The Dance We Do

Miles & Piper P. McPiperson a.k.a. The Mayor of Munchtown (18 lb. cat!!!)

This pic is almost a year old, thanks to the teenage NO PICS rule that has come down...

This blog is where I talk about my horse, and this title would have been a rather nice one to illustrate some of my more recent dressage lessons, but I think a post about my first favorite guy (the human one that came ten years before Jackson...) to be a bit more fitting. Rarely do I say much about my son Miles, mainly because I come here to talk about my horse. So. Here we are. Miles is fourteen and has grown to be as tall as me--5'9--maybe taller, and is still growing. Miles also has gingery red hair and a smattering of freckles, and some of the most gorgeous green eyes I've ever seen. I love my son to death, and would gladly die for him in any torturous way you can dream up. It really is true that when you have a baby you reach inside your chest, extract your own heart, and give it away to that little person. Everything changes and nothing will ever be the same. NOTHING. Loving my son as I do, I am SO glad I only had one.

I get every comment in the world regarding this. "Oh, You'll meet someone and have another one", is my absolute favorite! I think it floors people when I tell them honestly, "You know, some people aren't meant to be parents, they just aren't really that great at it, and I have decided not to perpetuate the species any further." The predictable looks of amazement and shock are a sight to see, let me tell you! My favorite thing is when my reply actually seems to get through to someone, and they GET what I'm trying to say. Instead of having four children (and a mental breakdown), I have decided to stop. I personally think it shows great forethought, fortitude, and genuine caring for all the little potential Mindy's that won't get fertilized and hatched! That's right folks, I'm going to take a LEAP and say it! "Parenting just AIN'T MY THANG!" I have no regrets, and I try my hardest, but if you know this about yourself, why would you keep breeding?

My son and I have been battling it out over where he is going to move now that his Dad took an intelligence job in Maryland--he returned from Iraq after 10 months in May, and subsequently retired from the Air Force. Well, not battling JUST about that, we battle about any and everything! We have been like two storm fronts meeting, and fighting for the very same air in the room. Just the other day I nicely asked him to do something, and he just said, "No." There I am, "What, how dare you?" and go to squawk at him (like the teacher in Charlie Brown) and realized I was looking UP at my little 8 lb. bundle of joy. Wha? It freaked me out pretty badly. It was so VERY weird. Teenager in the house. Time to run. I was a VERY REBELLIOUS teenager...

So yes, the decision has been made by my son to go to Maryland and live with his father. We have always manage to co-parent somewhat; I have known his dad since we were both fifteen. I have also decided that after following his dad to three different states in order to keep Miles' world intact, he is now old enough to be without me. I sure hope I'm old enough to be without him! I'll go to Florida I hope, and we can start accumulating our frequent flyer points. Oh. And that is an act of love. I don't really like to fly.... Too bad I can't scuba dive or ride to go see him. Hmmm. I'll have to look into some sponsors for those two ideas... :)

So, the point of this early morning meandering is Miles. And how I think he is the BEST writer. He wrote me the following poem, and I think it's pretty cool. His other writing's are great, but this is a momma favorite. FOLKS! My son can write better than me!!! Oh yeah. Most people can... Well, anyway, enjoy.

Where I'm From

I am from nature, from Portal and Half Life.

I am from a one story house Filled with books and trinkets.

I am from the oak tree who is strong like my Father, and

The Daisy, soft like my Mother. When combined

Making me a leaf. I am from running and wrestling

And Bright neon Red hair, from Glenn and Mindy.

I am from laughing often and extreme stubborness.

From a penny saved is a penny earned,

And lead a horse with a carrot and stick.

I am from Christianity and laid back worship.

I am from Ireland, and sushi and Payee.

I am Miles, and this is where I'm from.

In Water We Float..

We are very lucky to have the Guadalupe River about 15 minutes down the road, and yesterday was our day for fun on the river! This pic I grabbed off the internet as I (sadly) do not have a waterproof camera. I wish. I could have gotten some great pics! We did a two hour "trip" and only ran into a young couple hanging out and talking. We did, however meet the rapids (and then some!) of the type you see here, probably a bit more rapid!

