Toni and Mitch joined us Saturday for a ride around the top of Hennessey. Mitch warned us that Bristol, his mount that day, was a designated driver horse. Many a drunk or overtired passenger has nodded off, sleeping on the trail all the way back to camp, and been able to maintain his seat. Bristol has his own pace and couldn't care less what anyone thinks about it. He's a cruiser. So Mitch told us go ahead, he'd bring up the rear.
When we reached the road above the new trail section, Mitch called out to us that it was going to be a short ride today. He had broken his breast collar. I guess he doesn't know Lynn that well. She jumped down, assessed the situation, and proceeded to mend his problem. On we went. We got up to the road above the last steep in-between trail, and I decided it was a good time to get off and tighten up my cinch--there's a good get-on rock right there and Jupes knows the drill.
As soon I as was back on, I heard Toni squeal at Mitch. I guess she too had gotten off and somehow Buckwheat had stepped through or on his reins, broke them, and clunked Mitch. I'm not sure exactly; anyway, Lynn jumped off and fixed that situation, too. On we went.
We went all over the back side of Hennessey and had a good time. Zigman was happy when he got to lead as we blazed new trails. Jupes didn't mind having Buckwheat and Bristol along and I think he is getting used to having other horses with us. Mitch rode a lot of the way with his arms crossed over his chest and he seemed totally relaxed and happy to hang out with us. It was fun.
Coming down the cutoff trail above the dump, disaster struck. Buckwheat bucked Toni off. Lynn turned at the sound of Toni's squeal and saw her fly through the air and land in a pile of brush. Possibly the halter and lead rope swung under and spooked him; possibly a stob on the madrone at the top of the steep little hill poked him; no one really knows. All we know is everyone is happy that Toni was wearing the white helmet and saved her noggin. She probably pulled one of the long muscles that connects her pelvis and thigh as it hurt a lot. Her back hurt some, too, but overall, she was fine. Mitch offered Bristol, but she said it was important to get back up on Buckwheat and finish the ride.
I asked Lynn privately if we should go on the road rather than down the new trail, but she not only sits a horse like her mother--she replied, "No. She needs to get her confidence back." Only later on one of the more steep sections she recapitulated and said that she hadn't thought about how steep some of the spots were. However, when I looked back up at them, I saw that Mitch and Bristol were in front and they kept Buckwheat from going too fast. Although I am sorry Toni went off--I was relieved to not be the entertainment part of the ride that day.
So here it is: the last day of July! I have had good rides this month and look forward to many more in August. As I told Lynn, our tour director, I don't mind riding here at home--I don't have to camp or find exotic places to go to have fun. Sitting on my horse and hanging out with my friends is all I need!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
The adventure continues
Remember the fun Lynn and I had stringing the electric wire across the mudhole section of the pond? Remember us almost getting the four-wheeler stuck? This is the site of our latest adventure!
Every summer Barry's horses, Shadow, Willy, Robby, and "that white thing," are sectioned off away from our horses next to Shirley's house. Willy is mean and would hurt Brady--he's already hurt Indy and tried to get Star. Well, they have the pond in their domain.
Our horses often go and lay in the mudhole, which is a section of the pond that stretches over and into the middle pasture. I am sure it helps keeps the bugs off and is a cool spot on warm summer day. Up the hill, the spring water is running over the tub and down into the trees. On one of her sleepless nights, Lynn came up with the idea that we could run the black pipe (that Don had pulled out and left stretched along the road) from the spring hose down to the empty section of pond and fill it up--using the spring water that was simply going to waste. (: Piece of cake, right?
The horses were excited and ran all around both fields. They heard the plastic bag of fittings and had to come and see what kind of good stuff we brought them. Ziggy rested his heavy head on Lynn while she bent over the pipe and Jupiter and Buster stood nearby with expectant faces, "Got carrots? Got apples? What cha got?" Star kept an eye on things because it's his job and Brady just stood a little off to the side basking the knowledge that he was "the man" for his part in stealing the hay bales. Indy? Not sure exactly where he was--but he is not one to miss out on anything, so I'm sure he was nearby.
It was too easy. We stretched the pipe and only had to put it together in two places. And the couplings were already there. Lynn barely got wet while putting the hose and the black pipe together up at the tank, and it was a warm evening anyway! Then we took Haylee for a run up and around on the trails (I love riding the four-wheelers!).
Long story short--fast forwarding through the Keystone cop-like antics of checking everything and collecting the necessary tools again--we found that there wasn't any water coming out the end, but there was a fountain spraying in the air. She was sure there was water in the pipe, so that meant something was blocking the flow somewhere. "Salamanders crawl up in there and die and then they block the pipe," she said. Gross! We fixed both the holes without getting too wet and walked back down the hill to the soon to be filled pond. Still no water. Ready? This is the good part: pipe cutting tool in hand, Lynn says to me, "I am going to cut it right here."
