It's good to be back in the saddle again......

Wow, I've been so crazy busy, posting to my blog has taken a back seat to everything else.

Update: I have a new horse. His name is Zac! He is a wonderful black quarter horse who I've been riding a lot on the trail since I got him Oct. 10, 2008. He is well mannered but still energetic. It's good to be back in the saddle again!!

So now we have a new president? I have to admit that Mr. O wasn't my choice for our new president but time will tell if the majority of Americans made a good choice by voting for him. I, however, am in the minority now. We Republicans were hit hard and who knows where the party goes from here? I feel sad for Mc Cain and Palin. I like Sarah Palin... a lot!!

And the day before the election, November 3, 2008, I got some sad news. My 101 year old grandmother died. She had suffered from a fall recently and sustained a serious injury that resulted in her being hospitalized for several days and then she was transferred to a nursing home where I hear she did not want to be... but most people don't want to be there.

I know people think "well she lived to be 101 years old... it was her time" and yes, perhaps it was her time and I know she was probably ready to join her family and friends in heaven but it still hurts to know that she is gone and now I won't get anymore letters from her, nor will I see her snow white hair and blue eyes and wonderful smile again. I will miss her. I am thankful that God let me have her for 58 years of my life and I know she is singing and laughing in heaven now and just have a good ole time.

I'm grateful too that she was mostly healthy all the years of her life. She had a strong faith and loved her family, friends and her church. I know they will all miss her as much as I do.

And now my mom is facing upcoming surgery... ugh.. not looking forward to that at all.

My husband Don and I have been busy working on our horse shelter. We have 3 horses now and we're building stalls for them. It's a lot of work but should be nice after it's done. I really enjoy the 3 horses that I have now. 3 of the original horses are with new owners. 2 of them went to a father and daughter and one went to cowboy Jason across the road from me. I hear that she's given him a hard time and he has his hands full with her. Perhaps she was more of a ladies horse than I first thought?

I've been riding with my sister and one of my neighbors and it's been fun. Our weather was beautiful for awhile, turned cold and windy for a few days but back to mild and sunny again.

I hope all is well with everyone.

Autumn is in the air

Autumn is in the air and college football season is upon us. The summer flew by! A few things happened with my mom and my brother. Both got sick and spent time in the hospital. Mom is facing surgery in a few weeks.

Don and I went to California last weekend and witnessed Ohio State University (our team) being crushed by USC! Not a pleasant sight to watch! Sure hope the Buckeyes are able to recover soon.

My horse biz is now down to just two animals. Our Thoroughbred mare Tropic Pass and our young Quarter Horse mare Surenuff. We haven't done anything with Sure since June! I'm hoping to have Jason put some rides on her now that the weather is cooling off.

Hay and feed prices have gone through the roof! I wish I had 100 acres of pasture!!

Well that's about it from the Resting Racers Ranch here in Arizona.

July has rushed by!

July certainly has rushed by! 7 months ago today was Christmas... whew this year is flying and with Christmas just 5 months from today the holidays will be upon us soon!

So here's the latest updates on what happened in my life in July:

Had a nice 4th of July weekend with family and friends. Good food and was able to catch some of the fireworks from both Chino Valley and Prescott Valley.

Gave my Thoroughbred mare named Spook to cowboy Jason. He is going to train her to be a trail horse. Good luck Jason!!

Heard from Micah that both Abby and Boots continue to do well with she and her dad. Said they are riding as often as they can and that both horses love the grass pasture they spend most of the day in. I bet they do!

We've had some monsoon weather here... rains bring relief from the heat and calms down the dust quite a bit... but it sure brings out the bugs!

Flies and mosquitoes just about ate my poor horses alive. Tried several sprays and remedies but none of them work as well as I wish they could! Citronella is a waste... those fly predators that you scatter in the manure... also a waste of money! I used Bronco and a couple others and they didn't do a thing to deter the horse eating pests we have here where I live in Arizona.

Right now I am trying a product called Zonk It. Seems to be working ok but I had to spray about 8 ounces on each horse to keep the flies from swarming them and I still saw big welts from mosquito bites this morning. The directions said to use 2 ounces but that isn't enough to even begin to cover a horse! I've heard that Piranha is good but it's expensive compared to Zonk It.

I also have the hanging fly traps and the electronic bug zappers... I'm trying to figure out everything and anything to rid my horses of these darned pests!

Yesterday I saw 2 snakes that scared the crap out of me! I hate snakes! One was curled up under a plastic tarp and the other was in a flower bed. Now I'm all jittery about going into my garden to harvest vegetables. I hate snakes... every shape and size!

On a whim, I googled the people who had Tropic Pass as a foal and have had some interesting conversations with Ann about Thoroughbred horses and the business of horse racing. I'm glad that I was able to find her.

I finished a paperback novel about cowboys of the old west in the Superstition Mountains searching for gold. It was fun to read.

My husband and I spent 2 days at the Grand Canyon July 16th & 17th. It was fun. We were asked to provide the music for an employee dinner/dance at the recreation building. It was fun. A lot of work loading our music equipment into the trailer, driving 120 miles to the Grand Canyon, an hour to unload and 3 hours to set up, an hour to freshen up in our room at the Lodge and then 4 hours of playing and singing. We were only supposed to play from 7 to 10 pm but everyone was having so much fun, they asked us to stay for another hour!! We didn't get everything loaded back into the trailer until after midnight.

