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, January 31, 2009

Funny Cali!







Cali is just the happiest horse! She is absolutely GOOFY! She's a perpetual third grader! She LOVES to get dirty! She LOVES to play! She LOVES to make weird noises! She LOVES to fart! I guess that's why we all love her! Don't you just want to smooch her wittle face?
And, THANK YOU, LISA, over at Laughing Orca Ranch for the lovely award! I was so shocked to visit her website this morning and see that I was nominated for this award. My awards all mean so much to me! I get up an hour early every morning just to visit my "blogging friends" and their blogs! Then, in the afternoons, after school, I spend at least another hour online visiting more blogs! I love to read blogs, visit them, and update all 7 of mine! YES, SEVEN! Can you believe it? I must be nuts!

Friday, January 30, 2009

Something came this way!




Something STRANGE came this way...oh, wait! It was....Scout! Tee hee!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Dad, scratch me, PLEASE!













Sometimes Dad just doesn't get it! Scout wanted to be scratched and petted and loved on and Dad didn't get the memo! Eh, hem! What does a girl have to do to get attention around here? So, Scout stuck her face right at Dad and he FINALLY got the memo and scratched her! Then she wandered off to roll in the nice, warm sand in the arena! Silly Dad!





Wednesday, January 28, 2009

A blonde!



This week I showed you Cali's face. Today, I wanted to show you all her hair! Look at it! It's really thick, but still soft! I NEED to wash her tail and this weekend it is supposed to be warm and sunny. HOWEVER, if the new stove (from Best Buy) doesn't come Thursday or Friday, we will have to stay home Saturday (hehehehe...at least hubby will!). I need to work with Cali on standing STILL and letting me pick up her feet!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Yup. New snow!




Sorry about the lighting on these. I was on my way to school yesterday morning and I looked up and saw all this new snow. It seems to be in just this one area of the mountains, although later I heard on the radio that there were two auto accidents up by my herd where cars drove off the road because of icy road conditions. Oops. I couldn't really tell if they got snow up there or not, but I'll find out this afternoon after my doctor's appointment. I'm planning on driving up to see the herd after I have lunch with my cousin. I should be able to get off the mountain BEFORE the roads start to ice up again.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Fuzzy Wuzzy Cali




Cali is a real fuzzy wuzzy right now! You know, I hardly ever get photos of her face anymore because Scout is always chasing her away, but I did get these on Saturday. Thanks to Mikey over at The Horseshoeing Housewife, who posted about her wild horse, Sugarfoot, I'm going to work on her two front feet and even pick one up at a time until she doesn't move off. She has a bad habit of moving away the second she sees someone go for her feet!
Yesterday I stayed in my pajamas all day, took some antibiotics and NyQuil, and took a 3 1/2 hour afternoon nap! Oops! No time to go visit the horses! I was too weak anyway. Today I'm feeling better and I'll toddle off to school to join the rest of the hacking children in my classroom. And, yes, I'm taking Lysol to spray their desks after school! I have to take tomorrow off for my neurologist appointment, then I'm meeting my cousin Valerie for lunch. Hopefully he won't be giving me bad news! I had 10 vials of blood analyzed and a brain MRI to see what is causing my facial numbness and tingling. I may have time after lunch, to drive up to see the horses! We are supposed to get more snow today in our local mountains, so there may be fresh snow on them tomorrow!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Sans stove and still sick!











Well, the stove went "bye-bye" yesterday and now we are officially WITHOUT STOVE! I get to make coffee this morning outdoors on the BBQ, which has an extra burner just for that! How convenient! I think I'd better wait a while as it is still dark outside and I don't wish to turn on the grill by accident! Oops! There goes my hair and eyebrows!
My cold has now moved to my chest. Guess hubby will have to take me to urgent care this morning. Oh, joy! Time for a Z-pack before this goes into my lungs as pneumonia! So far, it is just in my chest, but I know that if I don't get it treated, it WILL move down into my lungs! I've had pneumonia three times already and I certainly do NOT ever wish to have it again! I actually had it TWICE in one school year, can you believe it? Once in December, and then AGAIN the following May, which meant I was sick pretty much for that whole year! Ugh!

