It's a sunny day

About time the sun came out it has been terrible for days now lots of cold and lots of rain. Lady wasn't acting quite herself and I had instant panic as I thought I heard no I heard a kind of gurgle when she was eating and even in her little morning nicker. I got towels and tried to dry her and ruff up her hair so it would dry the best I could. I even heated the towels. She was getting tiered of me fussing with her. I had no thermometer but she wasn't hot to the touch but she felt cold to me. She was eating and everything as normal. I can't wait till we get more done on the barn so that on real bad days we can offer them more of a shelter even keeping them in if needed. They have the roof done but no windbreaker so they opt to stand in the woods in the rain. Makes no sense in my human brain.

Today they are all fine. Lady is breathing OK no sound of gurgle this morning. Just came back from Tracy's and Cody is lying in the woods with Molly while Lady makes eyes at her neighbors in the back field. All seems right in their world.


The paddock on the other hand and even their shelter area is a disaster. I've taken my boots off twice so far trying to navigate. They just get sucked up in the mud. I feel so bad for them.

 Below is Hopalong Jim not to be mixed up with Hopalong Cassidy. Jim sports his nifty leg brace which he has had to resort to wearing after trying to copy my graceful behavior in the paddock by slipping and falling in the "stuff" other wise known as shit. LMAO.  Not funny for him though as we aren't sure if he is going to need knee replacement since this is his bad knee that is affected.

Spent the morning trying to upload videos first to Photobucket then direct to blog...no luck.

so here are a few of Lady getting "prettied up" by the way she's right back to before thanks to rolling in the mud and the rain.

She is usually tangled more than this and this time her tail was too. What a time

The little hussy just loves the wind in her mane and tail.

before and after  

.Tracy gives her an ear massage and mane under comb

Just look at that tail not a hair out of place...at least for a night.

Monday Morning

Well here it is Monday morning and it's still raining. The pasture looks like a flood plain, round pen is muddy and a mess. The horses are wet and won't stay under the shelter to kind of stay dry. I slipped and twisted my knee getting the hay out to them. Oh well, just sit and watch tv or surf the net. Nice to be semi-retired. LOL. So far no flood watch for our county but who knows as it's still lightly raining. The 9am weather map showed it moving out but now calling for snow flurries tonight. Oh well here comes winter. Maybe I should train my horse to pull a sleigh? Away we go. Everyone have a great Monday.

the weekend

I don't have the pics of yesterday but Lady's mane was so tangled...again.....I used her special spray and while I had her haltered and tied to the shelter she and I conversed and combed. I did take photos but with my phone so I can't post till I am in cell range with my phone and can send them to myself. She is now at peace with me untangling her mane and now her tail. She stood very still during the process which took about 2 hours. She is so soft now during this process nuzzling my arm while I combed. After her mane I went to work on her tail. Tracy showed up just as I was almost finished and showed me how to add a finishing touch,,part of what Amanda had told her.  There is a spot under the tail bone that they love massaged and scratched and when you think on it there is no way they can reach it. Lady stood perfectly still while her Aunt massaged and scratched moving her tail up into the air and to the side so she could work,,,leg cocked and I swear sighing. She was in heaven and perfectly trusting too. Tracy took some photos of her after we were finished with her new camera and they were awesome. I will get copies and add them later. So glad we did get those shots BECAUSE Argh! it rained all night and she has again rolled and tangled her mane. All that work gone but not the bonding time we had doing it and as soon as she dries we will start again. A girl would understand that feeling the feeling as someone brushes and brushes your hair while you sit calmly with your eyes closed loving every minute of it.

It's going to be a long winter....a long winter of mother and daughter bonding with comb and brush. LMAO

Today on the ranch was just one of rest..no big dinner just turkey soup and lazing around watching new and old movies on the Hallmark channel. All the kitties are snuggled next to anyone who stays put relishing in their warmth.

No Riders Club this weekend though Tracy said she is going to workout Major in her :huge" barn, her comment was " I worked you and you worked me on the lead in the barn , I guess I can work Major " Not sure if she meant that I was as big as a horse or not.

