Dad and Gigo

Since I don't have access to my own desktop, I've been combing through hubby's photos, which are all on his computer. Good thing he has some, right? Once my computer is up and running again, BELIEVE ME, I will back up my pics!!! Anyway, I found these pics of my husband and Gigondas that I don't have on my computer. YEAH! I believe they were taken in the fall of 2007.

Sunday Stills Challenge "T" 112909

"T" is for thoroughbred! I have two thoroughbreds, both rescued horses. Our first is Gigondas, the big red mare. She never raced. I don't even know her pedigree. We believe she was used as a broodmare, then discarded to a slaughter-bound feedlot. I rescued her off the feedlot and we've had her now for 2 years. Then, there's Quad. Quad is an off-the-track thoroughbred who actually ran in 7 races and never won! He's much too mellow to be a race horse! He's VERY laid back and is a gentle soul, although he did spook one day last week when I was leading him down to the arena. You know...those pesky leaves...the horse-eating ones! A gust of wind came up and scattered the leaves and Quad actually spooked. Not a big one, just enough to let me know he IS a horse, after all! What a character! Sunday Stills Challenge for November 29, 2009. Nope. My computer isn't fixed yet. Fortunately, hubby has some pics on this laptop and I combed through them to find my Sunday Stills Challenge pics for my blogs! THANK YOU, hubby!

Computer problems!!! ACK~

My computer was fine this morning at 5 a.m. but by 5:15 a.m. it was kaput. Nothing. Nada. I couldn't turn it off. Finally, I unplugged it, plugged it in again, but the stupid fan just ran and ran and ran and it never did boot up. So, I am sans computer today (I borrowed hubby's laptop just for this!) I can't post anything because...DUH...ALL my photos are on my desktop. I don't think they've been backed up since...about a year ago (shudder). I know, I know...I should back them up more often. I am hoping that it is something simple that our son can fix. The last time it crashed (and I got a new hard drive), all my photos were saved and put on the new hard drive, so we'll see. Please keep your fingers crossed for me, okay? We are driving up to the horses this morning. It snowed up in the mountains all day yesterday and this morning we can't even see them! But, we'll try. The CHP sometimes closes the road up to the ranch, so we'll see how far we get! Take care and give your horses a hug from me!

Thanksgiving

Phew~~What a day yesterday! I woke up at 5 a.m., ate my cereal, and drank my coffee, hit the road by 5:30 a.m. and made it to our daughter's house by 6:00 a.m., just in time to snap a quick pic of the sunrise by her house. We got the turkey out, made our preparations, and by 7:18 a.m., all was done. Then, breakfast at her place! I ran back home about 11:30 to grab long forks and some other items I forgot at home. Then, back to her place. My aunt and uncle drove in from San Diego to eat with us and visit. That's James, our daughter's fiance, holding little Jaide, my cousin's 4 month old daughter and that's Claudia holding Ben, our first grandchild. He had a blast sitting at the table and banging on it! A fun time was had by all. Our daughter's fridge is full of leftovers, while ours is empty! Guess we'll have to drive back over there today for leftovers and sandwiches. We're making a run up to the ranch this morning to visit the horses. It was 36 degrees up there last night.

Happy Thanksgiving and cousins

Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours! Enjoy your day, your family, and your horses! Here are some pics of our daughter's new house! We've been cooking there all week! My aunt and uncle, from San Diego, will join us, and my cousins from Alaska are here with their 4 month old daughter. I am thankful that we are all healthy, and we have each other! That's our son, Hal, girlfriend Claudia, and Baby Ben, who is now 9 months old! Next to them is Caleb and my cousin, Kyra, and her baby girl, Jaide. And, yes, that's Hubby in Jennifer's kitchen! He is right at home there! HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!

