Another Year Gone By...

Wow. I can't believe another year has gone by. So much has happened in the past year, so I will start at the beginning. (Unfortunately there will be no pictures in this post. I am using my OH's work laptop because I am having computer issues with my desktop, which is where all my photos are). January 2012 was the month that my OH and I made the decision for me to quit my job at the Arab farm. And with that I would just stay home and take care of everything here. I didn't give the "usual" 2 week notice. I would never have left the farm "high and dry" a couple weeks before the Scottsdale All Arabian Horse Show. So I told them I would work through the Scottsdale show and then I would be done. I went to Scottsdale and made it my last hurrah. It was fun. But you know, my body just could not take the pain anymore. I had been having serious back pain since I started working at the farm and in the beginning of January my neck was a mess. Numerous Chiro visits helped but I just could not get healthy. That is the main reason I had to quit the farm. So in February, Scottsdale came and went and I was officially retired.

March was basically a month to recover and get my back and neck issues resolved. I started going to massage therapy as well as continuing my Chiropractor appts. It took awhile, but I finally started to feel some relief from the pain a couple months later. Although I don't write any goals down, I know in my head what I want to accomplish. My main goal was to saddle break my 3 year old Mustang filly Chance. So in March as I was recuperating my back and neck, I broke Chance to the surcingle and bridle where she learned how to long line and ground drive.

In April, my OH and I decided one Sunday evening to put the saddle on Chance. I was NOT planning on riding her the first time she was saddled. I mean that wouldn't be too smart, right? Well, things don't always go as planned and after I put the saddle on Chance and worked her in the round pen with no problems, I got on. My wild Mustang was not so wild. She could care less that I was on her back. I just walked her around both directions and called it a day. I was impressed. But we still had a long way to go. We also bought a new tractor and UTV. The UTV was a lifesaver for my back. We had been pushing a wheelbarrow for years and years to feed the horses and the UTV was a real blessing in my life.

In May I continued ground driving Chance to get her to give to pressure, going right and left and stopping. I wanted to get back on her and start getting some serious riding done with her. My next goal was to get her out on the trails before September. In between a really wet, nasty spring, I tried to get as many rides as possible on my filly. We were walking, trotting, cantering, whoaing, backing and moving off of leg pressure by June. And all this without one buck. Chance really took everything in stride and we only had minor issues that come with every baby in training. My OH and I were also finally able to get out on the trails on Brandy and Fritzy. Since I had started working at the Arab farm, our riding was really limited due to me being out of town a lot for horse shows. And when I wasn't at horse shows, I was just too exhausted to ride my own horses. That was the other reason why we decided it was a good thing for me to quit working. So I could get back to my OWN horses. We also bought a new truck. A 2012 GMC one ton dually. A big boy. One that can haul my horses over the mountains and wherever my little heart desires to go. Our other truck was fine for short hauls, but it made me really nervous for long hauls and I do not get nervous hauling horses, I hauled horses all over the country for 3 years. But when you have a truck that isn't quite up to the task of hauling long distances and over mountains, well, that will make anyone nervous. So new truck= many new horse riding opportunities!!

In July I made a huge decision. I was already planning on hauling Brandy to visit my sister at their ranch and ride for a few days. At the last minute my OH and I decided I should take Chance as well, just for the experience. I wasn't planning on riding her but since she had only left our farm once, which was for a trailer ride and we never unloaded her anywhere, it would be a great learning experience especially at the ranch with so much activity going on. She trailered great there and even handled being at the ranch with so much activity for the first couple days. I was able to lunge her in their big arena and she got to see a lot of people, horses, tractors, cars, trucks, trailers etc. But on day 3 she had a mental breakdown. She was done. We worked through some serious issues and we were leaving the next day. I wish I had one more day with her there to get her to settle back down, but we will be going back. Once I got home from that trip, I was perusing the BLM online adoption gallery, as I usually do and fell in love with a yearling Mustang filly. I brought it up to my OH and with only a limited time to make a decision, fill out adoption paperwork, get approved and then bid, we had to make a decision.... and quick. We went over the pros and cons. I wasn't getting a "let's do it" response so I just let it go. Then one day I got a phone call from my OH and he said "Go get my horse". So I filled out all the required paperwork and was approved for 2 horses (you put on your application how many horses you want, and they always approve for one more. In the online adoption you can be outbid easily, just like an in person auction, and that way you can bid on however many horses you are approved for and if one gets outbid, you hopefully will get the other. Hope that makes sense). But I only bid on one horse. A black yearling Jackie's Butte filly. That is the one we wanted. And thankfully no one else placed a bid on her so we won the bid. It was pretty nervewracking on that final bidding day. I sat at my computer for hours hoping no one else would bid on our filly. Of course you already become attached just by the pictures and we would have been heartbroken if we lost the bid. But we won. So another Mustang was coming to live at the Painted Creek Farm.

