April-June

 

 

 

 

 

I can't put this off forever- time to get caught up and back to my blog!  In March my sweet Bo Dog got out one Saturday morning and was hit by a car.  I had decided not to get another dog here in this house, as it is impossible to fence the yard.  Our property is bordered by Arkansas Creek, in fact it runs about 50 feet from our back porch.  This creek has occasionally flooded and even has gotten up to the foundation on one side of the house.  The house itself has not ever flooded (it was built in 1934), but you can't put a fence up as it would be pretty damaging if the yard was to get flood waters in it.

 

I have always wanted a German Shepherd and one day, a few weeks after Bo died, Todd's friend asked him if he knew anyone out in the country that wanted a really nice dog.  It turns out the dog was a serial stray and they were trying to avoid having to take him to the dog pound.  Todd went down to meet the dog.  The next day he went and brought him home.  Meet Buddy.

 

 

I adore him.  He is probably the smartest dog we have ever had.  He problem solves.  He opens doors!  At first it was just the flip handle type door that we have on our French doors that lead to the patio.  Soon after he began opening the round handled door knob kind.  If we want to keep him out of the house, we have to lock the doors.   Luckily Buddy definitely prefers the outdoor lifestyle and doesn't ever want to be inside for too long.  He has several favorite spots around the property and he pretty much hangs out on the back porch or under one of the fir trees in the front yard.  He does not tend to wander, thank goodness. 

He is also the first dog I've ever had that is terrified of fireworks.  wow.  He gets absolutely panicked as soon as they start.  He tries to get in the house by clawing at the doors.  He has destroyed our dog kennel in the last few days, to the point that the metal clips have been pulled off and he has bent up the chain link on the door so he can actually wiggle out of it.  Sigh.  Tonight he is in here with me and tomorrow morning he will get locked into a horse stall.  I hope he does not chew the heck out of my barn!  We are making plans to build a new dog kennel/condo and will have to use the European style powder coated or wrought iron panels.  Chain link will not hold this dog!

 

In other news.  I was on the way to Les Schwab to purchase new tires for my horse trailer in April.  Todd suggested we go look at new trailers.  My trailer was 17 years old and needed a lot of work in addition to tires, so I didn't argue too much.  I would love to have purchased one of the lovely LQ trailers they had on the lot but finally settled on a gooseneck with tack room instead.  We took the truck down a week later to have the hitch installed and picked it up April 27, in preparation for the Mt Adams ride.

 

The next day my father died.  So, the trailer got parked for a month.  I did use it to haul Cartman out to Puget Island so that Shawn could ride him while I was gone. 

I had to get an extra tall, extra wide to accommodate Cartman.  He is a long horse:)  He seems to really be comfortable in the bigger stall and I think he gets a smoother ride in the gooseneck.  It's taking me a little getting used to though, I could back up my Trails West just about anywhere but this sucker doesn't turn the same and I feel like I'm learning to back up all over again!

Here are a few pictures I took at my parent's house in Arkansas.  They built this place when my Dad retired and he kept it up like a park.  I am not a gardener and was simply amazed at how much work it is to maintain.  We spent a lot of time outside doing yard work as it had been let go a bit this spring.  I did my first ever trimming job on the round bushes- actually got a blister and am STILL having some soreness in my thumb from hand trimming those bushes!

Pastures don't tend to look this pretty when you keep horses in them!

 

We set up the fountain for the summer.

                                               Here are the dreaded round bushes.

 I can't believe this place was nothing but a hay field when my Dad started on it.

 

 After we returned home (I missed Mt Adams) but attended Klickitat Trek in Glenwood.  It was a great ride.  The trails were TO DIE FOR this year.  Michelle and I rode together and had a blast.  We each drank a whole Fierce Grape Gatorade at the vet check and I think it really helped me not feel so tired and headachey by the end of the ride.  We did the 25 and although I had ridden exactly one time in the preceding three weeks I felt really good.  Cartman had been getting ridden a lot while I was gone (he did a lot of cattle sorting with Shawn) so he was really fit.

The next weekend I hauled North to Monroe Wa to attend a Jack Brainard clinic (thanks to Connie of the Hoge Homestead for suggesting this!)  Cartman had a small portable stall and did really well despite being the only horse outside the barn.  I was very comfortable and can't believe how wonderful it is to actually have a tack room in my trailer!  I can pack a lot of stuff now and don't have to try and fit it all into the truck bed, plus the gooseneck is a perfect spot for a bed.

 After the barn cleared out on Sunday night I looked out the trailer window and saw this.

 

Cartman sees it too.

 Gotta love a horse that can see a wild animal come through camp and NOT freak out, even a little:)

C was really good for our lesson.  I have this theory.... I think he sees a man in a cowboy hat and thinks he has to be really really good!  I learned a lot from the clinic and my lesson.  Mr. Brainard is an excellent teacher, as well as a very respected horseman.  He liked C and said I was doing the right thing with him.  I was elated!  I suppose this is how parent's feel when their kids do something really good.  Lol.

 

 After the clinic I was back home, back to working tons of hours, and fitting in trail rides as I can.  We went up to "our" trails and discovered this.

 

 Uh oh, looks like they'll be taking some of these beauties down in the future.

 Sad, but I'm just thankful that the timber companies let us use their tree farms to ride.

Today we did about 1.5 hours and got in some good hill climbing!  We are hoping to head out to Oregon to the Seneca Stampede in the end of July!