The Animals

The question you're all asking: How are the animals?!

The TLDR; they're great! 

Now for a longer breakdown, we'll go oldest to youngest. 

Stanley

Stan will be 24 at the beginning of April and he's doing fantastic. He's fit and happy, though keeping him plump takes a little more work these days as he struggles with his aging teeth. He's down one molar, which gives him a little grief, but nothing too challenging yet! He still plays with Griffin every day and often one-ups Grif. 

While Q loves to be groomed and have attention, Stan is my cuddle bug. He wants to be in my pocket quite often when I'm out doing chores. His favorite thing is to just rest his muzzle on my head/cheek/crook of neck and snuffle me. He's just such a sweet spirit to be around and spend time with.

Thanks to the addition of the three horse trailer, Stan went on oodles of rides last year. Often he's a horse I put others on, but I did ride him a fair bit to remind him that he should listen to his rider as opposed to moving like molasses on his own time. We even did a solo outing or two to do trail work on the Nat'l Forest as a part of our Backcountry Horseman of America group (I'm VP). 

Watching as we clear obstructions on the trail

A very remote waterfall on Seneca Creek

Bringing up the rear on a big trail work day

Q

Q is somewhere in the ball park of 19 this year. She's doing wonderfully and is my easiest keeper by far. Of all my horses, she was ridden the least last year. She attended every ride the boys went on, but was free to plod along at her own leisure. Once, we used her as a pack horse, which she seemed to enjoy. 

Q and I have always had a challenging relationship. I enjoy her thoroughly from the ground, but our personalities tend to butt heads once I'm in the saddle. So I decided last January that I was done pushing it. If I felt compelled to ride her, I would, but otherwise I was just going to let her be. She's an angel for others to ride (moreso than Stanley, tbh), and she's super happy to join us at liberty. 

Letting Q be Q at liberty on our outings was probably the best thing for her! Her confidence BLOOMED. She went from always following the boys to leading the pack as soon as we moved into a trot or canter. If the terrain was wide open, she'd opt to select her own path and gallivant off on her own for up to a quarter mile (these instances only occur in places with a long line-of-sight; Q loves her geldings and will not go out of sight, which makes her the perfect horse to let be at liberty on rides like this). It was really lovely to see her confidence build so much!

I did take her out on one solo ride in October, and she was great. But she still very much looks for monsters every second when she's solo under saddle. It's exhausting for me to hold constant space for her when she's like that. So while our one ride was great, I'm perfectly happy to just let her be her and be a horse for others to ride or be a packhorse. 

The one big solo ride we did together on a remote rail trail in October

Wild and free on a trail ride

Picking her way through the Sods with a talented young rider who knows when to let Q do her thing

Griffin

Grif is 14. I don't know where the time went, but here we are. He's doing just as wonderfully as the others. He continues to be the horse I ride the most often because of the three, he's the horse who just enjoys work. He's the horse that wants to see what's up ahead and gives so much try when I happen to do flat work in lieu of trails. He's the perfect adventure partner as long as you don't ask him to cross any bridges; he is terrified of them! 

After an unfortunate bridge experience this past autumn, I'm afraid Grif feels more confirmed in that feeling of fear than ever. I dismounted to lead him across a bridge (he's happy to be led or follow another horse) and he slipped on the damp wood and could never get up off his knees the entire crossing (railings kept him from going anywhere but forward). It was super nerve wracking for him and for me, but neither of us were seriously injured from it. And lest you think that bridge was super awful and I shouldn't have led him across, little miss mare walked right across it with nary a slip immediately after.

Grif has proven his worth time over time these past two years with BCHA trail work days. I can trim small branches from his back and hammer trail markers onto trees without dismounting. it's so lovely!

The only other notable update I know y'all will enjoy about Grif is that I dyed his mane and tail a few times last summer for some photoshoots. The dye came out naturally (even with little to no rainfall) within two weeks. It was a fun and whimsical thing to do. 

Canaan Valley and shrubby St. Johns wort in bloom

 

Along the Allegheny Trail

Being a magical unicorn for my coworker's kid

And with Kate -- had to include a shot of that magnificent purple tail

Kenai

I suspect many already know this if you follow me on Instagram (@appalchianfirefly), but I let Kenai go at the end of March 2023. He was 13. He's the first of my animals I've had to let go and it was the hardest thing I've ever done. I was wrecked for the weeks leading up to it and months after. All of his adventures and knee surgeries caught up to him and his hind end just didn't last as long as his spirit. 

He was on 18 pills of various pain medications every day in the end. We ran his bloodwork constantly to make sure he was doing okay with each change to his pain management regiment. The moment his bloodwork values started to decline, we started making plans for the end. 

On his final night, he enjoyed a steak. On his final day, he and I took a long solo drive to the Sinks of Gandy for a final short hike in the last remaining snow. I drove us through McDonalds and got him a 20 piece McNugget and basket of fries before we went to the vet. We sat in the parking lot where I fed him all of it as we waited on the vet to come out. 

And in the end, he didn't want to go. He fought that sedative hard. So hard. It gutted me then and it guts me now to remember. I hate that his body failed him before his spirit was ready. And I don't blame him for fighting so hard to stay at the end. He had one hell of a life. He went on so many adventures and met so many people. Remembering the story of his life by the people we met through it is my favorite way to measure the time we had together. It was so rich and full. My 20s were an incredible chapter and I'm so glad he was the one I shared it all with. 

The squirmiest puppy

Young Kenai

One of our many sunset snow walks

Kenai
March 5, 2010 - March 29, 2023

Taiga

Taiga is 7 now. She's so easy going and continues to be the quietest husky ever. It's kind of remarkable how little noise she makes!

She doesn't push the envelope like Kenai did and is content to just hang around the yard without a fence or collar. While she loves getting out for miles and adventures, she's also the happiest house husky. 

I honestly don't have a lot to share or say about her because she's just such an easy little soul. 

Perfect little queen

Enjoying the view while the humans eat lunch

Impatient with the leash, but being a good girl on this long slabby slog up Mt. Colden

Gidget

And now for her formal introduction to the blogosphere, meet Gidget! 

Gidget is a one year old corgi (Cardigan x Pembroke). She's an absolute doll baby and as bossy as can be, which I'm learning is just a corgi trait. She's remarkably durable, fast, and has surprising endurance. She's happiest with hikes/rides of 8-10 miles (the rides are easy-going and nothing like my endurance training rides of past). Her biggest hike to date that she did entirely on her four little paws was 16+ miles with 3400' of elevation gain in the Adirondack High Peaks. 

She has a backpack and doggles and has enjoyed motorcycle rides on the many miles of Forest Service roads in addition to a little bit of bicycling and one ski venture. She expressed a strong opinion about being in the backpack for the ski venture though, so after one downhill run in the pack, she was permitted to just run downhill on her stubby little legs. Which, despite snow that was 3 times as deep as she is tall at the highest point of her ears, she proved she can keep up just fine! Following skiers downhill kicks her herding instinct into hyperdrive more than anything else. I feel a little sorry that it stresses her out so much, but her little noises of frustration are adorable. 

Compared to silent Taiga, Gidget is a chatterbox. She speaks up when anything is "wrong", barks once to ask to come inside, and has a whole gamut of grumbles, whisper barks, and ow-wo-wows that she uses to communicate. It's honestly adorable. 

She's been the most delightful addition. I'm excited to share adventures with her!

Yes, her ears are bigger than Taiga's

10 or 11 weeks old here

Happy smiley girl