I tried and tried to get Coal with his ears forward, didn't happen though. LOL! Even when he is ground tied, he follows Tony with his ears and just when I thought I caught him...well you know the rest. Oakley's ears are forward however she is behind Trav. There is a possibility that we will be going on a gathering on Tuesday! Would be great to get pictures...
Here is Tony on Coal. He rode out in the desert with Travis on Oakley for a little bit while I soaked in the Texas sun. There I sat on the back of the Dodge, while my cowboys worked with their horses! Their dogs following as they checked out everything along the trail.
Well, I did it this time! I misconstrued some details about Cahlibur and Coal's condition and I need to clarify the truth of the matter!
In the Friday, September 21, 2007 post titled Catching Up...Some... I stated the following:
"Cahlibur is still a little bit foot sore from the trip back to Texas. Travis lets him out a little to soothe his nervous energy, but not enough to re-injure his feet. Coal is a little sore footed too, but Tony thinks that a couple of more days and he will be as good as new. I was assured that Coal's soreness was not visible to the naked eye, just felt when he was ridden."There are two mistakes in this statement. Firstly, Cahlibur did not get sore from the ride in the horse trailer, he is still suffering from his diagnosis of ringbone. And secondly, I had failed to mentioned that Coal had pulled a muscle while scampering around in the old turn out pen at the arena. At first, his limp was evident but after a couple of days Tony couldn't see him limp, only feel it. Update: Now Coal is back to normal!
It's been awhile since the last post and I have been remiss for no other reason than that I have not had enough time to stop and post. Well, that is not entirely true. I did put my back out a week and a half ago and that has slowed me down quite a bit. There have been many things come up that I would think to myself "that needs to be posted on the blog"! So, before I get too much farther behind I will attempt to post a little while I can’t sleep.
The horses are doing very well in their new home. The guys get up early to run out and feed before they head to work and then they spend a couple of hours with them each night.
Tony mentioned the other day that my horse, Oakley, was calmer. Nothing huge in retrospect, just little things like when Travis was sacking her out with a grain sack, she just stood there and let him shake it all around her head and ears. She was not as jumpy when Tony pretended to climb on her bareback, and she comes up to them when they crawl through the fence with her hay instead of running in the other direction. She was doing this for me in California, but not the guys. I was thinking that maybe she got used to the air that was blowing in around her head and body during the trip to Texas in the horse trailer. Just a thought!
Cahlibur is still a little bit foot sore from the trip back to Texas. Travis lets him out a little to soothe his nervous energy, but not enough to re-injure his feet. Coal is a little sore footed too, but Tony thinks that a couple of more days and he will be as good as new. I was assured that Coal's soreness was not visible to the naked eye, just felt when he was ridden. Belle was all prancey like a Tennessee Walker as she waited to be turned loose in the old arena. She flew past Oakley and Clancey like they were standing still. She is going to make a wonderful brood mare. Tony will be looking for a stocky Quarter Horse of about 16 hands to breed to Belle.
Mr. Clancey, as I call him, has grown up in just these few weeks. He is not acting as much like a young colt as he used to. I asked Travis if he was still lightening up and T was not sure. Hard to tell when he sees Clancey everyday. We will have to compare photos. The photos in this post are some cell phone pictures that the guys text messaged to me of the beautiful Pecos skies…the sunsets are from Travis and the cloudy skies are from Tony.
Kate, Rusty, Cody and Jessie are staying in the dog run that TnT made for them. However, one day last week Tony had to run home and find the escapees. He didn't have to look far. Rusty was lying in front of the hole under the house. When Tony called him, Rusty jumped up and Kate and the puppies came out from under the house right behind him. Again Rusty was protecting his family! A shed next to the dog run has been cleared out. TnT will be putting in a dogie door so that the dogs can get out of the weather better.
The last time Rusty was out ‘n out protecting his family was right after they all moved in. TnT had to return the Rental Truck and the Deputy Warden and his wife were watching the dogs. The have a dog and Rusty stayed between him and Kate and the puppies the whole time. Each time the dog would try to get closer to Kate or the puppies Rusty would growl real low!
Saturday the guys are supposed to go out to the Warden's to check out his mare. If I remember correctly the warden lives about 35 miles out of town. I can't wait to hear about her...
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Gunny: This is my favorite picture of Kate 'n' Rusty, so far that is! Kate 'n' Rusty go everywhere with TnT. Last night as TnT went for a ride out into the desert behind our property, they were trying out some new throat mics with two way radios that they bought for use when they go for dirt bike rides with their uncle.
