The Sean Project

Well it's about time!

2010-06-27T11:07:00.002-06:00

It's been ages since I posted and I will try to keep this updated!

Sean, our deafblind son, turned 30 last November. He still swims several times a week with his care giver, and generally, Sean's a very happy fellow. Earlier this year, we were concerned as Sean's blood test showed some liver problems but his latest tests are all OK, thankfully.

We have gone through some ups and downs in regards to funding for him, and we are now waiting to hear the final word from the state government about whether it was right for Sean's funding to be cut last July. It's been rough because after Sean had 10 years of stable support, with schedules that he was used to, the cuts changed his schedule dramatically. We were afraid that he could revert to some dangerous behaviors that he had when he was introverted. The appeal process is slow, mainly because there really wasn't an appeal process. We took it to the Medicaid court because it was the only place we figured we could appeal the cuts. Thanks to friends and family, we have been able to help support Sean's schedule and keep things on as even a keel as possible while the appeal is going forward. So THANK YOU TO ALL OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS WHO HAVE HELPED SO MUCH OVER THIS TOUGH TIME!!!!

In a perfect world, private charities would come to the call. The Medicaid system is supposed to support him. If he weren't living with us, I cannot bear to think what would happen to him. A state institution is out of the question. The thought of Sean being in some place with staff changing all the time, abuse going on, and no one who understands him and cares about him - well I can't even think about that! Sean, being deafblind and mute from birth, is not what I would call someone abusing the system. It irks me no end that Medicaid is broke due in no small part to rampant fraud and abuse in the system.

So Sean lives with us, Mick works his tail off to provide for us, and we are very grateful to be able to live out in the country with our animals. The latest animal to join the Wenlock ranks, by the way, is "Rooster Cogburn", the rescued barn kitty with true grit! He lost his eye to the same predator (raccoon we think) that killed all his siblings over in a friend's hay pile.. This little black and white, long-haired kitten had other plans than to become raccoon ragout. Now he is 9 weeks old, has made friends with our cats and dogs, and is busily chewing our toes and hands off with his new, needle-like teeth. He's happy to be here!

Rooster plays with Sean's hands and feet too, and Sean, in his inimitable style, is very careful to push Rooster away, but gently. Rooster of course comes right back most of the time and Sean just keeps pushing him away without any emotion or upset about his toes being chewed on. They have come to some sort of quiet understanding: Rooster plays with Sean's toes when he wants and Sean lets him do it for oh, 5 or 10 seconds before he pushes Rooster away. So far I have failed to get decent video of this interaction. But I did get a shot this afternoon of them when Sean decided to lie down for a while.

Rest In Peace Bailey of Tir Na nOg

2009-11-28T20:01:00.003-07:00

This photo was taken in July. Bailey was out, as usual, and Sean was sitting on his tramp pulling grasses and enjoying the sunshine. Bailey was enjoying getting treats from Sean too.

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009, our beloved Bailey was humanely put down by our vet. We guessed that he was around 34 years old. We had had him since Dec 1999. Bailey was our first horse and although Sean only rode him a couple of times, Bailey brought happiness to us in many ways. He taught me how to care for a horse. He taught me how smart horses are. He was the horse you could put anyone on, especially kids. He beamed with any attention given him, and he got lots of attention with us - physically with his care, mentally with the tricks I taught him, and emotionally with being engaged and interacted with on a daily basis for all of those 10 years. Sean was safe around him, and Bailey loved getting treats from Sean.

But recently, Bailey had made it clear that he was plum tuckered out. Our cold weather was incredibly hard on him. He could hardly walk, his coat was thin, and he had stopped enjoying his huge morning tub of senior feed and beet pulp. He had begun leaving almost all of his hay. His daily naps had become longer and longer. While he did go out into the pasture every day, the trip out and back took him a long time. It was my honor to listen to him and help him when he needed it, to find a painless peace. And so, sadly, we have had to say goodbye to our Bailey. He is buried on our property.

I remember the day Bailey arrived at the boarding barn in Jan of 2000. I hadn't been able to sleep for 3 weeks since I found him! I was SO excited! I had wanted a horse since I was 6 when my family moved away from our place in Michigan where we had our own horse. So Bailey was home! I was beside myself! My friend Vicki, who trailered him for me, looked him over once he was in his corral. She noticed his jaw was locked. She made a phone call and within 2 days an equine dentist came out, floated his teeth, and found a huge long tooth very far back in his head which had grown so far down that Bailey could not close his mouth without cutting his jaw. Horses need to chew their food by grinding their jaws together. And because horses' teeth keep growing their whole life, those teeth need to be filed down, or "floated" on a regular basis. The dentist said there was no evidence that Bailey's teeth had ever been floated! This tooth had caused his jaw to be cut and consequently, he couldn't close his mouth to chew. It took about 2 weeks for his jaw to heal. The amount of food he ate was cut down nearly in half and he still gained weight and began to utilize all the nutrition he was eating. He had been slowly starving to death because of those teeth. And he was at least 20 years old. When I had the vet come out 2 weeks later, he pronounced his opinion that Bailey was probably more like 24 years old.

I'll write some Bailey stories because he sure has been inspirational all these years. We miss you, Bailey!
Nancy

A Frosty Morning

2009-10-10T12:19:00.002-06:00

We had our first autumn snowfall. I got breakfast going early: sausage, bacon (a luxury we don't have often) and eggs. Sean managed to down his usual 4 fried eggs plus half of the sausage. Sean wanted even more after finishing all that! He doesn't care for bacon so Mick and I got to enjoy that with our eggs.

I had to break the ice on the horses' water troughs when I went out. It was COLD! The spider web on the corner of the fence was so beautiful I had to take a photo of it.

After hay was distributed to the hungry horses, the dogs needed to be taken out for their walk. Some day we'll have a fence around the yard so we can let Snowby out to run, but until then we'll have to take him out on a leash. He just loves racing fast vehicles too much for his own good.

Sean and Mick went for a walk in the cold this morning. Sean came back with rosy cheeks and is now enjoying the warmth of the fire in the fireplace.
Nancy

2009-08-19T19:26:00.004-06:00

Here's a picture of Sean with Ellen Jaskol, the photographer who took the photos that appeared in the Westword article which came out today, Aug. 19, 2009. EllenJaskol.com Here's the link to the Westword article:

Westword Article
.

If that link doesn't work, just go to www.westword.com/news

The article, crafted by Melanie Asmar, examines the funding cuts to the Developmentally Disabled here in Colorado. The story follows Sean through a typical weekday with his lunch, swimming and walking with his care-giver, Doc Davis, and shows Sean at home. It also shows the bureaucrats' hollow answers that predictably pass the buck at every turn. Passing the buck is so much easier than coming up with any possible solution to the way Colorado is implementing draconian changes without adequate advance notice to families, care-givers and even the agencies involved with providing local services to the developmentally disabled.

Great job on this article, Melanie. And excellent photos, Ellen! Thank you for helping to get this terrible and scandalous situation OUT THERE so that people know what this corrupt government is doing. You have joined the ranks of those who speak for Sean because he cannot.

and you can check out a website dedicated to giving Sean a voice Seans Voice

Nancy, Warrior Mom

ironic google ad on the blog

2009-08-16T10:35:00.002-06:00

As I was reviewing the last post I made - the one with the video of His Highness, I saw an ad - it urged me to sign up for e-mail updates from Governor Bill Ritter!!

Ironic considering I have been requesting the Gov actually answer our questions about the State of Colorado and the hack job they have done on support for the developmentally Disabled.

Hey Ritter - if you have time to do updates in order to try and be re-elected then you have time to actually answer emails about the job you are supposed to be doing right now.

Shopping for brekkies

2009-08-16T09:48:00.001-06:00

We were in King Soopers this morning - Sean and I, getting the stuff for brekkies.

Update of the Colorado Created Funding Fiasco

2009-07-18T01:15:00.005-06:00

The Colorado state templet is the same: we write letters, our friends write letters - to those in the state Division (or Dept) of Health Care Policy and Finance, to those in the Division of Human Services. To the Governor. To our Congressmen. Let's see - who answered? Well, we got a letter back from Dr. Sharon Jacksi, head of the state Division of Developmental Disabilities. The letter not only DID NOT answer our concerns, but Dr. Jacksi said that her biggest challenge was to explain how complex their administrative procedures are to us, the idiot parents. Well, she didn't exactly say that, but she came very very close.

Her letter and Mick's reply to her can be found on our Friends of Sean Facebook group where many of the letters written, plus any replies are displayed in PDF format. No answer back on his latest one yet!

After the first letter back from Dr. Jacksi, I got a phone call from a Ms. Jo Kammerzell. She has something to do with the SLS waivers. She actually had some experience with the deafblind, which was refreshing to hear. There are precious few people in this state with that experience. She told me that she would check into the possibility of other programs for Sean, and/or other waivers. She mentioned the possibility of rehab being prescribed by a doctor for Sean in order to continue his swimming.

These off-the-cuff suggestions sound plausible for about 5 minutes. But not a single "suggestion" holds any water for our son. Her experience with a deafblind man is valid of course. But her suggestions were totally useless. It has taken 10 years to put into place the current set of supports for Sean. It has taken meetings and plenty of work by a team of people to get Sean the care that works for HIM. Did she actually think we were twiddling our thumbs in all those meetings over the years to figure out the best possible supports for Sean?

Here's an example: According to Ms. Kammerzell's suggestion, a doctor would prescribe physical rehab for Sean so that he could continue to swim. That would mean he would need to meet a physical therapist and be put through some sort of structured physical therapy program. HELLO!!! Sean swims because he loves to swim. He does not need physical therapy with some therapist who can't communicate to him. He has no use for that and you can bet he would never stand for it either. He will get into the deep end of a pool and he will swim around in it for a few hours. THAT is his way.

These suggestions are just pathetic. They prove that these people don't care a WHIT for what is actually going on. They are trying to stave me off, to keep me at arms' length and I will NOT be kept at arms' length. They have thrown our lives into chaos and they need to be responsible for that. There are real, live people that their actions are destroying.

This is the pattern that administrative people share. I am sure they THINK they are "helping". They come to meetings or they telephone and give well-meaning suggestions that have absolutely NOTHING to do with solving the problem. We saw it years ago with Denver Public Schools. We are seeing exactly the same thing now.

The problem is NOT going to be solved with a phone call and with a few uninformed suggestions to us. We have dealt with Sean for 29 years. Who do these administrative people think they are dealing with? Complete MORONS? Well, they are NOT helping. They are suggesting things without a clue about what we deal with every day, without a clue about who Sean is, the circumstances that surround him,

The problem is that the state of Colorado (both those Departments mentioned at the top of this entry) have screwed up the existing supports for a lot of people. Instead of actually consulting with those directly involved, the state has seen to it that with just a few week's notice, our care givers have been hung out to dry and our family members' supports have been chopped by 54%. I'm being redundant but bear with me.

Additionally, the state now FORBIDS the agencies providing direct services to enhance the rate of pay to their care givers. That means that the agencies can no longer pay more to care givers for those clients with very extreme needs. No, the state's new set rates of pay for very good care givers is now so low that only the worst qualified people will apply. WELCOME TO ABUSE IN THE DD SYSTEM! Welcome to future DISASTERS as a result of these changes!

Is the state ready to bear the brunt of all the CONSEQUENCES OF THESE ACTIONS? I don't think anyone is looking there!!

Today I got another phone call from an Amy someone or other in the Health Care Policy and Finance Dept. I'm sure she was sorry she called. She got an earful for 40 minutes about the fact that had the state BOTHERED to inform the people actually involved, that we as parents might have been able to come up with some solutions! We could have been proactive in working with our CCBs to figure out ways of doing things.

But no, these people including Sharon, Jo, and Amy are all so fond of saying that these changes have been PHASED IN. That is absolutely so far from the truth it isn't funny. There has been NO PHASE IN. Phasing in is something that happens over a period of time and in increments. Finding out in May that our lifeline to our caregivers is being slashed July 1st is NOT a PHASE-IN. And it is NOT a "phase in" when our son's supports are cut by 54% for the next fiscal year beginning November 1st. There was NO "PHASE IN" whatsoever. These people just LIE and they keep LYING. I'm sick of it.

When Amy tried to tell me that the CCBs HAD BEEN informed over the last year or so that these changes were coming, I corrected her: NO, the CCBS were trying to tell the state at every possible meeting, that what the state had in mind would result in huge problems for people! But NO, the state was running its agenda and did NOT want to solve the details - like PEOPLE.

As I told Amy, their actions HAVE CONSEQUENCES. There is not one person in the state in these departments who has stood up and said NO,THIS IS WRONG. PEOPLE COME BEFORE PROCEDURES. Not one person has done ONE DAMN THING to change the way this is being done. Is there not one person in the state government that has an ounce of integrity? Are they just little sheeplets following orders?? Well we know where they leads, and that's exactly what these people are doing to our son and plenty of others.

These changes MUST BE STAYED. They must be put on HOLD until the families have been consulted, until people can try and get some solutions in place. It is the state's job to PROVIDE quality care for this population that cannot take care of itself. But this state is DESTROYING current and FUTURE quality care by these scandalous actions.

Oh, and the Governor could reverse all this in a heartbeat. He could order it all put on HOLD. But that would take some spine and integrity on his part. Frankly he doesn't have time for spine or integrity! He is too busy and excited about being re-elected. Well there are many, many families who CANNOT support him and WILL NOT support his re-election campaign, and who can be very LOUD, and NOISY at his Campaign HQ and bring cameras and media there.

HOW MUCH WOULD IT COST THE STATE OF COLORADO TO TAKE CARE OF SEAN WENLOCK 24/7? I dare say it would be a 5 or 6 times what it has been his funding yearly for the last 8 years. And now the state has cut it by 54%! Does that mean I get to go on the state payroll to take care of him?!

Oh - one last REALLY IMPORTANT point: Right now, there are funds, something like 3 MILLION DOLLARS which could be matched by Medicaid and put toward services TOMORROW. But the state of Colorado is STOPPING this from happening.

WHY? Here's my take: THE STATE OF COLORADO IS TRYING TO COVER UP ITS OWN FINANCIAL MISAPPROPRIATIONS BY USING THE FUNDS THAT SHOULD BE GOING TO THE DISABLED OF THIS STATE. I would love to audit the books of this state. I bet I could find a few million dollars that have been misappropriated. Why else would this be going on???

Corporate greed? Nothing compared to the government of Colorado!!

Rape and Pillage by the State of Colorado

2009-07-09T09:10:00.002-06:00

For years we have been hearing buzz words and phrases like "interaction with the community", "independence", etc. We have been led to believe that the great Powers That Be (in regards to care for the developmentally disabled), are striving to help our disabled family members become more independent and have more interaction with the community. We have been led to believe that they are doing this with every cent of taxpayer money they can squeeze out of the budget. We have heard over and over how independence is one of the main goals of care.

Well, the State of Colorado, led by Gov. Bill Ritter (I am going to dub him "ridder") is not only stopping the actual quality care that took YEARS to get into place, but the state of Colorado is making it IMPOSSIBLE for the developmentally disabled (DD) in this state to keep what little independence they have been able to achieve!!

Just last night at the meeting at Denver Options we heard the heartbreaking story of a parent talking about their son who has been able to live on his own now for years due to the excellent supports put in place with the help of Denver Options. The new caps on funding which the State of Colorado is inflicting on us, will now NOT allow their son to live independently any more. With only a few weeks' notice, these funding changes have begun as of JULY FIRST. No appeal.

Our son, Sean will NOT be able to go swimming 5 days a week because of the caps on funding. Think that's no big deal? If Sean doesn't swim, he doesn't sleep. He is a fit, 29-year-old guy. He needs a lot of exercise to work off his natural energy. He can't see to jog, and my knees wouldn't allow me to jog alongside him even if he wanted to.

Sean can destroy a living room in about 50 seconds when he really gets frustrated. The years it has taken to get adequate supports in place for him are obviously not interesting to the State of Colorado. Nor is it interesting to Colorado that our son could face life-threatening consequences of being frustrated, like head-banging and hitting his head over and over. Perhaps it's time to take Sean to the Governor's office or the Governor's Mansion and see how long he can take care of Sean without Sean tearing his office apart.

The State of Colorado is trying to blanket these draconian measures with a soothing song of "equality". Instead of continuingdoing what has been working for a darn lot of people in this state, the State of Colorado is totally dismantling the supports! Denver Options has repeatedly told the concerned officials at state level that they are throwing real people overboard. But the State of Colorado is NOT INTERESTED. It is NOT LISTENING. NO to independent living! NO to whatever interaction people have been able to do in the community because it is something that THAT PARTICULAR PERSON needed.

NOW people have to be warehoused together in groups to go out and do something. NOW, the care givers can't get paid anything useful unless they can put 5 or 6 people together in a group to do an activity. Well, people are DIFFERENT. They have DIFFERENT ABILITIES. They have DIFFERENT interests!!! Why should they be thrown together arbitrarily to take part in their daily lives, JUST BECAUSE THE STATE SAYS IT'S FOR "EQUALITY"?

I'd like to see the Governor and the legislature having to go out and do everything every day with a small group of people THEY DO NOT CHOOSE TO BE WITH. See how long they like that. See how long until they get frustrated because they can't go out and do what THEY would like to do.

BEWARE SOMEONE TELLING YOU THAT WHAT THEY ARE DOING IS FOR "EQUALITY". OBSERVE THEIR ACTIONS, AND BE DEAF TO THEIR WORDS. Because what's clear to me is that someone, somewhere is getting something BIG for all this. Someone is getting rich off the back of the developmentally disabled in this State of Colorado. I'm convinced there is GRAFT, there is MALFEASANCE and there is CORRUPTION linked to all this.

And we will FIND IT and EXPOSE IT.

50 (FIFTY) care givers have already QUIT because they cannot make a living wage from the scraps that the state of Colorado sees fit to throw them for all their care and hard work with the DD public. WHAT STATE GOVERNMENT COULD POSSIBLY IMPLEMENT SOMETHING THAT CAUSES CARE GIVERS TO QUIT?? The State of Colorado. The State of Corruption.

This is NOT going to go away. The State of Colorado has messed with the wrong people. We, who deal with the disabled every day of our lives, are WARRIORS on their behalf. I am a Warrior Mom and proud of it. We will get to the bottom of this and we will make it all WIDELY KNOWN.

OUTRAGED? Yes I am. I try my best every waking moment to be a good, and positive person. But this makes it extremely difficult to be so.

Sorry to be out of sorts. It's really not like me!

How the State of Colorado is trying to hurt our son

2009-07-09T07:24:00.000-06:00

Last night we went to a meeting at Denver Options.

Denver Options are the local agency that has been responsible for managing Sean's care for the last 15 years or so. The case workers who have been on the Sean watch have, uniformly, been wonderful people – last night we got to catch up with a few of them like Ann McNally who was watching out for Sean when he was “but a lad” through Julie Todd and up to the present “guy” Chris Barker. It was a bittersweet occasion.

Denver Options and its President, Dr Block were giving a presentation to clients, families and care givers about the changes that are currently being inflicted upon us all by the State of Colorado. Important to note – these changes are not being driven (ostensibly) by budget woes.

There were many things that were gone over and I will be writing about them in this blog as I get time. But there is a little vignette I wanted to share.

Both Nancy and I wished to be at the meeting – of necessity this meant that Sean would have to be there with us.

But Sean had other ideas! (LOL) he was not about to sit in some meeting.

Normally this would have meant that either I or Nancy would have had to have taken Sean home. Fortunately Doc was there and, as he had already seen the presentation etc he offered to take Sean out for walking and exercise.

So Nancy and I were able to attend.

Small thing – but only possible because of Sean's plan.

The plan that the State of Colorado is trying to ruin.

