A Day Of Rest - NOT!

Yesterday's blog was only the first 2 hours of my day. After riding with Lindsey and Junior I came home and unsaddled, fed all the horses, donkeys and mules, turned the water on to fill the pasture trough, fed the outside dogs and went in to feed the inside dogs and eat breakfast myself. After breakfast talked Lindsey into trimming Clementine while I held her before she went to work (Lindsey's faster than I am). Clem wasn't so sure about that whole deal, but soon figured out that if she quit kicking the snot out of me held still, we got done quicker. Clem's new parents Chuck and Jill had come by so they got to watch... such nice folks, I couldn't be more pleased for my sweet little girl. After they left I was going to leave to pick up some hay but before I did, I realized that I left the water on in the pasture trough - I thought only the kids did that {sigh}. Ran all the way to the back to find a lake, mostly in the neighbor's yard though {oops...}

Back to the plan, ran up to one of my favorite feed stores to pick up hay and some supplements, and check the donation canister Matt so kindly keeps next to his cash register. Tried to buy a dog toy too but they didn't put it on the bill... ran into Nate (one of our adopters) who of course had to give me a ration... wouldn't be Nate if he didn't! Among other things he razzed me about my backing skills... well it's a brand new vehicle and a "new" (used) trailer I hadn't ever used before... so I was a little rough the first time, but backing up to the second stack of hay I was perfect! So there, Nate! Yes, the Jeep is already being used for ranch chores {gasp}.
Grab a quick bite (the trip to Wickenburg is always a good excuse to hit the KFC for a chicken pot pie YUM) and back home to clean out the hay barn AGAIN and unload the hay. Robyn my wonderful part-time helper showed up in time to clean stalls while I worked on the barn, then helped me finish the barn and unload the hay. Then it was time for us to catch Foxy and Sunshine and it was off to a birthday party - the second one for this 6-year-old, we did her 4th birthday too! Aren't my girls adorable...
Foxy above, Sunshine below, all dressed up and ready to go!
Ran by WalMart on the way home for dog food and cat food - why do we run out of food for everyone at once??? Turned the girls back out with the herd, put away the saddles etc., discover that Austin the mini stallion has turned himself out with the BIG horses... put a stop to THAT real quick! Hey now boy, pick on someone your OWN size!

While I was gone Randy and our friend Josh got half the new patio cover done, but the wind got so bad they had to quit before someone got hurt... Hilary got home from work about the time Robyn left, the wind canceled her plans to ride Cimarron as well, so she and Randy went target shooting across the road while my idea was to get caught up on downloading pictures from the day... but first I went outside with the camera for a while.
Meet one of our fish. You can tell it's getting hot because you can't see the rest of them...
Took a ton of pictures that will probably all show up here sooner or later...
Like these - I am so happy to see new green shoots coming up on the bamboo I planted Easter Sunday, it means I didn't wait too long and kill them!

Ended up out back to discover Hilary's mare Destiny with her front shoe caught in the fence AGAIN - this mare REALLY wants to break her leg, I swear! So while Hilary fed, Randy and I did a bang-up repair job on the fence - LOL, well, we did the best we could with what we had. Come on tax refund, we need to buy a roll of wire (or two), this fence has had it!
Inside to download more pictures, shower, eat dinner and BLOG...

WHERE did Sunday go???

oops!

never mind...

My Daughter, the Horse Trainer

Those of you who read Mikey's blog http://thehorseshoeinghousewife.blogspot.com/ recently saw her write about helping my daughter Lindsey trim "Junior", a horse she is training. Today Lindsey took Junior out of the yard for his first "real" ride. I went along... just in case. Couldn't help it, I'm her mom...
Lindsey and Junior
Found a nice grassy patch but it was a dead end...
Saddle adjustment - he stood pretty good for it!
Getting back on - he stood for that too! She commented that her own horse (who is 18!) won't even do that! Facing down a scary pile of trash! And he did even better, facing down one of his biggest fears, a dog charging the fence. And this was a BIG dog...
Is that horse posing???
He's got such a smooth trot, Lindsey doesn't even move...
Nice appy butt!

He was very intent on the mule across the street - what IS that???
Heading back home...
Typical curious 3-year-old, he had to check out the saddle after it was taken off. That's his adoptive mom Lucy welcoming him home...
Nice looking boy huh?
Someone is going to get a REALLY nice ride... Junior will be for sale soon... as for the kid, I think I will keep her ;) and I've decided to have her start my 3-year-old as well.

A Different Kind Of Ride

Years ago I was on a drill team with Scottsdale Saddle Club. I enjoyed it tremendously and the weekly practice of the intricate moves really helped me, as well as Lindsey and Hilary, become better riders. From time to time the subject has come up on recent trail rides, so today a few of us got together and played drill team.

At first we had trouble lining up, even just 2-across.
Still a little rough.
Two pairs, perfect!
Then we split our pairs in half, came from opposite ends and crossed the arena, making an X.
After we mastered the 2-across, we worked on 3-across...
And then 6-across...
A perfect line, 6-across!
Single file, which, believe it or not, is almost as hard as 6-across!
We had a blast and plan to do it again soon, hopefully with more notice more riders will be able to make it.

