All the Pretty Horses

Wow, it was such a great day yesterday. Jeff's uncle, Timbo, was wanting to buy a couple of exposed heifers from a family friend, but wanted 'em preg-checked first. And, since I am the only one in the family with a truck larger than a 1/2 ton (and unwilling to "loan" it out), my services were needed to get the heifers to the vet and then to their new pasture. So, I got to haul cows for the day. It was what is becoming one of those rare moments in my life where I really felt like a cowgirl. Alas, the heifers were open (unbred), so I called Timbo up and gave him the news, at which point he instructed me to haul them to the sale barn if we weren't interested in buying them. Nope... even if we had the pasture, we wouldn't want any unbred cows. So, Woo-Hoo, more hauling and cowboyin'!! I really enjoyed myself.

Check out the pic - that's Jeff milling up some 2x4's. Over the weekend the wind kept us from putting up tin. By Saturday Jeff was tired of welding, at which point I picked up a rod for the first time in years and tack welded his sawmill tracks to the base to keep it from wobbling off. I was kinda pleased with myself - the last time I welded wasn't so great, but this time I picked it up and ran with it ... did pretty durned good. (for a rookie, at least). Most importantly, though, I was and am so very proud of Jeff - he really does enjoy running that sawmill and I love watching him run it. It just makes me feel so durned good to see real results so quickly - every minute and a quarter (or less), another board on the ground. I've got it on video, and hope to start uploading videos to Yahoo Video so I can add them to blogs. We'll see how that goes.

Sunday night Jeff's buddy, his cousin and their boys came over for a quick visit .... after 5 minutes with those 3 boys and I don't know if I'll be able to mentally handle 3 boys of my own. Whew!!! Snickers enjoyed all the extra attention and didn't mind at all their yells, slapping hands, yahoos, and rambunctiousness. Pepsi, however, didn't know what to make of them. I was about to have a nervous breakdown, wanting to allow them to "be boys", yet not wanting them to get in a position to be hurt by Pepsi, and also not wanting her to be scared or hurt by them. I finally just told them to leave her alone so she could eat, then retreated to where the men were hanging out and tried to ignore the fact that I could still see the boys hanging all over Snix and her fence. Jeff's buddy made a good point when he said it would do them some good to get hurt. I know from experience sometimes that's what it takes to learn.

I was relieved when their attentions turned to Chloe. She had a great deal of fun chasing, being chased and playing with them in the yard. I dunno, havin' a few boys like that of our own wouldn't be as bad, I don't think, if we had a few bombproof ponies and a dog for em' like Chloe.

grrrrrrrrrrrr... sometimes I hate this thing - keep trying to upload the pic, but after saying "done", it doesn't add the pic to the entry. I'll keep trying...........


Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted. -John Lennon

Yep, got a little bit of barn-building done today. 30 mph winds were a bit of an impediment, so we didn't get any tin up, but there was plenty to do otherwise. I took the day off and actually hoped to get alot more done, but I'm still happy with the progress that was made. If you check out my other blog, you'll see that I spent a part of the day snoozing .... I know, I know, can't get any work done that way .... but, it just hit me outta the blue and down I went. Jeff got some sawmillin' done while I was outta his hair.

To err is human, but it feels divine. - Mae West

Feed bucket empty.
Universe must hate horses.
My poop fills the void.

- Brandy Galos
www.ccec.net/FP/humor.htm

Snix' attitude seems alot better since I've let her out to graze in the yard a few times in the last week. I think it was Saturday that I spent awhile just sitting and lying on her back while she was loose in her pen. She mostly stood still and seemed to really enjoy my affections - especially my playing with her mane... she always loves that - she's very feminine! :)

As I sat on her, Chloe kept licking at Snix' nose. Snix bit at her once, then tired of chiding her and just started moving her nose to the side when Chloe would try to lick her. When I turned around on her back and laid my head on her rump, Chloe started licking on Snix' back leg.... tentatively at first. Then, when she saw that Snix wasn't going to react, she started licking harder, then biting (like when dogs bite at each others' fleas), then she started putting her teeth all the way around her leg (but without biting down - she does it to my hand when she wants me to get out of bed and/or play with her). It was so funny - Snix is a big dog to her! Snix was okay with it all till I got off her. Then, it was payback time! She laid her ears back at Chloe, gave her a very nasty look, then cow-kicked at her.

