BLOGGIN' ALONG

May 2023 "Unexpected Surprises" The high mountains of Southern Nevada, about an hour to the Northwest of the famous city of Las Vegas, contain some of the most beautiful country in the lower USA. The area is known as the Spring Mountain Range and Mount Charleston Wilderness. The area hosts miles upon miles of great trails for hiking and horseback r...

June 2022 One Step At A Time These times have created an expectation of immediate gratification for most people. It takes just a few clicks on your phone to order some food, and a few minutes later someone knocks on your door with your meal. Unable to get to the store? Click an order, and the item can be on your doorstep in one day. So few things t...

Finally, spring in the Las Vegas valley presented itself, other activities on the home-front began to slow down some, and it was time to get out on some more trail rides. I couldn't wait. A few days ago, I loaded Sihr Brigadier Mac V ("Sonny") up (er, rather he loaded himself, which is a far cry from taking 5-10 minutes to load just a few months ag...

In horse raising and training, we as owners don't always share the bad stuff. Maybe it's a pride or ego thing. Regardless, all pride and ego set aside, I've discovered that lots of things can start occurring in a young horse's brain after he turns about 4 ½ years old, and Sihr Brigadier Mac V ("Sonny") has been no exception to that rule. The start ...

Every spring and fall, the El Zaribah Shrine Mounted Patrol puts on a roundup at the EZ Ranch in Cordes Junction, Arizona near Prescott. We've attended and worked it every fall for several years, and this year I decided it was Sonny's turn to go. I felt he was ready for another experience and adventure, since he'd been doing so good on the trails. ...

As our September 2021 trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota drew nearer this summer, I watched my mare TU Sihr With Love ("Lovey") closer and realized quickly that her being in foal to Major Mac V again had brought her barrel size much larger than I recalled her being when pregnant at the same point with Sihr Brigadier Mac V ("Sonn...

Looking in the arena gate, my palms were sweaty, I could hear my heart beating in my ears. What had I gotten myself into now? Arizona Mac V was fairly relaxed as he stood looking over the gate. Well, at least he was until the mule brayed from not far behind him. He seemed to shout at me "THE ALIENS HAVE LANDED!" He'd never seen one before. After ou...

He is simply brilliant… and humble, and well-read, (and not at all hard to look at, either). He'd picked up Arizona Mac V the end of October after he and Bruce Sandifer had put on a California Bridlehorse workshop in Walla Walla, Washington, and taken him home to Colorado. There, he'd ridden him in the snow, hauled him to the fairgrounds, ridd...

Roverto was leading a young mare across the road when I drove up. She was following politely, but would startle, flinch, at something to the right, then at the gate, then at a sound from the house. I watched this perfectly put together little bay in awe. She simply could not be any prettier. Earlier that morning, I'd stopped by the little graveyard...

Here in Idaho, there are shepherds. They are mostly Peruvian men, non English speaking, that live the entire summer out in the mountains and valleys with enormous bands of sheep, a few great pyrenees dogs and a couple of horses, roaming from place to place grazing the grasses from springtime to fall. For decades, these men have carved their na...