Cali~SOOC Sunday~071711

Cali was lunging in the round pen last week when I snapped this photo. All I did was crop it. It is SOOC. Our record low temps are leaving us and the heat is moving back in. Back to the 100's this week. But our nights are still "cool" enough we all can turn off our air conditioners and enjoy the fresh, cooler air! SOOC Sunday for July 17, 2011. To visit SOOC Sunday, please go to: http://www.murrieta365.com/

Quad's lesson

Scout's lesson, part 2 ~saddling

Scout has such a great mind I think I'll have my trainer work her every week. Plus, she has all that youthful ENERGY!!!! Maia lunged her both directions in the round pen, then walked her down to the arena last Tuesday and lunged her both directions the whole way up and down the arena. Maia really enjoys working with Scout, so that won't be a problem (working her every week)...And, I can proudly report that I can now walk up to Gigondas and touch her on the withers and back (NOT the head, however)...progress!!!! I've been driving up every day and washing out Cali's left eye to the point that she now doesn't like it...but her eye does seem to be getting better. If only Scout and her two neighbors would leave her darn fly mask on!!!! Any ideas/suggestions for that? They pull it off every night. There are NO empty corrals up there right now, so I can't move her...???

Scout's lesson, part 1

Scout now ties and stands quietly. Phew! Maia tied her at the tie rack, left, and walked back to the tack room to get a saddle for Scout and she stood quietly the entire time. That's a huge step for her. She now will lift all 4 feet (another big step)...I like how Maia does the same routine with each of them each week. They know what is going to happen and they KNOW how to act. Scout also no longer barges through gates. She tried it with Maia and Maia had her redo it. She KNOWS better than that now! She was quite active on Tuesday, so Maia lunged her to get the "ya-yas" out, which took quite a while! Here are some photos of Scout during her lesson on Tuesday.

Cali's lesson yesterday

I got up to the ranch an hour early yesterday morning so that I could wipe out Cali's eyes. She has a fly infestation and Scout keeps pulling off her fly mask...sigh...so I wanted to get in and clean them as best I could. She has a sore underneath one eye (which had drained) and it is puffy, so I'm going to have to get the vet out and he will clean out her eyes again. He did this last summer. We may have to move her to a separate corral (there aren't any available right now) so that she can keep her fly mask on...I may have to move Sunni in with Scout. I tied her and when Maia came, we finished cleaning her eyes and put SWAT around them. I sprayed her with fly spray (she didn't even move...) Maia lunged her and got the "ya-yas" out, then put on the saddle pad with the cinch. This week, Cali didn't buck at all and was quite comfortable with it. I'll need to go up today and checkto see if she still has her fly mask on and clean out her eyes. Hal and baby Ben will also come up, so Ben can pet Cali. She's so calm...she'd be a good horse for the baby to get to know!

Sunni and Cali today

I took one look at Cali's face today and HAD to do something about the flies. She now has open sores and they are just eating her alive! So, I haltered her, took her down to the tie rack, cleaned out her eyes (she didn't like that!), put some SWAT on her muzzle, and some antibiotic cream on her sores, and took her down to the arena. She easily went both directions and did "walk" and "trot". She is such a sweetheart! I left her in the arena for about an hour while I worked Sunni. Took him up to tie rack, brushed him, put SWAT on his face and head, picked up all 4 feet, and led him up to the arena. Lunged him both directions and he did just fine. Threw the lead rope all over him...ho, hum. He didn't flinch or move. Told him to "stay" and he did... As to Gigondas, I made her move all around her corral and was able to FINALLY touch her butt (WHAT a pleasure!)..left her alone and let her see Sunni and Quad get some sweet feed (THINK about that, you witch!) and she FINALLY let me touch her back (with her head turned away from me)...sigh...mares! Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to touch her neck...??? I want one of those bumper stickers that says, "Tell a gelding, Ask a stallion, Discuss it with a mare!" No, wait! I'm ordering this one: "HELL hath no fury like a RED thoroughbred mare!" Here's the link, if you want to check out their bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/+mare+bumper-stickers. In the meantime, here are some pics of Cali. I didn't get any of Sunni because I couldn't juggle HIM and my camera at the same time! See how Cali got everybody's attention?

Temps here are dropping!!!

I'm not kidding. Temperatures are falling here in the desert this week. It will only be 102 here today, then down to 94 by Wednesday and Thursday, with overnight lows to 72 degrees! A cold spell!!!! The weatherman just announced that we may be having overnight record lows this week. I can turn off the air conditioner! Whoo, whoo!!! I went out yesterday morning and worked until 10:30 a.m. (that's UNHEARD of during July!)...I got 3 of our huge trash containers full (mostly leaves and mesquite seed pods) and I trimmed the palo verde out front which was haning out into the street. I also raked up all my wildflower remnants from last winter and pulled out the roots. Time to plant something else there...I'm thinking sunflowers? I've been making a morning smoothie the last few mornings (Jamba Juice frozen berry, apple juice, and spirulina) since I've had some kind of virus (dizziness and headache) for the last few days. I'm heading up to the ranch this morning to work with Gigondas and Sunni. The mustangs have their lesson tomorrow, so I'll work with Gigo on turning her BUTT to me! I need to get her haltered as the farrier will be up soon. I can't believe how far she has regressed since the fly spray incident. She basically now just turns her butt to any human who gets near her!...sigh...Speaking of butts, these are some of the pack horses at Twin Lakes. I drove down the road early one morning while hubby was still asleep. Their hay had been delivered the day before and the horses were all out in the morning, waiting for riders.