Lisa adopted this 9 yr old mustang mare, Tess, as “wild” from the BLM prison program several years ago then trained her.  From the first time I went out to her farm I was totally enthralled with this little mare and would spend several minutes at the fence giving her some attention.  Although normally not a fan of bay horses, I just loved her build and soft eyes. 

As Lisa planned her move to Maryland last month she called and asked if she could give Tess to me since she didn’t have room for her in the traveling caravan (she’s gypsy living for a while) knowing how much I’d enjoyed riding her this past spring.  I readily agreed and Tess arrived later that week.  I rate my horses like cars which means Silver rides like a wonderful old Cadillac - a little cranky or hard to start, but a nice secure luxurious ride.  Buck handles more like a ‘51 Chevy truck that takes all your strength and stamina to keep on the right track.  Well Tess is a Porsche, lightening fast and moves out with a forward motion like nothing I’ve ridden.  I love her.  She’s a little spooky on the road yet but we’re learning each other and I think she’ll be happy here. 

She certainly has lovely teeth, don’t you agree?

Uh oh, Buck realized I was in the pasture but not giving him attention so he came sauntering up through the trees.

Why are you petting the new girl?  Am I not good enough for petting?

I can’t believe you gave her a peppermint and not me.

Oh hell no, don’t even try to bribe me with a peppermint now.  I wouldn’t dream of taking one.

We did give him some petting and then headed back to the barn where we discovered a new award-winning horse in the mud placement skills category.  Amazingly, it wasn’t Silver.

I won?  Really?  Oh my!  I worked SO HARD to get all covered like this and it was all worth it.  I know Silver’s disappointed, but hey, I did learn a lot from her.

Anyone feel like grooming a horse for me?

• Killer bees attack
• Buck shows off his buck, unfortunately I was mounting at the time
• A free horse arrives
• The mobile homes in Arkansas stories are all true
• Shreveport kinda sucks
• The meanest horse I’ve ever known returns to the farm
• I work and ride the meanest horse I’ve ever known
• Natural Horsemanship vs. Cowboy Skills
• I think I was in the Wall Street Journal yesterday

……. all these and more!  Stay tuned!

Summer is in full swing here and I haven’t an available minute during the day between the boys, kittens, horses, cows, friends, work, chores, yada yada yada.  I hope your summer is going swimmingly and will get back to regular blogging shortly.  Please cross your fingers and pray to the God of your choice that Kenny makes it through the summer without joining the horses in the barn.  Those of you who have met my middle child know exactly what I’m talking about.

I’ve recently come across a fantastic lady in the reining world, Stacy Westfall, and have watched her videos repeatedly - thought you might enjoy them as well.

Ghost Riders in the Sky

2006 Winning Freestyle Run - turn it up and listen to the announcer break down, I dare you to watch it without crying

On Ellen DeGeneres - Ellen saw the above run and went nuts trying to get her on the show

Her website - you can learn more about Stacy here

I hope to ride just like her one day.  Should happen when the moon is in the seventh sun and I’m about 89 years old. 

Feeling stressed?  Overworked?  Tired and pulled in 1,000 directions at once?  Let me share with you what’s been going on ’round here and then we’ll talk.

To start with, My Damn Brother In Law Nathan came over.  Let me rephrase.  Came over and spent the night.  That, in and of itself, tops your working overtime and any mother-in-law visits.  I’m not quite sure the purpose of his visit except to give me a hard time, but he was mostly smiling so I think he enjoyed himself.

Poor Jen had to come up every day for nearly a week as we were sticking HUGE needles into Cartman’s neck twice a day and even had to stall him for a couple days.  Thank heavens I’m capable of giving shots to these poor horses because Jen about lost it when she saw the size of these needles and realized how it had to happen!  Riding him was out of the question so we’ve put her on Silver and me on Buck then headed out to pastures and roads - Buck did fantastic, which is about the only thing that’s gone right the past week. 

Elizabeth departed last week on a 6:30 am flight which meant I was up at 3:30 heading to the airport and after being told I could drop her at the ticket counter since mom had paid for an unaccompanied minor ticket, I learned otherwise.  Not only did I have to fill out paperwork and give blood sample (kidding, but not by much) I was provided an “Adult to Minor” pass and told I had to take her to the gate through security and all that.   Naturally, I received a ticket by this time as I’d parked in unloading.  Wouldn’t have been quite the insult had the cop not been staring directly at me through the window as he was writing it and I’d only been inside three minutes.  So after taking her to the gate I said, “I’m done right?” and was told, “Oh no ma’am!  You have to wait until the plane is actually in the air  before we can allow you to leave.”  And please note that the emphasis on “in the air” was entirely her doing.  She even scrunched her little cheeks up and pointed to the air to be sure I fully understood my duties.  I’m sure the woman will remember my expression for quite some time, although I will say there were no expletives said - I hadn’t had enough coffee.

