Wow it's been forever since I blogged and lots has happened. Jim's grand-kids and his daughter came and went LOL. We had a great visit and we took the kids horseback ridding at Land Between the Lakes plus viewed the cabin and farm there.
Jim went into the hospital October first and had his knee replaced and did just great. He went to rehab after the hospital for another week and they discharged him to out patient rehab 3 days a week and he is now down to two days. By about the third week he was walking without a cane and has gotten approval to do his regular routine which means he is back to early AM feedings while I do PM feedings and he is driving.

Yesterday he closed in the back of the barn...at least the first half of the barn so that the"kids" have closed in stalls. It is looking great and They are very happy..no trouble at all with them going into there own stalls. Molly has a temporary stall of her own till the second part of the barn is completed. The upstairs is yet to be finished too, but in time all will be done. It will give us a store room work area for Jim  and 4 stalls or three and a tack room depending on if we add another horse or not.


Our little ranch on Dry Creek is slowly coming to frutition bit by bit when $$$ allow. After or even before the barn is finished whichever lol will be the purchase of more round pen panels and setting them up in the far pasture so we will have a riding arena. When these are done Beachnut Stables and Dry Creek Ranch will be our Dreams come True. Having the barn and the arena will make  it just about complete.

 Jim getting ready for surgery

 Next day after surgery Jim makes the rounds with his PT girls

 and  41 days later he's back to building our barn

 Gotta Love him.  I know I do and so do his 4 legged kids.

We brought Cody in first showed him his stall going in and leading him to the right then out and back in to the left and out. Put a cookie in his bucket and he pranced right in for it while Lady and Molly stuck their heads in and liiked around.

By feeing time every one of them went to their correct stalls with out hesitation. I am thinking they love what their daddy did for them. Molly will be in her temp stall till the second mirror half of the barn is done and then that will be taken down and she will have a larger stall of her own..

Another fun time we have had is the company of Tracy and T and sometimes Colten and their dogs who will ride over in the evening on horseback and we will cook out over a fire or even just have a marshmallow roast and drinks.

Colten enjoying a snack in front of the fire

 Tracy creating her marshmallow treat

A marshmallow in the makes

even Duke enjoys the fire

Jim and T sit with Duke in the fire's warmth

Tracy and T mount up for the ride home and Colten rides the 4 wheeler home after a nice evening.











Via condios my friends......till we meet again

Quiet time on the ranch. Forth of July has come and gone and I hate to admit "we did nothing". I watched the series John Adams all day on HBO and Jim fooled around on his computer. NADA accomplished on the ranch except watering and feeding LOL. Hey everyone needs a day to chill.

It has been over 100 degrees for over a week, now. The horses seem ok have plenty of water and chill out in Ladies stall as she has the only fan for the time being. They , Lady and Cody have fly masks on and realizing that they help love to have them put on and willingly taken off every night. Amazing how quick they learn

With the heat all training has come to a standstill as well as my recovery  and confidence riding. Lots of time comparing notes with DUH ( Down Under Horsemanship) friends and watching DUH videos too. Thankful that I have the tools on which to build on. My friend Amanda and the others agree I need "lots of roundpen work" me too. LOL. I just wish I had more room to work ing as both of us get frustrated going round and round..figure 8's and circles all in a tight area...but getting Lady to mind is frustrating at best. She remembers my handicap I am sure and is unwilling to relinquish control which is necessary in our relationship. Ground work does go well even though she anticipates me a lot.

The ranch is getting ready for Jim's family's annual visit. The kids are so looking forward to it but I wish the horses would be ready...they aren't and we can't afford to take them riding elsewhere. Last year , of course, the horses were at J Bar so it was a daily trip to visit and hang around the barn. I am hoping to at least duplicate the atmosphere here.  Thinking maybe some type of crafts with the kids and ..grooming of horses..walking them etc. My goal is to have the horses ready..next vacation to maybe even having all of us go camping at Land Between the Lakes. This year it maybe only a visit there and hopefully ride at their stables.

