out and going down the road. So down the road we went. We did a lot of walking, some trotting and some cantering. The day was perfect. Not hot, not cold. Sun was shining on us and a nice southern breeze was blowing. Trick even managed to work up a little sweat but nothing to big. He is such a good horse. Never faltering, always faithful no matter how much or how little he is ridden. We rode for between 2 and 3 hours which made coming home to finish some housework and laundry a lot more tolerable. It was so relaxing and I am in high hopes that I will get to repeat it tomorrow. Below is my ever faithful steed Trick. He is the Overo paint in the picture. He was a little grumpy there, Belle was not where he wanted her apparently. You can tell she really cares. LOL.

I took this the other day after I had tied a rope to the roundbale and the tree and drove my truck out from under the roundbale. Hey where there is a will there is a way. Anyway, I had put the horses up till I could get it unloaded and this is after I turned them back out and they were trying to find their own little spots around the hay. Silly kids. Trick may be the smallest big horse there but you would never know it. He tells everyone what to do and where to be. You'd think he was still a stud. I think he thinks he still is.
Seriously I really can't say enough good things about Trick. His half sister (my gray mare) is just like him too. They are so easy going, nothing bothers them and they are so loving and sweet. Its been almost 2 years now since I got Trick and I still look at him in amazement each and everyday thinking how lucky I was or rather fortunate that I could actually call him my own. I always did love Trick even before I got him. He was Nicole's pride and joy and honestly he still is. But very unselfishly she gave him to me. She knew he fit me perfectly and was just exactly what I needed. She knew I trusted Trick too. He was the first horse I rode when I started riding again after my accident. That was almost 4 years ago now I think. Wow. Trick has never let me down I can assure you of that. Rebel was the same way when I got him. All the horses I brought with me are the best. I don't ride Belle, not that I can't, she would be easy enough to train, but I am just happy to have her as a part of my life. She wasn't bred in 2010 and I am not sure she will be this year either. I think she is enjoying the break.
Well all in all today was just about perfect. Oh yah got the broken water line behind the barn fixed too...yippy! The last of the broken pipes that we had because of our 2 weeks of deep freeze. That was not fun. Its over now and it appears that spring has sprung. A few people are saying one more really cold snap will come....I politely tell them to shut up. I am enjoying the weather for now at least. Lots more riding in my future this year. I hope to get Lacy finished this year too. She is just as amazing as her half brother Trick is. I am fortunate.
Life is good.
Thanks Nicole for a wonderful horse. I will forever be greatful for the sacrifice that you made.

Guest at the House

2011-02-12T19:00:00.000-08:00

This evening after coming home from eating I went out on the deck only to notice that Max was playing with something or rather attempting to play with it or just trying to figure out what it was. At first I thought it was one of the cats. Then I heard some strange uncat-like noises and decided that he was trying to take on a raccoon. I got my lighter out because I didn't have a flashlight handy and I lit it by the steps and a long nose came out to investigate. Low and behold it was an armadillo. I went in the house and told Mel to come look and he came out and sure enough shell and all it was an armadillo. Well I know they are all over the place here but never saw one under the porch or even around the house before. I mean usually you see them as road kill. I guess its been here a few times at least because the hole under the bottom step kept getting bigger. Tonight I saw and heard it digging in that same hole.

I really am glad that they can roll up in a ball like the image below because I really don't want Max to hurt it. The pictures I have put on here are not of my armadillo visitor because its dark out and he just wouldn't stop moving long enough for me to go get my camera. I went back out after a bit to see if it was still around and well I didn't hear it and the dog wasn't in sight either. So I imagine he has chased it off. I really do hope it comes back. I think they are pretty cool. The one under the porch sure looked heathy and it was pretty big.

Random Picture Update

2011-02-12T10:54:00.000-08:00

This morning I got up and decided to update some things on my blog. Most of the pictures I posted were taken this morning as I was out doing chores. All the horses are home now (instead of being out to pasture next door) and I am tickled to death that they are all home. I get to spend much more time with them.

During our most recent cold snap and I do mean cold for South Texas I spent my time in front of our fireplace, keeping it roaring. I love the fireplace.

Below is a not very flattering picture of Secret Player AKA Whisper. She was not cooperating with the photographer at all but she is still a really good girl.

Cat Sheik on the other hand is a ham. He loves to pose for the camera and is very easy to take pictures of. He is not yet 2 years old. He has been saddled multiple times and doesn't seem to care one way or the other.

I had just unloaded a roundbale this morning and the crew was anxious to get around it and start munching away. Lacy (my gray overo) and Rebel (my black QH) were nice enough to stand and look at the camera while I took their picture.

No matter what Lacy doesn't change weight wise. I have given up putting her on a diet, it just doesn't change anything and well she seems to stay the same no matter what. Rebel continues to be ridden and Lacy is being ridden more now. Lacy is also Tricks half sister and she is doing wonderful under saddle.

Okay Whisper decided to pose a little bit for me. Its hard to take pictures of a filly that follows you around like a dog. She isn't a year old yet but she sure is getting big. I will put her under saddle when the time comes. I already throw the saddle blanket on her and have put the english saddle on her and walked her around with it. She doesn't care at all.

In the background next to Rebel you can see my little Miniature horse. We affectionately call him Little Man. He thinks he is huge and refuses to hang out with anyone but Rebel.

I love that Belle and Trick turned around at the same time. I couldn't resist this picture. Belle is an awesome broodmare, so sweet and should have been broke to ride. She could be still and it would be easy enough. I have sat on her. Trick continues to be the gentleman that he always was and always will be. Belle is still his girl along with Lacy but since he is gelded now I don't have to keep Lacy seperated from him. He loves his girls still.

Max, How many times have I told you NO DRINKING on the job.

This is Max. He is 3/4 Anatolian Shepherd and 1/4 Great Pyrenees and he is a great guardian dog. He patrols the property and I can't go anywhere without him right by my side. He isn't yet a year old and has a lot more growing to do. Couldn't ask for a better dog than Max.

Belle having her breakfast at the hay bale that I unloaded this morning. I couldn't get it rolled off the truck so I put the horses up and then tied a rope around the tree, then around the roundbale and drove out from under it. It worked like a charm. The horses were glad I let them back out to start tearing it apart.

And there is every faithful Rebel, whom I have had since he was a yearling. He is trying to sneak his way passed Trick to get to the bale. Eventually they all settled at a spot and munched away. Trick may be small but he is the boss. Rebel has grown to an astonishing 16 PLUS hands. He is still such a sweetheart though.

I was lucky enough to catch this picture of Whisper attempting to nap after breakfast. She was laid all the way out on her side but the dogs managed to change that. Turned out to be a really nice picture of her anyway. She is so sweet.

After off loading the roundbale to the horses came time to go feed and water the chickens in the chicken house. Yes its a huge chicken house. There are about 25 chickens in it right now. Most of them are Welsummers and lay the most beautiful dark brown eggs that are absolutely delicious.

During our recent freezing we busted a water pipe behind the barn so I am now bucketing water to the chickens. I have just filled two of the waterers in there and they are all getting a drink after having just ate breakfast.

Here is my tall girl Whisper again.

Cat Sheik laid out sunning after breakfast this morning. He is almost 2 years old, still loves to lay in the sun and take his naps. He is most fun to watch when he is playing with one of his toys like his jolly ball. He has a giant personality.

Pictures

2010-12-29T17:50:00.000-08:00

This is a beautiful creek that we have to cross when we leave where we live. There is another way out but I like to go this way to see the water running. I ride the horses through it too. There is a concrete slab under all that rushing water.

Below is a view of the same creek only I am sitting in the truck taking the picture looking down stream. Its really a beautiful creek. It doesn't run year around unfortunately.

Below is Allie who has decided that my bed is her own. I did not cover her up like that. She does that herself. Sometimes I wonder if there is a human inside her. She does this all on her own.

Below: A pair of our breeder birds. They are Umbrella Cockatoos. We also have and raise cockatiels, Alexandrine's, Indian Ringnecks, Red Rump Parakeets and Gouldian finches as well as Zebra finches. In the coming year we are going to expand the birds to include Congo African Grays, Macaws (type to be determined), possibly a pair of Eclectus and some Quaker Parakeets.

I hand raise the babies which keeps me very busy.

Below: This is Mouse. He is my long haired Chi. I swear he is such a little stinker. He is such a sweetheart and I adore him.

I think he kinda likes the bowl. Makes him feel special.

Now both of his ears stand straight up. This was right before they decided to stand like they are suppose to. I didn't think that one was ever going to come up.

My beloved Little Man and Belle. I took these pictures the other day. Little Man is a fat little guy. He is not a shetland he is a miniature horse only a very fat boy.

Little Man once again....he is such a ham.

Can't take his picture, he is to busy coming to you.

Oh boy new water..........

Lets play in it.

Belle..........I was amazed by this photo. It was early morning, I had gone to feed, water and do morning chores and I took pictures of the horses. I was so pleased with how it came out. She is such a good girl and I am so glad that I kept her and brought her with me. All the horses have adapted so well to their new Texas home.

Belle once again and Little Man hanging out with her.

Trick and Rebel. My two favorite big boys. Wouldn't trade any of them for the world.

My special girl Lacy. I really love this mare. The issues with her front feet are all solved now. She runs and bucks and plays in the pasture now. I have ridden her and she is going to be a dream. She is half sister to Trick. She is an overo but so light that you can hardly see her white spots. Hard to believe she was born sorrel and white.

Below: This is where my life started over in 2010. This is Mel. We have so much fun together. Behind him is my kitchen. I love my huge kitchen.

Gotta love the hat....its one of my favorites. Mel is a horse person just as bad as I am. We so enjoy having our horses.

Will post more pictures as soon as I get them uploaded.

