Teenage Trouble Maker

Seriously, if my Mustang pony makes it through her "teenage" years without any injuries I will be surprised.
Not only is she a high risk-taker, like loping small circles on snowy icy ground as she's waiting for me to feed in the morning....she pulls stunts like the one she got herself into Christmas Eve morning.

Who me? 

Yep, that is my Luna....after the scene of the Christmas Eve morning crime as we worked to repair fence. We got a call at 8 a.m. from our neighbor who tells us we've got fence down that borders the Ranch horse field in multiple places. Oh, and Luna is running loose with the Ranch horse herd of 30+ horses in a 20+ acre field......and OH- did I forget to mention that we are two hours away at my sister Paint Girl's for the holiday at the time? Talk about feeling helpless!

We called Ranch Boy's mother who lives on the other side of us (and owns 30+ said ranch horses.) They find Luna hanging out with her equine neighbors. Luckily, My Boy, who is too leery and respectful of fencing to even walk over downed wire that is probably not hot, stayed put. It was a Christmas miracle because I never would have caught him amongst the 30 horses and 20 acres!

One of the pastures behind my horse's pasture, that I used to keep My Boy in. It is closed off from my horses right now so that by next spring it can re-grow and be used for grazing. Luna got into this pasture, these are her tracks from her escape in the fresh snow (about 6" fell the night before Christmas Eve, on top of at least 4" we already had!) There was fence down on the left, as well as straight ahead.

The hot-wire tape was off the t-posts there are broken clips in multiple spots. Ranch Boy's mom and our neighbors patched the fence the best they could. RB's mom thought she'd have to get a halter, catch Luna, and lead her out of the herd pasture back to our pasture. But Luna followed her around the whole time so RB's mom just used her belt around her neck, had our neighbor hold down the fence and led her back over!

When we got home several hours later Ranch Boy and I spent 2 hours fixing fence and got it working again. I did remember an incident while feeding my ponies a few days earlier where Luna was touching the top strand with her chest and not reacting like she should have.....I should have made the connection that perhaps the fence was shorting out somewhere and not hot.  Luckily Luna was not hurt and although we don't know if elk or deer messed with the fence first (it had been patched when we got home but seeing how messed up it was from the broken clips, in multiple spots around the pasture, I almost have a hard time believing one little bay mare could do quite that number on it....) However, I am pretty certain she was the culprit as it is not the first time she has escaped.....but I do love how my "wild" pony is so easy to deal with (like catching) after the little teenage messes and escapades she gets herself into! I have no doubt to learn that mustangs are no sissies and open to adventure.....mine only lived in a wild herd until she was about 5 months of age....then she was brought in with her dam to the BLM corrals, where for a year she dealt with that lifestyle. She is not "wild" at all, her heart is very curious- why she'd rather follow people around and look for cookies then run off with her freedom with 30 new friends is beyond me!

Since I am 5 months pregnant and we have snow and ice on the ground, Miss Luna is getting time off to just be a pasture pony and grow, so it is going to be a good wake-up call for her next early summer when she gets a job again!

Happy 2013 everyone~ here's to hoping that our ponies stay safe and warm through the winter and into the new year!!

Ranch Girl

Nice Treat From Farrier

This was a special holiday note that we got from a farrier that the ranch used once last summer in a pinch. He is not the ranch's regular farrier nor mine, but I thought this was a very nice idea for customers or potential customers. We got a note and a coupon for discounted trims this winter, a sprig of greenery and a candy cane. I feel like it's too late this year, but I do need to get myself organize to do a little something for the farriers and other horsey people that helps us with our equines, too!

I liked this farrier and wouldn't hesitate to use him in a pinch, but I like the farrier I am using. My Boy is great for him, but as a yearling Luna is still learning.  Needless to say she tests his patience but he is patient with her. Last time she was trimmed she was pulling a lot on her hind leg and he took her from me and walked a few feet away and just worked on yielding her hind and front end a little, as well as backing up, etc. She responded well to him and I think was quite surprised to be put to work a bit. He brought her back over and she was fine on that hind as he finished. He also tries to use the hoof stands off and on which she tolerates a little but needs to get used to. I'm partially guilty and am not handling her legs and hooves as much as I should, at least not now that winter is here. I was pretty good about it last spring and summer.

