A Seabird to Comfort

My husband, Casey and I got home around noon on Sunday after spending Thanksgiving with his family in Napa.  After unpacking the car I was off to go find Autumn.  I wasn't long after I had Autumn in her stall that Cindy wandered up to the barn with Syria, Autumn's best friend horse.  "Do you want to go to the beach?".  Forty five minutes later we were on their backs riding next to the surf.  The wind was still, the waves clapped and the sky was washed in a water color of quiet clouds. 
We strolled along in a peaceful daze until something caught our eyes.  Autumn and I noticed a little tiny form not to far away.  We walked closer to inspect and there before us was some type of seabird.  He was black and duck shaped, with a long point tipped bill, with a white belly and blue feet.  He looked up at us and of course, I started to worry out a plan for him.  Autumn stretched out her neck and sniffed to him while Syria had a "I'm not getting close to that thing!" look on her face.  Cindy and I decided that we would ride a bit more and if he was still there on our way back that we would take him home. 
Well, the rest of the ride for me was making a game plan for the little guy.  I could get off Autumn, carry him back to the parking lot, put him in a bucket for the ride home, tuck Autumn in her stall, bring him home, feed him canned tuna, put him in a dog crate with hay...wait...wait...no. A towel.  Would I need a heating lamp?  How would I feed him with that pointy bill?  What time in the morning does that wildlife rescue center open anyway?  With all that chitter chatter in my head I didn't realize that we were already standing back over him.  I got off Autumn and walked up to the little guy unsure what to do.  I looked at Autumn and she was giving me the same eye contact that she gives me when she wants a cookie except she followed it up by looking at the little seabird then back to me.  She repeated this a few times before I got the message.  I bent down and scooped up the little guy without any fight.  He was very weak but not too weak to have diarrhea all over my coat that I wrapped him in (no good deed goes unpunished as my good friend Karen likes to say). 
As we headed back to the trailer Autumn could not keep her eyes off of him.  She would sniff him gently on one side of me and then she would cross behind me and then sniff him gently on the other side.  She did this for our entire 30 minute walk back to the trailer. 


Autumn comforting the weak little seabird.

 By the time we made it back to the trailer the poor little seabird seemed close to flying up to heaven.  I decided that maybe it would be more peaceful for him to be by his home for the last part of his journey instead of my dog crate.   I found a little spot close to the dunes and promised that I would check on him on my work break the next day.  We all wished him well and hoped for the best. 
The next day on my lunch break I drove to the beach and scrambled as fast as I could through the sand to the spot where I had left him.  I found him there but he was gone.  I felt bad that maybe I should have taken him home and tried harder but the whispering wind and the song of the sea's waves somehow made me feel that it was better for him to be where he was laid. 

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Copyright (c) 2011 Jacksonhillhorseygirl.com

Wrong Side Of The Stall

Somedays, Autumn just gets up on the wrong side of the stall.  On those wrong side of the stall mornings, I know without turning on the lights that she's having one.  Her glare pierces through the morning darkness striking up the "oh great!" feeling inside me. 

Just give me a cookie and no one will get hurt.

There is no nicker on these mornings, no friendly nuzzles.  It's strictly get me my food to her or else!!!  What's or else?  Thumping her giant hooves against her stall so hard that the entire barn rattles and shutters making the automatic waterers cough out their water.  I bet she has registered a 4.8 on the Richter scale when she has had her monthly visitor in town and I haven't been quick enough serving her breakfast.  I don't waste any time making a behavior teaching lesson out of this.  It's not worth it.  I just get her breakfast.  I don't even bother to brush her on these days.  I just do my barn chores as she scowls at me in between snatches of hay. 
It's not just me that she gives the scowl to.  It's every horse in the barn.  If Willy, the gelding in the stall across from her, is in she'll just stare at him all night long with her ears pinned back.  Unfortunately, Autumn's plan of making him feel like crap about himself backfires because Willy seems to be into that hate/love sort of thing.  He just looks at her with hearts dancing in his eyes.

I skip the riding on these days.  Riding on these days is never one of those magical blog worthy moments.

