# 2021 trail riding



## egrogan

Thanks for starting @Jolien! (Anyone needing to close out their 2020 rides can find the old thread here).

We have too much ice on the roads to go very far or get to the trails, so today we just ambled around our fields and broke a little path through the woods. There are a few spots in the field where there's open water lined with thick ice, so we treaded carefully there. It was just nice to sit in the saddle for a few minutes.
























*Total 2021 miles: 1.7*


----------



## trailhorserider

I've been riding a couple of times but the neighborhood dogs are giving me hell again. I finally tracked down a human at the property that has the dogs and he seemed nice enough.......we'll see if the dogs are loose again next time I go out. If not, I am going to invest in some sort of dog repellent. So yes, I've been riding, but getting past the dogs has been interesting.......the darn things are running loose now, not just behind a fence like they used to be.

There are also bulls out on the forest where I ride that showed up around Christmas time (grazing permit on the national forest). And they are no problem whatsoever.......give me a herd of bulls over a pack of dogs any day! But they make my horse a little nervous so between the dogs and the bulls my horse comes back a sweaty mess! But am I having fun.....YES!


----------



## rambo99

Second ride of 2021 no pictures from Jan 1st first picture is Jan 2nd . Second picture is from December 31st last ride for 2020. 

Great rides out on dirt road finally able to venture out. Have enough snow so footing is good. Being lazy and just putting on bareback pads helps keep you warmer. 

So far have done 3 days of riding not long rides, but still fun to be out riding. Ice has gotten kinda of fat so needs some exercise. Cinder is also on the fat side having to make blanket straps longer so they aren't to tight. 

Plan on riding tomorrow going to be 37 degrees an sunny. All this coming week is going to be nice weather. Had some really beautiful frosty mornings also. Hope everyone had a happy new years.🎉


----------



## AJ Yammie

I have trails on my property but two days ago I went for my first ride on national park. There were a few motorbikes but they were respectful of our space and turned them off. The wildlife was amazing! I saw a regent and satin bowerbird which was amazing. Also a few Roos. The snow looks so fun! I live on coastal australia where we never get snow.


----------



## knightrider

Oh, @trailhorserider, just ask me about dogs! I had great success with a gadget called a Dog Dazer which worked perfectly for two sets of pit bull type dogs that were nipping at my horse's heels. The pit bull looking dogs really react when I press the Dazer button. It cost about $30 and emits a high pitched sound that humans cannot hear. It doesn't seem to bother the horses at all.

After using the Dazer for about a year, I don't need it any more for those 2 sets of dogs. All I have to do is stretch out my hand as if I have the Dazer, and the dogs back off.

The two Anatolian Shepherds are a whole different story. They never nipped at my horse until I Dog Dazered them. I learned from people on Horse Forum (too late) that very large aggressive dogs such as Anatolians react negatively to aggressive acts like using a Dog Dazer on them. I should have dropped bits of hotdog along the road. Now, it is too late. The owner of the Anatolians is totally uncooperative and threatens to sue me for "harassing her." According to the owner, she has every right to own dogs that come out on to a public road and bite horses. I have fallen when my horse flipped out, and my horse has fallen in the road due to these dogs. I have called Animal Control 4 times and the owners have been visited 4 times.

This morning, my neighbor and I cut through private land, rode down an adjacent driveway, and came out near the Anatolian driveway to see if the dogs were being kept up. They came barreling down their driveway barking their heads off, couldn't wait to bite our horses. We went back up the neighbor's driveway and back on to the private land before the dogs could get to us.

Tomorrow will be yet another call to Animal Control to report the Anatolians are still allowed to run loose and bite passing horses.


----------



## trailhorserider

knightrider said:


> Oh, @trailhorserider, just ask me about dogs! I had great success with a gadget called a Dog Dazer which worked perfectly for two sets of pit bull type dogs that were nipping at my horse's heels. The pit bull looking dogs really react when I press the Dazer button. It cost about $30 and emits a high pitched sound that humans cannot hear. It doesn't seem to bother the horses at all.
> 
> After using the Dazer for about a year, I don't need it any more for those 2 sets of dogs. All I have to do is stretch out my hand as if I have the Dazer, and the dogs back off.
> 
> The two Anatolian Shepherds are a whole different story. They never nipped at my horse until I Dog Dazered them. I learned from people on Horse Forum (too late) that very large aggressive dogs such as Anatolians react negatively to aggressive acts like using a Dog Dazer on them. I should have dropped bits of hotdog along the road. Now, it is too late. The owner of the Anatolians is totally uncooperative and threatens to sue me for "harassing her." According to the owner, she has every right to own dogs that come out on to a public road and bite horses. I have fallen when my horse flipped out, and my horse has fallen in the road due to these dogs. I have called Animal Control 4 times and the owners have been visited 4 times.
> 
> This morning, my neighbor and I cut through private land, rode down an adjacent driveway, and came out near the Anatolian driveway to see if the dogs were being kept up. They came barreling down their driveway barking their heads off, couldn't wait to bite our horses. We went back up the neighbor's driveway and back on to the private land before the dogs could get to us.
> 
> Tomorrow will be yet another call to Animal Control to report the Anatolians are still allowed to run loose and bite passing horses.


@knightrider it really sucks we have to deal with this! It sounds like your dog problem is worse than mine, although my problem has escalated recently. I've been dealing with barking/charging/aggressive dogs at this property for about 15 years, maybe longer. The dogs change over time, but the problem doesn't go away, they just get new dogs! They are "usually" contained behind a fence, but not lately. The past couple of weeks have been bad because the dogs have been running loose. I talked to the guy the other day and thought today would be different when I rode by. And when I was going out, the dogs were behind the fence. That felt good! 

On the way home, the dogs were out yet again! And the owner was out there at the same time.....he said he was sorry and that the dogs dig under the fence and he asked if I carried a pistol!? I said no.......but maybe I need to!? I really wasn't sure what he was getting at......l assume to fire into the ground or something? But I actually have never carried or fired a gun.......I've never felt I needed to! And I'm sure my horse wouldn't approve.

All these years I've sucked it up and never complained and now when I finally say something, it's like nobody even cares...... What I did do is order some dog pepper spray and an ultra-sonic dog deterrent. I figure I have the right to defend myself at this point. I didn't get the Dazer II because it seemed like the reviews were no better than the cheaper models. I got something like this:



https://www.amazon.com/Alfaw-Handheld-Repellent-Deterrent-Anti-Barking/dp/B089KBTSGG/ref=sr_1_36?crid=28JMGY6HUQZ4D&dchild=1&keywords=ultrasonic+dog+deterrent&qid=1609736471&sprefix=ultrssonic+dog+de%2Caps%2C261&sr=8-36



That wasn't the exact one, but there are about 100 different ones that all look the same. 

So I hope it helps. My goal would be to train the dogs not to chase/charge me. That would be awesome. The pepper spray is a back-up in case the ultrasonic gizmo fails and I need to defend myself. 

I really _am_ an animal lover, and I have never been afraid of dogs my whole life, but this situation is driving me absolutely crazy. It could be worse......these dogs could bite and they haven't.......yet, but they come charging out at full speed and get really close and bark up a storm in a very aggressive manner. It gets my horse all prancy and nervous and if we _almost_ make it past the house and they come running up from behind, it's even worse because the horse wants to bolt. She's an awesome 20 yr old, experienced trail horse, and I spin her around to face the dogs (2 or 3 dogs depending on the day) but her instincts are to run and she gets all sweaty and worked up.

I haven't contacted the sheriff's department. This only really escalated in the past two weeks or so. Before that the dogs were behind a fence and only showed up loose a couple times a year. Now they are loose every ride. I want to keep on good terms with my neighbors. These people aren't right next door but our neighborhood is small and everyone knows everyone, I would like to keep the peace. But I don't feel I should have to put up with these dogs risking my safety. Not loose in the road. And I told the guy that.......these dogs are going to get me killed. Sigh. If they want to keep the most obnoxious dogs in the world on their property that is their right to do so, but they should NOT be allowed run loose and chase people on the road. 

I did take a video of the dogs surrounding me about a week ago. But I think I am going to keep my phone out each and every time I ride by, so if I DO have to contact law enforcement at least I have video of what's been happening and how often it happens. It just seems so stupid that something like loose dogs has to ruin my enjoyment of riding my horse. Horses are so peaceful, we can ride down the road and not bother a soul. And then the dogs have to come out and make a big circus out of everything.


----------



## trailhorserider

_"After using the Dazer for about a year, I don't need it any more for those 2 sets of dogs. All I have to do is stretch out my hand as if I have the Dazer, and the dogs back off. "_

This is my dream for my set of problem dogs! 

Someday I might like to get another horse as my mare is getting older and I have this fear that I might not be able to find another horse that can handle these dogs without flipping out. 😥


----------



## gottatrot

@rambo99, nice to see Ice and Cinder at a good weight this year!

A friend who does love dogs kept small rocks in her pocket. If dogs chased us, she'd ping the rocks at them. It stung perhaps but was not going to hurt them. Every time they decided to run away.


----------



## knightrider

The friend who gave us permission to ride through his driveway has problems with the Anatolians when his grandkids ride his horses in his pasture. The Anatolian driveway is directly across from his horse pasture, so they nip at his horses as the kids try to ride. He shoots a gun from his porch and the Anatolians run home. I worry that shooting a gun from my horse would cause me as many problems as the dogs do.

As someone informed me here on Horse Forum, aggression with large aggressive dogs causes more aggression, not less. Throwing small rocks at the Anatolians, according to the person who wrote on the Forum, will cause the dogs to get angry and more aggressive. I did find that to be true in my case. The Anatolians never bit the horses, unlike the pit bull look-alikes who did bite the horses; the Anatolians just swirled around and around barking so loudly, it would give me a headache. They only started biting when I started using the Dazer on them. What I should have done, as people have told me, was drop bits of hot dog on the road, so they would come to like the horses arriving. I am passing this information on for other riders who might be dealing with extremely large aggressive dogs. I can no longer drop bits of food or treats because the Anatolian owners watch from the shrubbery by their house and would most assuredly accuse me of poisoning their dogs. They already are threatening to sue me because of the 4 visits from the sheriff's department. They say I am harrassing them.


----------



## trailhorserider

knightrider said:


> The friend who gave us permission to ride through his driveway has problems with the Anatolians when his grandkids ride his horses in his pasture. The Anatolian driveway is directly across from his horse pasture, so they nip at his horses as the kids try to ride. He shoots a gun from his porch and the Anatolians run home. I worry that shooting a gun from my horse would cause me as many problems as the dogs do.
> 
> As someone informed me here on Horse Forum, aggression with large aggressive dogs causes more aggression, not less. Throwing small rocks at the Anatolians, according to the person who wrote on the Forum, will cause the dogs to get angry and more aggressive. I did find that to be true in my case. The Anatolians never bit the horses, unlike the pit bull look-alikes who did bite the horses; the Anatolians just swirled around and around barking so loudly, it would give me a headache. They only started biting when I started using the Dazer on them. What I should have done, as people have told me, was drop bits of hot dog on the road, so they would come to like the horses arriving. I am passing this information on for other riders who might be dealing with extremely large aggressive dogs. I can no longer drop bits of food or treats because the Anatolian owners watch from the shrubbery by their house and would most assuredly accuse me of poisoning their dogs. They already are threatening to sue me because of the 4 visits from the sheriff's department. They say I am harrassing them.


It can be really hard to control a horse with one hand and film with the other, but I would think getting some video documentation would be on your side in case it ever progresses further (hope not!). The neighbor whose kids ride could do the same from his property and then it's not just your word against theirs, it's a proven problem with other neighbors too. But I know it's easier said than done.  Basically, the dogs should never be allowed to leave their own yard and raise hell. If they want to raise hell at their own house, fine. But they shouldn't be on a public road or on someone else's property causing problems. They could LITERALLY get a rider killed.


----------



## rambo99

@gottatrot , thanks. Got it figured out feed wise and keeping them blanketed. There kinda of high maintenance ice with all his supplements vit E & fat supplement are the biggest ones. 

@knightrider the trouble you have with the dogs is just crazy. Hopefully you can get it resolved some how. I've never had that kind of problem not to the degree you're dealing with. Had one dog who liked to run at horses barking the nip at there heels. 

Ice fixed him took hair off his back bitting at him. Then stepped on him or struck him not sure which. I just give him his head an tell him get that dog!! He hates dogs an given a chance will kill them. We rode by the house with the dog that barks/ runs after our horses. Dog won't come within 6 feet of horses. All I have to do is turn ice towards dog ,and he high tails it up to house.

Beautiful day today so heading out to ride. One picture I didn't post last time of cinder.


----------



## gunslinger

We rode at the Chickamauga Battle Field Saturday.....perfect weather, sunny, blue bird sky's, and 62 degrees......don't know how you could get a better day.....rode in shirt sleeves......only made 8 miles...


----------



## Jolien

@
*knightrider*

Oh my that's horrible... The owner should keep her dogs in the enclosure or muzzle them if they tend to escape when she's not around. When I had a rescue stafford/pit mix I muzzled him when we were in public places. You never know what kind of life that shelter dog had and if he would snap at a kid that touched him unwanted or whatever... You should always make sure other people are not bothered by your animals... 

Could it be an option to shoot them with rubber bullets?? (when the owner is not around?) I know someone who got harassed alot by a german shepherd untill he put a bullet just above the head of the dog.  Since that day the dog steered clear. Weird that the dazer doesn't work... My dad has had great succes with it...


----------



## gunslinger

As far as the dog problems......why not call animal control? After a couple of fines, the incentive to keep the dogs home will probably increase.


----------



## phantomhorse13

I started out the New Year right - in Florida at a competition! The whole story is in my journal.

Friday, I rode Lapco:


























Saturday, I rode Lapco:






















2021 mileage

1/1lapco25.19 miles607 ft climb7.1 mph86F25.19 total miles1/2lapco14.66 miles331ft climb6.5 mph83F*39.85 total miles*

Happy New Year all!


----------



## phantomhorse13

gunslinger said:


> As far as the dog problems......why not call animal control? After a couple of fines, the incentive to keep the dogs home will probably increase.


@knightrider has called animal control multiple times and nothing has come of it, other than the people are threatening to sue HER for harassment.


----------



## Frippet

I'm jealous of everyone that has been able to get a ride in! The ground is just thick ice here so I feel I'm going to have to wait quite a bit until I can get a mile in.


----------



## PoptartShop

FINALLY had my first ride of 2021 today. More exploring & some fun in fields! There's a lot of places to explore near the barn.  I definitely wanna do more trails this year, that's the goal!

It was windy today, but Promise was so good! Haven't ridden in like a week because of the rain. The ground is still a bit swampy, unfortunately (we've had sooo much rain), but it should dry up since it's not supposed to rain again anytime soon (we hope).

Lovely rides everyone!!


----------



## Saigold

Hello all. Haven’t been able to get much riding in for awhile. In fact last time I ride on the trail was end of October. Got grounded with acute pancreatitis and then some recovery time. And now back to work full time.
Got on Duke last week with a saddle and he was acting s if something was off. Pulling faces and keeping his ears back. So pulled the saddle off and jumped on bareback with the same response. He was full of beans, prancing and even threw in a few half hearted bucks. After telling him off I continued to ride for a bit to ensure he wasn’t going to try that again and called it a day. The following week I did some ground work with him as he seemed to regress back to being jumpy. Guess 2 months of no riding was a tad long.
With ground work my intention was to get re acquainted again, as my visiting was limited for awhile as I wasn’t feeling great. At first he thought I lost my mind when I started flapping my arms about and then doing jumping jacks in front of him, but it didn’t take long for him to figure out what I was doing and he started ignoring me and relaxed. So mission accomplished. We worked on standing still for mounting and yielding.
Have the vet coming out tomorrow to do a routine check up and dental. So will ask to see if maybe he pulled a muscle or it was mostly attitude. If it’s the latter I sympathize. I didn’t want to go back to work either haha. 
Hoping to get out for an actual trail ride someday soon.


----------



## Saigold

Still getting used to the new platform. Clicked post instead of add photo.


----------



## whisperbaby22

Yea, looking forward to a great year of trail riding.


----------



## weeedlady

Our second ride of 2021. Rode Raven today. Not sure it was really a trail ride, but we were outside, under the sky, so I'm counting it... 1.83 miles around the perimeter of the farm. Then she got to enjoy a roll in the sand.


----------



## egrogan

My rides have been like @weeedlady's, sticking close to home and hacking around the fields. Roads are really icy but the footing in the snow is actually quite nice right now. There's a lot of ice underneath, but right now the snow is thick enough for good traction even though I know there's ice at the very bottom. Here are a few of our outings this week:

































*Total 2021 miles: 5.1*


----------



## CaliforniaDreaming

I haaaaate it when dogs come barking and rushing at horses. The place where I board shares a fence line with a smaller parcel and the lady there has two dogs that are some kind of herder type. One is a sweetheart (and lets me pet him over the fence) but the female is well … mean. She rushes the fence and barks. My corrals are 6 feet from the fence line so one might think she’d be used to me and Mitch by now, but it’s been a few years. Her owner does call her off, but it’s usually only after she’s barked for a bit. Mitch is fairly tolerant of the barking since he probably hears it all day, and if I see her coming, I usually am aware of it, I try and mimic her owner‘s voice and call her off, but sometimes she catches me off guard. Not much I can do since there’s a fence and she never reaches the horses, I just try and avoid her.

Weather‘s been great for riding here. We had one rain a week or so ago, but otherwise it’s been sunny, a bit cool for Southern California and dry. We might pay for that this spring/summer if things are tinder-dry. I’ve been riding, but mostly staying down by the arenas. My phone is borked (it’s 5 years old, and still works, but the battery dies swiftly so I have to use a case with a built in battery) and until I get a new one, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to track my miles.

I’ll give it a try though as I‘ve got a Ghost Quevis arriving soon on trial. I ended up selling my FreeForm as it was a teeny bit too small for me and being the SB model, I couldn’t just order a larger seat. Planning to ride more on the ranch trails to see how the Ghost works for us.


----------



## Cerceify

AJ Yammie said:


> I have trails on my property but two days ago I went for my first ride on national park. There were a few motorbikes but they were respectful of our space and turned them off. The wildlife was amazing! I saw a regent and satin bowerbird which was amazing. Also a few Roos. The snow looks so fun! I live on coastal australia where we never get snow.
> View attachment 1106908


----------



## Cerceify

My stepdaughter lives outside of Calgary. She says the dirt bikes have almost taken over the entire park or forest where she rides. There are trails designated for bikes and horses, but it can get scary. Not motorbikes though. I used to drive my pony up in N.C. at Dupont State Recreation Area where the Hunger Games was filmed. NO cars, no toilets,no trash cans. Wondefrul place. The Bicyclists were great. The guys would get off their bikes immediately. I would usually just ask that they start talking so my pony could realize what they were. I live in Florida where it is about 60' now.


----------



## phantomhorse13

@Saigold : i hope you have recovered from your pancreatitis and can get Duke settled down.

for those wondering if wandering fields count, I think any time your butt is in a saddle counts! even ring riding. might not be as exciting as trails (depending on what you are doing), but its still riding.


I have gotten some saddle time since I got home. The whole story is in my journal.

Last Monday was a winter wonderland when I got Link out:

















Tuesday, I suspected the ground was going to be a mess, so started with George. Kestrel came, too:


















Since the ground was a mess, I took Link over to Gina's ring and rode there:















Thursday, I took George out bareback partly to check on the footing and mostly to give Kestrel a good run:














Then I rode Amish with my SIL:

















2021 mileage
...

1/4link6.08 miles978 ft climb3.7 mph33F45.93 total miles1/5george6.78 miles1043 ft climb4.7 mph33F52.71 total miles1/5link3.86 miles141 ft climb4.1 mph34F56.57 total miles1/7george2.18 miles240 ft climb3.5 mph24F58.75 total miles1/7amish6.06 miles650 ft climb3.8 mph22F*64.81 total miles*


----------



## AJ Yammie

Cerceify said:


> My stepdaughter lives outside of Calgary. She says the dirt bikes have almost taken over the entire park or forest where she rides. There are trails designated for bikes and horses, but it can get scary. Not motorbikes though. I used to drive my pony up in N.C. at Dupont State Recreation Area where the Hunger Games was filmed. NO cars, no toilets,no trash cans. Wondefrul place. The Bicyclists were great. The guys would get off their bikes immediately. I would usually just ask that they start talking so my pony could realize what they were. I live in Florida where it is about 60' now.


Wow, beautiful. I don’t think the National park where I ride is just for bikes or horses or walkers. Over the years the locals have figured out who goes on what days. The motorbikes are normally Thursday and Friday, horses are Saturday and Sunday, hikers go all week because it’s easy for them to step off the trail and the bikers are mid week. I believe there 4-5 groups of horse riders who are regulars and there are a few groups of motorbikes we also see often. I haven’t ridden my own dirtbike out there because I have to get it road registered first but I reckon it would be lovely


----------



## rambo99

Been getting in ride time doing 3 miles a day. So far for 2021 25 miles total so far. Had over a week of riding good weather an good footing. 

In for some subzero temps appearently polar vortex is going to invade mn. So miles might become less ,probably a mile per ride. A few pics from Saturdays ride an today's. Don't get phone out much to take pictures. Riding bareback wearing gloves and being on mr gotta go fast boy. 

I keep him at a trot much to his discust he'd like to gallop. He's a good boy though ,and does listen to my request to stay at a trot. 

Nice to see all the beautiful winter pictures. Snow does make everything look so clean an crisp. I'll have a different opinion come March.


----------



## keriarice23

havent had a ride yet! miss my babies! when i do ride its gonna be bareback bc in arkansas it gets could at least to me and i like riding bareback all day long. But when i get off i have horse hair everywhere on my butt, Bareback problems lol


----------



## PoptartShop

Took Promise out on my lunch break today (had to break away from the screen!).
The ground is drying up finally, although we didn't stay in the woods long - it was more swampy in there!


----------



## knightrider

Today I got to go to another field trial. This one is sponsored by the people who own 8,000 acres behind my house. I took Chorro and he did the best he has ever done. I've talked so much about field trials, I won't bore anyone with repetition. This one was a little bigger than they have been recently, and I stayed in the back, so I didn't get to see the dogs work much, but it was still very fun. Chorro has never gaited more smoothly, and he is famous for his smooth gait. A month ago, when I went to a different field trial, Chorro was rather a handful, but I used his "hacka less" that day, so today I dug up his old "hacka more" and he went much better in that.

Field trials are very distracting with out-riders galloping past, 20 other horses gaiting alongside, trucks driving behind and in front, riders calling out haunting calls and whistles, and quail flying up with gunshots. It takes a special horse to manage all of the commotion. Chorro did quite well today. We rode close to 3 hours. The real field trialers will ride from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. every day for 5 days. They are some kind of tough!


----------



## phantomhorse13

Last Friday, it was so nice to finally see the sun! I started with Link. The whole story is in my journal. 

















Next, I hopped on George bareback to walk Kestrel.









2021 mileage
...

1/8link6.13 miles764 ft climb3.9 mph21F70.94 total miles1/8george2.66 miles272 ft climb4.9 mph24F73.60 total miles


----------



## rambo99

Been getting in some riding every day doing 3 miles per day. Done 22 miles in last week pretty good for winter riding. 

Last year by end of December riding out on dirt road was done. Got to cold as in way below zero and bad footing.

Started off dealing with a really loud snowmobile. Amazing enough ice handled it pretty good. Got a little spooked did a half spin but listened to me and stopped. I almost came off being bareback,I keep a rope around his neck to grab onto in a OMG moment. Saved my butt today. 

He's really a good boy because in my effort, not to fall off I grabbed him with my legs. Usually that makes him go forward and fast because he gets reactive. He's come a long ways in his training and trusting me. Had this happened year or two ago I would of been dumped off.























Ride went good after that lots of trotting and some cantering. Beautiful out with the fresh snow we got on Thursday 4 more inches. Was a bit colder today high 20s so horses were kinda fresh. Some pictures from yesterday,I didn't bring phone today when we went riding.


----------



## phantomhorse13

Last Sunday, DH and I got George and Link out. The whole story is in my journal.


















Wednesday, I got on Phin for the first time since fall.

















Next was Link. I rode in the ring as I wanted him to have good footing for his first time dealing with shoes and a rider. 









2021 mileage
...

1/10link10.5 miles1480 ft climb3.9 mph21F84.10 total miles1/13phin5.26 miles974 ft climb4.1 mph26F89.36 total miles1/13link4.42 miles194 ft climb4.7 mph31F*93.78 total miles*


----------



## trailhorserider

Hey all, 

I have some good news! I think I solved my dog problem! My "ultra sonic dog chaser" arrived and I've used it on two rides now and it really works! For those of you who don't know, I usually have a pack of 2-3 neighbor dogs that charge and chase my horse, barking their heads off, when I ride. These dogs are normally behind a fence but lately they have been loose. I talked to the owners who are currently making a really good effort of keeping the dogs inside the fence (they kept digging out of the yard). So the dogs have been in but still charge the fence barking.

Well, that all changed a few days ago when my sonic device arrived! The instigator dog stopped in his tracks and ran to the back yard out of sight! The second dog barked a few times but quickly gave up. Today was a repeat of the first day, except today I didn't even have to press the button on the instigator dog, he started to trot towards me and I yelled "NO" and he cowered and went into his backyard! Second dog barked a few times and quit when I pressed the button twice. 3rd dog hasn't shown his face yet (I think he mostly lives in the house), but I have high hopes for him too! I have been telling them "NO" in combination with the sonic device in the hope of training them so that "NO" does the trick. Only the second ride and the instigator dog knows what "NO" means!

I can't believe that this nasty, aggressive, barking dog is actually quite trainable! In one session! Who knew! So now even if they are running wild, I don't think they will chase me anymore. ALL dogs should come with a remote control! Or a magic wand! It's really awesome! 

This is what I ordered:





Amazon.com : Alfaw Ultrasonic Dog Repeller, Electronic Anti Barking Stop Bark Handheld 3 in 1 Pet Dog Trainer with LED Flashlight, Dog Training Device for Your Safety - Dog Deterrent/Training Tool/Stop Barking : Alfaw : Pet Supplies


Find Alfaw Ultrasonic Dog Repeller, Electronic Anti Barking Stop Bark Handheld 3 in 1 Pet Dog Trainer with LED Flashlight, Dog Training Device for Your Safety - Dog Deterrent/Training Tool/Stop Barking and more at Amazon.com



www.amazon.com





It was cheaper than a Dazer and the reviews were similar so I decided to give it a try. It's like a miracle, I wish I had discovered it 20 years ago. No kidding, it's a game changer! Various neighbor dogs have been a problem for me horseback riding for close to 20 years. To think all that could have been avoided for less than $20! A permanent addition to my saddlebags! 

PS. My horse doesn't mind it at all. I've never pointed it AT her, but tried it out next to her and she waved an ear at it like she heard it, but she didn't get nervous or anything. I figured I had better try it out "off" the horse before trying out "on" the horse, just in case. But case anyone is wondering......as I was, the horses don't seem to mind it if you use it while riding. 😎


----------



## weeedlady

Thanks @trailhorserider this is good info to know. I feel like I will be needing it come summertime. I wish it would work for @knightrider


----------



## knightrider

Actually, the Dog Dazer worked quite well for the two pit bulls who were biting at my horses. I have the same success as @trailhorserider. Unfortunately, I apparently created a problem when I tried it on the Anatolian Shepherds. As several people told me on Horse Forum, if you respond to a very large aggressive dog with more aggression, it makes them more aggressive. And that's exactly what happened. With only one example, of course I don't know if the Dazer had anything to do with the dogs becoming more aggressive. I also was denied the entrance to my favorite trails around that time and started riding a quarter mile further down the road where I could access those lovely trails again. That quarter mile included the Anatolians, so I started riding there about 3 times a week rather than 3 times a year. That might have contributed to the problem. I guess I'll never know.

But I am passing this on to other riders who must ride past extremely large aggressive dogs. The Anatolians were not super aggressive at first, but if you google "Anatolian shepherds", it will say they can be quite aggressive. Drop bits of hotdog instead of pressing your Dazer button.

I have called the sheriff's department every single day, and they are now not returning my calls. The last time I talked to a human voice, she said, "Just don't ride past that house." I have 6 fun places to ride, away from traffic, through beautiful shady trees, and land owner's permission . . . if I could only get past those dogs.

PS: @trailhorserider, I have found that after about 18 months, the dogs need another Dazer lesson. They stop being so wary after awhile. But one more Dazer session does the trick after that.


----------



## egrogan

knightrider said:


> I have called the sheriff's department every single day, and they are now not returning my calls. The last time I talked to a human voice, she said, "Just don't ride past that house." I have 6 fun places to ride, away from traffic, through beautiful shady trees, and land owner's permission . . . if I could only get past those dogs.


This really makes my blood boil. Have you contacted the local news yet? I bet if you also tell them how unhelpful the police are, that will get their interest. How is there no accountability for people who won't follow the law, and the law enforcement who won't make them follow the law?!


----------



## charrorider

Went out today for the first time for 2021. Rode only 6 miles (9.7 km), rather then the planned 7-8 (11-13 km) due to the trail being blocked. But it felt great. Here's Chance munching on some alfalfa pellets and whole oats before hitting the trail. He eats; I don't.


----------



## phantomhorse13

@knightrider : I agree with @egrogan - it's time to get the local news involved and make a HUGE fuss. that situation is NOT ok and law enforcement should not blow you off.


Last Friday, I started with Link. The whole story is in my journal.

















Next up was Phin and Kestrel. 


















Monday, I started with Link. 

















Next, I hopped on George bareback to walk Kestrel. 














2021 mileage
...

1/15link8.54 miles1312 ft climb4.4 mph26F102.32 total miles1/15phin5.04 miles617 ft climb4.3 mph27F107.36 total miles1/18link3.05 miles312 ft climb3.2 mph26F110.41 total miles1/18george4.23 miles486 ft climb4.7 mph28F*114.64 total miles*


----------



## gottatrot

charrorider said:


> Went out today for the first time for 2021. Rode only 6 miles (9.7 km), rather then the planned 7-8 (11-13 km) due to the trail being blocked. But it felt great. Here's Chance munching on some alfalfa pellets and whole oats before hitting the trail. He eats; I don't.
> View attachment 1108142
> View attachment 1108143


I like how one of your boots is a different color. I have some mismatched boots too, LOL.


----------



## keriarice23

gonna ride my babies today! it is 3:44 in the morning im in the us. But im going to see if i can get some pictures today! i have some some people that are coming to ride. hadn't had anyone ride with me in a while im so excited and then later toning we are gonna have a bon fire!!!


----------



## phantomhorse13

I got some saddle time this week. The whole story is in my journal.

Tuesday, I started with Phin:

















Next, I took Link to the ring:










Thursday, I got Link out:

















Next, it was Phin's turn:

















2021 mileage
...

phin8.78 miles1394 ft climb4.8 mph24F123.42 total mileslink2.5 miles125 ft climb3.5 mph26F125.92 total mileslink4.74 miles837 ft climb3.0 mph25F130.66 total milesphin8.03 miles1444 ft climb4.1 mph28F*138.69 total miles*


----------



## gunslinger

Got a short ride in today.....4 miles.....the DW went with me today.....and she doesn't ride much anymore with her bad back....so even though it was a short cold ride, it was great to see her in the saddle again.


----------



## egrogan

I rode for about 20 minutes yesterday; very short as the snow is quite deep and difficult to move around in. But the roads were not as treacherous as they've been, so we took a short walk from one field to the next. The deep, deep snow is actually a bit of a workout even if you don't go very far!




We made a big loop, ending where we started. 








I love breaking tracks through fresh snow! It's so deep we didn't even see any deer or coyote tracks.

*Total 2021 miles: 6.1*


----------



## phantomhorse13

A bit more saddle time recently. The whole story is in my journal.

Friday, momma nature was again in a bad mood, with chilly temperatures and a gusty wind. I decided it was a good day for ring work.

















Then, I hopped on George bareback to walk Kestrel:










Yesterday, I started with Link:

















Next was Phin (and Kestrel):

















2021 mileage
...

1/22link2.54 miles92 ft climb3.3 mph24F141.23 total miles1/22phin4.07 miles122 ft climb4.2 mph26F145.30 total miles1/22george2.8 miles305 ft climb4.6 mph26F148.10 total miles1/25link5.42 miles830 ft climb3.4 mph21F153.52 total miles1/25phin8.22 miles1434 ft climb4.6 mph25F*161.74 total miles*


----------



## Celeste

I seem to have lost the forum lately. I have been riding when I have time. I ride the trails on our property which usually comes to about a 3 mile ride. My total so far is 25.8 miles. I am calling this my starting place. Hopefully the forum will work better. I'll try to find a couple of pictures.


----------



## PoptartShop

Rode around the property yesterday - in the SNOW! LOL. Promise was so good, she didn't seem to mind it, also we saw some snowblowers that were pretty noisy - she didn't care at all. It was super windy, but...I just rode in my bareback pad!  I was too lazy to tack up LOL.








4









The pretty river in the distance!


----------



## phantomhorse13

Momma nature has not been kind here lately, though I have gotten a bit of saddle time. The whole story is in my journal.

Saturday, I started with Link:

















Next was Phin:


















Yesterday, I took Link out for a mosey in the fresh snow (2' worth!):









Then it was Phin's turn:









2021 mileage
...

1/30link4.03 miles390 ft climb3.1 mph12F165.77 total miles1/30phin4.28 miles525 ft climb4.0 mph15F170.05 total miles2/2link1.97 miles226 ft climb2.9 mph19F172.02 total miles2/2phin2.24 miles256 ft climb3.7 mph16F*174.26 total miles*


----------



## Celeste

I am unfortunately sidelined for a while. I took a bad fall. I was not on a horse. I was in the barn. Go figure. My left knee is pretty much out of commission for a while. I have strained the tendons on the back of it. Ouch. I am better. I can walk with a knee brace and a cane; I ditched the crutches. I will have to live vicariously through all of you for a while.


----------



## carshon

@Celeste - I am so sorry to hear about your fall. Sending healing thoughts your way


----------



## Celeste

@carshon, thanks! It is sunny and 55 degrees outside. It would be easier to be side-lined if it were raining.


----------



## weeedlady

Awww @Celeste that sucks. I've not been riding lately either. My excuse is there is a lot of snow and I don't know the trails well enough to know what's underneath. And it's cold. And it's windy. And I'm lazy!