Just came in. I went out at 7:40 and I worked both horses for about 45 mins. Then we saddled up and rode in the pasture area and round pen till 10 AM. We took the horses out unsaddled and let them eat grass and since it was so hot we decided to introduce them to the hose. They absolutely loved their shower and kept munching grass all the while. We put them back in and let them go instead of tying them..since they had had their quiet think time. Lady promptly rolled in the dirt...."Bless her heart"

updates

 Day one and two


 

 


 

I have had a very busy two days. Yesterday we cleaned tack and worked the "kids" Jim rode Cody but I couldn't get myself to get on even though I had her saddled and ready while I worked her. I told Jim I couldn't do it in the afternoon while I thought about it all day and my feet getting heavier and heavier. So this AM we got up early 6:30 and I went out to feed. At 7:45 I went out and cleaned Lady and took her to the round pen to work. When Jim came out he got the tack out and I returned and brushed her and saddled her up. I still have bridle trouble so Jim did do that for me. I worked her with the saddle then walked her out the gate with Cody. I put on my helmet walked her to the mounting block and before my brain could kick in I threw my leg over and got on. This is a first..no hesitation no pain. I also had shorts on so my pants were not hampering me and I think I'll ride this way for a bit till my leg and hip can take this action. We went across the yard and started out to cross the street when they both heard Molly running and he hawing and both jumped and almost spooked. Heart pounding I was ready to bail and I knew if I did I'd never ever ride again. So I straightened her out she calmed down and off we went on a half hour ride around the neighbors "lake". It's a pond very large and we refer to it as 'Lake Chuck" after the guy who owns the property. He has given Jim and I permission to ride there in exchange of free "fertilizer" LOL. Lady did her typical oooh , oooh look at that , what's that as she was really excited to be going somewhere. I think this will continue till I put more hours on her and she is used to getting away from the pasture. I need to do more work with her till she pays attention "to me" not her surroundings. She needs to "listen". So if all goes well more work tomorrow under saddle. Jim and I caught by the security camera heading out.

 

 Day two was more of the same working both horses then saddled up and rode the round pen alone then with  Cody and Jim. We need more of this. Happy to report she and I did AWESOME...she started to listen and I got a bit braver.

Now the average reader wouldn't get all this...just get on and ride and maybe the average horse person too unless they understood the background here. Beside having my hip operated on a few years ago and being in pain for nigh two years then getting on last year for the first time in welllllllyears and falling off twice..my fault and being almost  a month short of 70 yrs old I am a basket case when it comes to riding. Love my horse...work with my horse buuuuuutttttt get on and it's hear in throat and palpitations that you wouldn't believe.....so for me this is a great DEAL.

 So it's yeah Lady and yeah me!!!


 Day 3

 Fathers Day

Fun for us. Jim's knees are really bad though. I worked Lady per my schedule then he hooked up the trailer for another Cody lesson. Cody took one look at him bringing the truck and trailer around and started running away to the back of the pasture. Jim could not catch him. I had to get him and Jim walked him to the round pen for a lesson in humility. Cody was real bad. Making his butt turn in on his turns and kicking up "saying kiss my big paint BUTT" so I went in as Jim's knees couldn't take it and he couldn't move to make Cody go. Luckily I now can . He did the same to me so I ran his big paint butt. Since he was so inclined to do so. I would turn and make him go the other way and if he didn't turn in to me I made him turn and run some more. I then stood passive and watched him..tried to coax him in ...but he wasn't paying attention...the suddenly he did and as soon as he did I turned him and encouraged him off again turning him to go the other way. Once he started paying attention he figured out I didn't want him to gallop just slow lope turn when I ask and go the other way and then I would call him in to rest. I then flexed the heck out of him till he was quite humble and willing to behave. Jim then walked him out and right in the trailer. We then loaded Lady and took them for a ride so they would know the trailer did not have to mean Vet or that bad place from last summer. Both behaved and were quite relaxed so we stopped at Wal-Mart took their picture bought some soda and brought them home. Both backed off relaxed ate grass then got tied to their learning poles where Jim put hay bags and water for them. After work they get tied to think. We went in and had lunch then I went out and let them loose, they got cookies for being good and both had real soft "love you Mommy" looks in their eyes.  All this is in prep for when my skills are honed and we can take them off site to either camp or ride. Baby steps and learning for the four of us.
Who says Horses do not shop at Wal-Mart



OK so we didn't ride but it is a very good day.

All of the days above and today are ending in hours in the pool where we loll around , exercise my legs and just all out relax.  The days for trail and camp will be soon.