As The Year Draws To A Close

2010-12-28T14:08:00.000-08:00

As 2010 comes to a close I have sat and reviewed what seems to have been a very long and very rough year. I am not sure it started well to begin with. There was a lot of bad weather. Things at home were steadily going downhill in all aspects. I lost my mother in law who was more like a mother to me than my real one. It was sad but in a way a blessing. She is at peace now, no longer in pain, no longer missing her husband who had passed before her many many many years ago. At the end she would be talking to him. It was sad but comforting. I did not take it well at all, losing her. I loved her. Things with the husband went from bad to worse after that. I got tired of the threats of suicide and then at the end threats of murder suicide. Me being the murdered one. After much soul searching I made a decision. I sold off some horses, gave others to people that I knew would take care of them and gave Fred the ones he wanted. I packed up and loaded my beloved horses and headed to my home state of Texas. It was either move or commit myself somewhere to get away from it all. Moving seemed the best solution. I moved to South Texas and was granted the peace I was in great need of. The horses settled in nicely, enjoying the weather and avoiding going through another winter in Missouri. My beloved Trick, Rebel, Belle, Lacy and Little Man came with me. They flourised in the South Texas climate. I too have flourised. I am able to find myself again and remember the person I was and return to my old self. The stress is gone and as I said I was granted some peace. I was fortunate enough to get a really nice house with 16 acres and aquired a couple more really nice horses, show prospects. It wasn't without its heartache though. I had aquired a really nice show mare who was in foal to a world champion but alas that was not to be. She was HYPP NH and I knew this when I bought her but decided to gamble. I lost. A month after having her there were complications and she ended up passing away so not only did I lose her but lost the foal too. She had a filly at her side, old enough to wean and I still have my very special "Whisper". She is going to remind me a lot of her mother. She is so sweet. She didn't take it as hard as I figured she would but then I kept her close to me and I continue to give her lots of attention. She must have known what happened because she never hollered for her momma. She is not a yearling yet but looks every bit the part. She is an amazing filly. This year I have gotten to enjoy riding more, have worked with Lacy this year and have started to ENJOY the horses more. I was fortunate enough to not have to work for a while. I did end up going to work for our local feed store. It is owned by some very good friends and I only work two and a half days a week. Its enough for me. The rest of the time I get to enjoy my big house and raise baby parrots and enjoy the horses. The year has ended much better than it started.
Christmas this year was a joy. I got a real tree this year along with decorations. I had not gotten mine that I had so started a new collection. I still have some stuff stored in Missouri that I am sure will not be gotten till spring now due to weather in Missouri. Thanksgiving this year was a hit. I spent two days cooking like crazy. Something I have started to enjoy again. Long gone are the days of Hamburger Helper!!! AGH! May I never have to eat it again. The house was warm with family and friends alike. The coming year looks bright. I think I will be bringing my daughters 20 something year old mare down here where the weather is better. I am also taking part in some changes being done at work. I am going to be able to have a complete tack section in the store for which I will be in charge of ordering for an getting set up. That will be a huge project.
Looking back, I have regrets but I have to believe that things happen for a reason. Life in Missouri was falling apart. I regret losing my sister Teri due to Divorce. She was actually my sister in law but we still have a wonderful sister relationship. I regret that I don't get to see the family. I regret that my daughter still lives in Missouri but we have remained very close, talking almost daily. I regret not getting to spend as much time with my grand-daughter but look forward to their visit after the first of the year. Things change. They say time heals all wounds. Not sure what to think about that. I hope that Fred is healing as well. I hope he can find some happiness in his life. I never would have dreamed in a million years we would ever be divorced or that he would end up being what he was in the end. I could not return to that life though.
Texas has always been my home. It is rare that a Texas girl leaves but if she does I can tell you she will return one day. It just took me 20 years. I am greatful for the time that I spent in Missouri however good, bad or indifferent it was at times. There are a lot of memories, good and bad.
I end the year with peace and happiness and contentment. I have, since moving, been able to see the beauty around me again. Something I had lost in Missouri. I think I had just lost myself for the most part.
This year I have reconnected with old friends too. Its been really nice. One of which I grew up with and she doesn't live close but we correspond weekly. I have managed to pull my life back together and am happier and stronger for it. As the year ends, I can't say I will ever get married again. Its just not something that I really want to do anymore. I am content with the way things are. I am my own boss, can do what I want, when I want and well that is just pretty nice. My house is paid for, only owe a small amount on the property and well............2010 is ending well.
Both my grandkids are doing great, the youngest turned 1 the day after Christmas. The oldest turned 9 years old on Christmas day. Everyone has their health.
The economy tanked badly in 2010 but then I guess we could expect that with the people that are in office these days. We will recover. At least I have to think that way. I am blessed to have a job, have the priviledge of having my horses and am thankful for a lot of things. There were major changes in 2010 for a lot of people but we will all get through it. The sun shines, the world is still turning and we go on living.
I will end the year this week with some pictures I took recently. Thanks for following along this year. Hope 2011 brings everyone, everything they expect and more. Its time for a blow out year. Happy New Year to everyone. I hope everyone has a safe and happy one. Take time to remember those lost to us, say I love you to the ones we hold dear and to remember to look around at the scenery occasionally.
Take care everyone.

Rolling Right Along

2010-12-07T17:50:00.000-08:00

Well things have not slowed down since the holidays. Seems that my list of things to do never gets any shorter. Thats ok. Probably be bored if it did.
Jackie (the neighbors horse) is all better now. I still have her on meds as a precaution but we are rolling right along. She is back to her ole self (bitchy as ever) and for that I am greatful. Never thought I'd be glad to encounter a bitchy mare. All seems to be well with her. Everyone else is doing grand as well. All fat and sassy. Today Cat was playing with his jolly ball and I wish I could have captured it on camera. Lord does he ever rear up high. He was having so much fun with the stupid ball. Its a fight between him and the guardian dog to see whose turn it is to play with the ball. I guess I am going to have to go out and get another one. The dog will probably steal that one too. He loves to go lay in the horse pen with the horses. They don't mind him a bit. He will lay there and watch over them as they eat their dinner. He is a great dog. Saturday I walked down to the neighbors to throw a bridle on Trick and ride him back to the house bareback. Well as I headed down the driveway, there was faithful ole Max. Yep he was right beside me. I told him to go home and he stood there as if to say "no mom, you can't go without me". So yes he went with me. I got Trick, rode bareback to the house and all the while, there was my faithful dog right by our side. It was kinda cool, riding down the dirt road bareback with my dog right by my side. He ignores other dogs and just sticks with me. But then that is their nature.
Sunday we went to the exotic bird auction in Lampassas. That is always a fun time but I get a little put out when I get outbid, but then some of the prices were outrageous. So I did end up with some Gouldian finches and and Owl finch. So then I just had to get a couple of zebra finches to go with the group from work. They are about the coolest things. I love to listen to them. We also came home with 9 unfeathered baby cockatiels. So its back to handfeeding for me. They are all sold already. So handfeeding won't last long before they go to their new homes and they will finish handfeeding them. Its a pain in the butt taking them to work and feeding them at work.
I have decided that in the next year I am going to get a breeding pair of Macaws, Congo African Gray parrots, Quakers (blue), and maybe another big bird or two to start raising more big bird babies. I am getting a breeding pair of diamond doves in the next week or so too from work. They are being given to me. Someone came into work yesterday and said they had barbado sheep on their property and had been there for over a month and were not hers and wants them GONE! She couldn't stress the work GONE enough. I told her to get them caught up in the pen out there and call me and I will load them up and bring them home. I have a home for one of them at the horse rescue and retirement place here. Their sheep passed away and now its buddy the goat "Bo" is mourning and they are worried about him so I said I would give them one of these sheep. Then there are some people that are interested in buying 3 of the sheep as pets. Ok by me!!!! That will just leave me with a couple of them and I will sell them too. They are being given to me. I don't really have a need for the sheep but I don't want someone going out there and killing them either.
Tomorrow is one of my days off and I intend to fully enjoy it. I hope the sun shines. It was overcast today but still a pretty nice day. Its not real cold. YIPPY! Gotta love South Texas weather.
Well thats about all the news there is around here for now. Hope everyone has a wonderful week. To my friends in Missouri, don't freeze to death.....hehehehe.....Its warm here, comparitively speaking.
Good night all..........

Busy Busy Busy

2010-12-01T15:04:00.000-08:00

Well it appears that I have neglected my blog for a while now. Between work and getting ready for Thanksgiving and getting through that I have been a busy busy person. Jackie, the neighbors horse, is apparently on the road to recovery. Her treatment is going so very well and today she is just about back to her ole bitchy mare self. Gotta love her though. I know I do. I have been keeping a close eye on her checking her several times a day every day and giving her meds daily for about 10 or 12 days now. She has finally rounded the corner. Starting to wean her off her meds now. She is back to eating like the true pig she is and doing very well. The worst is over. Pretty sure the foal was not lost either. It does my heart good to see her being bitchy to the other mare (my horse) for a change rather than not caring what my mare was doing.
Thanksgiving went very well. I cooked enough food for an army and it was only for 4 people. But it was so good. Oh by the way, still eating turkey even now.....lol. I had gotten a new roaster and boy let me tell you that thing works great and the turkey was so moist and tender that it fell off the bone. Just the way I wanted it. This roaster is one that you can even bake in. It is really very cool. I made the entire meal from scratch just about. There were only a couple things that were not home made. It was so good. I cooked for 2 days. Had to work prior to getting the cooking started so I have been running non stop. Its been good to kinda take it easy.
I have started a new book in between taking care of the horses and the house and well I have been just kinda trying to catch up on some rest. I, of course, worked this week but now have a couple of days of down time to just take it easy. Especially now that Jackie is doing so much better, I can relax easier now. Maybe now I can sleep good for a change.
Like I said Thanksgiving was great. After we got done here at the house we went over to some friends and watched a couple of football games. It was great fun. I also just happen to work for these people too. I do enjoy working for them though.
Its nice to have a job where if you need to leave to tend to the livestock you can do it without getting into trouble over it.
I hope everyone else had a great holiday. There isn't really that much to catch up on but will try to get back into updating more often on here. I need to post new pictures of everyone being fuzzy and cute.
It appears that Tina is in foal, not surprising and Gizmo is living a great life now too. I had a thought today. It appears that there is a chance that Lacy is in foal as well. In the spring Pal jumped his fence and was in with the mares. I know he bred one mare and she is certainly in foal, its real obvious, and now it appears he bred Tina as well. Lacy was also in the pasture at that time but she is built so heavily that she looks in foal even when she is not so she will be palpated probably this weekend to see for sure if she is or not. If so then I think we will be looking at a March foal. Possibly end of Feb but I think it will be March. That wouldn't be bad since we are in South Texas and its not that cold and nasty like it is in Missouri. I will have an update on her soon. We realized that we have not seen her cycle since I have had her down here and that has been since July. HUMMMM..........If she does foal and I don't decide to keep it then I already have a great home for it.
Well thats about it for now. I think I will go relax and read for a while. Have a great Wednesday evening everyone.

