Archives for November 2023

Hiya Babe!
Well, for the second night in a row, I've had to wear earplugs because a nearby camper had to run their generator all night long. Different campers, same experience. Oh, well. The road is kind of busy so I'm probably better off anyway. Had a pleasant morning, then saddled up Flash for an excellent ride on a beautiful day! We once again headed out to see some new trails I hadn't been on before, as well as stopping to look at the actual "River Rise" site, which I don't think I've ever done before. River Rise gets its name from the fact that the Santa Fe River goes mostly underground a few miles away at O'Leno State Park, then pops back up again here at River Rise. There's a little place where I was able to tie up Flash and walk a short distance to where the water actually starts up again. Wasn't particularly flowing or anything, but there were a couple of fishing boats there, so I guess it's a popular spot. Anyway, once again, most of the trails here are lovely old Florida, though most are more park-like that the wilderness type that I prefer. Mostly double-wide, though there are a few that go down to single that are particularly nice. Flash had a lot of energy, he kept up his 4.1 mph walk for a long way, and we cantered a gaited quite a bit, so out 13 miles didn't take too long. Beautiful weather, though Flash worked up a good sweat because his winter coat has suddenly sprung out. Gave him a nice cool bath and put him back on the highline, then sat outside in simply gorgeous weather! Several more horse campers have come in, so it will be a bit busy this weekend, and they seem to have a LOT of day riders coming and going as well. I'm just going to take it easy for a couple of days until it's empty enough to take out Apollo and Lola again. I didn't take Lola today, I'm worried about a busy road we have to cross, but she'll be fine if we stay here on the west side. Settled down for the evening, the usual, dinner and a movie. Tonight it was Matt Damon in an interesting flick called Downsizing, about groups of people shrinking themselves in an effort to save humanity. A bit extreme, but a fascination concept. Just have my Spanish lesson and shower left before going to bed. Love you, darlin'! Good night!

Hi Darlin'!
Had a pleasant morning doing the usual, then decided to take Apollo for a short ride to start off our two weeks here. I plotted a route to take in some of the trails I've previously missed, and we ended up going about 5.3 miles at his mostly sluggish pace, but I think it was just right for him. I trimmed his feet a little before starting, and he was doing some leg stretches as well, so I didn't want to tax him too much, but this is the first time in a long time when he's been the first one I've taken for a ride, and I think he appreciated it! Lola enjoyed herself as well, so it was a lovely time for all! After I got him put away on the highline, I decided to do something I've been meaning to do for quite awhile and haven't had time, to get back to my Egoscue stretching exercises. I promised myself a long time ago that once I got my shoulder straightened out, I'd work on getting myself balanced, which is what this method is all about. My shoulder has been two steps forward, one step back this past week, but I expected it would take some time for everything to get back into place. I felt two definite shifts last week, so I know things are settling. I'm not worried that it will eventually work out, I feel totally vindicated that my theory of what was wrong is absolute correct, despite not being able to convince any medical practitioners of that fact. Anyway, it was a lovely hour plus of stretching and I feel all the better for it! Had my usual dinner and a movie, won't be long out of bed. Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Seems like my body clock is better adjusted to the circadian rhythm of the sun than the clock, I woke up at 6:00 at first, and ended up getting up around 8:00. I do like Standard time so much better than Daylight Savings Time! Last night Kaleigh said she wanted to retrieve markers with the side by side starting at 10:00, but then later she asked if I would do it on Flash. Despite it being a bit later than I had hoped, I agreed, saddled Flash and headed out on the trail to see how far we could get today. Turned out we managed to do the whole thing. She and a boy had gone out yesterday after the last horses were out and supposedly de-marked the pink trail, so I figured all I had to do was the green trail, but it turned out they missed a couple of sections of the pink trail so I ended up doing that as well today. Managed to finish up just after 3:00. Spent some time redoing the ribbons so they would be the way I like them next time. I asked Kaleigh is she want me back in March and she said yes, so I'll have another fixed stopping point in my calendar. Settled down for the evening to another Wonder Woman movie (1984), and the rest of the evening is as usual! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Well, Kaleigh, the Ride Manager for the event this weekend, has run into a few more problems that have delayed her arrival even more, so she didn't arrive until after dark. Since I hate leaving things that could be done ahead to the last minute, which then leaves time to actually do the last minute stuff, I decided to go out and make the changes on horseback. I was afraid Flash would see me coming and run away from me after yesterday's long and tiring ride, but he was perfectly still, even turned toward me when I came over! We got a late start, but we didn't have that much to do, so off we went. I left Lola home because I figured she had enough exercise yesterday. We made the two fixes on the trail, and noticed several markers that had gotten blown off by the wind, it's been a very chilly wind from the north the last couple of days. Actually felt guilty I didn't put blankets on the horses last night, especially Flash after all the work he did yesterday. Anyway, we checked out a couple of extra trails on that side of the road to make sure the markers were still okay, and since we were making such good time, not having to stop every 50 or 100 yards, I decided to check out the markers on the farm side, just to make sure they were still intact. That's what added all the extra mileage today. Happy to say most of them were fine, though I improved on a couple of sign and marker placements. Got back to camp right at 5:00, rinsed off Flash and after I scraped him, put his blanket on, even though it's not going to be as chilly tonight. Still, the breeze is still going pretty strong. Got everybody and me fed, K and I have decided to wait until breakfast to get together, so I'm done for the night! Just my tea, a shower and that's it! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Woke up to a chilly morning, dressed with four layers on. Intended to get out early, but once again, had a few complications that delayed me. The most unexpected was when I was all saddled up and packed and ready to go, stuck my foot in the stirrup, and the stirrup broke! The leather had worked its way through the rivet. At first I tried to find another stirrup that might work, then I decided to see if a Chicago screw would work, and it turned out to be the perfect answer. That killed twenty minutes, so I finally got out a bit after 10:00. I only managed to get a little over six miles done yesterday, so in order to finish it off, I had to do the other nineteen today. Of course, I made a few errors and had to backtrack a couple of times, I just don't have any experience in this forest (I've ridden this side only once before), but I managed to get it done, though it was a long day, made longer by the fact that I also had to take down markers from a previous event that were left behind. How rude and inconsiderate! Unfortunately, they were the same pink ribbons we are using, so I had to remove them as much as I could. I re-purposed some that were on the same trails, had to take a bunch of others done because they were on the wrong side, just a lot of extra hassle, as if I didn't have enough to do today! Oh, well, c'est l'avie! Lola came with us, and for the first time in a long time, she just plopped down in her chair and crashed when we got home, didn't try to bring me her frisbee or anything! It will take a couple of days for her to recover. Flash was his usual brilliant self, mostly patient today with all the stop/starting, and even stood still for me to staple signs on the trees after awhile. It was after 4:30 by the time we got back to camp, but it was a job well finished. Well, almost finished. As I started to coordinate all the information on my mapping program, it seems it might be a tad long (not unusual), but there are a couple of places where I can trim a couple of tenths of a mile, so with Kaleigh bringing her side by side tomorrow, we can fix those in no time. She's having a computer problem she had to fix, so will be later than normal, but no worries, if I have to, I can always go back out on Flash, though I'm sure he would appreciate a day off tomorrow. I would, too, though we'll have to see how late she's going to be. Anyway, that was my day, need to get to bed soon! Good night, darlin'! Love you!