April 3, 2011 - Welcome Annie

As most of you know, Casper and Dancer were returned a couple of weeks ago due to the fact their family lost their home. They came back to MHR as per Adoption Contract.

This morning Dancer went to his new foster home. He is with Candy, which his new family adopted from MHR after they lost their old gelding Mac. Dancer also is living with another mare and very content. We watched them play for awhile and the three of them settled right in.

In the meantime, we received a request to take on a 10 year old Bay Roan QH Mare who has a misaligned pastern and coffin bone. We were recommended to this individual by Desert Pine Equine Center. She has recently had corrective shoeing and this is being done with the advice of Dr. G. Lamb, founder and owner of Desert Pine. We will be contacting DP so Rob can speak to Dr. Lamb and discuss Annie and her needs.

Welcome Annie!

Faith's Apple Tree

This is a quick snap of Faith's apple tree planted by the maternity pen

A Horse's Tale, Chapter 37

A Horse's Tale, Chapter 37, Dawn

Both Rob and Steph drop on to the their favorite spots, Rob says, "you feeling any better?" Steph pulls her blanky up around her neck, "Yes I am, I think I am over the hump." Rob nods, "Good, I am feeling a bit better, the sleep today helped. Do you want to fall asleep here or go to bed?" Steph look over, "I think I will watch some TV, let’s see what’s on, hmmm ‘swamp loggers in Alaska’, nope, ‘best gas stations in America’, hmmm nope,’ How to keep miniature pigs in your house;," Rob butts in, "Nope how about the weather channel." Steph nods, they are going to fall asleep anyways, so it doesn't really matter. Just as both of them start to fall asleep, there is a knock at the door, Rob turns to Steph, "I got the last one, your turn." Steph pushes the blanky back and gets up and walks to the door. Steph wonders who this will be, seems the horses have spread around the wake up Rob and Steph as to not keep one horse in trouble all the time. Steph opens the door, its Justice, with a slip of paper in his mouth, Steph reaches out and takes the slip of paper out of Justice's mouth, she looks at it, it’s nothing but a few scratches on the paper, "Justice what is this?" Justice says, "Its a list, Dublin when he was talking to me, told me to make a list, so I wouldn't forget, but I can't write, so I did my best. Oh, I do remember what he told me." Steph looks at the paper, looks at Justice, so what did he tell you." Justice thinks for a bit, "Oh, Oh, I remember, he said, 'go get the hay lady, we have an emergency, we need a hair dryer, a curling iron, a comb, a brush, more hoof polish,' let me think, Oh, and a bandage, cause, Jonah, cut himself shaving." Steph grabs her robe, makes sure her bunny slippers are on the right feet, "Justice what in blazes are you talking about?" Justice backs up a bit, and turns to head toward the Lady's Parlour.

"Well it all started this morning, General pasted the word that 'all horses needed to be on their best behavior', cause three people moms were coming to visit this weekend. so I stopped making my map, and all the other horses cleaned up their pens with the help of Jason people. and and, Spirit and Jonah, and 'B' decided they needed baths so this evening while you were gone we gave them a bath at the wash wreak." Steph nods, as she follows Justice to the wash rack, "So what is the problem, the horses had a bath night just last week?" Justice stops and turns to Steph, "Well, 'B' complained she wasn't getting clean enough, so we asked Fred who had dropped by at ask Bruno, to see if he had any horse soap in the house. Bruno brought us a bottle of soap, and it worked pretty good, but it had one side affect." As Justice finished, he turns to allow Steph to look at Jonah, Spirit, and 'B' standing by the wash rack, Steph looks, "Oh my word, they are all fluffy, to say the least." Justice nods, "A bit to fluffy, they say." As Steph gets closer she can see that each of them look like really big chia pets, "What the heck did you guys do?" 'B' was the first to answer, "We We were doing fine, til, we finished and tried to shake the water off, we became all fuzzy, we can't be like this when the people moms show up tomorrow." Steph looks around, looks back at the horses, and back at the ground, she see a plastic bottle on the ground, walks over, and picks it up. "Is this what Bruno gave you?" Justice, look over, "Fred said that Bruno, said that you use it all the time." Steph look at the three fur balls, "Well yes, but I use it to wash dishes not horses, the only thing I can think of is you guys need to roll around in the dirt for a bit." hearing that Jonah and Spirit run back to the Ladies Parlour, Steph turns and starts back to the house. 'B' says, "Nope, Nope, not going to do it, I just got clean." Steph turns and walks back to 'B', "Young Mare, you need to be more horse, go roll in the dirt, and then brush the dirt, if any, out on the railing of the pen, if need ask one of your friends to get spots you can't get to." 'B' lowers her head, "No hair dryer?" Steph nods, "Right, no hair dryer." 'B' kicks at the ground, Steph says "You will look fine in the morning." 'B' turns slowly and returns to the Lady's Parlour. At which time, both Steph and Justice turn towards the house, as they are walking back, Steph looks at the plastic bottle she is carrying, "Hmmm, Dawn dish washing liquid. Justice how much of this stuff did you use?" Justice thinks a bit, "all most all of it, it makes nice bubbles." Steph looks and the nearly empty bottle, "Yes it does, but don't use things you get from Bruno, I am not sure if he understands their uses, or their affects." Justice nods, as they near the patio, Justice turns off to head back to his pen.

