Trottin' Into the Wind

"Oh Lordy, she's kissing me again?" Puts on tolerant face, eyes at half mast.

Yesterday dawned bright and sunny with 70 degree temperatures, calling us to ride. I got out to Linda's and the wind gusts were blowing us over. Easily 35-40 mph.  But, nothing was going to stop us from riding (because of rain, mud and schedules, none of us had ridden in 2 weeks...HORROR!) so we set out and tacked up. Jackson tends to spook when it's really windy, but I thought to myself, "Oh well, he'll have to get over it, and I will too, because WE ARE RIDING!" Other than him trying his, "I'm going to back up so you'll turn around and put me away," antic at the onset, he did great! I just did a few circles to make him think he was getting his way, and then finally just gave him a kick and a stern "Walk On!," and he started walking across the big scary pasture with 3 feet of dried grass.

We rode over to Lorri's to pick her up, but didn't do any arena work or jumping today (OK, I did trot cavaletti) but the wind was miserable and it just wouldn't have been fun to hang out there. Not even for jumping. Lots of nice scary noises to freak Jackson out, but he did well with them all, even the rumble of the tin roof on the barn that would have scared me if I were a horse! Lots of good bomb proofing experiences were going on at Lorri's yesterday, including her husband burning the Christmas tree (yep, in the wind! we all just shook our heads over that one, even his wife...MEN! ;) but of course, it helped that he had been there several times before. Still, I was impressed with his calm, (somewhat on alert, but calm) demeanor and "spook smarts." I usually am prepared to sit at least one big side spook, possible 360, or crow hop a ride. That is just my horse and his breed, and I think I am fairly adept at it. I have never fallen off from one of those...although I almost did yesterday, read on!

Monting from the "off" side. I don't use a mounting block too often, but wanted to start that new experience with a nice leg up!

The three of us decided to head out into the back 40 where we often ride, it offers lots of trees, and just a nice ride. There are some super nice paths to trot or canter and a huge open field for practice and fun. We didn't hit the field due to the wind, but had a nice time the first half of the ride meandering along trails and talking. Lorri's horse Ozzie, (also an AngloArab like Jackson) kept having issues with invisible things on the trail, which Jackson decided not to imitate multiple times, despite being right behind her. That is just Ozzie, and Lorri is such a terrific rider that she is unfazed by her antics.

So we got to the point in the ride where we decided to go at a nice pace and trot for a couple of miles. Through trees, sharp turns, up and down ditches, through water, all kinds of fun stuff. Jackson still wasn't having any part in Ozzie's antics, just being my sane reliable mount. YAY! Then we came around a bush, and Ozzie dropped her left back hip and just moved out to the side. Huge side spook, or whatever you want to call it! Assuming Jackson was not going to imitate it, I didn't expect it, but I guess the back burner in my mind said, "Hang on!" cause darned if Jackson didn't imitate the very same movement! I sat it and lost a stirrup, but I was thinking while it happened, "Hmmm. What's the best way to fall off here?" I have less weight and more inner core muscles to thank, (or heck, maybe just luck) for sticking it! And then the culprit of the spook showed himself. Linda's dog Zelbar had gotten loose and skulked after us, making his appearance known in a sly way...

Linda on Traveler her new 3 year old QH/TB

So, once that got sorted out we had a pleasureable, uneventful rest of our ride. Oz proceeded to make Lorri work, especially when we put Jackson in the lead; she believes that since mares RULE and all geldings DROOL, she should be in the front. She will let Jackson ride abreast of her, but she wants to be in charge. Jackson could care less. He loves to be the one forging the trail, but he gives to bossy mare Oz easily, he just doesn't care that much! Lorri cracked me up. She made a comment, saying, "How do we have the same breed of horse, and yours is so sane? He never spooks!" This was after the spook with the dog, but she is correct. Jackson doesn't have half the issues with MONSTERS that Ozzie does. Who knows? Ozzie is a gem in the arena to take a dressage lesson on, but she can be hell on the trails. Lorri handles her fine, and you can often hear a giggle as they are disappearing around the corner at a full out gallop or some other crazy gait, so I think they are a match made in Heaven! Me, I'll stick to my horse on the trails, and ride Oz in the arena! :)

It was great to finally ride; talk about JONESING for something, and I'm glad that we still had fun in spite of that infernal blasting wind!

