We are in Nevada!

Well, we are now living in Smith Valley, Wellington, Nevada. We have 5 acres, a geodesic dome house, and two garages with an apartment above one of them. Mern built the apt with the help of his son Corky and handyman neighbor from Jim M.It is lovely here!! We have four horses on the property: Ice, Kipling, Lucky Girl and Subha. Flambeau is down the road with Jim being test driven( ridden).Jim will spoil him and has already provided him with a cutie little mustang mare. If Jim likes him, we will have four horses on our hay bill. We are technically 20% richer!
The weather is still cool but on average about 10 degrees warmer than Laramie. Lot less wind, although I've heard it can really tie one on from time to time. So far, other than one snow storm, the weather has been delightful. Miss everyone in Laramie but hope to stay in touch. 
Looks like I have enough project material to keep me busy in 2014. Or maybe for the rest of my days!

 Below is the grotty ceiling in the MB. Scrubbing still leaves it stained. I'm thinking Kilz! It actually looks better in the picture due to the flash i think. It's pretty yukky!

The master bedroom in the Dome house. 
So far just lots of vinegar and Simple Green. The walls are still stained with grime and smoke. Carpets have been ripped up and floor scrubbed with bleach several times.

The bathroom ditto but the tiles are in good shape!!

Surgery day for Meniscus repair

Had surgery for a torn Meniscus on Tuesday. See me here
in one of those sexy hospital gowns! All went well but i will still be hobbling around for a few weeks. Gotta rest up. Well at least its not riding season.

 The big news is, we are finally moving to Nevada! We have a wonderful couple taking over the daily operations of the ranch so we will be able to take off into the sunset. We have already taken a load of 'stuff' to the Dome and next is the trip with the horses. Stay tuned, more to come.

3 originals by Ronnie

Moab Canyon Endurance Ride 2013, The Ride according to Kip

See me here with my cutie Duna in the background. She worships the ground I trot on. As well it should be!

The trip to the ride was uneventful probably because uncle Gary was driving and I was happy in the back snuggling up to the cutie Duna giving me no reason to cause the usual havoc. When we arrived, the monkeys did their usually scurrying around setting up corrals etc while a big ole hot air balloon hovered above. I told all the horses to 'RUN FOR YOUR LIVES' but noone fell for it.Dang. I'm losing my touch. Spoil sports! 
The weather was lovely and all the monkeys were happy, smiling and having a good time which is always good for us coz they have more energy to bring us buckets of goodies with enthusiasm.
Even  'I' was pretty well behaved. Well, for a good part of the time anyway. I just had to bump on one of the innocent by standers right at the end. I had enough of waiting for Duna's pulse to go down. I wish i could have got it through to the monkeys that Duna's pulse was so high because she's so totally in love with me and that just makes her heart go crazy. The monkeys wouldn't listen anyway. I had to carry my monkey up all the hills as well as tail Uncle Gary AND my lovely Duna. No worries! 
Patrick was there and we ran together with that foxy Vixen and her monkey Jimmy the Greek. Patrick's monkey kept yelling at me to slow down. I do as she says coz she's a nice monkey and gives me treats at the Vet stops when my monkey FORGETS to pack them.GRrrr!  Patrick and I did have a bit of fun talking to the classy mare at Global Endurance. She said she wanted to have a go at the 'lose the monkey' game she'd heard about. We gave her lots of ideas. Some of Patrick's ideas were pretty lame but i had some good ones. Only trouble is, she wasn't listening! I told her to run and buck several times and aim the monkey at something solid like a sign; preferable near the edge of a cliff. What does she do? She chooses a dinky little 'Caution Horses' sign that wouldn't hurt a fly. She lost the monkey alright but no sooner was he back on board like nothing happen. Geeez!And she's not even a palomino!
Now that grey mare of the monkey called Lydia has real brains! Get this. I wouldn't have even thought of this one.( Well maybe) On the LD first day her monkey gets off to squat and pee. That grey mare 'accidently' gives her a little bump and knocks her bum first into a cactus patch!! Brilliant! She gets my vote for brains of the year! See here a pic of Aunty Bon working on that bum for hours. 
Well, we completed all three days and had a great time. They say its the last time this ride will be held. I suggested that we the horses take over from the monkeys but apparently the aerc wont give us points for that. Silly bloody monkeys. Till next time
Trails and bales! Kipling.

 Uncle Gary with the strange object!

