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.

 

Stall Fronts

After returning from Disneyland and the land of sunshine, I spent a grumpy day at home. I just wanted to see something, ANYTHING, happening with our home updates.

 

So I sat at my computer and did a Craigslist search, STALL FRONTS, in the greater Seattle area and found this:

 

Retiring thoroughbred farm,20 stalls ,stall fronts are 12x8,we will help remove and load call or text for a look, these are locally made, heavy metal ,fabricated in the 80s ,angle iron frame ,instant stall

 

I called and he still have most available but some had already been sold and more people were showing up all the time. Called Karen:

 

Me: Want to go get stall fronts with me?

K: Yes.

Me: Can we use your flatbed?

K: Yes

Me: Can we use your truck to pull your flatbed?

K: Yes.

 

We left home at about 1pm, I had to call in to work that I couldn't make it in, just in case, and headed to Granite Falls.

 

These stall fronts are dang nice. Heavy duty, truly 2" thick, they include the wood and the sliding tracks on top. Each door weighs about 100# and the stall fronts are easily 250. Some of the wood is rotten from having had horses spitting water onto it for 30 years but most is just fine.

 

I'll need to clean them up, maybe sand blast & repaint the metal then purchase bolts to attach these to the barn, replace a few boards and then they are done.

 

I paid $1100 for 5 stall fronts ($220.00 each)

plus $100 for a single and a double window bars that can opened.

The fuel was $40 but I'm going to pay more for that

and I owe Karen my firstborn child.

 

I have search locally for stall fronts and the only ones I could find that were sturdy/strong enough are in Graham and cost $550 for the frames and are a foot shorter, I'd still have to purchase and install the rollers/sliders for each door ($125) and wood.

 

These were a bitch to get out of the barn and onto the trailer but there were 3 big guys to help, they had a welder to get rid of the old rusty bolts holding them in place and they were much stronger than us and had tools.

 

I saved over $500 per stall.

I have a lot of work yet to do on these, the entire barn needs to be built, but to have these makes my heart happy. No shitty shed stalls for my horses.

 



This mare

 Wifi

makes my heart happy.

New Farm Blog

I started a new blog about updating the new farm, you can find it here http://countryhomeredo.blogspot.com/ . I'm going to post befores and afters of all my home redo's and the projects I complete around here. There should be a lot of them and they could potentially go on for years to come.

With the old farm its not sold yet, half a dozen people have seen it and most want a real house, not a mobile. I personally think its priced too high but this is what Kim thought it should start out at. She better get it sold fast, I can't afford another house payment on my VISA.

Last night something killed one of our hens, she had gotten out during the day & didn't get back into the hen house for night. Stupid chickens.

Wifi is going to be returned to training next week with Delicia. I can't wait.

Argo, Amy's Freisian mare that is the same age as Wifi, is staying at the old farm with my horses for now. The owner of the barn she had been working at got all pissy and changed the agreement so Amy left. Shes already found another barn to work out of and its a nicer place during the summers, in the winters it floods quite bad. All the turn out and the arena are too wet for winter use.

I have to go get hay and store it inside the foaling stall in the old barn, under lock and key. I don't need any more of it getting stolen.

Amy brought over a lot of grass hay for her mare, its nice hay but the guy charged her way too much for it. Its the same crap ORCHARD GRASS that he sold us for an outrageous amount. Fucker.

Foal Video

I absolutely LOVE this video.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10203123247014504

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10203123247014504

 

So much going on

Last Saturday Wifi had her second dressage show, at Peteton Farm in Olympia. Once we picked up Audi from Delicias farm, Wifi was a happy camper and she then proceeded to act like a seasoned pro.

In the warm up arena she was nice and calm, doing everything she was asked to do.

At one point another horse bolted and threw its rider. Wifi stood perfectly still and respected & trusted Delicia, even when another hors reared up right beside her. She did tuck her tail but still stood still.

 

 

 Wifi's first class was Intro A and she was the first horse of the day to use the outside full court dressage arena.

Here is her start.

 

First tracks

 

Excellent trainer in action, coaching Caryn on Audi.

 

We were all surprised to see these results and

WOW,

check out her score!

70.938

 

I'm so impressed with my mare.

 

She wasn't too happy to wear this ribbon though.

 

At 10:17 she entered the ring for her Intro B class.

Halfway through I saw it happen, she said 'I'm done' and faltered, right in front of the judges

(of course), in the middle of the arena going across. But Delicia told her she will finish so Wifi did.

 

 

 

And they WON that class too.

68.125

 

She also won 2 bags of carrots and two $10 gift certificates to a tack store.

