# 9x9 Lightly Greased Pan



## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

@Foxhunter suggested I post in a more open forum so more people see my posts as I was putting them in a closed forum before. I just never know where to post content that is horse related but not always super specific. So starting a journal is probably a good way to go. 

I've started putting some of my rides on youtube as playlists so the easiest way to watch them is just to go to the playlist and let it run through all of them in order. My first couple of posts in here will just be copies of ones I posted in the closed forum. I will post the maps of the playlists here as well so you can see where each video was taken along the route.

Sometimes people go with me on my rides, generally not but from time to time they do. Most of them are not down with social media so I won't be posting their names or who they are. Usually it is friends of mine that say they want to go riding so I take them with me. Some of them are not good riders so please refrain from commenting on their equation if they are in a video.

The reason for the name of this journal is because in my house that is where you find cornbread and Cornbread is my nickname going back many years to when I was in the Marines.

To stave off any questions needing to be answered a cajillion times I was in the Marines for eight years. I wasn't anything high speed, just in the regular infantry. Mostly in a weapons company in the CAAT platoon or counter mech platoon depending on what that unit called it and I spent all but six months of my active duty service deployed overseas. Yes, I served during several wars and that is all I have to say about that.


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

Subbing!


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Ride from 9-12-2019. 6+ mile ride.

Point 1





Point 2





Point 6





Point 7





Point 8





Point 9





Point 11





Point 14





Point 15





Point 16





Point 17


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Ride from 9-14-2019. 4 mile ride on the nose. This one I did as a playlist. Here is the playlist link:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRUUvcVc2unWSQnUECr8zmmPpmIh1cQGU

and the marked up route images:


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

Glad you started a journal. Your gelding is quite handsome and I love the terrain. My family has a strong history with the armed services. My sister served in the Marines for 4 years - medically discharged after getting bit by a brown recluse spider on or near her eyelid, it caused her to lose sight in that eye when the retina detached and has caused migraines since then. Her husband (also a Marine) served 15 years in the corps before transferring to the Army to drive convoy in the middle east. He is since retired. 

Thank you for your service - I enjoy your videos


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Lastly for this set of copied posts. I didn't ride yesterday because I wasn't feeling up to it. I had my infusion on Sunday and it takes me a few days to be back up and around to where I don't feel like I just got run over by a truck so I don't ride on those days. 

I did however do a small project that has been on my todo list. I needed a bridle rack because I always have a bridle, bit and reins setup for each horse I am currently riding because I really dislike adjusting tack. 

I have more bridles than this but these are the five I have setup for the five horses I have right now. Actually it is four right now because I sold the fifth one as he was only here for training and resale. That is why the snaffle one is missing reins. 

I have a plant farm near me that gets starts by the pallet load and then they just burn their pallets so if you want some pallets you just let the manager know and he will pile up as many as you want to haul away. I take a flatbed trailer and load up fifty or more at a time and bring them home and use them for everything from setting hay on in the barn to cutting them up to use for various projects where I need wood and it doesn't have to be premium quality lumber. 

This bridle rack I made out of one of those pallets and some 3/4" dowel rod. It came out looking like it was done on old barn wood but unfortunately my digital camera is so ancient you can't really tell that it turned out even better than it looks in the pictures. You are just going to have to take my word for it :smile:


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## cbar (Nov 27, 2015)

Beautiful country! Looks like you have a lot of logging roads to ride along! Actually reminds me a lot of the riding we have up here - do you see much wildlife on your rides? Good job on the bridle rack - those old pallets do come in handy - we have made a few things (a wine rack included) out of old pallets.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

carshon said:


> Your gelding is quite handsome and I love the terrain.



The red horse is Skip. He is my best horse buddy and I ride him the most. Between him and my dog it's probably pretty close to tie for who is my best friend :smile: Actually the dog probably is because she likes to interact more than the horse does. He is friendly but he would rather graze than hang out unless I am giving him scratches, that he will hang out for sometimes rather than graze.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

cbar said:


> Beautiful country! Looks like you have a lot of logging roads to ride along! Actually reminds me a lot of the riding we have up here - do you see much wildlife on your rides? Good job on the bridle rack - those old pallets do come in handy - we have made a few things (a wine rack included) out of old pallets.



Yes, from my house north up into BC that is all there is, old gated logging roads and hundreds of miles of forest and mountains. There are a few off grid cabins along some of the rivers that are on long term leases from the state or the forest service but that is it. Most roads are gated or kelly humped so vehicles can't get on them. The road in the one video that I am coming back on when I pass a truck is actually a county road, it just isn't paved.