With Rusty in training, they decided to drop him off as they rode by on Cahlibur 'n' Coal. They wouldn't be able to give him their direct attention. Katy stays close, knowing her boundaries, so she got to go along. Well, all of a sudden I hear this howl that sounded like a wolf or one of the dogs was hurt really bad! Upon inspection to make sure that Diesel, Dunny and Dippy were not in dire circumstances, I found Rusty sitting in the middle of the property, faced toward the desert, howling that he had been left behind! He searched for TnT's trail until they came home and he found them at the side gate...
These pictures take us back to August of 2001...when Tony first adopted Coal. Training Coal was more difficult than training Cahlibur. At this point in time, I don't think Travis had come up with a name for Cahlibur. For the purpose of obtaining insurance their new mustangs started out with the monikers of Blaze & Star!
Up to this point, Tony had spent hours, and I do mean hours, doing ground work, first off just sitting in the pen earning Coals' trust. I am searching for one picture in particular that shows Tony sitting on the ground next to the wall with Coal curiously stretching his neck toward him.
Coal was nervous about Tony climbing on his back, but he allowed Tony to get into the saddle. As you can see in the second picture, Coal was loosely tied to the fence as a precautionary measure.
Here Coal has relaxed some although his ears are turned to listen to Tony's quiet words of praise. Tony got in and out of the saddle several times to get Coal used to the idea.
Things changed when the loose tie to the fence was untied. Travis grabbed the end of the rope to emulate the loose tie to the fence, however, Coal realized that he could move around more! Tony continues to quietly assure Coal. 
If you could see closer, Tony does not have his feet in the stirrups, so that if Coal got too wild, he could push him self free, and start again! Tony rotated back and forth between loosely tying Coal to the fence and having Travis hold the lead rope until Coal stood relatively still while Tony got in the saddle.
After this picture, Tony had to push himself free, for Coal's safety and his own. Tony worked with Coal for another 30 minutes and when he was able to get in the saddle (shown in the last picture) he called this session a good one! Keep in mind that this was after about a week of ground work, getting him used to being touched, etc.
Safety Note: Never attempt to ride with shoes or boots other than cowboy boots. They are designed for your safety. With the round point of leather cowboy boots, there are no laces or thick tread to get caught. You have less of a chance of getting your foot caught in the stirrup. Remember not to jam your foot all the way in to the stirrup, gently balance on the ball of your toes. This enables you to lift yourself up in the saddle as well as handle your horse better.
Cahlibur and Belle
EDITOR'S NOTE... If you would like to start at the beginning of TnT's First Pack Trip into the Sierra Nevadas, click on the September link in the Archive area. This trip started out as a 14 day trip. However, since they had to wait till the very last (because of their work schedule) to get their wilderness permit, they were not able to go in on Saturday, September 2. Starting on Sunday brought it down to a 13 day trip. After having to leave Maggey at The Lake of the Lone Indian, their trip ended up being a 9 day trip. They came out on September 11. It is a good thing that they came out when they did. Coal ended up at the vets office two days after they got home. He was diagnosed with colic and had to stay five days with Doc Pipkin in Bakersfield. Tony called every day and went over to see him on Saturday. Cahlibur and Belle were okay. As soon as they reached home on DAY NINE, Travis called the Rock Creek Pack Station and hired them to go in to bring the gear out and check on Maggey. They said that if Maggey was okay they would bring her out. Because one of the other scheduled pack trains needed another couple of mules to carry more gear than was anticipated, there was a wait until the weekend to start. Then one of the packers hurt himself somehow. It ended up being two weeks before they were free to go in. A week after Trav's first called to the pack station, one of the other packers had brought back word that Maggey didn't make it. She had died real close to the spot where Travis had turned her loose. When Trav got the word that she hadn't made it, he called the Forest Rangers to report that she had passed away near a body of water. In the picture above she is standing on a little hill with her back feet...even though she was small, she was perfectly shaped! I still cry when I think about her too long, so I will close this post, remembering her through her colt, Clancey. Janey Loree
DAY NINE...
Woke up at 5:45am. Decided to skip breakfast and head out after letting the horse graze. While the horses were grazing, we heard some movement on the other side of the river where the trail went through. The horses let us know that someone or something was there. We figured that it was probably one of the Rock Creek packers that we passed yesterday. After saddling the boys, we headed out. As we headed up the trail we came to a spot were the trail forked. When we came in on DAY ONE, we had come down the high trail, so we took the lower trail heading out of the wilderness. When we got to the top of the recess and headed up the mountain, we noticed there were some old tracks of one horse ahead of us. The guys did awesome going up the pass. They didn't want to stop and rest so we had to make them. Belle was following along peacefully now and Kate was leading the way. We came out of the trees at the bottom of the trail. As we neared the top of the pass close to Summit Lake, we heard a whistle. We turned around to see a man on a big chesnut gelding coming up behind us. He asked if we saw any tracks ahead of us and we told him that there was the old tracks for one horse. He said that he was tracking some lost stock and had been tracking us for the last couple of hours.
