Some Changes...

If there's anyone still interested in what I have to say here, if you're here and have been before you probably notice that there have been a few changes to the ol' blog. A few changes to the blog and a LOT of changes in my life.

Brian and I are getting divorced.

It came as a shock to a lot of people, including me, really, but it's happening. I'm not going to go into a huge dissertation about why the bottom fell out, I'm not going to erase old posts that show us as a family, I'm just going to carry on as this is just another challenge, another chapter in my life and in the lives of the kids that is now part of who we are and who we will become.

My friend Amy brought up a good point that I'd like to reiterate here... in that a lot of folks will call a divorce a "failure" of sorts, because the expectation of a "successful" marriage is till one of the two involved people dies. After all, it is "till death do us part.." isn't it? She brought up a good point, however, as we were talking the other day in that a marriage doesn't have to last until eternity to be successful. We had our success for sure without a doubt. And for a long time, we did have what I would consider a "successful" marriage. But those success began to fall apart and what was successful and fulfilling turned otherwise.

So, I guess the moral of the story, and probably one of the driving forces to cause me to rekindle this blog - and only make minor changes to it - is the thought that even though it has become unsuccessful, for a time (a long time) is was a success, and that I and we are not failures for this outcome.

This, too, shall pass and life will go on. I've been busy rebuilding my home, my life, my family, and myself. I'm fine (because I know that's the next question), and I will be fine. It's just gonna take some time getting used to this...

The End!!

My wedding season is officially over until at least March (as of now with my current bookings). I have a TON of pictures to process and post, a ton of albums to do, a ton of prints to order... but as far as generating more pictures - I'm pretty much done. I had a infant session scheduled tonight which went amazingly well, and have a family shoot scheduled for next week weather permitting. Then it's crunch time.

I plan on locking myself in my office for at least a week. Maybe more.

Hopefully now that the chaos is subsiding, I'll be able to get back to blogging and posting a little more frequently. So far next year, it looks like mid-year (May/June) is setting up to be my busy time *sigh*... at least I'm as busy as I want to be!!!

Well, I'm off do download some pics... and so it begins...

Happy Birthday, Little Miss!

We celebrated Jade's birthday early, and I'm posting this late, so I figured I'd even it all out that way! Actually, I have no excuse for posting this late... other than I've been crazy busy finishing up the last of my weddings and engagement sessions for the year.

Anyway, we had Jade's birthday party here at the house. Had a good time eating and visiting with our families, and Jade had a good time with her brother and her closest friends eating cake and enjoying her presents. She decided she wanted a "My Little Pony" birthday this year, after what seemed like hours of sitting online looking at different possibilities. It made it easy though, because My Little Pony stuff is pretty plentiful round here...

Here are a few pictures of the day - despite the little sty or whatever she had on her eye that week... I think they turned out pretty cute!!

Well, At Least I Won Something

I didn't win Powerball. Not the first time, or the 2nd go round either. Oh well. As my last post clarified, I'm really not all that bummed. But it would have helped...
I had my last (probably - unless I get really motivated in 2 weeks to do a show and pictures on the same day) horse show of the season on Sunday. It went well. I used the new Crosby, which apparently was the secret ingredient. I showed in a few hunt seat classes (Harley doesn't do hunt seat - it requires work...) and did great! We got a 4th in our first class out of 19 and a 2nd in our 2nd class out of 21 horses! After the break I switched to Western, and ended up getting a 1st in Western Pleasure out of only 7, but 7 of some of the most recognized names in the area. In fact, I won against a guy whose entire family trains horses and shows horses on the big Quarter Horse circuits... yay Harley! In all, I won about $100 dollars to boot. Minus the $37 I spent to enter, I actually came out ahead! And thanks to Brian for the snazzy new western show shirt. The one that was supposed to be my Christmas present :).
Here are a few pics of my new all-arounder!

Where The Hell Are My Salt and Pepper Shakers?

If you don’t hear from me or my family after Wednesday night you’ll know why. I am gonna be the next Powerball winner. The people here at the office and I entered an office pool and figured at the current cash payout, that we’ll each be looking at about $12.5 mil come Wednesday.

