Birthday Weekend

Happy Birthday to Derek!! He turned 37 this past Friday.. To celebrate and to do something different this year, we opted to go to Silver Ridge Ranch for the weekend, we needed a mental break and I knew he would love the trails over there...

I was hoping my saddle would show up before we left town on Friday, Derek actually drove around Snohomish looking for any UPS drivers to go up to, incase they had my saddle! :) He didnt find any.. I had procrastinated on ordering Dereks birthday present so it was not here on his birthday, so I gave him a temporary iTunes giftcard to tide him over for his real present, although he loved the iTunes, so it was a win-win. We had made chili a couple days prior to take on our trip, it was our first ever attempt and it turned out pretty good I think. Not as creamy of a chili that we are used to eating out of the can, but it was pretty darn tastey.. good enough to be comfortable feeding to others.... Maybe a little regretful taking chili on a weekend where you are confined to a small camper with no air flow to move the fumes during the middle of the night... PWEW!

As we were driving through Carnation, my dad called to let me know my saddle was at the house! Darn, we missed the delivery by less than an hour.. Oh well. The weather Friday was terrific, mid 60's and after helping Tyler set up his tent (he has a cast from wrist tumor surgery), we were finally able to sit and relax. I realized in setting up his tent how glad I was to have upgraded to a camper.

We did then get the boys out for a nice 1.5hr ride along the creek. On the way to the creek, we were following some very fresh bear tracks on the trail under the powerlines.. claw marks and all.. :) Derek really liked the trail, the creek was beautiful and the only issue was a downhill creek crossing that Red did not want to cross at first.. I think he was going to jump it, so we backed up the hill and tucked in behind Edgar and he easily walked over it.. Oh I have to say that I put a rope cinch on Red, I had found it in my old tack trunk and I also borrowed a breast collar from Penny, between those 2 things, my saddle was a lot more secure when mounting. It still moved some, but not nearly as much as it did before. I really feel the cinch made most of the difference and am very happy I can continue to use my new pad. Red also was walking out well and was not slip sliding away on the trails. They are fairly dry trails, but the few downhills we did encounter over the weekend, not one slippage of his back legs...

So my dad allowed us to take as much of his wood as we needed that was down by the firepit, the wood we took had been cut into rounds more than a year ago, so we anticipated it would burn fast as some of it was very dry and falling apart.. so we took lots! Well Friday night as we are burning the wood that Jon/Arlene purchased (which was super dry and dissappearing rapidly) well we started to throw on the wood we got from dad, and it was not burning at all! We finally after about 30 minutes pulled the one log out and the fire hadnt even broken through the outer layer.. Derek split it and the inside was wet wet wet.. No wonder it wouldnt burn.. So then he went over and grabbed the piece that was so dry the inside fell out and it was a hollow tube.. they broke it into pieces and OMG, that damn wood refused to burn as well.. So then we put the 1x6 old fencing board on the fire from dad's stuff.. do you think it burned up quickly like normal 1x6 wood should.. Nope! it slowly burned. I sent dad a text at about 10pm and told him this wood was "crap!" lol The next morning he saw the message and responded that it must be the altitude! We all laughed.. We left that shit wood for the next camper to use.. We figured they would be thankful for this big pile of nice wood, made us look good for leaving it behind, little do they know.......

Friday evening about the same time I sent off that text to dad, I get a text.. a random text that you forward around and around about women etc.. It was an Eastern WA # but I had no idea who it was from, so I text back and said "Who is this?" I got a response "This is Christine, I own Charlie Horse".. Charlie was the last horse Carrie sold, about 6 weeks before she died. I actually sold Charlie for Carrie, he went to this very nice girl, he was her first horse if I recall correctly. Mom Carrie & I delivered Charlie to Christine who lived in Omak, it was a fun girls day on the road, around the beginning to mid October. I had wondered a few times if she still had Charlie and how she was but lost her information, so I was glad she randomly sent me a phone text.. I told her about Carrie, she was upset of course and welcomed me to come see her and Charlie anytime I was in the area, so I actually would love to take her up on that and stop by if I ever get that way...

