Next Adventure: QuarterFest!

I'm headed to Tennessee tomorrow for AQHA's big 68th-year birthday bash and celebration of the American Quarter Horse. I plan to stay for the whole three-day shebang and to get in on as many activities and learning opps as I can. If I'm lucky, I may even get to borrow a horse and go on the trail ride.

Stay tuned for blog posts through the weekend. May the Tech Force be with me!

FYE: Let's Play "You Write the Caption"

Forget about starting a new blogweek with anything very serious, let's just kick off with a little fun instead.

I'll supply the picture (thanks to my SIL, Gail, for letting me borrow one of her foal photos), and you supply the caption.

Or, as an alternative, the first thing that comes to your mind--to me, she looks like she's just about to open her mouth and say something (like, maybe, "Paris? Paris who?")

FYE (for your enjoyment) on a Monday!

Sneak Preview Time: May 09's Horse&Rider

Here's the cover of May's new Horse&Rider issue, ready for your perusal!

Although you and other readers will be the ultimate judges, I do have to say that I'm pretty excited about this issue.

For one thing, it contains stories that were produced and photographed on one of my H&R photo-shoot trips from last summer. So I know for real what you'll get to learn in Bob Avila's lead-changes article, for instance, because I was standing at Bob's arena rail as he demo'd for our camera.

I also had a ball touring the place where the Rancho Re-Do article was shot (it's Suzi Vliestra's place, from Hobby Horse Clothing Company!), and can tell you that the trail riding piece comes from a source you might find to be surprising--given that he's known best as a show-horse trainer.

(Any guesses who it is? I don't want to spill all the surprises.)

Scrapbook: Evidence of Why I Love Living in Idaho

So much public land, so many great places to go camping...

Thanks to Holly E. for the recommendation of Hammer Creek  near Whitebird.

We set up along the Salmon, had a white-sand beach all to ourselves (except when rafters went by headed for nearby rapids), enjoyed banana-belt spring weather down in a little meadow below  towering breaks.

(Can you spot the two horseback riders on the old rail bed across the river?)

This riverside site had to have been one known to and used by native people for thousands of years, and was surely used by homesteaders and packers in later years.

My thematic reading material helped this notion come alive. It's one of my favorite books, "Home Below Hells Canyon," by Grace Jordan. Classic Idaho memoir of living and ranching in canyon  country during the 1930s.

Of course, the Jordans and other canyon ranchers didn't have the luxury of tiny travel trailers to stay in--when they were traveling to  Whitebird, in order to connect with the outside world, they got there after crossing many breaks like these on horseback.

Girlfriends With Trailers, Ready to Roll (Almost)

My friend Shelley B. doesn't just keep her horse Corky at our place.

She also keeps her 1953 aluminum Aljoa travel trailer here, too. It spends the winter in a covered bay, next to my 1968 Oberlin with built-in fins.

Today, both of these rolling vintage gals with facelifts came out of storage to be rediscovered, cleaned, and packed up for our first mutual campout of the year.

Make that long-awaiting first campout of the year. We've had this outing carved in stone on our calendars since before Christmas.

Destination: somewhere on the Salmon River, roughly between White Bird and Riggins, Idaho.

Weekend home-0n-wheels happiness, here we come.

Pillows for a Magazine Cowgirl

Are these pillows cool or what? They're a focal point in our living room at present.

The images, transferred onto fabric, are from early 20th-century magazine covers. They fit both my penchant for vintage lithography and for all things cowgirl--not to mention that "magazine" and "cowgirl" go together pretty well for me anyway.

Although I have old magazines (yep, got a stash of those too) that these images could have come from, I can't take any credit for the pillows.

They are the work of an eBay seller in Nebraska. And I have been a regular customer!

Found a Horse, Found the Owners

Whew, a case of all's well that ends well.

The owners of this morning's stray horse just picked her up after their call to the sheriff's office matched up with mine. She had escaped her pen, and gone across this area's mostly open country until she got as far as our place.