Barn building is on a sort of standstill. Jim still needs more lumber and I think MoJo. LOL Plus it's either gonna rain or it's too hot. He wants to get it done for when his grand-kids show up this summer, so they can sleep in the room above the barn. I also need room to store some things to make a place in the spare room. I hate having people sleep in my living room. I  must say however his daughter Lisa is an easy guest as are her children. Still it's so much easier to have a bedroom and a living room. LOL

We ordered are work shirts yesterday one a Wrangler short sleeve with just Dry Creek Ranch for Jim that we kinda got a deal on as they came in for Loretta Lynn's ranch and were turned down because they are 100% cotton. They are making a patch to go over Loretta's name and adding Dry Creek and putting Jim's name on the other side. I also ordered red man's shirts with a pocket for my stable and  Irish green ones without pockets for me and visors. Cool look. We got them in town and they were quite reasonable. His daughter and kids wanted shirts so I ordered them ones too. Breigs will have red and Lisa and Lauryen a green one.

My new logo will be on the back and a smaller one on the front.

Jim is having stick on cutouts for his truck made and we will also order ones for the jeep...no more magnetic crap that blows off.

Cody's Success

About a month ago we had an appointment to take Cody and Lady to the vet. We try to put Cody in first as he is nervous about his space. Walked him to the gate and he refused to get on stood there and stared into the trailer. We worked him and tried again to no avail. so we put him back and loaded Lady and just took her. We ended up having the vet come to us for Cody. While she was here we had blood pulled on lady to check for Metabolic disease which came back negative.
The other day Jim took Cody out and worked him around the trailer still the same reaction so we decided to treat him like a kid....bribery.... Jim led him to the trailer and showed him a bucket with feed in it....get at least your front feet in and you get a treat.......it worked.

 We stopped at that. The next day Jim knowing he hated to step up made him a ramp.  He worked on it for an hour. Led Cody to it and he avoided it and tried to step up. So Jim took the ramp away got a bucket of feed walked straight to the trailer and in Cody followed without a hitch..

 he gave him a treat told him how good he was then let him back off.

 He did this about four times without a hitch till Cody realized he wasn't going to get hurt by the trailer. Each time was a success.

What a good boy.

I looked out this morning to find Jim working with Cody. it was a good site to see. We need both our babies ready to ride as the weather has been perfect. Both need hours under saddle to make good mounts. I went out to the trailer and got Ladies halter and lead figuring I too would do some more work this AM. While Jim worked with Cody in the round pen I worked Lady outside of it. I was surprised when I whistled and clicked at her when she gave me two eyes (as we say) and turned and faced me. She quickly dropped her head into her halter and picked right up on her ques. It seems she wanted to show off how well she did. So while Cody worked with his dad Lady worked with her Mom. She side passed, backed, flexed, yielded and went on the poing straight across the front of the pasture without a blink. Not missing a que... I say side pass , well our way not great but for us it is for now..It's a work in progress. Today though she was ready  and anticipating her front quarter and he hind quarter move and almost had it down. For today we accepted her three steps on each side...tomorrow we go for more. I now have her backing by lifting up on the clip under her chin and with out a lot of effort. I even did a crazy dance back step beside her and she backed with me. She was having fun.

After we worked I pointed her down the side of the pasture....point with your arm up so she goes in that direction ..yield her HQ (hindquarters,,,and point to the other direction doing the same to the HQ..we did this in a line down half of the back pasture then walked to the gate where we went out had some grass and de shedding.
Then we sent them into the pasture again and went to sit in the barn where they joined us.

More barn work

Yesterday Jim did more work while I "supervised" Not much I can do except keep him in food and drink and supply moral support. LOL. We set up a chair and a table in the barn for me to occupy. Today he put the side walls up in both stalls. The backs will hold a fence rail..till more $$ comes in and a gate will be put in the aisle for them to enter their stalls. It was funny as while he worked they each would amble over to check on his progress. They are completely sensitized to the nail gun and saw and it doesn't bother them at all even when the air is released from the tank..they just lift their heads to see what's going on and go back to munching hay.

For the present the back is still open but like I said when the $ comes and we can get more wood it will be closed up 1/2 way just like the sides of the stall in wait for the mirrored portion of the barn.  We marked off part of the aisle and put a rail up so that it allows me to enter the barn and feed plus keeps them form getting into that spot and giving us a seating area. It is sooooo cool.

Last night Jim and I sat out in the barn..in the dark....with country music playing on the barn radio...lol ,Christmas lights giving a soft light and enjoyed the night sounds.  Our neighbors rode their horses over in the dark and we hung out for a few hours. It was so "ranchy" and cool.   Soon we will have a fire pit with tree stumps to sit on and we can really have a cool time.  We are so loving this life.

