To Finish Is To Win

What was I thinking.  I ended up going ahead with the endurance ride today.  Instead of the 25 miles I thought it was suppose to be, it was 30.4 miles.  When I checked in yesterday,  there was a 63 year old women checking in also.  Because it was my first ride she volunteered to ride with me.  The only problem was Jessica was no match for her 15.2 hand 17 year old seasoned Arabian that won best conditioned at her last ride.  After 4 miles of trying to keep up I told her to go on. (she finished 13th)  I then rode mostly by myself or with other pairs I caught up with.                                                                                                             

Friday was check in which included a pre ride vet check.

Our numbers or in this case letters were painted on the horse's hip.  I hope it comes off before our show next week.

There was a professional photographer at about the 13 mile point.  I thought it turned out pretty good.  The original is better than my picture of the picture.

CROSSING THE FINISH LINE.  From here there was another pulse check (to below 60) and vet check then I was done.  I finished 38 out of 47 starting.  There was a 7 hour 15 min time limit which included the 50 min. hold at the half way vet check.  I had 4 minutes to spare.

First Day

Here is our traditional first day of school photo.

I didn't get many comment after school.  Mostly just "good" and "fine".

Another 4-H Ride

The 4-H club had another meeting/trail ride Sunday.  E's horse hasn't been able to have shoes on for the last 2 months so we couldn't take her.  Lady still wasn't sound from when we took her trail riding 2 weeks ago.  So that left V with Jessica and me on Thumper (which in reality is J's horse).

We rode 8 1/2 miles.  I led Thumper on parts of the trail because I've only ridden him about 3 times this year and I am not sure how he will react to things.  I mostly kept him with his nose on Jessica's tail because she was acting so good.  You can see V's concern riding without even having her feet in the stirrups.

The weather was unseasonable cool.  You can see when we stopped for lunch how cold everyone looks.
Thumper stood well tied to the tree, he did however, try to chew on Jessica's saddle some.  Everyone got back in one piece so it was a successful ride.  I was encouraged with how Jessica acted so I am still leaning towards doing the 25 mile ride Saturday.

Harland Calf

Our first Harland calf was born yesterday.  It is a bull calf out of a first calf heifer registered in E's name.  So now she gets to name in EKR something something.

He is very cute and spry.                                                                                                                              

I was subpoenaed to appear in court today on an animal abuse case.  Fortunately, I did not have to testify because another vet in the practice dealt with the case more than I did.  But because of the subpoena, I still had to sit in court for an hour until the case was called.
V was bored the other day a decided to bake a loaf of bread.  The rest of us really benefited from her boredom.

Flowers

Everyone but me got to go to the West Virginia State Fair on Monday (I had to work).  I am told the weather was good and there was lots to see.

My Endless Summer Hydrangea has been out doing itself this year.  More blooms than ever.
However, my purple dahlia even thought the blooms are pretty, has seemed a little puny.

The black-eyed-susans  are also very prolific.  I think I need to plant them in more places for next year.
I didn't make it to the town hall meeting like I had wanted to.  Too much to do on my day off.

Sunday

The tomatoes have started coming in.  Once again we won't be able to eat all that we have.  I think people at work and church are scared to see me coming.

V's boyfriend T came over today.  We went to a church picnic then sent them to bring in the goats when we got home.  He patted Oreo but said he didn't need a band aid afterward.

The children are home

V and E have been gone mostly since July 19th, 2 weeks at grandma's, 1 week with aunt C, and this last week with neighbor/friend. 

E spent her evening home riding Pep.

Afterwards there was a spirited game of P I G which father won.

V spent her evening taking a nap.  She did go to a livestock show to practice judging this morning.

The sky was very unusual last night.  The cloud cover was beautiful, but it certainly blocked any view of the meteor shower.

We are also appreciating how green the grass is for this time of year.  Two years ago at this time everything was brown as far as you could see.
Sometimes I think we take our view for granted, but the changing weather always adds something new.
J has been getting the goats into the new pen every night.  Last night we were glad they were safe because a coyote barking and howling just on top of the hill in front of the house woke us up at 2 am.

Endurance Challenge

There is a chance that I might take V's horse Jessica on a 25 mile limited distance endurance ride at the end of the month.  I've been riding a lot to get her in shape.  

Today, J took me to a nearby trail so I could see how she would do trotting out by herself.  I thought the trail was only 4 1/2 miles so I was trying to do it in an hour but it took and hour and 20 min.  When I got home I looked it up on the map and it was 6 1/2 miles so I was much more pleased with the time.  If we can keep up that pace for 25 miles, we might have a chance to finish within the time limit.  I told the family I would need a lot of help at the end, someone to take care of  the horse and someone to take care of me.

Farm Tour

Our county extension office sponsored a county farm tour today.  Our farm was not on the tour by the county agent asked if we could bring a halter broke heifer to the cattle stop so they could mark it up to show the cuts of meat.

He did a good job explaining the larger cuts then where different steaks come from.
Several people wanted their pictures taken with 16K afterwards.  That's Mike Martin in the red shirt.  His parents were there also.  The women in black is our State district representative.
I made E stand for a picture when we got home much to her dislike.

Sunflowers

I planted sunflowers one year and got sunflower plants from V and E for mother's day several years ago.  Since then sunflowers volunteer everywhere.

This year I was more disciplined and transplanted some to a row in the garden.  Everything else I pulled up.  Yes it was difficult to pull up something growing, but I had to tell myself if it is not where I want it, it's a weed.  The garden is much more organized for it.

Day on the Farm

We had to get started early this morning for J to haul some steers to the feeder calf sale.

These were calves that were too small last fall to send to the feedlot out west.  They overwintered on hay and have been out in the field with the horses all summer.  They averaged 721 pounds.
While J was turning the trailer around, I caught these heifers in the sunrise.
Our electric net fence arrived yesterday.  We set it up in the field beside the house.  The goats usually come around this corner then bed down below the house or on the other side.  This was the shortest distance to span to make a small lot that maybe the coyote won't try to get in.