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The HorseShoeing Housewife

Homemade Ginger Ale

Healthy Summer Treat: Homemade Ginger Ale

Next time the summer sun has you wilting like a lettuce leaf, skip the store-bought sodas and cool off with this delicious drink: homemade ginger ale.

In addition to being refreshing, the ginger brings health benefits. It's thought to soothe upset stomachs as well as achy joints. Here's how to make ginger ale from scratch.

"For those who suffer from motion sickness or common, garden-variety nausea, ginger is a gift," writes Ellen Michaud in The Healing Kitchen. (Browse the book online.) Ginger also may aid digestion, according to Michaud. (One caveat: If you're taking one of these medications, talk to your doctor before using ginger.)

Here's Michaud's ginger ale recipe:

The Healing Garden Ingredients:

• 4 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
• 2 cups water4 teaspoons honey
• 2 cups seltzer water
• Lemon slices
• Ice
  

1. Finely chop or shred ginger in a food processor or with a hand grater. Boil water and add the ginger to it. Cover and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain.

2. Add honey. (More can be added to taste.)

3. Allow mixture to reach room temperature. Pour 1/2 cup in a glass. Add seltzer, a lemon slice, and ice. Stir and serve. Any leftover drink must be refrigerated or the mixture will begin to ferment and you'll have ginger beer!

Makes 4 servings.
Nutrition information (per serving): 23 calories; 6 g carbohydrate; 0 g fat; 0 g saturated fat; 0 g fiber; 0 mg cholesterol; 25 mg sodium.

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Homemade Tools I Made To Help Train Wild Horses

This is an axle from a vehicle. The steel is extremely hard. I welded a loop and placed it on the shortened axle. Then, I welded a cover on it so the loop doesn't come off. After that, I bolted the axle down on a railroad tie. My wild horses lunge themselves while I sit on a chair.

You can be pretty creative when manufacturing homemade tools to train wild horses.

Virus Outbreak of the Most Deadly Kind

According to the Oregon based Herald and News of Klamath Falls, a West Nile virus breakout has been found in the close approximity of where Kini keeps her companion/service animal horses. A mosquito pool tested positive at the same location where the U.S. Government euthanized her companion/service animal dog, Chrunchy. This has been brought on by the filth and lucre of the California state through their gradual spreding of hostility to "teach her a lesson" and to provoke her hatred of God by the Jews.

Animal Control Officer of the Klamath Falls, Oregon, Animal Humane Mike Horton's father will tell you more. (Mike Horton was the officer in charge of coming up to Kini's property to harass her about her dog while on her own property.)

Thanx For The Comment Patty. Here's some photos.

Getting Reprimanded By The BLM Officer

By Kini

When you adopt a wild horse from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), volunteer officers will visit to see how your horse is doing. This will occur for one year before the adoption in final. There can be a lot of advantages to this! For one, if you have a lot of enemies, you’re horse is covered under Federal jurisdiction. Two, you may be able to receive wild horse training tips from a helpful officer.

I had my high strung, nervous, wild horse for about six months. My training had not progressed very far. Mostly, because I did not build my horse pen as a round pen which would have been just as easy. A couple of times my big yellow horse escaped because I accidently left the gate open. I would look into the mountains for a yellow dot that could possibly be Big Boy. Then, I’d go hunt him down. I quickly learned that he never went far because he became attached to the mares.

After I relaxed a bit with my new friend, I found that I could take him on trail rides for exercises. I rode my tamed mustang and ponied another near my side. I allowed Big Boy to tag along with no restrictions. As long as I held on tightly to the mares, I had control of Big Boy. I realized that I could use his mares as bait to maneuver Big Boy in any way I wanted.

When I galloped, he’d gallop right along. When we traveled up snow banks, he’d travel close behind. Sometimes, I’d take them on walks like walking a dog, letting them enjoy the smorgasboard of the countryside. Fresh wild alfalpha, dandelions, meadow grasses, oats, and clover. Big Boy would munch out too. When it was time to go, he left his horsd’oeuvres and followed his mares home. When I tied the mares inside the pen, he’d run in, and I’d slam the gate shut.

One day, I received a tip from the BLM Officer in charge of my case. It was in the form of a reprimand. The original harness my big yellow mustang was wearing was getting to tight on his muzzle. It had to come off! I knew that. But, getting close enough to unglasp his harness was absolutely impossible and procrastination was holding me back from taming Big Boy at a faster pace. I wanted to give him a solid foundation.

The dreaded day came when the BLM Officer came to inspect the well-being of my wild horse(s). The Officer demanded that I remove the harness within three weeks or he’d be back to “repossess” my horse. In cooperation, I demanded that he’d demand I remove it within three days!

Once the survival pressure kicked in, it was me and Big Boy in the small muddy “arena“. He was not a happy horse when I had to use ropes to hog tie him. One rope on his harness. One rope to catch his hind foot. One rope to throw around his neck.

