Wild Mountain Farms
  • WildMountainFarms
  • About Us
    • Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
    • Christie's Writing
    • Dave
  • Our Stallion
    • 2021 Breeding Season
    • 2020 Breeding Season
    • The Breeding Process
    • Schedule Your Breeding
    • Breeding Contracts and Fees
    • Color and Our Stallion
  • Education
    • About the Rocky Mountain Horse >
      • History of the Rocky Mountain Horse Breed
      • Other Mountain Horse Breeds
      • What They Look Like
      • Temperament of the Rocky Mountain Horse
      • What They Do
      • Where to Find a Rocky Mountain Horse
      • Cost of a Rocky Mountain Horse
      • Genetic Testing
    • Breeding Education >
      • Deciding to Breed
      • Choosing a stallion
      • Getting Started
      • Breeding Costs
      • Breeding Basics >
        • Timing Details
      • AI vs Live Cover
      • Pre-Breeding Preparation
      • Breeding Contract
      • Live Foal Guarantee
    • Basic Genetics >
      • Basic Genetics Expanded
    • Color Genetics >
      • Horse Color Genetics >
        • Basic Color Genes
        • Special Color Genes >
          • Special Color Details
        • The Colors >
          • Red
          • Bay
          • Black
          • White
          • Gray
          • Chocolate
          • Cream Gene Colors >
            • Palomino
            • Buckskin
            • Black Buckskin
            • Cremello
            • Perlino
            • Smokey Cream
          • Champagne
          • Paint
          • Roan
          • Appaloosa Horses
    • Raising a Foal Right
    • Transporting Horses Long Distance >
      • Transport Paperwork
      • Transport Equiptment (Big)
      • Transport Equiptment (Small)
      • Feed and Water For Transporting
      • Driving Practices for Transporting
      • Transport Tips
  • Horses For Sale
    • Stormy-SOLD!
    • Smudge-SOLD!
    • Copper-SOLD! >
      • Copper Stories
  • Our Horses
    • Lady
    • Cowgirl
    • Belle
    • Sugar
  • Our Animal Partners
  • Our Human Partners
  • Contact Us
  • Western Montana Riding Trails
  • The Pacific Crest Trail
    • Who We Are >
      • Why and What
      • Christie
      • Kaladin
      • The Horses
      • Riding Companions
      • Local Resources
      • Home Team
    • Strategy and Goals
    • PCT Basics
    • PCT Water
    • PCT Safety
    • PCT Timing
    • PCT Maps
    • PCT Permits
    • PCT Resources
    • PCT Contacts
    • PCT Gear >
      • backpacking gear List >
        • Shelter >
          • Tents
        • Sleeping Bag
        • Sleeping Pad
        • Camp Chair
        • Water Purifier
        • Water Reservoir
        • Kitchen Gear
      • horse packing gear
      • dog packing gear
      • safety gear
      • photography gear
      • packing organization
  • AirBnB Cabin
  • Wildflowers of Western Montana
    • Arnica
    • Arrowleaf Balsamroot
    • Bear Grass
    • Biscutroot
    • Bitterroot
    • Buttercup, Sagebrush
    • Buttercup, Common
    • Bluebell
    • Cinquefoil
    • Deptford Pink
    • Fleabane
    • Glacier Lily
    • Goldenrod
    • Harebell
    • Indian Paintbrush
    • Kinickinick
    • Larkspur
    • Lupine
    • Mouseeared Chickweed
    • Oregon Grape
    • Oxeye Daisy
    • Pasque Flower
    • Prarie Smoke
    • Salsify
    • Shooting Star
    • Thistle
    • Wild Hyacinth
    • Wild Onion
    • Wild Rose
    • Wild Strawberry
    • Wild Sunflower
    • White Campion
    • Woodland Star
    • Yarrow
    • Plant ID Books I Like
  • Goats
    • Goat Enclosures
    • Feeding Goats >
      • Feeding Dwarf Goats >
        • Dwarf Goat Hay
  • Sheep
  • Horsepacking
    • How Many Horses
  • Sheep

My dog - Kaladin

Kaladin is a Service Dog. He's a 90 lb German Shepherd born in 2015. He can sense when I am about to crash and he's been trained to warn me before it happens. See, when I push my energy too far I have what my doctors call a "crash." First I become disoriented, sometimes not knowing who or where I am, struggling to talk clearly and unable to think rationally. If I don't lay down right away, I become extremely weak and will eventually collapse. These crashes cause damage to my body and my brain. They take days, or even weeks, months or years, to recover from.
Picture
Kaladin can sense these crashes coming on. He warns me 5-10 minutes before one hits. If I'm able to lay flat for 10-30 minutes before it hits, I can prevent it from happening and my strength returns. Kaladin is trained to watch over me during these times and to go for help if I collapse in a remote place and need assistance. 

​We've trained Kal so that he goes into working mode any time we put on his Service Dog vest. When he's not wearing it, he gets to just be a dog. His favorite games are Stick and Ball and he plays them unceasingly, fetching and bringing his stick or ball back to anyone who can be cajoled into throwing them. He loves being outside and he loves camping with me. When I ride horses he follows close behind. When we go horse packing, he carries his own backpack and gear. 

