Cowgirlin'

On Shirley's 86th birthday, Lynn and I rode on Underwood. It was wonderful. We didn't do the whole ride--skipping the steep hill and then going around the pond, but it was glorious nevertheless. Have we said we love our chinks enough? Probably. :)

Bus and Jupe did a little competitive trotting up the road and Lynn said again how smooth Buster is. I'm glad. I like to trot.

Afterward, we fed Barry and Nancy's horses and met the cutest kitten. Then we came home to fix fence. It was so cool! We got these twisty wires (fence stays?) and we rode/walked the fence line with Lee and the chainsaw. They work so great! It was fun. Then we moved the horses to the hill. They were so happy.

Funny story:
On Wednesday, I had a meeting in town so I did everyone's grocery shopping. :) I called Lynn and said, meet me at my house to pick up your stuff after work. I drove by her as she was pulling onto the highway after work. When she didn't come, I called her and found out that she was working on a water problem uptown, so I went to feed the horses.

First of all, it was getting dark. I hurried, but did not get Lynn's headlamp. First mistake. But I got the hay bale down and cut the string without a lot light--first hurdle accomplished.

I got Happy, Haley, & Ziva all lined out and we were off. No horses at the gate, no bucking and being wild. All good so far.

I drove up the hill to where we have been feeding. I parked and left the motor running and lights on. I was trying to get the hay as fast as I could, but there was Jupes, slinging hay off the four-wheeler. Next to him was Big Zig grabbing off the other side. I hollered at Star,"stay there, I'm coming!" I told Buster, "just hang on, I'll get you some." I'm pushing at Jupes, "Doggone it. Look what you did!" I reached down and scooped up all the now loose hay off the ground and started toward the tree to give Buster some.

Next thing I know--I am sprawling across a down tree. "Oh no, oh no," I say loudly as I go down onto my knees and then a belly flop onto the hay. (I did not say, "Shit!" I know you're surprised.) "OH NO!" I am scrambling and pushing at Buster's knees--I have lost my glasses in the mud and hay and DARK. I cannot see anything except Buster's feet. "Wait," I tell him. I am scooping at hay and sticks and trying to feel the frames of my glasses. Jupiter is almost on top of me, "What're you doin' NOW?" I was so worried about my glasses, I didn't have time to worry he might step on me. Thank goodness they can see.

Anyway, finally one scoop of hay and sticks also had something that felt like frames--YAY! I found them. I scrambled up and scooped the hay to take to the original destination I had planned. I managed to get all the hay spread out for them and back up the four-wheeler without anything getting broken and any of us getting hurt. A big win.

And funny.

After hearing my story and seeing the mud and detritus on my glasses, Lee gave me a free cleaning. Then I drove home with another adventure under my belt from The Place aka 10 Firs aka Acorn Alley. I'll be a cowgirl, yet.

:)

Getting some air

missing our partner

Things have been hard around here. Lots of pain and sorrow and tons of worry. After another Saturday at the hospital, we went for a ride around the Hennessey on Sunday. It was a cold morning and we were thankful for our chinks--what a great buy! We were in blue and the dogs wore blue tape and thankfully, the only hunters we saw were in cars and they clearly saw us either next to or on the road itself. Happy got to go with us and we all got some much needed air and mountain time.

somebody wrinkled a granola wrapper

Lynn rode Buster, and both of them had a ball. He is super smooth and was full of go. His motion does not hurt Lynn at all and his arthritis has not been keeping him from doing any of the trails. She plans to start giving him his medicine soon, as it is getting colder. She made the decision to put off buying the saddle or another horse and to just ride Buster until Shirley can mount up again. Decisions like that are so hard to make and I know it was weighing heavily on her.

Jupiter and I had a good day as well. I love that boy. I am glad he and I are such good partners. Thankfully I never had to send him back, like I threatened. :)

Keep sending good thoughts to Lynn and Shirley as they "Cowgirl Up" and struggle through their pain. We miss our riding partner and keep telling her that the doctor said she could ride come Spring.


Happy Fall from us. :)

A tough week at The Place (aka 10 Firs)

This week was a hard  one--lots and lots of smoke and then Big Zig had a major injury. Somehow, he was rammed by something extremely hard and pointy (probably metal) on the inside of his upper leg. He had bone fragments in his wound and scrapes on his leg bone. Dr. Branch told Lynn it was very important to keep the wound flushed and clean and that Ziggy take his medicine. He said bone infections are common with this kind of injury; so he gave her the strongest antibiotic he has, told her to irrigate it twice a day, keep track of his temperature, and if the swelling went above a line he drew on Zig's thigh, to bring him in immediately. Scary stuff.

The good news is: his temperature is down to normal and he has been running and bucking. He is still a little swollen and getting tired of the irrigation tube, but he likes the grain mixed with his meds. He really doesn't like the hose spraying off the iodine from his leg. Star is extremely jealous and has now taken to cutting Zigs out and away from Lynn so he can't go get his "special treatment." Jupes ran directly to me yesterday when I got out of my car--talking the whole way, so I sure he was saying that Lynn wasn't being fair! He wanted some grain, too!

Dr. Branch gave Lynn a compliment and said that we all did a good job of taking care of our horses and Ziggy would most likely heal quickly and be fine because of it. He's a good age and up on all his shots, as well as in good condition.

We did not ride on Saturday, because it seemed like it would be too smoky, but Sunday, we saddled up Star, Buster, and Jupiter and went up the Hennessey. Lynn had a great time on Buster, who took the lead and lined right out. She said he was so smooth and perfect. Star and Shirley did well also and me and Jupes were fine, too. No mountain lions and the girls were good, too.

A great day was had by all. Now we can get through another week! :)

A Smoky Labor Day Weekend

This is what it looks like from my deck. 