She's earning her keep!

Here she is just chillin', waiting for the results. 

 

In other news:

Triathlon

The Kitsap Tribabes had their first BRick on Saturday, which I obviously missed, so I completed a 6/1 brick on my own today. I needed air inmy tires and couldn't find a pump so had to ride down to Lans work because I knew there was one in the car there so not only did I ride 6 miles but I had to come back up Mullenix too. Good job me.

 

I have a date at 7am tomorrow with Windy to swim at Wildcat Lake then ride bikes either  on the trainers or on the road for an hour. It feels g so good to be getting out.

 

I have another date Friday with Amanda to ride mountain bikes at Banner Forest.

Good times.

Next Dressage Show

I've got the paperwork for Wifi's next show, it will be held in Olympia on June 7th. Lucky for me that's a Saturday & I'll have it off so won't have to worry about work. But it is also Daves retirement party and I can't be late or miss it at all. I missed Terry, Rich & Lisas Tri Birthday Party last week for Wifi's first show.

I have ordered her a new blanket and matching lead rope in Royal Blue, since shes royalty.

I'm pretty sure I ordered her a solid blue blanket, not this plaid one but I should have ordered two of them. Next time I go to a tack store I'll get her another one. This is to help prevent green poop spots on her gray coat on show mornings.

 

In other news:

 

Today Lan & I went to Seattle. Here he is at Starbucks, waiting for his coffee.

 

Look, they are opening a store in our name!

Club Meetings

Yesterday Lan & I went to the triathlon club general meeting for the first time in a while, it was about 40 miles from home. I was dressed in my skinny jeans, looking dang good.
The owner of the bike shop where we had the meeting gave a good talk about why you need a bike fit (at his store for $250-$300 each) and then he told us about his heart attack last December.
Wow, a guy who is so fit and healthy too. He is better now but scary.

The bike shop provided cut up veggies for us, yay!!  I was super glad that they didn't have chips & crap.

Tonight I had a SeaSpots Appaloosa Club meeting over at The Riding Place. Just Sue & 1 other lady attended. I paid dues for Lan & I for the year and my Penny-A-Mile fees except I didn't tell Sue how many miles I've gone yet. Added them up, so far I've ridden 39.25 miles without counting miles, rides or time on Wifi or during lessons. Anna, who is 8 or 10, has ridden over 300 miles so far this year, shes super cute and way more serious about riding than I could ever be. I hope I take second, behind her.

Somehow Meghan will still find a way to get more miles in the saddle than I have, no matter what.

Diet:
Today was our forty first day, first day without the hCG injections. I have lost 18.2 pounds and gone down 2 pants sizes and look & feel pretty good. No more muffin top, or at least if I suck it in while in public and not slouching.

Its time to start getting some exercise, stretching and working out. Today, tomorrow & Friday we will still be on the 500 calorie diet, after that we will increase; me up to 1,100 - 1,200 calories per day. Lan will need more as he works out harder.

I sent in my registration papers & $75 fee for TriBabes so I can join in without feeling like a mouch.

Wifi has been moved over to the Triple T Ranch, the place Lan and I made an offer on last winter. Poor girl, shes standing in water. She would be in mud but she HATES mud so wont even walk in the wet dirt. Thank goodness I can go over & lunge her all I want. Maybe I could actually ride her tomorrow too. I'll take my saddle over.

I want to bring her home, do NOT like her being wet. Its bullshit. But Delicia thinks I need to give her more of a chance to be away from home.

PNER Convention

Sarah and I went to the PNER Convention in Portland, OR last weekend. They had a lot of very informative classes to take, like lameness, hoof info, nutrition and ask the experts. It was fun and I learned quite a bit.
But I had the most fun at the USED TACK SALE. I bought a LOT of shit!

 

 

 

The red thing is a Pas-a-fier. You install it into a corner of a stall & supposedly they play with it. We'll see if Wifi likes it. I paid $10 for it, its about 30 in stores.

 

On the left are wide trail stirrups with cages to keep my feet from getting stuck if I fall off on a trail ride. I paid $50 for them, I saw new ones for $80.

 

There are some D ring savers I paid $5 for, I had seen similar ones online for 10 but I wanted some and these were there. You use these by hooking them around the stirrup bars and hooking your breastplate to it instead of the D rings on the front of your saddle. I'm sure with enough torque the D rings could be pulled out & its expensive to have them replaced correctly.

 

I got 2 pair of black stirrup leathers, nicer ones for the Bates saddle which I will use with my new Herm Sprenger stirrups with I paid $80 for (including shipping) and am waiting for them to come in the mail.

