New Cats

On Saturday, when we had the internet provider workers over, the farrier over, a new worker to muck out the stalls, and in between me unsaddling Morgan and saddling Rhulain, the irksome renter from across the street came over with her horse in tow.  Now what?!  She said she was moving out of state and needed to find a home for her horse. Would I be interested in adopting the mare?  For free?  

Um, no.

I have my beloved Morgans ... I'm good.

On Sunday our farrier stopped by to tell us the horse ended up at their house.  That's good, they're nice people and they have two horses already. 

Later in the day, the home owner pulled up and found that his renters had deserted without paying him for the last few months.  They did leave him plenty of trash, stole the drawers out of the kitchen, and abandoned a dog.

Sigh.

I took pictures of the dog and posted it on our community garage sales page.  The dog found a home the next day. 

Last night I went to bring in the trash cans and two kittens came darting out of the neighbor's yard towards me.  I got them some water and food because they probably hadn't eaten since Saturday night.  They ate while I grabbed a cat carrier.  

I scooped them both up, dropped them in the carrier, and deposited them in our smaller enclosed yard.  The big dogs can't get to them, so they'd be safe.  

I checked on the kittens this morning. One of them licked our small dog's nose.  They'll be fine. Now comes the fun part ... names!  I was voting for Jupiter and Saturn.  Bill walked out and said "Hey Salt and Peppa!" They looked quite amused.  Sigh.

Next we will get them fixed and up to date on their shots.  There is no way I'm writing Salt and Peppa on vet paperwork.

In Which I Don't Ride Morgan

Thursday, July 17th  Left at 8:40 pm  Arrived at 9:00 pm (approx)  94°
Rode with Bill & Majesty, T & Morgan, Me & Sundance

T sent me a text asking if she could ride Majesty.  I asked Bill, but he said he wanted to ride as well, so I offered Morgan to T instead.  I pulled Ms. Sundance out of the stall and had some serious trouble tacking her up.  She has a pull back issue, so I can't tie her off. She held still for grooming and the saddle pad, but once she saw the saddle, she took off and headed towards the east fence line and got herself stuck between the turn out and the fence.  *sigh*  I was able to turn her around and bring her back to the saddle.  Once it was cinched up, she dropped her head and I thought everything was going to be well.

Morgan snacking under the full moon on 7/11/14

I pulled out Morgan's headstall with the bit, but Sundance threw her head straight up. T came over and tried to help by sticking her fingers in Sundance's mouth, but no luck. Bill came over and all three of us tried, but after 10 minutes we had to admit it probably wasn't going to work.  Bill reminded me that she had come from a dude string for vacationers and probably had very negative experiences with people pulling on her mouth.I switched over to the bitless bridle and she dropped her head right in and opened her mouth just as polite as could be.

Same picture without the flash ... love how the moon looks like it's resting just above her back

All three of us rode out the North driveway and down the street before turning back towards the house.  At the intersection we turned left and went to the next intersection,  Halfway to the intersection Sundance decided she wanted to be in front.  Ok.  We turned back and let them trot a bit before making them walk down the driveway to the tack shed.  

Bill and T continued riding for a bit longer while I untangled Sundance's mane and groomed her some more.  Everyone came back and untacked.  Short ride, but it was nice to see Ms. Morgan carting someone else around in the pitch black and doing so very well.

Best Ride of The Year ... So Far

Tuesday, July 8, 2014 Left at 6:50 pm  Arrived home at 8:15 pm  89° - Rained earlier in the day
Morgan - Bill & Majesty (Arabian), T & Red, J & Beauty (appy), and N & TC (OTTB)

Meeting got cancelled, so an impromptu ride was in order.  Called T and invited her along.  She said her friends would meet us in the sand dunes.  In record time, we saddled up and headed out.

T & Red showing off their new "purple" gear

 Initially Morgan took the lead, but once we were close to the dunes we were overtaken by Majesty's spirited steps.

Majesty hadn't been out in a while, and with the smell of rain still hanging in the air, he seemed much more youthful than his 26 years.   He challenged any and all dunes, no matter how steep.

We located some puddles and worked on stepping around, in, and through them for a while.  

At first, Morgan and Majesty were reluctant, but they soon understood there were no horseflesh-eating animals in the puddles. 

Red and Majesty each conquering their own puddles of doom

Here Bill and Majesty claimed to be "King of the Puddles."  

No one challenged him for the title, and since our new friends arrived, we continued on to the dunes.   

Wandering through the sand dunes.  

Morgan and I trailed behind, quite content just to be out on such a wonderful evening

Morgan and I taking a moment in the huge puddle that we found in the sand dunes.  Love my Morgie!

Everyone wanted a chance to play in the long puddle and the horses were quite willing to join in the fun

Wasn't enough just to walk in the water ... much more fun to run!  

Red came out of this puddle with mud "freckles" caked up her back legs.  Simply adorable :)

Such an eclectic party: a Quarter Horse, an Appaloosa, a Thoroughbred, and an Arabian

There was no need to prompt everyone ... they were smiling and laughing the whole ride

Red shows everyone how she really feels about Morgan photo-bombing her

We parted ways here and meandered through the open desert for a bit

Home stretch with the sun setting.  Absolutely the perfect way to end the day!