Janet Ortega's Page

www.wildhorsepreservation.org
Our wild horses need our help if they are going to be left alone by our government and allowed to stay on their land.

Been seeing any wild mustangs lately?
Been getting in some good riding? It is suppose to be between 50 and 60 this week here and that sounds perfect to me. Need to take advantage while I can before the snow flies.
What's going on with you in the horse world?

We have about 70 degrees here which is my favorite. Gail.

Oops, Janet I got so carried away going down memory lane that I nearly forgot to answer the rest of your questions...remember we are over 50! So taking care of your kids is your horse kids, right? I'm not familiar with the term ACD? Is it horses with ADD? lol....haven't been up very long. Are all of your horses ride-able? Do you ride alot?
I'm sort-of in central Michigan, just twenty minutes from the state capital, Lansing. I have lived in DeWitt, my whole life. We are third generation DeWitt-iots. My mom was raised here in a family of eight kids, My brother and I were raised here and then my three kids were. It is likely to be the end to that since none of my kids would want to raise children here. It used to be a very small town, rural type community and now has been overtaken by those that want to work in Lansing and live in DeWitt to raise their families in HUGE new houses with small yards. Our home is one of the original farm houses in the area. Over 100 years old with creaky floors and pretty wide wood trim thru most. I even have a big red barn in my back yard with a horse on the roof (lighting rod). I have a very old picture of it when it was pretty new and the now huge maple trees were about 4 ft. tall.and there were open fields all around us. The neighbors house was originally a trading post. Our block is now pretty full ...the whole town is pretty full and so are a large percentage of our former farming fields. The barn where I board Cash now is less then 5 miles from my house so that is much better then our original home for him that was 35 miles away. Especially far when I go at least 5 days a week. At our new place I miss about 2 days a month.
I ran my own business for about 15 years. We started out as outside agents with really a very minimal amount of education. We worked with an organization that taught you the basics and then you could go from there with whatever self-education you wanted to spread into. There is all kinds of ways to get training. It was important to me to really know what I was doing and have a well rounded education of the islands as that was our main selling item. We went on several cruises that gave us a brief but real idea of the atmosphere in different islands. I looked at it as my tuition costs and it did help me be better at advising people which direction to go so they'd be comfortable on their vacations. Some people I've met seem to think all the islands are alike and anyone that says that is pretty unaware of their surroundings. Between 9/11 and the inter-net and the recession, it got so it was pretty much costing me to stay in business by the time I paid licenses, member fees supplies and insurance. It was sad to let go but I was getting burned out from all the complications and new rules and regulations with the airlines that were constantly changing and then the air-lines messing up peoples arrangements after I'd worked hard to make sure everything would run smoothly. It was time to get out...a year ago. Things have only gotten worse. Since I ran an in home office, it is nice to have my home back and went from the phones ringing constantly to no land line.
Yes, I ate dirt a few weeks ago while riding. It will be three weeks ago this coming Wed. I still have some minor issues going on but I think it will mostly heal. Even though my ribs didn't break, I am sure they moved and the surrounding muscle tissue is still very tender. I have to be careful what I lift etc. or I seem to make it worse again. My fanny was black over about 3/4 of it. Quite ugly. I took pics to remember and prove.
I love your part of the country. We've probably been about an hour away from you several times in the past 3 or 4 years. Another story, another time.
I hope you will fill me in more on 'you' and your horsie life.
Shirley

HI Janet, I really enjoy taking photos and some of my favorites are the ones of the horses in the pastures with all the tiny white flowers. We took a sort of vacation here and it was a great experience. Cash and I had many firsts here. We were giong to visit a friends here for 1 maybe two weeks and stayed two months. There was a Parelli fan just down the road with more experience then I had and we learned from her and did out of the arena things together with the horses and it was just special to me. And the whole place had a sense of peace about it, very laid back and homey and calm.

Thanks!!!