Yes, I see lots of wildlife on my rides, usually deer and snow shoe hare, sometimes grouse, turkeys and bear and every once in a while we see elk or a moose.

I made my saddle stands out of pallets too. They come in really handy for scrap lumber for various projects.


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## CopperLove (Feb 14, 2019)

Definitely subbing! I love seeing other people's rides and their terrain. And the bridle rack is great!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

*best cornbread?*

So, now I am curious as to whether you are named 'Cornbread' 'cause you can cook it so good, or because . . . who knows?


I used to make cornbread a fair amount. I just used the recipe on the cornmeal, but, I did one thing different; I put a tablespoon or two of plain vinegar into the milk, and allowed it to sit and clot the milk a bit. I used this instead of real buttermilk, which i never keep on hand. I have since found that adding a tablespoon of vinegar to the milk in almost any bisquit or pancake type batter gives it a really nice depth. Also, let the batter , once fully mixed up, sit and soak for a half hour before baking it. This is also true for chocolate chip cookies; let the dough 'rest' first.


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## lb27312 (Aug 25, 2018)

Great videos! Thanks for sharing... beautiful horse.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

I like the bridle rack. I always show husband the projects on Pinterest of pallets, because we also have access to however many we wish, but he complains that the little nails are too big a pain to pull out. My cousin did make me a pretty shelf with some though, and a friend made a box I keep in my kitchen.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Knave said:


> I like the bridle rack. I always show husband the projects on Pinterest of pallets, because we also have access to however many we wish, but he complains that the little nails are too big a pain to pull out. My cousin did make me a pretty shelf with some though, and a friend made a box I keep in my kitchen.


I use one of those thin 12-3/4" pry bars that has a nail remover end and I just hit the back of it with a large framing hammer. That cuts the nails as pallet nails are super cheap and they sheer very easily when you do that. It is a ton easier than trying to pull them. If they don't just fall out with a good smack after that then you can hit them with a punch from the sheered side and they usually drop out, or if you want a really rustic looking something you can leave them in.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

tinyliny said:


> So, now I am curious as to whether you are named 'Cornbread' 'cause you can cook it so good, or because . . . who knows?


I can cook the cake style a.k.a "northern cornbread" fairly well but the nickname comes from my radio call sign in the Marine Corps. and the story behind how I got it, isn't something I can post on here because even cleaned up, it isn't remotely PG enough to be putting where little eyes could read it. If you are ever out here camping and riding or something like that and I come visit your camp, I will be more than happy to tell the story but it isn't forum appropriate. FWIW it has nothing to do with actual cornbread the baked good.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

I am still not up for a ride yet today so I went for a short hike along the ridge north of my house to do some pre-season scouting. I took Ladybug along so she could enjoy chasing everything that moves and sniffing everything that doesn't. I took my helmet cam along in my pocket and took a couple of videos.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

I was feeling better again by yesterday so I trailered Skip up the mile and a half to a little offshoot road from the main county road by my house. 

From there I can hit an old logging road and follow it to its end and take the deer and elk trail up a canyon to an old gated road. 

From there I double back and follow it to where it joins another gated road and then double back again and that one takes me just below the top of the ridge over to where I can get on another ridge. 

From that ridge I take another gated road that is no longer maintained by anyone down to a deer and elk trail that drops off the side of that ridge down to a lower gated road, cross that one and get on another deer and elk trail that takes me down to the bottom of the same canyon I came up originally and back onto the old logging road and from there back out to the truck. 

This ride can be a really scenic one if the clouds are high enough and it is nice out. It was nice enough to get some fairly good views of the country looking back toward my place. 

The ride is 4 miles nearly on the nose. They are logging up on the area I originally wanted to ride so I will ride that when they aren't running logging trucks on it Saturday or Sunday. This worked for a nice little ride though.

Here is the link to the playlist with the videos in order(hopefully) on it: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRUUvcVc2unWHQBNL4A2OJulM3hJ4ZHR8

Here are images of the route, I marked up the video locations on the aerial view.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

I went for a 6.6 mile ride today. Started down on Smiley Creek and rode up to an old forest service trail that I used to cut up to the Loneman Pass Ridge. Rode down that ridge to the old pass road and then back to the trailer on that old road. A lot of this ride is the sort of ride where you are like the moose in that kid's movie "Brother Bear"...you sort of go: tree, tree, let me guess a tree, tree, tree etc. so I only took video at the places that were more interesting and or scenic. Not sure how long it took us as I forgot to look at my watch when we started but we average 4.5 - 5 miles an hour usually when we are by ourselves so I am guessing we rode for an hour and fifteen or so. This time I put the aerial and terrain maps and markups at the start of the video and combined all the points into a single video instead of a playlist. I just inserted text at each point change so you can follow along.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

My WiFi didn’t let me watch much of it at all, but I think I like the single video idea better. I hope it was a nice ride! “Tree, tree, tree” would be pretty cool to me! My rides are like, “sagebrush, sagebrush, greasewood, sagebrush...”


