Mudder Day...

Becoming a mom was one of the coolest things that ever happened to me. 

I was a mom to little humans....that grew up....

Mom to mules....

Mom to dogs....

[many dogs!]

The mom responsibilities have now been passed on to the moms of my grandkids and I hope they all have a wonderful and beautiful day.

We will enjoy some company today from Jason and his dogs along with some time outdoors.

Quiet and uneventful is a good thing.

To all you Mudders out there, have a good Mother's Day.

 

A bit of Equine Stuff

Busy morning! This time hubby didn't wake me at 4 am! Whoo Hoo!

Our old pony is starting to show his advanced age. This past winter has been hard on him. He gets a stall inside at night as he is the only one who won't try and rip things apart. Throughout the winter he has had access to places where he can not only eat hay, but he could search for greens.

I checked our paperwork and we got him as a 4 yr old from our friends in Missouri. I always thought he was a 2 yr old when we got him. That would put his age at 32. This is the first year that I've seen him lose weight. 

He was a very happy camper all this week when I found patches of green for him to be tethered out on.

He is our weed whacker and trimmer for tough spots.

In all of his years of being tied out, he has never ever damaged a vehicle nor has he ever gotten tangled up. 

This is 15 years ago when I had him tied to the tractor.

He surely has had a good long life being a Guard/Yard Pony. His first job on our place was being a teaser for our mares. His retirement job is Guard Pony and Entertainment Pony.

Here he is ON Guard in 2009. I physically had to get out and move him out of the way.  

He is such a handsome fellow with such a fine temperament. He can prance and dance like a fancy high stepping pony. But considering that he has been handled every day since he arrived here, he is a breeze to lead around.

I love how he talks to me with his wee little whinny every morning and evening. He wants to make sure that I don't forget him.

And since I was going through older shots, I came upon a photo of our old 'string' of riding mules in 2005.

Left to right. Henry, Badger, Pipes, and Patchy. All from our Jack named Bruce. All half brothers.

Rich's main mount was Henry and mine was Badger.

Patchy now works in North Carolina as a pack mule doing training exercises with the military and was used to pack in supplies after last year's hurricane.

The others are no longer with us but always in our hearts. These guys were our 'cool' dudes.

Another quiet rainy, misty, cold yucky day in WI!

Ice Bubbles?... At The Spot

Ice Bubbles and a little history of photos for The Spot.

 Amazing ice bubbles?

I've seen these before but never tried to photograph them to show their depth and bizarre-ness.

This is at our creek along 'the wall' where the tiny trout hang out. I've always seen itty bitty bubbles come up from the bottom of this spot.

Apparently they froze and spread out as they got to the surface of the water [it is deep and very still in this spot]. Then the next bubbles froze in layers? 

The ice was very thin and clear. If our weather stays below freezing in the valley, this spot would eventually freeze over and I wouldn't get to see the bubble ice!

We didn't find any Blue Birds or Robins this time around, however the Nuthatches, Juncos, and Chickadees were all busy in the area.

This is the same spot with Charlie and I a few years ago.

The same spot in the spring of 2018 during a snow melt...

...and since I've been photographing this 'spot' as it changes for 20 years, here is a photo of me on my mule Badger who was 15 hands at this spot in 2005 when this 'spot' was dry and the creek ran trickled just in back of my mule.

Since then different flash floods have slightly changed the depth of the creek and the route. Trees have fallen across areas and water has swirled out deep pools where the ice bubbles formed.

The area has deepened which would be obvious in comparing the photo with me on Badger to the one with me holding Charlie.

It is my Spot.

I hike there nearly daily.

Years ago with Morris and I.

Since these shots were taken, the trees that are above me have finally given in to gravity and nearly lay on the ground now.

I think it is time to take an update photo of me in the same spot if I can get around all the fallen trees.

My first equine love...

I had many though...
My uncle raised horses and we rode them in the summer. I learned about horsemanship from my cousins. We rode bareback a lot because my uncle only had a couple of saddles. My mom promised us girls that one day we could have horses.

