Mane Pulling

Today I took Ozzie to get his mane pulled. Ozzie has this really thick and frizzy mane. I have been dying to get his mane pulled. I can pull manes, but it takes me forever. The purpose of pulling Ozzie's mane is to get it shorter and thinner. Eventually I want it really thin so braiding or banding will be quick, easy, and uniform. I got to the barn at 10 am. Leo was cleaning a stall. Leo is the wonderful Mexican man that works at the barn. He used to work for some Olympic jumper and now works for this barn. Michael, the trainer, put Ozzie in the cross ties and Leo went to work at about 10:15 am. By 10:30 Ozzie was finished. I was awe struck. I couldn't believe it. That job would have taken me hours and probably two days because my fingers would have been killing me. I use a mane pulling comb, but still you can't help getting tired.This is Ozzie before. "Who me? I don't need a hair cut?" His long puffy mane. It actually looks kinda tame in this picture, but that is because half of his mane is on the other side. For a three year old, Ozzie has a lot of mane. I couldn't even get my camera out fast enough to take pictures of Leo pulling Ozzie's mane. He really did it that fast. Leo was just trimming up the edges when I returned from my truck with my camera. Just look at that pretty mane. All neat and short. I think Ozzie looks like a baby now. Just look at all that mane! That is a lot. I am still in shock at how quickly he pulled all that hair out of my horses neck. Leo cleaned up his mess and then went back to cleaning his stalls. As if it was nothing. Just an every day thing. Clean a stall, pull horse's mane, clean another stall. Leo is a wonderful worker. Oh, he also told me that he couldn't believe Ozzie was so well behaved for a three year old. That made me feel good. The poor guy has to deal with all the crazy Selle Francis warmbloods that they have there. They aren't all crazy, but they are all mostly 5 and under. So, they are young and spirited. Mostly because they are jumpers. They have a bunch of weanlings and yearlings too. And Ozzie is really mellow by nature. I lucked out with him. I think Ozzie likes his new do. I need to braid it so it stays all on one side. Now one thing that Michael, the trainer, said was, "Braid his mane to the right side." I guess he likes the mane to fall on the right side. I have always thought that it didn't matter. Maybe western people don't care. But even still I thought you wanted it on the left side. Boy, have I been wrong all this time and not ever known it? But while I was writing the check and singing praises to Leo, Little Cowpoke took a picture of Paw Paw and Cowpokette. Cowpokette loves her Paw Paw. I think she kinda looks like him. It's funny how much she looks like that side of the family. Oh, and she took five steps today. She might start walking after all. I was beginning to think she might crawl forever. She was so excited. Cowpokette screamed so loud. Girls, they are so different from boys.

Working in the Bayou

Last weekend Mr. Cowboy was working in Cameron, Louisiana. The Cameron Hospital needed some electrical work. The hospital has some buildings that are modular buildings. Those buildings are up on piers. When Hurricane Ike came through and surged water through Cameron, the Hospital got flooded. The water went up under the buildings and shorted out a lot of the wires. Mr. Cowboy had hooked up a generator to the hospital but it kept shorting out and tripping a breaker. So, Mr. Cowboy got called out on Sunday to go and check out the problem. Sure enough there were a lot of messed up wires under those modular buildings. That meant that Mr. Cowboy got to crawl in the Louisiana mud, up under those buildings. While Mr. Cowboy was under there he and his apprentice were greeted with this.

This is a Cottonmouth Water Moccasin. It was so nice to visit my dear husband. Theses snakes are poisonous. Mr. Cowboy's apprentice said that he never has seen Mr. Cowboy crawl so fast out from under a trailer before. I told Mr. Cowboy, "Well if it bit you at least you were at a hospital, right?" I do not think that he thought I was funny. I think I would be moving pretty quickly too. Then not 15 minutes later this one fell out of the bottom of the trailer. This was the smaller Cottonmouth Water Moccasin. I am not sure that I would qualify that as a small snake. At this point I would have had enough wild life. I might have called it a day. No more wild life for me. And there would have been no way you could have gotten me to crawl back under that trailer/hospital. But Mr. Cowboy is brave. And he wanted to get the job done. So, he went back under that hospital and started pulling more wire. But not without another visitor. Mr. Cowboy said that she came crawling under the trailer right behind him. At this point I think I would have called my boss and told him that I quit. But not Mr. Cowboy, he called animal control. The man came armed and ready. First he caught this alligator. Just look how muddy it is there. Yuck.Here she is doing her death roll. The animal control guy then jumped on her. He said she was about 7 feet long. Then he grabbed her head and tapped her mouth shut. Oh my goodness!! This is like the crocodile hunter up close and personal. I can not believe it. And this big Momma wasn't the last alligator to visit them. There was one more smaller one that just walked by. My goodness. Just walked by? I do not think I could be that casual if an alligator was "just walking by". Mr. Cowboy said that one was only about a 4 foot alligator. The animal control man told Mr. Cowboy that when Hurricane Ike came through it destroyed all of the alligators' nests. Now all the alligators are pushed out of their nests and trying to fine food. Well, I would feel a lot better if the alligators would over look my skinny husband and find themselves some fat snakes or something.