----------



## Cerceify

AJ Yammie said:


> Wow, beautiful. I don’t think the National park where I ride is just for bikes or horses or walkers. Over the years the locals have figured out who goes on what days. The motorbikes are normally Thursday and Friday, horses are Saturday and Sunday, hikers go all week because it’s easy for them to step off the trail and the bikers are mid week. I believe there 4-5 groups of horse riders who are regulars and there are a few groups of motorbikes we also see often. I haven’t ridden my own dirtbike out there because I have to get it road registered first but I reckon it would be lovely


----------



## Cerceify

knightrider said:


> Actually, the Dog Dazer worked quite well for the two pit bulls who were biting at my horses. I have the same success as @trailhorserider. Unfortunately, I apparently created a problem when I tried it on the Anatolian Shepherds. As several people told me on Horse Forum, if you respond to a very large aggressive dog with more aggression, it makes them more aggressive. And that's exactly what happened. With only one example, of course I don't know if the Dazer had anything to do with the dogs becoming more aggressive. I also was denied the entrance to my favorite trails around that time and started riding a quarter mile further down the road where I could access those lovely trails again. That quarter mile included the Anatolians, so I started riding there about 3 times a week rather than 3 times a year. That might have contributed to the problem. I guess I'll never know.
> 
> But I am passing this on to other riders who must ride past extremely large aggressive dogs. The Anatolians were not super aggressive at first, but if you google "Anatolian shepherds", it will say they can be quite aggressive. Drop bits of hotdog instead of pressing your Dazer button.
> 
> I have called the sheriff's department every single day, and they are now not returning my calls. The last time I talked to a human voice, she said, "Just don't ride past that house." I have 6 fun places to ride, away from traffic, through beautiful shady trees, and land owner's permission . . . if I could only get past those dogs.
> 
> PS: @trailhorserider, I have found that after about 18 months, the dogs need another Dazer lesson. They stop being so wary after awhile. But one more Dazer session does the trick after that.


I had a new neighbor a few years ago who couldn't walk his dog because of loose dogs owned by another neighbor about two blocks away. He called Animal Control with no results. I called and backed him up, saying those dogs used to go after me when I was driving my pony there. That got them moving and they told the owner she would have to build a fence. She complained that she couldn't afford a fence. She built a fence.


----------



## Cerceify

charrorider said:


> Went out today for the first time for 2021. Rode only 6 miles (9.7 km), rather then the planned 7-8 (11-13 km) due to the trail being blocked. But it felt great. Here's Chance munching on some alfalfa pellets and whole oats before hitting the trail. He eats; I don't.
> View attachment 1108142
> View attachment 1108143


He certainly looks well fed. I miss PA. I lived in Chester County in the 80's, but moved back to Florida in 93. Chester County has really built up, so I would have trouble just getting out to some fields now. Our Village of Embreeville is just the same except the lawyer that bought my house turned it into a big, lovely mansion on the Brandywine. The rest of the area is full of Mc Mansions where I would ride alone most of the time.


----------



## knightrider

Awww, @Celeste, so sorry you got hurt. Hope you feel better soon and get back on the trails!


----------



## gunslinger

Hate to hear that Celeste.....hope you heal fast.....


----------



## PoptartShop

I'm sorry to hear tht @Celeste, hopefully you feel better soon.


----------



## Celeste

I appreciate everyone's good wishes. That makes me feel better.


----------



## CaliforniaDreaming

Finally got a new phone as my old one had major battery issues, and this one has more space, and allowed me to reinstall my Equilab app. It’s got a better camera too with a nice optical zoom so I can get more scenery than just a photo of the pony’s ears.

We’re stuck on the ranch for now, no major plans to haul out yet, but my Jeep got brand new tires and is all good to go after a trip to the mechanics for some issues (including a wheel bearing that was apparently coming loose) so whenever we manage to take a trip, it’ll be ready.

Went for a stroll yesterday with the old mare along as a companion. She’s not riding sound anymore and I thought she was a goner a few years ago, but she’s determined to stick around forever so I started ponying her out with us on the easy walks on the lower trails and avoiding the hills. It beats handwalking and she seems to enjoy the excursion. She does insist on being in front.


----------



## phantomhorse13

I got some saddle time the end of last week. The whole story is in my journal.

Thursday, I started with Phin:































Then was Link:























And last was George:

















2021 mileage
...

2/4phin8.14 miles1555 ft climb3.6 mph22F182.40 total miles2/4link4.05 miles423 ft climb3.2 mph24F186.45 total miles2/4george4.01 miles344 ft climb3.2 mph26F190.46 total miles


----------



## phantomhorse13

Friday, I started with Phin:
























Then Link:


















Then George:

















2021 mileage
...

2/5phin7.91955 miles3.9 miles30F198.37 total miles2/5link4.04531 miles3.2 miles32F202.41 total miles2/5george5.02577 miles3.8 miles34F207.43 total miles


----------



## weeedlady

I should not have been so lazy last week. I should have ridden when the temps were in the 20's. Now the highs are in the negative numbers (it was -14 this morning when I got up) and that is really just to cold for me!


----------



## Celeste

I am glad to see somebody riding. I am still stuck taking care of this hurt knee. It is slowly getting better.


----------



## gunslinger

You just take care of that knee Celeste.....one of these days I'm going to trailer down and ride with you.....seeing how you won't trailer up here and ride.....lol
I did ride with Rhonda and her husband a few years ago.....haven't seen a post from her in quite awhile....hope she's doing well....


----------



## Celeste

@gunslinger Eventually I hope to take the horses with me when we go to Lafayette for a family reunion. It won't happen until all of us get this covid vaccine. We are especially concerned about my 66 year old sister with Parkinson's. 

If and when it happens, it would be fun to ride some trails up that way. My younger sister rides. 

I can walk a little. But I will hold off a bit longer to ride. Besides, it rains EVERY SINGLE DAY! (which is good for my knee)

Speaking of people getting off the forum; I think a lot of people have left since the format has changed. It is hard to navigate.


----------



## trailhorserider

Celeste said:


> @gunslinger
> Speaking of people getting off the forum; I think a lot of people have left since the format has changed. It is hard to navigate.


I've noticed this too. We still have a great bunch of folks, but it seems to be a younger crowd and we've lots a lot of our "oldies but goodies."

One of the things I like the least is that you don't get a preview of the topics in the forum format with all the categories. So you have to click on each heading to see if anything is new there. So I've solely been reading only the items in the "New" heading. So I feel like I am probably missing some stuff. BUT, it's better than it was right after the switch. Right after the switch to the new style I thought I might quit too! 

One improvement though, in my opinion, is that the photos show up without signing in. That's nice when I am lazy and don't plan to actually post.


----------



## phantomhorse13

I got some saddle time this week. The whole story is in my journal.

Wednesday, I started with Phin:

















Then it was Link's turn:















Thursday, I started with Link:


















Then poor Phin had an adventure involving elk, a lot of turkeys, deer and a million geese:

















2021 mileage
...

2/10phin5.07 miles581 ft climb4.5 mph24F212.50 total miles2/10link2.39 miles243 ft climb3.1 mph24F214.89 total miles2/11link3.37 miles358 ft climb3.7 mph19F218.26 total miles2/11phin5.55 miles922 ft climb4.6 mph17F*223.81 total miles*


----------



## knightrider

Here's an update on my continuing Anatolian shepherd problem: I finally got ahold of the animal control person in the sheriff's department of Suwannee Co. I have been in contact with this person since October. She was originally quite receptive and helpful, but as the problem continued, she started not answering her phone or returning my calls. She said that there is no leash law in Suwannee Co. and dogs can roam however they like. Why didn't she tell me this the first time I called? She was quite supportive when I sent videos and photos of the dogs going after the horses. I do believe that the dog owner somehow convinced the animal control person that she was in the right. The animal control lady even used the same language as the dog owner--that I was "harrassing her" by not wanting to be bitten, and that I should just ride on a different road.

So, the bottom line is that the sheriff's department will do nothing. The dogs have complete permission to roam the roads, and it is the owner's word against mine that her dogs are biting. The owner said they own horses (I have never seen them, and their property is only a couple of acres) and the dogs don't bother their horses so they wouldn't bother mine. That is such a load of hooey, I can't believe an animal control officer, who should know dogs, would buy that. That's like saying, "My dog doesn't bite me, so why should she bite the UPS man?"

So, I am on my own about these dogs. I refuse to give up. Remember I am the person who spent 6 years working with Isabeau to stop kicking in the trailer and to ride out by herself (both of which she now does perfectly).

This morning I headed out with pieces of hot dog in my pocket to try that, as several people have suggested. The dogs came roaring out. I was on Aci, who has been bitten several times, and got a hind leg caught in a fence when the dogs drove him into the fence. He is pretty nervous around those dogs, but I thought, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." 

Aci leaped and skipped around pretty adroitly, and it was a little tough to drop the pieces of hot dog --they were pretty big because I knew this was going to be interesting--near the dogs' mouths. They were not interested in the scent of the hot dogs. It was me and the horse they were after. But they did not bite Aci. They acted a little like I was throwing something at them to hurt them. They flinched when I got a hot dog piece near their faces.

On the way home, they barked, but did not come after Aci at all. The pieces of hot dog were still all over the road. They hadn't eaten them after I passed by.

I rode on my lovely much loved trails that I haven't been able to get to in quite a while. It was so wonderful to be back on my terrific trails.

This is probably the 6th time in my life that I have gotten NO support from law enforcement. I never have success when I contact officials over a legal matter. I never wanted to contact animal control in the first place and am bitterly sorry that I ever started this whole thing.

Suwannee Co. is a "good ole boy" network in the deep South and people are expected to take care of their problems on their own. Which is where I started, only now I have a nasty angry difficult neighbor to deal with, when I could have just had an ignorant neighbor.


----------



## carshon

@knightrider I liked your post only because of getting to ride on the nice trails. We live in Good Ole Boy country too and I empathize with how frustrating this has become


----------



## weeedlady

@knightrider I do not really "like" your post! This just sucks. But at least you got to enjoy a good ride on those good trails!


----------



## egrogan

Not the kind of ending to the story I would have hoped for. What a pain.


----------



## Celeste

We have a new neighbor that has moved near here recently. She has these giant pit-bull mixes that are aggressive. My immediate neighbor was walking with her dog that way every day. Now she is terrified to go that direction. I would like to have access to that road as well. My immediate neighbor and I are staying in touch so that our dogs don't get tangled up in a fight. We take turns with this road. It limits both of us. There were three. My friend said that it looks like there are only two now. The others probably didn't make it through deer season. 

Anybody that loves a dog should have sense enough not to leave them running wild. Eventually they will either get hit by a car or shot or poisoned or meet some other untimely demise. 

I hate irresponsible pet owners.


----------



## weeedlady

I've not started riding the roads around our new home as of yet. I do see that lot's of people around here allow their dogs to be loose. I sure hope they don't give me a problem when we start riding.


----------



## gunslinger

Celeste, do you know what the 3 S's are?


----------



## charrorider

I'm so lucky to live in a sparsely populated area. 


Celeste said:


> We have a new neighbor that has moved near here recently. She has these giant pit-bull mixes that are aggressive. My immediate neighbor was walking with her dog that way every day. Now she is terrified to go that direction. I would like to have access to that road as well. My immediate neighbor and I are staying in touch so that our dogs don't get tangled up in a fight. We take turns with this road. It limits both of us. There were three. My friend said that it looks like there are only two now. The others probably didn't make it through deer season.
> 
> Anybody that loves a dog should have sense enough not to leave them running wild. Eventually they will either get hit by a car or shot or poisoned or meet some other untimely demise.
> 
> I hate irresponsible pet owners.


I'm so lucky to live in a sparsely populated area. No problems with dogs. There's plenty of room for them to wonder freely and not cause any trouble. 
As far as your neighbor and the pit bull mix. If they're aggressive, that situation has to be addressed. But are you sure they are pit bulls? I have seen people confuse a Rottweiler with a pit bull. I had a dog that was pit bull mix and I didn't even know it. It wasn't until she had passed away that I went searching and found out she was half pit bull. She was as sweet as could be. So much so that I ended up being interested in the breed and now have two rescued pit bulls. They are friendlier that my other two dogs, which are a mix of English Springer Spaniel and Labrador Retriever, two breeds not known for being aggressive.


----------



## carshon

@Celeste may not comment to this but for those that may not know - she is a veterinarian (currently teaching) My assumption is that she has experience with dog breeds and identifying them as well as handling aggressive dogs


----------



## gottatrot

knightrider said:


> Here's an update on my continuing Anatolian shepherd problem: I finally got ahold of the animal control person in the sheriff's department of Suwannee Co. I have been in contact with this person since October. She was originally quite receptive and helpful, but as the problem continued, she started not answering her phone or returning my calls. She said that there is no leash law in Suwannee Co. and dogs can roam however they like. Why didn't she tell me this the first time I called? She was quite supportive when I sent videos and photos of the dogs going after the horses. I do believe that the dog owner somehow convinced the animal control person that she was in the right. The animal control lady even used the same language as the dog owner--that I was "harrassing her" by not wanting to be bitten, and that I should just ride on a different road.
> 
> So, the bottom line is that the sheriff's department will do nothing. The dogs have complete permission to roam the roads, and it is the owner's word against mine that her dogs are biting. The owner said they own horses (I have never seen them, and their property is only a couple of acres) and the dogs don't bother their horses so they wouldn't bother mine. That is such a load of hooey, I can't believe an animal control officer, who should know dogs, would buy that. That's like saying, "My dog doesn't bite me, so why should she bite the UPS man?"
> 
> So, I am on my own about these dogs. I refuse to give up. Remember I am the person who spent 6 years working with Isabeau to stop kicking in the trailer and to ride out by herself (both of which she now does perfectly).
> 
> This morning I headed out with pieces of hot dog in my pocket to try that, as several people have suggested. The dogs came roaring out. I was on Aci, who has been bitten several times, and got a hind leg caught in a fence when the dogs drove him into the fence. He is pretty nervous around those dogs, but I thought, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
> 
> Aci leaped and skipped around pretty adroitly, and it was a little tough to drop the pieces of hot dog --they were pretty big because I knew this was going to be interesting--near the dogs' mouths. They were not interested in the scent of the hot dogs. It was me and the horse they were after. But they did not bite Aci. They acted a little like I was throwing something at them to hurt them. They flinched when I got a hot dog piece near their faces.
> 
> On the way home, they barked, but did not come after Aci at all. The pieces of hot dog were still all over the road. They hadn't eaten them after I passed by.
> 
> I rode on my lovely much loved trails that I haven't been able to get to in quite a while. It was so wonderful to be back on my terrific trails.
> 
> This is probably the 6th time in my life that I have gotten NO support from law enforcement. I never have success when I contact officials over a legal matter. I never wanted to contact animal control in the first place and am bitterly sorry that I ever started this whole thing.
> 
> Suwannee Co. is a "good ole boy" network in the deep South and people are expected to take care of their problems on their own. Which is where I started, only now I have a nasty angry difficult neighbor to deal with, when I could have just had an ignorant neighbor.


This might not be a good idea but is there anything really smelly you could spray on the dogs? Something like bad skunk spray? I don't know if that would be safe to do, you might risk getting some on yourself or your horses, and maybe the owners don't interact with the dogs. I was just thinking it could be a way to punish the owners. If they do get close to the dogs and pet them or let them in the house, a really bad stink might be something they want to avoid.
Skunk'Um - Loitering Deterrent.


----------



## Celeste

@gunslinger Yes. I am familiar with the 3S concept. It can be very effective.


----------



## Celeste

@carshon Yes, I have handled a lot of bad dogs. I want to keep from having bad neighbor relationships. For now, I am going to go a different way. I think that someone else will address the issue. Other people find the dogs to be terrifying. 

I have scars all over my arms from dogs. Oddly enough, one of the most painful bites that I had was from a dachshund. I think he just hit a nerve. 

To everyone, sorry I don't write more. I have been overloaded with work stuff. 

I did ride today!!!!


----------



## Kailee TheCool

My first trail ride in 2021 was on the first of January. Me and my dad went out, but all the pics are on his phone. Also my second gallop. My horse got bored of walking and took off at a gallop and I only held on until she slowed to a walk and then fell off lol.


----------



## Celeste

I will try to get some pictures up soon. I have a huge project with a March 1 deadline. I rode twice Saturday and Sunday. 3 miles each. The horses were full of themselves for the 3 week break due to my knee. 

@Kailee TheCool I hope you weren't hurt. Most of my falls are due to them taking off and then stopping suddenly and I don't stop. Fortunately, it is rare that I fall off.


----------



## Kailee TheCool

I 


Celeste said:


> I will try to get some pictures up soon. I have a huge project with a March 1 deadline. I rode twice Saturday and Sunday. 3 miles each. The horses were full of themselves for the 3 week break due to my knee.
> 
> @Kailee TheCool I hope you weren't hurt. Most of my falls are due to them taking off and then stopping suddenly and I don't stop. Fortunately, it is rare that I fall off.


was fine, just a little shaken up. Thanks for asking!


----------



## phantomhorse13

Got a bit behind again.. time to play catch up. Momma nature continues to be stuck in winter mode, but I am riding when I can. The whole story is in my journal.

Last Sunday, I started with Phin.


















Then it was Link's turn.

























I wasn't able to ride again until Friday. Then I started with Link.
















Next was Phin.
















2021 mileage
...

2/14phin7.36 miles814 ft climb4.6 mph24F231.17 total miles2/14link5.38 miles653 ft climb3.9 mph26F236.55 total miles2/19link1.29 miles30 ft climb2.8 mph24F237.84 total miles2/19phin2.47 miles246 ft climb2.9 mph26F*240.31 total miles*


----------



## phantomhorse13

Sunday, the sun came out and it warmed up enough DH would ride with me. We took Link and George.

























Next was Phin.






















Today, I started with Link.






















Then Phin got lucky because it started snowing hard, so I took him out bareback to walk Kestrel.









2021 mileage
...

2/21link6.54 miles866 ft climb3.6 mph18F246.85 total miles2/21phin10.23 miles1316 ft climb4.7 mph24F257.08 total miles2/23link4.76 miles561 ft climb4.0 mph24F261.84 total miles2/23phin2.25 miles249 ft climb3.5 mph26F*264.09 total miles*


----------



## PoptartShop

Took Promise out yesterday, although the footing wasn't so great - super swampy, slippery, just a mess from the snow melting. But, 50 degree weather for once...can't complain!


----------



## egrogan

Such pretty blue skies - and you can see actual GRASS! Jealous


----------



## CaliforniaDreaming

@PoptartShop Your skies were bluer than ours were yesterday. It started out really nice in the morning, but by the time I got out to the ranch, some storm system up north pushed gray clouds and a bit of a chill in. (And when I say 'chill' I mean, we probably both had 50 degree weather, but 50 is 'cold' for SoCal 😂)


----------



## Kailee TheCool

@PoptartShop- That seriously looks like the trail where I ride!! Although, the one where I like to go would still have snow.


----------



## knightrider

Today I had a "Too Many Rabbits" experience, which my horses don't normally do . . . mainly because we just trail ride the same stuff over and over.

I decided to take my daughter's TN Walker Windy camping for 4 days. For the most part, Windy did really well. We jumped a lot of logs, which Windy did without overjumping. We had a lot of new friends riding along, with fast horses, and that contributed to Windy's agitation.

Today was just too many rabbits for our lil' Winddancer. Her buddy, with whom we often ride, was stabled next to her. When my neighbor decided his horse was acting sore, he sat out some rides. This was unacceptible to Windy, to have her buddy back in the barn screaming for her. She was a nervous wreck.

It's so difficult to be tacking up a horse who is dancing and shaking at the end of their leadrope, reaching under for the girth next to flying feet.

The best thing would have been to get tacked up and then take off down the trail with a couple of horse friends. But they weren't ready yet. Windy had to wait around, getting more and more agitated as her barn buddy screamed for her in the barn. Finally all were ready but one, back next to the barn. Our small group made our way over to encourage the last friend to be ready. Big mistake. I could tell Windy was ready to blow, but could not defuse her. Instead we rode back nearer to the barn, where other riders were gathering, people were packing up to go home, trailers were driving in and out.

Then our last rider decided her Western stirrups were too long. We all know how hard it is to change out Western stirrups! Just then, somebody released their pull-out canopy--ZZZZZZip--CLANG!! Windy lost it, leaped sideways and I fell off. How humiliating! In front of 40 people.

One reason why I took Windy on the 4 day camping trip was to boost my confidence on her. I was sure that 4 fun days of riding would help both her and me. It did . . . but there were too many rabbits on that particular day, and did not add to my confidence. By the way, thankfully I wasn't hurt.


----------



## riderforever

AJ Yammie said:


> I have trails on my property but two days ago I went for my first ride on national park. There were a few motorbikes but they were respectful of our space and turned them off. The wildlife was amazing! I saw a regent and satin bowerbird which was amazing. Also a few Roos. The snow looks so fun! I live on coastal australia where we never get snow.
> View attachment 1106908


Wow! Do you wish for snow? I like it but l like summer better! 😊


----------



## gunslinger

Miss Lacy and I got out Saturday....went to Prentice Cooper State Park and rode for 11.5 miles.....quite a nice day....


----------



## weeedlady

@knightrider sorry to hear that you came off of Windy. Glad you are ok. You are right, poor Windy just couldn't take any more. Gotta watch out for those darn rabbits!


----------



## PoptartShop

Thanks guys!  Yeah, hoping to get out again this week because it's going to be in the 60's (GASP!). But...next weekend it says snow again, I'm like come on...can it just not?!! LOL.


----------



## knightrider

Interesting trail ride today. My neighbor keeps buying and selling new horses and he really should just stick to safe ones because he turned 77 on Tuesday. A few days ago, he traded a very hot Paso Fino for a very tall TN Walker mare. This mare is close to 17 hands. Her withers are 6 inches above my head . . . and I am tall.

She is a really nice safe forward fun mare, but so much leg! This morning I rode Aci over to hold her while he mounted her. He has gotten frail the last couple of months and has difficulty mounting. If the horse doesn't stand rock still, he can't get on. She normally stands well, but not this morning. She had a tiny rubbed spot on her wither, and he put a different saddle on her to protect that rub. He just couldn't get on her.

So we tried putting his saddle on Aci, and he was going to ride Aci, and I was going to ride the big mare. But the saddle kept rolling on Aci's back when he tried to mount. He uses a mounting block, but he just can't make his leg go over the cantle.

We compromised by having him ride his "tried and true" old Paso and me riding the mare. Only one problem. I enjoy riding Aci in my FreeMax saddle, which is just a dab of neoprene, more like a bareback pad. It is difficult to mount from the ground in that saddle, so I don't. I get on the mounting block and just set my leg over the saddle. 

He uses a ladder to mount his close-to-17 hand mare, and I did too, but she didn't want to stand quietly this morning. This is only her 4th ride with us, and she's been light in the front end several times--not big rears, but pop up rears. I wasn't thrilled about riding this big tall rangy forward moving thing in a FreeMax. 

I hopped on and she took off doing her running walk. I wondered if I was going to survive this ride. My confidence has been shaken with two falls off of Windy in the last two months. Both stupid falls. I looked down and my, it seemed like a very long way down!

But, she's basically a very kind and honest horse, and she gave me a lovely ride. I felt quite insecure on that FreeMax saddle, but it really was all good. I was glad I was still aboard and doing well at the end of the ride.


----------



## carshon

I am jealous of the big TWH mare. I love a forward mare - but would not want to ride one bareback! I have a friend that is turning out to be just like your friend. She turned 75 last year and lost her tried and true mare in May. She has purchased multiple horses since then and is always looking at others. Her daughter and I keep asking her what she is looking for and she just says - I'll know when I find it. So frustrating since she is always on a different horse - the last one she had I point blank said this is the one. A small Paso that kept up just fine with the big horses. Loads like a dream stands at the trailer. She doesn't like him because he paws in the trailer and she feels too big on him. She is 5ft if shes an inch and weighs 110 lbs - he is small but she looks great on him! I wish we could convince her of that. How does your neighbor find so many horses? They are so expensive now I cannot imagine buying them and then trying to recoup my money when reselling.


----------



## phantomhorse13

After several attempts at posts which were eaten by HF, I am now hopelessly behind. Trying again to catch up.. The whole story is in my journal.

On the 24th, I started with Phin:























Then it was Link's turn:


















And last was George:

















2021 mileage
...

2/24phin9.34 miles1768 ft climb4.2 mph26F273.43 total miles2/24link4.02 miles476 ft climb3.4 mph36F277.45 total miles2/24george6.5 miles830 ft clime3.5 mph40F*283.95 total miles*


----------



## phantomhorse13

On Friday the 26th, I got more saddle time. The whole story is in my journal.

I started with Phin.






















Next was Link:






















Then George:

















2021 mileage

2/26phin9.05 miles1617 ft climb4.2 mph21F293.00 total miles2/26link5.87 miles984 ft climb3.5 mph32F298.87 total miles2/26george6.11 miles617 ft climb3.8 mph36F*304.98 total miles*


----------



## charrorider

knightrider said:


> Interesting trail ride today. My neighbor keeps buying and selling new horses and he really should just stick to safe ones because he turned 77 on Tuesday. A few days ago, he traded a very hot Paso Fino for a very tall TN Walker mare. This mare is close to 17 hands. Her withers are 6 inches above my head . . . and I am tall.
> 
> She is a really nice safe forward fun mare, but so much leg! This morning I rode Aci over to hold her while he mounted her. He has gotten frail the last couple of months and has difficulty mounting. If the horse doesn't stand rock still, he can't get on. She normally stands well, but not this morning. She had a tiny rubbed spot on her wither, and he put a different saddle on her to protect that rub. He just couldn't get on her.
> 
> So we tried putting his saddle on Aci, and he was going to ride Aci, and I was going to ride the big mare. But the saddle kept rolling on Aci's back when he tried to mount. He uses a mounting block, but he just can't make his leg go over the cantle.
> 
> We compromised by having him ride his "tried and true" old Paso and me riding the mare. Only one problem. I enjoy riding Aci in my FreeMax saddle, which is just a dab of neoprene, more like a bareback pad. It is difficult to mount from the ground in that saddle, so I don't. I get on the mounting block and just set my leg over the saddle.
> 
> He uses a ladder to mount his close-to-17 hand mare, and I did too, but she didn't want to stand quietly this morning. This is only her 4th ride with us, and she's been light in the front end several times--not big rears, but pop up rears. I wasn't thrilled about riding this big tall rangy forward moving thing in a FreeMax.
> 
> I hopped on and she took off doing her running walk. I wondered if I was going to survive this ride. My confidence has been shaken with two falls off of Windy in the last two months. Both stupid falls. I looked down and my, it seemed like a very long way down!
> 
> But, she's basically a very kind and honest horse, and she gave me a lovely ride. I felt quite insecure on that FreeMax saddle, but it really was all good. I was glad I was still aboard and doing well at the end of the ride.


Others might see it as not being "neighborly," but reading about your two last outings, I'm glad most of my rides are solo. I've never been able to ride more than 6 times, or more than 60 miles (97 km) in one month. I'm also 71 years old. I don't have time for all that foolishness.


----------



## egrogan

We have had three consecutive sunny days with temps well above freezing, so seems safe to say mud season is here. Yesterday we went out for our first real ride of the year (not just looping around the pastures). The roads were thick with mud, but I’ll take that over ice! We did hit one scary black ice patch, and went sliding for a foot or so, but we managed to stay upright. Things will cool back down to around or just above freezing next week, but the snow will keep slowly melting, which is the best scenario as we transition into the spring. We’ll see if it gets icy again or if it stays safe for riding.








*Total 2021 miles: 8.4*


----------



## PoptartShop

Such gorgeous trails you guys. 

@egrogan talk about mud! That was us the past two weeks - everything was melting, then more rain...muddy, muddy mess. I. CAN'T. STAND. IT! LOL.

After doing some work the other day, we ended our ride with a little trail!  68 degrees!


----------



## egrogan

@PoptartShop, for once we're getting lucky, and have all this melting happening without any new precipitation on top. Doesn't look like anything is forecast until towards the end of next week. By then, we might actually be seeing patches of grass again if it stays warm enough. Parts of the road today are actually dry since we've had a pretty stiff breeze all day. We might just make it through without too much muck!


----------



## Saigold

We had some balmy temps this week (between +10 and +18c). I was fully planning on riding this past Monday, but ended up losing a horse instead. Then work got in the way. I’m planning on a ride this weekend. It’s a muddy mess everywhere. But yesterday’s mild temp (+16c) and high winds got rid of most of the snow we had, it was the first thunderstorm storm of the year and we had a torrential downpour. So hoping the fields will be rideable.


----------



## rambo99

Haven't posted on this thread for a long time. Most of February didn't ride with sub zero temps for highs. Been riding this month though. We did get 5 inches of snow mid week Heavy wet stuff. Roads Thursday morning were horrible. Snow was mostly gone before snow storm.

Been riding though every day doing 12 miles per ride. Having to stay on dirt road trail still has ice/snow on it. Getting ice fit and getting him slimmed down,he got rather fat. So far he's down over 60 lbs.

Weather this next week is going to be really nice. No storms in forecast at least this coming week. No pictures as I've not been taking phone. Should have pictures today will take phone.

Need to catch up on reading on here I'm way behind.


----------



## rambo99

Here's a few pictures from our ride today. Snow we got is melting so turning everything to a wet muddy mess. Time to get farrier out to put shoes on both horses. Feet are worn short and chipped up. 

13 miles today good ride an beautiful weather 58 degrees an sunny.


----------



## weeedlady

I finally got Raven out today. We went for a short but sweet ride-almost 3 miles. Our snow is starting to melt but there are still some places that are deeper than they look. There were a couple times we found ourselves in drifts up to her knees, but she did a great job of plowing through. It felt to be out!


----------



## Celeste

It looks like I am not the only person who has not been posting here. I am sidelined for a while. I injured my knee. I am getting an MRI on Wednesday and go back to the orthopedist on Friday to see if I have to have surgery. 

And the weather is 70 degrees with sunshine.


----------



## weeedlady

@Celeste I'm sorry to hear about your knee. I hope they can get you fixed quickly. I've been nursing an injured shoulder for the past month so I can sympathize.


----------



## Saigold

@Celeste hope you get some good news for your knee and a speedy recovery. 

I was finally able to get out for an actual trail ride yesterday. Got in 7km. It was sunny but with a stiff cold wind. The spring melt made the river very high and it was quite far out of its banks and rushing downstream in a hurry. The lower lying trails that we can ride in the summer were completely under water. We stayed on higher ground and even then we found some mushy spots where the horses were slip sliding. But in general the footing, while soft, was decent. heading out to meet our riding partner, Duke was stuck in first gear. That slow leisurely walk and if I ask for more he’d break in a trot and then right back to slow. We worked up a sweat just getting to the trail. Once out on the trail both horses, duke and my friends, we pretty slow and picking their footing. As soon as we got to halfway point and turned toward home, Duke found his energy and then I had to keep holding him back the whole way back. 

We came across 3 big bucks of white tailed deer. Duke kept trying to pull toward them but they didn’t wait around for us. Once back at my friends trailer Duke seemed like he wanted to just hop in. And since she offered us a ride home, that’s just what we did. He went on without a fuss and we got home. He was a sweaty mess and looked like a curly coated horse.


----------



## Celeste

weeedlady said:


> @Celeste I'm sorry to hear about your knee. I hope they can get you fixed quickly. I've been nursing an injured shoulder for the past month so I can sympathize.


We can commiserate together I suppose. I hope that you get well quickly.


----------



## PoptartShop

@Celeste sorry to hear that, I hope your knee feels better!  

This weekend it was absolutely beautiful out, so we got a nice trail in.  Explored some new areas & went down a new road. The trails are endless near my barn! Although I'm hoping to get back out to Fair Hill this spring!


----------



## phantomhorse13

Wednesday the 3rd, I got more saddle time. The whole story is in my journal.

I started with Link:

















Then was Phin:






















Last Sunday, DH and I got George and Link out:


























2021 mileage

3/3link6.64 miles768 ft climb4.3 mph30F311.62 total miles3/3phin10.52 miles1857 ft climb4.6 mph40F322.14 total miles3/7link8.88 miles1644 ft climb3.6 mph32F*331.02 total miles*


----------



## Saigold

@phantomhorse13 love the scenery. How do you get so much saddle time? 😂 I’m jealous


----------



## phantomhorse13

Still playing catch up but getting closer! I got some saddle time last week. The whole story is in my journal.

Last Monday, I started with Link.













Then it was Phin's turn.





















Tuesday, I got Phin out.






















Wednesday, I started with Link.













Then it was George's turn.









2021 mileage
...

3/8link5.76 miles853 ft climb4.5 mph21F336.78 total miles3/8phin9.3 miles1542 ft climb5.5 mph32F346.08 total miles3/9phin17.1 miles2126 ft climb5.7 mph49F363.18 total miles3/10link5.69 miles1001 ft climb3.5 mph40F368.87 total miles3/10george 6.11 miles7.41 ft climb3.6 mph55F*374.98 total miles*


----------



## phantomhorse13

Still playing catch up. The whole story is in my journal.

Last Thursday, I started with Link:

















Then a brief bareback mosey on Phin:









Then I got George out:

















Saturday, DH and I got George and Link out:

















2021 mileage
...

3/11link9.02 miles1457 ft climb4.0 mph42F384.00 total miles3/11phin2.25 miles246 ft climb3.1 mph60F386.25 total miles3/11george5.25 miles630 ft climb4.1 mph65F391.50 total miles3/13link13.17 miles1736 ft climb4.8 mph34F404.67 total miles


----------



## phantomhorse13

I got a bit more saddle time this week and am finally caught up posting! The whole story is in my journal.

Tuesday, I got Link out:
















(yes, that is SNOW! 🤬)

Wednesday, I started with Link:






























Then, it was Phin's turn:

















2021 mileage
...

3/16link9.78 miles1040 ft climb5.1 mph16F414.45 total miles3/17link10.52 miles1247 ft climb4.8 mph28F424.97 total miles3/17phin24.1 miles2615 ft climb6.5 mph36F*449.07 total miles*


----------



## Celeste

Link is getting brave to trot right by such scary stuff!


