Lessons from a "Wild" Mustang

37 minutes - 1.02 miles - Wasabi & Foster Kid

 Wasabi met me at the rail as soon as she saw the halter ... well then, you get to go girl!  On the way to the front gate, we invited the foster child to join us.  He was dubious, but I told him we would climb sand dunes and he jumped in our conga line.

 I explained about Wasabi's itchy spots and showed him how her lips twitch when you hit just the right spot.  He laughed at her expressions.  

Then she stopped to go to the bathroom, and he was fascinated ... he's been with us six months and this is the first time he realized they poop.  This time I laughed out loud.

We climbed a few sand dunes and Wasabi would grab him by the shirt if he got too far away in her opinion.  He would laugh and step towards her which seemed to please her greatly.

Wasabi did stop twice on the way down the sand dune and rolled in the soft, warm sand.  I've never had a horse do that before and we all found it entertaining.  I was glad I had these two on the walk today.  Lots of laughter and joy, which was much needed.

Three in one day!

17 minutes - 1.00 mile - Morgan
25 minutes - 1.00 mile - Rhulain
20 minutes - 0.50 mile - Wasabi

 Morgan and I took a quick one mile ride and then we rode back home to find Bill had a fire going.  We strode up to it and she seemed bored.  No need for desensitizing.  Two carrots for you my darling.

 Hey Rhu, want to go for a walk?  Walk? Yes!

 We walked for a mile and she seemed happy about being out.  Guess yard work isn't for her after all.

Say cheese Rhu ... CHEESE!

 Then Rhu and I walked by the fire.  She wouldn't get as close, but she didn't back away either.  Good girl Rhu.

I thought I was done for the day but when I returned Rhu to the turn out, Wasabi shoved her face into the halter.  Well, ok.  She and I did some ground work ... she's rusty but not bad.  I walked her by the fire, but she could care less.

 Fed everyone, gave carrots, and collected snuggles from all my favorite horses.  Good day indeed.

Luppy & Rhu's Relationship

30 minutes - 1.08 miles - Rhulain and Luppy

Rhu was a little spicy this morning, so we had to do some lunging in the desert.  She settled down and then mugged me for treats.  All is right in Rhu's world whenever treats are involved.

What'cha got there little dog?

A smell!  Check it out Rhu!

Very nice pup, very nice.

*Grins*

These two crack me up.  Luppy finds stuff and brings it to Rhu for inspection.  Rhu politely leans down and sniffs whatever it is then snorts softly and Luppy starts dancing around.  It's quite entertaining to watch them "converse."

Back on track

20 minutes - 0.86 miles - Morgie

Back to our old routine ... Monday mornings with Morgie ... cheesy pictures and lots of me chatting and Morgie snacking.

Morgan carried this branch around for quite some time.  She was waiving it like a magic wand that would make more food appear.  When it failed to supply even one mouthful of extra food, she ate it.  Love her!

26 minutes - 0.87 miles - Rhulain

In true Rhulain fashion, she had to stop at the monorail and check out her profile.  She decided my hair needed work so she rearranged it and then posed again.

You're a funny girl Rhu!

I wondered if my horses missed me while we were away on vacation, so I asked Rhu.  She immediately came over for hugs and scritches.  Guess she missed me too!

Shortest walk yet

12 minutes - 0.42 miles - Morgan & Rhulain

This is a shot of Rhulain's back (foreground) and Morgan's topline ... sun was setting too quickly for me to get two walks in, so decided to take both the girls and hope for the best.

 

Morgan warned Rhu to stay behind ... this was her walk time and she doesn't like sharing me. 
I swear Rhu stuck her tongue out after Morgie turned around, but I didn't catch it.  They are funny!

Excessive heat warnings all weekend and into next week.  Seriously cutting into my horse time. Again.

Double Time!

45 Minutes (20 min walk, 15 min trot, 10 min walk)
Rode Morgan - Solo
Distance: unknown, tracker lost connection

Reagan was completely unfazed by the saddling process

Morgan and I went for a 20 minute walk and then I hopped in the saddle and we played in the dunes.  There wasn't another soul to be found ... not a single jackrabbit, crow, horse rider, or quad was out and about.  It was a glorious bit of wandering with just the right amount of exercise.