"Justice tell me about this map you were making?", Justice stops and turns around, "Well Dublin, and General asked me to make a map of where all the horses are." Steph looks at him, "Why?" Justice replies, "Oh, Oh, so when the cable TV people show up they know where to dig and place the cables." Steph didn't even think to reply, she just turned and entered the house, Rob wasn't in his chair, so he may have made it back to the bed before he fell asleep, Steph drops her robe from the couch, kicks off her bunny slippers and head back to the bedrooms. Rob is under the covers, Steph climbs under the covers and rolls over to face Rob, Rob opens his eyes, "So what was going on?" Steph smiles, "Fluffy horses." She turns over and falls asleep.

To Be Continued.

Author Samm

Pictures from Ro

Best Friends Forever, Jonah and Spirit grooming each other...... filthy but thinking they look soooooo hansum after rolling in mud following a rain event.


Justice, growing his bell bottoms!


Mr. Jonah rubbing his lovely butt on the fence

Videos, March 28, 2011

Emma and the girls distribute treats to the Ladies Parlour

More pictures

Cruisin Bay, aka CB

More pictures and videos from the FOB visit

Emmett and the girls
Electra

Electra, Ruby and Sampson


The girls and Electra

FOB visit, March 26, 2011

I must tell you it is wonderful having Ro, Linda and Susan here. Though we all chat daily, it is so nice to speak face to face. We went by SMF yesterday which had a special 4 H function, baby goats, ponies, bunnies etc. so they saw it all, and came inside to let me know that 4H had baby goats for sales...lol

Susan and Justice
Susan, Justice, Ro and Linda
Justice and Linda
Ro and Justice
Justice and Ro
They have taken lots of pictures.

Thank you all for everything, and the final items are up for auction, so if you can bid.

Stephanie

A Horse's Tale, Chapter 36

A Horse's Tale, Chapter 36, Championship Chicken

Steph and Rob pull up to the house, Steph says, "It 11:30, we got out of Mavericks at a good time.", Rob nods, "Yeah, and it was a pretty good evening. Oh, did you notice that three horses are missing out of the Ladies Parlour." Steph jumps out of the car, and looks toward the Ladies Parlour, "How do you know three horses are missing?" Rob gets out of the car, locks the doors, and heads to the house, "I counted the blobs as we drove by, don't know who is missing, but there are three fewer blobs then when we left." Steph walks over to the Ladies Parlour, does a quick count of the blobs, ahhh horses, "Dublin come here please." Dublin not to excited about it, walks over slowly, Steph asks "Who is missing and where are they?" Dublin kind of shrugs and looks around the pen as if mentally trying to figure out who is missing. "Ahh, looks like Jonah, Spirit and 'B', I think they were talking about seeing General about something." Steph nods, pats Dublin on the nose, and walks back toward the house.

'Wonder what they needed to see General about, I hope they are betting on stuff.' Steph stops on the patio, looks at Justice standing in his pen, something looks funny, she walks over and takes a closer look. Justice is standing with one hoof in the small tub used for salt and minerals. "Justice why are you standing in the tub?" Justice looks up, "Ahhh, What?" Steph points to Justices right front legs, "Why do you have your hoof in the tub?" Justice looks down, "Oh, I didn't know what is was called. It kept getting in the way while I was eating, so I decided to carry it around." Steph looks at him, "What do you mean carry it around?" Justice looks down and raises his right front leg up off the ground, and lifts the tub up. Steph says, "Is it stuck to your hoof?" Justice shakes his head and drops the tub. As the tub hits the ground, Steph asks "How did you do that?" Justice puts his hoof back on the ground, "I lets go of it." Steph nods, "I figured that, but how did you manage to pick it up?" Justice to demonstrate how smart he is, places his hoof back in the tub and picks it up. "I grab it will my hoof." Steph nods and thinks a bit, "I didn't know you could do that." Justice nods, "I didn't either til I stepped in it, the only problem I have is when I run around, it makes a lot of noise." Steph smiles, "I bet it does, well don't hurt yourself or break the tub." Steph turns and looks around Casper and Dancer are both standing quietly in the right Round Pen, she turns her gaze to the front Round Pen, she sees some blobs, and looks like some lights moving around.