August was the big month. The big day arrived for us to go pick up our new filly. Instead of an approximately 20 hour roundtrip, the BLM hauled our filly to an onsite adoption that was way closer. It would now only be an 8 hour roundtrip. We were up at 3:00 in the morning on our pick up day. We had told the BLM that we would be there between 7-8 in the morning. When we arrived, they knew who we were and loaded up our filly into the chute. I pulled the truck and trailer into the arena and backed up to the chute. She was loaded within seconds. We then headed for home. The new filly, Rio, arrived safely home. But I was not expecting to have such a tough time gaining this girls trust. This month also had me conquering fears, by going ziplining. I have an extreme fear of heights and I was very proud of myself for accomplishing something that would typically be pretty much impossible for me to do. But I did it. And I would do it again. Now if only that would apply to snakes and spiders, I would be good to go. But that will not happen. At the end of August I found another one of my goals accomplished. I took Chance out on a REAL trail ride. My OH and I went for a quick trail ride at our local tree farm. And that is where my OH found himself in the dirt for the first time. As in getting dumped. By a horse. He said it would never happen. But it did. And it had to happen on Chance's first real trail ride. But the trail ride itself went very well for her first time out. And we got her out on the trails 2 more times before the end of summer.

September wasn't a good month. Fritzy has a history of hoof abscesses. So in July and August when I thought I was dealing with a hoof abscess and when I wasn't having any progress with Epsom Salt soaks and Epsom gel poultices, I called my vet out. After a lameness eval, nerve blocks and numerous x-rays with a second opinion from a surgeon, Fritzy was diagnosed with a fractured coffin bone. So stall rest for the big black and white girl. Meaning that we would have to build a stall since we don't have a barn. But we did have a very large 16' x 24' shed that we could divide and make a stall. So we did. And it has now been 3 months of stall rest, one very cranky Paint and still another few months to go.

October weather really turned ugly so I wasn't able to do much with my horses. With Fritzy being on stall rest and Brandy's arthritis being pretty bad so she is on limited riding, I only had Chance and Rio to work with. But I wanted to give Chance the winter off to grow up. She will be 4 this spring and we will get back at full time training when the weather starts getting better. Which is a problem around these parts. I only have an outdoor arena, and we are pretty much stuck in a very wet pattern until May/June. But in the spring there are a couple of days here and there where I can get Chance going again. Rio on the other hand has been my priority. Trying to gain this filly's trust has been very difficult. Through many ups and downs and forward progress to stepbacks, we finally made a breakthrough..... In November.

That is where I was finally able to touch Rio with my hand. I was making excellent progress, petting her all over her shoulder, neck and face when I tried to take her drag rope off and well.... it hasn't been going so well since. I lost a lot of trust. I am back at square one. So I started over with stick work and was able to do very little petting with my hand. And then December came. And the weather turned really nasty. Non stop pouring rain, wind, cold, rain, wind, cold. You get the point. So I have not done any work with Rio for the last couple weeks. And then we added a couple cute additions to our family. Baby Cooper and Isabelle. And boy are they fun!! But they have me running! I feel like I am babysitting 5 kids, not 5 cats.

So my new goals for 2013 are: getting Chance going again under saddle and hitting the trails like you wouldn't believe. She should be a trail pro by the end of next summer. I will be taking her to my sisters and hopefully other trail locations to get her out and get lots of trail miles on her. Also my main goal is to get Rio's trust. I was so close and then I lost it. But it will happen. I was close before so I know we can get there again. I will keep plugging away.

So that is a wrap of the year 2012! And now here's to 2013 and making many more new memories!! Happy New Year to you all!!