Reagan's "Aren't I cute?" look

I have an app on my phone that tracks our ride, provides our average mph, total distance, and shows our path with a red line on the map.  I was so excited when we were done to see how much distance we had covered and what our map would look like.

Reagan just found out that cute doesn't get you treats

Only we must have lost internet connection somewhere in the dunes because it didn't save any of our progress. *sigh*  Oh well, we'll stay away from that set of dunes in the future.

15 Minutes
Rode Reagan - Solo

Her ears just crack me up ... here's her burro imitation

Morgan and I had left late morning, so there was plenty of sunshine left to try Reagan under saddle.  I initially was just going to try on the saddle for fit, make all the necessary adjustments, and then take her for a walk.

Little tufts of funny hair tucked between her funny ears

She was so placid about the whole situation, I decided to get in the saddle and let her walk around the yard for a few minutes.  She was clearly nervous about any pressure on her face (even with the cross under headstall) so I used my legs to cue a turn reinforced by laying the reins across her neck. 

After the first five minutes, she released the tension she was clearly holding and breathed out softly.  To stop, I asked out loud then sat deeper in the saddle.  Worked out great! 

Sunrise Walk

Ground work/walking for 30 minutes

I get some funny faces in the morning ... especially when I'm carrying a halter instead of feed buckets.  Wasabi was afraid the halter was for her, Majesty tried to shove his nose in my jacket (in case there were treats hidden in there), and Morgan, well, she seemed eager for our morning walk.  She looks absolutely lovely in the morning light!

After walking over the boards, we headed down our familiar road and chatted a bit.  She really didn't hold up her end of the conversation, but she did offer to share her "snack" with me.  Thanks Morgan, that looks tasty, but you need the protein more than I.  :)

The nice part of walking beside her is that I get to clean up the road we normally ride on ... this way I can be sure there is no debris or large rocks in our way when we are trotting later on.  Today we  removed a woman's high heel, three bottles, two cans, and a Christmas tree stand.  On our walk we stepped over our favorite log a few times. Always a good time!

I timed our adventure and discovered it takes us exactly 10 minutes to walk 1 mile (the end of the street).  So, we can walk down the street and back in 20 minutes, then I can hop in the saddle for a 5 minute trot to the end of the street, and then walk back to the house in 10 minutes for a cool down.

Sounds like we just set our morning routine for next week!

Goat Adventures

Saturday, August 30th  60 minute ride  92° 
Rode with Bill & Majesty

I let Eclipse, our goat, out all day on Saturday.  She wandered around the property, chatted with the chickens, chased the cat, and tried to headbutt the dogs.  Here's a snapshot of her afternoon:

Eclipse: Hey, you got any food?  Nope? Moving on.

Hey cat, do you know where any food is?

Elmer: Yep, follow me.

Eclipse: Woo Hoo! A whole bag of goat feed!

Heading out for some fun!

Majesty: Hey Morgan, what's under there?

 Morgan: Under where?

Majesty: Ha ha! You said underwear!

Morgan: *rolls eyes*

Two tired guys heading home

30 minutes a day chases the blues away

Wednesday, August 27th  30 minute ride  88° 
Solo

Morgan: "What are you doing down there? Hey guys ... our human pez-dispenser has fallen down, dinner might be late"

Me: "I'm fine Morgan, just getting rocks out of my boot."

Morgan was fabulous about leaving the property today!  We only had one point where she stopped, looked worried.  I counted to five out loud and then asked her to move on. After that, she went everywhere without hesitation. Went a little farther then our normal route and had a great time. 

We headed back home as soon as the light started to fade because we haven't heard that the mountain lion has been caught yet.  Then we did our normal cheesy pictures (after treats were consumed of course).

On a sucktastic note, we came home to find that someone had stolen the windows out of our horse trailer. They left all the tack and spare tire in the trailer, but pried out the windows. *sigh*

January 23, 2013 - Morgan, 10 minutes

Dark, stormy night.  Threw feed in everyone's buckets but couldn't resist a ride.  Saddled Morg up while she ate.  That girl is such a trooper!

Told her two quick laps in the turn out and she was done - one lap to the left, one lap to the right, and she headed to her stall.  I laughed and said I wasn't quite done yet so she took me for one more lap.  Such an awesome horse.

Side note: Bill rode Majesty on January 20th.  I was too sick to go.