Oh one little thing from the meeting – in two weeks or so Denver Options has lost 50 caregivers who cannot do the job at the mandatory reimbursement rate that the new “regime” has mandated. How much are the apparatchiks of the state willing to offer contractors to work with our children?

$11 an hour !! That is self employment pay – not employee pay. Out of that $11 must come all the costs of self employment and insurance and so on. That makes the REAL reimbursement rate less than minimum wage!!!

LESS THAN SERVING BURGERS!!!

That's how much the State of Colorado values services for our son.

Do I sound annoyed???

An invasion of Prattage

2009-07-07T10:18:00.001-06:00

Well the beat goes on.

Now that the new regime has started we needed to make a change in how Sean gets picked up by Doc and so we decided that it would be less expensive if we covered Doc's gas costs out to Byers to pick up Sean rather than try and have Nancy take Sean in to Aurora. Just one small thing – but it's just the rattle of the small stones before the avalanche begins.

We obtained a copy of the evaluation that was done for this – it was done last year at Denver Options in an interview with Nancy. It is probably superfluous to say that nancy had no idea what was going on and Denver Options did not explain it. We have to go to many meetings in a year at which many questions are asked and which we give answers to.

Why didn't the person doing the test give any background? Why was nothing mailed out to us? Why are we being kept in the dark?

I read this questionnaire briefly yesterday evening and one thing that struck me, right off the bat was the careful delineation regarding “time”. Such and such a thing has to be done : Monthly? Weekly? Daily? Hourly?

How about – something has to be done every day for a week but then doesn't need to be done for three months? How about sometimes it's every hour during the night, some nights we get to sleep for a whole 5 hours? Nothing in there for that of course.

Sean's seizures were noted as being a “1” - as in controlled and not a problem. What this ridiculous scale doesn't even begin to consider is HOW THAT IS BEING ACHIEVED!!

It is being achieved by diet, exercise and monitored fitness along with the medication. And yet this “plan” is proposing to hack down one of the pillars of how this is being achieved. Fitness and weight management.

I know that it probably seems that I am being over the top on this. But I ask you to consider this – at one point, about 6 years ago Sean was in crisis, he was suffering seizure storms – seizures that would go on and on, one after another, leaving him exhausted and us frantic. We have come a long long way since that time. Seizures like these are life threatening.

So now, thanks to some smart work by Rose Hospital doctors and some hard work by Doc and (dare I say it – us) we have a healthy and fit young man.

And all SIS can say is “well he does not need any support”???????????

Thank god these Prats were not around for the last 5 years.

In the quiet of this wonderful morning

2009-07-05T06:30:00.003-06:00

Sean and I and two large dogs will be out on the road in a few minutes. Enjoying the cool air of a summer morning on the Colorado plains. We will walk a couple of miles, Sean will pluck some sort of plant to twirl in front of his eyes, the dogs will be their usual unruly selves and cross leashes, sniff everything and try to mark several square miles as "theirs".

We will enjoy that most unusual Colorado landscape - green vegetation!! We have had so much consistent rain over the past weeks it has been truly amazing.

And we will let Mom get some much needed sleep.

Pontius Pilate comes to Colorado

2009-07-04T19:49:00.003-06:00

I am not sure if I linked this on the blog but if not, here it is, and if I did, here it is again.

http://oig.dc.gov/news/view2.asp?url=release07%2F081507adeyemi_pre.pdf&mode=release&archived=0&month=20076

This is but one example of many. I linked to a more general report that showed that abuse of children, developmentally disabled children, happened around the country. When I find that link I will post it.

The point I am making is that warehousing the developmentally disabled in "group homes" with poor budgets and untrained people and no supervision is sentencing them to abuse. Pure and simple. It is like watching an apple fall from a tree - it falls downwards, it does not fall up or side ways. It is a fundamental FACT.

If you put vulnerable people into situations of no support, no money, untrained people and untrained or no supervision then abuse WILL HAPPEN.

The State of Colorado is currently trying to gut the support given to Sean. It is trying to pile more and more upon Nancy and my shoulders. At some point our shoulders will give out, we are both human, we are both of us getting older there is a point where we cannot continue to just do more and more.

The State of Colorado - in the persons of Sharon Jacksi, Governor Bill Ritter and EVERY person on the chain up to the federal level are abandoning Sean. If, truly, we are in a resource shortage then surely the RIGHT thing to do is to support those families that are caring for their dependents at home?

because, if those dependents go into state care - they are being condemned to abuse. No doubt about it. The Government reports prove it.

And trying to weasel out of this is like Pilate washing his hands. While crying crocodile tears about "not enough resources" those same officials are setting in motion the inevitable abuse of the very population they are supposed to be protecting.

The officials are claiming that there are not the resources - so what is the best possible use of those resources? Helping parents like us take care of our dependents. Christ almighty I may be a flawed person but one thing I can guarantee - that as long as Nancy and I are alive, Sean is going to be safe.

But if this program goes ahead what possible chances do we stand? What chance does Sean stand?

Listening to the Sean Symphony

2009-07-04T10:42:00.003-06:00

As I was watching Sean sitting on the floor this morning, holding his comforter and smiling I realize that there are few, very few people who have the heart and the patience to listen to the Sean Symphony.

Sean is a complex and very subtle mix of signals and "music" - the various factors that make up his perceptions and reactions to life. I realized that one has to listen to Sean like one is listening to a symphony, only then can you hear the harmonies and couterpoints that make up his life.

Our good friend Holly was staying with us and her dog, Heidi, would lay down on his comforter next to him. Heidi was a study in how to listen to Sean, Heidi just was there, sometimes she played, sometimes she sat and she and Sean were just there. Sean does not often tolerate dogs or cats that are around him - mainly I think because they are waiting for him to do something for them. But Heidi was facsinated with him, I think.

And there are some people who just seem to have this natural ear for Sean. Like those rare people who just "get" opera, some people just "get" how to listen to the symphony. Nancy Gunn is one of that list - she has always been someone who just listens to Sean. Holly is another along with, of course, Nancy. Both of these remarkable ladies just hear the music. I hope maybe I am another or maybe that's just wishful thinking. I think there is another person out there who has yet to meet Sean but I bet she will fit into the list - Paw-wet is her name.

One other person, someone who only met Sean a few times but who just loved him - my Mum.

Why this fight matters

2009-07-01T09:39:00.002-06:00

I realized that with the maelstrom of writing and talking and posting and organizing that people newly arriving at this blog may not have the background on Sean's daily activities. If I may take some time here and paint a picture or two....

Sean's bedroom is at the south east'ish end of the house. His bedroom window does catch the light from the early sun very nicely. Sean's sleeping habits are extremely variable. Most nights he is up 2 or more times during the night. He will come to our bedroom and either make noise or start puling the comforter off so that nancy or I wake up. Sometimes he wants some Gatorade (Fruit punch flavor of course), sometimes he wants his bed tucked in and sometimes he just wants the feeling of company. As the dawn arrives Sean, if he is awake, tends to like to sit cross legged on the bed with his comforter wrapped around him and just enjoy the breeze through the window and the brightness of the day.

What I hope is obvious from the blog is what a happy person Sean is. He smiles a lot, he laughs a lot, he has an absolutely infectious giggle and he loves to play.

As you can imagine external stimuli are hard to come by for a deaf-blind person. Even though Sean can distinguish between light and dark and colors he is, by any measure and legal definition, blind. He cannot get sufficient stimulation via his sight and he gets none via his hearing. Please think about this for a second – sensory deprivation can be so devastating that it is used as a drastic interrogation technique. Lacking that stimulation means that it has to be made up for in other ways – otherwise Sean runs the very real risk of severe mental problems.

The best way is through gross motor activity. Sean loves swimming and walking. Swimming is something that he does very very well. He loves the water, he is safe and supported and confident. He swims mostly in the deep end, taking breaks by just floating on his back. he likes to jump off the diving board. The staff at his favorite pool (Beck, in Aurora Colorado) know Sean very well and they know Doc, Sean's careworker.

Sean swims, walks and goes to Subway for his lunch every day. We picked Subway because he loves their sandwiches and the staff at Subway will load his sandwich with the healthy stuff. Funny as it may seem Subway are a vital piece in our diet plan for Sean (which has worked very well).

Doc picks Sean up from the house at 10:30 on weekday mornings. It is a 30 mile or so drive into Aurora and along the way Doc and Sean take a walk in the park where Doc practices sign language with Sean, encouraging Sean to sign along with him as they walk. Then it's off to Subways for the sammich and then, joy of joys, it's off to Beck for swimming. Doc drives Sean to my work and drops him off at 4:30 and Sean and I bowl on home together from my workplace at National Jewish Health in Denver.

When we get home (around 5:30 or so) I am usually greeted by two large dogs who need to go out for their walk so it is a quick change and then two dogs, Sean and I go for an evening walk. Then it's time for dinner.

That's pretty much how it works during the week. Nancy gets her Sean ready in the morning, bathed, teeth brushed, dressed and so on. She then makes his breakfast and feeds him and gets him set up and in shape for the day. When we get home in the evening she is the one who cobbles together the Sean dinner, who brushes his teeth and gets him set up for bed. Nancy refers to herself oft times as “The Comfort Coordinator” which is a very loving and apt description. Boy you should see her fuss around Sean – getting a soft T shirt for bed time, soft shorts to wear making sure he is one happy lad.

As you can tell, I hope, from this outline, Sean NEEDS the time during the day with Doc. He needs the physical activity the contact with the world. He needs the time away from just being in his own closed off world. When all this activity is happening, he is a happy man. When it gets interrupted, it brings on anxiety and hurt and upset.

The Feds and State of Colorado via the Division of Developmental Disabilities are trying to change all that. They wish to remove over half of Sean's outside time.

Why? Because some bureaucrat invents a scale that other bureaucrats just seem to fall in love with. It enables them to assign numbers to a person, a 'score”. With that score they can interrupt services, deprive the disabled and all with the justification of “the scale”. There appears to be nothing on the scale about whether or not the client is damaged by the actions taken, no way to estimate the destruction caused or the price that will have to be paid.

Allow me to elucidate. If the current plan from the DDD goes ahead, then Sean's active hours will be cut in half. Half of his outside stimulation will be GONE.

I work all day so I cannot make up this shortfall. Sean is way too strong for Nancy to do a lot of physical exercise with. Both Nancy and I are in our mid fifties and we cannot hope to keep up with a fit man of 29. So Sean will be forced back into his own sensory deprived world. And that will make his behavior worsen. Deafblind people like Sean can become prone to bouts of seriously hurting themselves via banging their heads against the floor or walls or punching themselves. We have seen deafblind people so stimulus-deprived that they must wear helmets to keep themselves from being killed by self-head-banging. And is the "quality of service" to Sean and others being given one thought by the administrative procedures being implemented TODAY, July First? Hardly.

The only realistic way we have to control Sean's weight is via exercise – it has taken us five years of working on diet and exercise to get his weight to its current level – the ideal weight for his height. This level of fitness also helps to keep his seizure disorder under control – thanks to his medication and his life style he has been seizure free for over four years.

Make no mistake – this action is going to damage Sean.

This has all taken hard work to set up and then to maintain.

And now – for some obscure reason that we do not understand – and which NO-ONE seems capable of explaining to us, the feds and state wish to kick it all over.

We have written to Governor Ritter – who, of course, did not bother to reply. We have written to our Congressman who has not bothered to reply.

There have been many who have replied – all of our friends on Facebook, our friends from around the country, the Archbishop of Denver, Sean's caseworkers at Denver Options and we thank and love them all.

Well, we are in it now

2009-06-30T07:45:00.003-06:00

Over the last weeks we have been spraying the Colorado state government with e-mail, we have been organizing friends into groups and soliciting help to try and back this runaway train up the tracks and away from our son.

Thanks to the unwavering and loving support of Carl and Holly Carlson, Paulette and Terry Mahurin we have started putting things together. We have sent e-mails to agencies, to TV stations and to people in order to gather support. Both Nancy and myself are just humbled by our great friends and their organizational and writing and support skills. It is thanks to them that I think we can actually ameliorate this situation.

I wrote to the Archdiocese of Denver asking for the support and help of Archbishop Chaput. Within hours of sending that e-mail we had received e-mails of support from the Chancellor of the Archdiocese and from Archbishop Chaput himself - in Rome on church business and still finding time to reach out. It is messages like these that really do help.

Sean is doing fine for the moment, the radical changes that the Department of Developmental Disabilities is trying to visit upon us will not be in full force yet, though as of tomorrow, the new, repressive regime begins.

We are sending a request in to get the material relating to the whole SIS (Supports Intensity Scale) system of "scoring" that is being used to justify throwing our son under the bus so that we can possibly get some expert review of it. We are also requesting copies of the full evaluation that was done on our son - and by whom, because no-one that we are aware of ever did any inspection or overview of Sean or us.

If you are reading this - please take action - severely disabled people and their families are being ridden roughshod over. It is only the loud expressions from interested and supportive people that will get these apparatchiks to even take a look at what they are doing. Go to the Colorado state government web site, send messages of protest to Governor Ritter.

Just as an aside - if you live in Colorado Congressional District 7 and have Ed Perlmutter as your Rep - well you have our sympathies. Apparently Ed feels it is beneath him to actually correspond with his constituents. No doubt he is busy passing tax increases while supporting the slashing of support for the disabled.

They can't take care of themselves? Throw them under the bus.

2009-06-12T07:08:00.004-06:00

The state of Colorado is slashing the funds that pay for Sean's daily community interaction, which mainly consists of his swimming. But that's not all. The state is not only slashing funding for the developmentally disabled, but it is also heavy-handedly dictating changes in HOW the caregiving is going to be done. And it gets worse: this is all being done QUIETLY and SWIFTLY.

In early May, Sean's caregiver attended a meeting at Denver Options in which he and other caregivers were informed that the state is changing their rate of pay. The pay cuts talked about were huge. Caregiviers do not make much money. Doc is fortunate in that he is able to live by doing the work that he loves. He has several clients and he hardly takes time away from them. If that wasn't enough, there was some sketchy information about changes that were also coming to the way these caregivers could provide their services. Instead of the individualized activities that the developmentally disabled clients and their parents/guardians have worked so hard to develop, there were rumors about having to throw clients together into group settings instead, regardless of the clients' needs, abilities or interests. Warehouse them! Great!!

OH, AND THIS IS ALL GOING TO START JULY 1ST BY THE WAY.

It has taken years to find and stabilize care for Sean. Sean needs one-on-one care because he is deaf-blind. He can't interact with groups of people. He can interact with a single person at a time, and it has to be a person that he likes. He has had the same main caregiver now for nearly 8 years and for the first time in Sean's 29 years, he has had a stable friend that long other than us, his parents. He is finally living a stable life with a routine that works for him. FINALLY. And now the State of Colorado is throwing him and other developmentally disabled people UNDER THE BUS for its own convenience? And SLASHING THE FUNDING that these people need? How much would it cost the state of Colorado to care for Sean 24/7??? A WHOLE LOT MORE than what has been spent on him now.

And there's more: Not only was Doc informed that his pay is going to be slashed, but that the state of Colorado might require him to go to college and get some sort of DEGREE in order to continue doing the job he has been doing for the last 10 years.

In times past, one caregiver at a time would suddenly disappear from Sean's life. He never had a real "friend" that didn't just disappear one day. And yes, while we all go through losing contact with friends from time to time, for Sean it's a very different experience. There is no explaining the sudden absence to him. There is no explaining to him that someone who has been part of his life for a year or more is going to move away, or change jobs, or or or or.

Our friend "Doc" has been Sean's main caregiver since 2001, and he and Sean have created a true bond. There is no one else in Sean's life who means as much as Doc, except for us, Sean's parents. We are his constant 24/7 caregivers.

Since that meeting in May, we have all been very worried and upset. Doc of course was mortified. The "information" at the meeting was alarming and incomplete. Supposedly the state was going to finalize the pay rates and all the criteria about the actual delivery of services later that month. But the information was so lacking in substance at the meeting that all that it did was create chaos. Chaos that went straight through everyone right to the clients themselves!

Sean is very astute at picking up on peoples' emotions. He has a very keen sense of this, I'm sure because it's one sense he relies on. Well, after that meeting last month, Sean began sleep walking again. He hasn't done that since he was about 10. He began sleep walking. And then he began waking up and coming into our bedroom and waking us up. He hardly slept. He continued to go out during the weekdays with Doc, and swim, but he wasn't sleeping. And neither were we.

Then the chaos escalated! The state was supposed to get all the specifics to Denver Options so that Denver Options could inform all their families about the changes. And when was this going to happen?? We got a notice in the mail about a meeting to take place on MAY 21st. MAY 21ST??? And all these things were going to happen on JULY 1st??? Just 8 weeks from then? We were livid. Well then the state piled on! It turns out the state of Colorado didn't even finalize anything or get any relevant information to Denver Options AT ALL. The meeting got CANCELLED.

We have received no phone calls from Denver Options about this. I called to find out why we are not being informed of what all this means. I was told that D.O. is FIRST contacting the families of the clients whose HEALTH AND SAFETY are effected by these changes. These sweeping changes that the state is instituting within a few weeks are actually going to put people AT RISK. Is the state ready to accept the CONSEQUENCES of instituting these changes so SWIFTLY AND QUIETLY?

I AM SHAKING as I write this. Can't continue right now. But there will be more.
Nancy

Changes coming

2009-04-19T05:10:00.005-06:00

First some pictures from the last couple of days as we gradually moved from being a slightly parched, semi-arid climate and ranch to a beach front property! It was a large and long storm.

Things are getting set to change - Denver Options just told the caregivers that work with them that their hours and their pay are about to be cut - heavily. I guess in the current climate we should nto be surprised and I realize that there is pain to be spread around and, in addition, Nancy Sean and I will cope - because we can but it did make me realize that there are a lot of things we leave out of this blog.

Our fears for Sean's future, the strain sometimes of dealing with an energetic and strong young man who has basically only two people that relate to him. Sometimes it can be unrelenting.

So look for the blog to change too - I am not sure it will be "better" but maybe it will be more of a window into our world.

So...

2009-03-29T18:07:00.002-06:00

Over the last months Nancy and I have been working hard on getting the maximum tax returns from buying the property last year. Part of our plan - and yes, we did have a plan, - was to suffer through the remainder of last year because we really did not have the spare money to get all the stuff we needed. We knew we were stretching but we figured it was the best time for us to buy - we were right. But this year we needed to get the maximum returns, credits and everything else - we have plans!!

So Nancy has been working out how much extra pasture we are going to fence off (around 4 to 5 acres) and the costs of T-Posts, Fences, gates, wood corner posts and so on. We have a horse and hay shelter to finish and possibly a smaller shelter to build in the new pasture. We paid off our truck - we were at the last three months anyway and now it is actually ours!! Yay! We bought a Roomba. Why a Roomba? When you have the pets we do there is a lot of fur around - we thought having a robotic vacuum cleaner around that would at least get the main areas clean would really help cut down our housework. So far it has - the Roomba is excellent!

We have a well for our water and though it is potable it doth suck mightily, It has tannins which gives it a yellowish tinge (not the most attractive of colors when it comes to water) and it also smells of sulphur - not overwhelming but just enough to be annoying. So we ordered a reverse osmosis water filtration system which our local handyman, Tom Linnebur, installed yesterday - and which is working just great. So we will not have to be buying drinking water in the six gallon cases we have been doing for the last 10 months. Phew! Those cases are heavy. Our friends in Tucson, Carl and Holly did offer to help supervise and advise me on the installation as Carl installed one at his place but, in the end, I decided that it was better to pay Tom because he has the tools...

Which leads me to our next investments - getting the right tools. This is going to be an ongoing job, I got a Skilsaw and a drill so that we have the start of the powertools for building. I also got a transit level - finally an engineering tool I can actually use!!

