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Tag Archives: Arizona

Christmas Dreams Do Come True

01 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by ninagarden in horse, New Year's resolution, ranch

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Arizona, Christmas, horse, new year's resolution

Every Christmas since I was a little girl I dreamed Santa would bring me a horse.

Even as an adult I glanced into the back yard Christmas morning hoping my husband, who is known in my book as being generous and wonderfully over the top, would figure out how to give me a horse.

And if you read my blogs from this year, you will know that I went to a colt sale in Arizona where my husband was sure I bought a colt. (I did not, althought I wanted to.)

That said, I knew it was impossible, impractical and not something my husband would ever really do…not really in my realm of possibilities with all the other responsibilities we have.

For whatever cosmic reason, at the end of November,  my dad decided to give me his horse Bayito…

You might say, wow, why does your dad have a horse? If you read my blog, you will know that he is a third generation rancher and farmer. Since we sold the ranch 15 or so years ago, his horse has lived on a neighboring ranch where he was used by a friendly cowboy to round-up cattle.

It might be one of those serendipitous events or some kind of chain reaction that I can’t explain. Or maybe it was this blog and writing about it!

(And also, it was my friend Audrey who decided to get a horse for her kids).

My dad is  friends with Audrey’s dad who is also a rancher, here in California and suddenly, there was a place for the horse and two families to ride him. And my dad trusts them with his horse, probably more than he trusts me with his horse.

So one cold day in December, my horse arrived from Arizona. The horse hauler picked him up on the ranch near Douglas, Arizona where my dad was waiting to say goodbye.

It was sort of bittersweet, I’m sure, to let go of the one thing left of our ranch and our cattle raising days. Bayito did not want to leave. After an hour of trying to get him in the trailer, with ropes and apples and other encouragments, he heaved a sigh and walked in to begin the journey to his new life here in California.

Here is “Bayito,” loosely translated, I think that means Brownie in English. His registered American Quarter Horse name is Tru Tru Holey Sox!

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2014-12-13 11.45.34

I am very happy and my only New Year’s resolution is to take care of and ride Bayito!

So if you are dreaming of owning a horse, it can happen one day, even in an unexpected way. Keep dreaming and maybe one day your dream will come true.

Happy New Year!

Thanks, Dad!

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Horse Christmas: Colt Sale Part 2

30 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by ninagarden in Arizona, auction, colts, cowboy, Flagstaff, horse, horses

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Arizona, aution, colts, Flagstaff, horses

2014-07-12 11.27.19

The auction started at 11 a.m. with a few speeches. And I was too distracted to take notes but I remember the ranch manager spoke and then his wife, who read a poem about appreciating your life and making the best of things. I think one of the owners spoke too and thanked everyone for coming to the event that they looked forward to all year.

The auctioneer was brought in from out-of-town. He explained he wasn’t one of those fast talking auctioneer. He was a bit more like Santa Claus sharing the wealth of this horse Christmas. He told a story about his old dog, who had died, and some wisdom he had acquired from his vet about good dogs and good horses making your life better, which brought me to tears because I thought of my dog who died the summer before.

I think the saying was, “He was a good dog, and you gave him a good life, but he made your life even better.”

And you could say the same about a good horse.

So with those unexpected heart-warming introductions, the auction began.

Bidding opened at $750 per horse. That was the minimum bid. The first filly was from a stallion named Proudgun. It was bay. I think it went for $750. This would have been a good family horse.

The horses kept coming — 31 in total: Sorrel filly #1, bay filly #2 and so on. Each colt wore a little number on its side and that’s how they were auctioned off. They were ordered by the sire –so for example, 1-5 were from Proudgun and 6-12 were from High Dollar Snazzy, etc.

2014-07-12 11.24.08

See the number?

The colts were corralled in a pen with its other half-sisters and brothers. One at a time, the cowboys would single out the colt with the next number and its mama, separate them from the herd, and push the pair through the holding pen into the makeshift corral offset by mere ropes, where we sat in the bleachers in front of them.

1-2-3-4-5 and so on. The nervous mare and her baby would enter and pace from one edge of the little semi-circle to the other. The owners and managers stood behind the horses and the auctioneer in front. When the bids were high enough, the managers would open the gate and let the mama and baby re-enter the waiting herd on the other side of the fence.

As the auction continued, the horses got more and more expensive, I’m assuming from the fame of the stallion. Up and up until around $5,000. They talked about a $6,000 sale last year that had gone to an owner in Mexico.

As the colors seemed to influence the price, the buckskins and palominos went for more than the pretty bays.

