Mikey's
Blog
Friday,
August 31st, 2007
Good Horses
After a long hard week
ItÕs a welcome sight to
see the Date Creek Ranch horses
roll in
ArenÕt they cool?
They look like theyÕre
ready to jump out and go to work
They stand well
They donÕt cause any problems
We LOVE them
We finished before dark
for once
I got the opportunity to
shoot THIS on the way home
Looks like the sky is on
fire
I canÕt thank God enough
that I live this life
ItÕs hard, itÕs exciting,
itÕs beautiful!
Comments?
Wednesday,
August 30th, 2007
Heart
Attacks and Horse Trailers
We finally did
it
We bought a
bigger trailer
We own 15
horses, one measuring close to 17 hands
The bumper
pull wasnÕt cutting it
So we bought
this
I really
really like it
Now if we can
find time to go somewhereÉ.
__________________
HereÕs the
heart attack part
My beautiful
gray horse, Monte
Had himself an
accident last night
IÕd just put
new shoes on him. He was way over due.
His feet had completely grown over his
shoes (shame on me!)
I let him
loose to run around afterwards, since it was close to feeding time
He wouldnÕt go
anywhere, right?
WRONG
He skipped out
the gate and galloped around
Showing us how
fast he could run in his new shoes
I saw him go and
started telling him he needs to get back in here
I was heading
for the hay, figured if I started feeding heÕd come in
He stopped,
then you could see him decide ÒJust one more runÓ
He took off at
high speed, heading for a 10 ft gap between my fence and the neighbors
I left it that
way so I could ride through if I needed to
Note: he is
familiar with all these fences
All of the
sudden, thereÕs a crash, big cloud of dust and my horse is down!
I saw it
happen, but I canÕt see far away so well anymore
I thought heÕd
clipped the fence and stumbled
I yelled for
Wade, who was inside, on the phone talking to the other neighbor, Brett
Who was saying
ÒYour horse is outÓ
I ran, Wade
came running, Brett came running
Poor Monte was
shook up, but he got right up and then stood there
Wondering how
to get out of this yard
(these
neighbors arenÕt living there, the house is empty)
We checked him
over and heÕs ok
Just a bit of
road rash
The fence is
totaled
We tried to
put it back up, but itÕs going to need some work
See those
birdhouses?
Yeah, me too
How come Monte
didnÕt see those??
Still standing
You know this
hurts
If there is
something you canÕt imagine them doing
They will
surely manage to do it
Comments?
Sunday,
August 26th, 2007
How bout them
cowgirls?
This is the
face of a happy 3 yr old
Mercy and
Grandma
Casper knows
what to do
ÒYou go like
this GrandmaÓ
_________________
Off subject
Guess which
toe is probably broken
_________________
Happiest on
her horse
Follow the
leader
ItÕs a stretch
to get that flag!
(she does get
it)
Vinnie says
ÒNo way, not gonna happenÓ
Mikey says
ÒGuess againÓ
Mercy bites
her nails while Mommy and Vinnie
discuss this
Òfear of the flagÓ
I got off and
wiped Vinnie with
the flag until
he decided it wasnÕt going to eat him.
This took a
few minutes.
Flag in hand
We have a
clean run and quit
Cruisin da
hood
Cowgirl style
The perfect
ending
Comments?
Thursday,
August 23rd, 2007
Gymkhana time
Flag race
practice
Now how do I
reach that ?
Got it!
Whoa Casper!
Oh no!! Too
far!!
You wonÕt do
it for me?
IÕll just CRY
And get over
it 2 minutes later to go run barrels
__________________
Waiting on the
bus
SheÕs learned
to use the camera. Great!
A candid of
Mikey as she usually is
On the phone -
in the truck
Comments?
Wednesday,
August 22nd, 2007
Bull snakes,
shoeing and freedom
ThereÕs
a bull snake in my tack room.
IÕm ok
with this, mostly.
We have a mice/rat problem happening and
it
wonÕt
be long before they eat on our saddles.
