Time Runs Short When the Well Runs Dry

Apparently, every once in a while I need a good, swift kick in the pants to remind me that time is a luxury we should never take for granted.  I've been very fortunate lately to experience a break from my usual hassles and fiascoes, so I got lulled into a false sense of security that I can actually plan out my day and follow through on it without any extraneous events throwing me for a loop.

The Great Mongoose Hunt

Back to the topic of our trip to Hawaii.  I didn't want to bore you by talking about our vacation in every post for the next month, so I've been interspersing trail riding posts in between.  On our last day in Hawaii, we had to check out of our hotel by noon and our first flight did not take off until something like 8:30 at night.  That meant we had to find something to do all afternoon that

Rock has ADD

I rode Rock out today and he has discovered that with that soft, fuzzy fabric I wrapped around the nose ropes of his halter, he can now do whatever he wants with his head and it doesn't hurt.  He was snatching snacks all the way down the trail, lowering his head to sniff manure and refusing to lift it back up when I pulled and admonished him, and gawking in all directions.  He tried to turn

Sunday Morning Trail Ride

Bombay and I headed out for the trails this morning and while I was saddling him up, my neighbor came racing down his driveway revving his engine as he went.  Bombay heard it, but couldn't see what was going on from the other side of the trailer, so he got nervous.  He began doing a little dance from side to side while I attempted to adjust his saddle.  Weekday mornings are so much easier when

Helmet Cam Test 2

This time I succeeded in catching the GoPro Hero when it switched from video to camera mode, and I switched it back to video mode.  However, it got out of sync with my button pushes, so I wasn't filming when I thought I was filming, and vice versa.  It will be easier when I ride with someone else, because I can just ask them, "Is there a big red light blinking on my forehead?"

Anyway, I thought

Helmet Cam Test

Bombay took me for a trail ride this morning to test out our new GoPro Hero 2 Outdoor Edition camera that my husband gave me for Christmas.  I strapped it to my helmet.  I figured I'd do something stupid to screw up the test, so I kept my expectations low.  Because the camera is tiny, the LED screen is tiny, so I have to put on my strongest reading glasses indoors to see if I'm putting it on the

It's Been a Blitz

The past few weeks have been a complete blitz.  I'm having trouble remembering everything that happened, but it seemed to happen all at once, and I'm hoping to get back to a more relaxed pace with a predictable routine.  While in Hawaii, our horseback guide convinced us to drive around the perimeter of the big island to see Kona.  We only made it as far as the outskirts of the city, and there was

Horseback Riding in Paradise

My husband and I went to the big island of Hawaii for our silver anniversary.  Because he works all the time, he was mainly interested in resting, but he was willing to go on a horseback ride.  I researched our options and chose an outfit that would take us into the mountains to view waterfalls, valleys, and the ocean.

Our guide picked us up in a van and gave us a little tour of his town on the

Where Did I Disappear To?

Part of the reason why I was so upset about Lostine's condition, beside the obvious, was the timing of it.  We were just a few steps away from being out the door for a trip to a far away land.  I've been waiting 37 years to return to this place, and thought I was going to have to cancel our flights, hotel, and car rental because of Lostine's bout with colic.  Fortunately, she steadily improved,

Friday the 13th

On Friday the 13th I was in school all morning, came home, ate lunch, and then took my son to the dental surgeon to have his wisdom teeth pulled.  I expected his appointment to be about two hours long, but the surgeon said he'd be done in 45 minutes to an hour.  We asked him to call in the prescriptions ahead of time, so that we could pick them up before we picked our son up.  My husband and I

Abstract Reflections

I've been finishing up my final week of photography classes.  In my pet photography class, the instructor showed us how I could improve on my pictures using PhotoShop.  I have an old CS3 copy of PhotoShop, but didn't want to mess with my homework, because I thought it would be cheating.  The instructor has been more interested in the choices we make when we frame up a shot and press the shutter

A Major Milestone

This has been a long time coming, and after months of precautions and preparations, we were finally able to ride two horses across a busier road than the one in front of my house.  After how sore I was from walking after not being able to get back into the saddle after dismounting to cross a road on Monday, I was not going to get out of that saddle for anything.  Don't get me wrong.  I do like

These Boots are Made for Walkin'

It turned out that the grass hay was delivered on a flatbed truck with two men to move and stack it.  They weren't happy about having to stack it 15-feet high.



They also informed me that they have hay year round because of the contract they have with the supplier.  He stores it all for the feed store.  So, now I know where I can get it in smaller quantities throughout the year.  I will just

Stocking Up for Winter

On the horse front, I've been scrambling to find hay.  I got down to one bale of grass and three bales of alfalfa.  I called my grass hay farmer and he didn't return my call.  I called a couple more times just to make sure he didn't just get busy and forget about me, but apparently he's not in business at the moment.  Must have run out of hay.  So, I called my alfalfa hay farmer, and arranged to

A December to Remember

This December is one of the busiest months I've had in years.  There's school, homework, field trips and real trips, expected and unexpected appointments.  There's Christmas.  So far I have only set out our tiny fake LED Christmas tree and still need to decorate.  When we received our first Christmas card of the year, I panicked, realizing that I hadn't included sending cards on my agenda.  I've

Old Dog Blues

After going through a ton of veterinary appointments, surgeries, medications, time, and money over the past couple of years for my two old dogs, I thought things had finally settled out and we were all going to get some rest.  But then I received a card in the mail claiming that Midge was due for her rabies vaccination.  I nearly flipped.  Why hadn't the vet just given it to her when he saw her a

Got the Shivers

P.S. came by mid-afternoon and had a hankering to go for a ride, even though it was raining.  I checked the weather map and no systems were moving in, but rain clouds just seemed to be forming directly over us.  I told her to go ahead and do what she wanted, and I'd come out in 15 minutes.  If the sky looked any better, I'd ride with her.  It was starting to clear up to the north, south and west,

The Honeymoon is Over

My calendar was full for today, but ironically, everyone else canceled on me, leaving me a whole day to do what I desired, and I desired to ride a horse on the trails.  I rode Bombay last time, so I rode Rock this time, and Rock decided to begin testing me.

Let me first say that my mount was sloppy.  I bent my fingernail backwards and slammed down into the saddle while screeching in pain, which

I Spooked and Bombay Didn't

I took Bombay out alone on a trail ride today.  I hadn't ridden him in a while, because either someone keeps biting him, or he's found some sharp spot along the fence or railings to scratch himself on and every time that I see him he has another chunk taken out of his fur and/or skin.  I don't like putting a saddle pad over open sores and cuts.

Bombay has been behaving in a grumpy manner,

Panning

After not having a successful panning attempt with Lostine last week, I tried again with Bombay today and still couldn't get the horse in focus while the background was speeding past. My husband came out and offered to control the horse's speed so that I could concentrate on my posture, keeping the camera level, and just turning my upper body at the waist at the exact same speed as the horse.

Walkin' the Big Dogs

Just before sunset and after Thanksgiving dinner my family took a walk.  I had led Bombay out into the desert in the morning to work off some calories, and led Lostine out on the family walk in the late afternoon.  No one seemed happy that I was bringing a horse along.  I guess they thought it would be a hassle.  I said, "The horses aren't any problem.  It's almost like they aren't even there."

Rock is a Ladies' Man

Despite it being a cloudy, chilly day with hoards of Thanksgiving travelers on the road, Christine and I decided to meet up for our trail ride.  I was finishing my lunch while she was saddled up and riding out to meet me.  Amazingly, I was able to get Rock tacked up and put his new Renegades on before she arrived.  I led him around in the boots to get him used to walking in them on dirt, rocks,

In Which Rock Serves a Purpose (or Tries To)

I had a trail ride scheduled this morning with local blogger Christine.  We've been trying to ride together for a while but couldn't coordinate our schedules and have the weather cooperate at the same time.  The deal was that she was going to ride her Friesian out my way with a neighbor, and then we'd all explore the trails together.  I saddled up Rock and got a text message that they were on

Adaptions

I don't have much to report on the horses other than that they've been standing in mud puddles because it has been raining off and on since Thursday night.

I went to more photography classes and found that I am still struggling to adapt to my new home.  I live in an area that is primarily inhabited by retired snowbirds, so when I do discard my usual hermit status and get out to be around people

Shutter Shudder

I'm practicing my shutter speed homework assignments and came out with some fun images of Lostine cantering.  Because it was a cloudy day and the camera was on shutter speed priority, allowing the camera to choose the aperture, the images came out overexposed and ghostly.  However, when I tried to balance out the exposure with software, I found that I preferred the overexposed images.

These two

Camera Ramblings

Rock's Renegades arrived last night fresh off the press.  The smell of them gave me an instant headache.  I ordered my favorite color:  Arizona Copper.  Today I tried them on him, and couldn't get the heel captivator up over his heel, so I had to adjust them by making the cables longer.  He was a good boy about letting me put them on him and lunge him in them.  They make squeaking noises with

The Day of the Big Machines

I was behind schedule this morning and doubted I would get to trail ride, but P.S. talked me into it.  I wasn't sure who to ride, because Bombay had ripped his hair and a little skin out in places where the saddle would sit, Lostine needed the saddle that Gabbrielle needed, and Rock's shoulder injury is still somewhat fresh.  However, Rock seemed to be moving okay, so I took a chance on him,

Choices and Voices

After class today I had a choice of cleaning house, which I haven't done in weeks, cleaning up manure, doing my homework, or riding a horse.  I made the smart choice.



