Best way to spend half an hour

This is Lynn's every afternoon. We should all be so lucky! Love this.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride with Katie 

(Lynn, you're not really Mr. Toad, but the title was too perfect.)

Mt Shasta Weekend

 

Ever since Lynn said Cathy and her friends go to McCloud to camp with their horses, I have been excited. The weekend finally arrived! Well, it wasn't camping, but it was awesome. We stayed at Cathy's house, which was super comfortable and warm and beyond hospitable--camping would have been cold and much less comfortable!! We met her friend and mentor, Karrie Ann, and Roany her favorite mount.

On Friday, we loaded Roany up with us and we went to Lake Siskiyou. We rode around the lake and our boys were able to relax their travel legs. Both of them did really well and got along with Roany. We took them back to Karrie's place and got them settled into their respective corrals with a covered eating area. Of course Jupes had to touch everyone and so there was some squealing and ruckus, but he settled down and they both had a good night. Karrie was awesome; she checked on them and sent us an update and fed them their breakfast. We really appreciated being able to safely house our boys.

Saturday was our big day. Karrie and her other friend, Maria, took us up to Gumboot Trailhead. Unfortunately, Maria's horse fell in the trailer and had some scrapes. She wasn't comfortable bringing him on the trail, so she went home. We went on without her. What a day! It snowed, the wind blew, but the views were awesome!! Jupes and I rode in the back and I was so proud of how he did. He was perfect. Ziggy was super good as well and it was a fantastic outing. 

We were bundled up.

The trails were nice (PCT) and the climb to 8000 feet at the top was pretty easy. However, we did some trotting coming out and I had a wardrobe malfunction; my pant leg crept up and got caught on the boot strap and I couldn't get it to go down. Of course Jupes thought he needed snacks coming out, so I tried to do it while he was eating, but I didn't know it was caught (I had my chinks on of course!). I almost went over his head trying to fix it. Finally I figured it out and was able to unhook it and pull it down--it was too cold to wear my pants like Shirley, lol, and it hurt, too. Silly, I know.

Back at the ranch, Jupiter saw the goats for the first time. LOL. He was discombobulated to say the least. The riffraff was just next door. :) We helped with rounding up the ponies, fed some of the animals, and enjoyed the chickens. What a great place.

This is Porcupine Lake. There is another lake called Toad Lake that is a little farther on. Karrie says it is better for horse camping because there is grass. It sounds like a possible adventure for a warmer weekend.

As I said, it snowed on us. It was cold that night and Zigs was shivering when we got to Karrie's for a possible ride Sunday morning. We decided that we had had fun and should probably load up and take them home. Then Zigs lost his brain and would not load. He was too cold to think. Poor baby. Eventually we put Jupes in front and then he loaded up to be with his partner. 

It was a fun weekend. Cathy and Lonnie went out scouting for trails for us for the next time. I can hardly wait.

Shoot. . . . I've been slacking off!

 

Dang--I didn't realize that I had not sat down and written about our adventures since August. We went to Alisa's for her birthday and great rides. We went to Deer Lake one day and tootled around down the highway one day. We found a watermelon and the horses loved it. 

We have ridden up Hennessey at least three times and the growth that T/C continues to show is awesome. We have separated a couple times and ridden solo. Jupiter baulked and wouldn't walk away, so I had to lead for a bit, but T/C did fine. Today he went through the boggy mud at the bottom of the trail without hesitation and went right across the wide creek bed, too. 

It's hunting season, so we have all worn our turquoise shirts and the hunting jackets Lynn made for the girls. We haven't seen anyone and both horses have been calm. Last week, Lynn took pictures of a huge hornets' nest. I told her today, we are not going to go over and look at it this week--and then we couldn't see it after all--which makes me nervous; that means they are loose and flying around. Dead would be better.

We rode an old trail that we used to ride with Brady. I think Jupiter has only been on it once, maybe twice. We came to a huge tree across the road and had to boonie jump around it, but it was a fun trail to ride. It is more road riding that we usually do, but it was fun nevertheless.

Future Rides:  We plan to ride into Bear Basin this coming Wednesday. I hope we see Golden Eagles again. We have a McCloud trip planned the following week and we talked about going to Weaverville before it rains. It is so pretty when leaves turn. I said we need to do the hoop-de-do trail before the end of our riding season, too. (Or maybe not. . . ? Last time was not good.) I would like to ride as long as we can, but I told Lynn that if is pouring rain on my birthday, I would be just as happy.  

I am praying we find a farrier we like soon. Jupiter's shoes are on the back of his feet and today he tripped a little. Dang that woman. 

August Angst

 

Lightning like I have never witnessed in the 53 years I have lived in Willow Creek passed over us in late July. It lasted over two hours and although one person reported four inches of rain at her house, most of the area received none. I could hear it in the trees, but most of it evaporated before hitting the ground. Needless to say, we had fires started in our mountains. 

The threat across the river and the heavy smoke prompted Lynn to move our boys to their coastal spa. When she dropped off the first group, they trotted off and never looked back. We took turns driving over to feed them and check on them every day. They are fatter now than they were when they arrived. 

Saturday, Lynn brought Star, Zigs, and Buster home. There was lots of whinnying and running and bucking of Jupes and T/C afterward according to Randy. On Sunday, I went with Lynn to clean out the little barn and pick up our boys. Lynn had asked if I wanted to ride on the beach afterward; well, that would be a "No, not really," but you know me--if Lynn says let's do it, I'm right there. 

Well, I am so glad we did. It was so good to be in the saddle. Jupes could not have been more perfect. He did not feel nervous and I worked hard to be relaxed, too. It was not too windy and after Cobie's first look at all that water (!!), he seemed okay, too. Lynn did not make him go to close to it and he was fine. He was more worried about the big marshmallows in the field next to the beach. 

