Let Down

OK, so I thought I was going to have something nifty to post, but every time I go to upload the video my computer freezes up. I am out of time for blogging. I am supposed to leave in fifteen minutes with our family and some friends to our family ranch. Maybe I can elicit a little more understanding if I tell you I haven't been to the grocery store yet. Ahhh.

I just tried to upload a picture to give this gobbly goop a little substance, but I had the same problem with photos. I give up. Please know that my heart was in the right place even if my time management skills are severely lacking. I hope to return to my post with good stories and pictures of our weekend in the sticks.

Just returned--Sunday evening. I'm so sad because my scheduled posts didn't post. I must have done something wrong. Bummer. Oh well. Hope you all had a nice weekend.

Scouts About

Monday was Girl Scout Day at Galloping Grace. I don't know if any of you remember me talking about the three different parties we donated for the elementary and preschool. If not, you can read about it here. (I must admit that it won't be the most thrilling of reads--in fact, I bored myself to tears with that post.) One of the troop leaders and I planned to have the party last Friday afternoon, but we had to postpone due to SEVERE (shocker!) wind and some rain. Monday was a much better day for the party, but please do not think the conditions were ideal. Who needs ideal anyhow? Not this cute group of girls.

This troop used the funds earned selling cookies to pay for the party. (Claire's class received the money for their end of year party.) These young ladies (and a couple boys who were siblings) were very well behaved and super sweet. They followed all of our safety rules and had cheerful attitudes. We couldn't ask for more. Did you see the post about the rattlesnake Max caught? It was so nice of that rattlesnake to happen upon the land that day. What horse party would be complete without a venomous reptile? What a bonus!
Besides viewing rattlers, we also let them scoop poop. Such fun and gracious hosts we are! They were absolutely thrilled with this part of their party. Max firmly believes in the child getting themselves up on the horse. It's a little hard for the parents to swallow while their children struggle time after time, but the smile a child gets once they accomplish this feat is priceless! I love to wait and then watch that smile erupt. It's really too bad I don't have a picture of one such smile right now.
This young lady is overcoming her apprehension by doing a little, ah, equine aerobics??? It seems to work. Far be it from me to doubt the ways of Cowboy Max. The man is doing something right. Could she be any cuter? She was also so sweet. Her family told us they're moving to Boston in three weeks. I refuse to become attached to her. I have issues. I'm going to delete her name and friendly smile from my memory forever. Yikes--there she is again. The camera just loves her. We wish her and the rest of her family a safe trip and a happy time in Massachusetts. I just want to say that they could not have been nicer people. Never fear, there's another cutie near! That flowed right out of me. I might start dabbling in a little poetry right here on the blog. (Don't worry, I'm joking.) If all parties are as fun and easy as this one, I could see having them more often. Even the horses cooperated. Ghost was the horse all the girls groomed. He is such a sweet animal. You should have seen the copious amounts of treats he consumed. I am very thankful he didn't get colic. (Horse people--would that cause colic? I'm not sure. In the Pony Pals books I've read with my children, they say it will.) Always remember, in everything I post, I make no claims at knowing what I'm talking about. Besides riding, I think horse painting was the favorite activity. There's something about a big, white equine canvas that gets the creative juices flowing. You could never say that this horse was subfusc. Cochise is no stranger to this. He was the star of Operation Purple Horse. I wonder if he scratches is head against the fence post at night and cries, "Why was I born white?"
We are so blessed to be able to have such fun times with fun people. (These girls were fun--they're just crafting and deep in thought here.)We can't wait to do it again! Girl Scouts, come back real soon, ya hear?

Thankful Thursday--Barn Edition

It's another one of those days. We're having a lot of them lately. We get a phone call about another something wonderful someone wants to donate to Galloping Grace. Today's call was from a lady named Martha who has been out to help at Galloping Grace during one of our big work days. She told me that she had a barn she had made for her children, and they have since outgrown it. Martha thought that children we serve at the Ranch might enjoy it.

Isn't it great? She also gave us two bags of accessories to go with it. Martha and Rachel, thank you so much for the barn. We appreciate you thinking of us and making the drive to deliver it. I know it will be loved!

Now for our less than stellar news.

Max went to catch Ghost this morning to get ready for a group of girls he had coming out. It should have been a portent to him, but Ghost had no interest in being caught. (He's usually one friendly dude!) Max finally caught him, saddled him up, and climbed aboard. I guess this is when the rodeo commenced. Ghost started bucking. In fact, he bucked Max off. (I always miss the fun shots!) Ghost has never pulled such antics. Max started investigating him to see what could be the problem. That's when he felt the lumps on his neck.

It turns out almost all the horses possibly have strangles, an equine form of strep. There are some pretty lumpy horse necks. After consulting two vets, there's not much that can be done. We're supposed to wait it out and make sure they're eating and drinking fine. So far, so good. They are all munching away.

We're headed out to our family ranch this afternoon sans horses. We decided not to spread the wealth to the ranch herd. Yes, we're very thoughtful people. We would like to thank all of our amazing friends who will be looking after the horses in our absence. I have a couple posts scheduled while I'm gone, so feel free to check back.

