Horseback Rider

Horse trailer hits the truck window

2010-10-02T12:15:00-07:00

I never made it out riding with the horses yesterday. I had a series of issues come up. I had good plans and intentions but then I had to focus on resolving the presenting problems.

First the truck had a dead battery. I jumped it and tried to pull the horse trailer up on to the road but as I was pulling out the truck dies. I was blocking the main road at that point however two neighbors came by and we jumped the truck again. The final issue came when I made a sharp turn with the truck and the nose of the horse trailer hit the back window and broke the window. Uh-oh.

Thankfully, I was able to get a mobile glass installer to come right away and put a new back window in the truck. Now that I know that the trailer may hit the back window, I am going to have to be really careful about turning.

So I did not make it riding but I did learn a lesson about sharp turns. So I stayed home and did some chores down at the barn. Clearly that was where I was meant to be yesterday.

Now that I am home...

2010-10-02T12:05:23-07:00

I brush hogged the pastures again so they are looking good for fall. This will be the last time they get cut now. I have not even been riding since I have come back from Michigan. For some reason, Eli's left front leg below the knee still has some swelling. The area is just above his ankle. I am not riding him at all until this is totally gone. He is doing a lot of walking every day and is turned out on the big field. The last ride I did with him was a 50 mile ride but that was almost two weeks ago and he should be having any swelling in his legs after this much rest.

Then the farm had some issues. Seems the air conditioning had been off and the house was stuffy and had no air circulating. I have spent two days out there cleaning and getting all that aired out. I met with a bobcat/grading contractor and we think if the back of the house is regraded then the basement will be dry. He felt the problem was fixable which made me feel better. Then the lawn guy who I hired to cut the grass has not been cutting. Ben and I cut grass as much as we could the other night until we couldn't see any more with night coming.

I have also been meeting with contractors to fix my front porch as it is sagging forward. It needs either mud-jacking or the other option is to tear the whole front porch off and rebuild it. The option to tear the porch off and rebuild is going to be expensive. Apparently when this porch was built many years ago it did not have piers under the columns to support the porch. Over time the concrete has shifted. I think the mud-jacking may fix the problem.

I plan to ride tomorrow and will take Ginger and pony Madison alongside. That way they both get exercise.

Nancy

Back in St. Louis.

2010-09-25T21:48:39-07:00

I came home with my horse Eli on Tuesday from Michigan (where he was wearing a winter blanket at night) to Missouri where I am in air conditioning and it is hot out. Summer really does continue down here in Missouri for pretty much the whole month of September.

Eli was a very good traveler and has been up and back to Michigan twice this summer in our new horse trailer. I have been putting him in the middle stall of the three horse trailer.

It is cute to watch the other horses here when we come back home. Bella, Ginger and Madison act happy to see Eli when we pull in. Once I unload Eli and turn him out with all of them, they all run around the pasture and kick up their heels--very fun to watch.

I met with Sandra and we have some plans to get working some more doing some Equine-Assisted Therapy going for the fall. We are looking for an indoor arena to work out of. Once fall comes there is just too much rain and mud to work without an indoor ring.

Today I worked on cleaning some stalls and also did some brush-hogging with the tractor. Then the tractor was getting low on diesel fuel so I quit. Eli is out on the big pasture now and there is some very good grass out there for him. The other horses cannot be on that pasture because they are a little overweight and that grass is too much for them. I can hear that it has started raining now but all the horses have access to a stall to keep dry.

Tomorrow is the WEG Endurance Competition in Lexington Kentucky. Good luck to everyone competing.

Nancy

Tin Cup Fall Endurance Ride Sept. 2010

2010-09-20T18:32:57-07:00

Becky, Cookie and I all went with our horses to the Tin Cup Fall AERC ride near Luther Michigan on Friday September 17, 2010.

We loaded the horses and traveled down there on Friday afternoon. I was really hoping for some decent sunny weather-so far it was fine.

We brought lots of good food with us---thanks Becky and Cookie!!--so we were going to ride some great trails, eat some good food and meet people at the ride.

We set up camp, got all three horses checked in and we prepared everything we could for the morning. The trail was out and back for the 25 milers. That meant we needed to take everything we needed with us on the saddle or else put some items at the vet check halfway through at the 13 mile mark.

Saturday morning, I left camp on Eli at 7:30 AM for the 50 mile ride. We were riding two 25 mile loops with three 40 minute holds. Two holds were away from camp and one was in camp.

