Someone named Jim came out to the barn the other day. I wasn't there. Jim was looking for a horse to buy and came out to see Doris and Frankie. Once Diane got him out by the horses he pointed to Bella and asked about her. Wait a minute. She's mine. Don't even look at her. Diane explained she had sold Bella over a year ago. But he wouldn't let it go at that. Is that Molly's horse? (Uh huh. Who is this Jim anyway?) Well, I want a flashy one like that. (Not in your lifetime, Buddy.)

Being out in the desert overnight with the rest of the herd was exhausting. Even with her loverman, McCoy, outside the gate she needed to catch a couple of winks.



She certainly has a straight nose and heavy muzzle. Must be the Andalusian traits.
This might have been the perfect time to saddle her and do a little starter stuff. Sadly I didn't have the saddle and anyway hated to interrupt her beauty sleep.

7 Things I'd Like To Accomplish in 2008 and/or Boring Things About Me

Tracey at Mustang Diaries tagged me :) :(
A nice thing about this tag is that Tracey got tagged by Mudranch which made me go check out her blog. That was a nice find!

1. I'd really like to take this basic Spanish I've picked up and turn it into full sentences that don't sound like David Sedaris' "Me Talk Pretty One Day."
2. I'd like to keep up the exercise I forced myself to continue through the holidays. I'm sure I haven't lost any weight but doing these last 8 weeks of Pilates has really started me on the road to better strength.
3. I'd like to continue my slow training of Bella and probably get on her back sometime this Spring.
4. I'd like to read more. Books that is. I have my blogs to keep me warm but there are so many books in my pile that are screaming my name.
5. I'd like to travel a little. Last summer I had a great road trip up into Oregon. I passed places I'd like to go back to. And, yes, it has to do with wineries. But North Carolina relatives need visiting, too.
6. I'd like to spend more time in my almost abandoned house in CA.
7. I'd like to keep taking my vitamins. I'll be 60 in a few short months and am so very lucky to continue to be healthy enough to be looking forward to these things above.
   

I just cannot make myself tag 7 people after I did it in the previous post. But all/both of my readers know they are tagged.

THANKS MIKAEL
AT
MiKael's Mania

YOU TOTALLY MAKE MY DAY

I miss very few days of checking up on my Arabian Horse buddy in Washington. She writes the most compelling blogs in serial form so at the end of each one you can't wait until tomorrow to see what happens next.

Here are 10 blogs I read almost each and every day...right after I've checked in at MiKael's blog. Sometimes they post so rarely that it is like finding an Easter Egg when I find a new post, while others keep the conversation going.

Dixie Peach
Mustang Diaries
Dooce
The Geek Inside
Smells Horsey
Bike Riding Donut Guy
Helenjane who I lost for awhile when I got a new computer
Aimlessly Wandering
Equine Mine
A Velvet Cage who gets this from MiKael and me
Ami

Uh oh, that's 11. I couldn't stop. You guys are welcome to pass this on if you want to. I know it Made My Day!

Rotator Cuff

I assumed wrongly that the Rotator Cuff was a ball and joint and found myself quite uninformed. Sister Barbie has to have hers operated on due to a bad fall this past summer that dislocated her shoulder. I get to go up and play nurse/bartender since she'll be somewhat immobile and someone has to open the wine. That's Oregon in February and I don't have any winter clothes down here. brrrr
Our town is full of snowbirds and I find myself grumbling about the traffic. With no stoplights, and the ALTO signs are merely suggestions, it gets a little tangled occasionally. If I find myself behind someone who isn't moving when they should I find my hand hovering just over the steering wheel horn. When did I get so impatient?
And we have friends and relatives lined up like airliners at an international airport to come down and warm up a few minutes. It's our busy season.

OUT WITH THE OLD

And in with the new desktop picture. It looks like one of those pictures full of promise.

We all have lots of promising changes to look forward to, both personal and countrywide. We can call this a glimmer of hope.

Christmas Dinner

A friend took this on Christmas evening. After we were loaded with turkey it was time to get the horses fed. The actual picture is brighter and the afternoon sun and shadows make you need to squint your eyes just as if you were there.

Sunrise

I took this picture in late November and I've been using it as my desktop for the month. I try to change my picture each month but might have trouble letting go of this one. The Fall/Winter sunrises are the most colorful and I watch each day for the next picture-worthy one.

Merry Christmas

Vista

You know those oranges/tangelos/NOT Christmas balls from a post back in early December? Well, the game is on now to salvage at least a couple for our centerpiece for our Christmas dinner. The house that's being built right next door has some construction fellows who are brave enough to dart across our patio and snatch a few when they THINK we aren't looking.

Oh, and also, you should see the very white people walking along the shoreline in shorts and tank tops, dipping their toes as they go. I think they are visiting from Canada. Makes me shiver.

