On A Scale of One to Ten,

I'd rate my horse an 8 as a trail horse.

This is a picture of My Boy and I next to the "Big Blue Monster." He's finally building some muscle on his spotted hiney!

On the trails we ride, there is a huge piece of machinery. It looks like a blue metal ramp, possibly used to haul logging equipment. It has not been moved in years and has alder trees growing around and through it. Every time we come out of the wooded trail and into the small cleared intersection where the Big Blue Monster is, the horses always look at it with extreme interest. I've rarely seen a horse just walk right up to it. Usually they snort a little, move sideways, and generally expect the thing to leap up at them at any moment.

Last week, as we approached the blue monster near the homestretch of our ride, I was shocked that My Boy curiously walked right up the blue monster when I asked him, even smelled it when he got there (no doubt thinking there might be something to eat on it.) I even side-passed him up next to it for a picture. Credit for the helmet and the "lemonade" in the water bottle goes to Paint Girl. She is loaning me her helmet to try, since I came to the conclusion that mine was giving me headaches and that I might want to opt for a lighter-weight style than I was planning on purchasing. Actually, credit for the "lemonade" should go to my aunt The Desert Rose, the "lemonade" queen. A little liquid courage never hurt on the trails, but that is a different post!

My Boy is a little annoyed he's hasn't been front and center in the blog posts of late, all this talk of a "mutant monkey" has him stamping his little steel clad hooves. Speaking of which, he got new shoes on Saturday. It'd been about 8 weeks since his last shoeing, and my farrier said his hooves were "good enough to go on a horseback riding trip." This was good to hear as scheduling farrier appointments around a horse trip is tricky. We have one next month and I don't want my horse to be "due" the week after the trip as that might be pushing our luck, yet I don't want him to be too freshly trimmed so that he's tender. I'm just hoping My Boy can keep his shoes on! I noticed the farrier put in an extra nail in each hoof this time.

At first, My Boy was a little stinker for the farrier with his hind legs. I think our recent miles under saddle on the trails have him a little sore, we have been hiking up and down some serious hills! I should have given him a little horsey aspirin and the thought crossed my mind. Sorry spotted pill!

I am happy to report the sarcoid is looking better. It still has suspicious looking tissue, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that it is scar tissue from the sloughing. I heard Xxterra can cause scarring. I'll take a scar over a resurgence of the bump any day! At this point I'm going to keep an eye on it and as long as it doesn't change for the worse, I do not plan to have the vet out. At least not until after our horsey trip, as any biopsy or surgery to his face area could prevent him from being rideable for a few weeks.

Last but not least, I remember my Cowgirl Dreams book giveaway post? Nobody pointed it out at the time, but My Boy was in the pasture and not wearing a halter! Shortly after that, it went back on, until the sarcoid healed and we got through the 4th of July firework ruckus. However, when I turned him loose after his farrier appointment last weekend, Paint Girl and I talked about it and I decided to leave the halter off. He has been meeting me at the gate every time I call him, and even when I remove the breakaway halter and put on his normal one, he hasn't been goofy or pulled back.

My Boy walking down to meet me from the back of his pasture.

I decided it was time to start working with the catching a little bit again. If I know I have to catch him for a big ride or event, I will leave on the breakaway. But I'd like to get it off of him as much as I can. So, we'll see how the catching game goes this time around. Keep your fingers crossed!

I hope you all had really super great weekends!

Phantom Spots

What do ya think? Should I trade in spots for patches?

Paint Girl and I scheduled a trail ride with Tracey from the Mustang Diaries. I was so excited to finally meet Tracey and her daughter and their two Mustangs, whom I've been reading about since I figured out what a blog was, over a year ago!

After getting home from a week's visit with my parents, I went up to see my horse on a muggy, dizzily day. He happily came to the gate to see me and ate a mushy apple out of his bucket. As he was eating I couldn't help noticing how the light rain falling on him made him smell. It was a heavenly sweet horse scentl. If I could get it bottled, I quite possibly think I could market it!

