Winter chores

Anyone who knows Lynn and her horses has heard her say, "Ziggy's growing! He's getting bigger all the time! He can stop anytime!" Well, the proof is in the pictures. His backend is higher than Lynn's head. She keeps saying she wants to pack in and camp; well, I don't know how she'll get on with her camping gear on the back of that boy! She'll need more than a passing stranger to hoist her hiney. (:

I'm a firm believer: car camping is good.

Yesterday I took some apples and treated my favorite boys to them. Then Lynn did all the hard work while I had the easy job. She cleaned their feet and took the shoes off Brady and Star. I held them, loved on them, and rubbed their favorites itches. Ziggy didn't want to be left out, so he tried to sneak my gloves out of my pockets. I laughed out loud--he is so cute, tongue hanging and all. He knows Lynn keeps treats in her pockets; he was getting those gloves out of the way so he could get his nose down in there to see if I had anything special for him.

Lynn not only had the back breaking job of holding up feet and prying the mud and whatever else out and then pulling shoes off, she also had to put up with the rest of the horses standing around her breathing on her and fogging up her glasses while they watched her work. Brady even reached down and gave her a massage on her upper back with his lips, while Indy looked on with a "Whatta ya doin'?" expression. He had to know Star would get him later for being in his personal space.

Next on our list of chores was to clean out the trailer and oil up our leather for winter storage. So we emptied everything into the quad trailer and moved them down to the tack room. Once the door was opened and the mess overwhelmed us, we decided first-things-first--we had to organize. After a couple of hours, the tack room was awesome! Although we did not get to cleaning up the leather, it will be easy to do now in the well organized and spacious room.

Although I had the pleasure of standing in the newly built, beautiful barn, I forgot to take a picture. Hopefully the sides will be modified soon and the horses will be comfortable enough to use it safely and be warmer and more protected from the elements. (After all, I am still praying for snow!)

Well, that's it for this town girl's country chores this week. Here's wishing you all a safe and blessed new year!

Wanting to be "back in the saddle"

It's December! I am missing the boys. Lynn left a cryptic message on my machine last night about keeping his head up, digging my toes into his armpits, and hanging on! I thought maybe she had been bucked off. But no, she was sending me a message about Brady who is just full of himself. He is acting like he is seven again.

The last two times I have ridden I have worried a little about going off. I think I am due. He really wants to run and when he gets started, he pulls and puts his head down--not good. He is a high-headed horse and putting his head down makes me nervous. He is too excited and just wants me to sit back and enjoy, but I am nervous about going fast.

Lynn knows this. She even had a dream about me going off. Of course she said in the dream I had five blankets on him! Anyway, she has been feeding Brady something new that is supposed to help his joints and help him feel good. It's working. I am glad he feels good, but he needs to remember it's me up there and not Lynn, the crazy woman!

I have not ridden in weeks. My mom and Gene were putting down a new wood floor for me and building a beautiful hearth. I felt guilty going riding; although, I did go to town with Lynn and Lee and bought new furniture. Now it is raining. I don't know when I'll get to go! Next week is Winter break, so I will go up and take carrots to my favorite boys.

Exploring new territory

Yesterday, Lynn, Shirley, and I tried out a new trail system. We drove to Weaverville, had breakfast, and turned up Hwy 3. We drove a few miles out of town to East Weaver Creek Campground. Lynn easily turned the truck and trailer around and we parked in a turnout near the campground and a trailhead. I say "a trailhead" because there are many possibilities to choose from!

It's October, so the colors around us were phenomenal: the yellows, pinks, and reds up against the evergreens and browns took my breath away. The boys were in high spirits--they love a new place to see. We rode along the creek for a ways and came to a fork; we chose not to cross an interesting-looking bridge and headed up a little farther where we made a creek crossing. We rode through lots of bright yellow grapevines climbing up fir trees and varying shades of pink dogwoods, mixed in with orange oaks and some brillant yellow ash (?) trees. The trails were clear and we didn't have cedar trees or madrones slapping us in the face or hanging over our heads and dropping their water down our necks! The trails were beautifully maintained and easy on our horses.

After the creek crossing we rode on a nice, soft road and enjoyed many different views; we were to the west of, and way above the town of Weaverville. We could see the regenerated burn area off west highway 299 that we drive in order to reach Weaverville. We could see Yolla Bally and the clouds that covered the mountain range to the east were an awesome sight. Unfortunately, there was one spoiler--hunters. It was the last weekend of hunting season and we heard shots fired that didn't seem as far away as they should have been! We rode around the corner to a clearing and sat, so if they were above us they would see us easily. Brady was nervous, as was I.

We continued down the road, looking for our next trail sign. We came to a road that headed back toward where we thought we should be heading, but we weren't sure, so Lynn rode into a nearby yard where a man was out working. We heard his horses calling to our horses, so we figured he must be a good guy. Anyway, he told Lynn we should travel on down the road a bit and we would see another trailhead. He recommended it as a good ride that would take us back to the campground. He was surprised and impressed we had come all the way around the top. Well, we are "cowgirl tuff."

