Moving right along...

It was a 'week'. Charlie is feeling 100% better. He seems more chipper and brighter since his surgery. I am now thinking that the teeth had been bothering him for a while and he just didn't know how to tell me.

He wants to go on walks and he is more attentive and playful. I'm so happy! I keep reminding him that he is on light duty. 

Sunday evening I went riding with Kristi. She rode her daughter's mare, Willow.  Willow is Haflinger and pony cross. I absolutely adore Willow as does Sunshine. Sorry, I didn't get a shot of Willow.

Willow looks much like a small horse I had called Lily. 

Lily was Halflinger and Arab which meant she was small, tough, and had a go get 'em attitude. Rich rode her in team penning and I rode her trail riding and she never missed a step and had so much stamina!

Willow is Halflinger and pony cross and is the same size as Sunshine. Willow and my old horse Lily were caramel colored with flaxen flowing manes and tails. If I was to keep a horse from this point forward, I would definitely want one just like Willow.

Here is Sunshine after our ride. Yeah, I took scissors to her bridle path and did a crap job of it. I'll need to roach her mane again. 

Monday was saddle cleaning morning for me. I am pretty convinced that these saddles hold no huge value as they are not even made anymore. They weren't top of the line when I purchased them. 

The one in back is one of my favorites. It has a name on it 'El Dorado' and is a 13" seat. I've had it for 36 years. I've kept it clean and oiled. 

The one in front is a Circle Y with a 14" seat. 

I used it mainly for trail riding. I took it to the Amish for a good oiling and they really screwed up by getting oil on the suede seat. Honestly it wasn't a top notch saddle but it is 31 years old and Rich bought one to match for our wedding. I still have both saddles.

Who has wedding saddles???? 

I'm keeping Siera off from the pastures with clover and she has stopped gimping along. She and Sundance are browsing on some of the weeds and are getting hay on the side. They are not happy about being confined to this area, but it seems to be helping Siera. 

Mr. Pony is doing yard work for me. Every few weeks I graze him on this hillside next to the shed, he picks out all the delicious stuff first and then goes back and works on the grasses leaving the weeds for me to mow.

Once he finishes this section, I move him to the next. You can't see his water pan, but he has water available which is refreshed twice a day. 

If I recall right, this guy has been doing yard work for us for nearly 30 years. He eats, fertilizes, and provides us with constant laughs.

Here is Little Richard and Mr. Morris 19 years ago hanging out together. Little Richard loves the gravel driveway, he can lay down and itch his back and so many times he'll sleep on it.

He also serves as a guard pony. 

You cannot pass ... unless you pet me! Photo taken in 2009.

Repost from 2016

 

It is August and I finally got to the horse trailer to pull out all the tack and give it a good cleaning. Hubby no longer uses any of his saddles and ... it has been over a year since I've used any of mine.

Funny though, as I cleaned this black Stonewall Saddle I went down memory lane with memories of my first rides on Siera.

From 2016...my third ride on Siera--->

Every animal definitely has their own character.  Siera is one of those.  

We hadn't ridden off the farm since March 22, 2015 when hubby and I went looking for antlers last year after his cancer diagnosis.  I did take Siera for a short ride on March 29th of last year, but I've only ridden her two other times.
Once with Lily and Fred and once a few weeks ago.

Siera said NO, I am not going into the woods!
I said, yes, we are.
It took some coaxing but we headed down my hiking/riding trail.  

Siera stared at the logs that had fallen into the ditch.  She gave it a once over and then stepped across.  She kept turning her head and looking through the woods towards the summer pasture.  She twisted her head and shook it, nodding her nose up and down.

Siera was protesting leaving her farm/paddock buddies.  She was peeved.  Yet she moved forward.  I wanted to see if I could get her through a section of trail I'd just cleared this fall and winter.  
However she decided she was not going there.

NO
Yes.  Gently I asked her.

NO, I said NO, I mean NO, okay but under protest.

We were able to get through the mess of downed trees and to the first big ditch.  I was slightly surprised by the amount of water in the ditch.  The dirt was black and inky.

NO! Alert! Killer Mule Ditch, eats mules alive, out of shape fat molly mules named Siera.  NO!

Really Siera? However I just walked her along the edge of the ditch and looked around.  She began to sweat behind the ears and act irritated.  I let her stand for a moment before I turned her away.  I'd told my husband that I'd only work Siera on the eastern hillside section.  This path would take us beyond that.  And I could see that I needed to do a bit more trimming to keep the sapling branches from poking our eyes out.

