Friday, March 21, 2008

Big and Little


Our smallest horse, Stormy, who is a bit to big to be a true Miniture Horse, and our biggest horse, Sunny, is isn't really all that big compared to BIG horses. And our Border Collie, Tuffee

Perfect Spring Day

I thought it would be a perfect spring day, this first day of spring in 2008. Boy was I wrong. Oh it started out OK, or so I thought. Although I did have to get up an hour earlier than usual as the propane truck was to deliver our 6 months load of propane. But I didn't think to much of it. I heard him pull in but didn't even go out as it usually isn't necessary and they are done in about 10 minutes. I heard him leave and went out to feed the horses to discover he had not been much of a driver as there were truck tracks all over the drive way. Many of them with in inches of the fence posts that support our front gate. All right, he didn't knock down a post so I let it go. Fed the horses, dogs, and cats, had my own morning feed, and spent a few minutes on the computer., and did a little housework. Then it was out to move the two ponies into the big turn out pen for a good run, as the farrier was coming that evening to trim hooves on all the horses. I let the boys play while I cleaned pens. Then I grabbed my camera to take photos of them while I encouraged them to run around and let off excess energy so they would behave better while having their hooves done. They were good and ran and played and I got some half way decent photos. Finally they were getting tired and so was I. I put them back in their smaller pen and attempted to clean their hooves as a way of preparing them for the evening event. They had only had their hooves trimmed once before. We have really been working with them to pick up hooves, and have them cleaned but for the past week they had forgot all they had learned. Travey was real good but Stormy wasn't about to let me pick up his hooves. Well that was all right. I knew that between myself, Lee and Stuart we could do one little mini pony's hooves.
I then let BlackJack, Nita and Star into the big pen for their run. With in minutes a good day went bad. Not as bad as it could have been, but certainly not fun. First the wind started blowing. Not as bad as over the weekend but it's never good. Then the two mares, Nita and Star got into a slight kicking match. BlackJack was just watching but then the mares were right beside him. Nita kicked again and landed a good hard kick on poor Jack. One hind hoof on his right side in his ribs and the other back hoof on his shoulder where in slide down his leg. Or I think that is how it went. I saw it happen but it was real quick. Jack lit into Nita and she ran off, then Jack realize he didn't feel good and started limping worse than I had ever seen him limp. I yelled at the horses, ran out of the pen, into the barn, put the camera in a sort of safe place, and grabbed a halter.
By then Lee had come out, and we caught Jack who had quit limping by then, and ran cold water over his ribs, and leg. I found a small scrape on his shoulder and he didn't want me to mess with his leg all the way down. Thankfully it is just bruised, and I haven't seen him limp since. I had really been concerned for his knee as he had ripped it open fairly deep a few years before.
But that wasn't to be the end of it.
With the fight and Jack's injury I decided to keep all the 4 big horses in separate pens for the rest of the day. Jack off on one side of the yard. Sunny down in the east pen and I put Nita in her small feed and shelter pen and Star was left in the big turn out pen. I didn't think about Nita's feed pen being right next to the turn out pen.
Lee and I went into the house for lunch, and when we came back saw that those two idiot mares had had another kicking contest through the fence. We have wire fences because we can't afford the heavy metal welded pipe fencing that would be better for us and the horses. So they had put big hoof print size holes in the wire fencing and loosened a half dozen fence posts, two of which were 6 x 6 railroad ties set in cement. Thankfully neither of them got caught in the fence. Idiot mares. Part of it was me not thinking about how easy the two of them could get right up next to each other again. I should have put Sunny in the big pen and Star in the east pen. Or even put Star over with Jack where she stays most of the time anyway. She and Jack are best of friends. Nita wants to be Jack's best friend, and he does like her but he likes Star better. Sometimes it seems like a horse soap opera.
Stuart came and trimmed hooves on all 6 horses and none of the bunch were as good as they normally are. It did take Lee and I both to hold Stormy while Stuart trimmed. And the little guy can't weigh more than 250 pounds. (an average horse weights about 1000 pounds.)
As we all agreed - it might be the wind, or the full moon, or spring fever, or the fact the mares are coming in season, (they stop coming in season in usually about September or October, and start again in about March, depending on the weather and length of the days). Or maybe it was just one of those days.
Today we just fed, checked water, and decided it and pen cleaning could wait another day. And made sure we did the two by two turn out. Nita and Sunny in one pen, Jack and Star in another, and the little guys in another. No horses showed signs of limping or hurting. So Lee and I just goofed off and watched a movie, and ate pizza.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

