Again spent most of the day working with our client before walking over to a nice little Indian Restaurant for dinner.
Archives for September 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011 – Work Day
September 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Spent the day working with our client.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011 – Travel Day to Chicago
September 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Woke up before the alarm to the sound of thundering hooves, so I got up to see what the ruckus was all about, and discovered that it was the horses in the rambunctious herd that was making all the noise, kicking up and cantering around, playing and slipping in the mud. Apollo’s herd was off to the other side and seemed much quieter, so I came back in. Too late to go back to bed, so I took care of a few more things on the computer until the alarm went off and Hubby got up. Our hostess arrived about 8:30 to get instructions for feeding the dogs, and we were soon on our way to IHOP for breakfast before our flight to Chicago. Landed safely at Midway after a very pleasant flight on Southwest (lots of legroom, paid an extra $10 to get in the A group, nice landing), grabbed a cab (in Chicago a town car isn’t just $10-15 more, it’s double! More redistribution of wealth, obviously), arrived at the hotel, which had a spectacular view around the entire corner window, did some quick shopping and settled in for the night.Tuesday, September 6, 2011 – Packing and Settling In Day
September 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Woke up early even without the alarm,worried about the horses getting acquainted with a new herd. Rain had come in about halfway through the night, and was running steady ever since. Everything feeling damp. No activity at the barn so I went back to sleep after doing a little work on the computer. Eventually I went back to bed and slept for another hour or so, then I got dressed to check on things. I noticed the cavallero who was bringing in the horses, feeding them, then letting them out again, was just about done, he’d obviously waited until the rain let up slightly before releasing them. I walked down to the barn, and discovered that Clio and peacefully gone off with the mares, made friends with a big white horse, and was grazing quietly at the far side of the mare pasture. Meanwhile, Apollo had completely missed the fact that a herd had passed him by, he was pacing back and forth along the fenceline between the two pastures, or hanging his head mournfully near the fence, whinnying to Mama, who was, surprisingly, paying no attention to him whatsoever. It was just the opposite of what we thought would happen! We figured it would be Mama who would suffer the most anxiety, but she seemed quite happy to let him run around. I gave him some treats and walked him back up to the herd he was supposed to join. When I started to walk away, he whinnied at me, then was answered by another gelding in the herd, who quickly came over and nuzzled together, along with a third horse that did the same. Apollo then settled down after a few minutes, returning to grazing for awhile. Several times during the day he was back down at the corner though, tyring hard to figure out why Mama wasn’t looking after him. It rained all day, so he was not a happy camper on many different levels, poor baby. What won’t kill us makes us stronger, though, right? They really needed to be separated at some point, and this seems like a fairly kind and gentle way of doing it, if there is a kind and gentle way of separating a mother from her son after 15 years! Anyway, Hubby and I spent the day packing and getting ready for our trip, it promises to be hectic and strenuous, and I’m hoping for a better night sleep tonight in preparation for it. We also disconnected the RV and moved the truck into their out-barn, and spread the bales of hay around so that it would dry while we were gone. Relaxed to a very enjoyable movie, Burlesque, with Cher and Christine Aguilera, lots of fun even though musicals aren’t really our favorite genre, though it’s not a musical in the traditional sense. Who cares if she’s had some work done, Cher looks great for 65! As I was getting ready for bed, I heard Apollo very nearby whinnying. I decided to check on him, so I went out with a flashlight, grabbed some treats and found him right next to the fence where we were parked, wet and shivering, which concerned me, but I saw other horses in the nearby run-in shed so I knew he’d make his way back there. Gave him about a dozen treats before heading off the bed. He seemed happier and a bit quieter after that. He’s such a Mama’s boy, except he has two Mamas to get over once we leave!Monday, September 5, 2011 – Hay Pickup and Travel Day to Rhode Island
September 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Woke up early to gray and rainy skies, but the radar showed that the rain was all west and north of where we would be picking up hay this morning in Waterville (south of Utica), but by the time we got there the rain was everywhere! We managed to get the pickup loaded with a nice fresh 20 bales at $2.50/bale, but since we couldn’t cover it well while driving, it got wet along the way. We kept hoping for a break as the morning radar had promised, but it didn’t come until we were already in Massachusetts. For about the last hour and a half, it stopped raining long enough to kind of dry the hay out a bit, but the rain was fast catching up to us, so we’d have to cover it again quick once we stopped. Arrived a few minutes late at Jock’s Horse Farm near Cranston, but Angela was waiting for us, and quickly directed us to where we needed to be. We agreed we would leave the horses in stalls in the barn for the night, then mix them with their respective herds in the morning. She has several large pastures, and she keeps one for mares and one for gentle geldings, while another on is reserved for the more rambunctious geldings. We put Apollo and Clio about 5 stalls away from each other, so there was some whinnying going on for a bit, but they could see each other when they stuck their heads out of the stalls, so they eventually quieted down. Should be interesting to see what happens tomorrow when they’re in separate pastures! That’s never happened before! The pastures are next to each other at one corner, so they’ll be able to see each other, and frankly, this is a good opportunity for them to go through at least a mini-weaning (I know, I know, but they’ve never had any reason to be apart before!). We set up the RV outside their out-barn, which was a good quarter mile from the house, so we would both have our privacy while still being accessible and in the midst of things. The concrete was slightly leaning for draining, so we had to prop up one side, particularly since there was a lot of rain in the forecast. The inside of the RV has gotten so wet in the past few weeks that it feels damp and musty inside, we definitely need a good drying and cleaning out! Hopefully we’ll have a chance before we leave on our next trip. Hubby decided not to try to get the satellite dish out since it was getting dark by the time we finished setting up, and we were fading fast due to the long hard drive in the rain, the early morning hour that we got up, the heavy lifting load the truck with hay, etc. One short movie off the PVR and we were ready for bed!