----------



## weeedlady

Well, I am going to add 2 miles to my ytd total, lol. Tucker and I went out yesterday. I rode 1 mile out and we walked 1 mile back because he felt like he was absolutely going to explode. We were ok headed away from home, but when the trail turned and he thought we were going back....... I did not feel comfortable and I was not sure I could keep him under control. So I got off. 
Today was a bit better. We worked in the indoor for awhile and then we went outside. We walked around the back of the barn, past some of the paddocks. and made a few circles in an open area very close by. He still was very strong whenever turned toward the barn, but today I didn't feel the need to dismount.
Just look at this sweet boy. He doesn't look like a keg of dynamite, does he?


----------



## Saigold

@weeedlady he looks so sweet lol. the TWH I had last year looks exactly like your guy and he was a keg 😂


----------



## lb27312

Oh my gosh! I have FINALLY went on a trail ride!! Wow... it was awesome, the second I sat in that saddle it was like Heaven, my friend was nice to come pick me up... I haven't had my trailer for 2 months now... pretty big downer but it's okay. When I hear the words... hmmm have not seen that before I know that's going to be directed at me! lol jk I'm blessed.

I rode in a new to me saddle and it's an old saddle but didn't have the stirrups turned?? Hmm didn't think about that so my knees were aching towards the end.... I rode a little while with no stirrups to get a break.... it didn't fit Chal, when I was riding I would put my hand between his shoulder and the saddle pad and it didn't feel like it was pinching but when I got off it seemed like it was tight... so if it doesn't fit Captain then I will have to sell it..

Finally a ride!!!


----------



## egrogan

@lb27312 - those pine trails look gorgeous to ride in! Really pretty pictures.

I also had a great weekend of riding. I was able to double my mileage for the year- by riding a grand total of 7 miles this weekend  It finally felt like spring here. I can't lie, that did bring out some "spring sillies" in my horse, so we had to deal with a little bit of fussing around and jigging on the way home, but we worked through it ok. Looking forward to more rides this week.


























*Total 2021 miles: 14.7*


----------



## Jolien

I am jealous (in a good way) when I see all those trailrides!! Due to corona restrictions I haven't been able to ride in almost 3 months!  I really miss my hobby and the contact with horses. I need that. Alot. Let's hope I will be vaccinated in a couple of months and maybe we can go back to a more normal...


----------



## charrorider

Jolien said:


> I am jealous (in a good way) when I see all those trailrides!! Due to corona restrictions I haven't been able to ride in almost 3 months!  I really miss my hobby and the contact with horses. I need that. Alot. Let's hope I will be vaccinated in a couple of months and maybe we can go back to a more normal...


How is it you can't ride because of the pandemic?


----------



## knightrider

@4horses and I got a nice long ride at San Felasco on Saturday. She rode my Chorro and I rode Windy. We had a really super time. There were fields loaded with toadflax flowers and all the trees were brilliant spring green. We crossed a creek that used to be quite deep and now isn't to have our picnic lunch. We did get the horses to cross a muddy boggy creek. We did some running walk and corto and 3 fun times cantering. Windy was so so so good! Chorro is always good.


----------



## knightrider




----------



## knightrider

Well, that didn't work so good. I don't know why it posted images twice and didn't post what I wrote. Try again: @4horses and I had a super fun trail ride on Saturday at San Felasco. She rode my Chorro and I rode Windy. All the trees were brilliant green and there were fields full of toadflax flowers. We did a lot of corto and running walk, and we crossed a small creek. Then we crossed a dry creek and had a picnic lunch. Great time. I'll try again with more photos.


----------



## egrogan

WOW - look at all that beautiful green on your ride @knightrider rider & @4horses ! Such great photos.


----------



## egrogan

Another short ride for us yesterday.







Snow is melting at our elevation, but there's still spring skiing up on the mountain:








*Total 2021 miles: 17.7*


----------



## rambo99

Been getting in riding weather has been nice. Yesterday was raining an snow mix. But cleared off late afternoon only snow left are snow banks from plowing. 

Horses are now shod so can put on the miles. Total so far for this year is 168. Had a nice ride yesterday was a bit sloppy wet better than snow. Still in need of rain pond we pass on dirt road is seriously low on water. Oh an someone took out the no passing sign an a tree yesterday morning when roads were icey. Vehicle was totaled was towed away.


----------



## phantomhorse13

Got some saddle time this week. The whole story is in my journal.

Sunday, I got Link out:

















Monday, I went to ride with Nicole. I rode Polo:

























2021 mileage
...

3/21link8.71 miles1545 ft climb4.5 mph43F457.78 total miles3/22polo9.72 miles814 ft climb5.5 mph53F*467.50 total miles*


----------



## phantomhorse13

Tuesday, I started with Link:

















Then it was Phin's turn:

















Yesterday, I started with Link:






















Then was Phin:








Warm enough for a sleeveless shirt!!









2021 mileage
...

3/23link9.01 miles1611 ft climb4.6 mph48F476.51 total miles3/23phin9.01 miles1877 ft climb5.3 mph61F485.52 total miles3/25link12.04 miles1781 ft climb4.8 mph57F497.56 total miles3/25phin11.01 miles2500 ft climb5.0 mph68F*508.57 total miles*


----------



## Jolien

@
*charrorider*

There was a winter stop for the rental horses and after that there were covid restrictions. My friend her horse got colic and hoove issues and my friend got her ankle broken so riding her horse was also out of the question. 

BUT today!!! *I went on a 3 hour trailride *with a tiny group of 3 ppl (covid rules allow only 4 people in a group outsid.) I am so happy I got some horse and saddle time. I think I manage the pandemic well mentally, but it is a fact that I live alone and I only got 2 short hugs from my mom during a whole year. Other than that the only people that 'touched' me were doctors or my hairdresser. I am also living here without pets so I feel like a part of me is amputated. My 'horse time' always filled in some much needed contact with animals needs... So I am really glad I got to ride today. 

And oh, off topic: I decided to try and adopt a shelter cat. 

This was my horse today. Ain't he cute?? It was really cold and it hailed. I had not enough clothes on so I probably burned some extra calories shivering!


----------



## Jolien

oh and 'y all: looking at your horse pictures makes me happy


----------



## knightrider

Today I got my girls back! Their mother has a lung condition and might die if she contracted covid, so two of my sweet girls have not been allowed to come ride since February of last year. We all have vaccinations now, and their mom consented to let them start riding with me again. We got all 4 horses out, had a super blast, and enjoyed every minute of the ride. I'm going to be getting them every Saturday. I am so happy.


----------



## weeedlady

@knightrider so happy for you!


----------



## Saigold

On Saturday we trailered out for the first time to a trail head about an hour away. Its a nice sandy trail, close to one of the Great Lakes. It poured the day before and most all of the other trails are still too soggy to ride from winter. So this was a good option. We did 14kms total and after most of the winter off and riding in sand, Duke was tired.
Spring is starting here. The grass started turning greenish over the last week and there are buds on the trees and some green. The tall pine tree trunks were a beautiful reddish colour and really stand out among others. We had nice open trails as whoever maintains that areas has gone through and cleared all the deadfall from the winter storms. We were thankful that they cleared the horse trails first, the pedestrian ones were impassable still, unless you wanted to climb up and over massive trunks. 
Duke was alert and ready to explore. There were quads and dirt bike on the other side of the forest with a sand road diving the horse trails from the motorized trails. But those guys didn’t seem to follow the rules and we could hear them revving their engines all around us and see them through the trees. The horses were mostly fine with the commotion. Although all of us jumped when one of the bikes backfired pretty close. We ended up on the same road as bunch of quads parked there. At this point Duke was eager to get going and if I let him probably would have done so at speed. But he did calm down after about 5m. And we enjoyed the rest of the ride in peace. 
Back at the trailer, Duke fashionably refused any water to drink, but indulged in a nap and hay. My friends dog was fascinated with duke for whatever reason and just sat in front of him, having a heart to heart.


----------



## carshon

The picture of Duke and the dog is just too cute!


----------



## Saigold

They had a connection of some kind. It was interesting to observe. That went on for a few min.


----------



## CaliforniaDreaming

I'm hideously jealous of everyone who's been able to go on long trail rides. I've been stuck on the ranch property doing a few miles worth of trails even though the weather is insanely gorgeous and I want to go to the beach to ride so bad it almost hurts. But alas my very bestest riding buddies no longer live in the same state, and while I have 2 horses, only one is sound enough to ride. I'd happily bring someone along, but everyone I've ever offered always says their horses don't load well. I might just give in later this spring and just haul both my two over to the place near my house and go riding there by myself.


----------



## weeedlady

I am also jealous! I've been having a crisis of confidence since my last attempt with Tucker. My phone does not work UP here where I would be riding and I just don't think it is smart to go out alone. There is only one other boarder at our barn who rides and our schedules just don't seem to coincide lately. The barn owner is always training some horse or another but none of them are the calm trail horse that I need to go out with Tucker. And Tucker would not be a good influence on the trainees. So...there we are. I'm pretty much stuck too.


----------



## Celeste

lb27312 said:


> I rode in a new to me saddle and it's an old saddle but didn't have the stirrups turned?? Hmm didn't think about that so my knees were aching towards the end.... I rode a little while with no stirrups to get a break.... it didn't fit Chal, when I was riding I would put my hand between his shoulder and the saddle pad and it didn't feel like it was pinching but when I got off it seemed like it was tight... so if it doesn't fit Captain then I will have to sell it..
> /QUOTE]
> Stirrup turners will solve the non-turned stirrup problem. At $10.99 a pair, you can't go wrong. Somehow when I get on Chick's Saddlery, I end up finding so many wonderful things on sale, that I spend $100.


----------



## Celeste

@weeedlady Can you tell someone your exact path and what time to expect you back? If you don't show up, they could send out a search party.


----------



## Celeste

I have ridden some. Not much. My total for the year is about 49.8 miles. I fell about a month ago and injured my knee. I sprained it and tore a meniscus. The doctor injected it. I felt WONDERFUL for a couple of days. It has only been a week and a half and it is starting to bother me again. Nothing like the original pain. But worrisome. Basically the doctor's opinion is that if the shot doesn't keep me pain free for 4 months, I need a knee replacement. The x-rays of my knee looked great. The MRI? Not so great. There are so many changes from arthritis that he thinks that just repairing the meniscus is a waste of time. 

Someone explain this to me. Last year, Princess fell and pinned my right leg (not the bad one) under her. She got over her panic enough to get up. Left me there without dragging me. I was fine. Then I was acting like an idiot galloping Dillon wide open in the deep woods. I was having so much fun. Some deer jumped out. He stopped. I went right over the top of his head. Nothing but scratches and bruises.

This injury happened in the barn. Nature is not treating me well. The injury might have been worse. I hit my head. But, I had not cleaned the barn. The back of my head slammed into a nice warm pile of turds. Lovely.


----------



## Celeste

I am going to post a couple of pictures. Dillon is the one with the crazy hair.


----------



## carshon

@Celeste I liked your post but not because you are having knee issues. To be honest - I am 50 years old and have had both hips replaced in the last 10 months. It was the best thing ever! My suggestion is to not wait for the joint replacement. Arthritis does not get better - ever!


----------



## egrogan

Sorry to hear that @Celeste!

We did a short ride yesterday. Everything is mud, yuck. More snow today, but then warmer days are coming...








*Total 2021 miles: 19.7*


----------



## phantomhorse13

I got some saddle time this week. The whole story is in my journal.

Saturday, I started with Phin. We did a loop solo to start:













Then met with Gina and Nik and went out again:

















Then it was Link's turn:









2021 mileage
...

3/27phin5.4 miles958 ft climb5.1 mph48F513.97 total miles3/27phin10.4 miles1532 ft climb3.6 mph52F524.37 total miles3/27link1.91 miles223 ft climb2.9 mph55F*526.28 total miles*


----------



## phantomhorse13

Yesterday, I started with Phin.

















Then it was Link's turn. The wind was so ugly, we just hacked to the ring, worked a bit, and hacked home:









Today, I got Link out.






















2021 mileage
...

3/30phin6.07 miles1276 ft climb4.5 mph41F532.35 total miles3/30link2.08 miles256 ft climb3.2 mph52F534.43 total miles3/31link18.06 miles2021 ft climb5.5 mph55F*552.49 total miles*


----------



## Jolien

Yesterday I rode for 3 hours.  In the woods. Sadly I also got a headache (again), I seem to often get a headache after trail riding.  But I am really happy I got to be out there and that I got some horse time!  I also adopted a cat yesterday. A thick grandma that nobody wanted to adopt from the shelter so I took her home with me.


----------



## MeditativeRider

Celeste said:


> I have ridden some. Not much. My total for the year is about 49.8 miles. I fell about a month ago and injured my knee. I sprained it and tore a meniscus.
> 
> This injury happened in the barn. Nature is not treating me well.


I am sorry you have hurt your knee. My husband also just had a simple fall (slipped on grass) and ended up with a knee injury. He has fractures in his fibula and tibial plateau (top of the tibia where it meets the knee). He has to have surgery because apparently the tibial plateau fracture can lead to early arthritis (he is 40) if the bones are not aligned well.


----------



## charrorider

Life has been busy. I finally had an opportunity to ride yesterday. It had been 73 days since my last ride and only the second ride in the last 104 days. Chance was not very cooperative, at first. Who can blame him? It's easy to get used to the lazy life. It took a mile and a half (2.5 km) and a good uphill to get him to cooperate. But after that, he was as good as gold.


----------



## egrogan

@charrorider - I love when a good uphill climb appears exactly when you need it! 🚶‍♀️ We've been having some rides like that too. I had one really great ride this weekend, and a second that was a lot more challenging. Feels like it's a part of getting back into a routine now that spring is here- but I'm also looking forward to more consistently good rides!








*Total 2021 miles: 24.6*


----------



## charrorider

egrogan said:


> @charrorider - I love when a good uphill climb appears exactly when you need it! 🚶‍♀️ We've been having some rides like that too. I had one really great ride this weekend, and a second that was a lot more challenging. Feels like it's a part of getting back into a routine now that spring is here- but I'm also looking forward to more consistently good rides!
> View attachment 1111761
> 
> *Total 2021 miles: 24.6*


I


egrogan said:


> @charrorider - I love when a good uphill climb appears exactly when you need it! 🚶‍♀️ We've been having some rides like that too. I had one really great ride this weekend, and a second that was a lot more challenging. Feels like it's a part of getting back into a routine now that spring is here- but I'm also looking forward to more consistently good rides!
> View attachment 1111761
> 
> *Total 2021 miles: 24.6*


I plan on taking Chance out again in two or three days. He'll be more like the trail partner I know he is. But horses are horses and when they get used to that life of grazing with the buddies, it isn't their idea to go back to work. I don't get mad at them. I keep insisting and making a nuisance out of myself.


----------



## charrorider

The sun was high in the sky and I didn't find any editing that would improve the photo. But perhaps you can see the dogwoods beginning to bloom. Chance was better today.


----------



## phantomhorse13

I got some saddle time this week. The whole story is in my journal.

Monday, I got George got with Kestrel:

















Tuesday, I got Link out:

















Wednesday, I got Link out.






















Thursday, it was too nice not to ride, so I got Phin out for a bareback mosey with Kestrel:









2021 mileage
...

4/5george7.01 miles997 ft climb4.8 mph50F559.50 total miles4/6link7.52 miles958 ft climb4.4 mph52F567.02 total miles4/7link6.01 miles925 ft climb4.4 mph63F573.03 total miles4/8phin2.02 miles197 ft climb3.0 mph72F*575.05 total miles*


----------



## Cordillera Cowboy

I finally got the goodewyfe to ride out with me yesterday (Sunday). We went up the mountain to one of the side roads leading down to Bintawan (the local barangay, or village). We rode in the cool of the afternoon, so didn’t have much daylight to work with. We just rode out for an hour, then turned and went back the same way.

anyway, this is the only way we could get a photo of both of us.
View attachment 1112036


----------



## charrorider

My wife and I rode out today to do our part in clearing the trail for the third AERC race at Cole Creek, scheduled for the last weekend in April. I rode my backup trail partner, Ibn, who is 20 years old with some arthritis in his hips. But he's short, so easy for a short person like me to get off and get back on, repeatedly, over and over, as one often does when clearing a trail. We cleared the trail of anything that could trip a horse. Big tree limbs and fallen trees that were up off the ground were cut and hauled off the path. But we didn't clear so much that the character of Cole Creek was radically changed. So trees and tree limbs that were down, but completely on the ground, stayed. Low tree limbs, stayed. The riders wear helmets, anyways. Some one from the ride appears to have marked the course, already. We saw a lot of red ribbons. The dogwoods are also in full bloom. One of the photos shows Ibn and a tree I had just sawed.


----------



## CaliforniaDreaming

I'm so jealous of everyone who can just ride out. I'd do it to get up to the water district section, if the road I boarded on were safer, but people drive like speed demons on it, and there's a few blind turns. My dad's talking about wanting to move somewhere else ( love the SoCal coast, but we can't afford to stay here without him so we're planning for the future). I've said I'm pretty open to moving somewhere that has land and trail access which might be Northern California.


----------



## phantomhorse13

Yesterday, I got Link out. The whole story is in my journal:

















Today it unexpectedly rained, so I hacked over to the ring:








Tomorrow, we head to Virginia for our first competition of the season. Everyone think calm horse and dry weather thoughts!

2021 mileage
...

4/13link2.01 miles226 ft climb3.0 mph60F577.06 total miles4/14link2.54 miles85 ft climb3.7 mph58F*579.60 total miles*


----------



## knightrider

Last weekend, @4horses, my neighbor, and I went camping for 4 days at Shangri La in the Ocala National Forest. We had such a great time, although many things went wrong. First of all, my truck blew out the radiator, so my neighbor offered to bring a horse for me. That meant I was going to have to sleep in a tent, not my favorite way of camping, but my neighbor has a cot, so that was going to be an improvement over sleeping on an air mattress. Also, heavy rains were predicted. Not so good for tent camping.

When we arrived, I set up my electric corral and discovered my fence controller suddenly did not work. I've had it probably 7 years, and it always works perfectly, so that was surprising, but things don't last forever. I had the bright idea of tying into @4horses' electric system when she arrived after work.

Then I pulled out my tent from my neighbor's truck, not realizing that it was sitting on top of an open milk crate with tools in it. A corner of the tent bag snagged the milk crate and emptied the tools onto my foot. A heavy jack landed on my foot, and turned my big toe purple and black. VERY painful.

4horses arrived and gladly let me attach my electric fence to her electric fence. Windy seemed to be quite happy in her electric enclosure. But my neighbor's horse Cowboy was NOT happy to have his mare taken away to 4horses' campsite. He reared and fought his panel corral, screamed and carried on. He's always done so well camping. That was a surprise.

We saddled up and went on some absolutely amazing rides. Shangri La is unique in all of Florida because it was originally created in the 1930's to be a cross-Florida canal. As a works project, men dug deep canals and piled the dirt high. The canals and dirt seemed to be piled in haphazard ways, creating high hills and deep ravines that wind around in odd and interesting ways. Many times we are riding 60 feet above another trail, winding around through forests. It's so interesting and fun. No bugs, coolish temperatures, sunny days, great riding!

The first night Windy was fine in her corral, but Cowboy fretted and fussed about being away from the other mares. My neighbor felt he had to tie Cowboy to keep him from injuring himself in his corral.

More terrific beautiful riding the next day. The predicted rain did not arrive. Yay! That night Windy decided that 4horses' electric was too weak to keep her in, and she got out twice. Poor 4horses had to get up in the night several times to put Windy back in, finally gave up, woke me and I tied Windy next to Cowboy.

I hate tying a horse while camping, but Cowboy was being terrible. Then the rain arrived. I had put a tarp over my tent as I knew it leaked. The tarp did a fairly decent job of keeping the top dry, but the rain came down in torrents, and it leaked underneath. My cot was an island in a puddle of water. I had rubber boots, which my toe could tolerate, so I could slosh to and from my cot. But I could only keep things like my CD player, flashlight, book, and tissues on my bed. My pillow slipped off the cot in the night and got soaked.

When we got up the next morning, there was no rain. We looked at the radar and saw no rain until 10 a.m. Saddle up and ride!!!! We had a wonderful time riding. We pushed the envelope just a little too hard and got caught in the rain coming in--we all were plenty wet, but it was so much fun. 

It rained for most of that day. My neighbor has a DVD player in his horse trailer and we enjoyed watching horse movies. While we were watching movies, folks from another campsite knocked on the door. Windy had somehow unhooked herself from her tie-pole, and when she escaped, Cowboy smashed his panel corral and got out as well. It quit raining around 4:00 pm., so we went back out on the trails for a great evening ride.

The next day was glorious, crisp, cool, and clear,







the way it often is after a hard rain. We rode all the way to another campground, through some spectacular trails. All horses were super well behaved. 4horses brought both her mares, usually ponying one. My Windy did the best ever on a camping trip. I was so proud of her.


----------



## rambo99

I'm not very good about keeping up on this thread. Have some reading to catch-up on.

Been getting in the miles did have almost a week of rainy snowy weather. So missed about 5 days of riding one good thing is ponds are full again. Weather is nice now so got in saddle time every day now. Miles for last 4 days is 70. 

Great ride today riding the upper trails not very pretty still leafless trees. Although they have buds on them so won't be to long and leaves will be coming out. Been having beaver splashing when we go by the ponds. Ice isn't fazed, he usually spooks pretty good especially this time of year.

Been seeing lots of deer on our rides also. Sometimes they spook our horses when they pop out of the woods in front of us. 

So nice now with the warmer weather snow is gone ice is off lakes. Best part is no bugs. A few pictures from today and some pictures from another ride. Picture with the snow was from the april snow storm,got 2 inches. Didn't last but a day or so.


----------



## knightrider

Ah, I was able to uncompress the zip file and put in a few more Shangri La photos of 4horses, Windy and me, and my neighbor.


----------



## charrorider

Took a quick, non-stop, 8 mile (13 km) ride, today. Was back home in 2 hours 22 minutes. Not bad in these rough Ozark ground, on a non-gaited horse. Good job Chance.


----------



## CaliforniaDreaming

Great pictures @knightrider 

Stayed down around the arena today since we had the old mare with us. Just about 30 minutes of walking, but it keeps Jet going. She’s gonna need to be named in my will at the rate she’s still chugging along. Mitch got a new saddle recently, with Haflinger bars that actually fits him (cue the Hallelujah music) and I’m getting used to riding with a horn, it’s not as bad as I thought.


----------



## phantomhorse13

Last weekend, DH and I went down to Virginia for our first distance competition of the season. The whole story is in my journal.

Link did his first 30 miler on Friday:





































Phin did the 55 on Saturday:





































2021 mileage
...

4/15link2.3 miles446 ft climb3.5 mph48F581.90 total miles4/16link32 miles4711 ft climb5.4 mph50F613.90 total miles4/17phin54.2 miles7795 ft climb6.3 mph52F*668.10 total miles*


----------



## egrogan

We enjoyed back to back rides this weekend. Yesterday was the nicer of the two days, but I volunteered at an endurance ride until after lunch, so by the time I got home I needed to keep my own ride quick. We enjoyed the sunshine though.








Today was a gloomier day, but we met up with our riding buddy for the first time this spring, and did 6.5 miles with a little bit of time in the woods. It was nice to get off the roads a bit, though still a bit muddy in spots so we’ll still primarily stick to the roads a bit longer so we don’t mess up the trails.

















*Total 2021 miles: 39.0*


----------



## weeedlady

I haven't ridden in weeks, BUT....I've been digging post holes and building fence so my ponies can come home. I've turned in my 30 day notice at my boarding facility. I'm almost ready!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## carshon

I have ridden twice this month. Mowing season has started and the parks are just opening so my riding time is being cut short due to Turkey season and mowing. I have to say it feels amazing to ride with no pain - and I think Tillie can feel how my body has changed too. We met up with a friend yesterday and the weather was unfortunately very chilly! We saddled up and headed out and all 3 horses were on their toes. We moved out to some of the not so technical trails first and we were really moving! It felt so good to just move out and feel my horse move without pain or back spasms! We made our way to some flat areas and gaited up a storm - my friend was just grinning and laughing as she does not get to gait much as she rides with her young kids and the faster pace is intimidating to them. We made our way to the more technical trails and spent some time weaving up and down rocky ravines. It is extremely dry here which is not good for the farmers. Great for the horse trails but we could us some rain. We rode for a little over 2 hours and got in 8 miles. The horses were sweaty but still full of energy when we got back to the trailer. I just really have enjoyed riding these past couple of weeks!


----------



## Celeste

I went back to the doctor today. He has me scheduled for knee surgery on Thursday. It will be arthroscopic. I will not be able to feed my own horses or even walk my dogs for a while. That is horrible. Riding is obviously out too. I really think that he is going to get this meniscus cleaned up and I will feel much better. My horses are getting too fat. Oh well. They don't seem to mind the vacation. I guess I will have to get my DH to take pictures of the horses and bring them in to show me. Soon. I. WILL. be riding.


----------



## weeedlady

@Celeste I'm sure your surgery will go well and you will be up and riding soon. I'll be sending healing thoughts your way!


----------



## carshon

@Celeste I am sorry that your knee did not heal on its own. I have had 4 arthroscopic surgeries on my left knee over the years. I blew all ligaments , tendons and cartilage when I was playing softball at 17. And have had various clean up surgeries over the years. You will feel so much better afterward and will be up on your feet before you know it! Good Luck!


----------



## rambo99

I've been getting in saddle time last week an over the weekend. We've really put on the miles average 20 to 25 miles a day. Some here know I had a incident with wolf dogs, here coming into our pasture. 

Going after my horses ice was there focus for attacking. He wasn't harmed physical but mentally it took a toll on him. So he's been super reactive spooky an scared to death of dogs now. Lots of riding lots of miles keeping his mind busy helps him not be spooky reactive. Last few rides I could let him ride on a loose rein an he was really relaxed. 

We have run into a few people with dogs. I had to get off an lead my horse by even then he was snorting head high and very tense. Thankfully owner of dogs kept dogs close to them an dogs didn't bark. 

Despite ices bad experience with dogs he is starting to calm down, when we are off property riding. We've had some nice rides. Most trails are in good shape a few muddy spots where horse sink in a bit. Last 4 or so days have been in low 40s an below freezing at night. Makes for good riding no bugs just darn ticks are out already.

@Celeste hope your surgery goes well. Before you know it you'll be back out riding your horses. 

Here's some pictures from a few rides we've taken.


----------



## gunslinger

Celeste, how you feeling? It's Thursday....hope your knee surgery went well!


----------



## phantomhorse13

I have gotten some saddle time in the last 10 days. The whole story is in my journal.

Last Tuesday, I got George out with Kestrel:

















Friday, I got George out to walk Kestrel:

















Tuesday, I started with Link:

















Then, it was Phin's turn to walk Kestrel:









Then, I got George out to take Kali on her first trail ride:












2021 mileage
...

4/20george4.11 miles466 ft climb5.0 mph64F672.21 total miles4/23george7.01 miles977 ft climb4.8 mph40F679.22 total miles4/27link9.19 miles1312 ft climb4.8 mph60F688.41 total miles4/27phin2.03 miles207 ft climb3.2 mph64F690.44 total miles4/27george1.26 miles102 ft climb3.4 mph65F*691.70 total miles*


----------



## phantomhorse13

Yesterday, I started with Link:






















Then, George walked the dogs again:













2021 mileage
...

4/28link6.67 miles951 ft climb4.3 mph74F698.37 total miles4/28george2.01 miles223 ft climb3.1 mph81F*700.38 total miles*


----------



## phantomhorse13

gunslinger said:


> Celeste, how you feeling? It's Thursday....hope your knee surgery went well!


Celeste had her surgery and is home recovering with the help of some good medication. She hopes to log in tomorrow and give everyone the full update.


----------



## CaliforniaDreaming

Sending good wishes and happy beeps your way, Celeste!

It was a Pony The Mare Day so we just moseyed around the arena and roads a bit. Forgot my watch has a remote for my phone so I propped it up on the top of my Jeep against the roof rack and took a shot.


----------



## Celeste

Hi everyone. I am alive! I had my surgery yesterday. Unfortunately, the surgeon found that the cartilage in my knee is eroding rapidly. He said that my joint capsule looked like a snow globe. He cleaned up what he could, but I am probably looking at a knee replacement. It will have to be at least six weeks out. I feel sure that they other one will need it as well. 

My horses are enjoying loafing in the barn all day under fans and then going out to graze all night. I am so fortunate to have a wonderful husband that is willing to feed my horses, take care of my dogs, cats, and turtle, as well as bringing me food. Hopefully within a week I will be able to take care of the animals and walk outside a little bit. 

The bright side of all this is that if I have to have more surgeries, they will probably be in the summer. Our summer days typically are 95 degrees with humidity so high that you can see it. It is a good time to take a break if I have to take one. 

I thank everyone for their concern.


----------



## egrogan

Feel better @Celeste!!


----------



## Jolien

@
*Celeste*

Oh no, I hope you recover quickly so you'll be able to take up your hobby again... Don't overdo it in the beginning, it seems tempting to wander around limping but you'll regret that later in the healing process (speaking out of experience) 

I was crazy busy lately with my uni studies and my full time job and all... Didn't manage to ride at all untill one of my friends decided I was studying and working too much and she booked a half a day horseback trail ride for us... So I rode this stallion for approx 5 hours in the woods. He had the weirdest trot I have ever ridden but the canter was like sitting on a sofa seat. haha. I never rode a stallion before and with my 2 years of riding experience I wouldn't have if the caretakers hadn't assured me he was nice (and he was)  Here's us after a dismount and pause...


----------



## weeedlady

Sending good thoughts your way @Celeste. Heal quickly and well.


----------



## knightrider

Prayers for a quick recovery @Celeste .

Here's a little update on our Anatolian adventures. I haven't had opportunities to ride past the Anatolians any more because my neighbor has been able to ride with me in the privately maintained hunting land behind our houses. But he got sick last week, and I've been having to ride alone every morning. I cannot ride without him in the hunting land (foreman's rules, stupid rule, who knows why he came up with that rule, nothing ever went wrong, I rode by myself there for 10 years and the owners were fine with that, sigh)

So, I've been riding on my own along the roads, and decided I had time and inclination, so I wanted to see how my hot dog trick would manage with the Anatolian Shepherds. Last time, they seemed afraid of the pieces of hot dog, didn't eat them, and left the horse alone.

Since the time I stopped riding there regularly, the people started selling eggs from their house. They have a big sign at their driveway, "Fresh eggs, $2 a dozen". When I rode past their driveway, the dogs did not come out at all. I had a wonderful ride along my much loved trails, and on the way home, again the dogs did not come out. My dog surely enjoyed the cut-up hot dogs when I got home.

I wondered if the people started keeping their Anatolians up since folks are driving up to the house to buy eggs. I'm not afraid of huge dogs, but I could certainly see other people not wanting to get out of their cars with Irish Wolfhound sized dogs swirling around them barking their heads off. Could I be so lucky? Next time I have 2 hours to ride and I'm solo, I'll try again. I might have gotten my riding territory back!!! Yay!!!!!


----------



## weeedlady

@knightrider wouldn't that be great? I hope that is the case!


----------



## carshon

@knightrider Yeah for a positive Anatolian post!


----------



## PoFoSho

knightrider said:


> Last weekend, @4horses, my neighbor, and I went camping for 4 days at Shangri La in the Ocala National Forest. We had such a great time, although many things went wrong. First of all, my truck blew out the radiator, so my neighbor offered to bring a horse for me. That meant I was going to have to sleep in a tent, not my favorite way of camping, but my neighbor has a cot, so that was going to be an improvement over sleeping on an air mattress. Also, heavy rains were predicted. Not so good for tent camping.
> 
> When we arrived, I set up my electric corral and discovered my fence controller suddenly did not work. I've had it probably 7 years, and it always works perfectly, so that was surprising, but things don't last forever. I had the bright idea of tying into @4horses' electric system when she arrived after work.
> 
> Then I pulled out my tent from my neighbor's truck, not realizing that it was sitting on top of an open milk crate with tools in it. A corner of the tent bag snagged the milk crate and emptied the tools onto my foot. A heavy jack landed on my foot, and turned my big toe purple and black. VERY painful.
> 
> 4horses arrived and gladly let me attach my electric fence to her electric fence. Windy seemed to be quite happy in her electric enclosure. But my neighbor's horse Cowboy was NOT happy to have his mare taken away to 4horses' campsite. He reared and fought his panel corral, screamed and carried on. He's always done so well camping. That was a surprise.
> 
> We saddled up and went on some absolutely amazing rides. Shangri La is unique in all of Florida because it was originally created in the 1930's to be a cross-Florida canal. As a works project, men dug deep canals and piled the dirt high. The canals and dirt seemed to be piled in haphazard ways, creating high hills and deep ravines that wind around in odd and interesting ways. Many times we are riding 60 feet above another trail, winding around through forests. It's so interesting and fun. No bugs, coolish temperatures, sunny days, great riding!
> 
> The first night Windy was fine in her corral, but Cowboy fretted and fussed about being away from the other mares. My neighbor felt he had to tie Cowboy to keep him from injuring himself in his corral.
> 
> More terrific beautiful riding the next day. The predicted rain did not arrive. Yay! That night Windy decided that 4horses' electric was too weak to keep her in, and she got out twice. Poor 4horses had to get up in the night several times to put Windy back in, finally gave up, woke me and I tied Windy next to Cowboy.
> 
> I hate tying a horse while camping, but Cowboy was being terrible. Then the rain arrived. I had put a tarp over my tent as I knew it leaked. The tarp did a fairly decent job of keeping the top dry, but the rain came down in torrents, and it leaked underneath. My cot was an island in a puddle of water. I had rubber boots, which my toe could tolerate, so I could slosh to and from my cot. But I could only keep things like my CD player, flashlight, book, and tissues on my bed. My pillow slipped off the cot in the night and got soaked.
> 
> When we got up the next morning, there was no rain. We looked at the radar and saw no rain until 10 a.m. Saddle up and ride!!!! We had a wonderful time riding. We pushed the envelope just a little too hard and got caught in the rain coming in--we all were plenty wet, but it was so much fun.
> 
> It rained for most of that day. My neighbor has a DVD player in his horse trailer and we enjoyed watching horse movies. While we were watching movies, folks from another campsite knocked on the door. Windy had somehow unhooked herself from her tie-pole, and when she escaped, Cowboy smashed his panel corral and got out as well. It quit raining around 4:00 pm., so we went back out on the trails for a great evening ride.
> 
> The next day was glorious, crisp, cool, and clear,
> View attachment 1112265
> the way it often is after a hard rain. We rode all the way to another campground, through some spectacular trails. All horses were super well behaved. 4horses brought both her mares, usually ponying one. My Windy did the best ever on a camping trip. I was so proud of her.


