Hi everyone!

Really did not know anyone was paying attention. . Over 29k views?  Do you want me to post more?  If you like what you read please let me know.  Thanks.  I have follow up on Red and Whiskey.. and new stories to tell. .

Sorry it has been so long!

Went back to work for the summer.. In between working, training, competing, selling hay and doing barefoot trims, I have no time for writing! Will resume in the winter.. so please be patient! Thank you!

Lightning part 2- The Birth of Autumn Star

Okay, I need to start out by letting you know that I usually do not share this story with anyone until they have known me long enough that they realize I am not a nut job.

It was mid September, a couple weeks after I gave Lightning to my daughter for her birthday, when I decide I needed to get a stall ready for Lighting to give birth in. Anticipating winter weather coming in soon, I had to tarp up the top side of the stall to keep snow and rain out. Then, of course, I needed shavings added to the stall. I got it all done on the 15th of the month. I tucked Lightning into the stall the next morning. That night I went to visit a friend 45 miles away from where my horses were kept.

I was there about an hour when I started having very strong pains in my abdomen that would come and go. It felt like strong cramps, but it wasn’t that time of the month. The pains started coming closer together and getting even stronger. I suddenly had a visual image in my head of Lightning’s large eye with worried wrinkles. I instantly told my friend I had to go right now! I knew what this meant. I told him she is having the baby! I know he thought I was crazy, but I ran out the door to my truck and raced back to my house, picked up a flash light, iodine and towels, then went to my parents, where the horses were kept.

Just as I shined the light in the stall, Lightning’s water broke! I called everyone I could, but she had the baby within minutes. I was the only one who got to witness the magical event. It was a pretty little filly. She had just a tiny star on the forehead of her very Arabian type head, and was a bay like her mother. Such a sweet girl and very healthy, amazing considering the shape her mother was in for the majority of her pregnancy.

I had the pleasure of imprinting her, then I gave both of them a hug, praised Lightning for her good work, thanked her for letting me know, and went on home to try to sleep in my excited state. I would call the vet in the morning.

See, now, you all think I am crazy right? I would think I was crazy myself if I didn’t have a witness. I can’t help wondering why she let me know.. She had the quickest birth I had ever witnessed. She didn’t need me there. I like to think she was thanking me for bringing her to a better place, and saving her baby who certainly would not have survived in her previous home. Did she want to give me that gift? Most horses prefer not to have a human present and even have the ability to hold off labor to ensure that happens. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.

Sorry it has been so long.. I need to finish the story of Lightning.. Be patient with me, had a lot of things on my plate.. Hope to have the story done by the weekend.. kind of unbelievable story... It will be worth the wait, but you might think I am crazy.. Have it as soon as I can! Thanks for following!

Lightning- One Amazing Horse

  When my brother was interested in getting a horse I had no problem jumping in and enabling him to become a fellow horse addict..  I immediately started searching for a horse he could reasonably afford.  It didn’t take me long before I found an acquaintance at work that had a horse that would fit the bill..  This gal had a horse she could no longer afford and was willing to let her go at the rock bottom price of $300.  We showed up the next day, horse trailer and all to look at the mare.  Yup, a full bred Arabian, like he had growing up.  She even looked a lot like his old horse Wild Fire.  Only this horse was about 300 pounds under-weight and had a fungus that made all of her hair fall out from the knees down.  I signaled for my brother to keep quiet about her “slight” issues and wrote out a check for her that my brother was to pay back later.  On the way home I defended my choice.  I knew this mare would not last much longer in a corral 12 inches deep in manure, and no way out of it, obviously the low mare on the totem pole, as the other horses were not nearly as thin.  I had to save her life!  She looked just like his old mare, and so it had to be fate.  She needed us to save her.

  So we brought her home and doctored her up, then fed her about half a bale of hay a day to fatten her up.  We started riding her and were not too surprised by her fiery spirit.  We both had a hard time keeping her at a walk on the trail.  He immediately proclaimed her name to be Fire Ball.  It was not too long before my brother decided he had better things to do, so I agreed to buy her back as a present to my daughter, Katie, for her 10^th birthday.  Of course, I would have to work her a bit, I thought, to make her a suitable mount for a ten year old.

  Katie’s birthday was looming closer, and the mare just wasn’t gaining as much weight as I thought she should.  [Especially on half a bale a day.]  So on the advice of my ever so bright daughter; I took her to the vet.

  At Doc Morgan’s I found out that the mare was very pregnant!  On top of that, I ran into her previous owner.  [The one before the person I bought her from.]  She was aghast at the, much improved, mare I took to the vet that day.  I had to assure her that I was feeding her what she needed, and that she was now being well taken care of.  I guess they used to call her Angel, and she was pastured with their now deceased stallion that was an own son of Aladdin.  [A well known stallion in the Arabian world.] I guess my daughter is going to get a bonus for her birthday!  The vet had no idea how far along she was, anywhere between five months and eleven.  So I followed Doc Morgan’s advice on feed and began my plan for surprising my daughter with an amazing gift.

  I think that birthday went down in history as Katie’s best birthday ever!  I gave her a purple boom box and two halters in a box, one big and one small.  The minute Katie had seen the two halters her eyes lit up!  She knew what it meant.  Lightning AND her baby would be hers!

  That afternoon we saddled up for a ride.  I had put lightning on a lead and ponied her with my daughter on board up the trail.  From the beginning of that ride Katie was begging me to take Lightning off the lead and let her ride her new horse without assistance.  She finally wore me down and I reluctantly took the lead off her horse and gave her strict instructions not to go too far away or ahead of us, where I couldn’t help her if she needed it.

