Sunday, November 6, 2011

Then and Now

Zach. 2006. 8 years old, love his sweaty face after the Fun Run!


Zach. 2011. 13 years old, love his smile!



Friday, November 4, 2011

Zach

Zach loves airplanes
Zach loves root beer
Zach loves Russia and Roblox
Zach really loves Dewey,


   But Zach would rather ride Ole Yeller!



Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Brownie loves Jess

Brownie may be a brat at times but he sure loves Jess. We had a few people over here to play with the horses. Jess took on the task of walking the younger kids on Brownie. It wasn't long before she realized that Brownie was following her around exactly. So they played follow the leader for hours :)

Here is my little cowgirl and her horse.





Friday, October 21, 2011

You've come a long way, baby!

Wow, it has been a while since I have been inspired to blog....

It has been a little more then a year since Jess has been riding her own horse Brownie. I still remember the tears the first time she tried to ride the brat! I remember the feeling in my stomach, I remember thinking,  "What have I done?" Jessie was so timid, I was looking for a horse that would challenge her.  Brownie reminded me of the horses I rode as a kid, all bark no bite. After that first meeting I was not sure I had made the right decision, Jess, it seems, was afraid of the bark.

Jessie's was still afraid to trot on her first trail ride... But here we are a year later at Hardy Creek...

shhh I would pull the trailer with a car if I had too..


It had been awhile since Jess and I had a chance to actually go OUT and ride so we headed to Hardy Creek Corridor. We had already been riding about 4 hours when we came to a fork in the road.


I being the parent that I am, automatically went down the "more difficult" blue, trail.

Jess, "Mom, why didn't we go down the black diamond trail?" Me "I thought you would be to scared, want to give it a try?" Jess, "Umm Yeah!" (said as only a 11 going on 16 yo can).

Away we went, I went first and I have to say it was steep but Turbo being trusty Turbo plucked his way down. I hear Jess telling Brownie that he doesn't have to trot down the hill....

It wasn't until we hit the bottom creek that I realized, YES you guessed it we were at the "DROP OF DOOM!" For those who haven't heard Rachel and I tell and retell the story -  First go around with the DROP OF DOOM - Down the hill, across the water, up the hill again with not a whimper or tear from Jess. After I knew we were safely on the other side I told her where we had gone.

Jess, "you guys were afraid of that?" 

What happened to my timid little girl? I don't know but I was so proud of her. I just wish Rachel was with us to see how far Jess has come....


Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Fun with Water

Just a quick post today as I am tired but I wanted to show you what we were up to today. My kids are in Canada and I know they are having fun but when they see this video they will want to kill me.


Monday, June 27, 2011

Kids and thebeach

There is something about the beach that brings out the "kid" in kids. Both my kids are in the cool stage now and you won't find them playing purely for the sake of playing and letting off energy. However after we finished riding, they begged to play. I spent the next 2 hours watching them run around freely without a care in the world. It was such a joy to see them so uninhibited.




Sunday, June 26, 2011

Jessie vs the seagulls

One of the things I love and hate about my daughter is her love for animals. I do love how kind and compassionate she is but it is annoying when I want to kill a fly or a spider....

When we were at the beach Friday the seagulls were having a field day catching crabs. Here she had just finished saving one crab, good thing she didn't look behind her




My go to horse

Between Rachel and I we have 7 horses to choose from but my first horse remains my go to horse. Turbo may not be the fastest, tallest or most refined horse but he is the most willing. Turbo will do anything I ask of him and he will always be my favorite because of his personality.

Here he is playing in the water yesterday at ft Stevens






With Jessie







Sunday, June 5, 2011

Neighborhood Ride

We have been doing more neighborhood riding lately and that can tend to be repetitive so we think of interesting destinations.

We started by crossing 99W at Sunset. It was interesting and we got more looks then usual but the horses did really well. We headed towards Laural Ridge at first, it is a nice straight lightly used road to canter on. Dewey would have won our little race but Jess and Brownie would not let him get out in front.

