Back on the trail again, Flash and I added another 17+ miles to our workout schedule. While we started on one of our usual treks, out Cypress Creek east to Riverbend and south along the canal, today I decided to explore a different canal, one where there's a pedestrian bridge to a road, then a canal at the back of those houses on that road. That took us a long way west, until we came to a fence that completely blocked the trail along the canal (I didn't think they were allowed to do that, but it had obviously been there a long time), so we had to backtrack a block, then go north until we found another road that would get us farther west. Eventually we made our way to the crossover at the south end of the canal toward home, and made our way north from there. Another great ride, and Flash is getting really fit! Me, too!

Knowing that we had to be prepared to do three straight days of long mileage, I decided we were ready to do at least two days in a row of moderate length riding, and after having done 14+ miles yesterday, we took another 13+ miles today, again exploring some new territory to try to make it more interesting. Today we headed back out on Indiantown grade, this time cutting north after about a mile, then crossing east back along a canal all the way back to where the OTL trail comes out of the north end of Cypress Creek. We had a bit of trouble at that intersection, as there was only the narrowest of passes by the locked gate, not really a horse gate for some reason, so I had to get down and squeeze Flash through it. Not sure fat Apollo would have even fitted! Guess I'll have to find out if the other side of the canal has better access somewhere. There were a few hiking trails going into Cypress Trails before I hit the end of the canal, so we'll have to explore that next time to see if there's a way around that gate that's easier. South from there until we came to the Cypress Trails parking lot, then straight west home again. Another nice ride, though Flash was, understandably, a bit less excited about going for a ride this morning. Willing once we got started, but it took a bit to get him going at first. We have to do it, though, to build the stamina we're both going to need for the OTL ride!

Decided we needed to find a new route today, something to keep our rides fresh and interesting (as much as it can be in flat Florida!) We headed west on the Indiantown grade, this time crossing over Pratt-Whitney road (though I smashed my leg a bit on the horse gate, it's kind of narrow at that trailhead, so I'm anticipating a bruise!), and kept going west until we hit a road along a (guess what?), canal. We followed that back around until it swung back toward Pratt-Whitney, tried to take a water-logged trail south but didn't make it, so we had to turn around and cross PW, ride along the side of the road (fortunately there's a wide swale so we could stay well off the road) back down to the grade, then back home again. At least it was more interesting than what we've been doing lately!

As I continue to train up Flash for the upcoming 63-mile, 3-day Ocean-to-Lake Trail Ride at the end of the month, we posted another 18+ mile ride around The Farms (Jupiter Farms, that is), heading out through Cypress Creek Natural Area, through the Critter Tunnel under Indiantown Road, south through Riverbend Park, along the canal on the north side of the Loxahatchee Slough west along the canal until we turned north again toward home. A nice big loop, perfect for the training we're doing, though a bit boring as it is long and straight and mostly follows canals. Flash did beautifully as usual, though!

Another beautiful Florida morning, crisp and cool then warming up later. I saddled up Flash early and headed out for our 18.5 mile loop to Riverbend Park. I checked his leg for warmth and swelling, and felt very little, so I just wrapped it up nice and hit the trail. It must not have bothered him much, because almost every time I gave him a loose rein without instruction, he decided to speed up. He's gotten great about not reacting to birds jumping out of the canal at him, and at one point, I think he was even having a race with an ibis that kept moving out in front of us, for a much longer distance than usual. We saw lots of wildlife today, lots of birds, a couple of alligators, a bright green iguana, and finally, the pink bird we saw Sunday, though I'm not sure it's an ibis now, it has a rather strange, shoehorn shaped bill, which, with a little research on the internet, turns out to be a roseate spoonbill. Flash was brilliant, with several nice canters, and once again, when we were finished, his ankle felt only slightly warm, so it's obviously not bothering him much, though I'll keep an eye on it. I was back by noon, so Hubby and I enjoyed a nice brunch together, then we went into town for a doctor's appointment for his back (we're hoping to get some injections in order to get some long-term relief), then met both brothers and my new sister-in-law at Jeff's favorite restaurant, Rancho Chico in Tequesta for a nice meal. I splurged on a strawberry margarita (well, two, actually) and had a good time all around. A very nice day!

