Our Next Vacation

We'll be heading to Pioche but taking a little longer route than straight down. Last year we went through Winnemucca to see the Gypsy Horse Fest show and it was very nice to see the horses but I was disappointed that there were only about 50 horses, max, at the 'west coast' show. I liked that they had it at all and that I got to go but it was a long way out of our way to see so few horses. It was an extra 500 miles and a day of driving to see the show.

This is the realtors photo of our house in Pioche, the one online for the sales photos, May 2024.

Our 1st visit, May 2024. 

I didn't think about taking a front yard photo on this trip.

June 2024,  our 1st trip as owners. 

When we arrived the front door was wide open.

September 2024, 2nd trip

December 12, 2024, no photo!! but I had just turned 62 & we flew down, went to Zion & got my America The Beautiful pass and went to Pioche.

April 2025, 3rd trip

September 2025

We had taken the trailer down in spring.

The yard was FULL of tumbleweeds, took me days to get them all pulled up.

I have full trips of photos missing or in other folders, lost for now. Dang. 

Its 5 weeks till we leave again to head down, we're planning on heading thru Utah & visiting the Dugway Geode state park where we will dig for our own geodes. I will definitely take an arrival photo this time, and every trip after this one.

I'm going to be looking for the perfect house numbers/sign for the front.

Things I Want

I want a 4 wheel marathon carriage for Amble

I want a well fitted saddle for Amble

I want a hula hoe for me to remove weeds in our Pioche yard

I want to go to Pioche!

 

Sigh

We drove the hour to Shelton for the tack sale, minutes before we arrived I got a text from the saddle fitter, she was there and had her eye on a Tucker saddle so when we arrived the first thing we did was use the cut outs to measure and it looked pretty dang close to a fit. So Lan & I drove all the way back home, loaded up Amble and hauled her to Shelton to check.

And it didn't fit.

I mean, it fit really well but Amble is just so round that the saddle rocked side to side, no matter what pads or shims we tried. Two hours. And still no saddle.

Don't laugh, we were changing the stirrup length.

I will hold onto the cash ($900) and put it toward a cart but I still need to ride so I'm thinking its going to be with a bareback pad. 

Tack Sales

There is a tack sale an hour away from our farm and I'm planning on being there early. I have my saddle fitting forms, and Sarah the saddle fitter, will be there doing her thing so if I have any questions she will be able to answer them.

The sale should have about 30-50 saddles and maybe, just maybe, 1 of them will fit.

IF none fit, there is a saddle 90 miles south, nearly into Oregon, that will work for now but its $650, its a POS and its a long way away in case I have to return it.

Wish us luck.

I'll Ride Anyway

I don't have a saddle but I'll try to ride anyway.

 

Feeling Defeated

I had the saddle fitter out today and I learned a lot but mostly I discovered I might never find a saddle that fits Amble. Shes SO flat and wide that nothing we tried on her would work, theres no way to ever get any of them to fit. I'll have to look for a draft horse XXWide. The tree can only be 16" long and overall length can only be 23".

 

When Plans Go Awry

Wildfire

Wifi

This girl is 18 today!

And this girl, Ambleside, is 4.75 years old. I've made an appointment for her to get a saddle fitting in a week & before then I need to gather all the stuff the fitter requested:

Saddles

Blankets

Pads

Amble will be getting a bath between now & then and I'm hoping to get Lan to scrape all the poop out of the arena so we can use it. I'm so broke (and today is payday) but I *might* be able to get a few loads of sand to put in the arena.

And let me throw this into the middle of my post for whatever good reason:

We loaded up the truck & trailer and went out to Tahuya, had a lot of fun.

This photo has been taken by use a LOT of times and this year, in March, there is very little snow in the Olympic Mountains.

Closer shot

It normally would look like this

I'm waiting to see if we get chosen to go on the Cross State ride boot camp they are doing in April on the 11th & 12th. Its just the one night of camping with your horse to learn about all the stuff they do in camp and there will be 2 short day rides. I tried to get on their list but the leader guy said they're only taking people who are doing the ride this year (which we're not, Amble is NOT ready for that) so we're on the waiting list and will only find out on the 7th if we can join or not. either way, I'll be able to ride Amble IF I have a saddle that fits her well.

This old Abetta is my best choice but Stephanie has an Arabian saddle that she will bring over to try out as well. I'll have a variety of saddle pads and blankets for the fitter. Honestly, I have never even sat in this saddle.

I also don't have a bit large enough for her mouth and I know I could buy one for $60 in Spanaway but I really do not want to drive that far to get one. I WILL drive that far though because they are the only store that has them in stock, ordering online would take too long.

Anyway, its pouring rain, another pineapple express is here and we've gotten a lot of rain today. I was supposed to work but I'd have been extra and working in the rain & I just couldn't handle that thought so called in. I'm not physically sick, just sick of work.