the ##%!# trailer tires

Amazing how crabby a person can get after a couple days without riding!

Especially when they get bad news about trailering.

This horse trailer is great on the inside, but has been a bottomless money pit since the day I got it. But I'm just too lazy, too stubborn, or too discouraged to try to sell it. So I keep sinking money into it, thinking "now it'll be completely safe..." And then it needs something else. Not to mention the half-finished paint job, we won't even go there.

The "spare" it came with turned out to be a completely shredded blowout with no rim. The tires are old and don't match. I know this, but have been under the impression that only one tire is really hopeless to drive any distance; I figured the others were worth gambling on. Took the trailer in this morning to a place I use and trust, to have the bad tire pulled and saved as a spare, replace with new wheel. Guy takes one look and says "this other is worse, it's a passenger tire, overloaded and full of cracks." Now two tires are too shot to risk on the highway. It'll cost me almost a month's rent to replace them.

I tell the guy I'll think it over. I tow the trailer home with a heavy heart, knowing I can't afford the tires right now. I have to decide if it's worth going into debt (plastic) to take Butch to California. If I don't bring him, I can't double-check the tree before making the saddle. Plus he'll be stuck in a pen for 10 days. But he might be stuck in a pen for 10 days anyway - I'm told I won't have time to ride in CA. So the main reason for bringing him is to be sure the tree fits. Is it worth a month's rent? Then again, I'll still need new tires if I want to have a usable trailer for hauling anywhere out of town. Sigh.

Then I get home and, of course, can't back the trailer where I want it. Because I haven't practiced enough and by now, I'm in a VERY bad mood and impatient. I only have about an hour left before I have to leave for work. (I got booked for 3 sessions! Yay! But I want to ride first.) It's a wonder I didn't sideswipe another gate.

Which brings up another point... never mind the trailer, am I safe on the road? I'm not at all sure if I should risk Butch's safety driving him 500 miles for only the 4th time I've ever pulled a trailer, first time on a highway.

Finally get trailer parked, mule saddled, & out to the wash for a quick 1-mile loop.

Transformation!! The sun came out, life is sweet again! Nothing beats time in the saddle for instant therapy. Especially with a good partner. My funny Butch mule.

It'll all work out one way or another. I suppose if I can't bring him, I'll be nervous about the saddle fit, hugely disappointed and fretting about how he's doing. But it won't be the end of the world. The worst that could happen is the saddle won't fit and Butch will have dug a hole to China and started weaving in frustration. I can always sell the saddle. Or use it to fill the hole!

helpful friends - thank you!

Holiday weekend... rode Saturday, off Sunday.

Had some great talks/correspondence with a few people over the weekend. Two discussing the route I was considering; both those friends had excellent observations and suggestions, and while noting parts of it might be challenging if not downright dangerous, they were practical "how-to" talks with the assumption that I could and would do it. Love that kind of support! The other was basically a pep talk from an adventurer who's been kept apprised of this saga since I wrote him about it three years ago. It sure helped put things in perspective, in a really good way. You all know who you are, thank you!

Today I got back in time for a short fun ride in the riverbed with a barn buddy and her son. They were both working on herdbound issues, having each horse trot one at a time a little ways ahead while 2 of us would stay put, getting them to do it without acting up. It was good for Butch because he hates to stand still for more than a few minutes when I'm on him. He pawed, he fidgeted, but he finally settled down. And then when they turned to go home and I kept Butch going toward the bridge, he was excellent! I set him to doing 'pole bending' in & out of the low bushes to get his mind off the departing herd, and it worked like a charm. He enjoyed the job so much that we did it most of the ride home, the end of which was in moonlight. No spooking at shadows, steady as could be.

Also had some email coaching from a knowledgable muleman about high lines, and learned from videos how to tie a prusik loop and a double fisherman's knot. Boy, do I feel like a Girl Scout earning an outdoors badge. Knowledgable muleman, you know who you are, thank you!

I hope to get a chance to try this stuff out soon. And for real... camp out overnight at an actual camping spot with Butch tied between two actual far-apart trees, not in a paddock with a highline between a stall post and a scraggly little mesquite 12 feet away. Not to mention his stallmates next door - need to see how he is overnight alone on a highline. So much to do!

