A great present

A couple weeks ago, we hauled a horse trailer down to our friend Bucky's ranch in southern Arizona, near the Chiricahua Mountains (no spell check, it's NOT the "Chihuahua Mountains").  He runs trail rides into the National Monument, and into the national forest down there. The mountains are not terribly tall (hmm... maybe spell-check is right), but they do get their share of snow in the winter, and the trails are criss-crossed with small and medium downed trees after the winter storms.

We all saddled up some of Bucky's horses and went for an early spring ride in the national forest to check trail conditions for the season.


Bucky knows I love my short horse, so he tries to give me a 16 hand  or better so I crack my forehead if I quit paying attention.  I'm back there somewhere, honest.

We found that there were indeed downed trees all over the trails.

This past Christmas our oldest son and his family gave Juanita and I a pair of small, backpacker's cable saws.  When we got them, we thought, "These will be perfect for spring trail clearing!" and we stuck them in our saddlebags to make sure they were always with us when we needed them.

Since we were just delivering and leaving Bucky's trailer, we didn't take our horses down this trip. 
Since we weren't taking our horses down, we didn't take our saddles. 
Since we weren't taking our saddles, we didn't take our saddle bags.
Since we didn't have our saddle bags, we didn't have our stinking, perfect, brand new cable-saws.

I love my "Leatherman Wave" multi-tool, but its saw blade leaves something to be desired when you are taking down trees that have fallen across the trail.  I used it to finish cutting the broken stuff at the stumps, but damn.

On the plus side, the cable saws are still brand new!

 It was nice to ride, even though the snow did finally turn us back.  It was 80 degrees, but the 4-year-olds that some of us were riding had never seen snow.  Scary to a southern Arizona pony.

I wish we had had our horses with us. One foot of snow?  No problem!
(I would have had my saddle, too!)

Bill

Nick

Well, we are "back in the saddle" here at the lodge after a very trying couple of weeks.

  Two weeks ago my brother called to tell me that his sixteen year old son was in intensive care in a hospital in Albuquerque.  He was in a coma after suffering heart failure while practicing with his high school cross country team.  I made a quick trip to Albuquerque and stayed for a weekend until he seemed to be stable and out of immediate danger, though still in a coma.  Our oldest daughter and a family friend worked at the lodge in my place taking care of the group we had in (thanks guys!).  After returning home, Juanita and I loaded up the truck for our vacation to Arizona this year, which involved delivering a horse trailer to a friend  at his ranch in the southern part of the state, near the Chiricahua National Monument and then going to visit our son and his family near Phoenix.  We dropped off the trailer and we were preparing to do some riding in the area, when my brother called to tell me his son had passed away shortly after a surgery to install a feeding tube.

  You read about young athletes having heart failure in the newspapers, or hear about them on the news.  But never think it will happen to anyone you love.

Rest in peace, Nick.  Sixteen years wasn't nearly long enough to know you.

Damn.

Bill

A New Herd - or Two

We went with GunDiva to see her mare and had a great time with the third generation.  Ida bred each of Estes' daughters to the same Friesian stallion last year and seems to have gotten two pretty fantastic fillies.

Who are you?  Wanna play?

None of us had been in with the babies before, yet their curiosity got the best of them and they raced up to the GunDiva and pretended fright when she raised her arm.  Then they mugged her and got their first ever treats (I bet).  Sorry, Ida.  She couldn't resist; they were so cute.

Hi.  I'm Dakota.  I'll be a year old in May.

'Momma' Meeker with Bill

Notice Meeker's crescent, yet her daughter is pure black with no markings.

Hi.  I don't remember my name.  I'll be a year old in June.

Now notice that Audobon has no markings, yet her daughter has the distinct crescent on the forehead and one white hoof.  Looks more like her aunt!  Audobon is also half Belgian, I believe; much larger than her sister and a totally different nature, more stubborn like her draft daddy.  I'm curious to see if the fillies show a size difference later.  Right now they stay nip-and-tuck.

'Momma' Audobon

'Grandma' Estes and GunDiva

And the proud grandma with both grand-fillies in the background.  Estes has just had a mini spa day and is about to fall asleep on the hoof.  Couldn't quite get the babies to stand still long enough to get the burrs out of their forelocks, but Bill and GunDiva did get a curry on most of the mud spots-with no halters,even.  Although as soon as they were a little cleaner, they promptly waded into the pond-up to their bellies-and came back muddy again; just like their aunt Jesse, who is NO relation at all!

Hey!  I found the goodies!!!

The blue bucket is really GunDiva's grooming bucket, but I had tossed my little treat bucket into it to 'keep safe'.  Obviously there is nothing wrong with this one's smeller.  She zoomed right in on where those horse cookies were.

Where you goin' with the bucket????

Bill decided it was time for the buckets to go away - to the chagrin of the culprits!

