Ride On

truckers

To my mind, and I'm not alone, horse goes well with gun. It's just the way the algo works, and I was pleased to see the juniors take to both.

Miltown

They were a little nervous at first, which is no bad thing, but took to the business naturally. Our first excursion was cut short by big rain, but the kids were able to get in the saddle and be lead about. I loved the smile on the youngest's face as BeBop went into a gentle trot.

all about the hat

Next time out we visited Miltown Arabians and the weather managed, by some miracle, to stay the right side of hot. Both graduated from the round pen into the pasture and the eldest managed a few strides of canter. Well done.

Canter

A day later some friends kindly followed up a shoot, after delicious ribs, with a ride in the arena. Beautiful, well trained horses and some expert supervision. It didn't take long for the boys to move out of the round pen; the youngest was happy walking around the perimeter and the eldest wanted to go fast, so he cantered off in good style. Not bad at all for his second time out.

Faster!

I was proud of them both, though less so of myself; being over excited I charged around foolishly, which didn't earn any points. But great fun, which is what it's all about.

catch up, LSP

Must sort the kids out with horses in Calgary, but in the meanwhile -- huge thanks to VS, BE, the Munroes et al. 

walk on

Stay in the saddle and God bless,

LSP

Range Warriors

Just because it's hot doesn't mean that you can't shoot, so I've been taking the young 'uns, 12 and 9,  to my friend's range for target practice, but not before a decent work out on a Daisy BB gun. The Daisy's useful because you can shoot it in the back yard and teach basic marksmanship skills, not least safety, while having fun. 

sizing up the opposition

The boys did well on that and well on the range, shooting .22 bolt action, .22 semi (Ruger 10/22), an AR 15, my philisophical friend GWB's Mini 14, and some .45 (Beretta PX4).

the old contender

We fired from the bench, kneeling, prone and off-hand at 100, 50 and 25 yards. It was good to see the kids getting on target at the longer ranges, especially off-hand; just a lot of fun for them and a fairly full-on introduction to firearms.

the Dallas compound

Important skill, shooting. Start 'em off young.

on at 100

Skeet tomorrow, have to warm up for Dove season.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Driving from Calgary to Dallas

You may wonder why an LSP should break with protocol and head North to Canada every once and a while. The answer's simple, to see two junior LSPs and this time to take them to Texas for a summer of swimming, shooting and riding. So, after the deerstruck car was fixed, which took three weeks, I loaded up the mileage vehicle and got on the road for the Lonestar State.

on the way to Helena

It's a long journey, though easy enough. We drove from Calgary to Lethbridge and entered Montana on Hwy 2, which turns into 15. Normally you head cross country to Billings from Great Falls, but the route was under construction so I stayed on 15 and went through the mountains to Helena/Butte before going East on 90 to Billings. A longer way to go, but worth it, I think, for the views.

awesome Ranchester

From Billings you pick up 90/87 and drive South through Wyoming and Colorado. I'd hoped to make it to Casper but had to stop in Ranchester because I was paranoid about hitting another deer on the pitch black roads. We stayed at old style motel.

Wyoming

Then it was time to get back on the road and take 25 through Denver, ending up at Raton, the City of 21 Motels. I liked Raton, in a 'small town in the mountains with endless motels,' kind of way and after breakfast we pushed on to Texas via 87 to Amarillo then taking 287 to Dallas/Fort Worth, where we were met with a rain storm and oddly nuclear blast-like clouds.

Texas

It's a good journey and not hard if you do it in three days; it certainly gives an impression of the sheer size of the country and a little of its variety. America isn't just an endless suburban subdivision bisected by strip malls, though it can give that impression, but a huge continent with vast areas of wilderness and open country. Much of this has been settled recently and the newness of the enterprise is striking; altogether different from much of Europe and the East Coast, for example.

I like it, but here's a question. Why is it that the country towns you drive through in Southern Alberta seem prosperous and well put together and then, in the space of miles, you cross the border and things get pretty ramshackle? For that matter, why should so many small Texan towns, in the Panhandle for example, seem like rural versions of Detroit when their Alberta equivalents don't? 

A mystery to me, no shortage of oil and gas in either place.

Drive safe,

LSP

Syria

There is no truth whatsoever in any of the malicious rumours that British, French and American special forces are supporting Al-Qaeda Jihadists in Syria. Neither is Mossad, or Blackwater, and even if they were, which they probably aren't, it's humanitarian, right?

Some people speculate, foolishly, that the West, along with "terrorist paymasters" Saudi Arabia and Qatar, has an interest in securing territory on the border of Iran. But nothing could be further than the truth; all we want to do is take down the brutal Assadian police state and replace it with peace loving Islamists.

Alpha Dog

Forgive the sarcasm, but there's something badly unsettling about the thought of our soldiers training their Islamic enemies, to say nothing of innocent men, women and children being killed and tortured in a civil war in which neither side appears to have anything like ethical ascendance. The solution?

Toy Dog

Alpha Dog moves ships, arms and men into Russia's naval base at Tartus, not-so-covert ops  continue under the aegis of Barry and David "Toy Dog" Cameron, Mossad conjures with the all too real threat of an Iranian 12th Imam, and the world moves ever closer to yet another war in the Middle East.

Barry

Don't get me wrong, I support our troops, I support Israel, and like the fearsome Chesterbelloc I support the West and the Faith, but none of this looks good to me.

Both Alpha Dog and Barry have peace prizes, Toy Dog is an old Etonian. 

Make of that what you will.

LSP

Putin is Alpha Dog?

Black belt

Vladimir Putin cheers on judo stars in London's Olympic games and has a black belt in the sport himself. Putin, who was chief spymaster in Russia's dreaded KGB, is also a horseman, a shooter, a diver and a concert pianist. Some fear that Putin is leading Russia into a new dark age of tyranny and despotism, others think that he is "Lord of Awesomeness" and the reincarnation of St. Paul.

Kind

Following a letter to the Times, signed by pop luminaries such as Jarvis "Menswear" Cocker, Putin has urged  leniency today for Pussy Riot, an all girl punk band who face up to seven years in jail for inciting "religious hatred."

Menswear

Putin is known in diplomatic circles as "Alpha Dog." Jarvis Cocker is known as "Menswear."

Barry with Alpha Dog

Then there's our leader, he used to go by "Barry." 

"Menswear" is a fan of "Barry," apparently.

God bless,

LSP

Miserable Offender

guard dog

This incredibly fierce Golden attack dog managed to get himself skunked last night. Well done, dog. Fortunately it wasn't a severe skunking or the brave defender of hearth and home would be outside for the duration.

Here's another criminal.

nice

Don't be priestess. Do something else instead.


Just sayin'.


LSP