Friday, April 12, 2019

Will I ever ride again...?

*warning* this post is going to be pretty much a whiny, woe is me, rant-y kind of thing.  Feel free to back out now.  Lol.

A couple of weeks ago I had a birthday and as I drove home tonight from picking up dinner for myself and my mom and brother it occurred to me that I am less than a year away from a major milestone birthday.  The number is scary, but I have never felt my age anyway so I know it's just a number and not how I feel.  But it also hit me that it's been 20 years since I was last on a horse.  Next Sunday, to be exact
A friend had gotten me (and herself) a 4 hour lunch ride in the Superstition Mountains.  It was the longest either of us had ever been in the saddle at one time but we were both excited.  It was a fun ride.  There was 6 of us, i think, all women, plus our male trail guide.  My horse was a lovely large thoroughbred named Larry.  I got the biggest horse because i was the biggest person, both in height and weight.  Literally, i was the tallest in our group, even taller than our guide, whose name was either Bud or Buddy, and while my friend had a few extra pounds, I was the heaviest.  I keep mentioning that because that is the theme of this post.  Me, my weight, and horses.

That was the last time I sat on a horse.  20 years ago.

I used to ride all the time.  Just about every weekend when I could.  I had a good friend, not the same one who gifted me the birthday ride, whom loved horses and riding as much as I did so we went whenever we could.  She had an aunt with horses and in high school I got to help her with them.  "S" had grown out of them by then, preferring to go out with boys instead of the barn.  Plus, I babysat her cousins so I often had the opportunity to go to the barn with them.  Her aunt even encouraged me to visit the horses when she wasn't able to visit and feed them.  She (the aunt) helped me get a job babysitting the barn owner's grandson in which I was paid both in money and the ability to tale a horse out for a ride.  Unfortunately, the job didn't last long due to marital problems between his son and daughter-in-law.

So, it's been 20 years since I've ridden a horse.

 During that time, my weight increased because food became more important than riding.  As much as I hate it and want to change it, nothing changes.  I have the tools to lose weight.  I have done it before and I love it when my clothes fit better and I get good looks instead of looks of contempt.  I can't even go to horse shows anymore because my weight has caused mobility problems.  I can still go look for and photograph the wild horses because I don't have to get out of my car most of the time, but I can't go places where I could potentially touch them.  I have no cartilege in my left knee and my back is super messed up...a condition, ironically, caused by horseback riding and Equine Assisted Random Gravity Checks
Realistically, it is likely the back issues that will forever keep me out of the saddle since it's not recommended that you ride if you have a back injury.  You know what I have to say about that, though?  Phooey!

It's been 20 years since I've ridden a horse.

I won't give up.  I can't give up.  Somehow, I need to re-wire my brain to want horses and riding to be more important than food.  I want it.  I just don't know where to find it.  The weekend of my birthday I saw the movie Bohemian Rhapsody.  I've always been a fan of Queen.  Not to a point where I would seek out listening to them, but I would enjoy hearing them when they came on the radio or at a hockey game.  But since seeing Bohemian Rhapsody, I have been making a point of listening to them.  Bohemian Rhapsody is my favorite song but Radio GaGa is the one that has been stuck in my head, especially one part:

You had the time
You had the power
You've yet to have, your finest hour

I think those words are sticking with me for a reason.  And then there's the Climb by Miley Cyrus.  Well, pretty much the entire song.  But the opening verse:

I can almost see it
That dream I'm dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head says
You'll never reach it

I watch horse videos of people being surprised on Christmas with a new horse.  I look tack catalogs.  I follow horse trailers when out driving.  I read books (fiction and often written for a much younger audience) centered around horses.  I often think about them.  I've had dreams where I sat on a horse or have ridden and it made me so happy.  But then I'd wake up to the realization that it was...Just a dream.

Also from The Climb:

Just got to keep going
And I, I gotta be strong
Just keep pushing on

It's been 20 years since I last rode a horse...I can't let it be another 20...

Friday, January 25, 2019

You might find interesting things when...

you follow a hay delivery.

