If Wishes Were Horses.....

If I were seriously able to horse shop right now, which I am not, I would fly down to CA and check this handsome boy out. His owner did a good job on his video too, as she shows him going both English and Western.

If he were to vet clean, he looks like he would be a fun horse; if not for me, then for my kidlets. Sigh.....

And while I was down there, I would stop in and ride Wesley, a Hanoverian/Oldenburg gelding. I don't know if I can picture myself out on the trail with him though...lol!!! He doesn't exactly scream "trail horse" now, does he???

And who doesn't love a horse that looks like a giant American Shetland Pony??? On my way home from CA, I can make a small detour through CO, and test drive this sturdy looking Morgan gelding. And with a name like Mandalay Bay, how could one go wrong????

Now, another breed that often catches my eye, as they are known for being intelligent, sure-footed, and hardy, is the Halflinger. I could visit this handsome fella once back in my home state of WA.
Now, not being a Halflinger person, I would most likely never spend $20,000 on one, but I bet he is worth every penny of it.
I was going to include some other horses that really caught my eye (at first), until I looked closer and saw that they had/have weak necks. That is one of my (and my sister, Amber's) pet peeves: A good looking horse with a wimpy neck.

I will save that for another post. Hope you enjoyed looking with me. : )

Summertime....

Happy Saturday everyone! The sun is finally out (again!) and so we decided to take a ride up to Crystal Mountain Resort, which is where the kidlets do a lot of snowboarding in the winter.

( Isn't Mt. Rainier beautiful??? )

During the summer, you can ride the chair lifts up to the summit and either ride them back down, hike down, or mountain bike down. We ended up riding the lifts back down because we were not sure how long of a hike it was back to the base.

On the way up and down, there are beautiful mountain meadows, with lots of elk and dear tracks all over the place. My husband and son were drooling...lol!!!! And it is pretty darn steep too!Do you see the river that snakes behind us in the photo below? That is the one that runs through the town that we live in . It is also why we are in big trouble if Mt. Rainier ever decides to blow again....

Oh, and FYI, Mt. Rainier is 12 miles away from where we are standing in this picture. Crazy, right???There are also a lot of places to do serious back country horseback riding, and we spotted these riders on our way down.
Just look at the angle of this run (pic below). Can you believe that this in an intermediate run, and that my kidlets have snowboarded down it multiple times??? No thanks!!!!!

I joked with them that I was not going to let them snowboard anymore.....Well, hope that you are all having a good weekend. I am still getting used to the fact that I do not have to go back to school in one month. I keep thinking that my free weekends are almost over. Sigh...I am sure that I will get used to it...lol!!!

Finally...A Ride!!!

Guess what I was finally able to do...all by myself and without the kids??? Yes, that's right folks, I was able to ride.Waska is having one of his two-steps-forward weeks, so Amber and I hit the trails. Well, we went on a nice long ride, but due to Waska's issues, we walked the whole time. It was all good though, as Amber and I were able to do a lot of talking and catch up on life.Despite our taking it easy, Waska was quite gimpy when Amber took his boots off. He was fine with them on, but without that added protection, he is tender. The farrier said to ride him lightly everyday (or as much as possible) despite the gimpiness, because it will increase blood flow to the area and encourage healing.


You can see how he is standing in the above photo, with his front legs askew to take pressure off. Amber wants to leave his boots on all of the time, but the farrier said that he has got to start doing without them. In the winter, the mud/wetness will literally rot his feet off.....
Above and below are shots of his hoof wall, and you can see the growth rings. I was not able to get a good shot of them from the side, but his new hoof growth is coming in at a totally different angle....which is good. I will try to get some better ones and also some shots of his sole. He is literally walking on his sole, which has been allowed to grow and thicken. It is almost like walking with a large wad of gum stuck to the bottom of your foot.And last, but not least, I will leave you with a parting shot of goofy Bo. I had just undone his saddle and was looking for a treat. Isn't he the silliest looking Arab ever??? LOL!! He does have a nice, square chest though.....

Pow Wow Time.....

(Click on the highlighted names for more information about my post)

Earlier today, my family and I made the long trek up to Seattle to attend the 25th Annual Seafair Indian Days Pow Wow. The pow wow is a large one for our area, with representatives from many tribes that attend. It is held at a place called Discovery Park, which is home to the Daybreak Star Cultural Center.
This center is also home to the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, a foundation that aims to promote indigenous culture, ensure continuing tribal sovereignty, and improve the lives of American Indian and Alaskan Natives (AIAN).
My good friend and mentor (she was my supervisor/mentor while I completed my internship at Muckleshoot Indian Child Welfare) sits on the board, and is a passionate supporter of AIAN welfare and rights. Her love for her people is obvious, and she devotes a lot of her time promoting her culture and the rights of her Native brothers and sisters.

