Teeth..

Let me begin by saying, Holy Hell...I re-read my Fiona post and its a mess!  ( :  I guess I just can't multi-task as well as I thought I could, and my adult sudden onset ADD is really apparent...maybe next post will be better, have more flow, not be missing a paragraph and that kind of stuff!  ( :  Never know around here I guess.  I am going to try and find a writing class to help me out as well.

So last year, I had paid off my truck and decided to go the dentist as it had been 5 years since I'd gone.  It was in fact one of my new years resolutions.  So then my sweet little Fi gets hurt.  Money goes to Fi and all of my girls needed the Horse Dentist in the spring...so if Fi hadn't taken the lions share, that pretty much spent the rest of my Human Dentist dough. 

New Year, new attempt at going to the Dentist.  And I actually made it there...wahooo!!  I got X-Rays and the whole nine yards...  This is a new Dentist for me, and they have everything on computer.  I like it, got to do my New Patient forms on line...signed everything at the office digitally, and even got a thank you e-mail along with an appointment verification e-mail.  Love it, love it, love it!!

I can say that the Dentist did say that for as long as its been between visits that things weren't too bad...but I have cavities and get to visit a few time to get them filled...'cause I don't have insurance, I have to pace myself...yippee.  I would love to get them all done at once, but then I'd be too poor to buy snacks for the girls...and their dad would have to do it...  The girls had better behave themselves this year!!  ( :

And sadly, having 4 horses seen by the Equine Dentist is CHEAPER than one person seeing the Dentist...geeeze!

SF Bonnie Blue Smoke

.Fiona and Calamity, their yearling spring...Jamison on right.  These fillys are fraturnal sisters.  Calamity's mom is Give Me A Lickin' bred (Dash For Cash) and they are 3 weeks apart on their foaling dates.

Yet again another not so great registered name!!  We call her Fiona.  (Even though they had been calling her Bonnie when I first got her.)  Fi for short...anyway Fi was only 6 months old when she and her sister Calamity came to live with me and she had NO idea what her name was, oddly enough Calamity knew her name...hmmm!  Calamity now lives in Las Vegas with my friend Julie and is called Bella.  You can call her name and she comes right over to the fence, so I guess she likes Bella and having her named changed didn't bother her one bit!

Calamity's hinney on left Fiona's headless body on right...this was taken in March right before I brought home Tari.  Horse Girl is of course right there on the left.

 I knew I needed Fiona from the first time I saw her picture!  She was six weeks old and standing beside her momma.  She hadn't roaned out yet and they weren't sure at that time if she was going to, but honestly I didn't care.  I called my friend Marie and asked if they were going to sell Crystal's filly.  Crystal isn't Marie's she is Marie's really good friends mare, the sire however was Marie's.  Her friend had rejoined the Army after her divorce and after being out for a few years and Marie took her horse when she was unable to sell her.  Marie had actually tried to get me to buy Crystal when she was for sale, but I just didn't really need another horse at the time and didn't really want to drive for a half day just to try the mare.  Also I had known the friend of Marie's and didn't really like the way she rode or treated her horses.  She was proned to fly off the handle and hand them an ass whoopin'.  No I believe in spanking my horse so to speak, but she went overboard in my opinion...and if she had done some harm (mentally) to this mare, I just didn't want to have to work through that.

Fiona last summer, right toward the end of her lockdown, we had started working on her ponying skills at this point.

 Now Crystal is by The Signature and her registered name is Crystal Signature.  I really had no idea who The Signature was, but I do now...and am pretty happy to have his grand-baby at my house!!  He is a TB, so Crystal started out with Appendix papers, but she ran on the track...and boy did she run!  This mare has a speed index of 97 and even better than that, is the fact that ALL the mares on Fi's face papers have a speed index of 90 or greater!  My filly has a very strong mare line, and boy does that make me smile!!  I love a good mare more than I love ice cream!!  Fiona's sire is the same sire as Horse Girls roan colt Easy that I mentioned in Horses Girls post.  I love this stallion!  He has get standing in several different places, most of them cattle ranches and places that breed roans...as of Fiona's foal crop, Smoke was a 100% color producer and had never sired a red foal.

Fi begging for freedom!!  Note the pannel up past her natural head set...she still tried going over this later on...

As I may have said in an earlier post, I have had horses all my life.  I have had wrecks, injuries, and plenty of mishaps.  My old mare used to get hurt every other year it seemed.  Some pretty bad, some just inconvenient...but we would have a trouble free year followed by one with some grief.  One year ago the 31rst of this month Chad and I went to the barn to do who knows what....I know it was early in the A.M.as the Super Bowl hadn't started.  We were bringing our horses into the front of the barn and I looked at Fi.  She was sided up pretty close to Horse Girl and walking odd.  At first I made fun of her being a sissy and not liking the ice, but as she got closer to me, I could see we were in big trouble.  She had cut herself and it was pretty long and deep.  It was just above her left rear ankle.  So I called the vet and Chad went to hook up the trailer.  We loaded Fi and Horse Girl into the trailer and headed over to Dr. Peters.

Doing what she does best...this was this fall, if you look really hard you can see the left hind is a bit thick.

He took one look at her and said he'd have to sedate her and lay her down, he'd also like to take some images.  I said alrighty.  After putting her on the ground and cleaning up the wound he called me into the stall and showed me the visible damage.  She had a 1/4 cut to her flexor tendon and had nicked the bone.  (Well before we had pulled out, we had found what the little tard had done, she had jumped into the round bale feeder and ripped off one of the arms...and since we had plenty of snow and a big freeze, the thing didn't give and it just ate her.)  I was too wound up to get any pics of this little wreck, so you are spared from the blood and gore on this one!! ( :   As we were looking at the injury, I looked at him and asked if it was worth trying to repair the wound.  I am a realist and one of the things I really like about Dr. Peters is if you ask him for his opinion, he holds nothing back...I always tell everyone that he isn't afraid to make a girl cry.  He told me if I follow directions and don't get lazy or in a big hurry, she should heal just fine...but there is always a chance that she will never be sound.  He said if it were his horse, he would repair the wound and get to the healing process.  So that's just what we did.  She needed to stay over night, so we picked her up in the morning.

