Central Europe

Leaving for Europe today. Follow our trip through the link to the left!

Shooting Rockets

Bison Roundup

The beginning of November marked another year of bison roundup at the Zapata/Medano Ranch.  This time it only lasted three days as around 1400 head were brought in via a cake truck and four-wheelers. It called for a much less stressful gather, however it wasn't quiet as exciting as previous years...

See Ya!

I thought a two year old couldn't steer. Yeah right...

Happy Halloween!

The weekend before Halloween we spent the afternoon carving the many pumpkins we brought back from the patch; including a massive pumpkin the dogs could fit inside of!

Everyone went as a dragon since the movie, How to Train Your Dragon, is rather popular in the house right now. Wyatt and Wrigley matched! Even Berlin had a set of wings!

Notice our subtle tribute to the Tigers even though The Series was well over...

Oh yes, and the cats have received the names: Toothless and Astrid. Go figure. Guess which is which?

Weeeeeeeeeee!

We picked up an old swing set from a friend! Yeah!

Cleaned the Shed!!!

Ok - I have become addicted to Pinterest.  I love it. Great idea for EVERYTHING!!!  However, I have found that I unable to do most things unless I get my house and yard together. There is just so little space...

It was a beautiful weekend so I decided to move the storage bins in the shed to the new shed and turn the old shed into a good place for feed and yard supplies.  I could not walk from the front to the back of the shed before.

As we also had two little kitties dropped off so they now have a safe place to live until they grow (I'm not sure why Wyatt looks like he has a huge noggin in these pics, but they were too precious to leave out! I especially like where he and the black kitty are touching noses!).

I'm feeling motivated!

Any ideas for kitty names?

Pumpkin-riffic!

Drove up to Canon City Sunday with my friend and her two boys to hit up Diane's Pumpkin Patch for a day of fun!  We picked pumpkins, went down a giant slide onto a straw covered mattress, played in a giant bin of kernel corn, got lost in the 8 acre corn maze, rode the hay wagon, picked pumpkins, pet animals....it was exhausting...for the moms who had to chase the little buggers down! We also hauled home giant pumpkins as well as the ones the kids got to pick in the field.

I'm still tired thinking about it all!

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Last weekend we headed down to Albuquerque to stay with a friend for the International Balloon Festival.  This is a crazy week as people come from ALL OVER THE WORLD to show their balloons, see balloons and compete is a cross-country balloon race. The park opens each day at 4 am and doesn't close until after dark.

On Saturday we woke early and went to the Park and Ride at 5:40 to catch a bus to watch the mass ascension of the balloons.  After waiting in line until almost 7:00, the ascension was canceled due to high, high winds. So even though it was calm on the ground it was windy "up there".  We headed back to my friend's house to take a nap after breakfast and then headed out to the Aquarium and Botanical gardens.  Wyatt thought the rays were 'waving' to him as they swam by so he had to re-visit every tank window to wave back to all of them!

Afterwards we headed to the Balloon Park to shop and watch the evening Balloon Glow and Firework show.  Then we headed to the movie theatre for Wyatt to see his first big screen show:  NEMO IN 3D !!! He sat through the whole thing and LOVED it!

Sunday we woke at 4am and was to the Park and Ride by 4:50. We were on a bus by 5:00 and at the park soon after to watch the Dawn Patrol (a dozen or so balloons that head up in the pre-dawn to check the safety of the weather for the rest of the balloon).  Since it was deemed safe, by 7:00 the balloons began lifting off.  There were wave after wave of hundreds and hundreds of balloons rising into the morning sky until almost 11:00.  We parked ourselves next to a group of Midwestern balloon owners and chatted a bit with them as they set up their balloons.  It was cool to be right amongst the balloons as they filled and lifted off.  Wyatt had to wave to everyone!

Autumn Has Arrived

My Child: The Daredevil

I swear this kid is always marking himself up in some way. It doesn't seem to inhibit his days in any way...just makes his parents have brief coronaries on a regular basis.

Exhibit 1:  Hair cut and watermelon seed spitting contest. Notice the angry red cut down his right cheek. Didn't slow him down any but he still has a nice scar that is slowly fading away. Not sure how this happened, but it involved the deck.

Exhibit 2: I get a phone call last week from the babysitter. I need to some over and make a decision because Wyatt hit his head.  Great. Evidently he was running to jump on the couch and tripped, flying headlong in to the bottom six inches of the couch and bruising his entire forehead.  We thought concussion for sure, but nope, he came back to school with me and taught my class during my lecture as well as teaching my neighbor how to count.  

                                     

 Notice the bruising peaking from under his bangs.  Stinkin' kid!

Labor Day Weekend

LOTS going on!

Saturday: The Farmer's Market and the Early Iron Car Show at the Park

Sunday: Riding the four-wheeler!

Monday: Antiquing in Westcliffe and picking up Berlin, Wrigley's new girlfriend, and Wyatt's new best friend!

Yeah...School.......

Well school started.  And we're on a block schedule. I like it.  I teach four classes a day and have one plan.  I find I am going over more material, it is more meaningful, yet we have less homework.  So far so good.  But I'm busy. What's new?

Besides killing myself working this summer I also did a multitude of things with my little man.  I'll attempt to update those events!  I've already downloaded my pictures so half the battle is won...

For those of you who were unaware...Wyatt's 2nd birthday has come and gone!  We've had a lot of birthdays this summer, so here they are in their full cupcake/pinata/ice cream/gift glory!

Poaching His First Concert

With a girl no less...we teach them young here.