We found the trail and headed back toward the campground area. It was indeed a great trail. There were so many signs for other loops that we became very excited to return. We rode through many different types of terrain and felt safe and comfortable all the way. We met people with dogs on leashes, others out hiking, and even two hunters who mumbled and freaked out the horses a little. We eventually found ourselves at the bridge we had seen on our way out in the morning. All three horses crossed it easily and eagerly in order to get away from the mumbling men in camouflage with guns.

All in all , I think we rode a little over four hours. Ziggy's head was hanging a little, but the other two were high stepping and happy. The three of us were filthy (of course) but as happy as we could be! Our next idea is to find out about camping there: we could get camp set up on Friday night; Alisa could meet us there and then we could spend all day Saturday and maybe a little Sunday exploring the trails. Sound good?

This is a definite redo!

(Lynn, leave me a comment with the trail committee information, address, and/or website to use in my article for Trailrider. Thanks!)

It's fall in more than one way!

Fall colors were all around us today. The poison oak was red and pink and salmon-colored; it was especially beautiful climbing up trees. The dogwoods were in various stages of pink and green and hopefully I will get some pictures from Lynn since she stopped every little bit and took some. She also took movies of us--on purpose this time--so maybe I'll see about downloading them as well.

Last weekend, we all met up in Red Bluff and went riding at Jelly's Ferry. It was a pleasant, breezy day. We traveled all over that flat and even went through a deep little creek. Brady and I almost took a header when he caught his foot in deep groove left in the hard ground, but somehow I stayed on and he righted himself. Thankfully he wasn't hurt. It was good to have all of us together again--Alisa and Odie; Shirley and Star; Lynn and Ziggy; and me and Brady. It had been a while since all us of rode together and it was fun.

Today was an odd day on the Hennessey. It was foggy and drippy. The branches seemed to hold their water in little cups for us and it wasn't long before we had it running down our necks and off our helmet visors. There were hunters out and about and everything sounded differently. Once again, it was me and Brady doing tricks. I never really know what happens. I just find myself in the position of hind end in the air and top-heavy helmeted head hanging over his neck! But, I guess he shied and then slipped and fell onto his knees. He scraped his nose on the ground and I squealed in his ear, but I stayed on and I helped him get up a little by getting back in the saddle and up off his neck! I guess I'm getting stronger or more balanced or something since I didn't go off. Although I will say that both last weekend and this time I got a cramp in my leg so I must be clamping on tight. (:

Anyway, he was positive there were scary monsters out in the brush today. Finally he was proven right--as we were walking out the last bit like we always do, a covey of quail lifted straight up, flapping loudly over the big clump of blackberries directly in front of us. I felt the reins lift from my shoulder where I had them draped and Shirley, who was behind us laughed and said I should have been on him that time. I guess he jumped straight up in air and landed to our left. Good grief! Then he settled down--it's good to be right.

Catching Up

Well, there has been a lot of excitement and wet blankets in last few weeks. For example, on Sunday when Lynn and Shirley went riding without me they came upon a group of kids camping after an obvious all-night party. They didn't wake them up or take down license plates, but worried about it just the same. When they returned to the meadow, the kids were all gone, but there was a campfire blazing!

Once again, Shirley and Star took off on a run for help, while Lynn dug up a squirrel hole and used the dirt to try and stifle the fire. The little bit of water they both had left didn't even make a dent. Pretty quick, Shirley and the closest neighbor were back to help fight it while Forest Service was on the way. They had it almost completely out by the time official help arrived. Armed with the description of the vehicles, the local Forest Service guys thought they might know who the culprits were. The potential for a huge fire was there and many people and animals could have lost everything.

On another Saturday ride up the Hennessey, I had a surprise--we were tooling along and suddenly, I was laying across the saddle horn, Brady's neck, and one of my feet had flown out of the stirrup. I thought he had tripped and we were going down! All I could see was the ground coming up at me. As I pulled back to help him back up--I looked up, some bicyclists had very quietly come around the corner and startled Brady. He had shied--both front feet stretched out into a wide V. Once the men spoke to us, he was fine. That's what we get for being too complacent, I guess.

One Monday night, Shirley, Lynn, and I went to the rodeo grounds with another friend, Toni. She wanted to work with her young horse, Buckwheat. While Lynn and Toni worked with saddling, bridling, and eventually riding Buckwheat, Shirley and I rode around in the arena.

I walked Brady all around the arena so he could see everything. Then I came out and got on him. When I took him back in, he had a fit. Feet high stepping and whirling around. He saw the gate and made for it. We walked around outside and then when Shirley got on Star, we went back in. We just walked them side by side so they would calm down. Then we cantered a little and trotted and I worked on being more centered and balanced.

After they both settled down, we worked on reining. We trotted in figure 8s. Then I walked Brady and took my feet out of the stirrups, closed my eyes, and held my arms out. I want to be more in tune with his gait and sit more balanced. Brady sensed there was no one in control, so he took it. He started walking faster and faster and heading for gate. Finally I took back the reins and we stopped to watch Toni ride Buckwheat. It was a fun evening and we almost got to ride in moonlight by the time we finished. Next time, maybe I'll be brave enough to try bareback!