Cookie and Becky left shortly after on the same 25 mile loop at 8 AM. A little ways into the loop the rain started. I had a raincoat with me but we all got soaked. Got through the vet check and headed back to camp for the second 40 minute hold. The rain at that point was on and off. Fortunately I was back in camp and was able to change in to dry clothes. Then Eli and I headed out to do the second 25 mile loop. We rode half of that loop by ourselves then caught up with two other riders. No rain on this loop!

The trails were well marked. There was lots of variety from two tracks, single tracks, open areas, a bit of sandy roads, a few hills-all really beautiful.

Back to camp-ride finished. Yay! Eli did really well. For this ride, he wore Easyboot Gloves on his front hooves and he was shod on the rear hooves. I know that is kind of a weird configuration. A few weeks ago he was shod all the way around. Then he bent one of his front shoes so I had the shoer pull off both his front shoes. I had a pair of Easyboot Gloves so I planned to ride him with those on in front. Eli has done all of his rides with shoes on so this was a different ride plan for Eli wearing the Easyboots.

After I took off the Gloves though, Eli did have two sores on his pasterns where the gators must have rubbed some hair off. I did not like seeing that. I don't know how to prevent the gators from rubbing. Other than the rubbing, he seemed to do OK in the boots. We went through a lot of sand but not much rock on the trail.

Riders and horses coming in to the vet check on Sunday morning:

I finished the ride feeling fine. I did not feel exhausted at the end of the ride, thank goodness. I think the cooler weather helps me feel more comfortable riding. The hot weather rides are harder for me.

The furnace worked on the trailer and the propane stove was working too. It got cold on Saturday night and in the middle of the night the furnace kicked on. We heated up water and had coffee in the mornings. We had Sees Candy too. We love See's Chocolates. I sure like having a few luxuries like heat and a roof over my head.

Thanks Becke Grams, the vets and all helpers for a great ride!

I will post more pictures later.

My horse bent his front shoe...is now barefoot on front

2010-09-12T17:06:52-07:00

Somehow Eli bent his front shoe. The shoer came and I decided to have him remove both his front shoes.

I have some Easyboot Gloves that I can use on his front hooves.

Saturday morning, the blanket he had been wearing was off. OK...that can happen.

I think his bent shoe and the blanket being off of him are somehow related. He may have struggled trying to get out of his blanket and bent his shoe. This is speculation I know but he has not had shoe problems before so something strange happened.

I rode Eli Saturday with the Easyboot Gloves on his front feet. They seemed to work fine for him. He still has shoes on his back feet... for now at least.

Today I had just met up with Becky and Cookie when I glanced down and noticed that one of the screws holding the gator of his Easyboots had come off. I removed both his front boots. We rode for a couple hours with him barefoot on the front.

Eli was feeling good on this ride. I have been increasing his grain lately to put some weight on him. He is looking a lot better and feeling really good too! Honestly, he bucked so hard while we were cantering that I almost fell off. I say, "Enough of that silliness!" Either he needs more work or less food. It is always a fine line trying to figure out those two areas. Well, he did have a decent work out and I plan to ride again tomorrow. I would have ridden yesterday but it rained all day but this week looks like decent weather.

Hopefully I can get the Easyboot screw fixed and he can use them again. I would be happy if he could be barefoot and use boots for riding. We will see how it goes.

Empire Bluffs Trail, Sleeping Bear Dunes

2010-09-11T03:21:43-07:00

On Saturday, Karen, Jeff, Tanner and I hiked the Empire Bluffs Trail just south of Empire. This trail is in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The weather lately has been cold and very windy. We thought it would be a good day for a hike. Plus, this hike is fairly easy and the trail comes out on to the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes overlooking Lake Michigan.
South Manitou Island in the background.

Jeff, Tanner and I.

Karen, Jeff and Tanner.

Tanner at the beach in Empire, Michigan.

Very windy!

No endurance riding competitions for me this Labor Day weekend. Coast Guard Rescue Sleeping Bear Bay

2010-09-05T21:20:09-07:00

I was planning to attend the White River Fall Endurance ride about two hours away from here in Michigan. I have my Arabian horse up here with me in Northern Michigan.

Two of my kids came up to the house this weekend (Tanner and Jeff) and I decided to stay here and do things with my kids and Karen, Jeff's girlfriend, who came here from Buffalo New York.

You know, there are always more endurance rides that I can go to but the chance to spend a Labor Day weekend doing fun things with my family is what I would rather do.

We played cards, hiked, visited some local wineries, visited with neighbors, cooked some really good meals, ate ice cream and made a fire every night in the fireplace.

