Hiya Babe,
Had a better night sleep, woke up ready for the busy day, and busy it was! Was ready at registration by just after the appointed time of 7:30, then after taking care of business there, headed back to lead Flash over for a vet check, and we rode the intro ride today, as a favor to Jo, who's getting her horse Luna back on the trail after ten months of recuperating from a suspensory issue. Passed vet check with flying colors and headed out on the R&W trail about 9:30. We were hoping this would be a speedier ride that the last time we rode together, training Nikki, and it occasionally was, but not enough to keep Flash happy! I did experience something today I had never done before, which was somersaulting over the head of my horse. Unintentionally, of course. We had just decided to open up a little bit, got about ten strides before Jo hollered to slow down, her horse was starting to buck on her, which we discovered was because one of her back boots was coming off, so she got dumped. At the same time, Flash was just coming into some deeper sand, so when I reined him in he lost his balance and fell to his knees, which is the point when I somersaulted over his head. Good thing is that the drop from a short horse on his knees isn't very far to the ground, so I didn't get the least bit hurt, and neither did he. Thank goodness we were on soft sand! Jo was fine as well, though a bit later, she was thrown again, and may have wrenched her neck a bit, though nothing too serious. Hey, we horse gals are tough! The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful, although Jo wanted to walk quite a bit of it, but we finally were able to pick up the pace to a steady, medium gait. Unfortunately, we never got to canter or gallop, so Flash was a bit frustrated by that. We were back well before noon, and Flash passed his vet check again, though he got a B on impulsion, that's his one weak spot, entirely my fault for not training him how to do it. What can I say, I have a fundamental issue with being beside more horse rather than on him! Just something wrong with that picture to me! Anyway, the rest of the day was filled with tending to all the business of the ride, and it was all finally over around 8:45. Another long day! We had several hours of hours that hadn't been in the forecast until the last minute, so all my tack got wet, and the temps dropped, so I had to put blankets on wet horses after feeding them. Looking forward to a long hot shower and a good night sleep! Love you, darlin'! Good night!

Hiya Darlin'!
Had a wonderful and busy Christmas Day! After chores and breakfast, I did a little checking on the non-working furnace, which is back to doing what it did before the last mystery repair, and nothing I did helped, unfortunately. But that wasn't my focus for the day. I saddled Flash and we went for a fabulous ride, almost fourteen miles, on the orange trail, which took us up to the Apex area trails. That turned out to be great, because I had a chance to check out a couple of trails ahead of the Taste of Goethe, and one trail which I couldn't use last year because they had chewed it up so badly that it was terrible for horses, has now settled down into a beautiful sand and grass trail that will work just fine! Flash was in high spirits, insisting on a four mph walk the entire way, except for when he decided a fast gaiting or a full on hand gallop was called for! What a fun ride! We went nearly 14 miles. The trails are so dry and lovely, you couldn't ask for better trails! I noticed some of the trails already had ribbons on them for the Goethe Gallivant ride this weekend (quite right, since it's an FEI ride, including a 100-miler), and the conditions are perfect! The weather was fabulous today, with a high near 80, and they are supposed to continue through the week until a cold front finally comes in on Tuesday. Fabulous! Got back to camp around 2:00, rinsed of Flash, who then promptly rolled in dirt and sand, going from white to brown in a matter of seconds! Oh, well! I decided to take one last stab at my furnace, cleaning off the control board and removing the cover from the far where the sail switch is, cleaning that up, taking off all the electrical connections I could see and running an emery board over them in the hopes of improving any connections. I finally put the cover over the fan, and put it on more tightly than before, since nothing works unless that's in place, and finally turned everything on, and was delighted when it immediately came on and stayed on! Everything works, but something is setting off the safety switch, which shuts everything down, and I think it's that fan cover, as simple as that seems. We'll see how long this fix lasts! Finally cleaned up after that, changed my clothes and headed up to Bob's house, aka Mellow Yellow, and joined the party up there. What a lovely evening! Too much food and drink, some very pleasant conversation, a nice walk over to the Caudill's for dessert, music, door prizes and even some dancing (though I didn't partake in that!), and a lovely Christmas was had by all! We finally left around 8:00, back to camp by 8:30, gave the horses their hay, and now have just a short evening left before bed. So grateful for days like this! Though I'm grateful for every day, of course, but these kind of days are so memorable. Not long out of bed tonight! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hey Sweetie!
A very happy day! The weather was gorgeous and crying out for outdoor activity! First, though, I took a quick look at my furnace, which stopped working a few days ago, and I reset it, pulled the fuse a few times, and finally got it back on track, working again. Hopefully it will stay that way, since we have some cold weather headed our way next week. The Porta-potties for the upcoming Goethe Gallivant arrived, so I got them settled in and taped up so prevent their use before the event starts. Then I took a ride on Apollo, with Art and Lola alongside, and we went on about a 2.5 mile loop. It was wonderful! Then Art drove me up to Reuben and Angela's to pick up Panther. He sounds fantastic! That incredible growling purr is back! I'm still a little worried about things like what kind of shape my tires are in, but there wasn't the shimmying at 45 mph like they're use to be, so a lot has improved. There are a few electronic problems I need to look into, like the power locks and the power windows on the passenger side, though fortunately, the driver side window works fine. It was covered in dust, which I remedied later when I got back to camp. After I picked it up, I headed to Helen's to pick her up, then over to Willards for lunch. She was in a particularly despondent mood today, I've never seen her so depressed. Having a car accident and losing her independence a few weeks ago is really getting tough on her. We managed to cheer her up a little by the end of lunch, I think. Then I headed back to camp, where I gave Panther a good wash and a light wax, as well as a bit of Armorall on the inside. There are so many boxes being stored inside, I really need to take some time to go through them all and see what I can get rid of. No room for Lola or passengers at the moment, gotta fix that! Finally settled down for the evening, having enjoyed a very fulfilling and satisfying day! So good to have Panther back on the road!! Good night, baby! Love you!