Update

Since the last time I posted, my horse has recovered from her colic, we rode in a poker ride, we set fence, got hay, helped a friend load a horse for euthanasia.........all the minutiae of life.

The Challenge of the North CTR started Friday. Our group left on Thursday for the 7 hour 350 mile haul. On one hand I was disappointed that I wasn't going and on the other I was relieved because we just weren't ready. Next year CTR Alaska will be hosting the Bald Mountain Butt Buster here at home. That's what I really like to do - organize the trails for our CTR. There are over 50 miles of trails that need to be maintained. Some we ride every week because they are the ones closest to the house. An all day ride with lunch on the mountain gets us to the farthest away and most spectacular trails.

The Poker Ride went great! No accidents, no one got hurt, the food was excellent! There were about 55 riders including all the volunteers. The next one is planned for sometime in September at a yet to be determined location. There's another group of riders at Mile 107 of the Glenn Highway who would like us to help them put on a Poker Ride. As much as I love to ride our trails going some where new is always fun.

I rode Vooshka at the Poker Ride and for3 days before the ride flagging trail and riding support for cleaning a trail. You would never have known she had colicked the week before. We rode about 4 hours on Tuesday, 4 hours on Thursday, 8 hours on Friday and another 8 on Saturday. My horse does not like riding with new horses. My friend Christy and I rode mid-drag (because the ride was divided into two groups: one continued up the mountain and the others turned back at the five mile point). Our girls rode together ahead of us with another friend and that friend's mom rode with us. This new-to-Vooshka horse had her passage-ing on the trail from my chip stop to the end of the ride. Oh my goodness. Although her feet were going like crazy, she never felt like she was going to explode or run off. She did stick her nose in the air quite a bit so I know we need to work on that but she never went any faster than I allowed her to.

Hay this year is awesome! We had hot (for Alaska) sunny days and cool nights. A little rain would have helped but for the most part first cut is in the barn with no rain on it. This is such a blessing since last year what little hay was pulled from the field was horrible. I had to buy outside hay at $27/100 # bale to get me through until first cut. Second cut in September should be better since it will rain some in August.

We are preparing for the State Fair already. My daughter has a market lamb and several of my Suffolks as well as the Alpine buck will be shown. She does the baking contest, speech contest and livestock judging also.

That's about all I've been doing. There's no drama - just life. Let me see if I can find a picture for you.......

On Hold

I'm going to put this blog on hold for a while. Circumstances have pushed so that I am unable to ride my horse as much as I wanted to compete in the Fairbanks CTR.

My brother unexpectedly passed away June 15 from liver cancer. He was 53 and had been a paraplegic for 26 years. The cancer snuck up on him and from diagnosis to death was less than six weeks. He left me a terrible legal mess to clean up where he lived in Florida. Thank goodness for life long friends.

Since I have been from Alaska to Florida twice in the month of June, my animals have been cared for by knowledgeable neighbors. The goats were milked and the milk fed to an orphan calf. The sheep were great. The horses however were another story. They got out and went visiting. Voosh went through the electric fence. I ran out of hay and my husband bought outside timothy and local brome. The horses loved it. He also bought alfalfa to feed the sheep and goats.

I do not feed my animals on a rigid schedule. Usually they are fed between 10 and 12, both am and pm. They never stand at the gate and hollar for their feed. They are not pushy. They know that they will be fed. They eat local brome hay.

Vooshka colicked last night. She had been fine so Briar and I went for a short ride about 7:30 pm. About a mile and a half from the house, she laid down on me and exhibited all the classic signs of colic. I pulled her saddle off and put it on The Mare who had been ridden bareback. I walked Voosh a mile to my friend's house where she wanted to lay down and roll. We put some oil down her throat then I walked the last half mile home. Long, no drama story short - after two doses of banamine she finally pooped at 2 am and again at 3 am. My vet recommended not riding for a couple of days.

With the time spent in Florida and another few days off, there is just no way that I can get this horse in shape for a CTR. We would only be doing Competitive Pleasure but I just can't see hauling 7 hours each way for a long ride with a horse that isn't 100% ready. There's always next year.

