Tootie

I about wanted to kill Bug yesterday... I let her and Tootie out of their pen to eat grass while I brushed them and got all of their loose hair off. This is shedding season, so they kinda look pretty rough right now, haha. Anyway, I had their halters on with the lead ropes dragging just brushing them while they grazed (they stay close together and in the same area). I got done grooming them and caught Tootie right away to put him back. I lead them together, because they don't fight or anything and they both lead really well. So I am holding Tootie with one hand and reach out to grap Bug's lead rope. Well apparently she wanted to keep eating and would walk away just barely enough out of my reach. This went on for awhile and I was getting frusterated with her but I couldn't help laughing because she was so good about moving just out of reach! I finally caught her by stepping on the end of the lead rope and grabbing it. But it must have looked funny with me leading one horse chasing another... haha.

This is a picture of Tootie. He is a 7 year old breedingstock paint gelding. His registered name is El Pastor, but I haven't ever shown him... I got him when he was a yearling.

I had a mare named Rosie when I was 12; she was abused when I bought her and it took me a month before I could even touch her. To make a long story short, she ended up becoming one of the most awesome horses I have ever ridden. I would ride her for hours, and she would do anything I asked of her. We would go swimming in rivers, I could run her on a draped rein and she would never try to take off, and we would play hide and seek... haha. I would hide in her pen (there was lots of space and trees) and she would run around looking for me until she found me. It was cute. She didn't like anyone else and would shake when anyone else tried to pet her. When I was 16 (she was 6), I went down to the barn to go ride her and saw her lying down. I put a halter on her and tried to get her to get up, but I could tell it was very painful for her. She was colicing (which is a term that simply means stomach problems). I thought maybe if I walked her I could help her get better (which is the first thing you do when they colic), so I gave her a shot of Banamine and walked her for a long time. She kept trying to lay down, so my parents and I took her to a vet. Turned out she had an impacted cecum (part of the intestine) and it was back where the vet couldn't get to it to operate. He had to put her down. I couldn't go down to the barn for at least a month and I wasn't sure if I even wanted a horse again.

A good friend of mine had Tootie and offered to let me have him if I wanted him. I reluctantly agreed and started working with him. My friend put the first ride on him as a two year old... I am so glad it wasn't me... lol. Before I tell you about that let me just say when Tootie was weaned he was so mad he just stuck his head in the feeder for three straight days and wouldn't move. So anyway my friend put the first ride on Tootie. He rode him in our round pen which is about 5 feet high. Tootie got mad that he was being ridden and literally jumped out of the round pen with the guy still on him. Tootie is really tall for a Quarter/Paint horse, but still! The guy took him back into the round pen and kept riding him. Then he tried to turn Tootie, and Tootie got mad again so he threw himself down on the ground.... just having a tantrum... lol. So pretty much my point is Tootie is stubborn... But I love him for that, most of the time. I have ridden him in the middle of town and through a Sonic, right next to rattlesnakes (stupid), and up the "Cliff of Doom" in the Palo Duro Canyon (stupid again...haha). That horse has been so amazing, he has done everything I asked, even if it was really dumb on my part. So yeah, I love Tootie.... He probably has one of the most offbeat personalities I have ever seen in a horse. He is a huge horse, but he is the biggest chicken around other horses. Horses can pick on him and he'll just take it... He is the best horse to pony another horse off of. The other horse can just be bucking and freaking out and he'll just calmly walk or trot them around without a care in the world. He loves to put things in his mouth, he is like a vacuum. I'll have him tied up and I will look over and he will have the lead rope in his mouth... not chewing on it or anything... just holding it all crammed in his mouth looking totally content. He loves to chase our dog Clutch. I will be riding him and Clutch will run up behind him and bite and pull his tail. Most horses will kick or freak out, but not Tootie. To him it is a game... He and I wheel around and take off after Clutch. Clutch loves it and runs while we track him, like a cow. He will run right ahead of Tootie and be looking back at us while he runs, tounge flopped out and everything. I keep waiting for him to run smack into something. I must have a knack for aquiring goofy animals.

Anyway, I love Tootie. He is an awesome horse.

Stress!

So this weekend was fun! Adam and I went on our first camping trip together :) We took the dirt bike and 4 wheeler and met some friends at the river to ride.

This is the 4 wheeler I ride. It's a 2008 Polaris Outlaw with the KTM motor. I absolutely love it! Jumping on it is like jumping a marshmellow... lol. Anyway, Saturday night we had a campfire and some of our good buddies came over and we drank beer and roasted hot dogs. It was kinda a last time get together... Yesterday morning we spent cleaning up our campsite and rode one more time. It was hard to leave the river, especially for Adam. It will be a long time before we get to ride there again.