Okay, now for some pics! Enough of my complaining! When we drove up to see the horses yesterday, these guys were out plowing a huge field. Of course, the crows were having a "field day" with all the bugs and things upturned! When we got up to the ranch, I asked Cathy, "What's all that white stuff scattered around?" and she replied, "Oh, our two crows got into something white and scattered it ALL OVER!" Oops. You mean the styrofoam container that I put in the back of your truck last weekend? My bad. Yes! They got INTO the big bag that I shoved it in (I'd brought it over to the ranch because we had stopped for burritos and I had half of mine leftover, which I gave to her two dogs)...anyway, the crows hopped up to the back of her pickup truck, GOT IT OUT of the bag where I shoved it, dragged it out, and shredded it to find every little and last morsel of my lunch! There was white styrofoam everywhere, so I bent over and picked it up! She told me they get into stuff in the back of her pickup all the time (she uses it to haul stuff to the dump, so it is always full of trash stuff!). Can you believe it? Then, I asked her, "Oh, is that why you have a big bag of trash IN your pickup?" and she said, "Yes"! Hmmm....clever crows!

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Dad and his girls...still sick...and stove story!






















Here are some pics of Dad with his girls! Look at Scout..."Hey, where are MY apples?" Don't worry...Miss Piggy got some, too!

I'm still sick. It now appears I'm getting the dreadful chest cold that goes into bronchitis. I'm going to take some of my Manuka honey later and then send hubby out for another jar! That stuff WORKS! I'm hoping that if I rest today, I can drive up the hill tomorrow to see the herd.

Stove story...our 15 years old (cheap) bottom of the line stove (actually only the oven part) wasn't working. We had NO oven for Thanksgiving or over the Christmas holidays. The burners worked just fine, however. Hubby wanted a new stove as he LOVES to come home after working all day in an office and cooking dinner. He found a Sears Kenmore Elite gas range (normal price $1400) for $799. The floor salesman ASSURED HIM (you know what "assure" means) that it was in working order and so he bought it. Apparently another couple bought it and returned it because it didn't "fit in with their kitchen." HA! Wouldn't they have figured that out BEFORE buying it? I was already suspicious, but I kept my mouth shut. This was HIS project! It was delivered yesterday afternoon and they hauled the OLD stove away. The new one is going BACK to Sears THIS afternoon. Yeah, we paid $100 delivery and installation and he's FURIOUS! The dreaded F11 error code popped up and the installation crew couldn't fix it and after TWO HOURS on the phone with various people, NOBODY could undo it. Apparently if that code comes up, you are SCREWED and you have to send your stove back and they have to completely replace the electronic panel! Which was NOT DONE on this stove! So, back to Sears it goes this afternoon and now we won't have a stove AT ALL until his bank reverses the$700 charge, which could be DAYS. (No way can we afford two $700 charges in two weeks!) I guess I'll have to make coffee in the mornings now on our outdoors BBQ! Oh, what fun! He's so pissed right now he had to have a bottle of wine last night all by himself! I'd already had a "hot toddy" for my cold and I was loopier than ever. The cognac was great and it put me to sleep! We had to unplug the stove last night because of the constant beeping from the error code. It was SUPPOSED to be refurbished and workable. At least, THAT is what the salesman "assure" hubby. It was not. In my opinion, that is FRAUD. They KNOWLINGLY sold us a defective product. Any ideas/suggestions? I'm going to take photos of it this morning with the dreaded "ERROR" message and the sales tag on the stove and hubby is going to sit down and compose a few letters. Oh, boy! Look out! COVER YOUR EARS!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Not sure what to post this morning...