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

I had ridden Skip a lot this week over some very challenging terrain so I wanted to give him a break Sunday. I took one of my other horses instead. His name is Dollar and he is semi-retired. He turned 23 years old this spring and I love him to pieces but he can only handle shorter, less challenging rides anymore. This ride was 4 miles on the nose. Only a little bit of off trail to get from one gated road to another. He did really well, I was very proud of him. This is probably his last ride for the year as he needs lots of recovery time between rides if I want him to remain healthy and sound now that he is in his later years. It is set to start snowing Saturday and I won't ride him in bad weather so this was a really nice last ride of the year for him.

Dollar was an arena horse much of his early life, he was a nationally competitive reining horse that belonged to a fairly famous reining trainer and competitor. His first rides outside of an arena weren't until he was in his teens when I got him. The bears are out in massive bunches at some points along this ride as they are eating the bumper crop of hawthorn berries we have in one of these creek bottoms. At one point there was brush up past his head nearly touching him on either side and we could hear the bear eating just off to our right maybe 20 yards away. There was bear piles everywhere in the trail. I counted 11 huge ones in a single 100 meter stretch. I call that place bear alley and Dollar was nervous to go through it as there is no visibility to either side and you can hear the bears in there. He did go through with a little coaxing. Glad no bears popped out on the trail ahead of us though.

Once past bear alley and up a hill off trail to a gated road it opens up and I got some video up there. Much of this ride was on or bordering the Lazy S7. I asked the owners at church that morning if they minded if I came up and rode around the border of their place and left my truck and trailer up at their corrals. They have some nice ride areas in and around their ranch and they didn't mind at all. I have permission to be up there whenever, hunting or riding etc. but I knew the owners wife is trying to get her bear for the year so I didn't want to blow any hunting they were doing. They said they wouldn't be down in the meadow near bear alley until just before dusk so I wouldn't mess up any hunting they were doing down there.

Dollar is a much bigger horse than Skip and his motion when riding is huge but he is also a much slower walker so a 4 mile ride took an hour and twenty minutes rather than the 45 minutes it takes Skip. Skip is also much much younger and more eager to go explore. However I was really pleased with how Dollar did. For being an arena horse for much of his life he does pretty well on trails.

Here is a little bit of video from the ride:


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## lb27312 (Aug 25, 2018)

Bear alley?!? Yikes.... I've only ridden a few times in bear areas, saw the scat but not a bear, I'm pretty sure my horse would have used me as bait while he escaped. The sky looks beautiful.... nice looking ride. 

Snow?! Wow hard to think about that when it's still hot here.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Good news: I bought a horse last year in November because I thought he had an awesome personality that was being hidden by a lot of fear and anxiety from being ridden badly / treated poorly by his current owner. 

Normally I don't take on horses like that as prospects but he was so sweet and gentle in spite of being treated in ways you should just never treat a horse. It wasn't malicious the owner was a first time horse owner and was way out of her depth. 

I picked him up for a rock bottom price so she didn't have to feed him through winter and I spent 8 months teaching that horse that people can be trusted. 

My daughter loved him, not going to lie he was a looker for sure once I got him in shape and healthy again. My oldest daughter is NOT a horse person although she likes to draw them but she would spend hours brushing out his mane and petting him and so on. She said he looked like a princess horse and I agree he was an Appendix QH with very flashy thoroughbred looks from his mom' side. Very big horse, 16.1hh and probably 1,300lbs or more. Massive bone structure, very solid horse that was also graceful. Let's just say my daughter wasn't my best friend for a while after I told her I didn't buy him to keep. 

That was the truth though I didn't buy him to keep him. I bought him to turn him around and make the horse I knew he wanted to be come out for anyone who rides him. 

Picture is from August and he was a little plump because I kind of spoiled him with his favorite treats a bit before he left.

I sold him this August through a horse salesperson friend of mine. He went to a lady in Idaho. 

Today his new owner sent pictures of him out on the trail with her and said that he is a pleasure to be around and fun to ride. So it sounds like he got a great home where he will be loved for the rest of his days. This makes me very happy.


