It started out ugly, but we got sunshine! Woo Hoo!

WE HAD SUNSHINE AND ARE SOOOOO HAPPY!



Okay, this picture really was not taken today, but we were happy that day too! This is Ajax, one of our BLM burros, and I.

I had to work 1/2 day today and the morning started out really ugly! I left the house and we had a rain/snow mixture going on. I got to work and it was only raining in town...but after about an hour it started snowing and got cold real quick again. You know what that means! Everyone gets in a hurry to beat the slick roads, but they wait until the roads are already slick, and they then visit the ditch. There were several of those this morning...thankfully the ones I knew about were minor. Hopefully the rest were too.

By the time I got home this afternoon, the sun was shining, it was still cold and windy, but I didn't care. I was so excited to see the sun! I spent the rest of the afternoon outside. A few of the horses needed to be dewormed, so I got that done. I got the front feet of Halo, one of our mustangs, trimmed. I need to get the back done too, but she was having a major attitude moment! She was actually kicking at me - on both sides! I watched her face and she didn't look mad and she didn't act like she was in pain. She was just annoyed and thought she would relay that message to me. I tried different ways to get the trimming done and I really thought she would let me trim from the top, but she was on to me! So I decided to put the trimming/filing stuff away, and we would just work on picking up and holding rear feet. It was not much fun for her, but we worked it out. I am hoping that next time we can get the rears done. If not...we will do some more pick up and holding. I would have worked her but there is still a lot of ice on the ground. Just not safe...so I worked with what room I had under the canopy.

I wish I would have got some video of the turkeys on the ice. For some reason they need to follow me (or whoever) around the pen, and they hurry when doing it. Well, they are not real graceful on ice, and it is quite humorous to watch them slide around. I guess I should not laugh. I have to hold on to the panels in order to stay on my feet.

ACK! Just occurred to me that this is the bad thing about the sun shining today. There were several areas that melted and made little puddle pockets on the ice, which means it will be nice and smooth tomorrow. Oh well, I enjoyed the day anyways, and I will just be more careful tomorrow. :-)

I went thru my blog and looked at some of the pictures from the beginning...it was fun to look back on that journey. It reminded me of the neat people I met, of what I learned I could do myself, that I am looking forward to doing it again, and it reminded me of how lucky I am. I still get very emotional about some of the things I experienced, and I wonder if anybody else still gets that way too. There were so many of us who don't show, etc., so it was a pretty big deal for us! I also wonder if those who have been training for a while, and/or show or compete, also feel that way. Hmmmmmm....

I have also been reading the blog of some of the competitors for the Northwest Extreme Mustang Makeover. That group of trainers have had their horses for about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks, and I love reading about their progress! I am so impressed that those trainers do not let the weather get in their way! This past summer it got so hot and humid, not to mention too much rain, and I found myself wondering if I would rather do a winter training session. The answer is "No way!" I will take the heat and mud over the ice any day! Now if we just had regular snow, cold weather, etc., I might be able to tough it out. It would be an excuse for me to the get the pink coveralls that I think I need...but I refrain from getting them because they would not stay pink very long. :-)

Guess I have babbled on long enough....

I hope everyone has a great holiday season! Be safe and be happy!

Karen and Tripp

I miss Summer...the days are now getting longer! Yay!

Sunday was the first day of Winter, which means it was the shortest day of the year. The days will get slightly longer now...thank goodness! I am a Sun Goddess and require good old fashioned sunshine.

I was told I need to update my blog, and that is another reason I don't care for Winter. I am not outside as much. It is dark when I leave for work, it is dark when I get home from work, and the weekends are spent playing catch-up. Not very interesting stories in that!

TRIPP: "I miss Summer."



A butterfly to remind me that Spring will arrive in due time...gives us all something to look forward to. :-)



More green...Brian and I also do letterboxing (letterboxing.org or atlasquest.com) and on one of the trails we were walking, we saw this huge dead tree. I am an official tree hugger! Every time we find a neat big tree, I hug it!