I can no longer keep up with trimming bridle paths.  Rock doesn't have one and his mane is beautiful.  It doesn't get tangled in the halters and bridles, and I don't show my horses, so I've decided to let everyone's manes grow

Overdoing It

Normally, I am fortunate enough to have a few days each week that are appointment free.  I have nowhere to go, so I can plan out how I want to spend my time.  However, I have been so heavily booked this month and will be next month too, that my body and brain are having a hard time keeping up with all the activity.  Despite having good intentions by doing the complimentary photoshoot for the

Plumb Tuckered Out

NyQuil did the trick and I was finally able to get a good night's sleep.  I had planned to get caught up on things around the house and in the office and balance that out with some rest today, but we had perfect horseback riding weather.  It was warm, not hot, with a steady cool wind.  On the back of a horse it feels like someone is blowing air conditioning on you.

I caught Rock galloping

A Long Weekend

On Friday I trail rode Bombay alone.  He was all jacked up after seeing some trail riders pass by in front of our house, so for the first leg of our ride he was jerking his head all around looking for other horses.  There was nothing to do but keep riding him until he settled down and try to get him to focus on where he was going.  I don't care for having to steer a horse because he's gawking at

Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?

Just a note to let readers know that my blogging will probably be less frequent for a while.  I know sometimes people worry about me when I get quiet, because I'm normally a whirlwind of words in the blogosphere.  I'm actually fairly quiet in person, but I type fast and am addicted to writing, which is part of the reason why I will probably be blogging less than usual.  I'm doing NaNoWriMo this

A Land Owner's Perspective

I have continued de-spooking exercises once or twice a day with Gabbrielle.  She now accepts having a plastic bag on a stick circling her head and shaking around her ears and sides, but touching her with it is still a no no.  I did walk up to her with a bag wadded in my hand and groomed her with it.  She didn't notice until I walked in front of her to switch sides and the bag made a crinkling

Three Strikes and We Won

Yesterday I took Bombay out to keep me company on my exercise mission.  All I had with me was a halter, a lead rope, and a horse, and I felt naked.  Something was missing.  Halfway up the drive I realized that I forget my cell phone.  I contemplated walking all the way back, tying Bombay to a railing or the trailer, walking all the way to the house to get my cell phone, and trying again.  However

Celebrating

I am celebrating all four of my horses today.  I'm taking a couple of horses to a gymkhana and a poker ride in the near future, so I have to make sure they will all get into a horse trailer for transport ahead of time.  The three Arabs haven't been in a trailer in over two years.  I've had no need to take them anywhere because I am fortunate to have riding trails right across the street and a vet

Walking and Jogging and Walking and Jogging

When the weather is blustery, the horses get uppity, so I don't care to ride them, but they make for great jogging partners.  Yesterday Bombay accompanied me and today Lostine was my running partner.  Bombay is the only horse who understands how to stay at my side and keep the same pace as I do.  Lostine would walk until she hit the end of the rope behind me and then trot, but she's such a fast

Company on the Trails

Trail riders are starting to come out of the woodwork now that it is cooling down.  I've had a few riders check out my back lot to see if they can ride through, and have been seeing more of them out in the desert and crossing roads.  P.S. and I went out for a ride this morning and saw six horseback riders.  One group seemed to be avoiding us, as they pulled a U-turn in an odd spot.  They waved,

Forrest is a Genius

You may recall that when we first brought Rock home, I equated him to Forrest Gump.  He moved slow, was very sweet, but he could run when he needed to.  He seemed to be missing a few screws, but now I know he was just taking it all in, learning the layout of the land, and figuring out his place in an already established herd with new humans who have different behaviors and expectations from where

Rock Will Be a Certified Horse Trainer Soon

It's time to desensitize Gabbrielle again.  She flipped out when I handed her rider a helmet, so we've been desensitizing her to the helmet, even though she's seen it a hundred times before.  It turns out that she doesn't want it near the side of her head.  I sacked her out with the new saddle bags.  She didn't care about that.  I swung the helmet around and she tensed up, but didn't go berserk.

It's Official

All four horses have now crossed busy roads on the lead rope.  My husband and I took Bombay and Gabbrielle across one road this weekend, then P.S. and I took Rock and Gabbrielle across yesterday, and I took Lostine out today.  Guess who didn't handle it as well as the others?  My 25-year-old ex-alpha mare.

In Lostine's defense, I took her out without a buddy, she hasn't been out for a walk in

Making Up Time

I usually reserve Mondays for the horses, but since yesterday got monopolized by the dogs' health care, I made Tuesday horse day.  Of course, as soon as Bombay and I got out on the trails, the vet's office called to see how Midge is doing.  I've always wondered how the horses would react the first time my mobile phone started ringing on my hip while I'm in the saddle, but Bombay acted like he

Just Nuts

No sooner did Scrappy recover from his food poisoning after opening a jar of trail mix and cleaning it out, and knocking over the trash can and feasting on bacterial laden leftovers, and Midge started taking an even deeper dive down on her roller coaster of health.  She stopped eating, started vomiting, and got diarrhea.  Scrappy never stopped eating, he just soiled the carpet.  But Midge is a

Gone Exploring

I talked my husband into helping me lead a couple of horses across a main road into new territory to see how they would react.  I chose Bombay because he is the spookiest and Gabbrielle because she is the least experienced in leaving home.  While we were approaching the gate, I saw a man out for a joy ride on his motorcycle.  He went past us twice, and was gone by the time we got through the gate

Recommendations

I have had some good luck with trying out new products and would like to recommend them.  I wanted a second horn bag, because I ride in two different saddles and my old horn bag's water bottle holder was more like a Dixie cup holder.  If I rode at any pace faster than a walk, the water bottle would bounce out.  I got a deep water bottle pouch that I can clip on to a saddle ring to make up for it,

Practice

My husband felt well enough to ride Rock today.  He's been experiencing leg cramps over the past few weeks in addition to working round the clock, which didn't allow for any horseback riding.  I left him alone and let him tack up Rock by himself, and I kept my mouth shut for the most part while he rode.  He just needs practice.  We can work out the details later.  When I first took riding lessons

Tools

What do these three tools have in common?



Four other tools...



and a blue feed barrel.

So, last night we were woken multiple times by a horse banging on a feed barrel.  Usually, we can just open a window or shine a flashlight in the general direction of the barn, and the noise stops, but someone was on a mission last night.  My husband thought a horse was trapped in the fence panels, so we

Rock Finds His Stride While Scrappy Finds Some Chicken Bones

My muscles recovered enough from the mountain climb that I decided to ride Rock on the trails this morning.  Bombay's nose injury is almost healed, but now he has a big bite mark where the saddle would sit, so I left him at home.  About 1/3rd of the way through the ride, Rock picked up speed and actually walked with a purpose with his head held high, or at least as high as a Quarter Horse gets.  

Double Trouble

I wasn't able to ride this past weekend, because I thrashed my body so thoroughly on that hike.  My calves felt like they were going to explode, and when I woke up each morning, I felt like a hard pretzel.  My attention was directed at the dogs, because they both had health problems this weekend.  When Midge tore her knee ligament, the vet put her on four different medications on top of the two I

A Hike Through Peralta Canyon

My daughter suggested we go on a hike today.  We deliberated between seeing hieroglyphics, hiking to a cave, or seeing Weaver's Needle.  We settled on taking the Peralta Trail through the canyon up to Freemont Saddle to see Weaver's Needle.  If there's one thing I've learned about the book Superstition Wilderness Trails West - Hikes, Horse Rides, and History by Jack Carlson and Elizabeth Stewart,

A Short Arctic Blast

I've been too busy to be following the weather as closely as I normally do, so I was taken by surprise by this very cold rain that began last night and continued throughout the morning.  Bombay let it be known that he prefers cold weather, because he was racing around the arena bucking, jumping and rearing.  It brought back memories of his rambunctious behavior whenever I let him out of the barn

Bombay on a Quiet Day

This is how awesome my new laptop computer is:  I hooked up a very old digital camera to it, forgetting that I still hadn't installed the camera drivers and software programs that transfer images from the camera to the computer, and the laptop immediately detected the model of my camera and uploaded the photos with whatever existing software came with the computer!  The reason why that is so

Guard Dog and Happy Horses

Another dog story... I had taken Midge out to do her business multiple times, but she was still running around looking nervously at me.  I had to get something done other than taking the dogs outside, so I figured I'd just clean up the mess on the carpet later if she really needed to go.  Most of the time she insists that she has to go to the bathroom, and then when I get her outside, she doesn't

Another Way to Travel

Guess what I did this morning? Here's a hint...





No, I didn't ride a horse, but I rode something else. Here's another hint...



I went mountain biking in the desert with my husband.



I have never bicycled over dirt, sand and rocks before, so it was a challenge, but I made it all the way without falling down.  It was a great workout, especially for my lungs and legs.  I think I'll try to

Selective Hearing

Bombay has been a total pest lately.  He seems to be misbehaving to get attention, so I reserved this morning to take him out on the trails.  He's been doing everything from using me as a scratching post to refusing to go in his stall to blocking me from being able to clean up manure.  He thinks it is funny to run over to the next pile and stand on top of it.  When I spank him to get him out of

Scrappy Has a Secret

Now that the evenings are cooling down, we like to open the windows and doors to let the cool air in for a few minutes before the sun rises.  The timing of that correlates with the time period between when I wake up and while I am outside feeding the horses.  The problem is that each time I go outside, Scrappy starts barking for me to come back.  I usually don't hear it, because the windows and

My First Trail Ride on Rock

But first, here's a blurry picture I caught of a hawk the other day when two of them were working together to try to catch rabbits in our back yard:



 Awesome bird.

