A donkey to love

Rode up Underwood today. What fun! We are starting to ride fast quite a bit these days. I am staying on so far; however, today I got a surprise. We were trotting fast downhill on one road to the fork of another that turns and goes uphill quickly. Jupes was trotting for all he was worth and was just breaking into a good lope when: WHOOSH! He shied hard at something and twisted his body into a U while loping and thinking of maybe running! I squealed and my boot came out of the stirrup, but all was well. Lynn and Shirley had a good laugh. From that point on he was a little wired--he was totally sure there was something scary out there. Silly thing.

Last Sunday Shirley and Lynn rode up Hennessey. Star let himself be caught and Shirley rode him for the first time in a long time. He was jumping down the steep hills and going sideways, I guess. Good thing Shirley can ride!

A man who was my neighbor all my life (well most of it) passed away and a local mogul bought his land. On it is a donkey and cart that I want to own--I just love it--for lots of reasons. The new owner kept putting me off, but finally said no, I couldn't have it because his wife wanted it. My brother wanted me to have it and didn't know that the new owner had said "no." It showed up in my backyard when I was away at my uncle's funeral. I asked my brother to take it back. But in the meantime, check it out--I think he belongs in my backyard.

Happy Easter!

Loping!

Yay! Saturday was a fun ride. We went early and rode up Hennessy. We didn't see anyone or hear any chainsaws--it was just us and at least one deer. There were lots of wild flowers and tons of color all around us. It was a beautiful morning.

We rode pretty fast and Jupiter even broke into a smooth lope. I was proud of both of us, I stayed on and just let him run and he didn't buck in happiness or anything else. We even jumped lots of little logs and did tight turns around trees and stumps. It was a banner day.

Lynn said it was one of her favorite runs with Ziggy as well. Although in the beginning of the ride, he lived up to his name, swerving six feet off the trail because Lynn was turned around and talking to us. I laughed as she yelled, "Ziggy!" like she does. I think he does it to be funny.

The boring horse, Buster, didn't buck while he was running up the hill either. I think everyone had fun--dogs, horses, and people. Nothing could be better.

Stump Animals

Yay! Two beautiful days and lots of riding. Saturday, Jupiter seemed like he was acting up. We all know he has to be ridden a lot or he is difficult. I told him his birthday is coming and he needs to start acting like he's nine and more mature. I had to spur and yell at him as we were going down a steep hill; I thought I was going to be a projectile and I didn't like the possibility--although the ground was soft, there were lots of logs and limbs.

Finally I paid closer attention. Poor baby had a carrot stuck in his throat and he was just trying to get it loose. I am not a good mom after all! No more carrots for him and I apologized for yelling and spurring him. Shirley said it made up for times he needed it and I didn't do it. Thankfully he is much better now!

Sunday we rode Underwood. We are all liking our new parking arrangement--good job, Lynn. We had a beautiful ride looping up and around. They boys got to eat their favorite grass and the girls had fun, too. Ziva is becoming a great trail dog! Hailey is staying close, too. Buster tried to get out in a bog to eat some special grass and sunk down to his knees in the black muck! It sort of scared me, but Shirley just rode out of it.

Most of the morning, we were in back of the line, just cruising, and I swear I saw a mountain lion (or two), a bear, and a giraffe! (: Those stumps are all different colored and laying (or standing) in ways that look deceiving. My imagination was running away with itself! Jupes and I are a definite match.

It was a great weekend and I look forward to the next one.

Exploring

Today we went exploring. What a good time! We drove up Underwood and parked way up the hill. It was steep and rocky and a little narrow, but Lynn just motored us on. Piece of cake (although she worried about it all night!). The elevation where we parked was 4200.

After we parked, we headed up a skid road. There wasn't much brush to stop us, although there were a lot of down trees.We rode on both roads and through the trees. There were some beautiful views overlooking the river gorge (South Fork) and back at Ironside. We had to skirt some down trees, but all the horses just did what was asked of them. They are all such good mountain boys. We hit some deadends, but somehow ended up making a loop back onto our first trail. Ziggy knew where we were, but I think the rest of us were surprised.

We got back to the truck and kind of rode around looking for another avenue to explore, but decided to load up the boys and head downhill to another spot and ride out of there. Although it didn't seem like it, we had put in about 3 hours at that point, but no one was ready to stop. The boys loved eating all that high mountain grass and definitely wanted more, so they were okay with going on another trail.

Once we got out and on another skid road, we found ourselves in some prickly brush. I saw Ziva jump up and over a small bush rather than let it touch her. The trees have grown over the road some, but it was a nice ride. Unfortunately, we came to a log that wasn't high or low enough to navigate and both sides were too steep to go around, so we headed back.

The boys were happy to see new trails and the dogs all stayed close. Ziva really want to chase some quail down a super steep hill, but she listened and stayed with us. Hailey was a on a dead run after something--high above us on the hill--but she came right back when Lynn called her. We heard a big wood pecker or two, but didn't get to see them. I saw some tracks of something else, but I am not sure what it was. I don't get to go tomorrow, but I'll relish this one all week. It was a great day. (as usual!)

