Hay Day

Great group of guys, just great! Yesterday was hay (280 bales!) buying day. Max loaded up three of his buddies crazy enough to help and headed to the farm. In the picture above you can see Darren, Keith, Chase, and Steven. Steven was the one who told Max about the farmer selling the hay, and he's also the guy who helped shoe the horses this past weekend. He met the guys there and helped load the trailer with all those bales you see on the right.


Before Max left the house, I made certain he had the camera to capture the excitement. On the way to the farm, he asked the guys to make sure he took pictures of them working. They all agreed to help Max out in this department. He's prone to forgetting such important requests. I guess he gets busy actually "doing stuff" and can't be bothered with such trivial things as taking pictures. But look...

It's pictures of the guys working! Incredible!! But the funny thing--they loaded in the truck to drive back to town after getting all the hay before Max realized the camera never left the vehicle. This understanding group of guys all got back out of the truck, climbed up on the stacks of hay, and PRETENDED to be working just for me!! I could almost cry! I thought it would be better to tell you how thoughtful they all were than to try to pass off these action shots (as good as they are.)

Once they got to Galloping Grace, Dena met them there with lunch she had picked up. Thanks for feeding those hard working men, Dena!

Dena also took over the camera for poor, forgetful Max. I absolutely love this picture of Max on the hay. It's a framer to me. I would be a little jealous she took it and not me if I was at all immature. But I'm not, so I'm so happy she's so good with my camera.

Darren did a great job picking up all the bales of hay that broke open from being tossed down.

Max said he knows Keith and Chase slept well last night because they worked so hard yesterday. They both took the day off from their busy jobs to slave away stacking hay! Guys, thank you so much for helping. We are blessed to have such wonderful, strong, competent (is that enough buttering up for next time?) friends! You're officially "hired" for next time.

That'll Learn 'im

What is that big, dark, disgusting glob on Easton's head you ask? Tar. Lots and lots of tar. Oh, and it's also on his hair... And his shirt and his arms and his hands and his pants. Let's just say Easton went ahead and covered himself in the sticky stuff. I heard a gasp go through the crowd when he walked up. I was in the arena walking a child around on a horse when it all took place. My first reaction? "Dena, go get my camera and take his picture." (It's getting a little sick at this point.)
I don't think Easton enjoyed the attention too much. He wanted it off and NOW! Here he is trying to rub it off with the dirt. If only that would have worked.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for Trish. No, not Easton, for Trish. That's how I think--I immediately feel sorry for the adult in the situation. As a parent, I would hate having to try and remove tar from every square inch (OK, I'm slightly exaggerating) of my child. What's fun about that? Who wants to listen to the griping and complaining that would come with a tar removal session? Not I! Judge me if you need to, but I'm just being honest here. Poor Trish.

It's a good thing Darren, our security expert, was there. He quickly located the tar bucket way off in the scrap wood pile, and removed it from the scene. It is now hidden from all little hands. I think Darren needs to start doing routine safety inspections. Obviously, we need that!

This story has a happy ending. Trish tried a few tricks to remove it, but nothing seemed to work until she tried the solvent that warned "AVOID CONTACT WITH SKIN." What a silly thing to put on a bottle that works so well! Good thing for Trish she's such a dare devil with her child's flesh. When she tried it out on him, he just said it "tickled a little." Nothing's wrong with a little tickle. She happily reported on Sunday night that he was by no means perfect, but that she could send him off to school without being humiliated.

All's well that ends well.

Update for those of you who do not read the comments from Trish: Follow up: The hair had to be buzzed. That stuff just wasn't coming out of the hair. Oh well. Weather getting warm. It will be good for the summer.

Awesome Idea

We had a man stop by the Youth Ranch two weeks back to say hi. John had been out to help at both Second Saturday work days and wanted to come out to see the progress being made since then. He was on a four-wheeler, and there was a large rug hanging over the back of it. He told me that he had been riding around when he noticed the large rug lying on the side of the road. John went on to say that he owned a carpet cleaning company, and that he planned on cleaning up the rug when he got home. He didn't see the sense in leaving a perfectly good rug when he was capable of cleaning it up.

John asked if it would be alright if his wife, daughter, and grandchildren came out to see the ranch. They did, and we were happy to meet them.
His granddaughters were so cute--and dressed to impress! Max went to shake their hands when he first met them, but they had no interest shaking his dirty hands. It was funny watching them try to avoid those steamy piles. Their mom said, "I don't know what to say. They're girlie girls." After a little while, they loosened up. Claire loved them instantly! They happily ran through the horse pen with no cares in the world. Claire even forgot about the pink boots she was forced to wear that morning because she left her boots at her cousin's house. John's grandson was determined to touch the water in the trough. Victory! What a great grin. You could tell he didn't mind getting dirty, unlike his sisters.