I told her we all feel like this somedays...(she is trying to get to Sally's feed.)

When I picked her up I had a zip drive with me and asked him to down load my x-rays onto it for me.  He looked at me and said really?  You'd like to have them?  I said yep!  He said, well lets get this figured out then!  It took maybe 10 minutes but we got it done!  And I'm glad we did!!  Fi had cut that tendon, chipped the bone, and actually gotten a hairline fracture of her cannon bone.  So in reality, she will at some point experience arthritis and some sort of lameness that will nag (hahha, I said nag when talking about my horse) her the rest of her life.  More than likely, Fiona will never be for sale...she will be my problem child forever.

Here are all of the pictures I got from the vet on the zip drive...showing all of them so I feel like I've gotten my money's worth outtat them!!  ( :  Double click to see them bigger, you can really see the damage pretty easily...If I had the technology on my computer, I'd give you an arrow...but I don't!! 

Fi spent nearly six months is a stall and then the stall and a 12x12 paddock with her stall.  We followed all the rules, well I did.  The little dumb ass jumped out of her paddock twice.  The first one I saw, and it wasn't pretty...she really went ass over tea kettle over it and bit her lip, skinned up her legs, tore down part of the fence, and gave me a heart attack.  It took all I had not to call the vet and haul her butt in to see if she had undone any of our hard work.  The second time she went over, one of the land lords morons was out and I'll save that storey, but I called the vet and said got any Prozac for horses, because if she pulls this crap one more time I may need to take it!  They actually have long lasting anesthesia that they use for just such problems like this.  So Fi got a dose.  It seemed to work and she stayed put the rest of her time on stall/paddock rest.

Another shot of her lumpy leg!

I had gotten some information from Restoring Joy about hydrotherapy for horses and made contact with the pool people for that, but they didn't open their pool last year.  So rather than getting someone else to do my "dirty" work, I ponied and hand walked her until I was able to turn her out again.  She didn't get turned out with the "big" horses, but was pastured with Becky Mule, the Hee Haws, and Sally (Sally is the next horse I will post on!)  Her sister Calamity-Bella had already left for Sin City by the time Fiona got to taste freedom again.

She is such a good eater!!  ( :

Fiona is as sound as can be right now and I'm pretty happy about that!  She lives with everyone else and romps around like a "normal" horse.  She turned 3 Jan. 1rst with the rest of the AQHA registry, but as far as I'm concerned doesn't really until May 13th.  She has space issues because I had space issues when she was in the stall and confined for all that time.  She pushes, bumps, rubs, and mugs you when she feels the need.  The vet told me on our last visit that the last time he saw a horse that mugged you like that it was a 12 year old girls horse...then he winked at me...not sure what he meant by that, but she really doesn't get the space thing for the most part.  Now you can drive her away and demand she maintains and she will, but if left to her own devices she will touch you head to toe.  If you have anything sticking out, she will take it and if the opportunity arises, she will grab your shoe laces.  I do not recommend ever letting this happen to you, she can and will yank you off of your feet.  Then look at you like, "What'd you do that for?"

Sally on the left...I love this filly too!!  ( :  Fiona liked to boss Sally around, honestly I think Sally just let her to make Fi feel better about herself!  ( :

As far as getting her going under saddle, I know she is going to buck, she knows she is going to buck...So I have decided to send her to the same man that started Tari. (I am not afraid of bucking or being bucked off, but with some of my other spring/summer plans, I know that I won't be as consistent as I like to be when starting my babies....) His name is Marrio Johnson.  Last fall he won the Wyoming Mustang Challenge.  I like his work!!  I know that Fi won't come back like Tari, but if he can master a mustang, he can master my monster!  ( :  Fi won't be going to Mario alone, Sally will be going to.  I will keep you posted on how this turns out!  ( :

Even More Good Stuff From My E-Mail!!

Proof That The World Is Nuts

In Lebanon, men are legally allowed to have sex with animals, but the animals must be female. Having sexual relations with a male animal is punishable by death.
(Like THAT makes sense.)

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In Bahrain, a male doctor may legally examine a woman's genitals, but is prohibited
from looking directly at them during the examination.
He may only see their reflection in a mirror.
(Do they look different reversed?)

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Muslims are banned from looking at the genitals of a corpse. This also applies to undertakers. The sex organs of the deceased must be covered with a brick or piece of wood at all times.
(A brick?)

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The penalty for masturbation in Indonesia is decapitation.
(Much worse than 'going blind!')

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There are men in Guam whose full-time job is to travel the countryside and deflower young virgins, who pay them for the privilege of having sex for the first time.
Reason: under Guam law, it is expressly forbidden for virgins to marry.
(Let's just think for a minute; is there any job anywhere else
in the world that even comes close to this?)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In Hong Kong, a betrayed wife is legally allowed to kill her adulterous husband,
but may only do so with her bare hands.
The husband's illicit lover, on the other hand, may be killed in any manner desired.
(Ah! Justice!)

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Topless saleswomen are legal in Liverpool, England - but only in tropical fish stores.
(But of course!)

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In Cali, Colombia, a woman may only have sex with her husband,
and the first time this happens, her mother must be in the room to witness the act.
(Makes one shudder at the thought.)

