kelseybacon.com

JJ and I put the finishing touches on the arena fencing this afternoon.  We have the round pen built and I think it would measure at about 60 feet across.  The paddock is a lot smaller, but still big enough for the three horses and a few more, if we wanted.  I will have to shoot photos tomorrow and post them. 

The arrangements also mean that the landscaping around here has to be reworked in a few places alongside the arena.  There is a bit of fencing that needs some work too. 

We also cut the last bit of the north end off of Umber’s pen so that the drive can pass through there, making it possible for a ride out there, and later, when some roadbed is put down, a driveway.  We could sure use a tractor right about now! 

A lot of work still needs to be put into leveling off.  But with tis arrangement, we have room so we could add more animals now, if we wanted.  Of course, a barn would be very nice too!  But it is all money, money money! 

What to do with sand! 

Kelsey J Bacon

So I have not had the best of days today, to be honest!  I woke up at 4AM and stayed awake till about 5:30, then it was off to sleep again.  I slept till 8, which is way too late in the morning for me.  I have felt groggy and headachy all day, and it has just been no fun.  I got a few things done, like unclogging the drain in our bathroom, and repairing a set of shelves and moving them into the bedroom, and things like that.  I tried to be helpful for Missus with her website, but it was one of those days when nothing came out right, and we just didn’t see eye to eye.  Oh well.

But I do get credit for taking her mark-up and making it into this logo for her site.

That got added to this banner, which I also made…

…without the copyright notices, of course..!! 

Those were kind of fun to make, so I used the inspiration to create a banner on my webpage too.  It is inspiring even more thought too, believe you me! 

The best part of the day was finalizing the agreement among all interested parties that the horse arena needs the fencing rearranged so we can cut down the space used for horses on the property, and so we can train the horses.  See, the thing is, they use fully half of the property, and yet their area is just sand.  There is nothing for them to do over there.  they graze off the weeds that surround them, and they browse through the trees they can reach, and they curb off the pallets and other wood they can get to, chewing at nails and all.  It is just not working.  What’s more, they use the space to just stand there.  I want to set the area up for training.  The horses need more discipline for trail riding, as they just don’t have much now.  They are fair, don’t get me wrong!  But proper longeing would also help them get fit, and keep them entertained.  So why not build a round pen? 

So we need to arrange that in the next day or three.  We have trails to ride in just about every direction around us!  The access is literally over the road from us in two places, and up one side of the property too!  From those three locations, we can ride for hundreds of miles unfettered.  And there are more places to go off from besides those right at the edge of our property.  So really, if we are riding regularly, why on earth would three horses need more than an acre of SAND?

Looks like there are a few busy days ahead… 

Kelsey J Bacon

There is the Arena on the right.  It is set up for roping in this areal picture.  We don’t rope, and we don’t intend to.  So it needs to be set up for training and learning, so we can do both of those instead.  Look forward to photos from ground level to come when I do THAT blog post! 

If you were wondering what Kelsey did today, here is the briefest description.  Getting blisters on his @$$.

How?

So I caved in to my step-son this morning when I found out that the temperature outside felt really good for a horseback ride.  “Why not?” I thought.  I saddled up Patches and Umber and off we went!  We left the house at about 9:30 in the morning!

The first quarter of a mile was not too good.  Patches kept playing me up, and Umber and JJ kept trying to run around.  But after we got over the first hill, and into the sound shadow so they could not hear Precious back in the home arena, they both settled down fairly well for us.  I did let Patches have a run to get ‘it’ out of his system.  We went via the power line road to the electrical sub-station, then took the north road up to the top of the Mormon Mesa.  I called home to check in from there and was happy to report that in the end, the horses were doing very well, and that we intended to ride around on top of the mesa for a bit.  Not long after, we stopped off to let the horses eat a bit, and I took these pictures…

Yeah, what a horrible life I lead!  That last photo, by the way, is of particular interest to this article.  That is where I earned my blisters after a grand total of five hours of riding today! 

