Gates

4th of July - parade day.  A couple neighbor girls helped me by catching up the grays while I filled a bucket of water to sponge them down.  I thought it was taking longer than needed, so I walked across to the corral and realized they didn't know how to open the panels to get the horses to the gates.  We don't usually have the panels attached, but we had a neighbor horse in one of the pens yesterday and had to secure the panels.  I opened the gates as I went through our pen system, opened the panel for them, then followed them back to the lodge.  We got the horses all cleaned up and parade ready.  After the parade, as we were walking the two grays back, I noticed Ranger (the Horse) standing on the other side of the panels, watching us.  Then I realized, that both gates were standing wide open - and so was the panel I had unhooked!!  After I had walked into the first pen, Ranger came walking through the panel and met me at the second gate.  He had stayed in the pen all by himself, with all the gates wide open, during the whole parade!  He gave me his 'look':  you don't go through a gate without your human.  I hugged him and walked home shaking my head to tell Bill what a wonderful horse he owned.

I want to send out a heartfelt "Thanks" to all those who sent condolences for the loss of Estes.  She was a very special lady and we spent today as a sort of memorial to her.  I did not want to ride in the 4th of July parade today, as it was something special that GunDiva and I did together every year; you know, a mother-daughter-and-their-horses sort of thing.  Then granddaughter Autobot asked to ride my other horse in the parade and things progressed from there.  Autobot created a banner for the back of the truck in Estes' stead; we cleaned up the two grays, letting Washoe wear Estes' red, white, and blue saddle pad.  GunDiva's daughter, Ashee, bugged GunDiva until she relented to come up and then Ashee painted a heart and Estes' brand on the hip of both grays.  It turned out to be a very therapeutic happening for me, although as I rode Jesse behind the truck, looking at that banner, I had to keep reminding myself to not cry in the parade.  Now that it's all over, I sort of feel like I had some closure with a tribute to the Queen, Estes.  Thank you all - and yes, we have many years of happy memories to sustain us until we meet again.

Bionic Cowgirl

The Passing of a Lady

It's a sad day for the herd here at the lodge.  Our daughter's horse, Estes (aka "That Other Mare" to Ranger) has passed away.  She was 26 (and still looked like a teenager).

Estes didn't believe in trails; cross-country was the way to go.  One of my favorite pictures of her, taken at the pond last fall.

After a short, but extremely painful bout with colic, the decision was made to end her suffering.

She will be missed by her herd, and her people.

The Queen Estes with her 'crown'.  Love you, Estee.  Bionic Cowgirl
Be at peace, Estes the horse.

Bill

Llama, llama

First I have to say thank you to a very special person who sent us these cookies.  Haven't eaten them yet - 'cause they are just too darn cute!  The two 'Rambos' go to the GunDiva & JayBird - but aren't the cowboy squirrels great?!

Yesterday, just prior to the farrier arriving, a pretty, newer, red horse trailer was pulled up to the livery across the road.  We saw movement inside the trailer, then ignored it as the driver headed toward the livery office.  Anton, his apprentice, and I walked to the corral next to the livery to find the horses very intently watching the new trailer.  Anton chose the spot where he wanted to trim the horses when the two grays got very excited - as the trailer door swung open and out climbed llamas.  Under my breath I uttered, "Ah-oh."

Anton (incredulous):  "Your horses aren't trained to llamas?"

Me: " That's not the problem.  I think they know these guys; they lived here last summer.  This is an old friend greeting; they could be pretty excitable.  It should be fun getting them to stand quietly."

It turned out fine; they each settled in when asked.  I think they were just so surprised to see the llamas getting out of a horse trailer because last year, they were transported in the back of a pickup truck with
panels on it.

Cousins???

Today, we took Queen Estes and Ranger out for a short stroll on the mountain; passing the llama pen was so mundane, I'm not sure why I took the camera. 

When I looked at our pictures, I realized a good deal of the snow is now gone from Meeker Mt.  Just a couple weeks ago, that mountain looked like this...

Tomorrow, we will try the grays - which could be a lot more fun since Washoe thinks they are attack animals, and the llamas are now in a newly built pen that the horses have to walk beside at the very beginning of the horse path to the road.

All three of the new neighbors.

Estes seems quite happy with her new shoes.  She and Ranger had a great ride...and when we got home, Bill put them to work mowing the yard.  These two senior citizens really look over-worked!

Bionic Cowgirl

The Queen is Back

First, this post was started yesterday (Memorial Day), and I want to say thank you to all our service personnel who have fought and died to protect the rights and freedoms we so often take for granted.  We owe them, and the loved ones they left behind a lot.

............................................................................

Yesterday, we had a family gathering, stuffed ourselves to the gills (and beyond), and then picked up Queen Estes from her summer quarters.

She took a quick look around, then gave a holler - and it got quite noisy from there out, with the others calling back to her.