As we saddled up Saturday for our ride that day, the weather looked fairly nice but questionable so we packed the horses and prepared for rain. I drew up a map for Tyler and Kathy so they could find their way to the lake and/or the creek trail.. they took the dogs with them (Russell and Kathy's dog Brownie) and opted to drive around vs hiking, it was great that Russell had company while we rode. As we headed out, we could hear lots of gunfire in the distance.. my gut told me they were shooting out at the lake and most likely shooting out towards the water as there are many trails that follow the lake for a long ways.. As we get to the lake, we realize we are still a little ways off from the shooting, but close enough to be a little uncomfortable. I should have just turned us around and went off another direction, but that slight stubborn streak in me, wanted to follow the lake trails because they are really nice trails! I wasnt about to let some gunfire ruin my weekend, dammit! Jon/Arelene seemed ok with it, we followed the trails hoping we would eventually see the shooters so we could be positive they were shooting away from us.. If we could just get behind them... We did hear atleast one ricoche bullet but no idea again which direction it was heading. I did vaguely recall Derek saying he was not comfortable heading towards the shooters, but I didnt listen :( We finally came up right behind the campsite of the crowd, there were a lot of them there for the weekend and they seemed to have taken a break finally from shooting. The horses all seemed okay, they were "aware" but not worked up. We did ask the campers and confirm the direction of fire, which was out towards the water. We rode past them down the beach quite a ways and got off, tied up and ate lunch. Just as we were eating, it started to rain a little, and then a few minutes before we were ready to head out.. damn, the gunfire started up again. Not sure why this time it was different but Edgar was NOT a happy horse! He became VERY spooked, he wouldnt stand still, he was pushy and almost aggressive with his behavior. He didnt want to listen to Derek, Edgar was on the verge of exploding. I actually took over for a few minutes because I feared that Edgar might do something really dumb, Derek immediately went into defensive mode and I dont blame him because this was a completely new behavior he had never seen from Edgar, me either actually. We could not get him cinched up, definately could not get his bridle on, Derek was unable to put a water bottle back in his pack.. it was a little nutso! So we started to lead the boys away as calmly as we could. Dollar (Jon's horse) seemed to be OK, so Jon got on after a few minutes of walking but I was not going to get on until Derek was safely on. I offered to trade him horses, but he was not in the mood to consider trading, he wanted to work through this with Edgar and get the hell out of the area. We made it back into the woods at which point Arlene opted to get on her horse CK who seemed fairly calm by this point. We told them to just ride ahead because Edgar was really almost out of control nervous and I did not want him causing the other two horses to get upset. I figured we'd hook up with them down the trail after a while.

I led Edgar for a while and every time he thought about calming down, more gunfire would go off. Now by this time we are as far away as we had been before lunch when Edgar was just fine.. so I really dont know what burr climbed up his ass. I handed Red over to Derek so I could try to get Edgar bridled. Well every time I attempted to bridle, Edgar flung his head up knocking my arms out of the way, then he'd dance around. At one point he actually flung his head which caused me to have to take a step back and being in the woods and not on any designated trail, I stumbled, fell to my back and Edgar was walking right at me!! I almost panicked because he was NOT paying attention to me on the ground whatsoever.. I started to slightly yell at him and shook the leadrope saying HELLO ASSHOLE, I'M DOWN HERE AND NOT IN ANY MOOD TO GET RUN OVER!! I finally was able to get my balance and get up, he got a few spanks. I was not spanking him in frustration, although I was slightly frustrated, but he was acting a little dangerous with NO regard to me and that is NOT ok! I was still completely shocked at how bad he was behaving, this is the Steady Eddy type guy, the one you should always be able to count on.. Who was this beast that took over??