So after a little time tucked safely into our barn, she stepped nicely into their trailer for a ride back home.

Despite some evidence to the contrary, it usually does pay to do unto others as you would have them do for you.

Taking Bets: Lost Horse--Or Dumped Horse?

Guess what showed up this morning, wandering the edge of our driveway and looking for a way to join our horses on the other side of the fence? (Can you tell that we dropped everything, and rushed out to get her captured?)

Here's Ed, about to leave for work, holding a scared, shaking Appaloosa mare that neither of us has ever seen before. I just got done notifying the appropriate authorities--sheriff, animal control, brand inspector--that the horse is here.

Now taking bets on whether she's a lost horse--or a dumped one.

Weren't we just talking about the latter? And do I need my head examined for putting her in the barn, in hope that someone is out looking for her instead of feeling smug for having gotten rid of her?

I guess it's better to have caught her than to leave her out along the state highway that borders our land, where she could collide with someone's vehicle.

But sheesh....not what I need to be dealing with, on this particular deadline day!!!

Taking a Survey: Got Riding Weather Yet?

Here's what it takes to make a horse gal happy--a little bit of sun, and dirt dry enough to ride on!

Yesterday, I was able to leave the house, walk up the barn, saddle a horse, and ride in our outdoor arena for the first time this year. Yippee! Still can't venture very far out onto the ground that surrounds our place, because it's still too spongy out on that deep Palouse topsoil.

But you know how it is with us horse-o-holics. We'll take any bit of improvement we can get.

What about you--got riding weather yet?

Happy Easter, Everyone

Just a note to wish you all a Happy Easter, or whatever holiday you may be celebrating.

A week ago, our ground was thick with snow. Today, there are flowers to pick.

May a luscious spring come your way soon if it hasn't already!

Smitty Meets the End of the Road

The sun was out in Fargo today, so Smitty (new horse!!!) got to go out for a little stroll. He started out thinking he would head west, like he was going to Idaho.

But he didn't get to go very far, because he soon reached the end of dry land. So he turned around and headed east again!

Ordinarily, this is the road into my brother's place.

At present, it is the last strip of dirt before floodwaters take over.

Smitty has decided not to take up swimming at this time.

You Knew This Was Coming, Right?

The attempt to resist temptation was futile...had to have him!

I'm referring to Smitty, the Appaloosa foal born last week on my brother and sister-in-law's farm in flood-ravaged North Dakota. Although I've never in my life done something as risky as buying a baby colt, sight unseen, I'm goin' with my gut on this one and snapping him up before someone else does.

Cuz he really does have my name written all over him. At least in a manner of speaking. Family legacy, etc. etc.

I've decided to call him Wordsmith on his papers, and look forward to showing him off in person after he's weaned and able to move out west to Idaho. He'll join a multi-denominational herd with two Quarter Horses, an Arabian and a mustang. (Never let it be said that we don't appreciate good horses of all kinds.)

Accepting congratulations, passing out cigars, signing people up for the future trips to the barn to see the new colt!

QuarterFest, Here I Come (Anyone Joining Me?)

The more I've thought about AQHA's upcoming QuarterFest event, the more intrigued I've become over its concept of bringing horse lovers together for a breed-branding mix of education and fun

So, even though I live too far away to bring my own horse (kind of a long haul from Idaho to Tennessee), I'm going to attend anyway. And I'm pretty stoked about it, too. Got my airline reservation yesterday, and have fingers crossed that a horse will turn up for me to ride on the Saturday trail ride.

I'll be blogging from the event, so you'll get an inside scoop on how this first QuarterFest celebration turns out.

It'd be even better if you turned up in person so we could meet! The event is set up so you can come with or without your horse.

I know I'll be seeing at least a few familiar faces, would love to add some new ones.

Here's what I look like in my favorite hat, just so you'll be able to spot me!