Bill put Estes in the pen and all heck broke loose.  Four horses racing and screaming obscenities at each other, until Jesse took a swipe at Bill with her hooves on the way by.

Then the race was really on and I couldn't quit laughing (not at my horse kicking out, but at Bill's reaction).  He threw Estes' halter at her, picked up anything loose on the ground to throw and was chasing Jesse around and around the pen.  He was so peeved that she would do that ... and I didn't really want to tell him that she was having a great time leading him on a merry chase.  Ranger kept charging in and snorting, playing wild boy, Estes stood off to the side and watched, and poor Washoe hid in the corner with me.  It was quite a chase, until Bill ran out of energy - or air - and stopped - and everyone calmed down.  Whew - I was exhausted just from watching!! 

They settled in quietly after that; I guess they thought the carnival was over.

Bill in here.  Right after I took the halter off Estes, Jesse took a kick at her and missed my face by inches.  I have on two occasions "seen red" when I was angry.  This was NOT one of those times, but I definitely was seeing...well, mauve.   I'm not sure it would have been possible, but if I had caught her I would have tried to wring her neck.  Just as well I ran out of gas...
-     -    -    -    -   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Fast forward to next day:

I was out doing morning feeding when the neighbor hollered over, "Wanna go for a short ride with us?"

"Would love to, but my guys haven't eaten yet.  Thanks."

Then I looked at the crew, took a closer look at Estes and thought "a slow one hour would be a great way to check her out," so I grabbed brushes, located her headstall, the funky-looking turquoise bareback pad, and headed back to the corral.

We headed out a few minutes later, trailing behind Compass, a family of three, and one of the regular summer leases, making us 6th in line.  Since these rides generally go much slower than our 'normal' riding speed, it was a super way to check out the little lady.  She stretched out nicely and obviously enjoyed sauntering around the meadow.  By the time we were on the way back, she had worked out all her arthritic kinks and was wanting to 'push' the poor new horse in front of us.  The livery has several 'new-to-them' horses this year, so we will probably do more of these conditioning rides, to get them up-to-par for the season.  It takes a lot to get horses used to this altitude and the tough trails, so they will be safe for 'anyone' to ride.  By this time, Queen Estes had made some new rider friends (she's so cute; she's so delicate looking - but feisty) who could describe her to a T.  It was a good start for the summer season.
Bionic Cowgirl

Moving Estes

Yep, today was the day chosen for moving GunDiva's horse, Estes.  It was really tough - a lot of work.  We had to haul the trailer over to the mountain area all four of our horses are currently 'grazing' (if you call digging in the snow for your daily allowance of food, grazing), which takes, oh say, 15 minutes.  There stand the horses, enjoying the sunshine, right by the fenceline.  You would have thought we had called ahead.  We manage to drag ourselves through the foot of snow on the embankment, crawl through the gate, and ...
"Wait, Estes.  Can you let me stand back up before you shove your head in your halter?"  You'd think she knew what was happening, as the other three head straight to the bale of hay we have brought to entertain them so we can get her through the silly wire gate.

She stands patiently with me by the side of the road while Bill manages to get the gate back together - it's pretty cobbled!  We wave at cars passing by, smiling like we know what we are doing until Bill can open the trailer door (too high for me to reach at the angle the trailer sat).  She loads like a pro and we are off to lower pastures.

Finally, a good shot through all the traffic!  Where are all these cars coming from?  It's early afternoon; they should be at school or work or something.

She has a lot of hair; even got a little sweaty on the half hour trip down the mountain - and she managed to stay in pretty good shape; not a lot of rib showing.  Boy, she did like her new pasture mates, which are friends from by-gone days.

Happy eating, Estes.
Bionic Cowgirl

First Measurable Snow 2012

Yep, woke up this morning to an inch of beautiful snow on the ground.  It wasn't horribly cold - about 26* -but I went out to check on the horses and found some happy faces, just like big kids with the first snow of the season.  I needn't have worried.

Queen Estes showing off her 'tips'

Tonight when I went to feed we had had a couple hours of heavy fog - so I found frosty horses.  The 'browns' looked like they had been to the beauty shop and had their hair 'tipped'.  I hear it's supposed to be back in the 60's in a couple of days, after tomorrow's expected snow, of course.  Just gotta love Colorado weather!

May as well do the mane, too.

Back to trip planning.  We are headed out on a horse camping vacation soon and I can't think straight; too excited to be traveling again.  We haven't done any major trips in about two years - and the horses get to go with us - so it seems like I've forgotten how to do this anymore.  I'm going through totes of camping gear, trying to decide what to leave at home!  At least the animals are ready.  Sophie Dog just got all her shots and a good well-vet check.  The horses just got their negative coggins report and health certs; the trailer is finally current on plates.  Now if I can just get the humans ready.

