Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas.... Squirt in California....

Well, Squirt and his new family made it back to California last Sunday, the 20th of December, just in time to enjoy a nice warm Califonia Christmas day.  Current temperature here is 10 degrees, the high yesterday 13... Seems like Squirt REALLY got the best Christmas present this year, Carson and her entire family and a new home in sunny California... Never have to stand in the cold again, (Californians might think it's cold but us Coloradans know better).


Carson & Squirt just arriving in California


Must be strange to get in a trailer, have no idea where your going and pop out of the trailer 1100 miles away at a brand new place, with brand new people.  Hmmm....

Carson has already gone to a reined cow horse trainer and tried Squirt on a cow (calf)... and she said they're going back next week for a lesson with Doug Ingersoll... It's been a while since Squirts been riden, but I'm sure Carson will get him legged up and back in shape in no time...

I have a lot to be thanksfull for this year as most... Amanda is still with us and still relatively healthy (relative to being nearly 13), Squirt has a new home and someone to give him the attention he deserves... All of my family and friends are doing A-OK, and the sun came up again this morning...



And the grass is green

One of Squirts other new friends Havanna


Have a Merry Christmas, a Happy and Safe New Year
Cheers

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Squirt goes to a new home

Robert called just a few days ago and asked me if I'd like to sell Squirt, I said Maybe... He said he had a friend in Sacramento CA that was looking for a good, reliable quarter horse for his soon to be teenage daughter.  I asked Robert who it was and he told me Scott, Georgeanne and their daughter Carson. 

I had met Scott and Georgeanne on the trip to purchase PorkChop in Napa Valley.  We stopped by their house is near Sacramento, actually Loomis CA. At the time their two children were a toddler and a relative newborn.

Well like all of our horses I really love Squirt, he was the first horse born on the ranch, as I said last post.  He certainly wouldn't win any beauty contest, he has short legs and a powerful build all topped off with a rather large head.

I have riden Squirt more than any of the other horses, shown him in dozens of reinings and cow horse shows. He won the cow horse regional championship a few years back. He is exceptionally reliable, maybe not as flashy as some but he always finished in the money.

In all the time we've had Squirt he has NEVER bucked anyone off and I've never fallen off him, he's very careful and pays close attention to me, probably any rider. Robert's nine(9) year old daughter, Kristy, has riden Squirt bareback for several years.

Despite his short legs he can run like the wind, he'll catch ANY cow as long as you've got the nerve... He NEVER gives up or balks, he's got a HUGE heart and really tries to be just right.

We were at the county fair horse show a few years back. Squirt noticed the draft horses pulling a rather big, loud wagon. He was very concerned about the wagon and was very nervous and visibly upset.  I finally saddled him up and rode him behind the wagon so he'd know it wasn't going to get him. We did this for hours, everyone that we  went past at the fair got to pet him and give him treats. He finally got a little more comfortable but always watched the wagon so he knew exactly where it was.  Well my turn in the arena came up, I rode him over to the arena and OH NO the wagon pulls up right outside the arena and parks.  I thought for sure he'd dump me when we started our reining run. Nope, he kept watching, I could tell he was constantly aware of the wagon but he did his stuff just right. We didn't finish too good because the rider was so distracted by him being distracted that I lost count on the spins...

Today starts a new chapter in Squirts life.  He's going to have Carson all to himself. I have to believe that it's a recuring horse dream to belong to a young horse loving girl. 

Carson and family arrived yesterday, they picked up Squirt to go over to the 80 and give him a try... After going around the "block" a few times he was brought home to us for his final night here.  He was already in a nice warm horse blanket that Carson had brought just waiting for this morning.

Well the suns coming up and I'm headed out to feed him, all teary eyed, for the last time. I'll take a couple of peppermints (which he and most of our horses love).

One thing is for sure, I know he's going to a great place, probably heaven on earth for a horse... 

Merry Christmas Carson, Squirt.... Everyone.... and Happy New Year...


Squirt & Carson

Monday, December 14, 2009

Another horse story that needs telling...


I had mentioned that Robert and I flew to Napa valley to look and Porkchop and found Kat... Well that story continues.  We left Napa Valley for Seattle Washington. We were going to look at another brood mare. This mare lived in Puyallup Washington.

We went to visit a nice family, Nancy, Greg and a ten year old KayCee (KC). They had a mare for sale because they wanted to use the proceeds to campaign (train and show) Compact CD a two year old stud colt out of Hiccup aka "Lil Dun Hickory". Dun is a color variation that manifest itself as a tan colored horse with a dorsal stripe (line down it's back). Hiccup was a "red" dun meaning she had a red stripe and a red mane and tail.

Hiccup was also a trained cutter that both Nancy and ten year old KC rode.

Well Robert took Hiccup for a spin and liked her. He did say I should stay off as she was rather "hot", hot defined as in "wound as tight as a spring", I was truly a beginning rider and chances are good I would have fallen off, or been tossed.

In any case we negotiated a bit and I thought I'd buy her too. Nancy was REALLY excited about the two year old, Compact CD and determined to show him off. He was (and is) very handsome.  Well Nancy saddles him up and climbs on in the "round pen".  CD took one fast run around the round pen, then EXPLODED, bucking and kicking, tossing Nancy to the ground. We found out later that she had broken her shoulder... It sure looked like it hurt... bummer.

