Goat Wrangling

Yet again I discover renegade goats. This time there are four: Pepper (Boer/Angora wether), Mud Pie(Nigie wether), Moon Pie(Nigie wether), and Latte(mini mancha doe).
I'm beginning to think that Ranchman John fails to securely lock the Wooly's gate on purpose. All it takes is one wrap around the gate and post followed by the snap lock and they're in like Flynn. Otherwise this is the inevitable result.The kids arrived first on the scene, to the relief of the renegade goaties.
The next on the scene is our resident goat herder, our GSD, Zuni. This is the reason why I think Ranchman John 'forgets' to secure the gate. He is working on training Zuni to herd the goats. She's pretty good at it, except she often forgets to listen to any commands and believes she knows the best way to get the goats where they're supposed to be. I watched helplessly from my tower window and worried about my sweet little Latte. She looked terrified. Thankfully she's not interested in biting, but only in chasing and herding. Zuni eventually herds Latte directly to Ranchman John and his friend who stopped by for a visit. Ranchman John scooped up Latte and returned her to the Wooly's paddock. (In case you were wondering, Mud Pie and Moon Pie, the smart nigie twins ran right into their paddock as soon as they saw Zuni coming)
Next up to be herded was Pepper. He's a wiley one, and fast, too.
Baby Doll says, "Run Pepper!"
Zuni, in her excitement ignores commands, and gets on the wrong side.
Somehow it worked out and she got back around. Jax tried to help catch Pepper, but fell over instead. Zuni stayed on Pepper's tail until he headed in the right direction.
Zuni turned Pepper over to Ranchman John, who opened the Wooly's gate so Pepper could run in.
Job well done, Zuni!
Whoooeee! The things I see from my tower window!

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Okie Dokie, I just want to thank all of you who were so helpful in leaving your 'Buggy Lists' and sharing the things you like and dislike about where you live. I learned a lot and it was fun, too.
Several of you reminded me that I forgot to include my own 'Buggy List', so I'll include mine here:

~Location
Central Mountains of New Mexico

~Dislikes
1)Wind and sometimes freezing temperatures and lots of snow.
2)Limited variety of restaurants
3)No delivery (never was an issue until I couldn't drive. Hubby and kids are limited in what they can cook. My palate is bored)
4)Some people move out here and drive like they're still in the city
5)Those same people move out here and try to turn our rural mountains into the city where they came from.

~Likes
1)Fresh air, nature, grass, trees, wildlife, snow and mountains.
2)Quiet, gravel and dirt roads, no traffic.
3)National forest, BLM, Open Space and Wilderness trails right out our back door or within 10 minutes of driving.
4)Only 25 minutes to a major city(Albuquerque), 10 mins. to a major interstate(I-40).
5)Friendly people, small town feel, uncrowded post offices, stores, restaurants. People call you neighbor even when you live 5 miles from each other.
6)Never needing to use air conditioners (or swamp/evaporative coolers) in the summer. We just open our windows and let the cool summer breezes in.
7)Good weather and sunshine at least 300 days of the year.
8)The spicy winter aroma of pinon tree smoke from woodstoves.
9)Green and red chile and delicious southwestern/New Mexican cuisine.
10)Unique Southwestern Adobe style homes and Mountain style homes.
11)No cookie cutter houses and houses set too close to each other.
12)Big blue skies during the day and dark clear star-filled night skies.

I love New Mexico!

We moved here in 1992, from Maryland, and fell in love with our state. Unfortunately in 1998 we had to move, due to a job transfer, but we knew we'd be back one day. We leased out our home and moved to South Carolina for 7 years. I dreamed about New Mexico ever day and was terribly homesick. The humidity, mosquitos and monster sized Palmetto bugs (giant flying roaches!) in South Carolina were horrible. If it weren't for our camping trips to the beautiful beaches those 7 years would have been unbearable.

Finally, hubby and I retired from the airlines and made our move back to our enchanting New Mexico. Setting my eyes once again on the impressive Sandia Mountains, and seeing the sage and juniper covered high desert spreading out for miles, made my heart sing. I was finally back home!

In my music Playlist there is a song by Kutless, called "Strong Tower". The words of that song describe my heartfelt feelings towards these beautiful mountains that shelter and watch over me. For me, mountains ground me and lift me at the same time. The mountains fill me with spiritual energy, and I feel closest to God when I am closest to the mountains.

