Phew! Christmas is over and now I can rest!

The presents are unwrapped (and tasted!), the parents are sleeping, the breakfast and dinner dishes are done, the houses are cleaned, the dogs are fed, the cats are fed, Ripley has a new bouncing rubber ball, Rommel has a squeeky bone, and hubby is sleeping in this morning. Phew! We decided to forego going to Santa Anita as my legs are very stiff and neither one of us believed we could walk around all day there and lug around cameras! So, we are staying home. Our son's 30th birthday is December 28 and we prefer to stay around our family! We'll be going up to work the horses today as it is still fairly warm here in Southern California. They ALL need some turnout in the arena, so we'll rotate them and let them take turns. Wishing everyone had a happy and joyful Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Christmas antlers~Cali

Holiday greetings from all of us in Southern California~~Scout, Cali, Gigondas, Quad, and Sunni. I don't have any fancy editing programs like PhotoShop, so I just took some antlers with me yesterday and hubby took photos of whoever would wear them (HA! mostly ME!!!) Cali was the only one who would wear them. Quad was much too dignified to participate and Gigondas flat out refused. Scout was too busy chasing her neighbors away. Sunni was curious, but insisted that I wear them! Have a wonderful holiday!

Cali's trim

Quad and Cali are our most calm horses. They will be the two that I'll ride (hopefully). Cali isn't trained yet, but she is a very quiet and respectful horse. She always has been. The day after she unloaded from the trailer ride from Wyoming, she came right up to us for a friendly sniff. She's been very people-oriented ever since. Honestly, I think she is just that way! As you know, horses have different personalities and Cali LOVES people! I sometimes feel guilty that she's in a corral with "The Monster" (i.e. Scout), but, in a herd, Cali would still be on the bottom of the pecking order. She just isn't agressive at all. She stood still for the previous ferrier and Saturday she didn't move a foot for our new one! Ho-hum...She's such a doll! Hubby is off work today and we'll be driving back up to the horse ranch. Yesterday it was windy here in the desert and it was worse up in the mountains! It was so cold, I had on four layers..a t-shirt, a turtleneck, my cotton vest, and my jacket. Oh, and insulated gloves! I've GOT to find some lined jeans because the wind just blew right through mine! Any suggestions? The sky was clouding up, so I left for the warmth of the desert before it started to snow. Here are pics of Cali's trim.

Joe's blog today, December 22, 2009

If you have time, go over to Joe's blog this morning. Here's the link: www.tbfriends.com
He talks about how a Mexico-slaughter bound trailer stopped by his place. All those eyes staring at him. So little money...so many horses. He was able to rescue three of them. One man, with 3 horses on lead ropes and a LONG walk up his driveway. But, a little girl and her mom stopped by just then. Each of them grabbed a horse and a lead rope. And, three lives were spared. But, he can't get the image of all those other doomed eyes staring, begging for their lives.

Oh, gosh! This just tears at my heart. So many, many horses. WHAT can we do? How many Quads were on that trailer? How many Beautys? How many Calis? How many Gigondas'? How many wonderful horses were on that doomed trailer? I do what I can, but it is a drop in the bucket. So many doomed eyes...I once saw a trailer full of doomed horses on the Interstate, up by Reno. I saw a horse's tail flowing out of it (yes, it was a double decker)...probably headed for Canada. I screamed, I yelled, I cried. What could I do? It was horrible. I don't know how Joe does it day after day, so I'm sending him a card with a check. I know he won't get it by Christmas, but he'll get it after Christmas and that's okay. So many horses...

Gigo's trim

Gigondas has always been an easy horse to trim. Obviously, she was trimmed in her previous life. She's never been a problem for any ferrier. She just stands quietly. Here she is with Mr. Aguilar last weekend. Yes, that's hubby with his girl! I'll be braving mountain winds today to drive up to see the herd. I thought I was coming down with SOMETHING yesterday as I was cold and shivering all day. But, a dose of hubby's pasta with lots of garlic and crushed red pepper knocked whatever it was out and today I'm fine!

Quad gets a trim!

As I stated yesterday, I had a new ferrier and his assistant trim three of our horses Saturday~~Quad, Gigondas, and Cali. Quad, of course, was a perfect gentleman. This is old stuff for him and he's used to it. He never moved an inch. In fact, at one point, he was so relaxed, he closed his eyes! What a guy! I'm hoping that since Hubby is off, like me, for two weeks, I can take a short ride on Quad this vacation. I LOVE this new ferrier! He does all the horses at the ranch and he's so calm and confident with the horses, they just stand still for him. NO DRAMA!!! What a difference!!! See what a good boy he was? Of course, he got a treat of some sweet feed after his ferrier visit! GOOD BOY, QUAD!

New neighbors!

Hubby and I FINALLY had a day off together and we finally had decent weather, except for the wind, and a new ferrier came to the horse ranch to trim some of the owner's horses and some of ours. Since it was a very windy day, and Sunni was already skittish, we decided to wait until the ferrier's next visit for him. I like Solomon, the ferrier. He's a small man, very calm and quiet. He doesn't look the horses in the eye and quietly and confidently walks up to them and gets down to business! Quad was an old pro with this and didn't move a muscle! Neither did Gigondas or Cali. We decided to wait and also let him do Scout next time (he has to return after the Rose Parade), as he had already done 7 horses! And, Scout and Cali have some new neighbors! Another border brought her two GORGEOUS mustangs up to the ranch! One is a mare, the other one a mustang. The gelding is very friendly! And, Scout seems to get along (so far) with the two of them! Here are some pics from Saturday.