Just talking (posting) to hear my head rattle

It's been a week since our fun vacation at the Guest Ranch. I am the lucky one--I don't have to work--and yet, it feels like it's been a very long time since we were in NM; even though, Lynn and Shirley keep listening for Tim to ring the chow bell! I have a list a mile long of things I want to accomplish before the craziness sets in, but sometimes I find myself spinning in circles or just sitting down to listen to the trees and toss Ziva something to catch. The latter makes me feel a little guilty, but mostly, I really like it. I think I am lazy at heart. :)

Yesterday, Lynn came and got Ziva for a haircut and kept her all day. I finished a baby afghan and went to his shower. It was the only homemade present there. Probably, I am only one who has given him anything homemade--I sent flannel receiving blankets before he was born, as well. I think I am a throwback to earlier times. (I just remembered, someone gave him a rattle they had woven from Native materials. I made one for my friend's baby eight years ago--I was so proud of it; that's way harder than knitting!)

When I picked Z up, we went out to see the horses. I think it's been almost three weeks! When I called to Jupiter, his head came right up. I told him maybe we would ride on Sunday. He looked like, "Okay, whatever. Do you have a granola bar?" :)

The weather has been pretty great--we had rain off and on all day Friday. I got lots done outside; so when it was raining at 5:30 am Saturday, I called Lynn and asked her if she just wanted to stay home and work in her yard. She worked so hard, she went to bed at 8:30. :)

Today was another cool morning. It rained overnight and was dawning pretty clear, or as Shirley said, "The event had passed." At least according to the weatherman. The horses were easy to catch and ready to have their halters on, even Star. We rode up the Hennessey and had a great time. It wasn't a long ride, but, it sure felt good to be in my own saddle and on my best boy. Lynn said she wished she could have merged Smokey's personality with Ziggy's smoothness. Shirley was just happy to be on Star.

We only rode a few hours, but it was nice. There was a cool breeze rustling the trees and the boys seemed happy to be there, too. I think they like getting off The Place--even if it is work to pack us up the hills and down. There was one horse-eating branch that almost got Star, at least according to Jupes. Star kicked a fallen branch of some length and it swung up and tangled in his tail. He did not even notice, but Jupes turned his head and stepped sideways, giving it a wide berth.

Tomorrow, Alisa is riding with her new riding partner on a trail neither of them have been on before. We are all excited for her new adventure and especially that she feels good on Keota and is off having fun again! I heard Odie got into some wire and I hope he is doing well--he's such a sweet boy.

Vacationing with the BFFs

After months of anticipation, the girls and I met up and headed for Geronimo Trail Guest Ranch in New Mexico. What a great time! We rented a 4-Runner and stayed in Old Town Albuquerque. Before we drove out to the ranch (a four hour drive), we shopped for turquoise jewelry. Then we went up on the Sandia Tram for dinner and beautiful views. Our tram guide explained that "sandia" was Spanish for "watermelon", which describes the color of the rocks along the way. We had a great dinner and the views were spectacular. On top, the temperature changed from the 90s to the 60s and it was spitting rain and the wind was blowing. All week long we had beautiful weather--lots of thunder and lightning off to the distance and the temperature was in the 80s to low 90s. The sky in New Mexico is big and color was a deep turquoise blue; we saw lots of stars at night (even a shooting star) and beautiful cloud formations all day. It was as if our hosts had ordered up the perfect weather just for us.

Day 1

Getting to know our horses.

Shirley & Lips (dark chocolate bay)

Alisa & Blue (blue roan)

Lynn & Smokey (small bay with attitude)

Me & Jasper (red line back dun)

Met our fellow campers: Norby, from Switzerland (riding Rooster) & Anna, originally from Poland, but has lived in Chicago for 12 years (riding Casey) and the cats: Scaredy, Garfield, and Clementine.