Cruisin' Woodward

My first cruise

Guess Where I Am?

Drop a line if you want to see me...it was very, very last minute. Internet on my phone sucks, but i'll check my email.

Early Morning Cattle

It's been a long week. I rushed things with Ringo earlier this week and he put me off. I'm pretty mad at myself. That same night I tripped letting the dog out and I think I did something more serious to my ACL. I can't really straighten it. I've been wearing a brace and just working Ringo from the ground. Let me just say this very much parallels the rest of my life. And I just can't make myself go to the doctor because I know they will say surgery and it's just not a good time for it.

A little bear has been visiting the ranch this week. I never saw him, but I guess he had some fun playing with our massage therapist's yoga ball...and popped it. I have heard he put on quite a show.

This morning was my last morning. I have next week off to chill before school starts. I may take an out of state trip...but still not sure.  Just fall cattle work and bison roundup to look forward to.

I think i've done a pretty good job of posting my days on the ranch. If life hadn't gotten complicated I would have been better these last few weeks, but all things considered, it's been real.

Back to reality...

Ringo

It's been an emotional summer, and the one highlight was the advancement with Ringo I was having on my own. And then the bucking started. And then I couldn't even get on him anymore because he would buck before I even committed to mounting. And so I'd go home and cry because it was so metaphorical for what was happening in my life....a seemingly well put together creature completely falling apart.

Then Cam and Laurie Shriver came to the ranch. I honestly thought I'd just pick their brains and send him off to a trainer for a bit, but Cam offered to take a look at him one afternoon. And true to form, Ringo gave them a good show - bucking like a mad man after some ground work once I'd let him go after trying to mount.

Cam saw a terrified horse that had accepted me, and had been tolerating me to a certain degree, but at some point couldn't
- and that translated into his violent explosions. The reason he hadn't bucked during any rides was because I was engaging his body at that point and it had relaxed him...but until that happened Cam recognized how guarded he was, especially when mounting. So he decided we needed to teach him to accept outside pressures and yield to them.

First we did a lot of ground work, much of which was a review for him, but many things were new. We concentrated on a lot of bending.

To begin giving him a choice, Ringo's back leg was tied up and dallied to the saddle of another horse. He kicked like crazy, but eventually settled down. Then Cam worked him until he would back to the leg pressure. And had me get on-first by laying across the saddle, then swinging my leg over, getting down, and repeating. I was a nervous wreck.

Then he had me walk Ringo off. He did well. Cam had his back leg and I knew he had control, but Ringo never tried anything.

We repeated the lesson the next time, and this time we trotted out and Cam gathered in the rope so I was riding solo. Ringo started to feel like he was a few weeks ago. Plus he had started to relax when mounting.

I always felt like if I could just get him to drop his head when mounting he'd translate that relaxation into so much more. Cam.said I was correct in thinking that, but that Ringo is such a strong horse, both mentally and physically, that all I was doing was pushing him to a threshold, and that I needed to be softer and more sensitive to the horse-namely I needed to get him to trust me, not just tolerate me. And that his strength needs to be harnessed and used, or that it would continue to be a problem. But that this is the type of horse that makes the best mounts when trained right.

We have a lot of repetition and consistent work to do still, but if I can use that strength and Cam's advice, I think I have something special in this horse. I always felt Ringo had the potential to be something good, because of how he moves and looks, and Cam said it before I even offered it up...that he was flashy and a fancy mover, and could really get going well and was athletic as hell.

At the end if the day yesterday I was cantering him and rolling him back into the fence at a trot. Today we were rolling back from a canter and then picking it back up in the opposite direction. We still have a ways to go with relaxing while mounting, but it is significantly better.

Amazing what a week can do with a professional. I may still send him to a trainer locally who follows the same school of thought as Cam, for miles and consistent continuation once school starts. It's crucial to continue these first 30 days or so, or Cam feels I'll have to start over with him in building trust. It was truely amazing to have this all put into perspective.

Never Can Have Enough Cattle...

Drove the yearlings to a new pasture and the practiced cutting. Took the day...

Mules

A couple brought their mules to the clinic this week. They are so stinkin' funny with their floppy ears. I want one now.

Learning to Ride

Today we had a lady who was scared of horses but wanted to be ready for a pack trip into the mountains with her family. I truly thought it was an unattainable challenge. However, we moved at her pace. I rode the horse, then lead her on foot, then by horse, and then she took over. And was posting at the trot by early afternoon and had tried a short lope. Right....so either she was really good at working through her fears, or I have magic powers.

Came home to 7 baby duckies I hatched for a friend. They are way too cute. And finally turned the baby geese onto the flock. What was wierd in an amazing way was that even though my geese didn't hatch the eggs they laid, they still recognized the babies as theirs and immediately gathered them up and have been standing watch over them. If I hasn't seen it I wouldn't have thought it possible.

Ringo has really regressed since he bucked me off. In fact I haven't even been able to get on him. Cam Shriver is at the ranch and asked me Saturday of I wanted him to take a look at him. Let's just say this guy really knows his horses and is amazing. I'll take you through what we've done at the end of the week.

The Not So Little Man

Wyatt was able to spend a little time with me at the end of the day Friday because my sitter stopped by. He helped me put Charlie up, feed Gordon and then was my date to the Rodeo. I loved how Charlie would not walk unless I was supervising. Wyatt was not very happy whenever he would stop because I had moved off too far.
Tomorrow starts another clinic, and I have tons to share, as well as a huge Ringo update...