I wish every day was a weekend day

Saturday was vet day. Jupes needed his flu shot and worming medicine and Ziggy got that and his teeth floated. Before the vet arrived, we had the boys out and Lynn measured them. Ziggy is 15.3 and Jupiter is 14.3. We need to remember to measure Keota next time he's here! I think he's taller than Zigs--what do you think? 16 hands? Didn't you always want a tall horse?  :)

Poor Zigs had been having much more issue with his teeth than Lynn (and Dr. Branch) originally thought! Poor baby's mouth was cut up and he had sores. Dr. Carlisle worked and worked on him and even had to give him another shot. Lynn said Ziggy looked over at her and a tear slipped down his face. Poor boy! Then he had to be walked and walked and walked around the parking lot. Long slow circles so he could move his feet without fear of falling.

Jupiter had a bit of a rodeo prior to his shots--there are transient people in the fields near the vet's office. Usually the boys are on high alert anyway, but suddenly Jupes went into longe mode. He was at the end of his rope and twirling around me (on the grass, thankfully). I looked for the source of his anxiety and there walking across the field toward us was a woman with a long black coat billowing out around her. She had a hat on and a back pack. Sheesh. She scared me too! :) She looked like a Halloween witch or a large black crow. She hollered, "Am I freaking your horse out?" Uh yeah.

Sunday was a beautiful day. We saddled up and rode up the Hennessy. Star got to go today and I think it was his first time on the new trails. I am sure it was fun for him and maybe he will let himself be caught again. It was a fun ride. We went pretty fast--zipping around the corners and jumping logs. We heard vehicles on the roads above us, but never had to deal with any hunters. Both the dogs had bright duct tape on; Haley had her pink bonnet and pink racing stripes around her body and Happy wore turquoise racing stripes.

Ziggy kept his tongue in his mouth almost the whole day. It finally hung out a little at the end. We were starting to think it had something to do with his teeth bothering him. But then there it was. Good! That tongue meant things were back to normal. The other thing the vet did was clean his sheath. More weird stuff--two things came out that shouldn't have been there. Dr. Carlisle is not a talkative man and he didn't offer any explanation and Lynn didn't ask. Afterward, in the parking lot, Ziggy peed a stream like he never has. We thought maybe he'd had a blockage or was uncomfortable and that was why he peed so often and such a small amount. But no, all that was back to normal as well. :)

Ziva stayed with her favorite babysitter: Uncle Lee. :) She ate all day (salami and cheese and Haley's food); chewed sticks while he greased the truck; she played with Gracie, and finally, she slept in his lap while he watched racing. A good time was had by all!

Later, we had our first bath together. Not her favorite. I blew her dry as well; again not her favorite. Then she ran around like a manic with the puppy crazies. She ate dinner, crawled up on to my blanket that was in the floor waiting for the clean sheets to come out of the dryer, and went to sleep. She didn't even move for three hours.

Life is good.

Is it really only September?

Thank goodness we went for a great, long ride yesterday. It has rained approximately 1 1/2 inches since 1:30 am this morning. We were able to ride to the right from the top and not have any bees bother us because of the cooler weather recently. We rode down and around to our new steep hill (going up this time) and the boys sure did sweat (and Jupes, the fat boy, was breathing hard). Then we came down our new trail on the east side that connects to our other trail. We all jumped logs and ditches and a good time was had by all.

Although the boys have been in high spirits at feeding time--they all behaved on the ride (you know who I have to worry about!). The night before, Jupiter and Ziggy were pouring it on across the trailer park and Jupes slipped in the mud and sawdust and down onto his rump he went. He jumped straight up and trotted around like "nobody saw that--that never happened!" Silly thing.

Ziva has been going with me to feed and after the horses settle into eating she gets to get down and go for a hike with the big dogs. She has so much fun. She is determined to do whatever they do. On Saturday, she got left home with Lee as babysitter. She had her first experience on the tie line while he was on the ladder. Lee said she cried once we left and he was out of sight. After he finished his chores, he played nonstop with her.