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In Santa Cruz, Bolivia, it is illegal for a man to have sex with a woman
and her daughter at the same time.
(I presume this was a big enough problem that they had to pass this law?)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In Maryland, it is illegal to sell condoms from vending machines with one exception:
Prophylactics may be dispensed from a vending machine only in places where
alcoholic beverages are sold for consumption on the premises.'
(Is this a great country or what? Well,... not as great as Guam !)

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Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.
(Who volunteers for these tests?)

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The ant can lift 50 times its own weight, can pull 30 times its own weight
and always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.
(From drinking little bottles of ???)
(Did our government pay for this research??)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Butterflies taste with their feet.
(Ah, geez.)

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An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
(I know some people like that.)

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Starfish don't have brains.
(I know some people like that, too.)

*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

And, the best for last?
Turtles can breathe through their butts.
(And I thought I had bad breath in the morning!)

We Got This From One Of Our Customers At Work...

I hope you can click on this and read it...

Horsecyn Tari Arowin

Go ahead and say it with me...what was that person smoking/drinking when they gave that mare a name like that?  God only knows...

Tari's Brand...Chad says it reads XL if you are riding her looking down.

 As far as I am concerned her name is the only bad thing about Tari.  When Mindy and I pulled into that empty fair grounds in Dingle Idaho I wasn't sure just what we were going to see.  I had seen the Barrel Horse World add and liked the filly, but photo's can be deceiving.  Hers weren't.  Although she was in her winter woollies when we saw her in "person" and her add photo's were in summer, she was outstanding!  I have already mentioned (in a previous post) her former owner Becky Ipsen...here is her family's web site... http://www.ipsencattle.com/home.html  If you go to it, and look at the horses for sale page, Tari is still on there...bottom left picture, and look at how sleek she looks as a two year old!!  The big bay colt Horsecyn Pistol Indy is her full brother...hes for sale...  Also here is Becky's brother-in-laws site.... http://www.jardineperformancehorses.com/   ( I wish I could link it all professional like, but I am challenged some days!!  LOL!!) These are good honest people and if you are ever in the market for a horse, check out what they have for sale....you never know!!

This Summer....

As you may have read in the post just before this one, Tari was my sisters horse first.  But Mindy found a super cute little mare on Barrel Horse World that she just couldn't live without.  The mares name was Ruth when she got her...and of course HATED that name!!  This mare was a Streakin' Lajolla filly...maybe grand filly...I can't remember now.  On the top...and the bottom was Beduino...I think...ugh, I really want to tell you!!  But Mindy just couldn't live without her and her husband just couldn't live with three horses.  Men!!  So I purchase Tari and Mindy purchased Ruth.  When the Ruth mare arrived at Mindy's she was skin and bones...Hence her new name Boney.  I will see if I can remember to tell you all more about Boney in a later post...its a good storey for us all to learn from...

This was taken last April...look at that chest!!

Now you can call me out on the carpet over this next statement, but I think that this mare has near perfect conformation.  When I look at her she flows....I just love the way she looks!!  Her expression is always kind and alert, she is good natured rain or shine.  Tari's motto is definately, every day is a good day.  She ties in oh so well everywhere...and she has the BEST feet on the planet!  Every time my farrier comes out he tells me how great they are and how he wishes that he saw more horses with feet this nice!  I was always taught "no foot, no horse", so that really makes me smile!! And  because I am uptight about my horses feet!!

Again, last April picture...what you can't see is that she is following Chad...

I will say, that if there is one  and only one thing I don't like about Tari, its that she likes everybody.  Now you may be wondering what is wrong with me on this, but I like "my" horse to prefer me over other people.  My first horse was my best friend, and it was obvious to everyone who was around...I want that bond again.  But I was a kid and lived on the back of Quoata (my old mare and my first horse as well)...I don't have that kind of time anymore...and I don't know if that makes a difference...but I wish Tari liked me the way I love her!!  ( :

Numnumnumnumnum!!

Tari is a very nice horse to ride, but has a habit of getting behind the bit on you...and I admit, that I am guilty of daydreaming sometimes...and being heavy handed...but not all the time.  So rather than making the both of us suffer, I decided to try a different bit on her...and when I say bit, I mean mechanical hackamore.  We are currently riding in a little S.  It works perfectly for us!  Tari is a little lazy and has a great stop, so I don't need anything with a lot of whoa.

Been caught stealin'...

 I have started Tari on cows, and is slowly getting cowy...  Now this mare will work the pants off of the mini donkeys when the mood strikes her, but working a steer is coming a wee bit slower.  I am NOT experienced in working cows, but the neighbor with the cows has been coaching me some.  I do wonder if some of her problems are me and my inexperience.  I will ponder this for a while and then just go with the flow probably.  I do so wish I had a very clear path for this mare, but I don't.  She suffered in training this last year (2009) thanks to Fiona...and so this year I will try and get her on the track I was hoping for last year...but we will see!  Oh, and that is to get to loping a barrel pattern.  She has seen it and we have done a small amount of work on it, but not nearly enough...and I was hoping to get her and I into some sort of trainer to help us along last year...  So crossing my fingers for this year!  ( :

This fall...

This year will be a big year for Tari also in the dating fashion!  Now I know that some of you are thinking why would you breed a horse in this market.  First let me remind you, I am not, my sister is...although I am an enabler!  LOL!  It is a valid question and the answer isn't really cut and dry, I suppose.  Now although Tari's pedigree is very sound....Sound enough to get into Dash Ta Fame's breeding book.  This stallion isn't breeding to just anyone...And this mare is nice, nice, nice, far nicer than any of my pictures will show.  There are a lot of cow/speed horse crosses out there tearing it up in the barrel world right now, and that is what my sister has planned for this foal.  My sister has all of the means to take this foal just as far as it can go, and the brains to know what she is doing...so Tari is going to be a momma!  There is also the argument that yes there are a few DTF babies for sale right now on Barrel Horse World and like sites...but look that the price tags these guys are packing, and the sellers are getting it.  (We did do a little market research just to be sure!  We might be nuts, but we aren't stupid!)   Believe me when I say that there is nothing wrong with growing one of these versus buying it!