Started the day saddling up both horses so that Hubby and I could take a ride, and brother Jeff joined us on Frost. As we went up the road for a tour of the neighborhood, we met up with another rider named Cary on her TW Coco(a?) who joined us as we rode along the canal for a bit. She evidently boards a couple of streets over. She showed us a little detour that avoided the road for a short segment before heading off to her barn, and we carried on until we reached the end of the line, where I wanted to show Hubby these crazy palm trees. Someone meticulously cuts off each frond as it dies off, then lacquers or polyurethane's it to make the whole trunk shiny. It actually makes the tree look fake! We all had a good laugh about it before heading back to the other side of the neighborhood for about a 3 ½ mile ride. Just as we were heading down the last canal on the way home, Flash decided to lay down. He had started doing that earlier, but Hubby had been able to stop him, but this time he went quicker, and Hubby didn't have time to get his foot out of the stirrup so he sort of toppled out of the saddle. No injuries, though his elbow kind of bashed into his ribs, which will probably hurt later. It took us a few minutes to get him back into the saddle without a mounting block, but we managed it, and got the rest of the way home without incident. On the last stretch, though, we saw what we thought was a rare pink ibis, I managed to get a quick photo just before Flash laid down. A nice ride, always good to have Hubby with me on the trail!

First, brother Jeff needed a ride to the auto parts store for a part to fix his power steering pulley on his Bronco (which is really hilarious, he has half a dozen vehicles scattered around his property, none of which are running at the moment!), then brother Glenn needed a ride down to pick up a rental car, which dragged on longer than it should because he hadn't fully confirmed availabilities at our first stop (first because, guess what? They didn't have any cars available!), so then we had to go further to pick one up at another place. They didn't have the size he wanted, so they upgraded him to a small SUV, and he was happy because it fit his golf clubs. Once we got back, Jeff and I decided to go for a short ride, to see how my horse Flash and his horse (well, his boarder's horse) Frost did together on the trail. Just a short run around the neighborhood, but everything went fine. Jeesh, I though Apollo had a slow walk, but Frost is even more of a slug than him! So I have to hold Flash back quite a bit, and that made him a little antsy, but it all worked out. Lola came with us because we just went out the back to Hungryland, heading for Pratt Whitney Rd. We got farther than Hubby and I did last week, but still didn't make it to PW, as he's still pretty out-of-shape and started feeling it. It was a good thing, though, because at their sluggish pace, we barely got back before the sun went down! Settled in for a quiet evening.

As promised, I did the same loop I did last Friday backwards, trying to beat our time record, but Flash was a bit more sluggish in the beginning so we didn't quite make it, though we did do some longer stretches at a faster gait later on. Still 18.5 miles is a good workout! Once got back, Hubby and I sat by the pool for a bit, waiting for our local vet to come to give both horses their annuals. They were a bit late, but we got it done before dark, thank goodness. I asked her to check out Flash for any problems, explaining I wanted to train him up for endurance rides, though more urgently for the OTL ride at the end of the month. She found one small area of his left front leg a bit swollen, but said to just rest him and walk him, and wrap it when we got back into our training schedule. She also said his heart sounded different, some kind of flutter in between beats. She had a name for it, but I couldn't pronounce it, but again, she said it wasn't anything to worry about. Hope she's right! Once she packed up and left, we once again settled down for the evening.

Wow, what a ride! Today's goal was to increase the distance stretches of our faster gait, and Flash behaved beautifully! We started out crossing Indiantown road and following the canal down to the Loxahatchee Slough canal, but rather than go into the Slough trails, we kept straight on to the main canal. I've been trying to settle on a regular loop so that we can use it consistently to increase our speed and time, and this is a good one, the only road I have to cross is Indiantown where it is two-lane. From the main canal we cut into the north end part of the trail at Riverbend, then through the tunnel under Indiantown and straight back home through Cypress Creek. Now this is living! A beautiful 18.5 mile ride without traffic and without having to cross any roads except one! I think this will become our training loop for the time being, at least until I get thoroughly bored with it (which probably won't take long 🙂 ). The only complication was that there was a tree down along the last section of canal before getting home, and I tried to break enough branches off to get around it, and managed to get Flash around it on foot, though we had to step off the edge of the canal in order to make it around. Still got back in plenty of time to get Hubby to his dialysis session, and I went to Carson's Tavern for a quick Guinness before picking him up. It's kind of a pain having such a late appointment at the dialysis center, by the time we get home it's half past eight, and dinner after nine. We're hoping we can get earlier chair times eventually!