The Hobbit Hole III - Journey to the Cross-roads!

[HairOfTheDog]

Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!

Journey to the Cross-roads
The Two Towers Edition

Come on! Come in! -if you would like to have some seedcakes and a pint and relax a while. (If it is a special occasion, we still have a few bottles of the old wineyards left!)

Our first thread ( New Zealander builds Hobbit hole ) reached 4,100 posts, and we thought that was big. Our second thread (The New Hobbit Hole ) held us for over 48,000 posts, and we loved it dearly. We talked about moving to a new thread for the last 38,000 posts, but we are really slow to muster! Finally, the time has come. Tomorrow (at 12:01 am, to be precise!) The Two Towers comes out, and we start a new chapter.

[Wneighbor]

Throw in some corn and lima beans, and you got yourself a Brunswick Stew!

MMMmmm - Suzy does that mean that you've got supper ready now? Could I have just a little bowl?

[HairOfTheDog]

I will spare everyone the "before" and "after" pics, but I just came in from getting Bay's face and legs all clipped and now he looks so tidy and clean!

I have been a long time without clippers, and I am pleased to have them again! I like to clip them close from hoof to the knees and hocks because it looks tidy, but also because I can keep their legs clean. I don't like how gunky their skin gets with long hair.... you know what I mean Becky? - 'specially in the back. I used to love to groom horses for show, and now, I just like them to look good anyhow. I will do the pony tomorrow. Probably not her legs though.... she is too jumpy to be crawling under.

But now Bay is clipped and I scrubbed his legs, and he looks great, if only we had somewheres to go!

[Overtaxed]

Just remember to wear gloves...tularemia (sp?) you know.

[Wneighbor]

You know that's why Germany lost the war....they didn't have squirrels for target practice!

LOL Well, let's don't tell 'em. After their failure to back us in the last deal they don't freakin' need to have target practice.

I personally don't see anything wrong with being the best armed, best prepared, most expert nation on the face of the earth.

[Wneighbor]

You need to move that up at least 6750 places on the list girl.

[Overtaxed]

Come to think of it...no wonder the Moria Orcs couldn't hit the broad side of a barn!

[Wneighbor]

Come to think of it...no wonder the Moria Orcs couldn't hit the broad side of a barn!

There you have it. Notice those wood elves don't have a problem hitting their targets. Lots of them black nasty squirrels in Mirkwood.

[Overtaxed]

[SuziQ]

Suzy does that mean that you've got supper ready now?

Nah, I don't do squirrel! I've got a pound and a half of sea scallops I have to fix tomorrow night. Gonna do a Seafood casserole with some shrimp and crab. YUM YUM! We gotta eat early cause I gotta so sing for Confirmation, so be here no later than 5:30!!

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

That is on my to do list for Fri Morn, so Rusty will look good for the ride.

I don't believe I told you about Rusty, don't want to bore everyone, but I got him last spring as a competitive trail horse prospect. He was in really bad shape when I got him, it's a long story. But to make a long story short, after I tried him for 30 days then went ahead and bought him (actually traded one), I found out that first real humid day last June that Rusty is anadrotic, (he doesn't sweat), consequently, he can't cool himself off as he should. It causes his repiration and pulse to shoot real high. Like heat stroke in humans. Well it shot him done for competitions last year. But I like him so much that I have been trying things all year to get him over it. I think all around, just plain good nutrition and tender loving care is doing the trick. But he is sweating some now, and his pulse and respirations stay (so far this spring) in acceptable perameters. This ride this weekend is kind of a test.I picked it as his first because in my region, it's not the hardest but it is not the easiest, and it is closest to home in case I pull out, I will not have hauled far just to have to quit. Anyway keep your fingers crossed. I don't care if we don't place this time out, I would just like to finish with a horse in good condition. He is really a great horse, so willing and great personality, real curios and loves people which is strange given the treatment he had before I got him. Becky

[Wneighbor]

How 'bout I come on by around 4:30 or 5. I can help you set the table.

[HairOfTheDog]

I agree that a good horse is worth trying to work with! - You will never bore me with horse-talk!

I can see how it would be tough to get him through competitive trail if he can't regulate well. At competitive trail you get points for how quickly they can cool and return to normal heart rate at each rest stop right? I am not really familiar with the competition. What distances are you riding? What kind of horse is he?

Do you have pictures of him? Would love to see!

[Wneighbor]

I agree that a good horse is worth trying to work with! - You will never bore me with horse-talk!

She rides iron too. If she doesn't have straight pipes I have some old ones from one of my old sporties if I can find 'em for her. That way you could hear her plumb up in WA when she rides.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

No pictures, they usually take some of us at the ride, If they do I will get one and find some one who could scan it. I can't post pictures.

Rusty is a grade horse actually, but probably a Quarter Horse and maybe some throughbred, although he is not tall, but has a big QH butt and great shoulders, about 14.2.

I am going in the novice class this year. We will do 40 miles over 2 days. The horse starts out with 100 points and points are deducted when things aren't right. For instance, too high pulse and respiration, edema, sore back, whithers, loins, lameness, hydration, etc. The judge of the horse is always a vet. They set parameters on what things should be, and you have to stay within those. 2 times each day they stop the riders, you have your horse stand quietly in line for 10 minutes and then they take the pulse and respiration counts. A horse in good condition will have acceptable rates by then.

The ride is not a race. Novice classes is always set between between 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 miles and hour, usually 4. You have to learn to pace yourself and your horse. If you show up at the finish line to fast your disqualified. It is not about speed, but conditioning, style, and saftey.

There is also a horsemenship judge who is judgeing how the rider handles his horse. the riders start out with 100 points also.

It's a great sport, to find out more about it go to NATRC.com

Becky

[SuziQ]

How 'bout I come on by around 4:30 or 5. I can help you set the table.

Well, you're welcome to come early and visit, but our son is the one who sets the table as part of his chores. Can't have him take the day off, you understand. He only gets that on his birthday!!

[Corin Stormhands]

IT's the FEED STORE MOOT!!!

Can we officially call it a "moot" without cookies?

Where's Vim with that rule book?

And BTW, where the heck is Dawntreader?

[Corin Stormhands]

Get back to me after you have finished The Silmarillon(sp?)

Uh-oh. Is there going to be a test? I haven't studied for a test.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

LOL, I have straight pipes. My 883 sportster is louder then my husbands heritage classic:). The sound is the best part of a Harley.

Becky

[Corin Stormhands]

Okay Hair, Becky can get by with not reading the Silmarillion yet, but you my dear, need to read it at least before Entmoot!

What? Where is that in the contract? I didn't sign a contract with that in it!

[HairOfTheDog]

It would be a good sport, and a good safe way to compete with a good trail horse. I know the events go on, but I have never found out much about it till now! Thanks!

I think I mentioned to you once that Bay is a retired endurance racer, not by me but by a prior owner... quite a different game! - For all the others who don't know the difference, endurance racing is a speed event. A race... The horses are pushed harder, doing 50 and 100 mile races, most of the way at a trot. They have checkpoints too, where they are checked by a vet, and can't leave until their heart rate and temp return to a normal parameter, and they are checked for lameness. If the horse is in good condition, he has to spend less time in the pit. Total time over the route, including required rest stops, wins the race.

Bay did that for about 5 years, with quite a bit of success.... It was good for him because I knew him before, and he was a green and nervous trail horse. After all those thousands of miles training and competing, he would now trot right through a mine field and keep his cadence. He was treated well, so I think that background helped him stay strong up to age 20! I am not sure his leisurely life here has helped extend his career as much as work did!