Hi Darlin’,
A pretty good night sleep, thank goodness, got up fairly early so I could finish marking the trails before the rain came in. Before breakfast, though, I put the spare tire away, though I literally had to let all of the air out of it to get it to fit, so it won’t be of much use until I fill it back up again, though I have the compressor to do it if need be. I also moved all the hay into the back of the trailer, and a couple under the gooseneck, so I should be all set for awhile. I bought enough so that I’ll have a full load when I get to brother Jeff’s next week, since it’s so expensive down there by him. Finally got all that done, had breakfast, then saddled up Flash. At first I thought I would just mark the trails we were sure of and leave the green trail until after the rain, but I really wanted to give Flash two days off before the ride on Saturday, so I decided to do them all today. Fortunately, the forest guy Scottie did a great job of fixing the trail, so I foresee no problems there. I made Flash mostly walk, at least until we had finished the ten miles of trail marking, then when we headed back to camp I let him go for the last couple of miles, and he was ready! This horse is amazing, he just loves to run! And he’s in much better shape and conditioning than last year, so I’m hoping we’ll do pretty well. I tried our impulsion exercise again and he was still reluctant until I showed him the big whip, then I got out my little crop and it worked just as well with that one, so I’m going to keep practicing with the small one, it will be much easier to handle if it comes to that. I don’t know if they’re allowed, but unless he greatly improves on this one little exercise, I’m going to have to carry it so he can see it. That seems to be all it takes! Gave him some extra feed when we got back since he’s been burning so many calories lately. It had started to sprinkle lightly once or twice on the trail, and started more steadily just as I was feeding Flash, and just about the time I got his feed bag off and put away, it started to come down pretty good. My timing was perfect! It’s been a busy few days, so I decided to relax the rest of the afternoon, mostly just watching brainless TV. I’m reading some good books, so I’m heading to bed extra early to do some reading, right after my shower, which is where I’m headed now. Good night, babe! Love you!
Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020 – Good Ride and Shopping Day
Hey Baby,
Another night where I woke up and had a hard time getting back to sleep, but slept later to make up for it. By the time I got out to feed the horses around 8:30 there were already three trailers here, and within the next hour a bunch more came in. Some were riders, but half a dozen were buggies, really busy! Not surprising really, it was a beautiful day! I got a little delayed leaving because my phone needed some charging, and since my chore today, in addition to conditioning Flash, was to confirm an accurate reading on the length of the northern loop. Flash and I finally left right about 11:00, and he was ready to go! We started out riding to the starting gate at Helen’s, then followed the markers all the rest of the way. I had no problem following them, but there were a few low-hanging branches that I had to duck and still scratched at my helmet, so I guess they didn’t do much overhead clearing when they were cleaning the trails earlier. Anyway, Flash seems to really understand what we’re doing this year, that we’re preparing for this ride on Saturday, because he was giving it his all the entire ride. We averaged better than six miles an hour the entire ride with only a few short breaks, and we completed it just shy of two hours! Fantastic! I think he’s going to do much better this year, he’s in such good shape with all the mountain climbing we did this summer. I brought my stethoscope with me and as soon as we got back to camp, I stripped off his saddle and hosed him down, checking his heartbeat, and it really did come down faster than I expected. I also handled him like I know the vet will during the vet check, and tried to run him up and back like they do for an impulsion score, which we failed miserably last year, and he wasn’t much better this time. So a little training