This got me thinking about gambling, and the disappointment that comes with losing. I think I finally figured it out. My thoughts were that if I didn’t win the Powerball (but we all know that won’t happen) I probably wouldn’t be all that disappointed or surprised. You see, I don’t think any one actually expects to win the Powerball. Sure, we’d all like to. And it’s pretty fun to sit around and daydream about what the hell you would do with that much money, but when it comes down to the drawing and you don’t win, are you really that shocked? Probably not.

On the other hand, if you enter, say, a 50/50 raffle. Or if you enter a Superbowl pool or something of the like… the possibility of winning is actually pretty good. So when you have good odds and don’t win? Yeah, that sucks. It’s even worse when half the people that entered win something even if it’s not the “grand prize”. You start to get a bit smitten over the fact that you didn’t get your Chicago Bears salt and pepper shakers…

Of course, none of this applies, because it’s already in the master plan. I’ll be on a plane to Colorado first thing Thursday morning… oh, I meant on my private jet. Happy playing!

Too Complicated For An Appropriate Title

I will begin this post with a few disclaimers:
1) I am NOT an expert on this topic, nor do I claim to be, nor do I want to be. I do, however, speak from personal experience.
2) If you are usually in disagreement with me or with my opinion on "hot" topics, you should probably hit that little "back" button on your browser and find something else to do.

I'll preface with the fact that I like to give most people, on first contact, the benefit of the doubt. I know it's hard to believe, but most people really do have to earn my opinion of them. So anyway. As I was uploading pictures today from my wedding last night, I took some time and browsed through some of the posts on a photography forum that I visit occasionally. I was just glancing through the photo sharing section and clicked on the "show us your best dog shots" or something to that effect. It had 80 some pages of posts, so I thought I'd look around and look at other people's pets and the pictures they take of them (by the way, yes, that's where my FB status came from about people naming their pets stupid things like Oreo and Rusty). So I got to the end of the posts, and a few pages from the end noticed this picture:

It was from a user who titled his/her post "Turbo, my 8 month old Staffordshire Bull Terrier pup"
A cute shot, indeed. This particular user's avatar was this picture:

I thought to myself, hmm, probably not the dog I'd have chosen as a pet in a home with a young child, but that's assuming a lot I suppose so I moved on.

The next few posts were from a somewhat vocal user about his strong feelings about "bullies" aka: American bulldogs, pit bulldogs, Straffordshire bulldogs...

The exchange (edited) went something like this:
User 1: A bundle of solid muscle and jaws that can (and have been known to) tear a child to bits in seconds.
Have you warned the neighbourhood families with kids?

User 2: Yes. I also tell my children to be careful when they put their heads in his mouth. He has already savagely mauled the neighbors and everything else that moves within the neighborhood. Our Maltipoo has also tasted the sweetness of blood and awaits the kill.

User 2: He only goes after helpless children.

User 1: Pray that you never look back on those words with sorrow or regret.

User 2: OK. I'll kill him in his sleep tonight.

Annoyed, I continued to read on. I was thinking, yeah, just another opinionated person. It's the classic "nature" vs. "nurture" argument from there. This all changed when I clicked on a link posted by User 2 (the bulldog's owner), and after reading the comments posted below the "YouTube" video... watch for yourself.


And here are a few comments that followed:
"HaHaHa!!! A cloud with teeth... cute!"

"that was funny!

"Yeah, the poodle is cute and they are so cute when they start growling like ferocious attack dogs...I have a toy poodle myself and Loki is fierce! :D"

and then my comment, "Real cute till it bites your face off... are people really this ignorant of a dog's cues? Seriously."

So herein begins my commentary. In college I bought a beautiful male Akita puppy from a very reputable breeder. I raised him on campus, socializing him and doing all the things you were supposed to do with a male Akita puppy. He was everyone's friend. Never bit anyone, never even growled at anyone. He was a happy, fun loving, loyal, and intelligent pet. When I got married and kids came along, he was great. Took to my husband without even a mere challenge, sniffed the baby a time or two, and then watched him cautiously every time he was in the room. Never once (within reason and common sense) did I ever fear this dog or have any indication that he would hurt me or anyone in my family including the baby. He ended up having a genetic condition that ultimately was his demise, and at age 7, we made the decision to put him down.