Decisions Decisions

2010-11-11T16:56:00.000-08:00

Well to my dismay and others as well I have thought long and hard about the decision that I made today. Believe me there were several people in total shock over it too, including me.....
I had hand selected a yearling filly that is the half sister to our stud colt, a weanling filly that will no doubt go to show one day and clean up the floor, and a broodmare that produces excellent show babies. I had done this several weeks ago. I was going to purchase them and add the broodmare to my band and break the yearling out to ride and show the weanling. Well after careful consideration and the fact that I had to put a bunch of money into my truck last week, I weighed a lot of things. One of the things I asked myself was, Am I gettting anything that I don't already have as far as quality and such....the answer was no. Is getting 3 more going to turn into more work........well yes it is and I don't want to go there again. I don't want to get into doing this so big again that it turns into just work and very little pleasure. Then there was consideration of the feed bill. Yep its big enough as it is with spending a minimum of $150 a week on feed around here. Then if I do breed my mare to my colt and I have an excellent, to die for, can't live without foal and I want to keep it, is is really prudent to bring in 3 more horses when I MIGHT want to keep one of my own? Well no its not prudent. I have a beautiful show filly now. She is a weanling. She is an excellent filly, built just like a show horse should be and with a personality that can't be beat. She is easy to work with, trusts me completely and is so easy going. I adore her. Cat our colt is the same exact way. So I have Cat who is currently in training as we are breaking him to ride and I am doing ground work with Whisper in preparation to breaking her out in a year. So there are two that I am currently working with and getting another weanling to work with and another yearling to work with would mean spreading things very thin. So I have decided not to get the additional 3 horses. I have two of the best broodmares I could get already. I have a couple of the best trail horses I could ever hope to have. I have show horses as well. So I am content for the time being. I will see what next year holds. There is talk of us getting another place with complete horse facilities like what we want. I have land here, I have a barn here but a facility like I want consists of more than that. Not to mention the possibility of relocating someplace else within the State of Texas. I need to invest in a horse trailer. I don't want and will not get a stock trailer, nor a two horse trailer. I want an enclosed gooseneck, 3 or 4 horse slant, with no less than tack/dressing room and would prefer partial to full living quarters. So we will find what we want and get it. We also want to get the truck the way we want it for what we want to do or get a new truck. So there are goals to meet before we grow anymore. We will have what we want, that is clear. It will just take a little time. We are already half way there. We need to do some work on the house, it needs a new roof, enclose the deck that wraps around the house and do some more fencing. Life is good the way it is now. I am blessed with what I have. Instead of having 7 projects going at once I am only tackling a couple at a time. Still get lost with it all sometimes but it is better than it ever was. Things are working out.
I love South Texas. The weather is beautiful. Here it is a November evening and I have the windows in the house open and I can sit out on the deck and look at the stars in s short sleeve shirt. It is like heaven here. I love to watch the horses in the twilight hours, or watch the deer in the yard as they graze. On occasion I will see a wild pig come though. I like hearing the birds we have in the flights whistling in the late afternoon before they get quiet for the night. Even the cockatoos screaming outside is a welcome sound. It means the day is progressing just as it should and nothing is out of the ordinary. I like ordinary. Its comforting. Couldn't ask for a better November night.
Little Mouse is doing great. He and the cat have become stead fast friends now and it took about 24 hours. They love to wrestle and play chase. Its just really to funny. He fusses when he can't find me and he has already started barking at strange noises. What a little toot. He is a great source of joy for me when its evening time and so very quiet in the house. I don't do the tv thing. I have opted not to. I haven't watched regular tv for about 4 or 5 months now. It really isn't bad. I do belong to Netflix and watch a movie about once a week. It really all I care to see. I do get a lot of reading done in the evenings before bed. TV has become so mindless. I will admit that I miss Grays and Private Practice. That is about all I miss.
Well time to wrap things up for the evening. I have a lot to do tomorrow. I just wore out today and didn't get everything done I wanted to. Working in the house tomorrow instead of outside. Try to get some things done. Will spend Thanksgiving here at home. I was offered a trip to the beach, South Padre to be exact but I decided I'd rather stay at home. The beach will still be there when I want to go. Preparation for Thanksgiving has now started in getting the house situated. Its a big house and I can't wait till I am done with it. I have a vision, and its fantastic. It won't take that long either.
Have a good evening everyone.

Meet Mouse

2010-11-09T10:35:00.000-08:00

Thought I would take a few minutes between projects around here and let you all meet "Mouse". He came to live with us yesterday November 8, 2010. He is a long hair Chi and I adore him. Some friends of ours had a litter of them and I was thrilled to finally be able to talk my way into getting one. I had to convince my other half that I really did need the little guy. He is to cute for words. I saw him when he was 6 weeks old and I fell instantly. It took me approximately 6 weeks to talk my way into getting him. Yesterday I succeeded. Welcome Home Mouse. We call him Mouse because he is tiny but Mighty so therefore "Mighty Mouse". He has no clue he is so little. He is smaller than the kitten that is about his age. Mouse is 12 weeks old. He is already spoiled rotten but that is ok. If he can't find me in the house he howls. It is too funny for sure. Here is a picture or 2 of Mouse.

Below is Mouse and Kitty. They are NOT stead fast friends yet but its not from lack of trying on Kitty's part. Yes I know the cats name lacks originality.......deal with it. This is about as friendly as they have gotten so far. Mouse was more concerned about taking a well deserved nap. Kitty is completely taken by Mouse. She has bounced sideways at him, arched her back, ran up and slapped his tail, made her tail look like a bottle brush, and generally jumped around like a ferret. It is hysterical. Mouse is very smart. He thinks the bed is HIS! He is about as precious as he can be.

Well its time to go resume the outside projects while I have daylight. There is so much to do and just not enough hours in the day or energy in my body to do it all as fast as I would like it done.

News Of The Day....UGH

2010-11-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

Well today was ok till I took the truck to the mechanic.....thank goodness he lives a block away and his shop is right there. I was told that I can drive the truck home and then drive it back to the shop tomorrow and THAT IS IT! DO NOT PASS GO DO NOT COLLECT $200. As a matter of fact buy the part for $200. Yep and that doesn't count labor. So anyway the right front hub assembly needs replaced. The bearings are shot as in GONE and he told me that no driving it till its fixed or the wheel could FLY right off the truck.....the whole wheel, just break off and go. Yah well so now I am grounded till its fixed. Oh well, didn't have anything that pressing to go do anyway. Good thing I didn't take off to archery league Tuesday night. That might have been a bad deal all around. At least its getting fixed. Our rocky gravel road doesn't help matters, sure wears things out in a hurry. Good thing I didn't take off to go get the horses that are 7 hours away.....holy jeez. I knew something bad was wrong and the sound was getting worse. It scared the crap out of me. Oh well it will be all done by this weekend.

Other than the above garbage the day was really pretty. The sky was crystal clear and as blue as it could be. The wind wasn't much fun though. Had it not been blowing it wouldn't have been chilly and would have served to be a perfect day. Fall is one of the prettiest times of year as far as I am concerned. I really like it. I enjoy seeing the horses get their winter fuzz and look like soft cuddly teddy bears. The dog is getting that way too. He is so neat. He is about the neatest dog I have ever had. I love the guardian dogs. They are so smart and so protective. He is like a huge sponge that you just want to squeeze because he is so soft and smooshy.

This week went by really fast. Not sure why it went by faster than the previous few weeks. I guess I am getting use to the out of town stuff and it doesn't bother me as much anymore.

Well I guess its about time I go scrounge up something for dinner. Doubt if it will be more than a sandwich but maybe I will throw a grapefruit in there for good measure.

Good evening all.......

Quiet Time

2010-11-03T17:44:00.000-07:00

Its really chilly today, wind has been blowing and the birds have been relatively quiet. They all turned in early tonight. I guess its the chill in the air. Its so very quiet around here now with the exception of the dogs barking once in a while. Allie even stayed out of the mud today, guess it was even too cool for her. Good thing, tired of the daily baths. You would think she would be too.

Horses are getting really fuzzy for winter time. Its getting dark so early now and well sun up is so late now too. This week has flown by. Mel will be home Friday night and it will be a whirlwind weekend again I am sure. We stay busy. I did get two more fish last weekend. My goldfish sure didn't last long. Not sure why, they said they could live in a goldfish bowl. So this time I got a Beta for each bowl. They are really pretty and they are happy being suspended in the middle of the tank and they for sure don't need an air pump.

I guess its about movie time tonight. I will curl up in my bed and watch something, although right now I am not sure what. Could be a good reading night too. I am getting use to going to sleep at a decent time now. It took a few weeks to get use to being alone and still going to bed at a decent time.

Will hopefully be going to pick up my other horses in a couple weeks. I really can't wait to get them home. Its making me nuts. I am all ready for them.

Nite All!

Fall Nights in South Texas

2010-11-01T21:54:00.000-07:00

Its a beautiful fall night in South Texas where I live. There is a really nice breeze blowing, some flashes of lightening in the sky and a threat of rain. Its very relaxing the way the flashes are and the breeze that is blowing in. Its a nice cool breeze after a sultry warm day. It was 84 degrees here today and the nice cool night breeze feels refreshing to say the least.
Its almost midnight and as tired as I am its nice to enjoy the quiet darkness of the night. Its peaceful and refreshing. The horses are quiet, the dogs are alseep on the porch. All the birds are tucked away for the night. The hay is covered and all is well. I'd like to have a lounge out on the deck to enjoy the light show. I have been sitting out on the porch on the steps and just watching the night.

