putting the mustang out on the ranch

[lazygood4nothinbum]

no, not out of its misery. its still gotta put up with my driving for a while yet. made ya look though.

brother & sil's new ranch manager isn't working out. so she's packing up her lynx, her horses and her kangaroo. someone with their own kangaroo turned out to be a problem, hmmm, who'd'a thought?

they want me to take the job. it doesn't pay anything, but then there isn't really much to do. i'd have to feed and water the horses twice daily when i'm in town (i think there's about six or 10 of them, currently, plus the cute minihorse). they'll take over when i want time off. i get to live in the ranchhouse for free (i'm assuming they pay for my utilities too, will confirm.) and i'd have a few acres to plant a new garden. i hope the horses like bamboo. note to self: make sure they have a well installed.

so basically all i have to do is play with the horses and sweep the central area of the stable. the tenants clean out their own stalls and bathe their own horses. my niece takes care of her horse's stall and sil takes care of her baby horse & i guess the miniature horse too, or maybe i'll just bring him into the house.

with this i could rent my entire house for a year or rent out two rooms indefinitely as long as i keep access for myself to the third bedroom which secures homestead on the property so that i do not wind up with a huge tax bill (homestead keeps my taxes figured at the save our home rates, a considerable savings even with the now lower property values.)

i think i could rent out two bedrooms and, after all costs, net about $3-4k/year. i'd have to worry about damage but i hope that would be minimized because i'd have access to the house, as technically i'd only be renting two rooms plus house privilages. the ranch is only an hour away from here and i'd be at the house at least monthly to maintain the garden and collect rents.

the ranch is very near two zoo's where i might be able to get part time jobs if i want. my current house is too far away to make the drive to such a job economically viable. (the pay would be less than what i'd spend in gas.) also there is a growing population there if i still want to consider a career as a teacher.

between renting my house and living for free i'd decrease my current spending by about 14-15k/year while i wait out the housing mess for another year or two, longer if need be.

and best of all, the mustang would have all that space to play with the other horses.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I think that sounds great, Lazy! And living out in the country would be a nice change of pace for you and the mustang! Have you ever ridden horses before? It would be nice if you can get out trail riding some--especially with the weather cooling off ever so slightly.

 

[clifp]

Being a city slicker, I don't know for sure. But it seems to me that words lazy and ranch hand don't generally go together in the same sentence. Financially it seems like a real good deal, are you worried about the isolation?

 

[Purron]

Lazy, this sounds right up your alley. I've often heard you speak of your love for animals. Plus, you would come out ahead financially! Waiting out the housing market is a big advantage. By the way, tell us about the miniature horse - any pictures?

 

[cantlogin]

My guess is that you haven't ever been to "The Mustang Ranch".

 

[Coach]

lazy, it sounds like a good deal to me.

The one thing I'd nail down hard is coverage when you're away -- or more importantly, sick. Duties twice a day, 7 days a week ... not something you want to be worrying about when you're in bed with the flu. With niece and sil coming out every day it sounds like that should be covered, but I'd make real sure.

I like it! Good luck.

Coach

 

[Notmuchlonger]

My guess is that you haven't ever been to "The Mustang Ranch".

 

[HFWR]

You could rename it the "Lazy [-]Ass[/-] S Ranch"...

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Have you ever ridden horses before? It would be nice if you can get out trail riding some--especially with the weather cooling off ever so slightly.

cools off 'round here 'bout 2nd week of october. (did ya catch the "'round & 'bout"? i'm practicin' the lingo.) at least nights now dip into the low 80s, brrrrrr. don't know of trails, though there is a canal & a wide easement that runs a wayz. maybe i'll just trot across the neighbor's golf course. it's an odd set-up, the last corral, a few remaining agricultural blocks surburbia forgot to pave.

as to riding, don't you know a jewish cowboy when you see one?

mom rode from when she was a little kid

so she put me on a horse by the time i was two years old

here i am on shula. lovely horse. only threw me off once when a rattler spooked her

now the next generation, my niece, does jumping competitions.

thrown off technically just that once, when i was later about 10 or so i wound up on a bucking bronco who didn't care to ride so early in the morning, and then in my 20s i once had to toss myself off a horse who kept running into low hanging branches. not easy when you're upside down, still in the saddle, and all you can see are hooves alongside your head. yeehaw! my ass. get me off this thing!

the only thing to make me shy around horses is my construction accident & two busted discs. so i just walk the tired guys now. maybe later in life my bro & sil will settle down in tennessee and get me a tn walker to ride. gorgeous horses. nice easy gait.