And to top off the excitement, we have some good blogger friends coming to visit soon!  What a great way to transition to cool weather.
Bionic Cowgirl

The Biggest Little Parade in Colorado

This is it!  Time for the 4th of July Parade!  The prep is almost as much fun as actually riding.  First you get washed up, then you get your hair done.

This is a horse that doesn't like her mane braided - napping while getting a 'weave'.  She DOES love to get prettied up for the 4th each year; it's like she knows how important it is.

It took the two girls about an hour to do the two horses; good thing there were two girls for two horses.

Estes - hair done - five rows and a lot of patience.

Jesse - who has a humongously thick mane - got seven rows.

Next you get your makeup done - what a gem of a starburst for the right hip (a few small flowers for the other side).  Officially be-dazzled!

GunDiva's fashionista at work on Jesse's design.  Don't you just love the tail bows?

Ready and waiting; all hearts and stars....

... and flowers and swirls.  Estes just gets a pad 'cause it doesn't rub the sore spots from that Ranger horse.

Ranger peeking through the jail rails; watching the parade.

We had A classic car ...

... those pesky llamas from down the street... (is that one hosting a rider?)

... brought a big city band in (Estes Park Village Band) ...

... a trailer load of singers ... (Jess and I got a real closeup of these on the way home from the parade.  They decided to pass the contingency of horses, so we all stood still and stared at them on the way by.  They finally waved at us.)

... our horse buddies from across the street at the livery .... oooooh, we have an Indian maiden, a couple cowboys, a young rustler, a packer and a revolutionary flag carrier....

... of course, GunDiva on Estes and me on Jesse, struttin' our stuff (should have had pictures of them on the way home; they were wound up and dancing up a storm!) ....

... you have to have a good support vehicle (the GunDiva's dressed up Soul - see the gun decals under the mirror?) ...

... what's a parade without fire trucks?   new -

... and old ...

... if you didn't have a horse or car, you hitched a ride on one of many local tractors .... (this is one of our local horse trainers driving, complete with chaps and cowboy hat - and a huge grin you can't see)

... we start them young up here ....

... and end up tired and sweaty from dancing the mile and a half home.

Hope you all enjoyed the parade - and had a great 4th of July!!!
Bionic Cowgirl

Visitors

We haven't meant to be absent so long ... but you all know how things suddenly just get sort of busy; not the kind of mind boggling busy that you can plan, but busy enough ...

We've had lots of fun with visitors - friends and guests.  Momma Fargo and NFL Man came for a visit; what a blast.  She has found herself a pretty good guy, but we are really prejudiced.  We happen to think HE has found a pretty good gal - so does that make them a good pair?  We think so.  Congratulations you two - and don't make yourselves scarce; we expect to see you often.

At the same time we had a guest named Catherine, from Ireland, that I got to go riding with.  See how much things have greened up since we had a tad bit of rain/snow a couple weeks ago.  It looks almost normal.

Also, some of the grandkids came up for their first rides of the season, so it was a busy horse week.

Next we had a couple more Australians come for horse therapy, and ... you guessed it, yours truly got some more major riding in.  Hard to beat this kind of job.

Bill's brother, SIL and niece came next for four days; checking out colleges in the area for graduate work.  How did that happen?  Niece being old enough to be a junior in college, with enough scholarships to pay her way through grad school?  Yep, got her on a horse, too.  I'm on a roll here.  Nobody should come near me who doesn't want thrown on a horse.

Oops, forgot about bringing Queen Estes (GunDiva's horse) back to the mountains.  That led to a day of excitement, as some of you know from Ranger's post.  Estes is more than a bit of a hussy, and came back while in her first heat of the season.  Of course, she wanted nothing to do with Washoe and flirted non-stop with Ranger - until he complied and she bit the tar out of him.  They both are showing many nasty bite marks, but seem to have come to agreements on various issues. I managed to get all the burrs and dreadlocks out of her mane today; it's been a three day process but it's done.  Her feet need some care next; not terrible but not like we want to see them.  Other than that, she looks GREAT!.  Sending her to fat pasture was the right decision.

Time to feed; I can just FEEL their eyes on me even though I can't see them.
Bionic Cowgirl

A Not-Good Surprise

I guess I'm the one who gets to break the bad news.  When I left a lodge full of people (literally, 26 of us!) this morning to go feed, I knew something was wrong.  GunDiva's horse wouldn't come when called.  I put feed in the others' bowls and called Estes again.  This time she came over very slowly and stuck her nose in the bowl, then gave me a pathetic look, "I just can't eat right now."  Oh-oh.

"So, Estes, what's wrong?"  To this she walked over to a soft spot, laid down and curled herself into a ball.

I hop through the fence, grabbing a piece of twine on the way.  "Come on, girl, let's walk!"  A few times around the corral and I started hearing gut sounds.  Another half dozen times around and she laid down and stretched this time.  More walking, a few 'Hershey's squirts' and I thought we were making progress.  She appeared much better, followed me around a few more times, voluntarily with some little trots, then headed for her bowl.  I wasn't much worried as I had seen Jesse clean it out.  I was just glad to see her show interest.

