Friday, June 17, 2011

Meet you at the Beach


New friends Shasha and her son G~ on their very trusty mounts,
Cassy mare and Barney pony.

After being reined in for almost 3 weeks time, due to Voluntary lock down, the mare and me were finally released to leave! The beach  was calling to us to come play, the trip was planned months ago. And now, the weather was FINALLY condusive for traveling and riding at our favorite GETAWAY- the  Bay Ocean House!


Tillamook is only an hour 1/2 away from Portland but it is 7 hours from Blaine Washington.  SASHA, from "Horses and Boys" blog and I have been conversing for some time over a meeting at the Oregon Coast with her family and NANA. So she and I made it happen. I am so happy that she trusted me to come so far!

She had her horses vetted and a "HEALTH CERTIFICATE" was issued, certifiying them healthy and safe for the state crossing...and onto some fun-BEACH RIDING!  Horseback riding is plentiful there at the Tillamook spit, with the Bay road or dune trails and of course, the sandy shores next to the waves.

Arrival after such a long drive!




Early on, as I booked the dates for the B.O.H. Gem, the owner of the Bay Side Vacation rental  had asked if I wanted to have company. Of course! Since she is one of my favorite riding partners-who am I to say no?!!
I trailered her trusty mount Romeo, and treated her to the traveling pleasures of being a passenger. "Co-Pilot" in this case...her calling out, "Clear", as we navigated the short way through town- to heading- out of town.
  Also part of being "Co-Pilot" one is in charge of "Travel Snackers duty".   No need to explain that one more!
My mare was delighted to not be alone in the trailer, since her lead mare Pantz, was not going this time. I missed not being able to ride with my sissy too this time. But, it  just makes for another  horsey beach trip, later on this summer!

"WOW- I feel pretty amazed", I said to Adam, Shasha's husband, after i was told how long it took them to get there.
 " I am impressed that you trusted me that much to come visiting!" They has viewed the B.O.H. web site and thought it was a good risk...plus  he said, " I knew my wife liked you and trusted you,so I was in". Awe!
Well all I can say from here on, mostly through photo's...I adored the family and count them as mine now..and NANA, you are a treasure!

A horsey welcome party!


Hey boys, come see the creek!





The other PURE GOLD treasure find of this Beach trip was CASSY MARE!  She was level headed and truly wonderful for Sasha...as they walked to the beach for the first time ...and disappeared into the sea of yellow Scotch broom.......


Barney pony, her sons G's mount -was not detectable!


I couldn't resist this common behaviour from Romeo, he has eating on the brain at all times...even over fully coming out of the trailer!



We completed readying the horses  and were off~




We followed  them at a large distance, to detract from a group  processional, keeping my mare lower key... though, she still was amped up. Gem and I took our time stopping frequently to de-escalate the adrenaline. But, as we neared the final Mountainous hill of sand dune, that lead to the beach shores...WHOOSH- A-HUGE- HANG GLIDE- KITE flew up..and so did  our horses heads and energies!!
There was another smaller "whizzing" kite there too...that was making flapping noises as it flew to and fro. In all the times we've been to this beach with horses...kites have never been seen by us- Helicopters, goats, boats, dogs, bicycles, elk, backpackers and tents...we have navigated them all..but this new addition....!


Cassy mare, she was a super star!
She had never seen the ocean before and the kites were there as well...


CASSY MARE stood at the top of that dune waiting  for  her side kick Barney and took it all in. Then the two equines  went fourth onto the beach!


OUR horses, as they heard the fluttery noises of the rather huge, "hang glider like" kite - were a bit freaked out and Gemma announced, " Okay! Let's take another route!" That was dandy by me. If Romeo goes bonkers (and she felt it coming) my mare goes with him!

We did go back towards the Bay and then took the road along it, to the next beach trail to the sandy dunes. The breeze of the ocean felt so good when we got there!



It was neat, as we hit the beach-there was SAHSA and CASSY!
So cool to see her at our Oregon coast on her lovely White QH mare!!



We rode for a short time together, and then she left us to go back to her son G., on Barney pony up the beach from us with the family. We had no desire for the kite direction this first ride on the beach so we went the othert way...
We discovered that something was definitely Wrong with Romeo.


He would not walk out and barely would move at all, with out trying to bite his one side. He also had been licking one of his feet earlier, I told Gem, as I had seen a small wound, near his coronet band.  She had tried to put some ointment on it, before we left and he raised his hoof so fast, he gave her a fat lip!
She also had a new saddle on and the girth did not fit him, as well as the design and placement of it. We decided to hand-walk the horses back the bay side mile, to the trailers. Good call.



The mare seemed happy this day with her new saddle..though she was a bit "Buck-y" on the beach. She was really round and it  felt really, really different to us both, at extended trot and canter.


