Rescue

She was found abandoned in Sacramento, I don't know her story.

We met her two weeks ago.

Our adoption application and home inspection (yes, really) was approved.

She moved in on Monday.



The 'foster mom' called her grey mare. I have named her 'Willow'.

Willow's first four legged friend here was Cort. He welcomed her by grazing right along with her.

She is very sweet and mellow.

Yesterday she shared a pasture with Remington and they got along just fine. Today I gave her a bath, pulled and braided her mane and fussed over her a bunch.

Yes, I know we already have a full herd, but no one else wanted her and I liked her enough that I didn't want to see her go to the "already too full" horse rescue center. I like her even more now.

Let's go to the Zoo!

I like animals; I work with them, I live with them, and I go visit animals on summer vacation days. I had the day off yesterday and asked Tristan if there was anything he'd like to do together, he chose the Zoo. So come along with us to the Sacramento Zoo. It's a sunny day and the temps are in the high 80s.

The reptile house is always a favorite. We kept our eyes on this fella for quite a while. No blinking, no noticeable signs of respiration, no movement at all.

Look at those cute tiny nostrils and bitty toes.

Pretty in pink.

I like these stripes, and horns, and what a lovely eye.

Something up there is bringing a smile to Tristan's face.

A chimp! And Tristan was bringing a smile to his face. (Or maybe he was chewing on his lunch.)

I love Lemurs.

Did Tristan grow green peacock feathers?

She looks deep in thought.

.......wondering "does this pattern make my bottom look big?"

Momma and her March baby. aaahhhhh

Snow leopard napping.

I hope you enjoyed our little field trip. So, does anyone know what kind of animal is in picture #4? Just wondering if you know. There's no prize if you guess, but give it a try. Hint, not a native animal of North America.

I'll post again tomorrow, I have a surprise to share.

Happy Trails.

Bodie, A Ghost Town

Bodie, California: a spontaneous detour on our way home from Bishop. Wandering a dusty path, surrounded by fragments of long forgotten dreams, rusty remains of stories untold, mysteries of abandoned hopes; kneeling in dirt while caressing the smooth, weather-worn slats of tired, aged carriages; peering though the warped panes of curtained windows; I felt drawn to and connected to this lonely place. A few short hours was not enough time.





A small peek at Mono Lake and the snow covered eastern slope of the Sierra.

Once a booming mining town, a small percentage of the town remains as a State Park, allowing a priceless glimpse of our western history.

A family's transportation? Freight hauler? Supply wagon? Where did it come from? Who pulled it? A fancy team of horses? Sturdy mules? Oxen? How old are you and where were you created?

I wish to age as beautifully as wood.

Peaceful and lonely at the same time.

1800 s Fire House Wall.






Graced by nature's garden.

Homestead

Where'd they all go?

Past and Present.

At rest.

Mule Days

We erected our teepee in a cow pasture surrounded by mountains, motor homes and campers. It was a big party of folks who like mules, horses, camping or just getting away. I am going to print my photos and make a big poster to show Millie and Pistol so they can see what kinds of things they should be doing with their lazy mule lifes. Enjoy!

Life With Wrangler

If you have been visiting here for awhile, you have already met Wrangler, and may have seen some of these photos already. He is a favorite around here. I went into the pasture for a photo shoot a few days ago and he followed me everywhere, making it difficult to get pictures due to his nose in my lens.

He moved in with us in August 2008. He kept suffering major injuries and his human mom at that time, couldn't deal with him. She called me, we brought him home, and I wondered, "What did I get myself into?"

This was the final straw for his previous owner, when she said 'no more'.

This was the first one and it was almost healed, when........

next he did this to himself. She was never real sure how he was doing it, but he was continually getting torn up.

Over time he healed well. We were finally able to turn him out with the rest of the herd, he made friends and played well with others. No further injuries for a year.

Jerry started riding Wrangler one year ago and we were pleased with his good nature and calmness. This was his first ride and he calmed right down after a couple of little half hearted bucks. What a little sensible sweetie.

Fast forward to this winter/spring. Wrangler is 3 1/2 years old now and getting spunkier. We have plenty of calm quiet times with the herd grazing peacefully together.

And then there are the days when he is full of himself and wants to play, play, play. The other boys will play rough with him. The two mares do not want to have anything to do with the rough stuff and they let him know.

Sometimes things get too rough and we find these kinds of things and can only guess what happened; such as, one wild colt getting to tough with the above 'old boy'.

He loves to run and certainly enjoyed playing in the snow this winter.
Wrangler is a Paint Horse, colored white and brown, not so easy to keep the white parts white.

Wrangler and Cort share breakfast most mornings.

As a three year old horse, he is losing his intermediate incisors. That bottom one was very loose and he was wiggling it with his tongue, just like a child with a loose tooth.

Later the same day the loose tooth is gone and the adult incisor is peaking through the gum. Sorry, I didn't bother washing the grass from his mouth or brushing his teeth before taking pictures.

Wrangler totally skipped the terrible twos, but he has saved it all up and is a feisty, 'full-of-it' three, almost four year old.

He suffered this recently, a short, deep gash to the shoulder. I think he tried to play his silly colt games with a certain mare and she wasn't going to put up with him.

Patched him back together.

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Two weeks ago we drove an hour to meet up with a group of friends for a trail ride. Here are Jerry and Wrangler ready to go. What I did not get a picture of, was Wrangler taking off as Jerry put his foot in the stirrup and dumping Jerry flat on the ground, on his right side, on his damaged shoulder, which promptly and fully dislocated.....

-with a worried crowd of friends and strangers surrounding us, I was able to pop that baby back in. I am getting too used to doing that. Then, our MD friend wanders over and asks, "what's up", he missed the fun. However, did request that we wait next time so he can watch.

SOOOO..... Jerry says he is fine, attempts to climb back on the crazy three year old, and before he can get his second boot in the stirrup, that colt goes into a wild bucking episode that would thrill a rodeo audience. And for the first time ever, I get to see Jerry bucked off a horse. It wasn't pretty.

But he kept on smiling.

We didn't go on that ride......