Branded!

Stacy braids Farah's mane~

This was a whole new "adventure" for us!  Totally unfamiliar with any type of showing, here we were, visiting beautiful Chalice Farm just outside of Port Orchard.  We decided to make the drive on Sat., I didn't want to have to worry about traffic snarls if we drove over on the day of inspection, Sunday.  We arrived late afternoon & what a well managed, quiet farm!  Lea met us as we drove in & directed us to a nice spot where we could set up for the night.   We put Farah in a stall with turnout. 

I learned how much work & preparation goes in to getting a horse ready to show!  Wow!  Then - there's how much preparation & time that goes in to getting a BIG horse ready to show!  We saw some of the most beautiful "big" horses ever!  Even young, soon to be - Big beautiful horses :-)  It was early evening, we were just making dinner - when I looked out to see this handsome horse, ready to be presented out on a walk with his owner.  I grabbed my camera & asked permission to take some photos.  Below - was the result!

The next morning everyone was up & about early!  There were horses to finish buffing & shining, horses coming in & it was easy to feel the excitement!  Beautiful horses everywhere!  Most who had horses to be presented for judging had hired a professional handler to show the horses in the arena, where they are shown "in-hand", unless under two - when they are also shown at liberty.

After watching Patrick Billies show the first horse, I was very happy that we'd made the decision to have him show Farah.  Two times around a large pattern once at the walk & once at the trot was a workout!  Patrick made each of the horses strut their stuff!

Patrick presents Farah

For whatever reason, Farah was not her usual self.  I expected her usual animation collection & lift - but not today...   She was somewhat subdued, maybe wondering what we were up to - after clinics with smoke, fire etc. :-)

Farah at the trot~

Watching her first strides, I knew that being judged to a tough standard & having seem some incredibly nice horses - that she wouldn't score as high has I'd hoped.  She'd also managed to lose about 50-lbs. since her bath on Fri.!  How she does THAT I don't know either!  She can go from looking rounded, to thin in a day & had.

Farah & Butch

 Even so, she did well & received a score high enough to give her the "Red Preferred" status, red ribbon & qualify her for the American Warmblood Society brand!

Kathy was quick & accurate!

The first branding I'd seen & to my mare!  Whew!  Flames!  Smell of scorched hair!  Kathy was very explicit with her directions, cover her eye, the count, the brand & walk her away!   Amazingly enough - she didn't even kick out!

Kathy watches as Butch leads Farah away - still smoking!  :-)

Just a swish of the tail was her only reaction!

Kathy knocked off the singed hair & here is the result!

Beautiful job!  Thank you Kathy!  We really did have a great time!  Nothing like watching beautiful horses strut there stuff & get a first hand look & listen as each horse is judged.  Everyone there had a wonderful time, two horses who had blue status before, again achieved blue, a stallion received blue & another very nice two-year old that showed the animation that Farah usually has :-)

Kathy mentioned - some of  the same area's to work on - that Sandra has told me too - that I need to consistently work on, if I want to shape Farah into the mare that she has the ability to be.  It takes dedication & work - we were incredibly impressed with the time & energy that each of the owners we met, put into their horses.

Side note:  If your horse has no conformational faults that would result in consistent low scores & you have conditioning, carriage,  quality-of-movement, etc. to work on - then you can present at future inspections to try for a higher score.  The highest score holds.

Many thanks to Lea for hosting the inspection & Kathy for her expert judging!  Both these ladies made it so much fun & a learning experience for us all!

Out from Home~

Lush green, sunshine & shadows~

The rain did not continue today, instead we had another perfect Spring day.  I didn't seem to have the motivation to trailer out to ride & hadn't been up on our trails for a month.  As we moved into the trot, there was no problem with forging?  Farah was moving really well, she hit a couple times going over the rock, but not every stride.

Land of the ATV'ers - going north

I rode right on out & north to the area that we found a couple months ago.  All was quiet, early enough in the afternoon, no one was home from work - yet.  The footing above is soft, dry & perfect!

Deceptively deep mud hole~

This was the hole that was full of water our first time through.  The mud is deep & it's deeper bog on both sides.  We sunk in up to Farah's knees - I was thinking;  "Keep your shoes on!"  She did & we did - right on through.  Nice that there's a creek crossing on the way home :-)

False Lilly-of-the-Valley

The ground-covers are in full-bloom everywhere!  Just amazing!  I have these at home too, & really enjoy having them spread rather than buttercup!  A few weeks ago I posted a photo of this hill from the top, below you see it from the bottom.

View of the "hill" looking east.

The weirdest thing about this ride, is that Farah was moving out, really moving-out - without forging.  Why?  I have No idea...  But... you won't hear me complain if she gets through her inspection with her usual huge, collected, big, ground-covering stride!  Hope the handler can run!  :-)

With a loop at the far north, we went out & back on the same trail - the GPS gave us over ten-miles.  Still happy to have found enough "trail" to extend our range.

Are Rare Indeed!

Time for a drink~

Ok, I have Plenty to do here at home!  Plenty...  But there again...  It was another Beautiful day!  After working for two-days, scanning paperwork & emailing it off, I was ready to head to the hills.

Amazing ground covers in full bloom

This time of year, our landscape seems to change daily.  I've always considered Mid-May to be our most beautiful time of year - closely followed by Mid-Oct. - weather dependent for the fall colors I enjoy as much.