My friend Linda had been talking about going down the river on inner tubes, and I am always hearing stories from co-workers and other friends about how much fun it is. Last summer, thanks to a big lack of rain, it was NO CAN DO on the river. Yesterday, after getting two tubes patched, and a kind gentleman in Bandera selling us two for $20 each (reasonable when you consider that to rent them, it's $10 each time!), we were ready to hit the river. Linda bought two for herself as we had borrowed the ones that we had patched from our friend Lorri. We took my friend Linda's truck and my VW, that way we could park at the "start" and then have a vehicle right where we wanted to get out. This worked. Mostly.

We entered the river, and the water felt great! My son Miles was so excited and happy; which was a pleasure to see, we have been having a tumultous time lately. Teenage-hood is hitting, and it is hitting hard and fast, among other things. The water started out slow, and we floated and relaxed. Our first set of rapids were fun "baby rapids" over a really shallow area. I got over them fairly easily, but Bubba Bob may not have! :) We continued on, just enjoying, and then hit an area of faster moving water, which was DEEP! Probably about 8 feet. It scared my son a little bit as he had been loafing along not in his tube, playing with some boat and toy that he had brought along. Linda helped him back onto his tube, and got him settled with that boat of his (not big, probably 12 inches by 8 inches) and helped him tie back up to her tube. After that we floated for quite some time, and then hit some rapids that we all had a blast on, just a little feeling of, "Oh sh**, I really have no control here!" We then had probably 30 more minutes of  floating at a decent rate, not skimming along, but not in the doldrums either, just perfect for an enjoyable (AHHH!) float on your back, catch some rays time.

Then it happened. Major rapids. I did fine, going first, which had nothing to do with it, I just got lucky. Miles got bumped around a bit, and of course now has quite a story. We had gone around a bend, and I couldn't see Linda. People do and have died tubing that river, and while I could hear her voice saying something, I couldn't hear what it was over the rapids. So I waited. She didn't sound distressed. And I waited. Then I freaked. Did she have a broken leg, what had happened? I left Miles with the tubes in the shallows, with STRICT orders NOT to move, and preceded to backtrack THROUGH the rapids (I was thrown backwards and had to start over twice!) before I made it to her. On the way, I retrieved Miles (darn) boat which he had lost, and the truck cable which we had been using as a tube tie. What I failed to retrieve was the KEY to the truck which Linda had had carabined to her tube somewhow. She was looking everywhere for that key (to the side of the rapids), but I convinced her to give it up. We were near the end spot by this point and managed to fit three huge tubes and three people into my VW bug! Yeah!

All was well, that ended well, sort of, as there is a bit more to the story. The spare key opened the doors to the truck when we got back from driving all the way back to her house, and back out there again :), but would not start it. It had gotten it's steering wheel locked, and the front tire was stuck against the curb. Have you ever locked the steering wheel and it will not start until you have a free moving wheel? Imagine that, with one tire totally using the curb as a brake. We had to get back to Linda's for Shorty's chemotherapy appointment, so roadside assistance was called later, and we both hit the the door at the same time, me to get home, her to hopefully unlock the wheel. Finger's crossed that some BIG MEN or their toys were able to help the situation.

Of course I saw my boy, and spent some time with him, unfortunately, not nearly what I had planned, and then I JUST HAD to watch Shorty's chemotherapy...get to that in a sec. Tried on Jackson's new Happy Mouth French Link with Dee's, and he was largely unimpressed. Which is GOOD! I will ride it in the next couple days and let you all know. I do know that I shoved it into my mouth (brand new) for at least 10 minutes and didn't detect a hint of apple flavor, which is what is supposed to get them chewing at it and loving it. My trainer is ALL for it, and named off a few top jumpers she has met who use them, so maybe J. will taste something I missed!!! :)  I  found a bargain on it about a month ago ($25 off!), and being anxious to get rid of the full cheek look, and liking the look of the Dee's, bought it. We are still using a French Link, no plans to fix something that isn't broken. I have NO control issues, stopping issues, and do not need anything stronger, for sure!I certainly don't expect it to fix any of my riding deficits, but Happy Mouth bits have such a great rep., and then when my trainer was all for it, I thought, why not? I got a pic of him on my phone that I really like, but the quality at 5.0 megapixels is a bit sad I'm afraid! But I love it!

