Darn Snake Bites!

Ever seen a cobra? Sleek, shiny, kinda pretty... but deadly. Well it just so happens my dad has been bitten by a one such snake. The really bad part? Right now him and my mom are out driving. You're probably thinking, "What?! They shouldn't be around, they should be in a hospital getting an antidote!" Well, unfortunately there isn't an antidote for my dad's condition.
The good news? The cobras I'm refering to are sleek, silver...cars. They were picked up by some buddies in the Utah Cobra Club and were invited to go for a sunday drive. Lucky ducks. Although I'm not sure how my mom's taking it, since she is "Safety Sally", but it's for my dad so I'm hoping she's not worrying about how fast they're going or how low to the ground they are, or how there's no roof on the car.
Cobra people refer to liking cobras as being "snake bitten". Well, my dad's got it bad.
Follow the link to read an article about him and his "snake" that was in a Utah newspaper earlier this week - http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705292077,00.html

Reading Horses

Horses are easy for me to read, since they're so expressive with their bodies it doesn't take too long to see what's going on. A swish of the tail, a raised hoof = he's bothered... swishing ears, raised head and easy trot toward a panel = she's curious about something. But with people, particularly siblings who can have so much going on under the surface it's a little trickier.
Maliki, my paint gelding, is very food and play (in that order sometimes!) oriented. So I've been bringing apples with me to the pasture in the morning with me. I'll put them on the barrels, a stump, a feeding bucket, cones. Then once I get him out I'll send him to those things and watch his face change from, "Oh brother, here she comes again." to, "Oh boy! Where's the next cookie? What do you want me to do next?" It's very rewarding to have him asking me questions and communicating with me. Yesterdays play session was great because our relationship was getting so much better. He wanted to hang out because I was interesting.
Eclipse, my grulla (dark buckskin) filly, is EXTREMELY play oriented. She'll scope things out, trample blankets, tarps and buckets, try to nibble on you and just want to be next to you. Which is very different from when I got her a year an a half ago. Scared little yearling, terrified of people, trailers, anything that moved. We could hardly move her around because everything would set her off.
Sui, dad's buckskin mare, is a delicate little flower of a horse. She wants to stand behind you, just lightly touching you. She has very little self-confidence, but with other horses she's a bit dominate. Once you understand horse's personality, or rather "horsenality" it's easy to know what they need and want.
Now here's the rub, how to understand my siblings to better get along with them. Any ideas?

Crap!

Yes, I know not a word my mother likes to hear. But sometimes it's how it is. Between the wet weather and the news about my step-dad. What else can ya say?
I love my horses but theres one job that isn't the funnest but needs to be done or you have to deal with the consequences... the ankle deep crap that has mixed with all the rain and snow.
It kinda feels like this with my dad, I know you're thinking "what does cancer have to do with horse poo?" Well, neither is very fun to deal with, but it's the individual that you love not what's going on. So, sorry mom but CRAP! THIS STINKS! And dad, I love you :)

Brand New

Okay, I figured that since just about everyone else I know has a blog, might as well have one too. I will be
posting my progress for Canada on here. For those of you who don't know, I am, hopefully (fingers crossed),
going to Cardinal Ranch in Mt. Robson Valley, British Columbia, Canada in May 2009. You can check them
out here www.cardinalranch.com . They are a working ranch as well as a Parelli ranch, they have a 3 star
instructor there bi-monthly. You can check out what Parelli Natural Horse-Man-Ship is at www.parelli.com As well as a world champion reiner, Craig Johnson. I am very excited and I trust that God will be here with me as I save up, "ship out", and finally show up. ;D