Picture
Kal's a real love. He adores people and is use to other dogs. The only problem we have ever had with him is that he sometimes gets alarmed when meeting another dog for the first time and barks, his hackles going up, until he gets right up to the dog and makes friends. That can be a problem on the trail and I am working on how to deal with that. The fur on Kal's ruff stands up whenever he's excited about anything - not just when he is angry or frightened. Happiness causes the same response as anxiety. That can be alarming to other people. 90 lb German Shepherds are not in everyone's comfort zone. So these are things we will have to figure out. But they are the only things. Kal is extremely well trained (as any true Service Dog is). He'll love every minute of our time on the trail.

​The only question is, do I bring him his own sleeping pad or put up with him crowding up to me every night, vying for the comfiest spot?
the horses

YouTube Chanel
Click here to see my YouTube page of videos on how this trip is going every step of the way, including my preparations at home and my days on the trail.
More About The Players
Want to know more about who is on this trip? Me, my dog, my horses and any friends who happen to join me along the way...

Location

raising rocky mountain horses
​for every rider

Because when the mountains are wild,
the horse shouldn't be!

Wild Mountain Farms
PO Box 209
25111 Mill Creek Rd.
Frenchtown, MT  59834
406-239-4748
info@WildMountainFarms.com
Christie and Dave Goodman

Contact Us

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  • WildMountainFarms
  • About Us
    • Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
    • Christie's Writing
    • Dave
  • Our Stallion
    • 2021 Breeding Season
    • 2020 Breeding Season
    • The Breeding Process
    • Schedule Your Breeding
    • Breeding Contracts and Fees
    • Color and Our Stallion
  • Education
    • About the Rocky Mountain Horse >
      • History of the Rocky Mountain Horse Breed
      • Other Mountain Horse Breeds
      • What They Look Like
      • Temperament of the Rocky Mountain Horse
      • What They Do
      • Where to Find a Rocky Mountain Horse
      • Cost of a Rocky Mountain Horse
      • Genetic Testing
    • Breeding Education >
      • Deciding to Breed
      • Choosing a stallion
      • Getting Started
      • Breeding Costs
      • Breeding Basics >
        • Timing Details
      • AI vs Live Cover
      • Pre-Breeding Preparation
      • Breeding Contract
      • Live Foal Guarantee
    • Basic Genetics >
      • Basic Genetics Expanded
    • Color Genetics >
      • Horse Color Genetics >
        • Basic Color Genes
        • Special Color Genes >
          • Special Color Details
        • The Colors >
          • Red
          • Bay
          • Black
          • White
          • Gray
          • Chocolate
          • Cream Gene Colors >
            • Palomino
            • Buckskin
            • Black Buckskin
            • Cremello
            • Perlino
            • Smokey Cream
          • Champagne
          • Paint
          • Roan
          • Appaloosa Horses
    • Raising a Foal Right
    • Transporting Horses Long Distance >
      • Transport Paperwork
      • Transport Equiptment (Big)
      • Transport Equiptment (Small)
      • Feed and Water For Transporting
      • Driving Practices for Transporting
      • Transport Tips
  • Horses For Sale
    • Stormy-SOLD!
    • Smudge-SOLD!
    • Copper-SOLD! >
      • Copper Stories
  • Our Horses
    • Lady
    • Cowgirl
    • Belle
    • Sugar
  • Our Animal Partners
  • Our Human Partners
  • Contact Us
  • Western Montana Riding Trails
  • The Pacific Crest Trail
    • Who We Are >
      • Why and What
      • Christie
      • Kaladin
      • The Horses
      • Riding Companions
      • Local Resources
      • Home Team
    • Strategy and Goals
    • PCT Basics
    • PCT Water
    • PCT Safety
    • PCT Timing
    • PCT Maps
    • PCT Permits
    • PCT Resources
    • PCT Contacts
    • PCT Gear >
      • backpacking gear List >
        • Shelter >
          • Tents
        • Sleeping Bag
        • Sleeping Pad
        • Camp Chair
        • Water Purifier
        • Water Reservoir
        • Kitchen Gear
      • horse packing gear
      • dog packing gear
      • safety gear
      • photography gear
      • packing organization
  • AirBnB Cabin
  • Wildflowers of Western Montana
    • Arnica
    • Arrowleaf Balsamroot
    • Bear Grass
    • Biscutroot
    • Bitterroot
    • Buttercup, Sagebrush
    • Buttercup, Common
    • Bluebell
    • Cinquefoil
    • Deptford Pink
    • Fleabane
    • Glacier Lily
    • Goldenrod
    • Harebell
    • Indian Paintbrush
    • Kinickinick
    • Larkspur
    • Lupine
    • Mouseeared Chickweed
    • Oregon Grape
    • Oxeye Daisy
    • Pasque Flower
    • Prarie Smoke
    • Salsify
    • Shooting Star
    • Thistle
    • Wild Hyacinth
    • Wild Onion
    • Wild Rose
    • Wild Strawberry
    • Wild Sunflower
    • White Campion
    • Woodland Star
    • Yarrow
    • Plant ID Books I Like
  • Goats
    • Goat Enclosures
    • Feeding Goats >
      • Feeding Dwarf Goats >
        • Dwarf Goat Hay
  • Sheep
  • Horsepacking
    • How Many Horses
  • Sheep