I know, this is supposed to be an endurance blog, or at least a horse related blog..well, it’s my blog. So here is what we got up and running tonight after rummaging through our storage yesterday and unearthing a big glass treasure:

That’s how our fish roll:

In horsey news, did a fun, relaxed 13 miles on Blaze today at the lake, joined by C and Sonny. N was supposed to join us and and meet C but her mare wasn’t feeling well this morning. Fortunately she is feeling better as of this evening!

Sonny and Blaze were SO laid back today it was too funny, especially considering the jigging jigger Sonny was less than a year ago. He is a very different horse these days! My butt hurt by the end of the ride just from all the slow walking today. Defying the “crazy Arab” stereotype, those two were! Though Blaze did a couple dramatic spooks and had one mini bucking fit when Sonny got to canter up a hill and he wasn’t allowed to join. Blaze’s “bucks” just make me smile.

Some boot issues and jerry rigging in that department today, mostly because I need to stop being cheap and just order a new gaiter for Blaze’s Epic already..I’ll get there..

Some VERY unsavory new neighbors have moved onto the proverbial block as of last week. It’s a local horse rescue with a well deserved bad reputation but a scary amount of uninformed financial support. They moved into the big empty dairy property on the corner and we’ve been treated to the sweet sounds of their donkey yelling all day for the last 4 days since they arrived. And there are now about 20 horses in a few tiny cross fenced areas on the corner, all turned out in ratty halters. Oh. Joy. The place is notorious for Strangles running rampant among un-quarantined rescue horses, and I’ll be keeping me and mine as far away as possible when being almost immediate neighbors..UGH.

LOVE this one, she is so gorgeous (and I don’t mean me!):

Second loop, charging it in the afternoon. Would make a cool Easyboot ad, no? I have a more zoomed out one where you can see the rocks and boots even better, just sayin’ 😉

Look at that tail behind me!

 Wilbur wiener has the need, the need for speed! He ran and ran and ran and ran up the hill until his little stumpy legs couldn’t run anymore, and then joined my husband in the driver’s seat:

Beavis and Butthead  Tady and JJ. These are two very happy, dorky dogs. J has had them since before I met him and they are reflections of what an engaged, adventurous, happy dog owner/trainer he is:

JJ is part Catahoula and has the spotted tongue and bizarre yodel:

The road winds away back down the hill in the distance..what a great place we live in for riding and fishing and all our adventures! I just love it.

Crazy-eyes-thumbs-up pictures are kind of a family tradition. No, seriously. In keeping, (and conclusion) I’ll share this:

I’ve known them for a few years now but they used to live up the hill in Paradise and we didn’t often see each other, and in fact probably hadn’t crossed paths in reality for about a year now. We got back in touch via good ole Facebook the other day and scheduled this ride.

 Last time I saw little T she wasn’t too keen on the whole horse situation, she would participate some but wasn’t horse-crazy like her mom had been hoping. What a difference a  year makes! As I mentioned T was riding Emmy in just a bareback pad today, and has become a real little cowgirl. Emmy is a really smooth nice horse but has a bit of a mare opinion at times, but T did really well with her and we walked, trotted, and cantered on the “private” trails. At a snack break we were all dismounted relaxing and D said, “Hey T, show her your trick.”  I had no idea what to expect as T put her hand low, Emmy dropped her head to her hand, T grabbed Emmy’s neck just behind her head in a bear hug and Emmy *tossed* T up over her neck and onto her back. Then T turned around to face the right way, Ta Da! It was a *slick* trick and I so wasn’t expecting it.

The connector of the loop was underwater and T was dead set on getting in there, so in she went! D joined her but Blaze was content to graze on the shore and play photographer’s mount.

Gotta love kids:

Yeehawww!

Gotta dump those boots after a good swim:

Lots of flowers today:

“Hey Mom, let’s canter to dry off!”  and I quote 🙂

It was a great mellow 6.5 miles in a couple of hours, totally enjoyable. During a particularly exuberant canter up a hill the gaiter ripped off of Blaze’s Epic as it’s been threatening to (I bought the pair well used) but I took the screws out and can easily put a new gaiter on. His heels have dropped so much he may be able to go in Gloves soon!

Congrats to Irish Horse and Major at Trails and Trials for completing their first AERC LD today at the American River Classic, and congrats to my Cuyama XP buddy A and her non-stop awesome stallion for finishing another 50 at ARC, this time in the tough Pioneer division! Keep it rocking in the free world ladies, what a beautiful weekend for all sorts of riding!

Gate corner After…

and a larger view..

Wahoo! I rock. We really need to buy a rototiller one of these days…just one more thing on a long list! Still, great to have my arena back! Some really nice footing under that compacted top.

When I put the splint boots on Blaze’s hind legs he did the horsey goose step for a good 20 steps and gave me a real laugh. We headed out and had a really mellow, fun ride, just chatting away with only 2 sustained trots the whole time, which was just fine for Blaze and good practice being mellow for Sonny, who has come an awesomely long way brain-wise since I started riding with them last year. He is a leggy natural athlete but needed some miles and LSD to get his brain together; he was so quiet and relaxed on the trail today, C has really done a great job with him. He’ll be doing his debut 50 at Cache Creek next month and I have total faith in the pair.

By the time we turned around at just over 6 miles out the sun had come out and it had warmed up quite a bit. Blaze grazed and had a few sips of water along the way, and even peed and pooped out on the trail, which was great. He generally doesn’t do much of any of the above on rides at the lake, no matter the distance, and since he hasn’t been out a whole lot it was nice to see him taking care of himself. He was in great shape end of last summer and has been out enough that I knew he could handle today, but it always eases the mind to see positive signs like eating, pooping, etc.

Heading back up the ridge behind C:

A nice day over the dam:

Aww, he’s such a stinkin cutie:

We cruised back into the parking lot at 12.6 miles in 4 1/2 hours, so yes, you could say we were taking our time, hah! It was a great ride though, so good to be out on the trail with C again, and exciting to see how far her gelding has come mentally. And of course happy to have my boy out again. See, he survived:

Nice even sweat marks from the saddle and the Epics stayed on fine, though the gaiter is tearing off one and should probably be addressed..eventually.

I think my mom left her cold with me, I had a blast on the ride today but since getting home and sitting down I’m feeling less and less lively..well the 2 days of forecast showers/rain starting tomorrow is just in time for me to be sick and healthy again real quick-like, right?!