Dates: May 1-3

Place: Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Info: AQHA.com

Some Equine Eye Candy For You (Me, Too)

This may look like a mare strolling her foal at the beach, but the "beachfront property" is actually a strip of dry ground on my brother and sister-in-law's farm near Fargo, North Dakota. The body of water is river overflow lapping at the edge of the road into their barnyard, and the foal is the same Appaloosa newcomer from a couple of posts ago.

Ed and I aren't raising foals at present, so we have to get our foal-fix by enjoying ones raised by others. (Very handy in that regard to have relatives who remain as breeders.)

This little beach bum has been given the barn name of Smitty--because he was born on our Grandpa Smith's birthday, April 2, and because Smitty was Grandpa's nickname.

Cute, cute, cute--by any name at all!

Beware of This Horse-Dumping Scam

A friend just forwarded me an ad from Craigslist that is a sorry illustration of a horse-dumping scam--one that I've been a victim of myself. Here's the ad, with the names changed:

"I am looking for Mario, who brought his horse Bert to my stable a month ago. He had his horse boarded in [neighboring state], but the stable closed down and he called and wanted a place to keep Bert. He dropped him off about 6 p.m. on a Friday night and was going to come the next day and pay the balance of the board on him. He left $100 but has not been back, and his phone numbers do not work. I cannot keep Bert here without being paid for his board, I need Mario to contact me ASAP."

I sure hope that Mario turns out to have been lying in a hospital with amnesia, and that there will be a soap-opera ending of him being reunited with his long-lost and beloved Bert.

But don't place any bets on it.

As I have learned from having been a victim, this is very likely the aftermath of a pre-meditated way of dumping a horse. Mario probably has no intentions of ever seeing Bert again. The cash he handed over was calculated to buy goodwill overnight, and was a pittance compared to what it'd cost to dispose of a horse most other ways.

Plus, nowadays, $100 won't even feed a horse well for a month. It's cheaper to hand someone a hundred bucks under false pretenses than to keep feeding the horse while looking for a legitimate next home for it.

Some people dump horses out in the desert, trusting Mother Nature to take care of them. Other people dump horses at stables, taking advantage of people's trust.

My scammer worked her deal like this:

* Responds to Yellow Pages ad we ran when we still boarded outside horses. (If you do ANY kind of boarding for people you don't know, you need to be all ears right about now.)

* Calls during a snowstorm to inquire about overnight stabling, as she was "on her way to [neighboring state] and didn't want to try going farther in the storm while towing two horses." We empathize [hard-luck story designed to tap into our kinder natures], tuck her two horses into stalls, get paid three nights' board in advance, in cash.

* An effusively grateful "Janie" [acting up a storm, it turns out] leaves us her business card [not really her business card, or her name, either, but then Mario's name probably ain't Mario], with cell number and name of local motel where she plans check in to weather out the storm. We accept this at face value ["if you can't trust horse people, who can you trust?"] 

* Janie never registers at the motel, all other contact info turns out to be false, and we never see or hear from her again. [We do eventually learn her real identity, thanks to help from a brand inspector--the one who helped us through the legal process of rehoming the two horses--but by then she was long gone in that neighboring state or beyond, and out of jurisdiction].

We think of Janie, not so fondly, as our thief of trust.

It is due directly to this episode that we ceased opening our barn, even overnight, to anyone we don't know.

Especially ones with sob stories. 

Born High and Dry in the Middle of a Flood

While waiting for flood waters to recede (or crest a second time), my brother's family welcomed an Appaloosa colt last night, by their stallion, An Awesome Secret.

I'm checking to see if I can get my initials on him by connecting some of the spots.

Wait... looking closer... he DOES have my initials on him!

Off Topic: It's the April Fool's Day Moose!

I took a lunchtime drive up toward nearby mountains today (deep fresh snow, and still coming down), and had to make a stop for this young moose in the middle of the road.

He seemed a little befuddled, as though he wondered what the HECK had happened to the spring trail he'd been on.

He's not the only one!

("April Fool," says Mother Nature.)