We had to make that promise happen ourselves.

Cheyanne came with me when I moved across the state to be with Rich.

She was half Arab and half Quarter horse. She floated when she trotted and had the nicest lope in the world. 

We were so bonded in so many ways. Below is when she had Sunshine who is now 26 years old. Chey was having trouble so I went out and helped.

She crossed the Rainbow Bridge at 28 years old. You can read what I wrote about her then: The Rainbow Bridge and a poem I wrote for her called Friend.

At that time I'd already fallen for my first mule I'd ever owned. Badger was my soul mate and pure of heart. There was absolutely nothing he would not do for me. Below is a photo of me on Badger with my dog in my lap. We were headed out into the neighbor's wild woods to pick black berries. He watched over me and kept me safe.

I do have to mention that Sunshine has been with me the longest. She is special in a way I cannot describe and like her half brother Badger, she watches over me at all times even when I am not riding her.

I guess she is special to me as she is Cheyanne's daughter and has proven over and over again that human - mule love is special.

I am so lucky to have a second generation equine from my first horse.

Thanks so Lori and Sandra for this idea!

Holy Cow, What a Ride!

Rich was supposed to take me for a nice long picnic ride for my b-day, but we decided to take a ride in the neighbor's timber instead and not go too far as Chey is due to foal.

Okay, so we go to the back valley and do some tricky mule maneuvers to get through the mess that the flash floods left last year.
We ended up jumping the mules 'in hand' over about 4 downed trees. [Very cool!]

Then I decided to stop behind Rich and take some pictures. Rich's mule, Mica, was being a turd so I let them get up by the creek...
I stepped Badger into the tall weeds and grass that nearly touched his belly.

So camera in hand, I asked Badger to take one step...

He did...and the next thing I knew is that I was hollering 'OH S**t!'...

I had no idea what happened except that a hen turkey came up past my head at the same time I hollered...I felt Badger move...

~~and the next thing I think is~~~

I wonder where in the h*ll is my saddle ?

I'm holding the camera, hubby is laughing, and Badger is standing stock still like a statue.

Badger had levitated me right out of the saddle.


I was sitting on his neck!

HIS NECK!

Now how goofy is that?

Rich said Badger probably stepped on the hen and got pecked. Well Mr. Badger went straight up in the air like magic...all 4 feet off the ground.

[Badger has had turkeys fly up under him before with a ho-hum attitude]

Rich said when I hollered Badger turned into a statue.

I did an un-graceful dismount off his neck and hugged that mule long and hard.

Damn I love this mule...I surely do.

Strange but very true.

Pausing on a rainy sleety day

First off, I am totally excited that my Granddaughter Ariel will be coming to spend next Friday with us. She'll stay over night.

She turns 19 next Friday. Where on earth did all those years go???

Here are some photos from years past. 

Ariel brought so much into our lives over the years. Her folks used to come often to visit and would drop her off at our house while they stayed the weekend at my Mother in Law's large house.

Ariel wanted to be like Grandma Val with a 
backpack and camera...

Dancing with Grandpa Rich in the yard.

Helping Great Grandma Lenise

Helping Grandpa with chores

Riding Badger

Ariel let me know last month that she was planning on driving up her new to her car that she bought on her own to visit us. She'd been wanting to do a solo trip on her own for a while.

She is no longer a child but a grown up. She is working on getting her own apartment and place to live which is not easy right now. 

Secretly, I'd love it if she moved near us and worked at one of the nicest places around "Go Macro".  I doubt that will happen but I could wish it.

I'm not her 'blood' grandma, but I sure do love her.

I always have enjoyed our time spent together. She is a quiet person with a great imagination and is very intense in her sense of responsibilities.

I am looking forward to her visit as is Grandpa.

The good ol' days

Sunday night I spent time reading some other blogs of folks who own horses. I found their blogs from reading someone I follow. So I went back in time to when I rode nearly every single day and did some reminiscing. I found a photo that reminded me of the best relationship I ever had with an equine.

