I Thought I Smelled a Bunny Wabbit...

Alas, it was only a Barred Owl during the day. He called to the hounds from a tree in the back 2 acres. It was a beautiful afternoon - finally, with no wind for a few minutes!

Friday Fondness

Incredible Athletes

As greyhound owners, we are acutely aware of what incredible athletes our dogs are. They are the 2nd fastest animal on the planet. They have a grace and elegance when they run and play. Some seem to float across the ground. They smile big toothy smiles as they whiz past us in a blur.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to view another incredible athlete at work - Cross Country Jumping competitors. I helped judge several jumps where the cross country course was between 1 - 2.5 miles in length with 17 - 27 jumps depending on the competitors level (intermediate, training, or novice).

Carl Bouckaert owns 8400 acres in south Fulton County called Chattahoochee Hills. He is an accomplished show jumping champion, and offers his land for Lure Coursing events and eventing horse competitions. It is a phenomenal piece of property with grassy rolling hills and valleys, some pines and hardwood trees on the hilltops and many small lakes peppered through out. When you drive down the gravel road onto the property, it reminds me of taking a drive on a forest service road in a national park.

Carl, the owner of Chattahoochee Hills, is pictured above on Raphael in the Intermediate Division running as team #5 clearing jump 11. He is highly ranked by the USEA - United States Eventing Association with Raphael.

He is also pictured below on Cyrano clearing jump #7 in the Training Division. He was the 107th rider to run the course at this point. He rode 3 different horses during the event, Raphael, Cyrano and Big Skye.


Below are just a few of the photos that I snapped while judging the jumps as the horses paraded through. There were 181 horses on the Order of Go listing, but several did withdraw. Every 2 - 3 minutes another horse would come by and strut their stuff over the jumps. I was in a unique part of the venue - the water feature. The old saying, 'You can take a horse to water, but you can't make him drink...' - they sure can splash though when their jumping in the water!


Jump 7 in the intermediate course above - coming down a 100 yard hill from previous jump. Featured is # 12 Tops ridden by Danielle Dichting.

Jump 8 below is 2 strides from jump 7 with a 4' drop into water.



Jumps 9 & 10 were rolltop jumps in about 12" of water. There was only 1 water refusal all day in the novice category where the horse ran around this small body of water.


Jump 11 - a wide stone table which as you can see is well over 6' wide on the top, but only about 3.5' tall.




Another incredible photo below - look at the tuck on those front legs. This was another Training Level rider, # 116 Kristen Gallo riding Sonny Side Up. The next jump took them back into the water, and he did terrific.


The following two photos of team #66, On The Rocks ridden by Kayla Diehl, are probably the best I took all day. The look of determination and focus on Kayla's face made for a clear ride through the entire 17 jumps on this Training Level event. On The Rocks didn't seem to exert any effort going over these jumps at all.

Jump # 6 in the Training Level

Jump #7 in the Training Level.

A few other notables, just because they just looked so darn GOOD at going over the jumps and splashing through the water feature are below:

Team #45, Fleet Makani ridden by Katherine Sulzbach

Team #26: Desperado ridden by Andrea Leatherman

Team #22: Tomada ridden by Amy Barrington

Team #27: Lorenzo III ridden by Leahona Rowland

Team #30: Prince Noah ridden by David Adamo

And the last one has me wondering - the horse's eyes are closed as it clears this jump. "Please let me clear this jump perfect, please don't let there be water on the other side, please...."
Team #40: Henry ridden by Scott Keach

There is another jumping event scheduled for Chattahoochee Hills on May 16-17. If you're interested in volunteering to be a jump judge, you won't be disappointed! It's also free if you just want to be a spectator, bring your dog on a leash and walk the grounds to observe the events. They also feature dressage and show jumping classes. Little girls and horses, a deadly combination!

Garth's 11 today! Happy Birthday G-Man!

Garth is 11 today! This is quite a milestone for him given the background we know about him. He broke his right hock in 2002 on the track in his 71st race (he won the 70th as A grade). He broke it again at his last owner's house in 2007. There is a scar on his tummy - obviously ingested something that didn't agree with him.

I looked up his age in peep years on the Dogs Rule website. He's 82 in peep years! He's doing quite well for a gent of that age. We haven't decided what we have in store for him tomorrow, but it will be a small affair at home with some frozen yogurt and a peanut butter stuffed KONG. He's quite OUR distinguished gentleman. We love you Garfie!

A Change of Scenery... North to Alaska!

I'm often asked if I'm from Alaska. No. My mom is though, and her mom, and my Great Grandfather Pete Kavanaugh ventured to Nome in 1897 in search of gold. That is where my mom's family landed and stayed. We make it point to get up and visit at least every other year.

Our last visit in 2007 took us to Cache Creek for a few days of panning for nuggets (I seem to think it looks more like dust, but whatever makes mom happy). Ken Lee, owner of the claim we stayed on, ventured off the 'hill' to retrieve us and our gear for a 4 day adventure. The adventure was the 2 hour ride to the gold camp in a 4x4 that covered only 11 miles. We didn't stop for breaks on the way in. It was quite a rough ride on a one-lane dirt road with many holes and 'mudlakes' that could swallow the truck if you didn't stay in just the right track.

In 2006, we ventured to the Kenai for some fishing at my cousin's fish camp. She has a nice set up and runs a guide service on the Russian River during King season. She is just minutes by water from where all the combat fishing occurs. Unfortunately, we were in between the Kings and Silvers so there wasn't much luck fishing. We were skunked on clam digging at Clam Gulch as well. The only bright spot on that trip was our gold digging expedition on Bertha and 6 Mile Creeks. The area is very remote. It's easy just to park your rig, set up camp, and feel like there isn't a soul around. It does get a little creepy when you're next to a creek, in 10' willow and you can't hear anyone sneak up on you - and it's fall when the bears are looking for the last few berries before hibernation again.

I think the camping part was most fun. Mom hadn't roasted marshmallows and wienies on a campfire since I was a little squirt - about 35 years ago. She torched the first wienie - flaming good I might add. It was BLACK. The marshmallows fared only marginally better - at least Mr. Stick was green, and didn't catch on fire. We all had a great time, dodging the smoke and the skeeters until late in the evening. You can't beat the crisp fall air in Alaska to recharge your batteries. Pictured above are my husband Jon holding Mr. Stick and mom with the wienie that didn't get charred black.