I'm not sure what to post this morning. I have food poisoning. I stopped by my neighborhood market to pick up some turkey chili last night. I bought the regular steak chili for hubby and he is fine, but I started getting sick at 1:30 a.m. this morning and now I'm exhausted! No school today for this teacher! I just want to crawl back into bed. How about a nice desert sunrise?

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Scrapped! January 22, 2009


















I volunteered to be scrapped by Lisa over at Laughing Orca Ranch and she took me up on the offer, so here goes!

(1) I'm an only child. So is my cousin, Valerie! I'm actually 3 weeks older than she is! I grew up in California (in Arcadia, CA) and she grew up near Roseburg, Oregon. However, we visited each other during summers while we were growing up. Then, she moved down here to the desert, raised 4 kids, and we were less than 20 miles apart for 20 years, but we were so busy with our families that we didn't see each other until our children were grown and gone! Small world!
(2) I was trained to be a classical concert pianist, like one of my great- grandmothers! I studied piano from the time I was 6 years old until I went away to college. My piano teacher lived next door to my parents and I'd tiptoe through the rose bushes in her yard to go over for a lesson once a week! Everything else was secondary to my piano lessons! While I'm not fully ambidexterious, I DID have to learn to do many things with my left hand so build up the muscles for my piano playing! I remember ironing and brushing my teeth with my left hand as a child. And, yes, I had a full sized, mahogany grand piano in my living room! I don't have a piano now, so I guess that's why I have 6 blogs and I stay up typing and listening to my playlists! If you want to check out my music blog, please visit Musically Motivated!

(3) While I'm a teacher now, in my former life, I was a legal secretary before that (actually, for 7 years!) My mom and aunt were both teachers and our daughter is a teacher. I worked for the largest law firm in Los Angeles for a year. At that time, I could type over 100 words a minute! I visited the Music Center and other interesting places until a major earthquake sent me back to the desert! I was on the 25th floor of a 40-story building when I heard the steel moan and groan even before it started swaying! OHMYGOSH!
(4) I never drank alcohol until I married my husband! HA! Look at me n0w! In order for me to finish my BA and MA, he worked 60 hours a week for a local wine shop, where he learned all about wines. We took a couple of trips to the Napa Valley, then his sister moved up to Napa about 1996. She now has her own vineyard up there and we visit her about twice a year! Sometimes I can even talk hubby into stopping by to see Joe and his horses at TB Friends! Our son went to UC Davis and I didn't even know about Joe and TB Friends back then!

(5) While I never had my own horse growing up, I have been around horses all my life. My great-uncle was a trainer at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park, and Del Mar and I remember HP and DM from 40 years ago! He used to take his horses down to the ocean at DM and let them swim in the ocean! I used to go to Santa Anita with my grandfather and place bets! HA! I always came home with more money than I left with! He used to sit me on his lap and tell me stories of Seabiscuit, Whirlaway, Round Table, Count Fleet, and Citation, and I actually remember Native Diver running at Hollywood Park! I vowed that someday I would rescue horses. So far, I have 5! I'm writing down some of my memories about growing up in Arcadia over at my Grandma's Aprons blog.

(6) Another one of my great-uncles was the personal secretary to Anita Baldwin. He left and established a huge cattle ranch outside of Lovelock, Nevada and was a state legislator there for many years. He traveled the world with her to many countries, but never to Russia. The old work house from the Baldwin ranch was just down the block from my parents' home, on Old Ranch Road. I always thought it was haunted! My grandmother later told me that's where my great-uncle lived. The original Baldwin racetrack was only a couple of blocks from my grandparents' home and Santa Anita race track is only about a mile away from my parents' home.

(7) My great-grandfather, on my dad's side was born in Havana, Cuba. The family had lived there since being sent by the King of Spain to help govern Cuba in the 1500's. They were originally from the "Celtic" region of Spain, Asturias. Guess that's why I love Celtic/Spanish music! He left Cuba in 1863 and sailed to New York. The rest of me is English, Swiss, and Alsatian.

