Long Weekend

I found this on FB the other day and was able to go there to get it later that same day & bought it for $1,000.  I'm stinking excited about that.

This is directly out of the barn.

And this is at home before being washed.

Very dusty. I hadn't realized they had shocks and springs but this will make for a nicer ride.

There are a few things that need repairs and we're going to be working on them:

Black polycarbonate, also needs a piece in front of the tool area, under the front of the seat. The drivers seat has damage & it too needs to be fixed.

I'm sure the wheel hubs need grease, brakes checked and shocks checked out. 

Lan also found the double tree for the marathon cart, up in her barn above the tack room behind a bunch of other junk. Getting into that tack room was a chore, we had to go through the back of the barn and the old man had been a hoarder and never got rid of anything. 

This harness came with it and I'm sure they had it connected incorrectly, I *think* that strap behind the tug isn't supposed to be connected to the breeching. It doesn't matter, I'm going to put the wooden cart back together and put this harness with it and sell it as a set.

I found this cart online Thursday and we went to see it that night, and I paid her $100 down to hold it. 

We went back Friday to pick up the cart and at that time Lan asked if we could buy this lean-too for $100 and she accepted. 

So we returned Saturday to get that. That's when Lan found the biothane harness and I took it because the cart came with a harness, which I didn't take. I did find another saddle & didn't take it but should have. Oh well.

Paying $100 for this lean too was crazy as the panels are at least $200 new, they have no rust and are heavy duty. There are 3 panels, plus the roof is in good enough shape to reuse. One roof panel is broke and I think we need to replace it with a center strip of clear or opaque so we have more light in it. 

We are planning on putting the cart and Kenny under this lean too, behind the barn.

 

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!

 

Re-evaluating Life

 I've decided to not do the John Wayne Riders & Wagons ride across Washington state this year. Its been a Bucket List item for 30 years, I wanted to do it with Joey but never got around to it. Now, I have Amble and was planning on it with her this year but we're not ready; I don't have her saddle figured out, I don't have a cart that fits yet, I don't have money ($3,500) to buy the cart offered last week, I need to sell these ones that I do have that are way too small and I don't have the $2,000 to pay for the ride this year.

We DO need to go to Pioche and work on the house there and we do have cash for that but its a separate account and neither of us are getting into that money.

I also have a big too much personal debt and can certainly pay more of that off.

I'm sad today, having made all these life plan changes.

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.

 

IVC Carriage

I have to leave for work in 35 minutes and there is a package from IVC Carriage being delivered sometime in the next 2 hours.  I'll have to hope they actually bring it HERE and toss it over the fence or that Lan can come home and bring it inside and stoke the fire at the same time.

The box has cart and harness parts and next week I should be getting another one, or 2.

This is the dirty cart. When it was given to me it was supposed to fit a 16.2hh appaloosa, she had actually used it with him for 4-H, but this is for a 14hh horse.

Theres a little wear on the wood, some from weather, some from rubbing on her horses.

A couple of the bolts are missing.

I sanded them lightly to get the old shine off,

then I applied Polyclylic.

One coat of this did not make it shiny but many coats will BUT the gray on the wood is still showing up. Oh well, since this wont work for me I'll be selling it anyway.

All the money I get will go toward another cart and I seriously hoping Teresa and Will have one to sell.

 

 

Labor Day Weekend

 I have two appointments at 11am today, one with a new dentist office and one phone call with the anesthesia office. I hope I can wing it for the phone call.

I have no plans other for the weekend, not even working, yet. This last 2 weeks I've gotten 15 hours of OT with OT the week before as well and that's straight back from surgery and extended medical leave. My check will be nice but it's exhausting working so much.

We had a shift bid for the Fall season (September 21-December 21) and I have chosen a 30-hour PT selling shift instead of being on-call this time around. I can sleep in every day, still feed all my animals and get home in time to feed them again. There is potential for a few more hours and I could potentially work another shift on my days off. If this doesn't work out financially for me, then its only 3 months and I can go back to oncall but I'll be expected to do graveyards a lot. If thats all I would have to do it wouldn't be so bad but mixing them up with 4am and 2pm starts is fucked up. I've offered to do the graveyard if they extend it to five 8's but 'we can't do that'. Well fuck you then, no one will do it.

Next Friday I have the procedure to remove the stent from my bile duct and there's probably no issues to be expected. Unless my stomach decides to over react to the non regulated bile or something?? That will be done on Friday September 6th. The following week we will need to go pick up Ambleside from her 3 months of training. I'll probably get a lesson with Wil at that time. I will FOR SURE ask them to help me fit the biothane harness to Amble so I wont be guessing.  I should ask what size shafts Amble will need so I make sure the ones on the cart are alright. I did tell Wil that they should sell me one of their marathon carts since they have so many. 

Black Orchid Ambleside

This was the trucks maiden voyage with the camper and I'm happy to say it did OK.

We got a late start and arrived at the area we like to boondock well after dark, so it was a bit difficult to find a spot. We did check out Kaner Flats but it wasn't on the river side of the road, and they wanted $10 to camp and I almost paid $40 because it was dark & didn't notice till the next day that I had put two 20's into the payment envelope. It's a good thing we didn't stay at that campground.

So this is the view we woke up to.

Our morning lesson with Amble turned into an afternoon lesson so we had 6 hours to use. Lan decided we should go check out Boulder Cave (it's only $5) and after the Ranger said it's reservation only, he said there was an opening so took our money and let us go in. There were only 2 other families there the whole time. It's a short cave, maybe 100 yards long and pitch-black inside. Its got bats but we didn't see a single one, since we forgot to take flashlights and my phone light sucks. But we still enjoyed the trek.

This little guy was on the hand rail of a walkway and we're sure he was trying to not get eaten by the Garter Snake that was hanging out below him. We left them both alone.

And, at 3pm, we got to see Amble. 

I got to drive my own horse!!!!!

I have a long way to go with driving but I hope I don't do her, or me, any harm. I definitely need to begin to use weights, my arms and hands were sore after I was done. And my feet were tired after being on the back of the cart for most of the hour from leaning to the outside of every turn.