Shangrila is an AWESOME place to ride! Honestly, anything along the Greenway is top notch.


----------



## Jolien

@
*knightrider*

YAY!!! Maybe they are trained to not take food from strangers (??) But if that was the case they wouldn't needlessly annoy horseback riders. K9 trained dogs are generally well behaved... 

Anyways I hope you're rid of them for good!


----------



## phantomhorse13

I got some saddle time this week, as momma nature allowed. The whole story is in my journal.

Monday, I started with Link:









Then it was George's turn:









Yesterday, I started with Link:









Then George got to walk the dogs:









2021 mileage
...

5/3link3.73 miles427 ft climb3.1 mph58F704.11 total miles5/3george3.35 miles331 ft climb4.3 mph62F707.46 total miles5/4link4.04 miles344 ft climb4.0 mph70F711.50 total miles5/4george2.04 miles197 ft climb4.0 mph75F*713.54 total miles*


----------



## weeedlady

My horses came home to live in our backyard this week!!!!! We still need to get more pasture fenced for them, but I am so excited to have them right here! I'm giving them a week to settle and then we'll be doing some riding. Dealing with my buddy sour gelding is going to be interesting to say the least.


----------



## egrogan

weeedlady said:


> Dealing with my buddy sour gelding is going to be interesting to say the least.


That's how I ended up with three horses 😉 So there's always _that _solution. Have fun settling everyone in.


----------



## gunslinger

Celeste, my buddy, now deceased, had both his knees replaced at the same time.....said he only wanted to go through it once.....he was back on his horse in 8 weeks..


----------



## PoptartShop

Gorgeous rides all!

Finally got Promise out for the first time in a month, considering she's been dealing with Lyme (about another 30 days on the meds, but she is doing well!). 

It was a beautiful day! Excited to hit the trails at Fair Hill soon though...

@Celeste sending good vibes your way!


----------



## charrorider

There are still lots of muddy traps on the trails that can suck the hoof boot right off. I smeared Chance's legs with zinc/oxide, like I saw the endurance riders do to keep ticks away from their horses. Not once did Chance reached down or stomp the ground to get rid of ticks. Will give it a second try, for sure. It was a nice day. We went 10 miles (16 km).


----------



## egrogan

It’s been dreary, cold spring and the world has just been grey. But today finally felt like turning a corner. Hoping for more good riding weather.



























*total 202*


----------



## CaliforniaDreaming

We’re deep in “June Gloom” already and it’s not even June! 😨. Yesterday wasn’t too horrible, as it cleared up rather nicely by the time I got to the ranch, but it was cold and gross all day today.

Yesterday was an adventure with the mare. We walked all the way to the end of the main driveway of the ranch property (almost to the main road) and back. We stopped to say hi to the neighbor’s young mare since the crazy dog wasn’t out.










Today Mitch and I headed out alone to the back of the property and just went on walkabout. It was cold. And gloomy. Sunny Southern California … yeah right!


----------



## egrogan

We're finally getting back into the swing of things now that the weather is more consistently spring-like. Still spending a lot of time on the roads, but we ventured into the woods a bit this weekend and it wasn't too muddy, just in predictable spots. Being able to use the woods trails will give us a lot more options now.

We rode close to 20 miles this weekend between Saturday and Sunday. Felt great!


























*Total 2021 miles: 77.2*


----------



## Saigold

Went out for a short ride yesterday. Mostly walk and a bit of trot and canter. We are trialing a mew horse and wanted to see how she rides. She was great. It was a nice warm day and all spring green beauty everywhere.


----------



## egrogan

Wow, @Saigold, that is _electric _green in your photos. Beautiful. I think we're a couple of weeks behind you in terms of things greening up. Hope your new mare works out for you!


----------



## CaliforniaDreaming

Goodness @Saigold bit that is a lot of green! it’s already starting to turn brown here. California’s got drought issues (again)

Plus, y’all riding in tank tops. I was in a sweatshirt yesterday. It’s “June Gloom” come early this year


----------



## Saigold

yes everything is nuclear green haha. My favourite colour of grass before it gets burnt off in the summer. We had an on and off spring with either +20C or snow, and we’re into summer temps and it’s spring. Just a weird start of the year that’s for sure. The horses can’t figure out if they should be shedding or hanging on to it. Most of them are still patchy.
I sure hope she passes the vet check as she’s a great floaty ride and a gentle personality. She didn’t get out much and was eye balling the kids wagon and other nee to her things and walking cautiously but still came at them with curiosity and no funny business. I’m cautiously optimistic with her.


----------



## weeedlady

I had the first ride in my backyard on Saturday. Tucker and I just went to the back of our property and then came home. Only about 1 mile but it was pretty cool to be riding my own trail! Best part? Other than seeing some turkeys it was uneventful.








Then Raven and I rode on Sunday. Again, just in our backyard. 2.26 miles. No cows (I learned on Friday she is terrified of cows), no turkeys and my girl was perfect. We even had a bit of canter up the "fairway".

Taking it slowly until the horses get more settled in our new home. We will be out exploring soon!


----------



## knightrider

Last week-end @4horses, my neighbor, and I spent 4 days riding at McCulley Farm in Jasper, Florida. The vet lost the Coggins for 4horses, so Harmony couldn't go, but I was happy to bring Acicate for 4horses. I was on Windy, my daughter's horse. Windy needs the experience, and we had lots of good experiences. It was one of the best camping trips ever. We rode on and on. We figured out that over the 4 days,







we rode 48 miles. Many of the trails go along the Withalacoochie River, which is quite beautiful.

One evening, @4horses and I took Windy and Aci to the obstacle course they have at the farm. The horses have been there lots of times. They didn't do any of the obstacles they don't like to do, but they did all the ones they have done in the past. A huge tree had fallen on the teeter totter, so we couldn't try that one. The wide bridge had disintegrated, and I still feel the narrow bridge with no sides over a deep ravine is just not safe enough for an inexperienced horse to try. I want to do several narrow bridges over shallow ravines before I ask my horse to do that challenging obstacle. If the horse should panic and come off the bridge, it would possibly get hurt and the rider also.

We rode to a place called Pot Spring (hmmm, wonder where that name came from?), tied the horses up, went for a swim and then a picnic. Then we explored some new trails we hadn't done, and finally arrived home at 3:00. Long day but super fun.

One evening the people who were camped next to us put up a large sheet between 2 trees and projected the movie "Snowman" for anyone to see who wanted to come. I had always wanted to see that movie because I actually saw Snowman compete at the Washington International Horseshow when I was 9 or 10 years old. Then, after the show, I got to go pet Snowman. That was a big thrill then, and great to finally see the movie. It was quite different from the book, so if you can see the movie and read the book, I recommend doing both.

We had perfect weather for riding, swimming, and cool at night for sleeping. The bugs were not bad at all. We had more ticks than McCulley usually has, but ticks are not too bad in that area.


----------



## lb27312

@knightrider - I LOVE McCully farms! I've actually drove from NC a few times to go there.... Also a couple of friends came from NC to join me there as I said how great it was... I got a hoody sweatshirt from there that says "what happens at McCully Farms stays at McCully Farms".. we all went out to a restaurant one night and stopped at the spring swimming hole and me and one other person jumped in with our clothes on! lol! Probably the tequila kept us warm...

I went camping this week as well... went up to Blowing Rock... weather was great!! Didn't track my miles but I think it was about 25 for the few days... Pictures don't do it justice but I tried.... it's so pretty up there.


----------



## SueC

Beautiful photos, @knightrider! 🎶🎈⛺🦄🌲

Is that the famous Curmudgeon?


----------



## carshon

@knightrider when your neighbor is done with that little horse I am ready to ship it to NW IL! Love the color!!! So glad you had a good camping trip and @4horses was able to ride your bestie


----------



## knightrider

SueC said:


> Is that the famous Curmudgeon?


Yes, that's him! @carshon , that cute lil' horse is a gaited spotted saddle horse with a nice smooth gait. He got her cheap because you couldn't get near her ears. When we went to look at her, it took 2 people to get her bridle on--that's unbuckling the bridle and passing it over her head. She was rearing and plunging and jumping sideways. My neighbor is a good ol' boy who has worked with horses his whole life. He hooks a bungee cord to a hole in the bridle, tosses it over her head, unhooks the bungee cord and buckles the bridle as fast as most people can get a regular bridle on a calm horse.

@lb27312 , I wish you had come along too! Your pictures of Blowing Rock are spectacular!


----------



## knightrider

@4horses also sent me pictures of that super fun ride we did at the rich peoples' estates, where the bridle trails wind along the Santa Fe River. She also sent really nice ones of McCulley, which my computer did not accept. But here are some great photos of these trails. It would be fun to live there if I could afford it, but the taxes!!! 4horses works there training horses, so we got to come in.


----------



## charrorider

After not having been out for a couple of weeks due to muddy trails, I went out yesterday for a ride. I can't believe how muddy and sloppy the trails are. Never seen the trails in such state this late in May. Then, last night we got another 1.5" of rain. That heavy, red clay mud will suck any hoof boot out.


----------



## phantomhorse13

A couple weeks back, I took Phin and Link to a competition in New Hampshire. The whole story is in my journal.

Saturday, I rode Link:





























Sunday, I rode Phin:





























2021 mileage:
...

5/7link1.02 miles33 ft climb3.2 mph50F714.56 total miles5/8link25.12 miles3009 ft climb6.2 mph56F739.68 total miles5/9phin0.50 miles43 ft climb3.2 mph40F740.18 total miles5/9phin50.29 miles5863 ft climb6.9 mph60F*790.47 total miles*


----------



## carshon

I got to ride twice this past weekend! Yeah for me!!! On Sunday I rode with friends. I have to be honest and say it was not the most pleasant ride. My friend of a friend that I met last year purchased a nice gaited gelding in August 2020 and was a little intimidated by his faster gaits. She sent him for 30 days with a gaited horse gal locally and she rode him Sunday. The ride started out with my daughter and I leading - our horses walk out and her gelding wanted to as well - she got in his mouth with that long shanked gaited horse bit the gaited horse gal told her to use and her gelding got a little light in the front end. So she asked if she could lead - and she did -------- at a snails pace. Our other friend was behind her so that left DD and I taking up the rear. Our horses were trying to be good but that slow pace left them very frustrated. We had to keep half halting and stopping so we weren't walking over top of the two in front of us. We rode for a little over an hour with them taking turns leading. My mare was tossing her head by now and just miserable with the constant half halts. They wanted to go back to the trailer to meet gaited horse girl so we headed back. In an open field going back DD and I rode beside them and eventually passed them. In all fairness I have been working with an issue with Tillie where she get rushy when she knows she is headed back to the trailer. We head down a steepish hill (DD and I are in front) and the two behind are yelling for us to slow down - they both were fighting their horses to not get too fast and wanted me to stop. I did but Tillie was super mad by now and throwing her head and I was just circling her and asking for her to listen. We are headed back to a super crowded parking area and my horse is jigging the entire way as I am weaving her and half halting to get her to slow down. DD is having the same issue with her horse as are the other two. What a mess! We get back to the trailer and gaited horse girl is there and was told that the horse was kind of naughty and her answer was to get on him and make him gait very quickly up and down the road in the parking area. What this was supposed to accomplish I am not sure.

So Monday DD says I am not riding with them - too slow and too much drama. So we rode alone at a different park. Much better! We got to gait, got to walk out and just had a good time - except Tillie and I hit a turkey bomb. It had hidden itself so well in the tall grass at the side of the trail that neither of use saw it - Tillie stepped off the trail because of a killer stump on the other side of the trail and the Turkey flew up right under her chin (literally) and right toward DD. I screamed like a girl as Tillie jumped up in front and swung to the side. I would have come off but my free hand slapped down on her shoulder and thankfully I grabbed her breast collar to keep myself from going off over her shoulder. We got ourselves together and laughed it off and away we went. We say a gorgeous owl, a few deer and more turkeys. We rode 2 hrs and 20 minutes and just a little over 9 miles. It makes me think of the pace @phantomhorse13 must have to keep to in order to finish her rides in the time alotted.

All in all just thankful to be able to ride 2 x in a weekend


----------



## charrorider

carshon said:


> I got to ride twice this past weekend! Yeah for me!!! On Sunday I rode with friends. I have to be honest and say it was not the most pleasant ride. My friend of a friend that I met last year purchased a nice gaited gelding in August 2020 and was a little intimidated by his faster gaits. She sent him for 30 days with a gaited horse gal locally and she rode him Sunday. The ride started out with my daughter and I leading - our horses walk out and her gelding wanted to as well - she got in his mouth with that long shanked gaited horse bit the gaited horse gal told her to use and her gelding got a little light in the front end. So she asked if she could lead - and she did -------- at a snails pace. Our other friend was behind her so that left DD and I taking up the rear. Our horses were trying to be good but that slow pace left them very frustrated. We had to keep half halting and stopping so we weren't walking over top of the two in front of us. We rode for a little over an hour with them taking turns leading. My mare was tossing her head by now and just miserable with the constant half halts. They wanted to go back to the trailer to meet gaited horse girl so we headed back. In an open field going back DD and I rode beside them and eventually passed them. In all fairness I have been working with an issue with Tillie where she get rushy when she knows she is headed back to the trailer. We head down a steepish hill (DD and I are in front) and the two behind are yelling for us to slow down - they both were fighting their horses to not get too fast and wanted me to stop. I did but Tillie was super mad by now and throwing her head and I was just circling her and asking for her to listen. We are headed back to a super crowded parking area and my horse is jigging the entire way as I am weaving her and half halting to get her to slow down. DD is having the same issue with her horse as are the other two. What a mess! We get back to the trailer and gaited horse girl is there and was told that the horse was kind of naughty and her answer was to get on him and make him gait very quickly up and down the road in the parking area. What this was supposed to accomplish I am not sure.
> 
> So Monday DD says I am not riding with them - too slow and too much drama. So we rode alone at a different park. Much better! We got to gait, got to walk out and just had a good time - except Tillie and I hit a turkey bomb. It had hidden itself so well in the tall grass at the side of the trail that neither of use saw it - Tillie stepped off the trail because of a killer stump on the other side of the trail and the Turkey flew up right under her chin (literally) and right toward DD. I screamed like a girl as Tillie jumped up in front and swung to the side. I would have come off but my free hand slapped down on her shoulder and thankfully I grabbed her breast collar to keep myself from going off over her shoulder. We got ourselves together and laughed it off and away we went. We say a gorgeous owl, a few deer and more turkeys. We rode 2 hrs and 20 minutes and just a little over 9 miles. It makes me think of the pace @phantomhorse13 must have to keep to in order to finish her rides in the time alotted.
> 
> All in all just thankful to be able to ride 2 x in a weekend


Turkey bomb? I didn't know that's what they were called. I can't count how many times I've set one of those off in these wooded trails...and deer bombs, rabbit bombs, vulture bombs, and armadillo bombs. But is not too bad. These Arabians don't go crazy. And speaking of Arabians, I've been told the endurance riders that take part in the God's Country Endurance Race in my home turf that they average 6-7 mph...and it is not easy terrain.


----------



## weeedlady

Tucker and I went for a real ride today! After a warm up in our woods to be sure he was listening we headed down the road and around the corner to our other property. 5.24 miles. 1 hour 39 minutes. We encountered dogs, cars, a school bus, and....cows







. Tucker did great. He even walked home on a loose rein (almost).


----------



## phantomhorse13

I have gotten some saddle time in the last couple weeks. The whole story is in my journal.

On the 14th, I hopped on George to take Kestrel out:









Last Tuesday, George got to supervise Kestrel and Kali:









Last Thursday, George got to walk the dogs again:









Last Friday, I got George out:









Monday, I was pleased to have enough time to sneak in a ride on Phin:

















Tuesday, I started with Link:









Next up was Phin:

















2021 mileage
...

5/14george4.72 miles518 ft climb4.4 mph76F795.19 total miles5/18george2.57 miles249 ft climb4.5 mph80F797.76 total miles5/20george2.25 miles220 ft climb3.3 mph82F800.01 total miles5/21george3.09 miles331 ft climb3.5 mph85F803.10 total miles5/24phin6.88 miles1010 ft climb4.8 mph87F809.98 total miles5/25link2.11 miles213 ft climb3.1 mph60F812.09 total miles5/25phin8.51 miles1358 ft climb5.6 mph63F*820.60 total miles*


----------



## phantomhorse13

Still playing catch up.. the whole story is in my journal.

Thursday, I started with Phin:

























Then, it was George's turn:

















Friday, I started with Link:









Then was George:

















2021 mileage
...

5/27phin5.66 miles1135 ft climb4.6 mph75F826.26 total miles5/27george5.07 miles545 ft climb4.7 mph82F831.33 total miles5/28link0.64 miles20 ft climb3.7 mph50F831.97 total miles5/28george7.41 miles997 ft climb4.8 mph52F*839.38 total miles*


----------



## weeedlady

Today I rode Raven over to our other place, same route that Tucker and I did yesterday. She also did really well and we even made it past some cows without a melt down  We got back to the house just as a storm was rolling in. We got some much needed rain and the ponies enjoyed a shower.


----------



## SueC

@weeedlady, that new place you're living is very forested and pretty - the satellite photo really impressed me with how forested it is! Raven looks in great shape.

@phantomhorse13, your dog has really grown up and the countryside around you is so pretty, except for those horrible electricity lines...

@carshon, I don't like riding with plodders either - and what on earth are plodder riders doing riding gaited horses???

I don't have any photos for anyone. I've not ridden much this past month because there's been so much else on and also the weather has been crazy - we had two severe weather warnings on two consecutive weekends. I have four new calves just off milk which came the morning of the first weekend and have had my hands full getting them settled in so they would stay in the shelter in the worst of the weather (lots of food - but you wouldn't believe how much they mess up their shelter and poop in their food compared to horses). Oh, I suppose I can pop in a photo of them but it's a bit naughty doing this on a trail riding thread.

Two are eating hay in the shelter and you can see the other two in the tree lucerne hedge munching away. I was harvesting our eating corn and you can see some plants in the foreground for them to eat, after I took the cobs off!

The first weekend had sleet and howling winds and even snow on Bluff Knoll. The calves used the shelter - hooray. The horses were in their rugs.

Last weekend we had 60mm of rain on the Sunday and the soil all around here is still totally waterlogged, including in my food garden - I'm unable to plant until things get less sloshy. When the soil dries out a bit I might go riding again.

But we have been riding our bicycles and hiking regardless of the weather. We even did a 25km walk in rugged terrain about a month ago - that's a record for us. We've done 21 km a couple of times but this was a personal best. The coastline we walked on was amazing:

But when I say the weather is wet, I'm not kidding. Our boots got completely soaked on that walk...



This is my "aluminium steed"...

Brett and I are doing sections of the local rail trails at the moment in breaks of weather.


I've got touring tyres so I do OK on these trails, they're pretty firm. I'm a roadbike rider from way back and I prefer my roadbike even for firm off-road.

These rail trails are share trails between hikers (we don't hike them ourselves, too flat), cyclists and horse riders - indeed in 2009 I did this very same section with Sunsmart when he was agisted in Albany, with a trail riding group. Nice scenic outing but all plodders. I don't have a trailer for the horse so I just ride it locally around our farm, which does have plenty of trails. I'm doing a bit of bareback again but my posterior is chafing pretty quickly doing that these days for some reason.

If any of you like these photos and want to see the full sets, just click on any to take you to the home page.

And because I can't leave you without any horse stuff, here's some goofing on horseback the week I turned half a century old...











I promise that when I do return to some trails I will take my little iPod and take photos...


----------



## weeedlady

@SueC our new home is very close to the Hiawatha National Forest and quite a few tracts that belong to the State of Michigan. Yep, we have trees here. Lots and lots of trees!


----------



## SueC

You might like this song, @weeedlady, which is from just a little bit to the north of you! 🥳

He doesn't appreciate trees like I do and you probably do, but I also think he's got his tongue firmly in his cheek...


----------



## charrorider

Celebrating National Trails Day with my trail partner, Chance. We rode 8.5 miles (!3.7 km). The trails at Cole Creek are still a mess. All the rain we've had on top of the annual endurance race, which was held on very wet grounds, hasn't helped at all. The endurance competitors have as much a right to these trails as anyone else. But I do hope that if common sense doesn't prevail, the Mark Twain tells them they can't hold the race until June, at the earliest.


----------



## egrogan

We've been dodging rain and work meetings the last few weeks, so I've been mostly a weekend warrior with the occasional weekday morning ride thrown in when I can. It's also been extraordinarily hot and humid, which wrecks my motivation a bit if I'm being honest. But the rides we've had have been really good, despite the humidity and bugs. A sampling of photos below:












































This weekend (Sunday) we are doing our first official intro endurance ride. I'm getting really excited for it!

*Total 2021 miles: 119.6*


----------



## charrorider

My wife and I spent a couple of days riding the trails in Pomme de Terre Lake. The trails were just as muddy as the ones at home. but a lot less buggy. Also, the trails were not as well marked. I took Ibn, even though he doesn't do well in new situations. And true to his character, he didn't eat as well as he would've at home, always looking for a monster to jump out of the bush. He was better out on the trail. My wife's horse as mellow as can be, as always. On one of the pictures Ibn is looking at two kayakers out in the lake, wondering, "What the...?" But you probably can't see them. They're a couple of tiny specks. I notice them only because I know where they are.


----------



## whisperbaby22

The weather here has been great, it will get hot soon so I'm getting as much riding in as possible.


----------



## Celeste

I appreciate all the good wishes. I wanted to like all the posts and reply directly to some, but the forum wouldn't let me. 
@gunslinger I really wanted to do both knees at once. The doctor won't do it. Also, I have had to wait ages to get the first one done. My first knee replacement is June 29. They say that the second one will be around 6 weeks later. I'll believe that when I see it. I wish that I started with a different doctor. If this one puts me off again, I have the next one picked out. 

I enjoyed everybody's pictures. I am glad that I finally got on the forum at all. I rarely get a notification. When I do, it is for a post that is not interesting. Also, I have not really been spending much time on the computer except for work. 

Hopefully I will start keeping up better and live vicariously through all of you.

Celeste


----------



## gunslinger

Good to see your post Celeste......we went to Wranglers Campground at Land between the Lakes last week.......the heat and humidity were awful.....still managed 15 miles on Thursday, 12.6 on Friday, and 6.8 on Saturday.....


----------



## Jolien

oh man... I miss riding. I love to look at all your pics! Last time I rode was on a stallion when a friend of mine decided I worked too much and she booked a trail ride for us. That's a month ago now.  But I am looking into leasing a horse to go onto trailrides with! <3


----------



## weeedlady

I've been getting a short ride almost every evening, mostly in our "backyard" or down the road to our other property. Both horses are settling in and getting better every ride (except poor Raven encounter her first turkey bomb the other day and that set us back a bit). Our weather has been gorgeous, but the flies are really bad. 
Dear Husband made me this mounting block today......I love it.


----------



## charrorider

A planned two day horse camping trip to the Lead Mine Conservation Area turned into a short 7.5 mile (12 km) ride. We just couldn't get away from the farm. And then today, storms kept threatening. But at least I finally, finally, broke 100 miles (162 km) for 2021.


----------



## weeedlady

Tucker and I had an adventure yesterday. At the back of our property is this no trespassing sign and lots of barbed wire making it clear that we should not go down that trail. But look how inviting it looks! and it leads to 650 acres of public land. I've been resisting the call for 6 months, but yesterday evening I just had to do it!
The flies were really bad so we didn't stay out long- only about an hour- but it was so fun to explore! And Tucker was really good.


----------



## CaliforniaDreaming

@weeedlady, I'd die for the chance to ride directly off my property onto extensive trails. I'd need to win the lottery though; I'm not sure if I want to leave this town and the only place one can really just ride out the driveway onto trails is probably Montecito (hey, maybe Oprah, Harry and Megan can be my neighbors 😂) or Hope Ranch. Either way, it's gonna be millions of dollars. So lotto it is.

I've been riding Mitch quite a bit. Not really tracking my miles, but just trying to make sure I get all my rings on my Apple Watch filled. It's got an exercise option for equestrian sports, so riding Mitch out fulfills Movement and Exercise. I'll be signing up for Virtual Tevis again this year and making plans. I'd like to get more of my miles off-property this year. Unfortunately, a riding buddy moved her horse over an hour away and I guess with free trailer parking she's probably not going to be able to ride with me much anymore (she'd have to drive an hour there, an ghour back and then an hour there again and i can't see that being a routine thing. I suppose if she came and used my trailer to haul my horse, we could go up there together, we'll see how that works out)

Jet went out with us today. I've been ponying her the last few outings in tack because for some reason, I think it perks her up even more and she feels important like she has a job to do and gets her on her toes. Plus, it's not like I had to buy anything for her since we already had it, and it would just be sitting in my shed collecting dust otherwise. We went past the upper barn today. I've been keeping her down below the past year and a half, but I'm hoping now to start venturing up on the upper trails with her as it's not too hilly and she's been showing me she wants more and more. She was very spunky and prancey today, and very eager to go.









Always my favorite view, the world between those ears









Who's ponying who here? I know it's technically not good form to let the ponied horse get ahead (and if it weren't for the fact that we're not in a good place for it, I'd totally let her off lead and she can either go ahead or follow us) but she was sooooo happy to get out in front, her ears perk up and she thinks she's on top of the world.









All dressed up with somewhere to go. Can't figure out why her saddle slips a bit. My gut feeling is that I'm not moving it forward enough with her shark withers, and that I probably haven't tightened the cinch enough (but she gets right ****y about that if I do ... mares!) I'll try some things on Sunday since that's her next time to get ponied and see if that helps.









There's my ole girl. She's got the heart of a lion and has no quit. Gotta love those old Morgans. Ponying has been very good for her. Handwalks were wonderful, but she's moving a lot better these days which only is because I decided that I was going to take a chance and pony her. gotta give her something to do and keep her 'occupied' if she's going to live forever after all.


----------



## weeedlady

Last summer there was a virtual Tevis Race that @knightrider and I (and perhaps some others, I can't remember) took part in. We were challenged to ride 100 miles in 100 days and we got a Tshirt. A $65 Tshirt, no less. Don't laugh, it was fun!

I just got an email that tells me they are doing the virtual race again this year. I think I will sign up. I just need to figure out how to do it. The newsletter I got gave no info other than it starts July 24th.

I just found it online. registration begins tomorrow. I'm gonna do it. @knightrider ? how about you?


----------



## lb27312

Whelp I did it! Captain turned 4 earlier this month... I got him as a yearling and just let him be him for a while. I would pony him off my other guys quite a bit. Then earlier this year I sent him off for training but really the number of days he was actually worked didn't work out to that many as it was February and VERY wet. He developed an abscess so decided to bring him home early, so all in all not that many rides but I will take it! Anyhoo I've been on him but mostly in the round pen, went out to my neighbors once and we rode around her place.

Well I was talking to my friend and I asked if she wanted to go riding Sunday, she did and then I asked another friend if she would ride one of my other horses (Chal). I told them this is going to be Captain's inaugural TRAIL ride.... we get my two loaded and meet up early today as it is HOT! And humid... ugh. These two friends made sure I knew that whatever I needed I would get! So all in all great ride. There was one legitimate bolt as it was my choice to ride by NC states breeding barn to see if there were any babies in the pasture. There was a stud out there that he was fine us going past and there was even a big mower going in the pastures. But once past the stud the stud took off running causing Captain to bolt. He could have taken advantage of that and dumped me but he came right back to me! I was super proud of him.... I think he's a little lazy and I will work on that later once I get a lot more rides on him. I did get to get a nice jog out of him... yay! Oh the bugs were terrible! That made Captain a little cranky towards the end but he did ok...


----------



## CaliforniaDreaming

weeedlady said:


> Last summer there was a virtual Tevis Race that @knightrider and I (and perhaps some others, I can't remember) took part in. We were challenged to ride 100 miles in 100 days and we got a Tshirt. A $65 Tshirt, no less. Don't laugh, it was fun!
> 
> I just got an email that tells me they are doing the virtual race again this year. I think I will sign up. I just need to figure out how to do it. The newsletter I got gave no info other than it starts July 24th.
> 
> I just found it online. registration begins tomorrow. I'm gonna do it. @knightrider ? how about you?


Don’t forget the sticker that looked like the Tevis buckle.

I’ve got plans to sign up.


----------



## knightrider

I didn't get a sticker, but I did get a lovely long sleeved tee shirt. I am planning on signing up again also. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed making the milestones and pretending I was riding the places I would have ridden if I had actually done the Tevis. It was also fun riding it with @CaliforniaDreaming and @weeedlady .

I won first place in Pasos for Pleasure last year, and the write-up I made was about doing the Virtual Tevis ride on Acicate. They published it in their magazine with a picture of me in my tee shirt on Acicate.

@lb27312 , there's nothing like that first real trail ride, is there? Every time I do one of those with a new young horse, I think about the day when climbing on that horse will be old hat, my tried-and-true trusty mount that I love so much. I think it helps me not to be so anxious, to think about in years to come how the horse will be utterly dependable one day, and this very first real ride will be nothing but a happy memory.


----------



## carshon

I am just checking in. The weather in NW IL has been horrid. Drought conditions with horrible humid days with rain North and South of my area but no rain here. I have been riding but with little to no pictures. New hips are great and it feels so good to ride pain free. Hopeful to hit some new to me trails in the next few weeks.


----------



## weeedlady

@carshon yay for pain free riding!


----------



## rambo99

Been a long time since I posted on this thread. We've been in drought had some rain now a few times. 

Brown grass is starting to green up slowly. Far from needing mowed,good thing mower broke last time I mowed. Hubby has no clue it's broken never told him. Not difficult to fix one of cotter pins broke that hold mowing deck up. So front part of deck in sitting on the ground.

Any way been riding doing 10 mile rides so same loop of trail. Bugs are horrible deer flies swarm it's ridiculous. So have to move along at fast trot or canter. Mosquitos are horrible too at least you can repel them. Deer flies aren't fazed by deet or any bug repellent. 

So far have 895 miles total this year. Had a few rides we did shorter loop of trail, rode after dark with head lamps. 

Haven't been taking many pictures don't always bring phone. Took a few pictures Saturday as deer flies weren't as bad was cloudy an cool. Not sure if riding will happen today storms are coming in, 100 percent chance for rain today. 

Here's a few pictures from Saturdays ride. First pic is of storm moving in this morning.


----------



## egrogan

I haven't been good about posting over here lately either, but I love keeping up with everyone's rides. @carshon, glad the surgeries have been so effective. @rambo99 , good to see rain in your forecast and hope the pasture/hay situation improves. @lb27312 - look at that handsome baby being so brave out on the trail! Congrats on all your work with him paying off 

We've also had a horrible year for bugs so far, and the horses really have a tough time ignoring when those nasty deer flies are terrorizing them. I was riding with the full-face Quiet Ride mask but I found it seemed to make my rock-solid mare a little spooky moving in and out of sunny spots; she would shy away from shadows across the road or the trail and just act unusually jumpy in places we've ridden dozens of times. So I'm back to just riding in the fly bonnet, even though some rides she acts likes she'll probably die if she can't stop to scratch the swarming bugs off her face. Fortunately, until this past weekend, it hasn't been _too _hot so we've ridden a lot this month. Unfortunately the heat and humidity are here, and will stick around through this week, so not sure what the rest of the summer will hold for us.

An assortment of rides from the past month:












































We also did our first intro endurance ride a couple of weeks ago. It was great weather and a fun experience! As people told me would happen, my horse found a trot gear I didn't know existed, and that was amusing. She seemed to like the idea of being a "real" endurance horse. We'll do a couple of other rides later in the season. I don't quite feel ready to tackle the 25 mile limited distance rides, but there will be other options for 10-15 mile intro rides that are perfect for us.

















*Total 2021 miles: 176.3*


----------



## weeedlady

The deer flies make my rides miserable also! Hate them!


----------



## egrogan

PS- I would love to do the virtual Tevis with you all this year. Will someone post the link to sign up when they have it?


----------



## weeedlady

2022 Tevis Cup - Virtual Western States Trail - 100 Miles in 100 Days


The 2022 Tevis Cup - Virtual Western States Trail - 100 Miles in 100 Days is on Wednesday April 6, 2022 to Sunday July 17, 2022. It includes the following events: Tevis Cup Virtual 2022 - Riding Division and Tevis Cup Virtual 2022 - Non-Riding Division.




runsignup.com





I believe this^^^should get us to the Tevis sign up @egrogan. I don't know how to make it a link.


----------



## egrogan

Thanks @weeedlady -that worked! I will go ahead and sign up


----------



## Txshecat0423

I am somewhat of an introvert in that I usually only have to be told “no” once and don’t push the issue (except where my son’s medical treatment is concerned). I can go days or weeks without speaking to another human other than my husband .
Since we moved, I haven’t been riding with a single other person or checked out any of the trails around here. Well today I am putting myself out there and meeting another woman I met on one of my FB riding groups, and checking out one of the trails others have recommended. 

My son is finally out of the hospital and after crying rivers last night and being sad about the situation, I need to be horseback.

Wish me luck! It has rained a lot and I thought I was going to have to cancel due to not being able to get trailer out of pasture, but with patience I did it! Off we go! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Txshecat0423

Well…my trail riding today was an adventure. The girl I rode with has no trailer but really wanted to trail ride so I offered to pick her up and take her and her horse along. I have a three horse gooseneck slant load trailer with mangers and a back tack. Her horse was 16.2-16.3….I had warned her it might be an issue as I have had quite a few horses refuse to load…guess they think there’s not enough room. Anyway she assured me he would load. Got there, he wouldn’t load. I asked about her assurances that he WOULD load…she said she meant EVENTUALLY he would load.

We finally got him loaded and off we went. I have never been to this particular lake park but she assured me she was very familiar with the trails and just LOVED going there. We get there and start riding the property…turns out she was there ONCE about six months ago with someone who knew the property very well. I mostly follow marked trails and am not much of a “trail blazer” but followed her lead since she said she knew the place (that was before I learned otherwise. We ended up hopelessly lost for HOURS in the Texas heat, had to call the park Rangers and then the EMS as I was dehydrated and overheated and couldn’t stay in the saddle…kept blacking out. We did not, of course,
have nearly enough water with us and had none for the horses at all as we didn’t plan on staying out that long.
Rangers found us, got horses back to the trailer and EMS checked me out. I was supposed to stay in the air conditioning, drinking water, but the girl’s horse wouldn’t load for almost an hour so had to be out helping her.