I headed back to the lodge to help with dishes, then back out to check.  Good gut sounds, good look in her eye, gentle tail swishing, so I thought we had beat it this time.  Back to the lodge to start changing rooms.

Phone rings:  Compass calling to say Estes is down-and not looking good.  Back out to the corral.  This time it was pretty apparent we needed to do more.  Had to struggle to get her up, walking, walking, walking.  Wrangler helping take turns to keep her on her feet.  Notice what she is passing is full of sand.  Call GunDiva, call the vet - both of whom are on their way up in a rush.  Decide to do an IV Banamine and keep her moving.  I found myself talking under my breath; more chanting, really, "You will NOT die on my shift.  Keep moving!"

Bless her heart; she kept pace with all of us and did keep moving.  Once she did go down and got her feet tangled in the rails when she rolled, but we were able to keep her from casting and got her moving again.  Once the Banamine started taking effect, she started moving a little easier.  GunDiva and the vet showed up a few minutes apart.  Poor Estes got tubed and lubed; new experiences for all of us.  She was an absolute jewel through all of this.

Five hours later.  Now she seems to be resting.  Vet says we are not out of this yet; it will take about a week to get all the sand out of her system and we will probably see more colic.  We've put mats down under the feeders and will start psyllium treatments tomorrow.  Bill just came back from checking and said she has minimal gut sounds.  We are just waiting for the orange Metamucil to do its job; the vet would actually like her to lie down and rest.  We worked so hard keeping her up, I think she's afraid to lie down now.  Looking around the corral, I think she pooped out a good deal of the sand before we even noticed this morning, as the vet just got some sandy stuff and some good looking stuff, too.  Hoping that's a good sign.
 
GunDiva is staying the night, on vigil.  Estes's to have another shot of Banamine in a couple of hours.

I asked the vet why only Estes is having problems, as all the horses eat together and the same stuff.  He believes Mustangs tend to move sand through their systems better (gut of iron, he says) and they tend to NOT snuff up ground as they eat.  No matter; they are all getting treated this week!  I'm thinking this could be part of the reason Jesse gets touchy around the loins and rather grouchy at this time of year - every year.  Then she has a couple loose movements and she's all better.  Hmmmm?

We are always learning with horses.
Juanita

"Trail Solutions" by Julie Goodnight

I just borrowed the video "Trail Solutions" by Julie Goodnight of HorseMaster.  As some of you know, Julie's ranch is here in southern Colorado and the GunDiva has had the privilege of not only taking her personal horse, Estes, to be on a HorseMaster episode, but has also gotten to work behind the scenes as a horse handler for Julie.  Julie is a marvelous, down-to-earth, knowledgable horse woman; she isn't just a trainer, she is a "horseman", and this DVD is way fun to watch.

OK, as a mom, I would like to say "my daughter's part in this video was the best", (Stand by Me) but in all reality, it was probably the most boring.  I have seen what Estes can do; she must have been behaving herself or had camera fright, because she was pretty darn calm compared to the other horses.  Julie helps a horse face its fear in the "Wave Runner" episode, giving great advice for getting any horse past any trail obstacle.  "Loaded Up" was an extra exciting story because of the horse that was used.  Most trailer loading doesn't get quite this bad, but it can, and you get to see a true professional handle a truly devious horse.

My personal interest was in "Rearing to Go", not because I have a barn sour horse, but I do have a particularly obstinate horse that I have let get by with too much over the last two years.  I had developed some fear of falling with my bad hips, and although Jesse is very protective of me and usually quite obliging, she has become a handful, and I don't want her to be a safety issue for other people, so I will be reverting back to her training bit and mecate, and trying out Julie's method of regaining control. 

Although "Shop Til You Drop" wasn't as interesting to me (because I can't talk those dollar amounts for horses), I really enjoyed the "behind the scenes" chat for this portion.  Julie goes into the differences between mares and geldings, giving good examples of where/when each has its strengths.  I had heard from other trainers that mares were not the best choice for locations where their riders change often; Julie explains why:  the bonding that mares crave.  I actually ran into this situation with Jesse; it became quite clear early on that she did not like having many different riders.  Two or three that she could get to know were OK, but don't ask her to carry someone different many days in a row or even several times in a couple of months.  As she got older, she got worse about this.  It became obvious she wanted to know her rider and what that rider wanted - always.  I guess I got lucky when I ended up with a mare; I happen to like having a horse I can bond with!  Don't get me wrong, I love my gelding, too, but there is certainly no great bond between us.

I had a wonderful time with this DVD; it was entertaining and educating.
Juanita

Estes' Take on Dressage

There's the piaffe, where the horse "dances" in place.  We call it the Estes Two-step.

