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 29, 2011

Saturday









I had a great day today! FINALLY! I'm getting my energy back after 7 weeks of bronchitis. I was able to work with Gigondas and Sunni and I haven't been able to work two horses in one day for over 8 weeks! :-) I took Gigondas down to the arena first, since I honestly cannot remember the last time I did so. I think it was...November??? Isn't that awful? But, remember, I've had 3 bouts of bronchitis since the second week of school in September, and this final one nearly put me flat on my back during my entire Christmas vacation! Ugh! And, I haven't had much energy or lung capacity to do ANYTHING except go to school and crawl home every afternoon. I've had NO extra energy to do ANYTING except survive day-to-day. So, I'm proud and happy that today I got to work with two horses! I brushed Gigo all over and she stood still (she doesn't always...) She stood by her gate (which means, "I WANT to go down to the arena, Mom!), so I haltered her and led her around her corral first. She now has impecible manners while leading, but I'm always nervous once I get her into the arena as she LOVES to bolt before I can get the lead rope off! And, yup, she started to, but I had the energy today to hang onto the lunge line (25 feet, thank goodness) and yell, "WHOA!" and she did. I made her stay until I was ready to unclip the rope and she stood quietly. (phew...) I let her run and run and roll and roll and roll and eat weeds. She quietly followed me up and back down the arena rail as I was taking photos of Sunni and Quad. Then, when Her Majesty was ready to go back to her corral for her treat, she waited calmly at the gate. I led her up to the tying post, tied her there for a little bit, then walked her up through some brush above the round pen and led her all the way around it. I want her to get used to brush and trees (I'm planning on doing this with ALL the horses). There is a trainer just down the street and I notice that she has hanging car wash strips, an area full of brush, and trail-training things in her front yard for the horses. Hm....that seems like a good idea! So, anyway, my plan is to take each of them for a walk among the trees and brush up at the ranch. It's 9 acres, so there is plenty of room to walk around! And, it will get them used to other objects touching them. I didn't do much with Sunni because the wind kicked up quite strongly and I was concerned that he would freak out, but I'll take him for a walk tomorrow.

3 comments:

Marie said...

I'm really glad that you are feeling better. I've done the bronchitis route in the past and I know how miserable it is and how long it can take to get over it. Sending good thoughts that you feel back to normal soon!

I love seeing the photos of your horses and reading about them. I'm going to share it with my little girl who is horse crazy and wants to have an animal rescue center when she grows up -- for animals of all kinds :-)

Marie
bonkersinbarnhart.com

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Sounds like a great day. And I know how good you felt getting out. I've been suffering from sickness for over 3 weeks and have had enough! We finally had to get away and outdoors and have some fun (hacking and sniffling and all. lol!), hence our trip to Santa Fe.
I'm glad you enjoyed some time with the horses. And you're right about getting the horses out of their paddocks and comfort zones to expose them to new things.
I bet they will have fun! :)

~Lisa
ps
When you come to New Mexico, please consider spending a day or two with me and my kidlets. We'll take you to some very unique and special places if you're interested :)
Lots of photo ops for sure!

Rising Rainbow said...

Glad to hear you're feeling better. Love the new pic on your header too. such a beautiful expressive face.