(8) I mostly wear jeans and t-shirts from Old Navy, even to school (although sometimes I dress up in my "hippie skirts", which I bought for $9.99 at Walgreens this summer)! I choose to be comfortable rather than fashionable! Because of my back problems, I HAVE to wear walking shoes, so I have a couple of pairs of Reeboks and another walking shoe that I wear. I cannot wear heels! OHMYGOSH! I'd trip and fall and/or topple over! I screamed today in pure pain when one of my little ones stepped on my big toe on my left side! (That's the toe that is STILL numb from the pinched nerve in my back!)

(9) I've actually fallen off a horse twice in my life and both times I crawled right back on! Both were when I was young (8 and then again when I was 16 or 17)...my cousin Valerie and I were riding one of her horses out in the wash, galloping, and mine stepped on something and down I went! The horse was okay! She doesn't remember it, but I DO! I got back on and away we went! Ahhhhhh......those were the days, right?

(10) I taught myself to play the clarinet in high school because I DESPERATELY wanted to be in the marching band with my then-current boyfriend! HA! I could do the fingering just fine, but I had trouble hitting the high notes! Squeek, squawk, squeek. My mother finally made me put it away. DARN! She had taught me to play the violin, and I still have her violin, but my fingers got sore and I'm sure my violin practice sessions drove HER to drink! Squawk, squeek, squeek! I guess my musical ability was passed on to my children! Our son played saxaphone in middle school and high school and our daughter picked up a flute in 5th grade and hasn't put it down yet! She went to UCLA and was first chair flute and piccolo for 5 years and marched in the Rose Parade! Now she's a middle school band teacher!

Now, wasn't that interesting? Anybody who wishes to be scrapped, just shoot me an email and I'll announce it here on my blog! Thanks, Lisa! That was fun!

Peek-a-boo! Monday morning drive






















Hubby and Iboth had the day off yesterday, so we went driving out a road yesterday and guess what we saw? I heard there was a herd of them up in the mountains. They were eating hay in an area near the road. I cautiously got out of the car to go take some photos and left the car door opening, telling hubby, "Leave it open in case I come flying back!", but they were friendly! One even wanted to go home with us! Several had ear tags. I've never seen them up there before and we've been down that road a couple of times, so maybe they came in to eat their afternoon snack? Aren't these longhorns? Can anybody tell me whether or not they are?

Monday, January 19, 2009

Beauty and Gigondas REUNITED! Two Cali reds!
















Beauty and Gigondas haven't been together for....let me think...a year and a half! These two were boarded together during their quarantine up in WA, were together for 8 months after that, but then when we moved them to the mountain ranch, Gigondas had her own pen and Beauty was in with the two mustangs. Then Beauty went to my cousins's for the winter last year and again over the summer for her final saddle and trail training. They could see each other, but they weren't ever put in the arena together for a year and a half. NOW I see why people talk about mares so much! So this weekend, we reunited them. Hmmmmpppppfffff! NOT a good idea! They sniffed, Beauty went running off, Gigondas turned and chased her with ears back and nipped her a couple of times. Young wippersnapper! GO AWAY! My dad! I managed to get a few photos, but they were moving so fast it was difficult. GOOD THING Gigondas did respond to her verbal commands and we got her out of there to calm her down. She's an alpha mare and boy, did we see alpha mare action! After that, we put Sunni in with Beauty and they were fine. They munched on weeds very calmly. It's nice having an extra day with the horses and beautiful, clear, warm Southern California weather.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Scout




This is the photo I was trying to get the other day. See her eye? What do you think...is that a kind eye? She was good yesterday and let me pick up her right front foot. She had a rock stuck in it and I got it out, but then I lost my footing, slipped, and off she went. NOPE! That was IT for the day regarding picking up feet! With the pinched nerve, I've lost my coordination and balance and I kind of lurch around! I was able to pick up both of Cali's feet without losing my balance. Hehehehe...I did it while she was eating! She HAD to stand still!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

digital camera bloopers!












