Posted 2009-07-07 2:20 PM (#107653) Subject: sure miss the trails
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 522 Location: Tucumcari NM
I am green with envy of those of you who get to ride the back-country this summer. Since my mother's stroke I am pretty much glued to the house. Your posts and pictures are a real pleasure. Thanks everyone!!
Posted 2009-07-07 6:38 PM (#107662 - in reply to #107653) Subject: RE: sure miss the trails
Elite Veteran
Posts: 662 Location: Vanzant, Missouri
Oh so sorry to hear that your mom had a stroke. I lost my mom back in 02 from complications from a stroke. It's not an easy thing to go through.I'm heading to the mountains this weekend I will ride a few extra mile for you....
Posted 2009-07-10 1:35 PM (#107816 - in reply to #107653) Subject: RE: sure miss the trails
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 522 Location: Tucumcari NM
We are all aware of how devastating a stroke is to the person suffering it. Most of us never stop to think about the limitations placed on the care-givers. I guess I fear a stroke more than anything else in the world. Unfortunately, my mom is a long-term diabetic, and the stroke is a direct consequence of excess sugar. Hope everyone out there can take a lesson from my experience and take better care of themselves.
Posted 2009-07-13 5:07 PM (#107965 - in reply to #107653) Subject: RE: sure miss the trails
Elite Veteran
Posts: 662 Location: Vanzant, Missouri
Marla
Here are a few shots from my ride this weekend. I rode a new trail and ran into a bear. Scared the bejeebees out of me. I've been riding there for 6 yrs now and it was a first...We even had fireworks Sat. night. I watched them my horse Jr was standing next to me and I looked up at him and his head was up and he was watching them too.He is a good boy. My friend's horse wasn't doing so good...
Posted 2009-07-23 10:20 PM (#108456 - in reply to #108341) Subject: RE: sure miss the trails
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 522 Location: Tucumcari NM
Unfortunately Mom fell and broke her hip last week, as if things weren't tough enough already. This is beginning to sound like a soap opera. She is in a rehab hospital in Albuquerque. Don't know when or if she will be able to come home. Some of my siblings feel that it is time for a nursing home, but that is a solution that I just can't live with. There just has to be a way to keep her in her own home. We will just have to see what shakes out. Thanks for asking.
Posted 2009-07-23 10:59 PM (#108458 - in reply to #108456) Subject: RE: sure miss the trails
Member
Posts: 48 Location: Hooper, UT
I have a lot of pictures on my album and so do a lot of other people...there's so many nice pictures!...I don't know if you have looked at them and also on my blog @ http://www.trailcorral.net/
I hope you get to ride soon! I sat on my stallion the other day for the first time in months...It was awesome!!!! Of coarse I have paid the price for the past several days...but it was worth it! I hope to get to riding again soon...a friend of mine, one time bought me some dried horse turds wrapped in a gift box to the hospital...she said she couldn't be my horse so she brought the next best thing...his smell...
Posted 2009-07-24 5:58 AM (#108469 - in reply to #107653) Subject: RE: sure miss the trails
Elite Veteran
Posts: 681 Location: Corpus Christi, Texas
Nice pics Emily.. Your stallion is a good-looking guy..
Marla, sorry to hear about your Mom's continued troubles.. It is hard to see one's parents getting older and more feeble...realizing how easily they can "break".. If you do not wish to put her in a nursing home, i understand completely why (as an ER nurse.. I see much), but perhaps you can explore the possibility of an assissted living facility.. Your mom would live in a apartment and still have much of her furniture around her, but there would be staff available for assist as well as medical personnel in the facility or on call should an emergency arise.. Keeping an elder parent at home is commendable, but very hard on the primary caretaker, especially if all the siblings do not particiapate equally in her care.. I do not know your mom's personality, but she may be happier and more at ease with some of her independence remaining and not feeling like a "burden" (not that you would consider her one).. if you do decide to keep her at home, discuss with your siblings about possible situations that may arise and try to get some time of agreement or understanding about the division of responsibility.
Posted 2009-07-25 5:58 PM (#108546 - in reply to #108469) Subject: RE: sure miss the trails
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 522 Location: Tucumcari NM
Originally written by ridingarocky on 2009-07-24 4:58 AM
Nice pics Emily.. Your stallion is a good-looking guy..