I turned her away and we wove back up in the general direction of the farm.

Thank Goodness, Pony Woman, have you lost your mind and sense of direction? Home, yes, Home!

When we got to the up hill trail, the one I use often to go check for morels, wildflowers, and sometimes the round about way to the road and mail box...I turned Siera.

NO, you idiot.  Home is not this way!

Protest from my mule.  Head bobbing and shaking.  Her ears twisted back and forth and I asked her politely and then forcefully to take the trail.  And we went.
By the time we reached the top of the hill she was breathing hard but still flopping her head up and down and acting a bit homesick.
I decided to tie her up and let her calm down.
This is why I always ride with a rope halter.

I did an equipment check and then sat down on a stump and listened to Fred bray at home.  When in the paddock together he acted as if Siera was his mortal enemy.  When she was gone, he cried like a lovesick child.

Really? Tied to a tree Pony Woman?  Oh never mind, this calms me.  I can stand and relax.  I like this tree, do you like this tree?  It is a friendly tree. Hi nice tree, how are you?  

Siera seemed to calm down once tied to a tree.  Now I have never figured that out. If she is nervous, tie her to a tree and she'll just stand there.  Odd mule.

After she relaxed we rode my eastern hillside trails a few times, making a big circle.  Siera made a nice trail to follow so it will be easier once the leaves start to come back.  At first she tried to charge going down hill.  Each time she did, I turned her around and had her work back up hill.

YES, down down, let's go.  Home, home.  Uh-oh, NO! Not back up. Oh darn.
Okay, you win, I will walk like a sensible mule.  This is hard work and I don't like hard work.

We ended our ride on a very pleasant note, the last time we did the trail her ears were flopping and she was relaxed although a bit sweaty.
We went home.  I had to fill the stock tank and Siera had to cool down.  I tied her to the trailer and turned the hydrant on.

Then I went back and mounted Siera.  It was time for standing still while doing nothing with a rider on your back.

Boring.  I see grass.  Can I have grass? Please?  Oh you won't notice if I sneak forward and grab grass.  Oh darn you!

We had moved the Dexter cows due to give birth in the next few months out of their winter area and onto a grassy area.  I thought I'd ride Siera up between the buildings and up the narrow lane to check on them.
We got between the buildings and Siera froze.  At first I clucked and then tapped her with a foot.  She shook her head and backed up.

YOU idiot!  That could be a monster!  See that piece of nasty orange rusted metal? It could eat mules.  Let me look at it.  Let me look at it!

I sat and wondered why she was suddenly frozen and being obstinate.  I waited. Her head moved up and down, she sniffed.  I then did a slight kiss and she moved on through.

I'd forgotten the golden rule with Siera.  She needs to look some things over and convince herself that it isn't dangerous.  We walked passed Thor who ran and brayed in his paddock, she ignored him.  We went back to see the Dexters.  Siera acted curious.

Stupid cows.  You get the fine new grass pasture.  I get bupkiss.  I am still in a paddock.  Why are you so special?  What? Can't you talk? Dumb cows.  At least I am useful.  See? 

I sat on her and she watched the Dexters who watched her.  Finally we went around the other side to go check on their stock tank of water.

UH oh.  This could be a trap.  No, yes, no.  Maybe.  That black thing, it is a grill. Yes that is where they cook bad mules who don't behave.  Wait.  They don't eat mules.  Nice people don't eat their mules, right Pony Woman?

Siera had to stop and look at the grill that was in the driveway near the outhouse. She was not going to go passed it.  I sat and let her look the situation over.  We haven't done 'yard work' together in a long time.  

We finished all the chores that I could do, riding from one area of the yard to another and then I took her back to the trailer and curried her out.  She was dry and seemed to like it.

Nice lady, you are nice.  Gotta scratch right there, a little to the left please.  Oh much better.  Maybe I'll be good next time we ride together.  Maybe, a mule doesn't always make promises, especially if they are a molly mule.  We are known for having a female temper sometimes.

I turned her out and watched her find a dry spot to roll in.  I felt good.  I hadn't realized exactly how much I loved our forest adventures together.  I really needed to ride more.

PS... The photos of Siera are with her winter coat and before she gets a haircut. Normally, in the summer she is beyond stunning to look at!

