Race Horses

Like most little girls I was intensely horse crazy.  Our neighbor up the creek taught me how to ride, using her horses since ours weren't fit for children.  She gave me all of her old magazines and I read them cover to cover, cut out pictures, and plastered my walls with horses of all breeds.  I have to say though that my favorite magazine was The Thoroughbred Times.  The size, speed and grace these magnificent horses exhibited left me in total awe.  To me they just seemed superior to other breeds.  Living on a ranch though owning a race horse was kind of a preposterous idea.

My first memory of a horse was my daddy's thoroughbred mare Sunset.  I have no idea where she came from but even now my memories of her are of a huge, gorgeous, sleek sorrel mare.  In all actuality she didn't have very good confirmation and was prone to bucking, but I loved her anyways.  I cried the day my daddy sold her....  He then ended up with another thoroughbred, a big bay gelding over 16 hands.  His name was Tank when we got him, but he wasn't really a tank.  Daddy renamed him Bailey, and again, I was in love.  My sister had a little mustang mare under 14 hands that looked like a pony next to Bailey.  I only remember riding Bailey once, and it didn't last long.  We started at the hay barn, only Bailey and I never left.  My legs were too short to really kick him and he was too lazy to care.  My sister even tried ponying him, but that didn't work because I think he thought her mare was just a joke.  He did however have some speed with a real rider.  Actually bucking one of my sisters friends off and breaking her back.  She couldn't ride and turning a thoroughbred loose in an open field wasn't exactly the best decision she ever made.  So again, another thoroughbred sold, daddy said they were too thin skinned and too tall for a mountain horse.  It wasn't quite as traumatic this time though, because one of my dads friends bought him.

 I knew what he said about thoroughbreds not being good mountain horses was true, but that didn't stop me from wanting one.  I grew up, went through a couple horses and then my freshman year of college I bought a thoroughbred.  Take Your Dallies was a 14 yr old 16 hand sorrel mare with a lip tattoo.  She'd had two bay roan appendix foals, was a ranch horse and a team roping horse.  She had giant flat feet and had a great sense of self preservation.  She was amazing.  Built more like a quarter horse than a thoroughbred, and was really fast.  I never found a race record on her, so while she'd been prepped to race she never actually did.  Every time I rode her I fell more in love.  She had heart, try, personality and a major attitude!  She wasn't mean or bitchy really, but if she was in a bad mood she let you know.  She had kind of a long back, which went out quite frequently.  If you tried roping on her when it was, you ended up in the dirt every time.  She loved to run, but when she was done she was done.  Always stopping on her front end I flew over her head several times.  But none of this mattered.  The big red mare was my best friend and even though she was a flat horse, she took care of me in the mountains.  Two years ago I bred her to a huge Hancock, Blue Valentine stud then had her shipped down to CA.  She sloughed the fetus on the trip down and I was just too far away to breed back to that stud.  Just a couple days after having an ultrasound she was the victim of a hit and run, breaking her front leg just below the knee.  She was the first horse I watched being put down and it was heartbreaking.  I had nightmares for awhile after that.  The vet that came down was the same one I was working with to get her re-bred.  He didn't even charge me.  Not only was I at an emotional loss, but there was no way I could afford to replace her.  Granted I had two more horses but I didn't have that bond with them.  It wasn't long after the accident though that my appendix mare started to show a personality.  Those two mares were the same age and constantly went back and forth for dominance.  It was like she knew I'd lost my best friend and it was now her duty to fill that void.

I got a gelding in trade for a couple months training on a 3 yr old fugly appy.   He's big, stout, tough and for sale.  I don't really like geldings and I only got him so I could sell him.  My next horse will be an off the track thoroughbred mare, and I really want to breed to The Pamplemousse.  So there's my plan.  A lot of people don't like thoroughbreds, but they're bred to run and have a lot of heart.  Besides at 5'11" I'm a fan of tall horses.

Since this post is already pretty lengthy I think I'll do a little mini-series on some of my favorite thoroughbreds throughout history.

                                       

                     

The late great Take Your Dallies

My Quarter Horse Appendix mare Tinky Sans Royal

The Pamplemousse, 2013 stud fee $2,500 (I'm saving my pennies)

Xoxo Loves,

Me

Winter Wonderland...

