Love Hath no Bounds

Well, actually it does.  When the snow falls relentlessly, and the thermometer is stuck in the teens and twenties, I have very little love to spread around the barn.

I love my house on days like today.  I love coffee, cocoa, cookies and warm kisses.

Not snow, not ice, not wind.  Ick.

But I do still love my horses.  I love them enough to spend two hours cleaning their messes, fluffing their beds, filling their hay racks, and melting their frozen buckets.  I love them just barely enough.

And yes, they love me too.

Treats!

Yesterday Siesta ate carrots from my hand, with me standing outside of her pen.  The carrots were slender and sweet, and she took dainty little nibbles from them, like a princess-in-training at tea.  Her expression made me wonder if she really enjoyed them, or if she was just trying to please the weirdos on two legs.  Today, however, she thoroughly enjoyed them.  In fact, she gobbled them greedily from my hands, one after another.  And guess what else?  She loves little peppermint cookies!  She takes them right from the palm of my hand, from outside or inside the pen.  She actually walked up to me for cookies!  Soon she'll let me scratch her on the neck for a cookie, then she'll let me snap a new rope on her halter for a cookie, and then she'll stand on her head....no, wait, just kidding, but I am really, really happy about this.  Bribery does indeed get us almost anywhere.

Homecoming

Last Friday, after a 9 hour and 58 minute drive, covering 399.9 miles round trip, we finally had Siesta home.  The business of loading her into the trailer and signing off on the paperwork was surprisingly easy.  She hopped in on the second try, and would've gone in the first time if we hadn't been standing so close to the trailer door.  Siesta hauled quietly, and when we stopped to check on her she traded nose-blows with me through the window screen.  She seemed quiet, scared, and very sweet.  I was hooked already.  Once home, we backed the trailer up to the pen, got the side panels positioned into a chute, and opened the trailer doors.  Out popped....nothing.  Hello?  Siesta?  We're home, baby, and you can come out now!  We heard a quiet snort, saw a whisker or two, then suddenly there was a beautiful, shiny, new, red mustang in the pen.  Hungry, thirsty, and exhausted from her journey (which was much longer than ours, she came all the way from Hines, Oregon in one day), she settled right in to her dinner and we let her enjoy it for a bit.

The long drag rope seemed to be driving her nuts, since she stepped on it with every step she took.  Well, okay, it was driving me nuts.  We cut it down to four feet, hoping that it would be better.  Siesta's hooves are really long, and I didn't like the idea of anything impeding her movement, so the morning after her homecoming I removed the rope entirely.  Yes, I just reached up and untied it, very quietly.  She seemed grateful, and walked and trotted freely in a circle around me.  I spent Saturday and Sunday playing little circle games with her.  She enjoyed touching me with her nose, but whenever she started to turn her butt to me I'd say "Uh-uh" and send her back out on a circle until she was ready to face me and we'd start again.  It's a fun game, but it doesn't get me very far with her, so now I'm wishing I had a rope on her halter.  Well, duh!

Siesta at the fairgrounds in Ridgefield, just before loading up.

I Want a Red One

Speed.  Style.  Grace.  Agility.  Handling.  Are we talking about a sports car?  Nope, keep reading.  Loyalty.  Trainability.  Easy keeper.  Warm, brown eyes.  Long mane and tail.  Ah, a horse.  Not just a horse, but an all-American Mustang.  Just like sports cars, they come in lots of pretty colors and trim levels.  I'd like a red one, please.

This Friday, the 18th of February, 2011, my long-postponed dream of bringing home a wild mustang is coming true.  I'm a newbie in the Mustang Heritage Foundation's Trainer Incentive Program, and I'm being entrusted with the care of a beautiful young mare from the Palomino Buttes HMA in Oregon.  She's mine to care for and gentle, with the goal of finding her a good home within ninety days.  When successful, I'll be paid for my time and effort, but the true reward will be in forging a bond with an amazing animal that has only had limited human contact.

 

Her name is Siesta.  She is a sorrel three-year-old with a dishy Arab-type face and a cute, floaty trot.  She'll be halter-broke, huggable, touchable, lovable, and --believe it-- brushable, hoof-cleanable, and trailer-loadable (at least!) before she's ready for you to adopt.  Interested?  Great, there's just a little bit of paperwork I need to send you, and an adoption fee of $125, which is the same amount you would pay for a non-gentle mustang.  It's a great deal for everyone involved!

Do you like the gorgeous mare in the blog header?  Her name is River, and she's a seven-year-old from McCullough Peaks HMA in Wyoming.  River is green-broke and has a rock-solid mind with to-die-for smooth, flashy movement.  I'm thinking she wants to be a reiner, because she has a stops-on-a-dime whoa and the most amazing spin that I've ever sat.  Right now she's being ridden every-other-day or so, and getting groundwork on the off days.  Her groundwork, by the way, is awesome, and she has a very solid natural horsemanship foundation.  The cowboy that started her did a great job, and she's just a few wet saddle blankets away from being everybody's dream horse, at which time she'll be available for purchase.

Wish me luck on Friday, and as the trotting horse says, I'll keep you posted!