Pretty great pattern here!



We discovered that the issues with Romeo were due to an abscess- that was blowing out....and the girth placement of the new saddle.
Bute, cold  hose treatment,  Epsom salt soaking, then standing wraps were the immeadiate remedy.



The chain item on his leg, was for him to not paw my trailer bumper off!


As the horses rested from the beach ride we settled into some relaxing too...in various forms...

...by me, in seeking out the plemntiful scenes to photograph...






... and watching these new freinds, enjoy themselves!

 The boys G and Little L had FUN, FUN, FUN by the fireside in the yard that eve, with us  right along with them in Toasty marshmallow antics!






All our cares melted away, during the stay, near the Tillamook bay~



Loved every minute of being with some new- true- friends and my Gem. The times were so packed, I defineately did NOT get the one on one time with Sasha I wanted...but, that may be coming later in the summer as we talked about a family camp out trip, with us meeting somewhere in the MIDDLE of Washington. Sounds good to me!!



Sasha and me took the  mares .... down to the beach for one last ride, before the family left. Romeo was healing up at home with barney pony to comfort him. The mares were really great...but as we got to the beach, it was hilarious. ...they statrted to snort and snort and snort...we determined that they needed to move and trot.



So we did trot....made some tracks as we enjoyed the wide open freedom the beach offers~ the tide was coming in so the sand was somewhat deep...it helped us to hinder the mares forward ambition- a little...


As we trotted aways, we then began to canter...then as I moved to the harder surf near the tide...we ripped! I was slowing down and there came Cassy...ripping  it up. Wa mare was so shocked, she matched her in speed quickly. Sasha was begining to ask her to slow down...I got my mare to release her speed and soon, Cassy did too.

After that "all out"..those mares were just angels...long necked and calm. It really was a relaxing blast to be riding the sandy shores with my new friend, and her beautiful mare!


Following and leading my mare was "my perfect mare" this day, redeeming all other times of anything else!


Heading in from the shore, we again were engulfed in the bright sea of yellow!



Untill we meet again, I will treasure the times...
And Sahsa, thanks for the gallop!
My mare may have met her match...for the Quarter Mile at least!

17 comments:

  1. Gorgeous pics!!! I'm so jealous, Im in dire need of a beach day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm so glad you got to go! Especially since you were so worried that you couldn't. Sounds like it was a fantastic time.

    PS- I am in love with that photo of Wa's mane on the beach. Very cool.

    ReplyDelete
  3. As usual, you have the most beautiful rides. I'm glad you were able to figure out what was wrong and how to treat it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. what a wonderful vacation... a flat out gallop on the beach- I'm jealous!

    ReplyDelete
  5. That sounds like so much fun, my dream trip for sure. I love that part of the beach, usually quiet. I bet those kites were quite a surprize. Glad you "nipped that in the bud". I just realized it's been almost 3 years since I've seen the ocean and that's just not right. I think Fred and I are ging to take a day trip very soon. Wonderful pictures too!

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a wonderful experience!!! THat would be a dream come true for me..

    Love your photos, thanks for taking us along...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for the ride along Kacey! Wonderful relaxing trip =)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow! What fun! Terry Moondance

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a post! There you go making me jealous of your trip to the beach.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Trail riding at its best! I hope your horse is better soon and the photos are wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  11. oh what a great post! so many good photos that I hadn't seen:) It was such a great time!! We will definitely camp this summer. My funny boys. so funny to see their antics on someone else's blog as well.
    thanks for the fabulous beach vacation:)

    ReplyDelete
  12. How wonderful for all of you and the horses. Thanks for taking us along, Kacy.

    ReplyDelete
  13. How great that you could do this. I can't imagine the beauty and the joy of this trip.

    ReplyDelete
  14. That's great. A wonderful ride with friends through some beautiful scenery. Hope you get to do it again and again and maybe one time Pantz can join in the fun.

    Too bad about the abscess. I bet the salt water would have helped heal it. We used to take our horses to the Sound(by us) and it always helped heal the wounds.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sounds like you had an awesome time with your friends, it must be nice to have a good gallop on the beach, great photo of your ride, I to like the one of your mare’s mane blowing in the wind very nice indeed. I feel sorry for Romeo I hope he will be ok. Anyway glad you had a good time oh and your mare looks brilliant, I love her brow band.
    Regards
    Edward

    ReplyDelete
  16. You took some wonderful pictures. The beach is a great place to ride, and it looks such a nice area where you went too. Salt water and riding on sand is very good for horses legs, such a shame for Romeo, I hope he will be ok.
    Glad you all had a fun time. Abby

    ReplyDelete
  17. Looks like a great day! Love the first marshmallow shot, and the one of Barney hiding in the broom!

    ReplyDelete

*Thank you for visiting, I Love to read your friendly nickers below!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...