Trax's long lost family.

This is another video I found.

This was filmed by James Yule who is a Wyoming wildlife photographer I have been following on Facebook for a couple of years.

This is a group of wild horses that are in Northern WY, Washakie County to be exact.

That is where Trax is from, so these must be his relatives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wBJwGiMW4I

FYI this one is kind of long, about 15 min, but it is super interesting watching the herd dynamics.

Some Serious Riding

I was bored and browsing some You tube videos.

I ran across this little gem.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOyvimZuF5o

Go ahead and watch the video before reading any further.   I'll wait.




Folks, that is some serious riding, not to mention some seriously athletic horses.

Almost as interesting as the video is the comments that everyone made about it on you tube.  I was flabbergasted at the number of people who were criticizing riding styles.  I'm pretty sure that when riding into battle and bullets are whizzing past your head, the last thing on your mind is "Gee, am I riding properly?"  I'd love to see anyone maintain a perfect riding position over obstacles like that.

Of  course there are lots of comments on the cruelty of it all.

I do not feel qualified to participate in a debate over whether or not this is cruel treatment.  To say it shouldn't have happened is like saying that George Washington should not have led the rebels against British, or that we should not have fought against the Germans in WWII.  

These horses were being trained to go into battle along with the brave young men astride them.

Taking horses into war...is it cruel?

Absolutely!

Just as cruel as sending our sons and daughters along with them. But it is what it is.

"Freedom isn't Free"





The next time Trax says he doesn't want to cross a little stream, I will show him this.

The New Schedule

(pronounced in the British version "shedule" just for fun)

I'm officially a night owl now, working from 3pm till midnight, not sure if I love it, but this morning was sure awesome.

I had so much fun with my ride with Killian, I decided to repeat the path with Trax today.

When we first left the house he plodded along like an old plow horse, and I found myself wondering what happened to my freight train of a horse, that never slowed down for anything.  I contemplated whether it is because he no longer gets alfalfa at every meal, or if he is getting ridden more, or if it is something else.

When we got to the fence to enter the desert, he stopped and stood like a gentleman and waited for me to dismount and open the gate.  Then he stood quietly while I remounted.  Then I kicked him up to an easy trot and we headed straight out. Well straight is truly a relative term. We did lots of zig-zagging around trees, working off of my leg and trying to just barely touch the rein.  He attempted to slow down a couple of times, which to me is highly unusual, and once again I found myself contemplating the reasons why.

There are lots of washes to go up and down and I have changed from looking for the lowest spot to cross, to finding spots that are a little more challenging for us.  Some are steep enough that I won't try it, but the moderate ones were just right.   Plus we did a little deep sand walking the length of the washes.

Our destination was the same water hole I took Killian to the other day.  There is a large berm/ bank on one side and big shady trees all around.  One one side there is a ditch or ravine, not real deep, but deep enough to simulate a stream to cross.  We crossed that several times, and then even walked up and down the length of it, right up the middle.  He did not love it, but he didn't fight me too hard either, which made me very very happy.  

I have video of it too which I sent to Mark Keil a little later.  He texted me back and said, "Wow he acts like a broke horse!"  I laughed and then replied, "Hey lets not go putting labels on him now."  Then I had a thought.  So I texted him again, "If I ever sell him I can put that in the ad. Paint horse for sale, lots of go, very little stop, occasionally acts like a broke horse."  We both laughed pretty hard about that one.

After our water dance we headed through some trees and around to our resting spot. I got off of him and we took a break.

"What??? No Snacks?"

Naturally while sitting there I played with my camera

 Then we had the gratuitous photo shoot.  He is not fond of photo shoots.

"Shhhhh, I'm napping"

"Did you hear that?  I think it was a Puma!"

Then we headed back towards home, and the reasons for him dragging butt on the way out was revealed.  My run away freight train has become a little barn sour.  He was all ready to beat feet now. 

But not before we stopped for one more photo shoot. 

We saw a hawk in a tree on the way home, and I tried to get a picture but my phone does not have a zoom.

As we got close to the gate I decided to go home a different way, and when we hit flat open ground where I could see potential gopher dens, I let him canter a little.

BIG MISTAKE!

The freight train was back and was headed straight for town.  I kept asking him to slow down and rate, he kept asking for more rein and ALL of his head.  We finally agreed on a a one rein stop and a trot from there on out.  As we went out the gate and down the busy road, he was a bit spookier than usual, then we saw a burro and a pony and he lost his mind. I had to move him to the other side of the road to keep us from getting hit by traffic.   I guess burro's must really smell different than horses, because he sure freaks out about them.

Once we got home he had a nice bath and a roll in the pasture and in his eyes life was good again.

Here is the path we took.  It doesn't seem like near as far on the picture as it seems on the ground.

This skinny black line is our approx path. The fat black lines is where I blacked out the street names.

I Have an Answer

Do you all remember the picture I bought at the yard sale?

Well I sent a private message on facebook to Tom Kollenborn, a noted historian of our area, and he responded right away.

On the back side of this picture is the name of a Donna Panik and her address where this was mailed to her.  I gave him that information and this is what he told me.

7:39am

Tom Kollenborn - Lost Dutchman Gold

Here goes Cindy....That is a photo of Uncle Ezra, a winter visitor who arrived in the Junction each winter during the late 60's and 70's. He often played the role of a local prospector. I remember Vic Panik and I believe he was related to Donna. He wrote a book titled "Laughter In Hell," if I remember correctly.

So this is actually someone that he knew, as was the woman to whom this photo was mailed to.

So although there is not a big story to go along with it, at least now the mystery is solved. I guess he was just playing a role.

A short video

Yesterday was so much fun. 

Here is a very short video

http://youtu.be/LcTZ1jrjvH8

Blogging while riding

I wonder of there is A law against blogging while riding. With my new phone I can talk to text while riding my horse down the road. I can also post pictures like this

And this

And this

And even this one

Can I just say that modern technology kicks ass!

I mean I am seriously riding my horse while updating my blog this is so cool!

Happy Thanksgiving

From our family to yours