Fear or Faith?

When you ride do you have a Fear basis or a Faith basis?

Now before you answer really think about the question.

" I'm not afraid of anything!" I have been heard to say.

That is not necessarily true.

I'm not afraid of spiders or flying monkeys, but I am afraid of something BAD happening.

Now we have to define the word BAD. Not bad- like naughty, but bad -like I've done something stupid and now something BAD, like dying, is going to happen. FYI- It hasn't happened to date.

And I'm not necessarily afraid of dying, but I am afraid of the pain that might go along with it. Actually I want to avoid PAIN altogether if possible. So I guess I am actually afraid of pain. But physical pain only- emotional pain I can handle, ask my girlfriends.

So when I ride, do I ride on a fear basis of avoiding pain?
To answer that , I would say that I try not to be afraid, but I'm aware of what's around me, to avoid the potential 'Pain Causing' factors. And sometimes that makes me overly cautious. So the answer is - yes, sometimes I ride with a FEAR basis.

But occassionally I get mad- really mad- and then all thoughts of pain and of dying fly right out of my head, and then I am riding on FAITH alone.

When you ride with Faith, you ride with the knowledge that you are good at what you are doing, that you know exactly how to get what you want done, and done right. When you ride with Faith, you are strong and confident, you can quiet that inner cautious voice and be 'in the moment'.

Have I ever gotten hurt while riding with Faith? No.
Have I ever gotten hurt while riding with Fear? No.

(I have usually gotten hurt while not paying attention!)

So what about it?
FEAR or FAITH ?

My friend Karen is 'maybe' looking for a new show horse. She hasn't really decided weather she wants to give up her older mare or not, but let me tell you, this little mare sure made her think about it -HARD!

This little

mare is about 8, and hasn't been too many places. She is super quiet, and really handy. Even though she hasn't been shown, she is cute enough to Halter or Pleasure. She really picks up her feet too, so trail is an option.

If they will negotiate on the price Karen may bring this little girl home. What do you think?

Meet the pig

This is Charlotte the Pig

She lives on the ranch were I work.

Who knew such a face would launch ships? What I mean is that the boarders are up in arms about having to find her a new home.

Charlotte lives with Milo, who was too shy to be photographed, in the boarding stable. They were left here by previous tenant, and the owners say they must find a new home- soon.

After three weeks of searching and e-mailing 4-H contacts someone finally agreed to give them a non-sausage making home. And when one particular boarder found out, she had a mini meltdown.

I've tried explaining that the owners of the property want her off- that she is a liability in their eyes- that Charlotte needs better living conditions than she's getting- plus the fact that no one is paying for her to be there-except I am paying for her hay- but the boarder was unreasonable. She even tried the old bait and switch tactic of - no one was taking care of her horse! Ridiculous. I got her back on track and agreed to wait a week for HER to come up with a home of her own- then Charlotte must go.

Duck Duck can stay for awhile though. She at least is eating her weight in bugs and slugs during this rainy weather. I know of a certain someone in upper central California whose mother has ducks and who may (if I begged) agree to place her with her own little flock. Duck Duck knows a trick or two- that may even help.:)

In the meantime, my hay came in before the rain, the gutters are clear and everyone else is happy- at least they were yesterday.

Keep a -goin'!!

KEEP A-GOIN’
If you strike a thorn or rose,
Keep a-goin’!
If it hails, or if it snows,
Keep a-goin’!
Taint no use to sit and whine
When the fish ain’t on your line;
Bait your hook an’ keep a-tryin’ –
Keep a-goin’!
When the weather kills your crop,
Keep a-goin’!
Though ’tis work to reach the top,
Keep a-goin’!
S’pose you’re out o’ ev’ry dime,
Gettin’ broke ain’t any crime;
Tell the world you’re feelin’ fine –
Keep a-goin’!
When it looks like all is up,
Keep a-goin’!
Drain the sweetness from the cup,
Keep a-goin’!
See the wild birds on the wing,
Hear the bells that sweetly ring,
When you feel like singin’ – Sing –
Keep a-goin’!

My dear sweet friend Sunihali found this for me! It nearly made me weep! ( Well, it DID make me weep, but I'm only telling you guys that. Don't tell anyone else!)
Just seeing it in print brought my Dear Grandmother's voice back to me as clearly as if she were standing behind me.
What a wonderful gift!
Thank You Sunihali!

I don't believe it!

My Hubby called me on my cell today and said" Are you close to Brentwood?"