 Oh...sad. Can't even blow it up! WHY, oh WHY did I have to forget my camera? Jackson was SO cute yesterday too, he came across probably 3-4 acres when he heard me call,  (FEELIN' LOVED), and then risked Red, the big BAD Red Horse of Linda's who tried to keep him away from me, JUST TO SEE ME!!! AWWW. God, I love my horse! I gave him tons of carrots later!

On to Shorty. If you read my blog, you may remember Shorty, Linda's spotted Appy who was given six months to live last September, diagnosed with cancer of the sheath. At the time she had recently had a growth removed, and then when another vet came out to the ranch to do Coggin's, shots, etc. he told Linda that it was already growing so agressively in the ONE month since she had it removed that the prognosis was grim.

 At the time, Linda decided NOT to do anything and to let nature take it's course. The reason behind this was that chemotherapy is EXPENSIVE, usually thousands, and why make him feel like crap from chemo. with such a bad prognosis?

 Since I had Karen McLain (fellow blogista) paint his portrait for Christmas, I firmly believe that is why he is doing so well (hee hee).... but on with the tale. By TOTAL coincidence, Linda was out on a trail ride three or so months ago, with our Equine club "Equine Hill Country Friends", and met a vet and his wife from Boerne. This guy  is a sweetheart, I was so impressed with him when I met him yesterday. Anyway, she told him Shorty's medical story while on the ride, and he told her about a treatment he does (and he and his friend have had quite a bit of success with) injecting the site (Shorty has carcinomas around his sheath, quite common in a pinkie skin Appy) with a chemotherapeutic agent called Cisplatin, and the hores's own serum (spun down into a liquid form). By using the horse's own serum (a blood product) it helps the horse's body kind of "recongnize" parts of the concoction as his own, and basically more effectively killing off the bad things, and leaving his good things alone. Very basic concept, but I hope you get the picture.

Yesterday was his last treatment  (four in all), and while he was down the vet ligatured the two growths. Now, they really have no blood supply, and the next six weeks should be the tell all. Will it work? Apparently there has been much success in this area, but most of the studies you read you won't find the vet using the horse's own serum. He says this is "his rocket science oncologist vet friend's idea", and really, mixing it with the horse's own serum makes more sense than the agents they say many vets use--like peanut oil!!

I really liked this vet, he spent about 20 minutes while we were spinning Shorty's blood telling me all about hoof abcessess (which Jackson has decided to give me FOUR of this spring) and what to do, and what not to bother with. He also spent a good deal of time telling me what to look for in a horse transportation agency when I do move him to Gainesville, FL. He also knew all about the pyrolplasmosis test and all the paperwork I will need to get him from Texas and into Florida!

 He was there for about two hours for the whole thing, start to finish. One thing I did NOT like. Shorty had to be given Ketamine and totally put down for this (understandable given that it is in the sheath area and so extensive), which was really freaky. Shorty started out just by closing his eyes, and then losing his footing (REALLY FREAKY) and then wham! DOWN! I don't think I'd be able to stand seeing this if it was  Jackson, (thankfully Linda would help) because just ask Linda or my friend Lorri; I don't know as much about horses and the ownership like they do (both with like 30 years expereince on me), and I am a huge worry wart with Jackson. I think they would both agree that I have gotten better, but it is REALLY nice to have experienced horsewomen like them around to soothe me when I get freaky!

So I did take Linda's calm cue from her, even though I was wondering why she was doing all this treatment when he was going to have two broken legs (JK)... The vet did his injections, ligatured the growths, we fly sprayed it, and not five minutes later Shorty jumped to his feet! The vet said Shorty metablolizes it fast, because normally with that amount he could get throught an entire castration on most other horses! 

Please think positive thoughts in Shorty's direction, he is one fabulous gaited guy, with a wonderful personality and so much fun to ride! I thank Shorty (Spotty--my lil' pet name for him)  for some of the most fabulous cantering, confidence building rides of my life! I want that horse back, as does his mama! We ALL want to ride him again, even Miles who really isn't all that into riding! The pic below is my last ride on Shorty, from early summer 2009, not very long before we found everything out.... I remember being very happy that day!