Then I
will be mad
So the
other night while I was feeding, this little bull snake darted in there
I let
him
I even
gave him some water
I
screamed a little when I saw him, I admit it
Wade
keeps asking
ÒAre
you sure it was a bull snake?Ó
Yes,
IÕm sure
IÕm
sorry I didnÕt get a picture of it for you
But
rest assured, it was not a rattlesnake
I
promise
_____________
We did
some shoeing at home last night
Mercy
and Wade did all the work
I took
pictures
Mercy
demonstrates proper position
And
improper foot attire
The jackals
wait for any scrap tossed their way
_____________
As I
post these pictures, I think to myself
This
is a truly amazing life
WhatÕs
even better are the moments that donÕt get photographed
The
Òyou had to be thereÓ moments
IÕll try
to describe a recent one
We
were on the porch the other night - being idiots
Wade
asked me to pop his back, which is a big joke
I
never can do it right
But I
try
So
after two attempts, his way and mine
I come
up with one more way
I tell
him, now you have to let me, and you have to hang
WeÕre
both grinning like fools
I grab
his arm and sling him over my shoulder
Wheezing
ÒHANG, YOU GOTTA HANGÓ
Which
makes us both start laughing
IÕm
trying my dangedest to hold onto him
And
heÕs LAUGHING
Then
it happens
You
feel that moment coming
And
you know
YouÕre
gonna pee your pants
Worse
is, he knows
(or
heÕs going to pee his too)
I let
him down
Both
of us doubling over laughing so hard
Tears
are rolling
And
weÕre both trying not to pee
No one
but us to witnesses this
(thank
Heaven)
I think to myself
How
great it is
that we can laugh like this.
Then I
thinkÉ
Somewhere
in a foreign country
An
American is not laughing
HeÕs
dying
So I
have the freedom to laugh and have fun
Be
thankful for every moment you have
DonÕt
forget those who make it possible
Comments?
Thursday,
August 16th, 2007
The stuff I
live for
Sorry
itÕs been so long!
But
WHAT A BUSY WEEK
Milestones!!
Mercy
went to school this week for the first time
Big
smiles on our way in
She
got to ride THE BUS
Because
we are unashamedly redneck,
for
her reward we let her ride a bull
ThatÕs
Mossy Oak Mudslinger
In
case you didnÕt recognize him
Another
milestone
Wade
tries his hand at the
business accounting program
Now he
knows why it takes me
2
½ hrs to do it
for
good measure I tugged on his shirt and cried
ÒMommy,
Mommy, I need ice cream RIGHT NOWÓ
so
he got the full effect
Then
we had big fun!
Robert
and Cora came over and got under some horses
Kids,
dogs, horsesÉ
Cora
learning the fine art of rasping
Both
these kids are naturals
They
jumped right under these horses
Looks
like a pro at work
What I
like best is when we say get under the horse,
he
really can get under the horse
Cora
did a full trim on Olga by herself
She
totally reminds me of someoneÉ..
Oh
right
ME
Comments?
Saturday,
August 11th, 2007
Tender
Moments
Hello
beautiful
Shhhhh
IÕm horse whispering
Spooky
is listening
My
little friend
Hangin
out by the back door
(this
one has all his legs)
Comments?
Friday,
August 10th, 2007
Will I do
time
If I
kill this dog?
This
is Maggie
She is
teething
forever
Here's
a sample of what she's eaten THIS week
Her
third library book
She
ate the end before I could read it – heinous!!!
Did you
know...
Large print hardbacks are much
more expensive than paperbacks
I am
now so embarrassed I won't even go to the library
This
should be a "what is it" contest
(It's
my memory foam mattress)
What's
left of a cell phone holder
She
also ate the cell phone antenna
Mercy's
new school shoes
(yes,
they were put up, Maggie still got them)
This
shows about half the items she has actually eaten.
So can
anybody tell me... how bad will I feel if I shoot this dog?
Or
perhaps we can have her teeth removed...
Comments?
Tuesday,
August 7th, 2007
Chasing
Donkeys and Mules
The
last few days have been an adventure - as always. I'll start with today's title
first.
Wade went over to the neighbors to do
one horse and a mule. ½ hr into it, he calls to say that the horse is
not standing still and could I come hold him. Off I go, get down there and the
horse is real spooky.
I
immediately survey for a snake.
This
horse has never been a problem before, and both of us have done him for several
years.
No
snake (darn) and the horse quiets.
Wade
finishes. I politely turn out the horse and catch the mule for him.
Now
ol' Jethro is your typical 16 hand mule. You know the kind – he has a
couple "quirks"
To
catch him you have to chase him into a specific corner. He will not be
caught otherwise.
I've
spent a few frustrating hours learning this.
It
is a fact.
His
other fun "quirk" is to bolt when you loosen the halter. If he thinks
he's free, he's gone. I'm always particularly careful about my fingers not
going with him. But one time, I bent down to look closely at my work on a hind
foot, thinking "He won't go anywhere, I'm not near the halter". That
long-eared devil mule bolted and tossed a foot in my face on his way out.
Little too close for me.
He's well known for this nonsense.
Everyone in our neighborhood has a Jethro story. That's no lie.
So
I went home to feed our critters as it was getting dark. Mercy helping. I was
almost finished when I heard the hoofbeats coming.
Figured
Wade wasn't riding him.
Wade
had finished up and was ready to take Jethro back to his pen. Jethro was
rubbing his halter behind his ear on a post, so Wade reached up to give him a
scratch. Just being nice, he tells me later. Jethro took this to mean the
halter was coming off.