I found myself with an unexpected afternoon off today so I went for a drive.  First out to look for wild horses...I found several but not in areas good for photography...then just random driving.  While I was just driving around, I saw a small truck loaded with hay.  I don’t know how much hay he was carrying, but it was a small flatbed truck that looked like it was have to be off-loaded by hand.  I followed behind him for awhile since I knew he would be going where there was a ranch of some sort, but then I ended up ahead of him.  At one point, I was so far ahead that I only saw the truck when there was a dip in the road.  But then I encountered construction, which gave him a chance to catch up and eventually there were two cars between us.  At some point, I saw him turn so I turned at the next road and went back.  Unfortunately, by the time I got to the road he had turned down, he had disappeared already and I lost sight of him.  It hadn’t been all that much time so their delivery must have been shortly after they turned down the road.

Since I didn’t know where the truck had turned, I kept going down that road, knowing I’d more than likely spot some horse ranches and boy, did I.  There’s several training centers and an equine reproduction clinic in addition to privately owned ranches.  I saw quite a few horses but didn’t stop to take pictures.  Not real sure why.

When I got home, I looked up the area on Google Maps so I could learn some more about the places I had seen and came across a riding stable so I looked them up on Google and found a photo that, quite frankly, had me a bit shocked.

What is wrong with this photo?  I know Scottsdale is a tourist city, and a rather warm one at that, so a lot of people wear shorts and flip-flops, but did they actually let her ride dressed like this?  Where this riding stable is located is literally in the middle of the desert...lots of cactus and scrub brush.  Not exactly the safest for shorts and flip-flops.  Now, you might be thinking they possibly staged this photo for the website.  That thought had crossed my mind as well, but if someone sees this on their website they are going to think it’s okay to show up for a trail ride in the desert dressed inappropriately.  Oddly enough, their website states this:

We suggest wearing long pants, closed toed shoes & hats (hats must be tight).

They they only ‘suggest’ long pants and closed toed shoes, but they’re not a requirement.

Okay.  So I checked several other riding stables in the Phoenix metro area and not one of them requires long pants and closed toed shoes.  That surprises me.  That sounds dangerous and a huge liability if someone gets injured as a result of how they are dressed.  Yes, the stables all require riders to sign a liability waiver, but I work for an insurance company and those waivers don’t stop people from suing the stable.  The type of insurance company I work for actually writes policies for riding stables and other horse-related facilities/activities and my job within the company enables me to see the lawsuits.  I tell you what...if I owned a riding stable I *might* allow someone to ride wearing shorts, but the flip-flops would be a no-brainer.  Flip-flops = no ride.  Maybe that’s just me, though.

This is the first time I have followed a hay delivery.  Usually I follow horse trailers and even then not all that often since they are bigger and tend to move slower.  I don’t know.  Lol.  I’m a nosy person, I know.  If I see a horse trailer, I look to see if there’s any horses in it and if there aren’t, I wonder why not.  If there’s horses in the trailer, I wonder where they’re going...to a show?  A trail ride?  The vet?  Did they just buy it and are taking it home?  Who knows.  But it’s fun to guess.

It’s going to be warm this weekend.  In the 70s.  Great riding weather.  Too bad I don’t have access to a horse.  Lol.

Friday, January 11, 2019

Breyerfest 2019

Hello again.  I am glad to see from the view counter that a few people still read this thing.  hahaha.  I don't know how often I'll post, but I will try to do it more often.