Amusing Little Update...And NEW additions!

Turkey Exploded. Stand By Please.


The now infamous Turkey Cake....

After taking the computer to the Doc and one power supply later, I am back to blog land again! Sure have missed being able to post! Just wanted to show you what Miles (my son) made for Thanksgiving. Of course, this cake stole the show, and it was his creation from A-Z. And before you ask where the feathers came from as all 10 people at my friend's house did before partaking in a slice, they came from the local craft store! :)We had a really nice day and Miles got to meet Lorri's new Rhodesian Ridgeback Heike, who, at six months isn't so new (or small) anymore, and then we all got to meet Linda's new horse Traveler who she had just picked up Thanksgiving morning. Traveler started out with the name Cowboy which was a resounding NO! He is a three year old QH with 60 days under saddle. I can't wait to ride him! But he is getting short rides so he'll grow properly yada da dum... but that is why he looks a bit gangly and non-muscular! I will post again and update the riding front, just wanted to say, "HELLO!" my peeps!



Traveler (ummm. Jackson's new twin?)


Heike. Lorri's new Rhodesian Ridgeback

Mounted Scavenger Hunt!

As some of you may know, I volunteer at an Equitherapy Facility as a sidewalker and a horse handler. Lately we have been working hard to set up the annual fundraiser, a mounted scavenger hunt! I kind of fell into this position last year when my BO Linda asked me if I wanted to go help set up trails for the scavenger hunt! Of course, this year after enjoying it SO much last year, we spent most of our days off from work on horseback blazing trails, hanging up the trail markers, clearing out branches, and then a few days before the hunt setting up the "events" which you will see a few of on my picture tour below. The three trails consisted of easy, intermediate, and expert; all of them with 10 events each. To obtain your prize at the end you had to follow the map, find your "10 treasures" and bring back the required items from all 10 events. The orange trail, which was the hardest, proved to be quite a challenge for many of the riders. Of course, we made the "events" much harder to find, and the trail was even more challenging. Lots of rocky terrain, switchbacks, challenging water, and difficult cliff-like hills with rock. I will show you some of the events, not necessarily in any trail order; from setting up the day before on an ATV, (thank God for that ATV or we NEVER would have got it done!!) to the day of the event, to a little bit of the dismantling of the trails which we started on Monday, the event being last Saturday. Hope you enjoy the pics as much as I enjoyed the experience...

Matt

Linda, Kate and Matt on the ATV


The back of that cart got really bumpy at times, I have major bruises as proof!

Pinto Pony--bring back one pinto bean.

Hobo Hollow. This one was my creation. Bring back one hobo stick.

Hanging in the tree at horse height on the easy pink trail.

I made 80 of these! AGH! And if you don't think it looks like a hobo bag, I don't wanna hear about it!!! :)

This is where Lorri's horse Kite spooked at a rustling bag, turned, started bucking, and....


she crashed into this tree at speed, breaking her nose and lying backwards (with her body and head to Kite's tail) to this....

HILL. Matt (pictured) was there and says she narrowly missed these rocks when she finally fell off.

The hill from the bottom. Quite steep, pics never do that justice! She was unconscious when Matt got to her. EMS was called and you can see the pic in my previous post. She broke three spinous processess and broke her nose among other things. She is doing better so thank you for all of your prayers!!!

The Old Kiln. Bring back one match from the basket. Everything on the pink trail you need to be able to get from your horse as it is the easiest one. We did run into some riders on the day of the hunt out on the yellow intermediate/difficult trail, (four of them riding English) who could not get off of their horses and remount on the trail. They dropped something and my newbie rider son jumped off and got it for them. I'm sorry, if you can't get off of your horse and remount, you shouldn't be out on a difficult trail!!! It made me ashamed to be an English rider, we get enough knocks being in the land of Western riders, so we need to look competent....but of course, they were dressed to the nines and had the best tack and horses. Figures.

The BBQ tree. Bring back one briquet.