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## Dustbunny (Oct 22, 2012)

He IS a looker. 

Love your area. I can ride on private timber country practically out my door. I just need to get out and do more of it.

Thank you for your service!


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

As it was supposed to be one of the last nice days before winter weather sets in I rode Skip up over the ridge/mountain behind the house on a combination of gated roads and deer and elk paths and over onto the Lazy S7 and then home again via the old county road. The ride is 5.13 miles total. It was a good ride. It is supposed to start raining and snowing here over the next few days so this will probably be my last ride for this week. I need to get the last two cord of wood split for winter anyway so I probably won't have any riding time after work for bit even if it is nice.


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## cbar (Nov 27, 2015)

Sounds like you are going to be getting the same weather we are - today is our last nice day and then the rain & snow starts up. I am hoping to get out for a ride after work tonight before the weather plummets. 

Beautiful, big horse you had there and it is always heartwarming to know they go to good homes and are used well.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

@cbar Here are some pics I have that show off more of his looks and his athleticism. The one is from a show and so was copyrighted by the show photographer and so it has a giant watermark in it but you get the picture, no pun intended :smile:


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

I am glad you started a journal, I love the photos of your rides.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

cbar said:


> Sounds like you are going to be getting the same weather we are - today is our last nice day and then the rain & snow starts up. I am hoping to get out for a ride after work tonight before the weather plummets.


Are you in BC? Our weather here is usually real similar to parts of BC because it is so close. It is supposed to be 20F (-6.6C)and snowing here by Sunday.


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## cbar (Nov 27, 2015)

AndyTheCornbread said:


> Are you in BC? Our weather here is usually real similar to parts of BC because it is so close. It is supposed to be 20F (-6.6C)and snowing here by Sunday.


I am in Central AB - North West of Calgary, but I still think we get some similar weather patterns as you. Where I am we normally get quite a bit of snow as we are very close to the mountains. Thursday is rain, and turning to snow Friday and over the weekend. 

Those jumping pictures are really great!! That horse looks more like a draft cross or warmblood than an appendix!! Wow!


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Yes, for the most part the east side of the northern Rockies from Montana to central AB(up to about Grande Prairie) / central BC(a tad north of Prince George) seems to have about the same weather give or take a few degrees. Edmonton though you start to get into that central basin cold though. I would take a hard pass on ever living in the Edmonton area.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Well I found beauty, it's here :smile:


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

I got the last of the wood in for winter yesterday. Cutting it kind of close as it snowed last night. After doing a bunch of chores today I took a small break to read for a bit around lunch time. Apparently reading and not playing is not OK with somebody.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Well it snowed yesterday, snowed again last night and has been snowing on and off all day today with more snow projected for tonight. Then it is supposed to drop down into the high teens / low 20s Monday and Tuesday. Looks like winter has started for the year:


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

It snowed here too. We went to a wedding, and then we were stuck driving home in it. It feels like summer cut itself quite short this year off both sides.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

I would totally do this to a city slicker if I knew where a litter of badger kits was :smile:


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

I have only just started watching a few of this guys videos but he reminds me of my grandpa so much. Same build, talks the same way, laughs the way etc. His stories remind me of the stories my grandpa used to tell about when they rounded up the buffalo on horse back in Theodore Roosevelt national park when he was younger after he got back from WWII and was still actively cowboying. I'm guessing it was in the 1950s or 60s. He's long since dead but this guy reminds me of him quite a bit:


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Farrier was up today to shoe two of my older horses. The younger ones are on a different schedule and won't get re-shod until the 18th I think. It has started to get nicer again after that last batch of snow and ice and yuck we had. If we get some warmer fall days with nice sun before hunting season I might squeak in a few more pleasure rides before hunting season starts at the end of October.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

I liked the video a lot. I’m also hoping it warms up a bit.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Have you ever thought that it would be really nice if you could round pen a person to get their mind right? It has been one of those kind of work days here.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

I told a lady the other day she had pretty hair and asked if I could touch it. She said yes, but apparently she doesn't like her top lip being touched.


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

OMG round penning a person! Yes!!!


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

A quote I quite liked from the book I just finished:

_For those who accept a life of self-exploration through willful acts of creation, the journey offers the ecstasy of all that is possible, along with the agony of unattainable perfection.

It is a solitary road into the unknown self and offers no destination but a journey. But for those who follow, it does lead somewhere and such a life will never be uninteresting._

_~ Marta Becket_


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

this was the other thought from it I quite agreed with and liked:

_home is a choice; wherever you hang your hat, wherever you feel respected and secure, engaged in life and appreciated for who you are is a place you can call home.