Horses (the ones I remember!):

Johnny, big bay colored draft horse

Rio, big Appaloosa

Strawberry Shortcake, pony

Buffalo Gal, paint movie star

Red, small sorrel Morgan

Ned, the old guy

Shadow, big black

Lightning, a paint

Toto, a sorrel

Bucky, a buckskin

Hank, sorrel

Emmett, a blue roan who lost a shoe

First we went on a short ride out of the ranch to the east with Meris & Kelly. Saw Mimbre cliff dwellings, cows, a rabbit. (On drive here we saw 2 antelope, a herd of elk, and a cattle drive; Lynn and Alisa went into a swoon over a cute cowboy in the wash.) Meris explained that the Basque people, who were sheepherders, came along after the Mimbre people left and lived in the cliff dwellings. They changed them a little by adding wood and rock structures.

In the afternoon we went out with Seth and Kelly and turned left and then went south. We went up on "top of the world" to two overlooks. The first one was a sneak peek at our ride for day two. It looked down on Taylor Creek. The second one, Seth said we could see AZ and 365 degrees around was the Gila National Forest—approximately 3.3 million acres.

That night we played Uno with Meris and Kelly; Shirley made Lynn draw tons of cards. I won one, Alisa won one, Anna (pronounced Onna) won two, and Kelly two. We ate quail for dinner—a first for me.

Day 2

All the wranglers went on a picnic ride with us (all day). We went south west and rode all through Taylor Creek and The Narrows to Beaver Creek which is the Gila River headwaters. This was the playground of Geronimo. He was born near here and grew up around here. It was fun going through all the water. It rained on us, but we dried off during lunch. We looked at more sunken Native homes and saw more pottery shards. It was an awesome ride. At the picnic spot, one of the trees had been recently struck by lightning and was all twisted and broken. We saw a huge carp in the swimming hole.

On the way out that morning, she asked us if we wanted to trot and lope. I definitely want to work on loping and getting the feel, so I emphatically said, “yes!” We loped along the road toward the trail; to keep the horses from competing and going really fast, we stayed in a single file line. Jasper is tall and Shirley’s horse, Lips, was way slower than him, so we did not lope as far as I had hoped we would. Jasper had to slow down and just trot behind Lips.

In the evening, Norby played his flutes—one made out of a small pvc pipe, one beautiful dual Native flute he had ordered and just bought from his AZ Native friend—and a digeridoo he made from a pvc pipe at the campfire. The coyotes howled and came closer to our campfire! We loved it.

Day 3

We rode into Taylor Creek and Cox Canyon. We went up over a ridge where we could see Black Mountain and the Mogollon Mountains (Meris pronounced it Moggyowin). We saw more Mimbre cliff dwellings and Basque dwellings. We went into a big one where it had a bed frame, fireplace, and table. The floor was deep silt and the air was cool. Alisa and the others cooled off in the creek in their clothes, including their jeans. Even Shirley waded in. Lynn and I did not. However, we took off our tank tops and dipped them. We left at 10:30 and did not get back into the cabin until 6:00. Today, we loped along the trail. Jasper loped really nice and when he felt me become a little unbalanced, he went into his trot until I was comfortable and then loped some more. It was fun.

After dinner, we ate s'mores and sang campfire songs until 10.

Day 4

I asked Shirley if she was having fun; she’s been so quiet. She said she was just glad she got to come and be with us girls. She said this was the best thing. Her horse was no Star or Buster--he was a "ground pounder" in her words, but she also said (in front of her!) that Lynn was like her right arm—she needed her in order to feel whole. J She said she had always wanted a daughter so she would have a best friend and someone to share the things she loved. Pretty cool—tough to get her to say it out loud, and especially TO Lynn—but, definitely a heartwarming, cool statement.

Jasper mostly trotted today--we only loped a little; I think he was a little lazy and really just wanted to stay at the ranch. We went to Beaver Canyon today for our picnic. Although we went along Taylor Creek, we were high above it before dropping down to where the two come together. Unfortunately Hank (or was it Toto?) threw a shoe and Seth had to walk back to camp from there. He had to walk through our favorite part--the narrows--afoot. Lots of water in his cowboy boots!