The side pull bridle and the low port Myler snaffle bit I ordered to offer relief on Rock's tongue arrived this week and I finally woke up this morning headache and nausea free, so I got a chance to test them out.  I started with

Tidbits

Head Banging

Rock is a heavy metal head banger.  You see, he had this knack of grabbing hay with his wide open jaws as I was delivering it to his food trough, and sometimes he would include one or two of my fingers or my entire hand in his enthusiasm to get that first bite of hay, so I had to insist that he turn his head away before I would approach his feed trough with an armload of hay.  Now

A Rented Ride and a Raffle

There are a few different local horsemanship organizations in my new neighborhood, and I've been pondering joining one for a while.  I'm always hesitant about joining horse clubs, because my past experience showed that the members of these clubs spend more time in meetings and putting on horse events for other people than they do riding their own horses.  I was most interested in a group that

Friday Funnies

Some funny things have happened with the horses this week that I thought might be entertaining to read about.  Bombay has been a stinker about going into his stall on his own at feeding time, so I hollered at him to get in his stall while I was closing Rock's stall door and latching it, figuring he didn't understand anything I was saying.  I turned around and much to my shock, I found that Bombay

Looking Deeper

While trying various approaches to working Rock through his rein steering resistance, a little voice in my head told me to look in his mouth.  An equine dentist and vet had looked at his teeth not too long ago and agreed that he didn't have any sharp points and his teeth didn't need any work.  So, I didn't know why I should look in his mouth, but I trusted the voice, and I did.

I discovered

Peach Fuzz Monday

I woke this morning on the second day of the fall season and felt an actual chill in the air.  I ran my hand along my horses' sides and felt the peach fuzz of a new coat coming in.  Gotta go for a trail ride before that dang sun ruins everything.

I groomed and saddled up Bombay.  P.S. arrived and saddled up Gabbrielle.  Getting ready for a trail ride can be such a production.  I need to figure

A Ground Driving Test

We had a nice bit of cloud cover this morning, so I went outside to see what I could do with the horses before the sun came out.  The one neighbor with the dump truck and tractor was still doing his construction project, so I decided to take Rock for a walk down to the construction zone to see how he would handle it.  I know how my other three horses would handle it -- not well, but it suddenly

Out and About

I had high hopes that it would stay cool long enough for me to take a trail ride this morning, but I forgot that whenever the temperatures improve, I'm not the only one who wants to get outdoors.  My husband was going to start working on a construction project finishing the siding of the hay barn.  I'm really looking forward to this project being done, so there was no way I was going to ask him

Gray Horse Day

A picture of the harvest moon from the other night.  One more day until the fall season.  Yippee!

A couple of embarrassing things happened when the farrier was here.  I ran out of fly spray, so that horses were stomping around a bit.  You definitely don't want to run out of fly spray when you go for a ride or when the farrier or vet visits.  The other embarrassing thing was that I noticed

Question

For those readers who have been to the Hawaiian islands, are there any hotels, activities, or locations you can recommend?  I'm planning a trip in celebration of my and my husband's silver anniversary.  I went to Hawaii and Oahu when I was 12 years old, and yesterday I dug through scrapbooks and slides in search of the locations I most fondly remember, so that I could be sure to go there again.  

A Good Kind of Sweat

I don't recall ever sweating when I lived in the Eastern Sierra.  I became accustomed to smelling nice.  Now that I'm existing through these central Arizona summers, if I don't want to sweat or stink, I have to stay indoors.  The second you step outside, you find yourself dripping from head to toe.

However, this morning was different.  We had some cloud cover.  Not much.  Just enough for me to

Laser Tag and Cheesecake

It was my birthday yesterday.  There wasn't anything I wanted or needed, so I suggested we just do something together as a family.  It's not often that I get out of the house this time of year because of the extreme heat, Midge's storm phobia, and the problem with her food and medications having to be given in a timely manner.  It's amazing what we sacrifice for our pets.

My husband was on call

A New Topography

One thing I forgot to mention in my post about my trail ride yesterday is how much the topography of the desert has changed.  It's somewhat subtle in places, but I can really feel it on the back of a horse.  Whenever it rains a lot over a short period of time we get flash floods.  The desert floor isn't very good about soaking up water.  New channels force their way downhill.  So, while riding on

Trail Test

I rode Bombay out onto the trails by ourselves this morning to see how he would do after not being trail ridden regularly or without another horse all summer.  I misplaced my trail camera, so I didn't get any pictures.  Sorry.  But, you know what he looks like from between the ears by now.

He held still for the mount and though the mares did whinny nervously when I took him to the trailer to

Breaking Through the Rock

My back was feeling better today, but I had a couple of other health issues that were discouraging me from riding a horse.  It's seems like everything is a Catch 22.  My doctor informed me that I have more lumps growing in my body and need another biopsy.  I go through this every fall and spring.  I have tumors, cysts and polyps in four different organs now.  It's all a part of aging, but because

Windows

This time of year my horse moments only happen when I am alert enough to spot my windows of opportunity.  I've literally got to catch the cold front before and immediately following a storm.  It's easier said than done, though, because there are a lot of things I should be doing outdoors when I get a cool breeze, and those things compete with my horse time.  I spent much of yesterday and early

Rock Has a Mean Left Hook

It rained most of the day, but when the sun came out, the horses came out to play.   Rock and Bombay were rearing up and spinning their front legs at each other.   It was such a beautiful sight that I ran outside with my video camera.   Of course, they immediately stopped their horse play, figuring they'd get in trouble.  After a while they started up again.   I was shocked enough to shake the

It's a Good Thing Horses Don't Have Thumbs

There are many ways our horses can injure or kill us.  Let me count thy ways:


1.  Kicking

2.  Bucking

3.  Rearing

4.  Striking

5.  Biting

6.  Stomping

7.  Bolting

8.  Trampling

9.  Rolling on top of us

10.  Throwing us

11.  Knocking into us

12.  Stabbing us...



Stabbing us?  Yup.  You can add that new one to the list.  Seriously.  My horse stabbed me today.  Can you take a guess at

Raspberries All Around

Every time the sun goes behind the clouds, I run outside to see if I can either ride a horse or clean up some manure really fast.  Rock is so cute the way he stands with his head hooked over the top railing looking up at the backdoor, waiting for me to come out.  Ever since my husband took him for a walk and I took him to the round pen, he's been running to the gate when I approach, and I have to

Battles, Rebuttals and Belches

It's been a battle trying to get some alone time with the horses over the holiday weekend since everyone and his brother was home and resting from his labors.  Neighbors, neighbors, everywhere...

I felt sorry for P.S., who was looking forward to riding in the arena, and one neighbor behind us started some racket that sounded like he was banging dents out of a car with a hammer.  My husband tried

Fancy Meeting You Here... Or Not

Last night after dark the dogs needed to go outside.  The process of taking them out to do their business can be a laborious one.  I sure do miss our dog yard at our old house.  When we first moved into this house, we started taking the dogs out on leash in the front yard where we had a porch light and some footlights, but that proved to be a problem because rattlesnakes and poisonous toads

A Little Help From My Friends

I love it when one horse is not cooperating with me, and another horse steps in to help.  Usually, it's Bombay misbehaving and Lostine disciplining him, but today it was Lostine misbehaving and Rock taking my side of the argument.

I needed to pick out all the horses' hooves because they had been standing around in a mix of mud and manure after this latest storm.  I've learned how quickly

After the Storm

We finally got a torrential downpour, about 1.7 inches of rain in just a few hours last night, and after any good storm, the creatures come out.  I was attacked by a Palo Verde Beetle when feeding the horses this morning.  It was trying to burrow into the flake of hay that I was scooping up into my arms to deliver to the horses, and it didn't like me disturbing its nest.  I'm sure my neighbors

Critters and Clouds

I managed to get pictures of a couple of different types of butterflies from my last shoot. This one's wings are pretty beat up, but its face is so expressive. I'd swear it is posing for the camera...





This one has fake eyes on its wings...



We've been getting lots of clouds, lightning and thunder, but not much rain...



While driving home at night, my husband pointed out a bunch of

The Butterflies are Here

When I walked outside there were at least a dozen different types and colors of butterflies feasting on my Lantana.  These two were the only ones to stick around for the photoshoot.  Hopefully, the others will get used to my presence and not be so camera shy next time.

Yesterday I was doing a photoshoot of both the horses and the stormy sky when I became aware of the annoying sound of a car

Sweaty Cabin Fever

Who can resist such a face?

It is believed that a lack of light causes depression, but I can tell you that we've got plenty of sunlight in Arizona, and what causes depression is simply not being able to go outdoors due to extreme temperatures.  I used to associate cabin fever with being snowed in for long periods of time, but now I've got cabin fever from being boiled in for long periods of

Good Citizen Training

Do you try to train your horses to be good citizens?  It's been a slow weekend, so I've had some time to really observe my horses and I was shocked to see how rude they are to each other.  Some might say that I am projecting human behaviors onto horses, but that's all I know.  I've still got a lot to learn as far as herd mechanics or the sociology of horses goes, but there are some behaviors I

Sensitivity

Sensitivity #1:  Pain

Despite obtaining my arm injury on Sunday, the pain has been getting worse, rather than better.  Yesterday I developed a large enough knot on the outside of my forearm that it was visible.  Touching the knot resulted in more pain, and it was a hard mass of tissue about the size of a golf ball.  This perplexed me, because my forearm never took a blow.  I just simply pulled

Shoveling with One Arm

The heat is unpleasant, but the wind seems to be my biggest foe.  It seems every time I get hurt, it's because of the wind.  You may recall that there was a bit of a debate over the design of our hay barn.  I was being pulled in so many different directions on that topic, but I was already over budget and had run out of money by the time I realized that the design did not fit my needs.  I was

A Little Excitement

I took the dogs outside and noticed Bombay and Gabbrielle had their necks stretched over the fence and were looking into the arroyo.  I figured they were watching a coyote, so I didn't bother to investigate.


