Jerald Cart

I'm putting a little effort into fixing up the Jerald easy entry cart I've got. It was supposed to fit Amble but its way too small, it's for a 14hh horse, not a 15.2hh one.

this first photo is a google image and how mine is supposed to look.

Heres mine now

I sanded the pieces a little, so it would accept the new clear coating. 

I'm pretty sure with about 4 coats that it will look just short of amazing, for it. The boards have 1-2 coats on each side, the shafts have 3 on the back, just 1 at this end.

I've ordered & received most of the small parts it needs to make it complete and I'll still need more, I'm sure. I bought a new singletree (which needs a few holes in it) and a cross bar (which needs to be shortened) but I didn't stain either and I also didn't sand them and I think you can tell with the cross bar but oh well. I'm not going to have it any longer than I need to.

In other news, the beautiful saddle I bought for Amble has been sold for $1,000 (I had $1,300 into it & never used any of the pieces) and the consignment store gets to keep I think 20% so I'll get a nice check to put toward a marathon cart <- IF Teresa and Will have one to sell me. 

Today I had another lesson with Staphanie but I went to the barn where her 2 mini's are living and I drove Bo. Hes a skinny little guy, has a disease that took all his front teeth but they all get the BEST vet care available.

These are Laddie, the mini I gave her in 2018 and Bo, the little guy with no front teeth. Sweet boys.

Stephanie dolled them up and I took photos for her & she ChatGPT'd this photo.

 

Motivation

I'm trying to stay motivated, trying to keep the house in order and actually clean it up some. I took an extra day off yesterday and got the kitchen clean and started on a couple piles on the kitchen table. My house is not a pig sty, but with both of us working full time during the short days and we easily let things go and it ends up taking a full day once a month to get it in order again.

I am going to bring the horse cart up to the patio and begin taking it apart to sand and refinish it. 

I do need to take more photos too.

 

Dirty Feather

 Black Orchid Ambleside

Shes got a lot of feather but thankfully not as much as so many Gypsys. It's enough to be impressive and gorgeous but at the same time not too heavy and cause problems.

On Thursday we're going to have a visitor, Stephanie will be coming over to help me get our harness sorted, the biothane harness I purchased for $900 & had shipped here from southern California. I know its got 3 pieces missing, 2 of which are the ones that will attach it to the cart. Stephanie is also going to be teaching me how to drive, since Amble already knows how to be driven.

The photo above is Amble with semi clean feather and tail, which this IS NOT a current thing. She hasn't had them washed off in quite some time and I do not want them dirty when Staphanie arrives. So on Wednesday afternoon, after I get home from work, I am going to give them a good washing.

I will be taking the Dawn dishwashing soap to the barn with me and I will follow directions I have had written down and attached to my computer monitor for over 10 years.

1. Wash tail

2. Condition.

3. Soak in white vinegar

4. Using Dawn, wash feather, deep down to her skin, watching for anything in there that might irritate her or cause concerns.

5. Wash, rinse, condition again

6. Leave in conditioner, aka Cowboy Magic

I'll leave her overnight in her stall with a deep bed of shavings. In the morning they will be dry and fluffy and as long as there were no issues noticed while washing, I will brush them out let her hang out in the arena till noon, when Stephanie arrives.

In November I had the riding instructor over to give ME a lesson & Amble bucked her off. I do not know if that was due to an ill fitting bit since I have a 5.5" and need a 6" or if it was the saddle not fitting properly. So I have ordered a saddle pad with shims. 

This is a dressage pad but I am hoping it will work with she short western saddle. I could not find any in a pony length.

Next Trip

 We've got 3 weeks of vacation next May-June and we have several choices of what we'll do:

1. Ride Amble on the John Wayne train cross state BUCKET LIST ITEM

2. Go work on Pioche house

3. Travel anywhere and do whatever happens

4. Stay home & save money

5. 

1. I've been wanting to ride Amble (had planned on Joey but that didn't happen) cross the state for eons and now I actually have the means to do it. I've got the horse, she's trained and will get more training before then, I have a job that pays me well enough to afford it, we have the truck and horse trailer and there are the John Wayne Trail folks who put this event on every year. I have two choices, ride or drive her since I've got the covered wagon.

2. If we choose working on the Pioche house it will be that much closer to being livable. We could rent the excavator and get the bathroom, utility room and kitchen removed and a new exterior wall put up. We'd need (guessing) the excavator for 3-4 days at about $300 daily, new exterior siding and the wood to make the walls, building plans, patience and so much more. I don't even know all the stuff needed for this job. You don't just go knocking down sections of a house and not foresee issues. What if we accidently knock down the entire house? 

3. If we choose to travel, I'd like to go see parts of North America that we haven't seen before. Driving along the Trans Canadian Highway might be fun, or all along I-90 from beginning in Seattle to the end in Boston, or travel more of the mid west. The options are endless.

4. Staying home... hhhmmm... We could still go do daily trips, go to Mt Rainier or the Olympics, go on some trail rides. There are so many things we haven't done in our own state. Staying home allows us to repair fences, work on cars, house repairs, visiting family.

5. I could simply leave it up to Lan and see what happens. 

Vacation Prepping

We'll be leaving home to go to Pioche in about 10 days and I couldn't be more excited.

I've been gathering necessary supplies and stacking them in the living room, I have 5 old kitty litter plastic containers that I'll use to transport our stuff, those containers and uniform size and shape, have sturdy handles and are waterproof.  I've got items ready to put into the containers but am waiting to see just how much stuff I'll have all together before I start stuffing. I already have one with food in it and I'll have at least one more.  I need to freeze a gallon jug of water to use in the cooler to keep things cold. So much to plan for! 

Lan has already begun working on some plumbing things; a distribution panel from hot water to different areas of the house. This consists of red and blue PEX pipe with valves and fittings mounted on a 2x4 piece of plywood; each one will be able to be shut off individually from the rest in case we need to shut off water just to the bathroom or kitchen.  There will be hot water to utility room, kitchen sink, bathroom sink and cold to same areas plus the back yard.

Thats one of the things Lan will be working on, I need to find SOMETHING I can work on while down there. If we had insulation rolls I'd be cutting it and stapling it into the walls but thats not going to happen yet. I do have cross stitch but I'm not going to use that 'work' and work.

In horse news: 

Amble comes home next Saturday. I'm going to have her harness there and ask Wil or Teresa to help fit it to her properly. I'm also going to borrow a saddle from Terry and see if it fits her. God, I'll need a saddle  more than anything.

I suppose I should start my Christmas Wish List, on it I'll need a nice buggy whip.

This coming Friday, the day before Amble comes home, we are having a yard sale, what I always advertise as the BIG ASS BARN SALE. We have a bunch of stuff already inside the garage, need to get it set up better.  Theres stuff all around the walls not for sale and we either need to move it all or cover it.  I have a ton of crap inside the house that I'll take out Thursday night and set out. I need tables and they need to be clean.  There are 2 picnic tables here, a round patio table and a tiny cafe table. I should sell both those last ones, or take the cafe table and its 2 chairs down to Pioche since we only have a couple camping chairs there now.