Happy, happy, joy, joy!

Butch, upon hearing the news that he was to have me to himself for a couple of months, stopped, dropped, and rolled around like a maniac! He also asked if I would post a photo of his recently acquired green shoes in honor of St. Patty's Day. So, there you go.................

Old Pueblo Pioneer

With regret, I have decided that Yuma is not conditioned enough to go to this endurance ride. Better to be safe and conservative than jump in too soon and hurt a good horse. She needs, as they say in the horse world, more wet saddle blankets. It's disappointing, yes. On the otherhand, I can breathe more easy now that I have more wiggle room in my time schedule to get her going. Soon, she will be spending time with a professional trainer. She will gain knowledge, flexibility, good judgment, suppleness, flexion, patience, and most importantly,

R-E-S-P-E-C-T.



Went to a Clinton Anderson clinic in Fort Collins this past weekend. What an amazing horseman! His patience is bottomless and his techniques remarkable with always positive outcomes. Have purchased a few of his training DVD's and his book. Just a tip of his marketing iceberg. He has to be a very rich man, and all at the ripe age of 33 and never graduated high school. He's Australian you know, mate!

Winter doldrums.

Can you tell that I am not a fan of winter? Today is gray, cold, and a bit flaky; snowflakes, that is. While we have not had a winter that's been, well typical, it still remains colorless and dull. It made me think back to my Bermuda trip last August and how colorful and vibrant the island was. Wouldn't it be wonderful to ride Butch and Yuma along these beaches. Do you suppose I could schedule a cruise that would allow my equine friends to come along?

B.T.W. Happy Valentine's Day to all who read this posting today.

Old Pueblo Pioneer

Our first endurance ride has been decided. It's the three day Old Pueblo Pioneer held in Sonita, Arizona. It takes place March 6, 7, and 8. Yikes, that's soon! Better get busy. You can google, Old Pueblo Pioneer and find someone's photos from the 2008 ride. Sonita is located a bit southeast of Tuson. Long drive. I've already got major butterflies.

Butch is back.

Whether it was the diet changes I made to Butch's regimen, or
the two weeks of only ground work I did with him, the Butch man is back! We rode up the west side and came down the east side of the mesa you see behind him in this picture. It is North Table
Mountain. I am so happy to have him back. Given his recent past behavior, I'm sure the poor guy thought he was losing his mind. Welcome back, buddy.

Horsetooth Reservoir

Yesterday, two friends and I rode for six hours and 22 miles on the trails above Horsetooth Reservoir. It was unseasonably warm and the sunshine was very bright. Our elevation gain was 1500 feet and our horses, decked out in their thick winter fur, were working very hard. At times the views were incredible to the west, but any I captured were unclear because of the bright sun.

Yuma had an ah-ha moment! She finally learned to graze when possible and to drink out of puddles when available. That was very exciting to see her progress in her training to be an endurance horse. She's such a good girl.

We fell once, when she slipped on ice. I fell once. About 20 miles into the ride, I got off of her to encourage her to drink from a small pool, but my legs had absolutely no support to them...........and DOWN I went. Yuma, I swear, was smirking!

I've been a bit sore today. I can only imagine how sore Yuma must be.