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.

On the Scenic Tour

When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses. ~Joyce Brothers

For some time now I have thought about where my life has been and where it is going. It’s funny how events can shape us if we allow them to. I had always had my life planned out as to where I was going and what I was going to do and for the most part, what I have worked so hard for and dreamt big for, has been achieved, not all, but most. My road map diverted and took scenic routes at times, but I managed to get back on track. I still have plenty of goals I want to achieve, but I am happy for the most part with what I have done with my life. No regrets, only experiences.

The loss of both my parents within the last 3 years has made me put a lot of things in perspective about what is important and what is not. Both my parents struggled to the very end with debilitating diseases. My mother, struggled her entire lifetime it seems. My father battled three forms of cancer for seven years, before losing his fight. Through it all though, they knew what was important; family. My road map went entirely off track when their health headed south. Some ridiculed me for my decisions in wanting to be there for my parents, but more encouraged me to know what was important; family. So I have been on the scenic tour for some time, some of it welcome, some not so much, during this time though I have learned a few things.

My children are growing faster than I expected them too. I guess I thought somewhere back when, that they would stay four foot tall and 10 years old. Much to my surprise they haven’t! I want to cherish the precious few years I have left before they leave to make their mark in the world.

I desperately love my husband. Not that I didn’t already or before, but I miss him when he is gone five and a half days a week now with his new job. I miss the smell he leaves of himself on the pillow next to mine. I miss him accusing me of my 492 looks when he has done something I do not approve of. I hate being the one to make the coffee Monday thru Friday now, he does it better. I want him with me so I can love him.

My horses really don’t mind, nor do they get ruined if I don’t ride every single one of them every week, so that I can have more time to do what is becoming more important in my life; family.

A simple phone call can be all it takes to make someone’s day turn bright.

A simple kindness to someone can mean more than you can possibly believe to them.

These are just some of the things I have learned on my little scenic tour.

I know this does not seem to relate to Argo, but in a lot of ways it does. He and I are more alike than I realized. He has been on the scenic tour since he was first captured in October 2007, and he is still trying to figure out where the map will lead him, as am I. Argo is slowly learning and accepting what family truly means. When his muzzle brushes across my jacket as he reaches for his grain, there is slowly becoming a greater softness in his eyes, an acceptance of me so to speak. A willingness to want to be with me; family.

Breakfast is Served

All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast. ~John Gunther

Mini goal achieved! Argo is really starting to enjoy the idea that I hold his breakfast up for him. Actually, I think he is enjoying it a little too much.

Humm..., it smells like breakfast.

It tastes like breakfast

Wait... I feel a thumb scratching me while I'm eating breakfast.

A content Argo after breakfast

How do you achieve a goal?

Difficult things take a long time, impossible things a little longer. ~Author Unknown

When I started on this journey with Argo last May, I had thoughts of how it should progress. My main goal has always been to be able to safely halter and lead Argo in a year. That was truly my only goal. Granted, I was not sure exactly how I would get there, but I read a lot and asked even more questions and drew upon the experiences I have had as well as experiences others have had when it has come to Mustangs. I know there are a few out there who have taken on the task of gentling a mustang of Argo's age, but there are many more who for whatever reason, have chose not to try to gentle their older Mustangs. Needless to say, there is no book out there for "How to gentle your Senior Mustang". If there were I would be the first in line.

I read some of the blogs from people who are participating in the Extreme Mustang Makeover, and I am just awed as to how quickly they are able to handle their mustangs. Now granted, they are much younger mustangs, but I am still in awe. I wonder though how solid those horses are at 100 days when the head for the competition. I know with my domestic horses, I would never be able to think them solid enough at 100 days, but that's just me. Good Luck to all and stay safe.

