Bang! Bang!

Oh my gosh! We attended our first ever Mounted Shooting event. Held close to home, could hardly keep hubby away. I think his mare has a new project to try out. What a fun group of folks and it was like watching gaming but they were shooting guns! The horses were fantastic and for the most part just ignored the bang of the gun and when the run was over they just relaxed back to snooze mode at the fence. We missed the rifle shooting and I wanted to watch some of the younger riders but maybe next time.

The weatherman was right and it has been beautiful. Picked some great NW wild blackberries... of course even if they are in the font yard they are still wild. I don't know anybody that tries to grows these things on purpose! Mmmm they are sweet. Trail rode yesterday in the morning. Nothing new or exciting :) at least the trail was safe. Took out a barn friend that wanted to get to know the trail system and not get lost. Star just wanted to kick up her heels and run so hubby had his hands full. Rocket just wanted to be lazy unless everyone was out of sight then he found second gear. Now later after the ride I wanted to exercise Beca so I used the same bridle from earlier. Did a quick arena ride then hubby took her outside and poof the Chicago screw set fell apart on the bridle and it fell off of the mare. Quick recovery and they were walking back to the barn with the reins around her head. Thinking of switching to a different type of fastening system for the bit. Good thing it was not on Rocket on the trail. I don't think he would have handled it very well.

The windows are back in the trailer complete with trim. Located something to try and create a barrier between the gravel guards and the trailer skin so we won't have metal on metal rubbing..sure hope it works.. then again how am I gonna know it's not working? Ohh {{{clapping hands}}} it's starting to look like a real trailer again :)

83 Miley Restoration Milestone

Once I accepted the fact that while new horse trailers are very shiny and NEW I really did not NEED a new trailer. I like a straight load, step up & my horses load with no problem so what was I thinking besides having moments of trailer envy... Purchased new when hubby gave me my first Andalusian, the 83 Miley has served me well, is in great shape if ugly and that was my own fault. Years ago I applied a wipe on/off wax that ate the paint. In the years following while stored uncovered the paint just got worse and stuff just happened. I am sure there are all sorts of scientific explanations for what time did but in the end it just looked crappy.

Since it needed a restoration job and we have many vintage cars in the same category hubby decided he would tackle the job of restoring the trailer. He has never painted anything like this. Good practice, right? It was in the category of couldn't look worse and if it did MAACO is down the road. Hubby has spent untold hours this summer in what very little free time he had with many cans of aircraft paint stripper getting all the crap off and putting primer on. This past Friday was milestone day! It was painted. There is still a lot to do but the biggest chore was paint. Now we can put all the gravel guards and stripping back on. Still have the original hub caps that cleaned up well but they will get a new chrome job so the Miley name will pop and shine. I want to change the running lights to something a little more modern & I think a little larger so after all new wiring we will be changing the plug, lights, adding new chrome latches and the chest bumpers are okay but I think new ones are in order too. Before I know it I will be mobile again and watch out world! I am looking forward to concentrating on scheduled dressage lessons....sorry Rocket :) Western Pleasure lessons .... Star little girl it's now your turn at military school. When I'm done your gonna love bending right & left. I wonder if 25 year old horse trailers qualify for vintage lifetime plates????

Huckleberry picking to back country riding

Huckleberries, camping, hiking, canoeing... We are just one of many who enjoy the ability to access State lands. The Wa State Dept of Natural Resources is gathering user feedback to better understand what types of activities are enjoyed and how as users do we think it can be improved, changed. Their goal is designing areas that are sustainable and diverse. Get on line and visit their website and answer a few short questions and make your voice heard. Of course you meet folks active in the community and it sounds like our own Whipple Creek Park is destined for changes. Sounds like plans are in the works to modify and make it more groomed for year round use.

Swack! Smack! Pow!

Humility is a good thing, too bad my horse does not know that. Feeling a little over confident and left behind we had just crossed the first bridge and were headed up the first steep switchback hill when as we were making the last surge to the top and flat ground a head down we went on his chest. The surge of power to right the horse was huge and he cold cocked me on my eye and cheek. The helmet took the initial hit and the force broke the visor into two pieces right down the middle and to the left. It's toast! No black eye yet but man I am tender around the edges and my throat is sore from the strap. I am a true convert and believer.... Wear a quality helmet when you ride! Of course in the family hall of shame hubby is still the leader with his crash in June. Horse landing on you trumps a thump in the face. Rocket was rightly contrite after that and we kept to a slower pace. Our little troop could really swap crash stories and laughter is the best medicine. Jr. horse was just a charmer today. Just content to keep with the pace. The Appy of the group is such a goer. Funny moment today was at the little creek, her rider had to get off for min and she wanted water gosh darn it! The water trough was dry and before we knew it she walked in between the horses and right down into the water. Since it was her second time out that day I could hardly blame her.