The wind finally let up late Sunday night of the 16th. Was so glad. It was the worst I have ever seen around here. What little bit of breeze we have had since we arn't even noticing. Now to take care of all the chores we have due to all that wind and what we didn't get to do while it was blowing. So I have been cleaning pens, and water buckets, and the barn, and repairing fence. Thankfully it was the one for the back yard where the dogs stay when I don't want them out front so no horses got loose. I am having to dig out the tree wells again, (we had just done them a week or so before) so we can water them. And they are all young trees (none have been in the ground more than 4 years) and still need frequent watering considering we live in the desert.
I was pulling the drag (made in a V with 2 railroad ties, and some 2 x 4's) around the largest pen to clean it while Lee went to do something else when he descovered Traveler laying down in his pen and not responding when he called to the little pony. Not until he went in and walked up to him did Travey wake up.
Why oh why do horses play the game of Looking Dead? I think they really do realize just how much it scares their owners when they lay down and sleep and don't even look up when you walk into the pen. I think they do it on purpose. And they are all so good at doing it.
All horse owners make a joke out of this and then there is the time when some does actually find their beloved pony has died. Then it is not fun. And that is what makes us really worry when we see one that doens't look right just lying there.
Thankfully Travey was just sound asleep and was fine. Right now he is out playing with his brother Stormy.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Wind

After five days of almost no let up in the wind I think everyone in New Mexico is about to go crazy. Makes you wonder how many crimes are caused by the wind. Our wind has really been nasty. About 30 to 40 miles per hour with gusts up to 70 miles per hour. You can't go outside without geting sand in eyes, nose, ears, mouth, hair clothes, ect. Can't do anything outside unless it is have to like feeding and watering horses. When I change the horse water it is full of sand again in minutes. And the dumb things stand out in the wind and blowing sand instead of going into their shelters.
The weather man says it will let up this week but I won't beleive it until it happens. Just saw the neighbors tarp he had on hay go flying to land on another neighbors car. So far the roofs are staying on but I hear there are seveal trees down and tall signs over buildings have come down.
Even worse there is no moisture at all which is making a high fire danger. There was a fire at Hobbs New Mexico past few days that burned 8 homes that I heard of. Please be careful doing anything outside. No more fires and no one getting hurt.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Leaning to Tie


Stormy and Travey are discussing this strange thing that humans want them to do of being tied to a post

Nap Time


Murphy and Codee seem to have the right idea about how to get over another time change.

Neighbors Music

Music is great when it is what you want to listen to, and not what your neighbor wants to listen to. Why is it that everyone seems to think that they need to turn their music or TV so loud that the whole neighbor hood can hear it? Do they ever think about how irritating it is to hear someone else's music from inside your own house? I am talking about the guy that is not just next door to me but down the street by three acres. All of the properties out here are at least an acres in size. Most city properties are a quarter acres or less. That means the music is really really loud when I can hear in inside my house with the windows and doors shut. And this morning it started at the new time of 7 am.
Yeah I know I am really gripping today. Maybe it is due to the time change and someone else's loud music and not even music I like.

Time Change

All right. We have done this stupid time change thing again. It is so dumb. No one I know likes it. And do the people who do like it know just how many people and animals it upsets? Do they know how many feeding times for babies, horses, dogs, cats, the elderly, the sick, for hospitals, nursing homes, animal rescue groups, human athletes, and animal athlete's, schools, ect. that this stupid practice of changing the time can affect those that must eat or take medicine at a certain time.
Just think about all the crime that may be caused when someone is cranky and upset due to the time change. Just think about all the employees that are late to work, which makes their bosses and customers mad. Just think about how many people may be injured or killed in car wrecks due to some one trying to get somewhere real fast because he/she is late due to the time change.
Just because Ben Franklin suggested it hundreds of years ago doesn't mean that it works. Think about what kind of man you are listening to - a man that tried to get himself struck by lighting.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