Autumn having a "that time of the month" ride

When she's finished eating, I walk her to the pasture down the quickest path possible.  It's not an easy task walking an 1850 pound PMS-ing, ears cocked back with eyes flaming cookie monster filly.  Relieved when I reach the gate, I take off her halter, give her a cookie that she almost rips my arm off for and then she thanks me with the  "that's it?" death stare.  Still alive but shaky after that if looks could kill moment, she will stomp way her past me giving me the old tail swish right in the face as she bitches her way across the pasture and through the herd.  I don't mind going to work on these days and even make it there a little early.

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Copyright (c) 2011 Jacksonhillhorseygirl.com

Pee On

At the veterinary hospital, I have to schedule the occasional horse castration.  There always seems to be an air of awkwardness for both the client and myself when booking this type of appointment.  The clients problem stems from not knowing what to call this procedure.  The normal terms for the procedure are "castration" or "gelding".  Stumbling over what to call it, I've had clients ask to have their horse "neutered" or  to have his "testicles amputated" or he needs his "nuts chopped off".  Sometimes it takes me a minute to figure it out when a client tells me their horse needs "brain surgery" or a "vasectomy" or his "tubes tied".
Once the client has spit out their request, I then get to hit the awkward question ball right back in their court by asking something they never prepared me to ask in college ..."Have both of his testicles dropped?"  There's always a few seconds of dead air on the line until I get an "Ah?" or a "hum" and then I usually get "How do I know?".  This is the second best thing I get to say when booking this type of appointment "You'll have to feel for them."   Good bye pride!  33 years old and I get to ask people at work... Have you grab your horse's balls lately?  
A normal response is something along the lines of why wouldn't he have them both?  I then have to explain that sometimes one testicle is hanging solo while  his buddy is hiding up in the body somewhere. This is called a cryptorchid.  If one isn't swinging next to his dance partner the simple 1 hour procedure with one doctor turns into a two doctor search and destroy mission. 
Last year, we did have a cryptorchid castration to do.  The doctors had the horse lay into an easy sleep under general anesthesia.  He was propped up in a cradle, laying on his back with legs up in the air.  The procedure was going well, we got the first testicle who was at home base and the doctors went out to seek out the one that was hiding.  Luckily, this sucker wasn't to far from where it should have been.  The doctor was starting the removal when the horse started to pee.  "Grab his Penis!" the doctor yelled at me.  Well, I grabbed a hold of that slippery sucker and redirected the stream away from the incision site and bam!  I peed it right in my face.  The normally unfailing concentration of the doctors was broken to laugh at my new facial.  I got a little pissed off but I've seen both of those guys get diarrheaed in the face horses and cows and I was over it.  Now I just felt a part of the club.  After the procedure, I wiped off my new membership as the horse recuperated just fine after his "brain surgery".
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Copyright (c) 2011 Jacksonhillhorseygirl.com

Saddling Up with Poncho for St. Jude

Autumn and I would like to thank all of you that sponsored us in the Saddle Up For St. Jude Children's Hospital fundraiser ride.  We raised $560.00 for a great cause!  You guys are awesome! 

Autumn and I riding for St. Jude Children's Hospital.

 I was a little nervous that I wasn't going to be able to get Autumn to the St. Jude ride because my trusty traveling and trailering companion, Cindy,  was away on a trip.  About a year ago, my great friend Diane had bought a new extra high extra wide trailer just to fit Autumn in with her horse Poncho.  Like I said she's had the trailer over a year and I never once dared put Autumn in there with Poncho. Why would I not put Autumn in a trailer that my totally awesome friend bought just so we could go off and have a great time together with our horses???  Fear that's why!  Autumn hates Poncho.  When she was little...okay the size of a normal horse....Poncho used to rough house with her pretty hard and when she got bigger it was pay back time.  Every time she sees Poncho she pins her ears, gives him the death look and goes after him.  I couldn't imagine locking them in a crammed box together side by side.  I had visions of Autumn kicking his legs clean off or driving down the road and seeing Poncho getting kicked straight through the wall of the trailer and bouncing down the road.  With the St. Jude ride being such an important event and with Diane's reassurance we gave it a try (not without me making her promise that if Autumn hurt Poncho that I was going to pay all of his vet bills).  Diane bravely put Poncho in the first half of the trailer and shut the divider.  I lured Autumn in with a flake of alfalfa hay.  As soon as she got in there and saw who was tucked next to her the bitch ass glare from hell flamed across her face. Oh crap!  I was getting ready for her to rip the divider out with her teeth and chuck it out the door and beat the life out of poor Poncho when she noticed her alfalfa hay and she started eating.  That was it.   No blood.  No bone crushing.  No high speed trip to the horsey E.R.    Diane and I were totally jazzed that now we could hit the open road with our tolerant equines partners.