 

Then there is a water tank heater that goes in the plug, I paid $10 for it. I have a floating one but thought I'd give this a try, see if it works. It might leak.

 

And a soft fluffy ovation fleece girth in size 26 (Wifi size) for $20 and a girth extender $5 to make the girth fit Joey.

 

I also found a green biothane crupper for $15. I've never used one but I'm going to try this. I'll lunge Joey before I EVER  get on a saddle with it. The crupper holds the saddle back so it doesn't slide up onto your horses shoulders and neck when he's sweaty and going downhill.

 

So now I have everything I need to use the Bates on Joey without having to borrow stuff from Delicia.

 

 



I am borrowing a biothane bridle from Tina to try on Joey (for sale for $25). Its red, like this one, except no reins. I'll find some nice comfortable reins to use, I think these biothane ones could cut me if he pulled hard.

And I got me another pair of full seat Kerrits breeches in blue & black, just like my others but half price.

Now that I have so much endurance riding equipment I need to start riding more. This evening I checked out boarding barns in Phoenix, AZ, just in case Lan & I ever decided to move there.


It sucks to fall off

I fell off Joey yesterday at the canter on a trail. SHIT!  Landed hard on my right hip, so hard that its not even bruised just hurts to high heaven. He shied from a stump and I fell off. Doh!

Otherwise it was an OK ride. I'm having a lesson tomorrow, I'll ride him while Delicia rides Wifi.

Have a prospective new boarder but I doubt I'll take her horse on. She wants a place to dump it & only come out to see it once a week or less. I don't want to clean its run. So I'll prolly tell her no. Maybe I should tell her no before she even comes here.  Her horse needs her to pay attention to it.

Switching Horses

Should I ride Joey for endurance this year?

He is 18 come April and hasn't been ridden a whole lot for years but he absolutely loves to go out on trails. I rode him the other day and he had a good time. I rode Wifi in a lesson and we were all over the place. I'm wondering if I should ride him this year while she continues her education and then next year I'll be a better rider and will be better for her. Joey is so forgiving of my crappy riding but taking lessons on him while Wifi is ridden by Delicia is helping me, a lot.

I found a used horse size biothane breast plate the other day, picked it up for $10. Its $115 new.

 

It needs to be washed & I can just throw it into the dishwasher for that. The cool thing is that I *think* I have some reins that match but might have sold them at a BIG ASS BARN SALE last summer. I'll have to dig around in the tack room to see. I'm going to be on the look out for more biothane items, like a halter bridle combo. I'm also hoping that I'll lose some weight before we attempt a lot of miles so he can carry me the whole way.

 

Wifi got her new girth & bit, too bad Joey is so much bigger than her that I'll need a different girth in order for him to use the Bates saddle. Delicia will be helping me size the saddle to him so I can get used to riding in it.

 

I also picked up 2 pair of Kerrits breeches, full seat. One is polar fleece, should be nice and warm, the other is regular.

 

 

 

Sarah and I are planning on riding a lot but so far she's ahead of me in miles. One things for sure, I'll be KICKING ASS on the Sea Spots Penny-A-Mile this year. No way is Meghan going to cheat and win, cheater.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Triathlon news:

Tomorrow morning I have a 3.1 mile run I'm hosting along Beach Drive.  @ months ago I paid $25 for this virtual run. They say you can run or walk any distance, any time you want before the end of February so since several people I know signed up I decided to organize a run. Maybe 5 people will come, or maybe only Lan & I. But no matter what, I'm not wearing my medal until I EARN it.

I'll print out official Bibs too and after the run we will enjoy a hot Chai tea and wear our medals.

 

 

It will be fun, especially if Windy & Terry go too and a couple other gals said they would like to run too. 

Wifi's lesson today

Wifi had another lesson with Delicia today. It wasn't the best lesson ever, in fact, all Delicia did was lunge her. Wifi was high as a kite excited and nobody needed to get dislodged.

Sarah was there with her girls & they were making a lot of noise. Teri, Lance & Brent were there too, talking and standing around. Wifi is used to me & Delicia, not a bunch of other people. Sarah also had her mare in the arena and they aren't friends yet. YET.

The first thing we did was try Teri's endurance saddle on Wifi. Standing there she was fine, it fit pretty well but as soon as she started lunging it started pounding on her back and making a lot of noise. She started bucking and she just doesn't do that so we took it off. Its a nice saddle but not for my girl.

I'm shopping for a Bates Isabell Werth now.

Wish me luck.