Shortly thereafter, I began my quest to locate another Akita. I was in love with the breed. I found another breeder who was actually familiar with my former dogs breeding line and the problems that cropped up with a few of the dogs later than normal, which caused the spread of the problem because the dog carrying the "bad" genes was bred before anyone knew he had issues. Anyway.

The breeder was great. We went to the kennel, met the sire, met the mother. Met her other dogs. Not one of them acted skittish, vicious, or mean. We waited upwards of 6 months for a puppy from her. On a happy day, we went and picked up "Patton." He instantly fit in. A cute, cuddly, sweet ball of fur. He was quick to learn, and was introduced to us and our kids immediately upon coming home. He followed the rules. I socialized him just as I did my first Akita - I thought I was doing everything right. Till he bit my husband.

At about age 1.5 he decided he no longer wanted to be at the bottom of the food chain, if you will, in our household. We dismissed the first bite and made excuses for him. This was a $600 dollar dog! He was socialized! His parents never bit anyone - he was bred for temperament, right? And then he bit Vincent, and my husband again, and then me.

Now don't get me wrong, these were not vicious "attacks." But they were intentional and well placed on his part. I knew what had to be done. I contacted a trainer, and for a short time followed some of her suggestions to remind him that he was not the "alpha", I called the breeder, I even took him to the vet to make sure it wasn't something related to his health. But at the end of the day, I knew I had a problem and my husband and I made the heart wretching decision to have him put down. He was a beautiful dog - had every physical aspect of a "perfect" Akita Inu. But he thought he was in charge and 130 pounds of nasty just doesn't work in this house.

I was always a FIRM believer of the "nurture over nature" argument about animals. Until now. This dog had no reason to turn the way he did. He was trained in obedience, socialized, and never allowed to be the "dominant" family member. Dogs were bred to do jobs - until we brought them into our homes and put costumes on them and gave them spa days and plush beds. Akitas were/are a guarding breed. They were used to hunt bears. BEARS. Takes a pretty bold dog to hunt a bear.

Bull terriers were bred to fight. It's written in their own history. And the reason they were chosen as fighting dogs is because they were built to fight and were good at it due to their structure, instinct, and host of other reasons. Didn't see too many Collies (for example) in the fighting pen, I'm sure. Not that Collies, or other herding dogs (to which I'm quite partial, now) don't hurt people. But I think without doing a lot of research, it's pretty safe to say they're probably a lot less likely. I believe one of the main reasons for this is they were bred to herd. To help man. To be obedient and follow their master's command. In other words, they were never expected to challenge a direct order.

This argument came up with a very close friend of mine and her mother. I can't find her blog post or I'd link to it. In a nut shell, her mother refused to "pen up" her dog when my friend came to visit with her small kids. The mother's argument is that the dog was lonely and sad in his pen. This is despite the fact that this particular dog has bitten people, growls at people, and has no concept of the fact that he's not the alpha in the household (to my best analysis of the situation.) This dog is "king shit" if you will at his house - a truly dangerous place for your dog to be. Point being, people can be so thick skulled about their dogs and their bad and dangerous behavior that they actually put the dogs perceived "happiness" over the core safety of young - under 4 - children. Gimmie a break people!

Let me say here that I don't trust ANY DOG fully. At the end of the day, a dog will be a dog - enough said. I think it's just hilarious to see these people who think their dog actually loves them. Loyal, maybe... but love? I doubt it. I'll give that your dog probably really LIKES you - after all you supply its food, shelter, and pretty much control every aspect of it's life (or at least you should). Are dogs loyal? SURE! Do they protect their owners? Save people's lives? Work their tails off for people? Absolutely. But when it's all said and done, when they come to lick your face, or sniff you while you're sleeping, they're probably just trying to determine if you're dead yet so that they can take over the pack.

I know it sounds harsh, but remember what my job is. As nasty as it sounds, there are stories of a person's beloved pooch eating off their face as they lie dead, undiscovered, in an easy chair. Again, it's a matter of instinct - gotta keep the den clean! Death brings parasites, and parasites bring disease, and disease brings more death. Believe me. Dogs understand this VERY WELL and no matter how much they "love" you, they're still a D O G.

So back to the forum. I found it appaling that a person with a new Straffordshire Bull puppy would find THAT YouTube video humourous. I quickly changed my opinion of this person. If I could address them in person, I think I would say just what User 1 - who I was initially so annoyed with - said. In this instance, I'm thinking he was spot on. Especially as it relates to anyone who thinks the cute little ball of fur, "cloudlike" poodle in the video is funny.