War of the Rats

We, and our neighbors, have been invaded by a huge gang of woodrats. Or that is what I think they are from what I could determine by googling rats on the internet. We have caught one in a trap so that I sort of had an idea what I was looking for. They dig these huge, long, tunnels, with several holes. The holes are big enough for me or the dogs to step in, fall down, and break a leg or worse. They seem to stay out of the horse pens, probably due to horses running around. But they are all over the back yard where horses can't go. That is where I have most of my trees and plants. The darn things are eating everything they can reach. They even are eating my iris and red hot pokers. I didn't think anything would eat them. And they are smart. With all our efferts to trap them we have caught only one woodrat and one kangeroo rat. I think it is mainly woodrats. We didn't have them when we first moved here 4 years ago, but in past year they have really moved in. And with all the coyotes, badgers, owls, and hawks we have they are still multipling like ----well ----- like rats.
One neighbor was saying that another neighbor told her to use hot soapy water down the holes, and then put cotton balls of pepperment oil down them. Said they don't like that and it might make them go away. That is all I ask. Just that they get out of my yard.

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Mirror, Mirror

Frequently I get these surprise visits from my mom and grandmothers when I look in the mirror. Only when I look closer I realize I'm not seeing a ghost or something super natural; it's only me. My late 50's age is making me look more and more like my female relatives. I am not sure if I like looking at myself and seeing how much I look like my mom, or my grandma Barnett, or my Gram, or even my aunts. Yet in someways it is nice to know that these wonderful people have influenced me. The women in my family seem to be able to pass on their genes really well. And they played a big part in my mental attitude toward life, too. Not sure if that is good or not, either. I just hope I am leaving out a lot of the bad parts.
I don't see as much of my dad, or grandfathers in my physical self but I do think I have a lot of them in me mentally. My son and my nephews seem to be taking after their male relatives a bit more than then my sisters and I are.
Getting on in life is not always the fun that it is made out to be. All of the twinges, cramps, aches and pains are - well a big pain in my life. And yet my mind seems to want to pretend that I am still a lot younger and wants me to do things that younger people do. It can be quite a surprise to try to lift something that I would have done with ease 10 years ago and find that I can't lift it at all now. I find I can't do the gardening I used to do. And even cleaning house takes a lot longer as well as taking a lot out of me. Using a vacuum cleaner is one of the worse things I can do. It makes my back really hurt. I would thing that some company would come up with a vacuum cleaner that easier for older people to use. And cleaning the baked on gunk of the top of the stove. Any time I do that I know that my hands will swell, and be useless, as well as painful for days.
I have found that I do not appreciate my relatives for passing on bad feet, big bunions, scoliosis or curvature of the spine causing a really bad back. But when we are in our 20's and having children we usually don't realize that these things will be that bad for us when we get older and usually don't realize that we may be passing these things on to our children.
I am hoping that that my son, nephews, and niece will have enough of their fathers genes that they won't have these problems.

Prices

If I had a job outside my home I couldn't afford to go because of the gas prices.

I can't afford new clothes, not even the ones on the sale racks.

I can't afford my medicine, because I can't afford medicial insurance.

I may have to decrease the number of pets I have, which means taking them to the pound to be destroyed, because I can't afford to feed them. (Not yet, but I am sure lots of people are having to do this. But I can't take in anymore. Ever at this rate.)

I will quit watching TV when the new law takes effect for the new TV's as I can't afford a new one.

I'm on a diet, cause I can't afford to eat the kind of things I like, which are the things that you are supposed to eat to stay healthy. So I have learned how to cook pots of dried beans again, and make ketchup sandwiches, and ketchup soup as we did back in our 20's.

I can't raise a garden to have things to eat, as it coast to much for the seeds and bedding plants. (And the mice and rats, and birds would get them first.)