I'm thinking. I may use my next nice days with Respite to take some riding time on my gals. It will only be in their mowed pasture, but heck, at least I can back in the saddle and chill out.

Sunshine and Changes

The end of July is here, that means I start to think only of riding. It seems that I spend the spring and part of summer tending to everything else but riding.

I had hired Molly to help me with things around the farm and sadly that only lasted two weeks. She stopped coming over and then after the lost dog incident she took off to who knows where.

[The dog was found alive 5 days later in a creek bottom about 1/2 mile from their house!]

With Rich's PT schedule which is 3 times a week, I have to rethink my whole weekly plans. 

Thankfully with the nicer weather and the yard and gardens all doing quite nicely, I turned to my other summer project. I dove into saddle and tack cleaning.

Most of our tack is kept in the horse trailer as the tack room Rich was 'gonna' build in the shed never happened. I have 3 saddles that I do use. So I keep all my gear for Siera and Sunshine in good shape.

The saddle shown below was a custom built saddle for me. It even has my 

name stamped on it. 
It is a nice mule saddle. The only drawback is, it is heavy.

My Mule Saddle is always ridden with a britchen as the places I ride are steep. This saddle would slide forward on those steep downhills. I use a crupper on the lighter saddles but am thinking of using a britchen on the other western Simco saddle too.

While I was cleaning and inspecting the gear, I tried to think of how old these items where. The britchens are well over 30 years old. The Simco saddle I purchased in 1991 at Midwest Horse Fair in Madison WI.

Anyway the Mule Saddle looks like this when being used:

Old photo from 2009 with me on Siera at Wildcat parking area

What britchens look like on our mule Mica who is fully retired now:

So I got off track with all the saddle stuff.

In the evening I caught up Sunshine and planned on taking her out and about on the ridge to visit some neighbors.

So, the little mule herd decided to run, buck, fart, and carry on when I came out to catch my red mule.

The turds! I caught up Sunshine and tied her to the shade tree just as I always do. As soon as I walked off to get a brush and other grooming tools, she brayed and started to paw and shake her head.

She calmed down when I groomed her and saddled her but was all wiggly and sketchy. 

Hmmm. I decided to do a bit of 'ground' work with her to check her attitude since this was so unusual. Her sister didn't help by running the fence line in another area and screaming.

Finally! After a few commands on a long line, she was ready to listen. I got on and sat. I explained to her that behaving stupidly was not in my best interests. 

We rode to the ridge to get the mail. Once we reached the mailbox, she was all mule business and eager to ride. 

I kept it short and simple. We stopped to watch deer.

She went back to her calm and chilled little self. 

When I got home I put her in what we call The Jenny Craig paddock. I put Siera in there too. Both Siera and Sunshine are super easy keepers and probably a bit on the fat side. If they are handy and not out back where it is harder to get them, it is easier for me to grab one for a ride. Be it a short one or a longer one.

I plan on evening rides and exercising them. 

At least, that is my goal.

[Separated from their buddies, even just by a mere hot wire, they both are now self exercising by walking back and forth. Rich said they are self lunging. In a few days, they will get over it.]

As I was putting gear away after our short ride, I saw my neighbor walking with a young couple that had a baby and a young one around the edge of the woods.

I guess the house at the top of the hill must be for sale. 

Huh.

Eventually I will have to break in yet another set of neighbors?

Changes. 

At least I still have my beautiful girls, Charlie, and of course, hubby.

Our days of riding together are gone, but I still have the memories of all of our fun adventures:

History of Horses and Mules

For my friends with equines. I have a fun post. Show me memories!

I'm going to give a nod to Aurora for making me think about this. 

I started out riding and falling off as pure entertainment for my mom and her family. My uncle gave us rides his old horse Babe. To get two rides done at once we'd often ride double. After this shot was taken, my sister and I got to giggling so hard, I fell off and got stepped on in the mushy mud by Babe. I'm the one with the glasses. Yes, we could ride Babe in the pen with no bridle, she was that cool of a horse.

This was to be the first of many misadventures while spending time with my cousins in the summer. My uncle trained horses and had come from one of the last Calvary units in WWII. He was quiet and never raised his voice, but we knew he meant business when he got after us kids. MMMM. Like the time he made us wash the inside of his 3 stall mini barn after we'd blown up mice with firecrackers in the feed barrels and got into a manure fight.