Palominos

Palominos

It is a gamble to buy a colt. How will it turn out, how do you know what color, what temperament, what traits will carry over from the stud?

That day I learned that the most desirable physical traits in a Quarter Horse are a big butt, “clean, upfront neck” and a horse that “sits up high on its legs.” It’s hard to describe what “sits high on its legs” means, but instantly recognizable when you look at a colt and compare it to another. Sitting up high is how a colt holds itself together, or maybe the length and strength of its legs. You would not look at a colt that sits up high and think “spindly.” You would think “athletic.”

Since I had a hard time imaging the colts grown up, I looked at the mares and picked my imaginary horse. A black mare, then another, caught my eye; then a shimmering buckskin like I’d never seen—as gold as it was silver, as silver as it was gold. It’s colt from Ikes Bar Drifter was a tawny gold grey – hard to predict from the three buckskin colts which one would end up like this beautiful mare, shimmering as it moved gracefully around the pen with its little horse at its side.

2014-07-12 11.55.23

It was a long hour-and-half for the kids and the heat increased as the sun moved overhead—we drank all our water and everyone was hungry. But the bidding increased and the prices went high and the excitement that started the sale did not dissipate as everyone wondered who would go to $6,000. It was hard to tell who was buying what, but someone from Kentucky (or named Kentucky) bought a few; my fashionable friend with the earrings-to-die-for bought herself a few; a girl with a peach bandana was a lucky owner of a beautiful bay and many more went to cowboys and cattlemen.

“We like to let our horses to learn to be horses,” the ranch owner explained, “so you don’t have to pick up your colt until next March. We over-winter them for you.” Only the deposit of $250 on sales up to $2,000 or $500 on sales over $2,000 was due that day, making it incredibly…tempting.

What if I got myself a black filly? $500 and I could pick it up next March. That would give me enough time to figure out a lot of things.

A lot of things. Maybe I could have a horse Christmas– Horse Christmas in July. Next July.

Maybe that’s what I’ll do.

Rainbow we saw that evening!

Rainbow we saw that evening!

 

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Tips for a High Desert Garden

13 Friday Jul 2012

Posted by ninagarden in Arizona, Flagstaff, gardening, high-desert, vegetables

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Arizona, raised beds, vegetables

(My sister lives in Flagstaff, Arizona and has a beautiful and bounteous vegetable garden every summer. Here she shares tips on how to successfully garden in a dry, cold, high-altitude desert. Thanks for the advice, Cathy!)

Vegetables grow best in raised beds.

Many people have tried to garden in the high desert of Flagstaff, Arizona and failed. Although there are Ponderosa pine and wild grasses in abundance, and the climate is cool, the area is arid, the wind blows, and the soil is rocky. There are also numerous rodent species that eat all of the greenery in an unprotected garden. All of these factors must be taken into consideration to have a successful garden experience.

To start a vegetable and flower garden in Flagstaff, one must make raised, wooden flower beds about 6 feet by 3 feet x 2.5 feet. The beds must have tight wire mesh fencing on the bottom to keep burrowing animals from coming in and eating the plants, roots and leaves.

The flower beds must be filled with enriched soil, that can be made prior to the garden season. Large bags of garden soil can be bought at any nursery, along with bags of potting soil. Mix together in a 2:1 ratio. Next add a bag of steer manure , or even better, about 40 pounds of good, seasoned horse manure. All of this should be well mixed and put in the planters, leaving about 3 inches from the top. Add some Miracle Grow Fertilizer on top of the soil in the raised beds, and the beds are ready to plant.

A sprinkler system must be installed in each of the beds before planting. Spring planting in Flagstaff must be after the last frost. I try to plant by May 15, using plastic “Walls of Water” to trick the tomato plants into growing faster. These can be purchased at any nursery. The plastic sides are filled with water, and the tomato plants are planted in the soil inside of the walls of water. The plants don’t freeze using this technique.

We also put PVC pipes in the garden beds, at each corner and in the middle of each side. The height is about 3 feet from the top of the garden bed. We cover the garden bed and PVC pipes with black bird netting to keep the rodents from jumping in the garden and eating it. The netting hooks on to the side of the wooden planter all around to allow access to the beds.

Occasionally, we find a squirrel stuck in the netting by his legs. Not a pleasant sight !

During the season, fertilize twice with miracle grow or fish oil. I have had some luck using Mole Mix sprinkled on the ground , to keep the rodents away. The crops will start to be ready by July 10, with 3x weekly soakings. Crops last until September 15, when there is a typical hard freeze. Potatoes and carrots can be left in the ground until the end of November, and then harvested.

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