Wordless Wednesday ~ Melon Mouth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jemez Mountains Road Trip ~ The Drive Home

 

Thankfully our drive home was less eventful, though it did start off with one of the other boy scout parents parking behind me at the campground, the night before. He ended up blocking me in the next morning, on a steep hill no less, when he discovered that his battery was dead. Thankfully there we’re some strong boy scouts to help push it out of the way, so we could escape and get down the road. It was also nice to not be the last folks at the campsite. Usually it seems I am always the last to get all our stuff put away and get on the road.

But not this time. We had big plans to drive an alternative way home, going north towards Los Alamos and then driving northeast through Santa Fe, instead of driving south though Bernalillo and Albuquerque. There were several Letterboxes we wanted to search for, some short hikes we wanted to try and I wanted to show my kidlets Los Alamos, the birthplace of the Atomic Bomb.

We would still be driving in the beautiful Jemez Mountains, in fact, directly across them. Our first stop was to find a letterbox near the Valles Caldera, above 10,500 ft elevation.

The highest peak in the Jemez is  11,300 ft high. We quickly located the letterbox and took some photos of the stunning scenery, including the Valles Caldera, a collapsed volcanic crater over 12 miles wide.

This entire 89,000 acre area is a beautiful sanctuary operated and protected by The Valles Caldera National Preserve. The entire Jemez Mountains are dotted with many campgrounds and covered with hiking trails and miles of horse friendly trails just begging to be explored.

Not long after we left the Valles Caldera, we arrived at the town of Los Alamos, NM., home of Los Alamos National Laboratory and The Manhattan Project, birthplace of the Atomic Bomb, that ended World War II.

(There’s a very cool video feed on that site about the entire Jemez Mountain region, including this fascinating town, as well as our next stop: The Black Hole, where we found a letterbox)

The owner of The Black Hole,  Ed Grothus, was a former technician at Los Alamos Laboratory, whose work contributed to the creation of bombs 30 times smaller and 30 times more powerful than those used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

He once sent some canned “organic plutonium” to President Clinton.

The Secret Service didn’t like that very much. Because, you know, plutonium will kill you.

Of course, it was just plain old canned mushroom soup, but with a cleverly made label showing a mushroom cloud on the front.

The Secret Service and the FBI made a personal visit to The Black Hole for that little prank.

The Black Hole of Los Alamos is a recycler of "nuclear waste,"  and has the world's most diverse stock of used scientific equipment, electronics, lab supplies, nuclear by-products, surplus items and materials. We have over 17,000 square feet of pre-owned test equipment and laboratory supplies. The Black Hole has provided materials to over 500 Universities and Research Institutions around the world as well as technical props for 4 major motion pictures.

If you think historical, scientifically significant old junk is fascinating, go check out THIS SITE from a person who worked at The Black Hole as a teenager many years ago (lots of cool photos and info about many if the items inside The Black Hole)

Check out THIS SITE to learn more about the Black Hole and watch a video of how it was created, and what this “Church”, next door is all about, too. Cool stuff!

We next ate some lunch in downtown Los Alamos and I saw this building across the parking lot. The initials are the same as mine and my hubby’s. Cute!

Then we had one more letterbox to look for on a beautiful hiking trail in the middle of town, down into a private little canyon.

We thoroughly enjoyed this lovely canyon and hike and could have lingered there, exploring for hours.

  

But we had to get back on the road and drive home before it got too late.

(Jax is going for the Wild Mountain Man look in this photo)