Hubby and Quad

My husband really LOVES Quad! I mean, what's not to love? This horse loves people, too! I caught the two of them taking a snuggle together one afternoon. Aren't they cute? Awwww....again, as in yesterday's post, it is so interesting to watch the interactions between people and horses. He told me yesterday, "I need to go see the horses." We spent the weekend moving our daughter into her new house. UNFORTUNATELY, I used my little Nikon Coolpix that I dropped and only every other photo came out. It fell out of my purse last week and went "plop" right on my driveway. The lens got stuck and hubby was able to get it "unstuck", but apparently the lens isn't always focusing! ... (sigh)...

First touch

I was going through my archives this weekend for the weekly Sunday Stills Challenge about horses. I have about 10 folders of photos from our visits to Santa Anita, including two of the Seabiscuit tour. Our daughter went with us on one Seabiscuit tour. I'd been in the barn area many times at Santa Anita as a child (my great-uncle was a trainer), but it had been over 40 years since I was last there. It was interesting to hear all the tidbits and facts about horses, trainers, and jockeys. This was right after the Seabiscuit movie came out and they had a "stand-in" for Seabiscuit at Santa Anita. This wasn't him. This was one of the standardbreds in the carriage area. Our daughter, Jennifer, has always been afraid of horses, but on this day, she reached out to this large horse for a first touch. I thought it conveyed a lot about her AND horses. She was willing to reach out. The horse was willing to allow her to touch him. I always marvel at how perceptive horses are with us. Anyway, I thought it was a beautiful photo. What do you think? If you wish to see my posts about Santa Anita, I posted them on several of my blogs: This one has horses and jockeys: http://memoriesthenandnow.blogspot.com/2009/11/horses-and-jockeys-santa-anitasunday.html. Sand to Sea to Mountains has horses and their exercise riders: http://dunestopines.blogspot.com/2009/11/thoroughbreds-and-exercise-riders-at.html. And you can see some of my pics from our Seabiscuit tour at my Palm Desert blog: http://desertsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2009/11/seabiscuit-tour-santa-anitasunday.html. I'll write about the grooms and schooling on one of my blogs this week. I just haven't had time! We helped Jennifer move into her NEW HOUSE this weekend and my back is killing me! Hubby and I are too old for this! But, she is all moved in now and we had Sunday breakfast over at her place yesterday. We gave her our patio set, chairs, table, and Dad's new, large BBQ as they don't have dogs running all over and they do have a nice, CLEAN patio to enjoy!

Sunday Stills Challenge~horses~11/22/09

So, here are my 5 horses. That's Quad, my recently-arrived rescued thoroughbred. He arrived here at the ranch in July. It is only in the last month that we've actually seen him run. He actually ran in 7 races and never won. I can't even imagine him on the race track! He's very people-friendly. He's also very laid back! He is Mr. Mellow! That's Gigondas, my other rescue thoroughbred. She doesn't have a lip tattoo. I believe she was used as a broodmare. She LOVES to run! In fact, I am working with her to get her to walk! She was on a slaughter-bound feelot up in WA state. I wish I knew her pedigree, because she has the heart of a champion runner. That's her showing the other horses, "See? THIS is how it's done!" Next is Sunni, my bay quarter horse gelding. Sunni was my first horse and I got him from United Pegasus Foundation, when they were in Hemet, CA. UPF is a horse rescue that rescues off the track thoroughbreds as well as PMU quarter horses from breeding ranches up in Canada. I believe Sunni came from Ranch 5. He is a very people-friendly horse, but he does have some issues. He spooks a lot and last summer he spooked while my cousin and trainer, Valerie, was on him. She injured her ribs and scratched her hand. I am now working on desensitizing Sunni to many things. He is a kindhearted horse, not mean, but he does spook. Next, our two mustangs from Wyoming, Scout and Cali. Scout is an alpha mare. That means she is THE BOSS (and don't you forget it!) She bosses Cali around. She bosses Sunni around, although I noticed the last time those two were in the arena, they went butt to butt and kicked each other, so I pulled Sunni out. Scout is the most intelligent of our horses. It is sometimes difficult for me to stay ahead of her! She's always figuring out people and things (as you can see from the photo). But, she is also the most sensitive of our horses. She feels peoples' emotions and if someone is upset, she will let them pet and stroke her. She's very intuitive. Someone spoke of a "medicine" horse. Scout may be that horse. Then, there's Cali. She's a real goofball. She LOVES people. She will probably be the grandkids' horse. She's very calm and gentle. She's NOT alpha at all. She ties quietly, she lets the ferrier pick up all her feet WITHOUT MOVING...she's just a wonderful little gal! She's also very playful and cheerful, as you can see from her pics. So, that's my herd! 5 horses, all rescues. We love each and every one of them!