 Uncle Gary lookin' good!

 See that fire comin' out of my bum. I am the greatest!!

 John Wayne country!

 My ears!

So I told him, the monkeys need leadership. Always make the wrong thing easy and the right thing difficult. It takes lots of repetition............

Oh this was precious! Aunty Bonnie worked for hours on this.

The World According to Kip, National Championships, City of Rocks, ID 2013

Click images to enlarge.

Vettec National Championships 2013 , City of Rocks, Almo Idaho.

The World According to Kip

So off we go to the National Championships! Yay! Didn't get to go to the Basin Pioneer Ride last month due to an annoying little but very nasty rope burn on my foot! Monkey's fault of course! She took Subha (the little floozy) who only did half of what i could have done but was, I've been told, very well behaved. Yuk! Makes me want to puke!!!

Got a good start on the Thursday before the ride, travellin' along nicely then BANG, turn around and back home. What the...! Something of unknown origin smashed out the back window and really shook up the monkey! Fixed and on our way again. Travelling alone in the back sucks (and i made that known of course) but before long we were pulling into Aunty Beth's and Uncle John's place in Evanston for an overnight stay with my buddy Phantom and is herd. Thought maybe Patrick would be there too but....no Patrick. So i just had to pace all night and give that monkey a well deserved ulcer.

Next morning we left late again due to ANOTHER drama regarding trailer wiring or something. Those monkeys really have a hard time getting it right! Got going around 10 am and now I'm with my buddy Phantom so all is right with the world. Not perfect mind you, as still...no Patrick.

Arrived in camp around 4 pm. Nice place. Lots of horses coming in off the 50 mile ride. Some looked pretty tried. Whooses!

Saturday was a day off. The monkeys seemed to like that and i have to admit, it mellowed them out a bit but personally I'd rather get out there on the trail. I heard from one of the whoosy 50 milers there was lots of grass out there. I got excited! Tomorrow i get to do my two favorite things in the whole wild world..... run and eat! And for 100 fantastic miles Yay!!!! 

I didn't see the monkey until about 10 am on Saturday and when i did she looked awful. One of those migraines again i bet. She must have got rid of it cuz she took us both for a walk in the afternoon. There was a lot of grass even in ride camp and I taught Phantom how to play one of my favorite games called 'stretch the monkey'.He agreed it was a lot of fun.

Aunty Beth showed up a little later in her little green Beemer car. Green is my favorite color. I wonder why? 

We had a good restful night. Still no Patrick but I had Phantom there right next to me and it turns out he has some really intelligence things to say.

Next morning i got a little worried about the start time. At the Big Horn we would have been into the ride by 2 1/2 hours. I thought maybe it was cancelled and got really worried. But 6.30 am came an we we off and well...not really racing. The monkey has turned into a bit of a whoos too. She doesn't want me to go lame she says. I say to hell with it. I have four legs don't I! I could hop along on just one if I really had to. Anyway, the Vet monkeys would never go for that so I'd better do as I'm told. Puke! 

Speaking of puking i had to feel sorry for Aunty Beth, Phantom's monkey as she was a punky monkey for the entire ride. I knew my monkey wouldn't leave her so i taught Phantom to walk really fast and to grab at the salad bar without stopping. It saved us lots of time and we ended up enjoying a 100 mile picnic while the monkey's, sick and well, ooooed and ahhed at the scenery. Which was pretty cool I'd have to admit. The sick monkey was entertaining us by describing some really weird things that weren't even there....... da da da da da da da da! 

There was a nice big monkey at the vet stops who gave us some really yummy mash but nothing compared to the scrumptious salads on the trail.That was Uncle John. Thanks Uncle John.You are a good monkey!

And now we are CHAMPIONS! We completed our picnic ride championship in 18 hours and 35 minutes. I suggested we break loose and go back to snack some more at the salad bars but Phantom had had enough so I did as i was told and went back to the trailer. Puke! Got lots to tell Patrick. By the way where is Patrick?

Elk Creek Pioneer 3 days LD on Subha

Kip couldn't go to th Elk Preek Pioneer this time around so once again 'the toy' stood in for him and she rocked! This is her first season doing endurance so we are still taking it easy. She completed 85 miles in the scorching desert of Northern Wyoming.Low 90's all three days. 35miles/25/25 and looking great. She was a very good girl in camp. No getting agitated or going through fences and running amok. Yes, sorry to say it Kip, but you were truly conspicuous by your absence.
Click image to enlarge.