Breyerfest 2019 is starting to ramp up, which is common for January.  The 3 day tickets went on sale, what, last week?  I haven't boughten one yet.  Not entirely sure I will.  I want the celebration model because it's a police horse and I like the color
Problem is, I'm not going to Breyerfest and it's often a hassle trying to find someone to do pick-ups for me that won't end up costing a bunch of extra money.  Don't get me wrong.  I think people who do pick-ups for other people do deserve some sort of compensation for spending so much time standing in line, but some of the prices I've seen charged are ridiculous.  In the past, I've bought a ticket for the possibility of getting left-overs on the Breyer website, but there wasn't anything I was interested in last year's line-up so I didn't bother.  They haven't started showing, yet, what this year's SRs will look like, but unless there's a couple that I want, I'm not going to pay for however much amount for a child's ticket to get the celebration model plus have to pay someone a pick-up fee.  That would almost double the cost of the model.  In that situation I would probably just buy the celebration model on the secondary market.  There's usually a bunch of them out there.  I was lucky enough to be chosen off the wait list for the Scottsdale Stampede that was held in November and the person I gave my +1 ticket to, I helped get her the SR model she wanted most because I ended up being 4th in line (I still need to blog about that experience) and she was so happy she swore up one side and down the other that she would "pay me back" (she paid for the model...at cost) and mentioned Breyerfest, but she's been in and out of the hobby so much the past 6 months that I don't know what is going on. 

Anyway...today the Early Bird Raffle model was released
Even if I liked him, you need to be present to win and since I'm not going...hahaha...I don't collect this mold anyway so I'm not too bummed.  I know a lot of people like him.

This year is the 30th anniversary of Breyerfest.  Wow.  Seems like just last year they were celebrating 25 years.  I've wanted to go almost since day one.  I don't remember how long they'd been doing it before I first heard about it, but it wasn't very long because I've been in the hobby for a long time.  When I was younger, I didn't have any money to go and my parents wouldn't take me.  It's an expensive trip from Arizona to Kentucky and they just had no interest in doing something like that.  They support(ed) my interest, but only if it didn't cause them any inconvenience or too much money.  hahaha.  When I got older and had a job, it was still money that got in my way of going.  Then I got a GOOD job that paid decent money and provided time off.  But I still haven't gone.  Why?  Money.  hahaha.  A roundtrip ticket to Louisville, unless I happen to catch a really good sale, is a minimum of $404 (that's what it is right now).  I actually had bought a plane ticket to go last year.  My mom loaned me the money.  I had hotel booked.  Car reserved.  Told people I was going to be there.  Everything was working out for me to be able to attend, but I had to cancel.  Why?  Medical problems.  There always seems to be something.  This year I didn't bother planning to go because I wanted to go to a planner conference in Las Vegas in May, but I had to cancel that.

Sorry.  I don't mean to rattle on about my problems.  One of these years I'd like to make it to Breyerfest.  I should start saving now and maybe go next year?  But if there's going to be a collector event in the fall, I might like to try for that instead.  I don't know.  When I did Scottsdale Stampede I said I probably wouldn't do it again, but I think if I did things a bit differently, it would be okay.  I don't even know that there will be a collector event in 2019, let alone where it is.  The planner event is every year and maybe 2020 will be a fun location and I'll decide to do that, I don't know.  What DO I know?  Nothing.  hahahaha.

Okay, guys, that's it for now.  Until next time.

Thursday, December 20, 2018

Hello...?

Is anyone still here?  hahaha.  I know I've been woefully silent for a super long time, but I may pick it up again.  I wish I'd made that decision last month, though, when I went to the Scottsdale Stampede so I could've blogged that with pictures, but I can still write about my thoughts on it, right?  hahaha. 

To be continued...

Saturday, December 3, 2016

The Judge's Card: The Original Emojis | The Chronicle of the Horse

Yes, folks, believe it or not, I am still here.  There just hasn't been a whole lot to blog about lately.  Thanksgiving came and went and now we're about three weeks out from Christmas.  I've been keeping busy with work, some days more than others but I've been consistently busy every day regardless.  Job security, I guess you can call it.  We recently switched from Lotus Notes to Microsoft Outlook, but until yesterday we had to use both Outlook and Lotus Notes because not everything had migrated over.  We each have a personal email and then there's group email and that inbox is where we'd still have to use Lotus Notes.  But now that's made the conversion so it's just Outlook now.  It's taking some used to especially since we lost some of our convenient features.  Oh well.