I often got to ride one of Lyle's clients' horses. Very often there wasn't enough saddles to go around. If 4 of us went riding. Only 2 or 3 could have adult saddles. I often got a pad to ride on or went without.

If we went in a group, I'd generally get the shit little pony we all loved and hated. His name was Thunder. If you can see in the photo, Thunder has a snaffle tied to a leather strap and I have twine strings for reins. 

My cousins and us would head out at night after our parents headed out to the bars or to dance. We'd ride the back roads and look for trouble. Yeah. We found it often. We'd even saddle up and head to the dump where we'd shoot rats. No TV? No internet? No problem!

My uncle died. Our horse summers were over. But my wish to have my own horse never ever left my mind. Eventually I was able to get a horse. My first one was Red. An ugly headed red horse that was incredible. He was calm as a cucumber and powerful. He was supposed to be a quarter horse. Next was Cheyanne. I purchased her as green broke. I was green broke too. I had no idea what I was doing and had wished that I'd spent more time watching my uncle train horses.

There was Rocky who came to our place for retirement. An elderly Saddlebred who was trained and had been shown and... had been a lesson horse until the owner no longer wanted him. Nothing fazed him ever. Except leaving the property. Nope, to get past the property line you had to hand walk him sometimes backwards and then he seemed to be okay with it. I am sure I never became the horse person to understand all of his intricate cues and level of training. 

I'll skip through the next few years. I kept Chey, sold Red to my sister, gave Rocky away... divorced...met a man who had mules...married the mule man. Ceremony on mules. 

Mule man thought Cheyanne ought to be bred to a Jack. He also thought we should buy a Jack Donkey and that I should own and train ... and show a mule from said Donkey named Bruce.

Mind you, I was still STILL no trainer. And the Huge Lanky 3 year old mule was Green Broke. Those who owned him didn't like him much and didn't think he'd amount to much.

I'm going to skip the whole training thing. Basically because I am not a trainer. The equine train me and mules have taught me to be a partner in every sense of the word.

Badger. 15 hands. Here is with me waiting while I scour the hillside looking for Morel Mushrooms. Hubby had a custom saddle built for me. 

Nice saddle. Not my favorite as it is heavy and my shoulders sucked.

Badger at WildCat with Sunshine. I'm riding in my Simco with a britchen. Yeah, I swapped English leather for the western ones. My knees like it and I can swing my feet out of the way of stumps and brush in the woods. The britchen keeps the saddle from sliding forward. Mules generally do not have much in the way of withers. Back cinch and britchen or crupper keeps the saddle secure on downhill mule slides.

After the elbow surgery, I thought I'd go this way. Why not? This saddle was easy to put on and great for ridge riding. Sucked at hills. This is Siera. Badger was ill at this time and I was working with another mule that was training me.

Opal the hateful mule. She hated people. In the last few years her life, hubby turned her over to me. A mule who could not be caught, who was ear shy from the old methods of earing down, and who DID not trust humans...became my friend.

It took months and months for this to happen. And when we bonded? It was amazing. Hubby told me I'd never catch that Bitch. Opal was purchased by hubby specifically for team penning and gymkhana. It was a real Hate relationship. But she would preform under saddle.

I scored this Stonewall saddle all beat up and not all there. I called Stonewall and had them ship me the missing pieces. I'm going to say this is my absolute favorite saddle. Super duper lightweight and easy to ride in.

Don't read the link above on Opal if you don't have tissues handy. 
She was still with me and riding at 28 yrs young. And she was a speed mule, she could turn a barrel... and when a deer spooked her by actually springing out of a cornfield and running into us...

Opal did a 180 mid air spin and land at a gallop. She was an amazing athlete. Yeah, I think I nearly wet my pants, BUT I didn't lose the berry bucket!

In this photo, she is giving me her idea of waiting while I pick black berries in the woods.

There is Mica, who I still ride once in a while. She is a non comitted mule. She won't commit to a favorite human. They are just beings to serve her. If you are in the mood to groom? She is your friend. She is mostly retired now.

Photo below is at WildCat, a picnic break on the Yellow Trail I think.

There is Fred. He is 35 years old now. 

Our littlest mule. And most loved mule. 

Fred has probably the longest list of riders on him. 

And that leaves me with the last photos. Sunshine. The daughter of my first horse. Truly a beautiful red head. A good trail mule. A nice sized mule.

I've had her now longer than I've had Badger. We are getting there. 

I mean ... we absolutely are THE best of pals.

I was there when she was born.