I have a feeling that you will see a lot of Ol' Tar Baby as this blog progresses...and I hope you all love her as much as I do!!

I am pretty mad at myself for not having any really good pictures of this horse, but she seems to be always eating or coming towards me.  So my late New Years Resolution...more and better pictures of Tari!

Living Vicariously

Here's an interesting "Nikki" fact...I can't spell to save my life but love words.  I have always loved words and their meanings...just don't ask me to spell them without spell check or Chad!  ( :  So using the word VICARIOUS in my header, is like sooo cool to me!  ( ;  Now on to my storey!!

My sister and I shop for horses a lot.  We mostly window shop, but we shop aggressively.  If we find a horse on Barrel Horse World we like, we will then cross check said horse on Dream Horse, Equuis, Working Horse World,  the website of the farm selling the horse, and any other site we can think of.  We LOVE it when the horses price is different from one place to another...it gives us fodder for hours.  Some times we will contact the seller about these discrepancies...most of the time they don't respond, but usually they fix said error.

We also stallion shop just as much.  We pretty much like the same things in our horses.  We differ in that I really like some bling in my ponies and Mindy hates white hair on the body of her horses.  She also doesn't care for blue eyes, I think they look smart.  That is pretty much the only place we differ.  So on one particular baby's daddy shopping day, my sister says to me that she has given something a lot of thought and she needs to know what  I think.  Well of course, I tell her to proceed!  And she comes at me with, "I really want a Dash Ta Fame baby."  Of course I am all for it and ask her who she will be breeding to him.  She says, "well I have decided that Breeze's personality just won't work for it.  She needs to be crossed with a stallions who's get aren't so quirky and I don't know if I am going to keep Chix....so I need to use Tari."  So I ask her if she is serious, and she says as serious as she can be.

I say ,"alright...do you want her to foal at your house or mine?"  She tells me yours of course, she doesn't want to mess around with that stuff...And then she tells me that there is one little problem.  Apparently she contacted the farm that was standing him either last year or the year before and it went no where.  She said the lady she talked to was a flake and she pissed her (Mindy) off instantly.  But he is standing at another farm this year and under another vet, so I need to call and see if his book is still open.

Being the good older sister that I am, I got on the phone that very day.  Yes, they still had a few breedings left.  They were closing his books at 200 mares and Dr. Swyers figured that they should be full around the middle of January.  I said, wow rush me out a packet please.  As he was taking my name and address, he asked me where in Idaho Athol was.  I told him Northern Idaho Panhandle...we aren't too far from Canada.  He said, "Idaho is pretty country.  I worked in Orofino on the Clearwater River for the Forest Service for a few years some time back."  I said, "wow small world, I grew up in Weippe, just above Orofino and the Clearwater River."  He said, "Wow, it IS a small world."  And he rushed me my packet out via e-mail that very day, accompanied by a very nice note.  Super nice man, too bad Mindy didn't call him herself!!

The funny thing about Tari's paperwork is that although she is mine, its all in Mindy's name.  Now if I ever get around to blogging about Tari I will tell you how Mindy bought her as a barrel prospect in Dingle Idaho, and how we laughed our butts off as we drove from Athol to Dingle and then Dingle to Athol...I'll tell you about this great woman Becky, who Mindy bought Tari  from.  And how Becky had planned to put her in barrel training, but decided to sell her as she and her husband were remodeling their house and needed money for the remodel.  I'll even post a link to Becky's family farm...and her brother-in-law's place, too.  Then I will tell you about how Mindy fell in love with Boney, only her name was Ruth when Mindy found her.  I will tell you how Fred told Mindy sell one of the others first, then you can have that other mare...and how I had told Chad after returning from (Mindy) buying Tari, that if my sister ever sold that mare I HAD to have her...and how I bought Tari on time from Mindy (because I didn't have the money in pocket for her) so that Mindy could buy Boney. (Money wasn't an issue for my sister, space was at that time.)  Then I would tell you how I just didn't feel right transferring the horse's paperwork until I had paid her completely off...and even though I did it a year ago last October, I some how never got that paperwork to the AQHA and luckily now this will save my sister some paperwork when her baby gets here!  I will tell you all of that when I get around to blogging about Tari in the next week or so!!  ( :

So I filled out all the paper work with Mindy's help of course and faxed it over to Smart Ranches.  Dr. Swyers called me about an hour later to say, that he had received the fax and if it was alright he would bill the credit card for the booking fee.  I told him "let 'er rip!"  ( :  So there you go, just when I was wondering what kind of stories I could tell you all as time wore on, Mindy comes in and saves the day!!  As our little journey to making a Dash Ta Fame loves Tari baby moves along, I will fill you all in!  ( :  I will take pictures if and when I remember.  I will also ask Dr. Peters if he can put the ultra sound pictures on a zip drive for me so that I can show 'em to you all!  ( :  I have asked him to put other pictures hes taken on a zip drive for me...and he's done it!!  He rocks!!  Although I am not too sure he doesn't think I am nuts...but I am okay with that!!