We did go up further on the mesa and found some cows and a solar powered weather station.  Then, after finding the watering hole there empty, I said to JJ that we should turn round and go home now.  Well, I think Patches speaks more English than he lets on because he turned and started running where there were no trails to run on!  I grabbed out the GPS, which I had earlier set to find home so I could tell how far away we were, and he was heading to within five degrees of straight on to home!  Mind you, this was a place he had not been to before very recently, if ever at all, and we were almost five miles as the crow flies from the house!  Or maybe it is five miles as the horse runs! 

Getting home was grueling, because by the time I stopped Patches from this last run, I had already earned my blisters!

We came off the mesa where there was no road, but only an old trail used by some form of animal or another.  Patches was excellent on the hillside, and through the washes.  Whenever we crossed over a five or six foot drop in the bottom of the wash, as he stepped out onto the adjacent hillside, all I had to do was close my eyes and let him walk, and he did just fine! 

It was with great jubilation that we finally crested the last hill and came home.  JJ and I were both bushed while we unsaddled and brushed both horses down, giving them time to cool down a bit before turning them into the arena and letting them water. 

Well done JJ for such a long ride, and well done Patches and little Umber for taking us over the top! 

Kelsey J Bacon

Happy Trails!

On the other end of the day now, and it has been a day.  I spent it in Mesquite, visiting someone in the hospital, and quite frankly, I would have loved to of had some time out photographing the view from the window without the addition of street and parking lot lights in the way.  Still, I will show you why, lights and all. 

But first, my dinner…  This is ONE thing I REALLY missed about America while I was in the UK eight years.

Prime Rib by the Virgin River Casino.

Angel Peak from the North.

And of course this last one is my lovely daughter, who came with to visit someone in the hospital. 

Kelsey J Bacon

PS, if you would like to hire me to photograph your event, get in touch directly, on Facebook, or at kelseyphoto.com. 

Missus Bacon has avoided it, but not the boys, who brought it home from school.It isn’t homework, it is a cold virus.  Our little baby girl got it, and kept sitting on my lap…  What could a father do?  I would coddle her and keep her, and of course I got it.  I knew I would!  But she is worth it, right?  I have it, and it has kept me under the weather a bit, but most devastating is the cabin fever that has set in due to being locked down under the baby. I try to get out in the yard each evening when possible to get some exercise and some air in my lungs.  That’s okay because there is a project to work on out there anyhow.

The horses have done a fair job on the back fence, trying to get to the neighbor’s vegetation in the field between us.  At the moment, the fence is bent up and standing at a 45 degree angle.  Jordan has been helping me with the fix for the past couple of evenings.  We have a fair number of rail crossties in the yard that were put down for landscaping, but because of the wind and blowing sand here, most of them have been buried, some so deep that we have only just discovered them.  So we are digging them out in a dual effort.  One is to see how the sand goes after the air damming effect of the crossties are gone, and the other is of course to use them to stop the horses knocking the back fence over.  We are placing the ties 10 feet apart in three foot deep holes, making huge honkin’ fence posts out of them.  We are lining them up 14 feet from the back property line in order to leave a dead zone between them for the moment, and planning an abatement program when the area does grow in, such as a goat, or a roadbed.  The dead zone leaves an area wide enough to possibly bring the animal feed through when it is delivered, so there are possibilities there too.  Also, it fits in with the future plans of removing the metal rail fencing and replacing it with wire, and then putting it eventually all around the arena and making a longing circle.

Having a cold and mending fences does not mix well, especially when said fences require 3 foot holes, but it is coming along, even if slowly.

Yesterday we found one of our ducks laying dead in their watering bucket.  That was a bit of a bummer.  The only thing we can think of is that the other male must have killed it, and probably on accident.  It left a mess for me to clean up.  Pin it to the “oh well” wall.