There is Badger the mule and Morris the JRT. Rich bought Morris for me at the last attempt I made to show Badger at a Show. 

I recall 'getting the gate' and walking out disappointed. A man walked up to me and asked me if I was okay. Yeah, I am. Then the man asked me if I'd rather trade halters with any of the other mules in the arena...for a moment I was confused.

Then I said, "Oh hell no. this mule is my soulmate." 

He nodded and then said, "So you have the best mule for you."

I quit showing, more because Rich had issues with traveling and face it, Badger would rather wander the woods with me than go in an arena. This mule got to be so bonded with me that he absolutely knew where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do. 

Once while riding on a road, a two men stopped to talk with me. One fella was aggressive and came right up to touch me. Badger pinned his ears and bared his teeth.

So nearly every day, I would ride out on Badger and do something, carrying my small pocket camera and we always had Morris along. 

I lost Badger in 2012. And for a long time I found it hard to ever give that sort of heart or trust to another animal.

So.

Done with the backwards. On to the forwards.

Sunshine is Badger's half sister out of our Jack and my mare. She is proving to be much like Badger in temperament. I don't ride as often now especially since the 4 wheelers like to invade the woods next door. But I still yearn to be in the saddle.

Sunshine was our first foal we raised. The rest were sold of course and did well with their lives. No one wanted this little red mule.

Funny.

Sunshine and Badger were the first two mules I trained. Or should I say ... they trained me?

I hope to get out a lot this spring and do some exploring during the times that the 4 wheelers are NOT around. They show up on the weekends and almost never before noon. 

Well, there it is. Reminiscing about the good ol' days.

I miss you Badger!

PS~ Please do not think I am not all for showing an equine! My experience with Badger showed me that to be a singular unit we had to appreciate each other's faults and strengths. 

Our curiosity was in the forest and not in the arena. Our trust was in each other. I've got that with Sunshine and Siera so I consider myself luckier than most equine owners.

Soulmates

The horse that started it all. Her name was Cheyanne and I purchased her for about $400 green broke. I was green broke too. She taught me so much about equine. She was super sensitive to human attitudes. 
Her awareness of her rider's mental state was hypersensitive.

She did a stint in 4 H with Horseless Horse riders and went to state with a rider. 

Unfortunately that atmosphere was not her forte. She did well but stressed out so badly especially when her rider came out of the arena and started to slap Chey because she didn't get first place. 
The rider blamed Cheyanne. Interestingly enough the rider's mother came up to me and complained that I should have made them do better and they would win next year.

I asked the rider to dismount and told mom that her daughter would never touch my horse again.

I ended up moving from the Kenosha area out to the western part of the state. 

I started riding mules and Cheyanne was bred to our Jack. Her first daughter, Sunshine has that floating trot that Chey had. Cheyanne was 1/2 Arab and 1/2 Quarter horse. We never were quite sure which breed would show up while riding her. If we had really tough trails, she would be calm. If it was boring, she would look for monsters. That was Chey.

Rich purchased a big tall lanky mule for me in Missouri out of our Jack. His name was Badger. If ever I had a soulmate in equine form, Badger was it.

I had to finish 'training' him and by doing that, I learned so much more about mules and their loyalties. We showed in Western Pleasure, played at Gymkhana, and explored wild woods nearly every day together.

The man who 'started' Badger under saddle said he was worthless and no good. He didn't have heart and sulled out all of the time. 

Badger was 15 hands and thought he was tiny. For the rest of his life he did not tolerate big male people. 

He even tried Endurance Riding with me. We never won anything, but we always passed vet checks with a great score card.

He adored little people.

We lost Badger in 2012 and I struggled to find another soul mate. 

Sunshine is Badger's half sister out of Cheyanne without the Cheyanne attitude. We also had Siera a Peruvian Paso mule with an amazing attitude. 