I wrapped the harness rope around a tree and pulled Big Boy as close as I could. It was scary. He would squirm and wiggle in resistance. Every step he took inward, the more he resisted. At times, I would have to release the stronghold because he would rear up and paw at me with his hooves or climb up the 8 foot fence to get away from me.

At the end of the day, I’d release him and continued the next. No matter what, in mud and all, the harness had to come off! As the next few days progressed along, I could pull Big Boy’s face all the way to the tree. I had to reach the glasp on his harness and release it.
As soon as I very slowly moved my hand for him to smell, he’d squiggle and wiggle away like a fish. At one point, I became terrified that I had suffocated my yellow pony with one of the ropes. He flipped and flopped on the ground like he was going to pass out from strangulation. So, I released him and when he got up, we went round and round again.

I caught his hind foot and pulling it up with a leverage rope around his neck, he became tired of struggling on three feet . I pulled on the rope tied to his harness and the rope around his neck until he submitted his face all the way to the tree. If he would only let me reach over and undo the buckle on his harness. Nope! Round and round we went, again and again. I kept moving my hand to his sweat drenched face, when finally he let me unglasp the harness and remove it completely.

At last, I released all of the ropes off Big Boy and he scooted off in pride with a look on his face like “That was easy! I knew I could do it all along!”

SAFETY TIP: One rope can be a serious safety hazard. If a rope is not properly held and it entangles around your arm or leg, a wild horse can drag you until you are seriously injured and/or even result in death! Please be very aware of all movements while being around a wild horse!

Stay Tuned For Household Instruments You Can Make To Train Your Wild Horse

The Sheriff's Posse and My Bay Mongrel

After locating a double axle covered livestock trailer required by the Bureau Of Land Management (BLM), I hauled home my precious wild cargo. The hour drive left my big boy drenched in nervous sweat. The traffic, city noise, strange objects, and momentum of the trailer were obviously a bit much. Using common sense, I left him alone in his pen with Polky, my Bay mustang, for a few days to adjust.

For one year BLM officers are obliged to come out to your property and make sure you are complying with their rules and regulations as to the horses welfare. Among other things, they inspect the mandatory fencing and make sure you haven't tortured their animal.

When I went out to feed, my big yellow mustang, Ranger Benji, would coward in the corner and shake in terror. Just when I sneezed, he would practically jump the 8 foot fence. There was no way I would be able to hook his harness with the 20 foot lead rope without him rearing up and striking me with his hoof like a fly on the wall.

I took a long, straight, tree limb and taped the rope onto it. At the end of the rope was a hook for his harness. I taped open the hook. The sun would disintegrate the tape and the snap would close. I fed my big boy in his tub then waited until I could fish the hook under his harness. Once I managed to get the lead rope on him, we took baby steps which he fought to a fierce end. Day by day we worked with him taking a little step forward, a little step to the left, a little step to the right...But, always ending on a good note.

Lassen City College in Susanville, California (near the Litchfied BLM) offers good agricultural studies and horsemanship classes. There you can expect to attend classes where the students are Sheriff Posse, Highway Patrol Officers wives, Deputy Sheriffs, Police Officers (about 20 altogether) and others who do not have horses less than $10,000.

ALWAYS TIE YOUR WILD HORSE ON A STURDY POST! The teachers don't seem to stress that enough. And, that is probably because most horses that come into the class aren't wild and they know their basic manners. Otherwise, you won't be as lucky as I was when I tied my horse onto a portable steel fencing panel that was leaning against a wall. Polky was lucky to be alive, the officers and their horses were lucky to be alive, and I was lucky I wasn't hung by the officers when my Polky flew into a rage and galloped away with the steel panel swinging from side to side.

The only injuries out of that episode was only a very slight nicking on the hock of a paint horse. To this day, I honestly think the teacher gave me a "B" just to get rid of me. Stay tuned for "Getting Reprimanded By The BLM Officer".

My Big Yellow Mustang

By Kini Cosma

In 1981, 25 years ago, I saw images of wild horses cramped together in tight uninhabitable fenced in living quarters. It was a dreadful sight. The horses appeared to be emaciated and roughed up. I knew someday I just had to save one. My dream turned into action when I went to visit the wild horse sanctuary in Shingle Town, California.

19 years later I adopted two wild horses. Pokey, my bay mustang , comes from a herd likely originating from historical ranching operations. This herd is made up primarily of blacks and bays with some pinto individuals. It is in an area that is in the middle of the Bitner herd area that lies in northern Washoe County, Nevada about 40 miles east of Cedarville, CA. and the Buckhorn herd area located 40 miles southwest of Cedarville, CA in Lassen County, CA and Washoe County, NV.