We saw a large herd of mule deer heading up the mountain and lots of cows today; including a red bull that was blocking our path. Meris said he has challenged her twice. He does not belong to the family who owns the property we crossed over and they had come to look for him yesterday, so his rightful owner could take home and get him off their property. We had cows bellowing for their calves and we had to stop to let one loud, insistent, and long horned cow by us and then one cow who was following her put on a bucking show. What fun! I love cows. There were more Mimbre and Basque cliff dwellings, tin mine markers, and the Keeper of the Canyon's face to look at today. 

We played Apples to Apples with Meris & Kelly that night. It was a hoot. They are both so fun to be with.

Day 5

Leaving the ranch was kind of sad—everyone hugged and it felt like we were leaving family. I do hope we see them again. Along the way, we stopped at the Winston store—more shopping! The doorbell was the sound of an elk. Later, we accidentally took a wrong road which dead ended at Monticello. We lost some time, but saw two road runners.

Upon arriving in Old Town Albuquerque, we shopped some more. Everyone bought jewelry and gifts for the people at home (especially the dogs’ babysitters!). Lynn bought a new suitcase to carry all our new stuff, and then we went to bed. Not too much sleeping happened and then it was 2 am and time to get up.

Shirley gave us a scare at the airport and needed a wheelchair, I got flustered and couldn't unlock my suitcase to remove my extra 2 pounds, but we had easy flights and Gordy was Mr. On-The-Spot and we set off for Quincy.

Shirley slept most of day in the car--poor thing had her head hanging and probably had a painful crook in it the next day, but she wouldn't admit she was sleeping and just prop her head more comfortably.

Happy poodles met us at all three houses and after I loaded Shirley's luggage on the 4-wheeler and she sped off, I am sure she was met by a wagging Happy.

What a great vacation! I love being with those three women more than anything and getting to ride in new country is priceless! I will be ready to do it again next summer and every summer thereafter. J

Party like we on vacation!

Wahooo! We are almost on vacation!

Last weekend we rode with Goldie the mule and her person, Mary Ann. It was another great day of riding. Ziggy fell in love with Goldie and was unbelievable--his ears were forward the whole time, his tongue was in his mouth all day, and he did not go pee one time! Star of course was a little sideways, silly boy, and Jupes wanted to look at her, but kept his feet moving. I told him, "ride your own shoes!"

We went backwards on our trails and it was like they were all new. Even the branches were bent the opposite way so it was a little brushy, but Mary Ann said she liked it brushy! :) She wore a cowboy hat that she had to hang on to and now she has decided to get a helmet. (The way we ride, it's probably a good thing!) She is ready to do it again!

Me, too! We've had several great weekend rides and beautiful days to do it. Yay--it's summer!!

Bells, birdies, and stars

Church bells ringing, ringing--oh wait, it's only Saturday! Well, actually you could tell me anything and I would have believed it. I sort of lost part of the ride on Saturday! I had my bell rung! The first time ever.

It was a gorgeous, first day of a long weekend. We rode up the Hennessey and went to our new trail on the right. Everything was going well--well as good it goes some days (broken breast collar that snapped when Jupes stumbled into a hole, Shirley freaked out by a steep upgrade, caught between a cow and her herd--it started to follow us up the mountain), but overall good. Then something weird happened. Honestly all I remember is being in a tree and a sort of a flying sensation. Shirley said she turned around to tell me to watch out for the swinging branch--maybe I kind of remember that, but Jupes had already moved away from it toward the tree.

I guess I got clotheslined. I have had few scrapes and a bruise on my forehead (under my helmet's visor!). Lynn said she saw me about two feet from the ground. I was straight out, like a belly flop, but I turned and tucked my right arm under me. Then I hit the ground and she heard the air explode out of me. Then I didn't move. I scared her.

The next thing I knew was I hearing a horrible rasping sound and realized it me making it. I do not remember talking to her, but she said I told her I was not broken, but could not catch my breath. She said my eyes were going around in circles. She said I said, "I think I had my bell rung." I asked her to help me get up because I guess my spurs were caught and I couldn't get my legs under me. Then I got up, walked to Jupe, took him to a log and got on. It wasn't till later that Lynn got more worried.