Saturday Nov26th

Just thinking on the past and remembered both my cousin and Aunt shared the same birthday the way we remembered them was Thanksgiving. their birthday was the 27 th of November so we celebrated it on Thanksgiving as it always seemed to fall around that date..probably not since this year it was the 24th but in the mind of a kid to me it seemed to fall later..the 27th. we always had Thanksgiving at our own house early then went to my Aunts where they would have another dinner that evening. We lived in Hamden, Ct then, my cousins lived in Middlebury but would come in for the day. boring for us kids , except for the food. We  were food orientated back then not so much the family thing.  I can remember the smells and not the turkey only as the cousins were "country people" to me the city cousin Real country people they smelled country. What does country smell like? Well they smelled like horse and horse was country to me. My Aunt and Uncle owned Rosehurst Stables in Middlebury and they lived above the barn  AND everything even their car smelled horse. Most people turned up their nose me I inhaled deep.

Which brings me to wondering "Do I smell "horse"?" Do people not want to sit near me in the movie, in a restaurant? Do my neighbors smell "horse"? What about most of my TN friends do they smell "horse" or do I not notice it as we all raise horses. LOL. I guess we don't unless we just came in from the barn or loving on our babies. The other day though Jim said I smelled "horse" that was the day I wore my clogs out to feed and lost one in the "stuff". I am sure he smelled horse LMAO then.


Smells yup Turkey on Thanksgiving and Christmas mixed with the smell of "horse" these are my happy smells that bring warm wonderful memories of the happy times in my life. And all those happy times had to do with these smells as the rest wasn't always happy. ( Except for raising David and that brings on more smells....baby powder, more happy memories though not the smell from his spittoon hidden in his room when he was older.)

Holidays and any days spent with the cousins especially at the stables were happy.  I must have been imprinted with that smell because that smell means "Happy"

I am content here in TN with my "smells"

Well we at the ranch survived Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Jim and I went to Wal-Mart late last night stood around two hours to get a good deal on a 32 " flatscreen TV for the bedroom.The one in their has lost it's flavor for sure.  Still works but too big too.

Today was a beautiful day but sadly I am still under the weather. We had business to take care of in Dickson today so that took up a few hours then we came home to do stuff around the house. Leftovers for lunch and dinner. Who'd guess! LOL I loaded a bunch of photos of Tracy on Facebook today.
Looks like another lousy weekend weather wise.
Here's a photo of Tracy but not sure which horse she is on. If it's Major he sure wasn't a happy camper but then this was taken way before he became hers and was living at another ranch.

Thinking back I think it's Princess...still not a happy horse.

This is her cousin Jesse and I believe "that" is Major she's on  (right)

Happy Thanksgiving

It's a quiet Thanksgiving Day here on the ranch. The sun is finally out. The ground her is saturated and I'd say will be for days. I am thinking we probably will not be doing any training here this weekend. The horses are just filthy and Lady's mane is a tangled mess...again. Jim did the outdoor feedings and I did the kitties before embarking on the Turkey Day festivities.

Last night I shredded the bread for stuffing and baked an apple pie...which of course we just had to sample with Eddy's Vanilla ice cream.......well you wouldn't want it to be a failure for today would you?

Oh wow Jim just walked through and he's all dressed up and here I sit Autumn sweatshirt and jeans hair clipped up..no makeup. The table still need to be set up but I started up my routine after I fed the kitties with....prepping the Turkey..first really bleaching the sink and washing it down then carefully getting the innards out of the bird and washing it down drying and salting it's innards, while holding it up. Bird neatly in it's toaster I prepared the innards the broth I use for just about everything especially the gravy and stuffing. Using my Bells seasoning, which thanks to my BFF Joanne I have enough for 20 years. LOL can't get the stuff in the South, some butter, celery, onion and Jimmy Dean original sausage,broth and very clean hands I prepare my stuffing (dressing)  Mama's recipe..it's on the box. Bird carefully stuffed, buttered and using some Chicken stock and broth in the bottom of the pan I put it in the oven to cook. Probably if lucky it will be out of the oven around 2 PM to sit and wait while I prepare the rest of our little feast....Cranberries,Turnip (for Northerners)Rutabaga (if your a Southerner), Mashed potatoes, peas, celery sticks and for Jim, Green Bean Casserole. I wanted to make my Waldorf Salad which is a glorified coleslaw with apples,walnuts and grapes and sometimes whipped cream mixed in but with prices as they are I decided not to. We still have a mixture of his family feast and mine with out the salad.o big relish tray either..two people really do not need it...but maybe for Christmas I will include it all ...if we do Turkey and not Standing Roast of beef rib.

