ColliesHorsesArtLove

Tevis Fun Ride

Ali'i and I did the Tevis Fun Ride on Saturday. For $45 you could pick two loops with the money going to the trails. One 12 mile loop was from the Foresthill Mill Site back thru the canyon to Michigan Bluff, or the 20 mile ride from Foresthill down the Cal Loop and then up to Driver's Flat. I chose the 20 mile ride. I rode with Kathie & friend Sam and we started out about 10 am.

Ali'i spooked at something (???) and I have to hold on for dear life while holding my iPhone and then we are in The Back. A l i ' i ! ! ! ! 

This is a fun trail. It's the part that most Tevis riders do at night. It's long, some 17 or 18 miles to the bottom and just when you think you've ridden 12 miles of switchbacks on narrow trails you see a sign that says you've only gone 3.3 miles. At night, for me, it was much more intense and at times, literally not being able to see ANYTHING. But it's still REALLY fun!!

Kathie on Cira and Sam on Malaia, Kathie's other horse. Both horses (& Kathie) have finished Tevis. 

Ali'i was in front for most of the ride, and the single track trail. This is his (and my) favorite place to be. He's got a fast walk if we're in front and I don't have to fight with him.

Once we got to the road, we were in back and the fighting started. Not bad, not good. Just annoying. Annoying Ali'i.

Nice water stop. This is near the bottom of the Cal Loop and a good place to cool the horses. Sam & Malaia.

Kathie pouring water on Cira. Her horses are in wonderful shape, but haven't been out as consistently as Ali'i has, so the heat was a little harder on them. It was warm, but not blistering hot. That will be coming up soon, I'm sure.

All was good here, then a group of horses passed us a ways down the trail. Ali'i was PISSED so I had to get off of him and get him settled down a little. I finally left Kathie & Sam to ride ahead on my own. We decided to do an extra 6 miles, which was to the River Crossing and back, then up to Driver's Flat where the trailer was. Good for the horses who are riding Tevis as it helps them when they are tired and it's so late at night. They remember the trail.

To the River Crossing!

Here's Muffin Head at the river. Last week on the blog, the photo of Aura in the river looking at the geese was just on the other side of this. Not sure it's passable yet without swimming......I'm not that brave.....

Ali'i drank, then we were off backwards to Driver's Flat. We passed Kathie & Sam a few minutes later, then flew back up the trail the 3 miles to the hill to Driver's Flat. It's about a 2 mile climb to the top and a great conditioning hill. At the top were water troughs (thank God!!) courtesy of Greg from Echo Valley Feed. I thought someone was rude and threw empty beer cans in the troughs but then realized they were for riders (and horses I suppose though I haven't figured out how you pour liquid into a horse's mouth, especially from a can). So, we had 1/2 a warm beer, chatted with Greg and waited for Kathie & Sam.

The Tevis Bar-B-Que. Yum!

I had one raffle ticket that came with my entry, but T bought 10 more and gave them to me to read. I'm not sure that was a good idea, because by then I had had 2 beers and missed one of the tickets. Luckily the next one they read was ours also and I was able to choose my prize.

Yeah! A green horsey bucket full o' stuff! Like WINE, brushes, hoof pick with a cute horse head on the end, LOTS of people snacks, horsey spray, lead rope....

Love this!! Just a little smaller than Ali'i!!

The other 3 raffle tickets I was VERY interested in were...your Tevis entry paid for (Renee Robinson won that!!! Yeah!!), a one day Fishing Trip & night's lodging in Alaska and a night's stay at Somewhere Over The Rainbow Lodge in Foresthill. Since I wasn't reading the numbers on the tickets very well, maybe I would have won one of those too! T can keep the tickets now! I sorta suck.

Fun, friends, food and we were off. I gave a thumbs up to the One Woman (I think?) Band and almost tossed myself over a green plastic chair. That made me laugh A LOT! I hope the One Woman Band laughed too because it was a moment. I'm glad I didn't go down.....Good job! Tevis Fun Ride it was!!!

Khaliq's First Time Off Of The Property ~ Ali'i Babysits

Well, today was a huge day for Khaliq. Today she went to the hill with Ali'i, T & I.