Hiccup was shipped home to us. She had several nice babies, the first born at Table Rock was "Squirt", more on him later. Here is a photo of hiccup with squirt shortly after he was born.


Hiccup and Squirt as he sees his very first human (Susan)

Hiccup went on the have Kory, "RedMan", Lacy, Yoda and Dunny before her untimely death. I drove her from our house,  one dark winter night in a full blown blizzard, to CSU where they did everything possible, but no luck... We do miss her...

I always wanted to ride hiccup, she was certainly a "well broke" cutting horse, shortly after she had Squirt she was out in a pasture and injured her hock.  Then she had Kory, we went to the vet one day and the vet noticed she looked a little off, she had foundered so no one ever rode her again (some founder horses can be ridden we probably could have ridden her). 

Kory was born right in our barn, Kory was the first foal we saw come into the world. I looked out the window about 8PM one night, Hiccup is pacing, laying down, standing up over and over.  I thought I'd go take a look to see if she was OK, we weren't really expecting any new lifw that evening. When I got to the barn I found the two front legs sticking out about 6 inches, by time I called Susan (on the cell phone) and Susan arrived, Kory was almost all the way out, about five(5) minutes.

This story is really to set up another horse story regarding Squirt. It will be a really sad story for me, BUT I'm thinking a real happy story for someone else....

PS - While I was looking for some pictures of Squirt I found this photo, taken by Susan of me on the way to the ground. The horse happens tp be Kat, the runniing W is almost visible on her thigh...


Ouch

Friday, December 11, 2009

When it's brutaly cold and you have horses... and fire wood :-)

This is NOT a posting about "horses" per se.  It's about what the human(s) have to go through so the horses stay OK.  Horses by design, are cold weather, VERY cold weather animals... When it's -18F (yup minus 18 and that's NOT the wind chill), they still need to eat and even more joyous, get water...

So around Table Rock Quarter Horses this is a brief idea of what kind of misery one can encounter.

When it's this cold outside, even with insulated coveralls and Sorrel boots, well you're just NOT going to stay warm, or for that matter get warm (outside).  Just a mild wind plunges the "wind-chill" value into the minus 40s or 50s. 

The first and most obvious thing is neither truck, the van, the semi or the tractor will start. The old propane John Deere however does start, it's at the 80 acres 4 miles away.  The diesel pickups have an engine block heater, BUT we never use them and they are parked too far way from the house to get electricity. The barn tractor, despite the "glow plug" and ether (engine starter fluid) just doesn't get up enough RMP to fire off.

Just one little bit of water in a 100' hose, blocks the whole thing. With the hose not only blocked but as hard as a (trying to think of something polite) fence post, it's a LONG cold battle to get one into the house and thawed. FORTUNATELY over the years I've learned this lesson and I did have the hoses completely drained, thank goodness... Just an interesting observation, without water tank heaters over 2 inches of ice forms overnight when it's this cold. Four inch thick ice will support a car.

The electric garage door opener will not lift or lower the garage door. It is kinda old but it's been working OK until now. I think the door binds because of ice in the rollers. Now it is completely dead...

I have a 1300 pound bale of alfalfa in the driveway that I can't move because the tractor won't start. I don't want to open it or it'll never move, it will just turn into a pile of "lawn clippings" and it's no where near the horses.

I do have some 70 pound bales stored in the barn for just this kind of emergency BUT that's not the real issue. The "small" bales still have to be hauled from the barn in the cold, wind and snow, BUT still not the issue...

What  is the issue? would you believe Bambi, his mother, father, brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews, his friends, their friends.  All in all a herd of about 60 including some pretty good size bucks, complete with antlers... They all stand around in the driveway "arguing" about who's going to eat off the 1300 (soon to be 1000) pound bale of alfalfa.  I still haven't figured it out, three days before one doe and her two fawns were taking tiny nibbles and being VERY peaceful, three days later the whole herd. How did they all know? the doe tell 'em? I guess it really doesn't matter BUT if they get use to feeding here they'll start defending the food source... no thanks...

To make matters worse a small herd of elk have been through, leaving the fence in tatters as they just run right through it, Bambi and company at least try and jump over it. How do I know, Elk prints... I guess I should point out santas reindeer tracks to the kids huh? hmmm.

Now for the firewood. we rarely burn the stove as we've had little kids around for years and it's just too dangerous.  Plus the heat will drive you out of the house if it's not REAL cold outside (it is).  So I trudge down to where I DIDN'T decide to store the wood, and bring some back to the garage. I managed one load as my feet froze. I must say that it sure made it toasty in the house... I am however going  to move the wood back to where I decided to store it... 

Ahh now the best part. Every day, 365 days a year, 7-8:00 in the morning, then again around 4:30 in the evening (it gets dark at 5:00). Feed the equine friends... It's a Looong boring story, feel free to visit for a first hand look... I won't even make you help.

The real good thing is that this was not a SNOW event for us, maybe a couple inches of fine powder, not really a wind event either. A little wind when it wasn't snowing so no big deal.  IF it had been a snow event, I'd STILL be digging out the firewood, stored where I DIDN'T decide to store it.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

The Watercolor class comes to an end...