Lacy's front hooves are no longer causing any problem. I have her in a controlled environment, no rocky terrain and she is doing fantastic. Still going to have the farrier see her and put front shoes on her. I was able to saddle her up and ride her yesterday for a bit though. Since she is very green we did a few things but only rode for about 15 minutes. She did super, easy going as can be and every bit as nice a horse as Trick is. She is, afterall, Tricks half sister. They sure have the same temperment though which is perfect. They are about the best. Now just to get Queen, Reina and Dumplin home and possibly Obviously An Encore home too. We will have to see about that. After that there will be no more. We will have exactly what we want and that will be it. Lacy, at this point, is slated to be finished out to ride, Trick is broke to ride and so is Rebel. Belle will probably remain our family member and broodmare should we decide to breed. Cat, our stud, will be broke to ride for Mel and Whisper will show, then be broke to ride and probably go western pleasure. At least that is what I would like. Queen is going to show and for sure I think western pleasure and Reina will be one of our riding horses. I will start her under saddle as soon as she gets home. Dumplin is and always will be a broodmare but she is a really nice horse. Now with that said, just because we own 2 broodmares doesn't mean we will breed. Should we decide to do so we are only going to have a foal or two a year or every other year. I am not getting back into the breeding game, will not stand my stud to outside mares as I do not want the headache that comes along with it. Could he do it? Yes. Is he worthy? Absolutely. Championship lines and his confirmation prove that. Mostly our horses are for our pleasure and our pleasure only. I do enjoy the occasional show but am not going to travel all over the countryside to do it. Its time to slow down and enjoy life.
Its lonely during the week sometimes but I just use that time to relax and read a good book or sit and watch the beauty of the horses.
Well its about midnight, and I am very tired. Its been a long trying day. Time to hit the hay and try to sleep all night.
Good night all, sleep well and have sweet dreams of ponies running through tall green grass.

Love Thy Neighbor?............I Think NOT

2010-10-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

Today is apparently meant to be a rant day so here goes. Just got a phone call from a neighbor. Neighbor in question is an expert on boxed wine and snuff. So much so that he rarely goes to work. The fat, lazy, sweaty armpit stained drunk calls to ask us for a loan of money. Yep guessing the will be going through withdrawals unless he hits someone else up for money. Now the word "BORROW" implies that it will be paid back. I don't know why he just doesn't call and say "Can I HAVE some money because he never pays it back so therefore we don't have any more money to "LOAN". I did tell my better half that if we wanted to give the fat douche bag money then I wanted the papers on the horse and she would be mine with him guaranteed to get $100 a week for being nothing more than a douche. This infuriates me to no end. I know he will end up selling the mare if he gets desperate enough which is bullshit because I take care of all the expenses for the mare anyway so that HIS son will have something that he can ride and that is his. I willingly take care of the mare (who by the way is in foal to a world champion stallion) because I am afraid if I don't he won't. Well I know he won't. None of them have any business owning a horse. The boy doesn't even check their water, leaves equipment out on the ground and so forth. He is 13 years old and should know better. I provide all feed for this horse, equipment, meds, worming, shots and the whole nine years. I am not complaining about taking care of the mare at all, I love the mare and am willing to buy her and let his boy keep her to ride what I am pissed off about is the fact that the fat nasty drunk doesn't have the expense of the horse yet still asks us for money. Everyone, including his family, is tired of him asking them to support his habits. He will be losing his place before long I am sure and then the horse will come to our place to live. I see that writing on the wall clear as a bright sunny day. I hope it happens. The man has 2 teenage boys. Their power has been shut off due to lack of payment for 3 months. He sits at home on his ass about 4 days out of the week which means he MIGHT be working 3 days. Has no drive or work ethic at all. He is a giant loser. To hear him tell it he knows it all, has some famous woman that wants to move him to New York..........LOL. ICK! I have seen the man bend over before and let me just say "CRACK KILLS" and if nothing else will make you vomit. Of course the neighbor won't ask me about the money thing. He knows I would laugh in his face and tell him only one way he would get money out of me and that is the horse. I am sure that we are the first on the list of "Suckers" he asked for money and now he will move on to his brother and mother. At least that is what he did last time. And there is always a sob story. Some BS about how he wasn't paid his commissions like they were suppose to and blah blah blah....its always someone elses fault. He never takes any responsibility for himself.
Ok so I guess I have ranted and raved enough for one day. Now I have to endure going down and taking care of the horses. Don't mind the horses part but the neighbor part and him coming out to act like a girl around me is nauseating. Time to go suffer. More later.

Another Long Week And New Pics

2010-10-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

Well its another long week. Mel is out of town again this week. But I do get to talk to him about 20 times a day on the phone. I devote my time to the place here and the horses. I took some new photos of the horses the other day and a couple of our birds. The weather is so nice here. Its crisp and cool in the morning and then we have warm days and nice evenings where its just nice to sit out and look at the stars. Where I live it is very dark after the sun goes down. No vapor lights or flood lights outside. A little spooky. We have some trees that have suffered from Oak Wilt so it looks like we are decorated for halloween very well. We need to get those cut down.

Above: This is Rio. He is an Umbrella Cockatoo. He went to his new home last night. I hand fed him from the day he was hatched and he was the most snuggly bird. He is amazing.

Above: This is Rita.. She is an African Gray. She would love to take my finger off. She and I have a love/hate relationship. She loves to HATE ME! She is Mel's bird and African Grays are notorious for being one person birds. She is HIS bird ONLY. I had to open the door to take her picture and she was questioning why I opened her door. I usually don't do that. I can feed and water her from the outside of the cage and I do so. She still tries to get me.

Above is my kitten that I rescued from a gas station behind the ice storage. She was wild as a march hare and it took me two weeks to touch her. Now she lays in my lap continously. I mean she never leaves me alone. She is now growing like a weed. I have call her kitty cat. So original, don't you think?

Above is Max. Now he is about the greatest dog EVER! He is 3/4 Anatolian and 1/4 Great Pyr. and he is the best. He is 4 months old and already very protective of us, the property and he watches over everything. He is the sweetest dog ever. I can't go walking without him being right on my heels. He even tracks me to find me.

Above is Lacy. If you know me you know I have had Lacy for a long time. She came to Texas with me. She is a wonderful gray overo paint. I adore her. She has issues with her front hooves on occasion but we are addressing that issue now. We think that shoes will do wonders. She is very sweet, young, and will be with us permanently whether she rides or not.

Above is Jackie. She is a mare that our neighbor bought for his son. She had not been ridden in 2 years so I gave her a tune up and he rides her well now. He is still learning and she is teaching him. She is in foal for a spring baby to a world champion. She is a sweetheart and a wonderful trail horse.

Well the boys and Belle would not cooperate with me. In front is Rebel (black horse) then behind him is Trick and way back there is Belle. They are all enjoying the tall grass and they are all fat and rolly! They also came with me when I moved to Texas.

And last but not least is Little Man. Well that is what we call him. He is my mini. He also came with me from Missouri. I could never leave him behind. He is our baby. He loves to hang out with the big horses. I had him up out of the pasture but he was not at all pleased with the fact that he couldn't graze all day so he ran from our house to the pasture and stood there till we let him in. Oh well I guess he will just look like a fat pony. Really life is to short not to enjoy it. He is more like our pasture ornament than anything. One day he will learn to drive but hey he will always be with us. He is the only mini I have and we love him as we do all of our horses.

I didn't get updated pictures of Cat and Whisper but they are also enjoying the good life. We took them to one of the pastures on Saturday to be able to run and get some exercise and just play. Well Whisper didn't waste any time. I wish I had my camera with me. She bucked, ran and kicked and twisted. She was having a ball. And let me tell you when she kicks it into high gear there isn't a horse that could catch her. She is FAST. Cat on the other hand didn't care that he was out in a huge play area. He was to busy with his belly to bother. I think we got him to canter about 5 feet. Now the horse is a fat pig and really I would have thought he would run and buck and play. Heck he didn't even care about the other horses but Little Man did come over and want to be in the other pasture with Cat so we let him go in there with him and they are joined at the hip the whole time. We let Cat spend the night in the pasture, which he enjoyed and he came back to his turnout at the house on Sunday. We were going to let Whisper stay with Jackie and Lacy overnight as well but when I came out of the gate she stood there as if to say "Please take me back home with you" so I went back in with her halter to see if that is what she wanted and sure enough it was. She practically put it on herself. So out the gate we went and back to our house next door and back to her turnout. She didn't seem to miss Cat........until........later that night. So Sunday when Cat came home she was really happy to see him. I opened up their turnouts to make one HUGE area for them and let them just stay together. They have been side by side ever since. They eat side by side, they sleep side by side and everything. Whisper is a weanling and almost as big as Cat and he is a year and a half. Cat is not small, she is just really really big. They are both so sweet and not a mean bone in their bodies. I have started Cat with his ground work and have been sorta climbing all over him.....he could care less. He is such a good boy.

It would be a lot nicer to work with the horses if Mel were home. We usually work with them together which makes it much more fun and a lot easier too. I don't think he is as ate up with horses as I am but its close. That is our weakness! We usually only get horses from one breeder as they have really really nice stock that has shown, they have records, excellent records for showing as a matter of fact. The studs they stand are $1500 stud fees and well worth it. The foals they have produced have gone on to be major players in the show world. The ones I have gotten from them are no exception. They will go far. Now I didn't get them for just that reason. They are family members more than show horses. I do not intend to resell any of them. They will all be trained very well and will be nice riding and pleasure horses as well as being show horses. Will start the showing deal probably next year. I have at least 3 horses that are furturity eligible this year and next year.

The horse business is booming down here in Texas. At least some of it is. Breeders of good quality horses are not having any issue in placing these horses into nice show homes. A lot of them get transported out of the states for their future show careers. These people really know what they are doing and have a really nice operation with not to many. They are very selective about their stock and devote 100% of their time to them. They both do this full time. I have been so pleased with what I have gotten from them.

Working on remodeling the house or at least portions of it right now. Need to also get a couple areas fenced in for the horses. October here is so nice. Its nice to enjoy it without being COLD!

Think its time to go see the birds in their flights and the horses for morning visits. Have a great day everyone.

A New Week

2010-10-18T15:45:00.000-07:00

Well its the end of the day at the start of a new week. My week started at 3 o'clock this morning. Had to get up and get Mel on the road. He is in Brownsville this week on business. I am jealous, he gets to spend the week on the coast. I did go back to bed. First of all anyone who knows me well knows that 3 a.m. does not make for a happy, perky, sweet Jenny. Nope just the opposite. Its just better to let me do what I need to do and not say much to me. I am half asleep at that time no matter what and its just not going to go well as far as conversation is concerned.