I've been deceived!!!

By, yes, my husband! It turns out that after I did ALL that cleaning (emptying my desk and 2 bookshelves and 2 filing cabinets), our son decided he didn't want the furniture after all. Methinks that his girlfriend didn't want my "old" furniture in her house, but instead wishes to purchase her own new stuff. Whatever...I'm just glad they didn't want it because I LOVE IT! It's akk matching beautiful oak office furniture that I purchased about 10 years ago. I love the color and I love the natural wood. So, let them pick out their own!!! It's too bad, however, that with a baby, they choose to spend their money so foolishly. Ahhhh...to be young! Hubby will be helping me move it into the spare bedroom, which will become my own office! So, I'll be losing a spare bedroom, but gaining an office. NOBODY seems to want the queen size bed in it and hubby's legs stick out of it, so it will go out into our garage and we'll be converting it into my office. YEAH! I get my own office (my own "space"). After sharing our kitchen with all my office furniture, it will be nice to have a room all to myself! Hey, hubby has HIS own office, why shouldn't I? We'll be heading up to the horses tomorrow after having breakfast with our daughter. WHAT A DAY TODAY! Let's just say that putting in a 12 hour day isn't as fun as it used to be!

Desk all cleaned out!

Well, my desk is all cleaned out, the bookshelves are empty, and the two filing cabinets are also clean! Our daughter's old computer desk is out in the garage and I'll be inheriting it. I LOVED my desk, filing cabinets, and bookshelves as they all matched. We bought the whole set at COSTCO about 15 years ago. They were light pine and I LOVE light woods. I am sad to see them go, but I know our son will get a lot of use out of them! Besides, I threw out a whole trash can of old papers, so downsizing is GOOD!

Enjoy your weekend and give your horses a hug from me!
~~Cheryl Ann~~ Back online sometime next week!

Going to be off line for a couple of days

My husband just informed me that he gave away MY DESK and my two bookshelves to our son. That's okay with me...he has a new home and NO furniture, but now I have NO DESK for my computer! ACK! So, I'll be off line for a couple of days until I can figure out where to put my desktop. Right now it is in a corner of the kitchen and I have a TV right near me. I think we will be putting it in the guest bedroom. What we will be putting it on is still up in the air... hmmmm....so I'll be back probably in 3-4 days! We are helping our daughter move this weekend and we'll be exhausted! I'm not sure when I'll have time (if any) to see the horses on Saturday and she's cooking breakfast (early) Sunday morning for the family.

See you all soon! Give your horses a hug!
~~Cheryl Ann~~

I'm such a dork~~~

I awoke early this morning, very groggy. I didn't do my usual spring out of bed today. The kids at school have been absolutely horrible (NOT adorable!) and I came home with a headache yesterday. I took one load of laundry out of the dryer and stuck in my "blues" load...jeans, shirts, hubby's shirts, etc. So, as I was sitting here at my keyboard, I heard "clunk, clunk, clunk". That could mean only 1 thing...my car keys were in the dryer (again...sigh...). Upon further research, I confirmed that fact. Now, this is about the third or fourth time I've washed my car keys. Not only the keys to the car, but the thingie to unlock and lock it...sigh...I don't know how many more washings they can take! I usually take them right out and put them on the kitchen table, but sometimes I forget and they sit in my pants until I gather everything up and throw it ALL in the washer. Well, I guess I'll see if they will unlock my car this morning....what a way to start the day, eh? Oh, and I also washed 2 packets of sugar which I'd stuck in my pants pocket when we were at Panera last week.