  As we went I would look behind me to see how she was doing.  She was falling behind so I would stop and wait.  As soon as I did Katie would gallop up to me and reprehend me for stopping.  She was holding her back on purpose, just so she could gallop her!  So, slowly I would let  Katie ride her the way she saw fit.  Next thing you know she was leading the way going along the narrowest trails that made me nervous to ride on my green horse.  I would have to stop her and make her go an easier route for me.  I couldn’t believe how this horse was behaving so perfectly for my daughter!  What a perfect match!  Katie never did have one ounce of trouble with Lightning. She eventually took jumping lessons on her and won the first show in her division.  It was incredible to watch those two together; it brought me to happy tears more than once.  They were perfectly matched, and I hoped Lightning’s baby and her would have the same magic.

  Stay tuned for the continuation of Lightning’s story..  Lightning part two; the birth of Autumn Star

Red Smoke- My Hero!

Our family used to have a camping trip once a year, religiously. The whole family looked forward to it every year. The last one we went on turned out to be pretty eventful. My dad and I went for a ride to the reservoir, and on the way there we got into a little bit of trouble.

We were looking for a place to cross a stream, when my dad let his horse get a drink. Unexpectedly, Black Jack stepped into the water, then a big hop as he realized he was being sucked in. That hop only served to bring him into an even deeper bog! Soon BJ was closer to the other side of the stream and getting in deeper and deeper! He was nearly up to his chest when my dad jumped off and proceeded to try and pull him out. He was stuck, and stuck good!

I felt helpless! I could not find a place to safely cross and was on the opposite side of the creek. I had to get to the other side, and fast! I knew my horse, Red; while he was an excellent trail mount, had a little “buddy sour” issue, and normally would NEVER leave his horse buddy. His normal reaction to going away from his buddies was to rear and baulk until he got his way. It would normally take many attempts and endangering my life to get him to leave his friends. I don’t know if it was my intensity of intention, or if he actually realized his friend was in trouble, but when I asked him to go, he went. We ran as fast as we could up a hill, along a steep shale side hill, we jumped a barbed wire fence that was half way down, went along the dam, back the other way down a narrow dirt road with four wheelers (that he was normally terrified of), Trucks pulling trailers, and speeding cars going the opposite direction, until we finally reached my dad and his horse on the other side of the creek.

After trying several times, unsuccessfully, to help my dad pull him out, I finally pulled the saddle off my horse, and took my brand spanking new saddle blanket and placed it in the muddy creek under Jack’s hooves.. Then we took my dad’s saddle off and added that saddle blanket too. Hoping that when he finally had enough strength to try again he would have just enough stable footing to pull himself out. He was quite tired; we waited nervously while he rested. He almost looked like he wouldn’t have enough strength to try again.

My dad and I were just about ready to give up, and were discussing our options. I was ready to ride to the ranger station to see if they had any equipment to help. Suddenly Jack decided to try one more time! My dad and I pulled and with the saddle blankets under his hooves he barely made it out and on to the bank. WHEW! He made it! He stood there for another half hour recovering.

We ringed out the saddle blankets the best we could, saddled up and went back to camp. Since that day Red has been a hero in my eyes. My saddle blanket cleaned up pretty good, and even if it didn’t, it would have been a small sacrifice. Red made me so proud that day. I still almost come to tears thinking about it.

Whiskey- "Watch him he bucks!"

  The first year I Team Penned, I was not doing so well..  My old horse, Red, was just getting too old to work him that hard, and my newer horse, Ricky, was still learning about cows.  I decided I needed a horse that had a bit more experience to get me to the next level.

  I watched this beautiful bay horse cut cows like no other, and found out the owner was looking to sell him.  I gave him a try and he was really good.  We had better times than I ever had.  I started to notice how the guy was riding him, and it made me sick!  He jabbed the horse with his spurs hard, just to go into a walk!  He never asked lightly first.  I knew that horse would be even better with someone who treated him with respect.  So I made my offer to purchase him.  Just before I handed over the money, the horse ended up getting hurt in some barbed wire where he was pastured.  I told the owner that I would take him anyway if the vet thought he would be sound. 

  A couple weeks later the vet gave me the okay and I bought him.  In the following weeks Whiskey and I moved up in the standings of both the team penning associations I was in.  We were a pretty good team.  The previous owner, feeling sellers remorse, offered to buy him back for more than he paid..  Of course I said no.

  The previous owner told me I had to wear spurs when I rode him, and not knowing too much I did..  I thought if I was diligent about using my calves first, I would be fine, and I was at first..  I didn’t take into account adrenaline coming into the picture.  A couple months into competing on Whiskey, I found out that wasn’t the brightest thing I ever did..  We were riding really well that day, and going for the best time of the day.  We had all three cows cut out and headed for the pen, when the cow I was pushing decided to cut back to the herd.  I put my heel on Whiskey, not used to the added affect of the spur, and he went to bucking like he was a bronco at the NFR!  I was told I put in a 90 point ride, before I got him straightened out and finished penning the cows.  That was the LAST time I ever wore spurs on him!  A couple of months later I ran into the man (I use that term loosely) who “broke” Whiskey.  He proceeded to tell me how dangerous Whiskey was, and that he would surely hurt somebody.  I just grinned to myself and put my youngest daughter (7 years old) on him so she could pen in the youth division.  She won a check!

  We went on to get top ten in both the associations I rode in, and without the spurs, he didn’t buck again.  I finally got my other horse to a point where I could pen on him pretty good and I passed whiskey on down to my 7 year old daughter, who not only won more money with him in team penning, but went on to show him in jumping competitions, getting top ten in her first major show against 30 other competitors, as well as winning at barrels, poles, pleasure, flag race, keyhole, and anything else she entered!