On the road with Diane & Poncho

Saturday rolled around and Diane trailered us up to Orick, which is the home of the tallest tree in the world, a redwood measuring  379 feet!  The day was beautiful and the crowd of people were friendly.  Diane and I decided to ride off towards the beach with six other gals.

The Beach Babes gathering at the water hole.

We followed and crossed Redwood Creek.  We passed under highway 101 back up on to the levy and through green pastures dotted with grazing cattle.  Autumn didn't quite know what to think of the cows. 

What the hell is a cow and what does "Moo" mean?

She was coiling up beneath me getting ready to floor it out of town but Poncho stepped up before her keeping his cool.  Like a gallant knight he lead her safely past these mooing, projectile pooping oddities.  After that big event, Autumn and I calmly strolled along, marveling that we were encircled by mountains covered in the biggest redwoods in the world, flanked by green pastures,  a twinkling river, the Pacific ocean before us and great friends surrounding us all helping the same great cause.

On a side note... On October 28th Autumn turned 5 years old.  My little Filly is growing up!  Where does the time go?   Happy Birthday Autumn! 

Autumn enjoying her birthday mush cake thing I made her.

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Copyright (c) 2011 Jacksonhillhorseygirl.com

Kum Ba Yah, Domestic Saddle Violence and Smooth Legs

Two weeks ago, Autumn and I packed up our sleeping bags and headed down to Cueno Creek to go horse camping with Cindy and Syria.  Actually, I wish all we had to pack were our sleeping bags.  After making three car trips back and forth to Cindy's, I was finally loaded up. With the last, and most important thing stuffed into the trailer, Autumn, we were off.  We headed south for the two hour ride through some of the tallest and oldest redwoods left in the world.  We pulled into into the camp close to four and we emptied the trailer and set up camp. 



Roughing it.

 Cuneo Creek is the creme de la creme of horse camps.  Each campsite comes complete with corrals and running water.  There are areas to mount up easily on your horse...a great perk if you own Autumn.  After a long  ride you can take your horse to the specially made giant sand box for them to roll around in.  The riding trails roam for days through 350 foot tall redwoods, through creeks, mountain meadows, orchards and old homesteads. 
But, one of my most favorite things about the camp are the showers.  The big roomy showers that have hot water that never runs out.  Showers that aren't anything like my shower at home...the trailer shower.  The trailer shower is the length and width of two men's size 12 shoe boxes side by side. There is no sticking your elbows out when shampooing your hair in the trailer shower without taking out the wall.  Forget about shaving your legs with out being double jointed in there.  But when I'm at Cuneo Creek there is no doubt that I am the cleanest gal with the smoothest legs in camp. 

