Sister act

We all miss Emma.

Piper, perhaps, more so than anyone.

Right from the start, she and Emma had a bond.

They were sisters.

Piper would love to have another sister, but my heart is not ready. 

Tang has helped fill the gap. 

Also, as much as possible, I've been including her in all my outings.

I go to the barn every day, so this means she's going to the barn a lot, too.

sometimes Tang joins us

It's not actually her favorite place.

"Come on, Pipes! Let's go see your sister."

"Hello, sister!"

"Not my sister, Mom!!!"

"Wut?"

All kidding aside, there are things about the barn Piper enjoys, namely everything but the horses.

We'll work on that, and maybe someday Piper will accept Sage as part of her family.

Maybe.

Playdates and leftovers

We all miss Emma.

Piper misses her so much.

I'm not even kind of ready to start thinking about another dog, so we're giving her the next best thing: Lots of Tang time!

Yesterday, Alexey and Tori dropped him off on their way to the Renaissance Festival.

Despite the heat, the dogs had a big day, filled with errands...

and televised golf.

Happy Tang.

Happy Pipes.

Unfortunately, when Alexey and Tori came to pick him up, they did arrive empty handed. Instead, they brought with them all my unsold BreyerFest sales horses.

Hello, Darrell!

Truth be told, I am not sad that some of these still belong to me.

But this one? I really want him to go away.

There is an identical model for sale on eBay right now. Mine would cost approximately $250 less than that.

Please, someone, give this horse a home. Piper needs the money to buy more treats for herself and Tang!

Riding my horse

The last time I wrote a post about riding Sage was on my birthday... So, more than seven months ago.

Not too long after that, we had a big regression.

I didn't write about it, because honestly, I didn't want advice. Sage and I have a really solid support team made up of experienced people who know our strengths and weaknesses and understand our goals. These are the people I turn to for guidance. 

And besides, I guarantee all the suggestions I'd get here are things we were already doing. Tack fit? Check! Uclers? Check! Teeth? Check! Sand? Check! Body work? Check! Animal communicator? Check! Patience and willingness to start over? Check, check, check!

Last month, I decided we werefinallty  ready to start riding again. We don't have a round pen at my barn, so I used the turnout. It's not ideal - there are horses on the other side of the fences - but it was good enough to solidify brakes and steering.

We did five rides in there. Then I spent a week with James, Guppy and Mercury.

I came home tired and ragged. I didn't even think about riding Sage until last Tuesday. The turnout wasn't available so I got on in the ring. 

That went reasonably well - no one died anyway! - so we did it again on Friday. 

Today, we joined forces with Heather and Jet to ride laps around the arena.

Look at us go!

I know it doesn't look like much, but this means the world to me.

Good girl, Sage!

No pressure, but October is coming, and we have a date with the Red Tree!

Traveling circus

In my lifetime, I have traveled tens of thousands of miles with dogs.

Piper

My dogs,

Emma, obviously

my bosses' dogs,

Mardi and Holiday

my coworkers' dogs,

Jasmine

my friends' dogs.

Tank and Riley

So many miles.

Darcy

So many dogs.

Abbie

I've also roadtripped with horses, but never - not even one time - have I shared a vehicle with a cat...

or a snake.

I guess I was due.

Earlier this month, I helped my son, James, move from Loveland, Colorado to Madison, Wisconsin with his cat, Guppy, and his girlfriend's snake, Mercury. It was a long trip made longer by lack of proper preparations, but somehow, we made it work.

Credit goes to Guppy/Kimmy - she goes by both names - for being perhaps the sweetest, most amenable cat ever.

Props also to James, for consulting with his vet before we left. He was able to administer some light sedatives throughout the trip, which made things easier for everyone.

"I feel goooood."

Guppy rode in a small dog cat carrier between the seats, and was mostly - but not entirely - quiet.

We let her out every time we stopped, and sometimes we stopped just to let her out. 

We were all in this together and we made it work.

Between Loveland and Madison, we overnighted in two hotels.

Kimmy much preferred this to riding in the truck.

She had a big time exploring every...

single...

inch of both those rooms!

As for Mercury, he was a good traveler, too. In fact, most of the time it was almost like he wasn't there. He rode inside a knotted pillowcase, which was placed on a blanket within a plastic tub with holes in the sides. The tub was placed under my seat in the truck. At the hotel, he stayed in the bathroom with a heat lamp. 

in the Colorado apartment before we left

We didn't feed him or give him any water. I am a mammal person, and I found this incomprehensible. As the trip dragged on days, I started to get very concerned about his health and well-being. Fortunately, my concerns were unfounded. He came out of the pillowcase in fine shape and made himself right at home in Madison.

In regards to travel, dogs are always and forever my first choice of companion. However, I have to admit, I enjoyed road tripping with Guppy and Mercury. 

And James, too. Of course.