Tennessee Walking Horses - CLOUD 9 WALKERS (Dogs)

These dogs help us train the horses, and at night, when we ride in the forest, we put glow-in-the-dark collars on them, and if we lose our trail, the dogs put us back on the trail again! FUN FUN!

Click on ABOVE arrow to see how we keep the kids entertained while the adults ride horses! (Tex makes a flying catch.)

LEFT: Bailey, the furry Python! RIGHT: Allie, Riley and Tex take a break from jumping on the round bales.

Tex, shameless and pathetic in his need for affection from anyone he meets. Chad and Riley oblige him here on a November, 2007 day at the lake.

IRONY [ahy-ruh-nee-] An outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected; the incongruity of this.

Irony is going to the Human Society or SPCA to rescue one of hundreds of poor homeless dogs, and being rejected! Yes, they rejected me because I said I would keep my dogs outdoors instead of indoors. So . . . I looked in the local newspaper and bought my two dogs from folks who bred them, and as you can see from the following pictures, they have terrible lives and are miserable and suffering -- hope the SPCA doesn't find out! :)

Summer of '07, after getting their summer hair cuts, the 'boys' (Bailey and Tex) babysitting the 'boys' (twin brothers, Brendon and Bailey).

I was shipping a horse out to California and the transport company informed me that they would call me when they were an hour away. They did warn me that it might be ‘a bit early’, as they liked to travel in the cool of the night, and sure enough, they called at 2am, saying that they were getting close.

Since I lived on a dead end street and I expected the transport rig to be large, I agreed to meet them at the intersection of the nearest road, so they wouldn’t have to try to negotiate my driveway or street in the dark.

I dressed, grabbed the travel papers, stumbled to the barn, turned on the lights and readied the horse for his trip, grooming him and putting his halter on.

As I led him out of the barn, my 6-month-old overfriendly Australian Shepherd pup “Tex” enthusiastically bounded along with us, always eager to meet any and everyone. We walked down the asphalt road in the quiet darkness, past occasional street lights throwing huge shadows of our unusual procession, with the horse’s shoes echoing their loud clip-clops, making me cringe as a chorus of barking began to pick up across the entire area. I lived in a small suburban area near Houston, and hoped that my neighbors weren’t tempted to shoot me as I woke up all their own dogs with my nocturnal parade.

I was glad to see the truck was already there, lights glowing in the dark and the ramp already down, ready to load. The transport driver was a colorful character, 50-ish with a charismatic southern twang, handlebar mustache, cowboy hat, western clothes and cowboy boots, looking and sounding like he just stepped out of an old Western movie. The only thing missing was a holster and pistols! Of course, my affectionate pup fell in instant love and immediately collapsed against Wyatt Earp’s legs in a zealous fit of adoration.

Tex is much too friendly for my taste, as he loves everybody and would probably eagerly show a burglar right into my house! He has lately developed this annoying, embarrassing habit of sticking his nose right into an unsuspecting victim's uh, derriere, and I mean his aim is perfect.

While Wyatt Earp was busy filling out the transport paperwork, Tex snuck around behind him and all of a sudden Wyatt jumped forward, almost on top of me, as he screamed "Oooohhh", kind of high-pitched like a woman’s scream. Instantly, I suspected what had just happened, and choked to keep from bursting out laughing. With dead seriousness and a straight face, I looked Mr. Earp straight in his eyes, and told him that I would admit that I had taught Tex that trick, but I SWEAR I hadn't given him the command!

Wyatt laughed and stuttered, completely embarrassed, and for the next 5 minutes, couldn't articulate a single word. We loaded the horse, and when he finally recovered his wits, his parting words to me were, "Have a good night, and WATCH that HOUND dog!!!"

LEFT: Bailey and Tex swimming in Lake Rayburn on a beautiful November, 2007 day; RIGHT: Bailey pondering life on a Kentucky mountain top on 10/10/07.

RIGHT: Bailey, descending the mountain with us, before he got completely covered in cockleburrs, in Virginia on 10/13/07.

Lynn (from Connecticut)'s little Aussie taking a quick nap behind the saddle at lunch break on 10/10/07 in Kentucky.

Bailey 'helping' train colts (Tex is up ahead, out of view of the camera) on 12/2/07

LEFT: Tex at Lake Sam Rayburn on January 25, 2006 after rolling in the sand, and RIGHT: Taking a momentary break after bounding through the forest, following the horses for a couple of hours.

July, 2005: Tex has been up to it again. This morning I looked out the window and saw him standing by the road, watching all the neighborhood men show up for work at the alligator farm next door. I could tell that he had something hanging from his neck, and all the guys were laughing at him. He was absolutely delirious with joy at all the attention he was getting. (This was around 6:30 this morning.) When I went outside to feed the horses, he joyously came bounding over to me with a huge grin on his face and my WORKOUT BRA around his neck. I must have dropped it from my luggage when I got back from my trip, and I had been looking for it everywhere. Everyone is telling me that I am in for the long haul with an Australian Shepherd. Little booger!