I took My Boy up to the grooming area. I was glad to see the sarcoid scab was gone and healing up nicely, but there is still a red nubbin of a bump to keep an eye on, I have a feeling it is the beginning of a sarcoid in the making. We'll see how it grows.

I picked out My Boy's hooves and when I went to lift his right hind- what the? He was missing a shoe! I couldn't believe it. I took him up to the arena anyway and let him run around a bit. Then I let him graze and called Paint Girl to tell her I wouldn't be taking My Boy on the ride. She said, "What?!" I think she thought something was wrong with him.

I called the farrier, hoping he could squeeze me in for a fix, but he wasn't available until Saturday. Paint Girl and I decided I would ride Fritzy, her Other Half's mare, on the ride.

After I put My Boy away, I began my hunt for the shoe. I did this when he lost a front one last winter, but never found it. I was surprised my horse lost a shoe in the mucky winter pasture, but I'm not sure why he lost a shoe in the dry pasture. I've never had problems with him losing shoes before this past year.

After much searching...and weed pulling....and rock tossing.....I saw this, right there in the dirt!

I swear I had walked by it already. It was in the path along the fence line, where My Boy walks all the time. Interestingly, it wasn't his recent shoe. It looked too bent up and rusty to be a fresh loss. I think this was the shoe from last winter! So where was the most recent one? Who knows, I never found it.

I emailed Tracey to tell her that we could still ride, but My Boy had to stay home. I told her she was going to question whether or not My Boy even existed! She jokingly called him "Phantom Spots." I loved it!

My Boy gave me a funny look as I walked by his pasture to fetch Fritzy for the ride. He neighed at us as we headed to the trailer. Poor boy! I felt bad leaving him behind. I felt like such a traitor.

We had a great trail ride with Tracey, her daughter, and their two handsome bay Mustang geldings. Other than a few rain showers, we had a good ride. The Mustangs walk out well and mostly left our slowpoke equines in the dust.

My view for this ride. This view is not my usual perky set of sorrel ears!

I was impressed with Sandy's jumping logs and weed-eating abilities, and Steve Holt!'s calm, easy going disposition as he led us on most of the two-hour ride. Hard to believe that just 6 months ago, he was an adopted wild 2 1/2 year old! Tracey and her daughter do amazing work!

Of course, Tracey had to tell me that she had some yearling Mustangs, gentled and nearly ready for adoption....well, when I'm ready for a Mustang of my own someday, I will definitely consider a Tracey-gentled one!

Here we are waiting for the farrier on Saturday. Bailey had to come lay by my feet. He thinks he is my dog sometimes.

I thought My Boy might get jealous when I gave Bailey some loves. Alas, he just dozed in the sun.

My Boy has his shoe back on, and I will be applying hoof conditioner every time I see him. The farrier recommended an oil-based conditioner, and said to avoid those where the main ingredient was water.

Hopefully, we are ready for some rides. We have some fun ones with family on the calendar!

That is, as long as My Boy stays sarcoid-free and keeps his shoes on!

Saturday

Well. I went and did it. I adopted a wild Mustang. Here she is.

Just kidding! Anyway, this is just Paint Girl's mare, Fritzy. Know something kind of funny? Fifteen minutes before I took these pictures, she had been, groomed, longed, and totally clean. The minute she was back in her pasture, she dirtied herself up.

We planned to do our first trail ride of the season on Sunday, so on Saturday, Paint Girl and I decided to longe the "kinks" out of the horses. Fritzy was the only one that really needed it, since she hadn't been worked much all winter.

The neighbors were riding their horses in their pasture, which is separated by a line of trees behind the arena. Our horses spotted them and went on high alert. Paint Girl was longing Fritzy, who flagged her tail and got all prancy.

My Boy got all studly and raised his neck and head high.

My Boy and I hung out and nibbled on arena weeds while we waited for Fritzy to be done. Er, at least he nibbled on arena weeds, I ate a protein bar.

Wait, I'm not next, am I?

Then my spotted stinker got worked, too. His newly shod tender hooves are back to normal. I still think his toes are a bit short.

