[Ag-eq] my packing trip

Sun May 9 13:01:02 UTC 2010

Nella,

Yes, Beau Beau is really 38 years old.  He was born here when I was ten, I 
got him when I was twelve and I turn 48 in June.  He is Mustang/quarter 
horse on his mama's side and Tennessee Walker/Quarter horse on his daddy's 
sie.  He is a dark chesstnut with dark bay markings, four white stockings 
and a white blaze.

Susan
dogwoodfarm at verizon.net
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Nella Foster" <nfoster at extremezone.com>
To: "Agricultural and Equestrean Division List" <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, May 08, 2010 3:52 PM
Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] my packing trip

> Susan:
>
> Is your horse really 38 years old?
>
> What kind of horse is he?
>
> I think I hit my helmet on a fallen log on my way down, but don't really 
> know.  Mike didn't see it happen, so doesn't know either.  He said he her 
> heard me say damn-it Allie and then a crash.  We were going pretty slow 
> and I'm sure it must have looked funny!
>
> I had been wanting to get a new helmet any way!
>
> Nella
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Susan Roe" <dogwoodfarm at verizon.net>
> To: "Agricultural and Equestrean Division List" <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, May 07, 2010 8:51 AM
> Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] my packing trip
>
>
>> Nella,
>>
>> How wonderful for you.  I'm so glad you and Mike enjoyed yourself, it 
>> really sounds like a beautiful place to camp.  Don't you just hate it 
>> when the trip there and back is harder on you than the actual roughing 
>> trip itself?
>>
>> You actually cracked your helmet?  That had to have been a pretty good 
>> lick, thank God you were waring one.  The trip sounds really great.  Matt 
>> is my outdoor cook and I'm the prep and clean up person.  We've done 
>> trail rides around here and when I was younger, my uncle would get a 
>> group together and go up to a place in the mountains here in Virginia 
>> called Big Meadows and then ride down the mountain to meet back up with 
>> the trailors. I wasn't able to ride back then because I was going through 
>> all of my eye surgeries, so I went with my aunt and a few others who took 
>> the trailors back down.  My horse, Beau Beau, is now 38 years old, but 
>> he's still hanging in there.
>>
>> Susan
>> dogwoodfarm at verizon.net
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Nella Foster" <nfoster at extremezone.com>
>> To: "Agricultural and Equestrean Division List" <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2010 1:42 PM
>> Subject: [Ag-eq] my packing trip
>>
>>
>>>I think I mentioned that I was training my mules Jack and Cricket for 
>>>packing.  They were doing very good, so my boy friend and I decided that 
>>>they were ready to go since they acted as if they had been packing their 
>>>whole lives!
>>>
>>> On Friday, April the 23rd we left for our big packing trip.  We went to 
>>> a national forest area in the Superstition Mountains, which is about 2 
>>> hours from here.
>>> Half of the trip is on a long, narrow, winding and hilly road.  The last 
>>> 8 to 10 miles is on a dirt road.  It was a terrible road for a horse 
>>> trailer.
>>> I thought that Mike, the animals and I would all die before we ever 
>>> started the packing part!
>>>
>>> I was so relieved when we got to the trail head in one piece.  It takes 
>>> a while to get the animals packed up.  Everything has to be weighed, so 
>>> that each
>>> side of the pack is evenly balanced.  The majority of the weight was 
>>> horse pellets.  We had to take enough food to feed Mike's horse and my 3 
>>> mules for
>>> 3 days.  It took us an hour or so, but we were finally ready to go!
>>>
>>> It is about a 10 mile ride to the camp site.  We camped at an old ranch, 
>>> which is now national forest.  The trail was pretty good; the footing 
>>> was good,
>>> but a little rocky in places.  There was quite a lot of brush, so I was 
>>> glad I wore my chaps.  There was a lot of gradual climbing with a few 
>>> short and
>>> steep areas.  There were several ledges, but they were fairly wide. 
>>> After the road to the trail head the trail was a piece of cake!
>>>
>>> Mike rode his horse and lead Jack.  I rode Allie and lead Cricket.  It 
>>> started getting very windy and cold after about an hour into the ride. 
>>> I hate riding
>>> when it is windy because I can't Hear.  The wind made it almost 
>>> impossible to hear Mike, so I just had to trust Allie and hope for the 
>>> best.  Allie didn't
>>> let me down and we got through a couple of tricky areas with no 
>>> difficulty.  It took us a little over 4 hours to get to camp.  We were 
>>> all pretty tired
>>> by the time we got there; I think I had to drag Cricket the last couple 
>>> of miles or so!
>>>
>>> Jack and Larry, 2 guys from our riding club had ridden in the day before 
>>> and set up a camp.  They were there to meet us and help unpack.  Our 
>>> camp site
>>> was beautiful.  We were in a valley with a lot of grass, some trees and 
>>> a stream.  The animals could graze, so they were happy. We had to hobble 
>>> them or
>>> highline them; they are fine with both.  We had to walk them to the 
>>> stream 3 or 4 times a day for water.
>>>
>>> On Saturday Jack and Larry went for a ride, but Mike and I decided to 
>>> hike instead.  We explored the valley and the old ranch area.  There is 
>>> nothing left,
>>> but the house foundation, parts of fencing, some abandoned farm 
>>> equipment and an apple orchard.  The apple trees were blooming and 
>>> smelled wonderful.
>>> We saw a grazing mule deer and all kinds of birds.  We waded in the 
>>> stream, which is very cold.  We had a great day, just relaxing in 
>>> nature.
>>>
>>> We were able to build a fire for cooking and heat; the nights got below 
>>> freezing.  Mike is a great camp cook and made wonderful meals the whole 
>>> time.  The
>>> nights were wonderfully quiet, with only the sounds of nature.
>>>
>>> Sadly we had to leave Sunday, so Mike and I could get back to work on 
>>> Monday.  On he ride out Allie was acting up and I had a terrible time 
>>> trying to lead
>>> Cricket.  Finally Mike tied Jack and Cricket together and lead them both 
>>> out.  Allie finally calmed down, but not before getting us tangled in a 
>>> tree.
>>> I thought I could lean back far enough to slide under, but couldn't and 
>>> had to slide off, backwards and headfirst!  I wasn't hurt, but some how 
>>> cracked
>>> my helmet.  Allie was fine after that and we made it back to the truck 
>>> and trailer in 3 an one half hours.
>>>
>>> The worse part was we had to take the same rode out as we did in.  The 
>>> traffic was worse than before and I was a nervous wreck by the time we 
>>> reached the
>>> good road.  The road was the worst part of the whole trip.  Mike and I 
>>> plan on doing some more packing trips.  We both had a great time and are 
>>> looking
>>> for more places to go.
>>>
>>> I was pretty tired and achy after the trip all that time in the saddle 
>>> and sleeping on the ground wasn't in my best interest.  It took me a few 
>>> days to recover, but I'll definitely do it again!  Well sorry this 
>>> turned into a novel.
>>>
>>> Take care.
>>>
>>> Nella
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>>
>>
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>
>
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