Just waiting now watching TV before finishing up.

Some of the Dry Creek Gang and their horses

Jim and his 15.2 hand  Tobiano Paint Gelding....Cody

Doreen on Lady with Jim and Amanda at Tracy's Arena. Lady is 14.2 hands  She's a Sorrel Quarter horse cross  and we think she's gaited.. 11/19/11

 Jim and Doreen "crusin" in the arena

 Tracy's horse Major waiting to go on a ride

 Doreen and Tracy at a chili cook off in 2010  She won.

Tracy resting on a picnic ride with Major

Rainy Days

It has rained for the past few days and the paddock is just a mud bog. I feel so bad for the "kids". Last Friday I spent over an hour getting the mud off of Lady and untangling her long mane and this morning she has a spot that looks like a mangled tangled dreadlock. It will take me hours to clean and untangle her again. Why is it they have to roll in mud? We work for hours trying to give them shelter and a cozy place and they prefer to stand in the rain and roll in mud. Sigh! Kids....

For me I am still suffering from headaches..which I still believe are sinus related as I still feel like crap. The sun was supposed to come out today...well if the AM is any indicator we have a long wait. Still my babies were so glad to see me this AM. Cody and Molly silent but Lady giving me her little knicker..her "what's for breakfast tone". Jim has been doing all the feeding lately especially since my "adventure on Saturday" and my cold or whatever it is. I let him sleep in this AM while Tom (official barn cat) and I ventured out. Feeding is bno problem as the buckets are on the fence under the shelter but hay....a different story. One with my hip I can hardly handle a 50 lb bale and two my little red wagon is useless..turning over every other step and dumping the hay bale. I manhandled or woman handled  pr person handled the damn thing over to the gate..cut the twine and started to break "bates" of "biscuits" of hay off to carry it to the hay box in the pasture. Ha! what a site mud., hay,. poop  everywhere and me traipsing sliding and slipping along. Got to within 3 feet and got my clogs stuck in the "mire" ( I prefer to think this mud instead of what it was) clog stuck and foot now covered and me cringing  I threw what I had over to the box most landing into it and some on the ground which I had to now retrieve.  Yuk the joys of being a farm girl! Trudging back I decided on a new route. The box is on the edge of the paddock bordering the small pasture so I took the rest in two more trips through the pasture throwing it over the fence. More than one way to skin a cat! sorry Tom not you....  Speaking of Tom while I was doing all this he sat and watched...I am sure laughing his tail off..  This done I retreated to the house for coffee and a trip to stick my feet in my shower to wash them off....boots next time. I do have a pair of mucking boots which any sane person would have donned.  But......

Bringing you up to speed during the summer Tracy, Jim and I had our horses at a friends Ranch in the hopes we would get more riding in and it just didn't work out as planned. Tracy did ok but I wasn't able to get any riding done so we brought the horses home and started looking around here for places to ride. When we did we happened to talk to our local girl at the coop and we all got together and decided to re train us and our horses and that's what we have been doing since September. I didn't start till the end of October but by then Tracy was really into it. Seeing what a difference it was making with her and her horse Major really got me going. I was already practicing Clinton Anderson's way of training but I really was not getting the respect I was looking for. I knew it was my body language that wasn't cutting it but I was kind of at a loss on what to do.