Farah is in season again, but instead of the unmotivated ride of last Fri. today - given her head - she started off with a nice trot.  Hitting the right hind shoe to the bottom of the right front at every stride.  Here's an article.  We'd worked through this with Art, just before we did the 30-mi. of the Centennial trail - since it was an issue that was showing up with the flat work.  Art had tweaked the shoeing to perfection & it lasted until we made our appointment with the new shoer.  I was told that we could have gone another couple weeks on those shoes, but that there was no problem putting new shoes on - that a few days wouldn't make that much difference.  I wanted shoes that were a couple weeks old for inspection day - which we will now have.   When he was here last week to re-set the RF that was twisted - I mentioned the problem & was told that Farah had at least 6" of clearance at the walk.  Right - at the Walk!  It's speed dependent, we either have to go faster, gallop, or go much slower to not have the forging...

Climbing the hill~

It was so clear that the white peaks of the Cascades stood out against the blue skies & puffy white clouds.  We're within a few miles of breaking 400-miles, year-to-date in the Distance Derby.  It was a surprise to find that we'd made it to 12th place - by a few tenths of a mile on Tuesday's leader-board update, especially since we're competing against riders with multiple horses. 
As we were coming toward the end of our day's loop, Farah gave one of her biggest spooks to date!  I couldn't blame her a bit - since we had come upon what I firmly believe to be the ugliest piece of heavy equipment that I've ever seen!

Obviously able to eat a horse in a single bite!

Farah took us from one side of the road to the other in a single leap :-)  I had to convince her that it was OK to pass & thankfully she knew it stood between us & our ride home!

Once home, I hosed her off & turned her out as I did chores.  (Butch was working late.)   I called her to come up out of the pasture for dinner, but no - it was nice out there.  I walked down to hurry her up & she started up the hill in a nice straight line, light trot for the barn.  "Click, click, click, click" -- Enough to make me cringe & not rider error...  No rider!   Now - what to do?

This Farrier said to ride in bell boots so I wouldn't pull off another shoe, as I'm a bit south of his range & obviously his work unlike Art's - is not guaranteed.  Did that - did I say that they were literally pressed FULL of mud by the time we were back at the trailer???  The mud was stuck hard to her hooves... just what I need!  NOT!  Do I call him?  Offering unlimited cash to FIX the problem?  There's not enough hoof growth to do anything major - but I think that we have to slow the hind feet down, or do more with the toes...

Miss you Art, we really miss you~

Whidbey Island~

Coast of Whidbey Island

The first time we drove over to Whidbey Island was in the early 80's.  Ft. Ebey had just become a state park.  Gas was "cheap" in those days, we had Butch's Dad's old "Rebel" & took weekend day trips to picnic & hike with the girls.  Whidbey was close enough & yet far enough that it was like a mini-vacation every time we went.   When we bought our first little Apache fold-up camping trailer from Butch's parents - we thought we'd hit the "big-time"!  Most weekends, we'd have the campground to ourselves.

3-30-85 Our first camping trip with the Apache~

We managed multi-family residential apartments & had negotiated with our employer to have two, three-day weekends a month off-site!  Always packed & ready to roll by Fri. morning - we'd be on the road early!  We had So much Fun!  I miss those times & those years when the girls were home & our little family was so close.

Butch with the "kids" :-)

Now, Whidbey is still the escape we enjoy, whether for a day or a weekend.  The girls have done some camping over the years with their respective families, but finally - this summer we've actually planned our first "family" camping trip & we're really looking forward to that!

Looking South down the coast~

We walked along the beach until the incoming tide put an end to it & it was getting dark.  The storm clouds were moving in & the first drops of rain were starting to fall.   (I picked up the first trash & the first cigarette butts that I'd ever found on the beach - really saddening after all these years to find those items...)  It's still my favorite place for walking, contemplation & enjoyment of the majesty of our natural wonders~ 

Glass Blowing!

Today was the day, Courtney & I started out in Duvall at the annual plant sale.  This is a fund-raising event for the community & we were both pretty amazed at the amount & variety of plants available for really decent prices.

Blown ornaments & floats

Courtney had mentioned that she wanted to try glass blowing a few weeks ago & asked if I was interested?  Yes!  I love glass & have always been intrigued by the process.  So when she emailed me that the class was scheduled & to consider it an early Mother's Day present - I was thrilled :-)

After the plant sale, we drove over the ridge to Redmond & enjoyed an incredible lunch at the Pomegranate Bistro.  The menu was a somewhat strange combination of NW cuisine, along with "biscuit's & gravy" items that made you think of Grandma's on a Sunday morning.  We splurged with the Savannah Hot Puffs!  Melt-in-your-mouth puffs of a very light pastry, covered in cinnamon, sugar & served with fresh whipped cream!   There was even a TV personality having lunch with his family while we were there :-)

Near by is the Redmond School of Glass, where we were scheduled for the 1 p.m. class.  There were probably five couples who joined us.  The artisans working at the studio were very helpful & straight forward as they started with the most important aspect of working around hot, molten glass - SAFETY!  Where to hold the rods, where Not to!  Where to lean or sit & where Not to!

Red Hot Temperatures

 Next was the description of the tools we would be using & the choices we would have to the colors of the glass that were available.  Finally - we watched a demonstration of the entire process - twice!  We asked for twice!

Dipping the molten glass into the colors

Courtney went first & decided on a combination of green, then moved over & added blue the next time the glass was re-heated. 

Working the glass at the bench

It was a two-person project, as one of you worked the glass, the other blew into the end of the tube!  I didn't get a photo of this - I was blowing!  It took a Lot more air than either Courtney or I imagined to get the glass to expand.  The pole is long & the tube we used was relatively small in diameter.

Finished products~

Once the correct size, our "art" was taken away to be either capped for a float, or topped with a hook for an ornament.  Above are some of the ornaments that are for sale, we didn't do this type, with the "sprinkles" & had to wait to take ours home.  The glass balls have to cool slowly to prevent cracking.  Can't wait to see how ours turned out next week!