"No- Brentwood is about 40 miles just to the North East. Why?"

" There are Tornado warnings for Brentwood and rural Contra Costa County! Stay inside!"

What! Tornados in California? I remember Mikey said they had tornado warnings in Arizona too!

What is going on!

California is the state of Drought, or Fire or Floods - and especially Earthquakes- we don't need no stinkin' Tornados!

I've always pictured God sitting up there in his celestial throne/weather room.

God- Well California is so beautiful I have to do something to keep some of the people from wanting to go there. Hmmmm... well I know! I'll set the place on fire every year!

Angel- That might help, but you can't burn the whole state down.

God- You are correct sir! Ok, then maybe I'll flood the areas that don't get fire, and even some of the areas that do. That ought to keep the population down a bit.

Angel- Well Sir, that is a fantastic idea, but you put all that GOLD in the mountains of California so flooding is just going to expose that treasure and bring more people.

God_ Oh, I just knew I shouldn't have put all that gold there. Sigh! Well then how about if I make the whole place shake, from stem to stern. NO place in California will be safe from an earthquake! Thaqt will keep the faint at heart away!

Angel- Excellent idea,Sir! But what about this nest of tornados you've created? What should we do with them?

God- Send them to Kansas- I haven't done much with that state,maybe it will liven things up down there!

Keep a goin'

My dearly departed grandma was always coming up with little sayings. I have picked a lot of them up, and use them daily. Her favorite saying was ' Keep a goin'. She even had a little poem she would recite- and I don't know if she made it up or memorized it- I wish I could remember it, but the end lines were "keep a goin'".

So when it was just raining cats and dogs-pitchforks and hailstones- that line kept repeating through my brain.

When I was soaked through, and stuck in the mud with a manure cart in front of me that was heavier than I have EVER been- I kept thinking "Keep a goin'".

Being faced with a metal shed, blown over and down the ravine with debris strung from the top of the hill to the bottom, - " Keep a goin'".

Waking up this morning- tired and sore, and faced with more rain- you guess it.

Somehow that little line just keeps me putting one foot in front of the other.

Like the Little Engine that could

Or that little old ant (can't.. move a rubber tree plant)

That makes me wonder- what motivates you all to 'keep a goin'?

Squish Squish

They say that the Inuit have over 300 words for one thing- snow.

I don't have 300 words, but I do have a few sayings about... rain and the discomfort it brings.

Soaked

Wringing

Drenched

wet to the bone

growing webbed feet

growing gills

growing mossy

blowing bubbles

swimming through the air

liquid sunshine

duck weather

Oregon sunshine

pissing down

raining cats and dogs

pouring

gully washer

spitting

frog strangler

raining like a tall cow pissing on a flat rock

raining oceans

torrential downpour

monsoon

duck weather

You all have any others you'd like to share?

Liquid sunshine my left foot!

When it rains in California every other person you run into asks, "Are enjoying the liquid sunshine?"

I'm such a spoilsport-my answer is always NO.

I forgot to bring extra clothes to the new job- and it began to really pour down about 7 AM. I was wet from my belt loops to my toe ring all day long.

Eagles Nest Ranch sits on the top of a hill, but who ever built the barn and arena should have switched them around. The arena is higher than the barn, and when it rains- like it did today- the water and sand from the arena runs down the hill and into the barn, then through the pastures and down to the road.

Can we all say 'Sandbags'?

Thank gawd fer 'em!

I have them lined up all around the edge of the road, and luckily I did it last week when it wasn't raining. So instead of all that water and sand running through the barn, it went around the barn. Whew!

The gutters however are another matter. I cleaned one set on the pole barn yesterday, but I didn't even realize the main barn had them( on one side only!-WTF!) Needless to say- they was clogged. ( Guess what I'll be doing next week!)

So tomorrow it is suppose to only rain hard, not storm. ( In California there is a difference.)

At least Duck-Duck was a happy girl!

It's always something...

The work is going fairly well- and I've only pissed off a few people so far!
You see, I don't want the barn horses to be turned out in the pasture. The pasture is 80 acres, of which 60 are usable. The grass is growing slowly and there are 15 horses on the land right now. My thought is that if you are paying for a stall you get two flakes of your choice of hay twice a day. You don't need to turn your horses out on the grass to eat the grass the pasture horses are paying for. To me that is like eating your breakfast at home, then going to Safeway and grazing in the aisles, not paying for the food you stole, and then going home to eat your dinner.
And when the grass is done- who is going to be paying to feed those hungry horses because their horses ate all the grass? Not them- ME!