While driving home that night Mr. Cowboy was talking to me on the phone. He was telling his apprentice to look out the window at all the red eyes. He was telling him that all those red eyes were the alligators. Then he said, "Oh Crap!! I just ran over an alligator!!" I didn't believe him and told him that he probably should go so he didn't hit any more wildlife. Two days after all this Mr. Cowboy was looking at his truck because something wasn't running right and you will never guess what he found up under the hood.

Oh yeah, that would be an alligator jaw. The top part. Complete with teeth. And with guts. The Cowpokes were all over this alligator jaw. They think their Dad is so very cool. Their Dad ran over an alligator. Big Cowpoke had to have his picture taken with the jaw. Mr. Cowboy even extracted some teeth so the boys could have them, to keep.
I liked the tiny alligator nostrils. Poor alligator. What a way to go. I do hope that the alligators can rebuild their nests and move back into the wild. I really did not realize we had so many alligators down here. I will have to be a bit more careful walking around the ditches. And now Mr. Cowboy's story of how Bear might have gotten eaten by an alligator is not so far fetched. I am glad Mr. Cowboy is done risking his life, and limbs in Cameron.

Mr. Cowboy's Ride.

So, after my rear hit the dirt, I did what any other cowgirl would have done. I called my dearest cowboy husband and sounded all pathetic and hurt so he would come to my rescue. Actually, I was a little hurt, and I wouldn't have minded a rescue. Mr. Cowboy told me that he would be home in a little while and he would ride Ozzie for me. I was so grateful because my hand really was on fire. I tied Ozzie up and went to the house for some ice. Mr. Cowboy was so brave and said, "I dare him to act like that with me."
I get on the horse and think, "Please please don't act like that." But Ozzie was an almost perfect gentleman. They went back out into the big field. Ozzie tried to trot at super speeds, but Mr. Cowboy sat back and got Ozzie to trot at a more consistent medium speed. Mr. Cowboy worked on some figure eights. Ozzie is really good at holding his head to the inside. He learned that at my dorky "trainer". But the thing about the head to the inside, is that when you go to turn, the horse will just give you more of his head, making him, what I call, a "rubber neck". Mr. Cowboy worked on that too. Ozzie finally relaxed. Ozzie would tend to speed up every now and then but he was trying to stay consistent. Ozzie tried really hard to be good. But I told Mr. Cowboy that Ozzie was good for me too, until I tried to track the donkey. So, off Mr. Cowboy went in search of the donkeys. And low and behold he found them. Again, Ozzie was a perfect gentleman. No bucking, balking, rearing, twisting, nada. I was glad that Ozzie didn't misbehave. After a little donkey chase they headed back to the barn. Walking is what Ozzie does the best. But he should be great at walking considering that is all the "trainer" did with him for 6 weeks. Good little Ozzie. And thank you Mr. Cowboy for riding him for me. I did ride Ozzie the day after I fell off. Ozzie and I worked on perfect circles and a steady consistent trot. We did a lot of walk trot transitions. All this slow work is making me a bit upset. Considering that three months ago, before he went to the trainer, we had Ozzie walk, trot, and cantering. Now we can't even canter him with out Ozzie falling apart. If you want to compair you can go and look at Ozzie here.