2-week to-do list

Good ride late this afternoon. Brisk, windy. Only about a mile and a half, but I rode Butch mostly in deep sand. I think he has healed from his fall, except for scabs on his knees. Time to start hobble training.

To-do list, next 2 weeks:

Buy new tire for horse trailer.

PRACTICE DRIVING HORSE TRAILER.

Make bedsheet training hobbles.

Get fire hose for training stakeout.

Drill screweye into railroad tie for training log.

Weld stake (or at least talk to Tom about welding lesson).

Buy stake hobble(s).

Get long stakeout lead & swivels.

Buy highline kit.

Contact other geriatric-certified LMT about taking over my clients for 3-7 months.

Type up 2011 progress reports on all clients to leave with caregivers and LMT sub.

Get good maps?

Have an idea for a route... need to research it some before putting it out here.

Probably no posts this next 2 days, Christmas eve & Christmas. If anybody's reading, have a wonderful holiday weekend!

turnout only

Slow news day. Worked on deadline project all morning, figuring I'd ride in the afternoon. But I turned Butch mule out in the arena for an hour or so, just in case I got called in to work at WL. He went to the far end, rolled, joyfully pounced in the air like a cat, and blasted back down the fenceline to slide to a stop in front of me at the gate. This is his way of saying, "Play with me!" I didn't really have time, but I did go in and chase him around the arena a few times with the carrot stick, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

Good thing I turned him out, cuz I did get called in to work the afternoon and evening. Poor Butch, at this rate I'll have to get us in shape all over again after the holidays! I miss those half-day rides.

Talking to Butch about wagons & life

Butch seems to have gotten the jitters out of his system with yesterday's ride.

I work 8-4 every Wednesday, so it's always his day off. When I get home, I usually turn him out in the round pen to roll, muck the stall, lead him around in the dark for a while to stretch his legs, then put him back in with his hay & snack. Tonight he was quiet and trusting and perfectly mannered. He kept his nose right at my elbow, a hand width away, ears flopping, step perfectly in time with mine. We were both so relaxed, I found myself confiding in Butch mule about all sorts of things that I won't go into here, they were for his ears only...

Back in the paddock, leading him back to his stall, I hear a peal of laughter in the darkness. It's the other mule owner who had been walking by us. I realized I had been chattering away in a one-sided conversation with my mule, like a patient on a psychiatrist's couch. I could see Butch nodding knowingly, going "Hmmm..." at appropriate moments.

On another note, reading the news today, I suddenly remembered the initial reason I had decided on wagon travel. Because I think I might need a wagon, equine(s), and the skills to drive it at some future point. I do feel tremendous regret at not finishing the wagon I had started to build. At the same time, I know selling the gear was the right thing to do. I don't have a passion to build a wagon. I have a passion to use a wagon for travel. So... that adventure is simply postponed. I'll return to it, with a different wagon, later.

Too much energy

I have a working mule. Meaning, WORK him or be prepared for him to work you!

Butch mule is not tall - he's about 14.3-15 hands. But he's built strong and solid, full of energy that needs to be either burned off with play (picture: tearing round and round an empty arena at a dead run, screeching to a halt, bucking for a few minutes, doing it all again...) or used up with "work": pulling under harness or being ridden minimum an hour or two a day. When he's kept penned for more than a day, he regresses back to his 6-year-old self. (He's just turned 8.)

Didn't ride yesterday. Only 30-minute ride the day before. Butch was stuck in his pen all day today. We only had time for another quick 30-minute loop at sundown. (I was all day finishing a commission on deadline for Xmas.) I knew it was trouble before I even tied him to the post. He wanted out, but - hey - it's dinnertime and food will arrive any minute now! What a dilemma! Whinnied hello, pushed at the gate, then when I led him out he looked back at his empty feed bin and did a double-take between me & bin. Sudden head up, prancy snorty, Butch can't decide whether to behave or not! So I decided for him, with a quick tug on the lead. Fidgety at the rail. Playing "betcha can't stop me before I eat the post." Then prancy-balky-snorty on the way to the trail gate. Stiff-legged ears-on-alert in the riverbed. I knew what was coming...