was in order, and I got my long carriage whip out and showed it to him, and that was enough to get him moving a lot better. I’ll have to practice that a lot in the next few days, I have such a hard time running next to him as it is, dragging him is impossible. He got better, but I’d like to get him to do it without the whip in my hand. Once we got that done and I put him on the highline, I gathered up Lola and we headed for town to get some hay, fuel and shopping. I had to meet up with Jo to get some marker supplies, and she happen to be at a Napa service center, so I decided to take my spare in and have them put in a new valve stem, but I had to have them only put half the air in it, it’s the only way it will fit in the spare tire compartment. Looks like the only place I’ll be able to sell that tire is on Marketplace or craigslist or something. I definitely will need to order another tire to match the rest, though. By the time we got back to camp the sun was down and it was getting dark, so I cranked up the generator, put the groceries away, fed the horses and settled down for the evening. Jo stopped by again with some more supplies, so I should be all set to finish marking the trails in the next day or two. They’re calling for rain tomorrow, but I think I’ll be able to get some of it done in the morning, though I think I’ll take Apollo for a change, give Flash a rest. Before I went to town I drove out to see the repairs on the green trail, and it looked much better, but we’re going to wait until after the rain tomorrow just to be sure it settled down okay. Finally settled down for the evening to a movie, now I’m headed to shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020 – Good Work Day with a Bad Finish
Hi Babe,
Had a long hard day marking trails today, with Jo on her ATV. Not very comfortable hopping up and down off the luggage rack thing on the hood, and getting off and on the passenger seat was no better, but we managed to get most of it done, but I’m exhausted from all that climbing around. There are still several miles left to do (which I’ll do by horseback, which, frankly, is much easier!) because there was one section we couldn’t get the ATV through where Dede got stuck on Friday, and some other sections we can’t mark until we decide whether the green trail is passable or not. It was close to 4:00 by the time I got back, grabbed a beer, let Lola out (she didn’t come with me, so she was closed up in the trailer all day), and sat by the firepit with Mike and John, playing frisbee with Lola. All of sudden, with no provocation or warming, Mike’s dog leaped out from where he was laying down and attacked Lola, grabbing one of her hind legs. They fought, and by the time we separated them, Lola had big cuts where the other dog’s teeth cut completely through her skin on both sides of her legs in three places. They’ve had a minor tiff or two before, nothing serious, but enough so you would think the owners would know they have to keep that dog under restraint, but they don’t. I get it, it’s their house, but still, when you have guests and a mean, unpredictable dog, you’d think they would take precautions. Anyway, one of their dinner guests, who arrived moments later, happen to be a retired veterinarian, so she was kind enough to look at it and wrap it up for me, with instructions to change the bandages every other day for a week. Poor Lola, she looks so miserable now! She can’t understand why anyone would be mean to her, she’s such a lovable dog! I gave her an aspirin for the pain, now she’s sleeping, hopefully through the night. Anyway, we all had dinner together, then John started singing by the campfire. I did Snowy River, but didn’t really have any interest in listening to the music, so I left to make a map of the Hog Pond section that Dede managed to email me. I’m so tired, I’m taking my shower early, changing the sheets on the bed, and probably going to bed right after that. I’m going to try to find someplace else to move to tomorrow, I can’t stay here with Lola in danger of getting into another fight, I just won’t be able to relax here again after this. So, I can’t say it’s a good night, but I still love you, darlin’!
Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020 – Good Ride on Flash
Hey Darlin’!