OOPS! Once again forgot to take my camera out when we were on the trail, I'm a bad blogger! You'll have to settle for the before the ride pics, which Lorri missed as she was tacking up! Next time!

Let the Jumping Begin...

Yesterday started out a bit cold and yucky looking, but I decided to trek out to ride horseface. It warmed up to 51 degrees (argh) which was actually alright once I got the blood pumping a bit! Linda decided to ride her new 3 yr. old QH/TB Traveler who is a newbie and needs some miles. He is going to be quite handsome when he fills out (AND stops BITING saddles and wooden fences), but right now he is a bit gawky. He opened a gate with Linda aboard though, so I am thinking he is quite sane of mind, and take back some of my comments regarding him and his affinity for a certain someone's Australian saddle--he BIT it! That saddle I am not as concerned about, but if he so much as looks at my Bates jumping saddle, fur will fly! :)

We had a nice little trail ride in the acreage behind Linda's house and a nice even, collected trot (maybe a mile total) with Jackson (on the bit!) as the leader setting the pace around the humongous field back there. I informed Jackson that he is a big boy now and had to show Traveler all that he has learned! Then we made the little trek over to our friend Lorri's to ride with her. My ears TOTALLY perked up when Linda told me Lorri was setting up some trotting cavaletti for us to play with. My mind also also went hmmmm.... as I remembered the jump standards that have recently been given to Lorri by a friend who moved. I have been eyeing them for over a month now. I walked Jackson over them before our last dressage lesson (Lorri has an arena where we take some of our lessons) but quickly realized that they were just a bit too high for walking over, I would have to jump 'em!

I have done ground cavaletti with Jackson out at Triple H and jumped things 12 inches or lower on trail rides and on Triple H's XC course, but I haven't (and I'll be honest here) had the cojones to take anything higher. You see, Jackson has never been jumped before, is fairly green, and let's face it, I have had these fear issues  which started after breaking my shoulder when I first got Jackson. Those fear issues are getting rather worn, tattered and tiring. In fact, so tiring that they are LEAVING! So when we got to Lorri's we walked, talked and played with our horses around the pasture, and then I started attacking the set of 4 cavaletti you see above at a trot. Jackson did great. He is willing, and he is smart. I will post these pics below, but please don't comment on the equitation! Of course I look like crap, I haven't jumped in, well, let's just say A LONG TIME. (I'm looking forward to jumping things that actually require me to RAISE my stirrups up, and put the KNEE BLOCKS back on my jumping saddle!)  Anyway, he took the set of 4 cavaletti well, along with a set of two we also had set up across from them. Lorri and Linda both said he really did them nicely with his legs up and moving evenly with some really nice work with his hocks.

After that, we did some arena work, but I just kept eyeing the two jumps right beside the arena, thinking "Mindy, it IS time." And these are easily accomplished jumps. A horse will jump things this low quite easily. But if he knows his rider is a chicken butt.... Well, I'm sure you know what can happen then! I left the arena by the side door, (and heard just what Allison, my instructor would have to say about THAT in my mind--I quickly made the gals promise that I would not be reported for my lack of dressage etiquette :) and just sat astride Jackson looking at the jumps--contemplating and inwardly feeling so confident that we could do them,  but at the same time trying to banish the little tendrils of doubt that were trying to creep in. Of course the girls were all over me after they noticed me standing there just looking for five minutes or so. Take the jumps, you can do it, etc.

"Well, why the hell not?", I thought.

I knew we were ready. Kind of. The first attempt was, well, a gallant attempt. We took the first in the set of two fine (it is lower) and then Jackson ran out (cause I chickened out and let him) on the second one--which is higher even though the pic doesn't really show it. He pulled this a couple more times, and then of course, I had to get the big girl britches out, because if I let him get away with evading a fence at this early stage, and didn't jump it successfully because I let him run out on the jump, well, a jumping team we would quite possibly NEVER be. So, I approached again. Took the first and just applied major leg, with every bit of my mind screaming, "GO!" And he did. He JUMPED it. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't in the middle of the jump (so he took the higher part which is easily 2 feet) but it was done! We came out of the jump at a canter (my old? nemesis) and  I thought nothing of it. It felt normal, natural and great. I really didn't have time to do anything but ride it, then Linda started shouting, "You're cantering!" I just looked at her and said, "I know, I'm on his back." LOL. Then Lorri piped in with, "Mindy, TELL him he did good!", which I immediately did. It was the shock and happiness and amazement, all at once, making me forget to instantly reward his AMAZINGNESS! We jumped? (maybe two feet? easily 18 inches anyway!) And came out of it at a canter? AND NO EVERYONE, I DID NOT HAVE EVEN ONE MEETING WITH THE GROUND!! OH HAPPY DAY!