Sure enough, first he suddenly tried to turn back and threw his head preparing to buck. Just a half-hearted attempt, though. Easily checked it and steered him straight. I urged him into a trot, knowing he'd want to toss off some of that energy. Sure enough, I felt him start to round his back, but in a split second before I could even respond he changed his mind. And trotted quickly, nervously ahead for quite a ways. Just before the ramp up to the other side, he spotted a monster in the dense brush to our right. Freeze, high alert. He let me urge him forward, freeze again. Now, there's a point at which Butch becomes so fixated on a threat that no amount of calm sweet talk, cajoling and running my hand over his eyes will get his attention. Rarely happens anymore but, when it does, his whole body stiffens and his ears won't even flick in my direction. That's the danger moment. He's about to spin and, if I time it wrong and he thinks I'm forcing him into certain death, I risk getting thrown.

This was one of those moments. I suddenly remembered the hidden hobo camp I'd come on in exactly the spot Butch was staring towards. I gently turned him at a slight angle away, to go left towards the ramp. I knew my mule was genuinely frightened, not just play-scared, when he kept asking - not trying to bolt, but asking - to run, which is totally out of character. I could feel is adrenalin pumping. We got up the ramp, to the bridle path above the riverbed. Now he was "safe," but still overstuffed with energy - stare across the wash, snort, checked attempt to go sideways, wrung his head & gave the dreaded "buck grunt"... kicked him into a trot and that stopped it. He finally relaxed and we got home with no further shenanigans.

For every few weeks of great progress, there's a day like this and I think, "This is the mule I'm planning to ride alone in the middle of nowhere?!?" But then I remember how good and calm and willing he is 90% of the time, and that when he does have an off day, I usually know exactly why. The next 5 weeks will be interesting, though. Between holidays and trip to CA, he won't get ridden nearly as much as usual. Expresso mule!

saddle fitting clinic

Didn't ride today. This morning drove about 30 miles to a saddle fitting clinic put on by Ray Miller and his wife Bobby. I want to learn as much as I can before I build Butch's saddle. When I put that bare tree on his back, I want to be sure and know if it fits.

The clinic was excellent. It far surpassed my expectations. Only three people showed up. And as a true professional will, Ray gave just as thorough a clinic as if we'd been an audience of thirty! I only paid ten bucks to observe and got a 3-hour private lesson. What a class act he and his wife turned out to be.

And they really know thier stuff. I asked as many questions as came to mind, then always "why" "show me," and they answered them all clearly, demonstrating what they meant or hands-on. Not only tons of info about trees, saddle fit and pads, but also hoof conformation, gait, movement... hope I remember it all! And turns out Ray is an old muleman, worked with mules more than horses. I was impressed enough that I asked if I could hire him to look Butch over and evaluate his feet, conformation, etc. and tell me if he thinks my mule is suited to the journey I intend to take him on. He said of course, call to arrange... I'm also going to see if I can set up a saddle-fit clinic at the boarding stable.

Had other business south of town. Got back at deep dusk. Too late to ride, so worked Butch in the round pen a bit, fine-tuning his turns. He finally got it! Turned compliantly to the inside several times and held his gait, trotting or walking. Whoa, came on request, big rubs & "good boy"s. Tucked his nose into my chest. Awww.

Cheese with that whine?

I've been riding Butch almost daily since August to get us both in shape. It was easy during summer and fall. I can ride in the heat, and Butch can handle it. Now winter has suddenly arrived. This is southern Arizona, our winters are usually beautiful riding weather; sunny, high 50s to 70s during the day. Except when it rains. Then it gets cold. I don't do cold. That's why I moved to Arizona.

Late morning, out to the barn, geared up to ride. Cold, overcast, light mist off and on. I bravely saddle my good mule, prepared to shiver my way through the riverbed. Then - oh, no - it turns into real rain. What? Ride in the cold rain? ME? Hahahahaha. I take Butch by the lead rope and walk him out to the road for exercise, hunkered down under my dripping hat. I walk back, the rain slows to a heavy drizzle.