As she walks over she sees three blobs, ahh horses standing on the outside and what appears to be Sampson standing on the inside, looks like they are talking. As she gets closer she sees that at least two of the horses have flashlights in their mouths, and shining the light on the ground inside the pen. She stops and watches for a while, 'I wonder what they are doing?' Just as she starts to walk over, the flashlights are turned off, and the three horses start walking toward her. Steph stands there, waiting, Jonah, Spirit and 'B' walk right past her, and keep on going. Steph follows, as she and the horses pass Justice, they stop and look at him, each shaking their heads, as Justice walks around with his hoof in the tub, after a bit, they turn and continue, as they get close to the patio, Steph says "What are you three up to this late at night?"

All three stop, Spirit kicks the ground, and they turn around. 'B' says "Didn't think you would notice if we were quiet." Steph nods, "Pretty good job, so what were you doing talking with Sampson, and why did you need to see General?" Jonah steps up, "We needed a book and there isn't many pictures in it, so we had Sampson read some of to us." Steph nods, "That seems very smart of you. By the way what book were you interested in?" Spirit steps forward with a small book in his mouth, and hands it to Steph. "To dark to look at it here lets go to the patio. Steph wipes a bit of horse slobber of the book, and steps under the light on the patio, "So what is this book all about?" As her eyes get accustomed to the light, Jonah answers, " Its about chickens." Steph asks "What interest would you guys have in chickens?" Again Jonah answers, "We heard that you got some baby chickens and were talking about making them show chickens. So we know what a show horse is, we could learn to be judges for show chickens, so we got the book." Steph replies, "That almost makes sense. Let’s see what the book says." Just to help 'B' turns on her flashlight and shines it at the book. Steph reads the title "How to Judge Championship Chicken." she opens the book, turns a few pages, "I think you need to get another book, I don't think this one will help you much." Steph closes the book and hands it back to Spirit, Jonah look at her, "You may be right, we were a bit confused when Sampson was reading the book to us." all three horses nod, Jonah asks "What kind of chickens did you get? All we can find in the book are fried, roasted and stewed."


To Be Continued.

Author Samm

Our new little chickies

Pictures, March 18, 2011

Truffles
Justice
Electra and Ruby
Electra bugging Ruby
Dancer (l) and Casper

Dancer, Missouri Fox Trotter, he has returned to MHR as his family lost their home. He and Casper both came back as per our adoption contract which was established in 2001 with this clause. We are sorry for the family as both the boys were loved by them. It was very difficult for them yesterday, as they had them for three years

Pictures March 16, 2011

Whiskey in the Ladies Parlour
Spirit in the Ladies Parlour
Simba Marie, on the fluffy side compared to what she looked like I believe 3-4 yrs ago.
Mama Dog, aka PJ
Moo
Moo and Truffles, the Dancing Queens
Moo
In the Ladies Parlour: Cosmo with blaze, Jerri, Baby B, behind her Trooper and Dublin's booty
Jerri
Jerri, watching
Glory who was named by long time FOB Gloria Nussebaum
Part of the Football Field. The trailers in the background belong to the neighbors.

Our Fluffy Ewtie who is now nine yrs old and we have had her since she was 5 weeks old.
Dublin and Jonah
BruNO, brother of Adrian
This is Baby in the forefront (Bay) who is 28 this year. She arrived at age 22 with her mom who was 32yrs old. Baby never was taught to do anything in her years on this earth except to be haltered and a tiny bit of leading. She leads now after all this time, and can have her feet done with a lot of patience. In the background is Violette, my personal horse, she is not a rescue, she was a B-Day gift from dear friends.
Baby B, aka Hancocks Quixote Rose
Adrian the MOST EXCELLENT watch dog and love bug to her entire family who is an Italian Mastiff. Neither she nor her brother Bruno underwent ear cropping or tail docking

Mama Dog

Here is Mama Dog aka PJ. For those who have not had the opportunity to meet her she is a 14 year old Great Dane. We rescued her when she was 7 years old. She was at a No Kill Shelter in Las Vegas. She had been found wandering the streets of Las Vegas. She was skin and bones, and the pads of her feet were all torn up. The reason for the name Mama Dog, is any baby that comes here whether it be human or animal she wants to mother it. She has slowed down a lot these last few months and is on medication for her hips, but every now and again she will get out and make full circle of the property with us. Alot of sleeping now, but that's okay, she has earned it.

We just wanted to share some recent photos with everyone, and for those who know her personally.


MAMA DOG THE BEST DOG EVER!

Spirit and Jonah, March 2011

Here are some pics taken on March 14. I managed to sneak up on Jonah and Spirit messing with each other. They are always doing something to each other and if they can get away with it, with others.