This trip wasn't all about having fun and smooth legs.  This was a trip where an important decision had to be made.  For the past three years I have been socking away money from odd jobs for my dream saddle.  All my great friends at the ranch chipped in and gave me a loving part of the cost as a Christmas gift and it took until this October to get the final amount.  I had the saddle, on a trial basis, for one week to decide if it fit Autumn and myself properly.  If it didn't fit Autumn right I could send it back as long as it didn't acquire any blemishes. 
Cindy and I decided to play it safe and ride the wider trails and through the mountain meadows to avoid any clawing branches.  The ride was going well, and the saddle seemed to fit  but I still wasn't sure until Autumn decided to make my decision for me.  It was a warm day with swarming bugs that Autumn swished at with her tail.  They seemed to really be getting her because she had to stop and stomp her feet to shake them off.   She drifted to the side of the trail and over a low bush to scratch her belly.  I figured that was okay, since it wasn't tall enough harm the saddle way up on her back.  But, when Autumn's legs began to buckle and she started dropping to the ground...well, that's when that bush got tall enough to beat the living hell out of the $1,300 unpaid for after three years of saving, saddle.  I kicked, yelled and swatted at Autumn but she wasn't listening.  Something clicked in my head, and myself yelled at me to abandon ship.  I dropped my stirrups and did the crappiest ninja roll over her neck and head and watched as Autumn rolled in ecstasy in a patch of poison oak in the new saddle.  When her itch was scratched and she was pleased with herself, she got up and shook it off. 
I was stunned.   I looked at Cindy and said "Well, I guess Autumn wants me to keep the saddle." 

The new saddle after Autumn domestically abused it.

Luckily,the saddle only had a few scrapes and bruises and it didn't want to press any charges after Autumn's assault. So, now I'm a proud owner of a dream saddle that happens to fit and it already has the first dent out of the way. 
The rest of the trip turned out to be awesome! 

Cindy and Syria

We rode over the river.....

Autumn drank the river



...and through the woods...

I guess we should say "rode under the woods".

To the showers we did ride.

Farewell, giant perfectly hot showers...until next time.  I will think of you often.

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Copyright (c) 2011 Jacksonhillhorseygirl.com

Adrenaline Junkies Come In All Sizes

Hi!
Autumn and I are at it again! 
Autumn and I are participating in a Saddle Up for St. Jude event benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.  The trail ride is on Saturday, October 29th at Redwood National Park in Orick. The money we raise will help St. Jude Children's Hospital find new treatments for cancer and other catastrophic diseases. We are hoping to raise $1,000 and we would love your help.  You can donate online at the following link: Donate on Margaret & Autumn's Behalf
or, you can email me if you would like to send a check to: Jacksonhillhorseygirl@gmail.com. 
No donation is too big or too small. 
Thanks for helping us help a great cause!
Margaret & Autumn


Adrenaline Junkies Come In All Sizes
The other morning, as usual, I was bouncing over the ranch's dimpled dirt road late for work.  I was keeping an eye on Lilly, my crazy running maniac pooch, as she sprinted side by side with my front tire when something caught my other eye.

What the hell is that?

I slowed to a safer speed, not wanting to run my own dog over, to get a better look at the thing that was stuck on my windshield.  Balanced on my passenger side windshield wiper was a little mouse.  Like a mini surfer on a wave he flowed with the changing currents of the road.  He hung ten over the windshield wiper blade, coasting with the swell of the car, as the wind blew in his face. 

Totally Stoked!

 He was in the zone.  But, the tide had to change for this little extreme windshield wiper rider.  I had to get to work.  I pulled over, got out of the car and walked over to the passenger side.  He looked up at me, no fear in his eyes and stayed on his surfing windshield wiper.  He didn't want his endless summer to end.  "I'm sorry I have to your kick you off your wave little dude."  On his own, he scooted on to the  magazine and I lowered him down to the grass.  He sat there a minute, looking at my car before he scurried off into the forest.  As I drove off to work I wondered why that little guy climbed up there in the first place.  Had he done this before with anyone else?  He was a cool little guy, I hope catches a ride with me again someday.