When we reached the top of the pass it was freezing! There was a cold breeze blowing and our jackets were back with our gear at Wilbur May Lake, so we put on our drovers that we had straped behind our saddles. When we reached the summit, I got off and led Coal all the way down to the truck. I'll tell you what...that truck and trailer never looked so good. We hit the truck at 10:59am. Even though we had to leave Maggey behind, we had fun and don't regret going. We just know that it was a part of life that we had to deal with. Tony
Woke up at 5:45am and fed the horses. We were saddling up the horses when we heard a nicker from a passing horse. Tony thought it was one of the pack trains heading up to Mono Pass. We were on the trail by 7:00am. I was watching the trail ahead of me and thought that only one horse had come through. This time we took the lower trail that ran along the creek bed. It was steeper and rockier than the upper trail, but it was a short cut. At the creek where the two trails came back to one, we crossed the creek and started our climb to Mono Pass. We rested the horses in a pasture just before the switchbacks started, it was the same pasture where we stopped on DAY ONE on the way down and adjusted the packs on the girls. The whole morning the sun was chasing us as we walked up the east side of the mountain. And now we had a cold wind blowing down on us. It felt like the jet stream had lowered to the mountaintops. The trek up to Trail Lake was tough. Cahlibur was getting a little winded so I tried to give him a break, but he did not want to stop. He would stop when I asked, but for only a couple seconds and then he would start going again. Just before we reached Trail Lake, a rider came up from behind and asked if we had any "fresh tracks" ahead of us. Since I was in front I already knew the answer to that question, which was "No". He said that he was looing for some pack horses that had gotten loose in the night and he had been tracking us all morning, then he turned around and left. A couple minutes later we where at Trail Lake. We rested a bit, watered the horses, and then headed on up to Mono Pass. We passed through Mono Pass at a slow walk. Shortly after heading down, the horses started moving faster. We came down the switchback just above the Ruby Lake trailhead, passing four groups of hikers. After the trailhead, the trail was littered with hikers. Katy did real good passing them, she just stayed on the trail. As we came out of the trailhead at Mosquito Flats, the truck and trailer looked awful good. I held Coal and Belle while Tony hooked up the trailer. We unsaddled without taking anything off the saddles because we were blocking the road. When I was putting my saddle up in the loft of the trailer, the stem of my pocket watch broke off, effectively stopping my watch at 10:59am; the time the trip ended. Travis
DAY SEVEN...
Woke up at 6:00am, but stayed in bed until 6:45am. When we got up to feed the horses, Maggey was still acting funny and not eating much so after they were done eating, Tony walked her around while I made pancakes. After eating I walked her around some more while Tony fished. After I walked her, I went fishing with Tony. I caught one fish about 11 inches and that was the only bite that morning. Took a nap about 10:30am for about an hour and then took the horses to graze. Filled in my log book. Took down our campsite and made everything ready for tomorrow's departure to Pocket Meadow. Fed the boys and girls, then had Ramen and Spam for supper. Gave Maggey some Banamine. Played some cards and then went to sleep. Travis
No change in Maggey yet. After feeding them I walked her while Trav made pancakes. After I ate I went down to fish while Trav walked her for another 1/2 hour. After tying her up Trav joined me for a little fishing. He caught one trout and I again caught none. We took a nap in between 10:30 and 11:30am, after which we took the horses to the far end of the lake to graze. While down there we decided that tomorrow (Sunday) we would go to Pocket Meadow, Monday we would go to 1st camp and we would leave Tuesday instead of Friday. We decided this because of the health of our horses. While none have showed signs of weight loss, Coal has a really sore back, Cahlibur's girth is extremely painful and Maggie isn't eating. After catching up on our log books we tore the shelter down and repacked the panniers so as to get an early start tomorrow. After dismantling the camp we fed the horses again. Tonight we ate Top Ramen and Spam. We heated water in the coffee pot and then when it had boiled we poured the hot water into the skillet where the fried spam and ramen was waiting. A little more cards and then we hit the sack. Tony
Editor's Extras...
