MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR.

HAPPY TRAILS 2014

We are so looking forward to 2014. Plan on heading South the end of December (less then a week). Horses have had their blood pulled for their health and coggins, should get paperwork back this week. Trailer is almost packed up, our Semi Truck is tuned up and ready to roll.

Our Western Star was in the garage for 6 months and just started up like a star (LOL)

Getting ready for a trip is not all that easy. I have been planning a route for weeks. Making PDF printable files of places to stay along the way and Check lists for the truck and trailer. If you go to our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/campingandhorses/ click on files you will find lots of good printable info.

Our Gaits and home are all decorated for Christmas

If it wasn't for the Holiday season we would already be down south. I love spending the holidays with our sons. This will be our first christmas in Merritt and there is always snow to make you feel in the holiday spirit.

Even my old wagon wheel has lights around it 

Before heading out make sure your horses are in shape. If not maybe do easy rides for the first weeks down south. We try and get ours out even if there is snow.

Ron & Cimaron

Love this shot I took below last week out on the trail. Ron and Cimaron in the sunlight makes for a get shot.

I took this shot and sent in to Global TV and it was on of the top photos of the week

I will miss our young boys Tracker (HuntyaDown) and Tricker (Heza Hot Streaker) both born this year. We have a good friend staying with them well we are gone. Our friend that is the host at Lundbom Lake will be here until the campsite there opens in the spring. She is experienced with horses. All the other critters will be leaving with us.

Tricker & Tracker our up coming stallion prospects having fun in the snow. 

The young boys have lots of room to move around the property. Just love these guys too cute

Going to miss these little guys 

 Make sure you follow the blog I will be posted places to stay along the way as well as trails we have ridden. We have a facebook page as well as a web site

http://www.campingandhorses.com 

Happy Trails 

Winter is here time to think about heading south

View looking out our living-room window to the valley below.

Well it is time to think about heading south for the winter. Don't get me wrong I just love our new place with the views and mountain scenery it is just beautiful. We plan on heading south towards Arizona right after the new year. There are lots of things to get ready to leave. Coggins and health papers for the horses. Make sure you plan a head for the horses paperwork it can take up to a week or 2 in some places.  Another very important thing is have the truck road ready. Here is a great link to one of my PDF files on getting your truck ready Click here to print. You should find it very useful. Here is another great list with a PDF printable file Click here to print. This second list is important things you should always travel with. Of course once you are ready to leave check road reports to see what the best route is to travel down. Check road conditions Click here for Canadian road conditions.  Click here for USA road conditions. It is also good to travel with a GPS and maybe a smart phone. We travel with a wireless Wifi hub we got from Verizon . We bought our card or hub for just over $100 and just pay buy the month.  You can pop into any Verizon store just after crossing the boarder. It is a little pricy per month but it is great to have internet everywhere you go. One thing nice about having the internet well traveling you can google places to stay as you drive. Finding places that take horses is a little bit of a challenge but not impossible. Keep in mind almost every little town has rodeo grounds so you can always google rodeo grounds. I do not book ahead as we never know how far we will make it in one day travel it depends a lot on weather. About a hour or two before we stop I will call ahead to places we can stay at. There are lots of reference sites to find stop overs for horses. My web site has lots of info http://www.campingandhorses.com  there are others too. Here are some more web sites. If traveling through eastern Oregon some of the rest areas even have corrals so look for the horse pictures on the rest area signs.

http://www.horseandmuletrails.com/
http://horsemotel.com/
http://www.travelinghorse.com/Stables.html

Also follow our blog I have a bunch of places listed we stayed at on our way to and from Arizona in 2012 Click here to to see Blog

Other tips or suggestions when traveling with horses.
1.) I will soak their hay with water as they travel to make sure they get water. We offer them water at every stop as well. If they do not drink at least they are getting some moisture from the hay.
2.) I do not boot or wrap my horses up to travel as this can sometimes be more trouble then it is worth. I have seen horses get leg bows from the tension of the boots or wraps. This is a personal reason make your own judgement.
3.) If you are using hay nets to travel with use ones with smaller holes like slow feeders. I have seen too many horses get their legs hung up in the larger nets if they paw in the trailer.
4.) We do not travel with heavy rugs we travel with just a light cooler/sheet or nothing.
5.) Keep horses window locked in the up right possession with the window open for just a little air flow. DO NOT KEEP down in the open possession. I can not believe it when I see people driving down the highway and their horses heads are hanging out the window. Craziness.
6.) Your Coggins is good for 6 months but the health papers are only good up to 60 days. We get the 60 day papers and renew before heading out of state. Check online to find vets near your area to renew Health papers this can take sometime in Arizona now as the paperwork goes to New Mexico and back.
7.) Most horse people seem to travel with other pets. Make sure all your pets have a current Rabies shot and you have all the paperwork.
8.) If you do travel with a smartphone call your cell phone company about getting a USA plan for long distance and texting. You may have to call every 30 days to renew depending on your provider.

Trail riding out our back door. Both our weanlings got to go. 