~Bernice Ende_


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Some humor for your Saturday afternoon:


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

How to ride a miniature horse:


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

That’s awesome!


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## lb27312 (Aug 25, 2018)

I like Super Puncher's horse! That horse is a saint! I know it was a parody and it was funny but just watching that horse made it cool!


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Yes, I would buy that horse off him in a heart beat, that is an awesome horse.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Went for a short 4.5 mile ride today after work but before my kids got home. They actually came home while I was grooming Skip out to put him back in the pasture. I just rode from the house up to the Lazy S7's front gate and then came back home. It was super nice out today and I didn't want to miss such a nice fall day to ride on. Not many nice days left and rifle deer and elk season starts up at the end of the month so I figured I should grab any chance to ride that I can. If I had known they were hauling gravel out of the old gravel pits on the old county road I would have taken a route through the woods because I hate having to listen for big trucks while I am riding. No harm done though I only had to get off the road twice and Skip isn't scared of the noise so it all worked out. Here is the video:


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

It was nice and sunny out yesterday so late in the afternoon it was right around the freezing mark but in the sun it felt warmer so I trailered Skip up to the Lazy S7 and rode him up behind their place for a while to enjoy the fall colors and the nice day. It has been as low as 8F(-13.3C) here lately so it getting up to the freezing mark or just above was a really nice change. Here is a video of portions of my ride:


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Note to self: Women on dating web sites do not appreciate being asked for conformation images to ensure they aren't cow hocked, knock kneed, or swaybacked.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

Lol, ya, this is not a good idea.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Post to keep my journal from lapsing during the non-riding months: I am on vacation for deer and elk season but my youngest daughter is home sick with a cold so I am stuck at home doing inside stuff today. I managed to get refried beans made, a cake baked, and kept reading in my current book. The book is called "Riding the Divide" by Al Quie and it chronicles his rides over 9 summers when he rides from Canada to Mexico along the Great Divide. He does a segment each year in two week long trips sometimes longer. It is not bad. I probably would not enjoy riding with him but his friends seem to. I read "Lady Longrider" by Bernice Ende just prior to this and that was a much more well written book than this one is. This one is still worth reading though. 

Also it is very cold and snowing up here right now. Tomorrow morning is supposed to be around 4F (-15.5C).


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## lostastirrup (Jan 6, 2015)

I hope you're staying warm in your neck of the woods. It's nasty here. Barely got a ride in. Keep that cake baking and bean boiling is all I can say. I'm baking today to heat up my apartment. This is quite the Montana fall is it not?


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Yes, this is much more like the weather we had through the 90s and prior to that. The old timers around here have been telling me this is what it was like in this area for the 20 - 30 years prior to the late 90s early 2000s. It's too icy to ride horses up here right now without borium on their shoes so I won't be riding unless I need to pack out an elk or something like that. Otherwise I would rather not risk injury to my horses. If there were an indoor arena around here I would definitely use that but there are none that I know of closer than St Ignatius and that is too far to trailer horses just to ride so my horses usually get a break through winter, although if I find an indoor arena close by that will do a membership type of thing my horses might be in for a rude awakening that winter is suddenly not a long rest for them


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

I don't usually do any riding in winter other than sometimes I do a little during hunting season to pack out game if need be. So, I don't have anything horse related to update with other than my horses are enjoying their time off and are getting a little bit fat and very fuzzy. Hunting season is on and so is the time of year when ranchers are selling off steers and any heifers that didn't take. So I have been doing a bunch of cattle inspections lately and a few horse and mule ones for people packing their livestock into the mountains in other counties. That is about all the news that is fit to print to keep this journal live.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

Well I don't live in MT but riding for me is also done and my horses "rest" during winter months. Since I need to trailer wherever I ride I am limited to when I can ride due to open and close dates. All parks in our area are closed for the season except one and it stays open but allows hunting while riders are out there. Not always the safest place to ride. Our days went from way below normal to about average and now we have rain so the top is slimy and nasty over a frozen base. I am not the daredevile I used to be so no riding in my hay field either.