We spent more time wandering around the dunes than on the actual beach and it was kind of fun. (My pickleball partner told me that when he did beach riding, he liked riding on Samoa in the pine trees--something to look at trying, but I would like to drive over and find the area first. He said there are tons of trails--maybe what you had heard about, too, Lynn?) 

Just to backtrack a little, we did get to ride with Alisa before the fires hit. It was nice to hang out and ride with her. We are hoping Keota heals up and we can go over for her birthday weekend and ride with her in Quincy. 

 

Two Quickies

 I am on a short leash for a few weeks while I do full time caregiving for my mom; however, my schedule fit in two short rides. Lynn is so good--she had Jupes saddled and ready and the truck hooked up. I showed up at 6:30 and away we went.

Day one, we went along our newest trail that breaks off by Indy's frog pond. It is boonie brushing, but I really like it. We made a short loop of it and had fun. There are some possibilities over there that we can develop. T/C had a major first: COWS! I guess they were probably Katie's first, too. Oh my. They are  scary and caused T/C to be pretty jumpy and snorting the whole ride.

Day two, we tooled around the Hennessey Ranch. We went down through the woods above the meadow and yep--more cows. T/C snorted every two steps for a long ways. It was a very quick ride, but again, it was good. We dreamed about where we would put our houses if we were rich and could buy the place. 

Jupes needs to be ridden, even if his blanket doesn't get wet, and having me up there and cruising around makes him a better boy. I think he likes to go and really doesn't seem to get bored, but he likes to try and push his boundaries at least once. T/C is turning out to be a great horse. He stands for Lynn to get on and he goes where she wants. He is still doesn't like puddles, but does better with clear water. 

A short ride is better than no ride! 

Two Spooky Horses

 

What a great ride we had on Saturday! We rode the Gray's Falls trail for the first time in possibly a year. It was definitely overgrown and we had to do some logging, but Wow! what a great ride. We came across what probably was a fire clearing road with lots of logs and brush piled up and we rode for a little ways on it. It just kept going, but Ziva is a little overweight and out of shape and Jupiter, well, he's a fat boy, so we turned back.

What had been a peaceful easy ride, changed not too far into the way back. First of all, we heard motorcycles relatively nearby. Secondly, Katie learned about steep mountains. She dove down off the side of the road where it is formidably steep! Ziva stood at the top and looked over at her as Katie crawled her way back up. Talk about scary. We would have had to find a less steep spot and called her and called her to traverse sideways to us. But she made it. I hope she never does that again.

Back to the motorcycles. . . you would have thought those two horses had never heard one before. Good grief. High headed and high stepping all the way back. I didn't think Jupes was even going to stop at the little granola meadow. Of course he did, what was I thinking, but he turned and faced the way he had heard them and he gobbled it down and was ready to go! Forget waiting for Lynn to get back on. He was leaving her and that pretty boy. The monsters could eat HIM. In all fairness, when we saw them, it was just their heads zooming up a steep embankment and we couldn't see the bikes themselves. lol

We trotted all the way to the top of Hennessey. When we got there, here came the motorcycles down the jeep trail. So we waited. Two of them came down and stopped and visited with us. Then we heard voices up on the trail (also very scary, for Pete's sake!). One of them must have wrecked pretty hard and possibly had a broken clavicle. We asked if we could help and they said they had it, so off we went. Man from
Snowy River has nothing on two Burnt Ranch Riders. lol Got down in record time. What a fun day! Raining like mad today, so sorry we can't ride, but happy for rain. 

It was a sweaty and itchy day for T/C. Had to scratch it right now!

For Lynn, too! LOL

Memorial Day Weekend 2022: The Good, the BAD, and the Fun of it

 

Woohoo! The trailer is fixed and we said we were riding no matter what the weather. Saturday was cold and wet, but not enough to deter us--even though we forgot our chinks! Starting with the the GOOD, Toby-Cobie was awesome all weekend. Lynn was able to get on him every single time she wanted to without any issues at all. He went through water, even if grudgingly; he loaded more smoothly than usual and on Monday, we when loaded to come home, he didn't even hesitate! He is doing so well. Lynn thinks he is finally starting to trust her. He is finally living up to the potential Lynn saw in him since the beginning.

Hmm--the BAD. Jupiter was it. He was stiff-necked and obstinate. He threw his head down and crow hopped. He even stomped his foot (like Star did that time he had a fit) and made sticks fly all around us. He had a tantrum. He pretended to be choking, so I would walk with him. We only did about three short miles (that felt like 10 to me) on Underwood. I probably walked one mile. He was awful. Look at our ride and there's a picture of his face that says it all. Underwood and the Turd

But, on the way home we saw an eagle sitting on top of a tree right by the highway. It was a good omen and Sunday and Monday were awesome! Sunday we rode around the ranch. It was green and pretty. Lynn said she's never seen the grass so tall. We had a great time. 

Monday was even better. We rode up to the top of Hennessey and then down and around to the trail to Heidi Carpenter's place and up Lynn's favorite trail past the elk spot and to the turtle pond. Both boys did fantastic and the two dogs had fun, too (although Ziva is super tired). I am hoping that all the things that slapped across my face were not poison oak! Everything is hanging down and a little different after the wind and snow and all the months we have not ridden and kept everything trimmed back. Lynn's Favorite Trail

It was so nice to ride the mountain all by ourselves. It was breezy and a little chilly at times, but I know Lynn and three great days and I'll take the one sh*##y one and cancel it out with two wonderful ones. It is good to be ahorseback again!!