1st Day of Hunting Season

Saturday was the first day of hunting season, so Lynn and I stayed clear of any real trail riding and kept to the meadow area on Hennessey. We played with cows and looked for bears (we found lots of scat!). We rode down a dirt road until we could go no further without trespassing on people's driveways. Coming back, Brady found his comfortable trot and we moved right along. Occasionally we went into a bit of a canter and he would have easily stretched into an all-out-run. He blew spit all over me as he tossed his head in his unhappiness at having the reins so short. We felt good together and finally I slowed him and down and we went back for Ziggy and Lynn who were doing their own thing.

We picked apples and hung out in the meadow until the loose horses came running to where we were. Lynn tried to shoo them away, but they were hungry for apples. They did not cause any ruckus and we were able to cross over to the creek. Ziggy looked smoother than ever going up the embankment and when it was our turn, Brady jumped up it.

We encountered a bee that would not leave us alone and Brady panicked a little. However, we did not have a rodeo--we just kept moving ahead. Although it followed us for quite a way, it did not sting him. Coming out, we ran up the little hills that lead to the top field and both of us felt good at the end of the ride.

If wet blankets make good horses, check out the foamy sweat Brady worked up! (Pictures soon.)

Back at the house Star had obviously run most of the time were gone. He and Indy were not happy at being left home. Lynn is planning another ride (after hunting probably) on the branch of Trinity Summit's Pacific Crest Trail. I'll ride Star for that one since it would be too much for Brademan. When you coming over, Alisa?

Just Beachy

Saturday, Lynn and I rounded up Star, Brady, and Ziggy to go to town for their flu shots. Ziggy chose to turn around again in the trailer so he rode backwards to the vet's. In the parking lot at the vet's, I managed to get horse slobber, and I don't know what all, in my hair and on my sweater as I walked Star and Brady around. But for once, I did not win the dirtiest shirt contest--Lynn ended up with horse poop smeared all the way across her shirt, on her hands, and just about everywhere.

Ziggy threw a fit when he was tied to the trailer after getting his shots. Star, Brady, and I stayed near him so he could see us, but he pulled back so hard, he pulled himself down onto his back legs and took some hide off. He left hair and shoe skid marks on the pavement--scaring me into screeching for Lynn for help. I hate when one of them hurts themselves, even when they are being stupid.

We loaded them up and headed for Clam Beach. Lynn wasn't too sure about this venture since Star has never seen the ocean, heard the waves, or dealt with sand like that--not to mention it was only the second time I was to ride him. Moreover, Ziggy was going to have to ponied.

When I took Brady and Star over to the hitching rails, there was a woman and a couple of horses waiting for the rest of their party to arrive. Hanging over one of the rails was a guy with near-waist length dreadlocks. He asked the woman how tall her horse was and after she replied, he informed her he wanted a 16-hand horse (her were too small for a guy like him). He liked them tall. Casually, she said it was farther to the ground the taller the horse. He said confidently he had no intention of falling off his dream tall horse. She dryly replied, "No one usually plans on it." I hid my smile in Brady's mane and she went back to her book. He must have gotten the hint and he sort of sauntered away.

We saddled up and then I put Star in a hole and smugly went to get on, but as I stepped up to put my foot in the stirrup, he started off. I barely had my toe in, but jumped and lay across him to get my other foot in. He kept moving and almost ran me into a tall sign that I hadn't noticed during my graceful attempt to mount (in front of a small audience of course!) Lynn rode Brady and he and Ziggy did really well together. Ziggy followed with no problems--oh except of course when he lay down in the sand and rolled! We were right in the middle of a bunch of campsites, no less. Star had his feet just going too, so I kept his head up because I'm sure he thought it looked like a good idea, too.

We had a few problems, and probably looked a little silly, trying to find a good way to get over to the ocean. The obvious way was through an inlet of water; however, neither of us felt good about going through water we couldn't see the bottom of and it was sandy to boot. Lynn has been in quick sand before and neither of us was in a hurry to experience it. We tried several different trails, but did not get through on any of them.

There were tents pitched all around and as usual there was a little breeze. Star was listening and looking at everything and Lynn reminded me to pay close attention to him. Can you imagine how fast he and I could have gotten into trouble if someone would have zip, zipped his or her way noisily out of one of those moving green monsters? Or if a gust of wind filled it up and it snapped and moved wildly? Thankfully, we did fine together.

We finally started down the Hammond Trail, staying off the pavement and on the shoulders as much as possible. We easily crossed a bridge and continued to try to find a path over the dunes to the ocean itself. Unfortunately, we met a man who said it was miles before we could crossover easily, so not wanting to ride on a paved trail, we turned around and made the decision not to ride any longer--we had only wanted to keep them moving after their shots anyway. As we made our way down the highway, I saw that we actually had been almost to a place we could have crossed over. Oh well--riding on the beach just wasn't to be.