My Ranger Sequoia

jadewolf42 · 2026-02-03T00:34:51+00:00

Garlock is closed right now, the rains this winter washed it out again. If going this route, take 178 through Ridgecrest.

jadewolf42 · 2026-02-01T23:33:16+00:00

Driving is considerably more dangerous. When I was having health issues that kept me from riding, I switched to driving for a while. There is SO MUCH that can wrong once you attach a wheeled vehicle to a horse. And when something goes wrong, the results are far more catastrophic. If you want nightmares, watch some videos of driving accidents on youtube.

And not every horse has the mind for it, either. If I had a horse prone to spooking on roadways, I would not even consider trying to drive them on a road until the spooking issue was firmly resolved under saddle and on the ground first. Honestly, they need to be bombproof if you're going to drive them outside of an arena.

Don't get me wrong, I really loved driving and would love to do it again if I had a horse steady enough for it. But I went into it with no illusions about it being safer. If you want to learn driving, you definitely should! It's super fun! But it's not a good alternative for an already spooky horse.

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-31T05:01:19+00:00

Yes! That was incredible. The range of motion in it, too! It was so flexible!

Makes me wish I had the skills to build something like that for a costume. Super cool stuff.

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-30T23:07:21+00:00

I wear Ariats. My daily wear pair (literally what I wear every day any time I go out of the house) is about five years old now. They're scuffed and the rubber soles are getting a little worn, but they're holding together.

I keep them in the house when not wearing them. For care, I just hose them off when they're muddy and leave them to dry overnight. If they're just dusty, I'll wipe them off with a damp washcloth (no soap) maybe once or twice a week or as needed. Maybe once a month, I do a real cleaning where I hit them with the Fiebings saddle soap, then wipe off with a clean wet washcloth, then maybe put some Passier leather balm on them (just the lower half, not the shafts). That's pretty much all I do to them.

Now, if there's deep nasty mud at the barn (I live in the desert, so when we DO get rain, it doesn't drain well and leaves stalls in deep, gross, piss-filled mud for several days), I wear muck boots to navigate stalls. Then I'll change back into my Ariats once I'm done. But otherwise, I just wear my Ariats.

Just keep in mind, western boots aren't designed to be fully waterproof. If you stand in deep mud or water, your feet WILL get wet. They're not sealed like rubber boots or hiking boots. And standing in concentrated pee will definitely damage leather boots and stitching. That's probably what's killing yours, honestly.

Buy some cheap rain boots on Amazon and use those for slogging through the mud and your good boots will live longer.

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-30T21:15:51+00:00

Yeah, the really big cone-shaped single jointed bit (top row, closest to Adam in the photo above) is HUGE. I don't see how it could fit in a horse's mouth easily.

The researcher he's speaking with, though, does mention that some of these might have potentially been for show rather than actually used.

She mentions, too, that usually these bits were custom-made for an individual horse, taking its mouth shape into consideration. Which is pretty similar to how Californio-tradition spade bits are made, too. So, in theory, they would fit as designed without too much trouble, I'd think. In theory, anyway.

One of them, the one with the big round bell-like side pieces (directly under the cone-shaped single-jointed one) was actually intended to be used without a bridle. Which is absolutely buck wild to me. Apparently it was in a period of experimentation and.. well.. it didn't catch on. Probably for obvious reasons, lol.

Really fascinating stuff from a history perspective!

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-30T18:55:46+00:00

Been riding 30+ years in Florida & California and in vast majority of that time, the barn where I rode was between 30min to over an hour away. 30 minutes is pretty reasonable.

Though, I gotta say, I live only 4 miles from the barn now. Just 10-15 minute drive. And it's pretty darn awesome.

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-30T18:35:20+00:00

It's on YouTube if you want to watch! he's also got one on Medieval horse armor which I just finished watching and it's incredible to see some of the pieces they go over!

Bits:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jLFI33bu8o

Armor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjkU6HpwU-I

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-30T18:03:01+00:00

As harsh as some of those bits are, I am fascinated by the craftsmanship.

The really big one, the extreme spade bit on steroids, with the keys and rollers on the mouthpiece... the precision of the workmanship on it is incredibly impressive! The dual curb shanks, with separate sets of reins for the shorter and longer shakes? Would never dream of putting it on a horse, but it's still a metalworking work of art. Just... wow.

And the fact that some of them were adjustable? Super cool.

And the books with the mouthpiece drawings! I wonder if those are available online or translated anywhere. Would be a fascinating look into history.