It was a busy weekend. Trying to cram everything in before Monday morning. It pretty much got accomplished. Ok so the house suffered because we were busy running here and there and to be honest we were not worried about the house with the limited time we had. Weekends are for play. Friday night we went over to some friends house and gave shots to puppies. Of course I picked one that I really loved. He is adorable and a long hair chi. No I didn't get another dog. As cute as he is and as much as he likes me and likes to sleep on my chest and in my arms on his back I just really don't need another dog. The three I have are enough. Allie (my min pin) somehow broke a toe I think Friday. So she hopped around on 3 legs until Sunday. I guess she found out it didn't hurt that much because by Sunday evening she was walking on her paw again. I think she might have been milking it, and it worked. She is 9 years old and acts like a pup so no wonder she broke her toe. She loves to dig in the mud and dirt.

Saturday was interesting. I got up and got around and checked email. Low and behold Mel's ex had sent an email that she had high hopes that I would read. Well I did. It was a bit nasty but really what should she care. Turns out when I called to pay the electric bill the email that was on file on HIS ACCT was her email address so the confirmation got sent there. That would have been just fine except for the fact that they gave my name as the one that paid the bill. Ssssoooooo..............she wanted to know who the hell was paying the bill. Well since she hasn't lived here for well over 2 years I am guessing its none of her business and Mel wrote and email stating that fact. Then she called. Yah that was not a nice conversation. He told her to mind her own business and she called him some names and he hung up, she called back because that is how she operates and he hung up again......and yes again she called back. He told her to stop it and that he didn't care about her personal life and she shouldn't about his and to move on. Again hung up. She finally stopped calling. Then she called our friends. LOL. They wouldn't take her calls. LMAO! She also knew more than just my name and well that was strange. So we got the po box rekeyed because I have no doubt that she would get into it. But I couldn't do that till today. Anyway, come Sunday all was quiet again and we went down to Jakes to watch the football game (Dallas Cowboys) and stayed there till half time, had a beer and just enjoyed the afternoon. The place is really open and there was a nice fall breeze blowing through. It was fun. We left at half time and went and got a 6 pack and headed over to some friends to finish watching the game which wasn't worth watching to begin with. Again I got to play with the puppy. What a cutie. No I didn't bring it home then either. But they did have to pry it out of my hands. LOL. Just to cute. We came home and got things ready for this weeks trip. WOW weekend over with already.
One of the momma cats decided she was tired of being a mom so now I am feeding with a syringe, 3 kittens. OH FUN! NOT! Can't wait till they are big enough to go OUTSIDE! Didn't want to listen to them scream outside so brought them in. It was obvious that mom didn't care anymore and wasn't going to step up to the plate to do anything so I had to.
Rio (the baby cockatoo) spent friday night with his new family and they brought him back to me saturday night because they were going to Big Bend on vacation on their motorcycle. Bird can't go. So he will go home with them permanently when they get back. They had a wonderful time with him and he kept them laughing. He flew from one room to another and that was his first flight. So when he got back here he got his wings clipped. He was having way to much fun flying. The baby cockatiel is going to its new home the end of this week too and like Rio he got his wings clipped as well because he too is flying. Both are eating and drinking on their own now so hand feeding is just about over with. I have been feeding the cockatoo for 4 months. Can't believe its over now. Can't wait till spring when I get to keep one for myself. They are so entertaining and will keep you laughing. Rio already mimicks people laughing. Its hysterical. He is going to be a big talker. Is already trying.
The horses are doing fine. Lacy is in a smaller pasture now, not rocky, with Jackie which is the neighbors gray horse and they get along fine. She is still gimpy but the farrier is going to take care of that and if I have to I will put her on a maintaince of bute, but I think the farrier can correct her. We are pretty sure that at some point prior to my getting her, she foundered. So that will be taken care of soon. No matter what she will not go anywhere and will stay here with us.
Everyone else is doing great. Rebel is back to being JET BLACK and its amazing how dark he gets. Its almost a blue black. They are enjoying the fall weather.
Trick is a fat fat boy, well they all are. Only 3 horses out on a huge pasture so they waddle. Even little man waddles. I had him slimming down again and he decided that diet was for the birds so when I had let him out to graze he ran next door and waited at the gate to go to pasture. PIG! Yes he is back in the pasture.
That is about it for today, its going to be an early evening for me as I am beat. I ran myself silly this morning and got everything done so now its time to relax. I will sleep good tonight.
Have a good evening everyone.

Good Morning

2010-10-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

Good morning to all on this bright, beautiful, crisp fall morning. Well I'd say I was up and running but that wouldn't be near the truth. I didn't sleep till about 2 a.m. and then Mel called at a little after 7 this morning. Thats ok, always willing to answer the phone.

Yesterday was an interesting and surprising day. I went to work with Jackie again a little after 3 and decided that I would pull Rebel out and ride him first. He needs some saddle time and I started that yesterday. That was the surprising part of the day. As usual I got him all ready and "Climbed" up on the big tree of a horse. Only one problem, he was being different. I am guessing it is payback for me riding Trick so much. Rebel was feeling froggy and he was hopping. (and bucking) Time for some lunge line and back to basics to remind him that he was taught better than that and find his manners. Well he decided that lunge line time was time to play, buck, kick out and generally just act like an ass. Ok so what he was really acting like was a child that had to much candy. We worked for a little while, flexed (something he had gotten lazy about) and managed to find our manners. So back up I climbed and we rode quietly like a gentleman and did fine. He got all groomed up, mane, tail, and fly wipe. Gotten to cold for the traditional bath after the ride. I was very surprised that he acted up yesterday though because that has just never been his nature.
NEXT.....
was Jackie......As usual she did fine. She was wanting her grain, something she gets AFTER we work and was side passing (not being asked to, but in an attempt to get back to the gate) and I of course had other plans for her. So we worked on things till she was not all that concerned about getting back to the gate to be fed. We practiced riding away from the gate. She got that down pretty well. She is doing excellent and I will continue to put tune up time on her even though she probably doesn't need it so much. Time to teach the boy to ride now. (oh my)

I really need to get better about taking some updated pictures of the boys. Rebel has gotten so big that it is a chore to get up on him now. Doesn't seem like that long ago he was a lanky yearling and I wondered how big he would get. He surpassed what I thought....lol. Spent till almost 6 p.m. with Jackie and Rebel yesterday. Then came home and boy was I tired so its a wonder that I stayed awake till about 2 a.m.

Its cold this morning but its warming up. Yesterday was a whooping 76 degrees outside. That was the high. It was really nice. There was a nice stiff breeze going on too. I also attribute Rebels attitude to the nice conditions of the day. This morning I have gotten most of the chorse done. I went to the barn to tend to Lacy who is doing fine. Trick was at the fence in the pasture so I went to love on him while filling the water tank. He has become extremely protective of me and will let NO OTHER horse near me if I am standing next to him. I went and got the halter and lead and took him out to graze on some knee high grass and I got the comb and brush out and he got primped for the day. His tail got all combed out and his mane and he got brushed down which he didn't need because that is the cleanest horse I have ever seen. I can give Trick a bath and he WILL NOT roll after his bath. The horses white spots are bright white because he likes to stay clean. Its odd. Trick is my buddy and there is nothing I enjoy more than being around him. He is 14.2 hands and Rebel is bordering 16 hands. What a contrast. I love my short fat horse though. He is pretty special to me.
When I put Trick back in the pasture the gate was partially open so Rebel decided he was coming out too. Thank goodness that he doesn't care to go anywhere. I put the rope around his neck and put him back in the pasture. I think next I will spend some one on one time with Belle. All of them look amazing. New pictures coming if I can remember to take the camera with me but then they will probably be way out in the pasture. LOL.
Trick is a butterball, Rebel is tall and very big but not fat fat. Belle looks just perfect. They are all very spoiled.
Well back to getting things done around here for the day. Looks like I will be solo next week too. Guess I ought to start planning some remodeling projects that I can do here. Think I will finish the horse pens this coming week, clean up around the deck and designate an area for things I can't burn. Wish the tractor was running and I could get the place brush hogged. Might see if I have enough materials to fence in one of our turnout areas that is knee high in coastal grass. The horses LOVE it.
Have a great weekend everyone. Be Safe.

More Accomplished Than Expected

2010-10-14T06:39:00.000-07:00

Well I finally got off my butt or rather put off doing a few other things to get the big bird cage re-done. Wow I have worked on it today for the last 2 or 3 hours. But it is now done and looks very classy. It went from an off gray to being jet black. I painted it flat black then went around the edges of the cage with a glossy black for the slight contrast. WOW am I ever pleased about how it turned out. I hope the new owner will be as well. She bought a baby parrot from us and we gave her a cage to use until the parrots cage was re-done. I am 4 days behind on getting it done but it is now done and just has to sit for a couple days to get good and dry before we move it. Sitting in the sun it shouldn't take long for the paint to cure. I think I will accent it with fake ivy of some type. I think it will look stunning.

Now to get Jackie ridden for today but I will do that this evening when it cools off some. She is doing very well. Not that she really has anything to learn that is a big deal but she had not been ridden in 2 years and needed a tune up. She is so smart she actually has her owner fooled into thinking she just isn't going to walk forward. Reverse was the gear she refused to give up but we worked all that out. Now just to put time on her for the next few weeks or so and then turn her over to the 13 year old that she belongs to. Along with that will come lessons so that he knows how to get her to understand him. He is just learning how to ride but she is a great horse that has been ridden extensively up until 2 years ago. I really do like this mare. She is due to foal in the spring. She was already bred when they bought her and we of course knew that. Can't wait to see her foal. Last years foal was a steel blue gray color. It was so pretty.