"DJ" -- the matriarch of the farm, a "Texas Heeler", a cross between a Blue Heeler and an Australian Shepherd. Her contribution is mostly barking, since she (being spayed) stays too fat to go on long trailrides. We had her for 12 years . . . if you have lost a cherished pet, click on her picture for a wonderful bit of consolation.

This is Bailey, a Border Collie/Golden Retriever cross and our main trainer of horses. He goes everywhere we go on the trails, jumps off in the creek, the lake, the ditch, etc., swims, cools off and pops up right in front of the horses, shakes and runs ahead of us, around us, behind us. He has even been known to stand off to the side and count the riders before he runs back to the front of the line again.

He knows he is supposed to stay back from the picnic area and not pester us while we're eating, but it was just too much terrible temptation to expect him to wait for a taste of that good-smelling whipped cream! While I was talking to someone to my left, Bailey was slowly and stealthily Army-crawling his way to a couple of discarded plastic forks that still had some whipped cream on them. I was unaware, and he knew that I was distracted, but he still kept glancing from me to the forks while crawling on his belly toward them. One of my friends whispered to me to look to my right without turning my head, and just as Bailey reached his goal, picked up one of the forks and turned to make a hasty exit, I glanced over at him, and he immediately dropped the fork like it was a hot coal. I never had to say a word, but I was choking to keep from laughing. He instantly forgot about the fork and spent the next five minutes sucking up to me, leaning his body against me and trying to lick my face. What a ham!

ANOTHER BAILEY STORY: We have had Bailey (the Border Collie/Golden Retriever cross) since he was 3 months old, and he is used to lots of freedom. He prefers to run along beside the truck when we go from house to office or carwash, and since we live in a really rural area, traffic doesn't usually pose a problem.

A couple of months ago, we took the Harleys from the house to the carwash to clean them, and Bailey followed us. Gary opened the door to the control room while we were there, and while I was washing the bikes, some friends drove up in their car. We all decided to go to a restaurant about 30 miles away for dinner, but what to do with Bailey? Gary decided that we would blast back past the house on the Harleys, and we would be so fast that Bailey would just go home. We left in a hurry, and the plan seemed to work, because Bailey was running his heart out behind us, and the last we saw him, he had slowed down and was watching us from the driveway of the house.

About 15 minutes down the road, Gary motioned for me to pull over, and asked me if I remembered whether or not he had closed the door to the control room on the car wash. I told him that I had been wondering the same thing, so he called his dad to run down to the car wash and lock it up if it was open.

When we left there, about 3 people were washing cars, and the control room houses all the controls, chemicals and the MONEY, so it was amazing that we were both so absent-minded that we left it open. However, when Gary's dad got to the carwash, about 20 minutes after we left, he was amazed to see Bailey sitting in the middle of the doorway of the control room, standing guard and growling at anyone who walked by. We still can't figure out what made him go back to the carwash, when the house was much closer.

Titus the Wonder Dog! This Jack Russell Terrier is amazingly smart, cute and has a personality to die for! His talented owner has taught him many, many tricks and you may see them one day on TV. Titus does all the regular stuff (sits, stays, lies down, rolls over), but he also prays, jumps through hoops, reads sign language, plays dead, crawls, hops like a bunny, and my favorite -- he SNEEZES on command! (Jennifer asks him if he has a cold, and he will respond "Ah-choo!") She has also taught him to ride, and sometimes he takes the reins. He can back a horse like the best of riders!

* Although cats are rather delicate creatures, and they are subject to a good many ailments, I never heard of one who suffered from insomnia.

* Dogs and cats instinctively know the exact moment their owners will wake up. Then they wake them 10 minutes sooner.

* Dogs have owners. Cats have staff.

* Dogs shed, cats shred.

* I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult?

* No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does.

* Outside of a dog, a book is probably man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.

* I hope to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.

* Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.

* We wonder why the dogs always drink out of our toilets, but look at it from their point of view: Why do humans keep peeing into their water bowls?

* Women and cats will do as they please ... men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.

* When a man's best friend is his dog, that dog has a problem.

(I am not sure who the author of the following story is, but I loved it and wanted to share it!)

WHY DOGS DON'T LIVE LONGER THAN PEOPLE

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family there were no miracles left for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home. As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for the four-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on.

Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away. The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion.

We sat together for a while after Belker's death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, "I know why."

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation.

He said, "People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?"

The four-year-old continued, "Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long."

Maybe we should all be more like dogs.

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply, Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

Click on arrow ABOVE to listen to a wonderful conversation regarding the loss of a cherished pet or loved one.