About an hour later my husband was worried about me shoveling manure in the extreme heat.  The house was quiet and it was about that time of the afternoon when I go outside to clean the

A Puzzle

My experience with the horses this week has mainly consisted of trying to figure out what was wrong with Gabbrielle.  On Tuesday, P.S. called me out to the horse trailer because Gabbrielle was showing extreme signs of sensitivity under her jaw.  P.S. just lightly brushed her face, and Gabbrielle threw her head up and ran backwards hitting the end of the rope.  She did it again when I reached up

Something Different

My daughter planned a vacation for herself to the Grand Canyon, and I shamelessly invited myself along.

Since this was my daughter's vacation from years of hard work at multiple jobs while taking a full-time course load in college, I let her plan everything and I just went along for the ride.  First on her itinerary was participating in an adventure course just south of Flagstaff.  I opted out

Haystack Adventures

I needed a change in my hay barn management routine after several monsoons flooded and saturated some hay bales we had knocked to the ground, and they molded in just a few short days.  Normally, my husband, who isn't afraid of heights, climbs a ladder and knocks down a couple of week's worth of hay to the ground where I cut the bales open as I need them.  We can't get away with that in the summer

One Down, One to Go

You may remember that I made two major goals for myself this year:  One was to finish a king-sized bed quilt I've been constructing since 2008, and the other was to finish and publish my second novel.  Well, today I finally finished that quilt!  You can view pictures of it at my Frazzle Frenzy blog.

Of course, I find it rather silly that I completed the quilt in the middle of summer while living

Just Point and Praise

I didn't want to jinx myself, so I haven't said anything up until now, but the horses seem to have finally worked out their differences and figured out how to play without hurting themselves or each other.  I originally guessed it would take about two weeks to integrate a new horse into the herd, but the personalities were so different, and there was the added complexity of my alpha mare stepping

August Trail Ride

I'm used to August being the hottest month of the year, but we've actually been cooling down here in Arizona.  We've had a lot of cloudy days without rain or with only a minimal amount of rain.  My energy level depends a lot upon the humidity as well as the heat and whether or not there is a cool breeze to go along with all of it.

P.S. was riding Gabbrielle in the arena and I realized that the

Tale of the Woman-Eating Tree

I've been trying to figure out what to write about because I hate to be repetitive, but the same old things have been going on.  I see coyotes trotting around my property.  I've got a couple of rather large alligator lizard buddies who hang out with me down at the hay barn.  I've been bathing the horses since we had a break in the storms, but I ran out of shampoo before I could wash Rock.  Yet

Mudfest

Another 8-Week Trim

My farrier has an eagle-eye when it comes to hoof health, and I hate to hear that anything is wrong with my horses' hooves, so I try to keep them clean with just the right amount of conditioning.  Sometimes he comes and says that my horses' hooves are too hard and dry, and they are ruining his tools.  Other times he comes and says that the gunk I put on the hooves to condition them is ruining his

One Man's Trash...

...is another horse's treasure.






We've had some trash laying around right on the property line between us and our neighbor to the south since we moved in over a year ago.  I thought the trash was on my neighbor's property, which is why I didn't clean it up.  I didn't want to trespass.  Yesterday I finally went over there and cleaned up everything on the edge of his property.  I was going to

Waterfalls, Floods and Mud

On Sunday we had a rainstorm, and my husband noticed waterfalls pouring down the mountain behind our house.  It was difficult to get good pictures with all the clouds.  We looked at the waterfalls through a telescope and realized just how dangerous it would be to be hiking up there when a rainstorm hits.  The lines from the water look small here, but through a telescope we could see that they

Riding Rock

My husband was hoping to take a trail ride with me today, but despite the lower temperatures, the humidity was so intense that it felt really uncomfortable outside.  So, instead he took Rock for a quick spin in the round pen.  I have given him lessons on tacking up before, so I stood back and directed, giving him hints on what to do next.  Watching someone who has never bridled a horse before try

Got It

As promised:

It's a Dog's Life

I leave a dog bowl full of water out for whatever creatures need it.  I've seen all kinds of birds, ground squirrels, and bunnies drinking out of it.  I keep a rock in it so that the baby quail won't drown.  Today I saw the bunnies scatter, and this fellow found their watering hole:

Recycling, Screw Ups, and the Two Sides of a Rock

So far the barn chore reminder list hasn't gone so well.  The first day I completely forgot to read it, and forgot to take the ointments from the house to the barn even though they were right by the door.  The second day I remembered the ointments, but overslept and did not have the time to read the list.  Of course, the point of the list is to save time, but I was more worried about getting back

Trying to Out-Smart my own Lousy Memory

If someone told me that more than one year after moving I would still be trying to work out a barn management routine that is efficient, I wouldn't have believed them.  I think most people who keep horses on their own land, unless they recently moved, are already set in their routines and don't face many issues on a day-to-day basis.  They probably don't remember all the problems that popped up

A Strange Place to Lay Eggs

A Post with Pictures

I spared you the pictures of blood and guts this past miserable week, and now I've got some happy pictures for you.  First off, this was Bombay's predicament yesterday:



Rock somehow managed to rip one fly mask ear cover off Bombay's ear.  And this was Lostine's predicament yesterday, brought to you by Rock and Bombay:



A dripping wet fly mask just fished out of the water trough.

And then

A Day of Boom Booms in the Life of Midge

This morning I found flies trying to burrow into Bombay's face wound, so I tied him to the trailer and washed it really well with Betadine, dried it, and sprayed it with AluSpray.  Some neighbor kept shooting a gun at 5:30 in the morning while I was trying to treat Bombay's wound.  My horse jumped at the gunshots and I was afraid he was going to stomp on my foot or knock me down, so I yelled out

Book Review: NAKED LIBERTY by Carolyn Resnick

"Naked Liberty" by Carolyn Resnick is an enchanting memoir covering her younger years of growing up around both wild and domesticated horses, and entails what she learned from them that has shaped her horsemanship philosophy.  Resnick was gifted with parents who had complete confidence in her, her horses, and her ability to handle anything as a child out in the desert on horseback alone for hours

More Blood and Broken Stuff

There are times when the horses wear me out to the point where I try to choose my own health over them.  "Try" being the operative word.

The fly mask ripping got so out of control that they destroyed 3 fly masks in one 24 hour period and slashed up their faces pretty good in the process.  Bombay actually has proud flesh on his cheek and probably needs surgery to remove it.  He's had so many

What's Working

Though the geldings are still on their destructive streak shredding everything they can get their teeth into, costing me money and driving me batty, there are a few adjustments I've made that have been working.  The first is that as long as I lock Rock up in his stall at night, there are no more injuries or blood spilled come morning.  I still have to put Bombay in timeout in a stall throughout

Steaming

The title of this post reflects the intensity of the heat and humidity outside, my mood, and that life has just been one big pile of steaming manure lately.  I was naively hoping that if I sat really still and did nothing, then nothing bad would happen, nothing would get broken, there'd be no more injuries, and I would be in a more meditative state and have the presence of mind to handle one task

Liebster Award

Beckz of I Will Jump Sweet Jumps blog awarded my with the Liebster Blog Award.  I want to thank her for that.  I began blogging in 2007, and though everything about the blog world has been changing, I still enjoy it.  If anything, blogging has helped me develop a thicker skin.  I remember that within a few hours of publishing my first post, a comment appeared that was essentially along the lines

Working Out a New Feeding Routine

Because of all my injuries, minor as they may be, and because of the heat and because the horses are so anxious with the pecking order going to hell with a new horse in the mix, I knew I had to kind of start my own "Scared Straight" program for both the horses' and my sanity.  Several things happened to change all around the same time and the old feeding routine was no longer working.

First off,

How I Sprained My Thumb...

...on the opposite hand that I sprained my index finger on last week.

Let me begin by saying that there are two projects that I have been working on for years and I would like nothing more than to be able to finish them.  One is the novel I am writing while the other is a king-sized bed quilt I have been making.  I had some spare time and decided to work on the quilt while thinking about the

Gettin' It Done

We had another day of bearable temperatures and a nice breeze, so I talked with P.S. about taking a trail ride.  She had been looking forward to taking Gabbrielle out on the trails, and I was considering taking Rock on the trails, but since both horses were the least experienced with our routines and the location, we had to take one of the more experienced horses.  There was also the logistics of

Boys in a Locker Room

I had another crazy morning with all kinds of hassles and unexpected problems coming my way, so when I alerted on the fact that the "boys" were face-biting again, I grumbled in frustration.  When I'm running around trying to get stuff done, the last thing I need is to have to race down to the barn to discipline rowdy horses.  I bought them a new Jolly Ball last week and within an hour they had it

First Ride on Rock in New Saddle

Doesn't he have such a silly face?



The round pen looks huge from this angle.