Heading towards Laural Ridge, Mt Hood in the background

Yes, that was Dewey Yawning in th last picture.
Very attractive!

After that we walked down Edy road and made our way to.....


You are seeing that correctly Starbucks. Only in Sherwood can you ride downtown and hit Starbucks.

Patiently waiting for us to be done with our coffee break.


This was all Jessielee's big idea and there she is enjoying her drink

And finally the picture that started it all.....


That is the McDonald's drivethru in Sherwood. This was from a few weeks ago with Rachel and Michelle. I have recently heard that the McDonald's corporation has made it company policy not to allow horses in the drivethru because of health safety concerns.


Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Jessielee

My last couple of rides has been with a new friend Jessielee. We met at "The Horse Forum" looking for horsey friends to ride with. She currently does not have a horse of her own at the moment but since we have several I invited her over. We could not be more opposite on the outside, but she is a great person. So easy to talk to and I am very glad to call her my friend.

The first day we took her on one of our signature rides. Up, up, up and more up. Did I mention there wasn't any trails? She took it all in without a whimper. even though she hadn't been up on a horse for a couple of months since she had a bad fall.

I think she fell in love with Dewey that day so from now on I will make sure he is still here after she leaves :) I am not sure what we were thinking but we didn't take any pictures that day so I am stealing one from her facebook....

Jessie and Hugger the horse she leases

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Powell Butte



Similar to Forest Park, this little nook in the city has some awesome leisurely trails that even the beginner is sure to enjoy. Tina and I found ourselves wanting to ride on an unusually warm day back in March and we decided to head to a place that I knew about and had boarded my horse nearby, way back when.

We ended up taking Dewey and Tango to give them both a bit of conditioning and fun. At one point in the trail, there’s a small creek perfect for playing in the water and we actually got Dewey to go in and stand patiently! Tango handled the situation like an old pro.

Powell Butte is really easy to find, off of Powell up 162nd and it only took us about 30 minutes to reach from the Tualatin area.  This trail system also links up to the Springwater Trail, which is similar to a mini road for riders, bicyclists, and pedestrians.




TBtrailrider

Friday, May 13, 2011

NW Horse Expo



I definitely have to agree that it has been a while since we posted but I do want everyone to know that our endeavors have not ended and that Tina and I trudge on to find new and exciting things to report about.

So for this post I wanted to update you guys and let you know how the NW Horse Expo in Albany went. Tina and I went in not knowing what to expect; even though I’ve owned horses for most my life I never had the opportunity to go to the Expo. Let me just start with saying, it was fantastic! The place was full of vendor booths with products I had no idea existed! I found myself saying over and over “Wow, I was wondering if someone had invented that!” This place was full of things to make the equine experience as pleasurable as possible. From Interlocking grates for your pastures to keep the mud at bay, to completely customizable saddles from Barefoot Saddlery, there was truly something for everyone.

Tina and I attended a couple clinics, watched the stallion exhibition, which I found has my dream horse, Rembrandt, a Friesian dressage stallion who’s mane is down to his knees and forlock extends to the tip of his muzzle. He was absolutely gorgeous.

Please enjoy the photos that we took and we hope you get a chance to attend next year!




TBtrailrider


Sunday, May 8, 2011

Stagecoach horse camp

It has been awhile since I have posted so the next few posts might not be in order but I feel the urge to post again.

My kids and I all have birthday's within the same week so we decided to go camping to celebrate. The camp is in Tillamook forest and we were the only people there. It was so nice! There are miles of horse trails as well as fire roads. One thing that we like but other horse people may not is the fact that the area is also open to atv vehicles.

We had been in the area before and knew there was a waterfall but had never found it. Success this time we found it and it was spectacular.


Jessie and Rachel swore it wasn't cold but
I decided to trust them on that :)

I can't wait to go back, it will definitely be a favorite spot this summer.