We took a hike up Pyramid Point trail on Friday.
The view toward Lake Michigan is beautiful.
We visited a few wineries: Good Harbor Winery, Chateau Fontaine and Forty Five North. Very fun. Bought a few bottles of wine.

Wine bottle "tree" at Chateau Fontaine Winery.

Karen and Jeff at Chateau Fontaine.

The lake has been rough lately with waves 6 to 10 feet high. The Coast Guard rescued two kayakers who were struggling in Lake Michigan after being pushed off their kayaks. The helicopters flew to each person in the water and dropped one of their divers down to help the person get in to a basket. Then the rescued person was taken ashore while the diver waited in Lake Michigan. They did the same rescue for the other kayaker about two miles farther north.

It was not safe for any boater or swimmer to be out on the lake. Thankfully, both kayakers were rescued safely. We are fortunate that we have a very well trained Coast Guard that has state of the art equipment like helicopters.

Full story here at http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-helicopter-crew-saves-kayakers-from-drowning-in-6-10-foot-waves/2010/09/03/

Eli does not seem to mind at all that we didn't go to the endurance ride. He is just hanging out in his paddock enjoying his hay and grain. There will be other rides to go to.

Happy Labor Day!

Horse Corral---just right

2010-08-30T06:43:35-07:00

I got Caroline settled in college at the University of Missouri. Once I got back to St. Louis from Columbia, the shoer came... then I packed up, hitched up the trailer and brought Eli back up here to Glen Arbor, Michigan with me. I have not been able to come back up here before during this time of year since I always had to be home when I had children in school.

It has been warm, sunny, cool nights...and a lot less people.

Eli went home to St. Louis, and Ginger too, just a few weeks ago to St. Louis and now he is back up. Eli has been doing a lot of traveling but he travels well and does not seem to mind.

Now he has a new corral behind the house. Fun! I have been riding with Becky and Cookie and I can pick up the trail right behind the house. I tack him up and go. When Eli is here at the house I ride more.

Last night I rode him by myself around the neighborhood on some of the gravel roads and in the woods. I found some good places for him to stop and eat grass.

I was not sure how happy Eli would be by himself. He always has lived with at least one other horse. He is doing fine though by himself and whinnies to me whenever he sees me behind the house.

I plan to stay up here for 3 weeks and go to White River Endurance ride this weekend for Labor Day. Then two weeks later go to Tin Cup Endurance ride. Then home to Missouri. See http://www.aerc.org/ for calendar listings of rides. I like riding the trails in Michigan--pine trees, shady trails and clear, pristine rivers.

The corral is the view from the back of the house.

Here is the view from the front of the house of Lake Michigan.

Contracts can be...bad

2010-08-18T19:57:47-07:00

I just came back today from taking my daughter to college in Columbia at the University of Missouri. She signed a contract for an apartment....sight unseen, over the summer. It did not end up being what she wanted and we had to find another place for her to live. She and I spend three days staying at the Stoney Creek Inn in Columbia while we looked for another suitable place for her to live. Caroline was going through sorority rush all day so I spent the day driving all over looking for a place for her to live.

She does have a very nice place now. But I guess, my warning is... to be very careful next time about this kind of situation--that is-- signing a lease without actually seeing the property.

I don't think I would ever say yes to a place unless I have actually seen it. There is just no way to tell what kind of area it is located in or the condition of the place. Hopefully this place can be subleased to another student as it is close to campus.

I am home in St. Louis now and picked the dog up at the kennel this afternoon. He always is very well taken care of at this kennel but I think he is happy to be home.

I spent the evening brush-hogging the pastures. The grass grows quickly. It is fun to ride around on the tractor and just think about anything. It has cooled down a lot which is good because I can't brush-hog in the hot sun.

The horses are fat... well actually it is Ginger, Madison and Bella who are really fat. I turned Eli out on the grass to eat for the night as he could stand to gain some weight. The horses all look really good though.

The horse flies were bad tonight. They can really "bug" a horse. The horse has to keep turning around to get the horse fly off of their backs. That is annoying to do over and over. It seems like the horse flies last for about two weeks then they are gone. Even two weeks for horse flies to be around bugging the horses is too long. I hope they are gone soon.

Hot weather in Missouri

2010-08-13T16:44:16-07:00

I brought the horses down here to Missouri yesterday. It is hot, really hot, here with temperatures right near 100 degrees. It is unbearable outside. This hot weather has apparently been like this for awhile. Everybody is complaining about it.

