Forward to September 2006

11 August 2006

Endurance.net Classifieds:

To Rusty: Last weekend Dewayne said he'd get you guys to send info on Jethro so that I could get first dibs on him... but he *lied* and now I find him listed on endurance.net classifieds... You guys are all *mean* and just want me to have miserable lame horses for the rest of my life... I would be v. interested in him. One question though - does he fill my prime directive as being a horse that will *never* go lame? Does he have amazing legs and lovely symmetrical feet (my shoer will kill me if I come home with another wonky-footed horse). Please, please don't sell him to some nasty Arizonian before I've had a chance to properly look at him. He's just what I've always wanted and I promise to feed him, and brush him, and....

Renee: > This is exciting. He sounds really sweet! it *is* exciting. I was up until 2 am last night, then woke up at 6:30 like a kid at Christmas. :) Had to force myself to go back to sleep and not rush and check to see if Rusty had returned my email. > Okay I'm going to say it.... > > You're crazy if you don't buy him. He sounds like he couldn't be > more perfect for you if you had special ordered him yourself :-) You're right. I'm crazy if I don't buy him. He almost sounds like he has the leather seats and the sunroof we were talking about, eh?

12-13 August 2006

(Flurry of emails back and forth with Jethro's owner, Rusty.)

14 August 2006

I still have to fly down and try him to make sure, but on paper he sounds *perfect*.

I'm so excited I bit all my nails off. :)

15 August 2006

Great Grand Sire/Grand Sire - SSA CSEA DREAM (page 3):
http://www.awhitehorse.com/horsesmouth/index.php?showtopic=1638&st=20

Grand Sire and Great Grand Sire - Dreamazon+++:
http://www.camelotfarmsarabians.com/hp_dreamazon.html
http://public.fotki.com/hypoint/arabians/arabian_horse_ferzon/dreamazon.html

Sire - AM Ben Dream:
http://www.al-marah.com/item.asp?iid=24

Chat about Al Marah Stallions, incl. sire, grandsire and photos...
plus talk of granddam (AM Xanthium) and dam (AM Sands of Time):
http://www.awhitehorse.com/horsesmouth/index.php?showtopic=1638&st=20

Breeding percentages:
AM Xanthium:
http://www.meranch.com/books/tevis-pc.htm#1992

20 August 2006
Packer Saddle Weekend

Had a lovely relaxing time camping at Packer Saddle this weekend - I only just got back, got everything unloaded and got to sit down. Still have to shower the five tons of crud off me and eat something.

Despite the napping, the sitting around, the reading of books, etc, we did manage to ride a whole 3.5 miles the first day, 10 miles the next, and I managed another 4.5 this afternoon before we left. We were blitzing, really :)

Ann and Jess opted to not bring their horses and "hike" instead, but never got around to it. DnD brought Andy and borrowed-Apache (Kassandra's horse), and I took Provie and he spent a happy time on a high-line, rolling in the brown dirty dirt, munching hay and pawing/splishing happily at his water bucket and knocking it over.

Provie's looking even skinnier than before, so I have got to put him on Equine Senior or something - he won't be going to any rides until he's plumped up a bit. That's what I mean when I said he's not bouncing back like he used to - rides seem to take a lot out of him and it doesn't get put back quickly. He has always been on the thin side when working, but now that he's older, his back seems to be dropping more and his hips stick out, which really makes him look worse.

Also, I'm quite glad I opted not to go to EHSC in the end, since he had a gash in his back leg (from what, who knows? A stick? racing about on Tuesday?). It was quite swollen on Wednesday. Thursday it was a little better but still up (and I was planning to leave Thursday, so wouldn't have gone) and by Friday when I rode the 3.5 miles, it looked a lot better. It never bothered him, which was a relief.

The 10 mile ride did have 2000' of climbing and descent, and while it was fun (it took us a couple of hours), Provo stayed sweated up on his haunches and shoulder muscles late into the evening. That kind of suggests that he's not in good enough shape, yet, either - I presume it means that his muscles were broken down and rebuilding themselves. Hmm.

pft didn't come until Friday night and was v. upset when he arrived. One of his oldest, best friends, James, had a stroke and was in a coma. pft talked to James' Dad this evening and they are basically waiting for him to be pronounced brain dead so that they can take his organs for transplants.

So remember to live your lives, hug your pones and don't put stuff off. :(

23 August 2006
Arizona Visit to Meet Jethro

Yesterday I rode with Kevin from the house down to the creek/river at the bottom of the wash - 6 miles round trip. By the time we got back (mid afternoon) I was feeling decidedly peculiar... turns out it was 104 degrees and very humid - there was a thunderstorm coming in. It later poured with rain into the Caliche and disappeared.

We had a lovely time this morning. We got up early and rode from 8:30-10:30... it was 96 when we finished and both pones were feeling the heat. We rode in an area north of here that is all ups and downs and twisties. Got to let Jethro really move out (and paid for it later, when he was tired) and he's so much fun. He quite young feeling - a little uncertain at times, but very honest - stops when he needs to puff, stops to eat, will go if you kiss to him. He's basically a fit, clean slate. Rusty has done lots of LSD with him (most of it on sand), so his tendons should be good. He hasn't done much hillwork (and it shows) and he's a bit tentative on downhills, but Rusty says is much better than when he first arrived. The speed we did today, Rusty said he's never let him move out like that before and do extended trot and said he looked really good. (Note to self: ride slower).

He's tiny-feeling, has pretty ears when you're riding, likes to be in front (gets bored in back), doesn't tailgate, has a nice broad back (which meant that my saddle tended to slip around), will be comfy bareback, but he's even smaller than Provo around - I had to borrow a cinch from their next door neighbour as my 24" one was on the top holes and not quite tight enough (some of the slipping may be that I was using my Woolbak pad, which is very thick and probably more padding than he needs - the Skito will probably be better).

He's not super-fast feeling (probably just as well), is a little harder in the mouth than I'd like, moves off your leg, is voice trained (good for stopping, slowing down, speeding up), will pick up the canter when you ask (even though you didn't mean to ask <g>). He's sweet and quiet and not pushy (likes to rub, though), good legs, good feet (has a crack from an old blow-out abscess that he was never lame from. The crack has now got to the bottom and may break off a bit, but it's on the side, so not a problem.) Comes over in the paddock to say hello, drinks well, eats well, spooks sideways when you make a derisory <pfffft> sound (ask me how I know that <gr>)....

I think he's coming home...

Off to nap now (had a hard day so far). :)

28 August 2006
Jethro's Imminent Arrival

I'm really nervous about him - convinced that his leg will drop off, or he'll turn into a homicidal maniac when I get him home, or that he'll go lame the first time I ask him to climb out of the canyon (I already asked for an insurance quote on him - including medical/surgical coverage, which covers everything except for routine shots, etc).

OTOH, I have high hopes for spending lots of time with him, doing short-but-climbful rides, hanging out with him, doing groundwork to get his mouth soft and responsive, and bringing his confidence up.

And then I worry that I'll do something stupid because I'll be complacent, used to my own horses that know me and know the types of things I do - and scare him into dumping me in the middle of no-where.