Two Breaths

Friday January 24 2014

Fog and ice.

Five friends.

One magnificent endurance horse.

Ahead: The Rainbow Bridge

A last bucket of oats. An offering for the after-life: his worn, oversized Easyboots, carrots, a sprinkling of oats, an apple. The last pets. The last whispered goodbyes.

A gentle easing of the way to the bridge.

Two final, easy, deep breaths of life on this earth before starting on his way.

Farewell, my old friend Rhett.

May your size 2.5 hoof prints be too big to fill
May your tail always wave like a flag in the air
May your snorts always alert your herd
May you always be hard to catch
May you hold them all in awe of your mighty GO in the next life as you did us in this one.
May we ride you again on the other side


Jaziret Bey Musc: Too Much Horse
http://merritravels.endurance.net/2013/07/jaziret-bey-musc-too-much-horse.html

Who's The Boss
http://theequestrianvagabond.blogspot.com/2008/11/whos-boss.html

Our Newest Owyhee Celebrity
http://theequestrianvagabond.blogspot.com/2011/09/our-newest-owyhee-celebrity.html

The Rainbow Bridge: JAZIRET BEY MUSC: 1991-2013

Friday January 24 2014

Fog and ice.

Five friends.

One magnificent endurance horse.

Ahead: The Rainbow Bridge

A last bucket of oats. An offering for the after-life: his worn, oversized Easyboots, carrots, a sprinkling of oats, an apple. The last pets. The last whispered goodbyes.

A gentle easing of the way to the bridge.

Two final, easy, deep breaths of life on this earth before starting on his way.

Farewell, my old friend Rhett.

May your size 2.5 hoof prints be too big to fill

May your tail always wave like a flag in the air

May your snorts always alert your herd

May you always be hard to catch

May you hold them all in awe of your mighty GO in the next life as you did us in this one.

May we ride you again on the other side

Jaziret Bey Musc: Too Much Horse

http://merritravels.endurance.net/2013/07/jaziret-bey-musc-too-much-horse.html

Who's The Boss

http://theequestrianvagabond.blogspot.com/2008/11/whos-boss.html

Our Newest Owyhee Celebrity

http://theequestrianvagabond.blogspot.com/2011/09/our-newest-owyhee-celebrity.html

The Big Itch

Wednesday December 4 2013

When it itches, ya gotta scratch it.

This is a Thoroughbred foal with One Big Itch.


Incidentally, this photo, titled "The Big Itch", was my first of (currently) 44 magazine covers ! Lisa Groothedde, then of the Texas Thoroughbred, gave me the first opportunity in 2000.

This is Rhett, Steph's very dignified (and balanced!) endurance Arabian, with One Big Itch.


This is Stormy, Itchy-Scratchy all over! Notice his upper lip, and that he's biting his tongue in ecstasy. Jose comes up to supervise.

Owyhee Thanksgiving Day Parade

Thursday November 28 2013

They come down the canyon to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Rhett leads the way,






until Stormy takes the lead near home.


Only 1 human and 4 dogs witness the Owyhee Parade, and we are thankful for it!

Autumn Gold Dust

 

Monday November 18 2013

Nothing eclipses this time of year when the dust and the evening sun angle adds drama to the outlines of the desert hills and Owyhee mountains.

 The herd strolls down from the canyon

Stormy ambles among the saltbush

Rhett stops to eye me suspiciously

 The cottonwoods are rather riotous!

 

Owyhee Tough Sucker I

April 6 2013

It was another lovely ride on my pal Jose, with good friends and great trails, under cool and cloudy and rainy and sunny and stormy skies, in the first local endurance ride of the season!

Jose vetting in with Robert the vet

An imaginative Owyhee trail marker

Steph and John up on the Hallelujah Ridge Trail

Jose doing his thang - observing the scenery and deep thinking

Headed to Wild Horse Butte

The Snake River

Steph and Rhett, me and Jose above the Snake River

We rode in an awesome desert-gulping rainstorm, enough to make the footing slick-snot slippery

And the sun came back out

And another storm cloud came!

See The Rest Of The Story and more ride pictures on Endurance.net:

http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2013ToughSucker/

Oldies But Goodies

Wednesday January 30 2013

Who you calling Old?

Stormy: retired Thoroughbred racehorse, winner of 6 races and $45,882, known as The Most Beautiful Horse On The Planet,
about to turn 22.




(And above, rearing at Krusty).

Krusty: semi-retired Orlov Trotter endurance horse, 3215 endurance miles, 7 100-mile finishes, Tevis Cup finisher, France World Championship finisher, lesson horse, confidence giver, semi-herd boss,
about to turn 23.




(and above left with Stormy)

Rhett: not-quite-retired Arabian endurance horse, 6065 endurance miles, 9 100-mile finishes, Tevis Cup finisher, semi-herd boss,
about to turn 22.




Don't be messin' with these old boys. Besides, they're not old. They're just right.

Dust Dance

Tuesday October 2 2012

As soon as he sees me set foot outside in the late evening, Rhett gives a plaintive whinny and heads for the house, where he'll get his evening grain meal. Mac and Jose follow also, because they get fed. The rest follow to because they are forever hopeful.

City of Rocks: Circle Creek Trail

Sunday June 17 2012

Sunday we did the most spectacular trail in City of Rocks National Reserve - the loop up one side of Circle Creek, past Elephant Rock, along Rat Poop Trail, past the Bread Loaves (very popular climbing rock), way up into the aspen and fir forests to Indian Grove, and down the other side of Circle Creek. We'll probably do this trail on Day 1 and Day 4 of the July 11-14 endurance ride.

Jose and I are passing through where one of the vet checks will be.

Judy and Milan 

Just a spectacular view of the Circle Creek valley

Steph and Rhett pointing out something else spectacular

You can see my previous stories, and more photos and information on the ride at

http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2011CityofRocks/

And… videos to come!

The Best Tough Suckers!

Saturday April 28 2012

Saturday's Tough Sucker II 50-mile ride was one of The Best Ever! Jose is just The Coolest Horse Ever! 

We rode with Jose's buddy Rhett and Steph. 

Rhett finished the ride and got his 6000 miles. Think about that: it would be like riding from Seattle to Miami. And from there on to Los Angeles. Oh yea - and he's turning 21 this year, and still looks fit and powerful going down the trail.

Steph's making a video of the ride from the shots from the GoPro helmet cam I wore; I'll put the link on here. Meanwhile here are a few shots from the ride.

Following Karen and Rusty, and Amanda and Nero to the Snake River (they tied for first).

Steph and Rhett.

Jose, The Best Horse Ever, also known as The Coolest Horse Ever, calm as a cucumber at the vet check.

Always like the shadow shots : )

more pix from the ride, and videos of Friday's vet in, and the Tough Sucker I ride here:

http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2012ToughSucker

Tough Sucker II Vet in Day

Friday April 27 2012

On Friday, Steph and I saddled up Rhett and Jose to ride the 12 miles over to Regina's place, base camp for Saturday's Tough Sucker II endurance ride. (Here Mrs Sir Edmund Hillary supervises the saddling.)

Jose would be riding the 50 miler with his pal 20-year-old Rhett. Rhett reached 5000 career miles in the Tevis Cup in 2010, and if Rhett completed this ride, he'd have 6000 miles!

This is Steph and Rhett Friday after vetting in. 

I made a fun video of the vetting in. Check it out here on Endurance.net!