Monday, June 24, 2013

OLDER THAN NOAH


This is a post I found that I did not publish from last May. I have more to say about what we did and how it all turned out - here is the old post:






" We have this amazing horse.We have not one true idea of how old he is. All we know for sure is that he has no trace of a Galvaynes Groove and neither of us can ever recall seeing one.

MCH got him several years ago when someone he knew wanted to move up in roping and needed a younger horse. He had seen him work and he bought him without ever trying him.


Rocky taught him a lot about roping. Rocky could also haul ass through a Gymkhana course. He was probably a Jr. Rodeo horse at one time. Every once in awhile someone would recognize Rocky and tell MCH a story about ol' Rocky roping.




We continued to ride him up through Summer of last year. He was my go to horse for visitors and anyone timid with horses. We even took him to a couple of playdays last Spring. I also got married on him.  He loves to work.
He is real arthritic in the back hocks and now his back spazms so we just love on him and turn him out.






Today, after a lot of thought, I had his shoes pulled. His body can't keep up with his mind and heart and I just can not justify keeping shoes on him when he does not need them. I feel like I just cocked the trigger though and it took a lot for me to not have the shoes put back on.



Funny how we humans do so many things thinking we are doing it in the animals best interest when in fact, we are doing it because we believe it will prolong a life and therefore stave off what we fear most.

How does one choose with a horse? Will he be better off staying here in his paddock which is not small, but certainly does not keep him from abject boredom, or do I take him to a pasture to graze and be a horse for the rest of his days? I know how horses live - grazing and moving for 18 hours a day - to be in any stall - with only an hour or so of interaction with us a day is like a human being in jail. So my gut and my mind say pasture, but my heart and my habit of bestowing human emotions onto my animals is saying he would be better here. Pretty much - he is counting on us to do the best thing for him. With this many horses I can honestly say that I don't feel that I give him what he wants from us."


Now today - We chose to pasture him - he did fine without shoes and not 4 weeks later we took him up to a friends ranch in Bear Valley Springs. He has been there ever since. He has pasture buddies - including a younger mare who is his constant companion. He is thriving and looks to be one of those record breaking horses. If he had been used for trail and not roping, I'm sure we would still be riding him. I wish we knew what his breeding history was. Go with your gut when it comes to making decisions for your older animal companions. He was as clear as could be about what he needed and we chose to honor him rather than our emotional selves and it was the best possible deal. I miss seeing him everyday and he is an all day trip to go see him, but he is sooooooo happy, especially being able to physically interact with other horses and actually have his very own mare.



We are so blessed to have such great friends that we could do this for Rocky and not have to worry about his care and well being.

Follow your intuition not your ego and listen to your friend ......

THE LAST YEAR OF NEWS

Clearly we have been busy. Too busy to keep up with a blog .

More has happened than I can remember but an overview from last May to this current June:

We sadly had to say good bye to our beautiful Loki - that was rough - he was only 2 years old, but he had something wrong with his brain. It came on suddenly and we made the decision to let him go.
2 years is a common time for congenital brain defects to show up in dogs. He is sorely missed.


MCH went to Michigan to work on a movie and while he was away I took in a foster GSD, who we named Leroy, and who managed to wiggle into our hearts in the span of 3 days. He was a dump over on Peoria Street, just a block over from our house. Tim came up with the name and he just never left. He is a righteous Coyote chaser and a fierce protector of the house and yard. He also provides Babe a nice respite from Riley. He looks like he might be part Kangaroo :)






Beamer is now Beau. His leg appears to have healed nicely and I can now trail ride him!



We have a new youngster on the ranch - a nice 6 year old gelding Quarterhorse named Catman - he is proving to be a nice little rope horse and he has also gone through Mounted Patrol Training and has been on TV!


My birthday came and went - and when it came it brought 2 Dwarf Nigerian Milking Goats. They are Does and their names are Fiona and Layla. Pictures don't do them justice - they are ridiculous.


I opened my own studio salon with another hairstylist ( who is seriously, tha bomb - ya'll )specializing in Organic color and a low emission environment. We use absolutely no Ammonia, no Formaldehyde, no Lye and no Ammonium Thioglycolate. We are also and art gallery.



We have a Rooster named John Shaft and we are expecting baby birds in about another week or so. The birds have been 100 percent switched over to non GMO feed and I have been approached about selling eggs :) We also got 4 new hens - Heritage French Black Copper Marans - the eggs are out of control and so is John Shaft - Shut Yo Mouth!



Tim has spent the majority of the year in Chicago working on a movie called Divergent which should be out next March. He also did some amazing work on a disaster film called Twista (I think) back in Michigan.

KC came back to us after spending time with some friends who were using her for Mounted Patrol and Rangers. We have decided to keep her home from now on and I'm going to be using her for Mounted Patrol , Sorting and Gymkhana. I might even do a little reining with her since my Sister In Law has gotten into it and I love hanging out with her.


The garden is shaping up - the pallets are impossible - so now they are used as a compost holder. The pallet gardens are only good for about 3 weeks - don't waste your time.My Bamboo wall was a bust - so now I am trying vines and some other things - nothing stinking grows in this yard - the ground is so bad. Slowly, we are amending the soil and turning the yard into something nice.

I also started using Essential Oil therapy on the animals and us humans too. Stay tuned for updates!

Happy Trails!