A Horse's Tale, Chapter 35

A Horse's Tale, Chapter 35, Ahhh Horse Lips

Steph and Rob are settled in, Steph on the couch, Rob in his chair, the dogs are all asleep, Steph looks over to Rob, "What do you want to watch, don't think much is on?", Rob looks over, "I don't think it matters we both had a long day, I think we will both be asleep in no time." Steph nods, and turns on 'Ice Road Truckers in Florida.' within a couple of minutes both are starting to nod off. Then a knock at the door wakes both of them up. Rob turns to Steph, "Your turn." Steph says, "Heck no, I did the last 10 or 15 knocks, you answer it." Rob gets up, "I don't know why you want me to answer it, they always want to talk to you." Steph looks at him, "Just do it." Rob walks slowly to the door as to not wake any of the guard dogs. Slowly opens the door, its 'B'. Rob asks "What do you need so late at night?" 'B' looks down at her hooves, and looks back up, "They are wonderful, thank you." she then proceeds to give Rob a horse kiss, licking him from chin to forehead. She turns and goes back to the Ladies Parlour. Rob yells out, "Ahhh Horse Lips." half the dogs wake up and run outside, Rob turns back to Steph, "She kissed me, I need to wash my face." Steph looks over, "Who horse kissed you?" Rob rubs the horse kiss off his face, "It was 'B' she said her hoofs were great then proceeded to Horse Kissed me." Steph sits up, "Oh, how horrid, being kissed by a horse." Rob walks past her on the way to the bathroom to wash his face, "Well I told you it was a bad idea to paint her hoofsies."

Rob gets back from washing his face, from the Horse Kiss, "Ya know Steph I thought it would be a good idea. Didn't think she would like it that much." He settles into his chair, "But I hope, I really mean hope that it will pay off with better behavior from her and the other horses." Steph nods, "I asked 'B' about this show horse she met, she said her name was Flower, and that Flower knows General, she might be the bookie." Rob nods, I wonder what kind of show horse she is, I haven't seen any horse's in the area named Flower, let alone a mare with her hoofs painted." Steph looks over, "I guess you need to ask 'B' next time you talk to her." Rob shakes his head, "NO, she will try and kiss me again, one horse kiss from her is enough."

"Well so we can both get some sleep tonight, I will make a final round tonight, to make sure everyone is happy." Rob nods, and curls up in his chair. Steph gets her robe, and heads out as most of the dogs are headed back in. On the way out she grabs a small bag of carrots, and heads off. Steph makes her rounds pretty quickly, talks to a couple of horses, spent some time watching Jonah and Spirit play bite my nose, but all seems quite and everyone appears to be happy. But she stops by the edge of the patio, she takes the now empty carrot bag and puts it in her pocket and waits.

There is a knock on the door, Rob hears it, looks over to the couch, Steph is out with the horses, "Who the heck, this is ridiculous." Rob gets up, walks to the door, "This better be a dog, if it’s a horse I will really be ..." he opens the door, its Justice, "What the heck do you want?" Justice proceeds to give Rob the wettest horse kiss possible, again chin to forehead, Justice giggles and runs off, "AHH HORSE KISS. Dang I hate that." Rob turns and closes the door, turns again opens the door, "Justice the next time I see you, I am going to pinch your lip so hard." Rob turns back into the house 'now I need a shower, dang horses, this monkey see monkey do stuff is driving me nuts. Rob walks to the back of the house, wipes the horse slobber off his face, 'dang it smells like carrots.'

To Be Continued.

Author Samm

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Everything is well here. In this post I am going to go off topic and away from the horses.

I do not like to say Good Bye because that sounds so final, I like the words See you Later,See ya, Bye, or just Later.

Yesterday, we got a call from my daughter letting us know that at 9pm eastern time that she would be heading to Bahrain and then out to her ship on the 11th. My heart sank, as I know now she was leaving. For those that follow her on FB (which I do not, lucky I am able to write this as of late) knew that she has been in a holding pattern for her deployment date (as they were sending boys first, which by the way she found to be unfair...lol) Sheesh. We spoke of the things going on in our lives here, her grandfather, grandmother etc., then she told me that Mina was having a hard time with this and even little Zachary told her "He would be good on the airplane" if he could go with her. This made my heartache not only for my grandson, but for her as well. I could tell the tears she was crying were so real, the pain she was feeling was very real and being her mom there was nothing I could do to ease that pain. We spoke for a bit longer, with us telling each other that We Loved One Another, be safe and God Speed.

Of course after my conversation with her I sat thinking of how many others have endured this heartache and the pain of leaving loved ones behind, not knowing if they would see one another again.

It is amazing how we take for granted the simplest of things, and we really should not. How some have the tendency to want to hurt others which is not necessary as you never know if you will have regrets for your actions and never be able to go back and rectify them.

I refused to say Good bye to my daughter, but I did say See Ya Later, told her to be safe and that I would carry her in my heart, as I carried her under my heart before she was born. I could see her smiling face then.

Bless all of you for what you do in your lives...you make a difference and hopefully you will not have regrets.

