Trail Log: 11-10-2018

• Trail: Deer Butte - Owyhee's
• Miles: 5.82
• Ave mph: 3.0
• Max mph: 6.7
• Riders: Self - Blake - Nick B. 
• Horses: Jack - J'Lo - Mustang Sally
• Dogs: Hank and Remi

Notes: Blake brought a little - and I mean little - (she's not much bigger than a welsh) - over for me to try out. He's getting ready to ship her to California to sell. I've been looking for a back-up shooting horse. I'm not entirely sure I want three horses. I like being able to load up my horses and dogs - head for the desert and not leave anything at home. I normally use the third stall of my 3 horse slants as storage .

I'd almost talked myself out of getting her when Blake and I made a bet. Blake saw an aluminum can stuck on the top of a sagebrush. He bet me there would be two bullet holes in it. If he won - I had to pay full price for the horse. If I won and decided to take her - I get 200 bucks off asking price. The can didn't look shot up from what I could tell. I figured 1 bullet hole max. I thought I'd won the bet until Blake pointed out two bullet holes ....one hole for the entry ....one for the exit. Damn.

Blake's friend Nick rode J'Lo and Blake and I swapped between Jack and "Mustang Sally." I haven't decided on a name yet. She sort of looks Mustang to me. She's supposed to be quarter horse and either Morgan or more likely, welsh. She's a little skittish about some things on the ground. A previous owner was heavy handed. I don't think it will take long to get her to come around. Blake said she's hard to catch but I've caught her several times easy enough.

I had her feet trimmed in the morning - loaded her up with my other two horses and headed for the desert to see  how she did on the trail. She's a walking machine. She must have good feet. She managed the rocky, desert terrain barefoot and freshly trimmed without missing a beat. She has a bad looking old wound on her hind above the coronet bone. It wasn't taken care of properly at the time, turning into proud flesh. It doesn't bother her a bit. There are products out there that help with proud flesh scarring. I'm excited to see what I can do to fix her up a little. She's such a cute little girl and deserves some TLC for sure. Blake's done everything on her from feedlot, dragging calves to the fire to snubbing colts and healing steers. I think in time she will make a wicked shooting horse. If nothing else, I learned two things - never underestimate a little horse and never make a bet with Blake.