On the Road
Sep 10 2011
Here’s a little invitation to my world. I’m on a road trip with my horses, first to Sheridan Wyoming and then on to Montana to ride with the man who taught me to be a reined cowhorse trainer.
I just have a few photos to start, hopefully I’ll be able to post something for you to chew on by tomorrow.
Hickville? Oh yes, and the wonderful open spaces that make up my life.
This is how I know I’m heading into air I can actually breathe, big sky and big rigs….
I have good friends who don’t mind my impulsive behavior and well behaved horses who can cope being tied to a tree overlooking their deck for a day or two. Tomorrow Montana!
34 comments to “On the Road”
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Montana is AMAZING! All the trailers on the road are making me SO crazy jealous! I wanna go riding SO badly!! Anywhoo… Enjoy your visit
Aaaaaaahhhhhh.
If only life could be like that EVERY day! Or at least until you needed a break from paradise.
Enjoy!
Im from Montana!
Onefastbender is NOT from MT…she is from AK…don’t trust her at ALL!!!
Looking forward to sharing your journey with you. Don’t have any experience of WY but MT is stunning.
I love Wyoming! I’m afraid I’ve only been to Montana once and I mostly slept through it. Have a good trip, looking forward to your pictures.
Enjoy your trip! I find it ironic that one of the header ads now is for a “Ranch with 250 horses breeding, training, selling”. Apparently AdChoice doesn’t realize that 250 head herds of horses are not looked upon favorably here. At least they are training and selling (or trying to).
I’m actually very proud of my yearling who will stand tied to anything for X amount of time. Her mom is great mare too. I took them camping a few months ago and finally let mom mill around with cows that she seemed very interested in. Her only experiences were over the fence, never in with them. It was a huge game for her when they wanted to run from her. I think we found a side hobby to trail riding, because I found chasing cows as fun as she did. The yearling, although tied, was very interested in our game of tag, too.
I hope you had *permission* to chase those cattle. It’s not something anyone should do without express permission from the owner.
Turn it around — what if someone stopped near your pasture and let their cattle dogs have “fun” chasing and nipping your mare and her foal? Or some local ‘cowboys’ thought it would be fun to herd them around a little, whooping and tossing ropes?
Cattle are not ownerless, and running weight off them is not a popular activity.
Ahh, holidays.
I’m actually on a two week vacation myself – we bought our horses and dogs down yesterday and we are now enjoying a nice break from work. My gelding doesn’t have a huge amount of experience floating, but he walked straight up on to the float and waited very nicely in the roundyard for our mares to get here. I get nervous about trailering – I only got 3 hours sleep the night before we left, but seeing him do so well was great. Our mares followed suit and also did fairly well. I plan to take this time to get some training done on one of our mares and take Jack on a few trail rides.
Have fun on your holidays!
http://www.operationhorserescue.blogspot.com
I hope you have the best time on your trip, enjoy your horses and friends.
So. Jealous. (but have FUN!!)
http://www.RealTrailerwife.com
Mugs,
NICE trailer. I spent a number of years in Eastern Wyoming. Where are you going through? Montana was fun, have not been there in many, too many years to contemplate. Have fun in the “wilderness”. We have a goose neck trailer and an RV but only one towing vehicle which is the pits for overnights as do not have an LQ.
Have fun.
Arabs…That’s not my trailer, well maybe in my dreams..I have an old but safe three horse slant stock type trailer….
Still a nice trailer. My dream is one of the older Trail Blazer or Double J trailers with a slant three and really nice LQ. Kind you can stay in for a week or so. Dream on……
Okay, I admit it, I’m insanely jealous of your fun trip!!!
Another Montana resident checking in to say “Montana is the best state ever!”
Well, the people can be a bit crazy, but the landscape more than makes up for the weirdos
Off topic, AGAIN! I wonder why all of the breed registries do not brand and or tattoo their registered stock? It would be so much easier to track and “find” them. Just asking. I know some do not like their horses”disfigured” by a brand. I raise dachshunds and I tat the ears, the thighs (I had dogs stolen once who had their ears CUT OFF in the commercial breeder facility, I only got them back because their thighs were also tattooed) and microchip. I often have special dental alterations made for competition dogs who are at high risk of disappearing.
Paradachs,
The Arabian Horse Asso. has freeze branding available to any who wish to get involved. Our State is a “Brand State” where you can get a perminate brand inspection and the Brand Office also keeps a copy. Our horses are also all micro chipped and brand inspected. Arabians are also all DNA tested for registration. Older purebreds may actually be both blood tested (prior to DNA testing) and DNA tested.
Some Ranches use freeze branding with their own visable brands and some use tattoos for their own records. TB’s for the track are all tattooed.
