Doesy-Doe to the Rodeo

Welcome to the Rodeo: July 4, 2013!

Little town has got one of the greatest 4th of July Rodeos around. In fact, there are so many entries that they end up sending them away. One of our wranglers even tried to enter, but you have to do it at least two months in advance so she couldn't join. 

Now last year I started my own little judging here on the Blog. I love to see just how high and how low these great cowboys, and cowgirls can go! So let's have a look see!

First up is how high. The broncs can really kick it! 

And there's a lot of them this year, so enjoy. 

One thing that really struck me was the strength of these men as they held on. These days they wear neck braces to help support themselves, but still, they gotta have some serious core body strange!

I think this has to be the best bronc shot we got. This was a beautiful horse, 

and after he did throw the monkey off his back, he pranced back to the pins. 

It looked like he was saying, "Oh yeah, I got this!"

Catching some good air, and sit'n pretty too!

And this next fella was ready to take him right outta the gate. 

Now don't forget the bulls! Just because these boys are big, doesn't mean they can't get up there. 

Please note how this cowboy is holding on. I think it's interesting also that he's got his boots tied on. 

I'm not sure why? Do any of you know?

The bulls really gave a good show this year. It was a fighting bunch! 

These two are just made for each other. 

But the winner of "How High Did They Go" has to go to this poor bull rider. 

He got some great air before he eat some serious dirt! And don't worry for the clown, he's a professional at getting out of the way!

Now on to Dust! Or in this case, "Eat My Dust." Barrel Racing is one of the most competitive events at a Rodeo. The times comes down to less than seconds and they have to stop and grade the dirt so the riders have an even playing field. A whole around a barrel can cost them time. 

Anyone can make dust on an arena of dirt on a hot summer's day, but it's the speed that can really make these athletes impressive. And by athletes, I mean both the rider and the horse. 

The cost of a turned barrel is seconds deducted. She no long has a chance. 

But the barrel racers aren't the only ones who can eat dust! 

Now we didn't have any clear shots of snot like we had last year. I guess we were a little farther away this time. But I did love the sequences of these next shots. And as I said last year, it's not that you will be getting snot in your pockets, it's really that you pissed of the cow… or horse…. or bull… 

In the second shot, see how high the cowboy got, but he still held on! 

In fact, He held on, until he had to be helped off! 

This next sequence was of the cowboy eating dust, and therefor, 

also got some snot in his pockets. I'm sure. 

Don't worry, both the horse and the rider walked away. Them's some tough boys!

And it wasn't just the horses out to get 'm! This is where the rodeo clowns come in! What a job they have, getting the bulls to run them down and not the rider! Don't worry, all were fine in the end.

This white bull may have looked like a mean son-o-a-gun, but I've got proof that he was really a lover and not a fighter. But that's got to be another post. So stay tuned. 

So let's hear it for the clowns, because in the end, 

I think they are the winners of the "Snot in Your Pocket!"

I hope you've enjoyed this years rodeo! We did! 

So what do you do on the 4th of July in your town? 

H is for Horse Haiku

The Tack

Welcome to the tack shed! I just know you folks were thinking how much you love that old smell of worn leather. Man, I love the smell of it in here. I don't want to keep it all to myself, so I thought I would give you a little look-see before we pack it all up for the winter. 

 It looks as if there have been some others who think it's a pretty neat spot! These nest have been here for awhile. 

The staff has been oiling up the saddles and getting them all ready to be stored for the winter. This is our last week of guests and this group isn't riding. 

So I guess I wasn't being quite honest about the number of cowboy boots I have! Na, they aren't mine. We rent these to the guests for the week. Kind of reminds me of a bowling alley. Only you need a helmet if you're under 18 and we aren't tossing balls at pins, so I guess it really doesn't! 

Hanging the cinches out to dry.  

This is where they go. On the wall next to the bridles and harnesses. 

Why yes, those are cow bells! We put them around the necks of the horses who might like to hide from the wranglers in the morning when they go fetch them off the mountain. I think it's a good way to make sure that a few of the horses are humbled and humiliated by their peers. I love the sound of it when they run past the house in the morning. Although I have been known to dream of cows a lot! 

And all the hats are hung. 

 It's been a good season! Thanks for stop'n by!

 

A Horsewoman in the Making

The day after we arrived here on the ranch, our new home, my husband grabbed the girls and took them out to feed the horses. It was April 2, 2011 and the ranch was not yet open for the season. The majority of our herd were still out to pasture. Out on the flats by the swamp preserve. But there were a few horses in the barnyard who were new.

The girls fed them some fresh sweet grass they had picked. And then gave them their dinner. Hay from the barn.

It was cold out and they came home soon.

That was when we saw it. Beans eyes where swelling shut. She had been on an allergy shot treatment for an allergy to grass, but she had never had a reaction like that!

We gave her a big dose of Benadryl. Adventure Man is a Wilderness First Responder EMT and he took her to the ER, a 25 mile drive down a mountain road. It takes about 40 minutes when driving the speed limit. It was longer then, they have since resurfaced it, Thank Heavens!

Bean was fine, she didn't need any treatments, although I now carry an epipen with me. She wasn't having a hard time breathing but she did give us a good scare. We made an appointment with an allergist right away. Still, we had to wait a few months to get in.

As it turns out, it wasn't the grass at all. She is also allergic to horses! Even though we were living on a guest ranch before we moved here, our old allergist never tested her for horses. We weren't in as close contact with them at the old resort. But here, our house is right in the middle of the ranch. The horses are right here, and during the summer season we have over 30 of them.

Plus we want the girls to learn how to ride. They want to ride! Who wouldn't?



So Bean gets shots. At first it was twice a week. Two shots twice a week. Then once a week.  They hurt and she cried and screamed. It broke my heart to take her!