So now you know how I am living vicariously...its through my sister!!  Next maybe I can talk her into a Fire Water Flit colt...or grand colt...thats a barrel horse line I'd like to have in the family!!  ( :

Technical Difficulties

So I say to Chad, "want to read my blog?" 
He says, "I live your blog...I don't need to read it."
Hahhaaaa!!  Love you hunny! 
Then I say, "what if your reading my blog keeps me from looking like dip."  He then claims he can't save me from me...
Then I flip my lap top around and show him the giant picture on my header...he says, "EEEwww!  You do need help."
Uh, duh, I don't ask for what I don't need. 
We have now discovered that we can't downsize my pictures on this computer.  I have it on my work computer too, so tomorrow if he has time, he will try and shrink my picture... 
Sure hope he can, I would hate to look like a dip!  ( :

JWR Sophies Choice

Blah, blah, blah!!

Also known as Horse Girl.  Now this mare came to us with the name Horse.  Oddly enough, it fits her.  Although she really has a great pedigree as far as Halter/WP horses go and a loud coat pattern, there is nothing fancy about her.  This mares sire is a son of the great Jetaleto and earned his own superior in halter, as well as points in WP, and some English stuff...I can't find my APHA stuff to access his accomplishments...but Jetarebel is his name and if you are so inclined you can look him up yourself!  ( :  Her dam is the Grand Daughter of Impressive...not that I ever intended on getting an Impressive bred horse, but she is N/N as is her mother...so its all safe on that front.  Her dam is a Quarter Horse mare who has some halter points and I believe went to the Worlds. Her Grand sire Negotiator did some stuff in halter...None of her Grand Dam's really did anything as far I know, but I don't really know that much about them. I just know bits and pieces of info on her pedigree.  Her name is Negotiators Fancy.

By all rights Horse Girl should have a really nice head and clean throat latch, but she doesn't.  Her head is big and kind of blocky, her ears lack refinement, and her throat latch is thick and also lacking in refinement, but she does have that halter horse build.  Big forearms, gaskins, butt, and loads of muscle.  She also has that loud overo coloring which I do love!!  And shes a sorrel...love those redheads!!  ( :

I sooo love her chest!!

Chad and I bought Horse Girl or Big Momma in 2005 as Chads riding horse.  She was in foal when be bought her to a blue roan Quarter Horse stallion named Blue Drifting Smoke (who is Fiona's daddy).  The colt was born with a partial blue eye, large blaze, a sock or maybe two, and loads of roaning.  He was really fancy bay roan Breeding Stock Paint.  He was really big boned and a pleasant colt to be around.  We decided to sell the him as a yearling.  He went to a family in Oregon...they seemed nice and excited to have him.  His barn name when he left her was Easy...he was really easy going...his registered name was What Are You Smokin' (of Smoking I can't really remember).  So if anyone knows of Easy, I'd love to hear how he is doing...or if he needs to be rescued...( :

This is one of my favorite pictures...Easy and his momma!

Back on track now, she is hot...really hot, and gets herself worked up into a frenzy if pushed.  As a matter of fact when we were looking at horses at my (really good) friend's house she had two mares for sale.  One was a black Bunny Bid bred mare and the other was Horse Girl.  Marie tried to talk me into the black mare because she felt Chad and I could both enjoy her, were as she and Horse Girl had never really clicked...and Marie flat out called her a dingy old bitch.  But I told her that this would only be Chads horse, no sharing...Marie warned us again about her issues, then we took her to the hay field for a test drive...it went fine, not great, but good enough to stick her in the trailer for the 8 hour drive home.

She is wondering what the hell I'm doing!!  ( :

She is kinda dingy and worries nonstop about things that are unknown to me, but you can see it in her eyes as soon as the halter is put on.  She will even hyperventilate until she gets her mind right and some sort of plan in place.  She was pushed pretty hard by some kids in gymkhana early on and I am confident in saying that is the reason why she stresses under saddle.  She was a 1D barrel horse when she ran good and an absolute runaway the rest of the time. She may have continued down the competition path longer had she not fractured her left hind ankle in a pasture accident.  Her owners decided that she could just heal in the pasture...and well it healed pretty good with very little medical intervention.  She does very well when turned out on pasture, too much confinement really gets her stiffened up and uncomfortable.  We have her on Legends shots every three months just to help her maintain her joints and hopefully her comfort level.  So far so good with that!!

She is funny...isn't she?  (You'd better say yes! ( : )

Chad has no interest in barrel racing and doesn't ask much in the way of performance out of her so all of her issues aren't really issue for him most days.  He asks her to stand for him to get on, walk, trot, and lope....sometimes.  And when she does start acting like a spaz he is a heavier guy so he can use his weight to help correct her, and they do pretty good together.  He doesn't ride her as much as I'd like him to, but I like riding her.  And try to get on her at least once a week during "riding season" to make sure she is in some sort of shape other than fat and to try and keep her reminded of the easy life we have now given her.  I also use her to pony off of...her size and general attitude towards other horses is perfect for this kind of work. (After I have ridden her for about 20 min. to make sure she has her head on straight of course!)  She makes me mad and laugh all in the same ride.  I have to help her get past the OH MY GOD WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME...sometimes its easy sometimes not...but I do enjoy riding her.  I seem to have that OMG response when riding her more than Chad does...he is sure that its his calming nature, I wonder if she doesn't associate women with competition.  Just a thought!! 

This fall...I had her a little bit fit, but she does love to eat!

I love a horse that walks like she has purpose and this mare does just that!  She will walk over and through anything...Chad calls her the "All Terrain Horse".  She also naturally works off her hind end.  She can go down hill like the horse on The Man From Snowy River.  Not that I would ever go down hill that fast, but this mare can do it!  Even if you don't like going down hill, you will safe as can be on Horse Girl.  She can also almost spin a hole in the ground....not that I know how to properly spin a horse, or that I think its a good idea to push her bad ankle with fancy moves....but she will turn over her hocks every time she gets the chance...I love it!!  Her foals learn it from her and do it on their own too.  She also has a great jog, its soft, naturally collected, and fun to ride.  If it weren't for the ankle injury she would also have a great lope.  Again lots of collection naturally.  This gate is where you can feel the fusion of her ankle bones...but the vet says he thinks shes pretty much pain free as the gate isn't really a limp...just a lack of flexion.