The final watercolor class was Saturday, the 5th of December... The last day everyone puts up the work they did during the semester. I like the art EVERYONE does, BUT it's clear that Susan has a fabulous grasp of the subject. Her paintings are really Nice. Hopefully she'll get the one she did for Christmas cards out this year. It's painted but .... Hmmm maybe I'll just take it to Kinkos and let them make the cards... Hmmm... she MIGHT even put some up on her blog.

In any case I asked Susan if it's OK to be "pleased" with yourself? she said "I don't think so", Ohhh that's too bad because I'm pretty pleased with myself... I got the idea for this paining a couple weeks ago and I'm pleased with the way it came out. Lots of ego here..., good thing considering the "failures"...

I call it "watercolor work place" complete with coffee cups rings (up by the orange brush at the top).





Chics Betty Crocker

Another horse tale...

The first time I saw Chicks Betty Crocker was at the 1998 National Reining Horse Association Futurity. She was a three year old being shown in the Worlds largest reining competition. NRHA

I had never been to a real big show, this particular show paid $100,000.00 for first place in the open division...  Robert Hartford, Linda Hartford, Susan and I all flew down to Oklahoma City just to watch the show. Both Susan and I were REAL novices at riding, and even novices at "watching" the show.

I was sitting next to Robert who was slinking down in the chair because I was yelling "SEND 'EM" a reining thing for go really fast and slam on the brakes...

In anycase we saw hundreds of beautiful horses doing "reining" patterns.

Reining is like dressage at full speed, or maybe like figure skating on horseback. Spins, stops, lead changes, rollbacks, a lot of "cowboy" stuff... All of this is done with no visible queuing to the horse. It's kinda funny they call it reining when the use of the reins is minimal. Most of the control is done by the riders legs and "seat". Robert (the professional) has ridden both Kat and Betty (and others) with his arms crossed, doing all the elemants of a reining pattern without even touching the reins...

So I'm having a great time watching, Robert is still trying to slink away and they announce next out is "Chicks Betty Crocker" ridden by Bryan Pace, owned by Jim Babcock... OK first words out of my mouth were - "what a stupid name for a horse".  Oh but look at that cool brand, looks almost like a "chevy" logo. Babcock Ranch It's the red symbol between Babcock and Ranch at this link.

Anyway Bryant and "Betty" scored well enough to qualify for the finals. over four hundred horses, the top twenty-five(25) are finalists. The then compete for the grandprize, $100,000.00 (that's actually increased by quite a bit since then).

Fast-Forward One Year... (or so).

We (mostly me) decide that it's time to buy a reining horse so Susan can learn to ride on a "broke" reiner...

We head to Dallas so we can drive to Bob Loomis Ranch  to look at the great reining mare "Miss Gee Wiz", by TopSail Wiz, a Horse Bob Loomis had won a previous reining futurity on...The day comes, we call Loomis to remind him we're coming, Whoever it was I talked with said come on up, but Bob had been bucked off a two year old and wasn't getting around too good, he might be laid-up.

We get to the Loomis Ranch on the Texas and Oklahoma border, Bob never did make it out he was stuck in bed, barely moving.  His assistant informed us that someone had just bought Miss Gee Wiz while we were on our way... Dang. He didn't really have anything that would work so we visited a few other ranches in the heart of Quarter Horse Country.  I'll skip the details for now, but we just couldn't find anything. OH wait we have three(3) hours before the plane leaves lets look in the "Quarter Horse News".  We find Babcock Ranch not to far from where we are.  So it's off to see Jim Babcock, he thinks he might have a horse that is what we're looking for.

We get to his ranch, the barn must have 60 stalls, sure was a lot anyway. So Jim invites us in to his office and we talk a little. He has another couple from Colorado there looking at a stud...

I tell him we're looking for a broke reiner Susan can learn to ride and rein... He tells one of the stable hands to "go get Betty"... I knew IMMEDIATELY who he was going to bring out.  Yup, Chicks Betty Crocker and boy was she beutiful...

Robert and Susan both took Betty for a spin, I stayed off. Bryant Pace, Bettys trainer was out of commision from a jetski incident the day before. 

It was a lot of money and Susan looked a little reluctant so we said OK we'll think about it and give you a call.  We RUSHED to the airport, went through security, go on the plane at the last minute. We were still talking about Betty, sitting on the plane just before the door closed I said "I'm calling him back and buying her". Neither one (Robert or Susan) objected.  I made the call and told him We'd take her... I told him I'd send a check when I got home... Done Deal...

Betty came to live with us. She was Susans reining horse.  Boy is she cool, fun to ride and athletic. 

Susan was still learning and Betty is a pretty HOT mare.  We are out riding one day shortly after Betty arrived, Susans just a little leary and Betty can sense her discomfort. Robert and I INSISTED that she have one more go around the arena. BAD CHOICE, worse that Susan really wasn't in to it, and Robert and I "INSISTED". Boy, BAD, BAD CHOICE...

Susy coaxed Betty to start around the arena, Betty did something that alarmed Susy and she tightened up on the reains, which Betty really didn't care for and probably wasn't use to.

Betty unloaded Susan, smack right to the ground... OUCH. (this wasn't anywhere NEAR the worst encounter Susan has had with our equine friends)...  But it kinda soured Susie to Betty, she adopted KAT... Robert and I mostly road Betty.