So much stuff has happened! What a great time - and I have much more to write about!!

Sean and I have been doing a lot of walking this weekend - what fun! I really enjoy walking with him and, I hope he does with me. He was chuckling up a storm this afternoon!!

More to come!!

Has it really been this long?

2009-03-27T16:41:00.006-06:00

Since we posted anything on the blog? Good lord, the time has flown and we have been busy as all get out. We have so many things to blog about it's hard to know where to start! Let's update the menagerie in this post and then we'll update the rest of the news in later posts. Just to reassure anyone who reads this - we are all fine, in fact we are doing great. The house and property are doing great too.

As you can see from this picture Bailey is still noshing away. I took this picture this afternoon after Sean and I got back from a walk. The horse shelter and hay storage area are still works in progress though the hay storage area roof trusses and beams are up and we just need to lay the tin.

And here are the other 5 nags! They were hanging out by the fence while Bailey was noshing. From left to right they are;

Calypso - a Paso Fino, she belongs to the daughter of our friend Viveka. Calypso is one pretty horse and Michaela and her are building a great partnership

Moon - our BIG horse - she is the one with the mask... she is flourishing and looks great. She lives in the west pasture with Calypso and Durango.

Durango - he is a Paso Fino gelding and is Nancy's latest horse, Nancy has just started riding him.

Chuparosa - a familiar name to people who have read this blog. She is doing very well - the medication she gets for Cushings seems to be working very well. She lives in the East pasture with Bailey and Irish.

Irish - last but not least. She is another Paso Fino owned by Viveka. She is a youngster.

Kokopelli came out with me when I went to take the pictures so here he is in all his glory! Kokopelli of the Serengetti!!

Snowby and Dodger managed to hold still for about 10 seconds so I could take this picture. We all had a nice walk this afternoon and the two lads are doing OK though Snowby is now grounded thanks to the fact that he kept running over to a neighbor's house and chasing their chickens.

And last, but far from least, the young lady - Giselle. She is growing as you can see - and she is beautiful.

So now you are updated on the menagerie!!

A Cold Saturday Walk

2008-12-21T08:41:00.003-07:00

It was cold yesterday when we went out for our walk. Snowby, Sean and me. It was a three and a half mile walk - the snow is not that deep but it was chilly. The sky was blue, real Colorado blue, the sun was shining and the air was chilled.

It was a great walk - and we enjoyed it very much!!

The Deep Freeze

2008-12-15T04:42:00.003-07:00

from one of our local TV stations - 9News

"At 3 a.m. the official temperature at DIA was -18 degrees"

For our family and friends overseas that translates to -25.5 degrees Celsius, currently the windchill is around -36 degrees Celsius.

I could not start my little Toyota Celica this morning - which is why I have time to write in this blog! I am trying to unfreeze it but our only space heater is currently keeping the well line unfrozen...

When Durango arrived on Saturday Nancy put him in the West pasture - separate from the herdette until they get used to each other. This means that we had to have two water troughs and two water tank heaters. Unfortunately the heaters draw a lot of power and are both on the same external outlet so we have to alternate which one is turned on and while one is being heated it does not take long for the unheated one to freeze solid.

How does Sean take it? Pretty well actually. He is a very hardy lad, born and brought up in Denmark so he seems to do OK though he also seems to have inherited his Mom's propensity for cold hands and cold feet. He is wrapped up in his bed as I am typing and he is as warm as a little toasty thing.

One of the great things about Sean is how much he appreciates being comfortable. Last night Nancy heated up a couple of bed buddies to pre-warm the bed and I walked Sean into the bedroom and tucked him up in his bed and he just grinned and then chuckled. He was just as snug as a bug in a rug.

Meanwhile as the dawn comes up we have our truck in the west pasture as a windbreak for Durango, I just went out a few minutes ago to throw him some hay and to get yet one more appreciation for exactly cold it feels!

Our first real winter storm in the new place

2008-12-14T12:51:00.005-07:00

Today has been coooollllddd. It was -1 degree Fahrenheit this morning - around -17 degrees celsius. There was a light snow, the wind from the north. Man it was freezing out there.

The water supply from our well froze. But thanks to some great advice from Howie the well guy we got it working.

Welcome to our new horse Durango!! Here he is yesterday in the sun and the warm.

and here he is this morning - in the snow...

and Nancy is in the weather feeding everyone else out there!

Durango Has arrived!

2008-12-13T12:20:00.001-07:00

Our beautiful new guy has arrived here is a pic of Durango and Nancy!

Durango is coming to Byers!!

2008-12-13T07:09:00.002-07:00

No, the headline is not supposed to be an homage to "The Mountain must come to Mohammed" - it is referring to our new horse who is arriving today!! A Paso Fino gelding named Durango.

Look for new updates and photies later today...

Today is Sean's Birthday

2008-11-16T15:32:00.002-07:00

Today, November 16th, is Sean's birthday - he is 29 today!

29 years ago today at Hvidovre Hospital in Copenhagen, Sean was born. He was a skinny, long baby and he was whisked away to intensive care right after the birth. He was taken to Fuglebakken Children's hospital where he was to spend quite some time while they investigated his symptoms, waited for his heart rate to come down, oh, all so very many things. He had cataracts, he had a heart murmur. He looked so frail and he looked so at risk.

He has come a very long way since then. He and I were just out on a 5 mile walk, Sean is a fit man, ideal weight and good blood pressure, he is healthy and he even has perfect teeth.

Nancy and I have put a lot of work into making things that way. If I can, just this once and in public praise Nancy for her work with Sean - she has cared for him, fussed over him, worried about him and cried about him. She has gone to bat for him in so many locations, she has cleaned him, cleaned up after him and sat with him when he has been sick. In short she has loved the living bejesus out of him.

Between us we have ensured that his diet works, he eats healthy, he gets supplements just to be sure we don't miss anything, he exercises hours per day. It has taken a lot of work and a lot of people have helped.

Today has been a great day.

The horses and the new shelter

2008-11-15T06:34:00.003-07:00

It has been months since I posted on this blog. Shame on me indeed. It has been a very busy period for us. We have been trying to build the horse shelter before winter sets in. Not easy to build a good horse shelter whne you are trying to do it on a shoe string budget like ours. We, of course, did not realize that Adams County Colorado requires a building permit for a horse shelter - we did not realize until a building inspector showed up one day to inform us of that wonderful news.

So we had to submit plans, pay for a permit (and the fee was doubled because we had already started work...) and allow our friends in the county to tell us what we would be allowed to do and what we would not be allowed to do. Fortunately it was not radically different from what we planned. But inconvenient of course..

So Nancy and I have been out there - we have been using material Nancy got from auctions and cast off lumber from a local lumber yard (I did mention shoestring budget did I not?) the one thing we are short on right now is the tin for the roof but we are hopeful...

There is a lot of hammering involved and I am finding that the strength I used to put such pride in during my youth has much diminished. My arms feel like Jello on occasion after driving some nails in - a couple of hours of work and ... phew...

But, bit by bit, we are getting it done. Nancy will post some pictures later today I hope.

IN the meantime - Hi-ho, Hi-ho its off to work I go..

The winds of winter approach

2008-11-15T06:24:00.002-07:00

This week has seen our first snows at our new place. Last Monday, November 10th - our 30th wedding anniversary - we got between 6 and 8 inches of snow. The land really needed the moisture and Nancy and I got a romantic anniversary evening in front of a roaring fire with wine to toast each other!

Yesterday the snow came, accompanied by 40 mile and hour wind. For a while it was kind of exciting as I tried to leave for work. The first time I tried it was a white out so I crawled my way back while waiitng for daylight. Once daylight appeared I went out again only to find that I-70 had a sheet of ice on it that reduced my speed to a crawl. At that point I thought discretion to be the better part of valor and I called in to work and took the day off.

Sean is not a big fan of the cold. He is an even lesser fan of wind so we were stuck in the house yesterday and he did not get his customary exercises. Today looks to be much better and he and I will be out treading the trails.

The wind does blow out here on the plains and when it picks up speed from Wyoming and cold from Canada it can cut right through you. A sure sign of the coming of the winter for us.

But we do love it - our house is tight against draughts, we have a great fireplace and we have our Christmas planning to keep us looking forward.

Sean's Gentle Request

2008-09-22T08:02:00.002-06:00

Sean Chronicles
Sept. 19, 2008

Sean’s Gentle Request

He’s going to be 29 in November. His verbal communication did not begin with a cry at his birth. He uttered no sound at his birth except his fast-paced and shallow breathing. He stayed in a special pediatric hospital separated from us by an incubator, his little body covered with monitors. Each daily visit began with the first shocking sight of him covered by a blanket of multi-colored wiring. And he was always silent.

Then one day he grinned when I put my finger though the opening in the incubator and gently touched his tummy! I cried! That was the day that told me he wasn’t going to die after all. The daily visits went on for weeks. Mick and I took a bus every day back and forth to the hospital where the most severe pediatric cases were under intensive care around the clock.

It was somewhere within those first weeks that we realized without a doubt that Sean couldn’t hear. His heart had been a little off, but that had righted itself. But he was not hearing.

After what seemed a very long month, Sean finally came home. He was still silent. He just lay there in his little bed. He didn’t even look around. His eyes were cloudy with cataracts. But he was home. I touched him as though he were made of the thinnest glass. I was so afraid to hurt him or cause him any discomfort at all.

Once morning as I changed him, he belted out a shriek of laughter that almost knocked me off my feet. From then on, he’d burst into laughter that pierced the air and anyone within hearing distance couldn’t help laugh too.

Over the years, Sean has learned to communicate in various ways – never with spoken words but using a mixture of signs and gestures. At a school for the deaf and blind, the idea of an object cue was introduced into his vocabulary. Specific objects meant specific activities: a special spoon meant a meal, a coin purse meant going out to shop, a small piece of sponge meant going to the swimming pool, etc. Every activity had its own object cue. The object cue concept carried through when we moved to America and while the objects changed, Sean understood the concept very well.
All through his life, his teachers and we at home have worked hard to help Sean initiate communication. The vast majority of interaction and communication has been FROM others TO Sean. Getting him to initiate communication seems to have been the big challenge for all. And from what we have learned, this is pretty typical in dealing with a deaf and blind person. It is much easier for them to sit and wait for something than to request something or start an interaction.

Wherever Sean has asked, or initiated, we have tried to go with him on it. No matter what time of day or night, no matter the request. It’s been a huge challenge sometimes when life demanded we be doing something else and pressures were on. But wherever possible, we have supported Sean’s initiations to the utmost. We saw what happened with children who had no such interaction or whose environment provided too little sense stimulation: some children by the age of 12 banged their heads against walls just for any tactile stimulation. They were put in helmets to keep them from damaging their brains or fracturing their skulls. No, that was not going to be Sean.

Language has always been a challenge. Both vision and hearing losses make language learning very difficult, but Sean has still learned a great deal of meaningful signs. And creatively, he has made up a few of his own much to the surprise of his teachers. He had a fascination for balloons as a small child. He loved them and would play with them until they popped. His sign for a balloon was a series of quick exhales through his mouth. How he made that connection I’ll never know because he never blew them up himself, but he’d hand one to someone else to blow up for him, and then he’d play with it. But he KNEW that the person had to blow it up. And he made that “exhale sign” when he saw a balloon. (After the cataracts were removed, he had some limited residual vision so he could see some things. He uses his residual vision every day.)

One of Sean’s favorite activities as a child was taking his clothes off. He was great at it! He’d sit outside in the back yard playing with a twig or whatever else occupied him. 30 seconds later there he was, all his clothes off, basking in the sunshine, happy as a clam at high tide. I hardly ever actually saw him take his clothes off. One look outside would show him fully clothed. The next instant he was naked, still examining the twig an inch from his face as though nothing had happened at all.

He’d take his clothes off in the back seat of the car while I drove to…anywhere. A glance back in the mirror would show him without clothes, legs folded, sitting on the seat as he looked up into the sunshine. His clothes, socks and shoes were strewn all over the back seat. He always seemed happier with his clothes off.

I’d have to double and triple check him before I stopped the car anywhere. Even the fast food drive-throughs! And while I drove in traffic, when Sean decided those clothes were coming off, we were the object of quite some looks from neighboring cars.

But I digress.

All these years we have encouraged Sean to initiate communication rather than just wait for some from someone else. The more signing he learned, the more he began to initiate. This has gone in waves over the years depending on whether he was happy in school, whether he felt as though the people dealing with him were on his side, and depending on how much he was being encouraged for “speaking up” in any way he chose.

Over the last several years, he has gotten good at asking for food if he’s hungry by finding a plate or saucer and bringing it to me. That doesn’t happen often simply because his meals are on a pretty good schedule. He has a great appetite and he can pack away plenty of food. This man is not going hungry! But that’s one example.

Another example is that for the last year or so, his dad has been taking Sean out for walks in the evenings when the weather permits. Sean really likes these evening walks. His object cue for these, is his tennis shoe. He will find his shoe and hand it to Mick. Mick, lovingly, will usually get up and put his boots back on and take Sean and one of our dogs out for a walk.

The most common request is “more Gatorade”. Sean will bring his plastic glass to us at any time of day or night if he wants a refill. Sometimes this is in the middle of the night. Sometimes it’s in the pre-dawn morning. Any time.

When handed a piece of clothing, he will put it on usually. Or he will sit with hardly anything on, getting cold, without any initiation to put more clothes on. Clothes off? Sure. But that’s why I monitor how cold or warm he is almost constantly. The one thing that Sean has NEVER done is dress himself or even show any interest in putting more clothes on than he has.
Until today.

During the middle of last night, he had an accident in his bed. Mick was awake because he goes to work early, and he bathed Sean, got all the bedclothes into the wash and saw to it that Sean was snuggled back into a clean, dry bed, before leaving for work. Sean hadn’t wanted to put any nightclothes on after that so Mick let him curl up under one of his thick comforters.

Mick woke me to let me know what had happened before he left. Then I went back to sleep. The sunshine was flooding into the room when I woke up, and a naked Sean was standing near my bed. In his hands he held a bundled pair of socks. He held them out to me. Now, Sean is perfectly capable of putting socks on, but he hadn’t done that. That wouldn’t have told me anything. I might have figured that Mick left him under his covers with only his socks on.

No, Sean had brought the pair of socks in to me. It was his very smart way of telling me that he wanted my help to get him dressed. And so I assisted Sean first with the socks, then clean underwear, his jeans, a clean shirt and then getting his teeth brushed and his shave done. Sean smiled to me. What a great way to start the day!

Nancy

Kudos to Amanda Peet

2008-07-21T14:51:00.002-06:00

Amanda Peet is an actress, recently she was interviewed in Cookie Magazine and made some comments about people who do not vaccinate their children. She later wrote a follow up to that original interview apologizing for some intemperate language but also re-iterating her main points. Here is a link to her follow up (it also contains a link to the original article) Follow up letter from Amanda Peet

We support Ms Peet wholeheartedly, she has spoken out on a subject very, very dear to our hearts. Vaccination protects children. Diseases like Measles, Rubella and other "harmless" childhood diseases can cause devastation to families. Kudos to Amanda and Cookie magazine. And best wishes to Frankie.

hot hot hot

2008-07-20T15:53:00.006-06:00

Well it is proving to be one hot dry summer here in Colorado. The temperature here is 96 degrees with 8% humidity. When we walk outside we can feel the moisture being sucked from the pores of our skin. But, as we say here in Colorado, it's a dry heat.

Nancy took a spectacular sunset photograph the other day - one of the big advantages of having a dry, dusty atmosphere is that there can be some really nice sunsets.

Sean and I have been taking our evening strolls 'comme d'habitude' along with Snowball our large white "unknown breed" dog. What is weird is that, the other day I spotted an exact twin for Snowball on the icanhascheezburger.com site;

Now we have to find out what sort of dog he is..

Nancy is in the midst of setting up a clicker training clinic here in Colorado. She is very excited about it and it promises to be a great clinic but it requires a lot of running around. If you are interested feel free to contact Nancy at this blog. The date is the weekend of August 9th - 10th.

We spent Saturday morning moving the step in posts and electric rope that we use to make temporary grazing for the horses. It is a great way of giving them some fresh areas to munch on but it is a real pain in the derriere to do it when the ground is baked hard. Fortunately, on Friday night we had a major thunderstorm. It bombarded us with marble size hail and thoroughly drenched the place so the ground was a lot softer than it has been.

Wow, it was hot and it was sort of humid for Colorado (there was actually moisture in the air...) and there were bugs... aaarrgghh. Well at least we "got 'er done". So now the little munchers have a new place to start in on.

A bit of a rambling post today. Been fun though.

The Weekend!

2008-07-06T09:42:00.005-06:00

We are still in the midst of enjoying our July 4th Weekend - as I write this Nancy and Sean are out with the horses - Sean is sitting on his trampoline in the "shade" of the propane tank and Nancy is carting horse essentials around..

In the meantime - this has been a big weekend for Giselle - she has been outside!! She is so small and lithe I must admit we have been somewhat reluctant to let her out but yesterday Nancy and I bit the bullet and let her go. Kokopelli of course was also out there to keep a strict eye on her which, surprisingly to me, he did. He was right behind her all the way.

This has been a great weekend!

And - I did hear back from the folks at the National parks Service - wow, did I ever. They were help personified. I will be making a post about them and the plans for the trail soon.

Happy Fourth of July!!!

2008-07-04T09:39:00.002-06:00

A Happy Fourth of July to everyone - we have our flag flying oe'r the Wenlock acres and Nancy is giving Sean a big Mom kiss.

We do love it out here. What a great place and a great country to be living in.

The Sean Trail

2008-06-23T15:49:00.004-06:00

Several (well, OK, two) people have e-mailed to ask about “Sean’s Trail” which I want to build on our property. It is kind of hard to explain it and I admit that it is pretty ambitious but I can try to explain a little more.

I want to build a trail on the property that is for Sean. Our property is a rectangle and the perimeter is 1 ¼ miles all told . So even if I just built the trail as a path along the perimeter it would be over a mile long.

But there are a number of challenges involved – the first of which is that I have absolutely no idea how to go about this. I have tried contacting the Colorado Parks and Rec - but they apparently exist merely to refer people elsewhere.

I thought of giving the Feds a try – but if you have ever been to the National Park Service website and tried to find out how to actually contact them? Hmm?? Here’s a link, see if you can find out how to talk to them : http://www.nps.gov

Should you actually succeed in getting that to generate an email form for you, you will most probably run into the “Proxy Error” page. Don’t bother trying to report that – you just get another one. LOL.

But – back to our muttons.

I want to build a trail, it is going to have to work in summer and winter and be natural. I want it to be secure for Sean to walk on – for those who may wonder Sean is a fairly good walker but he stumbles on uneven ground. If Sean does not feel confident in the footing, well he will not use the trail.

I am toying with putting up a hand rail – on balance I think it will be for the best but I would like some feedback…

Now – I think the walk itself has to be interesting – there has to be some “point” to it all other than just walking. Although Sean like the rest of us, does get some stimulation just from being out in the elements I think that having “way stations” of a distinct character would make it more interesting. I thought of having one place that would have a bunch a variety of flowers so that there was always a scented “presence”. Maybe one place that has an interesting rock or two that Sean can touch. Maybe a place with some shade and a wall or two to block the wind or the rain.

Maybe a station that has a rock with water that trickles down it provided by a solar powered pump. Maybe a place that has a stained glass small window? I really like the Chagall Windows in the Chicago Art Museum – those colors would be very vibrant for Sean I think.

There are a couple of photos of the front of the land on either side of our driveway just to give you the picture of where part of this trail would go.

Suggestions welcome – please bear in mind that it all has to be done by a really incompetent workman (me) who doesn’t have much money.

Oh – I think I may have a way to get this started – discing the pathway!!