Farmer are still struggling to get crops out of the fields here and the weather is just pushing harvest further and further behind so no field riding either. Once shotgun season starts (this weekend) all field riding is off anyway. we get too many people from the "cities" packing around firearms and its just not safe to be on anything that could even loosely be thought of as a deer.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

The first part of hunting season is over now so today was my first day back at work. I take all of rifle season off to make sure we fill all our tags. We got all the deer tags filled and now the elk shoulder seasons are starting so sometime in the next few weeks I may go fill my elk tag. My kids said they are done hunting for the year so none of them wants to go with and fill an elk tag. I have no issue with that, one elk will put our freezers at max capacity for the year as they are nearly full now with the pigs and the deer. Anyway we have had a lot of lion activity here lately. The wolves have hit the moose, deer, and elk populations hard in the higher altitudes so the deer especially have moved down on to or close to the mountain ranch areas like where I live so the lions have followed them down and we are seeing a lot of lions on and around our property. I found tracks of 3 separate lions up on the Lazy S7 on Saturday and Sunday I checked a trail camera on my property and had videos of at least two more lions. So far they haven't bothered my horses at all.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

"They" say we have no mountain lions/cougars in Vermont and New Hampshire, but there are plenty of people who beg to differ. Last I heard, there was some grudging willingness to reconsider whether reported sightings are real. Neat to see your videos though- that's something I've never seen myself.


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## lb27312 (Aug 25, 2018)

Wow those are cool videos... glad they are leaving the horses alone! Thanks for sharing!

Fortunately I can ride pretty much year around so I can pick and choose... I'm a fair weather rider anymore.. if it's yucky out then I opt out... every now and then I will go but I have to push myself.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

I like your videos. Anytime anyone has lions on their cameras I like to see them. Husband used to do a lot of lion hunting, but I was kind of glad when he sold the dogs. I liked the trials, but I had little babies and it seemed that there was always something in season to keep him away!


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Knave said:


> I like your videos. Anytime anyone has lions on their cameras I like to see them. Husband used to do a lot of lion hunting, but I was kind of glad when he sold the dogs. I liked the trials, but I had little babies and it seemed that there was always something in season to keep him away!


There are a number of guys around here who run dogs but I don't personally. Hounds are a ton of work and they are really really loud. I just don't have the time or patience for hounds but I do tell the one hound hunter when I run into lions and he in turn tells me where he is seeing wolves.


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

We've had several lion sightings in town, one even just behind the elementary school last week! They take the sightings quite seriously here and they had extra eyes during bus drop offs and pick ups, and even kept recess inside! Crazy to me since Ive from the East and Id never had to deal with anything besides maybe hearing about a skunk near school grounds LOL!

Awesome videos though! Hope your thawing out a bit over there! We are here....40F and quite windy, still a bit of snow but not much. Best of luck elk hunting! We've had an insane amount of hunters here lately...which is awesome for our little town!


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

lol @csimkunas6... we had a lion wandering by the elementary school a couple years ago. It was a funny thing, because I don't think she meant any harm, but everyone was very stressed out. The cops came and tried shooting at the big cat with their pistols. She managed to escape unscathed, pistols aren't great for a accuracy at range.  I wondered why they didn't call someone with a rifle to shoot her if it was that important. I think they did finally call in a hunter, but as far as I know she just ended up making her way back where she belonged. lol


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

Knave said:


> lol @csimkunas6... we had a lion wandering by the elementary school a couple years ago. It was a funny thing, because I don't think she meant any harm, but everyone was very stressed out. The cops came and tried shooting at the big cat with their pistols. She managed to escape unscathed, pistols aren't great for a accuracy at range.  I wondered why they didn't call someone with a rifle to shoot her if it was that important. I think they did finally call in a hunter, but as far as I know she just ended up making her way back where she belonged. lol


How crazy! From my understanding, they had Fish and Game, Sheriffs, and dogs out to run the lion off. We had a mother and a few cubs (if thats what they're called LOL) a few months back around the small lake in town, which wouldnt be a big deal but theres a very popular walking trail around the lake, they ended up closing off the trail for a few weeks due to them.


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

Here in So Cal we are trying to save them, we are having a problem with them being poisoned by rat poison.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Update to keep my journal from being closed down in the off months: 

Chemo still makes me feel like I have been hit by a truck. I suppose it is better than the alternative right? Thankful that they have a treatment for this stuff even if it is painful and wears me out.

It snowed up here today, heavy wet snow. Horses are not loving it but Skip was prancing around today after I got back. I think it was just that he was happy I was home. The older two of my horses are giving me "this stinks" looks while they munch their hay while getting snowed on. I fed them under the fir trees so they are at least dry while they are eating. Why they insist on standing out in the weather when they have nice trees to shelter in and under is beyond me.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

I’m sorry chemo sucks, but I’m glad it is there to help...


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

I'm a bit more recovered from the last round now so I went to check the trail camera today and found a couple of interesting videos:


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## lb27312 (Aug 25, 2018)

@AndyTheCornbread - Sorry to hear about the Chemo... I guessed I missed the reason for you needing it... Sending good vibes!


