What a beautiful weekend!

Saturday, Tracey and I loaded up the girls about 11am and headed to the Six-O ranch in Cleburne. What a beautiful day. The girls were good, the temps were just right and the calf fries were crunchy! Yes, you heard me. Kim, the co-ranch foreman, had made some calf fries for her son that is home from college. This is a working cattle ranch, so I guess they let nothing go to waste here. And to my surprise, they were quite tasty. I am a fan of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern on one of the travel/learning channels, so I have been getting brave on new foods. I tried Raccoon last year and it tasted just like Roast Beef. The smell, texture and taste were exactly like roast beef. No joke. The calf fries, at least Kim's, tasted a lot like chicken fried steak. Again, no joke.

Anyway, back to my original story. I wanted to try a saddle that Tracey has for sale. Needless to say, it didn't work. Summer wears a SQH bar saddle, but this SQH seemed extra narrow. I could tell by her stride and her mannerisms, that she was uncomfortable and probably a little sore. So we took a short cut and headed back to the trailer and I put my saddle back on her and used one of Tracey's Toklat woolback pads. As of Saturday, I am getting one. We did a good little conditioning ride with some gaiting, cantering, hauling it through the deer plots, going up the twisty, windy side then down the steep side of the big hill, and just having a good ole' time. We got back to the trailer and Summer had a perfect sweat pattern on her back. Plus, no sore loins. I have a pad that is great for her saddle, but have never been able to find another one. It is a gel pad that, thank you Lord, my barn owner gave me. I am affraid that I am going to wear it down and then be without. So, I have been on the search for another pad that will work. I have not been able to find a pad that works on Summer with that saddle without causing some sort of soreness issues. But thanks to Tracey and her owning more than one of these pads so that I may try one while she rides in her other, I have found another pad that is going to work. So, yeah for me and Summer. WooHoo!

Sunday, mom and Amanda came out to the barn. I harnessed Summer and put her on the "Dub" cart. She had a bit of an attitude at first but quickly quieted down. It has been a while since she has been driven. Barb harnessed up one of her mini's named Jon-Jon and June harnessed one of her mini's named Jerret. Mom got in with me and Amanda hopped in with June and off we went down into the pasture. Of course with Summer's "full sized horse strides" we lead the way, stopping ever so often to let the other catch up with their little "mini-legs". It was too cute watching those ponies take the trails we normally ride. But I knew which trails the cart would fit through and we all had a great time. Amanda even drove Jerret for a little while.

Once we got back to the barn, mom hopped on June's cart for a "mini-spin". Next thing I know, June handed the reins to mom. It was too cool seeing my mom drive her first horse and it only being the second time in a cart. A couple of minutes later, I turned back around to look at mom and June, and I watch June hop out of the moving cart! Course it was going pretty slow, but there was my mom, driving the cart by herself. Amanda was walking next to them with mom's camera and was taking pictures. It was so cool! June and I are trying to talk mom into going out there on Tuesdays and learning to drive a cart and that would give her some girl time as it is only ladies on Tuesdays. I really hope we can talk her into it.

I just had a blessed and beautiful weekend, and I am very thankful for it.

Oh, will post pics when I get them...

My "Dub" roadcart...

For the past several weekends, this one excluded, I have been working on refurbishing a roadcart I bought. It belonged to an old man by the name of "Dub" Miller. Mr. Miller was just a very sweet person and he knew his stuff about horses and especially about Crabbet Arabians. He passed away in November of 2006. Last year I bought his old roadcart and have now just started to re-do it.

It was blonde, I have had it stripped and have re-varnished it a red mahogany. I am now putting polyurithan on it. Once that is done, I will have to cut off the shaft tips and put on shaft extensions that I have also repainted. Then the seat needs to be redone. If my barn owner can't find the back to it, I will be building one of those too.

If you knew Mr. Miller, you would know why I couldn't just let this cart go to anyone. When he passed away, my Crabbet Arabian passed away a week later. That was a blow to me, but I wonder if Fawtal knew that Mr. Miller needed a ride to heaven, so he obliged.

Anyway, here are a few pics of where the cart is now. FYI, it had rained about two nights prior to the pictures and some rain/mud splattered it here and there, but nothing that couldn't be wiped off. That is what you see in the pics.