To conclude. I think "nature" does preside over "nurture." But when the person in charge of the "nurture" aspect has no brain in their head, and doesn't deal with the "nature" problems BEFORE those problems becomes someone's nightmare, the only one to blame is the person who excused the animal's behavior and let "nature" prevail. And to anyone out there thinks that poodle in the video is cute? Let me tell you that dog is trying to give you a very clear message - and I sincerely feel sorry for anyone who is subject to your stupidity.

Too Cute

I think I posted a few years ago about what pleasure I get out of looking at the drawings that kids make. I just love the stage where everyone is just a big head with arms and legs, eyes, and a smiley face. Jade's totally in that stage right now, and she just loves to fill up the page with pictures of people. I guess only she knows who it is she's drawing, because they all look the same to me. Here's one of her most recent creations, titled "Family Portrait".



This is one of Vincent's recent school assignments, which I found particularly amusing because of ALL the things he's said he's going to be, the one thing he's never mentioned (or at least hasn't mentioned very much) is that he's going to be a police officer. Translated, it says, "When I grow up I want to be a policeman and catch bad guys and take them to jail." Just love the drawing with the little red and blue "lights" on top...

I'm In The Dog House

August 7th was really my last post? Oops :)

School is finally started again *thank GOD!* I've been threatened with bodily harm if I don't post up some pics of the boy getting on the bus, so here you go family. I really need to get around to taking some studio shots of the kids. Isn't it crazy that I use all my good stuff for everyone else's pictures, but when it comes time to take my own pictures that I grab my point and click (it's ok I guess, but not nearly as capable as even my real back up)?





According to reports, he likes his teacher and is enjoying the work. His homework looks good - mostly review stuff right now, but it appears as if he didn't lose too much brain capacity over the summer. I'm just glad they (Jade and Vincent) have a little time apart. They get along so much better when they aren't around each other 24-7. A little reprieve for parents I guess!

We have our second Brown County trip planned for next weekend. The kids are staying with grandmas and we're out of here Friday morning. Taking the horses and the new trailer camping again... I'm really looking forward to it. Another perk is that we got our primo-favorite camp site, too. And with the new awning on the trailer and the DirecTv satellite ready to go, we should be roughing it in style.

Well, looks like the official number is in... I took 1166 pictures yesterday at the wedding I was at. 14 hours of shooting and I am SORE today. I think this was my longest wedding to date. I started at 10am with the girls at the salon and didn't leave till midnight. The ceremony was at 6pm, so things ran LATE LATE LATE.

In other news, my horse is doing fabulous with his new found ability to pick up his feet. I know that means absolutely nothing if you don't know horses, but it's a big deal for me. He's the epitome of "lazy quarter horse". His favorite thing to do is to stand around with a dumb look on his face. His second favorite thing to do is sleep. So when it's time to actually work (ie: pick his feet up) he's a little bummed. He got into a pattern in which his feet literally DRAGGED the ground as he went, and his gaits meshed in to a distinct shuffle. Anyway, we got him working again - and to reward his new achievements he got a new saddle!



It's a Crosby Hunterdon (which, again, means nothing to most of you) but trust me when I stay it's the BMW of english saddles - not quite a Ferarri - but Pretty. Damn. Nice. And I got a hell of a deal on it.

I'm pretty stoked that football season is upon us. Today is my Super Bowl of sorts. Denver is playing Chicago in Denver - and after Denver's quarterback/coach debacle, it'll be a good game to watch. I think it's pretty funny that a lot (read: all) of my friends think I'm a Bears or Colts fan - nuf said. I'm not expecting greatness, but it'll be fun to watch. I tried to convince Brian to take me to Denver to actually see the game, but he kept saying something about money or something like that.. oh well.

Anyway. I have a ton of stuff to do today from pictures to kids to getting the horse trailer ready... hope you all have a relaxing Sunday!

Insomnia Strikes Again

I don't think I've slept more than 3 or 4 hours in one night in the past week or more.
This is getting seriously old...

How Grown Up...

Vincent: Hallie is having one of our classmates from school over. She's going to come over and try to kiss me.

Me: Cool!

Vincent: This is big time.