Mick

A video from this morning

2008-06-03T15:14:00.001-06:00

Here is a you tube video clip of Nancy working with the horses in the pasture this morning.

Home Sweet Home

2008-05-27T22:52:00.008-06:00

Well we have finally moved into our new home on the range. The acreage is marvelous for the horses, dogs, cats and us. We will be able to build the "Sean Path" that we have dreamed about for years.

Despite the arrival of several very hot days, our first 3 days in the new house were actually quite chilly! We opted to use the fireplace and Sean loved it. He threw his comforter on the floor and proceeded to stretch out in front of the fire. What a pleasure to hear the crackling logs and smell the heavenly aroma of burning logs!

The horses were brought over once we had completed the fencing of their first pasture. Now we are building the fence for the main pasture. It will be great to have more than one space for them. They have already gotten fat munching on the weeds in just a couple of weeks.

Mick took Sean out with him one day while working on the fence. Sean was not too taken with the adventure, but just being with his dad meant a lot to him. Sean has become very "dad-oriented". Sean pays attention to where Mick is almost all the time now.

As for the countryside, it's a joy to be out here. The sky is unending, the wildlife surrounds us and Sean has settled right in. He makes his way around the house pretty well and knows where the kitchen is: he pushes me into the kitchen when I have been too slow in providing his dinner!

Nancy

Teamwork

2008-03-27T12:30:00.002-06:00

Nancy mentions in her first paragraph in the entry below, we decided very early in our arrival back in the US, to divide up the work. What we have found is that it takes the whole family, working as a team, to get things squared away. Nancy has worked incredibly hard with schools, state entities, city personnel, federal employees and county employees to get Sean all the support he is entitled to.

And this is the key - there is a lot of support out there to get, it takes some hard work and some digging to get all of it. Almost all of the people who work in the various areas are willing to help but most of them really don;t know what is available in other areas outside of theirs. it takes a lot of talking, a lot of searching, many meetings a willingness to help out and gradually things start to work.

If you have a handicapped family member and want some advice - feel free to contact us.

Nancy makes much of the "bread winning" role but the truth is that what she has worked so very hard to get for Sean is just as valuable - and is about equal to the bread I "win".

It may not take a village (snort) but it does take a team.

Sean and his Dad - Observations from Mom

2008-03-26T22:34:00.004-06:00

Over the years, Mick and I have had to share Sean duties. This has most often taken the form of Mick working and doing the bread-winning while I take on the Sean care, interacting with the necessary officials, case managers etc, and being at home to handle whatever might come up in an emergency for Sean.

It's been a good arrangement because if I had been doing the bread-winning, very little bread would have been won at all. Maybe a small muffin once or twice.

Some months ago, Sean's care giver changed his schedule. Instead of making the trip out to where we live twice a day, now Sean's care giver just comes out mid-morning to pick Sean up. Then, after their activities of walking, working on sign language, eating lunch, and swimming, Sean gets deposited at his Dad's work in time to coincide with Mick's driving home.

That means that they are together the whole ride home. Sean sits in front in the passenger seat now, instead of being in the back of the car the way he used to be. This is a big change because all the years Sean was growing up, he had to sit in the back of the car because he'd fiddle with the car's controls or the driver constantly. Now, since he's matured and mellowed, he sits next to his Dad all the way home. I think that has made a big impression on Sean.

The time change has also added to the quality Dad time that Sean enjoys. With the lighter evenings, Mick and Sean often walk around Horseshoe Drive together. The mile distance makes for good exercise, fresh air and a shared activity.

Sean is now very used to this increased quality time with his dad! This is evident in several ways which I have observed.

One thing is that when they both come back from their walk, Sean comes through the door first but he pauses and waits for his Dad to come in. Sean will not go into the rest of the house until he knows his Dad is right behind him!

Also, at dinner, I often sit at the table and help Sean eat his dinner. If his Dad is not sitting down at the table too, Sean constantly turns his head around trying to see where Mick is. He has a great deal of attention on his Dad. Sean has always adored his Dad, but this latest show of attention is fairly new.

Sean also initiates the activity of going outside with his Dad. If Mick has not prompted Sean to go outside, Sean will often prompt his Dad to do so!

Needless to say, Mick really enjoys the heck out of this attention!! It's a triumph of sorts because Sean is pretty particular when it comes to lavishing affection on people, and Mick has worked very hard for Sean.

Lovingly, from The Mom

A Moon Adventure in the Offing

2008-02-16T19:38:00.005-07:00

Last Wednesday, February 13th, was the warm day in the week. What a change! This winter has had more bitter and windy days than I can remember. Not as snowy as last winter, but longer periods of just bitter, windy days.

So Wednesday, Viveka and her two delightful children came over to meet Moon. I had suggested that Moon might work for her. Viveka has been searching for a pack horse for her upcoming trip on horseback from Denver up to the Colorado Trail in the mountains scheduled for June. The trip will be demanding and the horses will need to be very well conditioned to deal with such a trip.

Moon of course, can do the packing. But she needs more training, and she also needs the conditioning to deal with the altitude. I showed Viveka what I had accomplished with Moon so far and of course I had to show them how Moon loved to play "fetch" with cones and food bowls! Viveka seemd to be very taken with Moon! She was blown away by Moon's physical conformation and her mind too.

Viveka's daughter, Mikaela, had fun riding Moon around, first bareback and then with the saddle on. Mikaela is quite a rider. We ground drove Moon with long reins too because I had mentioned that I wanted her to be able to drive. Viveka has driven horses and said she'd help me with that too.

Overall, Viveka was thrilled with Moon. She raved about how smart Moon is, and how well she feels Moon would work out for her trip into the mountains! There will be lots of preparation of course, but today was the day for them to meet and get a feel for each other.

While Moon is used to clicker training, I am confident that she will blend in with Viveka, and vice versa, and that the experience Moon will gain on this Colorado Trail trip will be a terrific foundation for her! It will get Moon used to all sorts of things and she should come out of it a very seasoned and steady horse. I can't imagine a better training experience for her future therapy duties!

I am posting two pictures from the day. Moon loved having all this attention lavished on her and she did a marvelous job the whole time. The day consisted of lots of short sessions with Moon and plenty of interaction with Bailey and Rosa too. I have to say that Ethan, Viveka's 4-year old son, was just terrific. He's a high-energy little guy, and he behaved fantastically the whole, very long day. I was impressed!

In the afternoon, at my neighbor's invitation, we all went over there and Viveka and Mikaela got to ride Reining horses! Rosa gave rides to both Mikaela and Ethan too. It wasn't until after dark that Viveka and her kids finally drove home. What a fun time the whole day had been!

Wintertime, Christmas, and Year's End

2007-12-24T22:08:00.000-07:00

Here it is Christmas Eve already! So what happened to all the "run up posts to Christmas" we were going to write? They went by the wayside, very nearly like the rest of our Christmas preparations this year!! For some reason, this month of December zoomed right out from under us!

Well, here are a few photos from past wintry days we've had, to bring that Christmas feeling to the fore. One photo is of Moon, another is of the three horses in the cold weather as they waited for me to bring them their hay; and another photo is of Sean sitting on his trampoline while I carted hay up to the horses. When it's icy, that is a job I do myself, or with Mick. It's too risky for Sean so he gets to hang out on his trampoline and enjoy the sunshine, if there is some, while I cart the hay.

And another photo I took this week was of the ice on Sean's window: it seemed to mirror the trees and landscape in the background.

I am still playing with uploading photos so I hope they all appear in this post!

Merry Christmas to all you readers! May the New Year bring every joy imaginable, and many more too!
Nancy

Sean, Sun and Snow

2007-12-13T12:40:00.001-07:00

We've had November and early December snow this year. Even so, Sean has been insistent about going outdoors. This is a great turn of events. In earlier years, Sean was not one to go out in the cold or wind. In fact, in years past when we had to go to the store in snowy and windy weather, Sean would often refuse to get out of the car once he was in.

Out here where the wind is nearly a constant companion no matter the season, it says a lot about Sean that he is now more willing to experience weather. And it says a lot about his care-giver, Doc Davis, who takes Sean out to walk while they work on their sign language skills. And last but not least, it says a lot about Mick, who has been taking Sean on walks all summer and autumn.

On the day I took this photo, it wasn't windy. The snow storm had come and gone and the day was crisp and clear. I love winter days like this too!

Nancy

Advent - 2

2007-12-12T07:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a goodly snowfall and it was a cold, wintry day.

I am not sure if I have made mention of it before but Nancy is one ferociously good baker. She makes the best cookies around. This time of year Nancy is always baking, she sells cookies, she takes cookies to the local stores for the staff in short she is a "lean, mean, baking machine"!

One of her great specialties is shortbread. She experimented for a long time with making them and, although I admit to being biased, I think she makes, by far, the best shortbread on the face if the earth. And I am not kidding.

She also makes cookies that contain a lot of spices - like Danish "Brunkager". Brunkager are thin, hard cookies with a spicy dough. If you have ever been in Northern Europe for this time of year you have probably noticed that gingery, spicy smell that just wafts around? Well that's what it smells like in our house.

This morning it was 10 degrees outside ( about -12 C for any Europeans..) at 5:30 am when I was taking the dogs out for their morning walk. It was a crisp, beautiful morning and the dogs were gratifyingly fast about their 'business' so I did not freeze my derriere off! When we came back into the house, I unleashed the hounds in the laundry room, took off my boots and opened the door into the rest of the house and I was hit by this heavenly odour of spicy baking. No, Nancy was not cooking - she was in bed. But the whole house smelled of Christmas cookies.

wow. It's no wonder i love this time of year.

Advent - 1

2007-12-11T19:16:00.000-07:00

Advent.

I am not a religious person but the Christmas period, for us, is a very special time. My own view of Christmas is coloured, of course, by growing up in England. From reading “ A Christmas Carol’, going to the Pantomime, seeing friends and relatives, Christmas trees, decorations carols, snow, holly, ivy, Christmas Pud, Santa – just everything. Short days, long nights, overcast, I love everything about this time of year.

On Saturday Sean and I went out for a longish walk – it was snowing lightly, it was overcast and it was cold. Then Nancy joined us and all three of us walked around Horseshoe Drive in the cold and the snow. It *felt* like the run up to Christmas! Just the other week Sean got to walk with Holly – now he was walking in the snow. It was quiet, just the falling snow and us.

After we were done with the walk we watered the horses and fed them, it was just great.

Over this weekend Nancy and I were listing out all the things we need to get done to get ready for Christmas. Checking the number of guests, deciding who gets to bring prosciutto, who gets to bring raclette cheese, who is going to bring mozzarella, the roast beef, pickled onions oh, the list is endless.

Expect a lot of posts on the blog in the run up to Christmas…

Ho ho ho

Mick, Nancy, Sean, 3 horses 2 dogs and 2 cats

In the time before Christmas

2007-12-09T17:34:00.000-07:00

In England one of the sure signs of the coming of Christmas is the arrival of Holly in the home.

This year we were incredibly lucky to get a visit from our very close friend from Tucson - Holly Carlson. Holly and her husband Carl are two wonderful people who are the greatest friends. Holly took some time to come up and visit a couple of weeks ago so the Wenlocks were able to indulge in some serious "Holly hogging".

As I have written before on this blog and indeed, elsewhere, Sean is very picky when it comes to liking people. But Holly just stole his heart. As you can see from this picture that Nancy took when the three of them walked around Horseshoe Drive, Sean really likes Holly.

No big surprise of course - this lady has the "gift". Holly is one of those people who Sean just trusts. Holly is a nurse and Nancy and I are sure that her patients would probably say the same sort of thing about her. There are very few people who just make the grade with Sean straight off. Holly did.

And Sean got a great back rub from Holly...

Holly's visit was just fantastic.

The journey continues

2007-11-07T10:50:00.000-07:00

As the sun shone through Sean's blinds this morning, I couldn't resist getting some photos. Sean has always loved to bask in sunshine and his bedroom that faces southeast affords him lots of opportunity to bask!

Too bad you can't hear Sean's giggle. It's full and infectious. His giggle can go on and on so long you just can't help laughing. He can giggle on an inhale too which is pretty talented. And this morning he giggled as he pulled the covers over his head, giggled from under the covers, and then popped his head up again back into the sunshine.

There sure is a lot to make me giggle besides Sean. Yesterday found me working with Moon, the horse we hope to have Sean enjoy once she has some more training.

Yesterday was a day for introducing her to new tactile sensations. Sean's old mattress got a new job as an "obstacle" out in the horse pasture. Having horses walk over various textures can prepare them for all kinds of things encountered out on the trail. I don't know about where you ride, but out here on the plains there are mattresses everywhere. They can be waiting in gullies or just sunning themselves out in a field. The last thing you need is your horse spooking when it has to go over a mattress to get to another part of a field...

Moon was also introduced to the sensation of a rope under her tail. And while it may sound silly, it actually isn't. If you're riding along using your rope and it happens to fly through the air the wrong way and lands under your horse's tail you could be in for a nasty surprise. The horse clamps its tail (holding the rope firmly in place) and tries to spin away from it. The next thing you know you're eating dirt while your horse runs to the next county to get rid of that rope being clamped under it's tail!

Once Moon was used to the feel of the rope under her tail, I tied the rope pretty firmly to the saddle and had her walk next to me. Then I ran so that she had to trot next to me, and finally, I ran flat out in the field and around the horse shelter so Moon had to run, turn and maneuver with that rope under her tail. No problem! She was a pro within minutes.

Next I brought out a couple of big, crinkly feed bags. I held one up to Moon's side and brushed her all over (and under) with it so she got used to its sound and feel. Then just for fun I threw the bag into the air letting the wind take it down the field so Moon could go fetch it.

I'm so lucky to be able to have these moments with Sean and with Moon! Just another day at El Rancho Wenlock!
Nancy

Such a Fetching Moon

2007-10-11T11:32:00.000-06:00

Moon, our half draft horse, is quite the sponge. She loves learning. She has now learned Horse Kindergarten tasks such as how to lead properly, how to back up to a verbal and non verbal cue, how to respect a person's space for safety, how to move her hindquarters away from me when I ask, etc.

But she has also learned games! Like "Fetch". Moon loves to fetch! Do our two dogs "fetch"? Not on your life. One of them may run over to a stick and pick it up, but that's the last time you'll see the stick. Moon is a much better retriever than our dogs.

I can throw a small orange cone or a small feed bowl away from me, and Moon will happily trot off to get it. She'll pick it up and trot back to me. She will hand it to me. She'll even add a soft nickering sound to it for extra points! If she drops the cone on the way back, she'll pick it back up and trot over faster to make up for lost time.

There is a reward for Moon of course, the best of which is a horse treat upon successful delivery of the cone. And there's an incentive for speed: when Moon is off to fetch the cone, our other horse, Rosa, sidles over to me to get some goodies. Moon doesn't like that, so she fetches the object and gets back to me as quickly as she can.

It may seems a bit silly, but the game has taught Moon precision. She gets nothing if she drops the cone or bowl at my feet. She has to hand it to me. This game has also helped her to move away from me. Before I taught her to fetch, all she wanted to do was to approach me. And while that's a nice thing, it's also important for a horse to be able to move away when I want her to. So this little game has helped with that.

Believe it or not, we are getting closer to Sean trying out Moon with me. I am taking my time with Miss Moon so that she can understand everything that is being asked of her BEFORE we get up there to ride.

But I thought it might be fun to tell about her playing "fetch" and show some pictures!
Nancy

A new moggie and Sean

2007-09-16T17:01:00.000-06:00

It may not be obvious from the photograph but there is a new moggie in the Wenlock household. In this picture she is perched on Sean's legs while Kokopelli (the Moggie-In-Residence) is off to the side with a semi-tolerant look on his face.

Her name is Giselle. She is about 7 weeks old and has been with us about 3 weeks - which, if you were good at maths in school would tell you that she came to us when she was 4 weeks old. Not the best time for a kitten to be weaned from her Mom but there was little choice. Nancy got a call three weeks ago from a 'friend' who told Nancy that she was on the way to school and that the 'friend' has found a kitten by one of her hay bales under a taupalin. She asked Nancy to go up to their property (it's up the road about a mile from us) and check on the kitten.

So Nancy does and she finds this little (and I mean little) kitten which is miserably curled up next to the hay bale, has an eye infection with gunk in it and is just woebegone. So Nancy does what I am sure anyone would do reading this - she takes the kitten to the vet's office (in Strasburg). The Vet's office did a great job, some antibiotic cream for the eye, some Kitten Milk Replacement for the kitten, some antibiotic something or other as well and this little cat was on the way up.

The 'friend' now shows her colors - whining about the vet bill ($69 - ("I am saving to go to Vegas") and the kitten itself.

I guess we have acquired a kitten. And a 'friend' turns out to be just a jerk. Oh well, we got the best end of the deal!

Sorry for being ratty. I (Mick) have a real thing about treating animals (and friends come to that) with respect. I also don't believe in passing on animals - once Giselle ended up with us, well she has a home and a family.

And, of course, she has settled right in and taken over hearts and minds all round.

Funnily enough she, like Kokopelli, has really taken to Sean. She is at that stage of attacking anything that moves, hands, toes, arms - anything. She jumps and pounces. She may be very small but her teeth and claws are a little sharp. Sean sits on the floor a lot which is why I think the cats like to play around and with him.

However Sean does not really like to play with the cats.

And here is the real kicker - no matter how much Giselle pounces on Sean's arms, or feet, or legs or hands, NEVER, not once, not ever has he done anything to hurt her. He just brushes her off or puts her down a couple of feet away. He doesn't get angry, he doesn't get pissed off - he is as gentle as can be.

It is a wonderful sight, I kid you not. This big guy (and Sean is a big man) gets attacked and attacked by this little kitten and he just gentlly moves her to one side - time and again.

See how lucky we are?

Sean to Dad: "Come on, Dad - let's walk!"

2007-09-06T08:09:00.000-06:00

It may look dry in the background, but several late afternoon rains have helped make the pastures greener than these photos show. Sean has developed an interesting routine: he has begun bothering Mick in the evenings to go out for a walk! Throughout Sean's life he has been in many ways a typical deafblind individual: he will wait to be cued before doing something. He typically sitd on the floor playing with some little object, his fingers and hands always busy but he will be sitting on the floor where he likes to sit.

But recently, Sean has started initiating going for evening walks with Mick. This is strictly a Sean and Dad thing. Perhaps because Mick was the one who used to prompt Sean to go walking in the first place. Whatever the reason, it is BIG BIG BIG that Sean has actually started to INITIATE an activity as big as going outdoors and walking around Horseshoe Drive which is just about a mile around!

The summer days have been so very hot that the only activity worth participating in is called a siesta! Sean gets home around 3 pm on weekdays from his swimming expotition with his caregiver, and he gets a snack and then wants to hang out on his bed, sitting up and simply enjoying the sunshine that comes streaming into his room.

But later on when Mick gets home, and usually after dinner, Sean may get up and go around the house until he finds his Dad. Sean's residual vision is such that sometimes Mick can be sitting at the computer just a few feet from Sean, but Sean won't see him. Sean will wander around the house and if he's not interested in me, then it's pretty clear he wants his dad. If Mick stands up, Sean sees him right away because Mick no longer blends into the background of the computer and desk and books and all that. If Sean takes Mick's hand and pushes him toward the door, Sean's message is pretty darn clear, don't you think? So Mick gets his boots on, he helps Sean put his shoes on, and the two of them go out for one or two rounds around Horseshoe, depending on how late it is and how much light remains.

We are incredibly lucky to live out here. The air is wonderful, the people in our neighborhood are very caring and helpful, and the animals who own us give us a tremendous amount of joy in return for the millions of dollars we seem to spend on the horse feed, dog and cat food, and vet care!! No, really, it's true!!!