I wanted everything really easy for her. A trailer ride that wasn't in the windy canyons and a big, wide road without a lot of scary stuff. I had already been there in the morning and ran into a friend so he and I did another 5 mile loop. Just wanted to get back so I could take her and Ali'i out, but I wanted Tony there in case I had problems. You never know with doing something so new with a young horse.

Ali'i isn't my favorite to pony off of because he's usually a two handed horse to ride, but today he was awesome. He seemed to figure out that he needed to be VERY good because it was Khaliq's first time out in the big world.

She was......

Wild........

And crazy....

And spooky..........

And out of control......Wwwaaaayyyy out of control......

Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!

She was...

Absolutely......

P E R F E C T ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

We went about a 3/4 of a mile down the road, then turned around and once we started back there was a slight grade that she could feel so she got a little slow and I handed her off to T because Ali'i wanted to walk fast up the hill. She's going to be seeing a lot of the hill later on in her life when she's a big girl. Now is just for socialization. But, you say ~ "Isn't she a 'big girl' now???? She's as big as Ali'i!!" Oh, we already went over that in yesterday's post.

T's a good pony horse too!

When we got near to the top of the road, we ran into Janine and a client. This was perfect timing because not only has Janine NEVER seen my baby, Khaliq got all prancy and puffy when she saw new horses. Janine just about fell over at how beautiful Khaliq is (like me, I fall over every day) and I've been telling her for almost 2 years!! She loved her pretty head and beautiful long neck and clean throatlatch. Plus she loved her size and um, weight......um chubby weight.

Khemistreetu is 24 this week and I would LOVE to breed mom back to him, but now is not the time for Aura as she's got the career thing going but there is such a thing as freezing a follicle.....................for later use..............not that I'm saying.........

 

 

There ya have it!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

I'm glad it isn't Father's Day because the bush is coming down and I'm not doing it.

Ray of Sunshine was over last week and asked why we had "that bush corralled".......it certainly isn't intentional. It needs a big trim.

Even if it was Father's Day I would not be the one to trim it. Or wack it. I won't let T spray poison on it so it secretly comes back every year. It loves being on the blog.

I thought it would take T about 2 hours but he was done in 30 minutes. What a rancher!! His father would be proud!! Or his mother. Or me. I am proud. 

The enduring bush.

Khemali'i Finishes The Saturday Washoe 50 Miler!!

Ali'i, T & I & a handful of dogs were off to one of my favorite rides, the land of Sage Brush & an excellent weekend of 50 Milers. If I could inhale the sage, the camp, the people, the ride management I would because it was absolutely a perfect weekend. And unshockingly, it always is.

Sage waiting for T to come back from In & Out Burger in Reno. She was one of the chosen few to go. It's called SOCIALIZATION and she got her fill of exciting things to run into....like Ridecamp dogs.....hahaha!! S c a r y . . .

We were able to leave by 12:30 pm on Friday and get to camp by 3 pm. It's always a little hard to relax for me because there is so much to do and then I ride and T stays back at the RV for hours. So, to get to Ridecamp a little earlier gives me time to sniff in all the sage and have a glass of wine. Donna & Fred couldn't go this year which was sadder than words and to add insult to injury the old tree that we've always set up next to (and reminds me of her mare Vinita) had fallen down. But I will not make any more of that than it really was an old tree. Waaaaaaaaaa.........

We got Ali'i vetted in, his boots on with Mueller Tape to assist in a better fit, then he was fed his mush with electrolytes, & lots of hay & water.

It was quite cold both nights we were there, getting down in the low 30's. Hard for horses that have already lost their winter coats and many (Ali'i), shaved. He was shivering the next morning when I tacked him up. Poor boy. I felt guilty for not bringing his heavier blanket. Isn't his butt cute?

Ray of Sunshine stayed at the house so we could leave Lana, Soleil & Ty home. I think Soleil was the only one who was really offended by not going, but she got over it once we got home. Like we never left. I love dogs. They don't hold grudges.

Steak dinner in Winnie, then off to the Ride Meeting.

Only at Ridecamp can you eat dinner with your helmet on and still have friends.

Yummy Raw ~ Tirzah's checking out some old dinner before going to beddie.

I slept really well and was up by 5:15 am. The ride started at 6:30, with the start going up a hill, which is another thing I love about the Saturday ride ~ harder for horses to run away with you, or buck you off, or doo doo horsey stuff like that. Though, last year he was a NERD when I got on him, and the year before when I rode with Janine he spent the first 2 hours giving me little bucks.