There's been a presidential election.  Yay.  We will soon have a new sheriff.  I'm bummed.  I'm going to miss Sheriff Joe.  I wish he was leaving office because he thinks it's time rather than because he wasn't re-elected.  The new guy, Paul Penzone, is going to examine all of Sheriff Joe's programs and see what to keep and what to get rid of.  I don't care if he gets rid of tent city or the striped uniforms, I just hope he doesn't get rid of the Animal Cruelty Unit or the MASH Unit.  And he'll never be 'Sheriff Paul'.  He'd have to earn that endearment, but I still won't call him that.  Either way, I'm glad we live where it's the city police who patrol and not the county.  He won't do the immigration sweeps Sheriff Joe did, which is a mistake.  If there are no sweeps, what's to keep even more people from stealing IDs so they can stay and work illegally?  I won't say who I voted for to be president.  I may have lost a longtime friend over it, though.  Oh well.  If that's how she's going to be then that's how she's going to be.

So, I was looking around Facebook and came across this hysterically funny cartoo/comic thing.  I'm not real sure what it is, other than super funny.  I wonder how accurate it is?  Probably not very because I can't imagine too many judges taking the time to draw pictures/symbols rather than writing something down.  Hopefully you will find it as funny as I did.
The weather has gotten nicer.  Cooler.  That makes me quite happy.  We haven't turned the heater on yet, though, so it's been fairly cold in the house.  I was going to go out this morning, but instead crawled back under the covers and slept another couple of hours.  Hahahaha.  I don't often get that luxury.

Took a couple of days off from work.  One was planned and one was a Mental Health Day.  I was supposed to participate in our annual holiday craft fair, but realized I'd end up losing money.  Don't worry.  I told them ahead of time I wasn't going to do it.  I did what I often do when I have a day off: went looking for wild horses.  Unfortunately I didn't find any.  They don't come down to the river as much as they do during the summer.  It's odd, though.  When I first started following them I always saw them during the colder months.  But when I started seeing them more and more during the warmer weather, I stopped seeing them in the winter.  I also drove around looking for horse neighborhoods in hopes of being able to shoot domestic horses.  I found some nice houses and glimpses of horses, but most of them were in back of the houses.





Saturday, October 15, 2016

Breyer Collecting on the West Coast...

** note ** Let me apologize in advance for any typos.  I tried to go back and fix them, but it only resulted in this  being posted four times.  I typed this on my iPad mini, which is a bit touchy when it comes to editing.  I promise, my spelling and grammar are not as bad as my blog posts might sometimes portray.  :)

It can really suck sometimes.  It seems like Breyer doesn't care as much about the collectors in the western half of the country as it does the eastern half.  Why do I say that?   Here's a hint...
Right now, as we speak, a Collector Event is going on in Maryland.  An event full of daily activities and giveaways and special run models
photo by Kristina on Blab

Photo from Breyer
Photo by Kristina on Blab
The first photo shows the models that will be available for purchase.  The 2nd and 3rd are of the free models attendees will get just for showing up.  So, some of you may be wondering, what's the big deal?  It's just one event, right?  Wrong.  Now, let me paint you a mini picture...due to lack of room and not having a reliable job or car, I took a hiatus from collecting.  During this time, there were a couple of events in Texas and Florida.  But those were before I began collecting again.  The first event I became aware of was in 2012, about 6 months after I began collecting again.  It was called Passage to the Pacific and was held in San Diego, CA.  Unfortunately, I didn't find out about it soon enough to be able to attend.  Bummer.  I can't remember if an event was held in 2013, but I want to say there wasn't.  In 2014, however, Breyer held Big Easy Bash...in New Jersey.  I believe that was done on a lottery system so you couldn't actually plan for it until you knew you were selected.  Like the events prior to BEB, there were Special Run models for purchase, a traditional and a Stablemate for gifts to all who attended.  In 2015 there was Sweet Home Chicago.  I don't need to tell you where that was held because it should seem self-explanatory.  Tickets for this event were sold first come, first served and each attendee received a traditional model and a Stablemate, although I don't think there was special runs for purchase.  In 2016, the event is Chasing the Chesapeake in Maryland.  Free traditional and Stablemate models for attendees and special runs for purchase.  So, have you noticed a pattern here?  2014, 2015, 2016...all of them are on the East Coast.  Well, Chicago technically isn't, but it's still in that half of the country and would cost a lot of money to reach.  Plus, the east coast collectors get Breyerfest every July.