The ones that are doing it really don't see it that way at all!
They think that because there is a big pasture they should be allowed to let their horses graze after the 'dinner' hour.
I say neigh neigh!
But I want the turn out- they say.
I say- Can you teach your horse not to eat the grass?
That's ridiculous -they say.
I say- you can pay for extra food, like a lot of the other owners are doing.
That's ridiculous -they say.
I'm the Queen and what I say goes- I say.
That's .... hmmph (stalking off)!

Good news- Bad news

This has been an eventful week fer' sure!
Not only was I in the ER once- but I was in TWICE! Yep, same problem.
(Second verse - same as the first!)
:) Good news: Shavings came in on Monday
:( Bad news ~ They didn't all fit in the bin.
:) Good news: Tractor worked to push most of them in to the shavings bin.
:( Bad news ~Tractors tranny smells like it's burning fish
:) Good news: Weather was sunny for the three days I was sick
:( Bad news~ Weather isn't so sunny anymore
:) Good News: I found three old tarps
:( Bad news ~ They have holes in them
:) Good News: I could overlap them so the holes weren't too bad.

Yea! I came out on the UP side this time!

Pet name

OD doesn't like the fact that I call her OD in this blog. She thinks that I like Lil Mama better, and the tag OD sounds like Over Dose, or Overweight Diva or some such nonsense. So from now on I am going to call her by her nick name- Milly. Hopefully she won't have any aversion to the name Milly. I think it is a perfectly lovely name!. She wants me to let you all know that she is NOT overweight, and that she is a happy person. Not on drugs.

So from now on, OD will be known as Milly.

Thank you for your co operation.

A new question

I am slowly meeting the boarders... one by one they have trooped into my office, sat in my skinny chair and told me about how things 'used' to be and how they want things better.

Of course, listening and taking notes, I have started a to do list- a list of things that really do need doing, but probably won't get done by this administration. Maybe the new owners can fix some of this stuff- things like a new roof, and complete removal of the paddock footing to make it drain better, and Electric lights in the pasture.

Most really just want more food and shavings, and I don't blame them. I will do what I can on that score.

I compiled a list, of sorts with names of owners and horses, and I have been adding to it daily. There are several boarders that were not in the pile of boarding agreements I received, but obviously have horses on the property. And I have horses with no owners.

Yep.

I have a couple of abandoned horses, plus the pig and the goat and a really cute mini named Jelly bean!

I think I can find a home for Jellybean. I'll bring him home and put him in my backyard if I have to...

BUT...

what do I do... and more importantly , what are other boarding stables doing... about abandoned horses?

It's not like there is a market for them. And one of them has leg or hoof issues, that I can't really assess because he can't be caught... AND he used to belong to a friend of mine...

who won't answer my e-mails about wanting him back....and the girl that is suppose to be caring for him, claims she sold him, but doesn't have any information on who she sold him to- (fishy fishy fishy) and SHE owes about a years worth of back rent to the other guy... and I am still feeding the little bugger.

As I see it my options are thus-

A. Call the County and see if they will come take him as an abandoned animal ( I seriously doubt that they will come though)

B. Catch him, and haul him to the local auction house. ( I have the authority within my boarding contracts, but I have a real problem with sending a horse to the KB's)

2. Catch him and euthanize him. That is going to cost me (the barn) about $500.

D.Keep feeding him and pass this problem on to the new owners.(eventually)

???????

What would you do?

New kid

Were you ever the new kid on the block? Everyone knew you were the new kid- and they wondered how far they could push you.

Would you take the teasing?

Could they get you to run through Old Mr McScrooge's yard?

Would you try to pet the junkyard dog if they double-dog-dared-you- to?

And did you do things to make all those new kids like you?

Did you take the dare?

Run through the yard?

Did you pet the dog?

That is kind of how I felt today.

The new kid.

Everyone crowding around trying to sneek a look, make a judgement.

Does she dress like a horse woman?
What kind of boots is she wearing?
Does she really know horses?
Does she really want to help...especially me?
Will she feed more, bed more, ask less of us?

And here is a pop quiz... how do you all think I handled all of this today? You who all know me so well?

A. Smiling and listening?
B. Listening and not smiling?
C.Smiling but not listening
D. Talking and smiling and not listening?
E. other