Watch out for that tree!

The best therapy for barn drama is to RIDE! Got the hell out of the parking lot and Boy, did we RIDE. Our small group of 4 with one young gun in tow. We blazed a few trails and set a good pace to blow out some cobwebs and work off a little mental steam. For some strange reason my big grey beast really worried one very nice looking Warmblood we kept crossing paths with. Dancing on their horses part was cause for a commotion moment for my horse. The young’n of the pack kept finding it great fun to kick up his heels whenever we climbed a hill worthy of a little effort on the horses part. So that was a lively crash and thunder from behind. Poor Rocket just knew something back there was reason enough and was on high alert, ready at any moment to make the grand escape in case I wasn’t watching. We were trotting along (I forget his trot makes everybody else canter) at a good pace on the way back to home base when I guess someone did not communicate to the youngster he should have followed the horse leading him and the leader went to right of a tree and he went left. This caused a parting of the ways and all I could hear amongst the great commotion was "It’s OK," "Whoa!" As I turned the Rocket to face the horse monster we got buzzed by a loose Jr. horse. Rocket and I did a lovely Piaffe in place and Jr. stopped about 15 feet away. Heart rates back to normal, gather up the escapee. I thought WE (Rocket & Centara) were going to take a break at the edge of the field while “others” ran around…before I knew it Centara was off at a nice canter and poor Rocket was feeling left out. So, off we went to follow. He was okay as long as he could see her in the distance and we did nice collected work while following. He really did need to rest some.. as we took a shortcut through the middle of the field he was so funny when the cantering horses crossed the opening ….there they are! All in all we had a great time and it was great therapy.

Lights Out!

This old gal is tired! Part #2 of the busy weekend exhausted me. Big event of the day was the barn BBQ so we wanted to ride first and take advantage of the beautiful day. No Indian Summer just yet. It was hot and felt like summer was still trying to hold on with both hands. Of course many other people were thinking the same things so the 4h kids were saddling up and hitting the trails along with countless other strangers. It is days like this that is amazes one that there can be an easy 30 horses in the Park and you don't run into them at every corner. Also makes you ponder why on some days you can't shake some folks. All 3 horses were out today and in a fine whinny of a mood. Calling each other & wanting to run off at a moments notice. Most days they act like siblings that don't want to be caught in the same room. I have no idea what brought on this bought of togetherness. I really thought yesterday would have made them tired and today would have been a nice quiet walk in the Park literally. We managed to finish up in time for the BBQ. Shucking corn, swapping stories and just a nice day under the trees with friends that share the common bond of horse ownership and letting the guys stand around open flame and cook.

Oh my aching....

The promise of a nice weekend was just too much. We hit the trail fairly early, the horses were in fine form. After going around the berry field for our warm up we headed in and at the log crossing someone(trail biker)had remodeled the area and banked both sides of the log. I guess they get tired carrying their bike over the log. My horse can step over the log. They should too in my humble opinion. Gotta share? Share nice. I managed to get Rocket over a spot in the under brush but he was not thrilled. The other end is just too high off the ground, it would require jump and that is not safe in that location. As I got over we met friends riding their Icelandic horses and they just could not make it so we removed the stuff banking the log. Back in business we were off passing with a friendly hello. It was beautiful, quiet except for the birds that were busy chattering. I have no idea how long we were riding when we met up with another set of barn friends and joined their group. Found more spots were more trail modifications were done by cutting down smaller trees. Passed quite a few other riders. One group in particular put on a show when unloading their horses. The back horse just could not find the reverse gear and they were pulling on it's tail, picking up it's feet and who knows what else. We stopped to watch in case there was a huge horse explosion. The horse finally came bursting out with a scream. Then on to number 2... why oh why.. they let the confused horse turn around from the slant load stall to walk out head first. That was not a pretty sight. The poor thing looked like a pretzel. They thought the whole thing was so funny, laughing. Why can't people practice loading and unloading at home and make it safer for everyone?????? Well we finally decided we had had more than enough :) and when I checked my watch, oh my gosh! 4.5 hours had gone by. NO WONDER my a#! is so sore this morning! OK, almost time for day #2... stay tuned. I may only make it around the field before crying uncle.