Horses

 

I'm going to be changing this blog around a bit since now

 

I'M AN IRONMAN

 

 

I've had Delicia coming over for the last 10 days & working with Wifi and they are doing wonderfully together. Wifi is NOT the bucking, rearing, non-work-ethic horse Kate was saying she is. Delicia has been my friend & Dressage trainer for about 6 years and I don't know why I didn't use her in the beginning with Wifi.

 

Here they are in a photo take on Tuesday. Wifi was happy and willing to work, she was forward, her ears were perky and she was ON.

 

And then they were cantering. Nice and balanced, steering perfectly around the circle & not into the trees. They made 3 laps before they stopped and it was beautiful.

 

Delicia was SO happy with her; Wifi did a spectacular job.

 

Then I decided to ride Joey but he was being a pill so I lunged him first and as you can see, he's quite fat.

 

As I attempted to put the saddle on I discovered he is almost too fat (again) for the Passoa saddle. Crap. This happened once before and Delicia had to loan me a girth extender.

Joey wasn't at all thrilled to be getting saddled and he was a jerk. I got the saddle on & at the arena he bolted, took off and ran with the lunge line dragging. After a few laps I was able to catch him so he could run. And run some more.

I wasn't too thrilled about getting on him after that so I was slow and careful, extended the stirrups way down. And when I did finally get on we just stood there, didn't take a step.

After a full minute I just got off. That was enough for me. I'll try it again when other people are in the arena and after hes had time to really stretch his legs.

 

Something About Horses

Craig Alexander

 OK, before we get to the horses, the above photo is Craig Alexander after his Lake Stevens Half Ironman WIN yesterday. I was hanging out near the finish line & saw many of the pros chatting & I asked if I could get a photo with him and of course he said yes. He's so nice, polite and happy. He chatted about his race with us. He was freezing, I should have given him my jacket.

Wait, I'm sure he's got lots of FINISHERS  jackets of his own to wear.

I was there to cheer Windy on her race, her A race of the season. She finished in 7:49:44. Her swim was very fast but she felt sick coming off the bike and felt like puking in T2. But she bucked up and FINISHED well. I'm so proud of her.

Ok, now on to the horsey news.

Wildfire, aka Wifi

Wifi has been at Kates' farm for the last 3 weeks, for training. I'm not a trainer and never plan on being one so when I need help, I have to find it. I asked Kate to ride/train her 4-5 times each week for a month so she could get miles on her. But Kate told me 2 days ago that Wifi needs a cowboy to ride her, she needs a man to do it. Kate said Wifi had been bucking and rearing, things that had never happened before, ever, with me riding her. Kate also said Wifi needed to learn a Whoa and to steer. But she HAS a WHOA, an excellent one and I can steer her with my pinkys and legs. I didn't understand why Wifi would be acting up now.

So Wifi came home with me today and Delicia came over to help. What a HUGE freaking difference!

Wifi had a sore back before we put the saddle on her. Everywhere else seemed fine, just along her spine was tender. We used Delicias dressage saddle because mine don't fit her too well.  First she was lunged then Delicia mounted her and she was fine. Then they walked off and had a most excellent ride. no bucking, no rearing. no arguments or anything like that. Wifi tried to go to the gate a couple times but Delicia started turning her earlier so it became a non issue. They rode around for about 15minutes, walk & trot & then they were done.

I got on for a couple circles around the arena at an easy walk, she was responding to my leg, fingers and seat. When I asked her to turn she did it easily and when I wanted to stop she stopped, by the use of my seat. No bucking or rearing.

When we unsaddled her Delicia once again ran her fingers down her back and IT WASN'T SORE ANYMORE.

So to make things clear, Kates riding is what wasn't working out. She was fighting small battles, making them into a war and ignoring the fact that she was ruining my horse. Thank god I brought her home instead of leaving her there.

I'll never use another horse trainer, ever. I love Delicia.

Back to NORMAL

A little over three weeks ago I became and IRONMAN. Now everything is back to normal and I'm enjoying life to the fullest. I haven't ridden much or done much of anything for that matter. I'm taking it easy, got myself sick when I did that long ride.

I have ridden with Lori once, just an easy 15 miles, I've swam a few times and NO running. The blisters are still there, some have opened up & I've trimmed off the flapping skin, some are still intact. But its still painful if too much friction happens and the new skin is tender.

lake dirt on foot

Horsey News:
Today I went horse back riding with Sarah on my horses in Banner Forest for the 1st time all summer. What a lovely day!!  She rode Joey and I was on Sunshower. We rode for about 2 hours and it was fun. Nice and relaxed, no hurrying. Joey didn't pull back when we were saddling him. There was no kicking or bitching.