There's passage, where the horse "dances" while moving.  We call it the Estes Parade March.






And then according to Bill there's the pissmeoff in which Estes has to be lead home.

**Disclaimer: the beautiful horse in the video is one I found on youtube.**

GunDiva

Just For Bill

We went to check on Estes last week (I really needed a horse fix), Bill spent a lot of time trying to get the perfect picture of her for me.

You wouldn't believe how many pictures he took (113) just to get these three with her tongue sticking out.

--GunDiva

Where are we going?

Happy anniversary to you, too, dear.

We started the annual fall evacuaton today; Estes is now back at Hall Ranch.  What a ruckus when we took her away from the rest of the herd.  I brushed her and made her look all pretty.  She kept asking "why?" with those big, soft eyes of hers.  She walked quietly into the trailer and stood nicely - until she realized she was the only one going.  By that time, the rest of the crew was hollering their heads off from the corral.  Where do you think you are going with that trailer, and not us?!  Estes was doing her part by whinnying and kicking inside the trailer.

Then, when we unloaded at the ranch, Estes decided she could follow me back home.  She was trailing right behind me when I left the corral.  I felt sad about pushing her away so I could shut the gate.  I thought she would be delighted at being back at her "other home".  Well, soon they will all be reunited again in a very large pasture to run in and eat all day.

Our trip to SD got changed to NM, due to bad weather.  SD has been hit really hard this last week (with cold and snow), and it doesn't look like it's going to let up, so we opted to go south, back to Ghost Ranch for a couple of nights.  A friend there is acquiring a new horse for the ranch to use in its program, and it needs some riding out.   A good excuse.  When we get home, the Mustangs will be released for the winter.
Juanita

Vet Checks and Dentistry

Trip planning time! We are headed to Spirit Horse Escape just outside Custer, SD in a couple of weeks, so that means health certificate and coggins for the horses. Timing worked out nicely since I needed to have Estes’ and Washoe’s teeth floated before turning them out for the winter. Doc showed up this afternoon during one of our “sunshine and snow” spells to do all the dirty deeds. I had all four horses tied to the rail and groomed.


Who’s first? Estes was the absolute must-do, so we started with her. She stood like trooper to get her teeth done – OK, she was doped up with a light sedative. She walked like a drunken sailor as I took her back to her pen.

Washoe was next, since the equipment was already set up. He also had blood drawn for his coggins, but he’s such a good patient, he didn’t even notice the poke – either for the blood draw or for the sedative. He just needed a little filing and off to the pen with him. I tried to lead him over near Estes so they could commiserate together, but he promptly wandered to the feeder and fell asleep against it!

Now for the two hard ones. Neither Jesse nor Ranger is particularly friendly with vets. Ranger just doesn’t like very many people too close to him, and Jesse has extremely tough skin and tight neck muscles, making taking blood draws quite painful for her. Last spring, Ranger had done very well getting his shots, so he went next. OK, maybe getting blood drawn is a little different than a quick shot. Bill said it was a small rodeo (I was inside the Lodge with other people), with he, Doc and Doc’s dad dodging both ends. Apparently, Ranger has an issue with sharp, pokey things, but it got done.

In the mean time, Jesse had been working herself up a bit at the rail, watching Ranger’s antics. I figured we would have a real fight on our hands, so I packed my pockets with horse treats to sooth her nerves, as did Doc’s dad. I walked her over to the spot and handed her to “dad”. He got a good grip on her halter with one hand and a treat ready in the other. When Doc felt her neck for the vein, she stuck her nose in the air and froze. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. She actually stood perfectly still while Doc had to try twice to find a vein. He drew the blood quickly and she got a whole handful of treats, then she literally pranced all the way back to the corral. She wasn’t pulling on the lead, but she was certainly “bouncy”! She stood still for me to remove the halter, but when I said “Go”, she took off like a shot with heels in the air. She had been still for as long as she could! Bill said it was funny watching me walk the two mares across the road: one leaning on me, stumbling like a drunk, and the other couldn’t keep her feet on the ground.

When I checked them later, Estes was eating like she had never seen hay before. Both horses had come out from under the sedative with no problem and everyone was happy again. The horses are ready for vacation.

Wan-knee-tah
(forgot to sign it again)

It's a ..... what?

I needed some horse time today so I decided to bring each horse over to the Lodge for a brushing.  I caught Jesse in the corral and headed for the hitchrack in our front yard.  Before we could get there, I had WILD horse on my hands.  What's that on the front porch???  She was swinging around me, snorting and tail raised.  There was a monster in the corner waving its arms and about to jump out at us.  Gotta get away; gotta kill it; gotta do something!  OK, it was a three foot tall mum plant we had inherited the night before from a wedding celebration at the neighboring lodge.  Try explaining that to an irate Mustang.  As soon as I could quit laughing I asked Bill to walk the plant out into the parking lot for us.  He set it down; Jesse did an immediate sniff and investigate, stuck her face in the air with an, "Oh, it's a bush - not even edible."

