Trail Log: 7-13-2019

Jack consoling Raycine

• Trail: Stacey Creek
• Miles: 3 +\-
• Riders: Self - Jones
• Horses: Jack and Raycine
• Dogs: Hank
• Trail Rating: 4

Notes: Well - that was an adventure. In an attempt to get out of my frump - Jones and I took a ride up Stacey Creek. The good news - mission accomplished.

Click here to read "I am OK" 

The ultimate mudding machine

Trail Log: 7-10-2019

• Trail: Grouse Creek
• Miles: 2.8
• Riders: Self
• Horses: Jack
• Dogs: Hank and Shade

Notes: Jones and I planned to ride up Keithly creek but Jones had to cancel due to an injured horse. I ran some errands in town before heading to Grouse Creek for a short ride since I was already saddled. The up-side was Shade gets to go since the trail follows the creek with lots of shade. Sure is nice having my horse back. Still nursing a a bad hand so I opted not to pony and took Jack only. I think he's happy to be back on the trail as well.

Trail Log: 7-9-2019

• Trail: WRT - Galloway to second gate
• Miles: 11.02
• Ave mph: 3.9
• max mph: 14.8
• Riders: Self - Cliff K. 
• Horses: Jack - J - Chase
• Dogs: Hank

Notes: Poured on the deet and headed for an evening ride on the WRT. I worked Jack in the arena prior to hauling to Galloway so rode J and ponied Jack. Sure is nice to have my horse back.

We long trotted most of the way. Cliff's horse is a really nice walker. J, not so much. She has to trot to keep up. Fortunately she has a smooth trot you can sustain for miles.

Trail Log: 7-2-2019

• Trail: Lone Pine Ranch (Lauman Ranch) Terrabonne Oregon
• Miles: 10 +/-
• Riders: Self - Kitty
• Horses: Jack - J'Lo
• Dogs: Hank (Shade stayed in camp - not sure of water situation)

Happy to see me

Notes: J and I headed to Lone Pine to pick up Jack from his 60 days of training/boot camp. Kitty wanted to spend a few hours each day working with him and I before taking him home. While Kitty put on a 4H horse boot camp for kids, J and I rode the trails behind the ranch.

Jack and J really missed each other

Once she was done with boot camp for the day - we rode in the hills and did some arena work. The second day, I rode Jack and she rode J. First time I've been able to shoot off him in a controlled manner. It felt great. I had sent 300 rounds of ammo with Jack for her to use in his training. I got less than 25 back. :) :)

We will be going back over the next few months and working with Kitty on shooting and tuning up Jack. She did an amazing job with him. He is super soft - moves off my legs and could not care less about gunfire or popping balloons. Now to make sure I don't screw him up.

Camp for a few days

Trail Log - June 2019 - Multi

J'Lo hanging at the newly redesigned corral/tack up station

• Trails: Grouse Creek
• Miles: 20 +/-
• Riders: Self - Sharon - Jones - Pam
• Horses: J'Lo - Ellie - Raycine - Bay mare
• Dogs: Hank, Shade, Rolland and Ben

Notes: I've spent the last 60 days working around my place and getting things ready for "retirement." Jack was at a trainers in Lone Pine for that 60 days. I took the opportunity to redesign my corrals and tack shed area.

Other than some mounted shooting here and there, I was limited to a few short rides when I could squeeze them in. I think I'm missing a few for my log but whatever. :P

WRT

J'Lo is not much of an "in your pocket" kind of horse. With Jack gone - she became one. You can tell she really missed him...almost as much as me. She's been taking up the slack with Jack gone as my IMO and everyday riding horse. She's not a real fan of IMO and is a bit doggy - but she goes. It's not her fault, really - she's just not in that type of shape for sustained long trotting and hill climbing.

 I took Sharon, and then Sharon,  Jones and Pam on a short ride up Grouse Creek. It was a beautiful day for both rides. The trail follows the creek most of the way, making it an excellent trail for the dogs to come along.

Sharon and Ellie

This was the first time Sharon has ridden with me since I got us lost a few years ago. She assures me time and circumstances are the real reason but...I'm not so sure. ;) Click here for a write up of that adventure: Horses and Hobos

Anyhow - I'm sure glad to have her back in the saddle with me and look forward to the day Ralph heals up from hip surgery and can join us.

We decided to to share Grouse Creek with Jones and Pam a few days later. The all female troupe saddle up and followed me cross country as I struggled to find the passable water crossings that take you up the creek toward The Crawfords place and Devils Hole. We did manage to bush-whack our way as far as we wanted to go for the day. As always - the trail was much easier to follow on the way back. We stopped at Homestead for a bite to eat and made plans to explore more of this very cool area.

Jones and Pam

I picked Jack up from boot camp about a week later. I've never been so happy to see anybody or anything in my life. I think he was pretty happy to see me, too. He learned SO much in boot camp and I now have a backup shooting horse. I won't be rushing it - as that is where I went wrong with him when I first started shooting. We will take our time and from what his trainer (Kitty Lauman) tells me - I will have a seasoned shooting horse with the speed and ability to take me to a level 6 or as far as I want to go in mounted shooting. I'll do my best not to shoot him in the ear and screw it up this time!

Jack and J waiting to kill some balloons

Trail Log: 6-8-2019

IMO Camp

• Trail: Poison Creek - IMO
• Miles: 14.21
• Ave mph: 4.6
• Trail Rating: 2.7
• Riders: Circle Four and Barry 
• Horses: Raycine - J'Lo and Berry's horse
• Place: 4th place!  Found all 5 markers in 3 hours, 19 minutes and 33 seconds

Notes: Dusty opted to let his knee rest and not ride. Barry joined Jones and I. Barry typically runs a course fairly fast. Jones and I weren't sure our horses were in shape for it. We left camp in a nice long trot and maintained an average 4.6 mph pace for 3/4th of the 14 mile loop - winning us 4th place. We were happy.

Jack is still at boot camp for a couple more weeks. REALLY looking forward to getting him back. J'Lo trucks along but just doesn't have the energy Jack has on the trail.

I got up early Sunday morning and headed to Willow Creek in time to shoot a few practice balloons before heading back to spend a few more days with my daughter and kids.

Practice at Willow Creek "Whorley's" 

Trail Log: 6-3-2019

• Trail: Grouse Creek
• Miles: 3.0
• Riders: Self
• Horse: J'Lo
• Dogs: Hank and Shade

Notes: Quick ride up Grouse Creek to check out the area for potential camping with the Grand-kids. Probably not a great spot. Too hot this time of year and not much shade.

The next day the kids arrived for a week visit. Took them back up to Grouse Creek for a day hike and to play in the creek. Was a good choice to "camp" at Grandma's as opposed to trying to camp around here locally.

We hiked, rode, baked cookies, panted rocks and made several trips to Jeb's for soft twisty ice-cream comes.

The kids rode most every day. J'Lo was the best babysitter ever. She genuinely seems to like the kids.

Athena threw me a retirement party. She cooked her famous enchiladas - a pot of beans and Spanish rice. We devoured it. I believe everyone went back for seconds!

The best peeps in the world - and one good dog. 

The only think wrong with the week long visit was it went way too fast.