Yesterday we took Ruger to Lubbock. He was our 4 month old wolf puppy. He was so cute and absolutely GORGEOUS! It was hard to let him go, but having a wolf at a hunting ranch with people and kids probably wouldn't be the smartest idea. He went to a really good home about 7 hours from here with lots of area to roam and other wolves to play with.

So Adam and I are way stressed out about moving! We walked into the apartment last night when we got home from Lubbock and we were both just overwhelmed with the amount of stuff to do. Boxes and random stuff is everywhere. It looks like a tornado went through the whole place. We are working on it tonight and Adam's mom is helping is pack Wednesday. She is so nice! My parents will drive up Friday night to help us move everything to the ranch Saturday (they live about 45 minutes from the ranch). It's funny how much stuff you can accumulate in a year!!

I am posting some pictures I found of the ranch, so you guys can kinda see what it looks like :)

Skin

Her nails, like razors, scratch at her skin.
This feeling coats her, it wraps around her neck and chokes her.
Gasping for air she cries out but her voice is not heard.
Her shoulders ache from carrying all this weight, will it ever be lifted?
She hangs on, slowly loosing grip.

Her eyes are dry, the last tear fell long ago.
She stands, numb, but she is still standing.
Her heart aches, every beat a reminder of her pain.
Can she walk? Is it possible to move forward?

She holds her breath waiting for the torment in her soul to die.
The screams in her head steal the oxygen, she starts to go down.
Which will hit bottom first?
Her head? Her thoughts howl like demons, taunting her, making her want to lie down, to give in.
Her heart? It pumps pain, sending it through her body and into her soul.
She catches herself and holds on, gasping for air.

Slowly she rises, her eyes focus and she sees clearly.
Her feet, weighed down by the past, slowly start to move.
The screams get louder, making her head throb, should she stop?
Her heart starts racing, pounding fury into her veins.

She stops, takes a deep breath, and closes her eyes.
Her skin becomes rock, keeping the pain hidden, close to her heart.
Her shoulders no longer feel weight, protected by the stiff exterior.
Her head clears, feeling the numbness of nothing.
She takes a step and smiles.

The New Chapter

Ok, so I know it's been pretty much forever since the last time I blogged... I will get better!!

So it's been a crazy couple of weeks for me. Adam and I applied for a job out at the Y.O. Ranch. It is a 40,000 acre ranch down in the Hill Country of Texas. They have over 55 exotic species to hunt as well as a horse program. Well, we went and interviewed and we got it! Adam will be a hunting guide and a hunting camp counselor and I am going to be the head wrangler. They are also providing housing and meals, which is awesome. They also said we can bring our horses and dogs! Yay!

We have changes to our family, though... We had to sell Evenin, Adam wanted a horse he could ride, which I don't blame him at all. Evening was bought by the nicest man and we got to see where she will live, and she will be really happy with them. We bought a new mare, named Bug, from a really good friend of mine. Adam absolutely loves this horse, and he is doing really well on her. It is so fun to ride with him and goof around. We will have to get rid of most our dogs, though, because we don't need 7 dogs at the ranch. We have homes for all of them and we are just taking Coal and Clutch.

So yeah, this move is a huge life change. I am really excited, because I will be on a horse everyday and help people learn about horses and riding, and I will still be doing camps in the summer. I am also nervous, though, because it's such a huge change! I think once we get the flow of things, we will both fall in love with the job. We are moving a week from Saturday, so it doesn't give us much time to pack! I can't wait to be back in the Hill Country. I love Amarillo, don't get me wrong. It has so much fun outdoor stuff to do like riding and fishing, but it's not like the Hill Country. I can't wait to ride under the big oak trees, swim in the Guadalupe River, and watch the deer graze.

Other than that, there's not much new happening. I traded my truck in for a Jeep Wrangler, and I love it!! It is one of the funnest vehicles I have ever driven! It's navy blue with a tan soft top. It's also a 6 cylendar and has a 3" lift, which is plenty for me! I figure it will get around on a ranch way better than my 2 wheel drive cummins.

So that's a sum of where my life is headed. Adam and I are moving 450 miles south with our two horses and two dogs to work on an exotic game ranch. Oh! They also have giraffes you can pet! And zebras! I will try to figure out how to upload pictures on here, but no promises... haha.

Well, I guess that's enough rambling for now... :)