*sigh

I Just Can't Motivate

I don't know what the hell my problem is. I just have NOT been motivated to post to this blog! Is anyone even still reading? I post so seldom any more, I'm sure I've just about bored all my faithful followers (yeah, all 2 of them) to death. It's not that I haven't had time. Brian's back to working midnights, so a lot of my evenings are free. Photo business has been busy, but that's not an excuse. I could always post while converting files, processing, uploading, whatever.

Anyway. We braved the county fair tonight (Brian's second trip). I got some fried cheese cubes... hmmm. I remember them being much better tasting last time I didn't suffer guilt from dropping $7 on cheese. Needless to say, maybe it's what I needed. I won't be craving fried cheddar cheese anymore. Actually, it was pretty gross. The elephant ear was good though, and it was nice to let the kids do all the rides "sans parent" now that they're tall enough to handle them alone. Vincent went on the upside down-y one by himself. I was pretty proud of him. He said it was cool. I'm pretty sure I would have puked. He also did the gravitron - the spinny, stick to the wall gyroscope - you remember - by himself and walked out on two feet. Atta' boy!

Tomorrow is Emily Pinkerton's folk concert at Taltree Aboretum. Emily is a long ago friend (high school era) who was brilliant and talented in the early 90's. I can't imagine how awesome she is now. She actually has an album now, too, titled "Emily Pinkerton - Valparaiso." I'm sure I'll get a copy after tomorrows concert. Not only that, but I'm meeting up with some old friends, namely Cate from Alaska who I haven't seen for YEARS, but who I rode with all through high school in 4H and beyond. I'm pretty stoked.

Anyway. My "partner" at work is headed out to Sturgis motorcycle rally in South Dakota tomorrow morning with another good friend of mine. Wishing them a safe trip out, a good time there (BBBOOOOOBBBSSSSS!), and a safe trip home.

Hope everyone is having a good week. BTW, comment if you're still reading me... ;)

Anddddd, We're Back!

It's been so long since I've posted that I actually had to think about my blog log-in. Hmm. It's Sunday night and I think it's the first Sunday night in a long time that I've actually had nothing to do. Kids are in bed. Dogs are fed. House is tidied up. I've had a glass of wine. Perfect time to catch up.

After our fun and exciting Brown County weekend (already a MONTH ago) we headed out to Colorado. It was the kids first time there so it was exciting, at least for the grown ups, to see their reaction to the west and all its grandeur. We started out in Denver the first night. We decided on the brand new Jeep Wrangler for a rental car to get the full experience. We went to Coors shortly after we got there and did the customary tour/complimentary tasting.
US AT COORS - PICTURE NOT TAKEN BY ME


After dropping about $60 in the gift shop (as usual) we found our hotel in Denver. We ate at a disgusting place called "Casa Bonita" that serves cafeteria style mexican. And it tastes about as good as it sounds... but the draw was that there is a "variety show" of sorts going on at all times in the restaurant. There's a big pool, with a big fake cliff that has cliff divers, actors that come out and do a show to include an escaped gorilla that runs through the crowd (a big hit, let me tell you), fire jugglers, mariachi bands... you get the idea. It's definitely more about the entertainment for the little ones than the food. We went back to the hotel and swam in the warm and surprisingly CLEAN hotel pool - I found the SAUNA!! YAY - and we dropped.

The next morning we got up, went to Red Rocks Ampitheatre to let the kids run around for a while. Here's Vincent and Jade in their usual form in the seating area. It just amazes me how the whole mood in Colorado is so much healthier than it is here in the armpit of America. If you've never been there, the ampitheatre is used by the locals as a free outdoor workout area when there's not an event going on. People run the bleachers, do stairs up the many rows of seating, and otherwise take advantage of the natural challenges there. There was a "yoga chick" I'll call her on the stage that was doing some amazing shit. In fact, it's what inspired me to start up with the whole yoga thing again. Here are a few more pics at Red Rocks...