See Ya Later

Stephanie

A Horse's Tale, Chapter 34

A Horse's Tale, Chapter 34, Paint My Hoof's

"Well you ready to start?" Rob says to Steph as he heads out the door. Steph grabs her jacket, and follows him out, "Who do you want to start with?" Rob stops on the edge of the patio, "Well let’s start with the young ones, maybe Spirit, Jonah, 'B', Glory, then Justice, if I survive those we can try a couple of the older ones." Steph follows Rob towards the Lady's Parlour, as they near the gate, Rob looks over his shoulder, "Ok, you run in there and grab one, and hold on tight, once you have subdued the monster, I will wonder in and trim up their hooves. Then I will run away and you can release whom ever." Steph opens the gate, "Boy that sounds like a good plan." She walks to the middle of the pen, looks around, each of the horses is eyeing her 'like what is going on', "Ok, let’s make this easy, Spirit come here." Spirit takes one step toward Steph then stop, and look around at the other horses. "What’s wrong?," Spirit looks at Steph, "I can't come." Steph places her hands on her hips, "and why not?" Spirit looks around at the other horses, "They will think I am weak, and a low life, and not a good horse." Rob yells across the pen, "What about a bell and a pink ribbon on your tail?" Spirit trots up to Steph, she places the rope halter on him, and holds tight, Rob walks up, places his tools down and reaches down Spirits left front leg, Spirit raises his hoof up and Rob starts to work, Clip, Gouge, Rasp, and drops the hoof, and moves to the next leg. He repeats the process on each hoof, he finishes, stands up and pats Spirit on the rump, "See it wasn't that bad." He picks up his tools and carries his tools to the edge of the pen, knowing that Jonah won't just walk up. Steph rubs Spirits nose "Thank you for standing quietly." Spirit nods and as soon as Steph releases the rope halter, Spirit runs off kicking and bucking, as if he has just beating a great adversary. Rob and Steph knowing that Jonah will not want to be caught on the first try head in different directions, Rob to the right, Steph to the left, Steph slowly approaches Jonah, "You are next." Jonah looks around and takes off in the other direction, he turns the corner, and sees Rob and stops, and turns and runs back the other direction. He turns the corner, sees Steph, stops and turns. While all this is going on, 'B' walks up behind Steph, "Can I be next, Can I?" Steph stops, turns around, "What?", 'B' says I want to be next, my hoofs are a mess, they just have to be fixed up." 'B' stands there and raises one front leg off the ground and bends her leg to raise her hoof into the right position. Steph starts to say something then Jonah yells something that Steph misses, Jonah who was in this third run of back and forth between Steph and Rob, turns and runs over to Steph, and says to 'B', "It’s my turn, no butting in line." Jonah raises leg, and bends it to show his hoof as Steph places the rope halter on Jonah, as Rob retrieves his tools. Steph turns to 'B', it was his turn, you just stand there and you will be next."

As Rob returns with his tools, he sees Steph standing between two horses each with one hoof in the air. Rob thinks to himself, 'Wonder how long this will last?' He starts to work on Jonah, Jonahs hooves aren't that bad, but still some gouges and scrape marks. He finishes up Jonah, pats him on the rump, and turns to 'B' who has been standing there for 15 minutes with her hoof up off the ground, Rob walks over shaking his head, as Steph removes the halter from Jonah, who like Spirit runs off bucking and turning and kicking. Steph places the halter on 'B' and Rob begins work. At one point, he places 'B's front leg back on the ground, and looks at both front hooves, "Same scuff marks, and gouges at the edge of the hoof, in fact Spirit and Jonah had the same thing." Steph looks down and sees the marks, "Wonder what is causing that?" Rob resumes work, "I have no idea." Rob finishes up, moves his tools away and starts to slap 'B' on her rump, then remember you don't slap a lady on the rump at least not to often, he walks up and rubs her neck. Steph removes the halter, but unlike the boys, she just stands there, Steph turns to find Glory, and she hears "Pssst, you didn't finish." Both Steph and Rob look at her, Rob has been known to forget a hoof, in his younger days, but nope, he checks four done. Steph asks "What do you mean we didn't finish?" 'B' Looks at both of them, "You need to paint my hoof red, with a few little stars in silver." Steph and Rob look at each other, both say "What?" 'B' nods, "Yes, Red with little stars in silver, when we were out the other night, we meet a show horse, a beautiful mare, ribbons in her main, and long ribbons in her tail, she had her hoofs painted red with silver stars, it was sooo, sooo beautiful, I want that too."

Steph and Rob, look at 'B', then at each other, then back at 'B', Steph starts to say "We don't have.." then Rob buts in "I have some in the truck." Steph looks at Rob "Some what?", Rob looks over, "I have some red hoof protector, and a few press on stars." Steph looks at him, "You aren't really of thinking of doing that?" Rob says, "Well she was very good today, maybe it will pay off in the long run." Steph not sure to nod or not, "Ok, just this one time. 'B' you stand here while Rob fetches the paint and stars." 'B' nods, Steph turns to see where Glory is, she scans the line of horses on the other side of the Parlour, where it seems they have all migrated, "Glory its your turn next." Glory looks up and down the line for some moral support, getting none she walks forward and Steph places the halter on her, both turn as Rob returns with a small can of red hoof protector, and a small brush. He bends down and brushes the dust of 'B's hoof, "You can be moving around til this dries, maybe an hour or so." 'B' nods, Rob paints each of 'B's hooves with the protector and when he said it as red, it is really red, oh well. As he finished painting, he returns to the first hoof, and reaches in his pocket and pulls out a sheet of stars. He places two stars on each hoof, "Now remember don't move, til its dries." Rob Stands up, "Well Glory its your turn." Glory raises her right rear leg up off the ground, she doesn't understand the closest one theory yet. Rob begins work, and finishes her up in record time. Steph removes the halter, Glory runs off, they turn and 'B' is standing still, a bit concerned about the dust that Glory may have stirred up, Steph and Rob gather up everything and head to the gate, Rob asks, "Why did that go so easy?" Steph closes the gate, "I have no idea, let’s get Justice done and take a break."