Some of the horses in the Bitner herd area exhibit Spanish mustang characteristics. This area contains horses thought to originate from Spanish stock, diluted with ranch stock and US Cavalry Remounts prior to and during World War I. The influence of the US Cavalry Remount program is especially apparent in these horses. Predominant colors in this herd are blacks and bays with some pinto individuals.

To add to the multi-mixture of breeds, ranchers in several areas of Nevada, turned loose many breeds including Shires, Percherons, Hambletonians, Morgans and Irish stallions and mares to set a standards and patterns in the herds that roamed nearby. As the cavalry, ranchers or miners demanded horses, many were trapped and trained.

Pokey is small and she appears to be aloof. People have noticed her outstanding gait. She seems like she is about to fall asleep right at your feet. But, by any means is not so. In her mind, she is a big horse and she will provide a ride that you'd never forget. Once she senses that she can make you laugh, she puts on her best. Alert and attentive of everything.

Pokey has come along way from when I first adopted her. At first she would charge at you if you came into her space. Touching her face was the last thing. Once we had to tranqualize her to put on a harness and that didn't work. So, I turned my single horse trailer into a wild horse chute. It didn't have a roof on it and there was no where she could go once she was tricked with grain to get in. The wild horse teachers don't really recommend that because they use other techniques. But, to me grain is a God's gift for training wild horses. My wild horses do anything for it. Later you can wean them off it and they won't need it anymore once they trust you.

If you don't have time, just feeding them in the morning and evening will eventually cause them to trust you. I like giving wild horses a solid foundation with time. Especially if your an amateur like me. (You can always use that excuse if the cowboys start challenging your toughness.)

The High Rock herd area is located about 45 miles north of Gerlach, NV and 45 miles southeast of Cedarville, CA. and it adjoins the Calico Mountains. It is managed as 2 separate home ranges. That is where my "Big Boy " comes from.

The Spaniards set up breeding colonies to develop the Peruvian Paso, the Puerto Rican Paso Fino, the Missouri Foxtrotter, the Rocky Mountain Horse, The Kentucky Mountain Horse, and even the American Quarter Horse. Thousands of these horses were released during the Great Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Many scattered into California from Baja and Mexico and upward into Northern California.

Big Boy is "a big yellow horse". (His real name is Ranger Benjii, a 6 1/2 hands Palomino w/ paint going up his hocks) He stretches his hind legs out when I groom him. People have determined that those characteristics could be Fox Trotter. When he escapes from me into the mountains I have to hunt him down. I've been lucky that I can distinguish him among all of the other yellow dots in the environment.

We now have established a game called, "hard to get" (horse trainers call it a "bad habit"). He wants to get caught, but he just has to make me run around for awhile. So, now we have a sports game that we play. Sometimes, I can see him with my perefial vision running back and forth trying to get my attention. He does better when I pretend he's not there. Ranger Benjii is my spoiled child that does no wrong. We see eye to eye about alot of things. I have been reprimanded by horse trainers for allowing him to lead me.

When I first adopted my Big Boy from the Palomino Valley BLM, the officers highly advised me not to. The Palomino Valley BLM is great. They really cater to their prospective adoptees. They give you posters, pencils, magnets, postcards, coffee cups and they drive you around in their government trucks from pen to pen while you choose the horse you want. You must choose several. When you get back to the office, you figure out the one you are going to adopt.

I chose my big boy because of the paint going up his hocks. That was all that I could see. Nothing else. After they put him in quarantine for 30 days I went to pick him up. The officers advised me that he was too high strung and nervous. They took me to his pen so that I could check him out. It was the first time I really got a good look at him. He was trying to hop over 10 foot walls and pacing back and forth like a lion. I told the officers that I had nothing but time with him and then I took him home.

Stay tuned for the story about the Sheriff's Posse and my mongrel, Pokey.

Choosing The Right Compass

By Steve Goodier

"We pass this way but once," we have heard it said. But my wife has learned that, unless I've studied a map, that isn't necessarily true. So I understand the fix a local hunting guide got himself into. His party became hopelessly lost in the mountains and they blamed him for leading them astray. "You told us you were the best guide in Colorado!" they asserted. "I am," he said, "but I think we're in Wyoming now. it's bad enough to get lost in the city or in the mountains. But how much worse to get lost in our life's journey.

One parent asked the clerk in a discount store if they carried any compasses. She answered, "We have compasses for making circles, but not for going places." Have you ever confused the two? Has it seemed as if your life is going in circles and not actually getting anywhere?

Then it may be that you are lost or at least unsure what direction you should be heading. Here are some questions to ask yourself if you feel as if you are going in circles:

"Where do I want to be a few years from now (in this relationship, this vocation, or any other way important to me)?-What do I need to do to make it happen?-
Who will help me along the way?- When do I want to arrive?- How will I take the next small step? Living well has little to do with comfort and speed, but much to do with direction.