You can see her "big" ankle pretty good here..and the scar that runs over it.

In general we really do love this mare and she has a forever home with us.  She has super expressive eyes and soft feelings.  I can be laying into Tari, Fiona, or anyone for that matter and she starts fretting just like she is next on the punishment list.  Some days just yelling at her brings her to a flurry of sorry moms.  She knows her name, and knows Horse Girl Come means move your big booty towards me...usually for treats, but hey...she knows what I want!  She is near the bottom of the pecking order here at the farm and that I don't love, but she gets to push Fiona around...and the mules.  When Chad and I grow up and get our own place I will be able to protect her from the Tonys of the world, but for now we just cope!  ( :  I would like to breed Horse Girl once more (to the stud of my choosing) before she gets too old for kids.  I would like to breed her to a western pleasure stallion.  Not that I EVER intend on competing, but she has the bloodlines for it and maybe a laid back WP bloodline would make a good riding horse for Chads next All Terrain Horse.  ( :

Mindy and Breeze, Olivia and Horse Girl, Me and Tari!

As a side note, if you take this mare, drop a kid on her and a halter and lead under her bridle...she shuts off the OMG thought process.  She is calm, cool, and collected.  She follows the horse she is being ponied off of like a shadow.  That horse stops so does she.  That horse trots, so does she.  But if that horse shys...she stands her ground...and that is priceless!!  My niece is on her in this picture...and Mindy is not the mom...Kacey is...and although we told Kacey to bring the kids riding helmet, she forgot it.  And yes we took her out with out her skid lid...  But that is a discussion for another time!!  ( :

Toodles!!

Another One From My E-Mail

Ten Thoughts to Ponder for 2010




Number 10


Life is sexually transmitted.






Number 9


Good health is merely the slowest possible


Rate at which one can die.






Number 8


Men have two emotions: Hungry and Horny.


If you see him without an erection,


Make him a sandwich .






Number 7


Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day,


Teach a person to use the Internet and


They won't bother you for weeks.






Number 6


Some people are like a Slinky ...


Not really good for anything, but you


Still can't help but smile when


You shove them down the stairs.






Number 5


Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday,


Lying in hospitals, dying of nothing.






Number 4


All of us could take a lesson from the weather.


It pays no attention to Criticism.






Number 3


Why does a slight tax increase cost you $200.00,


And a substantial tax cut saves you $30.00?






Number 2


In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird.


Now the world is Weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.






And The Number 1 Thought For 2010



"Life is like a jar of Jalapeno peppers;


What you do today, might Burn Your Ass Tomorrow...


but don't let that stop you!"

From My E-Mail...

Things you should know, but probably don't:



1. Money isn't made out of paper. It's made out of cotton.

2. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp (marijuana) paper.

3.. The dot over the letter 'i' is called a 'tittle'.

4. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.

5. Susan Lucci is the daughter of Phyllis Diller.

6. 40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.

7. 315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.

8. The 'spot' on 7-UP comes from its inventor, who had red eyes.. He was albino.

9. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents, daily.

10. Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine are brother and sister.

11. Chocolate affects a dog's heart and nervous system; a few ounces will kill a small sized dog.

12. Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up into the shark's stomach from underneath, causing the shark to explode.

13. Most lipstick contains fish scales (eeww).

14. Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants.

15. Ketchup was sold in the 1830's as medicine..

16. Upper and lower case letters are named 'upper' and 'lower' because in the time when all original print had to be set in individual letters, the 'upper case' letters were stored in the case on top of the case that stored the smaller, 'lower case' letters.

17. Leonardo Da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time hence, multitasking was invented.

18.. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood.

19. There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.

20. The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan; there was never a recorded Wendy before!

21. There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with: orange, purple, and silver!

22. Leonardo DaVinci invented scissors. Also, it took him 10 years to paint Mona Lisa's lips.

23. A tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion will make it instantly go mad and sting itself to death.

24. The mask used by Michael Myers in the original 'Halloween ' was a Captain Kirk's mask painted white.

25. If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar. (good to know)

26. By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand. (and you thought this list was completely useless)

27. The phrase 'rule of thumb' is derived from an old English law, which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.

28. The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player for automobiles. At that time, the most known player on the market was the Victrola, so they called themselves Motorola.

29. Celery has negative calories! It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with. It's the same with apples!

30. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying!

31. The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.

32 Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries

33. Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing wind in a space suit damages it. I NEED TO REMEMBER THIS.

34. George Carlin said it best about Martha Stewart. 'Boy, I feel a lot safer now that she's behind bars. OJ Simpson and Kobe Bryant are still walking around; Osama Bin Laden too, but they take the ONE WOMAN in America willing to cook, clean, and work in the yard, and they haul her butt off to jail'.

Sunday Driver....?

Abbi posing for me.

Kage charging up the trail

Today is Sunday...I don't work on Sunday at the shop.  I do some shopping and then do farm stuff.  Since its winter and there really wasn't much to do 'round here this afternoon, I decided to take my new camera Chad got me for Christmas out for a test drive.  The dogs and I tootled around the farm snapping pictures of this and that.  Then I put the camera away to move the horses feeder, get them fed, watered, and the isle way of the barn raked out.  All of this was moving along at the normal pace for this place when all of the horses and mules...and donkeys went on "alert".

Horse Girl and Tari demonstrating the Alert pose.