They head into Justice's pen, Justice a just a few seconds to decide if he was going to run around to stand still, Justice being young could decide, so he just decided to stand still, Steph puts the halter on him, and Rob started to work, again he noticed the same marks on Justices hooves as the others, Rob finishes up, pats Justice on rump, "Justice you did good." Justice nods, "ahh, hmm, Can I get red paint?" Rob rubs his hand down Justice's nose, and grabs Justices lower lip, "Justice, ya know what I am going to do?" Justice nods, "Ok, never mind." Steph takes off the halter, and Justice licks his lower lip, knowing he just missed a good pinch.

Steph and Rob get back to the house, and relax for awhile, then back to the chores. All is finished Steph starts thinking about dinner, Jason knocks on the door, "I think you guys should know but 'B' is standing in the middle of the parlour and won't go eat." Steph and Rob look up, Rob runs to the front door and out on the patio, he yells, " 'B' you and move now." 'B' turns and looks and slowly and carefully walks to an open feeder." Rob walks back inside, "Steph you need to teach the horses to tell time." Steph nods.

As Steph and Rob finish dinner, Rob looks up, "I got it.", Rob jumps up and heads out to the patio, "Ok, Listen up, no more line dancing on concrete."

To Be Continued

Author Samm

A Horse's Tale, Chapter 33

A Horse's Tale, Chapter 33, Gnats Car

Steph looks up from the TV, "Is that Justice making all that noise?", Rob looks over, "Probably is, he is such a dummy." Steph gets up, "I see you removed the Bell and Pink Ribbon." Rob nods, "Yeah had to, two other horses asked me for Bells and Pink Ribbons, you know how that goes." Steph nods, grabs her robe, and heads out to see what all the clanging is about. Steph stops on the patio and looks over to Justice, he is merrily kicking at the rail fence. Steph walks over Justice sees here backs away and looks around like 'not me'. "Evening Justice, what you up to?" Justice looks over, "Ahhh, eating." Steph shakes her head, "No you aren't you will banging on the railing. Why were you doing that?" Justice walks over closer to Steph, "Ahhh, every time I leave the pen late at night, I get in trouble." Steph nods, "Yes you do. So why were you banging on the rails?" Justice leans forward, "I was trying to attract the attention of General." Steph over to the left towards the back row, "Why would you want to bother General this late at night?" Justice looks in the same direction, "Oh, it’s not to bother him, I wanted to place a bet." Steph doesn't even both to look at Justice, "A bet?" Justice replies, "Yes on the Gnats Car Race." Steph now looks at Justice, "Why would you place a bet with General on a Gnats Car Race, whatever that is?" Justice looks at Steph 'as if she has no idea how these things work' "General knows a sports book people that takes beats on things." "Ahh now I understand, I guess. Well go see General and be quick about it and stop bang the rails."

Justice just stands there, Steph says, "Well go see him." Justice nods, "Open the gate." Steph says, "I know you guys can open the gates yourselves." Justice nods, "But we can't do it when people are around." Steph nods, "Lets me guess, it’s a secret." Justice nods, Steph says "Ok, just this one time." She walks to the gate, and opens it, and stands back a bit. Justice runs to the back on the pen and grabs a Wal-Mart bag and runs out of the pens, turns the corner and heads to the back row. Steph yell after him "Don't take to long." Justice does a little buck as if to say 'sure'. Steph walks over and sits down on one of the bales of hay. 'Why would Justice be placing bets on a Gnats Car Race, I just don't understand, heck I don't even know what a Gnats Car Race is, and I am pretty sure he doesn't either.' Just as she ends that thought Justice comes running back towards the pen, slams on the breaks and skids to a halt at the gate, "Thanks all done." and he calmly walks back into the pen, goes to the far side and digs a hole for his Wal-Mart bag. He turns and says "Don't forget to close and lock the gate." Steph nods, stands up and closes the gate, and locks it. She starts to head back to the house, but stops and turns to Justice "No more banging the rails." Justice nods. Steph turns stops again, 'Ok, I have to go ask General about this." She turns and walks to the back row.