Did you do anything special for your horsey farrier's or vets this time of year?

I can't believe Christmas is almost here!

Ranch Girl

Santa's Reindeer?

On a cold snowy morning......

.......what to their wondering eyes did appear?

Could it be Santa's reindeer?

Alas, it was just two bull elk and a cow.

This morning I heard a truck drive by the house then stop. I looked out and he was idling on the road. I decided I'd better check the horses. When I went to the door I immediately saw three what I thought at first were horses, in the field back behind my horses' pasture.

The elk were trying to decide how to get over the fence. Problem was, they were facing 30 head of horses in the other pasture, electric fence all around, a road on one side, houses and pastures on the other.....They were very perplexed. I watched them just hoping they didn't mess with the fences. Miss Luna and My Boy were very interested. My Boy eventually gave up and went back to his hay but Luna was transfixed. Better get used to them now girlie, we run into them on the trail sometimes!

Look closely (sorry, super zoomed photo on a pocket digital) can you see how big the racks are on the bulls? Eventually they head toward the right corner of the back fence, to cross the road and head to the river. I saw cars flying down the road without a clue- a large motor coach bus with four cars behind it. Luckily the driver appeared to have spotted one of the bulls as he crossed the bar ditch and started up towards the road, so he slowed his vehicle. Of course, some impatient idiot (they run rampant around here) in an SUV had to go around the motor coach, without a clue that he could be hitting an 800 animal at 65 mph. Luckily the bull panicked and turned back. They waited a bit longer, then the bulls eventually crossed. The cow couldn't seem to figure out their route through the downed fence, so she leaped the fence and away they went, safe from cars (and cars safe from them......)

By the way, did you notice that my Luna looks almost as tall as My Boy in these photos? My 3 year old was supposed to be my little mare! And look how BAY she is! I am adding a photo below from when I first got her~ can you believe it? Tracey said her color will change multiple times as she sheds out in the spring. I can't wait to see!

Have a great weekend, everyone!!

Ranch Girl

Ranch Boy Jr.

Things have sure been busy around here! First, I wanted to share some BIG news with you! Next spring there will be a baby Ranch Boy (Ranch Boy Jr.) on the ranch! That's right~ Ranch Boy and I are expecting! So a lot of exciting things on my plate these days!

Because of this, I haven't done any riding. In fact, the minute I found out I was pregnant, I stopped riding, even though one doctor said it would be okay for a little while longer. I just didn't want to take the risk. Not only of potentially losing the baby in an accident, but of just hurting my own self and then having to deal with a broken leg/neck/injury while pregnant.....not fun!  By the time I am back on my feet and have the baby thing figured out (ha ha), it will be June/July~ the perfect time to start riding again! By then, Miss Luna will certainly need a refresher course. She's as sweet as ever but I'm sure she will be a spunky monkey! I know of some local people that I might put her into a month or so of training with just to get her going for me.

Have you read this book? I got it as a gift last spring and I have really been enjoying it. I really like how the author writes, it's very descriptive and paints a good picture of the characters.

Although when reading about the author/mare's first foaling experience, I had to chuckle. When Howdy was born at the ranch, I don't think we thought or worried about half of those things. He and Ruby did get some post-vet care of course, but all the actual birth happened without human assistance.

Here is a link to the author's website:   http://www.janaharris.org/default.html

I'm sure your holidays are well under way! We might get a little more snow in the next few days....which would be nice and hopefully get me even more into the Christmas spirit! I am a bit tired of the rain and the mud it's creating. Granted, my mud is miniscule compared to the mud some people deal with (like Paint Girl) but usually we have a fairly dry snowy cold winter climate.

Until next time!

Ranch Girl

Winter Is Here?!

Ranch Boy was putting the metal trim on the run-in shed roof a week ago and Miss Luna was being her curious self. She wasn't afraid of the electric drill as he struggled getting the screws into the metal.

