Blooms

It's turned dry, temperatures in the upper nineties with no rain in sight.  I took some flower pictures before everything dries up and blows away. 

Pray for rain.  It's needed in lots of places.

Switzerland

Apparently, V and E are really roughing it in Switzerland.  

This is the view from the house on Lake Geneva that they are staying in.

Farm Tour

First off, we are very happy V got back safely from Texas.  Her team was 15 out of 35.  No one on the team placed in anything.  V had the highest score from  Virginia.  I think she had a good time.  She bought a cowboy hat and a  western bling belt.  I told her with that outfit she will have to start barrel racing Hank.   They saw lots of Quarter Horses and Paints.  She doesn't remember the names of any of the ranches that they visited.  She is now packing to go to Switzerland with E and their 3 aunts for 2 weeks.  They leave tomorrow.  I know they are very excited about this trip.

 Today I rode Otoelene around the farm for 1 1/2 hours.  It is such a pleasure to ride her that I lose track of time.

 First, we visited the goats.

 Emma can be a help sometimes.

 When we get to horse eating things if Emma goes past first without getting eaten then it must be ok for a horse to go past.

We rode to the end of the long bottom and trotted around, serpentined and zigzagged back up.

She enjoyed standing in the shade next to the creek.  Most of the other horses don't like this area with all of the brush.  

I debated not putting in this picture.  We really don't have that much junk laying around.  These were some old tires that came with the farm but there is a limit to how many we can take to the dump each year so it is slow going to get rid of them.  I think she would have walked through them if I had asked. 
Maybe V and E will have some pictures of Switzerland in a couple of weeks.  Meanwhile, J and I will still be here on the ranch. 

First Ride

Aimee, a  friend of ours, finally got a horse trailer so she can now trail ride with us.  V is in Texas at the Paint Horse Worlds with the VA State 4-H horse judging team and E just went to 2 shows yesterday so we had an extra slot on the trailer to take another horse.  So, Aimee's husband Shannon decided to go too.  Shannon has only ridden bareback with a halter in the field so this was his first time on a real ride in a saddle. 

 Of course we couldn't keep it simple.  Just walking wouldn't do.  We are in training for the next endurance ride so there was lots of trotting.  Aimee had told Shannon how to post but hearing is different from doing especially on Hank's big trot.  I told him to stand up and hang on.

 Shannon's saddle did a lot of listing to the right.  He had to make a lot of adjustments.  J was in front on Jessica and Aimee followed on Inny.  I think Inny remembered Jessica from the endurance ride two years ago and she stayed right on Jessica's rear.

 Hank kept his distance especially at the water crossings.  I think he remembered Inny from that ride too.

 Shannon did remarkably well for 8 miles in 2 hours.  I just hope he can walk tomorrow.

 I always enjoy the view from the top of the mountain.

 And sometime the views I don't get to look at much.

It started to pour down rain right when we were done so they loaded up Inny in the Barbie Trailer and went home.  Aimee wants to ditch Shannon for the next outing so we can go really fast.  I'm even considering training Thumper instead of Hank because his trot is sooo much smoother.  I'm still thinking on that one.

Two Shows

E had 2 horse shows yesterday.  She started 1 1/2 hours away at the district 4-H horse show to qualify for the state show in September.  Our local saddle club was also having a show that I needed to help with.  So J dropped me and Otoelene off at the fair grounds at 7:30 a.m. for a show that started at 1 p.m.  It was the first show I didn't get to see E in. 

 But it sounded like it went well.  2nd in showmanship, 5th in western pleasure, 6th in trail and 3rd/23 in go as you please.  She showed Hank in trail (to qualify him for state as a back up) also but didn't place with him but said he did the pattern better than Pep.  They then loaded up and brought Pep and Hank to the show I was helping with.

Since I was there so early by myself I took the opportunity to ride Otoelene all over.  I've never seen such a calm 2 year old.  She never whinnied when the trailer pulled out with the other horses, walked around grazing peacefully, and stood in the stall for the first time without even pawing.  I showed her in Jr. Horse GAYP and got 3rd and ride a buck and got 5th (beat E on Pep).  Hank got two 2nd's but he is still first in by book.  And thanks to J for all of the driving and being a wonderful waterboy and the 5 pictures he took.

Picky, Picky

Yes, I know I'm being picky.   Our last full day I decided to set up the tent.  A new group had moved into one of the units the day before so this was their first day at the beach.  

 I got up early and set it up in front of our unit by myself.  As soon as I was done the neighbor comes out an sets his up here.  The beach is far from crowded.