She's so protective of me. It's like I'm hers, and she is jealous to allow anyone else near me.... when I'm loving on her, she will chase Pepsi (and in the past, other horses as well) away from the fence, even though the other horse has no intentions on me! LOL Then, she'll come back to me, as if saying "you may continue." LOL She is definitely full of personality.

Todays quote is by one of history's most feminine women, in honor of Snickers distinct femininity....

"Too much of a good thing can be wonderful." - Mae West

How she did it, I don't know, but when I got home from work last night Snix was in the round pen with Pepsi. I tried shooing her back to her own pen (it looked like the gate connecting the two pens was open), but she kept running past the opening. Finally my eyes adjusted to the darkness and I saw that the two panels were shoved into the round pen, forming a V. The gate tie was off, but there was a piece of hay string still tied to 'em both, keeping 'em together. There was about a foot gap between the panels. WHAT???!!! How in the world did that girl sqeeze her big body through that little gap? I reckon the same way women wiggle themselves into two-sizes-too-small jeans. LOL! She didn't get through unscathed, though. She has a long, thin strip of hair scraped off her left side. Poor Pepsi got beat up on, too - Snix sunk her teeth into her rump in a couple of spots.... thankfully it wasn't too bad.

Gosh, she's had such an attitude lately. She's such a pig - I feed her enough hay that she doesn't clean it all up, then she's still begging. But not for hay. She wants feed - and she starts slobbering when I come with the feed bucket. LOL She's hilarious. Well, I only feed at feeding time, no matter how hard she begs (or nickers), but I did feel sorry for the fat heifer today, so I let her graze in the yard for a few hours while I planted shrubs and took pix of her, Pepsi and the dogs.

It was so funny watching Chloe (the brown boxer) running in the yard, playing in the pond, and following Snickerdoodles around. Chloe is simply fascinated with the horses. She likes to lick on them when they will let her, and she likes to bury her nose into their tails, playing with the hair without pulling on it. She sometimes tries to get them to play with her - I think she thinks their really big dogs. She picked up Snix lead rope a couple of times, playing with it.

Pepsi was laying down in her pen and Chloe trotted on up to her and started sniffing her all over ... Pepsi was okay with it for awhile, but then Chloe shoved her nose into her tail and Pepsi's expression changed (laid her ears back and looked like she wanted to say "don't put that there!") and she got up.

Pepsi's personality is starting to emerge, and she is just an absolute doll - a real sweetheart. She's now touching me (as opposed to simply standing still and allowing me to touch her) as well as following me... and she follows me alot more on her own initiative. She'll sniff on me, put her nose in my hand and lay her head against me. I'll wrap my arms around her back, lean against her and just soak up the sun while she snoozes.

I love our girls (dogs & horses) - they're good 'kids' and a great family.

This quote is with Snix latest escapades in mind (this is actually the second 'panel adjustment' she's made in the past 2 weeks) ...

Horses are born with a designated place to die, and they spend their entire lives looking for it. -Anonymous

Do you see that look on her face? She's just enjoying the moment, full of peace and contentedness. THAT's what makes it all worthwhile. The world can be spinning, and then, in just a few moments with a horse in this frame of mind, it all falls away and I feel that same peace and contentment she expresses so candidly.

I heard a neigh, Oh, such a brisk and melodious neigh it was. My very heart leaped with the sound. - Nathaniel Hawthorne

At least we hope it's what's for dinner. It has been so dry across Texas, and hay is scarce and expensive.... We know folks who have already run out of their 2 yr old hay supply. I've been waiting to hear from a dealer when he will have his (much more affordable than other dealers) hay cut & baled... but he has to have a rain on his field first. Thank God, we got a BIG rain tonight, so maybe his field got it, too. These reports are kinda old news (a week or so), but we're still hurting and will be for quite awhile.