Easy rides

Two beautiful mornings dawned and smiled on three happy riders. Saturday we rode up Underwood. It was uneventful (Jupes behaved) and the dogs stayed close by. It was warm and sunny and aside from lots of traffic on the road, we rode all over and enjoyed the day. It has dried out and the slopes weren't too slippery.

Saturday afternoon, Lynn and Lee drove up Underwood. They drove up the road we usually ride to see if we could park the truck and trailer off the main road. They also drove up past where we cross it. Lynn says there are a couple of good trails we can explore on up there. Next weekend we will try it out.

Sunday we planned to go down to the meadow and ride the loop around it. We met a couple of regular walkers who told us that it had been totally torn up by vehicles. Julie said that they had even gotten two or three trucks stuck coming up the hill where the roots are. They fell some trees and had a tow truck come down to pull them out. Both meadows had fallen victim--even down by the barn. We heard enough. We did not ride down there. Not even seeing the new calf was worth seeing the devastation.

We rode up to the top and made a quick loop. We gave the boys a snack and on the way down, fixed one of our trails. The boys are out of shape and Jupiter stopped often to catch his breath. But it was fun. I think I can now handle whatever life throws at me next week!

PS Ziva now weighs 42.6 lbs and is 43 inches tall at her front shoulder. She'll be 8 months old next Sunday. She is becoming a great trail dog. Also important notches on my timeline for this week: I will have had Jupiter for 5 years on Thursday! My how time flies when you're having fun. :)

Sidestepping

We got to ride up the Hennessy on Saturday! It was a glorious morning. The sun broke through the clouds and it was easily in high 50s/low 60s. Lynn rode up front and broke trail which kept Shirley and I drier. However, we have not had the rain the lower part of the state has received, so the branches weren't too full of water. None of us got drenched like we have in the past.

We rode up to the top, turned right and went down along the ridge. Instead of continuing on down to the lower meadow (which would have been slick!) we turned up the rode and came back up to the left-hand road which brought us back to the top. Then we headed back to the trail head. Jupes spent the whole way up and around in the back, but he didn't fight me too much. However, once we got to the top and headed back to the trailer, he'd had enough--it was time to trot out.

Coming down the steep stuff, he did really well; he just let his back feet slide down nice and easy. I heard Lynn telling Zigs to "keep his head up and pay attention," but they too just slid down. It was Mr. Boring, Buster, who came down the fastest. I think he is tired of being considered boring and he wants to lead, but if he isn't going to lead, he at least wants to be in front of Jupiter.

As we were headed down the road, I channeled Alisa and Keota. I have been hearing how cool it has been in the arena where they have been working on things. I know Keota is a great side-stepper (among other things) and I remember hearing Alisa talking about how she moves her leg to get him to do it. Well, Jupiter once was trained to do all kinds of good things too, that is, before he came to be with me! He has probably forgotten most of his good training. Anyway--we were too close to the edge of the road for my comfort. I had been trying to lead him with the reins away from it. Then I remembered Alisa & Keota. I used my right leg and pressed into the middle of his belly and wah-la! He stepped away from the edge! Thanks Alisa. :)

Ziva went with us and did fantastic! She stayed right with us and paid attention to the horses. Lynn groomed her yesterday and she looks beautiful as well. So happy Monday and happy birthday to Lynn. I wish we could be ahorseback to celebrate instead of at work!

Junuary

Saturday we enjoyed the "Junuary" weather in Redding. It was 80 degrees for Heaven's sake--it feels like June rather than January. Even the cherry trees are starting to bloom. However, once we got up over Buckhorn, the temp dropped 40 degrees. Well, we can't change the weather and we can't change the threat of drought. But we can go out and enjoy the sun with our "BFFs!"

Alisa, Shirley, and I had our hands full. No "boring" horses for us. Keota was dancing and prancing and acting like he hadn't been ridden in awhile, even though he has been. Buster continues to become more and more of a handful every time he is ridden--twirling and prancing. Thankfully, that is what Shirley likes. Jupiter--well that's another long story; I'll just suffice it to say, "Whoo-hoo! I stayed on!"  Of course the best rider with us, has nicest mannered horse who never gets worked up or misbehaves.

Ziva got to go on her first real ride and she did wonderfully. I told Lynn she stayed on Haley's "4" rather than her "6." (: She slept the whole way home, but then was ready to run with the 4-wheeler and feed the horses when we got there. She's just a few days over six months and weighing in at 32.8 lbs. At one point (which doesn't happen very often), she and Haley stood motionless together and it was the first time I saw how much bigger than Haley she has become. Because she takes up so much room in the backseat, Haley had to stretch across Ziva's hip in order to lay down going home. Sammie and Happy were great on the trail, although Happy had a few times she "upset the apple cart" with her barking.

They say it's healthy to have something to look forward to as it helps smooth out the rough patches of the week. Well, last week it was going riding; this week it is the Bull and Gelding Sale! I can hardly wait.