 After that, Lorri jumped Kite who had NEVER been jumped before (she jumps her other horse). This is the horse she had the really BAD accident on in June. Kite also ran out on the second jump a few times, so I didn't feel as bad! Lorri is an amazing, accomplished rider who could be an instructor herself, it was really nice having her on the sidelines telling me what to do and what I was doing wrong.

Below are a montage of images from the caveletti at a trot. I wasn't trying to two point, just float above the saddle a bit. The jumps did not warrant it, and my stirrups are at the length I use for dressage! Sadly, my camera was in my pocket when we did our first BIG BOY jump! Next time video is coming into play! Allison and I are going to have to have a talk. I still want to take dressage, as I think it is teaching me a LOT about my riding, but I want jumping lessons now too. We ARE ready.

Linda and Lorri. Without these two and their eternal patience, teaching, and encouragement in the past two years, I don't know where I'd be.

Thanks girls!

THIS is a Wonderful Life....

Anne, Lorri and me...Can you believe that Lorri and I both have Anglo Arabs? They are SO different!

Linda on Red (Missouri Fox Trotter), Anne on Allie (Arabian) and Lorri on Ozzie (AngloArab)

On Wednesday we had wonderful 68 degree weather and it was the perfect day for us to hit the trails! I haven't been riding too much in the past month with sickness and weather getting the upper hand. Oh. And work. And the kiddo. There were actually five of us who rode out, but we took these pics without our friend Kathy (later pictured in pink) because she was being a slow butt... :) J.K., Kathy!
We took along tools to clear some trail, officially beginning our work on the annual Triple H Equitherapy Scavenger Hunt. We have changed the date from June to early May because we think the cooler weather in May will attract more riders. Adding new trails and obstacles are imperative to keeping the interest and freshness of the ride alive. Three of us cleared branches and forged trail on foot, while two held the five horses; I'd say we spent 45 minutes clearing and the rest was a relaxing, invigorating ride. Even though we waded streams, and traveled at a pretty fast pace for five riders, it felt as if we were all very much in sync and we all had a ball. If you have ever ridden with this size group, you probably know that this does NOT always happen! :)
As we rode, I reflected on the past year a bit, and how far I have really come with Jackson. When we trot now it feels like another extension of me; we have both gotten so much better at this gate, I am no longer thrown up into the heavens gulping at the stars. We can canter. Collection, check. (OK. Much more collection than ever before, how's that? :) On the bit? Most of the time. Doing things with such comfort and ease that they are automatic? OH YEAH! :) Lost 54 pounds? Done that too. That in and of itself has helped my riding immensely. There are people out there who are overweight and ride superbly. I am not one of them. I was a thin person in a fat body. Seriously. At my thinnest I weighed 127 lbs. at a height of 5'10. Of course, this was at the age of 22, and I was VERY thin. Realistically, I will be happy to lose another 10 lbs. for a happy 135-140. My horse loves the weight loss too. Did I lose the weight for my horse and to be a better rider? Absolutely. My dressage lessons have also been a wonderful thing we have started this past year. With Allison my instructor(who is 79 and was a Grand Prix XC rider in her time), it has really been an eye opening experience, and benefited my riding more than I can say. Although I don't know if I will ever be what you call a dressage rider, I DO take lessons to help our partnership, further our learning, and to aid in mine and Jackson's jumping abilities down the road. I firmly believe if you can perform classical dressage (at least the basics) you are ready for anything! In the next year it will be time to add the next piece of our challenge. JUMPING! We will also be working on obstacles and add a few competetive trail rides and our usual trail riding to the mix for variety and to keep it fun! They don't call him a sport horse for nothing and we both love changing it up!

