| These
are pictures of our family in the year 2009 |
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Cinnamon is
a mustang captured on Nellis Air Force Base on
Nevada's huge Air Force Test Range. These
horses caught on federal land are branded on the
neck with a registration number and adopted out
to responsible owners.
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To
discourage the practice of catching wild horses
and sending them to slaughter for pet food, the
owners are put on probation for a period of time.
The government inspects the properties
and keeps track of the horses' well being to make
sure they do not end up as dog and cat food and
are properly cared for.
|
 Dollar
is a quarter horse and stands a bit more than
a hand taller than Cinnamon (a hand is about four
inches, about the width of a human hand).
Cinnamon is a mustang who usually measure a little
over 14 hands. The quarter horse Dollar stands
a bit over 15 hands. In the picture with
Dollar are Owen Snell (Rosie's son) and Max the
Irish Setter.
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Horses
are measured with their forelegs vertical to the
top of the withers, a prominent bone at the base
of the neck. The swell of the saddle is
placed over the withers. From this picture
the horses appear similar in height. The
difference becomes obvious when you try to mount
Dollar.
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October 1, 2009; brother
Arthur was finally able to make it down from Mesa
to go horseback riding with me. Here he
is getting used to Dollar as we begin our ride.
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Dollar
is a nice, easy ride and very easy to handle.
Since it has been many years since Art has been
on a horse, I put him on reliable ole Dollar.
They got along fine. The mustang Cinnamon
is very skittish and has thrown more than one
or two riders (me included).
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We
have many acres of empty desert behind our house
which is nice for a ride of an hour or two.
We were out for about an hour.
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October
1, 2009
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If
you look closely in this photo you can see Cinnamon's
"U.S." (followed by numbers) brand on
her neck. This brand indicates she was caught
on federal land (Nellis Air Force Base north of
Las Vegas). This "empty desert"
was cleared and bulldozed by a developer for a
housing development before the bottom dropped
out of the market a couple of years ago.
All construction came to a screeching halt.
We are about two miles north of our house looking
south. |
The
scrub trees and bushes are more typical of the
desert in our immediate area, which years ago
was farm land. We are about a mile east
of our house.
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Five
years ago (2004) we had an unusually wet spring
and summer. This area then had beautiful
green grass about a foot high with many wild plants
in bloom. Then it was very pretty in this
area. Since the fall of 2005 there has been very
little rain and everything is drying up.
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Cinnamon
and me, home again in my back yard, October 1st, 2009
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October
1, 2009 |
October
1, 2009 |
October 3rd, 2009;
little Tara Sue just got a badly needed hair cut.
She weighs two pounds plus a few ounces. I weigh
200 pounds plus a lot of ounces. |
October 31, 2009
My new pet Mocha. One of my neighbors
is a professional horseman. Not only is he a
trainer (horse and rider) he is an authorized equine
animal rescue person. Mocha was brought to him
almost dead from starvation.
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He allowed me to
adopt Mocha free of charge so she is now my horse.
Before I can bring her home they are caring for her
until she is back to near normal weight. |
Mocha is a thoroughbred
mare about 17 hands (approximately five and half feet)
tall. She was underweight by about 250 pounds
and needs to put on another 150 pounds or so before
she comes home. |
Mocha
seems very gentle and sweet natured. I think
she will bond with me pretty easily. I'm hoping she'll
be ready to ride in a couple of months. Oct.
31, 2009 |
Pascal (Pasky) is the
second horse we adopted from animal rescue.
She is a seven year-old chestnut mustang-quarter
horse mix. Pasky was not abused but her
previous owner no longer wanted to care for her.
(Nov. 22, 2009)
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Sister-in-law
Denise Wall and Mocha, December 12, 2009 |
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