Hi Babe!
Took another ride with Carol today, this time following a route I had programmed into my GPS. I only missed a few points here and there, but ended up going everywhere I wanted to go. Flash was in a mood to go fast today, so I ended up trying to stay in front as much as I could to keep him settled. Lola came with us, she really enjoyed being out in the woods again. It was a beautiful day, at least until the evening when more rain came in (even though there wasn't supposed to be any rain today, ha ha,) I ended up doing exactly 10 miles. It was a bit slippery on some of the climbs, Flash lost his footing a time or two, but I managed to say on without any trouble. He has such a beautiful canter, and we had a chance to run a couple of times on the main trail, it was very enjoyable all around. When we got back, I gave both horses a bath with the new citronella shampoo I ordered from Tractor Supply, it does have a nice smell, but not sure how well it will work keeping flies away, we'll just have to wait and see. Since the Tractor Supply in Lexington didn't have anything else I needed, I made a few calls and managed to find two bags of Balancer and a gallon of Bronco fly spray at another Tractor Supply that was only about 30 minutes away, so I took a trip up there to get that and a bag of senior feed, so I should be set for a few weeks for feed and hay. It started to rain just before I was going to feed the horses, so I waited until it stopped, then fed them, then a WHOLE lot more rain came in, just in this area. Beginning to think I should be heading for the desert, all this rain is depressing! Anyway, Lola and I finally settled down for the evening, listening to the rain before heading for shower and bed, which will be shortly. Good night, my love!

Hey Baby,
After another night of waking up early and reading for an hour plus before getting out of bed, I grabbed some quick breakfast and saddled up the horses for my scheduled 9:30 ride with Lynn from Shelbyville, who arrived right on time (well, 10 minutes ahead, which is what I consider on time!). We headed out on a 3-mile ride I had figured out using the map she had kindly brought me yesterday, which stayed on trails that were actually on the map, rather than the cross-country ones I was taken to on Saturday. Even so, they weren't as widely used as I would have expected, and there was one section that was almost as narrow, but was still passable and didn't last long, fortunately. Both horses behaved very well, though when I was saddling them, I got the impression Flash wasn't thrilled about going out again until he realized Apollo was coming with us, that made him much happier. Apollo seems positively elated to be off the highline and back on the trail again! Anyway, it was a good ride, lasting exactly an hour, which is all we had time for since Lynn and her husband had to "check out" by noon, and since an hour is about all an unaccustomed physique can usually take riding a horse, no matter what kind of athletic condition you might be in! So many muscles that don't get used doing anything else. Anyway, it was a very nice ride and we enjoyed it, and she was very grateful for the chance. Once they left, I gave the horses a quick rinse and put them back on their highline with their remaining breakfast hay, returned a call from my friend Donna and chatted with her for awhile, then decided to pretty much just spend the day reading and relaxing and just recharging my personal batteries, as it were. They were calling for rain later in the day (it ended coming in MUCH later than predicted), lost electricity for a short time (thank goodness my batteries were charged up), but it was back on before too long. It rained off and on throughout the evening, and looks like it might continue to do so throughout the night, but that's fine, it's cooled it down a bit. I've actually had to run the AC a few times since I've been here, so I'm hoping for a little cooler temps in coming days. Oh, and I also trimmed Lola's toenails and my bangs, so I got a little accomplished today. But now it's time for shower and bed, so good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hello my love!
Woke up a bit early and finished reading a kindle book, had a quick breakfast before saddling up Flash, rode a little around the campground, spoke a few minutes to the couple I met from Shelbyville yesterday, then got a text from Carol that she had arrived, so I met her by my campsite and we headed out on a side trail that took us past the barn. I soon discovered that many of the trails are once again unmarked and unmapped, lots of renegade trails, which are all very nice if you have a clue as to the general layout of the place, but was pretty confusing to a newby like me, so I just literally went along for the ride. I had put boots on Flash but probably didn't really need them, since most of the trails were cross country and we hardly went on the roads at all. I ended up going just under 12 miles, which was a good ride for Flash considering there were quite a few hills. On the final stretch home on Bucksnort trail, one of the actual mapped trails here, we opened up for a bit and got a nice canter and largos for quite a ways. It was definitely a good workout. I gave him a nice bath when we got back, long overdue considering how much mud he's been rolling in over at Chickasaw earlier this week, but now he's all nice and clean and white again, for the moment. Carol came back to camp later for happy hour and we chatted some more, nice to have some weather good enough to sit comfortably in the screen room. After she left and I fed the horses, I walked back over to the other couple's campsite and invited the wife to ride tomorrow, just a short ride to give Apollo a little stretch. There's rain in the forecast (what else is new? It didn't rain one drop today!), but we'll see what it looks like in the morning. I've mapped out just a 3 mile ride, as they're leaving tomorrow, and besides, an hour is enough for someone who hasn't ridden in a long time! Was after 8:00 by the time I got settled in with dinner and TV, shower's done, and now I'm off to bed early to make up for my short night last night. Good night, baby! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Riding with a group is always a double-edged sword, as you know, but today the little voice in my head said I should try it. There are several trailers in a group on the other side of the road from me that arrived on Friday. I assumed they were only here for the weekend, but it turns out they're staying through this coming Saturday. Another couple showed up, apparently friends of theirs, and one woman introduced herself, Mary, and asked if I wanted to join their ride. They looked like they were leaving pretty quick, so I told them not to wait for me, but as it turned out, they waited quite awhile for the other ladies, and were just leaving the campground when I finished everything I had to do, so I saddled up Flash as fast as I could, and followed them up the trail I saw them leave on. I had a hard time persuading Lola to come along, evidently three days on the trail is too much for her, but she finally followed. I was only a few minutes before I caught up with them, you know how quick Flash can be when I ask him. We startled the drag horse who had a little fit for a few minutes but eventually settled down. I would have preferred to stay in the back with Lola following, but instead got put in the middle. We kind of stayed in two groups, and for awhile I was at the back of the first group with Lola right behind me, but she got skittish with so many horses, and tired I think, and disappeared, though I knew she'd go back to camp. Anyway, the trails were poorly marked (or not marked at all except a few survey tapes hanging from the occasional limb,) and once again, much of it was straight up and down hills, but at least we never had to go along any roads, which was good because I was in such a hurry I didn't put Flash's boots on. We rode for less than two miles before the group stopped at a downed tree for lunch (yeah, I know, I know), and we were there for half an hour before heading off again, circling back on a mostly different series of trails as we headed back to camp. Some of them looked familiar, and sure enough, when I lined them up with previous rides, there was a lot of duplication. Meanwhile, we got back to camp, and Lola was not in the screen room sleeping, where I had expected to find her. Of course, I soon found her up near the playground, playing fetch with part of the landscape crew that was out mowing lawns today. I had to go and bring her back, and that didn't last long, she ran off to play with some kids on the playground shortly afterward. She's been wandering off farther and farther, which is not good. She finally completely lost her privileges when I let her out about 9:30 for the final time, and ended up getting a phone call from a ranger, she had wandered all the way up the road to the restaurant. He was nice enough to bring her back (he was worried about her being on the road), but that's it. She stays on a cable or a leash from now on. Anyway, at least Flash got some exercise, and this is the last sunny day forecast until Thursday, which I'll probably spend most of packing up anyway, so I'm glad we got one more ride in. Less than five miles, but it's better than nothing. Settled in for the evening, did a couple of loads of laundry, had my shower, so now I'm off to bed. Good night, baby! Love you!