Back to our ride. We did lots of different and advanced terrain: small spaces, up and DOWN steep hills, deep streams, switchbacks, etc. All the horses took it in stride. We even did a couple little jumps over a log and one drop off. Kathy was riding a seasoned Warmblood XC jumper, and Lorri did them at a wild hand gallop (gotta love those mares!), but Jackson is nothing if not practical, and is so attuned to me. He is one smart guy, and knows just what I am ready for these days! We popped the jumps at a trot...Don't get me wrong. This horse is SO MORE THAN capable of a wild, fun hand gallop in a heartbeat, and could run all day, but he knows that we have that on the list for next years post! :) What a good boy!
As it neared 5pm a really cool mist hung like a light cotton batting with the sunlight over the water. It looked so cool. I am in the light blue in the pics below...wish they were better, I had my camera, but Linda actually remembered to grab hers and take a few! Sometimes it is not a picture taking day, I felt the need to commune with the day, my horse, and my friends...

All I could help thinking was, THIS IS THE LIFE!

Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas to you all!
May your rides be many, fun, and fill you up in 2010!

Amusing Little Update...And NEW additions!

Turkey Exploded. Stand By Please.


The now infamous Turkey Cake....

After taking the computer to the Doc and one power supply later, I am back to blog land again! Sure have missed being able to post! Just wanted to show you what Miles (my son) made for Thanksgiving. Of course, this cake stole the show, and it was his creation from A-Z. And before you ask where the feathers came from as all 10 people at my friend's house did before partaking in a slice, they came from the local craft store! :)We had a really nice day and Miles got to meet Lorri's new Rhodesian Ridgeback Heike, who, at six months isn't so new (or small) anymore, and then we all got to meet Linda's new horse Traveler who she had just picked up Thanksgiving morning. Traveler started out with the name Cowboy which was a resounding NO! He is a three year old QH with 60 days under saddle. I can't wait to ride him! But he is getting short rides so he'll grow properly yada da dum... but that is why he looks a bit gangly and non-muscular! I will post again and update the riding front, just wanted to say, "HELLO!" my peeps!



Traveler (ummm. Jackson's new twin?)


Heike. Lorri's new Rhodesian Ridgeback

The Substance of Things Hoped For...(Our Story)

Well, a few of you have asked questions when I have mentioned the trials I have had on Jackson--breaking my shoulder, falling off numerous times, and the funniest mishap(afterwards!) hitting the tree-- so that I feel compelled to finally tell our story, and of the night on a camping trip a year ago now, in the PITCH BLACK, that I KNEW I would keep him NO MATTER WHAT.

Jackson was my birthday present to myself in January of 2007, and I met him for the first time on my birthday! Don't that beat Bath & Body Works gift wise?! I knew nothing about buying a horse and knew only what I had read. AND I did everything wrong from A-Z. I should be ashamed of myself, but I am not. I followed my heart, and as my heart frequently is (at least in how I feel about an animal) it was not wrong. But, OH BOY, I simply got lucky! Lucky that he turned out to be a sound horse (as I waived a vet check-DOH!!), and doubly lucky that his owner that had had him since he was a colt (four months old), was honest with me. In my defense, I did not have the knowledgeable friends that I have now, in fact, I had no horsey friends IN San Antonio, really, I had no friends here at all! I had moved here about a year before that. Largely due to this, I had been depressed for some time, and the horse purchase came after about three months of intense thought and yearning to actually have a life and friends again besides work!

Jackson had not been ridden in two years(!)(age 7) as his owner had to have her spine fused along with pending knee surgery (she was older), and despite keeping him at the cheapest boarding place in town, she could no longer afford to keep him. She was up front with me about everything (except one thing, or maybe I just didn't even hear...), I thank God for that, because I was SO gullible, a lesser person could have really taken me for a ride. He would have flown through a vet check, I am certain, but that is the one thing I didn't do that makes me pretty embarrassed. UH, HELLO? She told me that he had been trail ridden extensively, but she did not mention that he HAD NO IDEA how to canter with a rider, which will play into my story here in a bit.

Anyway, after meeting him for the first time I REALLY liked him. I could tell he and his PO (previous owner) Yvonne had quite the relationship and while Jackson was friendly, there was an aloofness (Ok, he was stuck up! He loves me now, but that took awhile!) that I didn't even notice as I was so excited. I told her that I needed to ride him and I could tell that she was nervous about that since he hadn't been ridden in two years. The ride was less than ideal. She brought a horrible Western saddle (he was only ever ridden in an Australian saddle) that was so uncomfortable I wanted to cry. She was thrilled that he performed so well after two years of not being ridden, but honestly, I just wanted off. I couldn't tell anything with that saddle. I only did walk/trot which seemed fine to me. Now I know had I tried a canter I would have been OFF. Most likely anyway.

