Sit. Stay.

This is Ranger.  The horse.

In the hot time of the year Beel and Waneeta do not take us horses for many walks.  I think they do not visit with us much because there are many people visiting them in the people barn.  That is good.  Because it is hot.

On a day some days ago Beel wented to me and sayed "Hey Buddy!  We're taking some time off and going camping!"  He was very excited.  I thinked maybe cam-ping is a scary thing.

Beel and Waneeta putted head ropes on us the horses and putted us in the rolling shed behind the stinky truck.  There was hay in the rolling shed.  That was good. The Kid had hay.  That Mare had had.  And I had hay.

We wented past the cons-truck-shun workers that were making big holes by the road and moving pipe monsters.  Beel and Waneeta talked to them and then we wented away.  In the rolling shed.  With my hay.

We drived for many times.  Then we gotted to the cam-ping place.  Beel and Waneeta put up the little fence with the biting wire and let us not be in the rolling shed anymore.

It was not good.

There was not enough grass for me.  And That Mare and The Kid were eating it.  Definitely not good.

But then Waneeta   gived me hay in the tangled rope and that was good.  She also gived hay to the other horses.  Then Beel and Waneeta gived me water.  That was good.

Then Beel and Waneeta sitted down.  Only.  They just sitted there.  They did no thing.  When the sun wented away they getted into the rolling shed for some time.  Then Beel used words of power and then he sayed "Forgot to feed the horses."  He getted out of the rolling shed and putted a brick of hay in with me.  That was good.  Then Beel wented into the rolling shed again and I think he sleeped.

The Kid and That Mare and me fighted with the hay brick for many times.   It wented everywhere on the ground when we broke it.  Very good.  We banged on the rolling shed all night so Beel and Waneeta would know where we were and not worry.  All night.

When the sun was here again Beel and Waneeta getted out of the rolling shed and sitted there.  They drinked some cough-fee.  But mostly they just sitted there.

When the sun was hot they tooked us for a walk.  We the horses walked.  Beel and Waneeta just sitted on us. I only getted a little tired.

Then we eated grass.  That was good.  Beel just sitted there.

At the not so hot time Beel and Waneeta went away. Beel sayed "We're walking to have dinner at the restaurant a half mile away with a couple friends.  Be good!"   At almost dark they getted back.  Then they sitted.  Then they wented to bed.

When the sun gotted back Beel and Waneeta woked up.  Then they sitted.  They drinked cough-fee.  Then they sitted.

Finally they getted up and putted the biting fence away and putted us the horses back into the rolling shed and we wented home.  I had hay.  That was good.

When we getted home I sawed that the holes were gone but the pipe monsters were crouching under the dirt. I will need to look at those more later.

 My peoples talked to the cons-truck-shun workers.  "Looks good!  Those culverts should last a hundred years." And "Yup, we had a very relaxing trip."

I feel very bad for Beel and Waneeta.  They could not have had a good time on this cam-ping trip.

They never eated any hay.

Ranger.  The horse.

A Mini Vacation - Julie Goodnight - HorseMaster

We had scheduled two days off this month - very important for us this time of year - so we could get some stuff done, have a night without guests and NOT fix breakfast for a couple of mornings.  We set this up months ago.

Fast forward a couple of months to when the request came in from GunDiva to transport her horse to a TV shoot for the HorseMaster RFD series.  It turned out to be right over our two days off - which by the way, turned into ONE day off because we had inadvertently booked two rooms in for the second night.  Yipes!  It sounded like fun to us: transporting horses to a beautiful ranch in the southern mountains of Colorado could actually be relaxing - to us.  We love to travel with horses, although we would rather it had been our own horses.  But hey, horses are horses and GunDiva's horse is family, too.  We arranged for our other daughter, Nebalee, to 'Lodge sit' for us, meaning come up and hang out to wait for the guests to come in that had gotten booked and stay the night to answer the phone.  We promised we would be back before breakfast so she wouldn't have to do that too.  (This turned into a great deal of work for her, too, as the phone never quit ringing, and I had left her with all the beds to remake.)  She may never volunteer to help us out again.