The good thing was I did get to ride and Skip was, as always, an absolute champion, but the rest of it doesn’t quite meet my definition of “fun”!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Txshecat0423

Oh and yes I’ve since received input about the apps I should be using and am downloading them right now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## lb27312

Oh no @Txshecat0423 - sorry that your first adventure out wasn't so great..... I hope that doesn't put you off on venturing out.... I know most like to go out on their own but I tend to like riding with others... I have a great group... I hope you can find someone thats more easy to ride with!


----------



## weeedlady

@Txshecat0423 sorry you had a not good adventure. Your next ride will be wonderful, I bet. 

I met a potential new riding friend and her horse yesterday. She doesn't like to ride alone and I need someone to show me trails around here so it should be a win for both of us...... I hope. 

Later today I will meet another girl who is willing to ride with me an show me around. I am such a social butterfly! I really prefer to ride alone, but sometimes having someone else along is fun too, particularly when I don't know the roads and trails all that well yet.

I took Raven out yesterday for a bit. We headed down the road to go over to our other property. The neighbor was mowing hay and we had to ride right past the tractor! That was traumatic, but she settled quickly and we went on our way. Then we came to the next big field and the same neighbor has put his cows in that pasture. Poor Raven was going to have a complete melt down., I didn't want to end up walking home by myself, lol, so we turned around and called it a day. I was really please with her actually. She is not a brave horse and she did well.


----------



## Txshecat0423

@lb27312 and @weeedlady, thank y’all! I’m not put off by the experience (I don’t think!), and will continue to make the effort. I just need to make sure I ride with people who know the trails or take responsibility myself for studying the maps and learning to work the apps available.

I too mostly prefer riding alone, but it is definitely a good thing to ride with others occasionally. On the trail ride, we encountered deer, goats, sheep, cattle, and dogs and Skip was calm as always. I really am very lucky that he’s mine!

Going to ride tomorrow in the local 4th of July parade (I believe it is in the top ten largest in the US), with some more new people I have met. We have lots of parade experience so that will be fun. Not exactly trail riding, but riding nonetheless [emoji3]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## weeedlady

Tucker and I went exploring next door yesterday evening. 3.26 miles.


----------



## charrorider

Took Chance out today. He hadn't done a lick of work in almost two weeks. We wandered around the woods, looking for a trail I had seen once. We couldn't find it, too much foliage. Finally, got to another trail and rode it a little bit. Going to ride in a farm tomorrow. That's going to be a laugh.


----------



## whisperbaby22

Happy 4th. I am not riding today, but have been getting some good rides in. I kind of like the park when it was a bit more wild, but I do really appreciate that I have it. And so close to my home, it is just so beautiful down there. 

Some of the new "improvements".


----------



## gunslinger

We spent the weekend of the fourth at Timber Ridge Horse camp at Big South Fork.....what a beautiful weekend, temps in the high 50's at night and mid 70's during the day.....and to think, normally its so hot and muggy you fight to survive.....

Speaking of that, we had two riders crash and burn.....both pretty hard landings......one wound up in the emergency room.....this morning she looked like she'd been in a fight....black and blue all over....

Thankfully, I wasn't one of them! Miss Lacy seemed to enjoy the trip too.....

Anyone camped at Hodges Alabama? Thinking about going there when the weather cools.


----------



## charrorider

Well, I did get to ride in the farm on the 4th. The farm had a lot of woods and I ended up riding more in the woods than on the fields. I just find the woods more interesting. Rode down to the Meramec River. The sandbar, which can be seen at the north end of the photo, was full of people and motor boats. It was noisy. Neither Chance nor I are use to that noise. Back into the woods we went. There were some pretty steep hills to negotiate. I think if the owners were inclined to hold an endurance race at the farm, it might be worth a try.


----------



## egrogan

Love that picture with the tree, @charrorider! If they did hold that endurance ride, it should be on the poster 😉


----------



## Oreos Girl

Does anyone that follow this thread (my internet friends) live near Blacksburg or Wythevillle, VA? I am meeting up with my dad and we are traveling together for a week and need a place to park a car for that week. Just need a driveway basically.


----------



## knightrider

Too bad I can't help you out, @Oreos Girl . I don't live anywhere near VA.

Successful solo Windy ride today. This post is for all the people who have one of their horses that makes them just a little bit nervous. I love riding Windy in company, but sometimes when I take her out by myself, she jigs and jukes and bounces around all crazy on the way home. It's not like I can't ride her, but for some reason I get anxious on her when I don't get anxious on the other 3. It did not help that I had 2 bad unexplained, unexpected falls off of her this winter.

If I end up keeping Windy, (she's my daughter's horse) and I probably will because she is an awesome trail horse with a great running walk and super fun canter, I'll need her to go out solo. So, it has to be done, whether I look forward to it or not.

Today was the perfect day for a solo Windy ride. My neighbor thought it looked too much like rain; Windy has been out on pasture 24/7 (she sometimes plays up when she has to stay in the sacrifice pen), I wasn't tired or sore or unwell. I kept telling myself it was going to go great . . . and it did! Windy was lovely in every way.

Since the flies are just starting to be bad, I decided to try an experiment. Last year on Horse Forum, I asked if other riders had noticed that there are a lot fewer flies if you ride back the same way you came. Most people said that wasn't the case. For me, I have noticed that to be the case maybe 70% of the rides I do when flies are bad (and I do a lot of rides). So, I picked a part of the woods that was about a quarter of a mile long. I rode Windy back and forth along this quarter mile trail. Kinda boring for Windy, but with each successive pass along the trail, I encountered fewer and fewer flies. The first pass was pretty bad--lots of flies, coming back, half as many flies, not so bad, next pass, hardly any flies, and so on. It was certainly interesting. Windy has a nice ability not to mind going past trails that head for home, so she was a good choice for my experiment. And I was pleased as I could be with Windy's behavior and my management of her!


----------



## PoptartShop

Took Prom out this past weekend, in my bareback pad (it was a bit hot!).


----------



## weeedlady

We conquered a major milestone today. I rode Raven down the road past the spot where she had her in-hand melt down because of the cows. She remembered the spot but the cows weren’t there so we got past it. Went down the ATV trail for a bit then back home. 2.99 miles.


----------



## weeedlady

Today I rode with my new riding friend on one of her horses. Not sure why she wanted me to ride her horse and not my own, but it worked out just fine for our first outing together. About 4 miles on the ATV trail and around some farm fields. It's been lovely here the last few days-sunny and mid 70's. Very few bugs today even.


----------



## charrorider

weeedlady said:


> Today I rode with my new riding friend on one of her horses. Not sure why she wanted me to ride her horse and not my own, but it worked out just fine for our first outing together. About 4 miles on the ATV trail and around some farm fields. It's been lovely here the last few days-sunny and mid 70's. Very few bugs today even.


Is the atv trail open to horses? I don't think I've ever seen that here in MO.


----------



## Txshecat0423

Not trail riding exactly but rode my boy Skip in one of the local parades today:










Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## egrogan

charrorider said:


> Is the atv trail open to horses? I don't think I've ever seen that here in MO.


Where I live, they are. Both the ATV club and the snowmobile club do fabulous work maintaining trail systems. They won’t let each other use their respective trails, but weirdly they both let horses on their trail systems. I still don’t understand the animosity they have for each other, but I am grateful that horses have access pretty much everywhere. At least for now!

On an old logging road earlier today:

















*total 2021 miles: 186.0*


----------



## charrorider

egrogan said:


> Where I live, they are. Both the ATV club and the snowmobile club do fabulous work maintaining trail systems. They won’t let each other use their respective trails, but weirdly they both let horses on their trail systems. I still don’t understand the animosity they have for each other, but I am grateful that horses have access pretty much everywhere. At least for now!
> 
> On an old logging road earlier today:
> View attachment 1115476
> 
> 
> View attachment 1115477
> 
> *total 2021 miles: 186.0*


Not here. Anything with a motor has a separate trail. Although, there are some fights brewing about allowing electric trail bikes, or e-bikes, as they are called, on the same trails as horses, hikers and regular bikes.


----------



## weeedlady

regarding shared trails......We are in the UP. I'm new here, so I'm learning from others, but evidently it's pretty much anything goes. ATV and Snow mobile trails are pretty much one and the same. Old logging roads are everywhere. Everyone tells me its fine to ride horses on any of them. 

Today Tucker and I rode with another new friend. Such fun! She grew up here and so knows every little twist and turn of roads and trails. We met 1/2 way between her house and mine, and then we rode a nice loop through woods and fields. Tucker got to see sheep for the first time. He was pretty "looky" and distracted by them but he did just fine. My word for today is GLORIOUS.

I absolutely love my new home.


----------



## egrogan

@weeedlady - I'm so glad to hear your new home has such great riding around. I love the blue of your horse's bonnet against the blue skies in your pictures. Very striking. Looking at your pictures, I almost feel like we are out riding together even though we're so far apart, because your scenery looks so much like mine does.

Here's my own collection of rides on logging roads this weekend- today with my riding buddy and yesterday solo. We were swarmed by awful deer flies both days, but unfortunately this time of year it's hot and humid and there's really no avoiding them if you want to be out riding. This is the time of year I start daydreaming about fall coming 😉


























*Total 2021 miles: 195.8*


----------



## lb27312

Hi all! Beautiful pics as always! @weeedlady glad you are enjoying your new place! Trails look awesome!

A neighbor of mine has a place in the VA mountains…. around Ivanhoe. She is a big time rider, used to do endurance now does ride and ties. She invited me and another neighbor(non horse person) up for this weekend a while ago. Was looking forward to it. 

Thursday comes and Elsa(my cats name btw) hits…. pouring hard, called my friend and said it was coming down hard and would get out when I could…. decided to go ahead and load up and go anyway. Guys loaded quickly but still got drenched…. oh well. That’s a hard drive…. there’s one spot where it’s a straight climb on the way there and then the way back is a steep grade down glad to have what I have to do the job comfortably. 

Arrive and get settled and hit the trails. The trails were tough! Some were straight up and down… some slippery some rocky. Went out Thursday, Friday and Sat. Friday Challenger was a little bit of a handful on the way out leaving his brothers, but after the first climb settled nicely. Saturday the non horse person rode out on Wrangler…. we just told her what to do and when, she did great. Back at the cabin later she said she was so scared I said I couldn’t tell as she seemed pretty calm…. said she was listening intently to us… lol. Then we came back and tubed down the creek, it was fun, A great weekend!


----------



## weeedlady

@egrogan funny that you say that about our similar scenery. I have thought the same thing several times!
@lb27312 it looks like you had a really fun weekend.

Everyone's pictures look so nice. I was not able to ride today. Had 140 bales of hay delivered and I had to move it to the barn and stack it. DH helped me with the tractor until we got tired of arguing about how hay should be stacked. I sent him back to the house  I got done at about 11pm. Now I'm ready for a glass of wine, some aspirin and linament, and then to bed.


----------



## whisperbaby22

It's been a bit muggy, but the weather has generally been good, getting some good rides in. The sky has been really nice.


----------



## egrogan

Our ride yesterday put us over 200 miles for the year. We're still ahead of our pace from last year, which is great, but this month has been so wet we haven't been able to do as much as I'd hoped, so not sure how realistic our overall 2021 goal of 700 miles is. I'm still pushing towards it.

It hasn't rained in a couple of days now, but there is still water everywhere. The trail in the picture below never has running water on it. The ruts from washouts are getting much worse. And the bugs! Don't even get me started on the nasty horse flies. Really miserable.








My husband snapped a picture of us from his office window when we got home. Not sure what I'm actually doing in the saddle here, but I think I was about to get off and fumbling with the reins  I really need someone to take some _nice _pictures of me riding, the ones I have just aren't!!








We're all signed up for virtual Tevis, so we'll get started with that over the weekend. I'm guessing we'll be done in a month or so with the pace we're on.

If anyone is interested in following along with the actual Tevis riders this weekend, here is the link.

*Total 2021 miles: 208.7*


----------



## weeedlady

We had a great ride on Monday evening. I rode Tucker and my neighbor Clara rode Raven. She showed me how to get to town on dirt roads and on the snowmobile trail. 

























We stopped for ice cream before turning back for home. How fun is that?
We were out a bit later than expected and I hope Clara is not grounded because it was well past dark before we got home! I was probably 13years old the last time I rode by moonlight. 12.21 miles, 4 hours. I love it here.

Both horses got massages yesterday and were feeling good this morning.

I've got a total of 110 miles to date and ready to start the virtual Tevis with Raven tomorrow.


----------



## CaliforniaDreaming

Gonna have a slow start to our Virtual Tevis participation this year. Mitch hasn't been ridden in 2 weeks because my farrier went AWOL on me and the ponyface was already 2 weeks overdue. Sigh. (I heard there was an issue with someone else at my ranch, and we were the only 2 who used the guy). I might need to look at my options ASAP, and then we'll ease our way out of Virtual Base Camp. He needs to work! He's just been sitting eating his fat head off.

Have fun to those of you starting your rides! We'll catch up... at some point.


----------



## weeedlady

Raven and I logged our first Virtual Tevis miles today. 3.41 isn't much, but I wanted to do at least a bit on the first day. More planned for tomorrow.


----------



## egrogan

We started too @weeedlady - 6.5 solo miles yesterday.








*Total 2021 miles: 215.2*


----------



## weeedlady

Sunday Raven and I added 7.82 miles to our Tevis total. Part solo, part with new friends. The best of both worlds.


----------



## weeedlady

Today’s ride puts us 4.31 miles closer to the $65 T shirt. It was just past sunset when we got home at 9:30. Pretty sky.
Oh and Tucker is not being neglected. He and I had a short ride yesterday (1.85 miles). No pictures. The flies were horrible and neither one of us enjoyed it at all. Tomorrow will be better.


















I'm at 127.7 for the year and 15.5 for the virtual Tevis race. Waiting for the flies to go away!


----------



## knightrider

Our flies are hit and miss on each ride. I still haven't convinced my neighbor/riding buddy not to make big circles. Today we rode up and back twice where there were no (or hardly any) flies, just to please me. There are some places where there are 30 biting flies buzzing around my poor horse's head and other places where the tails are not even swishing. 

The only thing I can do to prove to him my theory of riding back the way you came is to count the flies every 5 minutes and record it. I am riding to relax and have fun, not prove stuff, so I deal with the flies as he enjoys making big circles . . . and at times, he humors me by backtracking.

I haven't started my Tevis miles yet, but I will start within a day or two, like the rest of you. I'm so happy so many of you are doing the Tevis. It's so much fun to pretend you are riding up Cougar Rock or swimming the river.


----------



## knightrider

This morning was a solo Windy ride, and since Windy is neither relaxing nor particularly pleasant riding solo, I decided to go ahead and do my fly experiment. First I started counting flies at five minute intervals, at exactly on the interval. After 10 minutes, I counted 2 flies at each counting session and the next 5 minutes, no flies, so that didn't seem like a good experiment. Of course, I picked trails where I knew there would be few flies. I decided to count belly kicks instead. Every time Windy kicked her belly, I counted.

I decided to make the time 35 minutes heading out and 35 minutes heading back because it would not be scientifically valid just counting up and back since Windy zooms home, bouncing and cavorting the whole way. Here's what I came up with: 55 belly kicks heading out for 35 minutes. 23 belly kicks coming home.

I can understand why many people on Horse Forum do not see fewer flies on the way home because there were still significant flies . . . on the other hand, there were fewer than half the number of flies riding the exact same route home.

@egrogan, can you help me make this more statistically accurate? Belly kicks are easy to count. Do you think belly kicks are an accurate representation? Is counting flies better? On my rides I seem to run into "fly pockets" where suddenly I am surrounded by horrible flies, and then other spaces where there are none. So if the "fly pocket" did not happen to be on one of the 5 minute intervals, it would not be counted.

In any case, it was a decent Windy solo ride, as far as solo Windy rides go, so I was happy. It kept my mind occupied rather than being worried about the bouncing and juking around that Windy likes to do when she doesn't have a friend along.


----------



## egrogan

@knightrider, I love citizen science 


knightrider said:


> Do you think belly kicks are an accurate representation? Is counting flies better


I'm not sure I would have picked belly kicks as a measure, as that's really not something Fizz seems to do when being bothered by flies on a ride- for her it's head shakes or nose scratches. But I don't think the measure matters as long as it is "valid" (that is, a meaningful-to-you behavior representing the phenomenon you're interested in) and that you're consistent in how you count it.

I wonder if it might make more sense to measure in distance vs. time. e.g., count for the first 1.5 miles out, and turn around and come back and count for the same 1.5 miles back. I would think that if the flies are "territorial" it might matter more that you travel the same territory completely, not the same amount of time in different territory? Not sure about that.

I think the thing to do now is repeat your experiment. Now you know the "baseline" - if you do this several more days in a row, do the results hold up?

Also, an alternative hypothesis for someone who knows about biology to weigh in on: If horses are being bitten mercilessly by flies, at some point do they essentially become "desensitized" and stop reacting? Or maybe after so many bites, the skin response isn't as dramatic? Or do horses just start to feel like big reactions are futile, since the flies keep attacking, so they don't bother reacting as often? If so, that could explain less of a horse response the longer you've ridden. Not sure if any of that holds up biologically.

Those are my musings for now. Curious to hear what other nerdy people think! 

*****
We made more progress on the Virtual Tevis Trail yesterday, passing Watson's Monument at mile 14. Apparently at this high point, you have a beautiful vista of Lake Tahoe behind you. Here is our vista overlooking our neighbor's beaver pond on our ride a couple of days ago 😉
















And a couple of pictures from riding with our friend M and her horse Coalie yesterday:


























*Total 2021 miles: 222.7*


----------



## weeedlady

@knightrider and @erogan in regard to flies. I don't see how a person could accurately count flies. There are too many and they don't sit still long enough to be counted. Our issue is not with horse flies, so not belly kicks, but the D**N deer flies !!!!!! Sometimes if feels like I'm in a horror movie.


----------



## knightrider

In Florida, we have few deer flies (thank goodness--In Maryland they are like your horror movies, YES!). We have large slow biting flies that hurt like crazy when they bite and draw blood. They are slow and easy to count. @egrogan , I see your point. It should be the exact same 1.5 miles in both directions, especially as we have "fly pockets" and areas with no flies at all. I am going to keep trying I think because it's kind of interesting.

What is also interesting to me is that people want to believe what they want to believe. They just say to me, "I don't experience that," as if that is that. "Don't confuse me with facts, my mind is made up."


----------



## weeedlady

Cooler temperatures and a nice breeze meant I could ride today with almost no flies!!! I was all ready to count flies but here were basically none. Yeah!

Tucker is not signed up for the Virtual Tevis. I can't afford two $65 T shirts. But I decided to keep track of his miles also, just because. He's got 5.6 miles so far.

No pictures today because I had my hands full. Tucker was jiggy for our entire ride. Heading home was interesting to say the least. I thought we were going to have to extend the ride past our driveway, but he decided to actually right before we turned and he walked up our drive nicely so I decided to call it good.


----------



## egrogan

I’ve been having so much fun with Virtual Tevis-it’s such a fun game to try to take pictures of landmarks here that represent the landmarks we’re “passing” on the real Tevis trail.

This morning was so beautiful, bright blue skies and plenty of sunshine, but chilly like a fall morning. Temps stayed below 60*F and there were almost no bugs!!

We went about 9 miles-on the Tevis trail, we left Watson’s Monument, through a boggy section of the Granite Chief Wilderness, and to a vet checkpoint at Lyon Ridge. Here is my interpretation of the Vermont version of that section of Tevis Trail 🤣

Watson’s Monument







Granite Chief Wilderness








…complete with boggy, washed out sections to dance around…







Finally out to a pretty clearing where we let the horses graze and eat apples for a few minutes before heading home.









I think Fizz is rolling her eyes at our little photo shoot 😉









Next up on our Tevis Route: Cougar Rock!

*Total 2021 miles: 231.6*


----------



## weeedlady

Raven and I had a really good ride today. That smear on her neck is from a fly that I squished-very satisfying! 
Working on that T shirt. We are up to 20.5 miles, It was such a pretty evening.


----------



## weeedlady

^^^my ride and pics above are from yesterday evening. I evidently forgot to click on "post reply".


----------



## knightrider

@egrogan , I love what you are doing, comparing your rides to the Tevis. I do that in my mind also, but your taking pictures and sharing it with us makes it extra fun.

Now I am hooked on my silly fly experiment. Just like in "real" science, my experiment today failed. Yesterday there were so few flies, that it wasn't worth trying to count anything. We picked the exact route this morning, but it was horrendous with flies. I had Chorro, who hates flies with a passion. He wasn't belly kicking, but egrogan gave me the idea of head shaking . . . so I counted headshakes for one mile exactly. I had 49 headshakes going out and 42 headshakes returning home. So, clearly, there was only minimally fewer flies this time. I was WRONG.

Here's the irony. My neighbor wasn't up to a 2 hour ride, so he went in, and I rode on. I rode in a different place because I do not have permission to ride in that area unless my neighbor is along. I had stopped counting headshakes and was just riding, but I surely wish I had given it another go, another mile. The flies were awful heading out and not so bad coming back. But I didn't count, so I don't have any proof.

I am not going to bore people any more with my fly experiments . . . but I am going to continue them now because I am intrigued.


----------



## weeedlady

@knightrider, I am not bored by your fly experiments! I'm not sure that I agree with you, but I am certainly paying more attention to when and where we encounter flies now. Please feel free to continue sharing your findings.

In my world.....Yesterday evening we trailered to a nearby bridle trail with a friend and her horse. I walked here a few years ago and imagined riding Raven. Now I am living my dream and so grateful.
This trail is 40 miles long, we rode 4miles out and back for a total of 8. Raven even went into the lake with very little hesitation- a first for us!


----------



## knightrider

We rode the same route again yesterday and there were almost no flies, either coming or doing. It was a super fun lovely ride. We rode almost 2 hours. But I didn't bother counting flies because there were hardly any. I've tried to figure out if it has to do with rain in the night or rain in the day, or hard rain, or no rain. It doesn't make any sense since we've had many flies and few flies with rain before, with no rain before, or whatever. We've had a nice year in Florida (sorry, you folks out west and in Canada who need rain so badly) with lots of rain and lots of sun, so I've had a chance to compare just about every situation, but can't make any sense out of when there are bad flies and when there are not. Thanks, @weeedlady for encouraging me!

With so much rain and so much sun, the ragweed is up to my hips as I ride through it. I'm not allergic to ragweed, thank goodness, but even I can feel my throat closing up a bit as we ride through those ragweed patches. If I were allergic . . . whew! What a mess that would be. Everyone's pastures are gorgeous!


----------



## TrainedByMares

Nicki and I try to stay away from the creek and the woods because of the flies and gnats! Deer flies are relentless here. The only way to stop them is to kill them. In this pic,we are coming up the driveway towards the equipment shed,staying out in the open between two pastures.


----------



## egrogan

We have been trucking right along on the virtual Tevis trail! We've done 27 miles since Friday, which now puts us over the halfway mark (52.1 virtual Tevis mile)! In this section of the trail, we've passed several milestones.









We moved out where we could on the gravel roads heading out of the VT version of Robinson Flat, and tried not to get dizzy looking over the twisty ledge above the streams.

































We enjoyed the sights of the pretty meadows around VT Last Chance.

















And Fizz tried to go over swinging bridge without me!!
















Fortunately I managed to get on and actually ride over the bridge before she left me behind to walk in the next 50 miles! 😉








*Total 2021 miles: 260.8*


----------



## TrainedByMares

Beautiful scenery! Egrogan , what kind of cap does Fizz wear ?


----------



## egrogan

TrainedByMares said:


> Beautiful scenery! Egrogan , what kind of cap does Fizz wear ?


Thank you! It was actually hand crocheted by a fellow HF member, @mkmurphy81, years ago. I wash it a few times a season inside a pillow case in the washing machine on low, and don't put it in the dryer. It's held up beautifully all these years. We fondly refer to it as "the orange ears" - I know I gave her some measurements but can't recall if she worked from a standard fly bonnet pattern or if she did it all freehand. My problem with buying a store brand was that my mares have broad foreheads but small ears, so nothing off the shelf fit right.


----------



## TrainedByMares

Yes, it looks good and it fits quite well


----------



## phantomhorse13

I am hopelessly behind but trying to catch up. Love seeing pics as everyone does the Tevis on their own trails. I am also enjoying the fly saga and will start paying attention more on my rides (tho honestly they seem terrible all the time now no matter what).

I have been to two competitions since my last post. The first was the Old Dominion in June where Phin and I attempted the 100. The whole story is in my journal.





























Next was Muckleratz in July. The whole story is in my journal. Phin and I attempted the 50 the first day:





























and rode Lapco in the 30 the second day:





























2021 mileage
...

7/3phin30.88 miles3356 ft climb7.9 mph80F1014.61total miles7/4lapco31.65 miles3499 ft climb6.3 mph85F*1046.26 total miles*


----------



## weeedlady

@egrogan thank for sharing your pics. Lovely scenery. 

I haven't ridden for over a week. Last Wednesday we only managed 1.4 miles. Raven would not go past the cows that live down our road (again!!!!). We both got pretty worked up, so I decided it was best to cut things short and head back home. Since then I've been kind of discouraged and I've talked myself out of riding, using the weather and the flies as my excuse. I need to get myself motivated again!


----------



## egrogan

@weeedlady - Fizz has a hard time with cows too, especially when they’re right up against the fence on the road. I wish I had brilliant suggestions, but getting off and just walking her by seems to be the best solution in a lot of cow encounters. She can escalate pretty quickly and it’s clear it really is fear. But if we just walk past, the escalation is much less dramatic and she gets over it faster. After doing that a few times in a spot where there are usually cows, we’re riding past them now. Hope Raven gets used to it, I know it’s really not fun!! 🐂🐄


----------



## knightrider

Windy hates cows AND pigs. I can usually take Windy far enough away from the cow pasture that I can ride her past, but I have to dismount and lead her past the pigs. And she gives loud danger snorts after she gets past them.


----------



## weeedlady

Same here, if they are not up by the road we are ok. I'm honestly afraid to get off to lead her- tried that once got away from me and took off running. I think with another horse she would be ok, so we are going to work with that. I'm also putting up fence at our "camp". I will take them over there and they will be pasture right next door to 100 or so cows. She'll get over it (I think).

We have yet to encounter pigs...or the sheep...


----------



## knightrider

An Eventful Ride

This morning was Aci's turn, and he's the one I am doing the Tevis Challenge with, AND my neighbor couldn't ride with me today . . . so I decided to brave the Anatolian Shepherds and ride one of my favorite trails which goes on for miles and would allow me to put on a few Tevis Challenge miles.

I loaded up my little pack with cut-up smoked sausage, shut my little dog in the feedroom (the Anatolian owner insists that my little dog causes the Anatolians to bite us, so I never bring her when I go past those dogs), and headed out for a fun 8 mile ride.

Since I was solo, I decided to do my fly experiment. I chose the same 1 1/4 mile section to count going out and going home. The flies are getting better, and furthermore, I know exactly which trails have bad flies and which trails are not too bad. It has been a light-fly summer in Florida. I think they went up north to torment you guys.

I counted 28 belly kicks on my experimental section. Then I arrived at the Anatolian driveway. Florida has received above average rain this summer and the roadsides are deep with weeds and grass. The Anatolians didn't hear Aci's footfalls until we reached their driveway, and by the time they came racing to get us, we were already well past and into the cow section. So, I put my smoked sausages back in the pack for use on the way home. I hoped it would be OK. My 4 horses all react differently around those biting dogs. Aci is the one who is jumpy and fearful when we start getting close.

I headed toward a trail that I really love to ride and all was well. Except that when I got there, the flies were horrible, no fun, and no way did I want to ride 8 miles in biting torment. So I cut through a hay field to try a different fun trail that has never had many flies. And it didn't. It was shady and cool and pleasant and lovely.









__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content










We were riding along having a great time when suddenly Aci stepped in a gopher tortoise hole and went down, trapping my leg under him. Owwww! Oh, man, I hurt! Luckily, Aci didn't run home. We were a Looooong way from home. He stood waiting for me. Good good Aci. It took awhile for me to be able to put any weight on that ankle and knee. Finally I climbed on and headed on. 

But I was in a lot of pain. The grass was high, the underbrush thick, and when we got to a fallen tree with branches all across the trail, covered with vegetation, I decided to turn back. I'd get my 8 miles some other day. I was hurting and wanted to elevate that leg.

We were on the dirt road heading for the Anatolians when a white van went flying past on the paved road. Suddenly, I heard a "crash" and one dog ki yi. I cruelly hoped the van had hit that stupid dog. Aci must have wondered too, because he got all hyper and bouncy and worried. We couldn't see that far ahead, but it didn't sound too good (for the dog anyway).

When I got to the paved road, there was a large lump in the road and several smaller lumps. Could it be that the Anatolians got hit? Then the man owner came out and I turned away. If it was his dog hit, he would surely blame me, although I wasn't even in sight of the dog at the time. I tried to figure out what to do. I could ride home through Chinquapin, which I have express orders never to do. I could ride through my old trails, which the son of the owner forbid me to ride on. I did not want to meet up with that difficult owner who insists I am harassing them by riding on a public road. I could tell him what happened, but I knew it wasn't going to go well. It never does with those people.

But the man went out to his goats and did not approach the road. I wanted to see what the large lumps were in the road, so I got brave and rode on. One large lump was an Anatolian Shepherd, very dead. The other large lumps were pieces off the front of the van. It had clearly been badly damaged.

In a way, it was my fault that the stupid dog was hit and killed because after seeing horses go by, the dogs lurk on the side of the road, waiting for horses to return so they can bite them. But I drive that way many times to go places, and often the dogs are waiting by the road or in the road (probably for some other poor bike rider). One time I even saw the dog sitting on the porch of the neighbor across the street! He hates that dog with a passion because when his grandkids try to ride horses in his pasture, the Anatolians come out and nip and bark at the children as they try to ride. They often stand in the road, stopping traffic. So, it's not just me.

No, I didn't feel the least bit guilty. I was glad! Isn't it ironic that the dog was killed when I was there to witness it? I hope it was the aggressive Anatolian and not the gentler old one. I can't tell them apart unless they are side by side. Whichever one wasn't hit was up in the yard barking, barking, barking.

One last question to nurse-type readers: I read recently on this forum that rest, elevation, compression are all good but not ice. Ice is no longer recommended for swollen ankles and knees (mine are pretty swollen and hot and sore). I'd like to know how to handle this injury.









I even remembered to count belly kicks on the same 1 1/4 miles home and got 5 belly kicks, which means there were 85% fewer flies on the way home. I put up the pictures because this was supposed to be a Tevis Challenge ride, and I am counting the 7 miles I did manage. I didn't take any pictures today--these were from other rides.


----------



## weeedlady

Wow @knightrider I think "eventful" is an understatement. I confess, I too am kind of glad that the dog was killed. I feel bad that I feel that way, but I hope it will make things better for you. Surely they will not be able to find a way to blame you since you were not even involved.

I am also sorry that you are injured and hope you can get your ankle and knee feeling better soon. I can't believe you remembered to count flies after all that "excitement".


----------



## egrogan

Geez, what a ride @knightrider. Please take care of yourself and hope your leg feels better quickly!


----------



## TrainedByMares

Yeah, I"ve got nothing to complain about! My rides are a cakewalk.


----------



## phantomhorse13

I guess I am a terrible person, because I am glad it was the Anatolian that was killed and not one of your horses or you (or the kids across the road, etc). I hope the owner of the van sues the dog owner for damage to the vehicle. Maybe THAT would get the point across that you cannot allow your dogs to roam a public road.

I hope your leg is not seriously injured. I was told that icing for short periods of time for help with pain is fine, you just don't want to do it longer than 10 minutes every 30 minutes or may actually impede healing.


----------



## egrogan

Ugh, it is 90*F here today with 90% humidity. I just took the dog out for a quick walk at lunch and had to come back and take a literal cold shower. Now I'm parked under the one ceiling fan in our house. Good thing I don't have any Zoom calls for work today- to say I'm a bit wilted is an understatement. I am not built for this weather!! No riding for us- the horses look absolutely miserable outside.

@knightrider, whenever I hear or see something about Pasos I always think of you. Maybe this podcast will give you some entertainment while you rest that leg! Paso Fino - Smoothest Horse in the World | Equestrian Adventuresses™


----------



## phantomhorse13

Still playing catch up. All the stories are in my journal.

George:






























































Amish:

















Phin:









2021 mileage
...

7/6george4.10 miles430 ft climb5.1 mph93F1050.36 total miles7/7george5.09 miles597 ft climb4.9 mph95F1055.45 total miles7/9george1.63 miles197 ft climb3.7 mph98F1057.08 total miles7/19george9.14 miles1312 ft climb3.8 mph91F1066.22 total miles7/22george2.53 miles259 ft climb4.7 mph73F1068.75 total miles7/23george6.55 miles741 ft climb4.8 mph75F1075.30 total miles7/26george3.09 miles299 ft climb4.1 mph92F1078.39 total miles7/27amish5.91 miles745 ft climb3.4 mph88F1084.30 total miles7/28george10.38 miles1427 ft climb4.9 mph80F1094.68 total miles7/30george4.54 miles846 ft climb4.5 mph72F1099.22 total miles7/30amish5.58 miles610 ft climb4.6 mph78F1104.80 total miles8/2phin5.92 miles1119 ft climb4.0 mph76F1110.72 total miles8/5amish5.53 miles843 ft climb4.8 mph85F1116.25 total miles8/6george7.52 miles1106 ft climb5.1 mph90F*1123.77 total miles*


----------



## charrorider

Haven't been out on a horse in a little more than 5 weeks. Today the weather was perfect, low 80s, cloudy sky. I asked the wife if she wanted to go for a ride at the Meramec Conservation Area. The place is 95 miles away. But 85% of the mileage is easy interstate driving and the trails there are really nice. The bad part is, there isn't a blade of shade at the trail head and only one creek crossing where the horses can get a drink. So a cloudy day with the high temps in the low 80s is a good pick to ride there. I was really proud of myself for not having ridden in five weeks and not forgetting anything...until I noticed I forgot to put a battery in my camera. Lots of spider webs.