Sunshower is barefoot so her feet were ouchy. She needs a trim desperately so now is a good time for Gary to put front shoes on her.

Wifi is in training at Kates barn. I was there last week to watch her lesson and shes coming along OK. But just OK. I don't know how much time Kate is riding her but Wifi doesn't seem any farther along than when I was riding her 2 years ago.

I've made arrangements for Delicia to start giving me lessons here at home after Wifi comes home. I like her and the way she teaches me and I need guidance but I cant afford another month for Wifi to live with Kate. And Kate wont come here and Delicia WILL come here. Plus, I've known & liked Delicia for a long time and Kate is mad at her & unfriended her on FB and I don't understand how someone could do that. This is my way of showing her that I still care for and like her.

Taper week

I have 13 days until my race. This morning I woke up, not knowing what kind of exercise day to expect, since I didn't check my schedule last night.  DAY OFF!!  So I'm going to get some work done around the house, maybe clean the barn.

These last 2 weeks have been crazy. I worked 33 hours two weeks ago, then just a couple shifts this week but they were midnight-4am and one midnight-9am, those KILL me. They totally ruin any training plans I might have.

I did have a few good workouts. On Tuesday I swam 2.5 miles at Wildcat Lake, first time ever to go that distance. I was exhausted afterward and scarfed down a sandwich Windy brought for me. but I got it done.

My wetsuit wasn't on right and I fatigued my left arm/shoulder on that swim so the next day I had planned on 100 miles on the bike but due to arm/shoulder pain (it hurt just being attached to me) and Barbara backing out at the last minute as riding partner for second half of the ride, I didn't ride.

Weekly totals for June 3-9
Swim: 6 miles
Bike: 52.6 miles
Run: 4.8 miles
Total Time: 9:30
Total Distance: 63.4 miles

I am now officially in TAPER mode and even though I wasn't last week, I'll call that a pre-taper week. This week I'll still be putting in just as much or more hours working out. As long as I DO it and don't get called in to work. I'm only scheduled for 2 shifts, one of which is done for this week.

 

Sad news: My Timex watch is beginning to fail me and I'm afraid it isn't going to Ironman with me again. The buttons wont work and the timer has decided to start/stop of its own free will. I can't have that! If I think I have 5 hours left but really only 4, I'd never make it. Just cant take a chance like that.

 

Horsey news:

Wifi survived a week of training with Kate & she's going back for more. I'd love to have her in training for a month, living there, so she gets 5 days a week.

Triathlon has given me many things

I'm going into my 5th year of triathlon, before that I didn't even know what one was.  But since then I've gained so much, mostly due to triathlon.

new friends
memories
toys
time with Lan doing what he loves
learned to swim
learned about my body
sporting magazines

I could go on and on. But the most important thing is that I have met so many wonderful people. The Kitsap TriBabes are great & it feels good to ride with them, they think I'm something special but I just like to see them try hard.

West Sound Tri Club has a lot of members that I can call friends. They are also the ones who have taught me the most about swimming and lead the Masters swimming at Bremerton YMCA and Triday Friday. There are a lot of them that do a lot of Ironmans.

I have a couple new friends this year that I'm really liking, Windy, that drove me crazy for a long time, until I got to know her. And Heidi, who thinks I can do no wrong. I like both of them a lot.

I can now read a magazine and know so much about the sport, then I go thru the same magazine & check out all the ads for things I'd love to have.

Swim Lesson with Ryan

How is training going? Very well.

Tonight I had 3 choices, go to the lesson with Linda & Marilyn and blow off Ryan, or not swim at all. I'm pretty sore from the race yesterday but I thought swimming might help. I also didn't want Linda to know I was having a lesson with Ryan so I let her talk herself into her not going.

I met Ryan at the Bremerton YMCA pool at 7pm. He let me warm up a few laps, then he filmed me for 2 laps. Then we proceeded with the lesson. He was very impressed with how fast I was learning and how well I already knew how to do some things, like the little stick trick Marilyn taught me last week. He showed me more things, how to lift my elbow high but drag my hand through the water, how to do the Superman float, how to twist/rotate just enough but not enough while keeping my head neutral. He was really happy with it all and had me doing things that he said normally take people a lot longer.

At the end of the lesson he took another video of me swimming again with the new things I had learned.

Of course, I'm not telling him either that I'm taking lessons with Marilyn.

Hes going to put the video together and send it to me so I can see the differences.

One thing I learned is that I need to breath more to help  me float better. I can easily go 6 strokes without breathing but then I start to sink.

Overall, I'm quite glad I went swimming tonight. I have every confidence that I'm going to finish the IMCDA in well less than 17 hours.