Some friends of mine thankfully think more about my well being than I do J and have given me some suggestions on working on the trust department with Argo. First, "Get off the damn' ground!" I know, I know, I was compromising. This morning went much better. He still does not trust the camp chair, so I am going to throw my cheapness to the wind and park the camp chair in the corner of his shed. This morning, I sat on a bucket to start (again a compromise). Argo likes buckets, they bring food. Then after he was comfortable with that, we progressed to standing. Well, after 3-4 minutes of Argo him- hawing and walking back and forth, he decided he could try to eat from his feed pan with me holding the feed pan AND me standing. What a sight. Argo had the "Just Spook It" look going on. All four feet splayed as wide as he could get them, just in case he needed to instantly teleport somewhere else. I at first had to look down and away from him for him to eat, and then in my "baby talk" fashion I told him how brave he was, and what a good boy he was. Nut house here I come. I then began to turn my head to face him just a little bit and he kept his head in the feed pan. Argo still had all four feet splayed out for an easy exit, but still had his head buried in the feed pan. That was until the scary Mountian Lion Barn Cats came strolling in to see what was going on. If you're unfamiliar with the story you must read it. Argo didn't realize the cats were there until they were already milling around my legs. "Just Spook It" came back to life and he took a jump backwards and snorted at the cats that were totally oblivious to Argo having a minor heart attack. They proceeded to use his newly constructed shed as their personal scratching post. Argo cautiously came back to finish his meal keeping one eye on the cats and the other on his feed. I am very pleased. Of course it does not take much to thrill me these days.

Some other advice I have received and will try out tonight is to hold the feed bucket on my hip. By having it in front of me, I am not letting Argo be comfortable. Horses, when they greet each other, do so at the shoulder, so by having the pan on my hip, I am offering a more comfortable position for Argo. I'm inviting him in as to taking an aggressive stance by having it in front of me. Once he takes a bite, then I will retreat a step and invite him to come to me again and then hopefully he will come and take another bite. Makes sense to me, and it is what I do with my Quarter Horse babies. I need to remind myself to go in baby steps with Argo. He might be a full grown horse, but he is wild and he had a lot of years to learn to trust his instincts. I need to remember that. The Post It note will be attached to my forehead tonight and thank you Karen and Melissa for the advice and keeping me safe. I think I will achieve my one and only goal, but I'm not sure if it will happen in a year.

So I ask this question; how do you measure your goals? What steps do you take in achieving them? Do you write them down or are they in your head? Do you get upset when you do not feel the timeline you have set is achievable, or do you just keep going at the pace you're going and throw the timeline out the window?

May I have my breakfast, pretty please?

When the world says, "Give up," Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."~Author Unknown

A friend who has a ton of wisdom and advice when it comes to Mustangs and more specifically Kiger Mustangs has mentioned that I need to push the envelope with Argo. She gave me some great suggestions to get started on. Such as, if Argo wanted his stipend of grain he had to take it from his bucket in my lap.

Well, Argo was not impressed with me and my small camp chair in his shed for several days on end, for 15-20 minutes at a clip, so I have had to compromise. I figured he was not comfortable with the camp chair for one, and I did not want to leave it in the shed for him to figure out and possibly destroy. It's a good chair, and believe you me they are hard to come by around here. Secondly, I figured out through trial and error, that he would come closer if I did not look at him directly. Well today we had a breakthrough moment.

Picture this, I am sitting on the extremely hard and cold ground, cross legged, with thick, clunky, winter boots and Carhartt overalls, (can we say accident waiting to happen when the overstuffed idiot gets rolled over because she has crappy knees and is too cheap to buy another camp chair?) with his big rubber feed pan sitting in my lap, and casually looking at a knot in the wood in his shed. Argo does this little pace, begging for me to just leave, but please leave the feed pan with my little itsy, bitsy bit a grain please. I sit my ground literally and just softly talked to him, telling him what a big doufus he is for being so silly and not just taking the chance, in my "your such a good boy" sweet voice. And then it happened…. With me looking at the very symmetrical knothole in a board, I felt his muzzle push down on the feed pan and grab a bite, and then of course him jumping back, like I was going to spring on him at any moment. Again, he is a sweet, big boy, but we have a ways to go in the trust department. I continued to calmly sit there as my leg began to cramp up, pleading him with my sweet voice, quietly to come back and take some more. All I have to say is Thank God he is a boy! His stomach won out over his mind. He came back and continued to eat the rest of his little meal, and I practiced slowly turning my head to look at him face to well, forelock. He jumped back once, but quickly came back to finish. I continued to talk to him telling him how good he was and what a big, grown up boy he was, all in my sweet, baby talk kind of voice. Good Grief! If someone had seen me, I would have been admitted to the nut house! I did manage to keep the tears in check. I couldn't imagine the leg cramping up and the frozen cheeks as well.