Had a hard time getting to sleep, read till the wee hours, not sure why it is on the days I get up early and work a lot I still have trouble sleeping! Whatever. After chores and breakfast, I planned a route to reconnoiter the latest revision to the 25 mile loop, as well as check out another trail as a possible way to shorten part of the green trail. Since I have now decided to do the run next Saturday, I took a fast pace in order to give Flash a little conditioning, and we did over 14 miles at an average 5-6 miles an hour, really good, all things considered! He was brilliant again! We ran into several armadillos along the way and he barely paid any attention to them, and I saw a nice deer, but I’m not sure Flash saw it. In any event, it was a wonderful ride, and we really were moving out most of the way, with only an occasional break to walk for a bit before kicking back up again. I really enjoyed it, and Flash is in so much better shape this year than last, when we had taken nearly the whole summer off and had only had a few rides before getting down here. With all the riding, hill-climbing and rocky trails, he’s loving long, level stretches of sand and grass! And I think he may be remembering the ride last year, which he really loved, and understands that that’s what we’re preparing for. Last year he didn’t get it because we’d never done an endurance ride before, but this year, I really think he gets it, and is working harder than ever. Anyway, it was a fantastic ride! When we got back, I got out my stethoscope to check his heartbeat, which I had done before we left, and even though we came in pretty fast except the last 100 yards or so, his heart rate was all the way back down to 60 beats per minute, which is brilliant! I’ve never actually been able to hear his heart before, though I’ve tried, but today I heard it loud and clear, though before the ride, it was going so slow I couldn’t even figure out how to count it! After the ride it was right on a beat per second, exactly where it needs to be at the vet check. I’m learning! After doing some map work and sitting around the campfire with the gang for a bit, I headed back in and settled in for the evening, watching a crazy movie with Meryl Streep called Prom, which was a musical, believe it or not. The first part made me laugh out loud because it seemed like these celebrity Broadway stars were actually making fun of themselves as activists, and I thought that they might learn some lessons in small town Indiana where the story takes place, but unfortunately it didn’t turn out that way. I just don’t understand why the people that scream the most about intolerance can’t see that THEY’RE being intolerant of viewpoints they don’t agree with! It would be funny if it weren’t so absurdly hypocritical! Well, enough of that rant. I’m not sure I could have gotten you to watch that movie, but I sure would have loved to hear your take on it! Late now, and I have to get up early, so good night, babe! Love you!
Friday, Dec. 11, 2020 – Trail Clearing Work Day
Hi Babe!
Up at the crack of dawn this morning in order to meet the gang at the trailhead to do our requisite trail clearing. After the usual orientation we broke down into groups and Jo and I headed off on her ATV, working our way along the trail for more than two hours before coming back to camp and meeting up with the folks still left. One of the ladies got her side by side stuck so bad the forest service guy, Scotty, had to go and pull her out, so after everyone else left, Jo and I headed back to finish off the part of the trail they didn’t get to, plus we looked at a couple of other things in the interest of having alternative routes if Scotty can’t get the chunks in the green trail down to a decent level. We’ll know on Monday, then we can confirm the route and finish marking it. Jo and I have planned to go out and mark most of the rest on Sunday, so I guess I won’t be going out on horseback to do much this week. I wasn’t sure I wanted to participate in the ride next week, mostly because my knee was hurting, but it’s gotten a lot better, so I’m thinking I’ll go ahead and do it. Flash loved it so much last year, and he should be pretty fit this year with all the hill-climbing we’ve done this summer. You remember last year we hardly did any riding all summer, and only a few rides before we got down here in December last year, so he wasn’t anywhere near as fit as he is now. Connie’s agreed to let me borrow her livestock trailer that morning, since it’s nearly three miles from here and I don’t want to ride that before a 25 mile race, so I guess that clinches it, I’m racing next week. It was 3:00 before I got back to camp, and Jo came over so we could figure out the best route to make the mileage, with alternatives if the green trail isn’t usable, and I think we got it pretty well figured out. It will be a little different from last year, which will be nice. After Jo left, I got involved with helping Connie solve a problem on her computer for an hour, then I had promised to fix some fish that my neighbor John had caught yesterday, they got the limit in two different kinds of fish, so I spiced it up and wrapped it in foil and parchment and put it on Connie’s grill, while the other ladies made potatoes and a lovely broccoli cheese casserole, all of which came out delicious! And I didn’t have hardly any dishes to do, yay! We chatted until about 8:00, then I came back to settle down for the evening, but spent most of it trying to balance an investment account that I’ve been having problems with, and finally got it done. Now it’s later than I hoped, but I don’t have any plans for tomorrow so I can sleep late, though I may take a ride, but the question is, should I condition Flash or ride my slug Apollo? Decisions, decisions! I’ll see how I feel in the morning. Meanwhile, I’m off now, late, late, late! Good night, my love!
Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020 – FABULOUS Long Ride on Flash!
Hi Darlin’!