Hissy, our resident Ugly Cat, decided to run off or get herself killed while leaving three little kittens behind which meant I had to climb up a HUGE ladder to bring them down from the attic storage only to find five cats, not three.  Then while I was out working on the shopping gig Ed called to tell me I’d missed one.  Guess who’s been bathing, playing, grooming, and bottle-feeding six kittens now for a week?  Yeah, you guessed it.  We’ll be weaning soon, trust me.

Buck has decided that after we ride he’s supposed to wait in the corral until I tell him to leave.  Isn’t that sweet and cute?  Well not after looking out the window six hours later and realizing he’s still there looking at the house waiting for me to point him out!   Gosh, the guilt of that alone will put me in an early grave.

With Elizabeth gone I had to take over the daily special feeding of lactating mares as well as foal handling.  I know nothing of foals except they’re ornery little suckers and one of them has destroyed our fencing while running full tilt away from mom and into the next field.  Three times.  After arming myself with enough knowledge to at least get something done with them I sit here a week later covered in bruises from bites, kicks, and climbs.  That’s right, climbs.  The older one thinks it’s quite entertaining to run up behind me in the pasture while I’m catching another horse and just climb up me.   Or bite me.  Or spin and kick me.   And the younger one let me know in no uncertain terms what he thought of the halter I was introducing.  Suffice it to say that my entire left breast is the color of purple cabbage.

Sorry for talking about breasts Cousin Jeri.

Honestly, at this point, I’m quite sure I could catch a deer and halter it for someone rather than halter break these two little guys.  So the two mares and foals have been moved into Moo’s pasture as it was getting quite dangerous walking out to catch my own horses or have humans out there at all.  You realize how well that went don’t you?  You guessed it, we have one pissed off cow on our hands now.  She’s expressed her displeasure by moo-ing at me and glaring at me and running up to the gates begging me to let her out and all sorts of other positively embarrassing behaviors.  Heck I probably should just let her out and have the chicken coop back because the hens sure don’t use it to lay eggs in - oh no, they prefer the soda can recycle bin or Ed’s workbench covered in greasy tools.

Then last night Darren tells me his throat hurts and he’s hotter than blazes so he’s probably coming down with something.

Add in some nasty tornado weather and a lot of extra work just put on me without increasing my pay for one of my contract jobs and ….. well you’ve got one stressed out lady here, to say the least.

They’re both doing quite well considering she had him during one of the worst thunderstorms of the spring.  He’s appropriately named Morning Thunder.

I went out to imprint him and the little rascal had me playing catch circling around mom for about 5 full minutes.  I’m not sure if mom got dizzy or just realized what had to be done but she literally stopped him and after a few minutes of my hands on his topline, she gently laid him to the ground so I could finish - he fell asleep as I was working on his face and neck.  It was just the sweetest thing.

On a more discouraging note, Cartman has choked several times during the fall and winter but we’ve always been able to get it cleared and he’s back to normal within an hour or so.  Yesterday afternoon he choked again, badly.  A vet came out on an emergency call and we had to tube him.  The most disheartening discovery was that Cartman isn’t 15 as Jen was told but actually closer to 30.  The vet showed us all how to check the teeth and exactly what to look for so we would be a little more educated in the process.  Jen’s glad to have some answers now to some questions we were having about Cartman and, of course, loves him even more considering we know now how hard it must be for him to be giving her all that he has recently.  He’s stalled now and we’re feeding him senior feed by the handful to watch for more signs because the vet’s concerned the choke could be caused by a more serious blockage - he’s had nothing that “should” have caused it.  He’s a tough little mustang though and we’re confident he’ll be back in the pasture bossing everyone around in the next few days.

Aren’t they an adorable couple? 

And then there’s Moo with her little calf Sparky.  I’m happy to report that Sparky has been let out of her weaning pen and after making several valiant efforts to nurse from mama, has given up.  Weaning has occurred.  Humans have won.  That’s a battle I don’t ever want to fight again!  Damn crazy cows.