I took my dog for an early walk the next morning and we stumbled upon 4 dozing elk. Gosh they were huge! Startled me when I realized what they were! They had blended into the trees. I took my dog and made what I thought was a big circle around them but I came upon them twice more before I finally found my way back to our lodge! We also saw an elk calf and a deer with her fawn. We spent some time down in the mule barn before heading back home. I had forgotten how big Missouri mules are. They are like Thoroughbreds with big ears!

My husband is busy working overtime... 6 days a week for the next 2-3 months. His only day off is Saturday. He's employed by the Ester-C Company. It's an excellent product!!

Tomorrow is my 12th wedding anniversary. The years sure have flown by and I feel very blessed to have found my soul mate! We're planning a BBQ with family.

Last day of June already!

Wow, it's the last day of June already. This month has flown by and Friday is th 4th of July!

My birthday was June 23rd and Don gave me a brand new Circle Y saddle and matching breast collar and headstall. Wow, what a shock! Gorgeous saddle but way too expensive!

It was a nice birthday weekend. Two of our horses went to the same home. A father and his teenage daughter took home one of our Thoroughbred mares named Boots and his daughter bought our Arab mare named Abby. We wish them the best and many many years of happy trails together!!

So now we are down to just three horses and it sure makes feeding easier not only time wise but on the old wallet too!!

I'm still hoping to find a good home for our Thoroughbred Spook N Scoot. We are going to keep Ebony (Tropic Pass). I've been doing some research on her and discovered she has Alydar in her heritage along with some other fine Thoroughbreds. So our plans for now are to keep her and breed her early next year with another fine Thoroughbred stallion.

Saturday Don spent an hour working with her trying to get her to accept a fly mask. Horses can sure be stubborn but his tenacity paid off and she finally allowed him to put it on and she also let him use some fly spray on her. I put both the mask and spray on her yesterday morning but this morning she wanted no part of it! She's having one of her "mare" moments I guess. After an hour, I just got frustrated and hung the dang mask on her corral. She's probably mauling it right now!

My garden is coming along ok. I have just as much grass in it as I do vegetables. But I've been cutting the grass with clippers and giving it to the horses which they love since they are standing in sand all the time. It must be the pits to be a horse in Arizona where there is no such thing as grass like there is in other parts of the country.

It's hot!

It's too darned hot. Our weather went from freezing temps last month to hot, hot, hot practically overnight! But at least the danged wind isn't blowing 100 mph.

On June 7th, we started training Surenuff and she is coming right along. She is a real sweetheart. I had considered waiting until she was 3 years old but was advised that she might be too big and harder to handle if we waited til then... so seeing as she is pretty stout and strong and turned two in February, we decided to go for it!!

After 3 training sessions, I got up the courage to ride her in the round pen myself and she did really well. I was hoping she wouldn't buck or rear and she didn't. In fact, she didn't even do that the first time the trainer got on her. The worst habit she has that we are trying to break is that she walks off as soon as weight is put in the stirrup and for me, that means someone has to hold her head or I have to hop, hop, hop along beside her til I can swing myself up into the saddle... not an easy thing to do at my age! (hahha)

June 4, 2008 and all is well

I can't believe it's June 4th already! One month from today and we will be celebrating Independence Day which usually includes a BBQ with family and friends and we all camp out on our back deck to watch the fireworks from the neighboring towns. From our vantange point, we can usually see two or three shows at once. Since personal fireworks are "illegal" in our town, we enjoy the commercial shows put on by the towns next to us.

I still have 5 horses... been trying to sell some of them... to no avail... guess it's a sign of the times. Feed, hay and gas prices are ridiculously high and horse values seem to be in the toilet!

I had 3 people make appointments with me last Saturday to come and see my horses... none of them showed up and only one person sent me an email Monday morning to let me know she had bought a horse from someone else. Would've appreciated a phone call cancelling the appointments! Some people are inconsiderate that way.

Our weather has gone from cold and windy to warm and windy now. This has been the strangest spring/summer weather wise that I have ever seen here in our part of Arizona.

I planted a small garden but having a hard time getting seeds to grow. Still getting cold at night and then warm, dry and windy during the day... ugh... now I know what they mean when they refer to the "dust bowl"!

It's not good for the horses either... Abby has something in her eye that I've been trying to wash out for a week now. I think it's either hay or dust... can't see anything but know that it's bothering her.

I got out the fly masks but was only able to get one on Abby and one on Surenuff. Well both are now destroyed! I saw Surenuff tossing something in the air and thought it was a bird... ran out there and discovered it was her new flymask ripped to shreds... how she did that I haven't a clue!

All the horses need to be trimmed... last time I had it done it was $125.00... not something I look forward to ... my feed bill goes up 10% every 3 weeks! And I've cut back on feeding because it's warmer now.