But I bought him. There was something....I just knew it. Despite the fact that he was completely chomped on from all the mares bossing him around, and had a shaggy winter coat, I could SEE him and what he was. Not to mention that beautiful picture in the sales ad. I have it up in the corner of this blog, the one of him cantering. I could SEE that horse and he was to be mine. And I got him for a steal. At least I think so. A horse is only worth what you think he is, and what someone is willing to pay for him. Bottom line. That is something my friend Lorri told me. She asked me a couple of months ago what I would sell Jackson for NOW (hypothetically) and I went off on his experience since I have had him, his breeding, his papers, YADA YADA...and she comes out with that! I have seen AngloArabs with papers go from $500-$60,000 so I think she has a great point. My trainer Allison told me I got a steal and have a diamond in the rough. Not as rough as we used to be, and a real compliment from her! Anyway, I digress.

So I found a boarding situation I could afford (at the time)and there I met some wonderful horsey friends to ride with. Yvonne and her friend (who boarded at the same ranch) came to meet me there on the 8th of February and we went to pick up my horse. We first went to drop off one of her friend's horses at another friend's ranch, who just happened to be Jackson's breeder, Connie Covington! Connie is awesome and still keeps in touch with me. She has also gotten me in touch with Jackson's full-blooded brother Jack's (Bugsy) owner. (This is the one I want to breed with Lorri's horse). While at Connie's I got to tour and meet some of Jackson's half brothers and sisters and meet his sire, Lamaras Firebusz (Buzzy) the Arabian half of his parentage.

The picking up and loading of Jackson was uneventful, he loads like a dream and his ground manners were very well taught. We got him to the ranch and put him in a stall to settle in for a few days before he would be turned out daily with the other horses and then brought in at night. They were feeding oats and hay and I had to go talk to the ranch hand about starting him VERY slowly on the oats as he thought nothing of just giving him a normal ration. AGH! He said they are easy on the system, but easy or not, they were new to Jackson and I did not need a colic on my hands. That settled, I gave him a few days to settle in before riding him. I had to anyway as my bridle was still on the way!

Our first ride was just a round pen and then an arena workout with w/t transitions and plenty of WHOA's, making sure stopping would not be an issue. It wasn't. We were ready to head down the lane on our next ride. This ranch and the one mile lane each way have been on several local commercials due to the beautiful walnut trees lining both sides. It is a fun ride and we had a wonderful time. We even cantered so I was in horse heaven!

The cantering issues started about a week later. We were in the arena and there were lots of things going on that day, team ropers practicing with live baby bulls and lots of horses and people around. When the ropers were taking a break, I took J. into the arena for a ride. I started him into a canter and I still am not sure what happened, but I was soon on the ground. Dusty, shook up, but fine. The ropers caught my horse and were nice. They were all drunk so I'm sure they thought it was funny as hell. English rider falls off. Yes, riding drunk is quite common with the ropers at this ranch! I blamed it entirely on myself, and really, every time I have come off is my fault in my opinion. I have a willing, forward horse and I am (yes, I admit) OVERHORSED. But it took many more spills for me to get this through my skull.