Have a great one! Oh, and pray for the horses if you will. Thanks. :)

Aimee Murry and Ann Buck, Happy Birthday to two of the sweetest people I know. (And I sincerely mean that!) Love you girls!

Belated Wishes

Our niece, Jessie Bug, had a birthday last week and we missed it! What kind of terrible aunt does that? (One obsessed with slide shows and other silliness like that!) And why wasn't I invited to her party? And who said she could turn eleven already? And start middle school???!! And what does an eleven year old possibly want for a gift? Ahhh. Jessie is the sweet little thing in the middle in both of these pictures. The picture above was taken at the Youth Ranch in April. These cousins were so excited to finally get to ride together again. The one below was taken in June of 2005 during a break from branding at our family cattle ranch. We feel so fortunate to have both ranches in our lives where our children have made some priceless memories.

Jessie, we love you! If you can provide some ice cream and a cupcake for me, I might come up with a gift for you! ;)

Happy Birthday!

Loose Ends

I'm so full of promising to tell you things that I never follow through explaining. I'm going to attempt to discuss a few of the most recent things on this post. This is Hank, our new Golden Retriever. We are all smitten! He is such a good puppy so far--maybe it's the calm before the storm, but we'll take it while we can. Hank has come out to Galloping Grace the last two days and done very well. He seems to have a healthy fear of the horses. Yesterday he saw Brooke and Claire riding in the arena and then cautiously backed up. I took him up to the horses to smell them--he was pretty shy.

I think Poncho might have been excited to see someone shorter than himself. Hank was trying to figure him out. Cute cute cute! I think I'll let Hank stick around for a while, unlike those other mangy mutts! See everyone--I can fall in love with a dog.

In a post a couple days back I mentioned Garrett and my nephew Bryce were sampling some of the fine cuisine our land had to offer. I asked you to guess what they could possibly be munching. The correct answer was a grasshopper. Garrett has eaten these on several occasions. This is not his attempt at ribald humor, but more a desire to know and to sample. The boy is not afraid to try ANYTHING! He's all about the challenge.

My mother and two of her childhood friends, Linda and Mary Beth, came out to ride yesterday morning. I was really sad I didn't send the camera with Max. I think it's neat two people my mom has known since elementary school from Mansfield, Ohio were riding with her at our Youth Ranch. I'm a little overly sentimental, I realize. I still find it special.

Max and Mom said they all had a great time. I think their least favorite part of the morning was when Max informed them that they had just walked past a rattlesnake. Mary Beth said that she heard it rattle, but just assumed it was a bug. Let's just say my mom is now really concerned about the safety of my unattended children. Fair enough. Max actually saw two snakes yesterday morning. The other was a bull snake which is great to have around. We've been told they eat rattlesnakes.

During the Girl Scout party, which I'm too tired to explain tonight, Garrett caught the snake and proudly showed it to everyone. The boy LOVES reptiles! I think he'd figure out a way to hold a rattle snake if we'd let him. Max had that mean rattling machine in a trash can until he could figure out where to put it. He let the Girl Scouts see it up close and personal. After the party was over and we had cleaned up, we drove far out into the boonies to release the snake. Excuse the grainy/blurry picture. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out the settings on my camera. The whole ISO stuff is lost on me. Just when I think I finally understand, I get the grainiest picture ever--not that I felt I was understanding last night. I couldn't even get the camera to take a picture because it was too dark. I had to put it on manual focus to get the picture above. Ugh.

I think this little guy was happy to finally be released. My two year old sobbed and bawled and cried and moaned and whined because we were letting it go. He wanted to take it to our house and keep it. Guess he's taking after his older brother.

I know there are many more promises I have not kept and stories I have not told. I'll try and do better. (Hee hee--there I go again!) Thanks for reading about our day.

Memorial Day and My Little Sissy

On this Memorial Day, we'd like to thank all the men and women who so bravely fought for our country. Thank you very much!

I found out from reading Dan the Man's blog that today is John Wayne's birthday. Another great person sharing the day with John is my little sissy, Erin. This is my paean for her being born. Erin is growing up--today is the first day of the last year of her twenties! Old lady!
We love Erin so very much! She lives in Chicago, so we don't get to see her or her goofy husband near enough. I took this picture of the love birds the night before their wedding almost two years ago. (It's hard to believe it's already been two years!)

Whenever they come to town, we are some excited people! We have a hard time prying our kids off them. We always joke that Uncle Christian will never want to have children after spending a few days with ours!

Erin, I love you so very much! Happy birthday, my sis! Move home now! :) Come ride horses, scoop poop, and hang out in the wind with us. It will be so much fun. Except the wind and possibly the poop.

Oh, and Happy Birthday, John Wayne. (Isn't it great how I tied a ranch-type thing in there?) And speaking of ranch stuff, we had quite the day! I have plenty to share tomorrow. Let's just say there were unwelcome reptiles, long lost friends of my mother, girl scouts, and a cute puppy running around--not bad for a Monday.