I hope to be able to get him more comfortable with this in the coming weeks and then add in my dressage whip to start rubbing him on his shoulder while he is eating. Maybe, I will spring for a camp chair too!

Sorry no pictures this time. I will have to try and do this when Morgan or Zared (I can hear the whining about the cold already) are home so they can take a few pictures of the stuffed marshmallow and her Big Doufus.

A Room to Call his Own

Well done is better than well said. ~Benjamin Franklin

Back in February, when I was informed that I had the winning bid on Argo, my eyes surveyed the landscape outside my window, frozen tundra period, not very conducive to building anything. I knew in my mind what needed done, but with 'Ole Man Winter bearing down, and Argo being a surprise to my husband, I figured it best to wait until the weather was more conducive to a building project. Well February, rolled into March and then quickly fell into April.

Since August '07, the club I belong to, the PNHA, Inc., had been planning a huge event for the Western Pennsylvania area, called the Horseman's Extravaganza that was set to for the end of April '08. I was very involved with the planning of this event, and it literally took up most of my time, coupled with caring for my father who was battling cancer, and had moved into my home, caring for my children, husband, horses and business, life was just a tad hectic. I truly believe my husband; Jeff had felt I had abandoned him. He also during the month April was busy installing new hardwood floors in my living room and dining room as well as painting those rooms.

In May, I pleaded with Jeff that I needed a shed built inside the round pen. He of course gave me an incredulous look of exasperation. For months, he had dealt with a wife in mourning over the loss of her father, who threw herself into planning a huge event and hid in her barn daily from early in the morning till late at night, to keep from totally coming unglued at the seams and falling into a depression like she had never known. To say he was miffed was a huge understatement. I had not been easy to live with over the past 9 months. He did his best with the short amount of time he had and built Argo a very temporary shelter. I tried my best to be as pleased as possible for his effort, but the look on my face and of course the words that came out of my mouth were not kind. He promised me to build something better. I immediately said "When?!!?" Jeff said "Soon." I kept nagging all summer long. Jeff took a new job that takes him out of state Monday thru Friday and leaves him a day and a half on the weekends. He just kept saying "Soon." Well, push came to shove and "Soon" finished up this past weekend. Jeff, Zared and a friend Jerry erected a very nice 3 sided wood shed for Argo to call his very own. He has light panels installed along two sides, to let in natural light, so it is not dark. He has his own, real wall feeder, instead of a feed tub on the ground, and best of all, I have a gate on the front of his shed, so that Argo and I can really begin working together. For months, it has been on his terms, which is what he needed. He needed to know he could walk away when he felt confined; he also needed to know that I was not a threat, and all this time he has worked out in his head that he has a routine and I believe he enjoys it. Now though, he is hopefully going to learn to accept me in a new way. I am excited and yet cautious as he and I take yet another step in our journey.

The finished product! Thank you guys so much. Now just to convince Argo it's safe to go in.

Argo Meets a Visitor

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. ~Albert Schweitzer

The last weekend in September, Elizabeth Graves came to the area to instruct a clinic. I met Liz five years ago and have considered her a mentor since then. She has a warmth and love of horses that just pours out of her. Liz had seen pictures of Argo back in April and offered me lots of encouragement and advice. Liz also has spent time watching and interacting with herds out in the wild.

At her clinics, I have ridden one of my young Quarter Horse mares, Romey, who is very special to me. Through her and Liz, I overcame a lot of fears that had snuck into me a few years ago. Liz helped me to be a partner with Romey and I am forever thankful for that. Three years ago I was ready to sell her; today she is one of my favorites to saddle up. Liz opened my heart and Romey opened my soul. Liz wouldn't let me give up on Romey. She knew I had it in me to overcome my anxiety; I just had to believe it too.