Anyway, Sean is branching out by initiating exercise and activity with his dad. Another unexpected benefit from our country lifestyle. How cool is that??!!
Nancy

2007-07-22T16:55:00.000-06:00

Nancy, Sean and "Hyggelig"

2007-06-27T11:30:00.000-06:00

"Hyggelig: (sort of pronounced hoogilee) is a wonderful Danish word that has echoes or warmth, comfort and happiness. A house can be "hyggelig" for example if it just exudes a warm friendly feeling and spirit.

Nancy is, of course, an exponent of hyggelig. Part of what she does whenever she is around Sean is to make a nice friendly environment for him. When he gets tucked up in bed at night she is careful to tuck his dyne (comforter) so he is wrapped and comfortable, kisses him on the ear, maybe a little tickle just to end the day on a laugh, make sure his night light is on and that a glass of Gatorade is on the dresser.

Nancy is all about hyggelig.

Heffalumps

2007-06-24T10:27:00.000-06:00

Sean and I went on our usual weekend expotition this morning. (For anyone who does not know what an expotition is - you need to read "Winnie the Pooh"). At the weekends I like to take a fairly long walk with Sean. He needs to the exercise (well, so do I...) and gets him out of the house.

We walk around Horseshoe Drive. It's the road we live on and it is, indeed, shaped like a Horseshoe. It is a dirt road which does make it feel much more rural. It also has the advantage of being almost exactly one mile around so I keep a rough idea in my head of how far we walk. It's usually two or three miles.

Now Sean is not an enthusiastic walker, he prefers swimming, I think because when he is swimming he is totally supported and when walking he has to really concentrate on his balance. But we plod our way around and by the end of the walk he is usually much more relaxed.

It also helps me - I am in the middle of quitting smoking - its been 5 weeks since I stopped and I have (touch wood, cross fingers etc) found it pretty smooth sailing. I have smoked my entire adult life and I really enjoyed it but the time had come to wave goodbye to the habit. I got a prescription for Chantix, and if my little recommendation means anything - if you are going to quit, this could be the help you need. It has made it pretty smooth for me (and I have tried in the past).

Part of my plan on the quitting smoking front was also to make sure I didn't gain weight (I mean, you have seen the pictures you know the one thing I don't need is to gain even more weight!) and I started on that back in December, changing my habits, eating smaller portions, exercising a little more, nothing radical at all and nothing that I could not live with. It took some tweaking and juggling but eventually I started to lose weight - up to now I have lost 33 pounds . The last 3 pounds of that since I quit smoking.

So it looks like its working.

Which makes the walks, our expotitions, at the weekend something that helps us both out.

We have seen snakes, the odd fox, rabbits galore and the occasional hawk. But no heffalumps as yet.

Outside with the Animals

2007-06-11T00:02:00.000-06:00

Mick and Sean watered the horses, played with the water (Sean loves being sprayed with the water!) and then they got some hefty walking in this weekend. I got to do more ground work with Moon, which isn't "work" at all!

How we enjoy being out in this fabulous weather, on the plains of Colorado!

Ah, Summer on the Plains!

2007-06-10T22:59:00.000-06:00

Hot days, pleasant evenings! The grass is greener this year than in years past due to a higher rainfall and the horses are loving it. Sean goes out with me pretty often to help feed or water the horses. He also goes on walks with Mick around Horseshoe Drive, one full circle of which makes exactly a mile. Today, Sean got in a two-mile walk.

I like working with the horses in late afternoon and evening. Last Sunday and Monday evenings, I rode Rosa bareback and worked with her on only one thing: leg cues. I purposely did not put a bridle on her, only a string around her neck. If I needed to balance, I held her mane. She has always been very sensitive to leg cues but not in a good way. What I mean is that if the rider put any pressure at all with one leg or both legs on her, she would squirt out ahead at a fast gait and not pay attention to much else. She had trained me not to use leg pressure. She hasn't been very consistent about things, but then how could she? I haven't been consistent in what I have asked of her. She is a very good horse and deserves better from me.

I had those two evenings with her, just working with leg cues: riding bareback, I would touch her with my right leg to go left and then touch her with the other leg to turn her right. After the 2nd session I thought she was starting to get it while at the same time she was not too worried about my leg pressure anymore. That was a good place to quit.

It had been 5 days since our last session. Yesterday we tried it again. Only a string around Rosa's neck, riding bareback, and again, I applied pressure only a little with one leg to go one way, and the other leg to turn the other way. Actually, it wasn't just pressure. I tried more to release her to go in one direction by opening my toe in that direction while applying the slightest amount of pressure from the other leg. At first, she didn't seem to get this at all.

Realizing that she was still thinking this through, and that she had old old patterns of behavior clouding her mind a bit, I changed my approach. I just asked her to go forward (not touching the string to do this) and each time she turned one way, I opened my toe on that side of her while applying the slightest pressure with my other leg. I just went with her, applying the appropriate opening of my toe and slight pressure with the opposite leg, as she turned. When she went straight, there was no leg contact at all and I looked up straight ahead and followed her focus straight ahead.

Suddenly after only a few minutes of my following her in this way, she seemed to get what it was I was after. We stopped, took a break and then started again. This time, I asked her to turn with my toe and leg and presto! She turned on a dime. I tried as quickly as possible to release all contact. We went straight for a few steps and I asked her to turn the other way, again, only with that toe opening to the direction, and a tad of the opposite leg. She turned INSTANTLY and I released just as fast. We then zig-zagged all over the place and each time, she GOT it. There was no mistaking it. It wasn't chance. It was total understanding. We had fun for a few minutes doing this and then I got off her and rubbed her a lot with tons of praise for a job well done. She got to graze a few minutes on her own while I went to get Bailey's feed for him before putting them all into their 2-acre paddock for the night. I was jazzed!

Well, this little essay wasn't at all what I sat down here to write. I'll put in some pictures here of Sean, Mick and the horses because Mick and Sean had some quality time with the horses this weekend too!! I'd better head off to bed before I write another long-winded composition about the horse time I am having!
Nancy

Of Picnics and Green Grass

2007-06-03T09:08:00.000-06:00

Saturday, June 2nd, was the annual Denver Options picnic. Denver Options (see the link) is a fabulous organization that works with those families who have a disabled son, daughter, or other relative. Denver Options has helped us more than we can say, and it was fun to take Sean to the annual picnic yesterday. Of course Sean's focus was the FOOD. He downed 2 gigantic hot dogs and a cheeseburger with systematic vigor. Then he put away a couple of over-sized cookies while waiting for me to return with 2 more hot dogs for him.

Our trusty care-giver, Doc, was there with several of his other clients, whom we met. And Dodie, his lovely wife, was there too. It was such a pleasure to meet her! We also met up with old friends who have worked with Sean over the years and hopefully they will come out and visit us at the Wenlock Menagerie one of these days!

The entertainment was varied and of excellent quality. We heard a good jazz band and there was a troupe of Hawaiian singers and dancers that taught people words and movements to the music and got a whole lot of people up to join in! It was great to see so many people having such a wonderful time.

There were lots of booths with games, raffles and other activities going on. But since Sean is not one for such things, we didn't hang around too much longer. We had enough time to chat with old buddies and catch up a bit so after Sean had polished off his modest lunch (!) we headed back home.

If anyone from Denver Options is reading this: please come out and visit us! And if any of your clients would like to come out and SEE horse, or BRUSH a horse or SIT ON a horse (with proper supervision and safety factors of course!) then please call us and let's arrange it. I know how much a horse can mean to a person!!!

And speaking of the horses, we have been letting them out recently on our GREEN pasture. We have had a good amount of rain and the field isn't the usual Colorado brown. It saves money to let them out rather than have to feed them expensive hay.

Carpe The Long Weekend!

2007-05-28T15:00:00.000-06:00

Well this Memorial Day weekend has been sunny and warm and we have seized it! On Saturday Nancy was helping out at a clinic held by the Paso Fino Association and Sean and I were out there! We walked two miles, we fed the horses, we watered the horses, we fed 'em again, we watered 'em again. We walked another mile. Sean was one happy guy! The day was hot, then in the afternoon some thunderclouds rolled in and we got a bit of a light show.

Of course the dogs, particularly Snowby, hate thunder, so they scuttled inside and hung out in the bathroom.

Nancy came back in the middle of the evening and was full of chat about the day's activities and Sean? Sean was cream-crackered - after a big dinner he was out for the count.

Sunday morning of course we had the early wake up call which I just wrote about in the previous blog entry.

Sunday was the big Paso Fino Association Fun Show and Nancy was in the thick of it helping out - Sean was out during the day with Doc and I got to hang out, do a lot of walking and horse feeding and avoiding the urge to smoke (I am in the middle of quitting). It was another glorious day and Nancy got back home in the late afternoon and Sean got back in mid afternoon and we were all hot and happy.

Monday - a third day off for Mick. We were up and about early (as usual...) Nancy had been up since two am because she was worried about a young lady who had had an accident at the fun show. Sean and I charged around and were out there feeding horses early, getting the watering done because it looked like another hot one.

Once we had done the feedin' Sean had his breakfast and it was time for us to get out on the road and do some walkin'. We did a couple of miles, came back, rewatered the horses and then laced up the entranceway tight so Moon could get out and graze along with Bailey (Moon does like being out in the bigger pasture - well, she's a big girl..).

While Moon was turned out Nancy took the chanceto get out there and give Rosa her medication. Rosa has Cushings and is on some special medication. WE sprinkle the med on some senior feed and give it to her in a bowl - normally we have to run interference with Moon of course who can be a little hoglet when it comes to snacks. But with Moon being outside it was a good opportunity for Nancy to take Sean with her and give Rosa her stuff.

here's another pic -

Stand off at the Bailey Corral

2007-05-28T09:17:00.000-06:00

It was early Sunday Morning (yesterday) - and I mean early. Around 5 am. We are usually up around then because there are dogs that need to "go", a cat that needs to explore and a day just needing to be aired out. I let the dogs out and went off to put the kettle on for some much needed coffee.

I looked out of the kitchen window up to the horses' pasture (we do like to look out of the kitchen window and see horses ...) and I noticed, on the far side of the pasture (the south, beyond the fence) a ... horse trailer??

Then I saw our little herd making a fuss and then I saw a young stallion on the far side of the fence racing up and down the fence line - and Moon (that young tart) was racing up and down our side of the fence line too.. There were two people with the trailer unloading a paint and saddling it up and with two dogs charging about the uproar was complete.

This stallion has escaped before - and for some reason he seems besotted with either Moon or Rosa (those hussies). This is the third time he has been by to pay us a visit.

It can be a tad exciting when there is a randy stallion on the loose - there isn't much of anything on his mind except getting through the fence and this young lad was no exception. he bought down the electric rope fencing that we have and broke the top strand of the smooth wire fencing on the south side of the pasture. In the meantime the two guys were busily saddling up the paint so that they could rein in the stallion.

And then Bailey takes charge.

You all know Bailey. He is our elderly gelding - must be around 30 years old, he creaks around everywhere and we just love him to death. This horse has been around the block a time or two.

So, suddenly, before our eyes, 30 year old Bailey disappeared and in his place stood 10 year old Bailey- No slouching, no tripping - head up, ears pricked coat shiny. He bossed the two girls back behind him, he had them rounded up in an instant, he faced up to the stallion on the other side of the fence. He stood tall and he looked all business.

Boy I wish you all could have seen him - he was magnificent.

The adventure went on for the next half an hour with the stallion racing around, evading the horseman and the other guy first on the south side of the pasture and then, a race along the road and he was into our yard and then our neighbors to the west's yard where finally the owners caught up with him.

Throughout it all Bailey stood tall.

You all would have been proud of him.

Some Horse!

A Brushing Time - Saturday

2007-04-22T14:50:00.000-06:00

April 21st. It was a beautiful day. It would have been just like summer if the breeze from the northeast hadn't tempered the warmth of the sunshine. I took Sean out with me to help brush the horses. I had hoped that he and I could brush our Paso Fino, "Rosa", because her winter coat still has a woolly mammoth appearance. But Rosa was not interested.

Instead, "Moon The Magnet Horse" came over to greet us. I don't think we could have kept her away with a cattle prod - (not that we have one or would never use one!!) Moon's just a people-loving horse. While she munched on some hay, Sean got a lesson in using a curry comb. A curry comb, for those not familiar with horse grooming tools, is a round, hard rubber disk with a textured surface. The handle is a strap through which you fit your hand. The strap holds the curry comb in place as you groom the horse in a fairly firm circling motion so that the dust and dirt and undercoat of the horse get loosened. The wind takes care of the masses of fur and dust that get packed into the disk after a few strokes this time of year.

It was a hand-over-hand lesson. Sean's beefy hand fit well into the curry comb, and together we gave Moon a much-needed grooming. She is shedding her winter coat without any help, but it's a great thing for a horse to get rubbed, scratched and generally groomed during this itchy time of shedding.

Sean is not exactly enthusiastic about doing the work but we do try to keep him out there and around us and the horses so that he is involved.

House hunting - part deux..

2007-04-17T17:53:00.000-06:00

You know, just when you think you have reached rock bottom on the house search front you find out that the Realtors in Colorado have managed to tunnel out beneath you.

We found a listing for a property just north of Hudson, Colorado. around 40 acres, fencing, some horse set up, and the house looked great - brick finish, huge garage. It's a little bit out there but its a great location.

So yesterday I had the day off and nancy and I decided we would swing up there (its about 45 miles from where we are) and, even though we would not be able to go inside, we could look at the outside and see if it was even worthwhile going for a full visit.

The first inkling of trouble was that when we used the mapping function we got directions to totally the wrong place. We phoned the listing agents office and gave the girl who answered the address and MLS number and asked for directions. After much back and forth we finally managed to get some workable directions and trundled off - 15 miles north of where we were.

We find the huse - it looks OK from the outside - the property looks a little rundown but that's to be expected. The brick exterior of the house is unusual out here, it looks solid and impressive.

OK, we decide that this is worth a good look and Nancy calls up our Realtr and asks her to arrange a showing.

On to today. nancy and Sarah drive out to the house. When they get to it Sarah cannot find the lock-box and phones in to the selling agent.

It is the wrong house. The house they have for sale is actually down the road.

The wrong house? The picture of the house on the flier is the one that Nancy and Sarah are at, the description of the place is the property they are standing on. So they follow the directions to the other house which is just down the road.

It is a complete tip. It is a run down modular that looks like it has been trashed.

The picture and description that the selling agents have up on the web site and for the listing - is for the wrong house.

Another great day in Realty in Colorado.

Trying to find a house

2007-04-13T11:35:00.000-06:00

We've alluded in a couple of posts that we are looking around to buy a house out here on the plains.

We have been looking, on and off, for months. I never thought how difficult this process would prove to be, we got qualified with a good lender, we know our budget and we have a good idea what we want. Given the very soft housing market we figured it would be a snap.

Oh, how wrong we are.

I know we have some conditionals when it comes to the house. It has to be big enough, 1,700 square foot or bigger. It has to be a ranch style house because we don't want Sean having to negotiate stairs, it has to be commutable for me to get to work. but more importantly, it has to be commutable for Doc to come and pick up Sean. I am willing to commute quit a distance but we do have to take into account Sean's travel and transportation needs,

The house also has to have land - we want our horses with us - and, if it does not have fencing and a barn then we will need to be able to afford to put the necessary stuff there which reduces the overall amount we can pay for the property.

Well OK - we have been searching. I guess I should put in a plug for our realtor - her name is Sarah Sell and she works for Look East Realty in Bennett Colorado. Sarah has been with Nancy all over this area arranging showings, taking us to properties - this lady has worked hard for us. If you ever have a need for somone to work with out on the Eastern Plains - look her up.

Anyhoo - Nancy has searched the various listing services, identified likely places and gone out on many, many visits with Sarah. We have looked at places as far south as Kiowa and as far north as 128th avenue - as far east as Deer trail and west to Watkins.

Now that may not be familiar to all of you - but its a big area.

And I have learned some things about real estate .

Some advice for sellers - free:

1) If you are planning to sell a house that you live in - clean it. Nothing kills interest faster than the first thought you have on entering the house is that you are going to need a shower. Yes, this has happened.

2) If you have done some extensive Do-it-yourself on the house - get it inspected. It may be a good idea to find out that you have installed stuff backwards or done stuff that does not come up to code. Most mortgage companies require inspection reports. And yes this happened to us.

3) If you say that it is a horse property it had better be fenced or the horses wont be on it long.

And for the banks out there that currently have a boatload of foreclosures on their hands.

Learn to negotiate on price. There are tons of properties out here that have been on the market for a year or more.

The sound of one boy laughing

2007-04-13T11:18:00.001-06:00

Well it's Friday. Nancy is off to the Great Western Paso Fino Association General Meeting in Grand Junction and I have the day off so that I can get in some serious Sean hogging.

So I figured it was about time to get something up on the blog.

This is a little something about Sean - I have written about it before but I cannot remember whether I put it up here or not. Well if I did - oh well.

When Sean was very small - a few months old I guess - he was in his crib one evening and nancy was bending over him undoing the snaps on his baby clothes she ran her finger over his ribs - you know, as Moms do with their babies - and Sean, who had always had an enchanting grin, let out a shriek of laughter.

Nancy jumped up in the air in surprise. Sean lay there with a happy grin on his face and Nancy and I looked at each other in complete surprise. It was the first sound I ever remember him making.

Nancy , of course, could not resist trying again. Sean shrieked with laughter. He has the most amazing laugh.

The sound of Sean's laughter, music to the ears.

2007-03-24T12:48:00.000-06:00

Saturday March 24th 2007

Mick here. Well it's a rainy day out here on the plains - good for the pasture and good for taking time to update the blog.

And there are some updates!!

Last weekend was extremely pleasant - so nice, in fact, that I could no longer put off cleaning out the horse shelter. This is the shelter that the three horses had been hyggling in (snuggling up in) since before Christmas. I am sure that the wise out there do not need me to paint an even more graphic picture. Suffice it to say that I think we could have filmed an episode of Hercules cleaning out the Augean stables..

I dragooned Sean into helping - I filled up the cart and Sean dragged it to the "pile". He was magnificent. The cart was heavy but Sean made short work of hauling it - for the first time in a long time I realized that Sean is one strong lad. He pulled it with one hand while touching me with his other for guidance. It takes a lot of strength to keep the cart upright and he had no problems with it. We hauled 12 or 13 cart loads from the shelter.

Nancy, of course, was out there with the camera and took a few snaps as we toiled.

Your comments will no longer be moderated

2007-02-28T19:17:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Patricia's helpful comment, I found how to change the "moderation" step, so henceforth, no blog comments will be moderated. Thank you Patricia!
Cheers,
Nancy

Soundness is in the Heart - or A Teacher named Bailey

2007-02-28T07:59:00.000-07:00

It was December of 1999. The Denver area had gotten a good dose of snow. The wind was still strong as I drove south of the city, to an address in the middle of nowhere. I had to find the turnoff, follow the dirt road past a huge power pole and stop at a barn. I was so excited I could hardly drive. Sean, in the back seat, didn't know where we were going but he was happy to be going somewhere.

The object of the trip was to look at a horse. From the ad in the paper, it sounded like this horse might work for Sean. The horse was an older, "been there, done that" ex ranch horse. 20 years old. I had been around an old retired horse as a youngster and knew how much an older horse could teach. Many years later I had rediscovered horseback riding when I leased a horse and rode double with a small, 11 year old Sean, almost daily for over a year. Sean couldn't get enough of that horse and of riding.