Marla, sorry to hear about your Mom's continued troubles.. It is hard to see one's parents getting older and more feeble...realizing how easily they can "break".. If you do not wish to put her in a nursing home, i understand completely why (as an ER nurse.. I see much), but perhaps you can explore the possibility of an assissted living facility.. Your mom would live in a apartment and still have much of her furniture around her, but there would be staff available for assist as well as medical personnel in the facility or on call should an emergency arise.. Keeping an elder parent at home is commendable, but very hard on the primary caretaker, especially if all the siblings do not particiapate equally in her care.. I do not know your mom's personality, but she may be happier and more at ease with some of her independence remaining and not feeling like a "burden" (not that you would consider her one).. if you do decide to keep her at home, discuss with your siblings about possible situations that may arise and try to get some time of agreement or understanding about the division of responsibility.
Thanks for your comments. Yes, some days are tough, and some days I just have to go off by myself and bawl it all out, but had I been born with a handicap my mother would have cared for me regardless of the effort involved. Tucumcari is pretty isolated, and it is a long way for any of my siblings to come help with daily care. I have hired day help for cleaning and a couple of home companions to fill in when I can't be there. I guess I will just have to iron out the wrinkles in my plan as they become apparent. Come hell or high water my parents will not live in a home.
An assisted living center might be an acceptable option if Mom is ambulatory. If not, she will not qualify for assisted living.
You are right, the stallion is a good looking beast. Almost wish I had a mare to breed! Thanks again everyone for your thoughts and your pictures!
Posted 2009-07-25 7:18 PM (#108547 - in reply to #107653) Subject: RE: sure miss the trails
Member
Posts: 48 Location: Hooper, UT
Hey Eveybody,
Marla,
I understand how you feel! I cried a lot with and for my Dad. Now I'm facing the possiblity that the lung issues I've had maybe related to the thyroid,
there's a type of CA that travels through the bloodstream. My neck is not healing as fast as I would like it, but I can at least us the laptop to get out of the house, too.
Posted 2009-07-26 11:27 AM (#108559 - in reply to #107653) Subject: RE: sure miss the trails
Expert
Posts: 2453 Location: Northern Utah
This is a state holiday weekend. So I had a three day weekend. They were forecasting temps around 100*. so I decided I was heading for the high country to cool off. My 20 year old daughter had to work and my two youngest daughters had to march in a Parade. I should have been a good dad and gone and watched the parade. Nope, I don't get many 3 day weekends and I wanted out of town.
A fellow from work is divorced. His 19 year old son just left for 2 years in Brazil, His older daughter is married and attending college about 100 miles away, his youngest daughter was attending college about 250 miles away, I was looking for butts to fill my empty saddles so I could get all my horses exercised. He wanted to get away with his daughters. So he rounded them up and the three of them came with me.
I got up at early and loaded the horses at 4am and headed off. Picked up my friend and his daughters and reached the trail head around 9 am. It was raining. Just a steady drizzle. We checked in with the Forest Ranger and saddled up and headed out. We had pretty steady rain for about 90 minutes and the temps stayed around 60* Great temperature compared to 100* at home. The trail wound through a pine and spruce forest and along the banks of a large river.
It's an easy trail to follow. pretty level, No steep hills or sidehills. But we do have to cross a lot of rivers and bogs.
My friend and his daughters, we aer in between rain clouds.
We had to cross one really large river. There are only a couple of spots to ford the the river. Rocky ford has a rock shelf that crosses the river and is slightly shallower than most of the river. It's still belly deep on the horses and if you step off the shelf it become 4-5 foot deep real quick. One of the girls didn't control her horse and it stepped off the shelf and dumped her. Got her soaked. By time I got my camera she was already wading into shallower water.
At the end of the trail was hitching rail where you tie your horses up and hike the last 1/2 mile. We met another family their with their horses. They had two daughters riding double on a big ole quarter horse. Looks like they had great fun
We camped out that night with the horses on a highlines between trees. Here my geldings tied up waiting for the highline to be set up,
And all four horses on the highline the next morning. Line has stretched little and is sagging after all night of holding 4 horses.