There isn't much that scares this girl, really. In fact, quite often she can be a pest. She destroyed one large plastic (heavy duty) water trough. I'm using a steel one now but she still gets a whole leg in there banging around. I can't wait until the spring creek is running through her pasture, I guarantee you, she'll be in there playing!

 

The other day the farrier came and as he opened the back of his truck and unload his equipment she stuck her nose right up there smelling everything, including his head. She is like an over-sized Golden Retriever. In fact, she can be borderline TOO curious or pushy.

By the way, notice the nice three strands of hot-wire in the photo above? This was new as of September because Luna found a way to get the two previous strands loose and escape. She ended up in the neighbor's yard munching away. Luckily she is easy to catch and the neighbor caught her with a rope and called us (both around 7:30 in the morning.) This was before My Boy was pastured with her. I never had problems with My Boy or Loretta with fencing, but the hot wire doesn't seem to overly bother my thick-skinned Mustang!


My ponies had a few morning breakfasts with a light dusting of snow already!

Look how wide Luna is in the chest at age 2 1/2! And how solid her legs are. They are bigger than My Boy's! Built like a John Deere, this one!

All the good rain in October helped My Boy's pasture (which has been shut off to them) grow an inkling of green grass. I turned them out there the other day as we were outside raking leaves. They were SO excited to wander into a new space (especially for Luna, she'd never been in there before) and nibble on the grass. She kept stopping just to trot around in excitement.

Later in the afternoon they ended up both on a running spree. It was a gorgeous crisp sunny afternoon and as Ranch Boy's mom said, "Sometimes I think they just like to run!" My Boy had his tail flagged and floated along, blowing and snorting. Luna just ran her little heart out, digging in like a little tank (this filly has no grace.) I had to actually let them cool down before I fed, Luna was hot and wet with sweat! I'm glad they had fun, though.

There are some nicely colored Paint horses being pastured next door for a month eating up the rest of the field and I feel bad when I feed in the morning, they stand by the fence and stare longingly at my horses' hay.

I've spoiled my ponies with apples every morning on my way to feed. There is a tree just off our front porch and they are falling off quickly, so I pick up a few and they meet me at the gate. They get two each.

Of course, I just put them on the ground under the gate to prevent (Luna) from getting nibbly.

Of course, if I am too slow or skip this, Luna starts pounding at the gate.

Pest.

Sorry about the photo quality of the pictures in this post. I've just been snapping pics on my I-phone which is definitely easier but not always the best quality, especially if I move at all things get a little blurry.

Until next time!

Ranch Girl

Howdy Halloween!

Hi friends! Holy cow where has time gone? So much has been happening! I will fill you in at a later date on ALL the details but a few major things are happening.

One, I am no longer making and selling jewelry! It was too time consuming to do the entire process from start to finish and as it wasn't my day job, it wasn't working. I am now a Stella & Dot independent stylist~ so I am still selling jewelry, I just don't have to make it!

In other news, I will be starting a new full-time job next week! I will no longer be in Education. Since I moved in with Ranch Boy I have been employed part time. This will be a reality check for me, working a 9-5. And in sales/retail, no less! I think it will be a good change for me.

I have had no riding time this fall. We had crazy wildfires which created poor air quality for nearly a month! That meant I didn't want to be outside, nor did I want to force my horses to work under those conditions. So they had a nice mellow fall. It was dry for around 5 months and now WHAM~ here are the rains! My ponies are wet and soggy!

The above photos of Luna were taken earlier in the month when it was still dry!

Here is a picture of the smoke and cloud formations from what they call the Table Mountain Fire (ignited by a huge lightning storm.)

My ponies are pasture mates now and seem to enjoy the company.....they meet me at the gate every morning for fresh apples off the tree! I try to groom them while they are eating breakfast if I get the chance....Luna loves it and even the normally wary My Boy (can't let me get too close- I might try to catch him!) has come over for some brushing once he realizes he's a bit jealous and I'm going to let him eat.

I hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween!!

Ranch Girl

Together At Last

 I moved Luna and My Boy in together last weekend.....they were SO happy!

I did this because it's easier to run an extension cord for the trough heater to one trough close to the house and not have to drain three connected hoses......you get the picture.

It's been mostly love. Poor My Boy, Miss Luna has been nagging him to "play" and he tolerates it but isn't as into it as her little 2 1/2 year old soul is.

She has also been very pesky....destroyed her water tub. Now I am using a steel one but she is still getting a leg in it! She loves to try to play and splash in the water. At this point I'm at a loss on how to keep her out of it. It's not like you can keep a horse away from their water.......

 
In the above photo my little dog Lizzie is lying in the dirt waiting for the horses to finish their grain tubs so that she can lick them clean!

Hopefully we will get some rain soon (first time in over 3 months.....) and she'll be satisfied with water falling from the sky.

Lots of exciting changes going on with me.....busy selling jewelry at an event next weekend but I'll be back to share about the happenins' in the coming weeks!

Ranch Girl

White Sock Test

Time for a poop post!

Who knew seeing these white socks would make me happy?












And yes, my little 'stang is pretty upright on those pasterns.

You see, Miss Luna has had brown dried poopy hind socks most of the summer. Her poops were cowpie (hence her nickname, "my little cowpie.")

I am not sure if her stomach is sensitive to certain hays (we feed an orchard grass, it is not overly rich.) I recently acquired some pasture grass that was not as good quality....and mixed it with the orchard. I am down to my last few bales and can not get anymore, but will have to feed what I can get this summer, possibly even timothy.

I have noticed in the last month as I pick out her pasture that Luna's poops are better piles and "pellet" like (is that what they call them apples?)

I also gave her a worming with Qwest Plus last month too, so perhaps this combined with a hay changed helped her system finally get on track!

Speaking of feet.....mister Howdy got himself in a bind a few weeks ago when he accidentally turned on his water spicket and flooded his corral.

As you can see he didn't have to stand in the water....but seemed to want to. At least we know he doesn't mind getting his feet wet!

And I had to share this one. Yes, there is a hole in the back of that shed and it needs to be patched! Silly yearling just loves to see what is on the other side.

Have a great weekend!

Ranch Girl

Glass Pastures

I have been cleaning up my pastures (mostly Luna's) for months. As horses "erode" pastures down, lots of treasures are found. In My Boy's pasture when I first put him in there, I found that he scuffed up plenty of old wire pieces buried in the dirt.

I feed each of my horses their hay in two piles spread across the pasture. This provides me a chance to walk around, looking for wire and other junk that "shows up."

In Luna's it is mostly bits and pieces of glass. Blue, green, clear, brown bottles....some really old thick glass bottles....some bits of china plates with patterns on them. I imagine a past where a homestead sat and an old couple got in a lot of fights and threw plates at each other all the time. I have no other explanation for why I find so much glass in that part of our yard!!

I can see it shining in the morning sun as I feed and I fill my pockets. I have started a Mason jar on the front porch where I place my collection.

I just hope I can keep all the junk and pieces picked up and that my pony doesn't find a way to hurt herself on the glass. There is really no way to get it all....it won't pick up with a metal catcher.

What is the craziest thing you have found in your horse's pastures?

Ranch Girl

After The Fire

Things have settled down with the wildfires. Normalcy has returned to the ranch and our evacuated horse guests got to return to their stable, but I have not forgotten to think about those that are still struggling with losing their homes or livestock.

On the way back from a trip to town last week I took a route that drove me through much of the fire zone. It is amazing how fickle fires can be. Skipping houses and buildings on the same property, or burning the land completely around a house yet leaving the house intact.

On to horsin' around time~ I did get a ride in on my roany pony!!

Ranch Boy kept her on the 14 ft. line for me as I did the starts, stops, and steering. It was the first time I've ridden her, other than just sitting in the saddle or sitting on her bareback. Oh and she does have a tail, it's just blowing behind her in the wind!