Jim is now retired from active RR work so he can do a lot more and enjoy the horses now too.

March 24th we went to Oklahoma to see another Clinton Anderson Tour and met some wonderful new friends and had a great time. We learn something new each time. We even won about $350 worth of merchandise including a bonus gift of halter and 14 ft lead and a book written by Clinton which we had sign. The other gift was a choice of one of his DVD sets  we picked Starting Under Saddle.  Made the trip well worth while.  From there we went to Blackwell..since we were in the area. Met up with Scott and had supper at Brahms. We were supposed to stay Monday and go to dinner with Terry and her husband but they had to move a train so we couldn't so we set out for home. Tracy and T were babysitting the ranch for us. Makes it cool we do this for each other allowing us to each have time away. LOL we just can't both be away together.  Times like this is when I wish my son and family lived closer so I could steal my grandson (that is still home) and put him to work. I would love to have him train and learn some of this since he has shown an interest in the horses.
Photos to follow when I get them off my phone.

more on the ranch

It's been forever but it seems the rain has been forever keeping us from being out with our babies. Nothing but mud everywhere and we are so sick of it.  I have gotten a few training days when I can find dry spots but fee and far between,
Jim has gotten a lot done on Phase one of the barn, The first section has been closed in giving us two stalls and an aisle way. The next stage will be to put in the second story and close the back of the barn till we get to  mirror the completed section that stands.

this is what we are aiming for.....a close example of it at least.

I had the idea in my head and plans drawn when I found this. Great if I could have the exact oned as it even has an apartment upstairs.

Now ours will have the room up stairs (for now) porch will be similar..bottom a bit different as our roof doesn't extend with that overhang, we have windows in the front and will have the door but it will be solid, windows on the side too.

here is some of Jim's progress...he has done this by himself step by step. By summer we hope to have this part closed up including the top...in the future we will mirror it giving us 4 stalls and a nice like aisle way. For now it will be the two stalls and Molly will occupy the aisle since she has to be free to protect.

Side one is done

middle started

The MAN with the front side closed in...one more side in this phase to go

TADA  last part of phase one

this is how it looks in the back right now. You have to picture the second story and the two stalls closed int. the stalls will have a half wall with sliding doors on the aisle way. This way when the barn is mirrored the stalls will be open next to each other half way up. Our kids all get along and love to be near each other so we won't make a solid wall or bar them. Right now each goes to their own to eat with no problem at all.

"Hey where's my food" Impatient Sir Eats A Lot  AKA Cody in his stall waiting to eat. LMAO

miserable winter

Thought the temps have been mild it has been a terrible Winter here on the ranch. Rain ,rain and more rain leaving it a muddy mess in the pasture. I do not see how we are ever going to get grass to grow again. We ran out of $ so the barn didn't get finished. Seems to be the thing we have the $ and not the time or the other way around. Income tax funds should help this year as we do not (I hope) have a big purchase this year...oh shoot yes we do we need a farm truck.  Jim is retiring so we won't have the rental truck any more. It would come in handy as before he left and when he returned before taking the truck back we did all the chores that needed a truck.

Retired...yup he is retiring from active RR service but staying on the board of directors. Now I say this tongue in cheek as just after he announced it they asked him to go to Oklahoma.  He wouldn't have retired at all IF he had been getting a salary and been out there regularly but he wasn't and had been home for over three months and we needed the money. At least retiring he will get a guaranteed amount  which is more than what he can count on for the company. Plus I do need him here on the ranch. it seems every time he leaves something goes wrong...either I get sick, fall or something breaks.  All the time he was he was  home everything was fine he left and last night we had no water. Something is wrong with the pump....at least it seems so and hoping it's not the well. I had to use the "ole" hit the switch with a hammer to get it to run.  Sigh~!  We are back to the ole prime the pump of the early times on a ranch thing. next I'll be carrying water from the well or the stream.(pool)

I am thinking on going back to the New England way with horses..keeping them barned.....when we get the barn done. This way we can maintain the pasture by putting them out in different areas during the day for a few hours. We are going to have T till the other pasture and then fence that one giving us three areas to play..plus also fence the front of the house so they can mow the lawn LOL.
Up North we kept our hoses in stall all the time unless they were being ridden. The ones who boarded and didn't ride were put out for a few hours a day. They only had little areas there too for pasture and I bet I have more here.
The end of Jan. Jim and I went to Georgia to see another Clinton Anderson Tour and had a great time. T and Colten took  care of our "kids" while we were gone.

