The Mares

Dancer is Dustin's Throughbred mare, the daughter of another mare he had. She is a dark bay, and very friendly. That is me in the first photo with her.

The black and white pinto mare is Emmy. she is Arabian and Saddlebred known as a National Show Horse. She is Dustin's mare and the mom of his stallion, Arte. I think she is about the best marked pinto I have ever seen.

Mistani (I don't have any idea how to spell her name but this is how it is pronounced) is Rob's mare, a black Arabian that a friend gave him.

Mocha is Desi's Throughbed mare.

The Geldings

Tucker and Caesar are Desi's geldings. Tucker is a big boy. The tallest and heaviest of the horses.

The Mini's

Dustin has 3 Miniture Horses. 1st is Lucky, a black and white pinto, next is Lucky's brother Cloudy who is solid black and then there is his newest mini Tank.

Dustin's newest mini, a little stallion named Mini Tank because he is so small and built more like a draft horse. I am with him in first photo of him and Dustin in the last one.

Dustin's Cats

My son, Dustin, is a cat and horse person. These are the four cats that he, his friend Rob, and Dustin's girlfriend, Desi, have found over the past few years. The odd marked white cat with gray marking is named simply Kat. She was found abandoned as a small kitten. The vet didn't think she would live but she did with the only lasting problem being she is almost blind. Rob says it doesn't matter as he is almost blind, too, due to his diabetes problem. The next cat is Teddy who showed up about 2 years ago as a small kitten. To me he looks like he is a lot Maine Coon Cat. Next is O.C. (is short for 'orange cat' or 'other cat') who decided I as his new best friend. Last is Fiera, a kitten Desi took in that is a Manx, as seen in the one photo showing she has no tail.

Chaparral, NM

Most of the area around Chaparral, NM where my son lives is flat desert country with a some low, rocky mountains. If you can call them mountains. Compared to what I call mountains they aren't much but still they are photogenic and nice to look at. The 1st photo is of the lower end of the Rio Grande River right before it goes into Texas. Chaparral is right at the Texas border near El Paso, Texas. Chaparral can hardly be called a town, more like a very small village. Remember my post from a few weeks ago that had photos of the river here in Albuquerque with lots of water, and several miles from Chaparral in the Anthony, NM area. Most of it goes into Elephant Butte Lake which is a big lake with lots of boating, fishing, and other recreation. I didn't go there this time. The rest goes to the farmers.
Other photos are just outside of Chaparral, NM.

Yucca & Mesquite

Most of the native trees or brush around my sons home is mesquite trees seen in the first 2 photos and the yuccas shown in the next 2 photos. Both are very drought resistant but the drought that is going on now is about to do in a lot of the native plant live in the southern New Mexico area.

Trip to Las Cruces, NM

I could say that this is the way I rode to Las Cruces, NM last week but actually it was just my truck that went that way. I rode in the cab of the black truck with my son. He had come to Albuquerque to pick up the long trailer and since I wanted to go back with him for a few days we loaded by pickup on the trailer rather than using gas in both vehichels. I was then able to drive back in my little red truck when I was ready to.

Shopping Craze

You won't catch me in the wild shopping craze that seems to cause people to go crazy every year at this time. Black Friday! I can not understand why anyone would want to wade though the crowds of people in stores trying to buy that 'perfect gift' for someone. No one is worth that. If they can't except you as you a gift isn't going to make any difference.
I know that business wouldn't like it but I think we should make every third year a time to give from the heart instead of the pocketbook. Make gifts instead of buying them. You might be surprised how much people appreciate the effort of making something for them instead of buying what is usually something they will forget about in a few days.
If you can't make a gift give a hug and a smile.

Sunset

Waiting for Treats

Walk on the Desert

went for a walk on the desert the other day and saw some interesting plants. The dogs trailed something that was most likely a rabbit. Was a nice day.

Rio Grande Valley State Park

www.cabq.gov/openspace/riograndevalley.html This web site is where you can find more about the Rio Grande Valley State Park.

Trail Along Rio Grande River

The other day we decided we take a walk along the Rio Grande River near the Alameda Bridge. The cottonwood trees were beautiful as many had turned a lovely shade of yellow. We parked in the parking lot and walked under the bridge that had car traffic on it and then walked across the foot bridges and along the river.

To Rest by the River