Hey, That's Not My Idea of Fun

This morning Little Cowpoke wanted to brush my hair. So, like the sweet angel he is he went to my room and got my hair brush. He climbed on the couch behind me and started to brush my hair. But something was funny. Because the brush was making a, "snip snip" sound. Yeah, that cute little boy was cutting my hair!!!Right in the middle of my head. Nice. Luckily it is not that noticeable. Then I wanted to go ride Ozzie. I had the plans of riding him in the big pasture. So, I saddled him, lunged him, and out to the big 20 acre pasture I went. I had been riding for about 20 minutes if not more. We had cantered and trotted. We walked through a bunch of water. Ozzie was doing great. Until I tried to walk after the donkey. Ozzie and I were just walking, nicely. And we were following the Donkey. Then the Donkey started to trot. At first I didn't ask Ozzie to trot, then I figured he was being good. That is where I was soooooo off. Ozzie did a horrible rear, buck, twist, buck, fly in the air type of thing, I held on for two of those horrible twisty bucks, then my right hand got leather burn and by body went one way and Ozzie took off the other way. Let me tell ya, the ground does not feel any better than it did when I was younger. I had to lay there for a moment because the air was knocked out of me. I crawled for a little bit, then I was able to get up. My right hand was throbbing. Burning, it was horrible. I made it to the water troughs and stuck my burning hand in the water. My hand doesn't look too bad, but it sure burns. I can't bend my fingers and I have to keep ice on it or it burns like it's on fire. So, now I think I am ready to send Ozzie to the new trainer. Mr. Cowboy is going to get back on him when he gets home. I don't know why Ozzie did that. I think it was just a colt thing. He got excited or something. I couldn't get back on him because I can't move my fingers. Other than that I am alright. At least I know how to drop and roll. I am also grateful I didn't land on any ant piles. I am not as young as I used to be. I am also thinking that arena dirt is a lot softer than Louisiana soil.

Boxes

The other day I got two big boxes in the mail. I could not resist turning the boxes into little houses. Little Cowpoke and Cowpokette loved them. I think this is what I am going to get them for Christmas. Which is only a few months away! Ahhhh!!! I don't even want to think about that right now. But I am just going to put the pictures on here with little to no commentary. I am just too tired to write much else.

I did ride Ozzie yesterday and things clicked a little better. Then Mr. Cowboy and I went out to dinner and a movie. We didn't get home until 1 am. Why do I do that to myself? Next time I will go to a movie at 3 pm first and then go and eat dinner. I can not do late nights like I used to. But I uhm...never.....did late night stuff. I promise. The Devil is the only thing that comes out after dark. Or something like that. So, I never ever stayed out past 9 pm. (That was for my Dad!!) So, with out further ado, here are the kids playing in boxes. I know so entertaining right?

Oh, and just a note. Mr. Cowboy just finished his time sheet for this week. Just to let you all know how much he has not been here. He has worked 96 hours this past week. Mr. Cowboy told me this with glee in his voice. I just said, "Yup." But I am going to bed. I am too tired to do anything else. Oh, I am also too tired to fix my photo editing. Sorry for the funky white background. Photoshop and I were having a bit of a tiff.

Finished and Frustration

I have finally finished the last book in the Twilight series. It was really good. I think the first and the last book were my favorites. That was about the only thing that was going my way today.

I rode Ozzie for about 45 minutes, tonight. He must have had a blurb in his memory today. He acted like he had never been asked to "set" his head before. Then when I would ask him to trot off, he acted like we were in a hurry to get somewhere. We did a lot of stopping and backing. Days like this in training leave me wanting to send the horse to someone else. Just get the riding over and done with. I know how to break colts. I know how to do all that hard work. I just do not like the time it takes to get from green broke to the , "Oh now I get it, point". Sigh. I guess it didn't help that he had not been ridden in about three days. I have been lunging him but I guess that is not enough. I just have not had the time either. Mr. Cowboy is working like crazy lately. He was going to ride Ozzie for me tonight out in the big pasture. But he had to work. My thoughts were that Mr. Cowboy will just get on Ozzie and ride. I get too worried about where his head is and what is hip is doing, that I can't just let Ozzie be. That can be a good thing and a bad thing. I think what Ozzie needs right now is to feel confident in his gaits before I can really start concentrating on slowing things down or setting his head. Urg. Again, this is where I would have loved to have had a good trainer ride my horse. I have been trying to undo a lot of what was done. Ozzie now hangs on my hands and he depends on me to put him where he is supposed to go. I like my horses to just go. To walk a straight line with out me baby sitting every hoof step. Okay, I will just let it go and try again tomorrow. Tomorrow is always another day.

Totally off the subject, but, the other day the kids and I had some really big boxes to play with so I made them some play houses. I didn't have time to edit all the photos, so here is a sneak peak for tomorrow's post.
I am pooped, so I am going to go to bed. Oh, I forgot the best part of my story from my day from kid craziness. The kids and I were in the grocery store, the bread isle to be exact, when Big Cowpoke just randomly threw up all over the isle way floor. I was walking and he had to tell me to stop. Yep, the "Clean up on isle 2", was my child. I really started to feel bad about the mess. A big grateful that I didn't have to clean it up for once. But I didn't feel so bad when we were in the bathroom and they guy that had to clean it up looked at us with a smile and said, "Oh well, at least it makes my day interesting and go by faster." Talk about a sweet spirit that guy has. I would have said something a bit....uhm.....more....... not pleasant. So, I am now going to bed. Until tomorrow. Y'all come back now ya hear!