Obviously, the stirrup length wasn't a problem.  I'm thinking I could go a notch lower, but then I'll be laying my heels into his belly instead of his sides.  We should have bought a bigger horse.



There doesn't seem to be that much of a difference between a 16" seat and a 17" seat.  I guess I'll just have to

Special Delivery

I ordered Rock's saddle at the end of May and found out that it had been back-ordered.  After a couple of weeks I called to ask whether the wait would be a matter of days, weeks or months, because if it was going to take too long, I would order something else.  The customer service rep told me it would be shipped within the next two days.  I called five days later to ask for the tracking number,

June Trail Ride

I thought I was done with trail rides until September or October when the nights begin to cool down enough for us to have cool mornings, but yesterday I came home from Scrappy's vet appointment and realized that between a cooler temperature and nice breeze, I could probably go on a trail ride.  BUT FIRST I had some things to do, and by the time I got out to the barn half an hour later it felt

What's Up With Rock?

With the various hassles and fiascoes happening in my life lately, I know I've neglected to report on Rock's progress as a new member of the herd.  The majority of the work I have done with him, between fighting "floods" and trying to learn how to fix or replace things faster than they can break, has involved teaching Rock manners.  When he first came here, he appeared to be very calm, stoic

Stick a Fork in Me

Alrighty.  Who made the voodoo doll of me and is sticking forks in it?  So, I walked outside to find that someone bit Rock and took a chunk out of his side.  The wound was covered in flies and they were crawling under his skin.  More vet work from me.  Lots of Betadine and Swat.  Can you believe that one of the local horse supply stores has never heard of Swat and doesn't stock it?  The guy tried

Unplanned Kitchen Remodel

While some of our blogger friends have been evacuating their homes thanks to a fast moving fire in Colorado, I've been watching an army of men tear my kitchen apart thanks to water damage.  It's amazing what one little leak under the sink can do to your entire house before you even get a clue that something is amiss.  We're going to need all new cabinetry, all new drywall, and probably new

Expansion

My husband installed a round pen on the unused portion of our property this weekend.  He first dug out all the bushes and rocks, spread some manure, and then dragged the area with a harrow.  We were able to nab the last gate and panels for cheap, because they were a mish-mash of 10' and 12' panels, some with chain hookups and some with peg hookups.  We figured it didn't matter.  We're not

Dog and Herd Updates

Scrappy is turning out to be the best dog patient in the world.  He makes my job of nursing him back to health so easy.  He eats everything I put in front of him, including cheese balls that thinly disguise pain pills and antibiotics, without spitting out the pills.  He happily wolfs down his anti-inflammatory liquid tainted dog food and doesn't complain about the funny taste.  I find it amazing

Post-Op

Scrappy survived the anesthesia.  It will be about a week before we know the results of the biopsy on that sore on his leg.  He came out of surgery with 12 less teeth.  I knew he'd have to get some teeth extracted, but it didn't occur to me that he would need to be on soft food for a while.  It's obvious, but I've been so busy chasing the horses around, working on Bombay's leg wounds, getting

I Smell Bad

This was one of those days when I purposefully didn't have anything on my calendar beyond taking the trash to the curb.  I purposefully wore no make up, and I purposefully dressed like crap in spandex pants.  This was going to be my lazy day to avoid going out into public.  Boy, was I surprised when a strange man knocked on my back door.

I stared at him from the couch in shock thinking Arizonans

Coming Along

On Sunday I tried a different approach to integrating Rock with the herd.  I found that though Lostine accepted him and had no aggressive behaviors toward him, he had this tendency to snowplow her, which annoyed her and caused her stress.  Rock is like a big dog.  He makes a beeline for the horse's butt, sticks his nose in there, and pushes the horse around from behind.  Of course, no one likes

Turnout Results

This morning I let Rock out with the rest of the herd under my supervision.  Just like the little boy he is, he exuberantly trotted across the paddock to join the other horses and Gabbrielle quickly put him in his place by chasing him off.  Rock walked to the far side of the paddock and laid down.  Everything was cool until he woke up and tried approaching the herd again.  Once again Gabbrielle

Note to Self

Never, ever, ever over-schedule myself again.  My brain is on overload between taking Scrappy to the vet and scheduling his surgeries, having both an equine vet and an equine dentist critique each of my horse's physical health and dental health, and having my farrier critique each of my horse's hoof health.  I'm glad that I've got such a great team of equine health care providers, but if I have

Just Craziness

Here I am eating lunch at 3:45 PM, because I've been going, going, going as fast as I can in an attempt to make progress.  I keep a To Do List, and some of the tasks on it have been on it for over two years.  It's hard to believe that I couldn't find the time to do a simple task over a two year period, but that's how crazy it's been.  Every day something happens that wasn't on my agenda, and I

Leading a Horse

You may recall that I started out this winter spending a lot of time hand walking my horses on the trails and having all kinds of problems with them barging past me and pulling on the lead rope.  I tried a lot of different techniques to stop that.  Some worked, some didn't, some worked sometimes but not other times.  I honestly don't even remember what exactly changed, but my three Arabs are now

Holiday Weekends

My lousy luck still holds true for holiday weekends.  If you've been reading my blog a while, you know that I can't stand holidays.  First off, when I was working full-time, I never got holidays off anyway.  I always had to work, with made me all the more bitter toward them.  It was especially hard to take because my office was in a tourist town and I had to drive past all the people at the beach

The Herd Integration Process

The past two days have been a learning experience to say the least.  Herd dynamics are rich and complicated.  It's difficult just to observe and not interfere.  My presence has a profound effect on how the horses behave toward one another, because it is clear that all four of them consider me to be in charge.  I try to let them work our their natural rituals regarding a new horse entering an

Ouch, Ouch, Ouch

Most of the day has been spent trying to get my three Arabian horses to accept their new roommate.  With the help of my husband and P.S., we took Rock for a hand-walk out in the desert.  He has a tendency to lean on people when they lead him and to get ahead of the person, so we spent some time teaching him the proper distance with which to walk beside a person.  That horse weighs a lot, and he

Meet Rock

Do you notice anything strange about this picture?





I see Bombay.  I see Gabbrielle.  I see Lostine.  I see... another horse?  Meet Rock.



He's a grade Quarter Horse gelding.  He's only six years old, but already a pro on the trails.  Oh, and he's a dun.  See his stripe?



Remember when I said that my husband wanted a horse big enough to carry him?  We've been keeping our finger on the

A Most Efficient Horsey Day

It was forecasted to possibly reach 100 degrees F today, but there was a nice breeze bordering on a wind, so when P.S. suggested a trail ride, I jumped on the opportunity before it got too hot.  I wanted to keep up with Gabbrielle's under saddle training, but P.S. was confident that we could do both.  I rode Lostine and she rode Bombay.  Both horses were relaxed, but as we headed up the driveway,

Forward, Forward, Forward

I left off talking about how Gabbrielle reverted to backing up each time I cued her forward, and how I was making a game plan for how to correct that.  From the ground, I stood beside her and spoke the command "forward", then gave her a second or two to move forward.  If she did not, I said "forward" again and tapped her gently at the base of her tail with a dressage whip.  I continued the

Working It Out

P.S. and I spent some time today trying to work out a new system for training Gabbrielle from the ground to move forward.  It had to translate well to the saddle.  Obviously, we already have several methods that work in getting the horse to move forward from the ground, but you can't do them from her back.  We still don't know the cause of Gabbrielle's sudden regression, but considering how

Unexpected

I've been watching my horse trainer mount and ride Gabbrielle for the past couple of months, and the only problems she mentioned having with her involved getting her light on the bit, getting her to back up, and she said that Gabbrielle has some coordination issues and is a bit resistant about cantering.  So, when I rode her this morning, I expected to be able to mount, do some lateral flexation,

I Almost Forgot

I almost forgot to write about the most amazing lesson I learned yesterday.  The two ladies who have been helping me train my horses are both from natural horsemanship backgrounds, but one of them has a very subtle, gentle approach that requires a tremendous amount of time and patience while the other one is more of a rough 'em up, take charge cowgirl.  I believe there is a time and place for

A Bit Frantic, But at Least I Got to Ride

It's been projected to reach 99 degrees F today.  When I felt a nice wind around 9:00 AM, I impulsively decided to go for a trail ride, because soon I won't be able to stand outside for ten minutes none-the-less ride a horse at mid-morning.  I figured I would ride Lostine, but she ran from the halter while Bombay ran right up to me and stuck his nose in it.  I realized that he needs to be ridden.

Nuisance Drummers

My next door neighbors' dogs bark at me when I work with my horses or walk my dogs outside to do their business, but the neighbors always get control of them, recognizing that I have the right to be in my backyard without being hassled by their dogs.  I find that rather refreshing since I used to get barked at every time I went to my mailbox at my old house, and the dog owners never did anything

ShowSheen Try-Pak Try Out

This week I received the ShowSheen Try-Pak I won in Paint Girl's giveaway.



It includes a 2 in 1 Shampoo & Conditioner, ShowRing Shine detangler, and a Stain Remover & Whitener.  I took a before picture of Gabbrielle with her saddle sweat and grungy tail...



