Hello Meg!
     Well, I talked to a guy with the Arizona Desert Riders today - they are 
having a trail ride to raise money to buy Jake Hunt a new horse and pay for 
his medical bills - he's the one who got hit by lightning and his horse died. 
Dean's son decided he wants to live with his mom (another topic) who 
abandoned him when he was 8 years old; I am so upset I am offering Casey as a 
replacement for Jake's horse.  Might as well; J.D. doesn't ride any more, and 
Jake's dad is a working cowboy.  Jake is 12 years old.
     The cattle drive part itself is less than four hours, according to the 
man I talked to.  Distances aren't what they used to be; the range is 
apparently fairly close to the ranch.  I called my mom and made arrangements 
to keep our horses at her place at night; she's probably 20 miles from the 
E-Z Ranch and while they've got hot showers for people going on the round-up 
et al, they don't compare with what my mom can offer!  And I am uncertain 
about the accomodations for the horses.  Mine aren't used to being tied 
up/staked out/hobbled; they can have free run of my mom's 1 1/4 acre lot.  
The only thing I hate is her barbed wire, but all three of them CAME with 
barbed wire scars so I have always been under the assumption they know what 
it is.  One place where I boarded them had them in a ten acre pasture that 
was fenced with the stuff; the only problem that they had was that Dub is 
clever enough and experienced enough as a ranch horse that he constantly was 
stepping out, over the barbed wire, and getting loose. This was a regular 
thing with him, about 3 times a month.  He never got cut.  I would NEVER have 
it myself, but unfortunately it is a fact of life around here, and I am not 
up to financing a REAL fence for my mom's lot.  Probably woould erect some 
kind of pens if we were up there more often.  Who knows, with J.D. gone I 
will get Dean to ride a LOT more, if for no other reason to keep his mind off 
the ingrate.  OOPS!  I digress, but I am REALLY mad.
     Whew!  What a long paragraph!  Gotta go to work; ttyl.
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