A week or so ago my Mom and sister came to town to shop at Sam's Club. I took part of the day off to hang out with them. Of course they wanted to come up to see the mini's...my sister is bound and determined to get some, but right now her husband says 'No!'. I told her she is doing it all wrong...she does it and then you say "LOOK WHAT I GOT!" :-)
This is my sister Kandi hanging out with Hood. He captured her heart too, and she also agreed that he is a little deformed, but not in pain. Good...I worry about that.



Kandi loves my cow! Like us, she expected something a little smaller. Millie loves kisses.



This is one of our rescue dogs. We headed to Orscheln's to buy animal feed and one of the local no kill facilities had some dogs out there. Misty was very shy and would not make eye contact with anyone. I sat there for over an hour with her...I felt so bad for her because she was so scared. She is still afraid of men, but the minute Brian leaves she comes to me for some loving. She was a year old when we got her. She was rescued from a puppy mill and had to be shaved. Mice had burrowed into her hair and skin...
She is about 4 or 5 yrs old now and has decided that being a dog isn't so bad after all.



Thomas, one of our new cats, is just like a kid and is having more fun in the box than with his toys.



As I get done updating this, it is raining lightly and freezing out. The yard is already a sheet of ice...we had a 49 degree day and it made puddles all over the place, then it got to zero. I keep threatening to either wear my motorcycle helmet or my riding helmet out there seeing as I have a hard time standing up.

I am supposed to go to work tomorrow...hope the roads are not bad.

That is all for now.

Hope everyone has a great holiday season and is safe!

Karen and Tripp

Video of Ace and Joker Playing...

The goal was to get Ace's hooves trimmed so we could let both boys out with the big boys and girls, and they would also have more room to run and play. While watching them, notice Millie the cow by the cedar tree shaking her head and pawing the ground. She is really ticked off that the young whipper snappers are being so unruly....



Until later...Karen and Tripp

Ace gets his hooves trimmed...

Well, we finally did it! We got Ace's hooves trimmed! Yay! The goal was to get him trimmed - I was going to be happy if I could just get the fronts done, altho the rear hooves really bothered me too. I was so proud of him...we got the fronts AND the rears done! He was more tense with the rear, but still did fantastic! Heck, he did better than some of the ones we have had around here for a while.
We wanted to let him and Joker out with the big boys and girls for the winter but we needed better feet first. They will hang out with the little herd, learn some manners, and have more room to run and play.

Quick refresher on who Ace is. Ace, a little thin mustang, was at a horse sale and was bought by a kill buyer. A very good friend of mine saw him go thru and told me about him, and since my husband and I knew we wanted to do mustang rescue at some point, now seemed like a good time to start. The auction house and the buyer were very accommodating and let us save Ace. So here we are. :-) We have since found out he was adopted last year as a yearling, his title is dated August 2008, so he is a 2 yr old now.

When we brought him home, we were not sure how much training he had. We put him in the small round pen and worked him back and forth a little bit, and he would face up with me even tho he was nervous. He was not too keen on the lunge whip rubbing all over him either, but he tolerated it. I already knew I could pick up his front feet without any problems, but thought it would be better to have the halter on him in case he needed a little bit of 'help' dealing with it. I took just a few minutes of rubbing the lead rope and halter on him.

Here is where we started...



And alley-oop! Here is where we ended up! He does not lead like a pro, but he does good enough for now.



When I started, I rested his foot on my knee, but his hooves were so grown out I could not get a good angle, so I finally decided to get the Hoof Jack out. I did not want to start with his hooves between my knees in case he had a panic attack. I did not want him to associate it with something bad...those hooves were just too bad to take a chance on that happening. So I played it safe for him and myself.



I brought it out and he sniffed it a little bit, then decided it was not such a bad thing after all. We used the Hoof Jack the rest of the time.



