How many of you have done this before?

The world always looks brighter from behind a smile. ~Author Unknown

I have. You have to love the insanity of youth.

Argo posts coming soon. Stay tuned.

Farewell Good Friend

How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. ~Carol Sobieski and Thomas Meehan, Annie

Farewell Good Friend

Your road has been long,
For me, the journey to brief.

From the moment of your first breath,
You belonged with me.

You've guided me and protected me,
Always, have you been loyal to me.

Your heart always pure,
Your soul endlessly deep.

Know you were so loved,
and forever, your memory I keep.

You were and always will be,
such a huge part of me.

Go now and sleep,
and feel no more pain.

Find beloved Kish, and both of you,
wait there for me.

Godspeed and find your well deserved peace,
My dear loyal friend, a part of my heart, you will forever keep.

SkyBar's Kodiak Bear
December 28, 1997 ~ March 23, 2009

Dogs are miracles with paws. ~Attributed to Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy

Kody and Kish playing Tug-O-War, 1999

Kody 2nd from right, 1999

Kody (in back) with his half sister, Akira, in 2000 at a GSD Specialty Show

Kody during the summer of 2005

Kody January 2009

Kish ~ Kody's ever loyal Dam, 1994 - 2000

Dearest Kish, protect him and love him, till I'm there with you both.

Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened. ~Theodor Seuss Geisel, attributed

Silent Sunday

Some changes

Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Before I get into the meat of my post I wanted to give a quick update on Argo.

Well the weather is still unchanged, cold, snow, rain, mud.... well you get the point. Winter. Which means my time with Argo has basically been feeding him, breaking ice, and talking to him during my feed and watering activities. Rinse and repeat. His coat is in need of a serious brushing. Oh how I long for that day. As far as progressing on gentling, we are at a standstill. We have not lost any ground, but we have not gained any either. I am sure once the weather begins to warm up and I can spend more time with him, we will begin to progress yet again.

Keep thinking warm thoughts, that's what I am doing.

On to other things. If you have not noticed, I have been tinkering with some things here. I just changed the comments form. It allows for those with blogs to have their last post loaded into the comment form. I'm not sure if I like it yet. We shall see. Let me know your thoughts on it. Give me a thumbs up or down in your comments.

Also, you have probably seen the Unite, or Die Graphic to the right and have been wondering what the heck that is all about. If you click on it, it will take you to an outside link that will explain it better than I can. I want you to realize this is not a Republican or a Democrat subject. This is an American subject.

We are in precarious times right now and it will take everyone of us to get out of it. We can not be standing with our hands out waiting for our government to take care of us. That is not their role. We must understand and learn our history so that we are not doomed to repeat it. What our government is doing with our money needs to be highly scrutinized. Do you know that our Representatives and Senators did not even have time to read the latest pork handout, prior to voting on it? We need to be informed Americans. We need to watch what our elected officials are doing and letting them know how we want them to vote. Remember they are supposed to be representing us, not themselves and not just our Federal and State Representatives, but our Local ones as well.

So please take a moment and click on the Unite, or Die graphic. I think you too will agree with most all that is stated there, and if you don't, well this is America, where we still have the right to our own opinions, for now.

Silent Sunday

Argo is a Steelers Fan Too!

"I hated putting on that purple uniform, and I hated that raven bird. What really ticked me off is when we played Pittsburgh our whole stadium seemed to be filled with Pittsburgh fans." Tackle Orlando Brown, on playing in Baltimore for Art Modell's Ravens (1999).

Now you didn’t honestly think Argo would have been a Redskins Fan or worse yet a Brownies Fan did you? Nope he is definitely a Steelers Fan.

He even got dressed up for the day. His favorite Steeler is Troy Polamalu, he said they have the hair thing in common. He asked me to color his hair so there would be no mistake as to who he would be rooting for.

Argo and I know that Pittsburgh is destined to win. This is Super Bowl 43 and his favorite player is number 43.

He lives in Steelers Country what did you expect?

He asked me to post his favorite Troy Video.

"The tradition of the Pittsburgh Steelers is in winning and in playing good defense ... We’re proud to be a part of the Steeler Nation and we don’t want to let that Nation down." Dick LeBeau, Pittsburg Steelers Defensive coordinator

Fuzzy Wuzzy Argo and Other Rambling Tails

Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn't know that so it goes on flying anyway. ~Mary Kay Ash

Well the weather just stinks, especially when you have a horse that lives outside 24/7. I wish I would have progressed to the point with Argo that he would be in the big barn so I could play with him in the indoor, but we work with what we got.

Time with Argo has been extremely limited due to bitter cold and working to keep him comfortable with plenty of hay and non-frozen water in his tub. I snapped a few pictures though during the sub zero temps. Sorry for the blurriness, it was cold and I had to take my gloves off to run the camera.


In other news with Argo though:

I have been working on getting that dang snap off of his halter. He is getting much more comfortable with the abominable snowman hands touching his cheeks, jaw and forehead. We have practiced with me holding the snap in my hand. The first 72 times he would back up the moment he felt my hand around the snap. He slowly became comfortable with it just resting in my hand while I stroked his cheek with my other hand. We are now up to him feeling slight pressure when I hold the snap. The first time he felt it, he quickly stepped backwards. I make sure he always has an escape from me. He feels safer and more confident in our sessions when he does not feel trapped. He now will hang out with me while I gently grasp the snap and hold it, so for now the snap remains.

What amazes me during our little sessions is the way he watches me with his eyes. I try not to stare into them, but it is so hard not to watch those huge windows to his soul. Each time I am with him, I feel another thin layer peel off of him. Little by little he learns to trust me a little more. As I stroke his forehead, I am amazed by the sensitivity of Argo. Just a breath from me and he reacts, not in a jumpy way, but I can feel his skin underneath my hand tighten and then relax. I have never been around a horse that is as sensitive as him. I now understand why my friend’s mare, Mystic does not like a stiff brush used on her. I always felt it was the princess in her, but now I realize it is her sensitive nature.

I began touching the area where his neck ties into his shoulder with a crop. This was quite comical to watch the first few times. Now though he has pretty much gotten used to it, almost to the point where I think he enjoys the scratching now. He is more protective of his left side than his right, so we start with the bad side and when he allows me to touch his left side, and then he gets his much deserved treat. He has quickly figured out that if he works with me, he gets rewarded, and the longer he holds out, the longer I will pester him. He is an extremely quick learner when you think about it. 17 years in the wild and then plopped in my lap, that’s a lot to overcome and he has been a shining example of how special the Kiger Mustang is. I’m not sure if I will ever adopt another one, but I’m not, not saying that I wouldn’t adopt one in the future.

I can’t wait till I can curry that coat of his and look at that tail, it will be so gorgeous when it gets a proper brushing, his mane is in wind knots right now, but we will get there, we have nothing but time.


Argo also has been getting more used to my dogs. My dogs normally in the past, always followed me into the stallion paddock, but since Argo arrived, they have not gone past the fence line. I worried he would be alarmed, scared, charge them, etc..., if they ended up in the paddock. I think they sense what could possibly happen and are respectful to Argo. That does not keep them from doing their antics outside the paddock though, which always gets quite the snort and blow from Argo.

I mean come on, what would you think if you had that charging out of the barn towards you at full tilt with the food lady and her red wheel barrow?