Wow.  Some excitement. Let's try another horse.  Brushed Jesse, returned her to the corral, and collected Washoe.  Got all the way to the hitchrack and dufus hadn't noticed a thing.  Not surprising.  After all, this is Washoe we are talking about.  So, I go get the plant and set it down by the mounting stumps.  Suddenly, whooooa.  What's that? (He noticed.)  I untie him from the rack and walk him over to the plant with a good show of Arab behavior.  This time, Bill had the camera and we both had some good laughs.  Washoe finally agreed it was just a plant - and non edible.  Go figure; he will usually eat anything that won't eat him first.

Alright, we're on a roll.  Next horse.  Estes was waiting at the gate when I took Washoe back, so she was the next candidate.  (Want to make any bets, Tel?)  Now, the plant is still sitting near the mounting stumps, and she notices before we get across the road.  Monster!!!!  I have to coax her the rest of the way off the road.  Bill is ready with the camera (and I think she noticed).  Suddenly, she's in the "I-can-handle-this mode" and chooses to make eye contact with the "thing", arches her cute little neck in the air and let's me walk her over to it, sort of staying behind me as much as possible.  She bravely reaches out and touches it on command, and again we have the "Oh, it's not even edible."

Three down, one to go.  Ranger is the one who usually has fits with this stuff, so we were ready to help him do battle.  Bill brought him across the street.  We had returned the plant to the corner because guests were arriving, so Bill walked Ranger right over to the edge of the porch.  No reaction.  Bill walks Ranger right up to the plant, under the porch roof.  Ranger walks right over to the plant, takes a sniff and looks at Bill.  No further reaction.  Wow, the scary Mustang says, "It's just a plant.  What's the big deal?"

You just never know with horses!

Wah-knee-tah
(She forgot to sign her blog, so I did it for her...Bill)

 Special thanks to The Flower House (www.theflowerhouseweddings.com) for the mums!

A Good Day, A Great Ride

Bill asked me (Tel) to post on Friday's ride, so here goes...

Yesterday after my Dean's call, I picked up Ash and her boy d'jour, Colton, to head up the hill. Ash and Colton stayed at the Lodge with Mom, while Bill and I saddled up for our weekly ride. On Mom and Bill's last picnic ride, they came across a freshly killed young doe, so Bill and I headed out to the kill site to see what we could see.

When we got to the kill site, the doe had been drug off by a large-ish animal and "hidden" in a small stand of trees thirty or forty feet from where they had found it a few days ago. Obviously something had been gnawing on it and trying to camouflage it by covering it with pine needles.
After checking out the dead doe (yep, she's still dead and half eaten, now), we headed over to the Beaver Ponds and it was beautiful. With all of the rain we've had the wildflowers are going crazy and the mountain meadows are just lousy with them.

Feeling adventurous, I put on my big girl panties and suggested we do the Goat Trail. The Goat Trail is not for novice riders as it's essentially straight up the mountain and there is a section of trail that is quite a scramble up and over a rock. If the horse mis-steps or slips on the scramble, it's not pretty for the horse or rider and a hell of a long way down into Rock Creek. The last time I did the Goat Trail was three or so years ago and I was on Estes' daughter, Meeker, who was shod. The problem with shoes is that they don't allow the horse's frog to act as a natural suction cup and it's a lot harder for the horse to get a grip on the rock to climb. After doing the Goat Trail on Meeker, I swore I would never do it again on a horse with shoes. Well, Miss Estee, is as barefoot as the day she was born and has been up at the Lodge since April, so her hooves have hardened and her feet are as healthy as they've ever been, so why the hell not? I promised Estee treats when we got back to the Lodge if she got me up and over the Goat Trail without killing both of us.


This is what the Goat Trail looks like from about 3/4 of the way to the top. While it doesn't look that intimidating in the picture, it certaintly induces the pucker factor when at the bottom looking up. Estee climbed it like a champ and I felt kind of like a wuss when we got to the top in one piece, but then I looked over my shoulder at the hill we'd just climbed and got over feeling like a wuss. Feeling embolden and invincible I suggested we head back home over Pinky's Wash. Thank God I have a strong horse with a willing heart, because she worked her ass off for me yesterday. Any one of the trails we took would have been a hard ride, but putting the three (Beaver Ponds, Goat Trail, Pinky's Wash) together in one ride was probably not so nice to the horses, but they seemed to enjoy it as much as we did.

PS- I don't "treat" Ranger when he has a bit in his mouth, but I thought late in the ride he deserved something, so while I was sitting on his back, I tried to hand him a bite of the granola bar Tel gave me. It clanked into the bit a couple of times, so I gave up trying and kicked him to move out, thinking I would wait until we got home. NOTHING DOING! He occasionally balks, but I can usually get him moving with another kick or two, but not this time. He turned and looked at me while I was kicking him fiercely and said "NO WAY... YOU PROMISED!" I relented and let him lip the treat until he got it worked around the bit, and home we went without further incident. Never gotten a reproachful glare like that from a horse before.