Here are the front hooves before I got started. I will admit, sometimes I get behind on ours and they get grown out, but I have never worked on hooves like this before. I will eventually get some professional help - I have several questions about his feet and their growth.



Here are the fronts after. They are not perfect, but it is a good start getting that huge sideways flare off there as much as I can. Jill, the one who called me from the sale, noticed the same thing I did. His hooves really are tight until they get down to the flare. So we think he will be fine...



Except for this! This is a weird dent and we don't know if he had an injury at the coronet band or not. This is something we will keep a close eye on. I am hoping he eventually starts growing out a happy hoof again once it gets a little more balanced.



Here are the rears before I got started. He was a little tense on the rears but eventually relaxed and dropped that head. I was so focused on what I was doing that I didn't realize that he almost went to sleep! I stood up and turned to look at him and that head was hanging almost to the ground. He is a good boy!



Rears after the trim.



All in all I am happy with the trim. I am still learning, and will continue learning the rest of my life. I have never worked on weird shaped hooves before, and I really had to keep myself in check. I found myself wanting to get rid of more flare, then go back and take a little more. I spent a lot of time reading case studies, looking at pictures, and reading about what to do and what not to do. I kept reminding myself that I don't have to fix the flare in one trim. That hoof will take care of itself in time. Sooooo....we are going to watch them, take pictures, and hope for the best.

On the sole of his left front foot he has a hard bump on the side. I tried messing with it a little bit but it didn't want to go anywhere. Brian said not to force it, to just leave it for now because maybe it grew there to help alleviate pressure from something else. So we will keep an eye on it too. He is moving around pretty good and seems content.

We let the boys out with the others and they trotted around a lot. Joker was the leader and Ace followed. I have video I will be posting later - don't know that I will get to it tonite.

So, Ace's first trim was a success!

Here are Joker and Ace relaxing after their jaunt up and down the fence line. I do believe that Joker is outgrowing Ace, and Joker is a yearling. That is Flash the pony peeking in from the side. He is a character too.



I just had to throw in a couple other pictures from the day. I had my insulated gloves laying on the ground while I was working with Ace. The turkeys tried to steal them.



Brian is talking 'turkey' with the birds...he does it much better than I do! Because he is a dude? Ha ha!



That is my update for now. I am very pleased with Ace and how he handled everything. I am also sad knowing that someone took the time to love him, work with him, then throw him away. Okay, he wasn't thrown away, but to my way of thinking he was in a way. Can any of you imagine leaving your horse at the sale and not knowing what happened to them? I hope that none of us, you all included, never has to ever be put in a position to make a decision like that. I keep reminding myself that I don't know the details of why they could not keep him. I am also very grateful to be able to help him.

Smiles to you all!

Until later...Karen and Tripp

Snow...

I checked the weather yesterday and they were calling for snow showers. I really didn't think it would happen because the daytime temps seemed too warm. I think snow is pretty, but I really am not ready for it. Not yet.....

This is why I am NOT a weather person! They would fire me! :-)



The above picture is a before sunrise picture.

This picture is taken mid morning.



Since the mini's have arrived, they have taken over the mustang pen, so Ace and Joker are out with the donks. Tandee has made a truce with Ace...they are sharing Tandee's grain bucket. I am impressed because Tandee is kind of a witch sometimes. Which is why I love her so much! I don't let him in to 'share' too often. She gets her Senior feed and is so hard to keep weight on.



Brian left early this morning - heading out of town a few days for work. We took out a couple of big round bales last night and I am glad! The ground is very sloppy right now.

All the other critters are doing good too. Everyone is dressed in their woolly-bear suits...I guess Winter is on it's way whether I am ready or not.