Tis always something around here!! BUT I keep telling myself that it could be worse. I've had two friends go through some heartache with their horses. One lost 2 mares to botulism! And another lost her 3 day old filly to a bladder rupture. Talk about sad......

I wish everyone well!!

Am I wrong to do this?

I was just sitting here thinking about a comment that one of my nephew's made to my sister about me and my "horse rescue" business.

When she asked him if he had seen my new website, his response was "You mean the one where she is begging people for money for her horses?"

When she told me that it kind of hurt my feelings that he would say such a thing... but then I got to thinking... is it wrong for me to "beg for money for my horses"??

I don't have the answer as to why God brought these horses into my life and why I was the one chosen to care for them. Especially being as unprepared as I was and still am for this costly venture. I just hope that it doesn't cause too much of a strain between my husband and I. It is certainly a costly adventure to his bottom line!!

so with that in mind... is it wrong for me to beg for money for my horses???

What a time we've had.......

Well it's been a while since I last visited here and what a time we've had.

My brother-in-law Steve succumbed to the cancer on April 14, 2008. My sister along with my husband and I were there by his bedside during the last few hours of his life. It all ended too suddenly. We are still in shock and grief.

Don and I sang about 20 songs at Steve's memorial service on April 19th. We both held up pretty well but I lost it while singing "A Picture of Me Without You" which I had dedicated to my sister and Don lost it while singing "Go Rest High Up On That Mountain" which was requested by Steve's family.

So now here we are 5 weeks later and life goes on but not without it's many struggles......

Three weeks ago our 7 year old German Shepherd named Scooter was diagnosed with Perianal Fistuals... a really nasty disease. She's been on steroids and anti-biotics since the original diagnosis was made and yesterday her vet decided to put her on Cyclosporin is a fungal peptide ... a pretty expensive drug that will hopefully give us some quality time with her. The prognosis is very grim!

And I still have my 5 horses, who are eating me out of house and home!! My husband reminded me that I could have a pretty nice car or truck for what it's costing me to care for these 5 horses. A minimum of $500.00 a month for hay... and God forbid if one of them gets sick.

I would like to build a barn... but I can barely afford the hay let alone build a barn too! And now summer is upon us and I need shelter for them so they can get some escape from the heat. Don and I did construct a metal double carport that provides shade for Spook and Ebony.

I visited a Thoroughbred race horse farm not far from me. She has 5 of her own horses and another dozen that she is boarding. She has a beautiful stallion and the rest are brood mares. She loves horse racing, while I, on the other hand do not like horse racing one single bit!

She and I had a friendly disagreement about the pros and cons of racing. For her it's the thrill of seeing your horse win and the money that comes along with that. For me, it's the heartbreak of seeing what happens when a horse goes down or is injured and considered a throwaway and/or unwanted by many.

I'm out here in "cowboy" country where the only animal that is considered a "real horse" is an American Quarter Horse. Well I understand that but keep in mind, I am only about 30 miles away from Prescott Downs... a new state of the art horse racing facility! So herein lies the dilema. I haven't met anyone who wants any of my Thoroughbreds for a pleasure horse. I've been told I'll be lucky if anyone would want one for free and the only breeding opportunity would be if a Paint Horse breeder wants a Thoroughbred mare to pair up with her Paint Stallion.

My newly acquainted Thoroughbred friend suggested that I breed my mares with her stallion (beginning in February 2009) and sell the foals as potential race horses... well of course that is not an answer in my book! Gee do all Thoroughbreds have to be race horses?

I did see that Big Brown won the Preakness (in front of over 100,000 adoring fans) ... making him a contender for the Triple Crown title. If I only had a nickle from each ones of those adoring fans, I wouldn't have to worry so much about being a real "rescue" business. But while these fans love to win, I wonder how many of them give one hoot about what happens to those horses that don't win?

Check out what they say is being done to some race horses in Puerto Rico:
Losing racehorses killed in Puerto Rico
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0518racehorses0518.html

How can this be happening????????

I guess there are a lot of people in this old world who don't carry that "horse loving gene" (as my husband calls it! Though I don't really think he'd kill any of our horses cause he couldn't feed them) I've heard that some folks are just turning their horses loose to fend for themselves on the open range. That has to be very difficult for domesticated horses!

Well I guess I've blooviated enough, so I'll end for now. But I would like to thank everyone for their recent comments and love and support for me and my family! The prayers are appreciated and if you've got an extra nickle or two.. could you send it my way?

Wow .. A lot has happened...

Wow, a lot has happened since I last logged in. We had a cold winter and now spring is finally in the air. And along with the changing season is a change in our family's health situation.

My sister Brenda and her husband Steve live a few acres away from us. Steve had been having some health issues with back pain in mid December and January. Thinking it was just the flu, he tried to keep on working. Normally Steve is a healthy hard working man. He's 46 years old and just figured he'd pulled a muscle or something.

Well long story short is this... after several visits to the doctor and many tests later, it was determined that he had a disc problem that was going to require surgery. However a surgeon ruled this out and suggested that it could be gall stones. Surgery was scheduled to remove the gall stones and gall bladder on March 7, 2008.

You can imagine then our horror and shock when it was discovered that it wasn't gall stones but that he has stage 4 colon cancer with complications of Hepatitis C!