So Monday finally got here, we got everyone out of the Lodge on time (11:00 a.m.) and set about getting as much done as we could before leaving.  Had hoped to pull out at 11:00 ourselves;  Bill had taken the dog to the kennel in Estes Park, I stripped all the beds in the lodge, sorted laundry, gotten all the dishes done and the kitchen cleaned up, and we set about getting our stuff in the truck.  We did manage to finally get underway at 12:10.

We needed to head north 1 1/2 hours to GunDiva's to pick up her horse and our horse trailer, which had been left there when Bill dropped off Ranger.  Bill hooked up the trailer while I haltered Skeeter, and she loaded like a champ.  We then needed to pick up another horse in Longmont that was also hopping a ride to the shoot.  We even found our way there without any problems, met the two people who were going to follow us, loaded that horse and we were on our way.  Our only problem was that it was now 3:45 p.m. and traffic was picking up quickly; we were between two busy cities - Boulder and Denver - and had to decide just how to get on the road we wanted.  Thanks to the help of the girls following us, and their texting me directions as we went, we managed to get onto C470 ... but what a traffic jam!  Once we got onto Hwy 285, it was much better, but now 6:00 p.m.  After going over Kenosha Pass in horrible rain, and stopping for dinner at a cute little bar in Fairplay, we pulled into Julie Goodnight's place near Salida at 8:30 p.m.  Suffice it to say, we were all a tad tired, but happy.  The horses had traveled well.

Skeeter unloaded and was amazed to find five other horses in pens right there!  She behaved like a jewel in her new pen - while the two neighbor horses got all rowdy and nasty.  I don't think she ever figured out what the big deal was with them.  This was the first trip - other than being delivered to GunDiva's in a stock trailer - that she had ever taken, and she was handling it like a champ: no hollering, no fussing, no fighting.

Julie was gracious enough to let us park our rig overnight near their 'bunkhouse', so we could sleep in the trailer.  It was heaven:  we were sound asleep before 10:00 p.m. - and when we woke at 5:30 and realized we didn't have to get up, it was even better.  We finally crawled out about 6:00 to a gorgeous sight of fog rainbows.  The fog had settled in the valley at the base of mountains and two rainbows peaked their heads out.  What a start to the day!  We settled ourselves into a couple of chairs on the patio of the bunkhouse to wait for other living beings, watch the day start, and wait for GunDiva.

GunDiva in her job as crew.

Suddenly there were many people around: all the crew and cast members for the day.  Horses being brushed and shuffled from one spot to another.  It's busy times getting a TV show - or in this case, many shows - taped.  The weather cooperated for the most part and we spent our day watching the goings-on and lounging with Skeeter, who was taking it all in.  Whenever an episode finished up, a cheer would go up with lots of clapping of hands.  I swear that horse thought it was all for her.  She paid attention to every little detail.

We used the time to best advantage by hanging out at the hitchrail, otherwise known as the patience post.  Skeeter doesn't have one at home and has never had to stand tied to anything for any length of time.  One time we tried tying her to her horse trailer but discovered the tie bar was not nearly strong enough; just one pull bent it.  Not good.  She did stand tied to our truck for about an hour with a saddle on one time, but that's just not the same as having to patiently stay put for long periods of time (an important tool for every horse).

Notice the brush - labeled "horse brush"

When it was getting close to time for Skeeter's turn, GunDiva had gone off to get her 'show clothes' on and I brushed Skeeter 'til she shone.  Bill helped get the dreads out of her tail while I did her mane; I was even able to spray fly spray on her legs (even though GunDiva said she hated fly spray).  She was quiet and calm the whole time we worked on her, resting her chin on my shoulder as we watched the final prep for her.  Julie had talked to GunDiva about how they would do the shoot:  show some of the ground work that they normally did, introduce her to a bit for the first time, hop on her back bareback, and maybe even saddle her up for a quick shot.  Now remember, we had done all of that at home - except the bit part - and it seemed a dream to get it all on tape.