"Are you sure? Right there?" About that time, the blades cut into the black pipe--instantly, dark brown, thick water blew out in both directions! It was like we had struck oil! A geyser blowing north and south as Lynn held on to the pipe trying to get that last bite through the plastic. Instinctively, I had turned away, probably squealed, probably said the s-word, but I started laughing thinking about how Lynn would laugh when she saw my face that I could feel was speckled with mud, which was also speckled on my shirt and pants and everywhere else.
Before I could turn around Lynn said, "Look at my face." I am laughing right now as I think about it! I turned around and there was Lynn: imagine the cartoons with a character's face completely covered in some sort of slime, with clean eye holes where their glasses had been! Imagine a movie of a woman at a spa with mud all over her face except where the cucumber slices had been! Imagine the sight of an oil derrick with men drenched in black oil, the only nonblack part are teeth showing through because they are grinning as it drips down their face--shirts plastered to their chests, wet with the dark substance! She reached up and scraped a layer of dark brown mud off her face. Then I really lost it and I almost peed on myself! She had a layer of reddish-brown mud from her head down to her toes. She was able to wipe most of it off her face with her good, green-striped shirt, but it was on her neck, down her front, in her hair, well--you get the picture. Oh my gosh--it was hysterical (I'm still snorting at the memory!). "It's not that funny! I hope you do pee on yourself!" she said to me as I was doubled over--shrieking with laughter.
I love that I get to be in the front row for all this entertainment.
And the horses got water on their side of the pond! (:
Every summer Barry's horses, Shadow, Willy, Robby, and "that white thing," are sectioned off away from our horses next to Shirley's house. Willy is mean and would hurt Brady--he's already hurt Indy and tried to get Star. Well, they have the pond in their domain.
Our horses often go and lay in the mudhole, which is a section of the pond that stretches over and into the middle pasture. I am sure it helps keeps the bugs off and is a cool spot on warm summer day. Up the hill, the spring water is running over the tub and down into the trees. On one of her sleepless nights, Lynn came up with the idea that we could run the black pipe (that Don had pulled out and left stretched along the road) from the spring hose down to the empty section of pond and fill it up--using the spring water that was simply going to waste. (: Piece of cake, right?
The horses were excited and ran all around both fields. They heard the plastic bag of fittings and had to come and see what kind of good stuff we brought them. Ziggy rested his heavy head on Lynn while she bent over the pipe and Jupiter and Buster stood nearby with expectant faces, "Got carrots? Got apples? What cha got?" Star kept an eye on things because it's his job and Brady just stood a little off to the side basking the knowledge that he was "the man" for his part in stealing the hay bales. Indy? Not sure exactly where he was--but he is not one to miss out on anything, so I'm sure he was nearby.
It was too easy. We stretched the pipe and only had to put it together in two places. And the couplings were already there. Lynn barely got wet while putting the hose and the black pipe together up at the tank, and it was a warm evening anyway! Then we took Haylee for a run up and around on the trails (I love riding the four-wheelers!).
Long story short--fast forwarding through the Keystone cop-like antics of checking everything and collecting the necessary tools again--we found that there wasn't any water coming out the end, but there was a fountain spraying in the air. She was sure there was water in the pipe, so that meant something was blocking the flow somewhere. "Salamanders crawl up in there and die and then they block the pipe," she said. Gross! We fixed both the holes without getting too wet and walked back down the hill to the soon to be filled pond. Still no water. Ready? This is the good part: pipe cutting tool in hand, Lynn says to me, "I am going to cut it right here."
"Are you sure? Right there?" About that time, the blades cut into the black pipe--instantly, dark brown, thick water blew out in both directions! It was like we had struck oil! A geyser blowing north and south as Lynn held on to the pipe trying to get that last bite through the plastic. Instinctively, I had turned away, probably squealed, probably said the s-word, but I started laughing thinking about how Lynn would laugh when she saw my face that I could feel was speckled with mud, which was also speckled on my shirt and pants and everywhere else.
Before I could turn around Lynn said, "Look at my face." I am laughing right now as I think about it! I turned around and there was Lynn: imagine the cartoons with a character's face completely covered in some sort of slime, with clean eye holes where their glasses had been! Imagine a movie of a woman at a spa with mud all over her face except where the cucumber slices had been! Imagine the sight of an oil derrick with men drenched in black oil, the only nonblack part are teeth showing through because they are grinning as it drips down their face--shirts plastered to their chests, wet with the dark substance! She reached up and scraped a layer of dark brown mud off her face. Then I really lost it and I almost peed on myself! She had a layer of reddish-brown mud from her head down to her toes. She was able to wipe most of it off her face with her good, green-striped shirt, but it was on her neck, down her front, in her hair, well--you get the picture. Oh my gosh--it was hysterical (I'm still snorting at the memory!). "It's not that funny! I hope you do pee on yourself!" she said to me as I was doubled over--shrieking with laughter.
