Hi Babe,
What a fantastic and rare ride I had today! The group that have been my neighbors had invited me to join them on a linear ride from Deam Lake back to camp, and since they had room for me and Flash in one of their trailers, I decided to go, since I felt this chance might never come again. The morning started out auspiciously, with rain moving in right around 7:00, which was about the time everyone was getting up and getting ready, but it was over within an hour. It did delay our departure somewhat, but by the time we loaded up and drove the short trip to the Deam Lake Day Use Parking, the rain was gone, and other than a few remnants of fog, which eventually cleared up, and soon it was a gorgeous, albeit cool day. Not surprisingly, it didn’t take long to figure out that the best place for me and Flash was in front with a spidey stick, otherwise I’d be fighting him all day. Most of the horses were stock, with one Rocky Mountain and one sometimes Tennessee Walker (he rarely gaited), so Flash and I left them behind for the most part, stopping and waiting for them regularly. The trip was nearly 19 miles, but it took over 6 ½ hours because of all the stops and breaks. I’ve come to realize that when it comes to these special opportunities, I just have to suck it up, even though Flash and I would have been quite happy to keep going, in which case the trip would have been more like about four hours for just us. But when you’re with a group that is drinking a case of beer along the way, the need for pit stops is apparent, so we just had to go with the flow. Still, it was a great trip, through some beautiful forest trails, though there were quite a few stretches on tarmac and gravel roads as well. Got back to camp earlier than they had expected (I think the other horses were trying somewhat to keep up with Flash, or at least not to get too far behind), but at the last stop at a place the locals call Table Top, all the other horses were dead tired, and Flash was still hopping around because he knew how close we were to camp and wanted to get on with it. He kept turning in circles, and was very glad when the rest of the group finally mounted up and we got on the last stretch home. Most of the trail was pretty easy, but then we hit the steeps hills at the end, so I can see the advantage of doing it in reverse, getting the hills out of the way while the horses were still fresh. They were pretty tired on the home stretch, and to start doing these steep hills, particularly when they were so slick from the recent rain, was a bit dicey. But everyone made it back safe, with only one upset when someone’s saddle slid too far forward going down a hill, but nothing serious. After putting the horses away, we all sat around the campfire and had a nice meal fixed by those who stayed in camp. Eventually, I left the circle to call it a night, put the heavy blankets on the horses again since it’s supposed to be in the upper 40’s again tonight, and came in and settled in for a brief evening. Now I’m off to shower and bed. Lola didn’t come with me today, but she played hard with the group, so she’s off in bed already, too. So good night, my darling! Love you!
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