Parelli Student and I scrubbed the shampoo/conditioner in, sprayed the whitener on her mane and tail, and then squirted her with the

Just the Two of Us

Fridays are tough, because I want to ride my horses before the neighborhood gets nutty over the weekend, but that's my husband's weekday off from work and I want to let him sleep in. He wakes up super early most mornings, so he really needs those days when he can sleep in. Our shower is just a few feet from our bed without any door between the two rooms to cut out the noise of the water running

Pause in the Journey

Today was the last day of the bi-weekly lessons I've had since January with the horse trainer.  We had planned to ride all three horses out in the desert together kind of as a last hurrah, but the Parelli Student called in sick.  So, the horse trainer rode Gabbrielle and I rode Bombay, while Lostine cried over being left alone back at the barn.  I did not anticipate any trouble, because Bombay

Let There Be Light

Many interesting things are happening with my horses now that three different people have been working with them for a while.  Factoring new people into the equation is kind of like switching from a 15 watt light bulb to a 120 watt light bulb in a small room.  You can see everything much clearer.  When it's just you working with your horses year after year, you can't quite comprehend the training

We Rode Until We Got Lost

The weather was so perfect today that I was itching for a trail ride.  I knew that Parelli Student was on her way and I had hoped to ride with her, but the wind was starting to pick up and the last time I had checked the weather forecast, it had said a rainstorm was on the way.  Wind usually precedes the rain.  When I got Lostine saddled up, I contemplated just heading out by myself and leaving a

Our Second Gila Monster Sighting

We had our second Gila Monster sighting in the year since we moved to Arizona.  My husband was taking the dogs outside off leash to do their business and quickly called them back into the house.  He told me to grab my camera.  Of course, my camera wasn't set up correctly, so the first few pictures didn't come out at all, but I managed to get a few in the seconds before it disappeared under our

Saturday Morning Trail Ride

I took Bombay out on a Saturday morning trail ride, knowing that there is a lot more activity on the trails over the weekends, and knowing that he gets uber-excited over the tiniest things, especially over seeing other horses around.  He was a bit of a handful, spooking while I was just hand-walking him around our property to tighten the cinch a little at a time, and sticking his head straight

Oddities of Nature

This morning P.S. and I tried out a de-spooking exercise involving one of us opening and closing an umbrella while the other one lunged a horse in half-circles between her and the umbrella.  With each half-circle we moved the horse a few steps closer to the umbrella as it was opening and closing, spinning, and waving around.  As soon as the horse showed concern, we stepped back to offer a release

Weekend Horsemanship Clinic

Sam's mom of How Sam Sees It called my attention to a natural horsemanship clinic being put on in our area this past weekend by the Parellis.  I didn't think I could go due to shaky, but previous plans, but as those plans fell through, I decided to go at the last minute since P.S. (Parelli student) could meet me there and bring me a ticket to get in.  So, I watched most of the show on Saturday

Walking on Eggshells

It's fly season here in Arizona and the Fly Eliminators, the fly attractants in fly traps, and the fly sprays all seem to be completely worthless, so I'm trying to keep the fly masks on the horses. The vet asked me yesterday why my horses weren't wearing fly masks. I said, "Because they rip them off each other's faces and dunk them in the water troughs."

She just smiled knowingly and continued

A Visit From the Vet

I'm still learning the ropes with the equine vets around here.  When you've lived in one place for so long and used the same service providers, you take for granted how easily everything flows because you've done it so many times before.  I know all the equine vets in my old neighborhood, their philosophies, their rates, their routines, and their attitudes about ranch visits.  I knew one vet for

More Fun With Distractions & The Big G Gets Her Day

All my close neighbors went to work today, so I saddled up Lostine to work on holding still at the mounting block.  I noticed that all the horses were on alert, "pointing" toward some trees coming up out of the arroyo.  I hiked around, hoping to find what they were alerting on, but whatever it was stayed under cover.  Then the horses changed the point where they were staring, so I got out my

Sitting With This Evening's Critters

I finally got some shots of the Cardinal. The first few were through a window and screen door, so they didn't turn out well, but I did get a couple of clear shots after I stepped outside and caused the Cardinal to fly away...








I nearly stumbled upon this litter of babies while walking out to the barn.  I figured that as soon as I took their picture, they'd run down their hole, but the

It's a Zoo

Now that we are consistently in warmer temperatures, all the critters are coming out, so it is time for me to get into the habit of carrying a camera with me each time I step outside.  I learned my lesson yesterday afternoon.  While cleaning the paddock I noticed a bunny lying on it's side, all stretched out like a centerfold in the shade of the horse trailer.  I wasn't willing to stop my chores

Mr. Spooky Gets a Taste of Real Danger

The horse trainer wanted me to ride the horses out on the trails alone and report back to her on how they did for me, since they've been doing well for her lately. It had been a while since I rode Bombay out there, so I gave him a try. He was sticky-slow on the way out and I had to use a lot of leg to keep him going, but that's way better than having to use a lot of rein to slow him down like

Best Trail Ride Yet

The Parelli student has the week off to handle personal business, Tuesday's horse training session was canceled due to rain, and I hadn't worked with the horses in over a week thanks to being stuck in medical care hell.  I wasn't sure if the horse trainer would show up today, because I vaguely remembered her saying that she was leaving on vacation around the 10th.  When she did show up, I

New Local Lessons for Me

I know that the timing I have scheduled for the horses' barefoot trims (every 8 weeks) must be right on, because every time my horse trainer mentions that the horses' hooves are chipping and asks when the farrier will be out next, it always turns out that he's scheduled to come the very next day.  In Nevada, I only had to trim their hooves every 12 weeks, probably because of a variety of

Thankful for Backup

It's so nice to have backup when it comes to training horses and managing a barn.  When I lived in Nevada I often had to be put on a waiting list to get someone to train my horses or give me equitation lessons.  I felt like I was always begging people when soliciting their help, or worse yet being put through a job interview when I'm the one offering to pay for their services, but I'm finding

Nature Walk

This morning I stepped outside and got a chill, so I went back in to get a sweater.  I knew I had to take advantage of these nice temperatures before we soar into the 90's, so I grabbed my camera, my walking stick, and my horse.  By the time I got the halter on Bombay, it was time to shed the sweater.  Literally only minutes had passed since I put it on.  Once we hit the trails just minutes after

Horse-wise

Horse-wise, I've been concentrating on groundwork and building a bond based on trust this past week or so.  I'm reading old horse training books again to try to better comprehend what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, what I might be doing wrong if the horse isn't responding, and how to correct various problems.  Then when the Parelli student comes over to play, I show her what I learned from the

Easter Morning

I've had a lot going on and haven't been able to do much of anything with the horses lately, so I wanted to at least walk off the ice cream and cookies we had yesterday and take a horse along.  My husband said he wanted to go for a bike ride, but was going to wait until it got hot enough to make the rattlesnakes sluggish.  I said, "Oh, I'm not worried about that.  I've got my thick, knee high

I Screamed Like a Little Girl

My horse trainer gets so much more work done when I'm not around, so I let her have at it while I headed back to the house to get some other duties and chores underway.  As I was bounding up the walkway and back steps, my eye caught sight of my foot coming down on top of a very large snake.  I jumped backwards and screamed. I must have screamed loud and long, because my vocal chords hurt

Looky What I Made

When my husband and I went trail riding with a local stable, I brought my horn bag so that I could carry my water, snacks and camera, but the guide switched my horn bag out with a couple of denim bags strung together that laid over the horse's withers.

Now that it is heating up, I need to bring a bottle of water or two when I hand-walk the horses in the desert. I don't bring the saddle on those

Lostine Tests Out the New Reins

After returning the way-too-short-for-trail-riding loop rope reins to the feed store, I talked with my horse trainer about her making some in the size I want. She still would have to order the materials, so I would have to wait a few weeks to get them. I decided to try out the Parelli 11-foot finesse rein, because I had confidence that it would reach me first, and then if it was too long or too

Assess What You are Rewarding

I learned a good lesson this evening while doing desensitization exercises with a plastic bag on a stick.  Even though you think you may be teaching the horse one thing, he may be learning something completely different.    Here's what happened.

I first had Bombay follow the plastic bag by leading him with a rope halter and lead rope while walking backwards and holding the bag on the end of the

Caught a Jackalope

...on camera...



It's tough trying to snap the shutter fast enough to catch some of the wildlife around here.  I've seen bigger jackalopes, but this one was kind enough to freeze and pose for me.  One of these hares almost always crosses my path when I walk or ride out in the desert, and I am fascinated by their size.  When I blow up this picture I can see that the rabbit's ears are all chewed

Changing My Mind

One of the many things my horse trainer has taught me is to not be afraid to change my mind.  Having a routine helps nervous horses relax, but at some point you have to switch it up and challenge them.  So, if I am out for a trail ride and I turn the horse to the north, I should be able to say, "Oops, I changed my mind," and turn the horse to the west.  I should be able to change my mind as often

Wind is a Powerful Force...

...so don't break it.  Ha ha.  Sorry.  I just had to try to crack a joke to relieve some tension.

I'm a bit speechless.  I was having a really bad day, getting bombarded with some really hard problems that only I could solve, but didn't know how to solve.  I was on the phone, doing research and writing emails all day.  My horse training session was originally set for 3:00 PM, got changed to 4:00

Oh, Lostine!

That's all I have to say... Oh, Lostine!

No, you know I have to tell a story to go along with it.  This is one story I wish I didn't have to tell.  Some days I feel like my horses are hopeless.  This is one of them.

So, it's been raining since my last horse training session, mostly on Friday, some on Saturday, and this Sunday was just muddy and gross.  Today the sun is out and the ground is

Too Good To Be True?