Susie wasn't the only one Betty dumped.  She had been up to Colorado State University (CSU) for at least a month, for breeding and embryo transfer. While she was gone I had a brand new saddle I thought I should try. So her first day home Robert calls and says "bring a horse and help me round up the cattle". Hmm oh boy. Put Betty in the trailer, put the new saddle in the trailer and off I went. Unloaded Betty, saddled her up all is going good. Step up into the stirrup, everything seems OK. Throw my leg over and have a seat. HMMM pretty nice. Betty EXPLOADED I'm trying to hang on for dear life, but when 1200 pounds of pure muscle decides you're getting off, well your getting off.  I'm laying on the granite slab, Betty puts her head down, has a sniff, takes a close look with one eye, then the other "Gee what are you doing down there". This trip to the ground required knee surgery, OUCH!!

Betty is sired by Smart Chic Olena, who Jim Babcock owns. "Chic" has sired horses that have won over 9 million dollars as reiners and another 1 million dollars as "reined cowhorse" .
Just the "breeding" fee for Smart Chic is $25,000.00.  That's right 25 grand for a little tube of semenal fluid... Hmmm shoulda been a cowboy horse.



Saturday, November 28, 2009

Wal-Mart...

We went to Wal-mart and bought a brand new red fire extinguisher....

hmmm... short and sweet

Friday, November 27, 2009

Hmm Thanksgiving day and boy are we giving thanks!!!

Before I get to the actual Thanksgiving day festivities, a couple of things I left off regarding our Newfoundlands.

Actually they are pretty bright and pretty physical. Wizard (Gandolf the Grey Wizard) use to eat fruit out of the fruit bowl on the breakfast bar. We put it there because it was WAY to easy on the counter top.  He decided he really liked fruit so when we weren't looking he'd help himself to just about anything, except bananas, he didn't like the peel.

So we moved it to the TOP of the refrigerator, about 5 feet 6 inches above the floor. Well you guessed it, Wizard soon found it on top of the fridge he.  Stood on his back legs, and helped himself as he pleased..

But really amazing was Amanda.  She can literally open ANY door that's not locked, lever, door knob, screen door... Open in or opens out.  Well she can't open them anymore as she's to old to have much balance, but boy have I seen some jaws drop.

OK on to Thanksgiving...

Gabriel and I went to Loveland to go to a Colorado Eagles hockey game. James and Solitare work as off ice officials (not office). They got us front row, on the glass, seats from a friend of theirs that works as the team photographer. It was great fun, Eagle won 10 to 4. BUT we didn't get home until almost 1AM, James and Solitare came with us.

I woke up a few miserable hours later at about 5:30AM, tired and grouchy, back hurting from all the sitting.

I knew it was going to be a long day so i got started with my Thanksgiving day chores, cooking...
I just decided I'd start early, take my time and get it all taken care of without any rushing or hassles.

Susan fixed breakfast, good plan, James slept in, another good plan... Why you ask, well I didn't start the peach margaritas at 10AM and I had something to eat. Good thing to...

Got  the turkey and dressing ready and popped it in the oven by oh,  11:30 for a 3PM "dinner"!
It's going along pretty good, made the traditional guacamole, made the cranberry relish (turkeys cooking). Put the yams on to boil and finally stared the potatoes for mashing.  Going along pretty good, James had gotten up and mentioned the Peach Margaritas. OK I think I can handle one or two of those about now, mostly everything is going along great...

I'm in the kitchen checking the yams and I hear a strange noise, looked at the potatoes to see if they might be boiling over, nope... Hmmm, noticed a little smoke coming out of the oven door... FOOLISHLY flung the door open and it was like flashback, fire in the face.... OK the kids are gathering, the adults are wondering what's going on. I asked for the fire extinguisher I knew we DIDN'T have... Hmmm what to do... OK Get the kids outside, everyone outside. The smoke alarm goes off, dang... Susie and  Solitare start opening windows as I again fling open the door to try and get the turkey out. The grease fire died down just enough for me to reach in and pull it out. The dang cooking bag had burst and spewed grease everywhere, which of course started burning. Black smoke fills the kitchen and living room. hmmm... hmmm ...hmmm.

I slide the turkey out of the oven and thank the Lord the grease had mostly burned off

It turned out to be rather benign.  The bag kinda stuck on the the legs, but the turkey was nearly ready to come out anyway.  No real damage to the dinner...

Hmmm try and burn the house down on Thanksgiving Day. I was however thankful that I wasn't already two sheets to the wind, mostly because I had eaten the  fine breakfast Susan fixed, it really was quit tastey and didn't get started on peach margaritas or beer until James got up.  My lips weren't numb yet!!!...

Susie of course took pictures up to the time I tried to burn the house down. See pictures here

Yup, I think it's time  to pass  the baton to the younger generation, I've been doing this entirely too long... BTW they are willing it's just that Amanda doesn't travel well..

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

now... some words about Amanda and our Newfoundlands

I'm so excited, Thankgiving day is tomorrow. I love thanksgiving, I can't decide which I like best, Thanksgiving or Christmas.  I like both for the same reasons and it's not presents... Usually all the kids and kids-in-law bring their families and come to eat, drink peach margaritas and play board games...and maybe a little beer.