At the 2008 EMM while visiting with the Kokal's, they were telling us how great it was riding in the snow in New Hampshire...I am not a good winter person, but I do have this part of me that is ready to take them up on their invitation and have some fun in the snow. This year isn't going to work...maybe another time. Our snows here are unpredictable, and the few years we did get a good snow, I was not riding that much. Some of my best rides in my late teens and early 20's were in the snow...I am ready to start living that free again! :-)

I am going to write my Grandpa a letter now....
Hope everyone is doing well!

Until later...Karen and Tripp

5 1/2 months...that is how long Tripp has been here.

I made time to ride this weekend, and it occurred to me that Tripp has only lived here for 5 1/2 months...and look at him! That really is not a big amount of time, and we both have come so far! And to top it off, he has not been ridden since we got back from Texas...and he did wonderful!

NOVEMBER 28TH:
The weather was pretty good all things considered, and I decided I was going to ride. I knew it would not be a long ride because we had things to do, but all I needed was a few minutes. A couple of days before that I trimmed his front hooves. The backs are a little bit long, but not bad, so I didn't mess with them. Will get them another day.

I saddled him up and we walked around - over the dirt pile, over the wooden ground feeders that Brian built, and back over the dirt pile again. He seemed pretty calm. Oh yeah, just like his Momma, that is me, he has put on some poundage...I had to let the rear girth out a little bit. :-)



As I was leading Tripp out to the round pen, Millie was a little concerned. What is that THING on her back that looks like cow hide? Makes me think about the joke about the filthy mouthed parrot who finally got thrown in the freezer...then when it came out if was well behaved but wanted to know what the turkey did to deserve that. She followed us to the pen.



I did a little bit of flexing while Millie watched. It really did bother her that I was up there.



I rode around the pen for a few minutes then we were ready to head out! Tripp was very stiff moving and he kept trying to go back up to the barn. It was not a fight - he was just trying me. We finally came to an understanding and we rode down by the pond and back up the hill.



There is another dirt pile on the hill, so we rode over that. Before we left for Texas he would let me lead him over the dirt piles, but he didn't want me on him while he went over them. Today he did wonderful! I was very proud of him...especially for him not being ridden since we got back from Texas!



After our short ride I headed back to the round pen. I wanted to try out his canter. He pinned his ears and swished that tail, but never did butt hop. Yay! We worked both directions, then called it a day.



I LOVE TRIPP!!!!!




NOVEMBER 29TH

I was up early so headed out about 8:00 that morning to ride. I have not done that in years...and it was wonderful! It was so peaceful and quiet. No round pen for us on this day - Tripp was very calm so we walked around a bit, then we headed out. We trekked thru the woods, around trees, over logs, along the pond bank, thru a big washed out area at the top of the pond bank, and even thru some ugly mud. We had one little moment when he got mad - he thought we should be done and I didn't. I won...we weren't. It was a beautiful morning!
Most of the time I was by myself, but Brian had gotten up and snapped a couple of shots from the top of the hill. They are a little blurry because he had to use the zoom to it's max.

Millie was still concerned about what I was doing to Tripp - Tripp is one of her buddies. She kept an eye on us.



We are just enjoying our ride...



I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Until later...Karen and Tripp

We get to babysit Three Mini Horses and a Mini Donkey!

Well, I am always getting myself into something! A girl at work asked me about places to board horses. Her mother-in-law lived 2 1/2 hrs away, moved here and wanted to get her babies closer. Boarding 4 critters, even if they are mini's, would add up...especially with winter coming on. So I offered to babysit them for as long as we need to. They won't eat much, so that won't cost her much, and taking care of them won't add much more time to what we already do.

There is a mini donkey who likes people as long as the people are minding their own business away from her! Her name is Summer.
The halter that is on her is mine - we put it on her in the trailer and one of the guys unhooked the lead when we got to the pen. I did finally get a hold of her and we had to wrestle a couple of times...but I finally got it off. I have decided wrestling a mini donk is much easier than my standard donks! But my choice would still be to have a gentle one. I will be working on that.