I am hoping to have a chance to ride her again this week, and teach her to pony from My Boy.

I call her Luna my little cowpie. She has the worst poos to clean up ever, they are huge! And if she is stalled, she tromps all through it making a mess. I brought My Boy and her to the ranch for a weekend of work and I put her in a panel pen with a muck bucket for water. This is what she did to it:

She's lucky she didn't hurt herself! I tied it to the panels because I've had her knock over one before. She loves water and putting her foot in the bucket if she can. To top it off, someone's dog was running and barking at her as she pawed the bucket which made matters worse. Then, I tried using a metal garbage can as her water trough but she banged that and the seam started leaking. Finally, after some visiting horses left, I moved her to a larger pen with a regular horse tank. She has a tank in her pasture she doesn't mess with, I think it was a combination of the shorter water source and being restless in a small space that she just couldn't resist fussing with it.

My Boy has been getting attention, too! Ranch Boy's daughter is pretty determined to make him "hers."  She wants to feed him and scoop poo in his pasture.

 She had her first riding lesson on him the other night and did really well! I think he likes her quite a bit! I kept her on the line but made her do the turning, back him, cues, etc. The worst thing My Boy would do with a kid on his back is stand there and refuse to go, or go in a circle. That horse would never run off with a child. He wouldn't waste the energy!

I had a great trail ride on My Boy on Saturday, too! He was perfect, especially for not being out in several weeks. I love that about him.

It is ironic Ranch Girl Jr. is riding my pony, because recently I've been riding "hers!" We took a ride up into the woods a week ago, and took a picnic.

This little one is carrying a bit too much weight, so I rode her as she needed a workout. Pepper is an ex-4-H pony, a sturdy Mustang/Paso Fino cross. She's like a mountain goat, surefooted and not spooky. She just does her job. She's packed Ranch Girl Jr. around the arena at a lope and has always taken good care of her. Even though at just about 14 hands she has the stride of a pony, I still really enjoyed riding her.


It is hard to believe summer is coming to a rapid close. I hope that we have a lovely fall season and I can get in a lot of pony time! This is the first summer I have had to work in 11 years- summer time is usually teacher time off for me. I am really miss being around the ranch and getting to ride!

Ranch Girl

Wildfires!

Sorry I haven't posted in a long time....things have been hectic around here with a large wildfire burning in Central Washington.

Wildfire on the ridge, Luna and Riley in their pastures.

Wildfire moving through the valley, probably 10 miles east of us.

Smoke in the sun.

Luckily, from day one, we have not had any danger of the fire heading this way. Part of it looked closer than it is, we have been watching smoke and trees light up like roman candles on the ridge for a week. I kept a turnout halter on my horses just in case the fire changed directions and we had to act fast.

A local stable did evacuate and they brought around ten of their 40 horses to the ranch and they are still here. Sadly, many livestock throughout the region have not been so lucky in the fire.  One of our temporary residents is a horse I know. Guess who?

Yep, none other than Miss Loretta! Her new owner seems really great from what I have heard, but I haven't had a chance to talk to her and see how Lo is doing.

The wildfire has brought some stressful and emotional days, mixed with a little adrenaline at times. I have never been a part of a natural disaster such as this. Between the fire, work, and hot temps, I haven't done any riding. I am hoping to get home from work tomorrow and give Luna a workout and even hop on her if she is in the right frame of mind.

Keep all those that have lots their homes or livestock from the wildfire in your thoughts and prayers!!

Ranch Girl

The Sniffles

Hello friends! I have been a busy bee. I had planned to climb aboard Luna last weekend. However, the day I intended to (Sunday) she was not in the right frame of mind.

I am not in a rush to ride her as she is only just over two. We had a great lounge workout on Saturday. On Sunday, it was later in the day (closer to feeding time), it was windy, and she was just a little more spooky. I am sure it would have been fine to saddle her up but I just didn't feel comfortable with it. Besides, Ranch Boy was occupied with another project and I want someone to be in the corral with me when I get ride her.