Monday, March 21, 2011

Tuffy

Yet again we have a new horse, this time it's a new one for me, Rachel. Although I already have the best trail mount I could ask for, I had to give this horse a home since we have a history. 


I'm pleased to introduce you to Tuffy. He's a 10 yr. old breeding stock paint who spent the first 7 years of his life as a halter horse. So here is the back story. My mother purchased Tuffy as a yearling to have as her own horse that she could do all the hands on training with. We had him for 4 years and I was the one who did all the groundwork and beginning saddle work with at the ripe old age of 12. Unfortunately things took a turn for the worse financially, so my mom had to make the decision to downsize our herd. Tuffy was the only one who wasn't an all around mount and the decision was made to sell him. The experience was heart wrenching to see him go.

Over the years I searched his registered name and he had come up for sale online a couple times but unfortunately it was never the right time to buy, or he was priced to high.During the beginning of winter 2010, I checked up on him again to see if he'd come up for sale, he had. I found him in a small town right on the border of Canada in Washington state. The girl who owned him had fallen on hard times and needed to sell him. The arrangements were made and after a couple months of planning we picked him up. I had my Tuffy back. 

Tuffy continues to be the same loving horse I always remembered, He shares his kisses with everyone and will lick anyone who gets within reach. Tuffy will be my backup mount for trail riding and I intend to take him with us this summer as my pack horse on the Pacific Crest Trail. 

Meet Too Tuff To Spot "Tuffy"


Photobucket


-TBTrailRider

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Backyard riding

Jess and her friend went out riding in the backyard today. It was a bit muddy but they were just messing around. I happened to be filming when brownie spooked and gave Jessie a little scare. You can see on the video he was showing us his usual charming personality afterward! "What I didn't spook, I wasn't scared at all!"

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Kids, Horses, and Chickens oh my!

Yes my kids are obsessed with chickens. Here is the latest thing they have decided to subject them too. Zach started it so of course Jess had to do it too.

I am so proud of Dewey!

zach and chicken

zach chicken two

no longer bitless 015

no longer bitless 016

j chicken f

Jess chicken

j chicken final
Dewey is giving me the "Do I really have to put up with this?" Look.



Bit-less Brownie...........NOT!

Brownie has been doing so well lately, he has been in an "Indian hackamore" and seemed to enjoy being bit-less. Well today he blew it! We were riding in the neighborhood, Zach on Tango, Jess on Brownie and I was on Dewey. We got about a mile away when Brownie acted up so bad, pulling Jess around and just being Brownie on his worst day. I of course was yelling at Jess, "Use your loud voice." "Pull to one side, shorten up the reins!" none of it worked.

This is where I figured that I would get on and show him a thing or two. Boy was I embarrassed when he acted even worse and took off back towards the house! I did manage to turn him but I had had it! Back to the house we went and Brownie was quickly fit into a Tom Thumb.

This was what he thought of it!



Just so that Brownie isn't hogging the blog, here are the other two..

no longer bitless 003
Look how small Brownie looks 


Zach and tango
See Brownie, Tango is making a nice face


Friday, February 11, 2011

Linear Trail (Banks to Vernonia)

Zach and I both had the day off so we decided to go out on a Mother and Son ride :) Anyone who has pre-teens can understand how excited I was.

We decided to try out the Linear trail. It is a very easy straight forward ride with some nice views. We started about 3 miles into the trail at the Manning trail head and road about 13 miles of the 21 mile trail. I would defiantly ride it again when I am looking for something relaxing.

Those who are acquainted with Dewey will be happy to know that he calmed down after about 8 miles and walked at a normal speed. I am hoping a bunch more miles under his feet will teach him not to use all his energy at the start of the ride.

Zach said this was Oregon in one picture

Some new friends coming to check us out





 For all the train buffs out there it goes right by the Buxton trestle.  Here is some history about it.

http://www.brian894x4.com/UnitedRailway_OregonAmerican.html








I would have loved to ride on the trestle but it is off limits to horses