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Copyright (c) 2011 Jacksonhillhorseygirl.com 

A Long Way Down

When I first started riding Autumn I would just clip some reins on her halter, find a trunk of a car to climb up and then I'd climb up on Autumn.  I had no fear up there.  I rode her in the woods, through rivers, over bridges, on the beach, in the ocean, in the arena...everywhere bareback.  She did great. 
Then it happened...The fall.
I ran up to the barn one morning and rode Autumn up to the pasture.  I had a few extra minutes so I let Autumn graze in the few remaining green spots that survived the dry summer.  As I sat on her, I thought about the crummy garage sale I was about to have in a few hours.   I sat on Autumn swirling in the dread of the event when something spooked her.  She did a small jump to the side that headed me straight into making an uninsured introduction with the ground.  In my slow motion decent all I could think was I hope this isn't going to be expensive.  I splatted on the dirt and the ground stunned my left side.  Tears welled up in my eyes and I could barely move my arm.  I gave to quick look around to make sure that no one witnessed the lamest fall on the planet and let a few tears fall.  Autumn stared at me with a look that said Seriously?  You fell off of me from that little spook? 
Yeah Autumn, I obviously did!  It was all because I was thinking of that stupid garage sale I have to have.
 Then it was written all over her face  What were you doing thinking about the stupid garage sale when you are riding me?
Of course she was right.  I limped her to the pasture gate, gave her hug and kiss and let her loose with her friends. 
As more movement restored itself to my arm I thought back to my younger days flipping ass over tea kettle jumping horses over fences at a hand gallop and not being able to remember the ground hurting so much.  Then the quote came drifting back to me that I heard from the older equestrians back then...The older you get the less you bounce.  Yep, they had that one right. 
Well, I did get back in the saddle...bareback anyways.  I rode her and at first I still felt pretty confident but then...things started to change.  I became the hypothetical hypochondriac. I began to imagine every possible way I could fall off of Autumn.  What if a dog jumped out of the bushes and scared her?  What if a motorcycle went by and slid out and crashed into us?  What if a mountain lion attacked us?  What if Sarah Palin was in town flying over us in a helicopter trying to shoot wolves and took us out?  Like I said, it was getting bad. 
I would get myself worked up into a fit of panic.  I began to talk myself out of riding Autumn bareback altogether.  I could ride her in a saddle and feel confident but at the same time I  missed the closeness and freedom of riding her bareback.  I read books and articles on how to overcome my fear... breathing techniques, singing, mediation but nothing would work.  I would clam up and Autumn could feel it.   I could tell that my fear was making her scared.  Then my fears started to play out through her.  When she thought that I was scared she thought that there must be something out there worth being scared about.  I made a decision to just ride in a saddle and hopefully my fear would disappear with more time on top of her. 
That garage sale was now two years behind us when I was sitting in the audience of Cavalia. Cavalia is basically Cirque Du Soleil with horses and acrobatics as it's stars. It is wild, beautiful and I recommend that everyone see it if they can.  Anyhow, as I was being dazzled by all the horses one act caught my eye.  The performers were vaulting off a giant Belgian.  As the Belgian horse cantered his performers would swing, tumble, sit stand and  flip all over him with the help of a surcingle with handles (basically a belt that wrapped around the horse's heart girth with handles on top side of his back).
The gears started churning in my head and when I got home I hit he web.  It took me only seconds for one of these handled vaulting surcingles to pop up and it just happened to be on sale.  It was fate giving me a new set of training wheels.  I clicked it into my shopping cart and one week later I had my handle bars!

Climbing back on the horse again!

I snuck out to the arena at first light and took Autumn for a test ride in them.  The confidence meter had it's first flicker of life.  Next day, Autumn and I hit the trail.  Day by day my confidence tank was filling up despite the people at the ranch having a great time making fun of my handle bars.  They wanted to know when my first performance would be and if I could do a tumbling demo for them.  I just had to suck it up and take the abuse like grown woman riding a horse with handles.
Then I decided, on my Christmas Eve ride on the beach with Cindy and Syria to leave the saddle at home.  I fastened my confidence bars onto Autumn, found a beached log to climb up on her and we headed for the sea.  I was still a bit nervous but Autumn walked me through it and then she trotted me further through it. The ride was lovely and I can remember that I took a deep breath and asked Autumn to take care of me.  I gave her a squeeze and she gently cantered me along the sea's edge.  Autumn carried me away from the day of that crappy garage sale and into one of the best rides she ever gave me.  She's such a great and patient friend!  So is Cindy for being seen with me in public with my handles!  Thanks Cindy!

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Copyright (c) 2011 Jacksonhillhorseygirl.com