What a fabulous ride today! After another tough night dealing with Lola’s restlessness, I set my alarm to make sure I wouldn’t sleep too late, did all my usual chores and breakfast before saddling up Flash and heading out. Our goal today was to ride the entire 12-14 mile loop that will make up part of the endurance ride next weekend to see what kind of shape it is in, because we’re having a work day tomorrow to clear out any problems. It’s two miles from Camp Connie to the nearest point on the orange trail, so I just started and ended my loop from there. Flash was BRILLIANT! Even when an armadillo jumped straight up right next to him, he hardly flinched, and only stopped because I wanted a better look. We were talking about these critters the other night, someone mentioned that a rider in an endurance ride had one jump straight up and hit his horse in the belly, which I found hard to believe. Such a clumsy creature and it can jump straight up? Well, it’s TRUE! I saw it with my own eyes! Who would’ve thunk it? We kept a great pace along the whole ride, not pushing it, but covering a lot of ground, finishing 16.23 miles in less than 3½ hours. Most of the trails are in pretty good shape, not too much work to be done, but there’s one section that’s been tilled up and is nothing but a bunch of sod chunks, which is going to be very hard to get through. I kept Flash at a walk the whole way through, but he got frustrated and move a bit faster toward the end, but I still didn’t think it was safe. I called the organizer, Jo, afterward, and we’re going to talk to the forest folks in the morning and see if there’s any equipment they can use to smooth it out, and I’m also going to look for an alternate route, just in case. That was about the only dubious place, the rest only has a few things that need clearing, though there are some sections that have been clearcut since last year, so the forest isn’t as pretty as it used to be in some places. Sigh… After I got back and rinsed off Flash and put him away, I sat around with my new neighbors, Vicky and John, and chatted for a bit. Connie and Mike joined us a bit later, then it was feeding time before we knew it, and I started my evening as usual. Took my shower early, and doing the same for bedtime, too, since I have to get up around 6:30 to get to our 8:00 work day start in the morning. I’m hoping to enlist a little help to look for my truck key, you remember the last time I saw it was the day we were leaving the trailhead last year? I kept thinking I would find it somewhere, in a pocket or under something, but I never did, and I’m taking a longshot and looking where we parked last year. Not likely, but what the heck, what do I have to lose? Anyway, one last cup of sleepytime tea and then I’ll be off the bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020 – Too Cold to Ride
Hi Sweetie,
The best laid plans! After an excellent night sleep, thanks to Lola being quiet through the night, yay! But it was freezing this morning, only 34 degrees when I started out to feed the horses at 9:00, and it didn’t get into the 40’s for awhile after that. No way I was going to go riding with it that cold! It eventually got up into the 50’s, but there was such a cool breeze, it was just too much. I did all my planning, figured what I needed to do was about a 15 mile ride, which will be no problem if I get an early enough start, but considering it was still so cold by noon, and there’s a wonderful forecast, in the low 70’s for tomorrow, I decided to push it off for another day. Not like me to procrastinate, but I truly am a fair weather rider, and I didn’t come down to Florida to freeze my butt off! So instead, I had yet another lazy day of reading, playing games on my computer, watching a little TV, now I’m off to shower and bed again. It will get busy from tomorrow on, so it’s probably good that I’ve well and truly recharged my batteries! Good night, babe! Love you!
Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020 – Another Lazy Day
Hey Babe,
Well, this is getting quite embarrassing. I did absolutely nothing today. Seriously. I changed the hose out that I was using to fill the horses’ water buckets because my new neighbor stacked a pile of hay between the faucet and the buckets and my hose wasn’t long enough to get around it or over it, so I had to switch it out for a longer hose. Other than that, I did nothing but read and my usual chores. I blame it on the weather. It got down to near freezing last night (and is supposed to do again tonight), and it never got above the low 50’s during the day. My fingers froze just moving the hose around! So I’ll call it a cuddle by the fireplace with Lola day, and that’s all we did. I napped occasionally, too, but that was because Lola was super restless last night and kept me awake most of the night, she just wouldn’t settle down, and I could hear and feel her moving even with my earplugs in, so I guess I needed another rest day. I’m planning on taking a long ride tomorrow, so I’m hoping she’ll settle down and let me sleep tonight! Fingers crossed! So I’m heading off to shower and bed, with dreams of sleeping in my head! Good night, darlin’! Love you!