Romey and me in September

I was extremely excited to have Liz visit with Argo. After this year's clinic, she had a little spare time to make to the quick trip to my farm. She entered the paddock, and Argo immediately was interested. Liz has a way about her that horses are just drawn to her. She gave him his space and she became small. Argo was curious, she took a step forward and then another and he just watched her, those ears of his just locked onto Liz. I was pleased to see pretty much everything Liz did were things that I had already been doing with Argo.

The pictures below tell more of the story.

Playing Catch Up

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things. ~Robert Brault

I apologize for the huge lapse in posting. Life has been … busy to say the least. A lot has happened in my life the past few months and unfortunately it does not appear it will get much better any time soon. I have attended a few clinics, show season went into overdrive and my young reining colt, Dell, received a nasty injury to his hock that almost caused his demise. Dell is now 9 1/2 weeks into his recovery and has had to remained tied in his stall the whole time. What a trooper. Finally, my family and I are moving. My husband's job is moving us to the state of Indiana. This is a major upheaval for us. I will quickly update Argo's life thus far… I will expand on these more in the days to come.

• Argo's lead rope came off. The rope just disintegrated. At first I was worried about it, but it has not changed anything in how we interact.
  


• Flash and Argo have become best friends. They were grooming each other through the round pen panels daily. Such a neat thing to watch.
  


• I decided to open the round pen gate to allow Argo the entire paddock. I was concerned he was beginning to lose muscle tone. It took him almost two weeks to finally realize he could just walk out. Now that he has, Flash has lost his turnout with his buddy. I'm not ready to chance putting them together just yet.
  


• We are rapidly working on upgrading Argo's shelter so that I can confine him a little better and get him more comfortable with me in a smaller space.
  


• Argo still will come to us as long as it is on his terms. He still will eat out of our hands and even allow us to scratch on his cheek.
  


• He is still amazing to watch. Now that he has the whole paddock, he enjoys running around as he watches my lesson students ride in the outdoor arena. He is quite breathtaking.
  


• Gnats and Argo do not get along. Next spring he will go on Palatec to eliminate the itchiness. Do to rubbing and itching, he has lost a good portion of his mane. He is still gorgeous though.
  


• Argo is dealing with the season changing into fall and too quickly into winter. I think he is thankful and wondering why he has not seen snow yet.
  
  
  

  

  Argo enjoying all the grass in the paddock.
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

Seeds of Faith

“On a long journey of human life, faith is the best of companions; it is the best refreshment on the journey and it is the greatest property.” ~ Buddha

The above photo of Argo was sent to me by Suzy Johnson. She took this last November at the adoption in Burns, Oregon. Thank you Suzy!

Just so everyone knows, I have borrowed a tripod from a friend to video my evening time with Argo. Most of it is us staring at each other, but every time I pull the camera out we get a few moments of interesting video. I will compile it all and then edit it into to one video. I’m hoping to have something in the next month or so.

Never in million years would I have thought hand feeding a horse would be such a rewarding experience. Over my 25 plus years with horses, I have rescued quite a few horses that were fearful of people, had been neglected and/or abused. I took my time and learned from them the importance of touch. I have always had an extreme compassion for these horses. It is from most of those horses my foundation in learning how to live with and care for them was learned. Argo, though never abused or neglected, is quite similar in some ways and a perfectly clean slate in others. I learned at a young age that every time we interact with the horse, we are training him. Whether it is right, wrong or indifferent, they are learning from us. I guess in knowing that, I try almost too hard to make sure everything I do with Argo is correct.

When I sit with him in the evening, he will step back if I move my hands. He is not worried about my legs or my head turning, just my hands. My answer to this was to offer good things that he likes with my hands so a few weeks ago I began offering my hand to Argo while he was eating. At first he snorted and backed up and I just kept my hand there about six inches from his food. He became used to it after a while and even managed to get a little closer to my hand. After a few days of just my hand being there, I had hay in my outstretched hand. I had no illusions of him actually taking it, but I wanted him just to be comfortable with my hand. I did this with him for about three nights. On the fourth night, my husband came into the barn and asked if I had given Argo his evening hay. I replied I hadn’t yet; I was still working on barn chores, so he offered to take out his evening meal.