Lately, a lot of our lives has been devoted to mending the fences and tending the animals.  The kids have really enjoyed it, and so has Missus.  As for me, after spending most of the last eight years pinned inside because of the weather, or because I did not want to go outside and be among some of those who lived around me, frankly, this has been just about the best time of my life!  It feels better than good.  Getting out in the air, and being with the animals fills my lungs and my mind with life.  (Yes, even when one of the ducks is floating belly up in the pool.)  The weather this winter has been very tolerable overall, and as spring rolls in, there is a lot of gardening to do, and plenty of sunshine will be about for horseback riding.  Jordan and I want to saddle Umber and Patches and go for a real ride out a few miles in the desert.  In fact, hopefully that will be sooner than later, especially if this cold lets up on us all! 

Ta for now!

Kelsey J Bacon

Today was a fine old day!  We got up this morning and got a lot of chores and cleaning done in time to take the afternoon off from just after 1:00PM.  After a quick lunch, and certainly not a healthy one, I went out to the arena with the boys and we carefully saddled up Umber and walked her around long enough to decide she is okay.  Dylan was first to brave her, and I walked him and Umber into the arena and around a little bit before letting them go on their own.  As it turns out, Umber is better with a saddle on her and a person on back than when she is being led by her lead rope. 

Both Dylan and Jordan rode around on her extensively, ahs she handled like a dream for them, apart from the one dash she made for a fence, which scared Dylan to the point he bailed out on her.  He hit the ground pretty hard, and tried to bugger off to his friend’s house after.  But I told him that if he were going to die of internal bleeding, it would be at home, and not at his friend’s house!  So he stayed long enough to ride again.  No more running on try number two. 

Now for the best bit…  Pardon the pun!  But she had only a halter on her head.  She didn’t even have a harness and bit.  If she rides so well without, then we figure that she will be even better with the proper gear. 

After the horsing around, and eating supper, Missus and I cleaned out her art studio and arranged things better for her out there.  I We also have come up with some more ideas for the place, and for The Prospering Peasant, such as making logs out of old card that she has recovered in our recycling but cannot use in her art. 

I also found some cast iron wares that I need to clean up and season tomorrow.  One bit is a Dutch Oven, which ought to make cooking interesting and fun as we learn how to use it! 

Kelsey J Bacon

Today I got on Precious and took her out on the trail.  She was not the only greenie on the trail today though.  Jordan got on Patches and took him out as a second rider.  It was the first time we have had any two people out on a trail together since we got here.  It was Jordan’s first time on the horse out of the arena.  It was Precious’ first time on the trail since we arrived here.  Patches behaved as expected, and Jordan panicked as expected too.  Precious behaved very well, which was unexpected. 

Jordan had been bragging for weeks about hoe he was going to get on the horse and ride like a cowboy from the moment he’s allowed to ride.  So today I had him put on his new helmet that he has to use as a precaution, and had him mount up on Patches.  As soon as I rode past him and said to come along, Jordan started saying “I can’t do this!  I can’t do this!  I can’t do this!”  I turned and said, “Yes you can JJ!  You have been going on for weeks about how great a rider you were going to be from day one, so kick that horse and let’s get out the gate!”  David had to come along and walk Patches along, leading him out the gate and down the road a couple of times to help JJ feel secure enough to go.  That done, we took to the trail across the street from the driveway and rode up to the top of the hill where you can see the whole valley.  We took it in, and I think Jordan was pretty glad that he got on and came for a ride. 

We took the horses out for about half an hour in all, and when we got back, I laid down in the sand to play with my daughter, and Jordan came along and pointed his accusing finger at me and said “That’s another thing you have forced me to do that I have really enjoyed!”  Well, that was the idea JJ!  Besides him learning to face things without fear so he can live a life full of the things he enjoys, and is unafraid to try new things. 

Patches is a great horse to ride.  His only fault is that he likes to reach for a snack.  If we cold break him of that, he’d be a perfect trail rider.  Precious was really surprisingly well behaved today.  I will like to try her again before long, and see how the two do together.  At the end of the day, if training her is a matter of riding her with Patches in lead, then so be it.  She follows commands well, and Patches is calm when the quad bikes and cars and such are around.  As a herd animal, Precious should do fine so long as Patches does. 

Kelsey J Bacon