Years ago I used to be very on top of what was going on in the Arabian horse market.  I could view up and coming colts and make accurate predictions about the next great bloodline to flood the Arabian horse market, but as life got me in its vice grips, I let my subscription to Arabian Horse World lapse and stopped searching horse sale websites for fun.  Recently I got back into the addiction of

My Video Picks of the Day

It's been ridiculously cold, wet and muddy, so I've been entertaining myself by watching Harlem Shake videos on YouTube.  Here are some links to the Harlem Shake horse-style, minus any raunchy behavior.

This one is jaw-dropping:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvFbs9DVZuY

This one is just plain silly:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw_1Va7LltY

This one is creative:  http://www.youtube.com/

The Best Laid Plans are None

The best laid plans are also tarps.  I didn't know what to expect when my trainer arrived today.  Would she be too sore to ride after her wreck?  We had originally planned to take Bombay and Gabbrielle out for a trail ride together, so I saddled them up and tied them each in a stall.  When the trainer arrived she said, "I'll bet you have everything planned out that you want to do today, huh?"

I

Clean Horses

I keep buying carrots and forgetting to give them to the horses, so they get floppy and grow limbs in the refrigerator.  I was feeling a little better today after meeting my new tax accountant.  It turns out that she and I have a lot in common, so she knows just how to handle my taxes.  I only have to get a few more folders of paperwork together for her, and she thinks she can have my entire

Life

I'll tell ya, I sure wish life would stop getting in the way of me living my life.  For several months now, I have been spared having to suffer through anymore of these frantic episodes where I've got way too much to do with all of these unexpected problems and obstacles flying at me from all directions at the same time.  When life gets like that, I feel like a contestant on Wipeout, trying to

A Five Hour Tour

I was finally able to fit in a half-day trail ride through the Goldfield Mountains into my and my husband's schedule, and it happened to fall on one of the nicest, clearest, warmest days of the year.  My farrier used to be a trail boss or guide for this outfit and he recommended it.  I was originally going to sign us up for a half day ride through the Superstition Mountains but found out that it

Eat Your Shorts

I save all the oddities I find bundled up in my hay bales and like to give my hay supplier a hard time about it.  At the last delivery I had a tractor part he had been looking for and a coyote leg bone to show him.  But today's finding in Gabbrielle's feed trough beat all.



My poor horse was chewing on some little boy's underpants.  I'm hoping it was just something someone was using as a work

Gabbrielle's First Trail Ride

The trainer felt that Gabbrielle was ready for an hour trail ride off the property with me on Lostine.  Gabbrielle got a little nervous around fallen cacti, logs and rocks, so the trainer pointed her at them and encouraged her to investigate.



Each time she backed away, the trainer circled her around and made her approach the scary object again.









Once she showed signs of relaxation, we

A Pre-Test for Gabbrielle

Yesterday afternoon it suddenly hit me that my trainer was talking about possibly riding Gabbrielle on the trails today, depending how well she does in the arena and on the property outside of the arena within sight of her buddies, and Gabbrielle has only been hand-walked off the property twice.  One time my husband led her, and she pulled the entire time on the lead rope, so he kept circling her

Trail Ride Alone Minus The Dismount

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood...  Trust me, it's coming your way.  I just get the good weather first.

Lostine ran from the halter for the first time since I trained her not to run from the halter, so we had a refresher course.  She decided she liked being petted more than the alternative.

This time I halted her at the end of the driveway and looked both ways before crossing the

Critter Madness is Springing Up

It's warming up fast after that snowstorm and arctic winds we had last week, and the critters of the desert are all starting to make appearances.  The lizards and snakes are coming out, I saw my first butterfly of the season today, and my husband had a bobcat run in front of his car across the street to our neighbor's house last night.  The hummingbirds and quail have been out for a few weeks now

Just Me and The Queen

We finally got a nice day when I haven't been sick or busy and I had a hankering to go on a trail ride.  I knew I'd have to venture out on my own since it's not the horse trainer's day to be here and since my husband and friends are at work.  I figured if I ran into trouble, I could just dismount and walk back.  I'd rather have the options to ride or walk, and when I take the horses for walks

A Day at the Ballpark

Check out what I did this weekend. I hung out with some Cubs...






And Giants...



I got some incredible shots of the players warming up and playing the game with me being seated just three rows from the field near first base, but I don't want to post the best photos anywhere online until I get my watermark on them. Some of them are good enough quality to sell.

It is my husband's birthday,

The Itch

Anytime I go for a while without riding a horse, I get the itch to ride.  The last time I rode was 10 days ago.  Then I got sick.  Then I got busy catching up on all the things I didn't do when I was sick.  I've also had to contend with a string of "special" days, meaning holidays, birthdays, and special events that change people's schedules and routines.  I'm anxious for things to get back to

A Different Kind of Progress

My horse trainer has been (ahem) encouraging me to flatten out the mounds of sand in the riding arena.  She doesn't like walking around in sand dunes while giving lessons.  I don't blame her.  It's impossible for me to haul the wagon through the thicker spots to pick up manure.  I occasionally go out there with a shovel, wheelbarrow and rake to spread the sand around, but that method has

Gabbrielle Gets Her Week

I've been sick for the past week and unable to ride, so I encouraged my horse trainer to re-start Gabbrielle under saddle.  She's a high energy horse and can be crabby.  If she doesn't understand what you are trying to get her to do, she'll pitch a fit.  So, I forewarned my trainer of all my horse's quirks and told her to take her time and do whatever she needs to feel safe.

On Tuesday she did

Creepers

Three mornings ago, as I was waking from a dream, I heard a voice say, "Someone is watching the house."

When I went out to feed the horses I noticed a little white hatchback with fully tinted windows all the way around parked at the trail head to my backyard.  I wondered what the heck that was all about, but chalked it up to one of the handymen who has been working on my neighbor's deck parking

Snow in Central Arizona

If the storm that just passed through Phoenix is headed your way, batten down the hatches.

Taking Stock of the Goods

I totally forgot that the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show is one of the best places to buy horse supplies and tack at sale prices.  Schneider Saddlery had a huge tent set up there, so I went in to get some new splint boots for Lostine and came out with much more.  I kept looking around and remembering things I should be replacing.

Lostine wears small splint boots for leg support, and the Velcro on

Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show 2013

Now that I live in Arizona, I almost completely forgot about the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show.  My husband came home from work on Thursday and informed me that it had started, so we planned to drive out on Saturday for me to take some pictures.

We didn't stay long.  It seemed like every time we sat down in one arena to watch, they were just finishing the last class and opening up the arena for

I Made It Happen

This morning my husband and I headed out to search for a drag harrow to flatten the rest of the sand in the arena. When we turned the corner we saw three police cars and a ranger's truck at the entrance to the desert where I hike and ride. There were other patrol cars parked in front of nearby gates. When we returned home, they were still there, except the ranger's truck was parked next to the

Doing My Homework

My homework is to practice catching Lostine with the halter using the trainer's method, and then practice riding her at the walk/jog/walk/jog until she's better about waiting for my cue to trot and responding quicker to my cue to walk.  At the same time, Bombay, who I'm trying to prepare for a trip to the cattle ranch, has been sitting on the sidelines for the past couple of weeks because Lostine

Flunkin' Her Way Back to Kindergarten

This morning was the first chance I've had to work with the horses after our last horse training lesson and it showed.  Between having both a busy and rainy weekend, my daily workouts with each horse seriously lapsed.  My trainer wanted me to wait for her to get here before trying to catch Lostine, because she wanted to show me her method of catching a halter-resistant horse.

Here is her

A Day at the Driving Trials

This past Saturday Cut-N-Jump's pony diving club came my way and put on a competition at the fairgrounds just down the street from me.  I gathered my camera equipment and raced out the door to try to catch her in her first class.  I found her hooking up her trusty steed Kat to his carriage.  Cut-N-Jump is one tough cookie.  She recently obtained a painful injury doing yoga that makes it

Never a Dull Moment

This morning my farrier came by to do his routine barefoot trim on my three horsekateers.  He discovered that Gabbrielle's right shoulder is wasted away.  It's much lower and more sunken in than the shoulder on the left side.  She nearly has a club foot on the right front, so his theory is that she had some kind of injury when she was little that led to both the club foot and the withered

Testing the Waters

Our horse trainer came out again today.  She's been working me into her schedule one way or another, and as the time of day that we meet changes, my horses and I are met with new challenges.  When she comes in the mornings, the biggest obstacle is crossing the street on horseback with trash trucks racing up and down.  The speed limit on our street is 25 mph, but since the trash trucks don't stop

Bombay's Embarrassing Moment

There's a story behind this picture.  You see, there are a couple of piles of sand I still haven't spread in the arena.  Okay, there are a lot of piles of sand I still haven't spread in the arena.  My horse trainer is getting sick of trying to find smooth spots to lunge the horses in, so she's putting pressure on me to rent a tractor and finish spreading the sand.  I prefer to do it by hand

Lostine's Assessment Under Saddle

If you read my last post about Lostine collapsing after taking a few steps with a saddle on her back, you know about the debate over whether she has a physical/medical condition or was just trying to get out of being ridden.  Since I didn't know what the heck was going on, I removed the saddle and walked her around without it for a while.