This start was probably the most perfect start Ali'i's ever done and the most perfect ride in general. Having done a 50 last weekend probably had a lot to do with it, but I also think horses do mature with experience. He was relaxed and didn't kick it into a higher gear til about 8-10 miles into the ride. 

I immediately met a rider named Leslie Spitzer (EasyBoot Team Member & a friend of Renee's from last weekend) and we rode the whole 50 miles together. We had a great time and the similaries between us was shockingly uncanny ~ or may I say, so many off the wall things that she and I had in common. Ali'i also didn't care, on this ride if she was in front or we were in front. It made for a very relaxed 50 miler.

Photo Opp!!! Smile!!! Like my shirt? Pajama top (Xmas present) from Donna. 

(This is my favorite photo of Ali'i from the photographers. He looks so B E A U T I F U L ! ! ! ......My scanner took a shit and unfortunately I had to take photos of them with my iPhone & NOT MY relatively new HP Photosmart Scanner/Printer/Copier. This says a lot about why you should spend money on an iPhone and not this expensive P.O.S.)

One of my favorite views coming around the mountain on the first loop. This is about as high as we went on the first 26 miles and the views of the High Sierras are stunning. 

Here is Leslie in Super Duper Color clutching onto her iPhone. 

And then the Super Duper Color of the Sierras.

Leslie was so funny talking about her horse Eagle who always takes advantage when she pulls her phone out, takes a drink or eats a snack. Ali'i does the same thing ~ they start trotting and it makes it hard to do what you wanted to do. Ali'i's not one of those horses you drop the reins on because he's so flingy and ready to go when he feels loose reins.

That's Washoe Lake in front of us & below and over the Sierras....Lake Tahoe. 

On this ride are the SOB's ~ 3 of them. Donna took a great photo of me & Ali'i last year sliding down one. They are very steep hills down, then back up. I don't ride them and I tell you the last hill was pretty brutal going up on foot. I could have cried. Leslie suggested I "tail" Ali'i up, so he could pull me up the hill, but I must have been doing it wrong because he kept stopping to eat. Another opportunity to take advantage!! Anyway, Ridecamp is in view for many miles and the horses know it too. They pick up speed. They are fun to ride because they have one goal in mind and that's to get back to the carrots!!!

And water, mush & hay. And sleep. This was the 1 hour hold. T again, was a stellar crew.

Off at around 11:50 am to do a 20 mile loop. There is this VERY sandy downhill grade that Leslie & I were sliding down and I was telling her how BAD Lily was last year, rolling over and over on Donna's saddle. Next thing I knew Ali'i was on the ground ready to roll over on my Albon dressage saddle. Boy did I yank him back up before he went over! I would NOT have been happy.

Our first water/snack/cookie stop on this loop. This is where Ali'i first dumped me for Toss #1 last year. No one was here, just a water trough and a cooler with cookies & water. 

This year it was high tech. Joe & Cindy Larkin from our club had been there a few minutes before us. We were leap-frogging with them for a while, but they finally got the better of us and finished in front of us. But, before that, Joe had to stretch his back.

But I thought he needed some of this....

He said no, that's not what he was doing. Had I done what he did I wouldn't be laying in bed blogging with a heating pad on my back. 

After making fun of him Leslie & I took photos of each other. And Cindy took photos of all of us which she said was going to be on FB. I will look later. Maybe.

 

I love my horse. I think he puts up with me. He just wants the food at the stops.

Leslie & Eagle. Her horse looks like he loves her.

Off we were to go up hill again, then do some very rocky trails. On the way back into camp is about 4 miles of a flat, curvy single track trail thru the sage brush & Jack Rabbits. It points right into Ridecamp and Ali'i was in high speed mode. Soooo much fun!! I wanted to wait til we got back for our next vet check & 15 minute hold before GUSHING about how much I love that trail, in case Ali'i dumped me. Then, I'd have to clarify it, but WHAT a bunch of FUN!!!

The final 4 miles is out of camp, around the East side of Washoe Lake in deep sand, then back into camp. More iPhone photos. 

I put my iPhone back in it's pouch but it was not done taking photos.

In fact it took quite a few......this I find amusing. It's like it was stalking Leslie & her iPhone.