Then one week, Adventure Man took her to do it. This man is the best! He came up with something that changes all that! No Scream For Ice Cream! If she dosent' scream, we all get to go out to ice cream! 

Bye Bye Skinny Jeans!

 Plus she gets to ride her dear old Dan each week with out a reaction! She has her own pair of gloves she wears and we have found that using her own helmet helps too, so it doesn't get touched by too many people who have touched the horses or set it on a bail of hay. 

Now after a year of treatments, she only needs her shots once a month. She is such a brave little thing. 

She's my hero! 

Now That Feels Good

Diamond gets his bridle off after a ride…. 

A Summer Downpour

The wranglers are just work'n in the rain…. 

July 14, 2012

They brought in the guests and now they're putting things up…. 

With smiles on their faces! 

~~~~~~~~

Bruised and Broken But Not Forgotten

Last week we had no guests. Not a single person in the whole world wanted to come stay at our Ranch. So we closed and let the staff have the week off. That same week was the week my brother and his family were already planning on being here. Lucky for them, they got to sleep in one of the guest cabins!

This also meant that we gave the horses the week off too. They were up the mountain for a few days when we decided we wanted to have our family go horseback riding. There were a few staff members who stayed here, and one of them helped saddle up a pair of horses. Sam, who she's been working with and Ruby for Adventure Man to ride while they wrangled in the rest of them. Now just because Ruby wasn't out to pasture with the rest doesn't mean she wasn't on vacation too. I guess she was enjoying her "staycation" too much, because she made it really clear that she didn't what to go out. So Adventure man got off, ran and got a helmet, and they made her turn some circles. They had her turn some more circles after AM got back on and that's when it happened. At this point they were up the trail a little ways when her saddle slipped and the movement of her hissy fit sent Adventure Man down into the dust. Only he didn't hit dust, he hit a rock. Right in the ribs. He was having a hard time breathing and since he is an EMT himself, he knew he better head down the mountain to get checked out.

We kept our guests here so they could go on their ride once the wrangler got back with the heard, but I loaded up the four young ones and we drove Dad to town. He had 2 different sets of x-rays taken. Once they determined his ribs weren't broke, or cracked than they needed to decide if his lungs were collapsed. He was ordered to come back the next three days to be monitored.

It has been determined that Adventure Man does indeed have Pneumothorax, a collapsed lung. He has been monitored by the best in Little Town. I am extremely confidant in his Doctors. They have told him to take it easy and that he may be in pain for the next 6 - 8 weeks. I told him, "Yeah, Just like having a baby!" Haha! He has a hard time with the taking it easy part. But he'll survive.

And I'm just glad it wasn't any worse. It could have been A LOT worse!


My brother and his family enjoyed the ride immensely and even got to see one of our local Mama bears and her two cubs enjoying the wild berries up the mountain. They were lucky enough to see another Mama and cubs earlier that morning through the spy scope so that put them at six bears in less then 24 hours of being here! Nice!

The Old Gray Mare

Yep, you know what they say about that old gray mare, right? Well, it's true. Oi! Am I getting too old for this or what?

Our girls are taking riding lessons from one of the wranglers and they've been working on posting and trotting. Posting is the movement a rider makes while the horse is trotting. The rider rises up and down in the saddle with the rhythm of the horse. It requires a lot of leg work. My older daughter has it down, but my nine year old needs to, well, grow a little. Her legs just aren't long enough to post while sitting on a big old horse who spends too much time at the feeding troff. The girls had been wanting a long ride where they could practices totting with more room than the field. Luckily for me and my nephew, they had planned that ride for the time when my parents would be here to stay with the little kids. And luckily for me, the wrangler didn't mind the extra riders.

I was on Trooper….

"Tonight the super Trouper

Lights are going to find me

But I wont feel Blu-u-ue,

Like I always do-o-o,

Cause somewhere in the crowed 

is yo-o-o-u…"

Yes, I have had Abba stuck in my head from the minute they said his name. 

Anyway! I was on Trooper, "the fat one," They said. As soon as that was announced my four year old, who was watching the saddling process with Grandpa, said, "Grandpa, your fat!" 

Thank you, Little Bear!  

Not to forget this is a lesson, the girls got quizzed on the tack. 

While Bean rescued a lady bug. 

No, we don't have issues with ADD! 

 Up and ready to go, while the girls go over "the rules" with their cousin behind me.

I just can't help it, even on a horse I try and take pictures of wildflowers. 

I think it stems form my flower shop days. This is bee's balm and Indian paint brush.  

 As much as I love to write, some things are just better said with pictures. We are climbing higher up the mountain. Past the burn areas of the fire in 2000. 

 And as we make the turn we have the view of the mountain. 

They are waiting for me, as my "fat one" has his own pace, a slow one. 

 At the top of the flats. 

 Onward! There is a fence further on that needs to be closed 

before we can let the horses out to pasture for the night. 

 Fence closed, we turn around and go back the way we came, 

instead of heading down through the trees. 

This way we can trot some more in the open fields. 

We even got the horses up to a lope. 

The kids are naturals. 

I, on the other hand, am feeling my knee. 

Which is telling me I am better suited for the cruise control in my truck. 

...Oh well... 

 I sure can't complain about the view! I love it up here.

Do we really have to go home? 

The view from behind. Just as amazing. It seems to go on forever.  

But all good things must come to an end. (Before my knee goes out!) 

The girls have to put their own tack away. 

Lulu had her's off before I was even off my horse! 

Bean here with Tank, is thinking it through.  

Now all good horses deserve a good brushing and a treat. 

Lulu said she was going to brush Spot (named for the spot on his rump) 

so good that he would just have to go role in the dirt! 

I believe he did!