Steve underwent four surgical procedures and was sent home in serious condition. He started chemo therapy treatments on Monday March 31st.

We are praying for a miracle and hope everyone who reads this will join in our prayers.

I'm Getting Gray Hair

My 5 horses are making me gray! I moved Spook in between the 2 other Thoroughbreds and what a mistake that has been! All she wants to do is fight with both of them. She kicks the panels and has them all dented up! So I'm moving her back into her old corral as soon as it warms up a bit more. Horses... what a major headache! LOL!

We had beautiful weather this past weekend. I had another near horse disaster though. I decided to see how Ebony would do with a saddle back on... she's the one that I fell off of about 6 weeks ago and she ran off with the saddle upside down!

Anyway, I spent a few hours working with her on the ground and just as I was about to remove the saddle, my sister showed up and told me that I didn't have her tied right to the hitching post, so she untied her and I told her she'd better tie her back up and she said"I've got her"... well as soon as I started to pull the saddle off (no easy task on a 17 hand high horse!)that set Ebony off and she pulled back and Brenda let go of the lead rope and off Ebony ran... like a bat out of hell!

She ended up falling into one of the other horses corrals and injured her leg! I couldn't believe it! Don told me that my sis and I are disasters when it comes to horses! Ain't it the truth! It's always something around here! I do pray that your life is uneventful compared to mine!

Surenuff Learned A New Lesson!

I think Spook is always going to be the horse that gives me headaches and heartaches. It's hard to explain her, sometimes she can be so affectionate and other times she just turns her back on me. But I'm finding with patience, she usually comes back around.
I think she is the kind of horse that would be happy to be the only horse around. I don't think she really likes her stable mates.

Saturday while I was feeding, I noticed that the flake of hay smelled "funny" and I tore it apart and found a dead black bird in it! Geesh did it smell bad!

I ended up throwing most of that bale away!

That may have been what caused Spook's upset tummy.. not sure but I do know that she snubbed her nose at the alfalfa and seemed content just to eat grass hay for the past 2 days.

It's so cold and I know that these cold temps don't set well with her. They don't even set well with me and I spend most of my time in a comfortable home or office with the heaters blasting away!

I had a bad experience with my 2 year old filly Surenuff yesterday. I noticed that she had gotten the chains off one corral panel and it was leaning into the adjoining corral. So I went into Sure's corral and she has this habit of wanting to be right in your face and she just kept bumping me into the corral panel and biting at my head and grabbing my jacket. So I jumped up and yelled at her to "Get Back"! Well that set her off. She jumped up on her rear legs and started pawing at me. Scared the living bee jee bees out of me! So I kept screaming and yelling and waving my arms at her. I was yelling so loud, Don came running outside to see what was up and he saw Sure on her back legs lunging at me.

She finally backed me into a corner and I managed to scramble up and over the panel but boy was I hot! Don yelled at me to see if I was ok and I yelled back "I am now but boy this horse is gonna pay!"

So I grabbed my lunge whip and I spent the next 15 minutes teaching her what the command "GET BACK" means! I know that she was just "horsing around" but it really scared me that she felt no fear about rearing on her back legs and pursuing me!

Danged horses! I'm too old for this kind of stuff! LOL!

But she paid a price for her little antics. She was the last one to be fed and everytime she came close to me I yelled "GET BACK" and boy did she ever back up fast!

In fact, all the horses were backing up when I yelled at Sure!!

Well so much for another wonderful horse life experience!!

Lake Front Property

Our normally dry Lake Sullivan is once again running over the dam. Happens at least once a year and quite early for us this year with all the rain we had yesterday. More rain is on it's way. Sure makes life miserable for the poor horses with all the mud and cold wet weather!

It's Supposed To Rain Today

I just came in from feeding the horses and they all had frost in their manes and on their faces. I sure wish I had a great big barn to keep them all in.

I haven't added much to my blog this week.. not that I haven't thought about it but just been too busy battling with my merchant banking account and my hosting company. Gives me a lot more work that I hadn't planned on right now.

I know we need the rain but it's so cold and makes thehorses so cold... I just don't look forward to it at all. The only nice thing is it's fireplace weather...but I'm so ready for spring.

My quarter horse filly will be 2 next month and she's really getting full of herself.

I just want a horse to "walk" everywhere we go and I'm hoping that Spook and Ebony are going to be those kind of horses.

Ebony is still recovering from her "upside down saddle" episode and she really shies away from me when I go into her corral. I think she fears that she may have to go through a similar ordeal and it's going to be a real challenge when I ride her again.

I can't belive it will soon be 6 months since Spook came to live with us! I moved Ebony into the corral next to her and I think Spook feels challenged by her. Spook has to be the dominant mare around here and she lets every horse know that. The other day she was posturing with Ebony and kicking the corral panels and Ebony had had enough and she charged the panel and slid about 4 feet andSpook just about crapped... she backed up faster than I've ever seen her move! Don and I both were laughing and I told Spook "See what happens when you challengea 4 year old?"

Spook was indignant as could be and she moved off to a corner of the corral where she sulked for a while and finally I went in and told her that "I still loved her and she'd always be my favorite horse" and I convinced her to come back and finish eating.