Being a city slicker, I don't know for sure. But it seems to me that words lazy and ranch hand don't generally go together in the same sentence. Financially it seems like a real good deal, are you worried about the isolation?

are you kidding? just google "lazy * ranch" and see what ya get. besides, i just have to feed & water the horses once when they get up and then before bed. i assume they wake up at noon like me.

as to isolation, not a real problem. like now the beach is 3 miles away, there it will still be under 9 miles (and they have an olympic sized public pool at beach). here my gym is 2.5 miles away, there i have three gyms within 8 miles. here i am two minutes to downtown fort lauderdale, there i am 16 miles to downtown west palm beach. here i have three thai restaurants within a few blocks' walk, there i'll have about five within a five-mile drive. sometimes ya just have to rough it.

Lazy, this sounds right up your alley. I've often heard you speak of your love for animals. Plus, you would come out ahead financially! Waiting out the housing market is a big advantage. By the way, tell us about the miniature horse - any pictures?

thanx purron. i made my tentative decision when thinking about the horses, then lo and behold, i found this big ol' smile on my face. ok, they're not the elephants in thailand i was planning on, but i wasn't planning on an economic collapse either. so ya make do with what ya got.

no pics of the little cutie and i need to send my camera in for repair. will post'm when i can.

My guess is that you haven't ever been to "The Mustang Ranch".

um, not exactly, but we do have our version ya know. and i'm not just talking a vegas bar and bed. we get swimming pools...

warning: at least r-rated
welcome to Club Ft. Lauderdale » Photos: Gay Bath, Gay Sauna, Gay Baths, Gay Bath House

puts craigslist to shame, don't it though?

lazy, it sounds like a good deal to me.

The one thing I'd nail down hard is coverage when you're away -- or more importantly, sick. Duties twice a day, 7 days a week ... not something you want to be worrying about when you're in bed with the flu. With niece and sil coming out every day it sounds like that should be covered, but I'd make real sure.

I like it! Good luck.

Coach

good idea to clarify working conditions coach. we did some of that at lunch today. as i understand it i feed & water twice daily and sweep and optional landscaping. my nephew insists he still gets to run the tractor.

as to getting sick, rarely if ever happens. though there are those all-nighters on the town and ya, thanks for the advanced warning, they're gonna have to cover me on those.

 

[Purron]

Great pictures Lazy. I'm glad you have a smile on your face. I do too Lookin' forward to you getting your camera fixed so we can see the min-pony. Peace.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Yes, if you decide you are going to be there for a while, you ought to get you a Tenn Walker or maybe even a PasoFino, also a lovely gait for those with older backs!
Kentucky saddle horses might even be nice, but a little spunkier. I really like those old saddles in your pictures, especially those unusual covered stirrups--I remember seeing those on serious trail saddles to keep brush and briers from tangling up in your feet. The rest of the saddle looks more like a South American type English saddle though.
Most interesting!
Oh and off topic, what do you use to scan in these grand old pictures? I wish I could do some of mine, but I don't have the negatives.

 

[HFWR]

Any flatbed scanner should do photos.

And, Sarah, those shoes! Be still my beating heart...

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

ya sarah, what he said. about the scanner, not the shoes. no offense.

i use an epson perfection 3170. it is about 3 or 4 years old but still does a very nice job. i looked into more current ones but there doesn't seem to be much of a difference, dots per iinch-wise. also there seems an optimum dpi which produces a nice enough picture for viewing or printing and anything over that seems just overkill which only takes much more processing power & time but does not produce results differential to the average eye. i do scan some of my more precious pictures at a higher dpi but only to preserve as much as i can of it; i don't have a real practical reason for that action, as the file has to be hugely reduced to do anything with it.

i was lucky with pictures because my father's hobby was photography. he kept a dark room in the unfinished section of our basement when i was growing up. so i've very good quality pictures which have not faded much over so many years. also he was into 8mm motion pictures and later my step-father was into videonics so i have even a few stills going back to my greatgrandparants day & film and video going back to my grandparant's generation. what i find amazing about this is that i will be able to pass onto future generations not just pictures of their ancestors but even my mother's greatgrandchildren & beyond will know her voice though they never had the opportunity to meet her.