Bill

Estes' 1st Ride of Spring 2009

Shawntel came up to take Estes out for the first time this Spring. Lots of nice weather last week and this week we have been waking up to new snow every day; it’s called April in the mountains. We had 40” a week ago Saturday. That makes more than five feet of snow just in April! The neighbor plowed the front parking lot and created two huge snow piles, so I had to call Nelle and tell her to bring up the grandkids. We dug out the saucers and they had a heyday! What a great Sunday afternoon, sledding, shoveling, home-made chicken noodle soup and a movie.

A week later we are waking up to 2” of new snow every day. Snow or not, we are going riding today. Tel took the day off work after all the overtime she has been putting in, and stated she NEEDED horse therapy! Understood; Bill had said the same thing the night before and I will always agree with that. She calls saying it is snowing in Ft. Collins and looking yucky. Well, our snow had stopped and the sun was out and the wind was blowing the new snow away. So let’s go riding. The horses agreed.

Now it’s game time. About ¾ of the corral is a muddy mess, leaving just smaller dry patches. Of course, being human, we try to stay on the dry spots and the horses pick up on this quickly, turning catching into a game by wading into the muck and snorting at us. I love it when they are playful; heads and tails up, prancing and snorting. Soon, however, they understood they had to come to us if they wanted out of the corral, because you are only allowed out with a halter on, and they wanted to go, too. This was evident with the frequency of racing to the corral gate and staring at the Lodge hitching post, before racing around crazy again. We don’t have to do round pen work for stress release; we just watch this energy dissipate in the ½ acre corral! Soon they walk up to us and stand quietly for haltering.

By the time we had them brushed out and saddled, the wind had died down and it was a glorious day for a ride. All 4 horses got to go this time (Washoe was ponied) and the trails were dryer than anticipated, although we did get to break through a couple of two foot snow banks. The only near excitement was the horses letting us know “something” has awakened for the spring. About 1/3 of the way down the Rock Creek trail, Ranger was alerted to something below us. Since he is not usually the one to say “not going there” we opted to follow his lead and turn around. We headed off on another trail in a different direction, this time with Estes in the lead after the pivot changed our positions. Now when the trail split, Estes said “nope, something down there in the trees.” We have learned through past lessons to listen to our horses (by checking and finding large animal tracks or fresh kill). So again we take the safer trail, now putting Jesse and me at the end. No sooner were we past the split in the trail than she did a hop, skip, and turn around with the “there is definitely something down there!” message. Well, it is time for the bears to be coming out of hibernation and, come to think of it, we haven’t heard the coyotes lately, which means there is also a mountain lion around. We finished our ride peacefully and safely. Thank you horses!

Later, Bill and I laughed that Washoe was the only one that had not reacted. But then, he wouldn’t notice a mountain lion until it hit him on the nose with its paw.

SNOW DAY: April 17, 2009

It’s 10:00 at night and still snowing; last count 26” deep. It started last night with about 3” on the ground by bedtime. It hit 11” by 8:00 this morning and has continued all day. It hit 2” below the tops of my muck boots when I fed this morning. At 6:30 this evening, when I went to feed again, I figured the muck boots would be OK because I already had a path. Big surprise! No path left so I got to wade through mid-thigh deep, very heavy and wet, snow. I had to laugh at the horses when I got to the corral; they were kicking and racing each other around whenever snow would fall from one of the trees. They were faring much better than I was. They had kept the snow smashed down in a large area near the feeder and under the largest tree for shelter. I didn’t know why they wouldn’t come to me like they usually do, until I realized the electric fencer was under snow, along with all the lower level of hot wire. Every time it pulsed little shock waves shot out through the snow. I got the fencer turned off and there was a collective sigh from all four horses, as two of them dove into their beet pulp. They were very grateful they could finally eat without getting shocked! Washoe was so excited he grabbed the plastic beet bowl and started throwing it in the air. He and Jesse chased it for a while, just like kids playing in the snow. Estes and Jesse had icicles hanging from their manes and tails, rattling as they played. Tomorrow I will have to wear snowshoes to go feed!

Picking Up Estes, New Baby, Truck - Again!

Long time since I’ve posted. With sunnier days now and then, it’s easier for me to be outside with the horses, meaning putting off my homework until evening and cutting into my posting time (do you see the priorities here?). So I will try to catch up somewhat, since we’ve had some fun happenings.

