12 days and counting

As it gets closer to the WEG (World Equestrian Games), time seems to be going faster. There is still a lot to be done and not much time to do it in. I haven't had time (or the energy) to do much with the horses, besides an occasional lunging and neck scratch.

Tomorrow, Monica and I are heading to IKEA to look for a few items for the Akhal-Teke Breed booth. We need some stools, something to put the display table on, once it's done and a few miscellaneous things. Then, I need to build the display table, finish ordering the booklets, fill out the vehicle manifest, get my camper and truck in for servicing, load same camper and truck and also the trailer and get on the road around the 17th. And, Zach starts school next week, so there is a bar-b-q to go to, my husband is in AZ for the week, and we still have all the farm chores to do. Yep, a little bit busy! I think it will be a relief to actually get on the road and drive to Kentucky!

Although this is all very busy and more than a bit stressful, I have to say that I'm having fun. I'd sure hate to do something like this on a daily basis, but as once in a lifetime event...priceless!

Summer Fun

Well, at least my idea of Summer Fun! Trail Riding! Galen and I got to sneak out yesterday for a rather leisurely ride at Lord Hill. He told me it's been awhile, seeing cougars and bears behind trees. This was probably the hottest ride I've been on (yes, doing kid stuff this summer, almost exclusively!) and we went down to the river, to find...horses tied all along the trail! I could hear lots of laughing and giggling, but wasn't going to run the 'butt gauntlet' to get there, so we turned around and went back. I was a bit disappointed, as the river access is only in that one spot (or, at least access I would be comfortable taking my horse to), and it sure sounded fun.

I don't think we're up to summer endurance rides yet, judging by yesterday. Have to get much more acclimated to heat. Both of us!

I am spending a lot of time at the computer, working on plans, info, etc for the Akhal-Teke Breed Booth at the World Equestrian Games. We're now less than 50 days away from the opening ceremony and we have LOTS to do. Check out www.akhaltekebreeders.com for full details or go to Facebook and search Akhal-Teke Breeder's Co-op. Whew!

Buckskin Filly

The vet came out yesterday to preg check Annie and YEAH, she's pregnant. I'm sure Salam is a bit miffed that he doesn't get to try again, but I'm sure thrilled. This will be baby #10 for Annie, so she's certainly doing her part to keep the Teke breed going. Happily, all her offspring are very nice, useful, athletic horses, so that is OK.

I just got back from Michigan, where I spent a week with my folks. I brought Seattle weather with me (2 days of rain and thunderstorms!), but we had a lovely time overall. Of course, now I'm catching up at home, for even though the kids and my husband (and boarders) all pitch in when I'm gone, things do pile up. Makes me wonder what will be waiting for me when I get back from Kentucky in October. I'm going to set up and host the Akhal-Teke Breeder's Co-op booth at the World Equestrian Games and expect to be either on the road or in Kentucky for almost a month. If you're interested in that, we have a website at www.akhaltekebreeders.com

So, not much else, but I just had to share that we'll have a foal coming next year and right now it's a ...buckskin filly.

Breeding is hard work

My vet was out yesterday to ultrasound Annie (Anastasia) to make sure she was ready to breed and that her uterus looked good. As Annie is 19 years old now and this will be her 10th? pregnancy, I want to make sure everything is perfect before breeding her. The vet gave her a big thumbs up and said "Breed her NOW". Salam, was, of course, very enthusiastic about this. I drafted Monica to help me and got all the equipment ready. Now, usually when one breeds horses on the farm, it's a pretty simple operation. Unfortunately, Salam broke his neck several years ago and while he's servicably sound, there are certain actions he has a hard time doing, including live cover breeding. So, we opt for the safer, less frustrating ground collection and insemination. He was taught very well how to ground collect (it's just collecting without a phantom mare, with the person handling the AV standing next to the stallion) and within 30 seconds or so, we had our breeding dose. Monica did a great job handling him, although he's such a gentleman, I'll probably be able to do this without a second person sooner or later. Then, Annie was inseminated and the deed was done. Scooter thought the whole thing was pretty strange and that we were really neglecting him, but he got some neck scratching when we were done.

