Saturday started off with high heads and lots of snorting. There was a bull groaning or growling or generally making noise that was WAY SCARY! It was over behind a tall fence and no one could see it, but it was pretty loud. Ziggy tried to crawl out from under the trailer dividers. Both Star and Jupiter blasted out to get away from him and then Lynn carefully stayed out of his way once she opened up Zig's section. We walked them over to the end of the fence so they could see what it was, but they weren't having any of it!
Jupiter and Star settled down once they got to eating green grass, but not Ziggy. Eventually we saddled them up and got on--although, neither Star nor Ziggy would get close enough to the really great mounting blocks. We took off up the levy toward the trail head with lots of high heads and tight reins. We had also been told that there had been a bear around the first two turns. It never materialized, but we did hear some crashing in the brush.
The trail was slick and many spots were made of deep mud. Star slipped around because he doesn't want to get his prissy feet muddy; Jupes plowed through with no problem, but Ziggy got himself into trouble a couple of times. Once, he straddled the trail as he attempted to go up on the bank and slipped. Another time, Mr. Calm and Unruffled got scared of a large, red tree stump. That time his back legs slipped off the trail and his front legs were sinking up to his ankles. It was not good. He was sideways in the trail and there wasn't enough room for those kinds of shenanigans! Lynn had to get off and walk him by the scary tree.
I would say everyone was on high alert. Jupes was continually vying for passing Star and getting to the front. I think he was concerned about whatever it was out there coming up behind him--he didn't want to be last! We rode sideways most of the day. When everyone else seemed like they had relaxed reins--we did not. However, I was very proud of him--he did well.
However, for all that it was a great day! The temperature was perfect and no one performed any tricks. It was a good place to be!
**Off topic but I have to share: in Lake Tahoe there are many bears. They are thinking of adding a new activity here at the Spanish Language Institute: Running with bears, like in Spain, running with bulls. Then someone said, "Maybe it's running FROM bears!" (: Anyway, I guess the high school has three bears that like to lay on their warm sidewalks and one of the participants in the institute almost ran over a bear on her bicycle Sunday. I thought of Lynn and her love of bear sightings.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
An oracle, a problem-solver, and the best friend anyone could ever ask for!
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!
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!
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 |
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