I came home and mowed the lawn and she stayed out of the way, watching and running from the front to the back porches. When I started spraying gopher stuff, I put her in the house. This is how I found her:

 

I don't think she moved for two hours! She is definitely teething and wants to chew everything. She keeps me busy watching to make sure we get outside to potty as well as keeping my shoes, table legs, rugs, dog beds,  magazines, homework, . . . all safe. But it's worth it.

Ziva & the mirror (9/20/13)

Ziva Grace

Yay! She's here! So everyone knows the last year has been hard for me--I have missed Izzy everyday. I wasn't totally sure I was ready or really if I knew what I wanted in a new puppy. I was conflicted mostly with having a dog that can run with the horses and be safe or one that is safe at home. I knew for sure I loved Haley and Sammi. My bringing home Ziva has been sheer providence.

First of all, I sort of decided it wasn't happening until at least spring. Then I got the surprise email. In the email I rarely check--yet it jumped out at me. Then the cost was somewhat astounding, but everything fell in to place--checks from summer school and my travel to work in Sonoma came AND a surprise freebie from Paypal. Shawn, the breeder, said the puppies would be ready on Wednesday and I had Thursday and Friday off! Finally, when I got there, Ziva was the only female left and when Shawn handed her to me, she instantly nuzzled my neck and licked me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and didn't want down. The most astounding thing of all was the name her family had been calling her: Grace. Grace comes from God. I knew right then, with all the other signs in conjunction, I am supposed to have this puppy.

She has been perfect in the car; she went potty every time I stopped for her on the trip, every time I took out last night, and every time I her put out on lawn--she's got it down. (We had one accident this morning because I wasn't watching her as close I should have been.) We had to run to town for a mammogram this morning, so the poor thing probably thinks she got adopted by a homeless person and she has to live in a car!

Anyway--I am so happy I have her. My life is ready to be changed and I know I will have help from on high--because that's why I have her.

Pictures of where Ziva comes from

**I knew I liked the name Ziva from the moment I heard it. I knew the character on the show was Israeli and I liked her. When I looked up what it means, I found that it is Hebrew (I guessed as much) and it means "brilliance and bright." I like that it has a Z and a V and doesn't sound like Haley, Sammi, Happy. So Ziva's got her own sound. :)

Group therapy

Where to start? I have had three great weekends in a row with my friends and favorite boy. We have ridden with Alisa and Keota each weekend and the only thing that could have possibly made it better was if Shirley had been well enough to join us.

The horses all got along beautifully on the trail and performed to the best of their abilities. Keota didn't do a lot of his beautiful jumping, but it's probably because we kept turning around to watch him. He is a "floper" though! (He floats when he lopes.) The only little blur on my personal riding was yesterday when Jupiter was losing ground and wanted to catch up with long-legged Ziggy. He went straight from fast, hard trotting to galloping. He freaks me out when this happens. He feels bunchy in the middle, like I am going off. I did lose one stirrup, but I had my knees clamped around him hard. Lynn stopped and that stopped us. Someday I will be able to ride faster.

The dogs have had great weekends too. So has Graycee (Gracie?). She really likes Sammi who plays more gently than Haley. But it doesn't really matter because Gracie gives as good as she gets.

Fall is definitely in the air and we are thinking about meeting Alisa over in Redding for some rides now that it is cooling off a bit. We also want to go to Weaverville for the fall colors and check out Lack's Creek, too.

Hennessey trails 001

Happy Birthday Weekend!

What a great three days we have had! Hennessey, Underwood, & the ranch. Only Ziggy got in trouble and it was for his usual passive/aggressive behavior of "I'll go where I want to go" unless Lynn is paying attention. He got his hiney spanked over and over on Sunday, until she really laced him and then he paid attention. It's nice that he is feeling better and back to his old tricks.

Alisa had so much fun--it was written all over her face. We heard lots of laughing and giggling coming from the back, since she and Keota mostly rode in back. But then we'd hear his hooves and would be loping up the trail. He loped all over the place!  And sometimes, if I turned back quick enough to watch, I got to see Keota's pretty jumping technique. He looked totally relaxed and like he was having fun every day.

Jupiter was good all three days and although we never got into a lope, we did some hard trotting. He behaved around Keota and that was important to me. He did everything I asked and we had fun, too.

I am looking forward to the next two weekends to do some more! It will be fun to have Alisa with us again.