I guess I asked her about four times if she knew where we were. I don't remember any of that. Later she asked me if I knew where I was now--I was kind of snarky, like "Yeesss." I didn't know why she asked me.

Anyway, I'm fine. Sore, but not broken. It hurts to cough or blow my nose (my chest) and my arm is a little sore, but everything works.

We tried to ride on Sunday, but Buster wasn't having it. We went up Underwood. Shirley got into trouble immediately on the trail and had to bail off. Lynn rode him on the road and he was fine, but once she started him on the trail again, he went kind of ballistic. His back end was trembly and I could see his muscles twitching. So we went home. He is hurting, I guess. He's fine on the flats, but not on the steep hills. Shirley was not interested in getting Star and trying again.

Monday was perfect! Again we went to Underwood. Everyone was perfect. (Although I did hear Shirley yell at Star once, "Star, you old fool!") It was a glorious day; I do not think it could have been better. We rode up to the top of the ridge and looked over and then down and around and up and down. :) I loved it.

Midnight snack

I had a scary adventure with Lynn last night--a breathless midnight call, "Leave your dog at home. The horses are out and I might need help. Don and Mom. . ." If she continued I don't know she said; I either just breathed out, "Okay," and hung up on her or I simply wasn't awake to process the rest. Maybe it was that I was freaked out and heading to find clothes.

Ziva had eaten three pairs of my underwear earlier in the week (I know!! Three!), so in my panicked state, that was one of the things I focused on. I ran to the dryer and pulled out jeans and frantically pawed through until at last I found some. I also found my riding bra. All I could think of was we would be running in the tall grass and I need support.

I ran out to the garage barefooted and grabbed my muck boots where I sat on the front seat and put on socks and stuffed my jeans down into them. I had grabbed my bright orange rain jacket as well, thinking it was probably raining and I would be more visible than in my black feeding slicker. So it's obvious that I was awake and cognizant. But I couldn't get the car started. Then I realized I need to slow down. I was putting it in gear too fast and it was dying. Before I realized it, I was at the top of my driveway. I don't think I truly was completely awake and functioning until I hit 299, where I did not even pretend to stop at the stop sign.

Through all this, Ziva was laying on the bed. Barely one eye cracked open. That girl is a sleeper!

As I flew toward The Place (also know as Ten Firs), all I could think of was foundered horses. I could hear Shirley's voice in my head. I couldn't imagine how they got out, but I could imagine my horse especially, eating himself into being dead. The closer I got, the more questions peppered my brain. How did they learn that either one or all of them were out? What if they were eating next to the highway instead of the field?  I stopped freaking myself out with questions and prayed the rest of the way. Not only was I concerned about horses, but Shirley and Don's safety and health. I desperately worked on my breathing. My heart felt like it was pounding through my chest and I couldn't breathe.

I slowed down as I started up the passing lane--scanning, scanning. No lights in the field, no big, dark bodies near the road. I parked and then Lynn was on the four-wheeler next to me. "Get on!" She handed me the big spot light and we headed to the green gate. Shirley pulled up behind. After I unlocked the gate, dropped the chain that locks it, and dumped the grain bucket Lynn handed to me, Shirley hollered at me to go with Lynn, she'd get the gate.

As we drove up the hill to the "trailer court," dark shapes stirred. Eyes flashed. One, Two. Three. Four. Oh God there's four--I knew it, it's Jupiter out eating too much and missing--Lynn said she could hear me sucking in my breath with each count--FIVE!  At the same time, both of us saw that last dark body move away from the other one, "They're all here!" She breathed. "Our horses are all here! And they're sleeping." I breathed. They were calm and although surprised and circling toward us, they were acting as if nothing untoward was going on. They were happy about a snack, that's for sure. Although Jupes and Star probably thought that we were going to try to catch them to go out for a ride. Brady probably told them we must be going someplace new and fun to leave this early! But they settled down for a quick bite of grain (albeit a small one, since someone dumped the bucket earlier! Sheesh.).