On to the day of THE trailride. Five of us set out and at one point my friend Tami began to lope her horse down the trail. I wanted to GO too and got Jackson into the canter. When I asked him to stop, he did, but since he was green and uneducated (and I include myself in that equation!) he dropped his shoulder and stopped on the forehand. I went one way, he stopped in the other. UGH! I got up, remounted and continued the ride. I had a three inch rugburn type cut (freckles still haven't come back to that area!) and was incredibly nausous with my right shoulder KILLING me. I finished the ride, pretty miserably, but I did finish, mostly because I knew I wouldn't have been able to make the 2 mile journey back on foot and didn't want to ask the whole group to turn around. My shoulder ended up being broken and still hurts every day as it also had torn ligaments and has over the course of 2+ years developed a bone spur. After two weeks I was back up riding and taking lessons from a friend out at the ranch, but cantering was out. Then one day about a month and a half later, Jackson spooked and I went off again. When I tried to remount he was so spooked he re-spooked but I landed on my feet. About this time my main riding buddy Tami moved her horses to her ranch and my nerve was about gone. Especially to go out and ride by myself. I tried it once and ended up in the sand in the round pen just from hitting his butt with my foot while mounting. I had set up a situation where fear was all I felt, and I was not the leader anymore. Jackson knew it and was feeding into that fear. I began to avoid going out to see him. I was at an all time low. I had to MAKE myself go and see my horse? The guilt is indescribable. You should get joy seeing your horse and all I felt was dread and sadness about my situation. I did not know what to do so I put him up for sale. He needed someone who would do right by him and could really ride him. UGH. Horrible feeling. I was also having issues paying my board, and paying that much for a pasture ornament is ridiculous.

You know that saying,'When God closes a door he opens a window?' In my case he THREW open a barn door. I had not answered ONE of the numerous responses I was getting to my ad on equine.com. I could not do it, and I knew I needed to. I work with a lady named Linda and we always talked about our horses. I mentioned that I was selling Jackson because I could not afford the boarding situation anymore. I didn't really go into the chicken I had become on my horse (and I had gained a good amount of weight by this time (40 lbs)!!!) and how depressed and totally distressed the whole thing had made me. Being the type of person she is she said, "Nope, bring him out to my ranch and keep him there, you can pay me $50 a month and pay for his feed and hay." So that is what I did. The barn door got thrown open and I was on my way to getting my nerve back and keeping my horse!

Obviously, this has not happened overnight. My friends have been immensely patient and tolerant of my slowness and encourage me a lot. Over the years they have both dealt with and overcome fear issues; Linda even had a horse rear and fall on her and break her tailbone. LORDY! I can trot forever now when I wouldn't have been able to do even five minutes a year ago. I have cantered on Jackson exactly two times in the past year (and the second time I hit a tree because I didn't give him ANY direction when we got to it! I was so amazed and delighted we were cantering, we came around a corner to a tree directly in front of us, and I did a mini-freak which consisted of not telling my horse which way to go--so we parted ways, and I left marks on the tree where I went SPLAT!) although I do fairly well on my friend's horse. (See two posts ago where I was cantering the spotted app.) Cantering has now become The BIG Monster. The dressage lessons are helping IMMENSELY and I am gaining my independent seat which is riiiggghhhht there. A nudge away. The fear is the problem. I am gaining confidence all the time, I know I will get there. Some of the fear comes from the fact that I have sole custody of my son while his dad is in Iraq, and even if he weren't relying on me, if I get injured, I have NO ONE ELSE to help me with the bills. So injury isn't an option. The living on the street vision helps feed the fear fire in my mind, I tell ya'!

But I want to tell you about the TIME I WAS SURE I WOULD BE KEEPING MY HORSE. A year ago this month, Linda, Lorri and I made a five hour trek to Parrie Haynes Ranch near Kileen, Tx which has 55 miles of trails and the rustic (but fun!) accomodations you see below. That cabin was air conditioned and that was good enough for me! We did one 9 mile ride the first day we got there, as we arrived later in the day, and then two the next day. It is the second ride I want to tell you about. Lorri and Linda decided that leaving at 6:30 pm would give us plenty of time to do a 10 mile trail. I had my doubts, some of the trails had proven to be so steep, rocky and perilous that I literally closed my eyes and prayed a couple of times. My awesome horse did it all. I voiced my doubts that we would make it back before dark, but I was overruled. So off we went. And went. And went. And darkness started to creep in. We started to use a cell phone to read the trail markers. And then we were lost. In the PITCH dark. Moon? Nope, not out. We had to establish a system to follow each other by. I had to follow Linda on her white horse and Lorri had to follow me with my white t-shirt, because Lorri was all in dark clothing on a dark horse. I tried following her and totally freaked, there wasn't anything there to see! Linda and Lorri weren't really worried. They knew we could follow the power lines and come out somewhere. I wondered where and how many hours this would entail. How many more hours would I be able to stay on? Could I drape myself over Jacks while we walked and rest my muscles? Lorri laughed her ass off the entire freakin' BLACK ride. I knew my horse could see with no problems, so that really wasn't an issue and did help with some of my fear. He was just SO awesome. Nothing phased him on that trip. Ravines, steep rock going down & up, weird riding patterns, a PITCH black ride; he SO had my back. As I was riding him in the dark I was proud. I knew we were becoming a team. A team coming a bit slowly out of the starting gate, but one that will inevitably win OUR race. We made it out of those woods somehow, and it didn't take all night. Our neighbor's had called the ranger to report us missing (ha ha) and told us that people get lost (REALLY LOST) on the trails at night and have to be rescued quite frequently!

