My Tunes

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Arlene's Big Adventure.


I'm off on a big adventure.

Rod the Mod gives a clue;



The Brummie boys give it away;



I'm going home!  I'll be back in six weeks.

Good luck to Uncle Joe with his operation and my thoughts are also going to be with a very special and much loved horse called Tonka, who is at the W.S.U. horse hospital right now.  Tonka if it wasn't for you and Andrea, I probably wouldn't have adopted my two mustangs.  GET BETTER you darling boy.

Off I go the land of Hope and Glory and the land of my birth....England.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Bits and bobs and a bit of a mystery.

Teddy and I are both on steroids.  Teddy went from 50lbs to 57 lbs and I'm the size of a small garden shed.  I think I have acted much more honorably than Ted.  She's really let the team down.  See steroids makes you really hungry and some of us have slightly more control than others.  Also, steroids can make you just put on weight even if your a delicate little eater like me, lol.  Anyway, Teddy has taken to stealing food.  She ate a whole bunt cake and about 10lbs of cat food, among other things.

Here's greedy pig dog shopping.
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Look at her eyes light up when she spots the dog treats.  She was looking at me and looking at William with begging eyes.  If she wasn't in the cart she would have helped herself I'm sure.
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A few days later in the Home Depot it's a different story.  There's just boring un-edible things.
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Weak with hunger and bored stiff, she actually curled up and went to sleep.
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Latest going on's around here:  I sanded the varnish from around some windows and a door and re-varnished them.  I had lots more to do, but I got too tired.  It took days as it was.  The reason I have to keep re-varnishing is because of the cats.  The damage they do to wood work is terrible.  They also have a go at the furniture.  They are not as bad now they are getting older and I will think twice about getting another kitten.

I was taking pictures of my handy work...trying to get the light right.  When I looked at the pictures I was surprised to see various pets showing up in all the pictures.  I didn't notice them when I was taking the pictures.  It's like the unnoticed world of animals.  In one of the shots, Blondie is showing Tommy Two Tone her teeth as T2T gets too close to her rawhide chew.  (The pic was too blurry).  Max sits and watches everything.  Teddy drifts in and out of the shots, sniffing the floor in hopes the food fairy dropped something somewhere.

Here's T2T suddenly showing up in the middle of things!  You can see Blondie guarding her stash under the table and the tips of Max's ears by the doors.  Notice the corner of the rug that Teddy chewed off last year when she was a pup.  Pets!  More like PESTS!
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We drained my little pool.  It's just finished its 5th year here and was a real good buy I think.  I never thought it would last this long.
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William and Brad put it in the root cellar along with a box of freshly picked onions.
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You might be asking yourselves, "Why is she draining the pool before there's a film of ice on it"?  Well, tomorrow I'm going to do something very unusual for me (these days anyway).  I'm going on a bit of an adventure, alone and off the farm!  Now your wondering....Rehab?  The funny farm?  Jail?   

Stay tuned...................

Monday, September 3, 2012

Cow and Chicken or Echo and Dandylyons.

I ventured forth in search of Dandylyons and Echo....the team we call Cow and Chicken.   Dandylyons has been busy redecorating the little Horse House and successfully turned it into a darling little cow barn.....she pulled the entire look together with artistically placed piles of cow poop.

Here she is looking happy with her missing horn cover, completely toothless and with a large squadron of flies.
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I got out the brushes to groom Echo and she was right there, squeezing in-between Echo trying to get me to curry comb her.  Her second favorite thing in the world is a sharp metal curry comb across her back.  She always has deep dirt on her back because she kicks it up over there with her front hooves.

She makes Echo mad with her pushing and shoving.  She wants to be brushed first and even though he bites her, she won't back off.  I had her follow me in to the barn to groom her and then to keep her away from Echo I gave her a most favorite thing in the world...food.

No cross ties for Echo.  He stands with his 'eyes front' to be groomed.  He even stands still for fly spray..unlike a cow I know!
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He was on alert when I brushed his stringy little tail.
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He ran off, high headed and snorting when I used the soft brush to brush his nose.  I laughed at him and he came back and stood still.  I had to kiss his nose a lot then brush his nose.  I can pick all his feet up but I can't hold them up.  He's got such a sweet disposition.

A few months ago I was cleaning the nasty gunk off the bottom of their water tub with a broom when Echo came around the corner.  As soon as he saw the broom he ran away.  I laughed at him (when you laugh at a horse it makes them realize how foolish they're being) and held my hand high up in the air and told him to "Step up".  He did and then I stood with my back to him and held the broom.  He felt safe with me between the broom and him.  I kept doing it until we came up with a bit of a party trick.  It goes like this; I stand with my back to him and he stands right behind me with his chin on top of my head.  Then we perform the 'battle routine'...well I do, he just stands with his chin on my head all bug eyed.  I shout out, "Fight Fight Fight"  then "Victory for horses"!  (I don't know why).  And I wave the broom high above our heads and he stands his ground.  When he used to attempt to bolt I'd hold his chin and tell him 'eyes front'.  A halter might make things easier, but this is more fun.

This routine might seem really mental, but it's getting him to trust me in different situations.  I envision a day when it's just me and him, high in the mountains and we meet a bear or a chewing gum wrapper and I shout out the encouraging words of "Fight fight fight"!   And then we stand our ground.  Maybe you're supposed to bolt from a bear...dunno...we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Here I am trying to put some distance between me and Echo so I can take a picture.
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The rabbit brush is starting to bloom.
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Here he is!
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He's been doing his own hooves as well.  His hooves are very thin and break easy.  When the BLM delivered him, he had big chunks missing from his hooves.  After he lived here awhile I understood why.
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Saturday, September 1, 2012

Wildairo - September 2012

I have been taking a higher dose of steroids for almost a week and I am starting to feel like I can get about better.

This morning I went looking for Wildairo.  I found him in the sagebrush looking a bit wild but very relaxed and content.
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I tried to sneak up on him to get some good shots, but soon as he spotted me he made a beeline towards me.
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And here he is....
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Since he got into fisticuffs with the farrier three or four years ago, he has been put in charge of trimming his own feet....and a fine job he does....
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He proudly displays his name, rank and serial number.
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He has only bonded with me.  He doesn't like anyone else.  But he still won't let me groom him or put his halter on like I used to be able to.  I should never have turned him out, or let a farrier near him till he was more domesticated.  Oh well..he's happy.  He followed me back to the corrals for treats.  He's in a area of about 40 acres where he can visit with the cattle and Echo.

Hopefully soon I will be able to work him again.

Tomorrow your intrepid explorer goes in search of the team we call 'cow and chicken'...Dandylyons and Echo.