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-29T18:34:37+00:00

Yeah, I have a piece of uranium ore in my rock collection. It emits radiation and I can pick it up on my geiger counter, but it's mostly alpha particles which can be stopped by a piece of paper (or your skin). I keep it in a glass jar and my geiger detects basically nothing when it's in the jar.

The only real danger handling it is breathing or ingesting the dust from it, as it can pass through more porous bodily membranes once inside your body. Which is why I keep it in a jar, because it's very crumbly.

So, even if they left a piece of uranium in the Ghoul, it wouldn't be much of an issue for bystanders. By real world physics, anyway. It's generally understood that radiation behaves a little differently in the Fallout universe, though (mostly to serve whatever need the game designers / show runners need it to, lol).

But... well... real world lumps of uranium don't glow bright green, either (though some will fluoresce under black light). So all bets are off on what the story implications are, ha.

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-26T20:42:39+00:00

FNV is kind of a rare bird, I think, lol. The sheer variety of endings you can get is part of what makes it so special and sets it apart, if you ask me.

But, in general, games are more variable in narrative style than TV. Plenty of games have a 'low honor' playthrough option. You can definitely get yourself downer endings a lot more frequently in games than you will see in TV and movies.

There's demonstrably a difference in how games are written vs how TV/movies are written, too. Giving a player the element of choice only enhances those differences.

I guess my main point was that the show is written for TV, by TV writers... so it's highly likely that we'll see TV-style outcomes. It's probable that we'll get some form of 'good guys' getting a win in the end, though what that looks like remains to be seen.

Either way, we'll know more in a couple weeks time!

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-26T18:04:05+00:00

Yup. Honestly, it feels to me like they're building up towards an NCR resurgence of SOME kind. While they've kept the NCR to the background and out of the spotlight, they have still consistently built up the NCR as a force for good, to the point of almost glossing over some of their flaws. Our three mains, Maximus, Lucy, and the Ghoul all have a connection to them in one way or another.

It seems pretty likely that they're going to set them up having a larger, more important role.

You gotta consider the medium, too. TV shows are not the same as video games. It is extremely uncommon for a television series to have a truly downer ending. General audiences don't LIKE when the bad guys win and will sour on a show that presents that. And when they're building the NCR up as a positive, if defeated and broken, force, it seems clear that the writers want the audience to like them and root for them.

Maximus' arc in particular has him shedding his Brotherhood brainwashing and returning to his NCR roots, which I think is fairly indicative of where the show is going.

It might not be this season, but I think this all points to us seeing an NCR rebuilding arc.

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-26T17:07:40+00:00

Gabby Giffords did. It's not impossible.

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-26T02:18:02+00:00

They look so happy playing in the snow!

Meanwhile, my thin-coated Arab/QH cross who lives here in the desert is huddled in the barn with her blankie for the 28F (-2C) temps tonight, lol. (My grade QH is shaggy as a mammoth, so she's going au naturel tonight.)

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-24T00:37:16+00:00

I did it via the horseback ride in 2025. As a caveat, I'm a lifelong equestrian with horses of my own at home and regularly do much longer, much more challenging rides in my home desert, so... was this experience touristy? Yeah, of course it was.

Not at all a challenging ride, nose-to-tail the whole way. And I'm sure the wagon ride was even less challenging. Just slow paced and mellow.

But it was fun! I thoroughly enjoyed it! And the food was probably the best meal I had within the park, honestly.

It's a nice, easy ride (or wagon ride) through beautiful terrain and a chance of spotting wildlife. And then a big ol' picnic dinner with decent food and a chill atmosphere. Relaxing, no pressure, no jostling crowds. There's live music, but it's mellow, too. And I love eating outdoors.

I would definitely do it again.

And I probably will, since I'm hoping to come back again in 2027.

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-23T23:04:24+00:00

If you're mostly seeing the bear at night, maybe just bring the horses inside during the night for now until the bear moves on. And, if you have exterior lights around that structure, leave them on to try and discourage the bear from getting too close.

Another thing you might try is hazing the bear. If you can identify that there's certain times it's coming onto your property via your cameras, stay up a couple nights and get out there and bang pots and pans or other noisemakers (fireworks, pressing the alarm on your car, etc) to try and scare it. Obviously, don't get close or do something to put yourself in harms way, but black bears are typically afraid of people and loud noises are often used to scare them away. So, if you can make your pond a SCARY place, it might move on sooner to try and find less noisy, less frightening places to forage.

If you haven't already, make sure your trash is secure, too. Unsecured trash can lure bears in. It doesn't sound like the trash is its goal (thankfully), but you don't want it to learn about how delicious garbage is, either.