Have any of you ever been to a pow wow? If not, I highly recommend it. The air is filled with the smell of burning sage and cedar (usually a dried sage/cedar/lavender mixture in the PNW), the beating of drums, the singing of ancient songs, and the sound of jingle dresses.Combine that with the scent of smoking or baking salmon, and Indian frybread tacos, and
you have a treat for your senses!

And the regalia (their costumes) are amazing as well....

Can you make out the three horse heads on the loincloth (???) of the man on the left? They are on a sky blue background....
And these two (below) looked like they were great friends, often laughing and patting each other on the back. And just look at this man's hat (below)! It features a whale and it is all carved out of one piece of wood. I watched him doing a tribal dance and from what I can gather, they were either First Nations/Canadian or from Alaska. Talented work either way though, right?
Now for my favorite dancer....That face paint gets me every time!!!
Here is a closer look....

His regalia and paint was beautiful, was it not?

Okay, here is one last shot. I played with the coloring a bit, but I am not sure if I like it yet....

Hope that you are all having a good weekend! : )

The Enforcer.....

Remember my little puppy, Tucker?? Well he is almost 10 months old now, and he has made quite the addition to our family. Tucker is agreeable, good-natured, cuddly, and tenacious...all at the same time...lol!!! Seriously, he has been the best puppy ever, and it is quite fair to say that I am gaga over him.

Okay, okay, what is the point of this post you may ask? Well it is to tell you about my little Enforcer. A title that Tucker takes quite seriously, I might add.You see, in our family, I am most definitely the alpha (sorry honey!!!) and Tucker picked up on that early on. And, because he is always with me, he has decided that he is Number Two in our pack; a job he takes quite seriously. Well, he isn't technically Number Two, but he thinks he is, which is quite funny.

So what does the Number Two in a pack do??? Enforce of course! Tucker thinks that it is his job to carry out my intentions (or what he perceives my intentions are) and he carries them out well...too well.

For example, when I raise my voice at one of my kidlets, Tucker sits up, eyes and ears alert, ready to Enforce.

If I am angry and move towards one or both of my kidlets (as I frequently find myself doing), Tucker is right at my heals, growling and ready to Enforce.

If I have to manually grab one of my kidlets (as I frequently have to do to break up an argument or friendly tussle turned angry), Tucker is there, open mouthed, growling, nipping, and you guessed it...Enforcing!!!

If I get angry at Jinx (poor Jinxy!) for once again gobbling down Tucker's food, Tucker is there, ready to Enforce. And let me tell you...he becomes a 14 pound ball of fury that takes down a 55 pound ball of fur...lol!!!

Now of course, being the dog savvy owner that I am (and a kind, compassionate mother!!)I reprimand Tucker and pull him off of my kidlets and Jinxy. And don't worry, he makes more noise than bite, but if I ever have to go to battle, I know who I am taking with me...Tucker the Enforcer...lol!!

Horse Update.....

The sun finally decided to come out today, so the kidlets and I headed up for a quick visit with Amber and the panonies. Amber has a new job, with new days off, and we have had a hard time coordinating riding times.

That and the terrible weather we have had...and baseball...and, well, life...... The horses were a bit sleepy today because the weather has been cloudy and rainy, with temps in the 50's, and today it shot up to 79. The rest of the week is supposed to be hotter, but you will not hear me complain! It is about time that we have sunshine and warm temps...it's July for Pete's sake...lol!!!

Another reason that we have not been riding much is that Waska has been having a lot of issues since, I don't know, January?? He actually foundered (mildly-moderately), was diagnosed with metabolic syndrome/pre-diabetes, has been lame, and is believed to possibly have Cushing's disease as well.

Waska pretty much lives in his EasyBoots or he cannot walk around without gimping. He was in a lot of pain and on a lot of meds for months, but it appears that he is coming out of it; although he now has swelling in one of his hocks, and he is getting sarcoid-like (they are not sarcoids) bumps in various places.

He is required to be on a special diet for the rest of his life (no grass, no carrots, no apples...no sugar!), and Amber has spent a ton of money on him.

She has a big decision to make in the coming months as well. If his quality of life does not improve, she may have to put him down. He is much better than he was, but he tends to take two steps forward and 10 steps back.

A tough place to be, for sure, and a decision that I hope she doesn't have to make. She gets conflicting advice and different prognoses from various farriers and veterinarians, so she is going to wait it out a bit longer.

Have any of you dealt with this type of issue before????

Happy 4th of July.....

Wishing everyone a safe and happy 4th of July!!!!!
And thank you for all of your kind comments on my last post. As I have previously said, I feel better already! : )