----------



## Zimalia22

I have to admit, the only "trail riding" I've ever done was out checking heifers. In Jan and Feb that can get pretty cold. But it has to be done, so I did it.


----------



## lb27312

Great pics all! Nice rides @phantomhorse13.... glad you got to the beach though. 

@charrorider - lol on the dead battery! Glad you had the weather for it, can't wait till it cools down here!

@Zimalia22 - awwww you are really missing out! Trail riding is the best! I've been all over! 

I haven't been riding in a while! Won't be until next weekend then camping up in VA.... can't wait! Debating taking Captain or Chal.... it would be Captain's first camp trip without one of his brothers as my friend that usually rides one of mine is going to the beach... what!?! You would rather go to the beach than camping? lol Don't blame her! Not this time of year!


----------



## charrorider

Zimalia22 said:


> I have to admit, the only "trail riding" I've ever done was out checking heifers. In Jan and Feb that can get pretty cold. But it has to be done, so I did it.


My great and late trail partner, Amal, was a horse that was only used to check cattle before he was given up to the shelter and I rescued him. The first couple of times we went out on the trail, he stopped after less than two miles and didn't want to go any further. He backed into bushes, low hanging branches and basically threw a fit. He learned that it wasn't going to do him any good. And after those first two times, he became a great trail partner.


----------



## egrogan

We've passed a few virtual Tevis milestones in the past several days- they weren't all easy miles, as my horse and I had a series of disagreements on the trail a few miles back, but our day today ended well as we came into the virtual Foresthill hold, crossing the asphalt as we come off the trail and into the waiting crowd:

















To get here, we came out past the old cemetery at virtual Deadwood...








...Stopping at virtual "Kaput Springs" to let the horses have a drink...








The vet check at Chicken Hawk was uneventful:








The horses moved carefully across the rushing Virtual Volcano Creek:








Unfortunately it looks like we'll be in the Foresthill hold longer than an hour, as rain is forecast for the next 6-7 days, and let's face it, at our hearts we are fairweather riders 😉








Total virtual Tevis miles: 73.3
*Total 2021 miles: 282.0*


----------



## phantomhorse13

Got some saddle time! The whole story is in my journal.

Sunday, I rode Amish:

















Monday, I got George out bareback to walk Kestrel:









Yesterday, I snuck in a ride before the rain on George:

















2021 mileage
...

8/15amish4.98 miles722 ft climb3.9 mph82F1128.75 total miles8/16george2.07 miles220 ft climb4.6 mph81F1130.82 total miles8/18george4.06 miles446 ft climb4.8 mph88F*1134.88 total miles*


----------



## Finalcanter

Oh I forgot to share these here as well-- first time back in a horse in ten months! I should track this trail- as this is the one we usually go to. It's on a large reserved lot of land and each trail we seem to take a different way I never knew existed haha

The weather held up for the most part (it got a little stormy after the ride)


----------



## egrogan

We're at 90.6 miles on the Virtual Tevis Trail- so close, but still a couple of days to go. We're over 24 hours on the clock so technically we'll be overtime, but we'll get the miles done. Incidentally, there was a Morgan who finished the real Tevis course this year, but was a few minutes overtime so technically doesn't get the completion. She was with a group of riders who had to wait on the trail for an accident to be cleared, so while the time to get in and out of the next hold was lengthened to accommodate the group that had to wait, the total completion time was not. That just seems like such a bummer to me. Making time is always going to be my struggle with attempting real life endurance/competitive trail rides.

At any rate, on virtual Tevis, we are riding under the moonlight while we come out of Francisco's, including a river crossing in the dark (which sounds terrifying).















On the virtual Vermont Tevis trail, I much prefer daytime water crossings!








I’ve never ridden at night, but for fun, here's a moonlight horse picture:








*Total 2021 miles: 299.3*
Virtual Tevis miles: 90.6


----------



## weeedlady

Thanks for the update @egrogan. I've not been riding at all for the past few weeks. Too hot, too many flies. Can't wait for cooler temps!


----------



## knightrider

What a bummer today. I had my teen girls riding with me and all 4 horses going out. I was so happy that we can now ride the beautiful limited-fly trails since the Anatolian shepherd got killed by a car. We rode there last week and no dogs.

So we rode on past, happily chatting, when an Anatolian shepherd came barreling out the driveway barking its head off. It promptly bit Chorro, who then kicked it in the chin. Normally Chorro bolts when the dogs come at him, so this was a change. Maybe Chorro is as sick of being bitten as I am. I started worrying about how I was going to get the girls home. When I take other people's kids out on my horses, I do everything in my power to make sure they don't get hurt. I certainly don't take them past dogs that bite. The girls insisted that everything would be fine because the dog got kicked, so they thought he would leave us alone. I was dubious. Those Anatolians are something else.

My daughter was on her own horse, Windy. One time when I rode Windy past the dogs, one bit her and she bucked really big. I fell off, the dogs chased Windy into the road, she fell in the road, and got all skinned up. I surely did NOT want that to happen for my daughter!

Aci got all wound up and crazy because he has major ptsd over those dogs. He starts spinning and turning before he even gets near that driveway. The dogs once drove him into the neighbor-across-the-street's barbed wire fence and he got his hind legs caught.

It looked like the larger, more aggressive Anatolian was the one that survived. He was waiting in the road for us to ride back towards home. The time I came off Windy, I noticed the dogs did not attempt to bite me or act aggressive with me on foot in any way, so I took @egrogan 's advice: There is no shame in getting off. If there was anything I could do to protect the girls, I would do it. I dismounted and swung my fly swish aggressively at the dog. He looked like he would just love to take another bite out of a horse, but he didn't.

The owners were doing exterior remodeling on their house and watched the dog going after the horses as we rode out and watched me dismount and swing my stick at the dog as we rode home. They never called their dog or made any effort to control it. Another adult drove in the driveway just as we were making our way past the dog. She did call the dog, but it completely ignored her.

At least now I know I can ride past there, just have to dismount and act aggressive. What a bummer that the dog that didn't bite got hit. Maybe I'll get lucky and the other one will get hit too. The owners don't seem to care that their dog spends time in the road.


----------



## weeedlady

oh @knightrider this IS a bummer. I had hoped your dog troubles were done.
Glad no one was hurt this time! I can't believe those people! What the h...?


----------



## lb27312

@knightrider - I had hoped your dog troubles were over too…. dang

I went camping this weekend even though the predicted temps climbed very high, didn’t start out that way when we were planning. We get there Friday to find out not much shade. Very nice camp sites and stalls but NO power in the barn?? Lights were on solar…. we had brought fans for the horses seeing the weather but no place to plug them in! So we grab any extension cords we have and run it from a trailer attach all fans needed…. I got too hot so kinda not good…. we chill a little bit and decide to go on a late ride… not dark but around 6… still hot but bearable.

The bugs were horrendous! I mean really bad biting horse flies, the horses and us. At one point I counted about 10 surrounding just me… well a while in Chal starts dancing and kicking his stomach… and they are all over him… I ride with a fairly loose saddle so when he used both back feet to kick at his stomach it must have did something as we were in an all out bronc ride…. this horse just doesn’t do this… well hasn’t in a very very long time as in when he was very young. I was done… with riding that out, the heat and the day I was done.

The next day we get up, I thought we were going out at 8 but didn’t get out till 9…ugh. But it was the prettiest trails! Not much bugs.. a few but no crow hopping or bucking so it was a nice ride but only did 5.5 miles before we started feeling the heat…. come back and start talking about leaving as the heat the rest of the day was going to be crazy hot!

Moral is we thought about canceling but didn’t and a maybe we should have.

But it was one woman’s first time camping and though she was bummed on the early departure she said “when’s the next one!”


----------



## egrogan

We’re so close, but our finish will have to be tomorrow. Our ride today got us to 97.4 miles. On the Virtual Vermont Tevis Trail, this is our version of coming out of the woods to an intersection with the (dirt) road that we took home 😆 Still exceptionally humid here, but temps are mild so we made great time on this 7 mile stretch. Looking forward to finishing up tomorrow! Happy trails to all.

















*Total 2021 miles: 308.6*


----------



## Finalcanter

@knightrider 

That sounds like an extremely aggravating experience. An extra step to dismount and shoo away dogs that the owners clearly can't control ugh--I am no fan of those types of dog owners at all. There are far too many people who shouldn't have certain pets that unfortunately do.


----------



## egrogan

We did it! We finished the Virtual Tevis yesterday.








At this point the Vermont Virtual Tevis trail really doesn't look anything like the real Tevis trail, so there's not much comparison. We finished off with a beautiful late afternoon 7.5 mile ride yesterday.








We came in around 34th place in the Virtual Tevis competition, but we were fairly slow, completing it in just over 28 hours, so other people will probably jump ahead of us as they finish up in less time than we took. But it doesn't matter, it was fun to be part of it!

*Total 2021 miles: 313.5*
Total Virtual Tevis miles: 100!! 🎉🎉


----------



## weeedlady

Congratulations @egrogan ! well done! Beautiful pictures, thank you for sharing.

Raven and I will get back in the race pretty soon. Our weather is finally cooling off and the flies are bearable. I actually got on Tucker today. We went about 1 mile, just to see how Raven would handle being left alone in the pasture at camp. It did not go well  if I'm going to ride I think it's time to bring the ponies home where we have safer and more secure fencing. On the bright side, Tucker was pretty good. He was nervous and excitable as usual, but he listened to me and he tried very hard to keep to a walk.


----------



## knightrider

@egrogan , 34th is GREAT since there are over 1000 people participating. And your time will certainly be much better than mine. I just completed Chicken Hawk something or other. But, like @weeedlady , I am having a great time doing it. I don't mind riding slow. When I am riding Aci, I pretend we are on high ledges and cliffs.

Yesterday I turned in my Pasos for Pleasure hours for the year. The contest is from Sept. 1 to August 31 every year. I had 597 hours of riding on registered Paso Finos, which is 1,970.1 miles. I don't know how many hours and miles I rode if I could count the rides on Windy. I've been riding her a lot this year because my daughter hardly rides her at all, and she's much too nice of a horse to let her not be nicely trail-trained.


----------



## gunslinger

Well, I'm officially retired......loaded the trailer and headed to East Fork for 4 days of riding......it's a tough life, staying up late and going to bed when I get ready....sleeping till I get ready to wake up......spending time piddling in the barn......and working with the horses......I'm fresh at it......still figuring it out....but hey.......someone has to do it!


----------



## weeedlady

Congratulations on your retirement @gunslinger. I does take a little bit of getting used to, but you will love it. I know I do!


----------



## weeedlady

I finally put some miles on my horses! A new friend and I took Raven and Tucker down the road to explore the Escanaba State Forest Lands that are almost in my backyard! We rode for 2 1/2 hours and added 9 miles to my Tevis total for Raven. As my friend so aptly put it- There are trails for days! And we saw no one else.


----------



## phantomhorse13

congrats on your Tevis finish @egrogan and on your retirement @gunslinger !

Playing catch up again.. I had a bit of saddle time the end of August. Phin is on R&R due to a tendon injury, so is now just doing 20 minute rehab walks. That leaves George to be official dog-walker.

Phin:














George:

















The last weekend in August, I went down to Virginia for a ride. I rode Lapco in her second 55. The whole story is in my journal:





















































2021 mileage

8/20phin1.01 miles62 ft climb2.9 mph87F1135.89 total miles8/23phin1.01 miles66 ft climb3.1 mph90F1136.90 total miles8/24george4.07 miles446 ft climb5.1 mph91F1140.97 total miles8/25phin1.03 miles72 ft climb3.4 mph92F1142.00 total miles8/26lapco2.52 miles154 ft climb3.4 mph94F1144.52 total miles8/27lapco54.03 miles6906 ft climb5.7 mph108F*1198.55 total miles*


----------



## rambo99

Been a long time since I posted on this thread. Been getting a lot of saddle time in. Weather has cooled off an only real bugs being annoying, are the little house like flies that bite. 

Had some interesting rides run into bear almost every ride. A few close in counters with them like less then 4 feet away from bear. Thankfully ice isn't spooked by them, just stops and watches them cross trail. 

Only down time from trail riding was when cinder went lame from an abscess. Lasted 3 days it popped an he was sound next day. That was mid August so lost 4 days of riding. 

We have really put on the miles this year. Total as of yesterday September 8th 1189.56 . Some pictures from our rides. Last picture is of ice before we left for our ride yesterday.


----------



## weeedlady

Nice pics @rambo99. Seeing a bear while on horseback is not something I am looking forward to. My horses would completely lose it, I think. We still are completely good with cows! I guess it is a possibility. Dear Husband saw one cross the road just down from our driveway and we had one take down our bird feeder in the front yard!


----------



## charrorider

This can go under the category of The Magic of Horses. Now and then, I like to get away from the narrow, rocky, wooded trails where I always ride and ride in places that are easier on the horse. That bad part is that it is an hour and a half haul to get to such places. But yesterday was one of those days when we said, "Lets go." So I got up early and...things went downhill from there. Everything that could've gone wrong, did. At one point, when I saw we were going to depart more than two hours later than planned, I almost gave up. But we left. We rode in the Canaan Conservation Area, a place that has nice trails, but is almost used by no one. There are no facilities of any kind. There aren't even any fire pits. Even yesterday, after a weekend holiday, I saw the tracks of two horses. That's it. So 80+ miles (130+ km) and little more than 1.5 hours, we were there. And once we got on the horses, it was like magic. All the disappointments at how the day had gone vanished. My mood was a lot better. We rode 8.4 miles (13.5 km). Didn't get home until dark. But it was worth it.


----------



## knightrider

weeedlady said:


> Seeing a bear while on horseback is not something I am looking forward to. My horses would completely lose it, I think.



@weeedlady . you might be surprised at how your horses react. Mine never did a thing when we would encounter bears, even when we rounded a tight corner in deep woods, and mama bear and 3 cubs were 8 feet away from us. Mama bear reared up on her hind legs, and I was right scared. Trail was so narrow, it was hard to turn around. Amazing how fast we could get those horses reversed! But they never got upset.

This must be the time of year when the young skunks are finding new homes. We had one along the trail last week and today one walked right in front of our horses across the trail. I'd rather encounter a skunk than a bear, but I sure don't enjoy having the skunks.

Quite impressive and exciting about @phantomhorse13 and @rambo99 trail miles! I think it is fun that they are the same numbers but reversed 1198 miles and 1189 miles.

Mine would have been 780 if I had calculated since Jan. 1.

Anybody else have total miles around those numbers? Just for fun to know.


----------



## weeedlady

Hahaha, my total miles for the year are at 169!! That's adding both horses together. I thought when I retired and got the horses to my backyard I would ride a lot more! Well, I've got a couple months this year, and I will do better in 2022.


----------



## charrorider

weeedlady said:


> Hahaha, my total miles for the year are at 169!! That's adding both horses together. I thought when I retired and got the horses to my backyard I would ride a lot more! Well, I've got a couple months this year, and I will do better in 2022.


Better than I. Between weather and health, I've done 130 miles (210 km) in 2021. I'm hoping to hit 200 before the end of the year, but not putting any money on it.


----------



## weeedlady

Raven and I added 7.45 miles to our Tevis total this morning. We are not quite half way at 46 miles. It was a really good ride. Raven behaved beautifully the entire time. Such a good mare today!


----------



## phantomhorse13

weeedlady said:


> Seeing a bear while on horseback is not something I am looking forward to. My horses would completely lose it, I think.


I agree with @knightrider that the way horses react to bears is often surprising. 

I have had several bear encounters while riding and even super reactive Phin was pretty unconcerned - the only one that even got a startle was when a juvenile bear came climbing down/falling out of a tree about 10 yards ahead of us! I assume Phin must have smelled him before I heard the crashing, as he reacts more to birds flying out of the trees than he did that bear. Go figure!


----------



## egrogan

My goal for this year was 700 miles, but as of today I'm only at about half that target. I still think I'm on track to beat last year's mileage (538 mi)- last year August, Sept, and Oct were my highest mileage months, and I think that's probably realistic this year too. Right now I'm slightly ahead of my mileage at the same time in 2020. We'll see how the rest of the year goes.

Definitely felt like fall here today!
















*Total 2021 miles: 347.3*


----------



## weeedlady

Today was Tucker's turn to solo. We went back to the state land and explored a different trail. We only got just a tiny bit lost/turned around one time







He was very very good except when I tried to take a drink from my water bottle. He did not like the sound of the ice and thought he was going to die. I had to jettison the bottle. That's ok, I know where it is, I'll go back and get it later. 7.84 miles. 2 hr,13min. Still living my dream.


----------



## knightrider

Continuing story of the Anatolian shepherd: Today was a solo ride, and I had plenty of time and my good Chorro's turn to ride, so I headed out past the Anatolian shepherd with a pouch full of dog biscuits. I am trying to ride Windy solo when the opportunities arise, but I decided not to today because (a) I had my 4 grandkids for 12 hours yesterday and I was beat and (b) Windy bucked me off last time I tried to ride her past the Anatolians. I just decided to go for the calm sweet well-behaved horse (although really, all 4 of them are calm, sweet, and well-behaved). I just wanted a no-drama ride.

When we got to the Anatolian driveway, the dog sure enough, came flying out, barking its head off, but we were already past the driveway and alongside the cows by then, so, no problems. I had a super duper nice fun ride on Chorro, by the way, enjoying the trails I used to ride 3 or 4 times a week and long denied because of those $%^ dogs.

On the way home, sure enough, the Anatolian was out in the road waiting for me. I threw it a dog biscuit, and it dodged away, but continued to bark. No nipping or any kind of aggression at all. I threw it 3 dog biscuits total, but it never approached the food, just followed me, barking. This is what the two dogs did for about 5 years, just barked and followed--annoying but not worrisome. They got aggressive after I started using the dog dazer on them. I'll never know if the dazer caused the dogs to become aggressive or because I was starting to ride there every couple of days when my original trail was cut off from me.

On the other hand, the dog dazer worked perfectly on the two sets of pit bulls that regularly came out and bit the horses. Yes for pit bulls, no for Anatolians??? Anyway, looks like my dog problems are solved.


----------



## weeedlady

Fingers crossed @knightrider! Glad you had a good ride.

I got 7.16 more T shirt miles today. We explored a new road and a very nice man gave us permission to ride his 80acres at the end of it anytime! I didn't go there today- I'll save it for another time, but how perfect is that? It was a beautiful, cool day and Raven was a very good girl.


----------



## weeedlady

It was Tucker's turn this morning. 7.95 miles in 2 hours and 17 minutes. We stayed on the dirt roads today, other than a short stretch on the old railroad grade. Tucker was great. He gave me a really nice flat walk all the way home mostly on a loose rein. Tucker is not troubled by cows, but these sheep are worrisome.


----------



## charrorider

weeedlady said:


> It was Tucker's turn this morning. 7.95 miles in 2 hours and 17 minutes. We stayed on the dirt roads today, other than a short stretch on the old railroad grade. Tucker was great. He gave me a really nice flat walk all the way home mostly on a loose rein. Tucker is not troubled by cows, but these sheep are worrisome.


Is Tucker a gaited horse?


----------



## QueenofFrance08

I don't think I've posted here all year! 

Figured I should at least put some pictures from our South Dakota trip up. We went at the end of August and rode about 50 miles. First day we did about 8 miles from camp (Elk Haven Horse Camp was fabulous). The second day we rode out to Mt Rushmore and back which was amazing. It was about 25 miles round trip from camp for us with a decent amount of climbing. There's a cool place to tie your horses and you can walk over to the visitors center and get some ice cream. We packed lunches and at them at the picnic tables near the horse ties. We gave the horses a day off after that and then rode up to Black Elk Peak on our last day. That ride was around 15 miles of pure climbing with lots of technical trails. DH didn't feel well that day so he missed out but it was a fantastic ride. I hope we can go back next year because there was tons of other trails I wanted to try. 

Been doing lots of riding at home as well and most of our usual endurance season. Chico's arthritis medicine (Adequan) has been working great and we've switched him to monthly shots. He's finished 5 LD's and 2 novices which I have been thrilled about. I rode Comet on day two of his first back to back LD last weekend which was very fun. I'm hoping to ride him more next year to give Josh a chance to work with some of the other horses. 

Finally came up with my best guess at my mileage so far this year: 506.69


----------



## weeedlady

charrorider said:


> Is Tucker a gaited horse?


 Yes, both Raven and Tucker are Tennessee Walking Horses. 💙


----------



## weeedlady

Raven and I went to explore the 80 we were given permission to ride. Found a few nice 2 track trails. It was a very enjoyable ride and Raven was a very very good girl. She even made it past the cows twice- once on the way out and once on the way back.
10.53 miles. 3hrs,11min.


----------



## phantomhorse13

Still playing a bit of catch up, but I have gotten some saddle time between potatoes. The whole story is in my journal.

Phin:

















George:






















Amish:









2021 mileage

8/30phin1.01 miles82 ft climb3.1 mph90F1199.56 total miles8/31george3.14 miles249 ft climb3.7 mph92F1202.70 total miles9/2george12.38 miles1726 ft climb4.6 mph73F1215.08 total miles9/3amish8.38 miles1270 ft climb4.2 mph71F1223.46 total miles9/3phin1.02 miles72 ft climb3.0 mph72F1224.48 total miles9/4george6.15 miles830 ft climb4.3 mph74F*1230.63 total miles*


----------



## egrogan

Hunting season is ramping up so we are definitely all orange all the time 😉








Our best riding of the year is here-cool temps, sunny days, crazy blue skies, and leaves falling. I love the fall!! We did 9 miles this morning. A little bit of everything: snowmobile trails, roads, and hay fields. 

















We had a really bad hay season because early/mid summer were so wet, but some people are trying to get a final cut in right now with some success. This field usually only gives one cut, which was done a couple of weeks ago, so we can ride through it now. Pretty views!









Total 2021 miles: 371.2


----------



## lb27312

Great pics all! And sounds like good rides!

Went camping this weekend to a place pretty close so no long drive. It was warm but not bad in the woods. The one woman that had her first camp out on the last awful one came back to this one yay. At least now she knows that it can be a blast. She said let’s just say that was a trial run and don’t count it! I’ll take it.

She said these were the most difficult trails she’d ever been on, she was dressage for most of her life… she asked me on 1 to 10 with 10 being the most difficult what would I rank these at…. I said about 6 maybe 7…. she said what would be harder…. I said add water to the situation… where we were able to step down slowly if those trails were wet that goes out the window…. the horse would be sliding…. had nice meals and tons of fun! A little pic heavy!

There was a point where the military was doing hovers over the campground?? Seemed a little odd… and a snake climbing a tree! One of my friends turned around to say something she said look at that snake! Yikes And my first use of the booma rein!











Olaf chilling at camp, there were 6 of us with 4 rigs.


----------



## egrogan

I’m sorry but…a snake climbing straight up the side…of a tree?!  Good thing you got a picture because I would not have imagined THAT!

Glad you got to go on the trip and enjoy it!


----------



## lb27312

@QueenofFrance08 - I just saw your trail ride post at Mount Rushmore!! I did those same rides and am pretty sure stayed at the same camp! Great rides!! Nope sorry stayed at Broken Arrow Horse Camp.


----------



## weeedlady

We are also now dressing in orange. I even make the dog wear her orange coat when she goes out. Hunting is a major pastime here in the UP and right now it is "small game season" and bear season. I'm not used to all this hunting (in Ohio we rode mostly in the Cleveland Metro Parks! no hunting there, lol) and it makes me a bit nervous. I've been sticking to the dirt roads quite a bit, but this week is Michigan Trails Week Challenge. (yes, another challenge-gets me off my computer and into the saddle) so the idea is to ride trails on public lands. I plan to take the trailer out to a few new places.

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful morning for Tucker and I to ride. We are just starting to see a bit of fall color. I planned to do some more exploring but the adventure I had in mind involved some riding on a "real" paved road and I chickened out. I decided I'm not quite ready to solo on pavement with traffic


















just yet. We still managed to get 8.78 miles - 2 hours, 38minutes. Tucker was a very good boy.


----------



## carshon

I have been riding but not as much as I would like. Not because we are so busy mowing. NW IL is in a drought. No significant rain in weeks. Just life. I started a new job in April when my company was purchased by another. To say the transition has been hard would be an understatement. The new company officially hired me on and I am transitioning to my new role. That has been a major adjustment and the 10-11 hour days have wore me down. I went on my first overnight camping trip in many years. My husband and daughter told me not to go. Miss Tillie is not great about eating away from home. She is a picky eater on her best day and more picky at the trailer. She will stand at the trailer all day with a hay bag full to the brim of the best alfalfa hay and pick at it. I talked to my vet and got some banamine to take in case she colic'd but by horse surprised me and my friends. She ate like a champ and stood on the high line like she does it all of the time! I was so pleasantly surprised. We rode a little over 7 miles the first day and had most of the trails to ourselves (it was a Friday) there were some hiccups on the high line after we had gone to bed. My friends mare was just kicking the you know what out of the gelding tied in the middle. I think she was just tired of another horse being so close to her all of the time. We tied her to the trailer and Tillie and Cooper got left on the tie line and did great the rest of the night. I heard a bob cat at about 3:45 and got up to check the horses and Tillie was laying down and resting. I would have lost a bet on that one! She was just great! We got up the next day ate breakfast and tore down a little of camp and then went for a ride. We rode about 12 miles. It was hot and humid and honestly at the end of the ride I was ready to go home. Met an aggressive dog on the trail with handlers that were just not sure what to do when their dog lunged and snapped at the horses. We kept asking them to just get off of the side of the trail so we could pass and they didn't want to because they were wearing shorts and it was weedy and brushy off the trail. Their dog is lunging at us and you can hear his teeth snap together. they finally pulled the dog off the trail and we scooted by. Got back to camp and got everything else packet up and headed home - After 2 days of riding and a 2/12 hour trailer ride home (we trailer pooled) friends horse did not want to back off of the trailer. She backs off all of the time so we weren't sure if she was just really tired and did not trust her legs or what the issue was. After half hour we collapsed the back tack area and turned her around to get off. This weekend was another weekend in the low 90-s - horrible. Its hot and humid but it never rains. We are supposed to be a high of 80 but Mother Nature is trying to bake us. I rode with another friend yesterday and had a great time. It smelled like fall but there will be no color this year because of the drought


----------



## egrogan

I liked your post @carshon, but wish the weather was cooperating more. Also wish we could send some of our rain elsewhere- forecast says it will start raining here Wednesday and not really let up until the weekend. It's been like that most of the summer.

I can empathize on the job situation too- I feel lucky to have landed in a new role I think I'm going to like, but the transition is intense!


----------



## QueenofFrance08

@lb27312 we met some people at the top of Black Elk Peak that were at Broken Arrow. That sounds like a nice place too! PS Love my Booma Rein! 

@carshon love when they surprise you in a good way!

We just rode the 6 mile loop on Saturday with Dixie and Chico. We had a really good time, we were trying to ride Dixie with Stitch and it wasn't going well but her and Chico get along great. Chico even led the whole ride which is rare for him these days. Planned to go out Sunday but realized we were probably going to have our dog put down today (she has lymphoma and isn't doing well) so we spent the day with her instead.


----------



## carshon

@QueenofFrance08 I am so sorry about your dog.


----------



## knightrider

@weeedlady , can you tell more about Michigan Trails Week Challenge? Are you riding a different horse for each challenge? Do you get a T shirt for the Michigan one? Or just a congratulatory e-mail? How is it different from the Tevis? Where are you on the Tevis? Still enjoying it? I am!


----------



## egrogan

Sorry to hear about your dog @QueenofFrance08


----------



## weeedlady

@QueenofFrance08 so sorry about your dog.

@knightrider I don't know a whole lot about the Michigan Trails Challenge. Most important was that it is free. It uses the same platform to report miles as the virtual Tevis. The idea is simply to make use of all of our many public lands here in Michigan. ATV, ORV, walk, ride, bike. State Forests and Park, Federal lands, County, Township, any public land. No promise of a Tshirt but it did say you can win fun prizes!!!

Raven and I are still doing the Tevis thing also. Today is grocery day so I planned on just a quick jaunt to the end of the road and back this morning. BUT we were both having too much fun. Our ride turned in to almost 3 hours of exploring in the state forest. 8.69 Miles for both the Tevis and the Michigan Trails Challenge


----------



## charrorider

egrogan said:


> I’m sorry but…a snake climbing straight up the side…of a tree?!  Good thing you got a picture because I would not have imagined THAT!
> 
> Glad you got to go on the trip and enjoy it!


Yes. Black snakes here in MO do it all the time. I have seen them climb the down spout of a rain gutter.


----------



## whisperbaby22

Been riding a lot all summer, hope everybody is enjoying the start of fall.


----------



## weeedlady

Tucker and I trailered out with a friend and her horse yesterday. I thought we were going to get rained on but it turned out to be great weather and we had a great ride.
I'm up to 235 miles for the year.


----------



## rambo99

Getting in a lot of saddle time beautiful weather cool an sunny. Yesterday's ride was only 8 miles did more walking so my horse didn't get so sweaty. Ice doesn't walk slow, he walks as fast as he can without actually breaking into a trot. 

Tuesday we did 20 miles lots of long trotting and cantering. Monday was a day off stormed all day torrential rain windy and lots of lighting. So horses were in barn from 3:30 am when first storm came through. 

Got 4 inch's of rain swamps that had very little water have lots more now. Huge puddles on trail some knee deep on horses. Haven't had that all summer been dry an dusty. Fire danger is on low first time all year. Been on high or extreme all summer.

Best riding weather now high 60s low 70s. After that rain it did seem to bring out more flies, so having to fly spray horses. 

Now for pictures from last two days of riding. Last two pictures are from yesterday s ride only took two pics .


----------



## weeedlady

Raven and I did some more exploring in the State Forest at the end of our road. We road 8.75 miles. There are trails and trails and more trails. It will take a long time for this area to get old. I can't believe I am lucky enough to be able to ride my horse just 2 short miles down the road and be in the middle of this:


----------



## charrorider

It was a beautiful day to celebrate National Public Lands Day in the USA. And there's nothing wrong with riders around the world celebrating the day. Ibn is my trail partner.


----------



## egrogan

I started a new job recently, so have to be a bit of a weekend warrior for now. Oh well, the job pays for the ponies, so what can you do? Fortunately, the weekend weather has been very cooperative and it was beautiful for riding. You can just start to see some of the foliage popping out.

Saturday




































Sunday
This morning we met up with our regular riding buddy and headed out to the snowmobile trails. No one seemed to be around this weekend so we didn't see anyone else on any kind of vehicle. Some parts of the trail really look like fall:
















We ended the ride going back through the "neighborhood" to get to our road and head home.

















11.5 miles this weekend, bringing the *total 2021 mileage to 384.6*


----------



## knightrider

Finished the Tevis Challenge. Currently, I rank 117, completing in 30 something hours. Doing the Tevis was very fun, and the others who participated and shared made it more fun for me.

Also, yesterday I took Windy out solo for an hour and a half. I rode on trails where I do not have permission to ride. I am fighting a cold, feeling kind of unsteady and not strong. I thought I could still manage rambunctious Windy, and I did. In fact, she wasn't rambunctious at all. She was quite grand. The last time I took her on that forbidden trail solo, she was lovely, so I thought I'd try it again, since I needed something non-challenging. Too bad I can only ride those trails extremely infrequently. They are so beautiful. 

The actual people who own the land do not mind when they see me on the trails. It's the deer hunters who lease permission to hunt that complain and threaten. I never ride there during hunting season. My horse doesn't cause the deer to leave. I think deer hunters just have no clue about horses and riders. They think a horse and rider scare the deer. We don't scare the deer. Horses don't seem to bother deer. Oh well. At least I can sneak on there from time to time. Sure are lovely trails, and Windy thinks so too!


----------



## lb27312

@knightrider - Yay on finishing the Tevis! But sorry you’re under the weather….

I rode on Saturday, I rode Captain while a friend rode Chal. I’m going to eventually get Captain out by hisself but I think this helps as well with all the ponying. He was good, friends are surprised he’s so quiet. There were a lot of riders out on Saturday so he was a little “who do I follow” when a big group went by…. now I’m chillin at the beach… I’m truly blessed! Though I had to replace my truck batteries as they were dying but thankfully got me out on trails. Also Captain is much smaller than the other 2 I kept wondering where the rest of the neck was! lol


----------



## weeedlady

Tucker and I celebrated the last day of the Michigan Trails Challenge with a 10 mile solo ride in the Hiawatha National Forest. Tucker has never been on this trail and yet he went forward bravely and happily. Nothing seemed to bother him yesterday, even the man with a canoe on top of his car - Tucker's never seen anything like that before! Might have helped that the man told us we were both pretty! lol.


----------



## weeedlady

Oh @knightrider Congratulations on your Tevis finish. Feels good doesn't it? I remember last year how excited I was when I finished! Raven and I will be done on Saturday if all goes as planned. Then we just have to wait for our $65 T shirts. lol.


----------



## weeedlady

I have a schedule for my housework, otherwise it never gets done. Today was bathroom cleaning day- but it did not get done. Who wants to scrub toilets on a sunny, 70 degree day in September?
Raven and I did 10.77 miles, exploring yet another new trail in the state forest land near us. 
First pic is what I found after running back to the house to get my phone, lol. Silly girl.


----------



## knightrider

I laughed out loud when I clicked on the first picture. Thanks for brightening my day!


----------



## carshon

@weedlady those pics are gorgeous.


----------



## weeedlady

Thank you @carshon. I love living here in the UP. It is such a beautiful place. I am blessed.


----------



## Cordillera Cowboy

We had some paperwork to do down at the municipal hall today. We decided to ride the horses down the mountain for the occasion. The SIGLAT rescue squad allowed us to tie the horses to their handrail while we took care of our business. 

The horses behaved wonderfully.


----------



## egrogan

I was able to get out to ride every day this weekend, and we did around 15 miles. The weather on Friday was the most cooperative, with stunning blue skies. Unfortunately it's not shaping up to be a great foliage year because of the wet summer, but I'm loving the cooler temps and disappearance of the flies!








Saturday we saw a lot of wildlife on our ride- a bobcat ran across the trail right in front of us, and a curious beaver splashed around the pond watching my horse graze for a few minutes.