General has his head in the feeder, but as Steph gets closer, he pulls his head out and looks toward Steph, General says "What you doing out this late at night?" Steph a bit short of his pen, "How did you know it was me?" General says, "It’s those funny shoes you wear, they make a special noise." Steph looks down, "They are Bunny Slippers." General nods, he won't even attempt to figure out why Steph is wearing Bunnies. Steph asks "What is this about you taking bets?" General nods, "Yes, sometimes the horses want to place bets on things, see I know this fellow, who knows another fellow, who is actually a brother to a fellow who works in a Casino." Steph nods her head as if she understands, "Ahhh, I don't think that is legal." General shakes his head, "Sure it is, horses having been betting on things nearly forever. Where do you think the phrase 'How the west was won' came from?" Steph is stumped on that one. "So who is this first fellow, that you know?" General looks over his shoulder, "Well it’s not really a fellow, it’s a mare, her name is Flower, she lives back that way, she comes by some times and we talk." Steph walks over to the rail and reaches in, and rubs General between the ears. "Have a good night." General sticks his head back in the feeder. Steph turns and walks back to the house. 'I will have to check the gaming laws and see if its legal for a third party to place bets, pretty sure it is illegal, and then pretty sure that placing bets for horses is illegal also.'

Steph walks in the house, and sits down, and waits for Rob to ask what was going on. She waits, looks over, waits, "Aren't you going to ask me what was going on?" Rob shakes his head, "Nope, every time I do, you come up with these weird stories." Steph nods, knowing he is right. She sits back looks at the TV, "Ahhh, what’s a Gnats Car Race?" Rob looks at her, and starts laughing.

To Be Continued.


Author Samm

A Horse's Tale, Chapter 32

A Horse's Tale, Chapter 32, Carrots for the needy

Rob looks over to Steph, "Did you hear that, it’s the second time I have heard it." Steph looks at Rob, "Is that the well pump?" Rob nods, "I think it is, should be no good reason for it running like that this late at night." Steph says, "Yes you are right, I need to check the horses one last time tonight, I will check and see if we got a flood going on." Rob nods, changes the channel to 'Swamp people in Alaska', "Oh, if its minor fix it, if its major call me in the morning." Steph laughs, and throws the little square pillow from the couch at Rob. "Jerk."

Steph grabs her robe, and heads for the door, looks around most of the dogs are asleep, a couple are missing, they must be out doing their duty, so to speak. As Steph closes the door she looks over toward Justice, he has his head in the feeder, and the hose laying near his water barrel is turned off, she glances over at Justice as she walks past him going toward the RP's, he is tapping one hoof on the ground, kind of a one, two, thing then he is doing with his other hoof, he takes two steps back, and actually turns all the way around, a step to the left, then to the right and puts his head back in the feeder. Steph stops, and asks, "Justice what are you doing?" Justice pulls his head out of the feeder and looks around it towards Steph, "Eating." Steph replies, "No I mean the moving around?" Justice nods, "Line dancing." and puts his head back into the feeder. Steph smiles and turns to the RP's and the back row. Most of the horses are sleeping or up eating, and all the hose’s are turned off, she heads out front towards the Football Field. Well all seems quiet here, everyone just standing around, and the sprinklers are turned off. She turns to the Lady's Parlour and stops in her tracks.

The Lady's Parlour is empty, and over to the left at the wash rack is a line of horses. Steph starts to run, but figures there is probably a good reason, and she doesn't want to spook them, 'Let’s see 12 horses, yeah good idea not to run up there. Steph stops a couple of times as she walks toward the wash rack. Looks like 'B' is in the wash rack, and Spirit has the hose in his mouth, hosing her down, standing in line, looks like Dublin, Jerri, Cosmo, Jonah, Bruno, Moo, Glory, Trooper, Whiskey, Charity, CB, Emmett and Ginger.

Several of the horses notice her walk up, Dublin nods as if to greet her, Steph says, "May I ask, what are you all doing?" Dublin being the leader of the group says, "Its Jerri's idea, a horse wash." Steph nods, not having any idea what he is talking about, "A horse wash?" Jerri steps forward, "It’s like what peoples do on the weekends, young people gather at corners and wash cars and small buses." Steph nods, "Yes they do that to get money for band trips and other things, but why are you doing it?" Jerri looks at Steph, "We are gathering things for the needy." Steph thinks a bit, then nods, "What kind of things?" Dublin says, "Oh, carrots, and treats, and old lottery tickets, and coupons for free pizza's, that kind of things. Oh, and what you call money, you know coins and paper things." Steph looks down the row of horses, looks back to the front of the line and the wash rack, where 'B' is enjoying her bath, ah Horse Wash, Spirit is just spraying the hose everywhere and 'B' is happy to the point of dancing, Steph turns back to Dublin, "So how much to you think you will get from tonight’s Horse Wash?" Dublin looks around, "Well so far we have 143 carrots, two old lottery tickets, two tickets to Paris, France, where every that is, a 50% discount on used furniture, and $27.47." Steph looks at the group, "Wow that is great, how many horses have gone through the horse wash?" Both Dublin, and Spirit look over, Spirit speaks up with the hose in his mouth, "Oh that is just 'B' she has been here for 2 hours or so."