The inside of the house was about 95 degrees. I had the A/C off while I was gone. It took about three hours to get the house reasonably cooled down.

The horses traveled fine. It took about 11 hours. Eli and Ginger are turned out in the field right now relaxing. They are back with Bella and Madison. They have plenty of water. That is the critical thing for them right now-plenty of water. And they have access to come in and go out of the barn for shade.

I brought the cat home from Michigan too. She needed to come back with me because she cannot stay up in Michigan when I am not there. At first starting out on the drive, I had the dog in his crate then right next to him was the cat in her crate. Max (the dog) does not like the cat and he was barking and whining at her and the cat (Stripes) was howling. I wasn't going to listen to that going on right in the back seat while I drove all day. So I put the cat in her wire cage in the living quarters part of the horse trailer. The vents were open and I gave her water and she traveled there all day yesterday.

So there I was going down the highway with 2 horses, a cat, a dog, hay, grain and water. I feel like a moving farm!

The fields are really tall and need to be brush-hogged. I will do it but right now it is too hot to sit on a tractor out in the sun. They can wait till the temperatures cool down.

Here in Missouri, I wait all winter for summer so I can get out and do things and then summer comes and it is too hot to go outside. Maybe fall will be nice this year.

Installing a corral in Michigan...

2010-08-09T13:18:06-07:00

Isn't really too hard. But we skipped an essential step. We are building a small corral to keep the horses in here by the house for a few weeks at a time. There are some nice trails accessible from here.

We started by putting in a few of the posts and rails but then a cable was hit and cut. Not good. We should have called the 800 DIG number. My phone line was out. This happened on a Friday afternoon so I had no phone all weekend. Fortunately, this cut cable did not seem to be going to any of the neighboring houses. Thank goodness for that.

The phone company did come out promptly today, Monday morning, and fixed it. It could have been a lot worse if an electric power line had been cut. Someone could have been hurt.

Shortcuts don't really work or help. I learned this lesson: call the underground lines people to come and mark everything and do this first.

We are installing large cedar posts with slide-in cedar rails. Once they are wedged in tightly we are reinforcing the rails with a long screw to keep the rails tightly in place. Each section is eight feet long.

Over time the fence should weather and look very natural.

It won't be a big corral or paddock but should be big enough for one or two horses. Out in Arizona the pens for horses were very small and the horses did just fine. They don't need a huge area necessarily so I think this will work fine.

Posts:

Rails:

The utility marker man did come out today and marked all the underground lines: phone and electric. Now we are going to be able to dig without worrying about hitting any other lines. The ground is sandy so digging is pretty easy. Once the fencing is up, we will put two gates up and then it will be ready for the horses. Yay!

Shore-to Shore August 2, 2010

2010-08-05T06:45:19-07:00

Everything was going very well. We arrived at River Camp on Sunday afternoon--set up camp, horses checked in, attended the ride meeting, etc. We were planning to ride two days of LD (Limited Distance 25 miles)-- then go back home.

The next morning, Monday, we saddled up and waited for the start time. Horses were fine. We started the ride and shortly into the ride, maybe four miles, my friend's saddle slipped to the right and she was not able to straighten it. She fell off and broke her elbow. She was in a lot of pain and it took time for help to come for her. This was not the way our ride was supposed to go. We just wanted to go and have two good days of riding the shore-to-shore.

It was one of those things that can happen to anybody. My daughter and I visited her last night in the hospital and she is waiting for the surgery. Then she will know more about what will be involved with her rehabilitation. Her surgery is today to repair her elbow. We all wish her a very speedy recovery.

Traverse City, Michigan; Shore-to-Shore Endurance Ride

2010-07-31T20:43:08-07:00

Ben, Caroline and I headed towards Traverse City to get more errands done. We figured we would just run in there and out quickly. Well, in reality, that does not really happen. Things take more time than we think.

We drove to Cedar where Ben dropped off the motorcycle for a carburetor adjustment.

Then on to Traverse City where we dropped Caroline off for her Salon appointment.

That left Ben and I to drive the truck to the oil change place and get that done. The truck was reading that the oil left left was down to 15% so it was time to change it.

We next headed to Tractor Supply to pick up two aluminum four-foot gates for the new paddock. They are just the right size. I am planning on getting our paddock here at the house started next weekend. Once the postholes are dug the posts and rails should go in place quickly.

