Extreme trail 2....

Second post.

Carol had seen an ad for a 14 year old T.Walker mare that was with Mark Bolender, for sale.

We went and found her. Some other people were looking at her, so we got to see her move and see how she handled a little bit. First thing I seen was she jerked both her front and hind foot out of the guys hand, when he asked her for her foot. She was splay toed, fetlocks in, knees bent sideways, ???. Very poor front leg conformation. A 14 year old mare that had bad conformation for $3400. ummmm I dont think so. There are a lot more horses out there that have good minds and decent conformation for less $$. So what if she had been with the trainer for a little while. With that conformation she is sure to get arthritic knees, soon. I didnt get a photo, there was to much going on.

 This is a close up of the balance beam.

 The riders had to go to the far right, against the wall here, a lot of horses stumbled over this one.

 Warning!! Extreme cuteness ahead!!!! This is how we first spotted this little guy.

 He was so adorable!

 And so little!!!!

 But he went UP and Over!!

 Fun!

 He did ok on the balance beam, if the handler had just let him walk on it instead of trying to hold him on it, I think he would have just walked along. She held him real tight and tried to hold him on the beam.

 He was very willing and it looks like they had fun.

 An Appaloosa with cute markings. She was great in hand, but a bit of a pain, under saddle.

 Her face reminded me of Emma.

 More cuteness! and yes they walked through the water behind them at the top of the water fall too!!! The in hand people all wore rubber boots.

 He was so good! To bad he isnt going to be big enough to ride!

 The big Percheron again!

 Mark Bolender, riding a clients horse. She was a pistol and wouldnt stand still, but she did the obstacles ok.

 Another one for Mom! This horse looks so much like Sonny!! There were three that were this color and looked like they were at least part Arab.

We had fun, it really makes me want to try this!!
Hope you all enjoyed seeing some of it too!!!

Horse trailer trade

This is my old trailer, a 1992 modle, 4 horse with full dressing room.

 This is the trailer we traded for, a 2000 trails west, 2 horse slant with a dressing room

 It is pretty cool, I prefer the white but wont show the moss so bad, LOL.

 She has some rust spots that need touching up, and tweeking to get it how I want it, but that will be a fun project.

I am happy, the 4 horse was way to much for just me, I only have two rideable horses now. The gal I traded with between her and her sister they have 9 horses, so they should get good use out of it.

Extreme trail NW Nationals, Eugene, OR.

I went to Eugene, Or. Sunday with my favorite ladies. Carol and Judy. Carol drove her fancy new Subaru, with an in dash GPS.

 When you first walk in Mark Bolender has his booth. He competes, trains horses for, builds extreme trail courses all over the world! US, Germany, he said he is going to Australia soon and much more in the works! Him and his wife are very nice people too. Check out his website Unique Horsemanship, Mark Bolender

 The courses are just amazing! Here is Mark on Checkers, he was going when we first got there.

 He rides Checkers and his half brother bridleless in many disciplines, extreme trail, cutting, reining, etc.

 There were a lot of gorgeous mules!!!

 There is a large Mt. mural on the wall in the background. There are all natural obstacles.

 I took a pic of one of the like 5 or 6 different patterns through the obstacles, it all depended on which classes you were taking, experience and age.  That is a lot to remember!!!

 Mark on Checkers waiting to go up to the waterfall crossing.

 There was a guy riding a huge Draft horse.

 There were at least three buttermilk buckskins that look really similar to my Moms gelding Sonny. (these pics are for you Mom).

 There were a couple of Halflingers.

 The full arena from the end.

 Checkers is an amazing horse to watch, it helps that he is really cute too! LOL His expressions and intelligence are really fun to watch.

 He sidepassed to the left, between all these poles, bridleless.....

 A few steps forward and sidepass the rest of the way.

 See the waterfall Mt. in the back corner.

 There are ditches and holes filled with water. There is a giant pond beside this rider.

A Bridge.

 Carefully picking the way through the rocks.

 Another Mule. This is the balance beam obstacle, it is 18" wide, beveled to 16", Mark told us. A lot of the animals walked on it, a lot didnt. This Mule did awesome.

 Lunch break. We went to the restaurant and had lunch and they have a live feed of  what is going on in the arena, pretty cool.

 I had chick strips and fries.

Part 2 to come!!!

Big Buck!!

Yesterday we had these two come trough the pasture.

 This morning I filled the Hummingbird feeder and spotted this guy. Daddy is visiting now!

 He is a nice 3x3, no eyegaurds.

 He was eating apples.

 When I went out to feed the mares, he was still there.

 His neck is swollen, he is in rut.

 He is a pretty boy, we guess that he is about 2 years old.

He was peeking at me when I walked back to the house.

 He is a nice big bodied deer. Would have been a nice one in the freezer! Deer season is closed now.

 This is how close he is to the house. Just to the right of that yellow bottle.

 See him?  Whether you harvest them or not its nice to see them.

The girls are getting beet pulp now that it is cold out. Emma loves her beet pulp! LOL She was raised on it from the time she was foaled.

 Easy was having a problem with watery stool, formed balls, but a lot of water. Messy, I was having to hose her off every day, yeck. I started her on Fastrack, probiotic, an there was no change. I decided to start them on the beet pulp, soaked of course, again and her loose stool cleared up almost immediately!! I was so glad! Its getting to cold to keep having to wash her off. She is looking pretty good, old lady, she will be 27, in March.

 And the other fat old mare. One thing about Mickey is she has always been an easy keeper, she loves her beet pulp too! I like to feed it when its cold to give them more moisture in the gut, so I can hopefully prevent cold weather colic. They tend to not drink as much when its cold.

 And the beet pulp. I soak 8 cups in about 20 cups of warm water. The cup in there is a 24oz sour cream container, Easy gets 4 of those, the other two get two each.

Do you know what happens when the Labrador gets into dry beet pulp pellets. Yeah....
When Hubby got home from work at 7 am day before yesterday, Dublin had pooped in two spots, Hubby said "it looks like coffee grounds!" I said oh no!! The little shit has been eating the beet pulp!!! (sigh) Needless to say I now have a lid on the bucket!!!!!  Always put a lid on the bucket!!! Max would have been in it too, but he is to short to reach in the bucket!!! LOL
I spent two hours shampooing the living room carpet that morning!!