Horse Work

I had to alter my weekly schedule, because it just wasn't working out for me. We've had so many 3-day weekends lately when the stores are all closed, and something always has to break down or someone always has to get injured or sick over 3-day holiday weekends, so that come Tuesday morning when the stores and doctor offices reopen, I need their services. However, I could never get these

Things That Scream in the Night

Last night was absolutely bizarre.  I've been having problems with my dogs going nuts every time I let them outside.  I used to be able to let them out into the backyard and they would get right down to business and maybe sniff around a bit, and then they would quietly return to the backdoor to scratch it or bark once to let me know they were ready to come back inside the house. 

Now literally

The Hunt

After soliciting the help of a real estate agent to assist me in finding a home I can live with, she was only able to find one home that fit my criteria, and it's a short sale.  It was a newer, really nice little horse ranch that looked awesome until I saw the taxes and the fact that it is in a flood plain (which means expensive flood insurance) with a huge natural wash running through it. Also,

The Training Process

In a comment achieve1dream asked how I trained Bombay not to bite, but to lick instead.
I had to think about it, because we're talking something that happened maybe ten years ago. If my memory serves me well, I offered him my hand and watched him closely. As soon as I saw or sensed that he was about to nip, I'd say, "Ahh, ahh, ahh," like "No, no, no," and pulled my hand away. I'd then offer

Rich Moments Around the Ranch

It's such a nice day, I thought I'd go outside and take pictures of the horses.  They are all a mess, but there's not much point in grooming as long as there is mud on the ground.  Here's Bombay itching and Gabbrielle taking a stroll in the background...

Gabbrielle licking a remnant of a salt lick and Lostine pigging out in the background...

This was about 30-seconds into my photo shoot, and

A Follow Up

Sometimes I write blog posts and forget to mention their resolutions.  My blogger friend achieve1dream is really generous in commenting on almost every post I write when she gets time to read them, so sometimes she makes a comment on an old post and that reminds me that I never followed up on the subject. 

I'm like a rubber bouncy ball, only staying in one space or mind-set for a short period

My New Profession

I'm a deer chaser now, by profession.  The deer have been coming around so often that the horses complain by kicking their stall walls, which triggers the dogs to run for the door barking because they've come to associate the horses kicking with deer being in our yard.  I let the dogs out to do their business, and they can sometimes chase off the deer, but usually the deer just stand there and

The Home Search

Every couple of days I've been searching real estate sites for a new home in the areas my husband and I are considering, and all it does is get my blood pressure up.  I find a potential home with horse facilities on a few acres within my price range, and then I look at the aerial view of the neighborhood and see my current neighbors living right next door or across the street.

If there aren't a

Look What Blew In With the Storm

Really big rats.  Lots of 'em.






Ten to fifteen inches of snow is due to fall over the next few days.  It's been spitting on and off.  Thanks to those who shared the brands of their favorite coats in the last post.  Keep adding comments if you haven't bragged about yours yet.  Hmmmm.  Maybe I can make a deerskin coat. 

Come Register On The Coat Brag Book

I've been struggling with my coats this winter.  I had to throw out two coats that I loved that belonged to my father, because I wore them until they fell apart.  I think he got both of them in Alaska.  Ever since I've been trying to find the perfect coat. 

I tried wearing one of my mother's complimentary cruise ship coats, but it was gathered at the waist with elastic, and it kept pulling my

We Got Water

Well, I don't know if Reno got enough rain to put out its fire, but I got enough to flood my horse paddock...



It's a good thing that I didn't bother to vacuum and mop the floors yesterday, because I had to walk through all of that and track the mud in the house this morning.  When I came outside I found that either Bombay or the high winds knocked over the wheelbarrow filled with hay.  Here's

Reno Fire Update

I don't know how long this link will be available, but you can go here to see some amazing photos of the fire.  If you are patient while flipping through the gallery, you'll see pictures of horses being rescued.  An equine hospital and horse training facility and stables had to be evacuated.  All the horses got out safely there, but it was reported that at least one home owner lost a horse.  The

Wildfire Affecting Livestock

A wildfire is burning out of control in the valleys and mountains between Carson City and Reno with up to 80 mph winds pushing it along.  A gust of 122 mph was recorded at Slide Mountain.  There are a lot of ranches in this area.  Animals north of the fire are being evacuated to the Reno Livestock Events Center and animals south of the fire are being evacuated to Fuji Park in Carson City.  Law

Yay!

Yesterday was amazingly productive, so I'm feeling better about the size of my To Do List.  The handyman worked really hard to get the job done in one day and to get it done right, so our kitchen molding is up and now our kitchen looks finished.

The job I gave him was nearly impossible in my eyes.  We had something like one and a half inch molding, and you couldn't attach it to both the cabinet

Pressure

When it comes to life, I've bitten off more than I can chew.  I just do the best I can, and it doesn't help when others criticize me.  I always have to wonder about those people who do criticize me for not surrounding myself with perfection.  What kind of life do they have?  Do their only responsibilities include cleaning house?  Here's all that I've got on the burner at the moment:

1.  Trying

What Happened to the Holiday?

