The weather

Well, has anyone noticed any difference out there????

I have made a commitment to not complain about the heat wave that we are experiencing right now but to not notice it and not comment on it wouldn’t be honest.

We have AC so I’m doing fine but my concern has been for our horses.

I’m a relatively new horsey mom – about 10 years – and can be a bit of a worrier because there is just so much that we don’t know about them. We are trying to catch up in 10 years what others have spent a life time learning…..

Now on to this heat stuff -

Do our West Coast horses know how to deal with heat like this?

I know that I don’t really know how. Drink lots of water and don’t move is my best answer for myself. But since that’s not possible, moving slower seems to be the answer. And stay inside as much as possible.

We don’t have an air conditioned barn or even fans set up so trying to figure out what is best for our boys (and the mare) is hard. I have already called our vet 3 times asking about electrolytes, salt and bathing.

What they have told me is to just watch them for sufficient sweating and make sure they have plenty of water. Also that they have assess to salt and trace minerals. I told them I use Horse Guard daily and they said that covers the mineral issue.

When I called yesterday, they said they had brought their horses into the shade about 1:00 so I’m going to do that today. They have shade in the field but just stay out eating. Go figure.

A friend in Texas suggested hosing down their legs and underbelly. The vet office said that sometimes the water stays on them and actually heats them up. A better option is to wipe them down with rubbing alcohol. As it evaporates, it is cooling. I’m going to do that when I bring them in.

That’s about the hints I’ve got. Let me know if you have any to pass along. I’m sure there are other newbies like me.

A piece of good news – Ridgefield Equine Clinic hasn’t had any heat related issues as of mid-morning.

Keep hydrated, in the shade and slow down.

That’s my advice.

Trail Trials

Just a quick reminder of the Trail Trials tomorrow.

It is out at the Zumstein Family Farm in Woodland. Just being able to ride though their land is a treat and you will have plenty of challenges if you want.

There are 3 classes - Youth 12-17 (helmets required), Adult 18+ and Extreme Trail Horse and there will be prizes awarded in each.

This is the major fundraiser for the Fence Riders (Clark County Mounted Patrol).

Come join the fun -

Just a note: we could still us a few helpers.

Urban Livestock Code

The Board of County Commissioners will be holding a public hearing this coming Tuesday on the proposed Urban Livestock Code.

I believe some good people worked on this proposal but I believe there are still some questions that need to be asked and explained.

From the Draft of the Urban Livestock Task Force Concepts for Urban Livestock Code dated 3/25/09:
40.260.235 Urban Livestock
Page 2 line 8 -
D. 3. All buildings used for urban livestock shall be legally permitted.

This sentence concerns me because it appears to be a change from the current agriculture building requirements.

As I understand it now, in Clark County, an agricultural building does not need to be permitted through the county building department permit system as long if it is set back 50 feet from the property line.

There are a few other questions that others have asked and I’m hoping that this hearing will get them answered.

As usual, a good showing of horse people lets the Commissioners know that we are interested in what is happening in our county. Unfortunately the hearing is during the day so we need to really work to get people there. If you can’t attend, pass this information on to someone that you think might be able to come.

July 21st, 2009 @ 10am
Public Services Building, Commissioners Hearing Room
6th Floor
1300 Franklin Street
Vancouver, WA

You can read the proposed code and more information about how the task force developed this proposed code on the county webpage.

I'll see you there,

Jody

Rodeo week - day 4

Today is day two of the rodeo and I only know that because that’s what we talked about in the production meeting this morning. During rodeo week life as we know it stops (by choice mind you) and we gauge our day by what time we have to be out to the grounds and when we can escape to go home to eat lunch and get dressed for that day's performance.

We have a dance every night of the rodeo and last night and tonight we have the fantastic Carrie Cunningham Band. Good music and good friends kept us there so again we didn’t get home until very late. That will be the theme of this week. Hard work and hard play for a whole bunch of people.

Come watch a great rodeo and dance the night away.

First Performance

The first performance went great. It was our ‘pink day’ and what a show it was. The grand entry went smoothly and I just loved all the pink vet wrap on the horses legs. Our rodeo’s colors are Red, White and Blue of course so with all the pink mixed in, it was very colorful.



Tough Enough to Wear Pink is a day to honor and raise money for the Susan G. Komen fund.



For a week night and the first day of the rodeo, we had a very good attendance. That is especially important this year because our sponsorship money is way down. Just like in the rest of the world, money is tight. A lot of our usual sponsors just didn’t feel like they had the extra money to help support our rodeo. The good side to that is a lot of people are traveling less and looking for something to do close to home so......here we are.



Our Grand Entry was fabulous in pink. The drill team nailed their part and the crowd just loved them. The stage coach was a hit as was little Taylor, the 9 year old that sang the National Anthem for us.

There are a lot of people working this rodeo that do this full time at least in the summer. Our stock contractors and their workers, the judges, the officials, the entertainment and the participants spend a lot of time in their rigs driving to and camping at the various rodeo grounds. It really is an interesting community. They are nice, honest people that love their way of live and we become friends in a few days and look forward to seeing them year after year.

The Clark County Saddle Club grounds become a little city, gathered to have fun and work hard for 4 days every July.

Come and join us.

Final Prep

The final prep before the first performance is always a VERY busy day.



The tough signs are put up.


The last bit of decorating is completed.



Our announcer, Al Parson, is now here so we can practice the grand entry one last time to check on the timing.




The ‘infield’ starts to fill up with our crew - workers that don’t want to drive home each night and participants that don’t want to trailer their horses in each day. A lot of the committee stay here too because sometimes there is very little time to run home for whatever and if there is any extra time, they want to use it for a nap instead of driving time.

And next is:
SHOWTIME

Vancouver Rodeo - Day 2

Well it should have been day two if your keeping count but today is day 3 - showtime.
We didn't make it home until 11:30 last night trying to get vendors in and tents up and decorations up and and and. There is just a lot of stuff to get done to prepare for a rodeo.
Things were going pretty well and we were just about closing everything down about 10:00 when a truck and trailer drove in with a HUGE tractor. Halton Tractor is a sponcer and they had already delivered a skidsteer and a mini excavator but we had been waiting for a tractor that they were going to loan us to show off in the arena. It came at 10:00. And it was huge and we had to stay to help them get it off the trailer and put it away. And then with a little bit of 'boys playing with big toys' going on, we were VERY late getting home. Just stuff that goes on during rodeo week.
I got some fun pictures but will have to get them up later today, I hope.
We are home now to shower, eat lunch and get dressed for tonight's opening show.

Today is 'Tough Enough to Wear Pink' day so I'm ironing special shirts and most of the cowboys will be wearing pink. Come on out and join us.