I got a kick out of this shot. It looks like John and Cruz were doing an ad for Coca-Cola and Cruz wasn't too thrilled with the idea. Maybe he's a Pepsi guy.

Fast forward a couple weeks to today. Max met up with John who had a wonderful surprise for us. He had that rug he found made into SIX fantastic saddle blankets! Talk about a creative, resourceful idea. John, thank you very much for your service and gifts to Galloping Grace! What a guy!

When we first started getting things going for the Ranch, we prayed and asked God to provide. Now we just sit back and smile at the ways he does!

Birthdays Galore!

We would like to start off by wishing Justin, Max's stepbrother, a very Happy Birthday yesterday. He's turning into a grown-up right before our eyes! Justin, we hope you had a fun day. This is Justin one of his first times flanking. ADORABLE!

Next we have Zack, one of Justin's very best friends and fellow cowboys. Zack is sixteen today. I think it's pretty cool that their birthdays are one day apart, and I also think I get overly excited about little things like that. Zack, Happy Birthday! Thanks for all your help at Galloping Grace. It's fun to watch them in action. I cannot imagine riding a horse that fast let alone coordinating myself to swing the rope, throw, catch, and dally. Ugh. My face could turn red thinking about the spectacle I'd be. Let's just say that wouldn't be a safe thing for me to try and move on. I love this group of teenagers. From left to right we have McKay, Jordann, Justin, Zack, and Bailey. Talk about capable cow hands! These five know how to work! The girls are experts at giving shots, ear tagging, banding, and occasionally flanking. Justin and Zack are flankers and now ropers. At our mini branding in February, both boys got in that pen and tried their luck at roping. They both did a great job! It's hard for me to imagine my sons turning into ropers, but I suppose it will happen before I know it. My, how time flies!

Finally, we would like to wish my dear, feisty, sarcastic, fun, and creative sister-in-law, Regina, a Happy 35th Birthday. (OK, OK, she's only 31--I just wanted to get her heart pumping for a minute. )

Regina and family had the nerve to move to Oregon a couple years ago! It's not cool with us. My brother packed up his house, wife, and kids and headed out to greener pastures. (Literally! They are always flaunting pictures of the beautiful state of Oregon.) They used to go to the big ranch with us all the time and play games with us on the weekends. Regina used to watch my children, free of charge, for hours at a time. (Wait..do you think that's why they moved?) In my defense, I returned the favor. But still... Regina, wish you were here so that we could celebrate. I'd make you a cake, take you to the movies, wash your dishes--you name it. Instead, you get this--a blogger shout-out!

Happy Birthday!

Feliz cupleanos to all three of you! We love you to pieces!

Happy Feet

Well, today was pedicure day (minus the massages.) We had sixteen horses with some rather nasty toenails! It was a good thing Patrick, Steven, and Patrick came to save the day and trim up those feet. There were quite a lot of interested people checking out Patrick's work. He laughed and said, "I didn't think shoeing horses was a spectator sport." Patrick, everything at Galloping Grace is. Deanell was there when most of the horses had their turn giving them loving words and yummy treats. The lady has the biggest heart! She wanted to make it a positive experience for them. They seemed to almost enjoy themselves.

I think Zack was also having fun. Here he is fighting with a shoe trying to get if off. I made him look up for the picture. Zack is so used to me making him pose, that he quickly complied so that I'll move on to my next victim. Steven is in the background feeling Zack's pain.
Here we see Trish catching Smoke for his turn with the farriers. It was easy enough catching him...
But another story making him move.
I have no idea what she whispered in his ear to make him cooperate. Maybe she pinched him and said, "Get up right now! You are embarrassing me. Do you want to face the consequences later?!" (Not that I, myself, have ever had to say such things to any of my children. I'm just imagining what Trish might have said.)
It was a long, hard day of working for the guys. We did let them stop for a lunch break. Max and Keith fired up the new grill, and Keith cooked up a hamburger and hot dog feast. Thanks, Keith! Have you ever cleaned out a horse's hooves? If not, you probably have never experienced the smell that comes out. WOW! That's some nasty stuff! Their hooves get something called thrush from time to time. Most of the horses were just fine, but a few of them had a little of this. Patrick joked that he could get a seat in any restaurant after working horses. Yeah, it's that strong. I guess it's a yeast-type infection that can cause problems if it gets too bad. None of our horses were bad at all, but you could try telling that to our noses. Some horses needed a trim worse than others. You can see the difference in these two pieces.

What well behaved animals we have. Notice the nice manners on this one pictured above? What a sweet baby.

Patrick saved the best for last.

