Mountain Mischief

I really should take more pictures of people.

I'm pretty sure today was the first time I've ever ridden Sawyer out alone. He was perfect. Well, almost. He wanted to head back to the trailer the entire time. He even whinnied quite a bit when we got back in sight of the trailer. He never does that. "Nobody home, buddy, sorry."

It was Orion's first trail ride. I should have brought another dog to give him confidence but this is "Burr Dog Trail" because Huckleberry always gets covered in so much houndstongue. I have to pick it off my tack at the end of the ride too. So no Huck.  And Winston I still don't fully trust to stick around.

He was afraid to be in front of Sawyer but he stuck really close behind. We had to be careful. Once I thought he was gone because he was so close I couldn't see him.

Here he was finally comfortable enough not to run off when we faced him. By the end of the ride he even got out in front of us in a wide spot.

We only went 3 miles. Plenty for a puppy, an old man, and me on a hot day. Orion is wiped out! He "helped" me with some yard work and now I think it's nap time.

Sunday Funday

We got a new saddle last week and we're just now trying it out. I can mount from the ground! I love my treeless saddle and it's not a problem on a horse, but on Buster it rolled when mounting and dismounting.

This Queen Valley mule and donkey saddle seems to be a good fit, I just have to remember to put it far enough back off his shoulders. (For the record, I don't like the trainer who markets these saddles, but the saddle I had before was a good fit for Bob and Pedro too.)

He'd rather eat than pose for pictures.

I mounted up in the middle of the driveway! No need for a hill or a table or a log to stand on.

We had a nice, short ride and called it a day.

Later we picked 10 pounds of cherries and then we went to the mountains to pick huckleberries again.

I had to pick some flowers too.

Everyone was tired at the end of the day. Good fun was had by all.

Puppy

I don't know why but I got the puppy bug. I thought Winston would love a puppy to play with. Huckleberry wouldn't, but with the right puppy I figured he'd be okay. Well, Winston was afraid of the puppy! He's getting over it and they do play sometimes, but it's not what I expected. Huckleberry is more tolerant.

Pup's name is Orion. He came with the name and I like it. One of my favorite winter constellations. He was adopted from a shelter at 2 months old, and then a few months later they decided they didn't have time for a puppy. The usual. He's a golden retriever mix, about 5 months old, so whatever else he is must be small. He's about 25lbs right now. I met a new breed I hadn't heard of the other day, a jagdterrier, and he does remind me of one of those. The likelihood is low, but they are in the area he came from, and he does have the fearless temperament to hunt badger! Maybe he's part weenie dog, or 12 different breeds. If there was a mini hound I might guess that, but he's quiet. He's barked twice in 7 days. Who knows. What would you guess?

Keep in mind the black and tan color could come from the golden retriever. It's kind of hidden in their genetics. The previous owner thought he was part huntaway but I think not.

It's fun to guess, but I'm kinda stumped on this one. I guess it doesn't matter.

He's super outgoing, not a guard dog, loves everyone but knows who his people are and stays loosely with them, unless his dog buddies are running, then he runs with them. He's pretty cool.

CleanTrax

Poor Buster, he's so abused.

I soaked his front hooves in CleanTrax yesterday to try to get ahead of his white line problem.  He hated it! Of course having a gallon of liquid tied to his leg was scary. I was going to do both front feet at the same time but I decided to do one at a time so it didn't panic him more.

CleanTrax is a small vial of powder that turns into chlorine dioxide when mixed with water. It's active for 90 minutes, giving you time to soak each hoof for 45 minutes. Using the full gallon supposedly creates more pressure to push it into the hoof better to kill bacteria and fungus. I hope so. It doesn't hurt live tissue and supposedly doesn't discolor hair, but it will discolor your clothes. It smells a bit like bleach, and feels a bit like bleach on the skin.

Of course he went back and stood in the pissiest, shittiest spot in their corral when he was done. That's helpful, I'm sure.

I think that "white line disease" has a dietary component. A bit of feed that is too rich, a bit of laminitis, and the lamina is compromised, it stretches and deteriorates, and then microbes get in there and you have a mess. That's why it's so common in donkeys. They need poor forage. Mine have been in a dirt lot for a while now. I need to do some more fencing and soon I can put them out on dry grass. Some of the pastures are overgrazed and all that's left now is birdsfoot trefoil, which is a lot like alfalfa. Not good! The cattle tore down some of my fence and we're almost done fixing that. Apparently my neighbor will be fixing his fence in the fall.

Buster got a different saddle yesterday. We've been having g Troy le with his saddle rolling when I mount and dismount. We'll see what happens with the new one.

I gotta get to work! Have a great day!

Lavender and Ashes

We went camping over the weekend and Sawyer was colicky again the first night. Rolling, very little gut noise. Gave him oral banamine and got him moving and he was fine. The next morning he was raring to go. Still not a lot of stamina.

Scout is jealous that Sawyer gets good feed.

My dad is visiting and his horse is such a good boy. Rode out like a trooper even though he hadn't been ridden in a while.

We scattered my sister's ashes out there by her favorite aspen tree. That was hard. The next day was her birthday. That was hard too. It's been a hard week. I did find a u-pick lavender farm though.

We got most of our hay in yesterday, even though John is gone. My nephew-in-law Scott, a hired stranger lady, and Liam helped. Excellent crew. Liam was a bit problematic. Kids. They know everything, you know. Except I've been stacking hay longer than he has. He only helped with one load so that was fine. Just 46 bales to go, and those will have to wait because my brakes fell apart after the last load. Not in a scary way. Just annoying. I need to go get a caliper bolt.

I also sold my Sharon Saare saddle and took it to the UPS store yesterday. I'm sad to see it go. It's a work of art. But it's going to someone who actually rides endurance and she's super excited about it. It doesn't fit Sawyer anymore and I adore my treeless saddle. It's not nearly as pretty though.

Today my farrier is coming to see my dad's horse. ... Haha, he showed up right when I was typing that. Got him all fixed up. Liam has been working with my farrier, learning a lot about hooves, anatomy, blacksmithing, horsehandling, and just generally having a good time. We both got some coaching on trimming today, since I had done a cursory trim yesterday to take off the worst of it. Liam got some horse handling coaching. My farrier is a pretty cool guy. He loves horsemanship.

Next... I should be cleaning my house. My good friend Allegra and her daughter will be here soon to visit for the day. I can't wait! I haven't seen them for too long. They will love me even if my house is a disgusting, disgraceful pit of despair, but I can't really stand the mess. Ugh.

Off I go! Have a lovely day!