We picked up Caroline then decided to head back down towards Sam's Club to buy a twin mattress. We needed one out at the house so stopped at Sam's, bought the mattress and were out of there in 15 minutes. I sort of wanted to hold off on this but Ben is right... we need a mattress and why not get it done now. (I am kind of a procrastinator about some things.)

I am planning to ride two days on the Shore-to-Shore ride Monday and Tuesday this week. This is an AERC ride and when I am up here in northern Michigan I like to head over and ride a few days if I can.

I think the trail on the eastern side of Michigan is especially beautiful as it goes along the Au Sable River. I leave tomorrow to drive over to Oscoda Michigan and will be gone two nights.

I am planning to ride Ginger on two days of Limited Distance-25 miles each day. This year I am hoping for no rain! The weather looks decent, however, I am still going to tie a rain coat on my saddle just in case. Getting wet and not being able to change until the ride is over is not fun.

Our trailers are moved to the next campsite while we are riding, so when we start riding in the morning, we need to have everything we will need with us. I love riding the shore-to-shore.

South Manitou Island, Michigan

2010-07-30T13:48:37-07:00

Pyramid Point south of Leland, Michigan taken from the boat as we head over to South Manitou Island.

We rode the boat over from Leland which leaves at 10 a.m. heading for the island. It takes about an hour and a half to travel there. http://www.leelanau.com/manitou/

Once on the island we took a tour of a few of the old farms, the old school house, the cemetery and Lake Florence.

A freighter travels north on Lake Michigan:

The North Manitou Shoal Light known as the "Crib" was first lit in 1935. A three man Coast Guard crew lived in the crib for two weeks at a time then went ashore for one week. In 1980, the lighthouse was automated and crew no longer lived here.

We took a tour around the island and had a very nice tour guide driving us in the Ford pick-up:
South Manitou Island is 3 1/2 miles long and 3 miles wide. The first lighthouse was erected on the island in 1839.

The Morizon ship ran aground in the waters just south of the island in 1962.

Our guide told us that there are no deer on the island and it is likely that they were removed to allow more vegetation to grow such as the Canadian Yew.

Lake Florence on South Manitou Island is only a half mile from the southern edge of the island and the lake is 78 acres in size.

The old school house:
The children and teachers:
The builder of the school house, Mr. Sheridan:
Beautiful old farm:

From South Manitou looking towards North Manitou Island:
The passenger boat leaves South Manitou Island at 4 p.m. taking us back to Leland. This is a fun trip to spend a beautiful day on the island.

The cedar tree area on South Manitou is another area on the island that I have not seen. Also the sand cliffs on the western side of the island would be something to see also.

Oak Leaf Run AERC Ride/ Hydration of horse and rider

2010-07-21T15:56:48-07:00

I drove down from Glen Arbor, to south of Holland Michigan to the town of Hamilton heading for Silver Creek Park where the Oak Leaf Run AERC ride was being held. This park has over 25 miles of riding trails with lots of shady single track trail, some sand and gravel roads and mostly flat.

When I pulled in to ride-camp. the ride manager, Barb, said that she had a campsite available. I was thrilled to hear this. I had tried to book a campsite a few days earlier through the park but they told me that once it is five days before the time of use, the park will not take any more reservations and campsites are first come, first serve.

Since I was riding and had no crew, I didn't want to have a campsite far from the vet check. My camp site was perfect.

I took a few things down to the crew area including tubs for water and a hand-held heart rate monitor. At each vet check, I planned to check my horse, Eli's, heart rate then get him vetted through then I would go back to my horse trailer where my horse and I could rest. This is important because without a crew, if I was parked really far from the vet check then I would be doing a lot of walking back and forth and that takes a lot of energy and I am ready to rest when I come in from riding.

We rode four loops for the 50 miles. Orange loop, pink loop then repeat each loop again. The trail was very well marked and water was available either in water barrels or the horses could drink from the large puddles. The park has had a lot of rain recently and a few parts of the trail were soggy but mostly there were some really large puddles.

The heat was a major factor and the humidity was high also. A nice lady who was out on the roads crewing for her rider also helped our horses by spraying down their legs and necks with cool water. She did this twice for us. That was very appreciated. It is important to keep a horse's body temperature down when it is humid and hot and spraying their legs and necks with water helps them cool down. But the cool water on a hot horse heats up fast and must be scraped off so it doesn't raise their body temperature...cool water on the horse, then scraped off then repeat with more cool water, scraped off, etc.