We finally get onto the trail that you can make some time on and Ali'i and Eagle were ready to get back for dinner & a final vet check. We flew in, Ali'i in a huge trot and Leslie's pretty horse who she was holding back. 

We came in around 27-28th place or so, basically middle of the pack. I was really pleased with how strong my baby boy felt and also how incredible he's looking. We had zero problems with our boots, considering how rocky this ride is. His legs were wrapped, blankie put on and lots of mush, water, carrots & hay. Good boy Ali'i!! I LOVE YOU!!!!

Off to dinner and awards.

 

Endurance riders are easy to please.....

Another TASTY meal!! My wine is from my birthday party.

I was going to ride Ali'i again on Sunday but decided against it for a couple of reasons. One is my little friend who visits regularly every month wanted to ride with me and I said no way was I going to take her. She's gone on more back pack trips and dog shows than I can count and she's really obnoxious. (She's actually kinda a B i t c h ! ! ! ) So, we slept in and enjoyed the beautiful camp. I also didn't want to push Ali'i after doing a 50 last weekend and this weekend. 

I woke up early to let the punkies out to pee, then put Cardiff & Sage in the pen outside the RV with one toy.

The dogs are like flies. It gets a little light outside and they start to be annoying if you want to sleep in. I guess the toy got the brunt of it. And somehow I don't think Cardiff was the bad dog.....

It was so nice to sleep in and not be the one to tack up at zero-dark-thirty. I got up at 8 am just in time to see the 25 milers trot across the mountainside from my bed in the RV. 

Later on in the day we watched the front runners come in and go thru vet checks. Some of these riders ride FAST!!! And I don't know how they do it considering how rocky this ride is. Here is Aged Idol Woman who Donna and I leap-frogged with several times from last year's Hat Creek Hustle. Love, love, love seeing older people still getting on their horses for a long day of trotting. It's the ingredient to staying young, in my book. And there are not too many complainers in endurance. It's hard to whine when you choose to be out all day trotting on the back of a horse in beautiful country. And really, what's to whine about????

We had another great weekend and my riding company was again, a joy. Thanks Leslie!! Love this sport!! Love my little horsey!!!!

Where's Ali'i Going This Weekend??

I'm On A Roll.....

I was crazy busy today with cleaning and I'm not sure what got up my skirt but it's so beautiful out that I guess I just wanted to clean things that have been put on hold til the rain stopped. Or, I hope it stopped for a bit, because now the horses have NO HAIR and it's summer here.

First thing this morning I waited for a Starbucks from T.......waiting, waiting, waiting...but I can't complain. He likes to go see his friends on the weekend, but he told them he had to get back and bring me my Vanilla Latte Grande....Yum. I asked him if his friends asked him if he was "pussy whipped"....guys say that kinda of stuff to their friends....

I drank the very tasty Starbucks, and then I was off!!!! Like a bullet!! Wild & crazily energetic!!!

First I watched Khaliq with the cows next door. She is so cute I can hardly stand it.

(This is Khaliq BEFORE I brushed her ~ soooo shiney!!)

Then I brushed ALL the horses, including manes (no tails). They look shiney and beautiful and fat and sassy. Then I rolled up 9,000 feet of hotwire that the horses took down a year ago. Baby made it hard to do my job. She's like a big dog. She's totally fascinated with me. Though I am with her. But I do not blame myself for she is beautiful.

Then I went into the horse/hay/shed that has seen its day and started to go thru stuff. Old feed bags, halters, leadropes, horsey blankets, snakes...

Hmmm......if I left it up to T this little baby would be dead. I thought better to investigate and find out it's a good snake. Even called the snake guy to talk to him. He convinced me enough that this one needs to live here. But I waited for a bit to let him go back to the wild of my shitty horsey/hay/shed. I wanted to finish cleaning. And he was very cute. Or, I kept looking at him JUST to make sure he wasn't a rattler.

Next I rescued the pink water bucket from the pasture. How it got there is not exactly a mystery, but it coule be 1 of 6 horses....maybe Sabi if I know him.....

After that I cleaned and washed ALL of the fly masks for the imminent fly season. (Yuk.) Washed out old feed bins, baby chicken feeders/waterers, horse troughs,  watched T tractor by the chicken house, went back to the shitty horsey/hay/shed and found another much larger snake underneath a tarp and now with my new-found knowledge that this also was a good snake, happily let it go underneath the hay pallets...