I imagine it being a morning out on the journey, and am suddenly ashamed. If I'm too big a wuss to ride at home on a rainy day, what's gonna happen out there when it could be week after week of downpour? Or tornado weather? Or a freak snowstorm? Am I gonna run back home with my tail between my legs?

We trudge back to the barn. I bridle Butch mule and ride down into the wash. Surprisingly, once we're out and about, the cold and wet is not so bad. In fact, it's kind of bracing in a refreshing sort of way. We have a short, pleasant ride.*

*note: Butch slid down a concrete embankment on his knees about 8 days ago. He was not badly injured, but lame enough that I gave him some days off while treating it. He seems okay now, but I'm easing him slowly back into his routine while I keep an eye on how he's moving. That accident scared the crap outta me. Taught me that just because Butch wants to do something risky, and clearly thinks he can, doesn't mean I should let him! Stupid of me. He has a big heart but not always the best judgment...

Why?

Most common question:   Why do I want to do this?

Also the hardest to answer.  I've given, and continue to give, it a lot of thought. 

The deepest reason I want to do this ride is the one I can't put into words.  However, there are other more concrete reasons.  I'm not riding for a "cause" but I do want it to be for something bigger than me. Still... I can't deny that a big part of it is the joy of "Road trip! Road trip!"  Woohoo!!

This is what I see as "why" right now. It might change as I think about it more.

MOTIVATIONS

1.  Road trip.

**The goal of road trip enthusiasts is to experience the culture, nature and history of the route, and to celebrate the open road. Road trippers often study roadology, the connection between of roads and culture. -Wikipedia, defining "road trip"

Wanderlust

Travelogue

2.  Exploring communities. What makes a good home, good neighbors? How do people take care of eachother? How do they live together in a town or area while letting "live-as-let-live"? What are the bonds that connect us over time?  I love the idea of carrying messages from one person to the next, or even from one community to the next, helping the connections between people... 

3.   Exploring "mule culture"?

4.   Internal journey.

It's the journey, not the destination.  Think "road trip!" by muleback; the joy of the open road stretching across America at 3 miles an hour. Part of the fun is all the people you meet along the way. The adventure is the hard challenges bound to come up, surprises, changes in plans and how all that is dealt with.

I might chronicle it by drawing or writing if I have the time & energy, don't know if that is realistic. 

I love back trail riding, much prefer it to wide easy paths or roads as far as riding goes. I'm comfortable with my own company and don't mind being alone for days or even weeks at a time. But that's not what this journey would be about. I'm interested in travelling the way people used to travel before the internal combustion engine. Equine as transportation. I'm not sure if "trail ride" was a concept back then. 

I am also interested in "mule culture"... mulie folks... all across the country... if there is such a thing as mule culture? a longears-person personality?  

And lastly this is an internal journey for me. And a challenge. Can I ride 500, 1,000, or more miles solo across the country?  I won't make it a challenge for Butch - it's not his choice. If he were to not be up to it, I'd take a different mule. But I think he can do it.

A place to talk... and talk... and talk...

Everybody needs dreams. I've had lots of 'em. This one is a doozy.

Travel cross country, alone, by equine power.

All my life I dreamed of making the journey by horseback. When I turned 50, I climbed back on a horse for the first time in 35 years, step one towards the dream. Then I changed plans from riding to driving a wagon. Horse became mule. Bought wagon gear to build wagon. Bought mule to pull not-yet-built wagon. Broke unbroke mule to ride so I would have something to do while building wagon. Attempted to learn driving so I would not kill us both while steering wagon (that was not yet built). Rode every day, became much better at riding. Forgot much of what I had learned about driving. Changed plan back to making journey by horseback... now muleback. Traded not-yet-delivered wagon for not-yet-built custom saddle. We'll see where this goes.

In the meantime I've been having a blast for the past 2 years with my good mule, Butch!

I am a little obsessed with this subject, so this blog is an outlet where I can go on and on about it without worrying about people crossing the street when they see me coming...

And if anybody who visits it wants to correspond with comments or whatever that will be most welcome. Thanks for reading!