And
just like that - he's gone.
So
sure enough, on his tour of the neighborhood, he turns into our open gate (like
he knew where he was going) and galloped right up to me. Huh. Animals
never cease to amaze me.
Hearing him coming, I'd made Mercy climb
the rail fence and wait. That's one of the first things you teach kids who live
in the country. Climb the fence. Most of the time it's the safest place to be.
Jethro put his face up to my hand. I'm 5
inches from that lead rope. He blows a wad of snot in my face and takes off
again.
Thanks,
you #@$%***!!!!!
I
ran and closed the front gate. Went after him and caught him. Meanwhile here
comes Wade in his truck, MAD.
Oooooh
boy way MAD.
I
shouldn't laugh, I know... but it's so hard not to
Wade's
swearing, and swearing he's never doing those two again EVER.
(I know how he feels. I have said these
exact words myself)
I
walked Jethro home, giggling the whole way by myself. I couldn't stop.
I'm
sure the neighbors think I've been drinking.
The
next day we rode
Wade
took these pictures
of us
girls
Crossing
a dry desert wash
Awwww
And
today....
THE
VET CAME
(This
is a guaranteed good time)
Today
was even better because we got TWO vets!!!! Doc brought his
brand new vet, straight out of school, with him. Now we've seen her several
times when she interned with him, and we like her, so we were all happy. AND we
got a tech too!
Doc
brings a small army. The man's no fool.
So
we're
1.
floating teeth on the old gray mare Smokey and Jack the donkey
2.
checking Kat's hives
3.
checking to see if Molly the Paso is pregnant, since she leaks milk.
The
girls get started on Smokey
Go
ladies!!!
Work
that rasp!
Both
vets came over to help check Molly.
Lucky
for you - I didn't take pictures of that.
Doc
says no baby he can feel
She
just leaks milk.
Yes,
it's weird.
At
this point, nothing around here surprises me
Then
it's Jacks turn
Dig
your heels in, Doc
don't let him drag you around!!
I'm a
big help
Taking
pictures
Open
wide Jack
Jack
says
"THIS
SUCKS"
Doc
asked as I brought him out, "how old is he?"
I said "OLD, Doc"
Once he had a peek in Jack's mouth I
said "So Doc, what's your guess on his age?
Doc
looks at me and says " really
OLD ".
That's
what I thought.
For
his reward, I turned Jack loose to go roll with his mares watching.
The
front gate still being open, the tech asked if he'd go anywhere. I responded
blithely that he'd probably go over to the neighbors, I'd yell at him and then
he'd come home.
I
shouldn't brag. But it usually works that way. Jack knows better.
So
what does he do right off?
Heads
out the gate, leading the mares in a line behind him.
Everyone's
watching.
I
yell at him. He stops, looks at me standing wwwaaaayyyy over by the house, and
keeps going.
I
shall kill him.
I
excuse myself and sprint to the fence. He's coming, so I hang an arm over the
fence and point at him and say
"YOU
GET BACK IN THE GATE RIGHT NOW"
(What
I'm saying without screaming it is that if I have to climb my fat butt over that
fence with people watching and chase his jack-ass down, I'm going to tackle
him, twist his ears and RIDE him home. It's his last chance.)
He
must have felt the unspoken sentiment.
Danged
if he didn't tip his ears down in disappointment, give a shake of his head,
turn around and GALLOP back in the gate, mares in tow, ears pinned down the
whole time.
I
had to laugh. That old buzzard. I love him.
Docs
waved as they headed out and I shut the gate.
Wade
gets home
After
doing 6 horses, he comes home, leaves the gate open, not realizing Jack is
roaming around freely.
He
comes in, pours a cold soda and figures he's got 30 minutes before he has to
meet a client at the shop.
He's
REALLY looking forward to sitting down with that soda.
Where
am I?
I'm
napping. The kid's at Grandma's. Any chance for sleep, I'm all over it. Leave
me alone.
Wade
sits down and notices out the front window the mares heading down the road.
Thinking "What in the ...?" he gets up. Realizing that the mares always
follow Jack, he spies Jack heading up the road at a brisk trot. Pretty fast for
a " really OLD "
donkey.
Wade
sprints after this equine convoy and gets ahead of Jack, who is now 4 houses
down the road. (Almost to Jethro's house!)
Knowing
the game is up, Jack immediately wheels around and gallops straight back home.
So
much for 30 minutes of rest.....
Meanwhile,
I'm still napping.
Comments?
Saturday,
August 4th, 2007
I might be a
redneck
According
to Jeff Foxworthy
If your front porch collapses and it
kills more than 3 dogs
You
might be a redneck
Ruht
Roh
We
have a lot of dogs
But we
LOVE THEM
Comments?