It looks like Ed, Rachel and family won't be able to make it this year,  Eddie has to work. Halliburton seems to pay him pretty good, but it seems like they aren't to generous with PTO (vacation). We'll miss all four of them. I'll especially miss my little, or I should say BIG princess, Cordelia.

But today what I'm most thankful for is that Amanda, our nearly 13 year old Newfoundland is still with us.  I am stunned that she's lived this long and she's still happy every day. A little slow, a little weak in the back legs but happy. I'm thankful...

In 18 years we've had 7 Newfoundlands. The first Windy (Windwalkers Feel The Thunder) was puchased in Ogden Utah. The family took the mini-van for kind of a mini vacation to pick her up. Eddie and I tried to ski at "Park City", he had more luck than me, but that's another story.

We picked up Windy and brought her home. A 12 week old Newfounfland is very cute and weighs about 12 pounds.

We took Windy to the vet for a puppy exam. She was diagnosed with SAS (sub-aortic stenosis) a genetic defect of the upper heart. It manifests itself as a "heart murmur". 

We called the breeder who said "send her back and we'll send you the other one we have" (Bullet a grey newf). But of course we had fallen in love with her and thought she ought to live out her life in peace, whatever it might be.  Typically they euthanize (a polite word for kill) newfs that suffer from this condition. More on this later.

A bit later (really can't remember exactly how long) we found a breeder in Loveland CO that had a single newf left.  We went up and got Rainey, who NEVER learned to like riding in the car. Rainey had a slight corneal defect caused by a fungal infection early in her life. She subsequently had a little white spot on one of her eyes. 

By this time Susan had already started training Windy in "Search and Rescue".

Turns out Rainey was pretty timid BUT loved children especially little children.

Windy was a little over a year and a half old when out of the blue the SAS killed her without warning.
 By this time we had moved to Black Forest where we live now.

We looked around for another newf and found a litter of twelve(12), not unusual for a newf but quite a sight for us.  Twelve newfs and mom.. They tie a different colored ribbon on each one to identify who's who.  There was always a huge waiting list to obtain a newf puppy, we had our name on the list for a female.  Out of the twelve, there were only 2 females and one was destined for us.  We couldn't take her home until she was weaned at about 12 weeks or so.  The guy called a couple days before and told me that his vet had detected an SAS murmur in the female we selected, they were going to have her destroyed, BUT he happily told me they had a male we could take in her place.  We went to look at the male and agreed to take him. While we were there I begged that he not have the little female killed.  He said he'd think about it and talk with his vet.  FORTUNATELY the vet agreed with me, let her live out her life, she has no clue she's got SAS.

So we brought home Stormy to replace Windy for Susan, and Sunny the red ribbon "SAS" puppy.  Happily Sunny lived to a pretty old age for a newf, over nine(9), longer than her littermate Stormy who died of bone cancer.

Somehow we heard about a year old Landseer (black and white) that lived in Denver and needed a home. Seems they got her as a 12 pound puppy, then had a child. The excuse was that she was just too big around the baby, like they didn't know how big a newf got.  Well she just jumped into the van and rode home like she never lived in Parker.  They called her Darby so we called her Darby. She was very attractive and we soon learned the more probable reason for them abandoning her. She could slobber, slobber more than all the other newfs together... We still have slobber on our ceiling. We loved her anyway..

We went on for a few years when Rainey died of kidney failure. She was very sad toward the end. She was about six years old at the time. She never was very good at Search and Rescue but she sure liked going out.

In the mean time, both Sunny and Stormy were well into learning to search. Actually to be more realistic, they are born knowing how to search, the training comes in teaching them to find the specific scent you want, using a scent article, that takes a month or two at the most. The remainder of the training is really handler training. Similar to horses who are born knowing how to change leads yet it takes years for some people to learn to signal a lead change to the horse...

Darby had numerous problems with her kidneys and kidney infections.  She died of kidney failure about six(6) years old.

We had Sunny and Stormy and who know for what reason we decided to get another newf. We went to a young woman in Golden that was going to medical school. She had I think nine puppies, we brought Snowy home.  Well It soon became obvious to everyone but me, that while it was clear Snowy had a Newfoundland mother, we didn't know who her father was. Three of the puppies came out as newfs and four like Snowy, Lab looking. The newfs were genetically tested and pure newf... hmmm.

Shortly after that we were refered to the breeder that we got Rainey from because she had a replacement for Snowy (we kept Snowy too).  We went to look at the new pup, she had been very sick and spent time in the CSU intensive care unit. She was about four months old and a little small for a Newfoundland puppy. She was already named Amanda by the breeder so it stuck.

In the mean time Stormy died from bone cancer. He was a wonderful friend we really miss him. His death was partcularly difficult because he had his leg amputated and he went through all kinds of cancer therapy.

Shortly thereafter we went BACK to Loveland and found Gandalf the Grey Wizard aka Wizard.  He was a full brother to Amanda but not a litter mate, about a year younger than Amanda. Yes he was grey... and never did get much hair, he looked almost like a Irish Wolf Hound with a fuller face...