I was dragged kicking and screaming into owning a digital camera several years ago when my old Konica camera finally died. My dad gave me the Konica in high school and it and I traveled across the country a couple of times. It was my "old, reliable". I could set it on automatic or manual and get the photo I wanted. BUT...processing the film was expensive! And, since hubby and I both had regular cameras, there often were rolls of film lying around that NEVER got developed. I actually have a whole bag full of them out in the garage! So, when hubby got a digital camera, I was intrigued to watch him use it. NO FILM! Huh? How does that work? He finally gave me one for my own, my Canon, and I learned to use it. Of course, then I had to learn how to upload the photos to my computer, but...gone were the days of waiting 3-4 days or a week to view them! (happy dance!) AND...for someone like me, who is NOT a professional photographer, I could take some real DUD photos and simply delete them once they were uploaded! (happy dance again)! I know I have a couple of friends with digital cameras (Hope...!!!) and I need to show them how to upload their pictures or get more comfortable with their digital cameras.

Anyway, the beauty of owning a digital camera is that you can take as many photos as your camera will hold, like my Canon, which can hold 999 photos at one time...or my little Nikon, which has a removeable memory card. I'm getting lazy now and while I still carry my Canon with me on weekends, I ALWAYS carry my little Nikon with me in my purse and I'm using it more and more often. When I get home, I just take out the memory card and slip it into my printer and VIOLA! There are my photos! With the Canon, I have to attach a cord to the USB port and camera and upload the photos. Plus, the Canon is much heavier and larger than the Nikon.

So, if I don't get good pictures with both of them, I simply delete them. No charge! I thought this morning I'd show you a few of my "bloopers". I've deleted the other ones, but you can see these! Enjoy! Or laugh... Yes, that's the top of my head! I was TRYING to get a pic of Beauty and I together...HA! Yes, that's Scout big nose! She moved JUST as I was taking a photo of her! And, yes, that's Gigondas without a head! She, too, moved at the last second! Same for Sunni! Oh, boy! The joys of owning a digital camera! Delete, delete, delete, delete, delete....

Friday, January 16, 2009

Clouds: Skywatch Friday January 16, 2009


These clouds followed me down the mountain one afternoon after I visited the horses. Aren't they pretty? For other Skywatch Friday pics, please visit: http://skyley.blogspot.com/

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Serenity


I took this photo the first weekend of the new year. Sometimes I just like to drive around and see what's happening up in the mountains. I was by myself, so I don't go too far from the ranch. Sometimes I see a coyote or two. Sometimes I see hawks, and one time I actually saw a bald eagle! I didn't see any animals this day, but I did drive by an empty field. I liked the old wire fence and the dry weeds. I posted this on one of my other blogs, desertsouthwest (http://desertswest.blogspot.com/), but for some reason, I'm having trouble posting on it this morning. Something about errors on the page...Anyway, I thought I'd share it here since I got quite a few comments about it! In the middle of all the chaos and running around for our lives and jobs, sometimes it is just nice to see something peaceful and quiet!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

airs above the ground?


Not exactly "airs above the ground", but my little Nikon pocket camera DID capture this moment when Beauty was playing in the arena on Saturday! I have a Nikon Coolpix that I always have in my purse (it's that small!) and sometimes I just don't have the time or energy to get out my big Canon. The horses move so fast that with this one, I just point and shoot and hope for the best! Isn't she funny? Ha, ha! This is the horse I'm supposed to ride in June! Egads! No, really, once you lunge her, she's very calm!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

1 minute later....horses at play


Beauty decided Sunni was getting a little too friendly. GO AWAY!
Speaking of weather, it's supposed to be 75 degrees here today! Ummmmm......!!!! It was nice and warm yesterday!