The kids, behaving as usual


Brian, in deep reflection


Jade, practicing to be Hannah Montana on the stage


The stadium to include the amazing yoga chick (bottom right)


After we hung out there for a while we packed up and drove down to Colorado Springs. We thought since we didn't make it to the actual summit last time we were there due to weather that we'd go up Pikes Peak again. This time the road was open all the way to the top. It's an AMAZING drive if you've never done it, I highly suggest you do. The weather was pretty warm (low 90's) at the base but there was still measurable snow at the summit. What's super cool is it makes you an instant cheap date. Just stepping out of the car, you're light headed due to the thin air and altitude. I was walking into stuff and tripping around like I was drunk. Pretty cool. That in mind (cold all the time, no air) I managed somehow to get attacked by a bee. It stung me 3 times right on the chest. I think I'm the only person in history to be attacked by a regular honey bee at 14 thousand feet. If you know of anyone else whose had this experience, please let me know. Trees don't even grow at that elevation. What the hell is a honey bee doing there? Who knows. All I do know is that it hurt. Bad. Oh well. It was still worth the trip. And the donuts were good...

Another one NOT taken by me


Pikes Peak donuts - world famous YUMMM!!!


The view looking down, above the timber line


Kids, not killing eachother for once


That night we had reservations at the Flying W Ranch, a Colorado Springs must do. There's this cool little western town incorporated into the whole experience (where you hang out before dinner) and then they ring the dinner bell and you find your place on the picnic table. It's a chuckwagon style meal, complete with tin plates, tin cups, and the works. BBQ chicken, beans, honey biscuits, lemonade.. again, another slightly better than mediocre meal, but a lot of fun. After dinner a western band plays live (and they're actually really good - plus, they played a Chris LeDoux song - bonus points in my book).

Flying W after dinner


We slept good that night and started out for the Garden of the Gods in the morning. Another "must see" in the Springs. The kids had a good time playing around on the rocks, we burned off a little morning energy, and then headed out to the property.

Self explanatory


Kids holding up "balanced rock"


Purple baby holding up balanced rock - too cute


My favorite people


My favorite boy


It was good to go out to the property again. The sign was still there, which I thought was exceptionally cool. Even cooler was that I was able to put the camera on the hood of the Jeep and get this picture of all of us...


We got to drive to the resevoir for the first time, too. You can actually see it from the property, but we'd never actually gone and looked at it close up. It was really beautiful, and it was a nice enough day to be able to splash around in the clear, cool water for a while before heading out to (beautiful) Vail for the night.


We stayed at a resort/condo which turned out to be super cheap because it is off season. This was the view from our balcony. Note the ski lift in the upper left corner. It looked out to Vail Mountain, Peak One, which was super cool. There was also an amazing river running just behind, which gave off an incredible sound - so relaxing.


We found a great little steak house in Vail Village for dinner. It was exceptional and we got like 20 or 30% off, again because it was off season. I highly recommend going to one of these resorts in the off season. The 2 room condo with a fireplace and balcony, full kitchen... was under $130/night. Quite a deal if you're just going out there for the scenery.

The next morning we got up, took our time, and headed back into Denver. We went to the natural history museum there (not the best part of the trip, but something different) and met up with some old friends for a BBQ and some cocktails at their house. Chad and Katie are friends from YEARS ago. In fact, I'd been out to Colorado with Chad and some other friends back when I was in college... but that's another post. Anyway, they graciously invited us to stay with them the night before we flew out, which was fabulous. We had a great time visiting, catching up, eating, and enjoying wine. The weather was awesome, and I think we sat up drinking and talking on their rear patio till almost 2 am. It really was the perfect ending to an almost perfect vacation (vacation is a term I'll use loosely - with two kids in tow, well, if you have kids you get it). We flew out the next morning and said good bye to the beautiful Rockies for another year!

Hope you enjoyed this vaca-dissertation! Have a good week everyone!

Brown County, Episode 1

 

 

We had a great weekend at Brown County. It was also the maiden voyage for the new horse trailer, which proved to be damn handy during the major down pour at about 4am on Sunday morning. We’d been pretty lucky in years past, as far as rain goes, but our luck ran out this trip. It had rained a ton prior to our arrival so the trails were pretty sloppy and mucky compared to how they’ve been in the past. One thing that made it cool, though, was that the little river beds were pretty full of water so we had some interesting water crossings and some decent scenery.




Things started off a little rough. The new trailer equaled issues getting one of the horses in. He’d never been in a trailer like ours before, which has an area in the back for saddles and stuff, and therefore allows for only a half door in the back. The trailer we used to have had one large back door that went the entire width of the horse area. So Sam the dummy wouldn’t go into the new trailer. It was my *brilliant idea to put Harley in first, so Sam would be more apt to go in if his friend was already in there.