It's been awhile since I've written anything, as one of my favorite readers pointed out :) I just haven't felt very inspired lately.  It's not that I haven't had any ideas, just nothing really worth sharing.

On Saturday my cousin and I poked along through the Gorge, eyes reddening due to staring into the snow for too long.  We got to town around 9pm and still had to drive out to drop the horses off.  YIKES!  A bitter cold wind was ripping down through the valley stinging all bare skin that dared to show itself.  We were definitely not properly dressed for such an aggressive onslaught.  It took maybe 20 minutes to put the horses away and unload the stuff I needed from my trailer.  It took hours to warm back up!  First day back was cold and windy, second day back I woke up to 6 inches of snow.  Its been cold, icy and awful the last couple of days.  My poor cousin got stranded here in our little version of Alaska, and it's been fun.  I truly do love winter!  Cold weather makes me happy and I rarely really complain about it.  Since I didn't have much to really write about, I'll share some pictures from the last couple days.

Xoxo Loves,


Me

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

Yesterday I went to work with my cousin out in the valley.  We were supposed to move the guys cows to his winter grounds.  20 minutes before we were supposed to be there to feed, we get a call from him.  Wondering if we'd left yet, because it was pretty nasty out there.  We live over an hour away, of course we'd left!  Well Casey and I aren't the kind to be deterred by a little bad weather.  We got to the ranch and waited for the owner so we could start feeding. It was cold, but not too bad, or so we thought.  Opened the door and I felt like Mary Poppins!  Seriously, I thought Dorothy was going to blow in from Kansas!  It was hard to walk, it's not easy to buck a serious head wind.  We loaded up and headed out.  There were three bunches of cows to feed, one being the herd we were supposed to move.  Casey and I were really hoping he wouldn't cancel, but it wasn't looking good.  Feeding was a nightmare!  Hay, and dirt in my eyes like never before.  There were several times that Casey and I just fed with our eyes shut because we couldn't open them.  Every time I got off the truck the wind blew me back on my butt!  I've honestly never witnessed let alone been in, such strong winds.  When we got to the big bunch and he told us to feed, we were crushed.  A couple of the other folks who were supposed to help had called and backed out, not that there weren't all kinds of other guys that would have helped.  Our horses were in the trailer and ready to go, we still wanted to ride!  Just didn't have anywhere to go.

 So we decided to go to the little diner and have a beer.  Yea it was 11, but we were down in the dumps.  Before we finished a guy called and said he needed help feeding some big bales.  So we took off to help him, I was however, instructed to stay in the pickup.  Well fine with me, it was starting to snow, and was just cold.  After awhile I had no idea where they had gone, it was snowing hard and I couldn't see anything.  So little Miss Pippy and I just holed up in the pickup and waited.  I called my daddy and he told me it was also snowing downriver, and that if we wanted to make it home with the horses we needed to get out of there right then.  Finally the guys showed up and off we went.  It had snowed probably six inches in somewhere around three hours.  It was getting nasty in a hurry.  We only slid towards the river a couple times.  Made it home by four and got all the horses put up.  Just before dinner the power went out.  That was ok, we played cards and my daddy read us some Edgar Allen Poe(he couldn't find his Robert Service book).  We had a great time huddled around the table in the lamplight.  The power came back on about midnight.

Here are some photos I took yesterday from mid day on.

These were all taken consecutively.  It's just beautiful!




Xoxo Loves,


Me

Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

I just finished putting tinsel on our tree and it got me to thinking about all the different kinds of trees people have.  In our family we've always preferred the even, flat branches of a Silver Tip(Shasta or Noble Fir).  These beautiful trees only grow above a certain elevation, which is pretty high!  There's been several years that we got an early snowstorm and actually rode in to get our tree, dragging it back to the pickup behind a horse.