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Because I needed a laugh today so maybe you do too


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Why did the blind guy fall in the well?
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He just couldn't see that well.


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## lb27312 (Aug 25, 2018)

^^^Ha Ha Ha^^^ :rofl:


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Thought for the day: If a blind person asks you out on a date...is it rude to tell them you are seeing someone?


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

lol. What has you stuck on blindness lately?


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Knave said:


> lol. What has you stuck on blindness lately?



Nothing really, it's just in the last couple of days I heard those two jokes so I reposted them here because they made me laugh/groan.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

I heard a great one... I can’t seem to remember it right now though. I’ll ask husband at some point to see if he remembers. I have the greatest uncle. He’s always full of jokes and they are always clean and he is just so fun to be around.


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## lb27312 (Aug 25, 2018)

@Knave - lol That's me.... I have some great joke telling friends but I never can remember them and if I do I never tell them right! 

Yeah the last one made me groan...


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

So...youngest daughter who is now 8 years old insists on having a Christmas tree. I think Christmas trees are a royal pain the rear and I would gladly not have one but every year I go chop her down a little one and put it on a table in our living room and she proceedes to barf Christmas all over it. It usually looks like a box of Christmas decorations blew up next to the tree. This year PTL helped her and they used shed antlers and a fake tree with surprisingly strong branches to make what is definitely the nicest tree I have ever seen in my house that's for sure. I was very impressed with their creativity. I also didn't have to go chop one down so double bonus Christmas for me!


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Totally got my brother to walk right into this one the other day on the phone. He was at my parents place and they were listening in the background and heard him blunder right into it and were laughing so loud it was hard to hear what my brother said after that.



Why did the chicken cross the road?


To go visit the idiot.
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Knock, knock 

Who is there?
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The chicken.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Checked the trail camera today. Over 400 videos in the last two weeks. Here are some of the better ones.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

I wish I could remember what my uncle said about the geese... oh well.

My grandfather was telling me a story about starting a team with his father. He said the one mare was a very hard worker and was taking all of the load, and that the younger horse was simply following along beside her, behind enough that he wasn’t pulling at all.

He turned to my grandfather and said, “Do you know what they call this type of team?” My grandfather said “no,” and he replied “It is a willing team. One is willing to work and the other is willing to let em.” 

Then in telling the story my grandpa laughed as one does at a joke and I laughed along with him.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

I really like this girl's voice but there are easier ways to keep her from rooting up the pasture than what somebody did to her...anyway here is a journal entry to keep my journal current:


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

...and for less porcine face hardware here is Colter Wall putting the "Western" back in "Country and Western":


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

Andy I wonder how many readers will understand your comment "from rooting up the pasture than what somebody did to her". 
Be interesting to see


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

I like her. She is different.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

My girlfriend broke up with me so I stole her wheelchair.

Guess who came crawling back?


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Well I was going to make a joke about sodium but...Na


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

*spits out coffee* :rofl:


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

Omg laughing out loud!!! Thanks Andy. that was too funny.


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

Terrible, just terrible.

I'm going to show this last one to my daughter. Need to share the pain...


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Count me ignorant on the tearing up the pastures bit. I suppose it's some sexual reference, since y'all are getting such a laugh out of it.


I can't stand nose rings! I keep thinking they've got a slimy bit of goobers dripping from the nose, like, come here and let me wipe that off ya!


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Not sexual, it's how you keep a pig from rooting up your pastures and pens.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

ah hah. with the nose ring. ok, I get it I didn't get the connection , I thought you were talking about her music.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Went up and checked the trail camera today. Not much interesting on it. 400+ videos of some does and one elk. Hopefully next time there is something better but for now these will have to do:


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

She is awful gimpy, but I did like her personality.


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

What a treat to see animals just hanging out. The only time I have seen deer I have shooed them off, figure they don't need to feel I'm friendly.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)




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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)




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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Not horse related but I went ice fishing yesterday. It was slooooooooooow fishing. I caught 2 fish in 2 hours. One perch and one catfish. Not much else to report other than my computer crashed so I am having to wait for my internal IT folks to call me back so I can get all my work stuff re-installed on my machine. Waiting for IT isn't my favorite thing in the world but it is all I can do right now.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Q: How many potatoes does it take to kill an Irishman?

A: Zero


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

I just finished "On the trail of Ghngis Khan" by Timothy Cope last week. Really good book. I greatly enjoyed it. That is about the only horse type thing I did in the last week other than feed and water my horses.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)




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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

I don’t get the joke! Explain it to me.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Knave said:


> I don’t get the joke! Explain it to me.