On our way home we found a different herd - the Rocky Mt. Sheep were down by the road.  We were extremely happy to count all nine of them.  A week ago we had spotted a new herd of one male and three females in a different location, so the herds are expanding.  When we first moved to the mountains, we would only see five of them and watched as they aged - their horns growing more curl each year, and the numbers increasing every couple years.

Just For Bill

We went to check on Estes last week (I really needed a horse fix), Bill spent a lot of time trying to get the perfect picture of her for me.

You wouldn't believe how many pictures he took (113) just to get these three with her tongue sticking out.

--GunDiva

April Recipe: Turkey & White Bean Chili

I know, I missed the recipe for March, so since it is still winter here in the high country, you get March's soup recipe.

Turkey & White Bean Chili

Brown the following ingredients until pink is gone:
• 3 T. Olive oil
• 3 lb. Ground turkey (93% lean)
• 1 ½ t. salt

Add the following, cook 4 more minutes:
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced

Add the following and bring to a boil:
• 4 T. Chili powder
• 1 t. cumin, ground
• 4-15 oz cans chopped tomato
• 4-15 oz cans white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cans of water
• ground black pepper, to taste
• crushed red pepper, to taste


Simmer 30 minutes

Serves 12-15 people

This one is quickly becoming a favorite. Give it a try. Juanita

Easter Bowzer

The Easter Bowzer says... well, she doesn't say very much.
She's a dog, you know.

                                So I'll say it.  HAPPY EASTER, EVERYBODY!

                                             "Woof"

Bill
(Juanita's horse would wear these, but mine would stomp me.  I'll just pick on the mutt.)

Tick'n Me Off

We hiked back and found the horses yesterday.  Went back into our starting meadow about a mile and a half back in and saw the horses another 3/4 of a mile off.  Fortunately, they saw us and came a running right over to us.

        They are on the slope Juanita is looking at... honest!

  The last time we got our hands on them, we noticed they were collecting ticks.  Yecch.  So this time we brought down some tick drops to chase away the bugs.  None of them like the smell.  Ticks OR horses.

 I told my horse I must really like him.
This bug was about the size of my thumbnail,
And hanging out on a spot I wouldn't touch on any other friend I have.

Yecch.

            Ranger was none too impressed.


Bill

Another Snowy Weekend

 We still haven't been able to get down the mountain to see our horses.  With all the snow in the last week, we just don't feel up to trudging.

 We did finally have our "icicle meet the ground" yesterday for the first time this winter.

   Or maybe the snow pile on the ground reached up to the icicle.

Day before yesterday we ran to the bank In Estes Park and saw one of the local herds of elk cruising out by the highway.  At least they weren't hanging out in the McDonald's parking lot.

I hardly ever pull over and take pictures of elk anymore.  Never seem to have the camera around when I see them.

Of course, we see so many of them it would be like taking pictures of neighbor kids playing in the road. No, that's not quite right.  We have more elk than neighbor kids.


Bill

Tack is done; where's spring?

In case you all haven't heard, we got another 14" of snow yesterday.  So much for going to look for horses; that's just too deep to traipse very far in in winter-couch-potato condition.  I took it upon myself to finish the tack cleaning since there were still 2 saddles and 2 bridles to go.  I plunked "The Mask of Zorro" into the VCR, spread out a sheet, and tore apart saddles.  We are trying a new product this year, Leather CPR, and it doesn't seem to have any odor.  That's great because I could work on the gear even though we had guests in the Lodge, but I sure do miss the normal smells of leather cleaning.  It worked pretty well on most of the gear, but my Jesse really sweats, so I had to pull out the old bar of saddle soap for her stuff.  That's all I've found that just cuts right through dried on sweat, then a good layer of leather conditioner.  It sure feels great to have all the gear ready to go, including clean halters and cinches.  I did discover I need a new cinch for Jesse; hers is falling apart so I am on the hunt for something she will like that doesn't pull hairs.  I don't need non-slip because her saddle goes nowhere when on her back, but the last string one I used seem to pull her very thick belly hairs.  I may try a felt one.   Ahhhhh.  It's so fun to dream of horse shopping.

I've also decided to try a garlic/salt block this year.  Garlic is supposed to be good for fly and tick control.  We use fly predators in the corral and have been extremely pleased with the results.  However, that leaves our guys really vulnerable when on the trail.  Also, we have noticed a bad tick infestation this year where the horses are, so I want something they can self-medicate with if they want.  I have asked one of the ranch stores to try to order one for us, so wish me luck.  I really don't want to pay shipping to have one shipped to us.  I have also had great luck with apple-cider vinegar for keeping the little black face flies away from them.  I just mix some in water and dump it on their hay every morning.  Within a week or so, no more pestering flies around their eyes or noses.  I hope the garlic will work as well.  I would really rather do other things with the horses than pick ticks!
Juanita

Join me at TALES FROM THE TRAIL

I'm over at TALES FROM THE TRAIL today guest blogging about my experiences with my first Mustang, Shadow.  Click on the link to see just how trainable I am.

Juanita