Back to Sunny, she never again showed any kind of symptoms of SAS, the murmur cleared up and she lived a long (the longest to date) life with us.  She died because of  a spinal issue that crippled her back legs to the point she couldn't stand or walk.
Snowy succumbed to a skin cancer that was horrible. Enought said about that.

Wiz started with a slight limp on his front leg.  It was eventually diagnosed as bone cancer. He died going to the pain specialist (vet) at about 10 years of age which is pretty long for a newf.

At this point the only one we have left is Amanda. Amanda was always small for a Newfoundland about 100lbs. We had her spayed at about four years because her hips were classified as "fair" , not really good for breeding as hip displacia is genetically passed.

Amanda IS a cancer survivor, I one day felt a lump on her side, pretty big really.  They took it off assuming it was benign.  Turned out to be malignant squemous cell cancer.  I thought for sure it would reappear, but to date has not.

Amanda greets us at the door, if she hears us come home, always wagging her huge rudderlike tail.

Like I said, Amanda is nearly thirteen(13) years old. She has been through all of our grand children and
now has four indoor cat friends.

Amanda has symptoms of hip displacia, but she still walks pretty good, has trouble on UP steps and uphill walking. She doesn't travel well but loves the car.  We can't really leave her with anyone because she is pretty fragile in her old age.

We love her and we're very thankful that she's still with us. We miss all of our Newfoundlands, except Amanda of course. Each was unique in personality but all were VERY gental and never agressive toward kids or humans.  It's hard to imagine life without a Newfoundland, but they are very high maintenance, mostly emotionally because they are usually so young when they die.

Enough whining for now... Have a good holiday.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Thinking about Kat aka Lil' Cuatra Susies black mare....

Last post I mentioned that our 21 year old mare, Kat, was having a little trouble with her foot, well it turned out to be actually a little trouble.  Kat has improved nicely.

In giving her twice a day epson salt soakings, I spent a fair amount of time on my knees, in the cold, in front of her "soaking" foot.  Trust me if a horse doesn't want to have its foot soaked there's no way your going to soak it.

In any case while I was on my knees I had some time to reflect on Kat and what she's brought to my life... She's 21 years old which isn't particularly old for a quarter horse, her sire "Peppy San Badger" aka Little Peppy, lived to 29 years. Little Peppy was one of the greatest cutting performance horses and sire of cutting horses. King Ranch

Kat was bred and born on the largest ranch in the US, the King Ranch headquartered in Texas.  We are especially honored to have Kat and another little peppy mare we lived with, PorkChop, who died shortly after we purchased her a month after giving birth to our "orphan" mare Pepsi.

Horses sired by little peppy are extremely rare and hard to find.  I've only seen one other besides Kat and PorkChop.

Unfortunately when Kat was younger, actually before she came to live with us, she broke a carpal bone in her left front leg.  As far as we can tell she never showed any symptoms but when we had her checked for insurance purposes one could easily see the healed bone in the x-ray. The vet said that eventually she would develop arthritis in the joint. She did and subsequently is very crippled on that leg.  Monthly deterioration is fairly obvious. At some time in the future (could be tomorrow or a year from tomorrow) the leg will not be able to support her and she will die, probably euthenized.

I could not in a single sitting, perhaps in hundreds of sittings, tell you all of the memories Kat has given me.

I remember when we first saw her, a year before she came to live with us. Robert, the "horse trainer" and I flew to Sacramento CA., drove to Napa Valley to have a look at a Little Peppy mare that was for sale. This horse which we bought on the spot was PorkChop. There was another horse in the pasture with a horse sheet on, all you could see were her black head and legs.  I never figured out how he knew but Robert walked up to her and picked up the sheet to reveal the horses hip and thigh.  I just remember him shacking his head and saying "I can't believe it".  I finally got out of him the the black mare was marked with the King Ranch brand (the running W, looks like a series of waves all points rounded off). Also she had the sire brand of P-Bar on her left hind-end (P-bar is he sire brand for Little Peppy).

As it goes we talked about and discussed how awesome it would be to have a Little Peppy mare, born and bred on the King Ranch.  As I said I paid for PorkChop, who was a wonderful horse in her own right but she died of  "colic" (a generic term for belly ache in this case a twisted intestine). She died one month after giving birth the Pepsi, another very sweet mare. 

I called Arlyta Brown, the woman that sold us PorkChop, and told her that PorkChop had died...

A few weeks later Arlyta called me back and asked me if I would be interested in buying the Other (Kat) Little Peppy mare she had, for what was a lot of money to me, but a real bargain. She offered her to no one else.

Back to Napa Valley, this time Susie went with us, we stayed at Arlytas house and went with her the next day to watch her cut on Kat... Wow I knew I had to have her so I could learn to cut. 

The first time the cow went left, she went left and I stayed on the right, needless to say I hit the ground and boy did it hurt. So now we own a broke,trained (by Buster Welch) cutter. Buster Welch

While Kat was very athletic and tough in front of a cow, she was the "go to" horse when friends and family wanted to go riding.

In any case over the next several days, for who knows what reason, Susie started riding her and never again was she "MY" horse, she belonged to Susie and CLEARLY preferred Susie to me, she was Susies mare who I occasionally rode. Kat was very good with novice riders and with Susan. Kat took very good care of Susan I can't recall them ever having any scary issues together.