Sunday we did a longer (9 mile) ride with our friend and stayed on a nice loop through the woods. Unfortunately we got caught in a downpour for awhile, but we were able to tuck into some trees to avoid getting soaked all the way through, and the rain eventually lightened up.

















It's been a banner year for apples, and the horses sniff them out like truffle hounds. This one seemed to be particularly tart though! 🤣








*Total 2021 miles: 398.3*


----------



## weeedlady

Love that tart apple pic @egrogan so cute.

Raven and I trailered with a friend to a not too far away trail to finish our Virtual Tevis Challenge yesterday. Yay! We are having a very colorful fall-peak color is supposed to be later this week I think. Some of the views just take your breath away. My phone camera does not do it justice. 11.76 miles yesterday.


----------



## OMG Im jealous

_Omg, You horses are so pretty I love all the pictures and it looks like fun._


----------



## phantomhorse13

Have a day off from potatoes, so playing some catch up! The whole story is in my journal.

I have been getting Phin out for his bareback rehab walks twice weekly. He is doing so well I stopped using the hack and am just riding in his rope halter!

























George has gotten some saddle time, too:

























And I got Amish out once:









2021 mileage

9/6phin1.08 miles52 ft climb3.0 mph82F1231.71 total miles9/7george2.04 miles217 ft climb3.8 mph93F1233.75 total miles9/8george6.63 miles879 ft climb5.3 mph94F1240.38 total miles9/9amish4.73 miles607 ft climb4.6 mph83F1245.11 total miles9/10phin1.01 miles82 ft climb3.0 mph66F1246.12 total miles9/10george3.06 miles269 ft climb4.1 mph78F1249.18 total miles9/14phin1.03 miles59 ft climb2.9 mph99F*1250.21 total miles*


----------



## phantomhorse13

A bit more catch up. The whole story is in my journal.

Phin:

















George:

















Amish:









2021 mileage

9/17phin1.00 miles59 ft climb2.9 mph75F1251.21 total miles9/17george5.82 miles 699 ft climb5.3 mph79F1257.03 total miles9/17amish9.54 miles1375 ft climb3.9 mph81F1266.57 total miles9/18george7.43 miles925 ft climb4.2 mph73F1274.00 total miles9/19phin1.01 miles52 ft climb3.1 mph70F*1275.01 total miles*


----------



## Txshecat0423

Had a wonderful walk/trot conditioning ride this morning along the country roads where I live. 68 degrees when I started out with a light breeze…perfect! 



























Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## charrorider

Went out for a ride in the woods. There wasn't enough color. So I thought I'd add some red.


----------



## knightrider

Very fun exciting ride on Chorro yesterday. My neighbor and I were just riding along quietly, like we usually do, when we heard the guys working the hunting dogs. Since it is very kind of them to allow us to ride on their land, we try to stay out of the way. We started doing a slow corto and running walk to move along away from them.

Chorro knows very well what those haunting calls and whistles mean. He thought it was FIELD TRIAL TIME! Instead of getting away from them, they were gaining on us. I let Chorro out a couple of notches, and he ratcheted up to a largo. And then he just took off flying in the smoothest, most thrilling largo you can imagine. We were sailing like we were on water skis. My neighbor's spotted saddle horse was keeping up with us too, and she normally gets rough when she gets fast. But not this time. Chorro never is rough--fast, slow, or in the middle, he has a GAIT. We tore through those woods, gaiting a mile a minute. It was so fun. I'm usually pretty laid back on trail rides, just like to chill, but that was really a thrill.


----------



## QueenofFrance08

We had a ride last weekend up at Huntersville State Forest. The leaves were about peak and weather was lovely except for a little drizzle Friday evening and Saturday morning. 

Saturday I rode Comet in the 30 mile LD ride with DH riding Jake (in his first ride of the year) and our friend C and her horse Diamond. Despite a lost stirrup (C), hornet sting (DH) and smashing a leg into a tree (me on the literal knee knocker trail) we had a great time and finished with plenty of time to spare.

Since this ride also holds the one MN 100 mile ride for the year (so the vets have to be up all night anyway) they also offer a night 25 mile LD. They already put LED lights out since this is the last loops for the 75's and 100s so they start an LD at 4:30 letting everyone ride the first loop in the daylight and the second in the dark. Our friend M has had to recently retire her horse and has been sad about that so I offered her Stitch for the evening and I rode Chico. We rode with C and Diamond again (they did 55 miles that day!), her son A and his horse Salli, and friend K and her mare Patches (who is also 20 and has been off most of this year due to several health problems). We had a fantastic time, nothing like trusting your horse to cruise through the woods at a fast trot when you can't see anything and all horses finished with comments from the vets about how great they looked!

DH and I unmarked trail on Sunday using our Ranger since my knee (see above tree incident) wasn't up to another day of riding but we lent Comet and Chico to some friends for a novice ride. Chico placed 2nd! (Comet was ridden by a friend who wasn't eligible for rankings in the novice ride but he finished looking great). 

Lots of fun, great friends, and great weather for our favorite ride.


----------



## weeedlady

I gained a new respect for those of you who ride endurance. @phantomhorse13 @QueenofFrance08 and @all the others. I don't know how you do it.






























Raven and I trailered out with a friend and her horse to Old Headquarters Lake Campground. We went on a 23 mile ride yesterday (I didn't really expect it to be quite that long) and by the end I was no longer having any fun whatsoever! If the farrier wasn't coming today I would still be in bed.

BUT, it was worth it because we did this......That is Lake Superior! A twelve mile ride got us there. We hung out, played and had lunch, and then we took a ten mile "shortcut" back to the trailer. We made it back just before sunset (I had headlamps with me just in case it didn't work out that way). Everyone was extremely happy to finally see the parking lot!


----------



## knightrider

@weeedlady , I am with you 100%. Imagine multiplying your ride times 4!!! I can only imagine how you guys manage. I used to do 25 mile competitive trail rides, and those were hard and exhausting. Now days, I just don't want to ride that long. But I truly salute those of you who can and do!!!!


----------



## egrogan

@weeedlady , I know what you mean, I think my aspirations top out at limited distance/25 milers. That's plenty! It's fun to be a part of a 100, but not have to be the one in the saddle.

We did a short ride before work yesterday and it was just gorgeous. The pictures are better than anything I could possibly say about them 😉








































Today is a copy of yesterday, so hoping for another short ride this afternoon. Unfortunately it's supposed to cloud up for the long weekend, but the rain should hold off. We have some folks I've met through endurance coming up for horse camping here this weekend; they're going to do a fall foliage ride Saturday and I think I'm taking them out to show them around on Sunday. Should be fun!

We crossed over the 400 mile mark yesterday. *Total 2021 miles: 400.7*


----------



## charrorider

I lost a lot of riding time in the first 8 months of 2021. No way, I'll be able to make up for it. But I do plan to make up as much as possible. Today, Chance and I edged over 150 miles (243 km) for the year.


----------



## Txshecat0423

I have ridden nearly every day this week. I told my sister I would help out the drill team at their last two rodeos of the year so I’m conditioning Skip some. I live in the country so have the country back roads to ride on, but arenas are few and far between here. I’ve been trotting him up and down the hills on the side of the road but I’ve always been scared to let him lope along the road…fear of holes I can’t see, he’s lazy and drags his right front some, ending up tripping. Farrier is coming tomorrow and he definitely needs to be done. But the last two times I’ve ridden, I bit the bullet and let him go! Not a long way, but enough to prove to myself I could do it! Woohoo! Not bad for an old lady over 60 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## carshon

I have ridden almost every weekend this summer thanks to a drought in my area. Now when the riding is really good we get rain! I did manage a short ride with a friend on Saturday and my ride Sunday was cancelled due to rain. But we really need the rain so I am not going to complain. No pictures but it was great riding with a friend


----------



## knightrider

@egrogan , did you get your Virtual Tevis shirt yet? I was surprised to get mine already. I like it! @weeedlady , I hope you enjoy your shirt when you get it! Yay!!!! It was a very fun activity to do, and I enjoy wearing the shirts and remembering how fun it was. Thank you @CaliforniaDreaming for getting me involved! Thank you, @egrogan for taking the photos and pretending you were doing the challenges! Did I miss anyone this year? If I missed someone who is doing it, please let us know how it went, what was fun, and when you completed.

A few weeks ago, I had a horse chiropractor come out and adjust all 4 of my horses. My Chorro appeared to be clearly out and I was fairly certain he would benefit from an adjustment. The others I had done just because it's a good thing to do. Chorro was out, and the adjustment helped him tremendously. What surprised me was how much smoother Isabeau gaited after the adjustment. She's always been super smooth, but now she is more amazing than ever! I rode her 2 hours this morning and just couldn't get over how lovely her corto was!


----------



## egrogan

@knightrider, I don't have mine yet, but I haven't been to the post office in a few days so I hope it's there waiting for me! I've seen a few people post pictures on the Virtual Tevis FB page and it looks like a cute shirt. It really was a fun challenge, I'm also glad that all of you here on HF shared your experiences from last year, which made me want to give it a try this year!

Fizz will actually have the chiropractor see her tomorrow (as well as get fall shots done, not as fun for her). The last couple of weeks I've felt at times that she's bracing her back so I'm very curious to hear what the vet finds, and hopefully we will end the season with Fizz feeling very comfortable.

We rode a lot of miles this weekend- about 25 miles since Thursday- and had riding buddies both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday we went out with our regular riding buddies and enjoyed lots of pretty foliage and apples at the end of our ride.

































We also had some new friends camping here for the long weekend, and I rode with the group on Sunday. I'll be honest, some of the ride was done at speeds that were a little uncomfortably fast for the footing we were on, but my mare is a gem and she really took care of me, even when I was nervous.

























*Total 2021 miles: 421.7*


----------



## Celeste

I haven't caught up on all the posts yet. I haven't been on a horse in ages. I have had both knees replaced. The second one seems to be having a harder time getting well than the first. I have been teleworking and that has kept me busy. I wish I were out there riding with all of you.


----------



## knightrider

Celeste said:


> I wish I were out there riding with all of you.


I wish you were too! There are so many people on Horse Forum that I know I would enjoy sharing rides with. I wish we had that Tardis that @SueC longed for so we could have a grand ride together.


----------



## egrogan

Celeste said:


> I wish I were out there riding with all of you.


Even though you're not riding right now, I was really happy to see your name pop up in this thread! Hope you're back in the saddle soon


----------



## weeedlady

Good to "see" you again @Celeste .


----------



## Oreos Girl

I haven't been on a horse or the forum for a while. 

A short update though, last Friday I had to put my namesake Oreo down. He got something called Pythosis which I had never heard of before. It is more commonly known as swamp cancer. That didn't help either. It is caused by an organism that thrives in wet soil conditions and then gains entry through a break in the skin. I tried treating it with something the vet called a vaccine (as a science person, vaccines prevent illness not cure them). Unfortunately it didn't work.









This Oreo and I in a local river.


----------



## PoptartShop

Hi, @Oreos Girl! Oh no, I am so sorry for your loss. That photo of you and Oreo is just adorable.


----------



## knightrider

So sorry he is gone. That sounds awful.


----------



## egrogan

So sorry @Oreos Girl - we don't have a "care" button under posts but just know that we are all thinking of you.


----------



## weeedlady

So sorry for you loss @Oreos Girl .


----------



## weeedlady

I've been giving Raven a break since she did the Virtual Tevis and the big ride to Lake Superior. Tucker has been neglected lately so I've been trying to get his miles caught up. I like to keep them fairly even lol. Friday we went to a new friend's home to ride the trails on her 120 acres and the 450 acres of her neighbor! That is a lot of acres! We did 7.5 miles that day.
Today I took Tucker to a new part of the National Forest and we did some exploring there. It was a really nice 10 mile ride. I would have ridden longer but I suspected that Dear Husband would be getting worried as I had not planned to be out that long. 
We are have unbelievably beautiful weather for the middle of October. Here are a couple of the many many pictures I took. We are very orange!


----------



## egrogan

Between our fall vet visit, work, and rain, I only rode twice last week. Friday I really wanted to get out to the overlook to see the leaves one more time before it rained Saturday, figuring that the rain would probably knock a lot of the color down. The view did not disappoint!








We circled back by the beaver pond, but because there are so many pines there there wasn't actually a lot of color, except the grass still being surprisingly green!








Saturday was foggy and way too warm for mid-October, and it rained off and on a lot of the day, with a final downpour overnight. That cleared out all the gross, sticky air, and left us with a perfect Sunday morning for a fall ride. I met up with my riding buddy, and we did 13.5 miles on trails we haven't ridden before. Some spots were pretty muddy from the rain the day before, and a lot of the leaves had come down making for some slippery footing in spots. But for the most part, we had an excellent ride.























@weeedlady, we also went out in maximum orange gear! It's bow season, but we distinctly heard a muzzleloader going off somewhere in the distance as we rode through a woodsy section. I double checked the hunting calendar when I got home and there shouldn't have been any shooting as far as I could tell (although it is still bear season with guns and dogs-would someone use a muzzleloader for bears?), so I'm not really sure what to make of that. I ordered some new bells for my saddle, which I know is somewhat controversial with hunters but I'd rather err on the side of caution if I run into someone I'm not expecting to be out there.








*Total 2021 miles: 437.2*


----------



## weeedlady

@egrogan Don't you just love riding somewhere new? I do! and, I really like your friend's orange scarf tied around her helmet. Very stylish!

It is bow season here also and "small game" season. As far as I can determine, that means just about anything! Birds, geese, ducks, rabbits, squirrels. Yoopers definitely like to hunt. I have a bell that I use when I ride alone but my riding friend doesn't like it so I leave it at home when I ride with her. I also sing......lol

I've heard shots in the distance while riding but nothing worrisome so far.

Today was brush hogging and putting the camper away for the winter so no saddle time for us. We plan to go out tomorrow.


----------



## rambo99

Haven't posted here in a while need to catch up on reading here. Last week got in a lot of saddle time on days it didn't rain us out.

Total mile as of Saturday 10-16-21 1398.23. that's going to be it for this year. Unfortunately ice got injured Saturday towards end of ride. Superficial digital flexor tendon has some tears in it. So swollen an hot.

Vets thinking probably April before he'll be ridable again. So my fall an winter riding is done for 2021. Will spend it cold hosing wrapping an doing hand walking. 

A hill we've rode down many times no issues. Saturday that all changed he slipped an almost fell down. He was a bit off sore right away. I knew then it wasn't good just had that gut feeling it was our last ride. It took us 2 hours to get home slowly walking back, I got off an lead him. Monday vet confirmed it.

So I'll be doing my rides through pictures posted here, dreaming about being on my boy ice. Now to go back an read on here.

A few pictures.
















And ice interested in a porcupine In the woods.


----------



## carshon

I am so sorry to hear that. I hope his recovery is uneventful!


----------



## weeedlady

Sorry to hear about Ice!


----------



## charrorider

Yes, so sorry to hear about Ice. Wife and I went horse camping out of state for the first time. It wasn't all that far; less than a four hour drive. We went to Big Hill Lake in Kansas. Funny, all this flat land all around and in the middle of nowhere, a place with hills and woods. We rode 20 miles (32 km) in two days. First day we took the trail going north out of camp. 90% of the trail was easy. Then there was the other 10%; steep, rocky gullies that made me pray Chance wouldn't hurt himself. Next day we took the trail heading south. This was all wooded with clear views of the lake. The morning was cloudy and the light, filtered through the clouds, gave everything a soft hue. Beautiful. I was so enthralled, I forgot to take pictures!


----------



## charrorider

Chance and I, from our recent trip to Big Hill Lake, KS, USA.


----------



## QueenofFrance08

Had our last ride of the year last weekend. The last ride of the year is the hardest, but at the coolest location (in my opinion) in Minnesota to ride. 

This is our only Friday/Saturday ride because there's a big school holiday (it was formerly a teachers convention) Wed-Friday of this week in October every year.

Chico and I did the 30 mile Limited Distance ride both days. It was the first time all year I've had him do LD's on both days and I wanted to see if he still had it in him. 

The ride is at a State Forest in the SE part of Minnesota. Camp is down in a beautiful valley and the first thing you do when you head out on trail is climb the big hill and pop out on a beautiful overlook. So thankful I took the time to stop and take a picture since the second day it was too foggy to see anything! 

Friday I rode with DH (on Comet) and our friends M (riding Stitch since her horse just got his joints injected) and K (riding Jake since her horse is being treated for ulcers). Unfortunately K had to rider option after the first loop due to an old ankle injury reappearing but Stitch, Comet, and Chico finished the ride with all A's looking great. 

Saturday I rode with my friend C and her quarter horse. It has been our tradition to ride together there on the last day so we succeeded in year 3 of keeping the tradition going! 

Chico finished looking good with almost all A's (B+ on impulsion because he didn't feel like trotting out for the vets at first) and he drug me around to every good grassy area on our walk that night.

Our friend wanted to go out for a fun ride that night to show her husband the trails (he doesn't ride endurance but likes to trail ride) so DH and I took Stitch and Comet out again for a 5 mile ride with them and C. Apparently those 2 didn't get enough miles in this weekend because they were fire breathing dragons the whole ride! DH had to put Stitch in front of Comet to slow him down because he was trucking down the trail at such a fast walk the rest of the group was trotting the whole time to keep up. He then proceeded to pout that he didn't get to go as fast as he wanted for the rest of the ride! 

A great last ride with 4 completions from our herd and some beautiful trails!


----------



## weeedlady

Tucker an I added 12.73 miles to our total yesterday. We rode out and back on the Bay de Noc to Grand Island Trail. I really like this trail and most of it is close, but that name is way to wordy. I've decided to just call it the "40 Mile Trail".

Tucker was his typical slow going out and racehorse wanna be heading back, but it's controllable now. He is willing to walk as long as he's aloud to walk fast. I will accept that, at least when we are riding solo. And it's so fun to ride.

Bad news is that I dropped my phone out there somewhere! So I have a hike ahead of me this morning, trying to find it on foot. This phone was just about ready to be replaced, but I didn't want to HAVE to do it. I wanted to do it on my schedule. Wish me luck!


----------



## charrorider

weeedlady said:


> Tucker an I added 12.73 miles to our total yesterday. We rode out and back on the Bay de Noc to Grand Island Trail. I really like this trail and most of it is close, but that name is way to wordy. I've decided to just call it the "40 Mile Trail".
> 
> Tucker was his typical slow going out and racehorse wanna be heading back, but it's controllable now. He is willing to walk as long as he's aloud to walk fast. I will accept that, at least when we are riding solo. And it's so fun to ride.
> 
> Bad news is that I dropped my phone out there somewhere! So I have a hike ahead of me this morning, trying to find it on foot. This phone was just about ready to be replaced, but I didn't want to HAVE to do it. I wanted to do it on my schedule. Wish me luck!


If you had the GPS on, couldn't your cell phone company help to locate it?


----------



## egrogan

Good idea from @charrorider (and, at least on an iPhone, you should be able to do "find my phone.") That is definitely something I worry about doing, I'm constantly patting my pocket to make sure it's still there!


----------



## lb27312

Happy Trails all! Great pics of rides as always…. and kudos on all the Virtual Tevis Challenge, I think it sounded worth it, I know some said it was an expensive t-shirt but I think the community and support sounded awesome!

This past weekend I took 2 days off and headed to A. H. Stephens state park in GA. Very nice facility and trails… Heads up to anyone in N. FL, really good place. My plan was for it to be Captain’s first time alone(meaning not with a brother) for lots of things. Trailering over 30 minutes, camping and first trail ride. Whew…

I go to load him up with my stomach in knots, wondering how he was going to do on the 5 1/5 hour trailer ride. He gets in though I think he can feel my worry… 

Get there and he can’t stop calling out to every horse there, ugh. I put him in a stall next to 2 horses and he settles a little. He must have been so upset in the trailer as there was a serious mountain of poo from him, I mean a mountain. 

Spend the late afternoon cleaning trailer and setting up camp. Get him settled for the night with hay and I feed him grain.

Next day the horses beside him are taken out, all crap breaks loose, had to go running as Captain was trying to climb out his stall. Get him and now thought it would be better to high tie him next to my friends horse and again he settles down. But when I get him to saddle up and tie him to the trailer he’s good at first but someone in another campsite decided to drag a metal hammock across gravel which made a terrible noise, I see it makes him a little nervous, then they do something else he can’t see and then he blows up. Get him calmed down but now I’m frazzled! Anyhoo he gets better with each day on being tied and not seeing a buddy and he stopped calling out too. He stayed in the stall at night and high tied during the day. 

Rode a little over 8 miles first day, 6.5 the next day and 4 the final day. I think he did great on trail but not so good with the camping situation though towards the end it was much better. When I got home there was 1 pile of poo in the trailer. All in all I was happy with how he did…. he’s 4 now and I know some think he’s old enough but he’ll get there!

A few pics


----------



## egrogan

What a sweet face he has- it's like he's saying, "This is hard, but I'm trying!" Fizz would respond the same way if she was stalled/tied alone.


----------



## weeedlady

You all are not going to believe this, but I found my phone! Less than 2 miles from the trailhead. So the trek I was dreading this morning turned into a nice stroll in the North Woods.

Here are the 3 pics I took at the very beginning of our ride yesterday.. AND I got my $65 shirt. So today must be my lucky day!


----------



## knightrider

Recently returned from camping at Black Horse Resort. I brought Windy to ride and Chorro for @4horses to ride. We were joined by my riding buddy neighbor, my daughter, and her long time friend. We had such a great time. I was in charge of the Halloween costume contest, which came off perfectly. We had 10 entrants and some really great costumes. Normally I ask someone to judge the contest, but they always hate doing it, so I decided to judge it myself. That meant I couldn't take pictures, so I only got a few photos of the early entrants. 

They have a pool there, and it was marvelous to lounge in the pool after a long morning ride.

I am especially fond of a mother/daughter team who have been coming to camp with us since the little girl was 4. She is 11 now, and turning into quite a nice rider. My daughter, her friends, and I used to babysit this little girl so the mom could go for a "real ride" back in the day.

Our weather was lovely--cool and fresh at night, a little too warm during the day, but the rides were in the morning, swimming was in the afternoon, meeting for pot luck suppers








in the evenings with so much good food to eat.

Next week we head out for our beach camping trip. Fall is the perfect time for camping in Florida--no bugs, cool nights for sleeping, pleasant days for riding.


----------



## weeedlady

Love the costumes. Looks like a fun weekend!


----------



## whisperbaby22

I have been riding, the weather has been great!


----------



## whisperbaby22

I think the photos being put in as attachments are working, but many of the photos are garbled on my computer. I think this is a problem on my end, but I wish I could see all the gorgeous photos everybody is putting up.


----------



## knightrider

@whisperbaby22 Your photos are coming up fine. I enjoy seeing them.


----------



## whisperbaby22

Yea, I can see my own fine! Fiddling around for the last few days I do think that my computer is only letting me see a tiny sliver of about half the photos.


----------



## weeedlady

Today was a splendid day for Tucker and me to finish his 100 mile challenge. We explored more new-to-us trails. We gaited some and we even cantered a little bit! We needed 2.48 miles. We rode for 9 miles and I would have done more, but he was being so good, walking back toward the trailer with no reins, so I decided to reward him by letting him be done







It was a very good ride!


----------



## weeedlady

I took Raven out on Monday for 6 miles and Tucker out on Friday for 10. We got a little bit of snow on Wednesday so that makes everything look new and different. I'm having so much fun expanding our horizons and exploring new to us trails. The trail head for this area is only about 7 miles from home. We are at 369 for the year (both horses). We ended last year with 263 miles so we are beating our record already.


----------



## knightrider

Pictures from our 5 day beach riding and camping. My neighbor brought his spotted saddle horse that had one eye removed due to cancer. Then we had @4horses and @LoriF as well. Unfortunately, LoriF's young mare bucked 3 times on the first ride and Lori came off on the 3rd buck. We encouraged her to get checked out in the emergency room, and she had a broken rib. It was her second broken rib experience. Her first one wasn't nearly as painful as this one was. She was in a lot of pain. We took apart her campsite and drove her mare and trailer home. That part was really sad. In the days that followed, we would look over where she had camped and see the empty spot where her trailer was parked and the hay scattered around where her horse had stayed and our hearts ached for her misfortune . . . not to mention that we missed her delightful company and wit.

















Otherwise it was a super fun camping trip with lots of terrific rides. We rode 2 days on the beach and 2 days at our campsite, Princess Place, near St. Augustine. I think Princess Place is one of the most beautiful parks to camp with horses. 4horses was our expert fire builder. We sure enjoyed our campfires in the evenings. There is nothing like camping with your horses. You have so much time to devote to your horse with nothing else to distract. So relaxing and fun. Lori is on Novia. I am on my daughter's TN Walker Windy. 4horses is riding Aci because her mare is pregnant. My neighbor is on April, his spotted saddle horse.


----------



## weeedlady

Wow @knightrider that looks like a wonderful trip! So sorry that @LoriF was hurt and hoping for a speedy recovery for her. 

Raven and I got out again today. Extraordinary weather for November in the UP. 55 degrees and some sun today! My friend rode with us- she is a true Yooper. She was in a T shirt with no jacket. I'm not that tough yet. That's me with an umbilical cord attached to my phone so I don't drop it again, lol.


----------



## SmokeyC

Husband and I went out to check pastures and fences one last time before winter hits and since the cattle have been moved to winter feed lot it makes the job much easier. It was a beautiful day and we got to go out for a good 2 hours. I rode my old boy Dudley who was horribly behaved (as usual) because he’s just a wild child on a good day, my husband rode Star and we took turns ponying Tansy. Star and Tansy were perfect ladies… like always. 😂


----------



## rambo99

Love all the great pictures of everyone's rides. We've been having really nice weather for November 50s for highs. 

No riding for me I sat on ice bareback yesterday an let him graze. That's about as close to riding as I'll get.


----------



## carshon

I rode twice this weekend. Sadly it is probably one of our last rides of the year. Many of our local parks are already closed for the year and shotgun season starts soon and then all parks are closed. A couple will reopen and stay open until Dec 1 weather permitting but we are due for some rain and then snowflurries this weekend. It was just gorgeous this weekend. My poor horse is wearing her winter fuzzies and with temps in the mid-60's she was a hot scratchy mess after both rides.


----------



## egrogan

Looks like all of us in the northernish part of the world had a similar weekend of unseasonably warm weather. With my new job, I've been riding a couple of weekday morning rides each week, and then trying to take advantage of the weekends for longer rides. Yesterday I had a truly fabulous 10 mile ride with my riding buddy. Like @carshon, the horses got really hot and sweaty under their winter coats, but we all seemed to really enjoy being out.
























Hunting season starts here next weekend, so will have to be a lot more cautious about where we go. So far though, no snow in even the long-term forecast. Unfortunately the upcoming weekend does look rainy, but there's still plenty of time for that to change! 

*Total 2021 miles: 470.3*


----------



## PoptartShop

I was able to get Promise out on a trail this weekend!  Just around the property, but it was fun. A lot of it is mowed down, so we were able to go further.
Starting to finally look like fall...


----------



## egrogan

We had an exciting ride yesterday! We were out on our regular route to the overlook, and happened to run into our neighbor out for a drive with her horse. While the neighbor drives by our house pretty often, we've never actually met up with them out on a ride before. I wasn't sure how Fizz would handle it, but she did great. Got a little tense as the carriage came towards us, but settled pretty well as we talked to them and turned around to follow them. 

















You just never know what you're going to see out on a ride! 

*Total 2021 miles: 472.3*


----------



## weeedlady

Today was probably our last beautiful day for awhile and Tucker and I took full advantage. We did some more exploring of some forest roads and trails. 11 miles today. Tucker was feeling pretty spicy. It took him 7 miles to decide that walking would be a good idea. After that we went back to the trailer on a loose rein. Such a good boy.


----------



## weeedlady

It wasn’t a very pretty day, but at 38F it was warm enough for a 7 mile ride with Raven. Such a good girl. She was hangry when we got home, lol.


----------



## charrorider

Spent two days riding in the Buffalo River National Park in northwest Arkansas, USA. Rode 14.6 miles (23.6 km) of sometimes very rough terrain, and six river crossings. Rode only half that distance on the second day, as we wanted to do some sightseeing and see if we


















































spotted elk grazing in the Boxley Valley. No luck on that.


----------



## weeedlady

@charrorider That is absolutely stunning scenery. Looks like a very fun ride!


----------



## knightrider

Oh, hey, I have the tee shirt for Buffalo River! But I never was lucky enough to ride there. My neighbor outgrew it and gave me the shirt. It looks so fabulous!


----------



## charrorider

weeedlady and knightrider. I'm ashamed to say that I live less than a 3 hour ride from the Buffalo river, and yet, this is my first time there. Except for the two pics from the bluff, all the photos were taken from the saddle. The horse trail came within half a mile of the bluff. Horse are not allowed on the narrow, difficult trail hugging the mountain. So one has to dismount and "hoof" it the half a mile there and back. I can't wait to go back.


----------



## LoriF

knightrider said:


> Pictures from our 5 day beach riding and camping. My neighbor brought his spotted saddle horse that had one eye removed due to cancer. Then we had @4horses and @LoriF as well. Unfortunately, LoriF's young mare bucked 3 times on the first ride and Lori came off on the 3rd buck. We encouraged her to get checked out in the emergency room, and she had a broken rib. It was her second broken rib experience. Her first one wasn't nearly as painful as this one was. She was in a lot of pain. We took apart her campsite and drove her mare and trailer home. That part was really sad. In the days that followed, we would look over where she had camped and see the empty spot where her trailer was parked and the hay scattered around where her horse had stayed and our hearts ached for her misfortune . . . not to mention that we missed her delightful company and wit.
> 
> View attachment 1120110
> View attachment 1120111
> 
> 
> Otherwise it was a super fun camping trip with lots of terrific rides. We rode 2 days on the beach and 2 days at our campsite, Princess Place, near St. Augustine. I think Princess Place is one of the most beautiful parks to camp with horses. 4horses was our expert fire builder. We sure enjoyed our campfires in the evenings. There is nothing like camping with your horses. You have so much time to devote to your horse with nothing else to distract. So relaxing and fun. Lori is on Novia. I am on my daughter's TN Walker Windy. 4horses is riding Aci because her mare is pregnant. My neighbor is on April, his spotted saddle horse.
> 
> View attachment 1120112
> View attachment 1120113
> View attachment 1120114
> View attachment 1120115


----------



## LoriF

Well, I can't say much about trail rides here as I haven't been riding the trails in months. I got 20 minutes into the first one in ages and got thrown and I broke. That being said, I'm really looking into one of those air vests. I can't do this breaking thing anymore. The last two times that I hit the ground I ended up with broken ribs. 

And then, to top off all of the fun, my nieces children who are staying with me along with their mom came home from school with colds and it spread like wildfire through the house. I tried so hard to stay away from them and sanitize everything but I got it anyway. You guessed it. Sneezing and coughing with broken ribs. 

Today, 14 days later, things are so much better.

I really want to thank everyone for rallying around me and helping. There was no way I would have been able to take my campsite apart, load the horse, drive home and put everything away. Thanks to Nightrider, 4 horses, their neighbor Billy and the owner of the place where I board. They were all great. Also a mention to the two ladies who were complete strangers. One walked my horse all the way back to the campsite and the other who drove me back. Thank you stranger ladies who will probably never see this.


----------



## weeedlady

@LoriF I'm glad you are finally starting to feel better. I know several people who have Hit-Air vests and they swear by them. I would have one also, but they're just too price for me!

We got about 8 inches of snow last night. It is beautiful and it would be so fun to go for a little ride in the woods, but there won't be any riding for me for at least 2 weeks. Gun season starts today- I think it's best to keep everyone (horses, dogs, and people) same inside for awhile.


----------



## egrogan

Sorry to hear about your string of bad luck @LoriF! Hope you are healed up and feeling better very soon.

@weeedlady , same here with hunting season. We skipped our ride yesterday. It seemed like there were trucks parked everywhere, so even riding on the roads was unappealing with the amount of traffic. I'm hoping for a short ride at lunch today, just on the road.


----------



## LoriF

weeedlady said:


> @LoriF I'm glad you are finally starting to feel better. I know several people who have Hit-Air vests and they swear by them. I would have one also, but they're just too price for me


Weedlady, I hear you on the price. Thankfully I was on vacation for the first few days but I still had to miss two more days of work and that cost me more money than the vest would have. So that being said, I think it might be a good investment. Being able to get back on the horse after being thrown is a big bonus too.
Novia was being a pill that day and it wasn't until days later that it dawned on me why. I always use the back cinch on Laela who is my main riding horse and I totally forgot that I have not used it on Novia yet. I put it on without even thinking about it. As usual, human error. She was not used to that feeling yet. I'm pretty sure that was the main reason for her misbehavior.


----------



## knightrider

@LoriF , we can't wait for you to get fully healed and go back to training Novia. You've done a fine job so far, and this was just a glitch in the road. We want that ride we were so looking forward to! Hope you are feeling much better.


----------



## rambo99

@LoriF glad you're healing up an feeling better. Hitting the ground sure hurts. Especially as we get older an don't bounce as good. 

We have about 3 inches of snow and it's melting today. Really hasn't been that cold here. Low 20s at night mid 30s during the day. So corrals are mudd an snow mix messes. Horses are fetlock deep in the mess. Run in shelter is a mud hole also. 

This is last week of firearms deer hunting Nov 21st is last day. 3 weeks of it here. Ice is doing pretty good, a few set backs but now seems on the mend again. 

He's a goof ball an likes to get tearing around bucking an leaping. So strained his already injured tendon slipping in the mud, a week ago. Swelled up and had heat in it an of course sore even to touch. 

Cost me more $$$$ to have vet re check it. 

Fun reading about everyone's riding adventures. Happy trails to everyone!! keep those pictures coming I enjoy seeing them.


----------



## lb27312

@LoriF - glad you are better but broken ribs and a cold yikes! I bet it was the back cinch…ugh that drives me crazy on thinking back on what went wrong! I had that happen this weekend… see below. 

Went camping this weekend, the predicted weather wasn't good but that didn’t happen turned out nice during the day…. mornings were cold but not too much.

First day was good, it was only Chal and Captain but lots of horses on the trail and leaving out so he was a little up. Out on the trail came a lot of new things… lots of horses standing to the side of the trail with just heads in the saddles(people off the other side of the horse with only the head showing) lots of vehicles with loud trailers on the roads…. loud jeeps on the roads. First time with a breast collar and climbing some steep hills, some that you had to ride in a steep narrow ravine… he tried to climb out, stumbled back in… he’ll learn. That was a fairly long ride for him… he did blow up once and like above looking back I could have done it different.