I had never owned a horse as an adult. The prospect was daunting. The owner brought out a saddled, bridled "Bailey" and rode him around for us. This was not reassuring because the ground was icy. It terrified me to watch the rider nonchalantly canter Bailey around. When the reins were handed to me, I preferred to bring Sean out to a non-icy area. I let Sean approach Bailey and touch his face, touch the saddle, stroke Bailey's neck. I then handed the reins to Sean and walked off a little, letting Sean use his residual vision to follow me. Bailey obediently followed Sean and stopped when Sean stopped. There was never anything but slack in the reins. We walked in this manner for several minutes. Sean was not about to get onto Bailey because it had been several years since he had ridden a horse and Sean had grown up in those years. Getting him back onto a horse would probably take months because it would have to be at his own pace. But I felt Bailey had the patience to go with Sean on this.

Bailey scuffed his front hooves as he walked. I asked about it. Yes, Bailey was had always walked like that since they'd had him. They'd taken him up into the mountains for trail rides over the last year and Bailey had done just fine but yes, he was not sound. He was also nothing to look at. He was a plain brown horse with a winter coat. He had a tiny white spot on his forehead. But I wasn't looking at color . The temperament was the most important thing to me, and Bailey was calm. He was fine around people, and the seller didn't strike me as the kind of person who would dope up a horse.

What a gem this old brown horse turned out to be. He was the best possible teacher we could have found. Over the 7 years we have had Bailey, he has taught us how to care for him, taught me what a fine mind he has, how smart he is and how safe he could be. Even though he scuffed his front hooves, he took great care with his riders. He especially loved carting small children around.

Bailey taught Sean how to feed carrots to horses; Bailey taught me how to be calm and not get riled if things didn't quite go as planned. He taught us infinite patience. He was a saint waiting at the mounting block for half an hour so that Sean could get on in his own good time. Above all, he taught everyone in our family what a blessing a horse can be.

Now, Bailey is no longer rideable. (I think he was older than the "20" I was told in 1999). He now enjoys having the freedom to roam our 10 acres and hit us up for treats when we go out on the deck. He seldom misses a chance to snag a carrot if he sees us out on the deck during the day. We have since gotten 2 other horses, and Bailey is the herd boss. The other two horses are mares and although mares usually rule the roost, Bailey continues to be the benevolent dictator.

I used to read horsemens' stories about what a great teacher this or that horse was. Now I understand what those horsemen meant. And with more horses now, the learning just keeps on coming! What a journey we are taking!

To anyone who has left comments!

2007-02-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

My apologies to those who have commented on some of the blog entries! Only recently was it brought to my attention that the comments had to be moderated. That is a change from the way it used to be. I found comments from many months ago which had never been seen! Today I have moderated all such comments and published them all.

In future I will keep a close eye out so that anyone who writes a comment will have his or her comment noticed right away!

Cheers,
Nancy

Jan 31, 2007 Deliberation and a Decision

2007-02-03T13:42:00.000-07:00

Sean can be demanding.

In the day-to-day world of Sean and his care-taking, various demands must be met. It is true that now that he is 27 years old, he has calmed down a bit compared to what he was like when he was little. Now, he can "chill out" more easily and by that I mean he can sit in the living room or in his room and be content to enjoy the sunshine as it washes over his face. His fingers will always be busy, finding a tiny little particle of something to roll between his thumb and forefinger while he basks. In earlier times, Sean had to be busy busy busy - his fingers were exploring and getting caught frequently in just about anything he could touch. He would get up, wander around the house and pull on anything that he touched. And keep pulling until it broke. Like curtains. But as I say, now he's a bit more mellow.

Nevertheless, caring for Sean is demanding. He remains 100% WHATEVER. And by that I mean if he is hungry, he is 100% HUNGRY. He will not allow me to sit down for an instant, but will guide me into the kitchen and insist that I get something ready for him NOW. He will not be herded back into the livng room. He will not budge from the kitchen. Not until he has been handed a plate of food that meets his nose test. Once handed a plate, his first action is to dip his nose into the food. This, we have come to realize, is his way of telling the temperature of the food, in addition to determining how delicious it smells!

Whether Sean wants food, something to drink, or a bath, or whether he needs to go to the toilet, or whether he wants to go outside, Sean will INSIST upon total familial participation until his goal has been met.

With this background, I will attempt to explain a crossroads we have come to, and the decision we made. It has to do with money.

Mick earns the income for the family. I take care of all the peripherals, so to speak. But mostly that means that anything having to do with Sean, I do. That's in addition to the shopping, the cooking, (most of) the cleaning, the feeding and caring of the horses and caring of the dogs during the day when Sean is not here. Sean does have a wonderful care giver, named Doc, without whom we would be lost. Doc has really become very important for Sean on a day-to-day basis. Doc takes Sean swimming, Doc takes Sean to nearby parks where they practice sign language while walking, and this also allows Sean to play on any playground equipment that is big enough for him. I must write a whole entry about Doc one of these days. But I digress. Doc takes Sean for 6 hours 5 days a week, more or less.

From time to time we have become pretty tired of having to budget as carefully as we need to. And let's face it, more often than not, I'm really lousy at it. We would like to get into our own property. We would like to buy some nicer things. So every once in a while I get a bee in my bonnet about having to earn money to supplement the income that Mick brings in so that we can actually make some serious headway in those directions. In those times, I have applied for jobs in local stores, I have looked into trying to use the horses in some way to earn income, etc. And I have gotten a little desperate about having to earn money.

This week though, we achieved something special. It was one of those times when I had been looking at property on the internet and gotten excited about several that looked like they'd fit our needs. But we just weren't financially able to plop down a chunky down payment to get the monthly costs squeezed into our budget. We talked about it and finally I decided that I would do SOMETHING to help out on the income front.

A friend of mine does home-based customer service over the phone and computer. She has been doing it for over a year now and it has really helped them pay bills and keep ahead of the game. I decided to call her and check into the possibility of doing that. She seemed to enjoy it, she certainly enjoyed the extra money they had now, and the hours were not horrific. Plus she could be at home. One thing I know I'm good at is customer relations. Perfect! I called her up and she was great at
answering my questions and steering me through the hiring process. It was part time but the hours that I set would have to be adhered to without an interruption.

The schedule would be something like this: start at 5:00 am and work until 7:00 am. We get up early, so that would be fine. I would work those two hours, then get Sean up, give him his bath, do his breakfast etc. He would be picked up around 9:00 am and then I would feed the horses, take the dogs out for their business, and start work again at 10:00. Work until 1:00 pm. And I'd have to work either on Saturdays or Sundays too. Sean would return home at 3:00 pm. I would even have time between 1 and 3 to go out and feed the horses again. This was not grueling by any means, and the extra money we'd make would really help! Since I didn't have to go anywhere, and I had almost all the necessary equipment to do the job, it was just a matter of selling my skills to the company. This I could do! I decided to sleep on it before actually applying online.

Boy am I glad I did!!!

When I awoke the next morning, something was abundantly clear: I would be sacrificing nearly all of the time that Sean was away on a daily basis, by working on the phone and computer. There would be absolutely no room to handle Sean emergencies, there would be absolutely no room to handle animal/pet emergencies. But for the first time in my life I realized the most important reason that it just would be a big mistake: there would be no time in the day to do anything that I truly WANTED to do. Like train Moon. Like riding Rosa. Like reading how to do that. Like talking to friends. Like catching up on sleep because Sean often is up during the middle of the night. Like enjoying the heck out of living out in the country where things are a big slower and where the huge sky is an endless source of joy to me.

Now I can hear some people saying: well all that's very nice, Nancy, but if you HAD to work, you would. Well that's true. But the fact is, that we have a lifestyle that is a true dream come true: we have our beloved horses right in our back yard; we have two great rescue dogs that are a source of endless delight; I can bake and cook and create anything I want to in the kitchen, and I do. The prospect of giving up all of this, in exchange for a pretty measily amount of hourly money while getting the additional burden of stressing out over schedules, Sean, when to do this and that..... well I decided that it was NOT worth it.

It was clear to me that while I am not "making money" for the family, I am contributing very valuable services: I am available for Sean, whether that is spending more time tickling him as he gets dressed; making his breakfast; taking extra time with him, letting him know how much he is loved, not rushing or stressing out on "getting him out of here" so that I could "work". And on and on.

Most of my life has been spent working working and working. Now, I am finally doing what I have always wanted: helping teach horses to be better safe horses for me and my family (and of course Moon is here in order to serve as Sean's and my riding horse). But the time it takes to learn, experiment and accomplish things is just that: time. Horses do not run on a schedule.

I also do the shopping for a good friend of mine who has difficulty getting out. It is a source of great joy that I am able to help her get out of her house and do a bit of walking, and I can help her run her errands. With that job schedule I would not have been able to see her during the week at all.

When I announced my decision to not apply for the job, Mick not only was understanding, he was elated! He said that it was a huge weight off his shoulders that I would not be trying to work, because I am available for anything that can come up during the day that needs to be handled, in or out of the house. It was a huge relief to him because he knows I try so hard to do something perfectly and he knew I'd start stressing out over it instantly. He also did not feel comfortable with me doing a job for small pay, when he feels our big paycheck consists of being out here in the first place.

So money? So what. We have enough to pay the bills, as long as we don't spend frivolously. We have enough money to buy groceries every week and to have nutritious delicious meals. Sure it would be nice to have a lot more money, but at what cost?

People dream of having the life style we have. I wouldn't trade it for millions of dollars. I'm so very lucky to have Mick and Sean and the critters, not to mention the friends we have and love.

So that's what has occupied us recently that I wanted to explain. I think it's the first time I have ever turned down the possibility of money in my hot little hand, for the choice of doing exactly what we are doing.
Nancy

Sean and Snow - January 27th

2007-01-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday January 27th 2007.

Sean sitting on his bed, wrapped in his comforter and chilling out. Why?

Well, it's 10 am and guess what? It's been snowing since 6 this morning. Not a blizzard of course, just some steady light snowfall. The sixth week in a row...

Sean seems to take the enforced idleness in stride. It would be very dangerous to take him out in the snow, while he is good at walking and, as you can see from previous entries in the blog, he can gain confidence enough to walk over the field, the footing has become so treacherous that we don;t want to chance it.

Several people have asked how Sean knows it is snowing as he is deaf/blind. Of course we don't have a definitive answer but there are a couple of things that bear on it, we think. Sean can see light and dark, shadow and color. Rubella meant that when he was born he had very dense cataracts, they were removed and almost immediately they came back. The doctors and we made the decision to remove the lens altogether so that there would be light and color and some sight but Sean has no lenses to focus.

Sean does make good use of his residual vision and as he grows familiar with an area he gets better and better at functioning in it.

So to answer the question - how does he know? We think it is mainly due to the quality of the daylight. Most of the time, here in Colorado, it is sunny. For you unfortunates who have not been here and may not know this - most of the time we have crystal clear blue skies and sunshine. It is gorgeous.

Jan. 22nd 2007 Schooling Moon

2007-01-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

Moon backs up when I gently pick up her tail. She has progressed from one step to ten! I am not pulling her here at all!

Below, Moon learns the first steps to The Bow. Here, I am holding her right front leg up and she is leaning down to touch the target stick.

The New Year has been fun despite our amazingly wintry weather! Between the snow storms there have been some fabulous, sunny days which have allowed me to make serious headway with Moon.

She is such an avid student that we have tackled all kinds of fun things. Some of the lessons were planned and others were spontaneous. Sometimes I go out to the pasture expecting to do one thing, but Moon has an interest in doing something else, so the lesson plan changes accordingly. An example last week was that I had put her halter and lead rope on (her) to help her get used to the feel of the lead rope hanging onto the halter. But she seemed more interested in mouthing everything so I switched the lesson over to having her touch things with her nose, and then having her pick things up in her mouth! The lesson moved on from there to "retrieving". Within a few minutes, Moon 's progress was excellent: I would throw my glove down on the ground a few feet away and she'd go get it for me! She loves all this stuff!!

I have also been helping her to move her feet based on a very light physical suggestion from me. Again, she is an eager student. After only a few short sessions, she has learned to back up slowly and carefully with a light-as-a-feather suggestion from me. All I do is stand behind her and pick up a few of her tail hairs. Sometimes I add the command "back" but usually I just pick up her tail as lightly as possible. What began as one step back has now progressed to ten. She will continue to back up as long as I keep holding her tail, moving back with her.

Another thing we have begun working on is "The Bow". She is such a gumby horse - she is the most flexible horse I have ever seen. Teaching a horse to bow is fun and it's a great introduction to teaching a horse to lie down, so over the last couple of days we have been working on The Bow. It will take a few more sessions before she gets it all because there are many steps to learning it, and we are just doing one or two steps each time.

In the pictures of her backing up, you may think her ears are pinned, but they are not. She has her ears turned back toward me and is listening. She also is looking at me. Horses use each eye separately and she is working hard in these pictures to do what is asked. Of course she gets rewarded every time for her trying!! She is getting lots of goodies for her efforts!

Our First Ride!
Last week was our first ride! One Jan 16th, I got on her bareback and we had a couple of nice rides in the pasture. Not long rides, but good, non-eventful rides. The safe kind! There was no saddle or bridle on her nor even a halter. I depended on what I had taught her from the ground, and I trusted her. She went forward, stopped, backed up, and then she went forward again, all by verbal command and by feel. It was exhilarating! She was so calm and she just wanted to please me!!

My 3rd and 4th rides were today, the 22nd. Even though it was cold outside, it was a beautiful day and she remembered her lesson about lining up at the mounting block for me to get on. So I got on twice - once from each side. It's important for horses to get used to things happening on each side of them, including people getting on and off. Again, the rides today were short but sweet. Pictures will have to wait I'm afraid. Mick had already gone into the house by the time I decided to ride today!

There are other things I have introduced to her this week: pulling me while I hang onto her neck. In case of emergencies I'd like her to be able to pull my weight, on cue. Then she can graduate to pulling/dragging things while I am riding her. Then maybe a cart of sleigh next year! Ha!

That's another of today's reports! I hope you enjoy this blog! Please feel free to comment below any individual entries!
Nancy

Jan 22- More on the Storms of Dec/Jan

2007-01-22T09:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos taken in December when the blizzard first hit. While the horses look pretty bedraggled, that ice and snow on their coats actually kept them well insulated. As long as they get a steady diet of hay, they can handle the cold pretty well.

Snowball update

2007-01-22T09:18:00.000-07:00

The snow has been a playground for our two dogs - (The Artful) Dodger and Snowball. Both of them are fully winter capable - they have the thick undercoat and absolutely love the cold weather.

Snowball is he elegant looking one - he is much taller than Dodger and is completely white. We got him from a family who had obtained him from a dog rescue in Wyoming. We have no idea what his lineage is - he looks like a mix of retriever, some sort of elegant hound of some kind and who knows what. He has a beautiful coat, he has the retriever smiling face and he runs like the wind.

Snowball is also a ferocious defender of his "pack". Snowball has a very imposing bark - it's deep and fierce and he has an imposing set of teeth. He is a real softy but he does not get on that well with other dogs. During the days and weeks after the great blizzard when traffic was all but shut down around here the dogs in the neighborhood got used to running around. (There are a lot of dogs around here).

At one point about two weeks ago Snowball (or Snowby as we refer to him) came back in and had some blood on his back very near his tail. We tried some udder butter but it just would not stop bleeding. The next day Nancy decided to take Snowby to the vet in Strasburg, they shaved the area of his tail - giving him the appearance of an oddly groomed poodle - and found that he several deep lacerations. Whichever dog it was that took some hunks out of Snowby's hide, had been ferocious. Talk about an ass chewing.

Unfortunately for our elegant dog the temperatures plunged - highs in the single digits - and we would not let him out because his unprotected skin would get frostbitten in short order. That means that Snowby has not been able to enjoy the snow because we only take him out on the leash. But today it looks like the temperature will be above freezing and it will be warmer in the sun so Snowby and Dodger will get to go romp in our neighbor Gigi's field. Finally some running time for Snowball.

The Winter of 2006/2007

2007-01-22T07:50:00.000-07:00

It has been almost 5 weeks since the blizzard of December. It started on Wednesday December 20th. Around 5 in the morning I was taking Snowball and Dodger out for their early morning "stress relief" walk. I always take them out early in the morning so that they won't bug Nancy to take them out after I leave for work at 6.

As I took them out into the field just to the south of the house I noticed that the predicted snow was just starting. I decided not to go into work that day because C-DOT always seems to close I-70 at the drop of a snowflake - and when they close it going east they usually close it from Aurora to Kansas. The last time I got stuck in Denver during a snowstorm and tried to drive back home using the back roads - it took me seven hours and two trips into the ditches. Not doing that again.

The snow just kept coming - it snowed from that first moment on Wednesday morning until Friday. Here are some photos from outside the ol' homestead from that period - the "breaking wave" from the south side of the barn was spectacular. It is kind of hard to judge the depth of some of the drifts but they were deep!

It was kind of funny the way the snow drifted between the barn and the horse shelter - I say "funny" when I mean "peculiar" because there was nothing funny about dragging the cart with the hay through the drifts. It was hard, tiring work. One of the things that Nancy has taught me is that horses need hay and water to stay warm so we had to haul a lot...

And, of course, there is getting the water up to the trough. By Thursday morning the hose line from the well to the trough was buried under 4 feet of snow (and frozen solid of course) so we had to bucket the water up to the trough. Now THAT is an aerobic workout. Try slipping and sliding through the drifts carrying two ten gallon buckets

And with all the snow everything just takes longer.

Remarkably, Sean has been extremely tolerant of the conditions. The depth of the snow and the ice make it very dangerous to try and take him out for a walk - his footing is precarious at times and we have to provide a guiding arm. If he were to slip and fall it would be very upsetting for him and the chances are good that trying to prevent it or trying to lift him up would be physically tough on Nancy and myself - and I am not sure we would be able to do it.

So Sean has been restricted to the house for those days where it has been impossible for his care worker - 'Doc' - to make it out here and he has done very well on those days.

The blizzard and the cold temperatures meant that Christmas 2006 was a picture perfect one - loads of snow on the ground - we even had snow showers on Christmas Eve. I'll write about the actual Christmas day in a separate post - it was just great, a day for the memory books.

After Christmas we got smacked with snow, again, on the Friday. It wasn't as bad as the blizzard just before Christmas but it was substantial. Then the temperature plunged and we went into the deep freeze. The next Friday - it snowed again.

And that brings us up to this weekend - it didn't snow on Friday - it snowed a little on Saturday and then a lot on Sunday, we had blizzard conditions in the late morning and - drifts. Drifts again..

Funnily enough Nancy has been able to do some sterling work with Moon - I hope she is going to update the blog with the great stories.

I will be updating the blog with the dog and cat stories.

Orbiting Moon

2006-11-04T23:09:00.000-07:00

Today, the 4th of November, was overcast but mild. A perfect day to do horse stuff!
Sean and Mick fed the hungry horses this morning as evidenced by the photo(s) shown here. Then later on during the day Mick and Sean cleaned out the shelter. Moon of course was front and center all the way. She is so curious and so friendly that she is almost a pest! But you have to adore that childlike curiosity she has!

She is coming along pretty well in her training, despite my being her trainer! She leads pretty well now, she is getting used to all sorts of noisey, strange things that used to scare her but don't anymore. She is used to being all over the place, in and out of the barn, in and out of the outdoor riding ring etc.

Today I saddled her up and took her to the riding ring. I didn't ride her yet but I did help her learn to line up at the mounting block. All these things take time, and I am having such fun working with her because she tries so hard and really wants to please. Horses are amazing animals. They try and try and just want to understand what you're asking. When Moon doesn't do what I want, it's only because she doesn't understand what I'm asking.Then it's up to me to see how I can be more clear in my communication to her. It's that simple.

