Welcome to JKs Rough String Ranch

Welcome to the Rough String, and thanks for stoppin' by!! Grab a hot cup of coffee and sit a spell!
10/22/18 You will see a name change on the blog. Lots of things have changed in my life in the past few years, and I feel compelled to share my story.

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Friday, November 14, 2008

What an awesome day!

I knew it was going to be a great day when I saw the moon hanging in the sky this morning while I was out feeding. It's hard to see...it's that lil' white ball in the center of the photo. Why did it look bigger to me this morning?? :~) But, it was still a good sign.




I haven't ridden Colt since October 29 when we had a cutting lesson. We've just had crappy weather. I don't have an indoor facility so when the winds a blowing 30-35 mph gusts, it's cold, and it's raining, it equals crappy riding weather to me.

Today was the first day of some decent weather...it was gorgeous!!! Usually I don't need to warm Colt up much, but after 2 weeks off and being brisk and fresh outside, I never want to take a chance...besides I don't like to have to fight a horse; just get the edge off of them and start.

Colt making a nice lil' outside turn in the round pen.








To continue Colt's warm up, I decided to take a little trail ride up on the hill. At the top of the 2-track leading up the hill who should we meet? None other than my bunch of yahoos...the Wild Bunch!
From L-R is Stetson, Catnip, Duncan, Coyote and Rohan


Well, at that moment, I made a change in plan...it was just too nice to let the opportunity go to waste...we're going to the top of the hill...just another 550 feet in elevation.



This is about half way to the top. It's the SE corner marker of the property.
BLM land is on the other side.




BLM put in a new fence a few years back. Here you can see the new fence on the left and what's left of the old fence on the right. BLM land is on the left.
We've still got to get up there and get the rolls of wire we rolled up 3 years ago.





Ahhhhh, we made it to the top! There's two lone juniper trees on top.
In this photo, facing south, you can see Riddle Mountain just right of the tree and
Steens Mountains are way off in the distance. They're probably 60 miles or so as the crow flies.



Facing west, it's hard to make out in the photo, but the blue way out in the distance just before the furthest ridge line is Malheur Lake. It's a Wildlife Refuge home to thousands of birds. It's the biggest body of water in Oregon, but the shallowest too.






I turn back around north and there is my Mister Handsome...waiting patiently.
He's a darn good colt for a 3 year old.
(No, I didn't have him tied with the reins...they're just looped around the post.)




Making our way back down, we come across a jack rabbit that thinks he's invisible.




We're standing on the rim top about 100 feet above our east alfalfa field.




This view is looking down onto the unfinished arena, the hay stack yard,
the Old Princeton buildings, and the west alfalfa field.



We (me, Colt, and all three dogs) had a great time. When we got back to the barn, I did do some flexing, arching, backing, and slow spins with Colt...I did say it was going to be a training day didn't I?
;~)

15 comments:

  1. Thanks for taking us along for the ride. Love the video...
    no, Colt's not cute at all. ;-)

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  2. Hard to believe that is a real place. It looks so peaceful.

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  3. Looks like you had a great day. Glad you had the camera with ya!

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  4. Ooh! Now I know who to come to if I ever need to buy some alfalfa!

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  5. Not much changes out that way. I know this land you ride so well it almost like I am there with you. My cousins place is not to far from you, but more back towards town. I keep tellimg him I need to bring the sillies over and let them be horses for a few monthes, and get real life training for the Mountain Trail Challenge. IS there still a post office in Princeton?

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  6. Looks like a great place to do some riding and real life training. Sure looks dry there. I think Colt's doing very well - and he's definitely listening to you and is a happy boy when he gets to come in. :)

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  7. What a great ride! I am so jealous of your land!! I probably bought hay from you last year, LOL!

    I went to a Parelli clinic in Redmond, Oregon last spring and we drove through the high desert...I fell in love with it! Do you get a lot of snow in the winter? What are the big rock stacks near the fences? My dad was wondering as we drove along.

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  8. I love your trails! And Colt is BEAUTIFUL! Can't really imagine the bad desert weather though... All we get over here are tropical storms during rainy season and harmattan dust storms during winter.

    Warm greetings from West Africa,
    Esther

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  9. I am jealous...You live where my heart is! Darling and I are ready to pack our bags at a moments notice and move there. Oh...she'll be green with envy when I point her towards your blog, she most certainly will.

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  10. Ah the old Princeton Post Office~~yep, we still have it. Because we don't live on the paved road, we have to get our mail at the PO. We're just 2 miles south of the PO. Actually the town of Princeton IS the post office...that's it!

    Rock cribs is what you're referring to Pony Girl. It's pretty hard to dig a post hole and the cribs are used in place of an H brace. The large round ones are called a Rock Crib and sometimes you'll see a triangular wood frame with rocks holding it down; those are Rock Jacks.

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  11. Your high desert looks so much like my high desert this time of year.

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  12. Great photos! Just beautiful there! Saddle time woo hoo! He is a nice looking colt!

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  13. Great day and I love your video. You have a neat life. So much to do and see -- although I do understand there's a lot of work on a ranch. Thanks for sharing.

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  14. Beautiful! What an amazing view. Colt is a handsome! Love the warm up video.

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  15. Thanks for posting this, ever since I first saw it on your blog I wondered, what's up there? What the view? Now I know. Pretty dang sweet for your backyard. And what a great horse Colt is. All of them look happy!!

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I love your comments! Let me know what's on your mind~~