Being a good horse.

Waiting to enter the round pen - good horse.

It was decided to use Julie's newly refurbished round pen - just in case.

Watching the camera crew.

The clapper board comes in - and things start getting exciting.

Imagine everyone's surprise when GunDiva led her quiet, sedate horse in - and she went ballistic!  She couldn't stand still, didn't listen to direction, was just basically obnoxious.  When GunDiva leaned across her back, you would have thought she had never felt weight there before.  It was pretty quickly decided that Julie would take over.  In came the flag and the master.  We had a pretty exciting 20 minutes or so...and the cameras never quit rolling.  One of Julie's most common comments is not being able to actually get pictures of a horse being, well a horse that had problems.  Not so that day!!!  Skeeter did a great show of what a wild Mustang can do when it doesn't find any comfort in what's happening - but she was beautiful; all the majestic motion you see in the movies, happening right before our eyes.  Skeeter did finally calm down and 'get her brains back' as GunDiva put it.  She turned into her normal sweet self for the bit part, letting Dale Myler slip the headstall over her head and placing the bit in her mouth for the first time, then teaching how to use the reins at the withers to teach the horse to 'give to the bit'.  We weren't allowed to take pictures during the actual shoot because the big cameras pick up the shutter clicks.  You will have to wait for the episodes.

We are all still laughing at Bill (and Julie) getting drug around the corral by a horse not wanting haltered, or Skeeter trying to chase the dog away from the gate, or any number of other stunts she pulled in a short period of time.  We can hardly wait for the episodes to appear on RFD-TV; the footage was fantastic!

It all ended on a good note, with a hug from Julie and a calm horse!

Skeeter walked quietly back to her pen and spent the rest of the afternoon eating her hay.  We watched the last of the filming for the day, a horse getting adjusted by a chiropractor, and decided to head for home.  Skeeter did give us a bit of attitude about loading in the trailer; she was just DONE.  It's amazing what a granola bar will do, though.  As soon as GunDiva walked off, I showed Skeeter the bar and on the trailer she went.  Pam loaded her horse up and we started down the road.  We stopped and ate at a cute little bar in Buena Vista and felt quite content.

That contentment ended rather abruptly, though, when Bill commented on the brakes acting 'mushy' on one of the long downhills.  He decided we had better stop at the next station on the way to check it out.  Oops - no brakes!  Fortunately the trailer brakes held and we got stopped safely.  Turns out we had a blown brake cyclinder on the truck and all the brake fluid had leaked out.  Bill was able to do a temporary fix and we were back on the road.  We pulled into GunDiva's place at 12:30 a.m.  Skeeter was pretty excited to get out of that trailer, but she still unloaded like a lady.  Ranger hopped on the trailer about as fast as Skeeter exited.  He was ready to go home.  We pulled into the Lodge at 2:30 a.m. to the hollering of all three of our horses greeting each other.

We had traveled over 600 miles towing horses.

And at 5:30 a.m. we were cooking breakfast for our guests.  Back to business as usual.  Our 24 hours went fast and we had a great time!
Bionic Cowgirl

Mini Vacation - Gymnastics Regionals Level 9 Competition

Our youngest daughter invited me to join her and her two daughters for a short trip this weekend. It was Autobot's regionals competition of level 9 gymnasts.  It sounded like a fun 3-generation trip.  Billl was going to drive me down to their house early Friday morning.

This is what it looked like that morning:  18 inches of new snow.  Bill and I spent an hour shoveling to locate the car; shoveling to feed the horses; shoveling for guests who were booked that night.  Good exercise, you say?

Us girls finally got on our way just to discover we were in the midst of a huge traffic jam outside of Denver.  Due to poor visibility - which had caused several bad accidents - the highway we needed was closed and traffic was being routed around in circles!  We weren't allowed to continue east, and after being sent back west, were told we could not get back to Denver.  Thanks to having traveled some of the back roads in that area to visit a friend who used to live there, I recognized one of the county roads.  We headed south, picked up a road going east and managed to skirt the whole mess, returning to I-70 about five miles later.  We continued on our way for a great drive.