Fruit Stand. Bring back one grape. This is the little grove where I fell flat on my butt kicking a HUGE branch down from a tree so it wouldn't fall on a rider. I was kicking it because it had a scorpion on it the day before. So kicking was good. Branch came down, so did I. Darn tree roots! Thankfully, well out of the way of said HUGE branch. But not of the way of the chiggers! UGH! We were all covered with bites and are still itchy fully a week later. CHIGGERS ARE THE WORST!!!!!

Paint by Letters. Bring back one paint brush.

She sells. Bring back one seashell from the hanging bag. The big colored ones are decoration.

The whole effect of She Sells.



Teed Off. Bring back one golf tee. We put a little bit of green astroturf on that log pile the day of the hunt. This one was fun to set up!

Kate gunning the ATV up a steep hill. That thing is SO fun to drive!

Caurosel horse. Bring back one bell out of the black umbrella. Jackson didn't bat an eye at this one, although apparantly lots of people have trouble with it. When we rode through while the hunt was going on we had to reload the umbrella by picking up most of the bells from the ground!


Rust in Pieces. Bring back one tombstone. (Popsicle stick painted rust colored with RIP on it).

Rusting abandoned farm equipment. Resting in, well, pieces!

RIP. Trevor Tiller. Gone TILL he learns how to close the gate.

RIP. Sam Shredder. He was all torn up over life.

RIP. Debbie Disc. Plowed under too soon.

School Spirit. Bring back one letter from the bucket.

Fractured Fred. Bring back one pack of....


Citrical--Calcium!!!! This was my son Miles' favorite event. He donated the use of Fred to the cause and was SO excited to go out on the trail the day of the hunt so he could see it personally. Fred is now hanging in my son's room with the Fractured Fred sign, holding a pack of Citrical in his hand. Have I mentioned my son's obsession with Halloween? GRIN....

Toad Wall. Bring back one toad.


Mountains of Ararat. Bring back one animal. The mountains didn't get put out til the day of the hunt.


Tiger's Lair. Bring back one tiger's eye from the hanging basket. (Not pictured). We had a lot of fun getting the tiger to stay in the tree. We tied his tail to something from the back side.

And YES, we did get stuck. But just once. This pic is before he was well and truly stuck...We three tough ladies cowgirled up and moved the trailer (all 800lbs. of it!) into the water and we took the wet route for a bit! Matt offered to get out if one of us wanted to steer the ATV out of its mess, but we opted out of that one!

Alien space discs...


Matt throwing the "UFO's" (garbage can lids!) string over a tree branch.




Kate gets one too....

Bring back one strange looking green alien to show that you've been here.

The sign speaks for itself!




Linda pointing out the red-headed fairy, I don't think we red heads look all that good in yellow! HA!

Lover's Leap. Bring back one gold ring. Make sure you look over the edge first.....

Crime scene view from the edge of Lover's Leap. YES, I must confess, this was my idea, but Linda ran with it and made it happen. Ahhh. Praise be to warped senses of humor!!

Miles at School Pride event on the day of the Scavenger Hunt.

Miles at Fractured Fred, checking it out in person. He was thrilled to see "Fred" whom he claims has, "been in the family" since we lived in D.C. (7 years ago), being so useful!

Most of the Triple H Equitherapy horses got baths and fancy braids in order to present a "Parade of Horses" in which we present the different breeds and where they originated, characteristics, etc. that are in active use at Triple H. From Belgians to Oldenburgs to QH, TB, and even a little POA, there is quite the variety and size!

Classy!


Parade of Horses. Me in the blue with the TB. His name is Laz and he is a high strung pain! Makes me so glad Jackson is an AngloArab; he is SO calm in comparison! Wish I had a close up of Laz's ribbons tho', they were super cool!

Helping a client mount. She got an award in front of the whole crowd in celebration of being at Triple H for 10 years as a rider!!!

Monday morning trail clean-up. Jackson's mane was the perfect place to store the trail markers that needed to come down! Do you like this new fad we're starting? He was unimpressed.




Back from taking down part of one trail.



He is really getting much better at his riding! It's so nice to be able to take him out on the trail!