I'll go put on a heavy jacket and pick the remaining oranges. It's way down in the 60's today. I wouldn't want them or me to get frost bite!

WHAT THE...

Eau de Toilette

McCoy was out there, trotting away from some boys who were trying to catch him. Bella was equally interested in her bucket and her man's adventure. McCoy is an older black gelding who romances every mare in his domain.

Bucket, McCoy, Bucket, McCoy

Eventually she had to go to her poop corner and scent it with eau de young-mare-in-heat.

taken with my cell phone

No, Not Christmas Balls

This little orange tree has been working so hard for many months and only now do I take notice. It looks like there could be a couple more weeks of waiting for them to sweeten up. I call this tree a tangelo, but it may be some other lovely little Mexican orange. I'm not going to show you my navel orange tree because it is a "yearling" and only is producing about 10 oranges this year, and I'm not sharing.

El Rancho

We got to ride out on the lovely neighboring Rancho and we took the girls with us. Cita was the lone water-roller today, however they all love to get up to their bellies in the spring water. We went for miles and the girls played most of the way, or settled into showing us that they could lead and show us where we were going.

Don't Cha Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me

I'm starting Pilates classes today. After 12 lessons I expect to look like that.
What? You doubt it?

Fortunate

How many miles have I driven through the desert? Alone?

Thousands.

I came up out of Mexico last week and drove another 700 miles through desert all the way to more desert. California desert, Arizona desert, Mexican desert. All pretty empty.

I made it all the way up here and then? Then my car thermometer went into the hot range. Across the street from the Nissan dealer.

The radiator has been replaced and, other than my now-empty wallet, there has been no stress.

I am a lucky old lady.

Oh, speaking of that old business, my very best friend from when we rode stick horses together mentioned in our little online chat today that we have been friends for 50 years now. Holy Moley.

This week went really well with Bella relaxing a lot on the lunge line and me studying some of the Parelli lessons. Overall she is ready for the next business I can throw at her which might be lunging under saddle. We'll see. Meanwhile, Diane got an invitation from a neighboring ranch to put her horses out on their wonderful pasture. She is leaving for a month and thought it would be a nice vacation for her mare, yearlings, and old Mochie to get to meander hundreds of acres while she was away. I raised my hand and asked if Bella could be included. Yep, that made 5 horses, with Mochie being their guardian, out to pasture for at least a month with nothing but nature to bother them. We rode them over last evening and unsaddled right at the gate. They hung around waiting for us to open the gate and take them back home until one by one they got the idea that we weren't making them go back. We had to wait for Joe to pick us up then we didn't have to lug the saddles the few miles, so we got to love on all of them and then watch them head back down to where there is a huge spring and tons of grass. What could be finer for muscle and brain development than swatting flies and grazing, walking for miles, and having no human stress. Sounds good to me. I'm going to be gone a little during November anyway, and thinking of Bella standing for days on end wasn't a good solution. We'll pick up the next phase of training when her vacation is over.

Bella in her halter and bridle.


On the lunge line.

My heart bursts with pride at how hard she is trying for me.

Lunge
I started Bella on the lunge line today. She was only slightly curious about the line and the whip until I insisted that she get going and not stand there. She figured it out so quickly that I keep wondering who else has been working with her. After about 10 minutes of walking and trotting in both directions I went and got her bridle. I slipped it in her mouth and over her ears with very little complaint from her. Then back on the circle to trot a little more. She started getting somewhat strong and a little opinionated about which direction she wanted to go, so after a few circles in the direction of my choice I thought it was time to quit. While standing, I asked her to bend her neck around by gently pulling the bit. She got that beautifully. We went back into the barn and had a nice grooming session. Actually it felt like she was more willing to stand and enjoy my attention than normal. So, my question is how do you get your lunging horse to stop and then reverse direction. I had to reel her in quite a bit before I could ever ask for a reverse, and the stop never happened without bringing her almost all the way in to me.

The Strip
Isn't it funny how it only takes 18-24 hours for money to have no value? I walked into the Bellagio clutching my little pennies like they were precious. By the next morning I was sitting in front of a slot machine slipping a hundred dollar bill in the Insert Here slot like it was a kleenex. Well, the Scotch in me does eventually come to the front and after a session of only a few cherries showing up I was feeling frustrated. Up came some odd combination of pictures that lead to many Credits being added to my total. I hit the button to retrieve my dubloons and ended up with slightly more than double my original investment. I considered it a win-win for me.
We had a lovely time but were quite anxious to get home. Now I've got the cash to pay for my Bella's board another month!
Oh, and her winter coat is coming in since it's down in the 70's overnight now! Yep. And she is getting lighter and lighter in creamy color. I owe a picture.