A Much Better Day

This morning just as I was waking up I hear a bird call. We had not seen any quail for quite a long time. I got up and looked out the window and there he sat. This picture and the next one were taken through the screen. I love their calls.
He sat there talking to another one somewhere for quite a while. I love the quail. We always had a lot of them around until we got cats in the barn.

I was holding on to the rope and Sage is stomping her foot. She does that when she doesn't like what I am doing. If I put a little more pressure on the rope she goes straight up.

Lindy and Rusty. I leave Lindy standing in the mud for about half an hour before I put her in the round pen. Just worked Rusty a little bit. Tried to walk her over a tarp. It didn't work. I tried backing her on it and she backed fine until her back feet hit the tarp and then she bolted. So we just walked back and forth beside it. Then I let her go.

I had a baseball cap on this morning and she did not like it at all. She didn't even like me close to her. This afternoon I didn't have it on and she was a sweetheart. She let me pet and scratch. I did have the rope in my right hand along with the stick.

This is about as low on her side as she wants me to go. Gets a little yantzy so at the moment, just getting used to my hand is most important.

I got up on her neck a little under her mane. She was so relaxed there and was not in her safe corner. This evening we worked on the rope a little and she is getting much much better and I scratched her back a little.

I was supposed to have a gal come by today to see her and how I work with her and she was going to hand walk Lindy for me but she called at the last minute and was not coming because she had a fierce headache. I have not seen her since she was in Middle School and now she has graduated from college. She is going to try Friday morning.

Our early summer weather went away during the night and it dropped about 20 degrees from yesterday. It was supposed to rain all day but it just misted a little. That was OK with me. I got to do a lot more with the horses.

Bob bought a couple of Galloway cows, one with a pure white calf and the other cow will calf before too long. They are cute little fuzzy cattle.

Blessings.

Regression

There was no one around to take pictures when I worked with Sage today and maybe that was a good thing. She decided that she was not going to do what I wanted today. I touched her briefly but she said no, not today and bolted away. So when I could touch her and not have her run away, I went to using a rope and tossing it on to her back and over her neck. That did not seem to bother her too much. Tomorrow is another day and she hasn't been here a week so I won't get upset about it. I want to be able to hug her neck. Not too soon though it appears. She did like the stick today but, only if I stayed at the end of it.

I put Lindy out in the round pen today. I wish Katie and Cameron had put their stuff away though. It all didn't seem to bother her but it will Rusty if I get a chance to work with her soon. She has gotten about a week off and that is not a good thing.

Went to Big R today and got Jasper's wormer and 8 way shot and some salt. I have a hard time coming out of there with just what I went after. So much horse stuff and farm stuff and western clothes and boots. I did today though. Went to Dairy Queen and had ice cream and came home. I hope I don't have to go anywhere tomorrow.

Blessings.

Tiring Day

Here she gets a real scratch and back rub. Didn't even have to hold the rope. I still have to start out with the little stick but then its OK. She even relaxed better today.

Working up the stick at first. Then can rub her. I did get up under her mane a little to rub but she got pretty nervous about that. Tomorrow we will try again.

She still gets nervous when you first walk in but goes in her circle and stands in the same place. This is her favorite side. She won't let me get close enough to rub the other side. Time and patience. Mustangs will teach you that.

Bob asked me to go to the livestock auction today and see if I could find some deals on some smaller steers to raise. We have orders for meat and have none coming. I did find one. He is small but they said he was crippled. That would not hurt meat but I could not see where he was crippled. When we got him home he bounced around the little field with no sign of lameness. We got a really good deal on him. Cattle went very high if you were a buyer. It was a tiring day to sit there. I wanted to be home to work more with Sage and to work outside. This was the warmest day of the year so far. Close to 80.

Blessings.

I touched her

I did it. I touched her on day three. I started out rubbing her with an old driving whip.

I just got shorter and shorter and then I was scratching her with my hand. Wahoo. She relaxed when I had the stick. She likes the itching. She knew it was my hand, she was watching me.

This was the first time. She gets upset with noises. One time I accidentally hit the fence with the stick and she did a slam bang around the pen. Scared Bob but I knew I was OK. Tomorrow I will use a shorter stick.
She gives to the rope with her head. Haven't got her to take a step yet. At least not a real step.

I am holding the rope just below the snap. She was a little nervous but stood there.

Lindy and Raven getting acquainted at the hitch rail. Raven did not like Lindy too much. They made me giggle. Lindy gets so sick and tired of being in the stall. She still is lame. She and Sage talk back and forth.