Now when I say alert, what I mean is heads up, ears forward, chewing stopped, and tales out...ready to flag.  I was dumping the hay from the isle in a pile when this happened.  This can be caused by anything from the barn cat, a wild animal, someones loose horse, to a walker.  As I walked back towards the barn someone blew hard and loud....must be serious....better get my fat butt to the barn....I may need my camera.  It was starting to get dark and the fog was starting to form off the pond and stream so it took me a minute to figure out where they were looking and what I was seeing...especially through the camera lens.

This is not the initial charge...its the second.

Then there they were...the cray neighbor lady and her little Fjord....coming up the road, they were just at the bottom of the pasture and heading up the hill when I saw them.  It looked like she was ground driving the mare up the road.  Yes, it seemed pretty foolish seeing as how the road is ice covered and the freezing fog was moving in and making yet more ice...but over the years, I have seen this woman do some things that at 14 I knew weren't good ideas.  So I found a place to watch the rodeo...'cause the herd had decided to make their first move on the intruder.  I am not sure about anyone else's group of  ponies, but here the norm is for the girls to do a half charge at the "boogie man" then halt and see what said boogie man is going to do in reaction to their show of force.  Depending on the reaction of the "boogie man" they will either finish their charge to the fence or retreat to the barn.  If  they retreat, they regroup and try their  half charge again.  Its quite fun to watch some days!
One of the mules sounded the charge with a loud warning snort and everyone except Horse Girl, Becky Mule, and the donkeys lunged forward.  Becky is too old to get riled up, she lets the "kids" handle this kind of stuff...Horse Girl was watching me and so were the Donkeys.  I didn't seem worried, so the decided to stay and watch with me.

 Note how far away she is from her horse in this and the above picture.

The half charge was effective.  The boogie man bolted, and the crazy neighbor lady gave a jerk on the lead rope...yep I said lead rope.  When I first saw her she behind the mare...so far behind her that I thought she was ground driving...nope, the mare was evidently leading her at that point.  When the group charged the mare bolted and the crazy neighbor lady on the end of the rope was enough weight coupled with ample ice to send the mare down on her side.  Seeing the boogie man on its side everyone charged the fence again.  The mare scrambled to her feet, but lost her hind end and with the woman still behind her didn't have enough of her head to get momentum to keep from going down completely again.  Everyone skidded to a halt at the fence as the mare made it to her feet and tried to flee...the "weight" at the end of the rope brought her down a third time.  This time the mare as a bit slower getting up and the crazy neighbor lady was now in front of her horse and the mare got to her feet successfully.  She decided to stand still and look at what was attacking her, this allowed the crazy neighbor lady caught her breath and regrouped also.
I thought shit...this could be interesting as the horses turned from the fence and ran back to where they had started.  This action brought the mare into motion, but the crazy neighbor lady was able to circle the mare around her numerous times until the horse stopped moving without too much slipping and drama.  The herd ran around me and the animals that didn't join in the first time and headed back to the crazy neighbor lady and her little Fjord.  Tari and Fiona decided to hang out this pass, but when everyone came back a second time, they decided to go too. 

Fiona buzzing Horse Girl

The land lord's big mules are a bit on the lazy side, and pretty nosey so they decided not to run any more and hang with the couple as the tried to make their way up the road...everyone else came back a third time and decided to grab a few bites to eat.  I thought the party must be over with Scarlett and Missy baby sitting them and everyone else eating so I filled up my "hay wagon" and headed to the feeder.  Unfortunately for the crazy neighbor lady and her horse, my movement spawned another stampede and retreat cycle.  This time they all decide after the second pass of this cycle it may be fun to walk with her for a while.  Her little horse jerked her off of her feet during one of these little stampedes, but she wasted no time in getting to her feet...which is probably a good thing as the horse more than likely would have bolted and either given her quite the ski trip on her belly or broke loose and made her way to the barn....and then I would have caught her and given her a hand.  But in the big scheme of things, I figure this is her less than brilliant idea and my afternoon entertainment! 

Jamison and Fiona

As they made their way to the top of the drive way they seemed to have things in order, and I thought good for her...she needs to get on down the road so I can call my sister and make fun of her.  Yeah, make fun of her...not nice I know, but its what I do when someone does something so ridiculous and well dangerous (and survives of course).  I tell you the way that horse was acting and the absolute lack of control she had on her, she should have been wearing her riding helmet.  I didn't see the entire "trip" as I was feeding while watching and also trying to keep my stupid dog from joining in the free for all...he doesn't help when they are running...but boy does he think he does!  But I am sure there were a few more spills for her than I actually saw.

Jamison, Fiona, Horse Girl

They lingered at the top of the drive way and then headed back down the hill toward their house.  This little mare is an only child, so going home apparently isn't too appealing after she has been allowed to interact with the hellions on this place.  She balked at first, but when the mules decided to go ahead and join her on the way back to her house she stepped right out thus putting her owner near her rear again.  And again making it look like it was a poorly planned ground driving lesson.  Unfortunately for the crazy neighbor lady the mare decided that she needed a wee smooch from the mules and when she did get in a better position for leading, the mare swung into her and nearly knocked her to the ground trying to reach out and touch someone.  This happened twice, before she decided that maybe she should lead on the off side so she wasn't in harms way when the mare decided to hang a hard left without using her turn signal.  So down the hill they went...horse leading owner, owner trying desperately to hang on and then finally....They were gone and I could call Mindy....this isn't the first time I have called my sister to give her the idiot neighbor report.  Most of them are just as eventful.  I wonder some days if she is learning from her mistakes...does she have rope burns....does she tell anyone about what goes on when she takes this horse out?  Hmmmm....