I may post occasionally about our Poker Rides and some training but it may be few and far between. Maybe even I try Wordless Wednesdays and just post pictures.

But I'll be back..........

What's Your Worst Trailering Nightmare?

Mine happened this morning taking Strider and the Mare to 4-H Horse Camp. We turned onto Schrock from Sage heading up the hill. I had coffee in one hand and was talking to Briar. We passed Heather and headed down the hill. As we got to the top of the next hill by Country Hills Road I was thinking about telling Briar about a trailering accident I read about on a blog. We went over a small bump and the trailer made a funny swerve. I was driving the three quarter ton flatbed and it got jerked from side to side. Then the trailer slammed into the back of the truck. The truck was shoved forward again. I pushed on the brake pedal very slowly and the trailer slammed into the back of the truck again. It took at least two more slams before I got the truck and trailer off the road and stopped. Briar and I both jumped out to check the horses.

Strider was loaded first since I like to keep The Mare over the axles. Even so it loads the trailer tongue heavy (which is where I like it). Both horses were standing there looking at me with no concern at all. They were fine! The hitch of the trailer was underneath the bumper of the truck. What saved the trailer was the foot on the bottom of the trailer jack. It slid along the road (you can see where it took the paint off the fog line right at the top of the hill) and was smoking when I looked at it. The trailer jack is tall and that is what saved the trailer from crashing into the back of the truck. However, I couldn't unload the horses because the trailer would have raised up in the front when I opened the door. I was afraid that it would roll backwards. So I called Fritz and he brought a really big floor jack from the shop. I pulled the truck ahead so the hitch was out from under the bumper. Fritz jacked the tongue up, reattached the hitch to the truck and I triple checked everything.

What happened was that the clamshell hitch opened because it wasn't safety pinned. Fritz had hooked the trailer up down below last night and pulled it up to the house so we could load all the saddles and stuff. I pulled it down to the horses this morning. I trusted that my sweety had hitched up properly.

Lesson learned? Check and double check.

Postscript: Strider was very very sore after the wreck. Apparently the Mare slammed into him and he slammed into the divider. I gave him a half dose of Banamine twice and he feels better. Tonight I picked him up from the Fairgrounds to come home. He willingly loaded into the same trailer and was tied in the same spot. I could tell that he was nervous. He rode well, just stomped his feet and wouldn't stand still. At home I made him wait for a few minutes before I took him out. Then, because I can't leave well enough alone, I loaded him back in the trailer. It took three tries but he did get in.

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I will be gone for a while. I'm headed to Florida to look after my brother. I did get an awesome ride in on Sunday May 31 and even have pictures. It can keep till I get back.

Rinse and Repeat.......

It's still raining. That is a good thing for the plants and fire suppression but not so good for riding. I used to ride in the rain when I lived in Florida but this Alaska rain is cold! The temps have dropped into the 50s during the day and the mountains in my front yard have a new frosting of snow. The weather is supposed to clear by Sunday afternoon. I hope we can ride then.

A riding group in Chugiak is hosting an Extreme Challenge Trail Ride in June. The flyer says "An obstacle course to challenge your skills and strengthen the partnership between you and your horse". The $20 entry fee goes for a split the pot prize. Sounds like fun to me!

I had a picture to post but Blogger won't let me. Maybe later......

Thank Goodness it Rained!

This afternoon it rained! We have been without rain for over two weeks and the last was just sprinkles. Today's wasn't much better but it filled the stock tank under the gutter on the barn. So the critters have water and the dust has been settled. I hope that the Red Flag Warning we've been under for the past month has been lifted but probably not. I have a bunch of leaves and trash that need to be burned.

The rain today meant we didn't get to ride. I did get the picture of Briar and The Mare in the beaver pond downloaded (Hooray for geeky 13 year old kids) Check out the water level on her jeans. When we rode last night I put Voosh in the river to the left of the picture, just past the dam. Then we rode in the river on the other side of the brush on the spit behind Briar. The river is fast and I have to be careful not to look at it. I must keep focused on where I'm going. Last year I got caught up in watching the river and gave myself a raging case of vertigo. Not fun!