back to the subject of the mustang ranch, i'm having interesting feelings i didn't fully expect. though i pictured myself eventually getting rid of my house and vagabonding the world, as this is even just a test run, relocating to the ranch just an hour away, i'm finding difficult the idea of packing, throwing stuff out, leaving this house which has been my home for the past 14 years. i hope i am not already too set in my ways.

you are right on the saddles as growing up, we did mostly trail riding in the poconos. i was trained early on english and western. i love that old pic of mom and how she's holding the horse from blocking her. my niece is similarly commanding. so funny too because she is tiny but rides a huge horse. i love it when she walks under her instead of going around to saddle her up.

never heard of a kentucky saddle horse but check out this pic i found online of a paso fino. gorgeous.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Pasos have a wonderful gait similar to racking horses, but more of a shuffle, which is great for those with bad backs. As you know from watching your niece, sometimes the bigger the horse the gentler--the meanest horse I ever dealt with was a shetland pony.

I think the move will be good for you, Lazy, as just having to mobilize you and your stuff will be an adventure. And throwing things away, as others have discussed, is quite cathartic. But keep all those old photos and movies, what a treasure! We have lots of slides from back when, and Dad still has a projector we haul out every now and then. I love mom's hair-do's over the years--woo doggies those were some beehives!

 

[stargazer08]

Lazy, I'm jealous. What you describe is my dream job. Unless you're deathly ill it's not a big deal to provide minimal care to horses. They don't complain if you sneeze or cough on them. If they have food and water they're happy campers. The only other issue that might come up is what will happen if you have a sick horse? Can you give injections? Will you be expected to provide round the clock care if the need arises? I have learned how to give IM and IV injections to make my life and my veterinarians life easier.

As for gaited horses, I have ridden many and so far my favorite is the Missouri Fox Trotter.

 

[Moemg]

What a fun job ! It will be an adventure & hopefully a fun adventure !

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Pasos have a wonderful gait similar to racking horses...the meanest horse I ever dealt with was a shetland pony.

i love rocking horses! your shetland pony must be in league with my neighbor's toy poodle. whereas i raised the friendliest hybrid wolfpuppy ever to grace this world.

And throwing things away, as others have discussed, is quite cathartic.

i know what you mean. just thinking about it is giving me a heart attack.

But keep all those old photos and movies, what a treasure!

the ol'man had already converted my dad's 8mm to video and now i'm converting those to cd's. my project is to digitize all stills & moving pictures so they can be readily converted to whatever new medium develops into the future. who knows, maybe those huge files i'm keeping of the really good photos might one day make a great hologram. i'll keep the hard copies of the photos as long as possible but as long as i have them digitized i won't mind so much if an original gets destroyed.

Lazy, I'm jealous. What you describe is my dream job..The only other issue that might come up is what will happen if you have a sick horse? Can you give injections? Will you be expected to provide round the clock care if the need arises? I have learned how to give IM and IV injections to make my life and my veterinarians life easier.

As for gaited horses, I have ridden many and so far my favorite is the Missouri Fox Trotter.

thanx for the heads up on another easy rider. will check into. as to horse care, my assumption is that no horse will ever get sick or die because i'm not real into sadness. my brother's house is just minutes away so i guess my niece who wants to be a vet can do all the gross stuff. my brother did offer that i could raise baby horses and keep the profits but knowing me, i'd never be able to sell them.

i don't want this to become a long term commitment as i really do want to eventually see the world when my portfolio has improved. but i know i become settled into life and so does my family. they are trying to entice me to stay a long time, telling me to get a big dog again or to bring to the ranch some exotic animals that they know i'll fall in love with. i'm so easily manipulated.

glad to hear this is your dream job, private me and we'll set up you taking over during summers so i can play with baby elephants in thailand.

What a fun job ! It will be an adventure & hopefully a fun adventure !

well, i'd rather be off to see the wizard but a few horses of different colors will have to do. i think getting back into some sort of routine will be good for me. i don't really like how i've taken to these past two years of having no structure whatsoever. plus, maybe i'll meet a hot cowboy.

YouTube - Disney's Zorro - 2x16 - The Gay Caballero (2)

 

[Purron]

well, i'd rather be off to see the wizard but a few horses of different colors will have to do. i think getting back into some sort of routine will be good for me. i don't really like how i've taken to these past two years of having no structure whatsoever. plus, maybe i'll meet a hot cowboy.

This made me think of Brad Pitt in Thelma and Louise. He made such a pretty cowboy