Making Some Changes

 While Brett and I (and the animals) were evacuated and waiting to be allowed back home, we did a lot of thinking and talking about changes that we need to make given that we live in an extreme fire danger area and that we don’t want to move.  Despite the craziness, fear and discomfort of fire season, we love our little ranch and we love living in the mountains.  

The changes we discussed included downsizing our herd and getting an RV so we have a place to stay in the event of evacuation.  Finding a place to stay when you have three dogs with you isn’t easy.  We were very fortunate to be offered a place to stay, with the dogs, this time.  There are no guarantees for the future and driving out the gate, and past the police barricade, with no idea where we were going to sleep that night was very stressful.

Some of you know that I drove a little BMW coupe to work, as my commuting car.  I figured that if I had a long commute on winding country roads, I might as well have a fun car.  Besides, I’ve always loved those cars.  When I retired, it spent most of its time in the garage.  I hardly ever drove it.  When we evacuated, I parked it in the middle of the arena and prayed it wouldn’t burn.  Brett drove his truck and I drove the CRV.  Brett has never asked me to sell my car, he knows how much I loved it.  So, he was surprised when I suggested that we sell it and use the money towards a RV.  If we had a trailer, we would have a place to stay in the event of an evacuation.  And, we’ve always loved to camp so we could do that as well.  That first step is done.  We sold my car and put a down payment on a RV.  And, I don’t miss the car at all.  I wasn’t sad when I sold it.  Not for one minute.  I guess the BMW driving healthcare executive persona just isn’t me anymore.

The second thing we decided to do is to downsize our herd.  We can’t fit five horses in our trailer.  It carries three comfortably, four in a pinch.  We had time to move all five this time but that was unusual.  And, who wants to be in the position of choosing who doesn’t get out?  Not us.  

This past weekend, we took Luek down to his previous owner who lives on a huge cattle ranch on the Central Coast of California.  It was a very long drive, almost eight hours, but Luek trailered great.  He quietly munched his hay as we drove down the freeway and when we stopped for gas, he put his head out and let people pet him.  When we pulled up to the gate, he got very excited, stomping around and tossing his head.  He knew he was home.

His owners’ granddaughter asked if she could unload him and put him in the pasture.   Green grass!!  …and a 12 year old girl to fuss over him.  We feel so good about this decision.

Luek and Rachel

 In mid-July, Brett’s granddaughter came to visit.  She lives in Colorado so flew into Sacramento where Brett picked her up and brought her to Oak Creek Ranch.  It was her first visit here and I don’t think she stopped smiling from the minute they drove through the front gate until she left.  The animals all loved her; especially Sage and Luek.  

Sage normally sticks pretty close to me; sleeping at my feet, trotting around the pastures with me, and bringing me balls to throw.  But, she preferred being with Rachel who ran with her, played with her, and loved on her.  Sage thanked her for all the love and attention by dropping a squirrel that she caught at Rachel’s feet.  (She has never voluntarily given up a squirrel before).  

Rachel was interested in doing two things on her visit: boating and riding.  Riding primarily.  We did get out on the lakes with her a couple of times, cruising a large lake and kayaking on a small one.  

And she rode Luek.  And groomed Luek.  And loved on Luek while he was eating in the pasture.  

Rachel had some experience trail riding in Colorado but was unfamiliar with dressage or any aids.  She soaked up all my explanations like a sponge.  The first thing I noticed when Rachel got on Luek was how well she followed him with her seat.  Brett is very tight in the hips and Luek has a bit of a choppy walk when Brett rides him.  Rachel naturally swings her hips and Luek took big, happy steps with her.  

We mostly walked around the property (Brett was on Pistol and I was on Tex), and hung out under the trees.  It was pretty warm.  

We are all, animals included, looking forward to her next visit.  

A Break in Weather

We have a few days of clear skies on tap before the next storm comes in so we all got busy.

I headed out right after chores and breakfast to the grocery store.  What a surreal experience that was; wiping down the cart with Purcell, making wide circles around the other (relatively few) shoppers; entire empty sections in the aisles with quantity limit signs everywhere.  There was no bread at all.  Fortunately, I know how to make bread so I’ll get cracking on that this afternoon.  We bought TP a month ago so I didn’t even go down that aisle.  They did have tequila — I see many margaritas in my future.  I bought the limit on butter (two packages) and I should have bought flour, but didn’t think of it at the time.

On my way home, I stopped by the corner market to see if they had bread.  They didn’t.

When I got home, Brett was busy hooking up the trailer to his truck to go make a hay run.  Pistol and Flash are doing great on alfalfa so we need to get more.  We only bought a few bales initially because Pistol has a history of allergy to alfalfa.  Fortunately, she appears to have outgrown that; not a hive to be seen and calm as can be.

The horses were, ahem, busy as well.  Pistol and Flash:

Looking out past the barn

Looking towards the road

And, in the long pasture, the other three.  Lucy was laying down with them — so all five horses were down at the same time which is a major violation of herd protocol — but she got up as soon as she saw me coming with my camera.  Guilty conscience, most likely.  Not that I blamed them for napping in the sun; its been a long, cold, and wet week.

Luek in front, Tex behind, Lucy standing

First Ride at Home

Luek continues to settle in.  At the present time, he has inserted himself in between Flash and Tex in the pecking order.  He’s pushing Flash around a bit at the feeder so he may move up to alpha.  Flash, at 24, just doesn’t care about that stuff like he used to.