So, that is our story! I am just going to be riding, riding some more, and taking as many lessons as I can afford. And guess what? WHEN we get our canter on you all will be the first to know!!!


The Cowboy Cabin




Pit toilets but HOT showers! No complaints from me!












Up the rock...

A view of a sorta steep part...


Going UP!

Me & Jackson and Lorri with Kite


Linda on Shorty & Lorri on Kite (Those sunglasses of Linda's have miraculously disappeared!!:)


Can you see the marks I left?


Dressage Lesson

Impromptu Saturday Trailride!

Early Saturday morning we trailered to Bandera State Park for an early ride. This was the first time that I have ridden with Lorri since her accident and she is doing so well! You would never know she broke spinous processes in her neck, she is the same beautiful rider as always. We also had a gal named Kathy with us--we met her through Triple H--and she borrowed Shorty for the ride. Linda was on Red so we had a posse of sorts! We did a TON of moving out on this ride and I had a ball! We all did. It was simply a beautiful morning for a ride and even the infernal heat cooperated for once! Sweet!


Lorri, Kathy and Me


Can you spot the horseshoes?





Bath time!

Mounted Scavenger Hunt!

As some of you may know, I volunteer at an Equitherapy Facility as a sidewalker and a horse handler. Lately we have been working hard to set up the annual fundraiser, a mounted scavenger hunt! I kind of fell into this position last year when my BO Linda asked me if I wanted to go help set up trails for the scavenger hunt! Of course, this year after enjoying it SO much last year, we spent most of our days off from work on horseback blazing trails, hanging up the trail markers, clearing out branches, and then a few days before the hunt setting up the "events" which you will see a few of on my picture tour below. The three trails consisted of easy, intermediate, and expert; all of them with 10 events each. To obtain your prize at the end you had to follow the map, find your "10 treasures" and bring back the required items from all 10 events. The orange trail, which was the hardest, proved to be quite a challenge for many of the riders. Of course, we made the "events" much harder to find, and the trail was even more challenging. Lots of rocky terrain, switchbacks, challenging water, and difficult cliff-like hills with rock. I will show you some of the events, not necessarily in any trail order; from setting up the day before on an ATV, (thank God for that ATV or we NEVER would have got it done!!) to the day of the event, to a little bit of the dismantling of the trails which we started on Monday, the event being last Saturday. Hope you enjoy the pics as much as I enjoyed the experience...

Matt

Linda, Kate and Matt on the ATV


The back of that cart got really bumpy at times, I have major bruises as proof!

Pinto Pony--bring back one pinto bean.

Hobo Hollow. This one was my creation. Bring back one hobo stick.

Hanging in the tree at horse height on the easy pink trail.

I made 80 of these! AGH! And if you don't think it looks like a hobo bag, I don't wanna hear about it!!! :)

This is where Lorri's horse Kite spooked at a rustling bag, turned, started bucking, and....


she crashed into this tree at speed, breaking her nose and lying backwards (with her body and head to Kite's tail) to this....

HILL. Matt (pictured) was there and says she narrowly missed these rocks when she finally fell off.

The hill from the bottom. Quite steep, pics never do that justice! She was unconscious when Matt got to her. EMS was called and you can see the pic in my previous post. She broke three spinous processess and broke her nose among other things. She is doing better so thank you for all of your prayers!!!

The Old Kiln. Bring back one match from the basket. Everything on the pink trail you need to be able to get from your horse as it is the easiest one. We did run into some riders on the day of the hunt out on the yellow intermediate/difficult trail, (four of them riding English) who could not get off of their horses and remount on the trail. They dropped something and my newbie rider son jumped off and got it for them. I'm sorry, if you can't get off of your horse and remount, you shouldn't be out on a difficult trail!!! It made me ashamed to be an English rider, we get enough knocks being in the land of Western riders, so we need to look competent....but of course, they were dressed to the nines and had the best tack and horses. Figures.