By the end of the third loop I was starting to feel light-headed and tired. I was feeling the effects of the heat. At the last hold, I changed my saddle to the Wintec, changed my riding boots to another pair, and really poured a lot of water on my head and arms to cool down. I felt ready to go for the last loop- a 10 mile loop.

During the last loop ...almost at the end of the loop, I knocked my knee hard on one of the trees. We had to trot in areas that had a lot of trees close along the trail and the trail was twisty. I wasn't paying attention and we brushed hard against a tree. That caused just enough pain to send a strong wave a nauseousness over me. I was so close to camp there wasn't any doubt I would be OK but I still was feeling ill when I arrived in camp. Fortunately, another rider helped my horse pulse down and he even trotted my horse out for the vet! That kindness really helped me because I was able to sit down and rest.

I took care of Eli back at the trailer and went inside the trailer to get out of my hot clothes. I lay down for awhile and rested and began to feel better. I went to the pot-luck dinner and someone had brought watermelon cut in chunks. That watermelon hit the spot.

I am trying to understand how I can keep myself better hydrated. I know a few things I can be more aware of for next time. For example, I wore a black helmet that absorbs the sun and makes my head feel hot. I wore black Irideon tights which I find comfortable but in the heat they don't breathe and are hot. My shirt was nylon and did not breathe either. I did not drink any electrolyte drinks. Also I had not eaten any protein all day.

Things I can change for the next ride on a hot day:

Wear a white or light-colored helmet.
Wear cotton tights that can breathe.
Wear a cotton tank top.
Drink some electrolyte drinks in addition to more water.
Drink more often while out on the trail.

Here are some foods that seem to be good for nausea:

Nuts, trail mix
Sports drinks, water
Bananas
Apples
Crackers like Triscuit, Wheat Thins, Saltines
Ginger: Gingersnaps, Ginger Ale, Ginger candy, Ginger flavoured teas
Sprig of Mint/ Mint flavoured teas

Here is a list of foods that are good to pick from:

Watermelon and cantaloupe cut up in cubes
Cheese and crackers
Peanut butter and crackers
Yogurt
Peaches
Apples
Cherries
Chicken Salad
Pretzels
Pringles
Salty chips
Applesauce
Licorice
Lemonade
Iced tea
V-8 juice
Water
Electrolyte drinks

On my next ride I am going to be better prepared.

My traveling plans with my horse trailer--

2010-07-14T07:32:35-07:00

Since I have a living quarters horse trailer now, I have recently been so intrigued by people who sell their houses and live in an RV full-time. It sounds so freeing to not have a house to maintain and spend money on. I have read two books, one is Full-time RVing by Bill and Jan Moeller and the other is Great RV Trips by Charles Cadieux. I find the traveling lifestyle very fascinating.

Ideally, I would like to sell my house in St. Louis, Missouri and base myself out of Northern Michigan. I could live in Michigan four or five months out of the year and travel with my horses the rest of the year. Last winter I traveled to Tucson, Arizona with two horses and I am planning on doing that again this winter with my horses. The time I spend in St. Louis is short because after traveling to the southwest I come home to Missouri for just two months then I head up north to Michigan.

I can only take two horses with me while I am traveling and that means that one horse would be left back somewhere. That makes it more challenging because it is difficult to monitor and know what is going on with that horse while I am gone. But it can be worked out. Right now, I have one horse still in Missouri who is taken care of by my neighbor and that is working out fine. The important thing is to have someone very reliable taking care of that horse.

More challenging than the horses is selling furniture and getting down to just the things I want up here in the Michigan house, maybe a few things in storage but then the remaining items would need to be sold. And I would want to sell my house as well. That is going to be a lot of work. But I read about many people who have sold their houses and done what I want to do.

If I keep saying how hard it is going to be, then I am allowing the house to hold me down. It is going to be hard but I am sure it was hard for other people too and they managed to do it. I don't want the fact that something is hard to stop me from going forward with this change. I can do things step by step and break things down in to smaller tasks.

I am planning this fall to get a few major things done to the house such as repairing the front porch, putting a new roof on and continuing to sort through furniture and household items. Doing these things will help get it ready for listing in the spring of 2011.

One way I can feel if a decision is right for me is by my excitement level. When I think of making this change, I know that I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I feel excited about the future and what my life will be like. I feel energized. I can already envision my life and that helps motivate me to simplify my life.

Here is a view of a Michigan sunset on Sleeping Bear Bay from our beach--

Trying to put fencing up...

2010-07-10T20:25:45-07:00

I thought it would be easier...putting up some horse fencing behind the house here in Michigan. Last summer when I had the horses over here, they got out and were heading down the road. We found them over a mile away at about 6 a.m. If they do come over here to the house, I just have to make sure they cannot get out.