"R" is for run~~ABC Wednesday 111809

I often watch each of our horses run in the arena and I've noticed some differences. First, Cali doesn't run very much...usually ONLY when she is being chased by Scout! And, Sunni can run, too, and he's pretty fast (being a quarter horse). But, our two thoroughbreds, Gigondas, and now Quad, RUN!~ And, between the two of them, Gigondas is the ultimate runner! HA! And, she's never been in a starting gate (she has no lip tattoo). While Quad just RAN last weekend, for the first time, it was short-lived and in no way compares to Gigondas, who flat-out RUNS and RUNS and RUNS! She LOVES to run! Both Gigondas and Quad have long strides. But, Scout doesn't. She digs into the ground and moves like a tank. Don't get me wrong! She can RUN! She'd be a great barrel racing horse because that little gal can MOVE! But, her style is different from the two thoroughbreds. She just gets her little legs movin'!!!! ABC Wednesday for November 18, 2009.

Killer Highway lives up to its name

I'm very sad to report that, once again, the "killer highway" has claimed another life. Apparently a car full of young people (4) came down the hill Sunday evening and it went over the side of the mountain. All were wearing their seat belts, but a passenger was killed. Two more are in serious condition in a local hospital. One has a brain injury and a broken back. Apparently alcohol was NOT involved. But, as I have noticed MANY TIMES, speed does. PLEASE, when a sign says "30 mph", it MEANS 30 mph. And, when a sign says, "SLOW, CURVES AHEAD", please be cautious. I'm sorry to hear that the mountain has claimed another life. There are enough crosses on that road already. PLEASE DRIVE SAFELY!

Quad takes a romp!!! November 16, 2009

Yesterday was another one of those postcard-clear, beautiful autumn afternoons. Hubby and I didn't have much time to work with the horses, since we had to get back down to the desert and help our daughter with her new house. But, up the hill we went. It was crisp, clear, and breezy. "Breezy", ha! Leaves were blowing all over the ranch. Hmmmm....definitely NOT a day to take Sunni out. Instead, Gigo was at her gate, begging for a run. She walked very well down to the arena, WAITED for me to unhook the lead rope, and took off, running, bucking, and farting! Silly girl! Next was Quad. He needed some time to stretch and walk around the arena, but instead, as soon as I unclipped the lead rope from his halter, he TOOK OFF! RUNNING! And kicking, and farting, too! It was the most we've seen him run! And, run, he did! He actually enjoyed his time there and got ALL the kinks out! Here are some pics of his afternoon in the arena. He actually did spook at the leaves a couple of times! Oooohhhhhh, those "horse-eating" leaves!

Busy day Saturday!~

Phew~what a day yesterday! Why is it that our weekends always go by so quickly and the weekdays just drag ON and ON? Anyway, I headed up the hill before 8 a.m. and arrived at the ranch. This is the weekend that the Peruvian Paso Association is meeting at the ranch, so the arena was raked, a tent was set up, and trucks and trailers were arriving. I didn't take any of my horses out, but instead brushed them all. I found Quad's favorite spot on his neck and he STRETCHED out for more! And, Sunni came to me when I called him! GOOD BOY! Gigondas got a good brushing and so did Cali and Scout. They all got their beet pulp and psyllium. Then, after I drove down the hill, I stopped in to see my cousin, Valerie, at an art show in Rancho Mirage. I didn't get a good photo of her booth, but the show will be back today, so I will ask her if I can get a couple. She sells her paintings as well as some note card packs of them. It was good to visit with her. Then, off to our daughter's new house! She just got the keys yesterday and she and her fiance are busy putting sealer on all the grout for their tiles. We drove down to their new house, not to help, but to provide "moral support"!!! Here are some pics from yesterday. Today will be another busy day!