One thing that Susie and I have come to realize is that the horses are our pets first, regardless of what the trainer or anyone says...

Enough blabbin for now. I'll revisit some of the other memories in the future....


Kat and her son Little Chic

Friday, November 13, 2009

I wish I had a job where I didn't have to EVER be right...... and Kat

You got it, weather guessers.....

So the last five days would have made algore and his followers happy, it's been warm, about normal maybe slightly warmer than normal. The snow from the last "winter storm warning" is nearly gone, mostly still around the trees and behind the barn. The HUGE mud puddles are starting to firm up and dry out, then guess what... another "winter storm warning". Of course most of the week (until yesterday) the weather guessers said maybe a little rain on Saturday. Yesterday cooling off on Friday MAYBE a little rain, possibly snow on Sunday (This is Friday the 13th). Weather Guesser Page for Black Forest. Now we're at 2 inches overnight, 3 inches tomorrow and "significant accumulations" for Sunday... Not only that as I type this it's SNOWING and they still say "partly cloudy".

I know no one is perfect, except my lovely wife, she's perfect for me, anyway I know most of us aren't perfect BUT my goodness the weather guessers are pathetic.  I knew four days ago that the slightest mention of snow meant 8-10 inches. All you have  to do is look at historical data put that together with what you can see to the west and shazzam... Never fails....

Just think if I was as "wrong" (for the lack of a better word) with my "forecast" in my job I simply wouldn't have a job.  My boss is talking 90% accuracy in my projections (guesses if you like). I use the same principles as the weather guessers but with an 18 month window and over 20,000 data streams.

So... I asked Susie if we needed to go anywhere tonight? "No" she says. I persude this with nothing at the grocery store? "Nope" she says "We can go tomorrow or Sunday".  OK let me put it this way, do you need ANYTHING before Tuesday? "Why Tuesday?" she asks... Well sweets we live at nearly 8000 feet, in Colorado where the weather guessers have said some number of (greater than 3) inches., and the department of transportation won't plow until Tuesday at the earliest).  If we need anything we aren't going to get it until Tuesday and that's optimistic. 

I took it upon myself to move all the vehicles to the leward side of the driveway so the drifts form in the grass (or what would normally be grass).

On the horse side... Kat, Susys 21 year old cutting/brood mare dodged the "bullet" yet again this year. She has severe arthritis  in her left front "knee", as she favors the good leg she causes damage to the lamina (material between the hoof and foot bones). When this breaks down enough it's called "founder" and the main (canon bone) rotates downward to the sole. Once this happens the chance of her getting better are slim to none. This is the scenario that killed the race horse Barbaro. Horses that have foundered can live long lives BUT when one leg is already marginal, well not much one can do. She came up sore a couple days ago, and REAL sore yesterday morning, she wouldn't choose to walk but I could lead her oh so slow.  Holly, one of the two vets from Rocky Mountain Equine Clinic came to have a look, being really smart Holly had a look and poked around before coming in to talk with us, we didn't know she was here. she knows how nosey and pesky  I am. In anycase she had exactly the same opinion I did, that Kat had foundered and wouldn't make it. BUT she brought the trusty digital x-ray and luckely the bones were still in place. She pushed the "button" and seven seconds later on the laptop screen there was her x-ray with the bone looking a-ok... As it turned out she has a massive abcess that hadn't ruptured, the pressure in her foot causes the pain... So now she has to put up with foot soak in epson salts twice a day... Another good day on the ranch....

Monday, November 2, 2009

WHO was the genius that came up with "daylight savings time"...?

Actually a better question is "why do the people of Arizona get it? (and never change)". Hmmm perplexing..

So now it's light when I get up in the morning, the dog (and the horses) failed to change their time and think I should jump right up and run right out to feed 'em...

5PM comes and the dog and horses are ready for food, again. It's almost dark which makes it a REAL pain to feed outside.

Just as soon as we all get use  to the "revised" schedule daylight "savings" time will come around again... DANG...

maybe we should all just go the GMT andbe done with it.

and exactly how do we SAVE daylight. I'm pretty sure the number of daylight minutes will be the same regardless of what the clock "says".

Thursday, October 29, 2009

No sense in complaining about the 18 inches of snow that's still falling...

... So I'll talk about one of more recent trips to the "shrink" (couples counseling). Now I really don't believe that our relationship is in danger of eminent failure. I do like to go to the shink and hope to improve what we do share... HOWEVER the one thing that I pointed out at the first session in February is what I affectionately call "Goose and Gander rules"... In otherwords I think that what good for the goose is good for the gander.  The night before we went to the shrink, we were discussing reading in bed (or watching "TV"). *NOTE* this hasn't been a problem lately BUT it's an easy example. On occasions where Susie wanted to read with the light on I was expected to man up and deal with it even if I was tired and just wanted to go to sleep.  On the converse when I wanted to read I was expected to use a "reading light" or man up and get over it while I turned the light off.  My point in the discussion was that I was willing to comply with whatever rule Susan wanted regarding the light and reading, just decide and apply it to BOTH of us equally. NOW I'm not really picking on this issue but FREQUENTLY I run into what I PERCEIVE as "rules" (for the lack of a better term) that don't equally apply.  Susie did point out that I also imposed rules differently for me than her. I can live with that and I'm willing to hear and decide on a rule we can BOTH live with.