I remember the first time I got to go.  I was somewhere around 10 I think, but really that's just a guess. I was riding my sisters wicked little mare Shaniko, my dad was on his good gelding and my sister was riding a friends huge mare. Really my sister and I should have switched horses because even at 10 I was taller than her! When I say Shaniko was little I mean like pony size.  The snow got so deep she could barely wade her way through it, so I waited on the road while my sister and dad got a tree.  They wrapped it up in a tarp and my dad decided he'd pull it.  All was fine until they moved.  The sound of the tarp on the snow was too much for all of our horses.  The mare my sister was on handled it pretty well, but my dads horse took off running, trying to figure out why the sound was following him, haha.  Shaniko on the other hand, was the worst.  She loved to buck and just because she was belly deep in the snow didn't mean she wasn't gonna get rank.  Somehow I stayed on, got her straightened out and took off after my sister.  We weren't sure how far old Gus ran before settling down.

My mom is very particular about Christmas decorations and even more so with the tree.  My dad Always does the lights and the rest of us do the ornaments and mom does the tinsel.  Most of our ornaments are ones us kids made through the years, with a few gorgeous crystal crystals(which are my moms favorite), some pewter ones and ones marking our births.  The topper has forever been a light up angel.  When I was little there was an accident and the poor angel burned her cheek. This year my mom was gone and she entrusted me with all the decorating.  So I made sure to do everything very tactfully!  The tinsel literally gets put on one or two pieces at a time.  It kind of takes forever!  But I know my mom will love the tree.

What kind of trees do your families like?  Bushy, open, short, tall?  What kind of ornaments? Homemade or store bought?  Do you use tinsel, garland, popcorn or bows?  Do you do the whole color coordinated thing?  Or even just go for the fake store bought tree?  What are some Christmas family traditions you have???

          (This was my tree last year. The lights were really funky and I didn't have enough.  It was green and pink themed.)




Xoxo Loves,


Me

Oregon to California

My cousin and I made it home Monday night late.  I meant to write this post Tuesday, but I got wrapped up in the excitement of being home.  Then we had calves to doctor and an injured cow to save.  To top it all off we were experiencing issues with our internet, which resulted in the amazing upgrade to wireless! So now the story telling begins, it's bound to be a bit scattered, just like the trip.

My cousin Casey is four years younger than me, his sister used to be my best friend, now we've become closer.  He's loud and odd and funny and we always have a blast!  He agreed to ride the Greyhound just to help me get home safely.  That's where his adventure started...

Casey got on the Greyhound in Medford, along with a lot of other people.  Right off the bat, the bus wouldn't start.  Once on the road it only makes sense with our awful Irish luck that the person in front of him would lay his seat back on top of him.  They struggled along to Portland, where he originally had a two hour layover.  My dad had previously warned him of the potential perils awaiting, and to find a spot in the corner of the bus station and not let his guard down.  Thankfully they were running behind and he only had to wait an hour, with several gang members skulking about and another pacing back and forth behind him(no where to sit on the wall).  He was pretty anxious and a little worried sitting there in a cowboy hat and sponsor covered ACTRA coat.  He thought for sure he'd be the target of a jumping...  Hehe, hey we come from a very small, safe community that is no longer even a town.  Needless to say the kid followed a mother and her children on the bus safe and sound.

On the way east it was rumored that there was a huge snow storm in La Grande, and they may have to stay in Stanfield.  I was contentedly tucked away in the movie theater watching Breaking Dawn Part II.  It was snowing, but not sticking.  After the movie I chose to stay awake just in case I needed to drive over the mountain and rescue him.  A snowstorm set in and we got a little worried.  They chained up over the mountain and got to La Grande an hour and half late.  I slept maybe 45 minutes.  We got another couple hours before getting up and going to Catholic class.  The rest of the day was spent riding horses, ending in a bitter cold blizzard.  The next morning we got up early and preg checked/vaccinated cows, in the snow.  That night we went out.  It soon became my friends personal duty to get him drunk, buying him a Cement Mixer that the bartender made him drink outside.  We got home around 5 am.  The kid and I passed out in the living room and didn't wake up until 2 in the afternoon.  The next morning we set out.