I got a lot of help from one of the salesmen at Tractor Supply here in Traverse City. I went there to buy some corral panels but walked out with the supplies to put up wire fencing. I had wire, tighteners, ceramic fence wire holders, an electric fence charger, a grounding pole, etc.

After I got back here to the house it occurs to me that I try to do too much myself...without help. I mean some of this is hard to put up. I did one line of wire-- then tightened it. The wire came loose somewhere. I reattached it, then re-tightened. If it won't stay up on its own, it is unlikely to stay up when a horse is pushing against it.

I put the second strand wire up...tightened it then decided it was time to jump in the lake to cool down. It was really hot and I needed a break. I was frustrated. I think things will be easy to do and they aren't that easy sometimes. But "easy" is a relative concept. The salesman at Tractor Supply thinks putting up fencing is easy but that does not mean it is easy for all people-like me...

I even feel like giving up on getting a fence up over here. But I don't like that concept of giving up. Maybe there are other options out there that I can look in to but just flat-out giving up isn't going to be one of them.

I remember learning in one of the OK Corral workshops the idea of stepping back and looking at our resources. Here is what I see as my resources.

I can:

Continue building the fence on my own.
Find someone who knows how to put up fencing and have them put it up.
Keep the horses at the local stable where they are now.
Put up corral panels in place of wire electrical fencing.

These are my options. Basically I am trying to put horses on a property that really isn't horse property. But the horses will just be here for a short time and I have so much fun riding them behind our house and up on Alligator Hill that I want to bring them back here again. So I am going to somehow make it work.

Hopkins Creek Michigan Endurance Ride

2010-07-01T21:04:52-07:00

Caroline had to work on Saturday till 4 p.m. I went to the Golden Valley to get the trailer hitched up and get the horses ready to load. I filled the water tank, which takes a long time to fill, and loaded the hay and grain that the horses would need in the trailer. The trailer was pretty much already packed since I just came up to Michigan from Missouri five days earlier.

It is only 75 miles to Hopkins Creek and is an easy, pretty drive. We stopped briefly at the Tractor Supply in Traverse City to pick up a couple of hay bags. I had left ours in St. Louis.

The road going in to the campsite at Hopkins Creek is a little challenging because it is narrow and very sandy. I just don't want to meet another car or especially another horse trailer coming towards me. Well no one came down the road, which was good. We found a good place to park and unloaded the horses. By that time, it was around 6 p.m.

We unloaded the horses...then...oh, mosquitoes! I had forgotten about Michigan mosquitoes. The horses were flinging their heads around trying to keep the bugs off. We put fly sheets on Eli and Ginger and also fly masks to try and help them keep the bugs off. We got the horses checked in with the vet and put the horses in their pen for the night.

Caroline and I decided to just ride the 25 mile Limited Distance the next day, June 30. Although Eli can do 50 miles, this was Ginger's first ride of the season. Also, Ginger is not really a 50 mile horse. She does her best doing 25-30 mile rides. She has done plenty of 25 mile rides and only one 50. We both agreed to keep it fun and pick the distance that was best for Ginger.

We woke up to thunder rumbling in the distance. Not good. Sometimes Michigan storms roll in and pass right on through quickly or the weather can stay rainy all day. We were hoping the rain and thunder would move on through but it didn't.

The trail opened up at 6:30 a.m. I had my raincoat on and also these vinyl rain pants. Caroline just had a rain coat. Well it did rain almost all of the first loop. We both laughed about feeling the water slushing around in our boots. Caroline says she can tell when she has her heels down because the water rolls down that direction and sloshes around her heels. We tasted the rain on our tongues as we trotted along. We felt the cool rain on our faces. It was kind of fun. Once you're wet... you're wet-- at least it wasn't a cold rain.

Sometimes I think it is the discrepancies in life that make us look forward to things. For example, when it rains and I get soaked, I then appreciate being dry and warm again. Or when I am hungry and then I eat, food tastes better and I appreciate it more. If weather was always dry and warm, I would not appreciate it as much.

The rain did make the footing more solid on the trail. The loose sand was firmer. This trail was never slippery even with all the rain. That is a really nice thing because at home in Missouri, trails can be very slippery. Also, no sun meant cooler air for the horses.

These trails are flat- mostly two-track and very beautiful. The trail winds through pine forests, over little wooden bridges which cross a small creek several times and through wooded areas. I would say that this is a relatively easy trail. And on both loops, when I thought I was getting near the end...well I look ahead and there was camp. I like that.