Well, there ya go. A lot more than you asked for 'eh?

What makes you feel more spiritual?
Mountains? Ocean? Desert? Church? Or just hanging out with your animals?

D~is for Dakota's Baby Doll

Dakota's Baby Doll is my first horse. I didn't grow up with horses and only rode a few times over the years at rental barns. I had always wanted a horse as a child, but had to wait to fulfill my dream until I was in my 40's. I wasn't really looking for a particular type or color of horse. Any well-broke, calm, sound beginner horse was fine for me, but my daughter had told me a few years earlier of her wish to have an "Orca Horse", which to her meant a paint horse that looks like an Orca.

So, when I was contacted by my lesson barn that a beautiful 15 year old Tovero Paint Mare was for sale, I was skeptical, but thought it an odd kind of irony. I first met Dakota's Baby Doll in February 2008, after which I took lessons on her for several weeks. Finally, in March, ironically on my daughter's 5th birthday, my first horse became Laughing Orca Ranch's namesake.
My first lessons on her were spent learning how develop my seat and proper balance. So I rode bareback.It was very liberating riding without a saddle and truly cued me on how to compensate and move along with a horse's stride and steps.
I started off just riding in the round pen or arena while taking lessons.
A few months later, the round pen and arena seemed too confining, so my horse and I hit the trails.
I was excited, and a little nervous making first major purchases for my horse, like her new Amish-Made Eli Miller Saddle with the comfy gel pad suspended seat. And the built-up, cut-out Western Saddle pad. There are so many choices in color and style. It can be overwhelming.(Baby Doll's a little high in the rump and withers)
After doing a lot of research and knowing that my mare rode well in a Hackamore and was sensitive to leg pressure, I decided to purchase the Dr Cook's Bitless Bridle, instead of a snaffle bridle. It works really well for us, except sometimes she needs a few reminders of how to be softer with her head and neck. So, I have no problems with using a snaffle for some remedial training. She looks pretty good in her Bitless Bridle, though, don't you think?
Over the past year, I learned a lot about horse ownership. I picked hooves, trimmed bridle paths, removed chestnuts, wormed, set up vet appts for teeth floating, assisted farrier visits, mucked manure, fed hay, minerals, grain and vitamins, and bathed my pretty pony, too.
And I spent hours just hanging out with my sweet mare in the pasture or paddock reading a book, brushing or braiding her hair, scratching, hugging and bonding.
I learned how to do groundwork with Dakota's Baby Doll in the round pen.
I found this time spent with my horse a great confidance builder for myself and for my horse to trust and build respect for me, too.
Join-up is always such a positive experience and is just another way we bond and learn to trust and respect one another.
And some of the best parts of owning my first horse are the small things. Like when Baby Doll is ready to greet me at the gate when she sees me.
Even when she's a little impatient for breakfast or a snack, she's such a joy and makes me smile.
I love how soft, calm and gentle she is, too.
And her one half-moon blue eye.
And the way her neck always relaxes and drops when we head out on the trails.
And I love the little blaze of white under her jaw.
And I love her silly sense of humor and willingness to have a little bit of fun.
Today, on Thanksgiving Day, I'm thankful for my family and friends, of course. And I'm also thankful for dreams come true and my beautiful Paint Mare, Dakota's Baby Doll.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Ranch Tour

Last week I pulled a muscle in my lower back, so I was still feeling a bit sore over the weekend. It also didn't help that Ranchman John and the terrific twins were in Maryland so John could serve as Best Man in his friend's wedding. Thankfully, it wasn't too bad because I had three less mouths to feed and clean up after.

So, I laid low all weekend, just going through the odd and extra photos that I've collected over the past few months. I thought it would be fun to do a ranch tour post, showing things that I typically see while spending time here on Laughing Orca Ranch.

So come take a walk with me, and see what I see.