There is supposed to be a mountain ridge there.

      This is out my kitchen window.

Guess you know we did not ride this weekend. I drove to Santa Rosa on Friday and it was smoky the whole way. We had talked about going to Cueno Creek, but it was smoky there, too. Maybe in the redwood grove it would have been okay--I don't know. Even Orick is smoky. I think all of Northern California is under this blanket of smoke. The heat on the coast is crazy as well--high 80s. I think it was in the 100s at Blue Lake. We are not hot like predicted--we have smoke to insulate us. :(

Recovery ride

After three weeks off, Lynn was raring to go riding. (Well, all of us were!) We braved the smoke and found that it was one of our better days. The sky was almost completely clear of smoke (both days) and although we could feel the heat was coming, it was a cool couple of mornings.

Saturday, we rode up to the Hennessey and down to the right and through the hoop-de-doos to the creek and bottom trail. We turned down the steep gully washer trail that leads to the granola meadow (ha-ha, like those descriptions? are you with me?). When we made the sharp turn before the tree that runs in front of the trail (the one little Ziggy thinks he can go under), there was a small dead cedar that now leaned into the trail. Jupes was powering through and I tried to slow him and grab the cedar to push it away from us. But no, he was going through it. Of course it didn't move much and we were showered with dead cedar leaves--and I mean showered. They were everywhere--including some broken branches stuck under my leg and armpit and across the saddle. I looked back up at it when we were on the other side of the down/parallel tree and there were absolutely zero leaves left on it!

Lynn and Ziggy were next and then Shirley and Star. We were waiting to warn them and hadn't moved from below the tree. Lynn easily grabbed and moved it as she went by; then Shirley reached up for it and suddenly she yelled, "Girls! Girls! I'm caught! Wait!" Her glove, an Isotoner driving glove with built-in holes in it, had caught on a little stob. After struggling to free herself, it finally let go and we moved on. Thankfully, it gave me some time to get some of the cedars out of my bra and branches from under my leg.

We didn't ride long because Lynn had a huge list of things to do. When we got back, we could see how tired and sore Star was. He is showing his age. :(

Sunday we headed out again--this time Buster got to go! He has not gone with us since he blew up on Underwood "right off the git." Was that two summers ago? We were all a little nervous about how it was going to go. He was awesome! However, coming downhill on the way back, it did seem like something was bothering him. We all got off and walked through the new trail, where it is steep. We took a different path that we have been looking at as an alternative and Lynn did some light logging.

The big news though, I saved for last: our ride was a very short one! As we crested the trail that ends on the road where we ride to the top of Hennessey, we heard a vehicle coming down. We all got off to the side and Lynn flagged him down so he could see us. He stopped and told her we probably shouldn't go up to the top. I could see on her face that she was concerned about whatever he was saying. After he proceeded on down the road, she came over and told us that he had just seen a HUGE MOUNTAIN LION! It was on the flat top of the hill. AND unafraid of him and his vehicle. CRAP.

Needless to say, we gathered our pups and headed our horses for home, keeping one eye on our backsides. Scaaaaarry.

Split Rock

Saturday was a laid back riding day. We went to Underwood with the intention of finding Split Rock. Usually we ride Underwood pretty fast because we do it on Sunday and we can go to church afterward and if Alisa is here, she can get on the road. Saturday, we took our time and fiddled around, snooping out new spots to ride. It is probably a better place for Lynn as well, as she is having horrible back pain that sometimes is alleviated due to Keota's smooth movement, but sometimes does not get better. Underwood does not have the steep ups and downs that our Hennessey rides have.

Although our eyes were peeled, we did not see any wildlife--only a thick, and I mean THICK, spider web. I am glad we did not see the spider that made it--sheesh! I am thankful it was off to the side and none of us were lassoed into it!!

Once we attained the top of the mountain where we usually let the horses eat grass and the dogs rub off some of their burrs, we turned and went down the mountain toward the coast rather than down toward the river. We have looked down here before and it is just too steep to ride anywhere. So we went up and to the road and took it. About 15 minutes down the road, Lynn saw a trail off to the left that looked well used. So down we went.

We stopped and trimmed some trees so we could cross a little stream and over we went. It was obvious that this was a hiking trail because someone had put some small logs across so they wouldn't get their feet wet, but they were not horse bridges. Not much further on, we saw a rock formation.
It did not look like anything special. Then Lynn said she was getting off and we should, too.

OMG. What looked like just a big boulder was actually Split Rock. It was a HUGE, GINORMOUS rock with its twin on the other side of a deep, deep crevasse. I lay on my belly and looked over and from where I was, I could not see the bottom. Shirley had to step away and not look at all. She said some things are just too much for her and she does not like heights. It was shady and cool and had vegetation in between the two mammoth sides of rock. Lynn of course, went slip sliding down to the bottom and she said it was awesome. We need to bring our hiking boots next time so we can get down there. If we are going to explore it, maybe we should drive to the top and then walk down instead of leaving our horses at the top.  Anyway, it was very cool and we are excited to share it with Alisa.

Sunday, we did a short ride on the Hennessey, but it was obvious that Lynn was in pain. Shirley rode up to me and pointed out that Lynn was a pale as a ghost and we needed to take the trail back home. So we did. I feel bad that Lynn hurts so much and do not mind a short ride at all--any ride with my partner, Jupes, and my besties, Lynn and Shirley, works for me.

Next weekend, Alisa is coming over. The following Monday is Lynn's surgery. Unless things are a lot better, we may not be able to ride. Although Ziggy's back looks good, I am not sure he is smooth enough for Lynn to ride with her back bothering her as much as it is. Today, she is seeing the Physical Therapist, so we will play it by ear.

Orick Horse Trail (the switch backs)