Wow.  Total light bulb moment for me and bang on in my case.  Doesn’t that make perfect sense?  And those of you who already knew this, please just humor me as I’m a clueless wonder and really never thought of it that way.  While at the prison last week I showed pictures of Buck to several of the guys there and imagine my surprise when they all said, “Oh yeah, I remember that big boy.  He’s the one who bucked the warden off so hard he had to have shoulder surgery.”  Little difficult to relax after learning that little tidbit, you know?

The other day I put that knowledge to work and calmly asked Buck for a canter while in the pen all by my little lonesome - it went fantastic.  It was a short distance, he was surprised, but it was smooth as glass and just beautiful so we ended pretty quickly after that.  On Wednesday I had him cantering around the pen for quite a long time and worked on getting different speeds, stopping, and really having him pay attention.  He did fantastic!  Honestly, it couldn’t have gone better.  Now after the incident last week in the pasture I knew I needed to get him out there again so Jen (on Silver) and I took him out tonight, this time in the big front pasture along the road.  We had a couple of issues with the body going one way and the nose going another but overall, it went great and I felt very comfortable.  He was trying to please and figure out what I wanted the entire time and kept trying when he didn’t get it right.  Really, he worked fantastic!  I was *this* close to asking for a canter but the trot was so smooth and nice that I hated to ruin it should something go wrong.  This will be Buck’s first canter “in the open” as the jail only had a very small area out front for the guys to ride - mostly they stayed in the back enclosed arena - so I want his confidence up and I want to ask for it when we have plenty of time to work through it.  The most amazing thing is I never once felt nervous.  Never once felt like I couldn’t bring him back or get him stopped if there was another incident and, to me, that’s really a huge milestone and a nice place to be.

Tomorrow’s the day.  He’s ready and I know he’ll do fine.

The horses are selected for the training program by marketability - color is always big - and curiosity.  A curious horse will usually train better.  Once in training there are two stages the horse can reach, halter broke or saddle broke.  Wild horses can be adopted for $125, halter broke are $150, and saddle broke begin at $300.  The program requires the saddle broke to be qualified for all three gaits under saddle, trailer load, picking up feet for the farrier, and a few other skills.  Meticulous records are kept.

Once a year they hold an auction where the public is invited to tour the facility and learn more about the BLM programs, last week was the open house and we attended.  I was surprised to learn that we could walk through the catwalks all the way to the back and observe the different holding pens as well as two men working on the feet of a horse in the tilt-chute.  All were very friendly and everyone seemed to take such pride in the program.  Their shirts said “Saving Horses, Changing Men” and you could see it on the men’s faces.

We arrived to see the riders out in an open field in front of the barn.

This is Curtis and he was on Yoshi.  Curtis is rated the best trainer and most often starts the horses.  The day before he’d taken a wild one from the back and started it in the roundpen as part of the demonstrations.  We were told he’d mounted but didn’t move the horse out. 

We watched the men riding for a couple hours as we toured the pens and talked with the administrators inside.  They all seemed disappointed in the turnout for the auction and I could understand - only about 10 people had applied for the adoption program and that means only those 10 could bid.  I was glad to know we wouldn’t have been approved because I would have definitely come home with a horse that day!  But we don’t have 6′ fencing, we keep horses together in a herd, and we don’t have a large stock trailer so we wouldn’t qualify.

After working the horse for quite some time, Curtis mounted and moved him out.  To think 48 hrs prior this horse was wild was just amazing and Curtis did a fantastic job. 

Sadly, only four horses sold.  With the horse market as low as it is, you can pick up a dead broke kids horse for under $1,000 (Silver was only $600) so one needing finishing and without trail experience or even a female rider just isn’t going to bring much.  I believe they were disappointed.  The bidding begins at $300 for the saddle broke and since there is usually 30-40 bidders the final price is usually higher but in this case, any of the horses could have been had for the starting price.  I was shocked and again thankful we couldn’t bid.

Deon and Dexter, who administer the program, surprised us by letting us know we could come out anytime so long as we notified security and watch the inmates working, ask questions, or pick out a horse.  You know, other than needing some finishing, these are wonderful horses known for their loyalty, hardiness and, as proven during the Extreme Mustang Makeover, ability to perform a number of disciplines.  Not only that, but there’s just the mystic of riding a formerly wild horse.  I know from experience when I talk with people about our horses, even the ag. class that visited from Hesston college, once they hear “mustang” that’s pretty much the only thing they want to hear about from that point on.  Any future horses for us will definitely come from the program. 

But anyway, back to the big news.

Once or maybe even twice during our marriage, my babbling has really paid off.  Last week was one of those times.