I Know You Rider 2013 . A Kip's Eye View

Here I am. Still got the Monkey. Must be doing something wrong!

 The monkey's tired so I offered to write the blog entry.About time! I'm a little tired too after 155 miles in three days of heat and dust in amongst a bunch of silly monkeys dressed in hippy tie dye Tees seemly having a good time. I should feel happy for them I guess. Don't get me wrong, I too had a terrific time also for the first two days. I got to travel and hang out with my buddy Benny and that cutie mare Sky! OO LA LA! I tolerated being imprisoned on the high tie over night. The monkeys thought I would break out of the electric fencing and cause havoc around camp. The monkeys are, for once, correct!
On days one AND two I got to stretch out with my buddy Patrick, the stunning Akhal Teke, and decided, since noone really knows about my sordid background, that I too could very well be a Teke! So that's what I am. A 'want-a be' Akel Teke. I'll keep that high bent 'nicely at the poll' head set, slant my peepers a little and convince the monkey to write my newly found identity it on my registations. Patrick said he'd back me up!
So it was two days, fast times with some chowin' down on that scrawny but yummy dried up grass.The monkey tried to get me to eat the green stuff. Yuk! They are sooooo mis guided sometimes! Got back, not too much fussing around, hung out with  Benny and the cutie and rolled a lot. There's nothin' like covering the monkeys and all their precious possessions with nasty dust. Great way to end a satisfying day blazing the trail!
Then comes day three. Where's Patrick? His monkey decided she had a good time but two days of heat and dust was a enough. My monkey then decides she wants to ride with the manager to chin wag and lolly gaggle and pick up a silly ribbon here and there. I told Phantom, the manager monkey's gelding, to toss his monkey off at the start but he didn't have the right technique and she just put a big dent in another monkey's truck, shouted a few naughty words and got back on. Dang those manager monkeys are tough!
So get this, my monkey  knows I want to move out like I did with my 'cousin' Patrick but thinks she wont be able to find the 'day three' trail without the banged up manager! Phewy! I knew exactly where to go. Don't need no stinkin' ribbons either! Oh, I was grumpy! But get this!! She started me out in a stupid little 'nin on over none on' halter thing. I was really mellow in the morning. Just waiting for Patrick but.......remember.... NO Patrick. So there was nothing left to do but....have a trantum. At least that was fun and pretty easy without the big ole stopper in my mouth.I got whacked alot with some silly little stick with fluff on the end. Something Sky's monkey gave my monky. Didn't hurt much. Just sort of annoying really. She got me good with it once when I tried to bop her out of the saddle with my the top of my head. Gosh, I must be getting old as my aim is shocking these days. Anyway, I'm sort of satisfied because a caused so much havoc at the Vet stop that the head Vet monkey took off down the road. Oh that was soooo good. But DANG, the other monkeys made him come back and do all that touchy stuff that i hate so much. Well, I guess you win some and lose some aye.
Ok, so I enjoy two out of three days and am not even gonna talk about what happened when we got home and that silly monkey tried to fuss with me and I got tangled and about killed myself on a long rope. These monkeys don't learn very well. Sometimes just when you think they've 'got it' they go do something stupid AGAIN! Geez! I try to make the lessons very simple, break them up into steps (usually on their feet) be consistent and persistent and reward the slightest try. Still, they've just gotta keep fussing around!
Oh well, I've got two weeks now to think of some new strategies for the next ride in Basin, Wy at the end of the month. And maybe my monkey will have learned something!
Oh, and the monkey woke up and edited this so any grammatical errors are not my responsibility! Kip 

GEEEZ!!

Happy Jack 2013

Photo by Pascal Karl
Happy Jack two days 50 miles each day. First one barefoot.Fantastic ride!!! Great job Haeberle family with Yvette at the helm. Great food by Yvette's gorgeous friend Seth from sunny California, wonderful people and speccy scenery.Kip completed two days of 50 miles and i finished with a lot of horse to spare. I even got off and ran down a few hills. Paying for that now. What was i thinking?