Well, TnT just headed north to the San Juan Ranch to finish some ranch work they started last week. Last week they helped the owner put out supplement for the cattle, tarped hay stacks, and repaired some fencing. They will be gathering cattle tomorrow, so they took Cahlibur and Coal with them this time. They also took their journals with them so I will have to wait for them to get back Friday, before I can post DAY SEVEN of their packing trip into the Sierra Nevada's.
When I was posting DAY SIX...I remembered that there was more to the dip in the lake... Tony ran into the water first and stopped at about waist deep gasping for air and waiting for his heart to start again! From behind he heard Trav yell, "That's not nice!" as he became rooted to the spot at about ankle deep. It took them a bit to get completely submerged!
Last night, I went over to the stables with the guys and got to watch the horses in the turn out pen. What a beautiful site! And funny, too! Each of the horses would take turns running and bucking, which would start the others to running and bucking. Then they would stop and groom each other. At one point, Cahlibur was processing a smell that he picked up at Oakley's feet. He stretched his neck out, nose in the air, with his upper lip lifted and moving from side to side. Oakley is my 7 year old Quarter Horse mare. TnT gave her to me for my birthday last year!
The picture above is of all five mustangs in the turnout pen that is just south of the pens where TnT keep their horses. The colt to Maggey's left is Clancey. He was born to Maggey exactly two months after TnT adopted the mares in February of 2005. He was born with a line down his back, like momma, but has darkened quite a bit. The ground does slope as much as it shows in this picture. The turnout pen is right next to the park and through the years the ground has sunk from all the watering. Years ago the park was a landfill and there used to be stables where the turnout pen is now!
Here is a picture of the horses on their first picket line...they are in front of two of the five stables the guys rent from the Franklin Field Horsemen's Association. From left to right: Coal, Belle, Maggey, & Cahlibur. 
DAY SIX... Woke up at 6:00am and made coffee and pancakes. After eating we went to fish a little and I caught a 14 inch trout on my 3rd cast. Like an idiot, I turned it loose before my brother could take a picture of it. We fished until around 10:30am in which time I had numerous bites but only one catch. That one was when I put a fly on the end of my line, attached a bobber and a couple of sinkers and tossed it out. What I pulled in was a 6 to 8 inch trout. After stowing our fishing poles, we gathered a little more firewood. By gather I mean throwing our grappling hook into a dead tree and pulling branches down. After putting the wood at the camp we took the horses down to water again. By this time we had gathered enough nerve to take a little dip in the lake, and let me tell you what...that water was cold! I don't mean just a little bit cool. I mean down right frostbite meet hypothermia and grow icicles off your nose cold! After adjusting the water wasn't too bad. We stayed in for around 30 minutes, then climbed out, dried real fast, and made a beeline for our shelter where we sat and played rummy until we had warmed up. After warming up we took the horses down to the far end of the lake to graze. After returning to camp we decided to catch up on our log books. So here I am. I'll write more later tonight... We went fishing on the other side of the lake today. Trav caught four trout over there and I caught none. After fishing we took the horses to feed again. We noticed that Maggey wasn't eating and she hadn't had a bowel movement in a long time. While I made cowboy potatoes, Trav walked her to see if that would help. After eating we played rummy until 8:00pm and then went to bed. Tony
Got up at 6:00am, turned the horses loose in the pasture just west of the camp. After about 50 minutes, we tied them back up and had pancakes for breakfast. We went fishing afterwards and I only got bites when I was using my flyfishing pole. At about 10:30am we started gathering firewood using a rope and grappling hook, by throwing it into a dead tree that was still standing. Then we took the horses out for some water. When we tied them up we went for a swim in the lake for about half an hour. Let me tell you, that was like getting wet and running out into a blizzard! We dried off and stayed in the tent for another thirty minutes playing cards then we took the horses to the farthest west pasture, about a 2 minute walk and let the horses eat for about an hour and then came back, tied them up, and filled in my log book. Went fishing on the south side of the lake. We were on a rock cliff about 10 feet above the water. We fished for about an hour and a half and I caught four fish, the biggest being about 10 inches. Later on that afternoon we fed the horses. Maggey wasn't eating all that much and acting a little hurt in the inside. Walked her for half an hour while Tony cooked potatoes. When he was done, I put Maggey up and we ate. Played cards till 8:00pm and then went to sleep. Travis
Cahlibur, Belle, Coal, Tony at Wilbur May Lake (Maggey is behind the tree in front of Coal)
Tony fishing on Wilbur May Lake
"Beautiful description. This could turn me into a horse lover. They really do have their own distinct personalities, don't they?" comment by Jan on MnC post "Training Oakley".