But we’ll be back to explore the Jemez Mountains again soon.

~~~~~~~~~

And the best part about coming home?

Going up to Apache’s paddock and watching her trot all the way down the hill to me, nickering. This was her first time to ever greet me this way. I think she might have missed me a little and was happy to see me!

  

She definitely couldn’t wait to shower me with hello kisses! (That’s her goofy,  “Come-Here-I-Love-You’ face)

 

Apache got my arm sopping wet, even before I gave her an apple. (After she ate the apple, her affectionate slobbers were mixed with frothy apple juice. eww!)

 

It’s great to be loved by a horse.

Ride Your Pony Over And Through

 

 

Something very special arrived in the mail the other day. Something just for me. Something from my far away, dear blogger friend, Kacy from All Horse Stuff.

A while back I won a little contest on her blog and she wanted to pick out something unique for me as a prize. At the time I still owned Baby Doll and she was in the works for being included somehow in that prize. But Kacy knew the dilemma and difficulties I was going through with Baby Doll and she wisely decided to wait to choose a prize for me. And I’m so glad she did!

Kacy chose this photo of Apache and I crossing over a bridge during the last ACTHA ride, to be made into a wonderful poster for me! Thank you Kacy!

 

Isn’t it wonderful?!

Kacy helped design this fabulous poster with me in mind, but she had it created by the talented Honeysuckle Faire. Kacy was way too generous. I love it! And it is so meaningful for me, and for my horse, Apache, too.

As many of you all know, a few months ago, I brought my sweet, wonderful Apache home even though it was difficult for me to trust a horse again. She was willing and kind, but also guarded and cautious. I was worried that she might be uninterested in a relationship and partnership with me.

But I am so happy to tell everyone, that she already has a very special place in my heart. I don’t know exactly when it happened, as my heart was still sad and lonely for many aspects of Baby Doll, but in the past couple of weeks, she has stolen my heart while giving me hers. We are learning to trust and communicate with one another. She has obviously suffered neglect and probably even abuse before she came here, so it is a huge thing for her to let her guard down and open her heart to me. And because of what I experienced with my first horse, I, too can understand how she feels about trusting again, and I give her my patience, love and kindness.

Crossing over the bridges during the American Competitive Trail Horse Association (ACTHA) Trail Rides was a huge thing for us. It was all about trust and being willing to open our hearts again with a horse (for me) and a human (for her). It was also symbolic, in that we are crossing over this bridge and leaving behind the sadness, pain, fear, and distrust, and moving forward into a relationship filled with communication, partnership, willingness, love, kindness, fun, and most importantly, trust.

To prepare for future ACTHA rides, I recently decided to create a trail obstacle course in my pasture, using many of the same obstacles that Apache and I have seen and experienced already during the rides, and adding a few more that are listed on the ACTHA website. I figured, not only would be a great way to expose my mare to these obstacles and get prepared, but it would also be a terrific way for Apache and I to play together while building trust and communication between us.

So far, we’ve only done these obstacles with me on the ground here at home, because I want to make sure she is comfortable with the obstacles before I’m on her back. I think it also helps her confidence to see me going through or over an obstacle first before she will try it. Apache and I have been practicing walking over a big white blanket, grabbing my slicker off the fence and tossing it over her back, stepping down into a small water hole obstacle, and taking a rope off of a fence and pulling a log tied to that rope.  I don’t have photos of Apache and I doing those obstacles, because my photographer (my twinling, Jax) got bored and left us, but I do have photos of Apache and I practicing the Vine Simulator.

Here I am reassuring Apache that I do, indeed have cookies as her reward.

This obstacle was really no big deal for her, but when we rode through the Vine Simulator in our last ACTHA ride, she cheated me a little bit, by squeezing through the side of the vines, instead of going straight through the middle, so I wanted to practice with that. 

The first time I had her go through, was actually earlier in the week, and she did it without the lead rope on. She did rush through that first time, though. Now she will walk through slowly and stand in the center if I ask her to.

It was getting ready to rain with grumbling thunder and a small flashes of lightning across the ridge, and the wind had really kicked in. It made the ‘vines’ (hay strings) blow straight out and all over the place. Looks like Apache was trying to crawl under, instead of through, in the photo. haha!

 

 

“Hello! I did it! You do have cookies for me, right?”

Here in the photo below, Apache is trying to lick me. If you all remember, right after I brought Apache home, I was surprised and alarmed with Apache’s licking. I’ve never experienced that before. I even did a post on Apache's Horse Kisses and asked you what you all thought.