Sunshine is steady. She has had her moments, but has turned into one of the best wild wood mounts I've ever had. She is small enough to go morel hunting with, easy on and off, and confident in solo riding.

Siera is an amazing ride. On the flat she can gait out like nothing I've ever ridden. She is calm when she has company and a bit nervous solo. She rarely gets bothered if her rider doesn't understand what they are doing. She just stops what she is doing and waits.
Best thing of all, when she is frightened she just stands there. Siera is the ultimate in lazy.

At first I thought Siera would be my next pure mule soulmate. 

The more I interact with my mules, the more I have discovered that Sunshine, that little red mule that everyone laughed at...has become my little darling. 

Every day at chore time. She comes and stands before me and waits for me. She is kind and attentively listens to my daily troubles and offers only her friendship.

She never runs away from me when I have a halter.

She is like her half brother. True through and through. 

My beautiful redhead.

There I go ... Memory Lane. Mules, horses, life, and love.

I can't wait to go riding again!

I may have take Siera or Sunshine out when the weather warms up and do some snow play.

Have a great day.

Goodbye Morris.

Here is Charlie helping me, sort of. He is actually just playing in the yard and amusing himself while I dig out the hostas from around the pine trees in the yard.

Those hostas needed thinning a few years ago. Yesterday afternoon was when I decided to do it.
Well, there is a reason behind it.
Morris left us in February and I couldn't bury him. I know. It sounds disgusting and strange, but there you go. We froze him.

Morris always without fail ran to these two trees and peed on the hostas or the tree itself every single morning and night. It simply was his personal place.

I wanted to spruce up that section of yard anyway. I was tired of the same old thing year after year. The hostas look great in the spring and so tired and crummy by late summer. Perhaps a nice hosta and two colors of impatiens would look good.

There was several minutes of crushing heart ache as I placed Morris in the ground. I held his head and cried like a baby, wailing just loud enough to make Charlie cry. It is with the final act of kindness and deepest love that I placed him in his favorite spot.
I'll never quite get over Morris. I never have gotten over the other pet losses I've had over the years. Each dog has always take a special part of my heart with them.

Goodbye buddy, I hope to see you on the other side.

I hope you found Badger and the two of you are reunited.

Badger Update

This will probably be the very last update on Badger and his continued battle with COPD or Equine ROA.

Badger got into some toxic mold in the spring of 2009.  It nearly killed him within 24 hours.  Since then, we have tried medications and steroids.

Despite living outside and getting a dust free hay and environment ... well the best that we could provide, he did fairly okay.

The first year I could still ride him.  The second year, it was spotty.  This year.  I rode him one last time, in May.

True to himself, he walked slowly and we enjoyed watching the sun go down together as we often have over the years.

I didn't know then how he would fare in our unusual hot and humid [sometimes hot dry and dusty] weather.

We have found Badger's resting place, it will not be too far from the house.  This is a photo of him this morning out the window 'pre-dawn'.  I haven't taken many photos of him in the last year because his condition has continued to worsen and well, simply put.  He looks pretty tough.
I have finally come to terms with this.  I cannot let him suffer any longer.
He can barely eat because breathing is so difficult for him.
Yet I do not want to lose my friend of 17 years.
I am hoping that today we can send him over the rainbow bridge to the Merry Meadow where he'll join up with Cheyanne [my old mare], and Xena [Badger and my first terrier].
********
 
When I am gone release me, let me go,
I have so many things to see and do.
You musn't tie yourself to me with tears,
Be happy that we had so many years.

I gave you love and you can only guess
How much you gave me of happiness
I thank you for the love you have shown,
But now it's time I travelled on alone.

So grieve a while for me, if grieve you must
Then let your grief be comforted by trust,
It's only for a while that we must part
So bless the memories within your heart.

I won't be far away, for life goes on,
Though you can't see or touch me, I'll be near,
And if you listen with your heart you'll hear,
All my love around you soft and clear.

And then when you must come this way alone,
I'll be there to greet you with a smile and a
"Welcome Home"