I love that I get to be in the front row for all this entertainment.
And the horses got water on their side of the pond! (:
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
A ride of a different kind
Last night, Lynn called and said Shirley had headed to Montana and it was a good chance to find pictures for her next picture book for her mom. We spent hours pouring over old pictures of everything from Shirley and Ed's life: baby pics of the kids, early marriage pics, family Lynn knew and didn't, and tons of horses! It was fun. I will post some of them soon.
Haylee gets to run on the mountain every night as well; so the first thing we did was go out and get the four wheelers. Lynn rode one and I rode the other. What a blast! We ran all over the trails on the hill with Haylee running and jumping through the trees. Lynn flies up and down the trails like a wild woman, sliding around corners and pouring it on. I could not tear the smile off my face as we whipped through the trees both before and after our venture into Shirley picture closet. It's one more example of what I missed out on being a "town girl!"
As I followed Lynn down the trail, it made think of being a kid. (I think about it when we are all piled on the thing in winter feeding the horses, too.) I have to laugh because at 53 and 52 (and 80 for Pete's sake!), we are still doing things that kids would think of as fun. I don't think we will ever outgrow stuff like this. Thank goodness. This is the side of my life that would probably surprise a lot of people--especially my students who see me in a dress every day, being a responsible and boring person. (:
Haylee gets to run on the mountain every night as well; so the first thing we did was go out and get the four wheelers. Lynn rode one and I rode the other. What a blast! We ran all over the trails on the hill with Haylee running and jumping through the trees. Lynn flies up and down the trails like a wild woman, sliding around corners and pouring it on. I could not tear the smile off my face as we whipped through the trees both before and after our venture into Shirley picture closet. It's one more example of what I missed out on being a "town girl!"
As I followed Lynn down the trail, it made think of being a kid. (I think about it when we are all piled on the thing in winter feeding the horses, too.) I have to laugh because at 53 and 52 (and 80 for Pete's sake!), we are still doing things that kids would think of as fun. I don't think we will ever outgrow stuff like this. Thank goodness. This is the side of my life that would probably surprise a lot of people--especially my students who see me in a dress every day, being a responsible and boring person. (:
Monday, July 16, 2012
"It's Summertime. . .
and the livin' is easy. Fish are jumpin' and cotton is so high. . . "
I absolutely love that song. Although there are slower versions, this is the one I have on a 45! It's an oldie, but a goodie and every summer it runs through my head. I am officially on summer break! No more summer school. Yahooooo!
Saturday was treat: Toni and Buckwheat, Mitch and Stranger joined us for a quick ride on the hoop-de-do trail. Stranger is pretty cute; he's a talker. He whinnied in the trailer; he whinnied when he couldn't see his buddy or the other horses around the trailer. He did that "hunnh, hunnh," sound as he walked along. It was Mitch's first time riding him on the trail and they had no problems (not that Mitch would have had a problem anyway, but Stranger seemed happy to be with everyone). In fact, all the horses behaved--Star had mother hen issues of course and Shirley said he "sunfished" all the way because he was trying to keep one eye on the two horses in front and one on the two horses in back, but everyone else was good. That means everyone had a good time!
On the way back down the trail Lynn and I landed in some bees. Ziggy stopped on the trail and spread his back legs like he was going to pee and then I heard Lynn say, "Bees!" and she spurred Ziggs to move. About that time, Jupiter started humping and quivering and kicking and we too rode away quickly down the trail. I never saw the bees and I think we got away unscathed. Both of them stayed real calm and listened to us and did what we asked them to! Ziggy's tail swished for the rest of the ride, so he may have had some stings and/or stingers still stuck, but Jupiter seemed to have escaped sting-free.
Then we rode up the steep, trashy hill and back down the new trail and came home. Lynn had errands in town and I had a feast day with the Bishop at church so it was a quick ride. I hope we all get to do it again.
Sunday, we went out and this time Lynn brought the shears; she dropped them off in one of the openings on the new trail and left them for later. We went up and around the Hennessey and came back down. The boys seemed a little tired and it was getting hot. On the way through the trees, Lynn walked and cut some of the bigger pokey branches and the ones that have threatened to clothesline us off. Shirley and I broke off the smaller ones. So maybe next time our ride will be a little less bruising.
I absolutely love that song. Although there are slower versions, this is the one I have on a 45! It's an oldie, but a goodie and every summer it runs through my head. I am officially on summer break! No more summer school. Yahooooo!