I see Luna relaxing on the paddock picnic table, with Blanca the Churro sheep below.I see Pepper, the Boer Goat, looking for some lovin'.I see my painted horse following me wherever I go.And I see Barred Rock Betty peeking out of the henhouse.And I see a tuxedo cat named Oreo smiling at me.And I see a cat with a chicken, one of our Silver-Laced Wyandotte Sisters.I see more chickens like this favorite of my 5 yr old daughter, an Ameracauna named Angelina Ballerina. She lays pretty green eggs.And this special hen, Kipper, a Speckled Sussex, also named by my daughter.I sometimes see sad things, too, like this dead baby barn swallow.I also see our home-away-from-home, our little pop-up camper.On the back of our pop-up camper, I see the USA sticker that Ranchman John placed here to show which states we have camped in our pop-up. We've camped in many other states, in a plain old tent, as well, but the stickers are just for those states that our pop-up has been camped in. And beside the grill I see the tool rack that I bought for Ranchman John to keep stuff organized. I like that there are 5 birdies, just like there are 5 of us in our human family.And nearby I see one of the fish in our pond. There used to be 6 fish, but 3 have died. These fish came with the house and were kept in a large stock tank, until we moved them to this pond next to the house.Walking back up to the barn, I see the back of our horse trailer. The trailer already came with the sticker when we bought it. Cute, eh?Underneath the horse trailer I see some wildflowers blooming. Rancher Woman over at the 7MSN calls them 4'O-Clocks, I think. They are very pretty and we have them growing on several areas in our yard and pastures.We have quite a few flowers growing around here, most of them wild with no maintenance. I see this lovely flower growing on long stalks. Isn't it pretty? These aren't considered flowers, but they are kind of neat. I see these cones growing in our pinon trees. When mature they produce tasty pinon nuts, or what some call pine nuts.And this dainty yellow flower bunch I see is called Snake Weed. It's toxic to horses, but they don't try to eat it. It must taste bad. I see them growing over most of our land. Sometimes I feel guilty about pulling them up because they add such a nice punch of free color to our landscape.I often see these lovely tufts of white that remind me of Baby's Breath flowers. They look delicate but are tough wildflowers here in the mountains.Nearer to our house I see many pretty wildfowers growing, like these beautiful purple blooms.Not really a flower, I sometimes see these interesting and pretty cactus growing in the field beside our house. Don't they sort of remind you of snowballs?Before the monsoon rains arrive, I see these odd circular grassy shapes, called Bunch Grass, that will be tall and thick after the rain soaks the ground in July and August.All around the mountains, including on our land, I see these yellow flowers that remind me of black-eyed susans. I'm not exactly sure what they are, though. Anyone know?I see a sunflower getting ready to bloom. My daughter and I planted this one beside the chicken coop.These are just the same yellow flowers from the previous post, that grow wild all around our mountains. I see that this bunch happily decided to grow right beside our chicken coop. Look how tall they get. This bunch were well over 7 feet.Here is a nice surprise. We didn't plant any sunflower seeds beside our pond, but maybe a seed might have fallen and gotten lost somehow? I see that it's joyfully sprung forth from the gravel and seems to be enjoying the view of the pond.I see that it is full of growing sunflower seeds, too. The kids and I are excited about harvesting these seeds to snack on. Don't you just love Volunteer Plants?I see another sunflower beside the chicken coop. This is the same one that we saw earlier, the one that hadn't bloomed yet. It's as big as a dinner plate and packed full of maturing seeds. These sunflowers are called Mammoth for a reason.Here is a baby Caladium popping up out of the ground. I planted 8 of them as bulbs.My daughter calls them heart plants. All I know is that when I see them they add some pretty color and they make me smile.I can see our peach tree in front of our house. Sadly not one peach grew there this year. We had a late May freeze, followed by two terrible hail storms in June. The peaches didn't stand a chance.I see one of our apple trees, too. Same sad story. Not one apple for Fall. When we bought this house last year, right before Fall, both apple trees were covered heavily in apples. We ate apples all day for our first month in our new home. This year....nothing. It's enough to make a person cry.From this angle I can see our apricot tree on the left and the same apple tree on the right. Our chicken coop is behind. Yes, that's right. No apricots either.Over the weekend I saw a truck and a trailer stacked high with hay, pull into my neighbor friend, Val's arena.
You can read more about her hay experience on her blog Fantastyk Voyage. If you have grass eating critters, buying hay before Autumn is a tradition that heralds the end of summer. It's not easy and it's not cheap, but it sure feels good when that hay is stacked and stocked in your barn.I saw my horse, Baby Doll looking longingly towards all that hay.
I hope you've enjoyed taking a walk around Laughing Orca Ranch with me.