I often wonder what the heck she is thinking about...it would be nice to be able to read their minds but they are often pretty expressive about how they are feeling... you just have to look at their eyes and read their body language for the most part.

It's cold today!

It sure was cold this morning when I went out to feed "the girls". All 5 of them were kicking up their heels and I'm sure they were thinking "hurry up mom, feed us!"

But it wasn't as cold here as it was for the pro football teams who played in their division title games yesterday. Green Bay was below freezing! And I felt bad that they lost to the New York Giants because Brett Favre will have a hard time getting over this one. His team had the frigid weather ... it was a bitter loss. I don't even care to watch the Super Bowl this year.

I recently moved Ebony next to Spook.. thought it was a good idea at the time.. but now I'm not so sure... Ebony is starting to challenge Spook as the alpha mare. She and Spook must have had an interesting night last night because Spook's corral panels are moved 3 feet into Ebony's side. Mare dominance? I guess it just goes to show that Spook still has a lot of spunk left in her since she shoved her panels that far into Ebony's corral.

I had to break a 3" layer of ice in each of the water barrels... and the sun finally came peeking above the horizon shortly after 7:30 this morning... brr.. it's cold out there. And the wind has picked up. Another cold front is moving in. Weather.com says it's 35 out there (but feels like 27) winds from the south at 12 mph but going to increase to 20 mph. Only going to get to 45 with lows tonight at 18. Snow showers forecast for Thursday - Sunday with highs in the 40's... BRRRR!

The post office is closed today because it's Martin Luther King Day.

Check Out The Resting Racers Ranch Website

For those of you who find it in your heart to lend some assistance to my Resting Racers Ranch rescue operation, please check out: http://restingracersranch.com/



No donation is too small and every little bit helps!!



My sister Brenda and her husband Steve have helped so much with their support efforts and I can never begin to thank them enough!! They have both transported my horses when needed and were there to round up Surenuff when she ran off. Brenda gave me a book for Christmas entitled "How To Think Like A Horse" (I've read it from cover to cover and what great advice Cherry Hill writes in her books!)



Steve made a beautiful hitching post and horse wash rack for me this past Christmas! What great gifts! Thank you so much!



I also appreciate the "ears and shoulders" of my family and friends. Who hear about my horse antics via email, phone calls and letters.



Most importantly, I want to thank my hard working and loving husband Don because without his support none of this would be possible! And I also want to thank him for my beautiful sign handcrafted by Chuck at http://mingusmetal.com/

Tropic Pass Was A Winning Race Horse!

Monday morning, January 14, 2008, Barbara Killian stopped by to deliver The Jockey Club papers on Tropic Pass "Ebony". She spent an hour or so with me checking out my horse operation and giving me some much needed and appreciated advice. Thank you Barbara!!

After Barbara left, I spent a few minutes looking at the papers on Tropic Pass and discovered that a winning race had been recorded on the back of the paperwork! On Sunday, January 28, 2007, Tropic Pass won a race at Turf Paradise. Intrigued, I decided to do a Google search and found out that she had indeed won this race: http://www.winningponies.com/results/picks/tips/2007-01-28/Turf-Paradise/6.html

I decided to also search for Dean Esssex (her owner at the time) and I found his blog: http://granitefallsthoroughbreds.blogspot.com/search/label/Washington%20Horse%20farm%20for%20sale

We have exchanged a few emails talking about Tropic Pass and how she ended up with me.

She was under new ownership when Barbara rescued her from the race track in October 2007.

This poor horse has certainly been through a lot in the past year and I sure plan to give her as much tender loving care as I certainly can for the rest of her life!

And Along Came A Horse Named Abby

While shopping at Olsen's Feed on January 3, 2008, I saw a flyer for an Arab/Quarter Horse mare that caught my eye. (yeah, I know you're thinking... "what? Another horse?") Yep, I decided to call the seller and he told me that his wife had lost her job and they needed to sell her 7 year old mare. That she was the best trail horse around and she wasn't a real big horse. 13 hands. "Wow" I told him.. "that's a pony ... not a horse!" But he assured me she is a horse.

So I told him I'd call him later that evening to give him my email address so that he could send pictures of her. Upon seeing the pics, I thought she was "cute" and told Don I'd like to buy her. To my surprise, he agreed... but it also helped that the seller was including her saddle, blankets, bridle, bit, halter and lead rope.

Here's Abby with another horse and the daughter of her owners at her previous home.

We hitched up our horse trailer in a cold miserable rain early Saturday morning January 5th, 2008 and drove about 50 miles to pick up Abby. The sellers had her out on the road ready to go when we got there. So we got her and the tack loaded up and headed back home.

Since it was so cold and wet, we just turned her out in the round pen and decided to create a corral for her the next day.

She settled in nicely with her other stable mates and on the morning of Saturday January 12, 2008, Brenda and I made plans to ride together.

I saddled up Abby and Brenda showed up on her horse JoAnna and off we went headed for Lake Sullivan on the property next to our place. Abby seemed a little anxious at first but we just assumed it was because she was "testing" me. But overall it was an enjoyable ride.