After getting to know Apache, I think I understand why she licks. And I will sometimes let Apache lick me, because she usually wants to do this when I am giving her positive encouragement and talking sweet to her, telling her what a good girl she is and how pretty she is, too. Sometimes after I hug her or give her a rub, she will seek out my hand, arm or cheek and give me a few horse kisses. She never uses her teeth and is very gentle about it, too. I think it’s her way of showing affection. Or maybe I just taste good.

 

I’ve got a few more obstacles in the works for us to play with and get us ready for the June 12 and 13th ACTHA rides. But most of all, I’m just enjoying spending time with my horse, and I think she is enjoying the challenges and attention, too.

Horse Kisses or Trouble?

 

As you all know, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time throughout the day just hanging out with Apache so we can get to know each other better. I’m really enjoying this time with her and I think she is, too.

Apache likes to be near me and is more of a ‘touchy-feely’, in-your-pocket horse than what I’m used to. She will follow me around at liberty, lean her forehead against me gently, softly nuzzle my face with her muzzle, blow and breathe gently into my face as I breathe, place her head in my hands, seek me out to scratch her nose cheeks and muzzle and give her smooches………and she will lick me.

Here is a video of her licking me.

The licking part is what concerns me. She will try to lick my face, hands, pants, jacket, hair, everything. She mostly just licks the air, though.

When looking up reasons why horse lick people and what to do, I discovered a Message Board Thread discussing this issue, but there were no definitive answers.

One thought was that a horse must be licking to get the sweat for the salt it is lacking in it’s diet. Apache has a loose salt and mineral mix available to her, so I don’t think she’s licking because of a lack of salt or minerals. Plus she’s not trying to lick just my skin. She’s licking my pants, hat, hair and jacket, too.

Several people on that thread said that licking has nothing to do with being affectionate, but another person said “Well - I sure never saw a horse lick anybody they didn't like.”  And yet another person said that licking always leads to biting. 

Apache typically only tries to lick me when she is very relaxed and sleepy. And she is always quite gentle with her licking, so far, and she seems very cautious about it. For instance, if I tell her to stop and firmly say ‘No!’, and point my finger at her, she will stop and back up and have a worried look in her eyes. And then she will slowly come forward again, licking the air and tentatively reaching her tongue towards me again.

Another video of Apache trying to lick me.

If I give her a firm poke on her face, she will finally give up and completely stop licking me.

Because she has nipped my arm once already, last week when I was at Colleen’s taking her for a walk, I am concerned that the licking could turn into biting. I know that last week’s nip didn’t begin with licking, though, and was more a nip to let me know she didn’t think we should walk as far as we were heading.

But even though this licking seems to be more affectionate than aggressive, I don’t want it to lead into pushy or dominate behavior either. But I also don’t want to put up a wall in our relationship if her licking really is just innocent affection. She’s not tried to lick anyone else, like Ranchman John or Jenna, but they haven’t spent as much time with Apache as I have either.

So, should I ‘nip’ (pun intended) the licking in the bud?

 

Here are a some links to You Tube videos showing horses that lick their humans.

Horse licks girl

Horse licks lady's face

Horse kisses and nuzzling

Affectionate Horse and Girl

Horse licks Pig

 

Do you have, or have had, a horse that licks you, too?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh! And before I forget, Apache is officially completely mine now. As of today, she has been paid for and her old tack (loaned from her previous owner, but never used) has been returned.

 

That old halter was muddy because she wore it 24/7 out in the pasture she was kept in. Apparently she was difficult to catch. So far, I’ve not had that problem here with her. She comes to the gate when she sees us and when we call her name. And I don’t believe in keeping a horse haltered when loose in a pasture and not supervised. She might get hooked on tree branches or t-posts and could get hurt.

Her owner warned me again today to always keep a tie-down on Apache because of the one time she reared with her. Colleen, nor I, ever used it on Apache during our rides, and Apache never once showed us any inclination that she might rear. We also used a different bit, the kind with the ‘dog bone’ or what English riders call a French-link bit. Apache has been nothing but soft and willing wearing that bit, and she also has shown me that she can be neck-reined and will also be directed using my legs and seat alone. So, I don’t have any plans to use a tie-down on her, just because of one incident with her previous owner. I would also like to see how Apache does wearing Baby Doll’s Dr. Cook’s Bitless Bridle. Oh. And Apache has an appointment to get her teeth floated next week, so I do believe that will also make a huge difference in her comfort level, too.

(Photo from last week, but not previously posted. I just liked this moment of calm and relaxation between Apache and I. I also like how that splash of white on her shoulder resembles a heart on a string.)

 

So, it’s official now. A new beginning for both Apache and for me.