So we patted all of them and told them to go back to sleep and headed out to find this other "small, red horse." Now that I could hear over my beating heart and prayer loop playing in my head, I heard Lynn's story. A truck driver saw a horse by the east driveway. He stopped and blocked the driveway and walked up to Bev's house to tell her. She went to her neighbor's house to call Shirley, who called Lynn. Lee was dispatched off to Hawkins Bar and 299 in general to put on the flashers to slow and warn people. We drove to the bottom of the driveway, Shirley jumped in with Don in the truck, Lee pulled up and said he saw nothing--no horse between The Place and Hawkins Bar. Lynn and I drove both 4-wheelers up the highway to the east driveway. Lynn flashed the spotlight all through the trees. No horse. We drove across the highway to Suzy-Q side. Again, no horse. We went home and put all the halters and 4-wheelers away.

I hung out with Lynn and Haley (who was over the top excited!) for about half and hour and then drove home. Shoooo. Breathe.

When I got home, I was wide awake of course. So I put on my new Tony Lama's and clomped around the house. Ziva got up to see what in the heck I was doing! (I'm trying to see if they are going to rub. I truly hate sending stuff back. It's such a hassle AND I need boots!) Finally, I went back to bed and read for a bit.

Adventures in horse ownership. Like they say, "It's always something!" Thankfully it was something with a positive outcome. Hopefully that other horse is safely home, too.

Ingenuity and a little tape

It's spring! Flowers are blooming and springs are running. And yep, the girls are riding. Well, sort of. Still no shoes! Doesn't he know we're ready to go? Schedules are meant to be amended! It's been eight weeks--let's roll!

Okay, rant over. Hopefully our shoer will show up this week. Daylight's burning people.

Both Jupiter and Ziggy couldn't fit in the largest boot, so Lynn taped them to protect their tender feet. (She should make a commercial for tape. Duct tape is no longer just a guy's thing!) Ziggy lost his on the meadow, but Jupes kept his on the whole ride. Buster wore all four like a champ.

We tootled around the bottom meadow where water was running and the ground was soft. The only guy feeling his oats (well, his alfalfa) was Buster. Shirley got to have a carnival ride. He wanted to buck and crow hop a little. I think he and Jupes are competing on the trail again. Buster likes to be in front and I don't think he's the "boring" horse that Shirley thinks he is. Thankfully, she got him under control with a minimum of fuss.

Unfortunately, what started out as a wonderful day ended on a sad note. My little hiss n spit baby had been slowly declining. The vet thinks she might have had stomach cancer. So I had to let her go. My heart is broken and our house is a little emptier. For such a little thing, she a had a huge personality.

Barefootin'

Last Saturday was our first ride of 2016. It's been four months!! It felt so good to be in the saddle; however, the boys don't have shoes on and they were less than happy about it. All of them tried to find the softest ground to walk on. Thankfully it's all pretty soft and wet.

We tried out our chinks! They are awesome. They kept us warm and dry and the branches that have overgrown the trail did not hurt. Shirley says she'll wear them all year. I don't think I will able to as I think they will be hot. The jury's still out on whether I will take them to New Mexico or not. I love the fact that our hostess says she rides in them every day because they make her "look cool!" I think we are totally going to like her.

The best news of all is about Alisa and Keota. After a year of recuperating, she rode her big boy and all was well! Yay! I know that it must have been hard to climb up and be calm those first few minutes. After all of my falls, I was able to get back on without a lot of thought--so less trepidation was involved. After my broken arm in 2014, I rode at least part of the way down; but when I got back on in Feb/Mar, four months later, I was more cautious for sure.

Not only was her injury way more serious than a broken arm, Alisa had to wait a whole year to, as Shirley would say, "Get back on that horse!" That's a lot of time for thinking and worrying. But she did it and he was good. Keota is super smooth and easy gaited, and although she loves Odie--her forever horse--he is a little rougher than Keota.

So we are all off to a good riding year. I hope we all have a "fall-less" year with lots of wet blankets.