By the time we got all of my clothes loaded, the trailer hooked up, horses loaded and mail sent out it was 10:30.  We made good time though, it had warmed up and most of the snow and ice on the freeway had rained off.  As we approached the HWY 97 cut off I told Casey to watch for Bighorn Sheep.  He had about given up on spotting any, when we see 4 rams!  It was awesome.  We stopped in Biggs for fuel.  While inside, we got iced coffee at McD's, and there was a very attractive foreign(Russian) guy behind us.  I promise this has some importance.  When we finally make it out of the truck stop, we follow a cop onto the freeway.  He takes off, lights flashing.  Just a ways down the road, brake lights come on, and everyone starts to merge into the left lane.  I see the cop stopped but the Russian in his Toyota and little trailer is right next to my trailer, and I'm trapped in my lane.  I brake, but there's nothing I can do.  When the road opens up I see large traffic cones all over my lane.  There was nothing to do but run them over, but I only hit one.  I panic, because I didn't see it come out, and I didn't move over for the cop.  Casey tries to reassure me that everything is just fine, but I know better!  There's just no where to stop.  Next thing I know, the cop is behind me with his lights flashing.  Dang it!!!   Why me?  Why do I Always get pulled over???  Casey's just laughing because he was with me for my last ticket, pulling my trailer.  There is no shoulder and we're on the freeway, but I finally pull over.  As the officer approaches my rig he stops and grabs something, the cone!  There's no base left and it's much worse for wear.  He comes up and says that he just wanted to get that cone out, because it was really starting to smoke, I apologized for not moving over, but he saw what happened and knew I couldn't.  He was a very nice guy, and pretty cute himself!  We made it through Portland without a hitch, and stopped just south of there to let the horses out.  I was done in and Casey took over.

Casey has astigmatism, and really doesn't see very well without his glasses.  Which he quit wearing because, "they looked dorky".  We stopped in Salem for fuel.  This is where the magic happened.  On our way back out to the freeway we were sitting at a stoplight.  Just making conversation he asks if that street sign says Hawhorse.  I start laughing hysterically because its Hawthorne.  "Oh Lord, I feel like  you need a walking stick and seeing eye dog! And not be driving".  We're both just rolling at this point, but I wasn't sure if I'd get to sleep after that or not.  But I was tired and he promised he really could see just fine, so I slept until Eugene.  I want to add in here that my puppy Macie was a wonderful little passenger the whole way.  We joked,  laughed, made fun of each other and sang pretty much the whole rest of the way.  Slid into the truck stop at Central Point with maybe a gallon or two to spare.  The tranny got pretty hot pulling the Siskiyous but we made it over just fine.  I wasn't sure if we'd make it down the river in one piece though because he pretty much never saw any of the deer.

We rolled into the ranch around 11, unloaded and cleaned my pickup out so he could take it to work the next day.  I crawled into bed and thanked God for good family and making it possible for me to come home.


This is probably the longest post Ever, so I understand if you didn't make it all the way through :) If you did, thanks for reading.  I'll try to never ramble this much again!


Xoxo Loves,


Me

End of the Term = The Road Home

I finished my last final today!  It didn't go as well as I had hoped, and I really have no idea how I did or what I got in the class.  But at this point, I don't even care!  I'm taking a little me time tonight and finally going to watch the newest Twilight with my roomy.  My cousin will be here at 4:30 a.m. and then I have Catholic class at 11:30.  Saturday we're preg-checking and vaccinating cows for a friend, and somewhere in there we'll fit in some riding of the colts. 

Monday morning the cousin, my puppy, two horses and I will set out on our grand adventure home.  Being a Rainey, unfortunately means having bad luck, or rather no luck at all.  My cousin and I almost always end up in some sort of melee.  Its already started and he's not even here yet!  He got on the bus, and it wouldn't start, and now its supposed to snow and we have several passes to make it through.  Where's the justice I ask?!  It should be a good time and I know better than to say with any certainty just when we'll make it home. So here's to hoping we make it at all!


Stay tuned for an actual account.



Xo Loves,



Me

Beautiful Women From Our Past...

Women in the old days flat had class.  They were amazing!  There were a lot of new opportunities for women at the turn of the century.  By 1928 women were earning 39% of the college degrees given in the US.  In 1933 Frances Perkins became the first woman cabinet member.  In 1943 the All-American Women's Baseball League was founded.  In 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus, starting the Montgomery bus boycott.

I'm really into history, and while I'm not a feminist I do think the women that fought for our rights were strong and unbelievably courageous! So here are some pictures I Googled that I thought were fun.

You may recognize some of these women, but for the most part it was just a random selection :)




XO Loves,


Me