On Sunday, Brenda and her husband Steve rode down while I once again saddled Abby and we headed off the same direction we'd taken the day before. Within minutes Abby began throwing her head, chomping on the bit and turning in circles. Steve said he thought she'd stepped in a gopher hole and that accounted for her reaction.

We walked on a little further and once again she began acting badly. None of my actions as a rider seemed to correct the situation and I began to panic when she started rearing up and hopping on her hind legs which alternated with bucks in between. It really frightened me and I told Brenda and Steve that I was getting off of her and that I was going to walk her home.

Steve told me to get off and he'd ride her and I could ride his horse back home. We managed to make it safely back home but the experience had really proved unsettling for me and even after Steve worked her in the round pen and I rode her again in the round pen, I just didn't feel comfortable or very trusting of her.

We have surmised that she isn't 7 years old but is still fairly young and that she is definitely green broke and she is going to need a more experienced rider than I am to smooth out the rough edges and give this horse the time and experience needed to make her a trail horse.

I Rode Spook & Ebony For The First Time!

I had a dream about riding Spook across the open range next to our place. Up to this point, I'd been rather intimidated by all these horses. My excuse being "I haven't ridden a horse in almost 2o years". Well in my dream, I was able to ride Spook without any trouble at all. Over the past few weeks, I had acquired some tack... a saddle, blanket, bridle, etc. I had decided that I really wanted to ride "without" using a bit. I never have been a real fan of bits. I know I sure wouldn't want a bit in my mouth and I kind of figured that horses don't much like it either.

Anyway back to my dream, I finally mustered up the courage on December 31, 2007 to saddle up Spook and "ride her". It wasn't the first time I'd saddled her. I've done that a few times in the past. She always stood calmly while being saddled and she'd allowed me to lead her around with some weight in the saddle. (I put some corn bags in the legs of some old jeans to use as my "fake" person) Once before I tried to ride Spook but I hadn't tightened the cinch tight enough and the saddle went under her as I tried to mount up and she didn't like that one bit! I ended up slipping to the ground and Spook trotted off while making a few small kicks and crow hops trying to dislodge the saddle now hanging underneath her.

So not wanting to repeat my last mistake with the saddle, I asked Don to help me get her saddled up and we took her into our round pen and he held onto the opposite side stirrup while I got on a chair and then hopped into the saddle. I'm sure it surely seemed unorthodox to Spook but she was a real trooper and allowed me to plop down on her. I really expected her to bolt or balk or something. But she didn't.. she just stood there until I urged her to walk forward. And she did everything I asked her to do! I was ecstatic! I rode her around the round pen for several minutes using only a halter with reins clipped onto it to guide her. It was fun!

So after my ride on Spook, I decided I'd do the same on Ebony. I started in the round pen and was feeling pretty confident, so I asked Don to open the gate and headed for the "south 40".

I had a great time riding Ebony around the property and after about an hour, I decided it was time to call it a day. I was concerned about Ebony's bad knee becoming swollen. So I headed her back home. Don wasn't anywhere around so I figured I'd have to dismount on my own. What a bad decision that was. I rode Ebony up next to an overturned half barrel and as I jumped off trying to land on the barrel, I lost my balance and pulled the saddle off sideways with me.

OH NO! NOT AGAIN! The same thing had happened to Spook while in the round pen but this time Ebony managed to escape out of the round pen and she took off running with the saddle dangling underneath her. She ran around the property for 5 to 10 minutes. I tried to slow her down to no avail. Finally she slowed down enough for me to grab the reins and get her stopped. But she was now limping badly and had several cuts and scratches from the barbed wire fence she'd run into.

Brenda and Steve saw the commotion and came running to give us some assistance but by the time they got here, I had managed to get her stopped.

Boy I felt terrible about this poor mare getting injured because of my stupidity. It's a good thing you don't need a license to own and ride a horse cause I'd surely have failed the test that day.

It's been a couple of weeks now since the incident with Ebony and she seems to have recovered ok. Her knee is still swollen but she's not limping anymore and her cuts have healed ok.

High Cost of Hay and Horses

Well I'm sure beginning to find out about the high cost of hay and horse upkeep! Here I am with 4 horses and I haven't ridden a single one yet! What started out as me getting back in the saddle again with one horse has quickly turned into a horse rescue operation. Sometimes I ask myself "what were you thinking"? I know my family and friends must certainly think the same thing!

That's it.. I got the idea to turn this into a real rescue business and Don suggested several names and I settled upon Resting Racers. It just seemed to fit... seeing as how I now had three Thoroughbreds.... and hopefully I'd get some kind hearted thoughtful folks to help me out with donations to help us support this new endeavor of mine.

My mother gets a real kick out of reminding me that I used to say that I'd never own horses again because of the expense and heartache. I think sometimes it makes her happy to know just how expensive they are.

We live in a dust bowl here in Arizona... no rain, no pastures and certainly not very good quality hay to be had around here at a reasonable price anyway. Thankfully my brother-in-law Steve has found a good source for hay down in Phoenix. He hauls in about 40 bales of hay that he splits between us and his horses very 2-3 weeks.