When CTC was first announced and its location revealed, obviously there was some grumbling by people in the western half of the US.  Someone pointed out that we were 'getting BreyerWest back'.  True.  March 2016 saw the return of this event and it will be held again in 2017, but it's hardly comparable to the other events mentioned above.  Why?  It's held in conjunction with a real horse show and is basically live model shows and customizing workshops.  I don't do either.  Plus, there is no special models to buy and there's none that are given just for attending.  Even the prize models for the live shows are recycled from other events.  Nothing is new or unique.  I pointed this out on the message board and someone said that we could choose to support the event and 'maybe' (her word, not mine) it will eventually become like the others.  Huh?  BEB, SHC and CTC didn't need to be supported for several years in order to be like they are...thats how they were planned.  What surprised me about her statement, though, is that she is a 'West Coast Collector' so she should understand why it's such a frustration for those of us on this side of the country to watch event after event planned for the eastern half.  There aren't even special days at a breeding farm or race track or cross country field.  Just the Northwest Horse Fair & Expo and the live model show.  How am I supposed to support that? Come on, Breyer, throw us a bone!  Please!  Of course, there's nothing to prevent me from attending any of these events...well, nothing much.  I do have rent to pay, bills to pay and a car payment so it's not like I have a bunch of the green stuff.  That's not my only issue, though.  I don't like to fly and I really don't want to fly somewhere that would require three plane transfers because the host location is a small state up in the northeast part of the country.  Okay, maybe I exaggerated a little bit.  I can fly non-stop on Southwest and the flight would be cheaper than a round trip to Louisville, but that's besides the point.  Hahaha.  But the point is, people in the western half shouldn't have to keep flying to the eastern half if they want to attend an event.   I don't know what Seattle has in terms of horse events, but there's Northern California, Nevada, Arizona...we even have a Paso Fino breeding farm here...I bet people would love to visit that.  Turf Paradise started live racing today...another great option.  There's also Texas and Colorado, Wyoming.  You get the idea.  Have another event over on this side.  You've had 3 in a row on that side.  Make us feel like we matter.

On second thought, maybe Seattle wouldn't be a very good option.  There is a cat rescue there that seems to corner the market on kitties with unusual markings...





I don't remember how I stumbled upon this particular rescue...well, actually, I do. I was on Petfinder and decided to look up Seattle and that's where I found Lacey, the tortie point Siamese with the gorgeous blue eyes. From there, I just kept looking. This place is amazing. They hold adoption events at their facility on weekends and average about 30 adoptions at each event. Now, they mostly adopt in pairs, but that's still a lot of cats and they have people climbing over each other to get them. They must be doing something right. But if Breyer were to host an event in Seattle I'd like want to visit the rescue and come home with two kittens.

I've been wanting to post this for awhile now...I'm a BBC...A Bad Breyer Collector...awhile ago I accidentally knocked into some of my shelves and most of my Stablemates fell over...I have yet to set them back up...

And then I have ones I've bought recently AND not so recently that are still in their boxes...including my Cortes C I waited several months to get...

My last of 2016 Vintage Club model also remains boxed plus the foal has been promised to a friend in Tennessee, but I haven't shipped him yet...

Last but not least...this mess here? There's at least two horses in there, maybe more...

Actually, that isn't last, but it is the last photo...I had someone pick me up a couple of Stablemates from Breyerfest back in July...the ones you get with a single day ticket? Currently...I have no idea where the box is that they were shipped in. Hahahahaha. Oh boy. I need to do something soon.

This morning when I went out to buy lotto tickets for tonight's drawing, I saw lots of 'yard sale' signs. The weather is improving. People have sales year round here, but you always know when the weather is starting to improve because the number of yard sales increases. It's still supposed to be 95 today, but that's an improvement over 115. We got our power bill yesterday for the month of September and it was low. Like, November low. It's never been this low for a September before. That makes me very happy!