Steph understands that issue, "Well don't take all night, running the well costs money." Dublin nods, "We should be done by dawn." Steph notices two additions to the group, Sampson and Ruby are standing on the other side of the wash rack, she walks over to them, Sampson is standing in front of a stack of towels. Steph asks, "What are you two guys up to?" Sampson starts to answer but Ruby buts in "OH, we rent them towels so they can dry off." Sampson breaks in, "So we can buy more books for our library." both nod. Steph smiles, 'sounds like a good plan.'

Steph turns and walks back to the house, 'Well that has to be one of the most organized activities that they have done, I am proud of them 'Carrots for the needy.' Steph stops and turns back to the group, 'B' must be close to being finished, she is laying on her back in the wash rack, feet up in the air and Spirit has the hose at full blast. "Ahhh quick question, where did the towels come from?" Ruby looks up, "ahh, from the room inside the house with the two boxes." She looks over to Bruno for some back up, but he is quiet.

Steph turns and walks back to the house, walks in, Rob is intent of the TV but looks up long enough to ask, "Anything going on?" Steph sits down on the couch, pulls up her blanky, "ahh, nope everything is quiet.


To be continued.

A Horse's Tale, Chapter 31

A Horse's Tale, Chapter 31, Carrot Oaky

Steph walks out the door, making the one last round of checking horses for today. Lady's Parlour quiet, Football Field check, back row check, RP's quiet, and finally Justice. Justice with his head in the feeder, just keeps eating as Steph walks by. Steph does notice something, she stops and looks at Justice, Justice is wearing a bell around his neck, and has several pink ribbons tied to his tail. "Justice may I ask you a question?" Justice pulls his head out of the feeder, and nods "Sure." Steph continues, "Why do you have pink ribbons tied to your tail?" Justice looks over his shoulder, "Oh, Oh, don't forget this." and he shakes his head to make the bell ring. "I am in trouble, the hoof people, told me I could not use his tools, and I did. So." Steph nods, "So what did you borrow?" Justice looks down, "Ahhh, a shovel, oh, and a pick, and ahh, flashlight." Steph hold back a smile, "What we’re going to do with all those tools?" Justice looks up with a sort of smile on his face. "You told Dublin we could walk down the road any more to get to Mavericks, So I am, hmm, or was going to dig a tunnel." Steph shakes her head, "Do you know what a tunnel is? and who told you to dig a tunnel?" Justice replies, "I have no idea what a tunnel is, but Dublin told me to start on one." Steph continues to shake her head, "How long did Rob say you had to wear the bell and pink ribbons?" Justice look at Steph, "Not long, he said 'til I get half a brain.'" Steph nods, thinks to herself, 'Right not long at all' "Ok, Justice, no more tunnels." Steph turns and walks toward the Lady's Parlour. As Steph gets closer, she does a quiet look around "Oh, oh, Dublin come here." Dublin walks over to the rail, Steph asks, "Where is Jonah?" Dublin looks over his left shoulder, "He is going to get carrots." Steph stomps her foot, "Dublin I told you no more horses on the road." Dublin nods, "Right, it’s ok, he is taking the bus." Steph walks her way around the Lady's Parlour and heads for the gate. "Jonah, come here. Right now."

Jonah stops, looks over his shoulder and kicks the ground, and begins to walk toward Steph. "And where do you think you are going?" Jonah stops a bit short of Steph and looks around. "Ahh, it’s a secret. So I can't tell you." Steph replies, "Jonah we don't have secrets, we are family here, NOW where the heck were you going?" Jonah nods "I was, ahh, I was going to Mavericks to get some carrots." Steph looks at him, "They don't have any carrots." Jonah nods, "Dublin said that after line dancing they have Carrot Oaky, so I was going to get some carrots." Steph replies, "Well from first hand experience they don't have no carrots. Now go back to the pen.”

"Can you tell Fred, I can come tonight." Steph continues toward the gate, seemingly on time, Fred and his big ole bus from the retirement community pulls up and the door opens, Steph yells out, "He can't come out tonight." Fred nods, and closes the door and drives off. Steph slowly turns and starts back to the house. 'Where are these horses coming up with all these weird ideas?' Steph opens the door, three dogs run out, intent on whatever dogs are into this late at night, she walks over to the couch and sits down. Rob looks up "Anything going on?" Steph shakes her head, "Nope mostly quiet, Jonah was going to Mavericks to get some carrots, Oh and I saw that you and Justice had a talk." Rob looks over, "That dumb horse took a shovel and pick from the tool shed, something to do about a tunnel, I told him he had to wear the bell and ribbons til he got half a brain." Steph smiles, "Well the way it looks he will be wearing them for a long time." Rob nods, "Yep, what’s this about carrots?


To be continued.


Author Samm