The BBQ tree. Bring back one briquet.

Fruit Stand. Bring back one grape. This is the little grove where I fell flat on my butt kicking a HUGE branch down from a tree so it wouldn't fall on a rider. I was kicking it because it had a scorpion on it the day before. So kicking was good. Branch came down, so did I. Darn tree roots! Thankfully, well out of the way of said HUGE branch. But not of the way of the chiggers! UGH! We were all covered with bites and are still itchy fully a week later. CHIGGERS ARE THE WORST!!!!!

Paint by Letters. Bring back one paint brush.

She sells. Bring back one seashell from the hanging bag. The big colored ones are decoration.

The whole effect of She Sells.



Teed Off. Bring back one golf tee. We put a little bit of green astroturf on that log pile the day of the hunt. This one was fun to set up!

Kate gunning the ATV up a steep hill. That thing is SO fun to drive!

Caurosel horse. Bring back one bell out of the black umbrella. Jackson didn't bat an eye at this one, although apparantly lots of people have trouble with it. When we rode through while the hunt was going on we had to reload the umbrella by picking up most of the bells from the ground!


Rust in Pieces. Bring back one tombstone. (Popsicle stick painted rust colored with RIP on it).

Rusting abandoned farm equipment. Resting in, well, pieces!

RIP. Trevor Tiller. Gone TILL he learns how to close the gate.

RIP. Sam Shredder. He was all torn up over life.

RIP. Debbie Disc. Plowed under too soon.

School Spirit. Bring back one letter from the bucket.

Fractured Fred. Bring back one pack of....


Citrical--Calcium!!!! This was my son Miles' favorite event. He donated the use of Fred to the cause and was SO excited to go out on the trail the day of the hunt so he could see it personally. Fred is now hanging in my son's room with the Fractured Fred sign, holding a pack of Citrical in his hand. Have I mentioned my son's obsession with Halloween? GRIN....

Toad Wall. Bring back one toad.


Mountains of Ararat. Bring back one animal. The mountains didn't get put out til the day of the hunt.


Tiger's Lair. Bring back one tiger's eye from the hanging basket. (Not pictured). We had a lot of fun getting the tiger to stay in the tree. We tied his tail to something from the back side.

And YES, we did get stuck. But just once. This pic is before he was well and truly stuck...We three tough ladies cowgirled up and moved the trailer (all 800lbs. of it!) into the water and we took the wet route for a bit! Matt offered to get out if one of us wanted to steer the ATV out of its mess, but we opted out of that one!

Alien space discs...


Matt throwing the "UFO's" (garbage can lids!) string over a tree branch.




Kate gets one too....

Bring back one strange looking green alien to show that you've been here.

The sign speaks for itself!




Linda pointing out the red-headed fairy, I don't think we red heads look all that good in yellow! HA!

Lover's Leap. Bring back one gold ring. Make sure you look over the edge first.....

Crime scene view from the edge of Lover's Leap. YES, I must confess, this was my idea, but Linda ran with it and made it happen. Ahhh. Praise be to warped senses of humor!!

Miles at School Pride event on the day of the Scavenger Hunt.

Miles at Fractured Fred, checking it out in person. He was thrilled to see "Fred" whom he claims has, "been in the family" since we lived in D.C. (7 years ago), being so useful!

Most of the Triple H Equitherapy horses got baths and fancy braids in order to present a "Parade of Horses" in which we present the different breeds and where they originated, characteristics, etc. that are in active use at Triple H. From Belgians to Oldenburgs to QH, TB, and even a little POA, there is quite the variety and size!

Classy!


Parade of Horses. Me in the blue with the TB. His name is Laz and he is a high strung pain! Makes me so glad Jackson is an AngloArab; he is SO calm in comparison! Wish I had a close up of Laz's ribbons tho', they were super cool!

Helping a client mount. She got an award in front of the whole crowd in celebration of being at Triple H for 10 years as a rider!!!

Monday morning trail clean-up. Jackson's mane was the perfect place to store the trail markers that needed to come down! Do you like this new fad we're starting? He was unimpressed.




Back from taking down part of one trail.



He is really getting much better at his riding! It's so nice to be able to take him out on the trail!