Seriously, I'm starting to think that holidays should be banned.  First off, when I was working outside the home, the companies I worked for rarely let me actually take holidays off from work, so I've never benefited from them.  However, all the people you need on holidays, like vets and plumbers, do take their holidays, so you can't get any service.  If you have an emergency and have to run to

This is Why I Love My Horses

When the neighbors pile their junk right up against my fence, the horses mark their territory.

Like a Cartoon Snowball Rolling Down a Mountain

Our home improvement projects have been slow going.  Part of it is that I just have so many daily chores and they pretty much eat up my entire day, and part of it is that every little, simple task always has to snowball out of control into dozens of other tasks.  Every time I start a new project, I regret it because we always somehow end up in a worse situation than we were in to begin with.  I

Burn

Someone suggested that I contact equestrian organizations in Arizona to get the skinny on the best equestrian neighborhoods and places to trail ride.  So, I did.  I sent emails out to four of them, and so far one response came back.  The man said that the best person to answer my questions is a real estate agent and he forwarded my email to one. 

Great.  Just great.

The whole point of me

Drought Panic

My husband read an article that because our area still hasn't had any rain or snow this winter, it is expected that there will be a hay shortage this year. There already is a hay shortage because many of our local hay farmers shipped their 2011 crops to Japan at a much higher price than the locals pay. Because our hay farmer did that, we asked if he would save us one block of alfalfa/grass mix

It Was Nice While It Lasted

I have gotten so used to tourists speeding past my house that I don't even blink an eye at it anymore.  However, today I looked out my window to find that a sheriff's deputy managed to pull over two drivers speeding in opposite directions at the same time in front of my house.  That takes some raw talent.  I was impressed.

I grabbed a bag of gourmet popcorn and enjoyed the show as he wrote out

Just What The Doctor Ordered

I came home after a photo shoot to find Lostine lying on the ground. When I approached her, she stood up and then stretched her front legs out in front of her and her back legs out in back, so I knew she was colicking. I started my usual process of administering ProBios and Bute. (I know Banamine is better for colic, but our vets out here rarely hand that out.) I walked her around the

Ummmm

I'm at a loss for a title for this post.  My To Do List has been pushing onto a second page of my college-ruled legal pad.  One item on that list was to clean out our refill all the water troughs in the barn.  I'd been meaning to do that for days, but one thing after another kept getting in the way.  So, when I went outside with the intention to clean those water troughs, I was determined to not

Adjusting the Responsiveness of Our Horses

One of the things I love about my new truck is how it handles.  It accelerates in a pinch and brakes gently, but quickly.  It turns into parking spaces with ease.  There's no fighting for what I want like with my last truck.  When I drive down the highway or freeway, it's like I'm flying on a couch with very little effort on my part.  Even when I don't have the truck on cruise control, it feels

The Process

While in the bookstore, I picked up an astrology book and read the first few lines of my horoscope.  It said something to the effect that the first part of the millennium has not treated me well, but 2012 will change everything for the better.  It said that all the bad things that have happened to me since 2007 were just motivators to move me into a better environment.

Hmmmm.  2007 was when

Weird Morning

This morning I had a photo shoot bright and early, only the sun didn't come out bright and early to wake me up.  When I did awake, I was running late.  I saw a shadow move along my bathroom floor from the window, and it bothered me, but I didn't see anything outside.  I fed the dogs, then let them out into the back yard to do their business.  I went out a different door to feed the horses and

Mr. Peeper's New Tactic

Hopefully, this is the last story about my neighbors' guests for a while.  I wish it would just snow just long enough to send them plowing their way back to California to get some warmth.  This morning the dogs across the highway were barking non-stop again.  These people own a whole pack of dogs, and it's really loud and disruptive when they get going.  They stay quiet as long as strangers don't

The Shock of Straying From the Hermitage

I've hardly left home this past year.  I got laid off from my job in 2010, so didn't have a job to drive to on a daily basis.  I drove to Los Angeles several times to settle my mother's estate, but I never really drove around here.  I went to the local market once a week or the bank or the hardware store, but that was about it.  Then yesterday we had to drive my son to the airport.

I have a

Strange Lights and Calling Cards

After writing that last post I went outside with a flashlight to look around for the guy who's been trespassing on my property at night and leaving calling cards.  The dogs had been going outside repeatedly and barking toward the north.  It's very dark in our neighborhood, so someone could be standing 50-feet in front of me and I wouldn't see them.

I went out the front door and walked through

It's Always Funny in Sillidelphia

I know the television show "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" has been around a long time, but I've never watched it until yesterday.  I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.  There was this one episode in which the characters were dealing with the recession, and they found an RV camped out on the sidewalk in front of their bar.  They freaked out, because they knew that one RV would to attract

Starting Off the New Year on the Right Foot

A couple of things happened to thwart any plans for a trail ride, but I didn't let those stop me from working with my horses at home.  I returned to clicker training, and there was no problem with the horses remembering that the click is a good thing.  I have no problem with them coming to the halter when I've got my clicker, but I'd better have that clicker and my fanny pack of treats with me,