Kevin's New Friend

Kevin's New Friend

We suffered a terrible loss recently.  Kevin's beloved cat, Fall, passed away.  He had her for 16 years, and we both loved her so much.  There wasn't a mean bone in her body, and she was possibly the sweetest cat ever born.  Our hearts were--and still are--broken.

Nothing can replace a beloved pet, but our hearts are always big enough to welcome another in them.  Kevin's house just seemed so empty without our little Fall.  He was hesitant to get another cat.  He knew that he could never get one as wonderful as Fall--or as I would say Wonder-Fall.  We gently pushed him in that direction.  We were looking up cats on the Internet.  At first, he wanted a kitten--and it is a little early in the year for kittens.  In a few months, the shelters will be bursting from the seams with kittens.  If he wanted a kitten, he would have to wait.

Then, he said that he thought it would be easier to get an adult cat.  That set everyone in motion.  There are always a lot of adult cats looking for homes.

My first choice was to go to the Cleveland Animal Protective League--the APL.  They have a huge selection of cats, and Ellen has been working with them with their Trap Neuter Release program.  They also took 7 kittens and their tame mother that showed up in their yard last year and found them all homes.  

I have a particular weakness for long-haired cats.  The APL had several lovely ones to pick from.  My first choice was adopted before I could even get Kevin to commit to go and look for a cat--but they still had more.  There was one that sounded really good.  I thought I could get Kevin to go on Saturday, but he wanted to wait until Sunday after we rode.

Kevin agreed that he liked long-haired cats, too.  He was adamant that the cat should be a female, and he refused to get a black cat.  I didn't understand that--I think black cats are terrific.  I have never met one that I didn't like.  Ellen's got a black cat--and I have a black dog and a black horse.  Black animals are great!  He said he just wanted something more colorful--and the cat had to be symmetrical.  He didn't like unsymmetrical cats.

It opened at noon.  We arrived at 12:15.  They told us where the cats were.  We walked into the room, and the very first cat we saw was a long-haired, male black cat.  He saw us, stood up and walked towards us in his cage.  Kevin said, "Wow."  He was so friendly--I immediately knew that this was the cat I wanted.  I didn't know what Kevin would think--he was black--and a male!  Kevin asked the attendant if he could pet him, and they showed him how to open the cage.  The attendant looked at the card and told us he was 2 years old and that the card said he was a "Special Needs."  She couldn't say why, and that we would have to go up front to find out.

I went to look at the other cats.  They were all lovely, but not one struck me as special as this black one.  I went back to see what Kevin was doing.  He said he had to get his glasses and hurried quickly out of the room.  I continued to admire our black friend and looked at the other cats again.  Kevin didn't come back, so I grabbed the card and took it up to the front desk where I found Kevin filling out the paperwork for him!

Kevin said that he saw some people taking a picture of him, and figured he had to get him before they did.

We were very concerned about him being a "Special Needs" cat.  Would he need medicine? Shots? A special diet?   Or would he have allergies?  Maybe it was something that wouldn't matter--like a fear of dogs.  We were worried that it would be a deal breaker.

Someone came up to us and explained that she checked to see why he was a "Special Needs" cat.  It turns out that it was because he was simply a cat.  Yes, he was a cat--but he was at the City Kennels--which is only for dogs.  He had to be transferred here because he was a cat.  He needed to be at a place that could accommodate cats.

That was it--we were going to take him.

We found out that he had just arrived the day before, and since he was such a friendly cat, they put him out for adoption before he was neutered.  That day was his first day up for adoption--and he was adopted by us in just 15 minutes.  If we had come the day before, like I wanted to, he wouldn't have been available.  The stars aligned perfectly for us to find this special cat.

Unfortunately, we couldn't take him home, yet.  He still needed to be neutered.

Adult cats at the APL cost $50.00.  They have program called "Pets for the Elderly" where anyone over 60 years old gets a $50.00 discount on all adoptions.  Not only did Kevin find a great cat, but he was free!

He decided to call him "Wow," since that is the first thing he said when he saw him.

A Surprise on the Hill

 A Surprise on the Hill

Ellen, Kevin and I were out for a ride.  Before crossing the river to go home, Ellen and I decided to pass up home and trot out to the street.  Kevin decided to just go home without us.  Cole was really, really fast.  He had an extra exceleration when he heard a noise.  I was able to keep him at a trot, but it was a very fast trot.  Dante was a little calmer.  Fifteen seconds later, we turned back to go home.  That is when I saw the pair of turkeys--a male and a female.  We believe they were courting, though the male wasn't fanned out.  They probably made the noise that startled Cole--or maybe he saw them.  We were glad that Starry wasn't with us.  He panicked the one time he saw a male turkey fanned out.

After we crossed the river, we watched the turkeys saunter up to it and eventually fly over to our side.  I think wild turkeys are so beautiful.

Ellen and I headed up the hill.  We were about a third of the way up, when I thought I heard Kevin's voice ahead.  It sounded like he was at the top of the hill.  I got a little worried, but we didn't hear him cry for help, though we couldn't make out what he was saying.  He stopped, and I relaxed.  

A couple minutes later, I heard him yelling a lot.  Once again, we didn't know what he was saying.  I wanted to gallop up the hill to find out, but I knew that depending on the situation, that might make things worse.  If Kevin had fallen and Starry was loose, galloping up might cause Starry to run.  We just kept walking up the hill as fast as we could.