Monday, March 03, 2008

Tagged

Ok. Here is a dumb, silly game that is circulating through the bloggers. I guess it is sort of like some of the emails I get asking for all kinds of silly information so you can know more about the person you are talking too. Cindy from Cindy's Snaps has tagged me and J.D.'s Soapbox. So I will give this a try.

Here Are The Rules1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person that tagged you.2. Post THE RULES on your blog.3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.4. Tag 7 people and link to them.5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

7 Weird or Random Facts About Me

1. I collect mystry books.
2. I don't like to wear dresses or makeup.
3. I like silly glow-in-the-dark toys.
4. I was afraid of earthworms when I was a kid, but I like them now.
5. I love old west history and stories.
6. I like animal crackers for breakfast.
7. I love to watch trees grow.

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Crime Pays

I have learned that crime does pay.

This week I saw on TV and in the paper were a man when to court because he killed another man that was threatening his family and trying to steal his car. I think this used to be what was called 'self defence'.
Ok, our justice system says that if you kill a person you go to trial. And the man was found guilty and sentenced to two years in jail. With a long stretch of my imagination I can maybe, and that is a big maybe, agree with that. Maybe he should have just called the police.
BUT what I can't understand is why that man must pay the family of the car thief so much money for several years.

How many other crimes are going to be committed do to the ruling in this case?

TV Ads

I seem to have a log of thoughts and opinions running through my head lately. I think about different things that I see on TV, or read and then I seem to forget to talk about it on this blog. So here are a few things that have caught my attention lately.

Commercials on TV. I find I am watching less and less TV simply because of the commercials. Several other people I have talked to have the same opinions about the obnoxious ads that dominate one of our main sources of entertainment. I like to watch TV. I like to loose myself in a well thought out and filmed fiction story. Instead I find that big business is trying to brainwash me into buying their products. That is all that TV is any more. It is marketing ploy to brainwash people into using a certain product or vote for a certain politician. Not only which I am seeing more and more ads that are so absolutely ridiculous, and stupid, and overly loud. If loud I simply mute them. Isn't that what the mute button is for? So if the ad is muted what good does the ad do? They are not geared for a person that is even half way intelligent. They are aimed at the totally ignorant person. Is that how big business thinks that the average person is? Ignorant and dumb? If so that means that the average person doesn't have the ability to get a decent paying job so that they can buy the items advertised. So if the ads are for dumb, uneducated people who is going to support the business that is advertising? The TV stations charge more and more for placing an ad at a certain spot in a show, and the items cost more and more to buy or use. Recently I timed the ads in the show I was watching on a big name channel in my local area. It was a show that had never aired before. There were 25 minutes of commercials during the hour that the show was on. And many of the same ad aired multiple times. One ad was on a total of 9 times in that hour. If this isn't brainwashing I don't know what is. So you say why complain, just don't watch it. Your correct I don't have to watch it and I find I am watching less and less. Frequently I get so disgusted at the ads and the fact that so many shows themselves are so poorly written, directed, thought out, filmed I don't finish watching the show, or I find I have dozed off, or decided to play with the dog or cat, or find a good book to read. So if I am doing this how many other people are not watching as much TV? When are business going to learn that the more ads they have on TV the fewer people are going to watch the TV.

Attention lovers


I keep hearing about how stand-offish cats are and wonder where people get that idea. Mine always want attention. They want to be petted, loved, and fed. They want to sit in my lap and reward me by purring and helping to keep me warm. Each and everyone of our cats has had a very different personallity. Some want a bit more attention than others. Some try to get into more trouble than others. Some are more adventurous than others. Some want one kind of food, others won't touch that kind and want a different food. Murphy is a great mouser, so is K.C. but Jade would rather be in the house in my lap. But if Murphy sees me when he is outside then he is under my feet begging to be petted as in this photo.
Cats have always been known for helping people type. First on old fashioned manuel typewriters and now on computer keyboards and laptops. Sometimes it make you wonder if a cat didn't find a way to encourage people to make typewriters and keyboards simply for their amusement.
Cat also have a love of laying on papers on desks, especially if you are reading or trying to sort them. Any time I am reading a book or newspaper one of my cats will be trying to read with me. Hummm---- I wonder if cats are able to read. The next thing I know a cat will be writing a bog.