Bad news, that blasted sarcoid has scabbed up again! Which means it was oozing from the Xxterra we put on it last weekend. I'm starting to get frustrated. I applied Xxterra again on top of the scab this weekend. I'm going to call and consult with the vet this week.

Oh, and these dandelions from my photography blog? I think they're gone now. There has been some large, red spotted animal on the loose, devouring weeds.

Who, me?

To be continued.....

I Picked Rocks

That is not all I accomplished this weekend, but it feels like it.

The farrier called me Friday and asked if he could move my appointment up two hours on Saturday. I didn't get the message until Saturday morning. The time change worked fine for me, but it meant that if I was going to ride, it had to be after the appointment. Which meant riding might not be possible, because sometimes My Boy has tender hooves after a trim.

My Boy does not always get "owy toes," as my auntie Desert Rose calls them. Typically, he's just tender on his newly trimmed hind hooves, for a couple of days. Most of the fall and winter, his hinds are left unshod. This time, in prep for summer trail riding season, I had the farrier put shoes on the back hooves. I decided to ride anyway, but only at a walk.


After the farrier left, Paint Girl brought out and groomed Brandy, then we saddled up.

When we got to the arena, it seemed like My Boy was walking like he was wearing a brand new pair of stilettos that weren't broken in yet. He was very tentative. I think his toes were a little short. Am I babying him? Needless to say, we didn't get much riding in.

Luckily, I had longed him out in the arena right before the farrier came and he loped a lot, so he got his legs stretched.

Unluckily, I think the sarcoid might be trying to make a comeback. I could see the resurgence of tiny red veins under the skin, which is what happened last time it "fingered" off from the original site a month ago. So, on again went that rust-colored Xxterra.

If I am just seeing things and the flesh is normal, the Xxterra won't do anything, so I'm mostly being prudent. I'm just hoping this doesn't become a chronic issue. If it does, I'll have to have the vet out again to reassess and implement plan B. Whatever that may be!

Indian ponies, checking out the stick teepee.

I didn't ride Sunday either, just to let him stand on those hooves another day. I brought him out for grooming, walking, and grazing. He seemed to be more comfortable. I also picked rocks. Since the pasture has dried out, it's easier to see how the "Painted Creek Rock Breeding Program" has been doing since last summer. It looked pretty successful! I rounded up the rocks and prepared them for shipping (tossed them over the fence.)

Wow, the winter hair is really starting to make itself scarce! My horse is roaning out and what was once copper is turning more of a liver chestnut. I love when their faces and legs loose all that long yak hair. My most handsome boy is back!

Lastly, you might have noticed on my sidebar- I started another blog. Mercy, what have I gotten myself into? It's a place just for my photos. With the new camera, I find that I am taking a lot of pictures. I hate to have them just sit in the files on my computer and they aren't always worthy of a story on their own. So, stop on by and see what you think. I think I am learning more and more with every click of the shutter.....but have many more clicks before I have it all figured out!

One thing I want to do is get the photos to load into a post at a larger size. The quality of the photo is also not as good when at a reduced size. They look great on my laptop, but when loaded into the post- not as good. When enlarged (by clicking on the photo in the post) it looks much better. I've heard some people use Flickr, but I am confused as to how you get the photos from Flickr to the post? Any other suggestions? Thanks!


UPDATE: I played around on Flickr and figured out how to load the photos using code. Now they are nice and big (except for one, which I had forgotten to load into Flickr.) Now when you click on the photo, it goes to my Flickr account. I'm not sure I like this?

I Had Big Plans

My spotted pill got off lucky this weekend. He really needed a workout. He's gathering spring flab on his hiney again. My horse winters well. Goodness, maybe I ought to send him to the desert with my Aunt in the winter and let her wet some saddle blankets on him. Good 'ole Appies, at least they are easy keepers!

I had big plans to ride my horse on Saturday. However, since I was on the couch all day with a migraine, My Boy got to fly solo. On Sunday, I felt better and had a work obligation most of the day, but I made it to the farm late that afternoon. After making a hay run with Paint Girl, I fed my horse and at least got in some grooming while he ate. Then it was off to finish puppy duty (Part Two tomorrow.) It was a whirlwind day, but when you waste one day in migraine mode, you have to play catch-up once your brain is out of the squeezer!