So my questions are;
1. Am I out of line? why?
2. Is the term "Goose and Gander rules" a good way of describing this annomaly? alternatives? 
BTW - I'm NOT complaining I'm just trying to get a better understanding of human behavior. Horses are easier...

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Cold... Cold and Colder...Hmmm

Well not colder than a couple weeks ago but certainly windier... Now that my early retirement has abruptly ended and I have to go back to work (but for Wells Fargo now) It's been a little hectic trying to get a new laptop hooked up to the Wells network etc.  BUT at least I don't have to leave the house, at least for the time being...  Wachovia paid me for 60 days of "active work" at which time my job was to return calls if someone called and no one ever did.  Then I started "salary continuation" which is where they pay you your salary and benefits to "look" for a job.  Well I didn't have to look too far... It was like having a 3 and a half month vacation... Now I have to get up in the morning and get moving... I've been sleeping in until 7, sometimes 8 so it's back to 5AM, well I'll work my way into it...  The white (susans) truck is fixed, now BOTH need tired, one thing at a time. At least  the horses are enjoying the cold... FYI horses are especially designed for cold weather...

also see http://www.talesfromtablerock.blogspot.com/ for Susans view...

Sunday, October 25, 2009

It isn't even holloween yet and....

I'm tired of winter (which according to the calendar doesn't start until the 21st of December) I can deal with the truck getting stuck. I get stuck at LEAST once every winter. I'm glad the drive shaft broke in the snow, if it had come off on I25 it would have been like a pole vault (the front U joint of the FRONT driveshaft came apart.). What I think is wrong is that we never really had a summer. I bought a telescope in April so Gabriel and I could look at the planets etc. Ican count on one hand the number of clear nights (early nights) we've had this year, It's usually the exact opposite... We are scheduled (forecast) for snow EVERY night this week except Monday and it keeps creeping that was.

BUT the absolute WORST thing is the drivers.  I just can't figure out where these people learned to drive. I think master drive should be mandatory. Lets get half way through this turn THEN we'll slow down. Or we're going 20 in a 50 with occasional patches of set snow, we come to a downgrade and we step on the brakes and try to go 15.  The best, we take our car with regular tires, no chains, no M/S tires, rear wheel drive (sometimes even  front wheel drives), we come to a stop light or stop sign and TRY to floor it to accelerate across the intersection, skidding and making the ice slicker... what geniuses...

If anyone knows albert arnold algore jr could you PLEASE have him circle his G3 (Gulfstream model 3 "private jet:) around Black Forest so we can share some of that global warming...

Thursday, October 22, 2009

In this case even I have to admit the MALE perspective leaves alot to be desired.

So the first "winter storm advisory" said only a couple of inches... well I measured over 6" at 2:30PM with 30 MPH winds, it was moderately slick. We fed a friends horses then drove to the 80 where a couple of horses are closed into a stall.  When we were there earlier in the day the was a little drifting due to the grass as Susie pointed out BUT  we could still see the road.  In any case THIS time it had a drift that we plowed through pretty easy then we came to the SECOND drift.  I punched it and made it about 30 feet before we were stopped.

So here's the rub.  I backout with no effort, Susie says "gee we only had to go a few more feet". So what do I say "Don't worry we'll get through THIS time". So I take a running start, it really looked very easy, we got about 2 INCHES further the second time. Of course this time the wet cement snow coupled with the underlying mud and we were STUCK and I mean STUCK.  We dug out snow for about an hour and a half.

Called Lise (the horse vet) for a rescue tow. Dug while we waited and had almost everything out from under the truck.  Well just as she arrived I was giving it a final "Don't worry we'll get it THIS time" (testosterone pumping (and I thought I was too old))... So BAD went to WORSE when we heard this LOUD "THUMP" oh darn.... Got out and looked under the truck to find the front drive shaft haning.... DANG

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

here's a different perspective...

As Susan said (www.talesfromtablerock.blogspot.com/) we took the kids to the local duck pond and park... as you can see from Susies posting she found the grandkids feet quite interesting. I "rudely" asked "is that the best you can do?" and it went downhill from there. In any case while she was interested in their feet I noticed a couple of male "Wood ducks" in the pond.... talk about the "red eye" Gabriel even commented on them...

Friday, October 16, 2009

Well one has to start somewhere... I'll start with "watercolor painting"

My wife, Susie has been an artist since before I knew her (~25 years).  I had been attending the end of semester class critiques for her watercolor class for a year or two.  After a couple of "class critiques" I thought that maybe I could try this out, mostly to try and share one of my wifes passions.

I didn't really have any great expectations, BUT I've really enjoyed the class and really enjoyed painting.  I'm 56 years old and haven't drawn a picture since 5th grade any NEVER painted any. 

Train Engine in a Park

Aspen Trees starting to change

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Hmmm. My wife has been running a blog for some time... She calls it Tales From Table Rock. It's very interesting BUT she has HER perspective. While it's a GOOD one, it is only ONE... My goal is to offer MY (the male) perspective.... Actually I find it impossibly difficult to comment on blogs I "Stumble Upon" (see www.stumbleupon.com)...

So now I have a "blog" I can use to comment on other blogs....