This is where we landed in Wichita, KS.  Sure looks different!  It was a condo complex converted into 'hotel rooms' - a very nice place to spend the weekend.

Granddaughter Asset located a new friend, Jack (alias Flappy).  When we arrived he was inside the pool area standing very awkwardly.  Turns out he has a broken leg, which does not deter him in the least from his normal routine.  A lady Nebalie spoke to said she had worked there for 10 years and two ducks, Jack and Jill came every year.  They laid eggs at the river and took turns 'babysitting' them.  She didn't know how Jack had gotten injured, but hoped he would survive.  Asset did her part by toasting Jack a piece of bread every morning.

It was planned to spend the day at Cowtown Living Museum on Saturday, but when we got there it was pouring down rain, so we opted to wait until later.  Asset and I stayed at the hotel while Nebalie and Autobot went to the meet to watch a team mate compete.  Three members of Autobot's team qualified to attend this meet; quite an honor.

Asset and I walked around the neighborhood when the rain quit, puddle jumping and various things.  She started noticing the tiny, tiny flowers that were popping up and wanted to make her mom a bouquet.  She also found a nutshell to use as a vase.  This child is quite the problem-solver.

Finally made it to Cowtown, a living museum, meaning you literally walk into the life of the people living in that time.  This was civil war reenactment weekend, so soldier's tent cities were set up in several locations, with women tending cooking fires, men cleaning weapons, and kids playing various games of the time.

Two 'enemies' discussing the working of the cannon.

Several people were teasing this sheriff about his hard job.

Apparently it was this one's turn to patrol.  This was the complementary horse; an 18 yo who worked the museum a couple times a week.  His owner said he enjoyed it, especially the end of the day/dinner time when he got to graze on the grass at the edge of town.

You were able to walk into most of the buildings.  This one was the first house built in Wichita and reconstructed at the current location, then set up like it had been.  It was used as a bed-and-breakfast, with the guests staying in tiny rooms upstairs.  It's a lovely wood stove but glad I don't have to cook our breakfasts on it.

In the late 1800's the town had a pump in the middle of town for water.  Asset learned it took a special technique to actually get a trickle of water; she decided it was hard work.

Show time!  The cannon has been moved onto the battlefield and we get to see it in action - a noisy thing it was.

Here come the opposing soldiers.  They spend a good deal of time firing from behind a row of logs, but when it looked like they were making progress they started moving forward as a group, kneeling down to fire their weapons, then moving forward again.

Here's the cannon again as it is moved back toward the farm houses.  These guys had been firing from  behind a couple of large dirt burms and got routed out.  I didn't quite understand how it was safer firing from behind a large fallen tree than dirt mounds, but hey, it was a re-enactment, right?  My days of cowboys-and-Indians or war games came a little later in history, when better strategy had been developed.

Of course, you have to have the crowd cheering on the winning soldiers as they march through town.  I do have to say they play fair; the opposite side had won the morning battle.

Here's the real reason we were in Wichita - the Level 9 Regional Gymnastics Meet.  Girls from seven states all lined up (this is maybe 1/6 of them), and this is the last of three sessions.  Autobot is about midway, with the turquoise on her leo.  To qualify, they each had to accumulate a certain number of all-around points at their respective state competitions.

Here's our girl setting up for her spin on the beam.  It's the only shot I could get to turn out.  It was not one of her better meets, but she put forth a valiant effort against awesome competition.  To make it this far the first year of competing this level is pretty awesome in itself.  We are very proud of you, Autobot!!!

Bionic Cowgirl - playing grandma this weekend.

Zoo Day

It was April 1st this week and even though we are still getting lots of snow (five inches last night), it seemed like we should do something 'spring-like'.  When Nebalee mentioned taking some of the younger kids to the zoo for Spring Break, we sort of invited ourselves along.   It had been years since Bill and I had been to the Denver Zoo and it is always a favorite.... with lots of changes since our last trip.