The Irish Potato famine killed something like a million Irishmen and women. So having zero potatoes is what killed them :smile:


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Mom cougar and babies:





Baby cougar:





Scruffy the elk senses something:





Eight minutes later:





Elk sniffs camera:


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I love checking in to see 'who' came by your game camera! It's addicting.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Not sure if I have mentioned before but we raise meat rabbits because I am allergic to chicken products of any kind, feathers, eggs, meat etc. any of it will put me in the hospital so we have meat rabbits. Each rabbit mom gets two chances to prove up, as in, I let them have two litters and if both litters die due to their neglect then that mom gets eaten next time I butcher rabbits. Bunch of new moms this time around and three of them did great, this morning the one idiot mom built her nest on the wire instead of the nest box and had her babies on the wire and then didn't care for them so four of the eight died of exposure. I spent several hours this morning with four babies on my stomach warming them up and then put the nest into the box and put those four back in. If she takes care of them they should live, if she doesn't she gets one more chance to get it right and then she is crock pot fodder if she screws that litter up too. Some rabbits just get it and make fantastic mom rabbits, others never get it and will eat food and kill babies their entire lives if I don't cull them. If they don't get it right by the second litter, they never will. So that was this morning's excitement. It was 17F here this morning so I think the ones that perished did so very quickly.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

We did the rabbit thing once when we were first married. I butchered them (a pair) and cooked them, and they really were good. The problem was that they were our pets, and although the taste was good we ended up too sad to actually finish eating the dinner. I was traumatized over killing the little dudes. 

This was a weird thing for us. We have eaten many things I would consider pets, but those two rabbits were different. They were our buddies and we sat them in our laps while we watched tv at nights, and we played with them all of the time. 

So, I never did it again. Nope. My oldest had a couple different pet rabbits over the years, but they were never meat.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Yes, I don't socialize any of the meat rabbits. It would be way too hard to butcher them if I played with them and made them pets. The ones we sell to the feed stores at Easter time, those get played with a lot and socialized but then they go to the feed stores as pets or breeding rabbits.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

Ate a lot of rabbit when I was young. My Dad hunted rabbit and then we raised some - but I have 2 sisters so 3 little girls a bunch of fluffy rabbits made for a lot of pets! So no more meat rabbits here.


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## lb27312 (Aug 25, 2018)

Yeah I ate a lot of rabbit growing up as well... both hunted and raised... I didn't socialize with them either, that would have been difficult. I haven't eaten it in a while..


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

I will never ever knowingly eat rabbit. Since I wasn't allowed to talk about horses, I adored rabbits as a toddler. My parents and friends called me Bunny and I hopped everywhere wiggling my nose. When I was 9, I began to raise pet rabbits. I wish I had known then what you just told me, @AndyTheCornbread, because some of my mom rabbits were terrible mothers and others were amazing mothers. I didn't know why some of my mother rabbits didn't take good care of their babies and many of them died. I had quite a good business raising pet rabbits and selling them, and if anyone asked, I always said I was proving to my parents that I WOULD be responsible if they would just let me get a horse. I really loved my adult rabbits, played with them all the time, and insisted, no matter how sick or late it was, that I had to be the one to take care of them--so my parents could not use the excuse that I wouldn't be responsible if I got a horse.

I got my wish for a horse at age 12, sold the last of the rabbits, and gave away the elderly adults; but they will always be very special animals for me.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

My oldest girl is like that too @knightrider . She carried a stuffed pink bunny everywhere she went for years. (Eventually he had to disappear for a bit, otherwise he would have gone to school. He now lives on her bed.) She loves bunnies. It is common here for people to go shoot jackrabbits. They can become plague like at times, but tularemia lowers their numbers around every seven years or so. Anyways, my girl would get so angry about people killing the rabbits. It was really important to her. 

We tried to explain that they were a nuisance, but no matter to the girl. I eventually promised to not kill them, although I am not one to go shoot them anyways I had to promise. Husband finally left them alone when she was around because it bothered her so much. She doesn’t tell anyone now to leave them be, but I know she still hates it if anything happens to a rabbit.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

4 deer at once:





Momma cougar stops by:


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

Thanks, it's neat seeing these animals in a natural state.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

I am loving John Prine's "tree of forgiveness" album lately here is a lovely song from it:


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

A company has just come out with a new line of glass coffins.

Will it be a success?

Remains to be seen.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

We need a *groan* emoji :wink:


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

This guy reminds me of Dwight Yokam back in the day. Really enjoying his music lately:


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