The next day we did what I call my buffalo ride. We headed the other direction and rode the rolling hills. Grat place to gait and we did a lot of foxtrotting and cantering
It's just big meadows and rolling hills. No really steep climbs. Cool, temps in the 60* and the horses really wanted to move. My novice riders had gotten their balance yesterday while riding in the forest at slower speeds, so we did a lot of trotting and cantering along these trails.
We saw a lot of buffalo along the way. Here is one that we woke up from a nap. He took a good roll in the buffalo wallow before standing up to face us.
and of course a good shake after the roll.
We rode 22-24 miles each day. By lunch stop the second day the girls were wore out and took a nap by the lake we stop at for lunch.
Two days of riding in wonderful temps. A few rain storms, about 45 miles of total trails, my barefoot horses did great. Not a lame step along the way. And still willing to trot or canter along the trail at the end of the weekend. I drove home late last night. Got home at 2 am and it was still 78* at home. Hotter than any temp I had enjoyed all weekend in the mountains. My friend got to spend some quality time with his two daughter and they all really enjoyed the hroses.
Posted 2009-07-29 5:29 PM (#108745 - in reply to #107653) Subject: RE: sure miss the trails
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 522 Location: Tucumcari NM
It has been one of THOSE days today. I think that the primary goal of insurance companies is to make you so mad that you stop just give up and stop fighting for the benefits you have paid for. At least that is the way it seemed today. I was angry, frustrated, and absolutely exhausted when I got home today. Then I turned on my computer and reviewed the kind comments and the BEAUTIFUL photographs that everyone has been nice enough to share. What a difference! I think my blood pressure dropped 100 points in five minutes. You guys are lifesavers!!!
Posted 2009-08-01 7:07 AM (#108819 - in reply to #107653) Subject: RE: sure miss the trails
Elite Veteran
Posts: 662 Location: Vanzant, Missouri
Marla
So sorry to hear about your mom. Ridingarocky said it well. My mom tried to take care of my dad after he had his stroke and lost use of his left side. It was a struggle for her mentally and physically. She ended up putting him in a nursing home. Seeing your parents age isn't fun. You never really see them as old until things like this happen. It's hard sometimes but you have to do what you feel in your heart. Whatever you do just remember to take care of yorself first. My thoughts a are with you as I have been there with both my parents..So anyway here are a few pics where I ride locally at a lake
Posted 2009-08-06 9:10 PM (#109099 - in reply to #108456) Subject: RE: sure miss the trails
Location: Hartsville, SC
Oh Marla, I went through that with my Dad. I am praying for you. No one knows how hard it is to take care of a sick parent, unless they have done it. Deb Weber (Medicinehatgirl on BHW)
Posted 2009-08-09 9:51 PM (#109201 - in reply to #107653) Subject: RE: sure miss the trails
Expert
Posts: 2453 Location: Northern Utah
Just for you Marla.
I got away for a ride up the eAst Fork of the Bear River. Did a little flyfishing for some cutt throat trout and enjoyed the cool mountain air. It was 40* when I saddled up and stay in that temp range all day. In fact I could see my breath when I returned to the trailer just before sunset.
Trail head. As you can see, This area had a serious fire in 2002 and there are still lots of standing dead trees from the fire.
A quick look at the temp ad displayed on my truck dash. Just to make those of you in the south envious.
The trail winds through some forest and meadows. There were cattle on grazing permits in the meadows. We had to pass through some gates and push the cows away.
There are a lot of springs coming out of this hill side. The ground gets pretty boggy in places. The Forest Service has built wooden walk ways over the worst of the boggy areas. I love the sound of the gaited horses gaiting down the walkways.
The trail pretty much follows the river up the drainage. We stopped in several places and fished. Even with the dead trees from the fire, the beatles have been hard at work killing what trees remain. See the red pines.
sure miss the trails
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It's just big meadows and rolling hills. No really steep climbs. Cool, temps in the 60* and the horses really wanted to move. My novice riders had gotten their balance yesterday while riding in the forest at slower speeds, so we did a lot of trotting and cantering along these trails.