Ellen was ahead of me, leading Dante.  I was still in the saddle.  Kevin started yelling again.  We were closer now, and we could hear him calling out a warning to us that there were 2 loose dogs on the trail!  Seconds later, 2 Cane Corsos came charging down the trail towards us.  Cane Corsos are not known for their friendliness--they weren't Labradoodles!  They looked like they were a hundred pounds each, and all I could see were their huge jaws.

Within an instant, Ellen transformed from her normally quiet demeanor to a raging animal.  She charged towards them with her hands in the air, waving her whip, yelling like she was possessed by the devil and dragging Dante with her.  No one was going to hurt her Dante.  I started to do the same thing.

Those dogs stopped, spun around and took off back up the hill--straight into the arms of a policeman. I think they went to him for protection from Ellen and her ferocious horse, Dante. When we reached the top of the hill, we saw Kevin on foot and the policeman was wrapping Starry's reins around their necks. The dogs didn't even have collars.  Kevin was holding Starry by the bridle.  Those snap-on reins came in handy!

We stayed back while the policeman led the dogs to his car that was parked at the end of the trail.  Once he got there, he couldn't manage to get the dogs in the car or tied up--he evidently needed some help.  Ellen handed Dante to me and went over to hold the dogs for him while he put leashes on them.  She brought Kevin's reins back.  The officer still couldn't get the dogs into the car, so he called for back up.

He told Ellen that someone on the street called about the loose dogs.  I'm glad we were able to get them turned around before they got further into the park, and without Kevin's reins, I don't know how the officer could have gotten them back to his car.  Hopefully, they were able to locate the owner, and now they are safe at home.

All the yelling that we heard was Kevin trying to scare the dogs away from Starry.  It is just as well that we couldn't understand what he was yelling about--I believe it was mostly 4-lettered words.

Throughout this whole experience--from the beginning to the end--all 3 horses were perfectly behaved.  I was so proud of them!

The Best 15 Seconds of the Whole Ride

 The Best 15 Seconds of the Whole Ride

Many times for many years, Ellen and I will be coming back from a ride, and when we get to the river that we cross to go home, we decide to pass it up and go for a little while longer.  We will just trot out to the street.  It isn't a long distance at all, but it makes the ride a little longer.

Cole started to really get into it.  I think it is because when we get to the street, we just turn around and go back home.  I know Cruiser liked to do it, too.  I can tell because of their enthusiastic trot.

Over the years, Cole's trot has become more and more enthusiastic.  It didn't take Dante long to catch on to the excitement.  Cole usually is in the lead, and he will typically trot faster than he does on the whole ride.  Dante decided that that was a tremendous idea.  Though he can't match Cole's trotting speed, he does his best.  Many times, Ellen lets him canter.

There are times that I can't hold Cole--he just goes.  There have been leaps and squeals from Dante.  None of this puts us off, because we know they will always stop at the end--they just want to get there very fast.  We just sit back and enjoy it.

The more we do it, the more hyper they get about it.  I just love riding a fast, extended trot.  When they go this fast, I don't think it takes us much more than 15 seconds to get to the end, but they are the best 15 seconds of the whole ride.

For some reason, Kevin never wanted to join us.  We did it a lot last year, and if he was with us, he would just cross the river and go home.  Poor Starry was missing all the fun.

A couple weeks ago, I was riding with just Kevin.  He surprised me when he said he wanted to trot past home.  I guess it was just such a nice evening for riding that he didn't want to go home.  I told him I would take the lead, and Cole would probably go very fast.  Kevin loves going fast, so that is not a problem.  I just wanted him to be ready for it.

Cole took off, and we were at the end already turned around when Starry came around the bend--and Kevin was smiling.  Somebody really had a lot of fun.

The next time I rode with Kevin, he suggested that we do it again.  Now, he knows our secret. Sometimes, it really is the best 15 seconds of the whole ride.

Virtual Tevis Cup - 100 Miles in 100 Days

Virtual Tevis Cup - 100 Miles in 100 Days

Ellen and I signed up for the fourth consecutive year.  As long as our horses--and ourselves--stay sound, it is a very easy thing for us to accomplish.  So why do we do it?  Because it is fun.  We get to join the group online and follow their progress as well as post about our own.  It is nice to be part of something that involves people and horses of all walks of life throughout the world.  

We get to accomplish milestones as we post our progress that shows where we are if we were riding the actual Tevis Cup--which is 100 miles in 1 day.  It sure does give us a lot of appreciation for what the riders and horses experience in the actual Tevis.  

The way the event works is you start logging your daily miles on April 19th, and the last day is the day of the actual Tevis which is July 30th.  Last year, I really enjoyed watching the live streaming of the actual horses reaching their milestones.  Wow, those horses are amazing.

And of course, we get a t-shirt.  The proceeds of the event helps pay for the upkeep of the Tevis trail, so it is for a good cause. Anything that keeps our trails open and usable is a good thing.

It makes it especially fun that Ellen and I are doing it together.  I am always ahead of her in the miles because since she still works, she can't ride as often as I do, but she usually isn't that far behind.

If you are interested in participating in the event, you can sign up any time before the last 10 days of the ride.  Here is the website.

https://runsignup.com/Race/CA/Auburn/TevisCup

You are welcome to join the Daly Duo team--which is us.