Well its 11:00 p.m. on Wednesday night, still awake but I did get Jackie ridden this evening. Her tune up is going swimmingly. Not a problem out of her at all. Had such a great session. We trotted today and she has a really nice trot. I like it. Well the boy who owns the mare, his dad came out and asked how the horse was coming along. Actually what he said was, "Is she any better". He is one of those that blames the horse for everything and the only GREAT horse there ever was, was the horse he had when he was 2 years old.....Ok so whatever. Anyway he asked if she was good to go for the boy to ride, I said yes he can with no problem. So out came the boy. He got up on the horse and well, he needs lessons. The dad started screaming at him so now everything is the boys fault. The man spouted that buying the horse was the dumbest thing he'd ever done sssooooo I spouted off "Hey any day of the week I will give you what you paid for her and I will ride her, keep her and teach the boy myself and he can ride her any time he wants". I was schooling the boy when drunk dad came out and started yelling at the boy that he was stupid so I threw my hands in the air and said both of us can't teach him so you decide who is going to and I walked off. The end result was that I was teaching the boy last night and he was doing fantastic and the horse was listening to his cues. Drunk dad went for a refill and left us alone which is how it should have been to begin with. He never did answer me on buying the horse. Pretty sure he knew I was pissed. I'd still buy her and keep her for the boy to ride. Anyway it finally all went smoothly.
Time to go

Beautiful Fall Day

2010-10-14T05:59:00.000-07:00

Its a beautiful fall day in South Texas. It was in the 50's this morning, enjoyed a pot of coffee out on the deck, got all the birds, chickens and horses fed, tended to Lacy and cleaning her hooves, went to the po box to check mail, came home and got mostly ready for my appt. today. The horses are all fat and happy and feeling their wheaties. My weanling filly decided to buck this morning and fell in her butt. She jumped up with the look of "what was that all about" on her face. She was excited that I was out there with her. She is a sweetie. The farrier is going to come out and evaluate Lacy for me and we are going to try shoes on her front to see if that will help her. She was in good spirits dispite the fact that she is not out in the pasture with the others but the others come and visit her for most of the day by her turnout and graze in the area which makes her happy. Its nice to have a veterinarian in the house.

Its nice to see that I have people that follow my blog.....hi Nicole, hi Deb and hi Nag. Oh wait Nag isn't the proper given name that is just the name they use when refering to others horses. Sorry forgot. Anyway, life is good and most that follow my blog do so to keep up with me. I am pretty much on the go all the time and busy working with the horses. I so enjoy doing that. I enjoy training and seeing them overcome one hurdle after another. We will be enjoying showing soon. I am planning on showing my two halter girls. Both are weanlings. They can be a handful but they are both very sweet. Horse pens are up and finishing touches need to be done. That should be done in a day and we are fencing in a couple of small turnout areas that are thigh high in costal. I am thinking about putting in an arena. Wouldn't take much and we have all the materials to get it done so that will be a project that we will do soon should I decide to do it. I could always haul to the public arena about 10 miles away.
Its about time for me to head out for my appt so I will catch up some more later. I have league tonight and get to see Mel, he is driving in from Austin to shoot. Gotta run.............

Cold Fall Morning

2010-10-13T06:21:00.000-07:00

Wow its hard to believe its actually this chilly this morning. I was awake at the crack of dawn, ok, really it was before the crack of dawn because of a migraine. I did not sleep well last night. Sweat pants and sweat shirt were in order for this morning. It might actually help if I turned the ceiling fan off.....nah it will heat up before long. I have gone out and given the horses their breakfast. Whisper came running as usual, getting herself all tangled up in her long legs like babies will do. She is adorable. Cat talked to me as if to say I was not moving fast enough with coffee in hand and taking the cover off the hay. Sorry Cat (you big butt horse) Wish I had slept better. Today will call for a nap if I have the time. HAH!

Yesterday went well. I went to Kerrville to get my fingerprints done for my background check in order to get my Texas State license to work in the pharmacy. I will be preparing for testing to achieve my CphT. Would have liked it to be DVM but one vet in the house is enough I suppose and that ship has long since sailed anyway. Fingerprinting went well. I left here a couple hours before my appt. to insure I didn't get lost and such. I had not ventured that far from home on my own since being here. I discovered that hwy 16 is not the way we usually go to Kerrville, although, you can get there that way. I realized this when NOTHING looked familiar. Had I known that the route was so beautiful I would have taken my camera and planned a little more time to take pictures. The road was winding around, switch backs like crazy and at one point I was climbing an incline that made you wonder what the heck you were doing way up there. That route takes over an hour to get to Kerrville. I realized (to late of course) I should have taken 173. It got me there all the same. It actually put me on the road that I needed to find in order to get to the address I needed. Talk about pure luck, I did this without Map Questing it and without the Garmin. I have always been good about finding my way around though. After my appt. the ladies in there were making sure I would find my way back to Pipe Creek. I took 173 back home and got back in half the time it took using 16. Yah it looked familiar and I was glad. While there I checked in with the DMV and discovered I didn't have all the paperwork I needed to change my drivers license over so that will call for another trip to Kerrville. Oh well.

I got home and fixed myself something to eat just in case I was to go to San Antonio to the archery league I shoot on every Tuesday night. I waited for a phone call from Mel to see if he was driving in from Austin to be there. If he wasn't I was just going to stay home. Talk about last minute. He called and said he was headed that way so in the truck I jumped and took off. He was late but he got there all the same. It was really good to see him since I had not seen him since Sunday late morning. He was all dressed up as he had come straight from work and WOW! Guess I hadn't realized how much I had missed him. So we got to spend until 9:30 p.m. together, then back to Austin he went. I started out shooting well last night but that quickly went down the drain.......LOL. Oh well. Its a fun group to be around, they will keep you laughing all the time. I like our Tuesday nights at league. I get to stop at Sonic for a drink and have fun with good friends.
(Jeez its cold in here)
I didn't really have that much time for my blog yesterday. I did find some amusing things reading some others though and had to make a phone call to point out some things regarding what I found. It was entertaining.
I need to finishing painting a big bird cage today, pick up feed, and take Rio the umbrella cockatoo to visit his new mommy. He loves to go ride in the vehicle, sits on the seat, perched pretty as can be and enjoys the scenery. He is not completely weaned yet and I am still handfeeding him so the new owners just meet up with me and visit with him for a while. Carolyn can hardly stay away from him. I get emails, phone calls and such from her seeing how her baby is. He is an awesome bird to say the least and very smart. Spring I will keep one for myself. I wanted an African Gray however, we have one of those and she and I do NOT get along. I can't get into her cage at all, Mel has to do it. I feed and water her from the doors on the outside of the cage. She still tries to grab my hand. But they are notorious for being a one person bird and they pick their person, you don't get that luxury. So I decided on the Umbrella Cockatoo that pretty much likes everyone regardless of who they are bonded to. Besides they are entertaining to watch. They are clowns.
I decided yesterday when I was in Kerrville that I needed a gold fish for my gold fish bowl at home. Well I ended up getting two of them. I figured one would be lonely. I got the fancy ones and they are so pretty. THey are pretty neat. One has bug eyes and the other is a calico colored one. They are doing well. Once we get things done in the house I would like to get another aquarium. Fish are a wonderful relaxation tool. It has been found to actually lower your blood pressure.
Well I guess its time to actually get my day started, gotta run to the post office, get fuel and feed and paint. UGH! Gotta go rotate eggs in the incubator too this morning and add water to it. More later folks. Have a great day.

Equine Update

2010-10-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

Well as of this morning I found out that we will not be purchasing Tardy (a horse on previous post). They have decided to keep her and who could blame them. It is our hope that if they do ever sell her that we get first choice so now its back down to 3 horses we are picking up and that is fine with me. I do, afterall, have Lacy and Belle as well as having Dumplin when she gets here. I think that will be fine for now. I will have 4 to train and have already started on the two that are home with me now. Will start on the other two when they get here.

Lacy is still in the barn w/turnout area. I trimmed her up a little more this morning. I just do a little at a time because she is tender. I will be having a farrier that is renowned in this area come look at her in a couple weeks when he is back in this area. We are thinking that some special shoes on the front will do the trick. We will see. She is doing well though. I hear her from the house bellowing to the other horses and they answer her frequently. She wants to be out but its just to rocky for her tender little feet. So for now she is up by the barn.

It is raining today, heard a little bit of thunder. I was unaware it was suppose to rain at all so sorta bumed about that. But hey it feeds the grass and right now it is growing like crazy. So that is great for the horses.

We need to make a final trip up to Missouri soon before the weather up there gets terrible. Taking the time to do it though is hard. It will get done though.

Sleep sure didn't come easy last night. Being in this big house alone sorta sucks. I heard everything there was to hear all night long, including but not limited to the dogs. Especially Jax. Don't know what their problem was. Then there was the night sweats. Yah those are getting really old let me tell you. Can't stand them. Sweat, uncover, get cold, cover back up, sweat some more, uncover again.....the cycle goes on all night long. Doesn't make for any type of rest other than BAD! I hear this can go on for years. Not looking foward to that because apparently I can't train myself to sleep though it all. And here I thought I could sleep through anything. So I was up half the night watching episodes of Private Practice online. Although enjoyable I really needed the sleep.

So today is gloomy, rainy and well there just isn't much left to do. Checked the mail at the post office, got a diet Dr. Pepper and fixing a Koloche to eat for lunch.

Cat (our yearling stud colt) decided that he wanted to play with the guineas last night. They gather in his pen usually once a day in the evening to peck around for whatever and he was in a playful mood last night so he decided to chase them. It was funny. He wasn't being malicious, just playing. Wish I had captured it on the camera but I was enjoying watching to much. They, however, were not amused about the whole thing and decided that his pen wasn't the place to be at the time. LOL. I think he was unhappy when they left. To funny!

Well that about wraps it up for this morning. Have a good Monday everyone.

What A Weekend

2010-10-10T14:38:00.000-07:00

Well folks, its Sunday afternoon and here I sit at the computer updating my blog and thinking about what I would do if there was no internet and being able to find what you want without leaving your house. Oh yah, I'd have more money.

This weekend took a turn that was unexpected to say the least. Instead of going to pick up 2 horses it looks as though I will be picking up 4 of them. Two mares and two fillies. Ok so not only should you "JUST SAY NO" to drugs but apparently that holds true for horses as well. Heck I couldn't pass it up though. I got just about everything I wanted. There is only one mare that I didn't get, the two year old on my wish list but I got equally as good if not better. I will post pictures in a bit of the latest. Our friendship with Jeff and Brooke is apparently dangerous to us.....LOL. No not really, I think they are awesome people whom we enjoy being around very much and doing business with. Not to mention they have the kind of horses that make your jaw drop at the mere fact that you are able to be around such wonderful horses. Jeff and Brooke don't act at all like the type of people you would encounter having these well bred, outstanding horses. They are down to earth and very good people. Ok so back to the weekend.