Here is Joker meeting the group. Just a lot of curiosity.




The black mini is Ruby. She has a white splotch on her forehead, and her Mom says that white spot turns black in the summer after she sheds off.
The buckskin colored one is Robin, and her baby is Hood. Get it? Robin Hood???? I thought that was cute.

Hood is 2 1/2 yrs old - and the only one I know the age on right now. Forgot to ask on the others...Duh! Hood is probably only 24" tall - I am going to measure all of them when Brian gets home and can help me. Hood has dwarfism, his front legs are bowed out, and he has 'banana hooves.' I have never seen a mini like this up close...just in pictures. I will be doing a lot of research - especially on the hooves. He walks on the sides of his feet and I just don't know if that can be fixed or not. I have never been in a position to have to know.

Over the July 4th weekend we saw a horse show that was mini's and small horses.
We really did enjoy most of the sporty horses and ponies, but let's just say that trying to breed smaller and smaller has screwed them up, and I was disgusted and saddened by what I saw. People bragging on the height of their stallions, but the eyes were bugging out of their heads and their foreheads were bulged out, and their legs were angled way in or way out. It broke my heart. Now little Hood is dealing with the results of all of this breeding. And how do you know if it is going to happen to yours or not? Is there a way?

Here is Ruby, Hood and Robin.



Here is Hood walking over the landscape timber, which gives you an idea of his height. I think it is a 'him'....I will be checking soon. Summer the mini donk is behind Hood.



All of the horses are very friendly, and they were talking to me after everyone left. I hung out with them a while just to visit. I had to get a smaller water container for Hood. He can reach the other one if it is full, but once they drink it down it will be tough. I have one of the smaller feed pans with water in it. Hood has captured my heart!

As you all know we got two new cats. The cats are doing fine - they run and play all the time and are a lot of fun. Someone mentioned that my old cat Bob didn't get his time with the camera, so I got a picture of him. His back looks choppy because I had to cut hair balls out of his furr. He can't groom himself as good as he used to, and when I was gone for work for three weeks, nobody wiped him down with a damp towel like I do almost every morning. So I cut the ugly chunks out. I thought that would be more pain free than trying to comb them out. Here is Bob just hanging out.



Here is Thomas trying to invite Bob to play - the size difference in the picture is for real! Bob has gotten smaller with age as we all do (I am not waiting to get old - I am just waiting to get smaller! Ha ha) and Thomas is young and a big boy!



Everyone else is doing great too! The only ones looking forward to winter are the dogs. Two full bred husky's and a husky cross. The rest of us are already growling about it!

Have a great day!

Karen and Tripp

Ace and Joker .... Get out of jail free card!

What a beautiful day! It is a little breezy and somewhat chilly, but not as bad as yesterday. I let the donks and my Arab mare, Tandee, in the yard to munch grass for a couple of hours, then I decided to let Ace and Joker out of their pen to hang out in the donk's area. They went to the fence where the other horses are, and there was some pawing and squealing, but they worked it out.

I was trying to get a picture of them lined up side by side so we could see the height and size difference, but they would not cooperate. This picture shows Ace's withers a little higher than Jokers.
(Joker on the left; Ace on right)



Joker and Ace on one side, and the donks and Tandee on the other. Jester is on the other side of the house - he was camera shy.



The boys are just enjoying the day...who can blame them.
(Joker on left; Ace on right)



Before I let them out I was moving them around the pen - I wanted to see how much they would both pay attention to me. They did not do too bad...I was happy. Ace is thicker around his middle than Joker is. There are parts of Ace that are more mature looking than Joker. Speaking of 'parts'...I still need to do an inspection to find out of the goods are there or gone. I really am hoping he has been gelded!

I am headed back out to play with critters.

Until later...Karen and Tripp

Our first declawed cat....