Poncho didn't disappoint--he put on a show! Isn't he strong? Athletic? Flexible? We're so proud of him! We could tell how much Patrick and Steven enjoyed him! Their work would be too easy if all the horses stood there like big duds!

I guess that sums up the experience. Sixty-four feet and $875 later, the horses look terrific. Just think--we get to repeat this whole experience in another seven or so weeks! And people think it's expensive to buy shoes for their children!

Hope you had a good weekend.

I've had a few questions about whether or not we had shoes put on all the horses. The answer is no--nine got shoes and seven did not. Not all need shoes because some are lame, too old, can't/don't work, or don't do anything but cause problems (PONCHO!) They all did get a trim. The horses that will go back to the big ranch for cattle drives needed them for sure.

Check It Out

Have you ever wanted to know the top ten spookiest things to a horse and why? If so, check our friend Dan's (super volunteer!) blog. It will crack you up!

It's A Girl...& A Grill!!!

Do you remember hearing about Cheyenne, the beautiful palomino mare? If not, you can catch up here. We finally decided to accept Lindsey's very generous offer and adopt her. We figured that we could give it a try and see how it goes.
We headed over to Lindsey's grandparents' place yesterday morning. This is Max leading Cheyenne away from her home of the last few years.
As Max walked her out, Cheyenne and her friend seriously stopped and had a moment. This brought on the tears. Who's tears you ask? Lindsey's? Her grandfather's? Nope. Mine. I went ahead and applied my human thoughts and emotions to the situation and started crying like a fool. I am unstable and I need therapy. But doesn't it look like Cheyenne's saying, "Goodbye. It's been so nice standing by you all these years. I have no idea where I'm headed, but I know I'll probably never see you again as long as I live. Remember me fondly"? It choked me up! Then I started thinking about the huge gift Lindsey was giving us, and that got me going more. I asked her to pose with Cheyenne one last time--because I'm like that.

At this point I'm sure Lindsey started having serious doubts about the kind of people taking her beautiful horse. But the girl is so sweet, she went ahead and let Max lead her to the trailer. This is when Cheyenne started having her doubts. "Why do I have to go? Why does that trailer smell like cow poop??!" "Lindsey, are you sure you like playing soccer so much? What do you know about these people?"

She eventually loaded just fine. I wiped my tears and asked these kind people (who already thought I was a nut case) to pose for yet another picture for me.

I just knew my readers would want to see the nice people responsible for such a huge blessing to Galloping Grace. That's Virgil, Lindsey, and Tammie, Lindsey's aunt. Tammie is the person who helped arrange this whole thing. She heard about GG and what we had going and let Lindsey know about us.

Virgil, thanks for feeding and taking care of Cheyenne all this time. Lindsey, you're amazing. Thanks for trusting us with your baby. Tammie, thanks for taking all our calls, answering all our questions, and thinking of us in the first place!

Here she is arriving at the Youth Ranch. Guess who the first horse to greet her was? Yep--Mr. Toot Head himself. What Cheyenne had to be thinking at this point! Poncho excitedly sniffed her before he acted like the antisocial equine that he is. Maybe his small stature finally got to him. Here he had a beautiful mare brought right up to him, and he realized it would never work between them. It has to be hard being Poncho. Cheyenne spent a few hours in the round pen taking in the sights and sounds of GG. We are so happy to have her here!

Now on to our other big gift of the day. Can you believe there's more? I always knew Fridays were fun, but this is taking it to a new level. Yes, another blurry picture. My poor, poor camera so filled with dust. Just pretend it's a clear picture. At this point, I had no idea why this blue truck with the big grill in the back was there. I just knew that it was my job to point the camera and take the picture. I figured there would be time for questions later. That's when I hear Max say to me, "Babe. Can you come over here? Guys. we need help." Imagine my panic when I thought for a minute that he wanted me to help hoist that beast. I quickly asked, "Do you want me to take pictures?" Of course he did! Silly me! The man doesn't even think I can feed the horses--he'd never expect me to lift large pieces of metal.

It's a good thing Cowgirls Trish and Erin were there. Bailey was also a stud muffin--but she's still a teenager. You're really strong when you're young. Just look at all the Olympians. You definitely don't see a lot of women in there 30's competing. That man on the far left is John Paul Velasquez. He knew of a friend who was willing to donate this awesome big grill, and John Paul thought of Galloping Grace. We would like to send a huge thank you to John Paul for bringing the grill out and also to John Rockwell, of Sierra Peaks, for donating it. John also threw in bags of charcoal and several grill accessories. What a great gift, huh? These were two complete strangers (before Friday) who decided to do such a nice thing for us. Looks like we'll need to grill up burgers some time soon. Come join us! Have a fantastic weekend!