There are new 'attractions' at the entrance, like these metal statues that capture the heart and get you prepared for what's ahead.  We saw the real items later in the afternoon.

And how much cuter can warthogs get?

Here's the real item - not exactly a Disney scene, this one.

We finally got everyone gathered together - inside - the gates and started off.

One of the little ones with us was in a body cast and wheel chair; two weeks ago she had a hip restructured and has to be in a cast for 12 weeks.  Never a sound of complaint out of her; what a trooper!

The first exhibit we came to were a couple of hornbills - displaying signs of spring courtship.

In the same exhibit, watching very carefully, these deer-type critters seem almost mesmerized.  The one in the back is one of the zoo's new babies.

And of course, strolling the fence next door...were these two cheetahs.   ???

By this time it is mid-morning and Papa Bill 'needs a rest, but his feet are too short to reach the ground'.  Asset is not buying his story, but is willing to entertain him on the bench.

What's a good zoo without a monkey house ....

....which was remodeled just three years after our lodge was built...and has lots of monkeys.

While us older ones were being entertained by these guys, the younger ones found that a 'hands on' experience was much more exciting.  Really - a goose?

Just shows you where the priorities are!  Fortunately for them, there was a great surprise in store.  One of the friends with us has a relative who works in the bird section of the zoo.  We met her just before lunch and she introduced us to her favorite buddy, Imok.

 This flamingo was hand raised and just LOVES any human attention she can get, so of course most wanted their chance to snuggle with her.

Nebelle, giggling because it tickles to have a bird poke its beak into your armpit.

The younger kids weren't in the least intimidated by this brightly colored bird on stilts, in fact....

I was beginning to think we would have to leave the youngest there.  He kept going back for more snuggles.  At least he and the bird matched.

Neither was the bird intimidated by the wheel chair; she brought lots of smiles this day.

Even Papa Bill had to get in on the act!


It was very gracious of this lady to spend so much time with us and the kids, explaining how the birds eat, answering all their questions, letting us invade her workspace and giving the birds extra treats to show the kids.

When the other flamingos realized treats were involved, they wanted to come see, too.

This is what 73 flamingos look like inside their winter quarters.  They are scheduled to be put back outside in a couple of weeks, when the temperatures are a little more moderate.

It's a little difficult following a class act like that, so we opted for lunch, and found a nice picnic table outside the pachyderm pavilion.  We finished our picnic just in time to see the afternoon elephant demo.  Meet Dolly, the audience loving elephant.  Her favorite trick seems to be holding her trunk in her mouth.

That's the end of a 'runway' she is standing on and she hogged it all to herself for the entire show.  Apparently, the other elephants don't trust her to not throw them into the water - and it's cold right now.

Across from the elephants were a couple Somali Wild Asses.  They spent a lot of time chasing each other around their huge enclosure.  They made me think of a cross between a long-ears and a zebra.

We saw this strange site; a zoo keeping snuggling with a rhino.  Now that's a face only a true animal lover could like.  It's good to see that there seems to be real fondness between the animals and their caretakers here at the Denver Zoo.

We got to see the youngest member out on exhibit; an Okapi.  It looks like a baby zebra that got its front end dipped in dark ink.

He even had an official birth announcement.  He's barely two months old.

Finally, the live giraffes; much more elegant than the ones at the entrance.

The littlest member of our group was getting tired by now, so Kyzer took over the chair controls.  All the kids were so good the whole time.

We had promised Asset that we would look for turtles, so we headed for the Tropical exhibit and made a quick run through.  The little rays caused some fascination; they put on a show while the kids watched.

Then it was time to head for home.  Bill and I made a fast run into the 'cat house'.  These Servels curled up in their food dish looked just like we were beginning to feel.

 It was a very full, busy day; this was only a portion of the animals we saw.  I guess we should go more often.
Bionic Cowgirl