Your Questions Answered!

 

Many of you have asked me questions in the comments section, so I’ve decided to just answer all your questions in a post:

1)Jocelyn and Fern Valley wanted to know if the extra horse hanging out with Apache is Rosie:

No. Rosie is part owned by my friend Loeta and her daughter, and leased by Colleen to use as a lesson and trail horse for her riding company. So, unfortunately Rosie’s not available to borrow, buy or adopt. (Yes. I already asked. lol!)

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2)Shirley, Breathe, Flartus, and Jane, wanted to know who Bella is, why she’s here, and if we have bought her:

Bella is one of the recently adoptable horses from Walkin’ in Circles Horse Rescue. Her previous owners were boarding Bella at Walkin’ in Circles until one day they just stopped paying her board. The folks at the horse rescue tried over and over to contact them for many months to work something out, but Bella’s owners never returned calls or replied to letters or notices. So after a year, and subsequent legal proceedings, Bella became the property of Walkin’ in Circles.

Bella says, “I’m not a property. I’m a horse. Simple as that. And I want to live here with you, please?”

Colleen brought Bella here to be Apache’s pasture pal and to see if Bella is a good match for our family to adopt.

I’ve seen Bella ridden by a number of different riders out on the trails at Cedar Hill Farm, as well as up in the Carson National Forest during my recent horse camping trip, and also by a 10 yr old boy, during the June ACTHA CTR, who had never ridden a horse before. Bella took excellent care of her young rider the entire day and gave him a huge helping of self-confidence, too. 

Bella is one of those special Steady-Eddie horses, and we believe she’ll be a wonderful addition to our family, for our kids to ride as well as for Ranchman John. Bella’s got a goofy, friendly personality and gets along great with Apache, too.

So, you’ll be seeing a lot of Bella around the Laughing Orca Ranch from now on. We’re excited to be in the process of adopting Miss Bella Boo.

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3)Blue Eyed Tango asked about the brand of fly masks I have on Apache and Bella and if they are brand new:

They are both the Defender Brand. I bought them last summer for $8.00 each from Horse.com. They fit great, are simple to put on, are a fair price, and wash well, too. That’s probably why they look brand new.

I wash them every few days and when they get dirty. Both Apache and Bella seem to like wearing them, too. Bella, in fact, when she sees me with the fly masks will try to put hers on by herself, by sticking her head and nose into the mask. I think the girls must realize the benefits of wearing a fly mask, because they seem much calmer and less annoyed by flies on their face when they’ve got them on. And I sure like not seeing all those nasty flies gathered in and around their poor eyes.

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4)Kate asked why our flies seem to like hanging out in the barn, instead of outside:

My thought is that they like the protection from our summer breezes and the moisture that’s available inside the barn. It’s so dry here that even the manure dries out and returns back to the earth within a few days. I don’t think we have enough flies to provide adequate food for fly predators. I’m grateful that we don’t have very many biting flies, but even one or two biting pests can be painfully annoying.

 

By the way, what color would you say Bella is?

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5) Dunappy asked if I was planning to ride in the August Santa Fe ACTHA CTR:

I’m working on those plans right now. We’re hoping to get a group of us together from the horse rescue and head up there. If Apache is sound and feeling good, I’ll be there for sure. Are you making plans to go, too?

By the way, what color/pattern would you consider Apache?

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6)Sandy liked my blog music and asked how I put music on here:

I used a playlist, which is easy to pick out music for and then copy and paste the html to add to your blog as a ‘gadget’. Scroll down to the bottom of my blog and find the playlist, just click on it to visit the website and go from there. Sandy also asked if the first music was by ABBA. No, that’s Enya. She also asked about the second song. Yes, that’s from Dances with Wolves, by Enya, too. I’m glad you enjoyed my music selections, Sandy.

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7)Finally, Jane, Shirley, Clairz, and Flartus knew just the right thing to say to me to make me smile while noticing how healthy and beautiful Apache is looking these days:

And there’s a good reason for that I believe. Besides the normal exercise she gets climbing up and down the steep hills in her paddocks, along with the riding we’ve been doing, she’s been on a healthy, nurturing diet since she came to live here. Besides being fed straight grass hay three times a day, she also receives a cup and a half of specially formulated grain twice a day when she’s working, and once a day when she’s not.

For anyone who may be interested, the custom-blended grain mixture was scientifically formulated through Ranchway Feed by and for the horses at Walkin n Circles Horse Rescue, and in fact is called Rescue Mix. As far as I know it’s only available at one local feed store here in our mountains, called The Hitch N’ Post.

Here are the ingredients in the order listed :

Alfalfa Pellet

Corn, Crushed

Milo, Rolled

Oats, Rolled

Barley, Rolled

Flaxseed

Wheat Bran

Beet Pulp Shreds

There is no added sugar or molasses and it’s not a sweet feed. The protein is 13%, fiber is 15%, and fat is 5%. Because of all the dry ingredients and the beet pulp shreds, I have to add water to the mixture to create a mash. It does wonders to bring rescued horses back to good health and to also maintain weight for senior and higher metabolism/high maintenance equines, too.

Apache loves it and I do believe it’s made a huge difference in the quality, texture and appearance of her coat/mane/tail, as well as the vibrancy of her eyes, the quality of her hooves, and the development and strength of her muscles.

When I first bought Apache I was worried about her coat because it felt strangely dry, rough and wiry. Now, her coat is soft, silky and lays smooth. I just love to stroke her all over now.

This is a photo of Apache right after we picked her up from her previous home on Feb 19 and brought her over to my friend Colleen’s ranch.

And this is a photo of Apache taken a few weeks ago, while I was reaching in my horn bag for a horse cookie.

 

She does look pretty good, eh? Thanks for noticing and commenting on her appearance, my blog friends. It makes me feel great knowing that my Apache girl is doing well under my care.

Oh! And in answer to all of you who asked how Apache is doing after her injury two weeks ago while riding in the Carson National Forest, by all accounts she’s doing much better. I’ve watched her trot, canter and even gallop with a little joyful buck, without any lameness, but sometimes when she walks, she still seems just a little off, so I want to give her a little more time to heal and regain her strength before I ride her again. Better safe than sorry when it comes to horse injuries.