I heard today that one of the ladies I ride with took a bad tumble yesterday. She was following Stefanie up the powerline hill when her horse turned and bolted downhill. At the bottom of the hill her saddle slipped and she came off. Even with her helmet on she has a terrible goose egg on her forehead, a mild concussion, 4 stitches on her chin and a drain tube in her knee. She was riding her young Arab gelding that she planned on riding in the Fairbanks CTR which is about 6 weeks away. Good thoughts and prayers are always welcomed.

Blogger Ate My Post!!

I came back to write about the ride tonight and found that blogger ate my last post!

Briar and I rode Friday evening. It's staying light until midnight so we take advantage of the cooler evenings to ride for a couple of hours. She chose to ride her Appy pony Strider since he is being loaned to a young girl for 4-H horse camp next week. Strider hasn't been ridden since last year. We wanted to give him a tune up for a beginner rider. Then my friend Christy asked if she could borrow Strider for the summer. She has a six year old daughter that needs a pony she can be ponied on. What a perfect job for an old horse. Strider will be 26 in June. He has a very colorful history. I actually have all the paperwork on him including his health certificate from when he came to Alaska on the ferry. His sire was a racing Appaloosa in Oregon named RJ Powder Bars and his dam was a registered QH named Buzzie's Honey. I know he spent two years in Glenallen tied to a bulldozer in someone's front yard. I bought him from an outfitter in Kenny Lake five years ago. He's been great. I rode him setting trail for the first Bald Mountain Butt Buster. Poor guy had to keep up with a Tennessee Walker and a 16 hand QH.

Saturday I was all set to ride with a group of people from the neighborhood. My crew was running a job in Palmer so I had to ferry trucks and supplies across the Valley. One of my employees was a no call, no show and the job had to be completed on Saturday. Guess who got shanghaied into working? So no ride on Saturday.

Sunday we spent almost all afternoon at a wedding but Briar and I got a ride in early evening. The group from Saturday had other committments so it was just us again. Then tonight (Monday) I bribed Briar into riding with me again. We rode for a couple of hours, down to the river and back. She put Strider in the beaver pond and it was so deep he had to swim! Voosh got right in the river and went where I asked her to. She did really well.

All of my rides have been no longer than two hours. I'm really looking forward to a longer ride. My biggest problem is that I can't get anyone to ride with me. Briar pouts almost the whole time she rides. It's like pulling teeth to get her to ride. Everyone else works 9 to 5. I'm hesitant to ride by myself for several reasons: It's more fun to ride with someone; There are very dangerous wild animals where I ride; and My horse is still basically green and I'd like a back up in case something goes wrong. If it comes to a question of riding by myself or not riding I guess I'll choose riding by myself.

Back in the saddle again

So after almost a week of being too tired to ride at the end of the day, Briar and I finally got a ride in. It was a short one, just an hour and a half. The field road across the hay field is finally dry enough that we can ride across the field to access the river trails. So we rode across the big open field and down the paved road to the gate. We need to make a new trail through this area since the tree roots have been exposed by two Competitive Trail Rides, several poker rides and the riding that the "regulars" do. It's not a long area and there's not much trail making to be done, just several small alders taken out so that we don't catch a stirrup on them.

We rode down Dead Horse Hill and the powerline trail was dry today so we rode to the river. The beaver dam was deep. I sent Briar across on the Mare to see just how deep it was. The Mare stands about 16.5 hands. The water came to the middle of her shoulder. I have a picture on my phone and as soon as I figure out how to download it I will post it. Briar rides bareback and her feet and legs got soaked. The river was up also due to the warm weather and the melting of the glaciers and snowpack still on the mountains. It's a little early to be crossing the river but soon we will be able to cross at all the regular places.

I haven't seen any sign of bear yet. Lots of moose, dog and fox tracks in the muddy spots. As soon as there are fish in the river though the bears will be around.

The return trip was uneventful. The barking dog came charging out of her yard but Voosh just flicked an ear. Nice trot around the field and up several hills. We finished the ride by going up and down the driveway several times before heading to the barn.