Archives for 2013

Spent the day on the computer working on my writing project, and watching football today. A little prep for our departure tomorrow, but mostly a relaxing day.

At last, the temps are warm enough for an enjoyable, un-bundled ride! We had been awakened early by our neighbor leaving, (they began packing up about 6:00, before the sun came up, and finally drove off about 7:30), but stayed in bed, sleeping off and on until about 9:30 before getting up and starting our chores. After breakfast, we headed out to saddle the horses, and saw that another day trailer had come in and were saddling up as well. They were gone by the time we finished, and we left shortly thereafter. As I feared, Apollo was like a stick of dynamite, looking for any excuse to blow up. Before going very far, I got down and tried to lunge him with my Mccarty line in an effort to blow off some steam, but he wasn’t into it, so I got back on and we took a side trail in an effort to get his mind on the job at hand. He did okay, but still was bundled up. He finally burst out on a muddy crossing, and I had to get down and run him around a bit, twice in about a quarter mile. Finally, when we had a choice between a side trail and a straight utility line road, I elected for the latter, figuring I just needed to walk him until he settled down, and that what we did. It must have been close to two miles of walking, but he finally started to drop his head and calm down a bit, enough for me to trust him at a jog. Thankfully, Hubby did a great job of keeping mama Clio behind us, until Apollo was calm enough for her to step up to a trot and pass us, and we soon burned some excess energy with a long trot and even a short, controlled canter. The trails here are mostly grass, but with all the rain there were a few muddy spots. Mostly they were utility lines and trails that bordered fallow fields, but we finally accidentally happened onto the blue trail, which followed a Texas-sized creek (we presume the Waxahachie) for a while, and was very nice, more like what we prefer, before joining back up on the red trail which was a straight road. Eventually, we found the green trail, which, like the blue trail, was more to a liking. By this time, Apollo was back to his normal self, and I was able to relax and really start to enjoy the ride. A nice trot and even a little canter as we headed home, finally wearing off that extra energy. All told, it was about 7.5 miles and we were out almost 4 hours, perfect for what we needed to do. Can’t say the trails are really attractive, but they certainly served the purpose today. After multiple premonitions about ending up on the ground on my butt, I took every precaution to avoid that, it succeeded, yeah! Settled down for the evening, even deciding to have a cocktail, in order to use up some orange juice someone brought us over a week ago. Good excuse, right? : -)

Discovered that at some point yesterday evening, a neighbor moved in. I felt kind of bad because we had put up some tarps around the corrals opposite our horses to provide a windbreak during those cooler nights, and I guess it looked like we had taken over the entire 8-corral structure, because the couple had put their horses across the parking lot in another corral. I apologized and removed the tarps (weather was warm enough not to need them now anyway), and later in the day they moved their horses back over. Our did pretty well with neighbors, though every time food came out, Apollo was compelled to kick at the horse across from him, as a warning. A remnant from back when he was in a herd in a pasture and had to fight for every scrap. They left to go riding, while we unhooked the truck from the RV. I had found and arranged to buy some coastal hay about an hour’s drive away, which happened to coincide with the halfway point between us and an old friend who now lived in Tyler (the Rose Capital, we learned), so we headed first to Howard’s barn, where we picked up 18 nice heavy, wired bales of coastal at the local price of $8 a bale, then headed down to Lake Jackson Seafood, a sparsely decorated place on Main Street, but it had an extensive menu and excellent prices, with large servings, actually more than we needed so we had leftovers to bring home. Had a pleasant get-together with our friend Phil, then headed back to Ennis, a quick stop for diesel and a few staples at Walmart before getting back to camp a half hour before dark. Got the horses settled in, but Apollo seems way too full of energy. I spent a couple of minutes lungeing him, just to calm him down. Obviously the other horses in close proximity, too many oats and not enough exercise are catching up to him. We definitely need to ride tomorrow, though I’m thinking of using his regular bridle with a bit rather than his hackamore, just because I think I may need the extra control! Had a pleasant evening after a busy runaround day.

Slept a bit later, and though it was a nicer day, it was still too cold for comfort to ride. Did what everyone does, watched as much of the Macy Thanksgiving Day Parade as I could stand (before all the child screamers started to sound alike, which didn’t take long…) and settled down for football. Had a bottle of wine with dinner, first I’ve had in months, and had a pleasant if slightly inebriated evening. Didn’t forget to remember all those incredible things we’re thankful for, first and foremost that we’re living the trail riders dream!!!

Same as yesterday, though the sun was out more, starting to inch the thermometer up but still a long way from “ride-able.” Since this is our lifestyle rather than a weekend of horse camping, we’ll just wait till the weather improves enough to enjoy it.

Spent the day on the computer working on my latest writing project, again staying warm, out of the elements. Sun started to peek through this afternoon, but not enough to warm it past the low 40’s. Too cold for riding, that’s for darn sure!

Ran into town, which is a short 8 mile drive away, got propane, fuel and did our Walmart shopping before heading back to camp. Another cold, blustery day, glad to get back by the fire and warm up!

A great day for football and keeping warm. Rain, cold, sleet, didn’t quite get the snow that was promised, and quite happy about it. Had to bundle up in parkas for every outdoor chore, but once again, the horses were snug in their winter blankets and covered stalls, so all was right with the world! Continuing to congratulate ourselves with our wise decision to move two days earlier than planned, we stayed toasty in front of our electric fireplace and watched football and other television all day.