I kept breathing calmly and finally he relaxed for just long enough to get the darn bridle on him.. Derek led him down the trail a little longer and as we were walking, I see Tyler and Kathy driving down the beach, so I walked Red back out of the woods to let them know what was going on, just to catch up for a second.. by this time, nothing else seemed to be working to calm Edgar. We told them we couldnt chat long, just needed to get on our horses and get moving. Derek got on Edgar finally and started walking around and I was leading Red over to a big log, had him step over it, but then he kept going, so I turned him around and stepped him over the log the other direction, he then backed up off the log so I got him to come up sideways next to the log and just as I did that, Derek comes over and says "Quit talking to Tyler, we gotta f*ing go!!" Well I wasnt just standing around shootin the shit, I was attempting to mount my horse who was much calmer than Edgar, but slightly worked up in all the commosion. I got on and told Tyler, sorry but we are outta here! We headed back into the woods to find the trail away from the gunfire, Derek at this point was very aggitated and pissed off. He and I were not in any position to be chit chatty.. I was not upset with him, I was proud of him for wanting to work through with Edgar and not being afraid of him. I could see he was not angry at Edgar or me, but he was angry and frustrated at the situation we were now in. We found our way to the gravel road and took the first trail in, attempting to ride away from gunfire. I knew the trails fairly well, so I knew how to keep us going in a direction to get away. There was this trail that would take us up an old logging road to a nice lookout.. we would be climbing and since Edgar was in no mood to walk, he was jigging quite badly, maybe if he had to work, he'd tire out and relax. So on the way up the hill, he was still slightly trotting and Derek wanted to be in the lead. I rode quietly behind, just watching my poor husband ride this bouncy damn horse. I offered many times to trade him, I would gladly attempt to work that jiggyness out of Edgar but he was adament that he do it himself..

As we rode up, we came across a major washout and could go no further, bummer! It used to be a great trail. So I rode past Derek so I could get behind him and turn around, he says "What are you doing, I want you in front of me!!" Well I suppose I was supposed to read his mind to know on the way down, he'd want me in front.. I let that little spat go and quietly got in front of him, every bone in my wanted to snap back at him at this point because he and I were not communicating really, he was in no mood to chat. As we approached the bottom I decided maybe he would take some tips on what I would do if I was riding Edgar to get him to start walking again.

I was happy and very much relieved that Derek wanted to listen and take my advice so he did. We stopped at the bottom of the hill and he would tightly circle Edgar in a very calm manner and then ask Edgar to stand still. If Edgar moved, then he would circle and circle and circle again.. then ask for a stand still. We did this for quite a while and it helped. Edgar was not jigging as badly but he was not 100% calm either. We were headed towards the woods, back to the creek trail. As we rode, Derek started to talk a little about the lake experience and prior to lunch and how he was upset with me for not listening to him. I was just so set on showing him these great trails, I didnt want to let a little gunfire ruin our day! :( And again the horses rode before lunch with tons of gunfire going off and they were all fine. I have no idea why Edgars attitude changed for the next round.

As Derek was somewhat snappy at me, I started to cry as I rode behind him, I had ruined our weekend, ruined his birthday, what a disaster.. I was just very upset with myself about the whole thing. Oh and by the way, we never did run into Jon/Arlene.. they had rode ahead on their own which I am glad for because Edgar was such a turd that I wouldnt have wanted him to be around any other horses. So anyways, like nothing could get any worse or the shit hittin the fan anymore.. just as we are a minute or so away from entering the woods.. BANG BANG!! Right infront of us.. somewhere in those woods, someone just fired off 2 or 3 rounds.. SONOFABITCH! Zero gunfire had been happening in the woods and now all the sudden as we are headed that directions, towards safety that we think, more gunfire which was even CLOSER than what we experienced at the lake.. Now I was pissed.. Derek who was in the lead immediately turned his horse around and had this look of "ARE YOU F*ING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW!!" I knew better than to even speak a word.. I just cried as I rode along. Every now and then Derek would stop Edgar and do the circle exercise because he still was not walking...