 You can see, nothing down this way, not even any houses.

And you can see, nothing much this way.  So why did he have to be so close? (It really felt closer than the pictures look.)   Oh, and he had a rake and piled up all the seaweed.   When everyone else came out we all took a corner and moved.   I think I might have been irritated if we were there for the whole week with them but at least they didn't have a blaring radio like the group before.  I always wonder what the others are saying about us. 

And some of the better shark teeth I found.   It's fun collecting something that doesn't take up much space. 

The Beach

We just got home from a short (5 day) trip to the beach.  That's about how long we can stay before J gets antsy about not being here. 

 We had a great time.  No sun poisoning (several of us are allergic to the sun), and only some mild burns (mostly by the friends V and E took).

 E had us playing tennis with her.  She has really been enjoying the sport.

 V played for the first time.

 She definitely had her own technique.  She said it was more challenging than it looked.  But in all fairness, she was playing with my 40 year old racket.  The heads were much smaller back then.  But that doesn't account for the interesting leg positions.

 J surprised us with his skill.  I had never seen him play before.  Maybe he should of been on the high school tennis team since it was during football's off season.

 Ashton was an excellent player for her first semi organized match.  She could be a real asset to next year's school team.

 V's boyfriend Alan went with us.  The Wii Mario Kart was a big hit.

There was an attempt at a sand castle.  But all that I saw was a moat.  More tomorrow.  I'll discuss my irritation with the neighbor and maybe show off my shark teeth.

Produce

We've been enjoying some garden produce lately.  

 The broccoli is finally ready so we can stop with the asparagus, which was wonderful by the way.  I live how asparagus doesn't seem to have any pests.

J has been enjoying his daily "big salad" as he calls it.  Lettuce and onion wilted with bacon grease and vinegar.  He has to limit himself to one a day so it won't hurt his stomach. Yum.

Bloopers

Since I was showing Hank, J became the official photographer for the show we went to Saturday.  He was having a little trouble with the zoom, keeping the subject in the frame. 

 A lot of heads got cut off.

 Not that I mind with  my head, Hank is the important one.

 But it would be nice to see some of him.

 Maybe if we combine these two pictures, Pep with no head,

and E with no head.  It's a good thing we are using digital and not paying to develop these.
Just messing with J,  he did a good job and I'm  lucky to have him. Thanks J.

Awesome Trail Ride

We took Otoelene on her first trail ride today,  just the second time we've hauled her somewhere to ride off of the farm.  It was with the 4-H group.  There were 2  actual 4-Her's, 2 that will be old enough next year, one very young rider and 8 adults.  

 Otoelene did great.  I was going to ride Thumper.  We had just had shoes reset on Wednesday.  I went out Saturday after the show to ride him before the trail ride and he was already missing a shoe.  Luckily, we had decided to put shoes on Otoelene for the first time so she was ready to ride.  The trails are very rocky around here and barefoot riding is not recommended.

 There were two big water crossings.

 She went right across, no problem.

 She was really relaxed in the big open pasture area.  J rode Jessica with no problems either but she does prefer going in front.

 E rode Hank.  She complained about his bouncy walk.  I offered to switch multiple times but she refused.  Otoelene really isn't that much smaller, we're just downhill.

 Otoelene thought the trail was a smorgasbord.  She wanted to taste everything.

E won't touch Otoelene but I turned around and there she was on a different 2 year old.  She has been talking about wanting a different western pleasure horse to show and I think she likes this one.  I still don't see what's wrong with Otoelene though.  Oh, and the weather was nice, overcast with a light breeze.  The horses hardly sweated at all.

Show Results

J drove me and E to an open horse show today.  There was a good turnout with a wide variety of horses. 

 E started out in Showmanship with Pep.

 She got First.

 She also got first in her trail class.  Pep is a pro at the bridge.

 She didn't place in the Juvenile Go As You Please.  There were 18 in that class.  But she came back and got 4th in Juvenile Western Pleasure.  No problems loping on this surface unlike the Bland show where it was deep gravel.

 V is in Northern Virginia working out with the State 4-H Horse Judging Team so it was left to me to show Hank again.  I remembered the gloves and helmet cover this time but I had my number upside down for 2 classes before J told me.

Hank acted super.  We were 3rd in Adult Go As You Please, 4th in Hunter Under Saddle (a lead bobble), 5th in St. Jude Go As You Please (proceeds going to St. Jude), then we got everything together and got 1st in Open Hunter Under Saddle.  I'll count this one as a success.