I went down the road to look at some hay and after determining it would be just fine, I asked the older gentleman about his two old tractors in the shed with us.  One was newer but the other looked like it was from the 40’s and just the cutest little thing.  Rather than leave it at that I began extolling the torture of not having our own tractor to keep our pastures and how my husband’s a mechanic so one not running would be perfect and a whole bunch of other stuff that I don’t even remember saying.   But this time, their reaction was different.  This time the wife lit up and said, I may have the perfect tractor for you!  My brother’s hasn’t run in years and it’s a model M where this one here is a model H.   Now I have no idea what difference the M is from the H or the T or the L but I sure rushed home to tell Ed and next thing you know we’re calling brother to discuss a price and heading down to see the tractor.

Ed headed over there Saturday to get it running and then gave me a call that he was heading home.  Mr. Frazier had held this tractor on his farm for a lot of years and asked if he could road it home to drive it a final time and Ed surely let him.

Naturally as soon as Ed told My Damn Brother In Law Nathan, he headed up to see the tractor and celebrate with us.

Everyone should have a Damn Brother In Law Nathan.  They keep you on your toes.

Here’s Elizabeth getting her driving lesson before being turned loose.  Ack!  Look at the teeth on that sickle blade!  Don’t fall Lis!  Her mother’s going to see this picture and put her on the first plane back to California where it’s safe.  Hey, I figure if she can master mowing with this thing, driving a car won’t be a problem.

Jen took off through the pasture and did great.  The girl loves tractors so she got her fix that day.

Ed mowed the back pasture yesterday and just loves the tractor - it’s absolutely perfect for the farm and we are just thrilled.  So see, my babbling paid off.  Hopefully it won’t be another 13 years before it happens again.

After much armchair riding and analyzing what I did wrong last time in the pasture (to the point of nearly re-creating the event!) we realized that I was seriously escalating my body language - leaning forward, raising a little in my saddle, etc.  I think I am picturing Buck having his little rodeo in the pen and bucking people off (yes, it’s happened twice and it’s damn ugly let me tell you).  So as I’m riding him I keep picturing these people flying off and him doing his bucking thing so what do I do?  Brace myself, tense, and escalate like off the charts.  Buck did exactly what I told him to do, panic and bolt to safety - the barn.  The only good thing I did was get him stopped and continue the ride so we ended on a good note but short of that, I totally sucked.

So I spent some time practicing on Cartman keeping completely relaxed and really monitoring my body language.  Since Buck hasn’t had anyone on his back in a canter for over two years we decided to have Jen in the pen to move him out.  This allowed Buck to concentrate on her rather than the bit and reins as well as allowed me to concentrate on relaxing.  The most interesting thing to me was that Jen kept saying he was in his nice comfortable slow little jog but in the saddle he felt more like a very fast trot — the boy just has a really fast trot, even at the jog.  So I got over that and then she asked for a canter.  I forced myself to breath It was the smoothest transition and the most wonderful ride! 

And here’s where I admit something.  Men (namely my Damn Brother in Law Nathan and my husband) should just look away before you scoff loudly and tease for me years to come.

We both knew what was coming and after a quick turn around the pen she stopped him then held him while I got off.  You see I was shaking so badly from holding back the tears.  I know, I know, how silly is that?  I mean, the men at the prison cantered him all day long so it’s not like his first time or anything but it’s the first time it’s been a woman and it’s the first time I’ve done it.  And a few months ago I could barely get up to him to pet him.  And he’s bucked people off while he was just standing.  And two years ago he was running wild with a herd.  And, and, and…… well you know, I couldn’t help it.  The instant my feet hit the ground I left him with Jen and just sobbed with joy.

Then I hugged him and thanked him for not killing me.

You know I read in some book, I think it was Monty Roberts, that women (never men) would say quite often that a horse he’d trained for them or was selling to them was “too good of a horse” for them.  They had a hard time believing they were worthy of such a wonderfully trained animal.  I often have that mindset.  I’m an overweight 40 yr old mother of three who’s only been actively learning about horses for under two years and I have that mindset.  Even though everyone who’s seen me with Buck is so impressed with our connection I just don’t feel worthy of it.  I don’t feel worthy of this guy letting me, me of all people, receive his respect.  But when I look back to all the times he could have bucked me, could have had me off in a heartbeat but didn’t.  He’s been scared, oh yes.  He’s been confused, definitely.  He’s done what I (incorrectly) asked him.  And he’s protected me every step of the way.

He’s mine.  Today I felt it and today I accepted it.  We’re going to be great together.

And I promise to have pictures from the prison and updates on the kids and all kinds of non-female-mushy updates tomorrow.