We spent quite some time yesterday and today doing something that sounds ridiculously simple: having the horse move her hind feet one at a time away from me. Later on, when she is being ridden, she is going to have to be able to move sideways one step at a time or move only her hind feet one step at a time, or only her front feet, one step at a time. These are things that a horse needs to understand and execute on cue when needed by the rider. Otherwise, a rider can't get close to a gate for example that needs to be opened or shut. A rider may need her horse to sidestep away from danger, or away from another horse etc. So learning these moves is a part of the foundation that a rider wants to make sure is solid before getting into the saddle. If all your horse can do is take you straight ahead at a dead run, that horse is certainly not safe to ride!

Moon made a whole lot of progress today! She had the saddle on for quite a while, we played around with a noisey plastic bag that blew around in the wind all over her. She survived that and ended up chasing the plastic bag as I held it and ran around the field!

Tomorrow I hope to get Sean out there with Moon and try a few new things. We'll see where it all leads!
Nancy

First Moon Walk

2006-10-15T14:08:00.000-06:00

Gosh I wish I had pictures from today!!! This photo is from last month but it's better than nothing.

Moon has come along pretty well, and today was the first day I led her and let Sean walk along next to her with his hand on her back. This sounds so very simple, but it has taken 12 weeks of working with Moon for me to take this chance.

Before all this happened today, I helped Sean get his new boots on. Whenever he is around Moon, he will be wearing his boots to protect his feet. Tennies are absolutely out! Sean had to practice walking in his new boots before we even went near the horses. This is because of the way Sean walks. When he is in his tennis shoes (which is nearly always) he slides his feet along the ground. If you think about it, it makes sense. He can then feel the difference in terrain as he comes to it. But when he walked in his boots, the sliding technique didn't work. He tripped a few times before he got the hang of having to lift his feet up off the ground. Fortunately, the boots give him excellent footing and it only took him a couple of minutes to figure out how he had to walk with those boots on!

Of course as soon as Sean and I had appeared outside, Moon had trotted down to the gate and nickered at us. I put her halter on (her) and brought her outside the corral. She was very excited about the prospect of having some grass to enjoy so I let her have a few bites before bringing Sean up alongside her.

I walked very slowly ahead of Moon. She didn't want to walk slowly at first but after Sean put his hand on her back and took a couple of steps next to her, she sort of calmed down. I led her, looking back at Sean and Moon, so that I could ensure she never got close to him with her feet. All went pretty well and we just slowly slowly walked up the field toward the riding ring.
By the time we had walked to the entrance of the riding ring, Sean had had enough and wanted to go back. So very gingerly, I turned Moon around while Sean stayed at her side. Then we made our way slowly down again to where we had started.

I steered Sean to his mini trampoline so he could sit down and enjoy the sunshine while I brought Moon back into the corral.

It was Sean's real first interaction with Moon. Sean did really well and so did Moon!
Nancy

Colorado Moon's Debut with Sean

2006-08-07T13:20:00.000-06:00

Sunday, 6th Aug was a big day. Like a lot of big days, it consisted of something many may think of as small. It was the first day I let Sean take a cart full of hay up into the corral with the horses since "Moon" has arrived here.

It was a pretty big test for Moon, although she probably didn't know it. She just saw breakfast arriving. She is a very big, strong horse and she has been pretty pushy since she got here, on July 10th. I have worked with her nearly every day to help her learn basic manners: respecting the personal space of anyone near her, backing up on cue, standing still when asked, etc. These are basic safety things that every horse needs to learn.

Colorado Moon has also gotten very good at lowering her head on cue. This is an important thing for a horse to learn because when a horse's head is low to the ground, the horse is usually pretty calm. A horse eats with its head down. A horse is not in flight mode when its head is low. So teaching a horse to lower its head on cue can actually calm a horse down.

Yesterday it seemed like Miss Moon was ready for this first test. Sean came out with me to the barn, he loaded the cart with hay, and we went up to the gate. Moon likes to take possession of the gate whenever anyone approaches it. So opening it and allowing Sean to go in was the first test. I have been working on helping Moon back up when the gate gets opened because her first inclination was to step forward into the face of the person entering the corral. Not a safe thing at all!!

Moon was great! As soon as I opened the gate, she stepped back, out of my personal space. I turned toward Sean and motioned him in and in he came. He took the cart right up to the bins inside the corral and put the hay in them. Moon was very good. She did not get too close to Sean while he put the hay in the bins.

What a great day! Maybe it doesn't sound like much, but it is to me. Moon is learning the safety basics she will have to use the rest of her life in her interaction with people. And these are the first baby steps in her being safe for Sean!

Nancy

Our "Sean Project" horse has arrived!!

2006-07-15T18:40:00.001-06:00

On the night of July 10th, 2006, at around 10:30, she arrived! She is quite lovely and a bit on the chunky side. She was named "Moon" before she came to us. I liked that and decided to elongate it to "Coloarado Moon" seeing as how she was now in Colorado, and since she had arrived on the eve of the full moon. (Her face reminded me of Veronica Lake and I almost renamed her, but decided against it since she already knows her name.

For that night and part of the next day, Moon stayed in a pasture belonging to our good friend and neighbor, Gianna. This allowed Moon to get used to her surroundings while being in a safe place by herself. Horses can sometimes get into a bit of a tizzy when meeting other horses, and Bailey, our gelding, might not take kindly to an interloper. Better that Moon stayed by herself that night so I wouldn't be up all night worrying about three horses racing around and kicking at each other!

The next day, I led her up to our pasture. Bailey came straight over to see what this new horse was all about and as soon as the two of them touched noses over the gate, he swiftly turned and herded our other horse as far away as possible. Moon was left to herself most of the next couple of days. Now of course, she and our mare, Rosa, are pretty good buddies. Bailey has given up chasing Moon off and is content to accept her in his herdette of 3.

Sean met Moon the first day she was up here with us. He was happy enough to feed her some horse treats. She is a bit of a Hoover about treats. She is also really friendly! She LOVES to come right over whenever someone is outside. She is so interested in people. That's a great thing for the Sean Project.

As far as what kind of horse she is, she is a Shire/Paint cross. Her dam (mom) was a Shire and her sire was a Paint. Moon is 5 1/2 years old and still has a bit of growing to do. But she is plenty big to take two adults riding double, when the time comes.

Moon has been ridden double, and she got used to traffic in the past but since she really hasn't been worked with for a year or so, I am going to start everything from scratch, for safety's sake. I am not going to rush anything. We want Moon to know us and trust us and trust Sean, and to take good care of us. If that takes some time, so be it.

So, we have a new adventure ahead of us!
Cheers all!
Nancy

Wrangling Bailey Back

2006-06-18T15:36:00.000-06:00

From time to time, horses manage to get out. So it was with our Bailey this morning. His old legs are pretty creaky so he usually just slowly makes his way around the property and grazes all day. So I rarely put the barrier up across our driveway anymore. But this morning he must have decided to sample the greener grass (of course) on the OTHER side of our fence. Our good friend and neighbor, Gianna, called us up to let us know that Bailey was in her driveway. Well, he's not a dummy. Gianna has two mares grazing in her pasture. Not only did Bailey get to hang out with them, but he got to munch on green grass alongside the road all the way from our driveway to Gianna's.

Gianna kindly slipped a halter on Bailey and walked him up the road toward our house, meeting Mick and Sean who went out to bring him home. Sean is used to walking a lot so this little stint was a piece of cake for him. I liked the way he had his arm over Bailey's back most of the walk home.

I am including one shot of them all as they came into our driveway.Even though the halter had been taken off Bailey by then and he was free to go whereever he wanted on our property, you can see that he kept in step with Mick and Sean as they walked back toward the house.

Happy Father's Day! I hope any fathers reading this is as happy as Sean's father is!

Sunshine Magic

2006-05-29T18:49:00.000-06:00

May 29, 2006

Recent days have been pretty hot here, but the sunshine is glorious! Here are photos taken today when Sean sat out on his mini trampoline enjoying the sun, and Bailey enjoyed Sean's company. Bailey is a very loving and calm horse around people. He appreciates any and all attention he gets, and he is always very gentle around Sean.

Gone swimming

2006-04-09T14:37:00.000-06:00

Sean loves to swim - last Friday evening Sean and nancy met up with me at Fitzsimmons pool in Aurora and Sean and I got to swim - I picked a picture that does not have me in it to spare the reader the truly awful view. But this is a great shot of Sean floating in the deep end - he really is a good swimmer.

We have a visitor..

2006-04-09T14:30:00.000-06:00

Her name is "Vertical Horizon" (hey don't blame us - that's her registered name). we call her "V". She is a Tennessee Walking Horse - she is just over 16 hands and we all introduced ourselves yesterday. She is very friendly... Sean seems quite taken with her too.

She could be 'the' horse - the vet check is next Thursday and, if that goes well, she will become part of El Rancho Wenlock.

isn't she beautiful???

Having Horses.

2006-04-03T22:52:00.000-06:00

Here's a photo from last year that shows how calm Sean is around the horses and how calm they are around him. Pretty soon with the weather improving, I'll be able to post some current photos too.

There is something about the experience of being out in the countryside with animals, for Sean. He is certainly happier and healthier and more in touch with his surroundings since we moved out here and since he began interacting regularly with the horses. Although he is not feeding them every day, he is helping me from time to time.

As for Dolly, Sean and I visited Dolly last week. She is a real sweety pie of a horse! Gosh she is a loveable horse and Sean and I would have no trouble riding her double! Provided we could climb up on her of course! I handed Sean the lead rope while we visited Dolly, and let him lead her around in an enclosed area. She did very well and so did Sean. He was not in the least worried. For right now though, Dolly is not quite as laid back as we would need for a " Sean Project" horse, but she may still work out at some point in the future. She was very curious about Sean and kept tipping her head around to take a closer look at him.

There's still no telling where this horse journey is going to lead us. It doesn't seem to be leading me to become any sort of horse trainer or horse professional. I lack the years of experience in order to do that safely. It would be fun to learn to drive, and have a cart or a wagon that Sean could help hitch to the horse and then ride in! But so far the wherewithall to do that hasn't swooped up the driveway. Perhaps I am expecting too much, or perhaps I am expecting too little. I haven't quite figured it out yet. But as long as we are here, we all have a daily treat to take care of and love our animals. It's just a wonderful experience that I wouldn't trade it for a million dollars!
Nancy

Sean's People - Jill Lauchle

2006-03-27T16:08:00.000-07:00

Jill Lauchle was Sean's teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver. Alas once Sean left TJ we lost track of both Jill and the teacher's aide Martha. But during Sean's time at TJ (2 years) Jill worked hard to make something of the classroom and provide a meaningful environment for the children in it. Their whole team was enthusiastic, upbeat and caring. Special Ed is a tough area to work in I reckon and people like Jill Lauchle and Martha Reardon are absolute gems.

Sean's People - Kevin Bingham

2006-03-25T06:42:00.000-07:00

Kevin's parents were our neighbors for a while and that's how we got to meet. Kevin is an accomplished horseman, just like his father, Sam. During his years at Pomona College Kevin took on a summer job of working with Sean - and what a team they turned out to be.

Kevin's family had two Inidian ponies that were stabled at the same place as Bailey and Kevin used to take Sean out riding - here is a pic of Sean, Kevin and one of the ponies..

Oh yeah - you will see a lot of entries coming up in the blog for Kevin - he was a very important part of Sean's life for a while - we could never do justice to all that in just one post!

Sean's people

2006-03-25T06:29:00.000-07:00

Now that we have a working scanner we can upload some of the pictures of people who have worked with Sean throughout his life. Part of working with Sean is getting help from many different people. It has been truly amazing - sometimes when you read the newspapers or watch the news you may think that the world is going down the tubes and that no-one cares about anyone else. Our experiences have been TOTALLY different to that.

Over the next few days we'll be uploading some pictures of people who have made a big difference in Sean's and our lives. We hope you enjoy meeting them as much as we do.

Saturday morning

2006-03-25T06:16:00.000-07:00

Well today is the day we were going to take a look at Dolly but I have come down with the galloping crud and it looks like Sean is on his way to getting it as well so we have to bag the visit for today I reckon. Drat!

It is a beautiful morning here in eastern Colorado and as soon as I stop blowing my nose and coughing and sneezing I will no doubt enjoy it..

Sean as a baby

2006-03-22T17:34:00.000-07:00

Finally we got a working scanner so I was able to scan my absolute favorite picture of Sean when he was a baby. Look at the grin - how could you not fall in love with that little guy?

Could this be our perfect SEAN PROJECT horse?

2006-03-22T09:38:00.000-07:00

Meet Dolly! She belongs to a friend. She is a big Belgian/Quarterhorse cross. She's got that draft temperament I adore, and she's big enough for two people to rider her DOUBLE.

In a few days we hope to meet her. And if we all get along, we may very well be welcoming Dolly home to our place to have a job helping Sean learn to ride with me again!!

Bailey - a dream horse

2006-01-31T10:22:00.000-07:00

Bailey is the dark brown horse lying down. Rosa (Chupy) is the one standing guard over him.

Last night, at El Rancho Wenlock, we had a little bit of a scare.

Nancy went out to feed the horses at around 6 pm - it had just turned dark. She was a fair while out there but that is usually because she is feeding Bailey and Chupy treats and generally fussing over them. This time when she came back in she told me that she had had a 'bit of a scare'.

Apparently when Nancy got out to the pasture Chupy had come down to the gate but there had been no sign of Bailey. If there is one horse in the world who likes treats, food and attention it is our Bailey. Nancy went past Chupy and up by the shelter and Bailey was down. She called out to him and walked up to him - no response. "I thought he was dead!" Nancy said to me.

All of sudden Bailey woke up and then, of course, he was all about treats..

But it was a small disturbance in "the Force". Bailey is a very old horse and one day he is going to move on to that pasture in the sky where the water is clear, cold and fresh, the grass is tasty and there are bins of wonderful feed all over. But it will be a tough time for us.

Bailey is not the sort of horse you go out looking to buy. (Unless you are Nancy of course). He was old, he was worn out and he was not sound. Nancy should have been paid money by the owner to take the horse but Sean seemed to like him and Bailey would stand still while Sean hugged him. That was good enough for Nancy. She handed over the dough and we had acquired our first horse.

So what possible use is a broken down old ranch horse who is not sound? The cost! The food!

But watching Nancy work with Bailey, just learning to feed him, just taking care of him, delighting in his antics, spoiling him with treats was to watch someone fall head over heels back in love with an activity they had done as a child. Bailey awoke the sleeping dream in Nancy and brought it out into the light of day again. We, all three of us, have been carried along with it. Even me.

That horse may not be able to carry a rider, he sure as hell can carry a dream.

Mick

Winter on the Plains

2005-12-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

Horses get frisky in the winter. Here's Bailey just starting to buck while Rosa gets out of the way! Winter brings out other qualities in people. Sean the Brave! Sean Of Great Fortitude! Sean the Adventurer! OK, Sean the Tolerant. When cold weather hits the plains where we live, usually it is BLOWN in by some pretty darn cold north or northwest winds. Sean allows us to help him get all bundled up in extra socks, winter boots, sweatshirt, down-filled coat and gloves, all of which are necessary to brave the winter chill even if he is only going to be outside for a short time. The one thing Sean will NOT allow is any sort of head gear. No hat. Ever since he was little, Sean has never allowed anything on his head, not even a riding helmet when riding horseback. There is only one time that Sean has actually allowed a knit hat to stay on his head and that was Oct 10, 2005 when we had 21 inches of snow dumped right on our little part of Colorado!

Mick got stuck trying to get home from work. I took Sean out in our trusty truck to rescue Mick. It took exactly 4 minutes for me to run the truck (I was only going 3 mph!!) into the ditch. Since we were so close to home, Sean and I had to hoof it back to the house, leaving the truck in the dtich. Not even our neighbor's tractor got our truck out. Not because I had gone very far into the ditch, but because his tractor engine quit. Our little dirt road was starting to collect vehicles. Our truck was in the ditch, the tractor was out in the road, and another neighbor's 18-wheeler had gotten stuck alongside the road a couple of hundred feet away from us! The wind howled, the snow was coming down in huge flakes, the drifts were a couple of feet high. To exit the truck, I had to climb into the passenger seat and get out that way. When I opened the back door for Sean, he just hunkered down in the back seat, not wanting anything to do with that north wind! Eventually when it was made clear to him (by gesture) that he was going to have to leave the truck, he gave in. Once out in the wind, I took my knit hat off and pulled it down onto Sean's head. He allowed it to stay on his head as we trudged through the knee-high snow on the road, back to the house. We were nearly at the front door before he took the hat off and handed it to me! What a triumph! He finally realized that a hat could actually be a good thing! But that's how extreme it had to get for Sean to wear anything on his head. That was an especially tolerant exhibition on Sean's part.

It hasn't happened since.

Oh and Mick eventually made it home - 7 hours after leaving work. It's usually a 45 minute trip.

Last Week

2005-11-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

Last week it was Sean's Birthday. He turned 26. We really don't have a great 'party' or anything like that - though we did order huge pizzas for dinner (Sean does love a good pizza) - because I don't think we have ever succeeded in getting across the concept very well.

Nancy has been down with the flu bug for the last few days and Sean's aide has been on vacation so it has been down to Dad, for the most part, to keep Sean as occupied as possible. So yesterday I took the day off from work so that Nancy could rest up and Sean and I hit the great outdoors. We fed horses, we took the dogs for a walk down to a neighbor's fenced field where they could run around and Sean and I could stroll like Lords of the Manor. It was great - well I enjoyed it, Sean is not a big fan of walking.

Then we took off to go swiming at Fitzsimmon's pool in Aurora. Let me put a plug in here for the staff at Fitzsimmons - they all know Sean (he goes there most days) they are friendly and fun and I just love that pool. Aurora Coloado - look after your staff at Fitzsimmons - they are all good people.

So Sean and I got into the pool and started doing some laps. Now I was pooed after 8 lengths (not being very fit and all) Sean was just enjoying himself - swimming along and turning somersaults as he swam.. man, he just loves being in the water. We took a little break and then back into the pool. After trying to keep up with Sean for an hour of solid swimming I called it a day. Sean walked along perkily, Mick walked along like his legs were made of rubber..

It was a lot of fun.

Walking

2005-11-07T07:03:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, Mick took his usual walks for exercise and for the dogs' exercise. And for one of his walks, he took Sean.

Sean is pretty good now at walking. There was a time when he was small, that he didn't like to walk. Instead of walking where we had to go, he would just sit down. It didn't matter where we were, he'd just plunk himself down and not budge. He was small enough then, that Mick or I could pick him up and carry him on our shoulders when that happened.

But over the years, with practice which started at his Danish deaf-blind school, he got better and better at covering distances. An older residential student at the school loved to jog. He and his aide would go to a track and jog for an hour or so almost every day. Sean has never liked to jog. But he has learned to walk because at the school, he and his housemates had to walk together across a big field to get from their residence to the actual school.

These days, Sean's care taker takes Sean for a couple of walks every day: to and around a couple of playgrounds where they not only walk, but practice sign language and play on the playground equipment.

Mick had left the dogs in the house, and taken Sean. The two of them had disappeared over the hill when I decided to take my horse, Rosa, out for a little spin, and catch up with the walkers. It was a nice sunny day, as are most days here in Colorado, even in winter. I put a halter and lead rope on my horse and just got on her bareback. I enjoy riding bareback a lot. It provides a freedom in movement that riding with a saddle just doesn't come close to! We took off down the driveway and I headed out on the dirt road. This dirt road runs in a big circle so I knew we'd find them somewhere along the way.

When I caught up to them, Sean put his hand on the horse's shoulder as she walked next to him. His face lit up with his big grin as we walked alongside him. Now my horse is very short. So her strides are quick. Walking slowly is something I have had to train her to do because it does not come naturally to her. She was trained to gait at her very quick speed from the moment someone was on her. I have had to slowly bring her thinking around to the fact that slow walking is actually very OK to do. So here she was, walking pretty darn slowly. Sean walks slowly anyway, even when he takes someone's arm, simply because he can't see the ground below him very well. He doesn't know the surface until he's walked it a few times.