Until I post again--Happy Trails!

Answered Prayers

First off, I thought you needed to see Zack. Doesn't he look so sweet standing there with his neck cocked to the side? Ahhhh--cute, sweet guy! The sad part was that he couldn't move his neck. He was tossing hay bales around feeding the horses and when he finished, this was the end result. He just couldn't straighten it back out. After spending 45 minutes getting to the ranch and working for just a short time, he had to call his dad to come and get him. I forced him to let me take his picture on his way out. He acted like he didn't want me snapping away while he was in such a predicament, but I knew he couldn't possibly mean it. There was no tirade, just a grin and he was gone. Zack, get better soon!


Now for the feature story of the day.


This is Allison. She works with Larry, Chase's (hay tosser, shade builder, Trish's husband, twin dude) dad. Allison told me she had been praying for something to happen in her life--something meaningful. The very next day she heard about Galloping Grace. She immediately knew there was something there for her. The day after that she had lunch with her daughter and her friend, and her friend's mother, Cathie. (Follow that?)
Cathie had a stroke in 1996 and is still suffering the effects of it. She did equine therapy for some time a few years back which was paid for by the State. Cathie said working with the horses really helped her. She used to fall down quite a bit, but riding horses made a huge difference. The sad part of the story was that someone then determined that Cathie was never going to get any better, so her funding was cut off. Because she could not work, she could no longer afford to ride.

When Allison heard this story, she immediately knew God was not only answering her prayers, but Cathie's as well. She called Max and set up a meeting for today.
Cathie, Allison, and Max were visiting before the ladies got on the horses. Max mentioned that Cathie was going to ride a horse named Black. Cathie thought that was just fine. She went on to talk about a palomino mare she had as a young girl and how much that horse meant to her. Max said right then Cathie spotted Cheyenne off in the pen. She said, "Do you have a Palomino?" Max told her we did and that she was a mare. Cathie immediately asked if she could ride that horse instead.


Because Cathie is impaired on her left side, Max and Marvin helped a bit to get her on Cheyenne. Other than that, Cathie was a riding machine! We could tell she felt a bond with the horse. There was a time when Cheyenne turned and kicked at Red, a gelding, with both of her hind legs. Cathie did so fantastically great! She instantly recovered and stayed on. I, on the other hand, was shaking and thought I was going to have a heart attack. (Yes, I'm a drama queen!) Cathie was cool as a cucumber. Instead of being angry with the horse, she was grateful that Cheyenne didn't dump her off. She feels that the horse senses her impairment and was taking care of her.

We are so happy to meet Allison and Cathie and cannot wait to see the healing that continues through God and these horses.

Good night.

Breakfast

My favorite time of the day at the ranch is breakfast. I could sit and listen to the horses chew their hay for hours.

Left to Right ---- Snuff, Ghost, Buck, Arrow, Smoke

One of the reasons I think I enjoy feeding so much is it allows me some quiet time to simply observe the herd.

Right to left ----- Smoke, Ghost, Snuff, Tomahawk, Buck

The horses hold so much potential to bring joy to people.

Left to Right ------- Snuff, Arrow

Most days I am left aphonic. Horses are amazing animals.

Just so your not confused, this is Max. Michelle would be able to articulate all of this much better than I.

Bon Appetit

There will be no one out there accusing them of being boulevardiers, that's for sure! Take a guess what tasty tidbit Garrett and Bryce, my nephew, consumed last Saturday morning. Hint--all those episodes of Man vs. Wild Max and Garrett have watched are really paying off. Bryce is chewing away, jury still out. Yep, he also liked it.

Garrett happily announced, "Tastes like chicken." He would know considering this isn't the first time he's sampled such fine cuisine.

Boys!!

Thankful Thursday--Helmet Edition

First off, I'm so thankful to my mom and Max for putting up with me this week! Mom, thanks for all the help cleaning and feeding my family! Max, thanks for doing it all while I was holed up in the office. You are way more understanding than I deserve. His post last night was very kind and very biased and made me cry. I'm trying to be a big girl about having THREE pictures of myself in one post. Because he was so very sweet, I'm going to be brave and leave them there. What made his post that much better was that he told me to go to bed and he'd take care of it! Nice!


Now to bring this "Galloping Grace Youth Ranch" blog back to ranch talk--and yes, it's been a while. We would like to thank CHAMP, Corrales Horse and Mule People, for donating $400 to GG for the purchase of helmets. That was such a generous donation from their organization! Thanks, guys. We're going to have a lot of safe noggins because of you.



OK, I just threw in the picture of the smoking calf because things have been too lovey dovey lately. Where's that cactus in the eye picture when I need it?
There--horses fighting. Now things are getting closer to "normal." I would like to apologize to my readers, you sweet faithful people, for putting up with the nonsense I've been dishing out for weeks now. I'm so sorry I've felt the need to obtrude my problems to your eyeballs.
I don't know what Ghost is trying to say here. I think it's something along the lines of "Good Night!"