The big orange long haired cat is Thomas. Thomas is declawed on the front, and he is our first declawed cat. I know a lot of people do it, and that is fine for them, but it isn't something that I agree with, so I have never done it.

Thomas is very big, and this is as close to having a tiger as a pet that I will probably ever get. The first time he climbed up on me and started making dough, and I did't get poked with claws, I found myself saying "Hmmmm, so that is what this declawed thing is all about!" Ha ha! Watching him go thru the motions of scratching on the couch is amazing too - he enjoys it, but there is no clawing noise and he isn't tearing stuff up. It still isn't something I would do - sofa is just 'stuff', but I will say that I don't mind that he is. :-)



CoCo is much smaller than Thomas, and she is a little bit smaller than my old cat Bob. BUT she has a great big personality and she does have claws, as my arms and hands prove. She is 2 yr old so still has lots of years of 'play' in her. She does scratch on everything, and I need to go find her a log to claw on.

CoCo reminds me of a cat we had when I was a kid. She would be laying on the bed and if she felt our feet move around her, she would attack with no mercy! CoCo does that! I woke up the other night having a weird dream, and it was her attacking my hand! Here she is in her sweet pose...



These two new cats get along great, they love to play, and I am sure they will keep the mice out of the house.

Bob, my old cat, is 18 or 19 yrs old, and he growled Thomas down when Thomas wanted to play. I was glad - I knew I didn't have to worry about them tormenting him while we were at work. Bob has adjusted well, and they can all sniff and eat by eachother without too much drama.

That is the saga about the new cats...

Until later...
Karen and Tripp who doesn't know about the new cats. :-)

Millie decides to live with us....

I came home early from work one evening this week to take the dogs and cat in for their shots. I looked out the back window and noticed Millie was walking around the barn lot. I ran out there to shut the gate and tie it on all 4 corners. Millie taught me a few days before this that she can walk up, bump me out of the way, and lift the gate panel with her horns!

Here we have QH yearling Rico, Mom Susie, Millie walking away disgusted, and Red Bear hoping that they get to go back out on the hillside. Sorry guys...opening weekend of deer season coming up!



I needed a diversion, so I brought out a bucket of grain and that caught Millies attention. She came back as I strategically placed small grain piles all over the place so nobody would fight. Flash the pony decided he could push Millie off her grain pile and check to make sure I didn't leave anything in the bucket. Millie just can't believe her eyes...that this little wippersnapper would dare try to move her! :-)



The evening after the vet visit I ran out to check on Millie - she was still there. I gave them grain and she shared her pile with two of the horses! No camera that night because it was dark. So yesterday I tried to recreate what I had done. Not quite the same effect, but close enough to make me smile. Millie has bumped them with her horns, and they all seem to respect her. Altho there are three of the horses (Flash, Halo and Nevada) that are not afraid to back up to her and encourage her out of the way.

Here she is sharing a small pile with I don't know who...I think it might be Epona because of the size of her hooves. We have several brown horses. :-)



Millie and Halo decide they can eat in peace. Grain is a treat around here, so it is in their best interest to get along.



Flash, Wendigo and a muddy Tripp share a small pile.



I usually only give grain as a treat (unless someone needs extra groceries) and will put it in buckets and feed pans. Since Millie came around, and I realized what it was like to have a heifer with no manners, it is just best to put the piles where I can and get out of the way. Millie doesn't mean to be pushy - she just is.

Millie has decided she will stay up with the horses for now...and that is good. She still looks out over the hillside when she hears Ferdinand beller....like this morning. But she still chooses to stay.

Joker and Ace are doing good. They are still in the 'mustang pen' and yesterday morning and this morning Joker was running around and bucking and farting! It is real cold and frosty, and I think they are feeling good. The only thing that made me nervous was the mud - we had a steady rain that lasted most of the day, and we have not had enough sun to dry things out. It is very slick out there. Bummer!

That is all I know for now.....

Until later...Karen and Tripp