So, today I saddled her a second time with our horse

Another Scare

I guess today is just a scary day.  After running into aggressive loose dogs while walking Bombay this morning, I went outside this afternoon to do my homework.  My horse trainer wanted me to ride Lostine before our next lesson and let her know how it goes.  I've told her about the arthritis in Lostine's joints and her pedal ostitis, but Lostine moves so well from the ground without any lameness

Reader Feedback Applied

Though I read everyone's comments on my blog, I don't often respond to comments.  So, I wanted all of your to know that I do take what you say to heart and sometimes apply it to my life.  Here are some recent examples:

Mikey mentioned in a comment on my post about the coyotes stalking my horse and I that it's a good idea to carry a big stick while out in the desert to protect yourself and your

A Ride on the Trails

I'm fortunate to have my husband home from work on Fridays when all the kids are still in school, the neighbors at work, and the trash trucks parked in their yards, because it makes for a perfect trail riding day.  I don't know what I'd do without being able to bring someone along with me either on foot or on another horse while I train my horses to behave themselves out there in the wide open

Stalking the Stalkers

After four days of rain and six days of mud, I needed to get out and take a hike.  I brought Bombay along because I knew he'd behave himself and just let me get my exercise without causing any trouble.  As I led him down the first trail, he kept looking over to the south.  I could hear kids voices on the playground at the school, but I didn't see anyone or anything out on the trails.

Then

The Alpha Mare Gets Her Assessment

Can you guess which two horses got worked today?



That's right.  The two who have two eyes each on me.  The horse trainer wanted to know if I wanted to keep our appointment today.  We had to cancel on Monday because of the rain.  Today the ground was still wet, but I didn't think it would hurt to do a lesson.  I told her I'd ride Bombay around before she came and see if there's anything we need

A River Runs Through It

Last night clouds floated past the full  moon.  I awoke to rain, more rain, and more rain.  I had to feed the horses on what dry spots I could find in the barn, because their feed troughs were full of water.  A short time later I looked outside and their hay was floating away in a river, while the horses stood in piles of manure because those were the highest spots in the barn.



I knew I had

We Fouled the Trails

This morning my daughter came to visit so I wrangled her into helping me take a couple of horses for hand walks out on the trails.  Just as we were getting ready to go, my husband showed up and he volunteered to take the third horse, so all three of the horses got to get out and explore.  This was Gabbrielle's first time through the gate to the public land, and though she watched the other two

Shifting Focus

Though Bombay and I still have a ways to go before he is a safe trail horse and I can react with the proper moves instinctively, I wanted to shift focus in my horse training lesson today toward my issues with Gabbrielle.  The methods my horse trainer is teaching me should work with all of my horses, but I wanted her to see Gabbrielle's quirks and help me figure out what needs to be done to fix

Triple Toddle

This morning I needed to do laundry, because my supply of jeans was getting low.  I pulled out a pair that I had mail ordered a couple of years ago that I could never pull up over my thighs.  Much to my surprise, they are now loose on me.  I looked in the mirror and realized that I was definitely starting to slim down thanks to all the horse walking I've been doing.  I've also got some upper arm

I'm Glad That's Over

I was feeling under the weather today after suffering through various ailments all weekend, including having an eye infection that left me with vision in only one eye, but considering that I've been habitually ill at least one week out of every month, I didn't want to cancel my horse training lesson.  Today the trainer walked with me while I rode Bombay out on the trails in the desert.

I was

Look What I Found

On impulse, my neighbor asked me if I wanted to run up to Scottsdale to exchange a top she bought for a different size.  I had nothing going on at the moment, so I kept her company on the ride.  I found this necklace in a little boutique in Old Town Scottsdale.



I thought it was a perfect representation of my first year here in Arizona.  It's got a scorpion, a rattlesnake, and an iguana or

The Training Wheels Have Come Off

I saddled Bombay, locked the mares in stalls, and did all our groundwork exercises in the arena. Then I rode Bombay in the arena and was pleased to see that he was very sensitive to my cues. I had some trouble trying to get into rhythm with his trot, so our cruising at the trot exercise was a dismal failure. I had to keep sitting deep to stop him, because I was bouncing out of control in my

Gone Exploring

On this morning's walk, Bombay had a big spook backwards while walking up the driveway.  I had been looking at the ground trying to figure out what made some prints in the rocks, so it took me a minute to figure out what his problem was.  It turned out that a neighbor was fast-walking up the street and had suddenly popped into view.  I said hello to the man and then Bombay and I followed him up

Bombay Doesn't Get What He Wants

Fortunately, my horse trainer and I have about the same leg length, so she can hop on Bombay to demonstrate what she is teaching me at any time without us having to adjust the stirrups.  Here she's taking a phone call and making Bombay wait for her next instruction.  He's got one ear on me and one ear on her.

First she rode him in the arena to test him out for some more advanced maneuvers, and

I Guess Getting Pissed is the Magic Bullet

It finally warmed up enough for me to take Bombay on a morning walk. Right off the bat he started giving me a hard time. As I tried to tighten his rope halter, he tried throwing his head into my face several times, so I slapped him hard on the neck and yelled, “Stop!”

He tested me one more time and I growled NO while raising my hand to slap him, and he stopped. Right when I was about to

Wait for It...

I have my horse training lessons set up for twice a week, but this week one of the lessons was scratched thanks to a dental appointment and a series of the usual health problems I've been battling for the past couple of years.  When my trainer left last Wednesday I had the full intention of working with my horses every day, but one thing after another kept getting in the way.

So, here we are on

And I Thought I Was Just Going to Practice

Today was a weird day in that it was icy cold, yet there was still a lot of activity in the neighborhood.  I had to chase off some boys who were waiting for me to leave, so that they could ride their dirt bikes down the bluff into the arroyo in my back yard.  The horses were more uppity than usual, so my morning walk with Bombay did not result in any progress even with a rope halter.  He was

Pictures of Walking with Bombay

Happy to be out on his morning walk.  Cute as can be.



But then... he always must stop to smell the roses.  At least he only sniffed the horse manure.  If he started sniffing the dog poop I was going to vomit... probably giving him one more gross thing to sniff.



Checkin' out the shrubs to see if they make good grubs.  Usually not.



The girls are calling him back home.  This is why I have

Goodbye, Martingale

My horse trainer was due at 3:00 PM, and she wanted me to have already run through all the warm up exercises and be in the saddle when she arrived.  However, she has mentioned that she can be up to an hour late sometimes.  In fact, she had to call her next client at our last lesson to ask her if she still wanted to do the lesson since she had been running late with me.  So, I didn't want to start

First Walk After Lesson

While walking out into the horse paddock to do my ground training homework with Bombay, Lostine saw the halter and overreacted by charging toward and past me.  Oh oh.  Not good.  She buzzed right through my personal space.  I decided it was time to introduce her to the 3-foot circle around me.

I caught her, haltered her, and sent her in half-circles.  She kept coming in at me with her shoulder,

First Lesson

I met my new horse trainer today and she very different from the trainers I'm used to working with, but she sounds like she's exactly what I need.  In the past I worked with trainers who focused on Arabian horse show world.  They worked my horses in arenas, they worked on my equitation skills in arenas, but all I really wanted was just to have a trail safe horse.  I don't care about blue ribbons

The Monkey Cactus

I just noticed the other day that this saguaro cactus I walk past every day looks like it has a monkey climbing  to the top of it from a particular angle.






I was even able to make the monkey reach for the monkey bars.

I'll leave that branch in the middle up to your interpretation.

Sunday Morning Walk

Bombay's walk this morning was the first sign of acceptance.  He didn't make any huge improvements or have any setbacks.  He just kept the status quo, which is fine by me.  I've been waiting to see some consistency in his behavior.  I don't want my horse to be very well behaved some days and a complete nutcase on other days.  I want a horse who develops routine, predictable behaviors.

The way I

Saturday Morning Walk

I know it's probably boring reading about me taking my horse for walks, but I'm journaling my experiences in helping my horses get past their nervousness in new situations, and I kind of find it fascinating.  Each day gives me a little more insight into the psychology of a horse.  I'm also getting a good read on just how sensitive and emotional horses can be.


I took Bombay for a walk out in the

Need, and You Shall Receive

A purse I was recently using self destructed in the Arizona heat. The vinyl bubbled and stretched until it exploded, so I had to throw it out. I started using my old western purse with tassels again, but forgot that the reason why I stopped using it was because the zipper wouldn't stay closed anymore. I'd zip it in both directions and it stayed open.

So, my husband and I were on our way out

Stubborness

This morning I saddled Bombay for a ride in the arena. I wanted to concentrate on
re-gaining my riding skills, as opposed to just trying to keep my horse under control. Instead of just lunging him in circles before riding and tightening his cinch a little at a time, I worked on backing him up, flexing, turning on the
hindquarters, moving out in a small circle, and some desensitization. I

Soon the Horses Will Have Double Duty

One thing I love about Arizona is that there is no shortage of cowboys and cowgirls.  You can find a trainer or a farrier who fits your philosophy, you can find someone to scoop poop for you, you can even find someone to remove or bury a horse that has passed.  I remember when I was in Nevada, I kept asking people what I should do if a horse dies, and some said, "You better rent a tractor."  My

Another Day, Another Walk

Two giant steps forward, one step back.  This morning I walked Bombay by myself for about a mile in the desert.  He was great on the way out, walking on a loose lead, giving me my space, walking at my pace, etc.  My only criticism was that he kept craning his neck to look around and try to figure out where home was.

We reached the arroyo, and he instantly tensed up, stopped and tried to turn

New Year, New Horse

Don't get too excited.  I didn't get a new horse exactly.  I just took Bombay for a walk and he acted like a new horse who someone else had trained, and he was a perfect gentleman.  It could have been because he was kept up all night with fireworks and loud parties and was tired, or it could have been because he developed a slight lameness, or it could even have been that my husband came along,