After another 20 minutes of silence, Derek finally stopped Edgar, waited for me, grabbled my hand, apologized for snapping at me and we started talking again. I was not mad at him for snapping at me, I blamed myself and I knew he was in a situation he had never been in, Edgar was not acting normal and he was trying to cope with that and learning how to deal with it all. I apologized for everything that had gone wrong that day. When we got back to camp, Jon/Arlene's horses were already put away and they were sitting with Kathy and Kathy's yearling she had brought along on the trip. Edgar FINALLY was standing still at camp.. We decided we wanted to keep the horses out a little longer to end the ride on a more positive note because Edgar jigged all the way until we got to camp. So we told everyone we would be back in a bit, but the horses were not done for the day. We follwed a trail that follows the road and I-90. Edgar was walking!! He seemed pretty relaxed actually. We came across Tyler and Kathy on the road, chatted for a few seconds, told them we'd be back at camp in about 30 minutes. Derek and I joked and laughed about random things and now that Edgar was relaxed, Red was not so relaxed! LOL.. He was a bit jumpy with the I-90 noise and distractions.. As we rode back into camp the 2nd time, he actually spooked and humped up just a few feet from our trailer when a tractor started up.. silly horse! What a long day that was...

We both were happy and relieved to be back on the ground, safe and sound. The horses were back to normal. I spoke with Miki who owns Silver Ridge, she told me the shooters are not supposed to be out there, that it is not legal. Especially the one in the woods.. But then Tyler and Kathy said they ran into a ranger that day and he said it was completely legal as long as they are being safe and responsible, but that they do monitor the situation to ensure safety. Well I dont know about you, but the more I think about it, the more I feel it is completely unsafe! I have ridden my horse on the other side of the lake, in the direction of the gunfire. I know they were firing at targets.. but the ONLY thing behind those targets, was air! and below the air was water and behind the air and targets was a huge lake and a shoreline across the way with other trails.. And then there is the ricoche, where do those bullets go? Derek says a bullet can travel 1-3 miles! The shooter in the woods, the area he was at, there is not a safe place to shoot in there... I have ridden that area a lot... There is a creek and trails, thats it! I am going to put together a letter and write to the ranger district in that area and also encourage Miki of Silver Ridge to do the same. I am all for going out and shooting at targets in a safe area, but that area by the lake is used by hikers, bikers, ATVS, horses.. NOT a safe area to shoot and although I do plan to go back to Silver Ridge, if this type of gunfire activity continues, I might reconsider and Miki as an owner of the camping facility, I'd think she would be very concerned if people were opting out of her campground because there is too much gunfire in the area.. so maybe she should work on getting the shooters out of the lake area as well. And it has NOTHING to do with the way our horses reacted. I am OK with what happened with Edgar.. It sucks that it happened and he was so reactive to the situation, but that is on me. I obviously need to desensitize him more to gunfire so my issue is not about my horses.

As we sat around the campfire Saturday night, Derek and I were able to laugh about our behavior and make light of the situation.. which was great that we did that because neither of us wanted to dwell on it.. it was what it was!

In our campfire conversations, Arlene was talking about a horse she owned or looked at, can't quite remember.. Anyways, she says the horse seemed to have hock issues. Tyler is standing, stoking the fire and he stops.. looks at Arlene with a very puzzled look on his face and says "Hockey Shoes?" LOLOL We all busted out laughing.. He just looked at us like we were crazy and we explained it was Hock Issues.. not hockey shoes.. lololol It is still very funny!

Sunday morning we all packed up early, it was a beautiful morning. The sky was clear and it clearly was going to be a 70 degree day. I had wanted to get on Red and just ride around the airfield bareback once, but unforseen circumstances came into town the day before and I was unprepared, so we just loaded up early and headed out by about noon.

We did eat lunch before heading home, for whatever reason, Derek decided an MRE (Military packaged meal) seemed more appealing than a tuna sandwhich. So he ate that while we all had normal meals. We keep a few of them in our camper so we can take them out riding with us, they are a good thing to have incase you ever get lost out in the woods and need it for an emergency source of food. Russell was a really good camp dog, sometimes we put him in the truck and as long as the door was open, he'd just sit there.

We got home and reluctantly got everything unloaded, camper back off the truck and to the chairs we sat to do a little catch-up on a few shows. Derek then spent a few hours uploading his iTunes music while I snuck off to bed.. I was exhausted. Overall it was a terrific weekend, just wish we could have stayed another day. Instead of a birthday cake, Derek had wanted a rice crispy cake and from now on, that is his cake of choice! :)