The donkeys decide to get involved

Now some of you are saying why don't you help her...I have many reasons for that.  1) I don't offer help without being asked.  I don't like it done to me and I don't do it to other people.  2) I am not a horse trainer...I have horses and have had them all of my life...and I go to clinics...so I know some stuff...but not everything and whats right for me may not work for her.  3) We live on "The Ranch" and in our neighborhood that makes us substandard to everyone.  One neighbor has just started talking to me after 7 years out here...the others will wave if I wave first....what ever...so this lady looks down on us and although not spoken its very apparent.  4) She is older than I am and its hard for me to "tell" or show my peers things I "think" I know.  5) She is a junior high principal and by God she knows it all.  ( I have talked to her, and its always her telling me stuff...I smile nod and think....MEMO TO NIKKI: stay the hell away from this woman next time!)

Fiona buzzing me...look at all those bad baby needs discipline bite marks on her!

So that was my Sunday afternoon...hope you are able to see her in some of the pictures I have posted...she and her horse do look "out of order" in most of them...you do have to look sort of hard to see her in a few of them though.

These are the last pictures I took of these goof balls!  They eventually got Horse Girl involved.

Missy Mule, Fiona, Horse Girl, and Jamison.

Scarlett, Horse Girl, Fiona and Jamison

Tony...The Last Of The Land Lords Equine

Tony the Terrible

I'm having a hard time with this particular blog posting...I want to finish it and move on to telling you all how wonderful my horses are and sharing all the funny things they do after their introductions...but first I have to get through this one single horse...

Guess I'll break it down this way...  I hate this horse. 
1.  He mounts my mares.
2.  He attacks any new horses with teeth bared and hooves flying.
3.  He will do the above act if the new horse is in the pasture or on the other side of the fence.  He will do it if its a mare, pony, mule, or gelding.
4.  He will do #2 if someone is mounted on said new horse.
5.  He will spin a screw if tied alone.  And I don't mean tied far away from everybody...I mean tied and no one is tied with him.  He can see the entire heard and will still go bat-shit crazy.  He will do this while tied in a trailer too.
6.  He will pee on a hay pile and move onto another where he will either eat or defecate.
7.  He will run you over in the field...not every time, but he has almost flattened me more than once, all for different reasons.
8.  He will attach the barn cat...now the dogs I understand, but the cat?
9.  He will sit back when tied.
10.  He will and does run through hot wire!  He just thrusts his head into the air and charges.  I have seen him to it 3 times in the year he has been here.

Tony, Horse Girl, Scarlett, and Fiona

Tony came to us with a different name, but the land lord had a horse way back when named Tony and it was a good horse, so this horse should have that name for luck.  I am pretty sure that its bad luck to change a horses name...and this horse's name was....ready for this....Gray when he got here.  Not that I loved that name either, but I will never duplicate an animal name...and if I get an animal with a duplicated name, I will change it...and when Fiona got here her name was something different, but I had a friend with that name and she was only 7 months old.  She has no idea who she was, but does know that her name is Fiona now.  I think that this horse was cursed from the beginning though...because the land lord's buddy changed his name from Granite to Gray.  He did this because he just didn't think a horse should be named after a rock....well alrighty then!!
This geldings past isn't entirely a mystery, although it did take me some time to get it out of everyone and then put it together for myself.  From what I got from land lord's buddy, he was a high school girls horse and when she left for college her parents traded said horse to land lord's buddy.  For what is a mystery, but I am sure that they got the better end of the trade!  Now land lord's buddy says this horse was trained in lower level dressage and did some small jumps with the girl.  He says they did alright on small local show circuit.  OK.  The land lord's buddy takes this horse for his trail horse and starts fitting him up to take to the Bob Marshall. 
After a month with this gelding the land lord's buddy tells me he is going to take this horse out and shoot him.  I say, "OK", and offered to show him where the grave yard is.  (The land lord believes in taking all of his large animals up a small draw and leaving them to the wild life.  I will DIE before I ever let anything above ground chew on one of my girls!!  But this is definately nothing the land lord has a problem with and we are rural enough that to the best of my knowledge its okie dokie as long as they died of natural causes or lead poisoning.  If the vet is involved using meds the animal MUST be disposed of in another fashion so as not to poison the wild life in the area.) 

Tony and Horse Girl

Well the next day the land lord is out and tells me how happy he is to have gotten something from old so and so (formally called land lord's buddy)!  I say oh, what'd ya get from him?  Packsaddle?  Whiskey?  He says no that gray gelding, isn't he a beauty?  I ask him if could trade so and so for the red gelding instead.  He says no trade, he just gave him to me.  LOVELY!  The land lord's friend is a horse/thing trader.  He loves the barter system and uses it daily.  So for him to just give it up...well...heres your sign.
This horse has issues and is only 12-14 years old.  He has chronic lameness in the front feet.  He is in pads and shoes and still need bute if ridden too often.  When ridden, he throws his head in an attempt to put your lights out.  He has knocked the land lord off of his back twice with this maneuver.  Against my better judgement I have ridden him twice.  The first time we rode, the land lord was in front of me on Mave and Tony wanted to race her at the trot.  I collected him and made him stick to my pace.  Wasn't long before I was looking at his fore head...he tried this twice before I decided to just handle it.  He dropped his head and then swung it upwards, and met my elbow between his eyes.  That was that, my pace, my rules, his pleasure!  ( :

Fiona, Tony, and Horse Girl

The long and short of it, I guess is free isn't always good....we all love a good deal....heck later on I will chat about my sister and I's free horse...and let me tell you, we did get a good deal!!  ( :

Oh, the one thing I do like about this horse is......

THAT HE IS NOT MINE!!  

FYI

I'm bitchy today...

Just thought I'd share....

TTFN!