Eli and Ginger both vetted through fine. Caroline and I let the horses relax while we packed everything up and then we drove back to Empire, Michigan. Another fun day.

Visiting Omena & Northport, Michigan June 25, 2010

2010-06-29T12:49:12-07:00

There are places in Leelanau County that I have not been to such as Omena, Michigan. Omena, from Ojibwe Indian lore, supposedly means "Is that so?" Or, "Is that really true?" It may also mean "apple" as that is the finnish word for Apple.

We stopped at Leelanau Wine Cellars. Website: http://www.lpwines.com/wineries/leelanau/
They have a restaurant overlooking the bay called Knot Just a Bar. It looked like a place to come back to for lunch on another trip.

Beautiful picture over the fireplace in the wine tasting room.

On to Northport where we stopped in the harbor. Northport was and still is the gateway to Grand Traverse Bay.
Nice swimming area too.

A few boats out on the water.

Tanner and Caroline-
We drove to Leelanau State Park at the northern end of Leelanau County.
Beautiful lighthouse.
Rocky coastline does not look good for swimming.
Hiking on beautiful UNPAVED trails.
We hiked to the overlook.

More beautiful trails.

We had a lot of fun exploring a little bit of Leelanau County.

Cattle Round-up & Branding in Medora, North Dakota

2010-06-17T18:36:55-07:00

June 5, 2010 was the day that the cows and their calves were going to be rounded up. All the calves had been born and were old enough to get branded, vaccinated, wormed and the males would be castrated.

There were several of us riding around looking for the cows and we broke up into four to five groups of riders. We rode out in different directions trying to locate the cattle.

This ranch has several thousand acres of land and is located in the Badlands of North Dakota which, I think, is challenging terrain. I have never been involved in a cattle round-up so I was along for the experience following my friend, Jerry. We rode the horses on to the top of a couple high plateau areas so that we could see over a wide range of land. We didn't see any cows.

Suddenly, Jerry and I rode over a hilltop and there were the cows and calves moving towards us. Once they saw us the herd turned around and went in the other direction...away from the corrals. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is hard to see over these hills and once the cows saw us, that was enough to make them turn away.

The herd headed away from the corrals moving north and finally turned east. They traveled down the fence line heading south again. They were brought in to camp by Kathy who was the only rider who had been able to stay with the herd. She brought them all in on her own.

Next, the cows move in to large pens with their calves. Then sorting begins which is separating the cows from their calves. The cows are moved in to one area, the calves in to another and the "dry" cows (with no calves) in to a third area.

Cows do not like being separated from their calves and will "moo" trying to locate where their calf is. Imagine over a hundred cows "mooing" non-stop. They don't let you forget what is on their minds, that is for sure! Cows seem to be very good moms. They don't want anything coming between them and their calves.

Once the herd was separated, the cows got some wormer sprayed over them and were released out of the arena in groups of about 15. We counted them as they left. A couple of times, Sue and I came up with different numbers. Surely, I can count to 15! But sometimes the several cows would squeeze out right next to another cow and I had to pay close attention. Jerry came over and helped count too. After the cows were all out, we did at least agree on the final number at the end. I think it was 125 cows.

Here is a picture of the mother cows lined up along the fence mooing to let everyone know they wanted their calves back.

Lots of local people came to the branding to help out. The ropers like to come and actually work the calves with their horses. Everybody found a job to do.

Here are the branding irons getting heated up.
Here are some ropers ready to start.

As each calf was pulled out of the pen by the ropers, their head was either put in to a metal device so it can't move or it was physically held down by workers. Then they were wormed, vaccinated, castrated, if males, and branded. Some of the male calves were dehorned if they had horns growing. This was done with a hot poker similar to branding. A sliver of their ear was cut off also to help with identifying the calves.

Branding a calve:

Rounding up a calf:

More branding...

Once the calves were untied they ran back to their mothers. Some calves took the short cut and climbed through the barbed wire fence.

The next day the cows and calves were together again grazing and recovering.

The scenery in the North Dakota Badlands is beautiful and tranquil.

It was an experience I will never forget...seeing a round-up and branding take place. I especially liked being around the cows. They are so peaceful, get along with each other and just want to take care of their calves.

These cows were so shiny, fat and sleek. Oh, and they have a very sweet, docile face. I really enjoyed just being around the cows each day.

They make me realize that life should just slow down sometimes.