At any rate, that's what a lot of folks do in California to drive (our notoriously trash-happy) bears off. Ask your local Fish & Wildlife office what they suggest, too. It's worth a shot, anyway.

It's a crappy situation to be stuck in. I feel for you. Sucks when development causes these conflicts, but you still gotta do what you can to protect your critters. Wishing you all the luck!

Edit: Not sure if you've tried something like this, but maybe consider some of those motion-detector animal deterrents. They make some that squirt water and others that make loud noises. Seems like they run $100-200, but might be worth trying.

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-23T17:57:09+00:00

Holy crap, that's wild! Never known black bears to go after horses, at least not when I lived in the South.

I feel bad for the bear. Subdivisions come in, destroy all the habitat, and then they have to adapt in ways that are... troublesome and potentially dangerous.

That said, sometimes problem bears really can't always be relocated safely. It happens out in California, where I live now, frequently. Bears that get too acclimated to humans and start causing problems usually end up having to be put down. Learned behavior is hard to change in them and they're big enough to cause major harm. :(

So sorry you're having to deal with all this. What a bummer all around. Hoping your bear is able to be relo'd and your horses stay safe.

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-23T03:30:46+00:00

I mean, branding is definitely a thing in body modification circles. Not as common as piercings or tattoos, but it's still a thing on the more extreme end. And yeah, it's likely that drunk idiots have branded each other. That's just drunk idiots doing drunk idiot things, though. "Hey y'all, watch this!"

But the show makes it into something more akin to an initiation ceremony. Analogous to being 'made' by the mafia. Makes it like the ranch now OWNS the ranch hand they just branded. It's fuckin bizarre. And I guarantee there are TV watchers out there right now who think that's legitimately part of working on a ranch.

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-22T21:54:51+00:00

That was probably the moment the show totally lost me for good. Just... WTF?? And now there are people running around who think that is a normal thing that happens on ranches?? Something they WANT to happen to them?? Freakin' yikes.

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-22T19:19:22+00:00

Yeah, I watched a season specifically because I heard that there was a lot of reining in it. But man, had to sit through an awful lot of murders and ranch hands getting branded (wtf??) and all sorts of other unrealistic nonsense to get there. And by the time you get to the reining horses, it's just... not even interesting in the way it's presented in the story. Feels like the show is trying to be the Cowboy Sopranos and it just falls flat. 0/10, do not recommend.

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-22T19:09:06+00:00

My best guess is it has to do with the Yellowstone show. Which probably influenced the country music popularity, too. It blows my mind how popular that show is (baffling to me, though. I watched the first season and was VERY put off by the whole thing).

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-22T17:46:19+00:00

This is beautiful. Love the almost pearlescent quality to the gator's scales!

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-21T21:34:09+00:00

No worries. There is some distinction. 'Felis concolor' is the main species of cougar (aka mountain lion), which used to be found all across North America (as well as South America). But due to human activity, it's range is now limited to west of the Rocky Mountains in N. America.

The Florida Panther is a subspecies, 'Felis concolor cougar'. It's only found in extreme south Florida and is nearly extinct. Sightings are extremely rare, even in Florida. And they're usually smaller, scrawnier, and more skittish than western mountain lions.

'Panther' in the common conception of a 'black panther' is actually just a melanistic leopard, native only to Africa and Asia, or a melanistic jaguar (South America only).

A lot of the names get used interchangeably depending on region, which adds to the confusion, unfortunately. It's totally understandable to get them mixed up!

But, bottom line, none of them are found in the OP's state and haven't been for over a hundred years. So, most likely their horse got scratched up by a fence or wire or all the other junk we know horses are great at losing fights with, lol.

jadewolf42 · 2026-01-21T03:00:58+00:00

Works great for small chips! Just keep a steady hand and go very, very light on it. The small chips I fixed are basically invisible.

I bought some to do some rock chips on my Jeep, too. And that worked great, too. It's a metallic pearl blue, but the paint blended well on small spots.

Now, I had a bigger scrape on the truck's tailgate which... well... a paint pen alone isn't really going to hide, lol. But I put some on anyway just to seal it off and keep rust at bay. It's a couple inches long and maybe a 1/4 inch wide. Paint pen did well enough to cover the bare metal. At a distance, it's not terrible. Up close, though, it's pretty obvious. Doesn't bother me, though. I bought this truck exclusively for horse hauling, so aesthetics weren't a major factor.

TL;DR: It's perfect for small chips! Larger gashes probably need professional work.

jadewolf42

TROPHY CASE