Second day was a short ride, very quiet as most every one had left… Captain led most of the way and did good. 

A few pics from camp and trail… So Captain has 6 trail rides under his belt….


----------



## farmpony84

I don't get to post in the trail ride section often. I almost never have anyone to ride with but my husband went with me to the Shenendoahs so we did about 8 or 10 miles and found this really cool cemetery and then my son went with me to Lake Anna and rode for another 8 or 10 miles so I got two good rides in a month. I really am hoping they get the bug because I miss the trails so much. I can't ride around the house during hunting season. We are surrounded by about 200 acres of hunt club property.


----------



## knightrider

You may not get to do a lot of trail rides, but the ones you did were spectacular! Beautiful pictures!


----------



## LoriF

knightrider said:


> @LoriF , we can't wait for you to get fully healed and go back to training Novia. You've done a fine job so far, and this was just a glitch in the road. We want that ride we were so looking forward to! Hope you are feeling much better.


On the bright side. The stranger lady that walked Novia back for me did complement her and said that she has really nice ground manners. I can't laugh about it because it hurts to laugh. Give me another four weeks and I'll be back.


----------



## egrogan

Finally had nice weather AND time to ride on Sunday. We're right in the middle of rifle season, so we have to stick to the roads, but we still had a very nice 6.5 mile ride with our riding buddies.








Wearing plenty of orange and hi viz!








And bells...





We actually didn't see any hunters, but we were prepared in case we did 😉

I'm really looking forward to time off this week, with dry weather in the forecast. Hoping for a few decent rides. I'm still hoping that I can make it to 550 total miles for the year, but I'm just not sure. The weather over the next month will have a big influence.

*Total 2021 miles: 483.1*


----------



## egrogan

Sadly just when hunting season ended, the snow arrived and seems determined to stick around. Roads are icy and we are just puttering around the fields for now. Maybe we'll get a little warm up that will open up our options for awhile longer. Doesn't look like we're going to hit our mileage goal for the year, but we'll see what December brings...








*Total 2021 miles: 490.8*


----------



## charrorider

Beautiful day today. Ibn and I were out there all by ourselves.


----------



## charrorider

Another nice day. Can't waste them this late in the year. Took Chance out. It had been a while since we had gone out solo and it took him 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to settle down. After that, as good as gold. I love my Arabians. Heard today that the beavers have been active by the Gasconade River. Next ride will be in that direction.


----------



## weeedlady

Gun season has ended here and yesterday I finally got motivated to take Tucker out for just a bit. Roads are snow covered and too slippery for me to feel comfortable, so we just rode around in our "backyard" for about 1/2 hour. 2.21 miles. He was wound up and a handful as he usually is when we ride at home. Last night we got hit with a nice big snow storm. We have about 18" on the ground right now and unless I shovel I can't even open my gates to get a horse out.
I'm at 397 miles for the year right now and I am gonna set my goal at 400.




















Has anyone heard anything from @phantomhorse13 ? Has she posted lately and I missed it? Hope everything is ok with her.


----------



## knightrider

Had an upsetting misadventure today. I have wondered why I have so many misadventures on the trail. Probably because I ride 2 hours every day and go far out and long. And have been doing so for 60 years.

My daughter's teen friends came out to ride this afternoon. I asked them which direction they'd like to head. My daughter wanted to go a way I hadn't planned on riding, but I went that way to please her. I don't know if I'm glad I did or sorry I did.

We got to a house decorated with tinsel and swinging things from the trees near the road. The horses didn't like going past them at all. This was "their" road and it didn't ever have swinging shiny things on it. I'm sure we didn't notice the yard in the next house (the houses are quite far apart) because of dealing with snorting and spooking.

On the way home, my daughter wondered why our much-liked neighbor was lying out in his yard. This man isn't exactly a friend, but he always greets us riders and has a word or two with us. He sold my neighbor his horse trailer. He had a dandy two wheeled horse cart that he couldn't sell, so he gave it to @4horses. He sold his set of panels to our riding friend for $100, when each panel was worth $70. He's a generous and kind man that we interact with regularly.

When we rode up to the gate, it didn't look good at all. I dismounted, handed the reins to my daughter, and went to see if I could help him. On close inspection, he looked very dead. I told my daughter to call 911--she had a phone--I'm so old fashioned, I still often don't carry a phone--no pockets.

The 911 operator asked if he lived alone. I knew he had lived alone, but didn't know if someone had moved in. They asked me to check at the house and see if I could rouse anyone. No one answered my knock, the door was unlocked, so I went a little way in, calling to see if I could get anyone to answer. The man's little fluffy white dog came to snarl and growl at me, so I didn't go in any further. He has a dachshund too, but I didn't see that dog.

I asked my daughter's friend to call her daddy to come wait with us. I felt so creeped out waiting for the ambulance. My daughter wanted me to feel for a pulse or try to revive the man, but I wouldn't do it. Part of it was reading too many mysteries. I didn't want my fingerprints on a dead person. Part of it was that I was 99 44/100% certain he couldn't be revived. He looked pretty bad.

Finally, the emergency vehicle arrived and confirmed that he was dead. They began by covering the body, and we headed home on the horses. The sheriff stopped us about halfway home and asked us some questions, which we answered, and then put the horses away.

This incident bothered me much more than it did the girls. I think because I had a relationship with this kind man, much more than the girls did. I had been to his house several times, we often chatted. I had his phone number. Partly because the girls are young and death doesn't affect young people as much as people who are closer to death ourselves. Partly because I made them wait on the other side of the gate, a good ways from the man lying in his large yard. I think of him living alone, having a heart attack or stroke, and falling, dying alone. I am so sad for the situation. I also am so very tired of people dying. We have lost so many people in the last year and a half.

Ever since I was a teenager, I have worried about finding a body on the trail. My riding friend and I came very close to finding a murdered woman on a trail where we rode every Saturday morning, but fortunately for me, we rode right past the body, not knowing it was there, and someone else found it about an hour after we rode through that area.

When I was a teenager, I was riding in a very deserted secluded area of gravel pits. A car passed me with a man and a woman in the car. I thought it was odd because the road didn't go anywhere, except where they dug up the gravel, and there were no houses anywhere near there. About an hour later, the car passed me going the other way, but only the man was in the car. I always wondered what happened to the woman. Chilling.

If anyone else wants to share a misadventure, I would like to read about it. I wish this had not happened to me.


----------



## weeedlady

@knightrider I wish it hadn't happened to you either. I'm sorry you had to be the one to find your friend (even if he wasn't a really close friend).


----------



## carshon

@knightrider I am so sorry this happened to you. I also see this as a blessing that someone did find him before he laid there too long and that there will be closure for his family. I have never come upon someone on the trail but in HS my friends and I found a woman along the side of the road. The victim of a hit and run. We stopped to help and then were treated like we were the ones that hit her. My friends car was gone over we were questioned multiple times - it was scary!


----------



## egrogan

@knightrider , so very sorry for that difficult experience. My aunt passed away alone in her apartment earlier this year, and her daughter found her there a few days later after no one had heard from her. It was a terrible situation. I agree with @carshon that it's some solace that you did find him.


----------



## charrorider

Sorry if this isn't the right place. But I think you will understand the emotional attachment. This is Moro. He is a week short of being 33 years and 8 months old. I have had him since he was 3 years and 3 days old. I don't know how may miles we have put on the trails together before I retired him. But I can tell you that I used to have an old stock trailer that was probably 6' high (?). I used to ride Moro into the trailer. He's 15 hands tall. We were both a lot younger, then.


----------



## knightrider

@redbadger , did you ever get your beach ride? I was thinking of you this week when I took my daughter and her friend to the beach for 3 days. I was so looking forward to reading about your beach ride. Did I miss it?

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, I took my daughter and her friend to Princess Place for some camping and rides on the beach. My daughter's friend is graduating college and moving to Virginia. She's been riding with us for 10 years, since she was 11 years old. The day I met the family, her mom told me that her daughter lived for the one week in the summer when she got to go to horse camp with the Girl Scouts. The minute her wonderful week was over, she began dreaming of next year when she could ride horses again for a whole week. The saddest thing was that the lessons were really ho-hum, in my opinion, walking around a ring, a little trotting, no adventures of any kind, maybe a half hour trail ride at the end of the week. I said we would just have to fix that, and began having her come out to ride every Saturday for 10 years. We went on trailered-off trail rides, camping, swimming the horses, working with green horses, and had more adventures than I can count. I used to call this young person "Every Mother's Dream" because she is such a lovely person--good student, kind, generous, hard working, thoughtful, sensible








.

So, sadly, we are losing her to life, and we will miss her terribly. My daughter happened to mention that she would like to go on a beach ride, as I do twice a year, but she didn't want to tag along with a bunch of adults. So, I decided to make this beach ride happen for these two sweet young ladies.

We had such a super fun camping trip. The weather was predicted to be mild days and pleasant nights, perfect for camping. Unfortunately, although no rain was predicted, we got rain both nights. Fortunately, the rain was at night, and fortunately, the girls' tent did not leak! (It was new, yay for new tents! All our old tents leak badly). We also had much warmer and sunnier days than predicted, but we enjoyed them.

Chorro, my daughter's friend's ride of choice, had never been to the beach before, but he handled it like a trooper. We also spent one of the days exploring the fun trails at Princess Place. My rides were only an hour morning and evening, but I was happy to give the two girls a memorable experience.











Heading out for a picnic ride at Princess Place.










My turn to ride. I chose Windy, though I love Chorro best. Windy is very fun and gives me glass smooth running walk on the beach . . . and fun canters.


----------



## redbadger

@knightrider - not yet, maybe not till Spring. Winter is beautiful on the cape but windy and can get very cold. Hopefully someone wants to book one. 

Also hopeful: traditionally the barn has participated in the nearest city's St Patrick's day parade, which was cancelled the last 2 years due to covid. hopefully it'll happen next year and we'll get to ride in that.


----------



## weeedlady

@knightrider thank you for sharing those beautiful pictures of your camp trip, How kind of you to make that young girl's dreams happen! Looks like your camping trip was a blast.

I'm pretty much grounded by deep crunchy snow and icy roads for right now. I need less than 4 more miles by the end of the year to hit 400. I sure hope I can squeeze that in. 400 would be a nice round number and a good goal for us.

@redbadger Hope you get your beach ride. I intend to ride to our beach again next year- It was great fun and now that I know the way it won't take us as long to get there!


----------



## TrainedByMares

knightrider said:


> So, sadly, we are losing her to life, and we will miss her terribly


You have both been enriched by the experience! Think of it as a gain! Hat's off to you for having such a big heart! Your beach horse ride pictures are inspiring, what a absolutely wonderful experience that must be.


----------



## PoFoSho

I love horse camping! It's the only way to camp, honestly. lol


----------



## phantomhorse13

weeedlady said:


> Has anyone heard anything from @phantomhorse13 ? Has she posted lately and I missed it? Hope everything is ok with her.


I have been having password issues for months. I tried to log on today on a whim and apparently Santa brought my access back! I have a lot of catching up to do, but thank you for asking after me.


----------



## knightrider

I am so glad that @phantomhorse13 is back! Have to say that before I write a anything else!

@QueenofFrance08 , are you the person who has Ona? I think of her sometimes when I am working with Windy. I have made so much progress with Windy. I even enjoy riding her and look forward to the mornings when it is her turn to go out. But one thing Windy is not good at is riding solo. In the summer, when Windy is out on pasture 24/7, I have been able to ride her quite successfully solo many times, although it isn't a lot of fun and can be a bit worrisome.

But in the winter, when Windy is living in the sacrifice pen, she is downright scary to ride solo. The weird thing is she does just fine heading out. It is always on the way home that she suddenly leaps into the air, rears, or bolts without warning. Sometimes she is fine the whole ride. Most of the time she is not. She is perfectly delightful to ride in the company of other horses. But I often have to ride alone, and I need a horse that can do that.

Part of Windy's problem is that she is rarely ridden solo because she is my daughter's horse and my daughter won't ride solo. A few years ago, I realized that most likely Windy is going to be my horse for the rest of her life, so she'd better learn to ride solo. She's young, healthy, sound, and sturdy and likely to live a very long time. Training her to ride solo has been quite challenging.

I remember that Chorro was pretty awful riding solo and Isabeau was downright dangerous. So why am I having so much trouble with Windy? I think I had a mental breakthrough this morning. When I was trying to train Isabeau to ride solo, I discovered that I could easily ride her out my gate to my neighbor's house where she used to live as a secret horse for a year and a half. She was happy to go there because she remembers living there. And she was happy to go home from there because it was heading back home. So I could ride her back and forth, back and forth, and viola! I was riding solo!

Windy goes just fine to my neighbor's house because she also lived there with Isabeau for that year and a half. And she rides home fine now, although for about 2 years, she did not. She would bounce and buck and rear little rears and leap sideways because (I think) she was eager and anxious to get back to her friends and eat hay. Windy does not ride home calmly. Well, she does, for the most part. But suddenly, with no warning at all, she will leap sideways, flinging her head wildly and bolt. She's easy to stop, but still . . . it's very unnerving. She's not a bit hot. She rides along perfectly until suddenly she is airborne and all over the place. And for several years, she'd ride like that going home. So I took @egrogan's advice and simply got off and led her home that short distance from my neighbor's house. And over the years, she got better until she could safely ride me home solo after riding with my friend. My neighbor is elderly and at times has had some bad falls trying to mount or dismount, so I want to be at his place when those things are happening. 

I thought this morning, when I had to ride solo, that I would try out my technique that worked so well with Isabeau. I knew that years ago, Windy was a total brat trying to ride home from his place, but for about 3 years, she's been just fine. I hoped for the best.

Windy did the first pass up and back perfectly. But I discovered that once we got to my neighbor's house, Windy wouldn't leave to go home. It made me realize that for Windy, everything needs to be the same. And after arriving at my neighbor's house, we normally open the gate, go in, watch him mount his horse April, and then ride out together. We DO NOT get to the gate and turn around and go home. We go in the gate. And Windy wasn't going to do anything but stand by the gate waiting for me to unlatch it and go pick up April. I really had to get after her to leave and go home. She kept swinging back to the gate. "Mom! We go in here! We don't leave without April. Stop telling me to go home! We don't have April with us!"

Finally I got her to leave, and she rode home as nicely as she normally does. I thought we had figured out a solution. Nope. The second ride back to the neighbor was a bit jumpy, but OK. On the ride home, Windy was very jumpy. The third time was really wonky. And heading home, Windy leaped, banged my nose with her neck, bolted, and was just downright awful. I realized that Windy is a creature of habit. When things deviate from what we always do, she falls apart. Or else she was just plain mad that I was torturing her by letting her think she was done with the ride. Anyway, my plan failed.

I rode her around in the yard near the other horses for about 10 minutes, and then rode her in the sacrifice pen (which she has always done just fine) for another 20 minutes. Every other winter, I have just ridden her in the sacrifice pen when it has been her turn and I am solo. I really hoped, since I was able to ride her out for hours this summer, that this winter we could manage the same thing. I think what I am going to have to do is lead her to my neighbor's and back about 6 times.

Another idea I have is to ride her in the hayfield and woods across the street for 30 minutes and then lead her home. One thing I do not want is a broken nose, and I really think if I push this too much, I will end up with my nose broken. It is still a bit sore from 2 weeks ago when I thought I could ride her down the trail for an hour and a half and she was awful several times on the way home and she bashed me hard twice.


----------



## phantomhorse13

I have months of catching up to do.. back in September, I went down to North Carolina for a ride. I rode Lapco. The whole story is in my journal.













































2021 mileage
...

9/19phin1.01 miles52 ft climb3.1 mph70F1275.01 total miles9/23lapco6.19 miles489 ft climb4.1 mph65F1281.20 total miles9/24lapco52.41 miles4859 ft climb6.1 mph74F*1333.61 total miles*


----------



## weeedlady

@phantomhorse13 yay! so glad you were able to get back in.. I've been worried about you and missing your posts!

In my world we have had deep snow and then rain, which makes slush and ice, then more really wet snow, then more rain. I can't ride on the roads. I've set my goal for 2021 at 400 miles and I only need 3.2 more miles..... Raven and I can do this- I will just ride around the "backyard" one day this week.


----------



## phantomhorse13

More catch up. The whole story is in my journal.

Phin doing rehab walks:

























George:

































Amish:

















2021 mileage
...

9/26phin1.01 miles59 ft climb3.1 mph68F1334.62 total miles10/1phin1.02 miles56 ft climb2.9 mph67F1335.64 total miles10/3george6.63 miles682 ft climb4.9 mph76F1342.27 total miles10/3phin1.00 miles59 ft climb3.1 mph72F1343.27 total miles10/5phin1.01 miles52 ft climb2.9 mph65F1344.28 total miles10/6george10.04 miles1522 ft climb4.7 mph74F1354.32 total miles10/7phin1.01 miles56 ft climb3.1 mph72F1355.33 total miles10/8george2.8 miles269 ft climb5.0 mph73F1358.13 total miles10/10amish6.91 miles1042 ft climb4.2 mph68F1365.04 total miles10/11phin1.01 miles56 ft climb3.0 mph70F1366.05 total miles10/13george3.03 miles322 ft climb4.3 mph72F1369.08 total miles10/14phin1.05 miles62 ft climb3.0 mph68F1370.13 total miles10/14amish10.25 miles1250 ft climb4.4 mph81F1380.38 total miles10/15george4.58 miles469 ft climb4.6 mph88F1384.96 total miles10/16george2.78 miles299 ft climb4.4 mph80F*1387.74 total miles*


----------



## milady133

phantomhorse13 said:


> View attachment 1122021


I'm curious. What kind of harness is your horse wearing in the picture? I mean the strings going through the backside. I don't think I have seen them before.


----------



## phantomhorse13

milady133 said:


> What kind of harness is your horse wearing in the picture? I mean the strings going through the backside. I don't think I have seen them before.


That is breeching. You often see it on pack saddles vs riding saddles, though it seems to be fairly popular with some mule riders and is becoming more common with distance riders. It helps to keep the saddle and the girth/cinch from sliding forward.


----------



## milady133

phantomhorse13 said:


> That is breeching. You often see it on pack saddles vs riding saddles, though it seems to be fairly popular with some mule riders and is becoming more common with distance riders. It helps to keep the saddle and the girth/cinch from sliding forward.


Oh, thanks! So the function is similar to what I've seen here in Spain known as "baticola":


https://www.centralhipica.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/baticola-caballos.jpg


----------



## phantomhorse13

milady133 said:


> Oh, thanks! So the function is similar to what I've seen here in Spain known as "baticola":
> 
> 
> https://www.centralhipica.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/baticola-caballos.jpg


Here, that would be called a "crupper." It, too, will keep the saddle from moving forward, but it does not effect the girth/cinch at all. Some distance horses wind up with rubs by their elbows from the girth moving forward and getting pinched, so a crupper would not help that problem but breeching will.


----------



## charrorider

phantomhorse13 said:


> More catch up. The whole story is in my journal.
> 
> Phin doing rehab walks:
> View attachment 1122053
> 
> View attachment 1122065
> 
> View attachment 1122083
> 
> 
> George:
> View attachment 1122064
> 
> View attachment 1122066
> 
> View attachment 1122067
> 
> View attachment 1122081
> 
> 
> Amish:
> View attachment 1122069
> 
> View attachment 1122078
> 
> 
> 2021 mileage
> ...
> 
> 9/26phin1.01 miles59 ft climb3.1 mph68F1334.62 total miles10/1phin1.02 miles56 ft climb2.9 mph67F1335.64 total miles10/3george6.63 miles682 ft climb4.9 mph76F1342.27 total miles10/3phin1.00 miles59 ft climb3.1 mph72F1343.27 total miles10/5phin1.01 miles52 ft climb2.9 mph65F1344.28 total miles10/6george10.04 miles1522 ft climb4.7 mph74F1354.32 total miles10/7phin1.01 miles56 ft climb3.1 mph72F1355.33 total miles10/8george2.8 miles269 ft climb5.0 mph73F1358.13 total miles10/10amish6.91 miles1042 ft climb4.2 mph68F1365.04 total miles10/11phin1.01 miles56 ft climb3.0 mph70F1366.05 total miles10/13george3.03 miles322 ft climb4.3 mph72F1369.08 total miles10/14phin1.05 miles62 ft climb3.0 mph68F1370.13 total miles10/14amish10.25 miles1250 ft climb4.4 mph81F1380.38 total miles10/15george4.58 miles469 ft climb4.6 mph88F1384.96 total miles10/16george2.78 miles299 ft climb4.4 mph80F*1387.74 total miles*





phantomhorse13 said:


> More catch up. The whole story is in my journal.
> 
> Phin doing rehab walks:
> View attachment 1122053
> 
> View attachment 1122065
> 
> View attachment 1122083
> 
> I'm glad the reason why we haven't heard from you is due to computer malfunction. I've had that situation happen to me and I've had to switch search engines. For example I can't get access to HF using GOOGLE.
> George:
> View attachment 1122064
> 
> View attachment 1122066
> 
> View attachment 1122067
> 
> View attachment 1122081
> 
> 
> Amish:
> View attachment 1122069
> 
> View attachment 1122078
> 
> 
> 2021 mileage
> ...
> 
> 9/26phin1.01 miles59 ft climb3.1 mph68F1334.62 total miles10/1phin1.02 miles56 ft climb2.9 mph67F1335.64 total miles10/3george6.63 miles682 ft climb4.9 mph76F1342.27 total miles10/3phin1.00 miles59 ft climb3.1 mph72F1343.27 total miles10/5phin1.01 miles52 ft climb2.9 mph65F1344.28 total miles10/6george10.04 miles1522 ft climb4.7 mph74F1354.32 total miles10/7phin1.01 miles56 ft climb3.1 mph72F1355.33 total miles10/8george2.8 miles269 ft climb5.0 mph73F1358.13 total miles10/10amish6.91 miles1042 ft climb4.2 mph68F1365.04 total miles10/11phin1.01 miles56 ft climb3.0 mph70F1366.05 total miles10/13george3.03 miles322 ft climb4.3 mph72F1369.08 total miles10/14phin1.05 miles62 ft climb3.0 mph68F1370.13 total miles10/14amish10.25 miles1250 ft climb4.4 mph81F1380.38 total miles10/15george4.58 miles469 ft climb4.6 mph88F1384.96 total miles10/16george2.78 miles299 ft climb4.4 mph80F*1387.74 total miles*





phantomhorse13 said:


> More catch up. The whole story is in my journal.
> 
> Phin doing rehab walks:
> View attachment 1122053
> 
> View attachment 1122065
> 
> View attachment 1122083
> 
> 
> George:
> View attachment 1122064
> 
> View attachment 1122066
> 
> View attachment 1122067
> 
> View attachment 1122081
> 
> 
> Amish:
> View attachment 1122069
> 
> View attachment 1122078
> 
> 
> 2021 mileage
> ...
> 
> 9/26phin1.01 miles59 ft climb3.1 mph68F1334.62 total miles10/1phin1.02 miles56 ft climb2.9 mph67F1335.64 total miles10/3george6.63 miles682 ft climb4.9 mph76F1342.27 total miles10/3phin1.00 miles59 ft climb3.1 mph72F1343.27 total miles10/5phin1.01 miles52 ft climb2.9 mph65F1344.28 total miles10/6george10.04 miles1522 ft climb4.7 mph74F1354.32 total miles10/7phin1.01 miles56 ft climb3.1 mph72F1355.33 total miles10/8george2.8 miles269 ft climb5.0 mph73F1358.13 total miles10/10amish6.91 miles1042 ft climb4.2 mph68F1365.04 total miles10/11phin1.01 miles56 ft climb3.0 mph70F1366.05 total miles10/13george3.03 miles322 ft climb4.3 mph72F1369.08 total miles10/14phin1.05 miles62 ft climb3.0 mph68F1370.13 total miles10/14amish10.25 miles1250 ft climb4.4 mph81F1380.38 total miles10/15george4.58 miles469 ft climb4.6 mph88F1384.96 total miles10/16george2.78 miles299 ft climb4.4 mph80F*1387.74 total miles*


----------



## charrorider

Hauled the horses to the trailhead and then rode through the woods to reach the river. It has been several years since I rode this trail. Beavers have been busy.


----------



## phantomhorse13

More catch up. The whole story is in my journal.

Phin on his rehab walks:

























George:

































Honey:









Bee:

















2021 mileage
...

10/17honey5.0 miles722 ft climb3.6 mph46F1392.74 total miles10/18phin1.01 miles59 ft climb3.3 mph40F1393.75 total miles10/19george9.10 miles1490 ft climb4.9 mph60F1402.85 total miles10/20link0.37 miles12 ft climb2.7 mph52F1403.22 total miles10/20george6.03 miles689 ft climb4.6 mph70F1409.25 total miles10/21phin1.02 miles59 ft climb3.1 mph46F1410.27 total miles10/23george3.04 miles276 ft climb5.6 mph54F1413.31 total miles10/24bee10.59 miles548 ft climb5.7 mph52F1423.90 total miles10/25phin1.02 miles56 ft climb2.8 mph64F1424.92 total miles10/25george4.07 miles459 ft climb5.0 mph75F*1428.99 total miles*


----------



## phantomhorse13

More catch up. The whole story is in my journal.

Phin on his rehab walks:

























George:









































Bee:













2021 mileage
...

10/28george9.20 miles1302 ft climb5.0 mph64F1438.19 total miles10/28phin1.07 miles59 ft climb3.4 mph52F1439.26 total miles10/31bee8.76 miles1362 ft climb5.0 mph53F1448.02 total miles11/1phin1.51 miles98 ft climb3.0 mph38F1449.53 total miles11/2george5.02 miles978 ft climb3.9 mph41F1454.55 total miles

11/3phin1.58 miles121 ft climb3.1 mph36F1456.13 total miles11/4george9.08 miles1549 ft climb4.6 mph50F1465.21 total miles11/5link1.08 miles43 ft climb2.8 mph33F1466.29 total miles11/5phin1.58 miles135 ft climb3.0 mph45F*1467.87 total miles*


----------



## weeedlady

Did it! Raven and I took what will probably be the last ride of 2021 today. We did just 3.9 miles in our backyard so that I could get my ytd total to 400. 200.9 with Raven and 199.9 with Tucker.
It's not a lot of miles compared to some but it's a record for me and I'm quite pleased with it.
And just look what a glorious day it is. 25F and sunny. Just a little bit of wind occasionally to make the snow fall gently from the trees. It was pretty magical.


----------



## phantomhorse13

Great job @weeedlady! Perfect way to end the year.


----------



## phantomhorse13

More catch up. I had the final event of the season at the beginning of November. The whole story is in my journal.





























Phin's rehab walks:









Link:

















George:

















Honey:









2021 mileage
...

11/7bee15.53 miles312 ft climb6.0 mph50F1483.40 total miles11/8link0.42 miles13 ft climb2.2 mph54F1483.82 total miles11/8phin1.63 miles92 ft climb3.0 mph64F1485.45 total miles11/9link1.03 miles59 ft climb2.9 mph51F1486.48 total miles11/9george5.26 miles614 ft climb4.7 mph61F1491.74 total miles11/10link1.64 miles92 ft climb2.9 mph44F1493.38 total miles11/10phin1.59 miles90 ft climb2.9 mph46F1494.97 total miles11/14honey1.75 miles203 ft climb3.4 mph41F1496.72 total miles11/15phin1.57 miles98 ft climb3.2 mph29F*1498.29 total miles*


----------



## egrogan

Taking stock of the year in the saddle, I can't say it was the best we've had. We fell short of our mileage goals, and sadly our endurance attempts didn't go the way I'd hoped. The weather turned awful Thanksgiving weekend and we didn't end up riding in December at all because we've had ice all month- I can't think of the last time I didn't ride at all during December. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed in how the year went, but at the same time, I like to end the year thinking back about the best rides of every season. I had fun pulling together a couple of pictures from each part of the year to post. 

_Winter 2021..._The winter was snowy, cold, and icy. We mostly puttered around near the house, and did some handwalks of a couple of miles at a time just to break the boredom.
















_Spring 2021..._Spring came early, and muddy. But temps felt warm pretty early on, and we tried to get back into shape. The year held so much promise, with big plans!








_Summer 2021..._So. Much. Rain. If I had time to ride, it rained. If I couldn't ride, it was sunny. But slowly, steadily, we took advantage of the nicer days to build up the miles. We attempted our first couple of intro endurance rides. Had some snafus with trail markings and my riding buddy's horse. We gained a lot of experience and had a lot to think about. 








































_Fall 2021_...Fall was slow to come, and it seemed like all the rain earlier in the year was going to give us a lousy foliage season. But one day a switch flipped, and the foliage came in beautifully. Managed to ride a lot with friends during the fall and show off our beautiful state to people who visited. It felt nice to just ride for the fun of it, not trying to "get ready" for endurance.
















*2021 MILEAGE GRAND TOTAL: 490.8*
Here's to happy trails in 2022! Thanks to everyone on this thread who has shared their rides all year. I love seeing other people's adventures!


----------



## phantomhorse13

More catch up. The whole story is in my journal.

Phin's rehab walks:






























George:

































Honey:

























2021 mileage
...



11/16george7.03 miles883 ft climb4.8 mph36F1505.32 total miles11/17phin1.58 miles112 ft climb3.2 mph40F1506.90 total miles11/18george6.19 miles758 ft climb4.8 mph62F1513.09 total miles11/19phin1.59 miles118 ft climb3.1 mph27F1514.68 total miles11/20honey5.03 miles594 ft climb3.9 mph44F1519.71 total miles11/22phin1.58 miles121 ft climb3.0 mph34F1521.29 total miles11/24phin1.58 miles115 ft climb3.0 mph24F1522.87 total miles11/24george9.66 miles1519 ft climb4.8 mph35F1532.53 total miles11/25honey6.46 miles991 ft climb3.8 mph34F1538.99 total miles11/26phin1.61 miles113 ft climb3.1 mph28F1540.60 total miles11/30phin1.58 miles118 ft climb3.2 mph30F1542.18 total miles12/1george4.39 miles276 ft climb3.9 mph36F1546.57 total miles12/2phin1.64 miles131 ft climb3.1 mph32F*1548.21 total miles*


----------



## phantomhorse13

More catch up. The whole story is in my journal:

Phin's rehab walks:

























George:


















Honey:

















Amish:

















2021 mileage
...

12/5phin1.77 miles69 ft climb3.4 mph34F1549.98 total miles12/5honey6.16 miles928 ft climb3.8 mph40F1556.14 total miles12/6george2.67 miles200 ft climb5.5 mph45F1558.81 total miles12/7phin1.59 miles108 ft climb3.2 mph36F1560.40 total miles12/9phin1.6 miles118 ft climb3.1 mph38F1562.00 total miles12/9copper0.4 miles3 ft climb2.9 mph42F1562.40 total miles12/10copper1.66 miles82 ft climb3.5 mph40F1564.06 total miles12/12honey7.88 miles1296 ft climb3.7 mph34F1571.94 total miles12/13phin1.57 miles121 ft climb3.1 mph32F1573.51 total miles12/13george5.01 miles630 ft climb4.2 mph35F1578.52 total miles12/13amish4.94 miles735 ft climb4.3 mph35F1583.46 total miles12/14phin1.58 miles131 ft climb3.0 mph40F1585.04 total miles12/15george6.37 miles965 ft climb4.5 mph37F1591.41 total miles12/16phin1.57 miles112 ft climb2.9 mph55F*1592.98 total miles*


----------



## phantomhorse13

More catch up. The whole story is in my journal.

Phin's rehab walks:

































George:

















Amish:

















Honey:

















2021 mileage
...

12/16george10.24 miles1460 ft climb3.6 mph63F1603.22 total miles12/17phin1.89 miles131 ft climb2.9 mph45F1605.11 total miles12/17george6.36 miles889 ft climb4.3 mph55F1611.47 total miles12/17amish5.45 miles594 ft climb4.5 mph52F1616.92 total miles12/20phin1.91 miles164 ft climb3.0 mph28F1618.83 total miles12/20honey5.37 miles837 ft climb4.0 mph40F1624.20 total miles12/21phin1.94 miles125 ft climb2.9 mph17F1626.14 total miles12/21george12.76 miles1588 ft climb4.8 mph30F1638.90 total miles12/21amish5.83 miles778 ft climb4.2 mph36F1644.73 total miles12/23phin1.98 miles141 ft climb3.2 mph19F1646.71 total miles12/24phin1.94 miles118 ft climb2.9 mph21F1648.65 total miles12/28phin1.97 miles154 ft climb2.9 mph34F1650.62 total miles12/28honey8.33 miles1243 ft climb3.7 mph38F*1658.95 total miles*


----------



## phantomhorse13

Final saddle time of 2021. The whole story is in my journal.

Wednesday, I started with Phin. We were stuck in the ring for his rehab walk and it was apparently exhausting as he tried to mug Gina for her coffee:









Then it was George's turn:

















Today, I started with Honey:

























Then I finished the day doing Phin's rehab in the ring:









2021 mileage
...

12/29phin2.08 miles112 ft climb2.9 mph38F1661.03 total miles12/29george10.0 miles1453 ft climb4.0 mph42F1671.03 total miles12/31honey8.07 miles1227 ft climb3.9 mph44F1679.10 total miles12/31phin2.01 miles115 ft climb3.0 mph48F*1681.11 total miles*

Happy New Year all!


----------



## lb27312

Glad to see you here @phantomhorse13! 

I went to Princess Place over the Holiday week… tried to talk @knightrider to come join us but since I didn’t give much notice(wasn’t sure if I could go) and she was just there she couldn’t make it…. maybe next time.

Had great weather and just an over all great time… BUT won’t go back this time of year because the way down took 12 hours…. 4 more than it should. I was hoping since it was Monday it wouldn’t be bad… wrong! Dang

But I was happy to hear that the couple that had come down with me said on the very first ride that it was worth it! whew

Rode 4 days, good rides… took it easy as my guy has a nice coat and it was pretty warm there. One pic was of an eagle we saw, another was going over I95. On NYE day we had a pretty big group. It was soooo fun.


----------



## knightrider

Wish I could have gone. I thought about you the whole time-- "I could be at Princess Place! I could be there." Hopefully next time.


----------