Friday was awesome but then every day is pretty awesome anyway. It was a beautiful day and Mel and I spent the day goofing off really. We went to Bandera, which is like a mini vacation about 10 minutes away. We were going to stop at the general store and pull up a stool at the ice cream counter but we decided to have lunch first. So we walked down the street to the bar-b-que place and had amazing brisket sandwiches. Well then we were to full for ice cream so we went for a drive down by the river and the park. We parked and got out and walked down to the water. You could see all the way to the bottom. So pretty. Bandera is a very neat town. Every weekend you can go there and see people riding their horses through town. Just going for a nice ride really. Not really going anywhere in particular. I love it there. Its amazing that there are still things like that going on. So many of the small towns have become so modernized and you rarely see things like people going through town on horseback. Its just a nice little ole town. Lots of people flock to Bandera on the weekends. Great food, great entertainment and its like stepping back into time. It was a great day until the phone rang when we were on our way back. We got a call saying the 4 pasture horses were missing and had been for 2 days. Well having known this person to exaggerate or just flat out lie we knew they had not been missing for 2 days and likely were not missing at all. So we went there and it took me all of 30 seconds to find my horses..............STILL IN THE PASTURE!!!!! So its either a case of drunk or blind or blindly drunk. NO COMMENT! So I was relatively ticked off to say the least.
Saturday was much like Friday except we didn't go anywhere. Had planned a trip to Barnes and Noble but when my books I ordered came in the mail that was the end of that plan. We had planned on going dancing Friday night but didn't so Mel asked me if I wanted to go Saturday night. I said no. We watched part of a mini series on netflix and well that was about it. I got him packed for his managers thing in Austin this coming week because he was leaving Sunday.
So here it is Sunday, he left about 11:00 this morning to head to Austin for the week. But before he left we went and floated the neighbors horses teeth and tended to Lacy's front hooves. More on Lacy's hooves in a bit. Gotta say it sorta sucks to be here alone. I have burned the trash, fed the critters and now am doing a lot of Sunday afternoon nothing. Its warmed up here again but not terribly bad. Windows are open and its really nice to have the fresh air. Really will do a lot during this week while he is gone.
In between doing everything that we did, we started looking on the internet at the horse website that we frequent and buy from. Ok not such a hot idea really. That takes me back to shopping on the internet without ever leaving home. What a wonderous world we live in now days. This however, gets me into more trouble than I can get out of. I once again have found something I can't live without. Ok so a couple things I don't want to live without. My filly and Mel's mare that he has coveted ever since the day he saw her. So looks like we are adding a few more to the family. Can we say time for Jenny to go back to work???? At least temporarily.
I had seen this filly when we went to pick up our colt "Cat". Thought she was exceptionally nice then but I didn't say much. We were already picking up 3 horses plus one for the neighbor. So no more room in the trailer and well we thought that would be enough. LOL. There are two things you can never have to much of and that is money and horses. The first helps with the second. LOL. So anyway after about 20 emails and some discussion, once again we will be going on a road trip up to North Texas to get our girls. Yes all girls. So I am back in training mode. I will be training 4 horses with Mels help of course. We do this in a joint effort and its a lot of fun. He has the patience of Jobe and is really good at working with the horses. So we compliment each others talents well.
We had to bring Lacy up out of the pasture yesterday evening, she is lame again on her front. She is so tender and so we put her in the barn with the turnout and cleaned out her hooves and I trimmed her and filed them down. She is walking much better but I think we are going to have to put shoes on her front. If we do that then just maybe we can ride her....if not then she will just be one of our exceptional broodmares. She is young and I won't sell her and I will take care of her for the rest of her life. She is such a sweet girl. That too was the result of a panicked phone call from the neighbor as well. So two days in a row we got phone calls that sorta put a damper on the day. Well I knew what was up with Lacy and I knew I was probably going to have to bring her up so that didn't panick me but it did the neighbor. Lacy hollered for me when she saw me and was happy to go with me to the barn. She is so easy to work with.

Anyway here are some pictures of the new girls. The youngster is a weanling and is going to be such a nice big horse.
Above is "Its Cool To Be Queen" I have had people be very surprised that she is a weanling.
What a natural show stance......Love this filly and now I will have 2 bay girls.

Below is "Ima Cool Tardy" She is actually Chestnut but for some reason she looks darker in this picture.

Below is "Wampy Bar Dumplin"

Just got back from walking down to the pasture to check on the horses and Lacy. I have been hearing someone raising the roof all afternoon. Turns out its Lacy being a bit ticked that the other horses have walked to the other side of the pasture instead of staying up close to her turnout. I hayed her while I was there. She is pretty gimpy which is exactly why I won't let her out. Her hooves are just to tiny for her massive body. I sure wish they fit her better but that is ok. We will deal with it. She is such a big bodied mare and tall too. Came back and fed Cat and Whisper. Cat thinks he is starving to death all the time. The boy is a chunk to say the least. Especially for a year and a half. So I guess now its time for me to pop a pot pie in the oven or something and turn on a movie. Have a great evening all.

Know It All's

2010-10-05T14:44:00.000-07:00

Ok folks I made the fatal mistake of surfing around and reading some other blogs. Yes I know they are opinion but when they are telling others how to live their lives or condemning them then I think its high time they exam their own closets. There is an old saying "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones".

I ran across a blog that was of a horse person and they have apparently learned all there is to learn about being a good horse owner or so they would like most to think. Seriously, get off the soap box and worry about your life instead of others. They are from the school of thinking that only THEY know how to raise horses and tell everyone else they shouldn't raise horses and proceed to tell everyone about the so called "horse market". Well I am guessing that depends entirely on the people and the part of the U.S. that they live in and what the market is where the breeders are located. Unless I am sadly mistaken and she is a world traveler and knows what the market is in every area, then I think she should really keep her "Know it all attitude to herself". I don't care how old you are or how long you have had or raised horses, YOU NEVER KNOW IT ALL! If you think you do then I feel for you when that time comes that you find you don't. But then I am guessing that those people are the ones that will argue any point and swear they are always right. I love the "holier than thou" attitudes too. Those that profess to never make mistakes and be perfect. Hummm I am guessing there is no such thing. There are those people out in the world that are breeding their very nice well bred horses and doing just fine. Even though she says she does not breed because of the market one has to wonder if they are not breeding due to their own inadequacy. After all these are the people that think there is no other horse on earth that is better than their own horses. There is always something that is better.
So seriously, stick to blogging about fixing your house, fixing your car or training your horse YOUR WAY, or whatever you want to blog about but stop trying to tell people what they should and should not be doing, what kind of facility they need for a stud or any other horse for that matter. You aren't the only one who has done it, or is doing it and there is more than just one correct way of doing thing where horses are concerned.
I guess I have ranted enough for one day or one week or perhaps the entire month. I don't think that I will go surfing blogs anymore. My blog is for my enjoyment and the enjoyment of my friends so that if they want to they can see whats going on in my world. It is not for me to tell anyone what to do, how to do it or if they should be doing it or not.
So with that, happy blogging and enjoy.

Wish List

2010-10-05T09:34:00.000-07:00

This is my wish list horse. She is a 2 year old and boy does she shine.

Welcome Reina and Dumplin

2010-10-05T09:31:00.000-07:00

Well I guess I am back to it again. Received an offer I couldn't refuse or rather would be stupid to refuse. We are welcoming La Reina To A Te and Wampy Bar Dumplin to our family. I always did like La Reina very much and wanted her when I got Cat. Looks like I will get her as well. I am tickled. Dumplin is a really nice mare as well. She will be a great asset to our program. OUR PROGRAM?? Jeesh I have a program again? Well I think this program will be better than the last. Seems like the horse business in Texas has not suffered as badly as it has in other places. I will be breaking out Reina to ride and she will show as well. I will have 2 or 3 to show in futurities next year. I missed the one on Oct 2 due to unforseen circumstances and the fact that I had food poisoning. Just couldn't make the 6 hour trip this time. There is always next year which is why I was not so disappointed about missing it. It will be awesome. Reina will come home and go in with Whisper so I can have them both close to work with. Cat will sure be happy about that. Here is a picture of Reina and one of Dumplin.

La Reina To A Te

Wampy Bar Dumplin

Fall Morning In Texas

2010-10-03T09:28:00.000-07:00

What a glorious morning in Texas. Its a crisp fall morning, blue sky, sun coming up, horses munching on their hay, guineas have come out of the trees and are feeding around the property. There is nothing like it. Its like I have entered a different world completely. I had forgotten how beautiful Texas mornings are.

Max has found a mud puddle, its his favorite thing to do, he has no problem getting in the mud at all and getting rather dirty. (Must we really wade in the mud???)

Such beautiful flowers in bloom in October.

I realize that this is probably weeds but still a pretty bloom.

Max, you truely are a silly boy....Now lets stop taking momma's clothes off the line please.

Whisper enjoying whats left of Sunday Morning breakfast. She is the sweetest weanling ever.

Cat still enjoying breakfast with Whisper behind him. They are the best of friends.
And yes the two horses are next to the house and I love it that way. I get to wake up to hearing them every single morning and there is nothing like it. I can roll over in bed and wish them good morning out the window.

Allie voicing her opinion regarding Max and his love for her......He protects her and basically mauls her every time he sees her come out the door. He loves Allie.

One of my favorite cats, she is so sweet and appears to be enjoying the morning as much as I am. This is Max's favorite kitty. He likes to lick her and pay lots of attention to her. She is pretty partial to him too.

Max checking on the progress of breakfast with the horses. He is an amazing dog.

The morning was perfect in every way. Had a wonderful cup of cappachino or rather several cups, that we made for the first time in our Krups handy dandy machine, espresso isn't bad either. Sat on the deck and enjoyed the morning and then decided after all to grab the camera and get some shots. The other horses are in the pasture down the street or I would have gotten pics of them this morning too. I have no doubt they are enjoying the fall weather. GOD knows I am.

Sunday mornings have taken on a whole new meaning!

More Pics of Cat Sheik

2010-09-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

I got some more pictures of Cat that I didn't have before. One in particular is amazing. He is such a joy to have around and he is so funny and so sweet. Cat is playing with his old pal Te. Whom I also think is a magnificient horse. I like him very much too. I just thought it was a neat picture.