Coggins tests and health papers are required for those who are on the road showing (now even in small county fairs) and there is a full discription of the individual horse on the coggins papers as well. We always traveled with copies of each horse’s registration papers; brand inspctions and Micro chip numbers. Were only stopped one time and that was with the only mare we had showing who was NOT micro chipped or perminate brand inspected. BUT we had the papers and health certs so were cleared to come on home. In state no less. When we shipped out of state on sale horses, a copy of papers, brand clearance for a single trip, coggings and health papers accompanied all horses leaving. that way the transports never had a “paper problem”
Unfortunately everyone does not do so as it is all voluntary. And in the past stolen horses were thrown on trucks to local plants or Mexico (it is only three hours from here). We keep all of our gaters locked with chairs at all times. But with so many horses being dumped livestock theft is not the problem.
Tack, saddles and things like chainsaws, small engine equipment and horse trailers seem to be the current things “leaving in a hurry”. I strongly advise that you CABLE your saddles even in the trailer. We learned the hard way…………… The saddles are now cabled to stands/racks even in the house or locked tackroom. Nothing is left in the trailer even behind locked fences.
Cabling never occurred to me, and while it might be a problem to do it for an English saddle, for endurance and western it’s a perfect solution. Thanks for the tip!
Do visit the Brinton memorial in Big Horn just south of Sheridan. I spent a month in Big Horn it’s an amazing little town.
No! It’s an awful little hole in the wall with nothing to see or do. The water is bad, the scenery – if you can call it that – is horrid. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. No place to stay. All the land is private!
The people who do ride all ride knock-kneed, foundered plugs with aluminum curbs and baling twine reins. And they plow rein them all their pathetic lives. : P
One of my favorite places in Montana is Pony! Great little town. They have a great bar there and the friendliest people.
If you get a chance – go riding in Yellowstone. We took our horses there for vacation last year. You get out 1/2 mile down the trail and there is no one else out there! Riding by a huge buffalo herd is one of the most amazing things ever. Lots of grizzly bears too. It is a beautiful place to ride, the trails are maintained, and totally crazy that with all those people, hardly anyone goes out on the trails. have fun!
Have fun! My horses are en route from Canada to Colorado. BC to Montana today, Montana to Utah tomorrow, Utah to CO on Wed. Can’t wait to see them again!
Brenda says:
September 11, 2011 at 4:09 am
I’m actually very proud of my yearling who will stand tied to anything for X amount of time. Her mom is great mare too. I took them camping a few months ago and finally let mom mill around with cows that she seemed very interested in. Her only experiences were over the fence, never in with them. It was a huge game for her when they wanted to run from her. I think we found a side hobby to trail riding, because I found chasing cows as fun as she did. The yearling, although tied, was very interested in our game of tag, too.
When I find someone chasing my cattle I get pissed, a word to the wise if you are chasing cattle, you may get an education that you so not soon forget
An education possibly involving the local sheriff — or a shotgun!
King ropes is pretty cool to visit in WY, they have an amazing saddlery museum. At least it is summer, the time we went to from WA to NE and back in 4 days in January, the drivers door of our pickup froze open at the fuel stop and the tack room door where the hay was iced over and frozen shut. All ended well fortunately.
Enjoy the big country Mugs, I’m envious.
way off topic. i just thought these two old guys would be a nice pair to have. They are practically giving them away. Kid safe, broke and nice looking.
http://classifieds.castanet.net/showproduct.php/product/1073705/cat/14
Looks like a a fun trip!
Off topic but does anyone know of a thoroughbred adoption/placement group in South Carolina? It’s for a Facebook friend who saw one of my posts for OTTBs in Ontario, but a little cost prohibitive to ship a horse she has never met that far. Thank you!
I’m from Montana as well. Born and raised there. I kind of resent your “Hickville” comment. But then people from metro areas generally look down on those with common sense.
KJJ- You missed an earlier reference to myself and the area I live in as “hickish.” It was a joke. About myself. Not about Montana.Or thepeople who live there.I do however, kinda resent the assumption people from metro areas automatically look down on anyone.
“…my impulsive behavior and well behaved horses who can cope being tied to a tree overlooking their deck for a day or two.”
I can’t tell you how sorry I am to see this written by the new commentator of this blog. Horses require near continuous movement to maintain the physiological function of the digital cushion in each hoof and to maintain optimal gut mobility. Are you even aware that horses need to lie down every day? If their lead rope is long enough that they can lay down, you create a dangerous situation that could result in broken bones or death as they struggle in a too long lead rope.
I used to work as a professional guide in Shawnee National Forest, a huge horse camping area. I spent as much time helping horse-idiots resolve the problems caused by tying horses to trees for extended periods of time as I did guiding. Anyone who knew ANYTHING about horse physiology either brought a collapsible pen or rented a pen so their animals could avoid the stocking up, mechanical founder, colic, exhaustion, etc. that is so common with horses who are immobile for extended periods.
Do you know anything about horse physiology? Have you even heard of the digital cushion?
OMG, how condescending and rude, and only partially accurate. One thing I know about digital cushions is, you can’t make em or break em in one or two days. Weight bearing exercise does stimulate and develop the internal structures of the hoof, but it takes months to make real changes in there. I’m sure Mugly was out riding at least once a day.