Thursday, April 19, 2012

Arizona Obsession

Just a quick update today.
My computer has gone crazy- the cursor jumps all over the page as you are trying to type, this makes for some very frustrating time spent fixing words, and moving the cursor back to the spot where it should be. 

Apparently it is a problem with the Dell laptops and not some virus.  So, the cure is a new laptop.  I have rides to go to and horses to take care of, so I'll just have to deal with it for a while I guess.

Todd and I spent a wonderful week in Arizona, we both really didn't want to get back on the plane to come home and are both still fretting about it at times.  Today in particular, as I held horses for the farrier in the rain again, I was thinking "I bet its 80 degrees in Wickenburg right now, I could be trail riding in the desert or floating in the pool."  Its torture really.

I actually got Todd on a horse!   Yup, we took a 2 hour guided ride in the desert.  The 70 year old lady that runs the place has a 19,000 acre cattle ranch.  She does trail rides in her spare time and they use older ranch horses for the rides. 

I was skeptical or "renting" a horse at first, but TODD WANTED TO RIDE (its only been 18 years), so I crossed my fingers, asked the guys at the feed store which ranch has the best horse rides and got really lucky!  The horses were really nice, big, athletic Quarter horses and all were well taken care of.  Whew.

He did really well, no complaining at all, and rode for 2 and a half hours up and down some pretty good hills too! 

Since we've been home I've been riding Cartman every few days.  Michelle and I did the Red Rock Road ride for the first time this year on Sunday.  It is almost all logging road, so is actually dry enough to ride.  They had done a lot of logging up there but we were able to get through and completed the 9 miles in a blistering 3 hours!  Hee hee.

Today was trim day and Pinky got her shoe reset. 
Her foot is looking REALLY good. I think in a few months she will be back in a regular shoe and able to go back to work.  She is now sporting an eggbar shoe with four large clips.  My shoer built the whole thing from a straight stick of steel, it was really cool to watch him work on it.  He spent 15 years hand making every shoe, until his shoulder started acting up,  so now he still makes special shoes but uses Keg shoes for most applications.

I'll try to get a picture tomorrow, but for now enjoy some lovely rain-free photos!


























































4 comments:

Dom said...

Beautiful photos! Congrats on getting Todd on a horse.

Becky said...

The thing about trail riding in Arizona is that it gives me the heebie-jeebies.... there are way too many rocks and cactus and gullies to fall into if you get bucked off!

The sun is nice, though.

On the other hand... think of it this way - you're fair skinned. If you lived in Arizona, you'd be a leathery old bag in less than ten years.

I know. It's not quite enough to make the rain worth it, but every little bit helps, right? :)

Funder said...

What a fun trip!

Have you tried plugging in a USB mouse? If it's the touchpad getting wonky, an external mouse might override it. Worth a shot anyway.

HHmstead said...

Wow! Enjoyed Every one! Looks like you could Not have had a better time & figure it was due you two! Don't you just love the west?! Love that Saguaro with the almost "fan" like shape!