My horses are spoiled though. They don't like "grass hay"... being the hot blooded girls that they are.. they really only like "alfalfa". And since it's turned so darned cold (down in the low teens at night up here in the high desert) I've been adding corn, oats, barley and a molasses grain feed called C.O.B. to their diet. Many people have told me it's crazy to feed grain that horses can survive quite well on just plain ole hay but I want my horses to be content and happy, so I probably feed them too much. (I try to feed 3-4 times a day... instead of feeding twice a day)

Well hopefully it won't affect their energy level too much and make them too hyper. I guess time will tell.

Surenuff Lost Two Front Teeth

Our little American Quarter Horse filly Surenuff has always been a little "rough and rowdy" and I found out just how rowdy she could be on Monday 11/27/07 when I went out to feed around 3:30 pm. She's always been one of the first horses to "talk to me" as I walk towards the shed. But I noticed that she was standing in a corner with her head hung low. I called her but she ignored me which was really unusual for her. Normally she's all over anyone who wants to give her time and attention cause she loves people! But not today....

A closer inspection revealed blood dripping from her mouth. As I looked around, I suddenly discovered there was blood everywhere! On her feed and water barrels, on the sand in her corral and all over the pipe corrals. I couldn't believe there was so much blood around.

I called Brenda and told her that Surenuff was bleeding and she ran down her to give me some assistance. Thank God my sister was a vet assistant all those years back in California! I panic and she is always calm and collected. We got the halter and lead rope on Surenuff and brought her out of her corral and closer inspection revealed that she had pulled several teeth loose and her gums were bleeding pretty badly. I called the doctor to let him know we were on our way just as Don arrived home from work.

He hitched up our brand new trailer that we had just bought from a dealer in Flagstaff just the weekend before. (Up til this point, I'd been borrowing my sister's trailer to transport my horses)


We got Surenuff loaded into the trailer and headed for Prescott to the equine hospital. I couldn't believe it... We had just had an expensive vet bill last month and now this. I wailed that it wasn't fair and that this was one of the reason's I hadn't owned horses for nearly 20 years because it's so expensive... and we'd just spent over $4,000.00 for a new trailer and well you get the idea of where my head was at the moment!

Three hours and two equine doctors later (yep, it took 2 doctors, 1 vet tech and both Don and I to hold her during her dental procedure!) we were loaded up and heading back home with Surenuff, missing two of her front teeth. Thankfully these were her "baby teeth" and her adult teeth should grow in just fine. But she sure endured some trials and tribulations as they drilled and pulled and prodded and yanked on her teeth, gums and mouth to resolve her medical issue!

Whew, I never want to go through an ordeal like that one ever again. But after the first few days, she was back to her old self, playing and nipping and having fun being a filly! The missing teeth hasn't affected her eating cause she still eats "like a horse"!

But all these vet bills sure has affected our savings account! I keep expecting Don to say something about the cost of my horse operation but he hasn't... yet.... anyways.

Silly Season And The Brown Mare

Late in October, while I was still searching for "a horse to ride", I found some horses that Barbara Killian had for sale. She was thinning out her herd of Thoroughbred mares and so Brenda and I went to take a look. She has a beautiful ranch not far from us and we spent a long time checking out all her beautiful horses.

On November 1, 2007, I finally decided to buy a 7 year old broodmare named "Silly Season". We saw her beautiful and strong colt and it was obvious that Silly Season had been a good mom to this horse! She seemed so thin to me.

While looking at Barbara's horses, she mentioned that she also had a brown Thoroughbred mare that she had just brought home from the race track and she would be willing to give her to a good home. Apparently she had a knee injury and I could see that she had a bad scar on her rump.

I called Don and asked him if I could "rescue" this horse and he said "yes".

So we loaded up Silly Season and the brown mare into Brenda's trailer and brought them to their new home. We had already added some additional corrals and now I had 4 horses! Don suggested that we call Silly Season "Boots" (after the Nancy Sinatra song) and the brown mare became "Ebony".

Tack/Hay Shed

As summer turned into fall, Don and I spent a month building a double carport that covered two corrals to provide shelter for Spook and Surenuff and we built a large combo tack/hay shed too. Don added water and electricity. And what a great convenience that's been.

I'm so thankful that he is good at construction!

The Day Spook Got Sick!

It was a dark and stormy day here in Paulden, Arizona on October 4th, 2007. I had to do my grocery shopping (I also shop for my handicapped mom who lives next door to us). I knew Spook was horribly upset by the blasting rain, thunder, lightening and hail that was pelting down on her. I tried to persuade her to come stand under the metal shelter but she was just too frightened. I felt awful as I drove down the road heading for town to the grocery store, knowing how upset she was. I tried to complete my trip into town as quickly as I could.

Imagine my shock when I returned home and discovered Spook rolling around in the mud. I immediately called Brenda and shouted that Spook was down and rolling. (Having just gone through the death of her horse Half Moon due to colic only a few weeks earlier, we knew the signs and symptoms of the nightmare of colic!)

A call to the vet confirmed our worst suspicions. By now it was night time but we felt we had to get her to the new equine hospital in Prescott quickly! Thank goodness Spook got right into Brenda's trailer, even though the thunder and lightening was all around us. Brenda made the 25 mile trip in record time.

