Update

This morning I went back to ranch and got my final paycheck. I also got the rest of my stuff, Anke's bike, and the elk and buffalo skulls that Anke, Annie and I brought back from one of our camping trips.

The ranch has told us we can not have any contact with any of the boys, past or present. Our attorney said they're blowing smoke up our asses and we can have contact with all of the boys, past and present. They can't make up rules AFTER they fire us for no reason. Obviously we can't go to the ranch and trespass. We are working on it. These boys' lives have been full of neglect, abuse, and abandonment. We refuse to let them think we've left them without warning or a goodbye and have gone on with our lives to never think of them again. It seems like child abuse to me.

Karlin's (who trained Porsche) dad called the ranch to try to get information. He sponsored Porsche this year. He was told the equine program is going in a "different direction" and now they have enough money to hire Catlin (the board member's daughter) AND an assistant for her. Isn't that great? And I had to fight to get $400 tarps to cover the hay. Looks like mommy is paying someone's salary and doesn't want her to work too hard.

Anyhoo after that I stopped on my out to Pam's (have I said thank god for Pam? The boys will be staying at her place a little longer as I'm searching for mega-cheap board somewhere) and picked up some Equine Senior for Jasper. He's decided to strike against really eating anything, but for some reason he looooooves LMF Equine Senior. He's now on a beautiful irrigated grass pasture 24 hours a day, plus he gets supplements AND alfalfa hay all night. I hope after he settles in he'll gain some weight.

I'm ready to shoot Alexandre. He's driving me nuts. He's decided he's a stallion and is after one of the mares in heat. He is completely nutty/bonkers/beside himself. He has NEVER acted this way before. He's lost a ton of weight (a good thing) because he continually paces the round pen trying to attack horses over the fence that get close to Rosanna. Even when she's out in the pasture with them. SHE is quite a witch when she's in heat and had double-barreled him more than a few times. We decided they deserve each other and stuck them in the round pen together. Alexandre runs over to attack the horses on the other side of the fence when they get close to her, and Rosanna intervenes and attacks him. He's slowly learning to stand on the other side of the round pen away from her. At least I don't have to listen to the sound of horse crashing into metal the whole time I'm out there.

I rode Jasper today and he was high as a kite. Trotted around in the pasture and he continually broke into canter, and I would halt, back, and go on to trot again. He did lots of head scooping and even did some baby bucks. He did settle down towards the end, and we practiced leg yielding at the walk and some little walking pirouettes using outside rein. He's so light and responsive (while bobbing his head and neck up and down, swishing his tail, and chomping the bit). Lots of praise when he stood still for 5-10 seconds, a blanket to cover all his bones, and a bucket of mush. Hopefully I'll be able to catch him next time.

I'll get some pictures of Pam's place and the boys' new roommates. Jasper has really taken to Pam's gelding Red. He's testing the waters to see if he can be dominant over someone. He slowly walks up to Red, stands real close to him for a while, then pins his little ears back and sometimes Red steps away.

And... I'm sleeping in tomorrow!