It was nice to just hang out with him. He actually seemed happy to see me- shocker!

After I curried away piles of hair, I left the pasture to snap a few photos of something I spotted outside of the pasture. Lo and behold, he quickly left his dinner, headed to the fence line, and gave me this look. Hmm....what could be up?

I'll tell you more about it ...... on Saturday!

Oh, I was pleased to see the rest of the sarcoid scab had finally come off! I was beginning to wonder about that stubborn scab, which was from the second round of Xxterra I'd applied to the two "fingers" left on the sarcoid last month. It is looking good, mostly dry skin, with some hair growing in. I keep slapping sunscreen on it, hoping to prevent sunburn and further damage.

The weather doesn't look so great this week, or I'd try to get up and work my horse on Thursday. The farrier visits Saturday, and my horse is getting shoes put on the back hooves again in preparation for spring trail rides. Spring keeps teasing us....but at least we had a good week of it to dry out a lot of the mud in the pasture! As soon as that is gone for good...so is my horse's turnout halter, and we'll begin working on catching again. Just thinking about that gives me....another migraine. I kid, I kid. I'm actually looking forward to work over this hump again!

My Boy Monday

Where did all this water come from? It hasn't rained in days!

When I got to the Painted Creek on Sunday, I was pleasantly surprised. Paint Girl's other half had cleaned out the horse troughs! This is a big spring task for us and it was nice that the tanks were gleaming silver again. I guess I'll be baking him batches of thank-you brownies.......for the next two years.

Last weekend I bought My Boy a toy. A "busy ball." It is supposed to keep him, well-busy. You can see how well it is working:

Actually, I got a call on Saturday that he was spotted playing with it for the first time! It was evident by the dried goo on his muzzle today that he had indeed been attempting to get a taste of the corn, oats, and molasses treat. I was hoping to catch him playing with it yesterday and get some video or pictures. No such luck. My Boy was too busy nibbling on the green grass blades poking up in his pasture. He keeps the fence line nicely mowed.

I am recovering from a cold virus and didn't have the energy to ride. I decided to just turn My Boy out in the arena and free longe him. I took off his halter so we could work on "catching" in the arena. Different scenario than in his pasture, but catching and haltering still the same.

It was warm out and he was not feeling very energetic. I wanted to snap some pictures, but found that photographing my horse and motivating him at the same time was nothing short of hilarious. Picture me running around with a carrot stick in one hand, my Nikon in the other, making clucking sounds like a chicken. Let's just say it didn't help my runny nose nor my attempt at a mellow day with my horse. And every time I stopped to frame a picture, he stopped moving and faced up, too. It's kind of how he's trained when free longing.

My horse is always willing to stop. It's his favorite thing to do. Maybe that is why he was a reining horse?

As feeding time approaches, the horses are famous for their stare-downs. Paint Girl's mares give me the look.

There is nothing but hope in those eyes, I tell ya. If their thoughts could be verbalized, they'd be saying something like is it time, is it time, is it TIME???

Other than the fact the angle of this shot makes my horse's hiney and belly look incredibly huge, I had to laugh at his perked, expectant ears. I know exactly who he's watching! I drew a little arrow in to point out "the feed man" (Paint Girl's OH) coming out of the garage.

After we feed, Paint Girl, her OH, and I always watch the horses settle in and eat for a bit. I observed that the pasture mud had really dried out since last week. That flies were crawling across my horse's forehead (hatch fly predators, hatch!) That the late afternoon air still had a tint of warmth. That the neighborhood was filled with the sound of humming lawn mower engines.

I think that spring is finally here.

What's Your Pick?

Which of these pictures of My Boy do you like best? The one in color, or the one in black and white? You can click on the pictures to see them in better detail.

For some reason, I really like this picture. It's really unusual for me to take such a candid picture of my horse. Typically, he's looking right at me over the gate. Or, he's going around the arena on the longe line. Or, we're posing while someone else is taking the picture. Or, he's eating grass.