Time to Catch up the blog

2010-09-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

Well its a nice Sunday, a bit cloudy, can't decide if its going to rain or not. We have had a few showers the last couple days but nothing that wasn't needed. I was told that a cold front had moved in.....lol.....well ok so its not in the 90's, its still in the 80's and I would venture to say the high 80's and the humidity is up there so whatever cold front is here it needs to be a little bit colder.

Trick and I went out riding a few days ago. It was a blast as usual. I can go anywhere alone with him with no worries. We headed down to the creek. It is really flowing since we got flooded and is so pretty. The water flows over the concrete part that you drive over. I decided that Trick and I would head down that way and see what kind of trouble we could get into at the creek. We got there and I decided it would be fun to go across and wade in the water and have some fun. Well Trick and I that is. And we did. It didn't take much coaxing to get him to go and once he did I think he was pretty happy with himself and with the water too. It was fun and we were out riding for an hour and a half. It did me a lot of good too. I needed to have some quality horse time. Its been so hot and still is but just not as bad. We came back and I took off his tack and gave him a well deserved bath like I always do after I ride him in the summer. He stood right there, loving every single minute of it. I rubbed him down and got him all nice and clean. I gave him about a 25 minute bath/rub down. He was happy. The nice thing about Trick is he will NOT go roll after you give him a bath. He lets the air dry him and just enjoys feeling cool I think. I will still be glad when it cools off a bit more. He won't get his baths but it will make for much nicer rides. OH and he got a manicure too before he got put back in the pasture.

I got Whisper out today along with Cat and took them over to one of the field areas on the place where there is a lot of grass that is thigh high and let them graze. Whisper is leading very nicely and of course Cat is her buddy but she leads without him being with her too. I am still going to try to make the October show that is 6 hours away. UGH! We had some people come and get one of the green house frames today and I had Cat out and then had Whisper out. The guy thought Whisper was 8 or 9 months old. She is 4 and a half months old. He went nuts over Cat and Whisper both. Apparently he has a couple of horses, one of which is a paint. I didn't ask many questions, he was talking to Mel about the horses. As we all know, I am not of the mindset to do the whole breeding thing again. Well he was talking about breeding his mare to Cat in 2 years and I was out of that conversation. Mel said something about doing AI and the man said well with vet expenses what they are and such it would be cheaper to do live cover. Well I looked at him and said Mel is a vet. So hopefully we can just do collection and then AI the mare. I do not was to bring other horses in again. I have this stud for my purposes only and that is it. He is a really nice Overo and I sure do not want to do the whole breeding thing again on the scale that I did before. I have not even bred any of my mares back yet. Need a break, possibly a permanent one. So anyway just don't know what will happen with that. Won't be anytime soon anyway. Cat is only 16 months old right now. He is such a nice well behaved boy. Of course he is better with Mel then he is with me, he tries to play with me like I am a toy, and Whisper is my girl. She is better with me than with anyone else. I like that. She is a lover and at such a young age. I think she will be awesome when she grows up. Please GOD let her be HYPP N/N.

Tomorrow is my job interview. I picked up a few clothes yesterday when we were out because I just don't have anything dressy to wear and its business dress for this interview and job. At least that is what they said. So up early in the morning and off to interview and then I can come home and hopefully celebrate. Its not the job I really wanted but we will see what happens. There are some that I applied for that I would really like to have.

Well its headache day I suppose since I have a nice massive one started. Think I will go veg for a while. Catch up on things around here later or tomorrow when I get home.

Have a great Sunday everyone.

General Updates

2010-09-13T11:24:00.000-07:00

Well its been a whirlwind since the last time I posted. I have just been really busy. Whisper is doing fantastic with learning to lead and she is really smart. She is not only smart but she is a smartass too. She can be a handful but then she can be very loving and sweet. She is a filly that you can love on and snuggle and she doesn't mind at all and will come looking for it. But then there are the times she can try to kick when you have her going in circles on the line as well. She is a big snotball sometimes.

I took new pictures of my baby Cockatoo. I finally named him having decided that I am just going to keep him. He is trying so hard to talk and is such a sweetie. He snuggled up to my arm yesterday when we were in the truck. He was in his box in my lap and got sleepy so he leaned against my arm which was over his box and went to sleep. I have fed and raised this one from the day it was taken out if its egg. That was July 18, 2010. He has changed in so many ways and so fast.

Here is Rio after he has realized that there are other birds in the back seat of the truck and I thought he knew they were there but apparently he didn't or he forgot. Anyway he was excited and up that crown came. I love it when he does this. He is so funny. His eyes got big and it was like "WOW" where did those things come from. LOL.

Now he has settled back in his box and decided that they were not worth giving the time of day to. Rio had a big day yesterday and was content to ride in his box seat between the fronts seats and just keep watch and look around. He loves to look out the window too.

Here are some pictures I took of Whisper the end of August.

She is a sweetheart (most of the time) but can decide to throw a bit of a fit if you are working with her and she decides she doesn't like something. It truly doesn't happen very often. I do like her real well though. I think she will be a really nice horse when she grows up. She is already a really nice foal. She is a big girl for being a weanling. I do enjoy her.

Last week we went to the river on Labor Day. This was the day before the tropical storms hit the coast and we ended up with substantial flooding due to the rains that came in. I am glad we got to go to the river before it came up because I am sure now that it is to deep to cross and possible swim in because in some spots the currents are very strong. Anyway took some really nice pictures. We got a shower now and then as a cloud would pass over while we were there. It was a lot of fun. Here are some breath taking pictures of the river and the bluffs that go down the side of it. Enjoy.

Mel and Jared as we make our way up river to a deeper part to swim in. This thing is crystal clear and so nice and clean.

Above: Some of the bluffs along side the river. It is breath taking when you are right next to them.

Running water....there is a good current and you can float down river if you want. Its so fun.

More bluffs. You can go up there and get under the ledge. Its really neat.

Still headed up river but looking down river to get the picture. So pretty.

I even got prettier shots than this but you get the idea. Its makes for a great afternoon.

Well that is about all the update I have for tonight. It has taken me a couple days to get this far. Will do some more this week. It is really pretty at the river and there are some other really nice shots I took but the computer is not cooperating right now. I hope you enjoy the pictures. I do love being in Texas.

Whisper Weaned

2010-08-29T12:33:00.000-07:00

This has been an eventful weekend and while I will not go into most of it because, well, its just really not something I care to share with everyone I will say that I did get Whisper weaned. She is my filly that will show in the futurity in October. Oh you should have seen Cat when I moved her to the next door pen (next door to him that is) he was so excited and he was showing off and doing a happy dance. It wasn't stud behavior it was just "oh look a Friend" behavior. He settled right down and has made Whisper feel right at home. (Of course she ignores him most of the time) Weaned her yesterday, got the halter on her in about 5 minutes, it was a piece of cake and have her just about where she is leading without any coaxing. She is doing exceptionally well and learns very quickly. I swear these horses have so much sense its scary. They have been so easy to work with.
Mel get in there with me and helps too which is a great thing. He enjoys the horses as much as I do. (That too is a major change to my life) We are both ate up with horses. Its nothing for us to be standing out there at 10 at night just watching them. Its a real nice change of pace. I think Whisper is going to do ultra well at the show and so does everyone else that knows her. She is such a good girl. There was no fuss to speak of when she was moved for weaning either. It was a huge change from what I am use to. Usually there is all kinds of fits and such. She was really good though. I did change her whole environment though, no mom in sight or sound. Cat is greatful to have a neighbor.
Its still hot. The nights are getting cooler and mornings are just about chilly now. Wish days would cool down some now. I am getting real tired of sweating all the time when I am trying to do stuff outside. Wish it would rain some. If anyone has any spare rain you could send it here............lol. Well I will post pictures later of Whisper in her new pen. Gotta run right now though. Later.................

Wild Boars

2010-08-25T13:03:00.000-07:00

This morning started out with a bang, well almost a bang but we counldn't get the gun loaded fast enough. I hadn't been up long and I had just let Allie (my miniature pinscher) outside for her morning duties and had walked around for a bit when shortly after I had let her out I noticed something sort of trotting across the yard. I had to do a double take, it was some young wild boars. I mean long snout, tusk growing wild as can be boars. Yah well I couldn't speak (no smug comments) and was just waving my hands. Here came Mel. "WHAT?" and then he saw them. When I finally composed my self it dawned on me that Allie was out there. Awe crap! I asked him if they would hurt her, he said no and sure enough those things are afraid of their own shadows. The cats were even spooking them. One of the youngsters was nose to nose with Allie. Yep the dumbass dog was nose to nose with this ugly thing. I was holding my breath. I mean really, she is so little and those look so mean. Ok I can handle and even like deer and their fawns in the yard but really I would rather not share with the boars. Anyway Mel went to get the gun and came out and they had left already, I guess the cats and the little dog was just to much for them. They are good eatin and given the opportunity we would kill and process one of them (or all of them). It would be nice to put a bunch of pork in the freezer. That is the first time I had seen them since I moved down here. I had heard all about them. I didn't get any pictures. Who would have thought I'd need to have the camera ready in the breakfast area. So that was the start of today. Pretty interesting. Mel and one of the neighbors has seen a sow around that is apparently HUGE! Don't care to run into her. She has been out back behind the barn but I haven't seen her.

Happiness is.......................

2010-08-23T16:53:00.000-07:00

Happiness Is.............................

Napping in the summer sun.......

(Picture of colt napping, taken outside of my bedroom window.....and yes I have his turnout right next to my house)

Sharing dinner with mom ............

And

Standing in the shade after dinner with Mom and Jackie.

This evening I took a few pictures of the filly and the mare and of course Little Man.
The rest of the horses are straight out back in the big pasture behind the barn you see in the picture. I will be weaning the filly the end of the week. Player (the mare) is in in foal for an April 2011 baby.

The very first picture on the page is our colt "Cat Sheik" taking a nice afternoon nap. Believe it or not he sure doesn't slow down like this often so I took a picture to remind me that he does on occasion.

We call the filly "Whisper" her name is really "Secret Player"

Her Dam is WD Impressive Play and she was shown extensively.

We sure do love these two and the one in the oven.

And here is my little man "Chico" he sure does enjoy hanging out with the mares and the filly. He is finally losing some of his pudge. Starting to look like the miniature horse he is now instead of a fat pony.