I did bridle her on Saturday, though! Doesn't she look pretty? I am not sure I love the horsehair futurity browband though, it kind of covers her white star! I need to get her a different snaffle bit. This is just a normal snaffle, I was thinking of starting her with a rubber or thicker metal one to be softer on the mouth. Paint Girl could wrap a bit for me with her special wrapping stuff too....maybe I'll haul the bit to our next family event and have her do that for me. Then again, does the wrapping or rubber just make a bit more likely to be "played with" in their mouths?

Several of the ranch horses have awful colds. I did not know this last week when my mom and I rode, as I put Luna in a pen next to the ranch horse corral while we rode and then noticed horses coughing. So unfortunately my horses have been exposed, but so far I haven't noticed them showing any symptoms. I won't be taking them to the ranch until next week or until this runs it's course, so no big workouts for my ponies! Enjoy your summer vaca, My Boy & Luna!!

Luna checking out the basket on Ranch Boy's daughter's bike....she was pretty convinced there might be an apple in there for her!!

Have a great weekend, everyone!!

Ranch Girl

Visit With Mom

My mom came to visit for a few days.

We got to go on a trail ride. Mom rode Jordan, a nice dark bay ranch gelding. It was a really hot day and we had a nice evening trail ride in the shady woods!

Then, back in the arena, my mom asked to ride my spotted pill! She has never ridden the spotted pill. She even trotted him! He did pretty well for her considering he can be a bit stubborn with new riders. My mom seemed more confident then I remember....I think she has been riding a lot of different horses and that makes you a better rider, I think!

I don't know if those of you who have been following my blog for a long knew this, but my mom no longer has her beloved gelding, Dusty. It is a long story and not mine to tell, but in a nutshell he is retired and living happily on a farm! My mom can visit him any time and I would like to, too. He was very special to my mom and I had something made for her to remember him by, which I will share with you in a future post! And she is always welcome to ride My Boy, too!

Anyway, back to the ride. After we got my horses back home and were putting them in their pastures, my mom posed with my roany pony!! She thought Luna was very cute.

The roany pony was a bit peeved that my mom pulled her head up from grazing on our lawn (pitiful as it is, as you can see from the photo!) to pose for this photo. My pony's head just looks huge here! My mom actually made the comment as she caught her from the pasture "She is almost outgrowing this halter." I hope her head doesn't grow too much more or she'll be wearing a draft size halter, hee hee!

I am hoping to get some Luna time this weekend! I really want to climb on her and do a little riding, so I will let you know how that goes next week!

Ranch Girl

To Ride or Not to Ride??

My horses just got their hooves done this week so now My Boy is ready to really rock the trails!

Too bad we've had thunder and lightening storms and 95 muggy temps, which don't make trail riding very appealing to me!

 The "double rainbow" I saw the other night during a thunder storm at the ranch! Ranch Boy's daughter took this photo on my I-phone.

I did get to saddle up my roany pony Luna the other day. I climbed aboard (at Ranch Boy's insistence.) He held the lead rope and I just sat there in the saddle as we watched a group of other horses return from their ride.

I am so ready to ride this horse! I need some advice. She is only two years old. When I got her, she'd had about a dozen rides on her. I am not ready to push her with heavy riding. Do you think that doing a little light riding at this point would be harmful? By light riding, I mean just walking and maybe some trotting. No loping yet. I would like to work on getting her to move off of leg, turn, whoa, back, all that slow basic stuff. Now, part of me worries if we just do that, then next summer when I want her to turn up the gears, she'll think "hey, I never had to go fast under saddle before" and get sticky.  I mean, when I watch Clinton Anderson and other trainers, they are loping on the first ride!

 I think the colors of My Boy's saddle pad look quite nice on Luna!

I am fine not "riding" her this summer. We will continue to put the saddle on, and sit on her bareback, just so that she doesn't "forget" that it is okay to have something up there. I would also like to teach her to pony from My Boy so I can pony her on the trails.