DROUGHT LOSSES AT $4.1 BILLION
As of mid-august, estimated drought losses for TX reached $4.1 billion, eclipsing the $2.1 billion mark set in 1998, according to TX Co-Op Extension economists.
Crop losses are estimated at $2.5 billion and livestock $1.6 billion. The current drought equals the multi-year dry period of the 1950's and could go down as the worst ever without substantial rainfall by the end of the year, according to Extension officials.
In Oklahoma, all 77 counties were designated natural disaster areas on July 31 by Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns.
"Most of North TX, East TX and the Coastal Bend were in various stages of drought since May of last year, and hay supplies were depleted maintaining livestock over the summer and winter," said Dr. Travis Miller, Extension agronomist. "Much of the corn and soybean crop has been harvested for silage or hay, pastures are bare, and hay barns are empty. Much of the hay being fed is from out-of-state or along the Upper Coast, which has received favorable rains. Livestock water supplies are disappearing, and ranchers are unable to sustain herds with purchased hay and dry tanks."
According to the Palmer Drought Severity Index, as of August 8, the entire state is in severe to extreme drought, with the exception of the Upper Coast ("slightly wet") and the Trans-Pecos ("moderate drought").
"Cattle sales are up sharply from a year ago," said Dr. Carl Anderson, professor emeritus and Extension economist, "without rain soon, livestock herds will face further liquidation."
"Some crop and cow-calf operators can't financially withstand more losses and will be forced to seek other jobs or business alternatives."
- excerpted from TX A&M University System AgNews

PERRY SUSPENDS TRUCKING RESTRICTIONS for EMERGENCY DELIVERY OF HAY
Austin - Gov. Rick Perry has directed the TX Dept. of Transportation to temporarily waive certain trucking restrictions to allow the emergency delivery of hay to TX farmers and ranchers harmed by on-going drought conditions.
In a letter to Ric Williamson, chairman of the TX Transportation Commission, Perry said the U.S. Dept. of Ag. has estimated a 77% loss in hay production in TX, and Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs and the TX Farm Bureau have asked for help in expediting delivery of hay to TX.
"Hay importation from neighboring states less affected by drought will help TX producers survive the final hot months of the year," Perry wrote. His letter directs TXDoT to suspend the permitting requirements and legal height restriction for round hay bales, and associated permit fees, for carriers transporting round bales of hay. The suspension of those requirements will expire Oct. 31.
To ensure the safety of the traveling public, Perry said TXDoT must require loads exceeding 14 ft. in height to contact TXDoT's Motor Carrier Division to receive expedited routing. All other legal requirements, including licensing, registration, insurance, and safety, remain in place.
Perry earlier this year issued a similar directive for emergency hay deliveries, but that expired on April 30. - THE HORSE GAZETTE

I was waking from a nightmare - terrorists were attacking my beloved homeland.... only to come to the realization that my dream was being acted out. Jeff had left the bedroom tv on, and as I woke from this nightmare, I slowly realized what was on the news. I immediately called my best friend, and as I sat at the end of the bed, tears streaming down my face, overwhelmed with a sense of insecurity and violation, I said to her "this means war."

Less than an hour later, my farrier, David Walsh, arrived for my horses' appointment and for a couple of hours we simply gawked at the living room tv, heartbroken and full of unbelief.

That night, I kept the radio up loud as I worked, hanging on to every word of the news reports. I was shocked that we were even working..... it seemed so cold to be going about our lives while so many were going through such horrors.

I felt so useless... the only thing I could do to help was to give money, so I did. I was very proud when General Motors stepped up and donated some trucks.

It struck me as ironic today, on the 5th anniversary of 9-11, that I would be hauling my horses to a dental appointment, when 5 yrs ago on this day they had a farrier appointment. As I drove, I wept at the memories, as the voices were replayed on the radio. Big D and Bubba played "Silent Night 911", which was so very moving ... you can listen to it by clicking on the listen link on www.bigdandbubba.com . Most of all, though, I am filled with pride - for America and all those she represents.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

After all of my torment over not wanting to sell her, but also wanting to be willing to do what's necessary, it all came to an end last Sunday. I spent the weekend fighting tears anytime I thought of what leading her and Padre into the sale ring would mean. Then, I'd have to focus on the future - how we'd be able to provide an even better home for Snickers and we'd eventually get more horses - to make the tears subside. That didn't work but about half the time. The other half I had to rely on God - repeating scriptures and reminding myself that God has a good and prosperous plan for me. Ultimately, Padre sold for $1800 (half of what I bought him for), and I P.O.'d Pepsi at $400. $400!!! If I wasn't so happy I could cry over knowing she was still mine, I woulda been just plumb insulted.

