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.

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

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.

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

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 162^nd 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

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