[Ag-eq] my packing trip

Sun May 9 20:34:05 UTC 2010

Nella,

Oh no, he is slightly sway backed and hasn't been ridden for about 20 years. 
I had to personally stop riding when he was about eight years old because I 
was going through so many eye surgeries.  I still took care of him, feeding, 
grooming, mucking out stalls and taking care of my tack.  Different family 
members and a friend or two rode him for me.

One of my friends, tony, who is now totally blind, would ride him around the 
farm quite often.  He had very little sight then and whenever we saw Beau 
back in the shed yard, we always checked to see if tony was still on his 
back.  Tony may not have been able to exactly been able to see where he was 
going, but we knew that as long as tony could stay on Beau's back, Beau was 
going to be able to make his way back to the shed yard.  Beau never went far 
from Princess or Dayjo.

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: Sunday, May 09, 2010 8:45 AM
Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] my packing trip

> Susan:
>
> I'm assuming you don't ride him any more?
>
> How long were you able to ride him?
>
> I sure hope my mules last that long; 2 of them are in their twenties and 
> going strong.  The other is 16 or 17, so I don't have any youngsters. 
> I've always been told that mules live longer than horses, which I hope is 
> true.
>
> Nella
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Susan Roe" <dogwoodfarm at verizon.net>
> To: "Agricultural and Equestrean Division List" <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2010 6:01 AM
> Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] my packing trip
>
>
>> 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
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Ag-eq mailing list
>>>>> Ag-eq at nfbnet.org
>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ag-eq_nfbnet.org
>>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>>>> Ag-eq:
>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ag-eq_nfbnet.org/dogwoodfarm%40verizon.net
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Ag-eq mailing list
>>>> Ag-eq at nfbnet.org
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ag-eq_nfbnet.org
>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>>> Ag-eq:
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ag-eq_nfbnet.org/nfoster%40extremezone.com
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Ag-eq mailing list
>>> Ag-eq at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ag-eq_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>> Ag-eq:
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ag-eq_nfbnet.org/dogwoodfarm%40verizon.net
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Ag-eq mailing list
>> Ag-eq at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ag-eq_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>> Ag-eq:
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ag-eq_nfbnet.org/nfoster%40extremezone.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ag-eq mailing list
> Ag-eq at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ag-eq_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> Ag-eq:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ag-eq_nfbnet.org/dogwoodfarm%40verizon.net 