Both yesterday and today, Luek stood guard while Tex and Flash took a long nap in the sun.  I haven’t seen Luek nap or roll yet; he’s still very clean when I groom him.  He is thoroughly enjoying the big pasture water trough though.  I don’t know if he had a bucket or an automatic waterer at the barn, but here we have big deep water troughs.  He loves thrusting his nose into the water, almost up to his eyeballs, and then splashing water back and forth.

Since we brought him home two days ago, we’ve been hand-walking him around the ranch a couple times a day.  The first day was windy and cold, and he had his head high as we walked.  After that, he’s walked on a loose lead while we explore and hand graze.  We went on troll patrol in the dressage court, and he didn’t find any.

So today I hopped on him for a short ride.  We are both out of shape so we’re going to ease into this riding thing.  I’m a firm believer in riding for 20 minutes and making it count versus going around and around for an hour.

There is something about riding at home that is so good for the soul.  Maybe because I’m not worried about being in someone’s way; maybe its the sound of birds in the pines and oaks; maybe its the quiet that allows me to center, breathe and connect.  I don’t know why, but it just works.  We worked in the arena for about 15 minutes; mostly at walk but a bit of trot and canter.  We’re figuring each other out. And we had fun.

Seamless Integration

Luek spent a quiet night in his paddock.  This morning, he was back standing at the gate with Tex and Flash discussing the morning news.  They looked like a group of old men, sitting on a bench, discussing their surgery scars.  Brett calls them the three amigos.

Our original plan was to keep Luek in the paddock for a few days, or more, until they all got bored with each other and then move Luek into the pasture.  After walking Luek around the property and up to the dressage court, we decided to go ahead and make the transition.  Luek was not particularly happy with the paddock and they all were getting on fine.  The boys pasture looks green but it is chewed down to the nubs so we weren’t worried about Luek getting too much green grass.

We carefully orchestrated the transition.  Brett got Flash and Tex to come down to the main gate by bribing them with carrots and cookies.  While they were occupied, I opened the gate between Luek’s paddock and the pasture and he sailed through.  I slipped out his paddock gate so Brett and I were safely out of the pasture, should there be any fireworks.

There weren’t.  Little Bear had even climbed to the top of the goat tower to watch the show.  He was disappointed.

Tex and Flash wouldn’t leave me and Brett.  Meanwhile, Luek explored the pasture.  When he got to the far corner, he noticed that Tex and Flash were hanging with the humans, and probably getting treats, so he high-tailed it over.

Tex would not leave me alone.  It was very cute, given how flighty he can be at times.   He clearly needed reassurance that he is still my main squeeze.

Eventually, they all wandered off to graze.

Dinner was also calm.  Sometimes dinner is when the alpha sorting dynamics come out.  The new horse won’t be allowed to the feeder until order, and proper respect from the new horse, is established.  Apparently, they worked it all out over the fence last night because they, all three, ate quietly together.

I guess he’s meant to be here.

Meet Luek

A number of months ago Brett and I decided that we weren't going to replace or add any more animals to the ranch. Except dogs; because you have to have dogs.

And then about a month ago we revised the plan.  We decided that as our herd dwindles, we would replace our horses with retirees.  It might become our "thing" to be a ranch for retired horses.  Neither of us have been riding in the past six months or more, between me and my back issues and our lack of rideable horses, and we were okay with that change.  The current herd stands at four:

• Flash: 24 years old this year; extremely arthritic; fully retired.
• Pistol: 24 years old this year; recently markedly slowing down and acting her age; we could put a light rider on her for walk arounds the ranch but that's it.
• Lucy: 17 years old this year and retired due to her joint issues and my back issues.  She requires very expensive and extensive joint injections to be comfortable in work and my back can't handle her sideways jumps when she spots a troll.
• Tex: 16 years old this year and in therapy.  He'll never be more than a walk-trot horse and will never be a good mount for anyone except me because it takes him so long to trust.  He is making great progress with me, but he's perfectly happy being a pasture pet 90% of the time.

And then I got a call from my trainer, offering me a PSG level schoolmaster.  He was being used by one of her students but he's not able to handle full-on, heavy competition training.  He is also not forward enough to get her the scores she needs. He's older but sound for light work.  Was I interested?

Initially I said no.  Then I said “probably not” but I'd talk to Brett.  She said he has super smooth gaits and is kind of lazy, no trolls in his imagination.  He's too much of a slug to help her student get her medals, but might work well for me and can also go on trails.  Brett said, "Go down and check him out."  I grabbed my back brace and headed to Sandy's barn.  He is definitely heavier in the hand and more work to keep going than the horses I have always liked best.  But he was solid and I felt safe and my back didn’t hurt at all.  And he’s beautiful.  And with my back issues, I don’t need to be riding Ferrari horses anymore.

Luek is an Azteca which is a cross between PRE or Lusitano and Quarter Horse.  They are the national breed of Mexico, where they were developed in the 1970s.  They are friendly, docile, level-headed, athletic, and have very smooth gaits.

Luek is all those things.  So we brought him home today.  He's settling in well.

We have him in a paddock next to Tex and Flash, who watched his arrival with great interest.

Eventually, he will be in their pasture with them.  They were all very excited to meet each other.

Within five minutes, Tex and Luek were grooming each other across the fence.  I think he’s going to work out great as the next Oak Creek Ranch retiree.