What I have Really Been Doing.

For the past two weeks I have been trying to read all four books in the Twilight series. It's the ultimate love story. Girl falls in love with untouchable boy. Boy falls in love with untouchable girl. Oh it's so good. It is written by Stephenie Meyer. I am obsessed with this story. I read the first book in about 3 days. I was really surprised being that it is about 700 pages long. I have never read a book that long before let alone in three days, and then read it's sequel. So, here are what the four book covers look like.

They aren't all that mixed together. But you can buy them all at Wally World or Target. I am on the last book.

I am almost done reading it. It is such an awesome book. I sometimes can't read it fast enough. It's definitely a page turner. I only put the book down because I had to break up World War III that was going down in my living room. My oldest sister had been trying to get me to read this book for the longest time and when she told me it was about love and vampires and warewolves, I was kinda like, "Uhm...yeah...I will read it.....sure....whatever you say dearest sister........". About six months later I finally picked up a copy of Twilight. And I have been hooked since. I even read it aloud to my husband. He loves it too. He will come home from work and ask what is going on with who and what happened while he was at work. Mr. Cowboy gest kinda upset when I read too far ahead because when I tell him what is going on I sometimes leave out some parts. And then there is some really good news. The book Twilight is going to be a movie!! YEAH!! Coming to a theater near you on November 21, 2008. Move over Harry Potter, here comes Twilight, the movie. These are what the characters look like. I think Edward looks kinda cranky in the picture, but he really is not cranky at all. Oh, it's so good. And there are a lot of people who are more obsessed with this book than I am. I have only read them all once. There are some people, like my big sister, who have read these book multiple times. So, if you have some time to kill, or no time at all to kill, I really recommend you read these books. All four of them are very good. I got my sister in law to read them and she loves them too. Now, let me see who else I can get on the band wagon. No peer pressure, I promise, it's just a really fun book to read. Anyway, while the Cowpokes are getting alone I have a book to finish, I am sooo very close to being finished. Happy reading to all.

What Else Can They Come Up With?

3:45 am: "moommm........spt...mom.......MOM."

"Yes, what is it?"

"Mom.. I can't sleep. Can I watch TV?"

"No way, it is a school night. You get back to bed."

"I can't sleep, can I sleep in your room?"

"Sure but be quite and go to sleep."

6:00pm: "Big Cowpoke go to your room, you are in big trouble!"

"Okay........MOM......COME IN HERE. Look what happened in my room last night. I don't know what happened."

"What the........oh my goodness........why didn't you tell me you got sick last night?" Puke all over his pillow and bed.

"I didn't know I was sick."

6:45pm: Little Cowpoke was standing at my garage door, "Momma, I just poo pooed."

"Yeah, good for you, where are your pants? Where did you poo poo?"

"Momma, Iz just poo pooed in da mini van" Really big smile.

"You did WHAT? You better show me."

Followed Little Cowpoke outside and to my van, which was parked in the middle of the driveway. And sure enough there were three big poo poos on the floor of my new mini van. Oh, that boy's bottom was still bare and he had the biggest grin on his face like he just did the most wonderful thing ever. But don't worry, that smile didn't last long. And soon he was running for the house door.

7:30am: I was in the barn finishing up feeding horses. I have two that I keep inside and feed twice a day. Ozzie had finished eating and I decided I had some time to do some showmanship work. I worked on some showmanship for about 5 minutes. We had trotted off, set up and done a 180. Then I was about to trot off again when all of a sudden Ozzie freaked out . He did it so fast that I didn't even move. All I saw was dirt and a hoof right in my face. It was so close to my face that I got wet barn dirt in my right ear, in my hair, and in my eyes and mouth. Not yummy. Then when Ozzie got to the end of my lead rope, he simply stopped, turned and looked at me like, "What?" Yeah he so got lunged until his veins were big and sweat was coming off his neck. I would say he was feeling a big frisky this morning. Too bad I was not quite up to his energy level being that I was awake at 3 am.

Now if I could only get Mr. Cowboy to come home and tame some of these wild Cowpokes I would be in business. I am grateful that two of the three are in bed and I am about to hit the sack my self. Now I did not include that Big Cowpoke had a half day of school today. He was home at 12:30 pm. Little Cowpoke has been suffering from middle child syndrome and is arguing with everyone. So, I was the referee today too. I had many times today when All four of us were sent to our rooms. I am just happy that my van doesn't smell like poo poo. Thank goodness. At least Little Cowpoke told me and I didn't have that just sitting in my van, in the heat, cooking, for a few days. That would have been lovely. Now in no particular order, here are the culprits of the day's events.