But when I rode next to him, and he had his hand on the horse, Sean really picked up the pace. Rosa was doing her best to walk slowly while Sean did his best to keep up with her.

At one point Sean started tugging on my hand and it was a bit unbalancing for me, so I rode on up ahead. Then I let Sean and Mick catch up again and we continued side by side for a while. When Sean started tugging at my hand again, I just rode ahead until we got home.

Mick told me afterwards that Sean really kept going at a faster pace as long as Rosa was next to him. Sean knew I was riding of course, so I'm not sure whether he was trying to keep up with me, or with Rosa, but whichever, it was an interesting experience. He definately wanted to keep up and he moved faster to do so. When I rode on up ahead, Sean slowed right down again. We are not sure about why he would tug at me. We'll have to think about that for a while.

Next weekend we'll try all this again, weather permitting. Not only is it fun for the three of us to be out together, but it's good for Sean to pick up his pace too.
Nancy

Corralled?

2005-10-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

Although autumn has come to Colorado, there are still wonderful sunny days. Sean was sitting on his mini trampoline in the horse corral when I shot this. Sean adores sunshine! He'll happily bask out in the sun, even when the wind is cold, which it wasn't that day. I had just turned the horses out on our 10 acres when I took this photo so it's funny because the horses are OUTSIDE the corral while Sean is inside. Sean stayed there for over an hour enjoying the sun that day.
Nancy

2005-09-19T18:31:00.000-06:00

Earlier this month, Sean helped me take care of some friends' animals. Our friends were gone for a week, so I visited their homestead twice a day to feed, water and take care of their animals. Mick and Sean helped on the evening runs, and Sean went with me almost every morning.

He pulled the hay cart all by himself, and he even helped throw the hay in to the llamas and horses. But what Sean was really good at, was feeding horse candy to each of the 4 horses and the 5 llamas. The llamas really liked that!! The horses were pretty eager to see us too. Somehow or another they suffered through having to be fed AND getting treats!

It was fun to go over there every day and feed the variety of animals they have there! There were several types of hens too, and several times, I opened the hen house door to find that they'd tipped their whole waterer over!!!! They were cackling like mad to get some more water! Well, I think it was a front. "THOSE CHICKENS WAZ OORGANIZED". They were planning their escape and testing me by tipping over their waterer to see how long I'd take to refill it. They couldn't fool me. I'd seen "Chicken Run". They weren't going to escape while I was there!!!
Nancy

2005-08-17T11:07:00.000-06:00

So far this summer, Sean has been learning how to get onto a horse again. The barrels have been useful as "pretend" horses, but Sean is not very keen to sit down on a barrel and then get off of it again. It probably doesn't make any sense to him, and I understand why. The barrel is not a horse. I know why he is sitting and getting off of a barrel, but Sean doesn't! So I think the next part of this adventure is going to have to involve a horse! Imagine that!!

I would like to try to get Sean mounted on our Paso Fino. She is certainly strong enough to carry him alone, and with some help to get him sitting on her, I can lead him along for a bit. We'll see... Mick is not too keen to do this with me, because it involves sort of lifting Sean up in an awkward position, but I think with some friends helping me, I can do this and Sean would like it too. Stay tuned!!

Some time in the future, we'll find a horse big enough to carry Sean and me together but until then, we'll have to go the solo route, with Sean on our Paso, Rosa. In the meantime, Sean will continue to enjoy th sunshine while sitting out on his mini trampoline giving carrots away. Such a life! The horses just hate it too!
Nancy

2005-08-02T08:52:00.000-06:00

2005-08-02T08:43:00.000-06:00

Here's a recent photo of Sean handing a goodie to our Paso Fino mare, "Chuparosa". We call her Rosa but her full name means "hummingbird" in Spanish. It was a very appropriate name for her too, because she used to back up really fast if she was scared! Rosa used to be very flighty, and run from people. Now, with our continued efforts, she has turned into quite a snuggle bunny!

The Paso Fino breed may not be the first choice for people who have disabled kids or a disabled adult child. But she is my riding horse and she has learned that Sean, despite being big, is a gentle soul. She has warmed right up to him.

The weather is supposed to get cooler, so I'm going to get back to helping Sean learn how to get onto a horse, using the barrels, a saddle, and anything else that might help him! Then I want to get him on Rosa and lead him around a bit to get used to riding again.

OTHER HORSE NEWS: We are on the lookout for a Suffolk Punch mare. Suffolks are draft horses but they are not as tall as most draft breeds. They're big enough to take Sean and me double and we'd also be able to use her as a 2nd trail horse for visitors. Why a Suffolk Punch when there are smaller draft breeds? Because Mick has a soft spot for this breed. It originated in England, as did he! It is also a rare breed. All Suffolks are red colored too, which is sort of neat. There are lots of different shades of course, but they all have a distinctive look. Some day I hope to post a picture of our very own Suffolk Punch mare!
nancy

PS - "The Perfect Horse" Profile

2005-07-23T12:18:00.000-06:00

Yesterday a curious thing happened: a friend sent me an ad she'd seen for a Paso Fino mare for sale. Now she knows what kind of horse we're looking for, for The Sean Project. She also knows that a 6 yo Paso Fino mare is NOT that horse. And she also knows how much I love that breed, and that I will need another trail horse in the not-too-distant future myself.

I called the owner and then got excited about the horse as we talked. The more I learned about the horse, the more I liked the horse. But this horse was the OPPOSITE of what I had been thinking about, for The Sean Project! I can't justify having two more horses. No way can we afford that. So why was I even thinking about this young horse which would be only for me??

The price was very reasonable because the horse needs training. While the horse has been ridden some, it is a "project" in that it lacks training. But that's a good project. A bad project in my view, would be a horse that had been abused or a horse that I would extensively have to RE-TRAIN. This was not the case with this horse! I still almost felt guilty getting excited about this horse though, because it was not a Sean Project horse I was looking at!!

Well, Mick and I talked all about it as soon as he got home. For the price, and for the info about the horse, it seemed like a dream come true. Mick said he was amazed I wasn't driving down to the see the horse right now! Well of course I was feeling strange because this horse was so totally different from the type I'd been thinking of getting for Sean. Mick is good about these things. He is the greatest person in the world to talk to. He has a way of pointing things out and he helped me see a few things here.

What it all comes down to is this: Sean will follow our enthusiasm. He always has and he always will. And every time that we have gone out of our way to get something "for Sean" that we think he'll love, we fall flat on our faces!!! We can't second guess Sean- ever!!

On the other hand, Mick told me that I am good enough with horses now to get a younger horse and train that horse myself - something I have never (until now) considered myself good enough to do. But he is right. My trail horse is pretty old, even though she is in great shape. If I get a horse that WE are enthusiastic about, we can use it for the Sean Project maybe in another way - perhaps Sean can ride one horse while I pony him from mine.... who knows. But the main point of my thought on this is that when we try to second guess Sean, it just doesn't work.

Our next horse wil just have to be one that we love, personality wise, and that will bond to us and we'll see what happens from there with Sean and how the horse will fit into The Sean Project. Maybe it won't. Maybe Sean will just be happy to feed it carrots and goodies the way he is with our other horses, who knows? But we'll just have to go one step at a time while we explore our horse journey!! Be daring! Be passionate! Follow your nose! Mick has always said that to me, and he's always right. Every time I have followed my nose, things have worked out for us and the horses. This is another time when I just have to follow my nose!!

That particular horse may already be sold, by the way. There was a gentleman who went to see her last night and put a deposit down on her, but he has to come back next week to ride her. If he buys her, then she wasn't the right horse for us, but the whole experience of looking at the ad, talking to the owner, examining my own horsemanship skills, and re-evaluating our goals was a tremendous experience!!! I feel much more open to things on the "horse front" now.

This is all so fun and exciting! Who knows where it is leading us, but it sure is exciting!!
Nancy

2005-07-23T11:36:00.000-06:00

While we roast in the Colorado heat, the horses seem to be doing OK in it. Chuparosa ("Rosa") never goes into the shade but prefers to stay out in the hot sun. It's over 100 degrees again today. The heat has been breaking records for the past two weeks. Bailey, our old gelding, doesn't have much to munch on anymore in his 10 acre pasture because the relentless heat has turned the green to brown out there. I have begun giving him hay in the middle of the day to augment the weeds. He is still happy to wander around the field munching all day long and to nap in the sun once in a while.

The dogs have been happy to get out early, have a romp around and sleep the rest of the day! And our newest addition to the family is a tiny kitten Mick named Kokopelli, who sleeps on my pillow every night. He's napping there by himself now! I've added a picture of him on our computer desk to show how small he is. I hope I have added the photo right!!

Sean is sitting right in front of the cooler, in our living room floor! Sean prefers sitting on the floor to sitting on furniture. I think it's because he can't trip or fall if he's already on the floor. It's carpeted, and just plain comfortable for him.

Later today we'll take Sean swimming. Ever since Sean was 7 years old, he has loved swimming. He learned to move his body in a therapy pool when he was tiny, being held by one of the staff. He couldn't move much when he was little, but the daily therapy pool work helped teach him that he can move his body around. He started walking when he was 5 and I'm sure if it hadn't been for the pool work it would have taken him much longer!

How Sean taught himself to swim will be the subject of another entry.
Nancy

Profile of our "Perfect Horse"

2005-07-17T19:55:00.000-06:00

We are continuing with Sean's relearning how to mount a horse. The weather for the past week however has been so intense that the only time I could do anything with Sean is very early in the morning, or in the evening, just before sunset.
So while we continue working on this goal with Sean, I thought it would be a good idea to describe what the "perfect" Sean Project Horse might be. Our two horses do not fit this criteria, so we will need to find this "perfect horse" somewhere!

If you or anyone you know has a horse that sounds like this, please let us know!!!

BUILD: 1) The "perfect" Sean Project horse will be between 14 hands and 15 hands in height. (a "hand" is 4 inches. In the horse world, height is measured in "hands"). This is NOT a tall horse. In fact, I don't want a horse taller than 15 hands. Why? Because if Sean decides to slide off the horse, he can do so without a huge drop, which could hurt his ankles.
2) The horse will be wide-backed and quite stocky. This is because such a horse can more easily take weight than a slender horse. This is crucial. The first part of our riding again (after several years) is going to be double. Sean and I will ride the horse, at a walk, just around our pasture. I'm sure Sean will remember our double riding, and this will be a great, secure way for him to get used to it again. Riding double like this, until Sean feels secure, may take weeks, or months. Obviously we are not going to put a strain on the horse, but it's important that the horse can handle this weight, for short periods of probably 20 to 30 minutes at a time.
3) Built so its trot is not bone-jarring. If the horse is gaited, so much the better, but that's not a requirement for The Sean Project. (It would be great for everyone else though!)

TEMPERAMENT: This horse will love people. It will want attention and enjoy the company of people, It will be very caring of its rider. It will take care if it feels the rider losing balance and will stop or adjust itself to keep the rider on. This is not unusual, but it is vital to us in this Sean Project. We do not want a horse that will just keep going no matter what is happening on its back. This temperament is just as important as the horse's physical build.

TRAINING: 1) Obviously this horse has to be extremely well trained. It has to be trail savvy, meaning it is familiar with all sorts of things it might encounter out on the trail: water, holes, ditches, snakes, etc. These are things that may be in our pasture from time to time and the horse must be completely at ease around general trail obstacles. Part of this includes having a horse trained to not spook at noises, moving objects like plastic bags in the wind, etc. Ideally, the horse would have been a "schooling" horse - one used to new riders and very well trained to be calm amidst noises, changes of weather, moving objects etc. Or the horse could be a successful field trial horse which would include that it is trained to gunshots.

2) The horse also has to know where its feet are at all times (many don't!). This may sound silly, but some horses have never been trained to actually look at the footing themselves! Some horses have been trained to NEVER make a decision on their own and that's not good. We'll need a horse that knows where its feet are at all times, is sure-footed, and can be allowed and trusted to pick its way through something.

3) The horse also has to be trained to ground tie, meaning if a rein drops to the ground. it won't shy but it WILL stop.

While I can teach a horse to ground tie, the first 2 items in this "Training" category really need to be in place before the horse comes to us. This is because I can do training of a horse, but not while doing The Sean Project.
The above points are what I consider necessary. In addition to being The Sean Project Horse, this horse would also double as a trail horse for visitors.

AGE: It just has to be physically mature - I'd say at least 7 or 8 years old - up to 18 if the horse is sound and in excellent condition. I would think a horse about 13 or 14 would be ideal. Again, build and personality are key.

GENDER: No matter. I would prefer a gelding but if the perfect horse turns out to be a mare (and it could very well be) than so be it!

PRICE: Honestly, we don't have much money, so the price has to be within our means. If a person who has this "perfect horse" is willing to work with us, then I'm sure we can work with them and come to some equitable arrangement.

So there it is. Sometimes it helps to just write it all out - as a sort of wish list. Notice I have NOT said anything about breed. Breed doesn't matter a whit. What matters is the horse's personality and its build, more than anything else.

If any of you horse people out there have some suggestions please comment, we'd love to hear your ideas!! Someone suggested getting a mule instead of a horse for The Sean Project. Mules can be more laid back and they won't put themselves in harms way, but mules can also spook. I love mules but the first part of this project is riding double. Some mules' backs are just not suited to double riding. However there may very well be a mule out there with the personality and training as outlined above and so that might work very well! We're open to anything that will work!!!

Nancy

Teaching Sean to mount a horse

2005-07-12T07:58:00.000-06:00

Thanks to our friend, Mike and his suggestion, we made more progress this weekend!
Mike suggested making some sort of barrier in front of the horse barrel, so that Sean can not swing his leg over the front of the "horse". Good suggestion!! To make such a barrier, I pulled a 2nd barrel over and placed it in front of, and at a 90 degree angle to the 1st barrel. So the 2 barrels looked like a T. This is so that Sean can't dismount by swinging his leg over IN FRONT.

To practice mounting the barrel, I got Sean to get his hip as close to the barrel as possible and to face the front, instead of facing across the barrel. This way it's much more natrual for him to put his weight on his hands and swing his leg over. That went really well!! Then, because of that 2nd barrel in place to block the "front" of the horse, Sean could not swing his leg over the front. Instead, being the clever fellow that he is, he just slid right off the back!! I'll probably take a 3rd barrel and put it across the back too. That front barrel DID stop Sean from swinging his leg over front-wise, so thanks, Mike, for your suggestion! That's one part of the bad habit that is getting re-trained!!

Later on, I took Sean for a walk on our dirt road, just for some exercise. When it was time to come home, instead of retracing our steps, I thought it would be interesting to teach Sean to go through our fence. We have a smooth wire, 3-strand fence. Anyone in the western US will know what this is, but in Europe this is pretty rare I think. Anyway, it's just 3 strands of wire (not barbed!!) strung between fence posts. Well, I had to get Sean's hip lined up with the fencing, and I had to get him facing forward and then he could put his leg through the fence. He kept trying to face the fence and put his foot on the wire. But with a little patience and by gently guiding him, I moved his hip toward the fence and got him to put his foot THROUGH the wire. Once his weight was on that foot, he easily leaned down and put the rest of his body through that wire. It was neat to see and it was a great practice run for mounting the horse facing forward too!

Alas, no pictures! The next phase of this will be to add a saddle to the barrel and see how it goes. Hey, I may even get Sean on our Paso Fino by the end of the week at this rate!!

Comments and suggestions are always welcome of course!!
Cheers,
Nancy from HOT HOT HOT Colorado. We've had a week of 90-degree weather and we're in for another week of it!

The Holiday weekend

2005-07-05T08:20:00.000-06:00

Nancy posted a quick note yesterday about some of the activities over the weekend. I thought I would add my tuppence worth as well because I think the work with the barrel and with Sean pointed up a shortfall in the way I was thinking about this and helps illustrate for me, once again, that dealing with deafblindness is sometimes not as straightforward as I would like it to be.

When I first thought of the idea, last week, it seemed pretty clear to me that getting Sean to correctly straddle a barrel and getting him to do it comfortably would be a great way to put him on the path to getting up on a horse. It all seemed as clear as daylight to me.

So I collected up one of the barrels we had that had been blown down to the end of the pasture, got it set up and on Sunday Nancy I and Sean went out to the barrel to have some fun.

When Nancy and I has talked about it I had sub-consciously thought that just getting Sean to lean forward, put his hands on the barrel and then swing his leg over would take but a moment.

I am sure that you, the reader, will be ahead of me on this. The first reaction from Sean was, I think, "why the hell should I do this?" Of course he lacks the sign language to be able to express that exact thought but the sequence went;

1) Sean went along with standing next to the barrel, he allowed us to place his hands to the 'front' , he allowed me to help ease his leg over and he sat on the barrel. Success!! Nancy and I smiled at each other, this was going swimmingly.

2) We tried to get Sean to 'dismount' - ie do the reverse of what he had just done. Nope. No way. He got off the barrel the way he wanted to do it which was to slide his leg over in front of him. Rats.

3) So, Oh well, we start out to try again and this time Sean does not want to swing his leg the way we want him to, he wants to do it the way HE wants to do it.

Now of course Nancy and I know that this will not work for getting on a horse. But I suddenly realized this morning (well no-one accused me of being a genius) - I know why I want him to do this exercise. But Sean has no idea why he should be doing it. And we lack the framework of sign language that would enable us to explain this sequence to him.

And that, in a nutshell, is one of the major hurdles we face with Sean - no matter how grand and exciting the final activity may be, earning the intermediate and more mundane steps that lead up to it can be pretty boring. nancy and I lack the skills to be able to explain so we need to work on making each step fulfilling in and of itself.

Sometimes this dense Dad needs to remember that what Sean sees is not necessarily what I see.

2005-07-04T17:14:00.000-06:00

Yesterday and today, Mick and I have been helping Sean relearn how to mount a horse. When Sean was little, he was very good at climbing up on Pappy from either side. He learned how really fast.

Later on, after Sean had grown, he rode the pony led by Kevin. Kevin would help Sean onto the pony, but they did it in an awkward way: Sean would face the same way as the pony, lean back, and Kevin would help Sean swing his right leg over the horse's neck. Now we have to help Sean unlearn that habit and learn to swing his leg over behind him. It may take some time.

We are using a barrel to assist. So far, the first few tries have gone OK. But Sean won't get OFF the barrel the same way. For right now, that's OK. The main thing we want to do is build up a pattern of Sean putting his weight on his hands and swinging his leg over the right way. One step at a time! This may take days, but as long as Sean is learning it and not getting bent out of shape about having to do it, we count it as a success! Right now Sean can't see a purpose to this so he gets frustrated easily but that's OK. We keep our sessions short and end each one on a good note.

Here are a couple of pictures from yesterday "working the barrel".
Nancy

2005-06-30T15:48:00.000-06:00

Sean picks up the dogs' toys once in a while. A favorite of his is a bone that both our dogs enjoy playing with. When Sean decided to sit on his bed a few minutes ago, he found that his bed had been taken over by both our large dogs. One of them, our black and white mutt, called The Artful Dodger, stayed on the bed when Sean sat down because Dodger saw Sean was holding "his" bone.

Dodger kept his eyes on the bone and tried, gingerly, to get the bone from Sean several times, but each time Sean just kept the bone out of Dodger's reach. It was a wonderful piece of interaction that I had to get a picture of. After several minutes, Dodger gave up and came out into the living room and lay down, without the bone. Sean is the only person I know who can keep a dog toy away from the dogs without any confrontation whatsoever. He never moves quickly, he never pulls the toy out of the dog's mouth or anything. But the dogs are very careful with Sean. As always, animals can teach us a lot! More on horses in the next post!
Nancy