Monday, Dec. 7, 2020 – A Quiet Day
Hi Darlin’,
What a wonderful night sleep, though I had to put in earplugs because it rained most of the night. It took the alarm to wake me up, which I had set because my hosts were having someone come in early to spread lime on their yard and pastures, and I thought I would have to move the horses early, but they decided not to do the paddock they’re in at the last minute, so they stayed where they were. After I fed them, I decided to go into town to do some shopping, and to get breakfast beforehand, so Lola and I stopped at a little local place for a nice breakfast, then off to Winn-Dixie for some groceries, then back to camp. It was a little cooler, with a strong wind in the afternoon, so I stayed inside most of the day. The organizer for the endurance ride I’m helping out with stopped by to confirm the route that needed marking, so I have my work cut out for me for the next two weeks. I’ll check out the trails later in the week, then there’s a workday on Friday to do any cleanup that needs doing, then I’ll mark my section next week. It’s only supposed to get into the low 50’s tomorrow, so I’m not riding tomorrow, but it’s warming up, so by Wednesday it should be good. A nice relaxing evening, watched a horse movie, then an old Dean Martin movie for a change, no violence or bad language, though there was certainly a lot of sexual innuendo in the latter film! Tastefully done, though, since it’s from the early 60’s. Anyway, done for the day, off for shower and bed. Love you, sweetie! Good night!
Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 – A Fabulous Ride Today
Hi Sweetie,
I had a good night sleep, then when I woke up it felt like my knee was locked in a bad place, so I spent an hour stretching and using the hand massager to work on all my sore bits, and by the time I got out of bed, my knee, as well as my shoulder and back, felt fantastic! After breakfast I saddled up Flash and took him for a fabulous 8-mile ride. He behaved beautifully, though I was worried that having not been ridden in so long he would be a bit frisky, but he was brilliant! He did shy at one burnt log that was by the side of the road, but I hung on, then made him stand and look at it for awhile until he settled down again. Another time something bothered him, but this time he just planted his feet and froze, which, to my mind, is exactly the right thing to do! We did a lot of walking, and my knee held up great, and eventually we did a nice mile at his mid-speed cordo of about 8.5 miles an hour, and we did another long stretch at a lovely canter on the way back to the ranch. It was wonderful! We got back in barely 1½ hours, and I had no trouble with my knee at all when I got off, just one or two steps and everything was back to normal. So grateful for that! This is the first day in a while that I actually felt like doing anything, that I had any energy at all. I can only think that maybe I’ve been fighting off a bug or something, after having a sore throat earlier in the week, but it seems to have finally disappeared, and I’m starting to feel normal again. Or it could just be the crash after weeks of what seemed like almost non-stop activity. Anyway, I felt good enough to give Flash a nice bath, I even spent some time getting all the tangles out of his mane and tail, and he looked great for about 30 seconds, then I put him in the paddock and the first thing he did was roll, of course, so he was covered in sand almost immediately. Bathing animals has got to be the biggest waste of time, ever! Well, at least the deep down dirt is gone for the moment. I did some mending, then read for a few hours, then it started to sprinkle at around 4:00 (the forecast said the rain was coming in at 9:00, sigh), so I fed the horses early, putting their rain blankets on, then grilled myself a little steak on the grill that I had put up earlier, then settled down for the evening. I finished watching the depressing mini-series I started yesterday, then looked for a light comedy and ended up with another fairly depressing movie. I really dislike most modern films these days. I am not interested in gratuitous violence, foul language, overt and meaningless sex scenes and rampant drug use. I just don’t see how living through someone else’s angst is the least bit entertaining! I guess that’s why I liked that Hallmark series, even though it was simplistic. Better than the alternative! Well, enough of a rant. I did some laundry and have fresh sheets, so I’m off to shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!