Why do I always close with the weather? Gee, Mr Spiccoli, I don't know... (fast times at ridgemont high reference in case you didn't catch it haha).

Have a great one.

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Convenience vs Efficience... and other stuff...

When my parents still lived up north, before my dad died, my mom would go grocery shopping mostly at Super Walmart.  Partly because they were more convenient since they had more than just groceries, but also because their town only had Safeway and Bashas' as alternatives for grocery shopping.  At one time they had an IGA, but that closed not long after Walmart became Super Walmart.  Anyway, when my mom moved in with us, it was her intention to continue shopping at Walmart.  It's what she was used to and I didn't really care one way or another so I went along with it.  Unfortunately, that often meant going to TWO grocery stores every week.  My brother is very Anti-Walmart so certain things we would have to buy at the grocery store such as steaks and roasts.  Walmart doesn't have very good choices for those anyway, but any other meat was fine and since they now carry bone in chicken breasts, we no longer had to make a trip to the grocery store if that was all we needed from the shopping list.  Before she moved in, we just ate whatever, whenever.  A couple of roommates had tried to get the house on a menu thing with a "pot" for grocery money, but it never happened.  I wouldn't have minded so much when John lived with us because he was a good cook, but eventually he get a girlfriend and moved in with her and eventually they got married.  Scott didn't eat much dinner at home and Doug...well, Doug was just gross and I didn't want to eat anything he cooked because ne never washed his hands after using the bathroom.  My mom was used to cooking dinner every night for her and my dad and we wanted the transition to go as smoothly as possible so we started planning out a menu on Saturday and go shopping on Sunday.  We did that for nearly 5 years.  Walmart first and then either Frys or Albertsons.  We used to sometimes go to Bashas because my mom liked them in Payson, but our closest store is 3 or 4 miles away and they stopped putting sales circulars into newspapers that delivered to our neighborhood and she got tired of looking at the sales on my tablet so we just stopped going.

On occasion, we wouldn't need to go to either Walmart or a regular store, just one or the other and gradually, that became more and more frequent.  In fact, I think it's been almost a month since we've been to Walmart.  Each week we decide if we need to go to Walmart and if we do, then we determine if we can get away with going JUST to Walmart.  If we don't need to go, I push for going to just one regular grocery store.  So far it's worked, but if it happens that both stores have super awesome sales, we can go to both.  Fortunately, though, one store will have better sales over another or their sales will be for more "useable" items.  In other words, stuff we actually need rather than just because it's a good sale.  A drawback to not going to Walmart as often, though, is not having access to a better selection of lesser-expensive dog treats.  Our dogs get a variety of treats and the grocery stores don't really have much of a selection and what they do have is on the more expensive side.  But my mom doesn't want to go to Walmart just to get dog treats.  Well, enter the new grocery pick-up service and the purpose of this blog post.  All you need to do is go on Walmart.com and basically shop the virtual aisles for what you want.  You can also put an item name in the search box and it'll come up with the exact item or what it considers to be close enough.  Once you have everything selected that you want, you choose a pick-up time.  They call you 15 minutes before your hour-long window to let you know your order is ready and you go to the designated area at the store, call the number to let them know you're there, then they bring the stuff out to you and load it into your car.  How great can that be?  I despise going to a grocery store in the middle of the week, but if I don't have to actually go IN the store, I could handle that.  So, there we have the 'convenience' part.  So, on Tuesday I did my shopping and selected my time frame for pick-up.  They called me at 2.45pm to let me know it was ready and I said I'd be there about 3.15pm to pick it up.  Great.  I get to the store at just about exactly 3.15pm and park in the designated spot.  There's a sign on the poles with the phone number telling you to call to let them know you've arrived so I called the number.  And got an answering machine telling me what the pick-up hours are.  Huh?  I'm supposed to be here now.  Why aren't they answering the phones?  I left a message letting them know I was there for my grocery order then sat there for about 10 minutes before anyone came out and asked me if I needed anything.  Hmmm.  I'm sitting in the grocery pick-up parking spot...maybe I have an order to pick up?  I told her I was there for my order and she said she'd be back in a few minutes.  I then waited almost another 10 minutes before a different gal came out with my stuff.  She explained to me how the program worked then opened my hatchback to load the groceries. 
She actually asked if she should leave everything in their bags.  That question was a bit odd.  Would she actually just put them in there loose?  Maybe she thought I had my own bags to use, I don't know.  But I said yes, please.  I also got a goody bag for my first order
and she said I would receive a bottle of water with each pick-up.  So, would I consider this whole experience to be convenient?  I suppose.  I didn't have to go into the store, which I liked.  I'm all for convenience, as is many people in America.  Why go to a grocery store for a jug of milk when you can stop at a Circle K?  Or eggs.  Or laundry detergent.  Nowadays so many things are available at convenience stores and drug stores like Walgreens and CVS.  Is the grocery pick-up at Walmart efficient?  I'm still on the fence about that.  They didn't seem to know what was going on and I had to wait longer than what I probably should have needed to because they didn't answer the phone when I called.  I'm all for convenience, as I stated above and will usually pick that over something else, but sometimes the convenient way isn't necessarily the best way.  Sometimes you need to go with the more efficient option and maybe spend a little more money or step outside your comfort zone just a bit.  I think I need to use this service another time or two to decide if it's worth using on a regular basis for the dog treats or for things I can't get at a regular grocery store such as pre-cooked sausage patties and scrambled egg patties to make my own breakfast sandwiches.