By now Spook was looking pretty poorly and the normal medical procedures for colic didn't seem to make a difference in her suffering. I was wracked with guilt that I had left my beautiful horse alone during a stressful storm. But as the doctor tried to reassure me, I could sense that he was concerned for Spook's outcome. I dreaded the thought of surgery.

After a few hours, Spook's doctor suggested that we go home and he'd call us if there were any changes. The next 2 days were nervous ones for me, as I prayed that Spook would recover and not require surgery. And thankfully she did recover. Looking a little thinner and pretty worn out than when she arrived at the hospital, I do believe that she was happy to see the trailer coming to take her back home.

This experience taught me just how emotionally attached we had become to each other in a relatively short time. This horse that didn't trust the farrier, calmed down enough to stand still while I talked words of encouragement to her as he trimmed her hooves. This same horse had also responded to me during her medical emergency. She was coming home with me now and I vowed never to let anything bad happen to this horse ever again!

And Then I Found Surenuff

Actually it was my sister who found both Spook and Surenuff for me.

Once I told her that I wanted to get a horse too, she immediately began surfing the net and bulletin boards at the feed store for "a horse" for me. I purchased Spook when I spotted her while looking at a paint colt that Laura West had for sale.

Brenda and Jeanette were at Olsen's Feed Store in Chino Valley, Arizona when they saw a flyer for an 18 month old foundation bred quarter horse filly named Unaweep. (Personally I didn't find her all that attractive based on the photo on the flyer. But I decided to go have a look at her anyway)

When I arrived at Debbie & Gary's ranch, she showed me what a sweet girl Unaweep was. I decided right then and there to buy her. I call her Surenuff after her father.

We picked her up early Saturday morning August 11, 2007 and when we turned her out into her new corral, she ran over to the adjoining corral and immediately bit Spook on the nose! It's a good thing that Spook is a well mannered 12 year old mare who understands what brats little fillies can be! But one day, a short time later, Surenuff pushed Spook a little too far and Spook kicked her right in the forehead above her eye. Now Surenuff gives Spook plenty of room..most of the time anyway!

Here's a picture of Surenuff (wearing her new fly mask) & Scooter in August 2007.

A few weeks later, I got the "not so brilliant" idea to turn Surenuff loose for a run on the open land adjoining our property. I learned a valuable lesson that day. Young horses do not always respond to the commands "Whoa" and "Stop" and "come back here!"

Once I removed the lead rope, Surenuff saw some cattle about 1/2 mile away and the race was on! She chased those cattle for several miles while I frantically chased after her (to no avail of course). Eventually with the help of my sister and her husband Steve on their horses, they were able to round her up and get her back home!

Whew I sure breathed a sigh of relief to have her back home as my husband Don incredulously asked me "how long have you been around horses and you didn't really think she'd run away"?

This picture shows the very beginning of my horse operation. It was a start.

I Remember A Horse Called "Half Moon"

Born in California in April 2002 to a pretty 5 year old mare called "Fancy", my sister named her new foal "Half Moon". Everyone proclaimed how pretty and petite she was!
Less than a month later, Brenda and her husband Steve moved their 3 horses and the new foal "Half Moon" from California to Paulden, Arizona and made their home on 2.5 acres next to my husband Don and I's 10 acres.
As they were trying to get settled into their new home Fancy colicked and had to undergo surgery, leaving Half Moon orphaned at an early age.

Here's a picture of me and Half Moon and our dog Scooter at feeding time.

As you can see, Half Moon grew into a beautiful mare and became a fine saddle horse for Brenda.



In the left photo, Half Moon is in the background with Steve's new filly "Mujo".

Here she is up front, letting Mujo know she better stay back!
Half Moon spent a little more than 5 years with Brenda and Steve but sadly on July 27, 2007, she colicked and died from medical complications. She fought a brave fight as Brenda and Jeanette and I walked her for hours hoping for any signs of improvement but eventually in the end she sighed and relinquished her spirit to the half moon lit cloudy night. She is buried in the turn out area that she shared with her other sisters for those 5 years. We have cried many tears as we mourn the loss of such a beautiful horse who will never be forgotten! The horse that has affected my heart so deeply.

My One Woman Horse Rescue Business

My name is Theresa Brigner. I hadn't had a horse in my life since 1988 but in August 2007 after being so emotionally moved by the death of my sister's horse "Half Moon", I decided it was time to get back in the saddle again.

While searching for my next horse (and Brenda's too), I discovered a 12 year old Thoroughbred broodmare named Spook N Scoot. She hadn't been under saddle in 9 years. However, I was told she had raced in her younger days.

There was something about this beautiful horse that just drew me to her. Even though I was afraid to ride her and against the advice of family and friends, on August 10, 2007, I bought her anyway.

But my search was still on to find the horse that I hoped to make my western pleasure trail horse. That journey led me to find other Thoroughbreds and unwanted horses and so began my grass roots Arizona one woman horse rescue business that soon became Resting Racers Ranch.

Spook N Scoot.....The beautiful Thoroughbred mare who started it all! Seen here grazing in Utah.