I just feel like when I am around Luna, she is almost begging to be ridden! For the most part, she is a two year old going on 4 year old (in mind, and in body, built more like a 3 year old.) Maybe because she is so "easy" of a youngster it just seems like it's time, as there isn't a lot else to work on. She loads, she fly sprays, she saddles, she round pens and lounges on a line (much better now.)

Regardless, I am sure having fun with her! I think we are kind of two peas in a pod...sweet, but we both have a little stubborn streak. Hee hee!

Happy weekend, everyone!

Ranch Girl

Sister Time

Well my sister just pulled out with her horses. She's been visiting since Thursday night. It went so fast!

We had HOT sunny weather~ 90 degrees! We hit the trails 3 times, even twice in one day (morning and night when it was cooler.)

 Jen on Brandy.

Through the ears of My Boy.

We also had some arena time with the young ponies.

Jen's Mustang "Chance."

This was Jen's 3 year old Mustang's first trip to the ranch, or first trip anywhere, for that matter! She actually did very well considering she has never left home in the 3 years since Jen got her as a weanling. There was a lot going on and she has a lot to learn, but the more she gets out, the more relaxed she'll become at seeing lots of kids, trailers, trucks, harrow bed trucks, bikes, horses, and commotion, commotion, commotion!

Jen leading Luna.

Now my little sweetie-cakes is a pro at being around the commotion at the ranch now. One of the things we did with Luna was work on her lounging. I was having problems in the large arena with Luna pulling on me and not staying in a circle and she even got away from me one time when she got spunky and galloping too fast and straight.

My sis helped me wrap a chain with some fancy wrap from the Arabian stable she used to work for, then we fashioned it under the chin and into a "V" (so that it tugs evenly) and attached my lounge line to that. One quick tug the next time she started pulling or being silly, and my roany pony was back in line! She lounged perfectly on the line this way. Whew! Now we can settled down and get to work!

I also got some more bareback time. I used the halter and lead as "reins" and just practiced her moving off my leg and turning a little. My sister stayed at her head and kept her on another lead rope just in case she got silly. Luna is only 2, so I will not be doing a lot of riding on her this summer. Just playing around and not letting her forget that she can wear a saddle and a person! Next summer we'll get more serious!

I also wanted to try loading her into my sister's trailer. Luna walked right in without hesitation. We will need to work on backing out. My sister has a slant load which is easy to turn around in, but at the ranch there is only a straight-load which she'll have to back out of.

I also sprayed my pony with water. She left me run the hose on her front hooves and shoulder without too much fuss! So, a lot of good pony time this weekend and hopefully one more good lounge lesson in the arena today after it cools down. I really want her to learn to whoa on voice command (as well as using body language) and trot at a cluck, and lope at a kiss.

I was sad to see my sister go but we will have more pony time together when she visits this fall! Hopefully she'll be able to do some trail riding on Chance by then!

I hope you all had a good weekend!!

Ranch Girl

It's July??

Seriously? The last time I posted was June?

Where does time go?

I just spent a really fun weekend with my family!

My ponies spent some time at the ranch. My Boy even got to lead a nice family trail ride. He was awesome! I will say this, he is in LOVE with Luna. He is experiencing more separation anxiety with her then he ever did with Loretta, and he's not even pastured with Luna, just next to her! I am wondering if being pastured with Loretta (after being alone for 4 years) then having a pasture buddy come, then go, and a new pasture neighbor (Luna), has just created him to be more sensitive to having a "friend" now.

 I even got to go on a pony ride!

Yes, 41 year olds like to go on pony rides, especially cute two year old roany pony rides!

Look at my girl's fun roan coloring, it keeps changing! She is getting quite light now but has all these red spots and "slashes" of color.

I had lots of young helpers this weekend. My cousin Miss C helped me pick out Luna's pen. She said I had to email her mom this photo so that her mom would see she was responsible and ready to get a horse of her own. Oh, the dreams of young horse crazy girls.....

Luna met lots of my family this weekend! Speaking of family, I am excited to say that my sister will be visiting me soon with her pretty Mustang pony and Brandy pony and we will be doing some riding. Yee Haw!

Have a happy and safe 4th of July, everyone!!

Ranch Girl