Well, last week I had a couple of days off so I went in search of wild horses, which I often do when I'm off from work.  I saw two singletons in different areas, but none of the larger bands I'm used to.  The weather is getting nicer and the horses aren't needing to come to the watering holes as much as they need in the summer, which is a bummer, but I know they're safer when they're deeper in the desert, as evidenced by the loss of a young colt last week to a car.  The SRWHMG tried to save him, but were unable to.  Initially they held back and monitored him for signs of serious injury and they said he seemed to be improving, but then he took a turn and, well, he died.  I'm always worried when I'm out there that I'm going to witness something like that and I'll not want to ever go back.  I witnessed an incident at Sea World one time involving the Budwieser wagon and team that had me almost running to the exit and those horses survived with no serious injuries, but I almost left.  When I reached the exit plaza I decided to get a snack and settle down and decide what to do.  I had a feeling that if I left, I'd never come back so I stayed for about an hour then went back to the Hospitality Center and discovered the team had been successfully untangled and put back in the barn.  Anyway, after not having any success with the Wild Ones, I decided to just drive around and before long, I found myself behind a horse trailer so what did I do?  I followed the trailer.  Horse trailers usually lead you to horses.  Unfortunately, I lost the trailer because he turned down a side road and I didn't want him to think I was following him so I was going to try to go around the block, but I never did find him.  Oh well.  What I did find, though, was a little equestrian community I never knew existed so I just drove around the neighborhood looking for horses and taking pictures.

I also saw a cow or two and a couple of goats.  One dead-end led to a rather...dilapidated looking property, but they had horses...
You can't really see them in the picture, but they're there.  They also had a series of riding trails, but they were kind of mish-mash and didn't really seem to lead anywhere.
I saw some neat houses.  I like houses.  Not so much the architecture as just...I don't know how to explain it.  I like large houses.  I've always lived in "average-sized" houses that were nothing special so maybe that's why I'm drawn to the big, fancy ones

They're not even the biggest or fanciest I've seen around here, but I still liked them.  This one had a neat foot bridge leading to the front door that I really liked
This last one made me scratch my head just a bit.  The neighborhood I was in was located in Maricopa County, but this police cruiser was from Pinal County, which is a good 45 minutes away.  I don't know if maybe the deputy lives there or what, but it certainly confused me
Sometimes it can be difficult taking pictures of houses without the residents freaking out, but so far nobody has asked what I'm doing there or chased me off and so far nobody has called the police to report me for suspicious activity.  hahaha.

Okay, that's it for now.  I was going to write more, but I will stop for now.  hahaha.  Have a great one!