But this one really captures him in a moment that I see frequently, but never snap a picture of. He was leaving his "hangout spot" near the tree and walking down to the gate. He reached the muddiest spot in the pasture and stopped. You can tell he is very contemplative here. He lowered his head a bit, seemed to take a breath, looked once to his right, and then came to a decision. He continued walking down to the gate.

I'll never really know why he paused. I can only imagine exactly what he was thinking. He didn't like the mud? He didn't want to be caught? He heard something in the woods? But I like the lowered position of his head, the ears going two different directions, the breeze blowing lightly on his mane and forelock. I just don't know if I like it better in color, or in black and white!

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Just Another Sunday on the Farm

Sunday was partly sunny, a good day to get outside things done. It was time to head to the Painted Creek farm to tend to my horsey chores!

First up, we got hay. I usually buy around 8 bales at a time, which lasts a little over a month. I was happy to see that the price had gone down a dollar a bale.

Next up, helmet shopping. The tack shop had the exact style and color I wanted, but not in my size. I'm telling ya, that always happens to me. I walked out with a pair of $4.95 gloves instead, as my favorite Ariat grooming and longing ones are getting a hole on one of the fingers.

Back to the farm to see my horse. I met him in the pasture and let him have some snacks as I started to groom him. Hair was a flyin' everywhere!

If I can just get this bucket tilted right....

Mmmmm....success.

It's not a good thing, grooming a shedding horse on a breezy day. Unless you want to close your eyes while you're brushing! I picked his hooves, applied some thrush medication, and checked out his scab. Of course I'll post a photo, because I know you are probably really, really missing the scab photos, right?

It looks about the same. Maybe a little better. The vet will be out to do shots in a week or so, I'll have her check it then and tell me whether I need to do another cycle of Xxterra.

I didn't bring My Boy out as I am feeling under the weather and trying to take it easy, but just seeing him, and standing in the sun for a while, felt like it make me a wee bit healthier!

Everyone on the farm seemed to be enjoying the Sunday sun, including Ralph, the cud chewing goat. Looks like he's starting his spring shed, too!

Even Paint Girl's mares were napping in the sun in the back of their pasture. In fact, nothing seemed capable of disturbing them too much. Not a photo-snapping Pony Girl. Not even the cacophony of sounds going on back there. Take a listen and see if you can guess what that sound of spring is (and no, it's not a UFO landing.)

As I got back to the house, I saw Domino the cat lying near the tire of the truck. I got down to snap a picture (can't go anywhere without taking a picture of something....even a rock makes a nice subject if my mood is right......)

He immediately got up and crawled over, threw himself into the gravel and began rolling and wanting some petting.

Not fifteen seconds later he took off running back to the tire in hot pursuit. Huh?

A-ha, I see, I see! He was after this little guy. Wait, let me rephrase that. He was after this BIG guy.

Cat pursued mouse under the truck and horse trailer for several minutes. The poor mouse appeared uninjured, just a little in shock as he stopped to rest under the horse trailer tire. It was his lucky day, Domino didn't look like he wanted a meal, just a little lazy afternoon play time and he finally wandered off to let the mouse be. Now if it'd been Paint Girl's cat Morgan on this hunt....well, that mouse would have been supper.

Not to totally change the subject, but just for you Jane, the vintage Dan Post buckaroos on my feeties! Please excuse the self-portrait-in-a-mirror shot. This has an awfully 70's retro vibe, don't you think? No, I'm not wearing acid washed jeans, I just think the mirror is dusty!

And after Tammy mentioned my Justin's boots might be lizard, I did some research online. I discovered that Justin still makes boots out of (iguana) lizard skin. Most of them are styled similar to, and have style numbers in the 4000's, like my pair. Also, they are pricey little buggers, nearly $300! So if I got a used pair in great shape, and they are authentic lizard, mine were a steal at $52! Coolness! Am I too old to use this word?

Speaking of the Painted Creek Farm....stay tuned, I have a surprise to announce to you in the weeks to come!

I hope you all had a great weekend and accomplished something that you wanted to, no matter how small!