Cheaper By The Dozen?

One can only hope... you see my wonderful husband, who said there were too many dogs when we only had eight, decided suddenly that Darci needed a puppy to keep her company. (She is the only one of our dogs that is too small to be let out alone without human supervision. Right now Hannah's pup Sherman is inside with her but that won't last forever... he is growing...)

To be fair, Randy is really truly searching ads on Craigslist etc. etc. for a pup for his grandma... but she wants a short-haired Chihuahua and lo and behold what does he find but a very affordable LONG-haired Chihuahua...

Meet Vada (on the right):

See Darci lurking? She sneaks in after they are done eating and scarfs up the crumbs. She doesn't really need the food but there's not much left and if she cleans up the mess, I don't have to ;)
Sorry so many pictures of them eating but when they are awake that's the only way to get them to hold still!
A view of both pups from the top for comparison. Sherman doesn't look much bigger but he weighs twice what Vada weighs! He is 3 days older, born February 11 and Vada was born February 14.
I tried for a close-up but it didn't turn out that great:
She looks EXACTLY like her mother... her father was red, with less hair and a bit smaller than mom, so I am hoping there is some of him in there somewhere!

And if the name Vada sounds familiar to you... you probably saw the movie "My Girl".

Here We Go Again

Thank goodness Randy taught all of the kids where the shut-off valve is for the water lines. Had a bigger trailer hooked up to the golf cart to feed, and somebody hit a water line. I'm sure it wasn't me, because I fed Tuesday night, and Hilary said the water was not there when she fed Wednesday morning. However when she went out later in the morning, she found a lake. But she claims she did not hit the pipe. If I had hit it the night before, don't you think she would have seen the water the next morning?
This picture was taken tonight - still a lot of water.

The source of the trouble.
I got my best friend the shovel and dug out around the broken pipe - my contribution to the repair process :)

While digging I discovered a ratchet - which I guess must have been left the LAST time the pipe broke.
Randy's contribution: he brings home the pieces, and glues things back together. He says that's not his ratchet after all, so maybe the people who lived here before left it there? Although I am sure we have dug that particular pipe up at least once since we moved in...
Capped! We never use this spigot anyway... so this was easier than a complete repair.
Now to wait for the glue to dry and then turn the water back on and pray!

Oh, and the REASON why we have a bigger trailer hooked to the golf cart? SOMEONE drove the regular feeding trailer with a flat tire, for so long that it came off the rim.
Guess who did that? Not me! Hilary is on spring break so she's been feeding...

When Someone Asks Why

Not long ago, upon finding out that one of my dear friends (my age) has cancer, I was asking myself that question. "WHY?????"
This is one of the best explanations of why there is pain and suffering that I have seen...
A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: "I don't believe that God exists."
"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.
"Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children?
If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things."
The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop.
Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber:"You know what? Barbers do not exist." "How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"
"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside."
"Ah, but barbers DO exist! That's what happens when people do not come to me."
"Exactly!" affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! That's what happens when people do not go to Him and don't look to Him for help. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."
The only thing that bothered me about this explanation is, my friend is a GOOD Christian woman, who DOES turn to God. So again, WHY her? We talked about this at Midweek Fellowship on several occasions and I feel it was cleared up. See it's not just my friend individually... it's really all of humankind, who have made decisions over the years without looking to God for guidance, causing environmental and hereditary changes that now result in what is happening to my friend.
I believe that God can still turn this around for her, and she is in my prayers daily.

Serving Up Leftovers

I told you that Sunday before last (not Easter) I had a really busy day... well besides what you have already heard about, I also had a gal by the name of Robyn come out for the first time, she had advertised for a job on AZBCR and although I neither need nor can I afford full time help, which is what she was looking for, we talked and agreed that until she found something, it would be helpful for both of us if she came out part time. I told her, I won't make you rich, but I won't work you to death either... well Robyn cleaned all the pens so I could get some other stuff done, it was wonderful. Then, I asked her if she wanted to tag along team sorting, which she did.

And we got lucky, because the weather was pretty nasty and looking to get worse, there was only one other team when we arrived, so we got some pretty solid cow work in before the storm rolled in.

Robyn and Paint Mare - Robyn had never done this before so she first had to learn to cut a cow away from the herd...

Guarding the gate
Getting better with every try
Letting the right cow through
Those clouds were getting darker and darker...
Since one of the gals on the other team was Mikey's friend Kathy that she rides with a lot, we "knew" each other enough that I felt comfortable asking her to take the camera so I could actually be in some pictures. She caught some good shots...

Katie getting a cow

Following 8, right through the gate...
Sending the cow through as Robyn and Paint Mare head out for the next one
Katie just loves this!
Except when it's her turn to stand at the gate - she is ready for the next cow!
After a good solid hour of playing with the cows, it started to sleet, so we wise women packed it in and headed home (where of course there was not a drop of rain - sigh!)

Now come on, admit it, how many of you read the title of this post and thought I was going to talk about food???