Friday, Dec. 18, 2020 – Restful Day, Flash Vetted for Race Tomorrow

Hiya Babe,
Woke up to a freezing morning, literally! Not liking this north Florida winter right now, but thankfully it will be the coldest morning for awhile, and hopefully I’ll by much further south by the time the temps go down again. I stayed in bed longer than I probably should have, just because it was too dang cold to get up, until finally I had no choice. I did my chores and had a leisurely morning, just trying to make sure I’m good and rested for the endurance ride tomorrow. Scotty from the forest service came by to get water to fill up the buckets Jo and I spread along the trails yesterday, and I asked him about a critter that Jo and I had seen crossing Camp Road yesterday. She thought it might be a pig, but I was convinced it moved more cat-like, and was wondering if they had black panthers around here. Scotty said it was likely a jaguarundi, which I’d never hear of, but when I looked it up, I agreed that must have been it. They’re not even native to here, they come from South and Central America, but some have evidently been expatriated here, and to see one is a rare sighting according to him. Beautiful to see! I did some computer work, made a doctor’s appointment for the end of the month, read for most of the afternoon, then I got Flash ready to ride over to the start in order to get vetted in. I decided to fix up that bareback saddle I had, which I’ve only used a couple of times because it just doesn’t seem as secure as I’d like, so I spent some time rigging that, hoping I could get it to work. I did managed to make it workable, but it’s still pretty insecure, so I don’t think I’m going to keep it any more. I guess I’ll try to sell it when I get down to Jupiter. Vetting started at 3:00 so I rode over a little after that, but not before making Flash do a couple more of the impulsion exercises today. He’s finally starting to get the idea, and I’ve learned that if I start him off as though I’m lungeing him, then straighten him out, he goes pretty well. Anyway, he did well with it at the vet checking (training paid off!) And I scored perfect marks at the vet check (yay!), I’m looking forward to seeing how he does during the ride tomorrow. I rode him back, got them all fed and happy, then went out and put up a few horse crossing signs that Jo had given me the other day, and arrived back at the start for the dinner at 5:45. It was pretty cold out, especially as the sun was going down, so no one stayed very long. I headed out shortly afterwards and quickly settled in for the night. Going to bed early for my very early morning alarm, though not as early as last year, since I only have about a quarter mile to ride instead of a full mile. It’s not supposed to be as cold tomorrow morning as today, but it’s still going to be in the low 40’s, brrr! I may wear my long underwear! Anyway, done for the day, off to shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

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