Any way about 3 weeks ago Amanda took me under her wings and started coaching me on what to do. The first day she put Lady through her paces and had her looking like she was working out in a spa. The water was pouring off of her she was giving Amanda a case of the "ass" and Amanda kept right on with her training. During the next week I decided not to do anything but let Amanda try again then I would join in...which we did and she showed me ways to improve on what I was doing and just how to read Lady's actions. I could then see how confused she was as Amanda pointed out just how Lady would move her lips and ears and also how she would ..like a kid try to have the last word. I learned just what she needed and was shocked as during the week when I worked with her she was really listening and obeying me plus she wanted to. Her whole demeanor had changed. She still tried to invade my space but now I had the tools to be aware of it and make her move away which she now did.  The next two hour lesson was a repeat and review and learning how to make her really back up. during that next week I went on my own and taught her to Who and stay put. And she did it. Was I surprised. I also found she was liking it too and really trying to do what was asked of her and most of all she was giving me respect and looking to me as her leader. She has done a 100% change a different horse all together. I am so proud of her and myself for finally getting it. Now I am no ways perfect I still have "language" problems because of my hip handicap but she and I are working through them and she is understanding that some things we might do a bit different but the result is the same. I have also noticed a softening of her face when she looks at me She doesn't ignore me all the time but will come to me for a quick rub and love and let me clean the sleep mucus out of her eyes ..no fight or flip of the head..a first for us. I can look her in the eye and make her back away from me when I want..I can send her on a lead with ease...yield front and hind quarters and flex all with ease. I can't tell you the feeling it gives me.

We have kind of started a little training club The Dry Creek Riding Club we call ourselves meeting here just about every Sunday to practice then going to Tracy and T's to use the arena for riding.

This past weekend was my first day to try "crusing" under saddle. You ride around not using the reins letting the horse go where it wants only correcting mistakes. It went fine for a bit then disaster struck for me...I need lots of work and more reading of her ways for sure.

This is how the weekend went......

"

I started out getting some kind of sinus or cold thingee last week which left me not feeling too great or on the ball and not knowing enough to quit while I was ahead I went along with our weekly horse training here at Beachnut Stables. Lady did fabulous and they told me I did great too. And that's when I should have called it a day. We all proceeded to my friends arena leading our horses where I was trying to turn Lady on the trail..getting to close to her and she slipped knocking me to the ground..getting up like a trooper I had a sore leg and what felt like a sprained left wrist. Not the giving up type I proceeded through the woods to the arena and mounted up...with lots of help. We were doing what is called cruising where you do not use your reins except for correcting and all was going smoothly except for Lady being in love with every male horse she saw. She mostly followed Cody. She then got a bit too close and I have no idea what happened. I thought she was going to break into a run as her back end dropped so I went immediately into a ready to one rein stop...but that's not what she was doing she had slipped and dropped her butt and me not holding on and completely unexpecting this went off the back end hitting the ground rather hard including my head thumping. Stupid of me I had not grabbed my helmet either but I think my pony tail cushioned my head as it hurt like hell but no concussion. Unable to lift either leg or move right arm much and a headache off and on for a few days I am coming along better today. I am now master off quick dismount front and rear since last month when she stumbled I went over her head and now her rear. Sigh! Like I said I love small short horses since the ground though it comes up quick it isn't too far.

If I had more experience I would have had more control of my seat and it would not have happened. One thing makes me wonder though Lady being small short neck and back and me being tall and large I am wondering if this will happen all the time with me loosing balance or if I will get better at reading her andf expecting the unexpected...if there is such a thing. LOL

Welcome to Dry Creek Ranch the home of Beachnut Stables. Our stables are private and small but our horses are happy as they have found their forever homes with us. Lady Irish was our first...a Sorrel Mare Quarter horse + with three socks and a beautiful mane and tail and a blase on her face. She came to us with her protector Molly Mae a cute rambunctious Donkey with the sweetest face and a personality of an Imp. A year later Cody a tri color Sorrel Quarter horse gelding joined our family. As I said we are private and small but who knows what may happen maybe a little pony might someday join us.

The ranch besides being home to the horses and us has 6 cats..2 indoor /outdoor and 4 indoor babies..we do not count the other 4 footers who wander through as family, except for those belonging to our close neighbors and friends from the T&T.