We had plans to meet our daughter, Tel, at John’s place to pick up her horse on Tues. For those of you who haven’t heard yet, Tel is getting married in May. After wracking our brains about a wedding gift (they already have all the typical household stuff, since both parties had their own places), Bill found the perfect gift: a horse trailer. About the only thing positive about this recession is prices are dropping, especially on things like used horse trailers. Bill found a jewel close by; not pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but a very serviceable 2-horse, bumper-pull. We decided it would be a good trial run to take it down the mountain to pick up Tel’s horse, and watch her reaction to the sight of the trailer. Of course, the first action needed was to get our truck set up for bumper-pull; all of our trailers have been gooseneck. The good thing about this is now we can pull anything – when the truck is running!

It was a fantastic warm, sunny, class day for me. Tel and I met after class in Ft. Collins, picked up her younger brother and headed to meet Bill at John’s farm. We called Bill and told him we would be there earlier than expected. We arrived and I watched Tel closely for reactions as Bill was pulling up with the “new” trailer. (We had decided NOT to tell her about it, in case she didn’t like it). I hadn’t realized how much it looked like a smaller version of our trailer until she asked what we had done to the trailer. Realizing it was a different trailer, I told her Bill had found a 2-horse, so she assumed he had bought it for convenience for us (we had talked about doing that). I was trying so hard not to give the surprise away.
Tel said, “We forgot to call Ida!” Fortunately, when I called her, she was close by at one of their leased horse pastures, and said she would be right there, to go ahead out in the back pasture to get Estes. Anyone ever tried getting through someone else’s pasture system (lots of cows) on a really mucky, muddy day?! And electrified. Which gates to use? We were having fun figuring it out when Ida pulled up and walked down a DRY alley next to the pastures, laughing at us. OK, Ida is always laughing; she is one of the happiest people I know whenever we see her outside working with animals – even fencing! We got ourselves un-bogged and went after Estes, who was definitely feeling her oats. No way does she move like a 19 y.o. mare. She and her 16 y.o. daughter, Meeker (10 months pregnant), are floating around the pasture like a moving picture of twins. It only took a couple of minutes to convince Estes it was time to get caught, and Bill walked right up to the two of them, putting his arms around Estes while Tel put a halter on her. Meeker sure looks great – expected to deliver about May 10. I will be driving this way to school in May to watch for the new foal.

As we were maneuvering back through the pasture system, Ida asked us to wait a minute so she could help her dad, John, move a pregnant cow into a shed. She said the cow should be delivering soon and they wanted to watch her for problems. Once the cow was moved we walked Estes around the house to the trailer; Ida stayed with her dad. OK, this might be fun. Estes is used to large, open stock trailers. I didn’t know if she had ever been in a small, enclosed one. She looked it over pretty closely, but after just a little persuasion, she hopped right in. Can’t say enough about Ida’s well-trained horses. Tel made a comment to Bill about the trailer, who in turn made a comment about ruining the surprise. Hearing that, I had made a comment on Jay’s willingness to paint old vehicles. Nothing else was said.

Having only been gone a few minutes, we went back to tell Ida and John goodbye, finding Ida behind the house washing her hands in a tub of water, with an even bigger grin on her face. I looked in the shed and saw something small, black and wet-looking on the ground. I said, “Is that a calf?” John walked over, smiling, saying they had just pulled it ‘cause it wasn’t positioned right. Mom and baby doing fine. Son Thomas said he knew he was a city boy, but he thought it would take a little longer than that. John laughed and said, “You never know what will happen around here when you walk around the house.” Worriedly, Ida asked how Estes had loaded; she indeed had never been in that type trailer. We assured her it had been no problem.

Time to head home. Tel, Thomas and I hop into the car and head back to Ft. Collins from Longmont; Bill starts off for the Lodge with the horse and trailer in tow. As soon as we get on the road, Tel looks at me and says, “Is that my wedding present?” with this big, hopeful grin on her face. She was surprised and seemed quite happy. Apparently, she and Jay had been looking at horse-trailers, too, since they want to get another horse for Jay after they get married.

I’m finally driving up the canyon road. I had tried calling Bill while still in cell-phone range and not gotten an answer. This concerned me since he had plenty of time to get home and unload, unless the truck was acting up again. We just can’t seem to trust it right now. In less than 2000 miles it had quit on us three more times, for no reason that could be found. This is after we have put $10,000 into repairs on it in four months. That’s right, $10K!!! Sure enough, I round a corner and find our rig parked on the side of the road at a pull-over. If you let the truck sit for 15 minutes, it will start and run for a short period of time – maybe long enough to get 1 – 3 miles further and hope there is another place to pull over. The 45 minute trip from John’s took three hours that day. Back to the Ford dealership with the truck a couple of days later; no problems found; truck ran great both ways. It’s really frustrating. Right now is when we have the time to travel with the horses and we are afraid to go anywhere because we don’t know when we will be stranded along the highway with live animals in a trailer! I think Bill is starting a blog about no longer wanting to be a Ford truck owner, after having them for 35 years. He will not be good advertising for the 6.0L engine.