Saturday was treat: Toni and Buckwheat, Mitch and Stranger joined us for a quick ride on the hoop-de-do trail. Stranger is pretty cute; he's a talker. He whinnied in the trailer; he whinnied when he couldn't see his buddy or the other horses around the trailer. He did that "hunnh, hunnh," sound as he walked along. It was Mitch's first time riding him on the trail and they had no problems (not that Mitch would have had a problem anyway, but Stranger seemed happy to be with everyone). In fact, all the horses behaved--Star had mother hen issues of course and Shirley said he "sunfished" all the way because he was trying to keep one eye on the two horses in front and one on the two horses in back, but everyone else was good. That means everyone had a good time!
On the way back down the trail Lynn and I landed in some bees. Ziggy stopped on the trail and spread his back legs like he was going to pee and then I heard Lynn say, "Bees!" and she spurred Ziggs to move. About that time, Jupiter started humping and quivering and kicking and we too rode away quickly down the trail. I never saw the bees and I think we got away unscathed. Both of them stayed real calm and listened to us and did what we asked them to! Ziggy's tail swished for the rest of the ride, so he may have had some stings and/or stingers still stuck, but Jupiter seemed to have escaped sting-free.
Then we rode up the steep, trashy hill and back down the new trail and came home. Lynn had errands in town and I had a feast day with the Bishop at church so it was a quick ride. I hope we all get to do it again.
Sunday, we went out and this time Lynn brought the shears; she dropped them off in one of the openings on the new trail and left them for later. We went up and around the Hennessey and came back down. The boys seemed a little tired and it was getting hot. On the way through the trees, Lynn walked and cut some of the bigger pokey branches and the ones that have threatened to clothesline us off. Shirley and I broke off the smaller ones. So maybe next time our ride will be a little less bruising.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Like mother, like daughter
Too funny! Shirley noticed the similarities when she was scrolling through my camera. (Sorry for the blurriness--Jupiter is a twinkle butt and he makes me jiggle.)
PS It's my first time ever being suspended and I didn't like it!
PS It's my first time ever being suspended and I didn't like it!
Experimenting with links
AAAAGGGGHHHHH! I don't understand why you guys cannot link to the album. All of them are open to the public and shouldn't be a problem. I don't know what I am doing wrong. These are two more attempts. I hope they work.
https://picasaweb.google.com/missvkurtz/MemorialWeekend2012#
https://picasaweb.google.com/missvkurtz/MemorialWeekend2012#
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| Memorial Weekend 2012 |
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| Lander's Lake |
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Truly we are blessed
The trail was alternately rocky, silty, and peaty. The dust was at a minimum because it is so early in the season, so it was a pleasure to ride in any position: front, middle, or back. Much of the trail going in to the lake is an incline since the elevation at the lake is approximately 7200 feet. There were some rocky step-ups and some really steep places, but the boys never faltered going either way. Although Buster is incredibly boring and walks too slow according to Shirley, he powered uphill and took the steps back down like an old pro. Both Ziggy and Jupiter did really well also and although Lynn feels like Ziggy corners too wide and she is stretched out over the abyss--picture it kind of like Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons--they looked good all day from where I sat.
I teased Lynn about always underestimating how close we were and about her memory from 30 years ago, we made it and there really was a beautiful meadow and pristine lake. The boys loved the high mountain grass and we had a little picnic that the dogs ate more of than we did; however, they probably needed it more than we did. Those two dogs ran at least 2x the 16 miles we traversed. Although they slowed down a little on the way back and stayed closer to the trail, anything that caught their eye had them chasing off through the trees. Haylee was super tired, but she made it! Both dogs slept most of the way home.
The trail was very diverse and once we got to the first meadow we had to look for rocks piled on top of each other like cairns. Lynn remembers having to pick her way through the bog in one spot, but the CCC has since added a causeway which made the trail easy for the horses and less stressful for the riders. There many water crossings and both dogs and horses had lots of opportunities to drink. Haylee doesn't like to get her feet too wet and she's a little cautious of water since her surprise dunking at the pond, so she created her own trail hopping onto rocks and logs or completely over it.
We ended the day with a preventive squirt of Absorbine JR on the boys' knees and ankles and Jupiter got a little "minty fresh" on his nose when he reached down for scratch. He made some great faces that I did not catch on film! Then we ravenously ate hamburgers at Marinos in Weaverville and got home about 8pm. It was a glorious day!
Sunday we did a short ride around the meadow on the Hennessey to make sure they were loosened up and not standing around getting stiff. When we got back home and let them loose in the field with the other boys, they had a group hug! (: It was cute and I wish I could have taken a picture. Great weekend!!
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