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New year see you in Arizona in the New Year :) 

SUMMERS OVER

IT HAS BEEN A BUSY SUMMER 

Well summer is over and fall is here. The cool evening and mornings make me think about heading back to Arizona but it will be hard to leave this wonderful place. It has been a busy year Ron and I have both retired. Moved from the coast where we lived all our lives. Sold the farm and bought what feels like a small ranch in Merritt. I have not been homesick once up here it is like heaven. I just love living in the middle of the ranchlands. We are surrounded by huge cattle ranches, mountains and lakes what more could you ask for.  We can ride right off the property onto thousands of acres of trails. Endless riding and ATVing.

This summer has been busy getting our new farm horse friendly. Building shelters, corrals, round pens, wood sheds, and redoing our front entrance. The home was recently built and is beautiful. We have a huge shop that Ron loves that our Semi even fits into.

Our new front gates. 

Beautiful 60' round pen all hand crafted with trees off our property. 

Ron built this Wood shed using logs off the property

Our Hitching rail in front of house

The tack-room is the small garage in front of hitching rail

Ron added 13' onto the shed below to make it a 3 bay shelter with one shelter to hold almost 400 bales of hay

Some of my rock paintings along the driveway 

We have a full RV hook-up for guest that even has Wifi 

These are our young guys home breed colt Tracker "Huntyadown" and a young colt we just bought called  Tricker "Heza Hot Streaker" . 

This shelter Ron built at the shop and moved it to the horse area. 

Duma our Domesticated African Serval is happy with her new enclosure 

She has lots of natural trees she can stretch her body on. 

There is about a 50' walkway to the enclosure

Even our little Savannah cat loves it

Well looks like all our projects are done for 2013. Next spring we start on replace electric fencing with wood fencing. Until then we are planning our trip back down south for the winter. Keep posted after Christmas for some great new rides.

If you are in the area next summer stop in and say hi. We always have room for guests and horses.

Living and riding in the Nicole Valley

There was 13 of us on this ride Ron is taking the picture. I am in the middle on the B&W stallion 

I am just loving living here in the Nicole Valley. The are hundreds of places to ride but my favourite is still Lundbom Lake. We have had lots of friends come and camp at Lundbom. We drove over last month to visit with 2 couples from the US we know. When we got to camp we knew almost everyone there so we did a big ride with 13 of us. (Lucky 13 LOL)   Some of the pictures below we taken even earlier in the spring when we were camped there in May and June.

There was a lot of rain early in the spring so the wild flowers this year were amazing

Ron the trail boss 

Love this shot I took of our friend Randy from Washington riding through the wild flowers in the Lundbom grasslands 

The next few pictures are of the views looking down on the Nicole Lake

Another shot of our trail boss Ron Stolp

We found a new lake not far from camp

This picture was taken in May before the rains came and before the grass turned green and flowers bloomed

Lundbom Lake 

This is a ride we did from camp to the view of Corbett lake with Wally from Victoria

Yes the rains came

And the grasslands turned green 

This shot I took even made Global's facebook page in the weather window photos 

Love this shot of my friend Sharon with her horse Toby and little dog Teddy we are racing the Thunder clouds

And the blooming starts 

Looking throw the ears of my wild stallion towards Lundbom Lake 

New Farm

After 5 months of camping around the Southwest with our horses we have finally bought a new farm and have move in. We have always loved the Nicole Valley in Merritt B.C. and have been looking in the area for the prefect place for a few years now. We wanted to be able to ride right out our back door to crownland. Finding the right place was the key.
Once we had the sale of our home in Langley completed we headed back up to camp at Lundbom Lake and go searching for a new farm. We were now homeless. We spent a few days with our realtor  Brad from Century 21. I had a few places I had picked out to look at and Brad had a new listing he wanted us to see. Brad had taken us out looking at properties last year and kind of knew what we really wanted. He took us up Hwy 97C to a 20 acre parcel that I knew the minute we drove up the long winedy driveway it was the right place. The views from the top where unbelievable you could see right down to the Lower Nicole Valley. This was going to be our new home. We looked a some more properties that day but only one other one caught our eye but are mind was still on the property with the views. We took a second look the next day and made our mind up we where going to make an offer. Well it all worked out because now we are here and loving it. The old owners were such a nice couple they even let us camp on the property for a few days before we took possession so we could finish the outer fencing. This is cattle country so we had to put in wire fencing all around the perimeter to keep out the cattle. We can ride off the property in almost every direction to endless riding. "We are in heaven". Here are some pictures of our new place. Even came with a full RV hook up for our friends that have big rigs.

This is the house from the side where the basement comes out. 

Front of house

The views are from every corner of the property. This is the porch off master bedroom. 

Looking down at garden below in the deer fencing also the views

The sunsets

Yes you can Quad right out the back door. Here is my son Skylar and his girlfriend Amanda up for a weekend of fun. 

Front garden also more views

Our front field where our mare Zanda and new addiction "Tracker" our 6 week old colt. 

First ride off our property with some great friends 

Getting ready to leave.

Riding out the back of our property

Ron and Cimaron

Lots of riding

Coming back from ride looking below to home and shop. Big parking area for the biggest rigs. 

Upper pasture

More pictures of the boys in the upper pasture

My wild stallion Hunter (The Huntsman) with Ron's gelding Cimaron

New project a hitching rail at side of house. 

Zanda and Tracker happy in new home