I figured it all out

Click the pics. There will be no more like them until next winter.

Hunter Jumper

First thing this morning I went into town and filled up with diesel fuel at $4.20 a gallon which is considerably cheaper than I've been paying, and an excellent sign that diesel is not in short supply, and probably won't be in the near future. I stopped at Walmart and picked up a few canned goods, because if my plans work out I won't be staying near a Walmart for a while. And naturally I stopped at Popeyes in the Walmart parking lot for red beans and rice, which may be the last time I get to eat my favorite dish until I get back to Denver.

I think I have figured out where I want to go when I leave here. Since I want to stick around southern Arizona to see what's going to happen with the Superbloom, and since the Sandhill cranes will be leaving sometime in March, I think I will go to Whitewater draw to watch the cranes for one last time this winter. Then I will head for Ajo Arizona, with a brief stop at Picacho Peak state Park where some neighbors have just told me that there's some wild flowers starting to bloom there, before I head on down to Ajo, which also has some wild flowers starting to bloom.

I'm still worried about the drug smugglers and the cartels around that part of the border, but since Ajo has always been a drug smuggling hotspot there's a really big border patrol office in Ajo. So maybe that's enough to keep the smugglers out of that area. I was also told by a neighbor that was in Ajo a month or so ago, that the border patrol is using drones, and if your boondocking out in the desert, kind of by yourself, the drones are homing in on any lights in the desert so cover your windows or you may find a drone peeking in.

So I'll go down there and sniff around and if I get any feelings reminiscent of living in Miami Florida during the infamous drug smuggling days I'll just turn around and leave.

Theboondork

Saddles for sale.
Specifically Antares saddles. These saddles are some of the best in the business and made in France. As far as I know they only make Hunter Jumper saddles, no cowboy saddles so there's not a saddle horn in sight... How you stay on a horse without holding onto the saddle horn is a mystery to me.

Five-year-old used Antares saddles sell for $3000 or more, new ones are over $5000, and custom ones made to fit your butt and no one else's, are over $6000.

Did you see my horse? Is that him over there with all the tattoos and piercings

It looks like this young lady accidentally got downwind from the old boondork... Never a wise move for those with a sensitive sense of smell.

As the rider explained to her coach what actually happened.

And on that number four jump, I went that way, and the horse went the other way and I ended up jumping over the five and six jump without the horse.

Ahhhh Yes, this reminds me of my high school days working in the Hunter jumper boarding stable after school as an equine sanitation engineer.

But I didn't have a fancy cart like that, I had to use an old wheelbarrow, that the horses loved to tip over when I filled it up... Horses are mean, cruel, vindictive critters.

Hunting and jumping.

Anytime there's a slight adjustment made to the course all the riders and their coaches come out and walk around it. You would think the horses would walk around it to, but I guess there not important.

You'll notice there is only one girl wearing spurs in this picture. So take a word of advice from an old equine sanitation engineer and never marry a girl that likes wearing spurs for no apparent reason.

My last picture of a Hunter Jumper until next winter..... Hold the applause.