Now just to give you a little history on my husband, he was raised on a dairy farm, his experience with horses did not start until he met me. Jeff is a very gentle man when it comes to the horses. He has been invaluable to me when I have a difficult mare in for breeding, I can always trust that he will be on the end of the lead with that mare and talking to her and being kind, but yet firm when needed. He always has been good with the horses in our care, sometimes a bit naïve, but always gentle and never has he even thought of manhandling a horse, like some men do. He rides about once every two years and I really wish during those times that osmosis would work with two people, who sleep in the same bed next to each other, but my senior stallion, Malarky is very good to him and Jeff appreciates it. Jeff is not in the barn on a daily basis, but he does help when needed.

Anyway, back to the night in question. Jeff takes out the evening meal. He knew I had been offering my hand with hay in it, and he decided to do the same, but instead of giving the hay to Argo and sitting next to it, Jeff sat on the hay and offered a handful of it to him. I guess Argo was not impressed, but Jeff just held it out there for him. After a few minutes Jeff casually dropped it a few inches away from him. Argo happily reached down a picked it up. Jeff did this a few more times with him and then to Jeff’s surprise on the 5th or 6th time of offering the handful of hay, Argo took it from his hand. I wish I had been there to see it, or at least have the video camera set up to “catch the moment”. Jeff hand fed hay to Argo for a few more minutes and then on the last handful Argo’s lip brushed over Jeff’s thumb. I guess the “touch” was just too much for Argo and he stepped back from Jeff. Jeff again just dropped the hay for Argo and he eventually came back in and took the hay.

When Jeff came back into the barn and excitedly told me what had happened. I couldn’t believe how extremely jealous I was that it was anyone but me who had had that first moment with Argo, but I was. I did my best not to let it show to Jeff. He was so very proud oh “His” moment as he should have been. It made me sit back and think though as to how perfect I try to be with Argo, and here comes Jeff with no significant experience in training a horse, just a gentle nature about him and Argo takes hay from his hand. Ughhhh!

I am extremely happy to say though, that for the past few days Argo has begun taking hay from my hand, it has been extremely rewarding to me. I know I have said this before, but looking into Argo’s eyes, there is such wisdom there. I am so honored that he decides on a regular basis to share space with me. The seeds of faith are slowly sprouting.

Quiet Sentinel

Well, it has been one month since Argo stepped off of the trailer and into my heart. So many emotions have come over me in that time. I still have thoughts that the BLM should have left him on the Riddle HMA. I don’t want anyone to misunderstand that I am not thrilled to have Argo with me, I am, but I can’t help but wonder what captivity will do to Argo’s spirit. I never saw him in the wild, so I can’t say with certainty that it has or will change, but I have been told by several people that he eluded capture in previous gathers, what does that mean to him?

He has adjusted extremely well to his life here with me. He waits at the gate for me to bring his hay, he quietly watches me clean his pen and scrub his water barrel. He follows me at a distance wondering what I will leave behind for him.

I sit with him in the evenings as it has become “our” time. I am slowly planting the seeds of trust with him. I don’t know how long it will take, but I am patient.

I can’t help but think though what it would have been like to see him on the Riddle HMA. Was he a fierce protector of his herd of mares? Was he a leader to the herd or did he let the mares do the work? I suspect the answers would be yes, he was the protector and he was a leader to his family. I have looked into his eyes and I know there is a rich history there. I think he has cried over loss and enjoyed quiet times and simplicity, as well as enduring the never ending struggle to survive.

So where does this leave Argo? I would like to think he is satisfied with his life. He doesn’t have to travel several miles a day for food and water. He has the company of Zachary, the little sorrel pony, who is the closest in distance to him. He watches the comings and goings around the farm. He has a strange woman who comes in several times a day, she talks to him and sits and watches him. Sometimes he shows interest in what is happening around him. Usually, he is a quiet sentinel, watching and taking it all in.