I was halfway expecting I would P.O. (pass out) her even if she brought a good price, but I was tormented by not knowing what I would or should do. Jeff and I agreed that $1,000 was an acceptable price, but it hurt to think that I might lose her for such a measly sum. Jeff told me later that he had already decided that he would have to step in and "save the day" if it came down to a $1,000 bid. Not only did he know my misery over the prospect of selling her, but he felt it himself as well. He is just as impressed with her as I am. Fortunately, God answered our prayers and made the decision to P.O. her an easy one. And, keeping her definitely lessened the blow of losing Padre. I believe he is carrying some little girls around now. I do pray he is in a good home and well taken care of.

Padre made a very good showing in the warm-up pen and in the sale ring. However, while waiting in line in the alley he was very, very nervous. He wouldn't stand still, kept throwing his head up and down and his heart was going a 100 miles an hour! I could feel the pounding of his heart through both of my legs. However, Pepsi was a poster child for calm, cool, collected while waiting in line, as well as in the sale ring. I really expected alot of trouble since it was her first time in a crowd... and let me tell ya, it was a C R O W D!!! The vendors were set up right along the back of the alley to lead them in, and people, dogs, vehicles were everywhere. Folks oblivious to the horses. Oh, I just kept praying she would remain calm and no one would scare her and get hurt by her. But, like I said, she was fantastic.

However, that was pretty much all negated by the show she put on in front of her stall and in the warm-up pen. The previous night I had stayed up till midnight (we didn't get back from town till 10pm) riding Padre, saddling/groundwork with Pepsi and bathing both of them. They both were great and I fell into a contented sleep that night with a game plan in place. Some time after Padre sold, I saddled Pepsi up, led her out of her stall and immediately some potential buyers walked up and asked about her.... they were ropers, so I made sure to tell them that you could throw a rope all over her, and I commenced to doing so. I had also told them that she had been saddled 6 or 7 times and hadn't offered to buck. Well, she decided to buck right about on the second throw of my rope. She didn't get away from me... during the whole ordeal I just softly laughed and talked to her, pulling her back to me, and she turned back to me and quit. It was over. She was actually pretty durned well mannered about it all. Well, by then they'd walked off, but another roper came up to me and started asking questions. Don't know if he was more interested in her or me, but he was nice and seemed to really like her. So, on we walked to the warm-up pen. She was fantastic, once again, until we walked through the gate, and she busted in two again. She caught me by surprise that time and I lost the rope, but she just bucked in a little circle, I stepped on the rope and she stopped when she felt the pressure. Well, I led her to the back, into a smaller pen and unsaddled her. I reckon it was just all too much for her to process, being out in a new place, so many people, so many things she'd never seen, heard or felt before. But, she was still so very impressive to me because she never got out of hand, and then later she stood amongst the crowd and in the ring like a halter horse.

Now that it has cooled off I'm feeling really motivated to get outside and work with her. I saddled her the past two days and she did buck right after being saddled, but true to form, she quits when she feels the lead rope. Actually the first day I left her unhaltered while I saddled her .... when she took off bucking the dog got after her and I raised my hand at the dog .... Pepsi thought I was signaling her, so she stopped stockstill, waiting for my next cue.

I think we're in a good situation. Two horses are a heck of a lot easier and less expensive to care for than 3 or 4. And, I was a little concerned over Snickers not having a pasture buddy if we were to own only her. So, finances are a little freer, Snickers has a buddy and I have no other horses to distract me from working with Pepsi.

As good as Pepsi is now, I am uberexcited about her future.

"Yesterday is in the tomb, tomorrow is in the womb, and what we are intimate with right now is what we will birth in our future." - Paula White