Then..... we went to "The Happiest Place On Earth", Home Depot. God I love it there! Bought some STUFF...wasp spray (sorry but they are BAD), a new hose and other fun stuff. After that we ate Mexican food at a truly HOLE IN THE WALL place that we love and came home and I cleaned out dried horse "mush" with the shop vac that I tossed accidently a week ago in my horse trailer tack room. It is beautiful in there now and life is good tonight. So I blog.

Next on our list is to make garden beds so I can grow some food & herbs. I may be more adventurous than my energy can handle, but I'll worry about that later. Right now I can see the gardens........

New Growth

In T's excavation business he has to uproot a lot of trees and bushes. Last year he brought this one home for our yard. Unfortunately he had to leave 2 others which wouldn't have made the transport. This tree went thru a lot of stress coming to live here and I wasn't sure it was going to make it, but lo and behold there are leaves!! It's going to be beautiful and is quite tall already, some 20' high. I'm sure it's happy to be living here too and can look out at this gorgeous property and a bunch of horses and collies. Well, maybe it had a nice life where it used to live, because I actually didn't see.....

Birthday Cake

T gave me a birthday party on Sunday. Since my birthday was actually on Monday, Easter Sunday worked surprisingly well. We had quite a few friends and family come and apparently the news is out that I like wine. And tequila. Omg. 4 bottles of red wine and 1 very fancy bottle of tequila came with friends. Between those and the 8 bottles of alcohol T bought, we need to have another big party this weekend and the weekend after.

Besides doing a thorough cleaning of my fridge prior to the party and bathing most of the dogs, & trimming feet & nails AND trimming feet on all the horses & untangling a few manes, I had an absolutely GREAT time and thank EVERYONE for coming (including Thrill to play with his cute sister). I also got up early on Easter to color eggs for T's granddaughter Sienna and that was a kick to watch her go for an Easter Egg Hunt!! What a cutie!! 

Here is a short video of her looking for eggs. My neighbor Adam was cracking me up and I sound totally retarded, but pretty much anything he says makes me laugh. I usually don't sound so d u m b . . . oh crap....or like I had too much wine......

 

After most everyone left, I was able to actually sit down for a second in depth, though much abbreviated, conversation on collie breeding with Ray of Sunshine and Laura. And, my favorite thing of the whole day? When T was cleaning up he was going to throw away a perfectly good, though slightly used margarita that I made for Ashley (who was long gone) and I barely convinced Laura she wanted it. She is a good partier!! You are the bomb Laura!!

Another birthday and I feel pretty damn good!!

Mean APPS

Donna told me about an app I should download called "My Fitness Pal". It helps to tell you when you are going over your calorie limit (not that I EVER cared about that) and caculate your exercise so you can get to your target weight in a set time. I picked 1 lb a week and I am good with 6 lbs. Now I don't want to hear all that doo doo about how I don't need to lose weight because in all reality I don't think I'm fat. I just don't want to buy a size larger jean. So, something's going on.......And since I am wearing my fluffy riding pants day in and day out and T's really sick of them, it's time to do something soon so things don't turn into a NIGHTMARE. Of which I feel like I'm in one RIGHT NOW!!!! Maybe my horse will like me better but I don't know what is wrong with Donna for telling me about this cool app. Calorie counting is the dumbest thing ever!!!!!!!!! D U M B ! ! ! At this rate I will be at my target weight tomorrow morning!!! Oh O don't eat that whole package of saltines at one sitting!! You have just gone over your weekly limit of food!!! O. M. G. 

And for the record I have eaten 1 bagel, 3 (organic and beautiful) eggs with PAM, orange juice (like a ginormous glass), coffee and 1 minneola tangerine AND 5 (no 6) saltine crackers I am now at 6:15 pm and I know T's wondering what we're going to eat tonight. I think nothing. He can have warmed up pizza. I am going to drink. I have 492 calories left to indulge in before I go to sleep. What kind of nightmare is this??????!!!!!! Forever now my app is called "My Fitness Fucker". If I have two or three margaritas I will not need to eat at all tonight and then I won't care what my stupid little app says. Or my horse. Or my friend. Or T. I think I was on a 6,000 calorie diet before.......and Donna just laughs......ha ha ha he he he...

Dinner

This is pathetic.....but nothing Louisiana Hot Sauce can't fix, or a glass of Merlot.