Mud, Mud everywhere. T came over with his tractor to help with the clean out of muck. you can see Cody is mortified. LOL..."You want a piece of me? Bring it on!"
They are so uses to him doing this now they watch the job being done to supervise.

Pedicure day at the ranch

Today Ricky Nance our farrier came to call. We took the shoes off till March. He checked Cody's feet as we noticed left front and right rear hoof seemed closer to the ground. He fussed and measured with his feet and found them OK. After taking each shoe off Tracy used some hoof shiner on the hoofs of both babies.. So now we have French manicured and shinny hoofed horses. Lady had her two front hooves slightly rolled in the hopes she will not stumble any more.

While waiting for Ricky to finish Tracy and T's horses and come to our place, Jim & I groomed the kids. I did Lady while Jim brushed Cody then while telling  her to whoa I went about working on Molly and did Cody's mane and tail after Jim finished brushing him. She stood there and waited over 20 minutes and while she kept watching Molly eating hay, then  broke down and went to see.  I went and brought her back to stand.

Tracy and the farrier arrived and while Cody was tied started working on him then moved on to Lady who while he worked just stood patiently with her rope just thrown casually over the rail. She was a perfect Angel . What a "precious" girl.

Not to minimize Cody he also was a good boy while Ricky worked and Tracy polished. We told him rich men had manicures too so he wouldn't feel sissified. LOL

After we finished Tracy, Jim & I went to MiMi's cafe for lunch. Tracy having hamburger and fries while Jim and I enjoyed a great Taco Salad.

After Tracy dropped us off we drove to town and met another friend who owns the best Pizza Shop Bella Blak.  Kansas sold me a beautiful oak round table for my kitchen at an unbelievable price, When I say steal I am not kidding. The price was right so home it came and it looks awesome..photos later. .  Jim and I were sitting in the restaurant eating and joking about the tables which are no way like a restaurant table..solid oak round pedestal tables just like what we wanted, we wanted to carry one out the door LOL. We told Kansas we just loved the tables and wished we had one, He said 'You want one? I have a few extra in storage..make me an offer'' Jokingly I said $100 and he said,"No I'll sell it to you for $75" I just about died as these tables sell for anywhere from $400-$600 dollars. So by a fluke of me wanting Pizza for supper we got a deal we couldn't refuse. We love it..Thanks Kansas.

On the way home table in the bed of the truck another neighbor flagged us down and invited us into his home made log cabin...I mean home made he and his wife built the whole cabin, doors, cabinets everything themselves Instead of logs it's made from Railroad ties..just an awesome place.

All in all a wonderful day on the ranch

beautiful day on the farm

Well it turned from freezing to cold to unseasonably mild today. They delivered the mattress early this AM which was nice we didn't have to sit and wait all day. Quick job and they took the old box spring and mattress with them.I started laughing  as I looked..it is slightly taller than our queen which we set on the platform and used till the king got here. OMG nosebleed heaven. It's a Serta Beautirest with dual settings...one side firm the other softer. The store told them just how we wanted it so they brought it in the correct way and positioned it just right ...Jim gets the soft side and I get the firm side. As soon as they left we put the new cover on and the sheets and quilt. Then the two of us jumped up and lay down and called the cats in to see it. Now if I can convince them where they are supposed to sleep I'll be in heaven. There is supper room in the center for all the 5 bed hogs..Puddy sleeps under the bed  not on it.

the Ranch carpenter at work on the platform.....all looks pretty harmless.....
till the king mattress arrives and adds mucho height to what we have.. No surprise as it was thought out.  We need storage and have gained more by making it this height and Puddy now has a super bed room. she spends most of her time under the bed.. I looked under it yesterday and she has found that she can now sit up in her cat bed and no longer has to slink to get uner the bed anymore either. In one of the photos below you can see the b/w bed one of the two cat beds we put there for her and Tom. you can also see how high the mattress makes it. The poor kink quilt hardly covers it

 Chessie (tiger ) and Shadow (black) cats make their mark already.

 Chessie and Shadow supervise while lounging on top of the mattress while it sits on its side

The handy ranch foreman is a jack of all trades.