Desert Horses

Welcome to my horse blog, Desert Horses. We live in the desert southwest, near Palm Springs, CA, but board our horses up in our local mountains where it is cooler in the summer. I have 4 horses, all rescues. Here is the ranch up the mountains where the horses stay.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Beauty's story










































































































My husband and our son decided to go on a vacation in September of 2006. School had just started and I couldn't take 5 days off, due to early testing, to go with them, so it was a "boys vacation". They drove to Wyoming. I've posted several photos of that trip on my other blogs. ANYWAY, I was "home alone" and bored, with NOTHING to do. I was suffering from the "empty nest" syndrome. I already had Sunni, my PMU gelding. I adopted him from United Pegasus' Hemet ranch in April of 2005. Sooooooooooooooo, I began cruising the Internet, looking for other online horse rescues and adoptions. I have a good job, I have lots of time off, especially during the summer...and I really wanted to rescue other horses. (That was my childhood dream...to rescue horses and give them a good home.) I came upon the CBER website (Columbia Basin Equine Rescue) and saw many horses on a feedlot that were available for adoption. Unfortunately, they were two states away and I knew that transportation wouldn't be cheap to California! But I had money saved up in my "horse fund" and I knew this would be something I'd be able to handle. I found Beauty on September 9, 2006 on their website. I KNEW in my heart that I couldn't leave her on that feedlot! Then, a couple of days later, I found Gigondas (then Merryana). Another gal had partially paid for her bail, and when no one stepped up to adopt her, I offered to adopt Gigondas as well. Here are some of Beauty's feedlot photos. I mean, WHO could resist her? She was young and untrained, but so was Sunni. Heck, what's another horse to feed? And, with the addition of Gigondas, heck, that's only 1 more! UNFORTUNATELY, Beauty, as several of the other horses on the feedlot, came down sick. So, from September to January of 2007, she and Gigondas were boarded up in Washington state, basically in quarantine. Gigondas came down with a slight cold in December when I was all ready for them to come down, but the place where I boarded Sunni decided not to take them after all. So, I was left without a home down here for my 2 rescue mares (the mares that NOBODY wanted). Through contacts on another forum, I found a place 2 1/2 hours away to board them. At the time, it was the best I could do. So, in January, 2007, Beauty and Gigondas came to Southern California. They spent 8 months 2 1/2 hours away and hubby and I visited them every OTHER weekend (and $$$ for hotels and gas!). It was quickly adding up, so I needed to find another, closer boarding place for them. I found one nearby and we moved the entire herd (which now included Scout and Cali, as well) closer to home. We LOVE having them closer to us (they are only 30 minutes away) and we visit them on weekends and at least 1 day during the week. So, here are some pics of Beauty as she has grown and been saddled from January, 2007 until now. Those are her feedlot pics on the bottom, then, her early training, then when she went out for training with my cousin Valerie, and then last spring, back at the ranch. Finally, Beauty reunited with the herd last week! She's looking over at Gigondas, her "old bud". They were together for so long! It is good to once again have all our horses in one spot! Beauty has turned into a wonderfully calm, excellent-footed trail horse. With my back problems (the doctor told me I should NEVER get on a horse again...but I'm ignoring his advice....) she will be the perfect horse for me to ride. I'm currently looking into the gel or foam saddle pads for riders which will help absorb any shock to my back. Any ideas or suggestions?

4 comments:

Cactus Jack Splash said...

Bryce gave me an impact gel saddle pad for Christmas. It is a nice navajo blanket with wool fleece lining. The gel is between the two layers. It worked really well for Scooby, but for some reason it rolls the saddle on Jack. Here is a link to some for sale on e-bay http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Impact-Gel-Saddle-Pad-Marposia-32x30-Woven-pad_W0QQitemZ250270456842QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Awwwww. What a wonderful story. I had no idea that most of your horses were rescues. What a kind and beautiful person you are to save them and offer them safety and good care. :)
Beauty is such a pretty mare.
I'm glad she's going to be a good trail horse for you.

I, too have back problems, as well as neck and hip (I'm a mess). I have some genetic health issues with the bones in my hips, and I it can be quite painful to ride on a regular saddle for any length of time.

I'd like to suggest an Eli Miller/Henry Miller Amish Made Trail/Endurance Saddle. It looks like a cross between a Western Saddle and an Australian saddle and is so comfy. I can ride for hours with no pain at all.
This is due to the suspended seat and gel padded seat.

The leather is buttery soft and best of all, it only weighs about 24 pounds. I just cannot lift anything heavy over my head, because of my neck, which I had surgery on 13 years ago due to ruptured discs.

Another option is a gel pad seat cover, which my neighbor friend went out and bought recently, after sampling my saddle and feeling how comfy it is. It attached with straps over the top of the saddle. She likes her new gel pad, but she says it does tend to make her bottom sweat a little when it's warm outside.

I'm going to go back to my blog and find the links to my saddle pics with it's information, so I can post them here. Then you can find out more about my saddle if you're interested.

I really cannot say enough about my saddle. I read about it on another person's blog called "My First Horse" over a year ago, and knew, after reading so many positive reviews on it, that was the saddle I wanted when I bought my first horse.
And I'm so pleased that I did :)

~Lisa

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Ok, here ya go.

All about my amazing saddle. lol!

1)Where it all began


2)A post about trail riding in my saddle w/ a link to slide show


3)Me, my horse, and saddle

4)My saddle on my friend's Arabian

Good luck in finding a comfy saddle no matter what you decide :)
~Lisa

Cheryl Ann said...

Lisa, I'll look into the saddle, as you suggested. Thank you for sending me the info! And, yes, Sunni, Gigondas, and Beauty were all rescues!