Sunday, September 4, 2011 – Prep Day
September 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Spent the day preparing for our trip tomorrow, driving to Rhode Island so that we can fly out of the conveniently located Providence Airport. Found a horse farm less than 10 miles away, so commuting will be easy, and it’s right next to an undeveloped state park that apparently has hours of trail-riding available in it. Tried to relax for the latter part of the day, as we have a busy week ahead of us. Rained most of the day, which made it harder to get packed up since we had to take stuff out of the van to pack, but otherwise an uneventful day.
Saturday, October 3, 2011 – Work Day
September 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Slept REALLY late this morning, must have been all the exertion yesterday. Hubby got up about 10:00 to see to the horses, and let me sleep till 11:00 before calling me to breakfast. Must have needed it! Spent the rest of the day writing outlines and workbooks for our upcoming seminars, and doing other mundane but essential work. Warm today, and bit more humid, would have been a nice day for a ride, but I suspect the horses would have mutinied if we had tried to take them out today! I think my leg muscles would have done the same! Enjoyed chatting with our RV neighbors before settling in for a movie, then off to bed.
Friday, September 2, 2011 – Ride Day with Lunch at Trailside Again
September 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment
In the saddle at just about noon, heading down to a trail in the southwest area of the wilderness on our way to Trailside for a meal. Thought we might have made a wrong turn because we started riding through a sort of neighborhood of private property, and stopped to ask someone where we went wrong, but we were actually okay, just on the road instead of the trail, which came out just about 100 yards further ahead. Took the Streamside Trail counterclockwise, which was really a nice trail, and was really busy relatively speaking, we passed at least four groups of riders along the way. Found a shortcut that the folks we had talked with earlier told us about, unmarked and much less used, but it came out just north of the bridge crossing on Erie Canal Trail, so it did cut some time and travel, which was good because we were already running a bit later than we thought. We picked up Blueberry Trail, which was rockier than we like, and it seemed much longer getting to the turnoff for Trailside. We thought there would be another one coming from the northwest, but it wasn’t so, or at least we didn’t find it. Finally got to Trailside about 3:45, where I go the Reuben and Hubby went for the fish fry (the English just can’t help having fish and chips whenever it’s on the menu, even when the chips are sweet potato fries : -). Before we headed out with our leftovers, we booted up the horses. My gelding had been behaving rather tentatively, didn’t know if it was sore feet or just sore muscles from the amount of work he’d been doing lately (a lot of miles after a three week layoff), but we thought boots might help, and it seemed to as we went along. Headed back out to Blueberry trail and decided the shortest route back would be to go the east route, which would quickly turn northwest and head straight back to camp. Once again we had the two creek crossings. I was afraid they might be higher and faster after the storm last weekend, but they were still slow, though perhaps a bit higher. Hubby got one foot wet, just to check the depth (he said), while I once again pulled my feet up a bit. Love these belly high fords! Didn’t bother the horses a bit, though, and I think the boots helped on the rocks. Managed to make it back at about 7:00, later than we had anticipated, but well before dark, though by the time everyone was settled in, dusk had taken a good hold of the place. A fabulous ride though, we really love this place!
Thursday, September 1, 2011 – Work Day
September 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Spent the day working on the computer, doing bookkeeping and finalizing our arrangements for next week, while Hubby did a few chores, like repair the roof of the RV (a limb had torn out one of the luggage rack attachments), among other things.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011 – Another Fabulous Ride in Otter Creek
September 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
After doing some chores in the morning, Hubby and I hit the trail about 1:00, heading north this time. Out Blue Jog, north on Confusion Flats, then Chase Creek Trail to the south entrance to High Banks Trail, which we took. Stopped at the scenic area by the river for lunch, horses had their oats and we had ours (dry Cheerios as a snack!) before heading out again. Came across a dead pine across the trail with no really easy way around it, so we dismounted and managed to push it off the trail. It was right next to a cliff so we were able to get gravity to work in our favor, and since the tree had broken in several places it was pretty easy to clear. Didn’t even need to get my camp saw out! Trail was unbelievably dry considering the storms the other day. Really beautiful, up and down, lots of woods, occasional fields, and two bridges along the way. Came back along the “Ponds Trails”, Evie’s Pond Trail, Gumdrop Pond Trail, Hinching Pond Trail, finally picking up Cow Trail, then Homebound Trail, till we circled back to Confusion Flats and Blue Jog. Five full hours, getting back at 6:00. Footing was better than Monday, so no boots were necessary (thank goodness), though we did carry them with us just in case. Hubby wore a back brace today, he’s been having some pain in his lower back, but the brace seemed to help tremendously. I think his muscles just got a little weak with lack of use during our three week hiatus, as did mine and the horses’! He just doesn’t want to become dependent of having to take painkillers just to take a ride. Took a much needed shower, relaxed with the TV, then headed to a freshly-linened bed for a great night sleep!