It was a gorgeous day today. I know it won't last BUT am enjoying it while its here. Katie came out. She wanted me to ride with her but I just didn't feel like riding. Just wanted to relax, work with Sage and sit in the sun. So that is what I did.

Blessings

A beautiful day

We are going to be gone this evening so I am doing my blog earlier than usual.

I started with the bamboo pole today. Started out sitting on the fence but once I got to scratching her with he end of the pole she stopped and just stood there. Then in about an hour I went back and went in the pen with her with it. She doesn't mind at all from this side. In fact she liked it and I could get clear up behind her ears with it. The other side is not so acceptable but she stood there for as long as she could and then went away/
Oh but that felt so good. A ton of hair came off scratching her. When my arms got tired Bob took over and got her rope out of her mane. Tom tied it in her mane. I guess so it would not get hooked on anything in the trailer. Tom is the head guy at the corrals in Burns. I was please what we accomplished today. End of day 2.

We keep fish in the water trough for the horses and the cows. They get really big. I think there are five in each tank. Never feed them, the eat stuff in the tank.

I was picking up stuff in the back yard to put in the fire and found these lovely little "Spring Beauties" blooming under all the tumble weeds and stuff. They are just sweet.

So that has been my day. Katie was coming out but she got a job instead. Better for her. I think that may mess up our plans for the adoption up near Colville and some other things but hey, she needed the job bad. I knew there was one out there for her.

Hope your Saturday was wonderful.

Purple is for Royalty - Queen

Today was day l in her beginning to be my saddle horse. She readily ate hay from my hand off and on all day. She let me rub her nose a few seconds several time. Tomorrow I hope to get a hand on the rope but am trying to set my expectations aside and just do what we can as soon as we can.
This is her hip. Can you imagine the size she will be when she is done growing. Oh me oh me. Everyone that has come to see her comments on her size. I may have to go to my old wider saddle on her.

Yesterday I guess I only showed one side of her. This is the other. A lot more black than white. That is just fine. Have had a horse that was more white than brown and she gets to be a big mess and when I was showing her it was awful. Under a blanket and a hood she could get poop on her neck. Used to upset me.

Her big feet. Really big bones and big feet. She makes Rusty look like a pony.

Another view of this side.

We spent as half an hour at a time 4 or 5 times today. She got over being quite as nervous. A lot better in fact. She is very inquisitive. Love that.

Lindy is still lame but better and her feet are perfectly normal temp. She is sick and tired of being stalled up but she does not need to be walking around. Katie hand walked her for about 5 minutes. Don't want her stocking up on top of it. She still thinks we are trying to starve her to death but I keep assuring her that its for her own good.

Katie was here today with her Cameron and showed me how to do some things with my phone. The guy where I got it showed me how but he talked so fast and went over it so fast I didn't get much of it to stick in my brain. I appreciated her help.

Love this warm weather and love being able to get outside to do things.

Sage is home

You may get tired of the pictures and the blathering on but I am really excited. I would call this picture "Here she comes" Wendy didn't have any trouble finding us. She maneuvers that big trailer around.
Shes using the drive around the barn to get a good angle to the gate. I was dancing inside waiting.

Just out of the trailer. She is wondering where she is. That was a long trailer ride. We have done it with several horses. She is larger than I thought.

This picture got uploaded twice. I can really mess up getting things straightened out when I make a mistake so just skip over the next one. She really didn't quite know what to do. She has really large leg bones and big solid feet. I will want to be able to pick her feet ASAP so Bob can work on her feet. They have got her more upright than I would like.

She is eating at the straw. We put that down because it was so muddy. Now it is dry. Its OK though and it will get picked up as I pick out her run every day.

Right in front of me. I put my hand in and she reached out and smelled it and I touched her nose. Later she did it two or more times and let me touch her nose. Knowing that is the first step in the gentling process. Tomorrow morning I will take a chair and a book and go sit in her stall and read softly to her out loud.

She got here about 4:30. I had just about wore myself out waiting. I worked outside. Took Lindy out and ran cold water on her feet. She stood in the mud for about half an hour while I cleaned her stall and curried her good. She is so big and so fat. She walked better after standing in the mud. I will do that again in the morning. She has the same sire bloodlines as my old mare Ditto. Also I tied Rosy out to eat grass for an hour. You could tie her out with a hay string.

Bob worked with Rusty. She had a couple of lulu temper tantrums. I was glad he was the one working with her. Her worked her through them though and they ended on a good note.

So that was our day. Wait, wait wait and then hurrah, she is home at last.