So now, we wait for approximately 14 days and we'll have Annie ultrasounded again to see if she became pregnant. Right now, it's a buckskin filly....

Trail ride with my Husband

Yes! Larry has been taking lessons for about a year now (thank you Kay!) and this is our second trail ride in the last few weeks. He has gone out before on Maz, but Maz is only up to a fairly short ride, so now he's riding Taz, Wendy's QH x Teke cross. Taz is pretty well conditioned now, as Monica has been riding him and has done a few rides at our Endurance rides on him. He's also a really good boy!

So, Friday morning, we hooked up the trailer and hauled up to Mann Road. Last time we went to Lord Hill, which is a lovely park, but Larry wanted something a bit wilder. So, Mann Road it was! We got there around 11 and were the only vehicle in the parking area. Got all saddled up and headed out. Lar and I had agreed we'd do around 1 - 1 1/2 hours, as his longest ride has been a hour. No problem, I don't want to scare him off!

Mann Road has a variety of trails, from pretty easy ones to pretty tough ones, but I picked some nice, reasonable ones for us. We went down to the Snohomish River and I got a bunch of photos of them there. We then came back and went over a few bridges, up and down some creek sides, through some creeks and down a steep hill. Taz and Lar did great. We got back to the trailer at right about 1 1/2 hours ride time, which was just enough for Larry. Nice weather, not to hot or cold, no bugs, no other people. Not bad. Then, we headed out for lunch at a lovely little restaurant in Sultan we had never tried before. Wendy had recommended the Sultan Bakery and it sure was great. Really good sandwiches and the baked goods looked fantastic (but we declined). Taz went home with Wendy for the weekend, as she's hoping her honey goes riding with her.

I'll have photos when we find our camera cable to download them!

Fun Day

Today is Thursday and we're heading into the 4th of July weekend. Summer appears to be thinking about it - I actually took my sweatshirt off for a while during paddock cleaning today. The mud is almost gone now and if we have a few more dry days, the paddocks will be completely dry.

I did get a nice ride in on Galen today. It wasn't a trail ride, as I'm mom the taxi driver right now, but some dressage in the arena was very satisfying. Our crowning achievement today was a shallow loop of counter canter. He held his rhythm and most of his relaxation and I didn't drop the ball either. Big grins all around. I also lunged Danny a bit and will start riding him again very soon. I think he's going to be great fun and arena work doesn't seem to be boring to him (unlike Galen!).

Monica and I are also planning some photo and video days, once we have slightly more sunshine to work with. Have to get some of Scooter before he gets gangly!

I'm hoping our neighbors don't feel they need to have fireworks wars - last year I swear that between 2 neighbors, we had over 2 hours of continuous fireworks. I know small towns without that much! Fireworks don't seem to bother the horses much - they just comment on the weirdness of humans- but they sure stress me out. I guess we'll see!

Working on the website!

I've been taking advantage of our cold, gloomy, rainy, yucky weather to update my website. It's not quite done, but with over 70 pages on it, changes can take awhile. I'm going to add another blog to my sale horse page, so that I can do updates quickly. That way, when we come out with new photos or videos, I can post them right away. Or, that is the theory!

Galen thinks I should be riding him and even though he's out on a pasture with his absolute best friend, he's let me know that I am sorely abusing him. We'll see what he says when we get back to work (probably, 'it's about time!'). Our next planned ride is Renegade and I hear that it's very hilly. This should be a bit of a challenge for us, as Galen prefers flat land. We've done a lot of conditioning this year at Lord Hill, so we'll see what happens. I'm going to stick to the LD, and we'll go from there. The kids are now out of school, so my time is going to be a bit more limited, but I'm hoping to make it to a few more rides this year.

So, off to pick up kids now and that website update should be up in a day or so.