What's Next?

As summer fast approaches I find myself wondering what the next step for us will be. We have done so much in the last couple of years, but I know that if this is really going to work, we are going to have to do much more. The trail riding aspect of the business continues to grow but unfortunately we are not in Southern California. There is only so many months that we can ride. So we are either going to have to do a lot more in the warmer months or find other sources of revenue for the winter months. I think we can dfinately find other sources of revenue for the warmer months. Campfire dinners, hay-rides, youth camps, girl and boy scout troops will all be growth areas.

The other we have considered in working with found horses. These would either be horses that we take from someone because they can not take care of them anymore, or that we can pick up on the cheap at auction. Because we have the room to trail these horses and work with them to become calm trail horses. The market for calm trail horse seems to be very strong. Most people that ride only want to trail ride. Unfortunately they do not have the time or the space to work with them as trail horses. So the few times they go out on a trail each year, they have trouble with their horses. If we can get these horses bomb proof before we sell them, I think this could be a good option for us.

We picked up a used hay wagon the other day. We are looking forward to having lots of hayrides and cookouts this summer fall. We need to get some new spots ready for bonfires. We have an old building over by the creek that I think we can fix up and use for large groups. I would also like to get the bridge over the creek repaired and maybe have a couple of bonfire spots over there as well. We will see how this Spring/Summer goes if we are able to get that done.

Marie's leg/shoulder and my back are healing well. We should be back to full strength in another few weeks. I will be nice not to have back pain anymore.

The real Holiday Break

Well it finally happened. I tell people all the time if you 've never fallen off a horse you haven't been riding long enough. I had been bring horses up from the front pasture and decided to ride them up bareback with rope halters. Rode a few up and didn't have any problems. Finally was bringing in the last one, jumped on her, over her slick blanket, first mistake. As we started walking something spooked her and she started bucking hard and running back to the barn. We were on a tight trail with lots of trees and I thought there is no way I am getting thrown off into one of those trees. The blanket was too slick to get any grip so I decided to bail out. As I was hanging off the side of her I had just let go to get on the ground and she bucked again, I went flying and landed on my back on a branch frozen in the ground. Of course the horse ran back to the barn, where my wife and daughter caught her and put her in. As I lay there I knew I was hurt but didn't think it was that bad. I walked, sort of, back to the barn, up the hill to the house and laid down. The next day some things didn't seem right so I went to the hospital and found out I broke 5 bones in my back. 6k dollars later the doctor tells me to take it easy. So I have been taking it relatively easy. 6-8 weeks and I should be back to normal. I was very lucky that it wasn't more serious and even more lucky to have a wife that cares so much about me and has stepped up to do almost all of the heavy work. This is spite of the fact that she recently had surgery on her knee. I can not say enough about her and what she has done for myself and our family.

Of course right before this happened Marie had another surgery on her knee and found out she has sever arthritis in her shoulder. What a month.

Lots of new horses at the ranch. With the hay shortages getting more severe, our phone has been ringing off the hook with people wanting us to take their horses off their hands. We have taken 5 and I think that is all we are going to be able to do. We plan on sorting through them and making some decisions on who to keep and who to sell over the next couple of months. I think that some will make some really good trail horses.

This injury and the cold weather have slowed us down some getting a lot of our work done. But we have had lots of help and hope to be caught up before we get too busy. Everyone is anxious for the spring weather as am I.