Big Horn 100 completion 2013

 Gary Brown and I went first of all to Dorothy Sue's and stayed the night. Its always great to visit with DS and she has a lovely place to rest the horses. Of course Kip 'did not' rest. He did a warm up 100 miles pacing in the paddock up and down probably all night.
Arrived at ride camp on Friday arvo and set up next to the wonderful Haeberles.See here a pic of Joe, Gary and I heading for the ride meeting which is held in the Shell Community Hall. Yes, we are riding like silly children in the back of John's pick-up.That's our mountain waiting for us there in the back ground.
The ride itself is spectacular. Expanding canyons loom up after daybreak to take your breath away and the climbs and decents are grueling. Gary and I rode together the whole way and our horses paced together well. Gary decided Duna and Kip were magnets as Duna would move only a short distance from the Kipper before locking back into him. And we made great time in spite of the fact we experience the 'battle of the boot' where Gary had to get of about 10 times to fix D's easy boots and i just simple lost Kip's glue ons and replace them with easy boot gloves at the vet checks. If it wasn't for this, I think we may have been in around midnight. We made it in at 3.02 am. Once again, there was a mishap with trail marking for about 12 miles in the darkest part of the ride. The new solar lights were there....but not charged!Whoops!  Thanks to Joe we made it down the mountain Ok. Joe and Scooter are veterans now and know the trail well. Now I have my own equine GPS in the name of Kipling. Next time it will be clear sailing down the mountain!
Yvette was not far behind us on Roscoe the wonder horse and was greeted by John and the super crew at 3.27 am. She too is now a 100 mile rider with a 100 mile horse! What a ride! 
Callie and Jesse had to pull at 75 miles, still a distance to be proud of. Callie and boyfriend Ben had everything ready for us so we could crash after vetting our amazing horses in. C and B, we love you!
The help at this ride was amazing. Thanks John, Laurel,Ben, Callie and my little  buddy Bryce for taking care of me and my horse along with a million other things that needed tending to. And let's not forget Tim French who just seems to be everywhere at every moment helping everyone. He sure was a hero when he turned up at the bottom of the mountain with water for the horses.I thought they were going to drown themselves they we so thirsty!
A big thanks goes out to the Tolmans, Vets and volunteers who put this ride on year after year. After two tries, I have my buckle will be back again some day to challenge the mountain.
(Hannah Pruss went on to win the ride after a nasty fall at the beginning left her with a badly injured wrist!)

Ronnie and Kip.

Shamrock Endurance Ride 2013

Shamrock ER was fantastic as usual! Rode Kip day one on the 55 and Subha day 2 on the 30 and my friend Becca rode the 55 day 3 on little Subha. Great time had by all and I managed to stay out of the typical mishaps that frequently occur in the this sport. This ride was no exception. (eg Two women sent to hospital with injuries, bull charging a horse, friend horse kicked and lamed up by its buddy and i heard a horse fell out of a trailer gowing out on Friday afternoon.Oh and a whoopin' and hollerin' Indian on a paint horse in little attire galloping around camp!)
Photo by Karl Creations.

Marty Mc Smarty! One laid back Arabian!

Wyoming Pioneer ,Basin WY 2013

Great ride at Basin this week end! Completed 50 miles with Dorothy Sue on Friday. Got very sick with some kind of big, bad stomach bug on Saturday then completed the 55 mile on Sunday with DS and Gary Brown. Gazza  got BC and was the only one to complete all three days total of 155 mile!! And we were just tickled to finish with good lookin' horses! The Tolman rides ROCK!!!

Subha, an Endurance horse now!

My buddy Callie rode Subha (not selling her now) on her first 25 mile at the Wyoming Pioneer in Basin. Finished looking like she could have done a fifty mile easily. Looking good!

Three weeks Down Under

Just spent the last three weeks in South Australia laughing my bum off with sister Julie. It was hot and everyone was whinging about that but i thought it was great! As you can see, i picked up an endurance ride. See here me riding Rebecca, a grey Arab/Australian Stock horse cross. Had a fantastic ride and enjoyed the terrific hositality of the SA endurance riders.Got to help set trail and do a little running around in the vetting ring and that was a hoot! Thanks to Bob Masters for taking me, and his friend Dennis for loaning me his lovely mare. Thanks also to Ray and Dianne and their super family for having me in their home.
Oh and as you can see....the Queen was there!

Setting trail for the Mt Gambier endurance ride.No body in this vehicle  seems to knows where we are suppose to be putting the arrows. What a hoot!

it's 2013

We had a lovely New Years Eve with friends Chris and Melanie. Mernie set off fireworks outside in the cold while we watched through the window.