 

*brilliant is used very figuratively here…

 

With a little fuss from even my easy horse though, Harley was in the front spot. A little more fuss and Sam was in, and we were off. About 45 minutes away from home Brian asked me what boots I brought to ride in. I had already realized this but had failed to 1) verbalize it or 2) come to terms with it… I had left home for a weekend of HORSEBACK RIDING with no boots. Zero, none at all. In fact, the only shoes I had were the ones on my feet, and they happened to be probably the worst possible option for a weekend of riding, in the mud. That’s where the new Black Berry came in handy. I googled a nearby Tractor Supply and after getting bad directions and going 8 miles the wrong way, we stopped and got some decent riding boots. It was actually a good thing, because I bought hiking/riding boots so they can serve a dual purpose. And I needed hiking boots anyway.

 

So without further ado, besides the 40 minute traffic jam, we got to Brown County. We got the trailer backed in relatively easily, and it was time to get the horses out (clears throat). Putting Sam in last wasn’t so brilliant after all. You see, besides doing that and forgetting my boots, I apparently left my brain at home with my morning coffee that I never had. I forgot entirely that Sam doesn’t know how to back out of a trailer. Remember that rear tack I was talking about? Yeah, that makes it literally physically impossible to turn a horse around and walk him out forward. It simply wasn’t going to happen. And he clearly was not going to back out.

Needless to say, we got him out… I was nerve racked and drenched in sweat, but he came out. It wasn’t pretty but no one (me or the horse, or Brian) got seriously hurt. Harley was much easier. He just backs out no problem. I think he was a little flustered from the whole experience. The first ride that evening was ok. The horses were a little obnoxious – not as calm and easy going as they usually are there. But it was still ok. Somehow Harley slipped out of his halter after we bedded him down for the night but it was no big deal. We caught him and immediately put the backup halter over the other one.

We had a few beers that night and got a good night sleep on the new matress. The next day went much smoother. The horses were still a little jumpy the first ride out that morning but settled into the regular mo-jo by afternoon. We returned to camp after about a 2 hour morning ride. Had some peanuts, a beer or two. Then we went out for an afternoon ride. Another 2 hours and we were back. We hung out for about another hour or so, and then went back out for an evening ride. When we got back to camp, we got the horses fed and cleaned up. Then we set up camp for the night. The Porterhouses went on the new campfire grill and dinner was on! Aside from the camp breakfast (eggs, sausage and hash browns all mixed up and cooked together), the Porterhouse dinner is another highlight. We had a really relaxing evening, enjoyed eachothers company, hung out by the fire, and went to bed.

At about 4am, we woke up to a tap tap tap on the top of the trailer. I layed there for a minute thinking, “Was that rain?” Just then, I figured it was definitley rain, and it actually started to rain quite hard. We ran outside and moved a few things around at the campsite and made sure the horses weren’t going to freak out. They seemed ok to stand in the rain – I imagine it probably felt good after 7 hours on the trails. So because there wasn’t a lot of lightning or thunder, or hail, or anything but just a lot of damn rain, they stood outside through it. We sure appreciated a dry place to sleep. With the amount of rain and the manner in which it was coming down, we were positively glad we weren’t in a tent at that point.

Sunday morning brought some mud and a little drying out, which was all bettered by our egg/sausage/hashbrown breakfast. We took the horses on quick easy trail ride (which was significantly muddier than the day before) and packed up camp. The ride home went pretty well (with the exception of the 40 minute traffic back up) and we made it back to the barn. This time Sam was in the front spot, which turned out to not really matter because he still couldn’t turn around. He still wouldn’t back up, but now we had more knowledge, more help, better ideas and more weapons. We ended up hooking two long longe lines to each side of his halter and pulling back on him from outside of the trailer, which was decidedly safer than going at it from inside the trailer, with the horse. He came out a little better than the first time. So it’s something we need to work on.

What did we come away with? A new pair of boots, more knowledge than I ever cared to have about how to get a stubborn (read: stupid) horse out of a trailer, a satisfied appetite, and another memory of a *successful trip to Brown County in the books.

*Figuratively speaking.