So, this week I tried to get a good blog entry moment on Thursday, but it was raining all day. The sky was dark and cloudy and the rain drops pounded on the roof of the barn. The horses were all inside and were miserable- they hate being stuck in a stall- they'd rather be stretching their legs. While it rained I put Angie in the cross-ties and groomed her. I made her so spotless I think her white coat shined. Then, I put on her new "bra." I call it a bra because all of her blankets rub the hair off of her chest because she is so muscular and it causes the blankets to not sit right. So, while I was away last weekend at a huge horse show called Congress (I did not compete, just went for the shopping and to watch Professional Bull Riding) I bought her this spandex hood to stop all of her hair on her little horsey pecs from disappearing this winter. She was not so happy about it, but in the end she tolerated it, only pinning her ears back occasionally. I put her light weight blanket over that and then left her there while I picked her stall.
It was comforting to be the only one at the barn cleaning her stall, country music softly streaming out of the radio. But, my true passion is riding so I was still bummed when I couldn't do that.
Today though, Sunday October 20, I went on a trail ride after I exercised Angie. I went on the ride with Kim (the barn owner) and Barb (another boarder) around two o'clock in the afternoon. It was late, but we needed it to warm up some because of the colder weather. Angie had been terrible all morning, nearly jumping out of her skin at everything, so I put her in the pasture to play with Gracie.
On the trail ride I rode Kim's big red horse Blue. He's intimidating because he's huge, not just tall, but wide, but he is a giant teddy bear. Blue and I get along, and I feel comfortable riding him. Sadly, I did not get any pictures because I thought I shouldn't risk it with the cold weather. Horses get jumpier when it's colder, they feel better and want to run. I personally don't like falling off, so I wasn't going to try to mess with my camera while riding Blue.
It had been a few weeks since I was out on the trails, since last blog post actually, so I had forgotten how beautiful it was. It was apparent that the trees had turned more golden since my last ride and more leaves had fallen on the ground. The leaves did give the trail the impression that it was not muddy, but Blue slid a few times from the recent rainfall. The woods were quiet today, aside from our conversation. We didn't go out into the big field today since we didn't know how the horses would react with the changing weather. I was bundled up, since I don't like the cold.
But, I think I am beginning to fall in love with Fall. It is a beautiful season, where summer sheds into the colder months (I absolutely detest winter though). The sun casts a more golden glow through the trees in the fall, to match the color of the leaves. Bees stop buzzing and flies stop being so pesky. I enjoyed the brisk wind on my face while we rode back down the hill to the barn. It was nice to share a ride with two of my adopted family members, instead of being alone in my own thoughts. Sometimes, it is nice to share nature and the spot that you have carved out as your own.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Friday, October 11, 2013
Show Video
It was actually quite nerve wracking because the first three riders before me fell, their horses fell, or they went off course!
We went on to the jump off and lost the blue ribbon by 2 seconds! That was not caught on video though due to an incident with a bee by my lovely videographers hand. But anyway, I was super proud of her, if you couldn't tell, so I thought I'd post this.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Nature Blog Post 3- Sunset Ride
I went to the barn around 5:30pm on Wednesday,
October 2. I wasn't in the best mood, and it was getting late already,
so I knew all I wanted to do was trail. I him-hawed around a little bit,
dragging my feet, talking to the barn owner, cleaning Angie's stall, but
I knew a ride would be good for me. So I tacked up using one of the spare
Western saddles and off we went. I chose a Western saddle, because sometimes
she is a bit strong on the trail and it is safer if you are planning to
go out farther on the trails by yourself, you should have the security
of a Western saddle, even if they are uncomfortable to me.
I took her down the road and up the hill that we usually go. Angie sped up into a slow canter to help give her power up the hill and I let her, keeping a loose rein. The leaves were beautiful! When we got to the part where the high grass turns into trees on either side, I had to stop to take a picture. The leaves on the Maple trees had turned every shade of orange, yellow, and red. Some of them were still green and clinging to their branches, and some of the ones that had welcomed Autumn were also hanging on. Leaves had also flittered to the ground over the course of the last few weeks, making a blanket of leaves on the forest floor; our own personal red carpet.
We walked through the woods, a little bit faster paced than normal, because I had taken Angie out right as the horses were about to get fed, so she was hungry. She kept trying to turn around when she thought I wasn't paying attention. But, let me tell you, tonight it happened. The moment I have been waiting to blog about for weeks happened. We saw deer. We wouldn't have known they were there until they started bounding through the underbrush, twigs snapping and leaves crunching. They ran ahead of us, blending in with the brown trees, only the white flaps of their tails visible as they ran with them straight up in the air. Angie's ears pricked forward, but she didn't spook, she just stopped to stare at them. I asked her to walk again and we followed at a safe distance, continuing on our trail ride.
We made it to the big clearing adn instead of turning right out of the treeline, we went left, which was somewhere we normally don't go. We continued up the hill and through an overgrown patch, I had to duck pretty far to the left, careful that the horn on the Western saddle didn't poke me. I trusted Angie to not bolt as soon as we had made it through the thicket, giving her plenty of rein.
Once we were up the hill we came upon the big junk pile. I don't know how else to describe it. On summer nights the dirt bike riders come up to this spot and burn old couches and pallets of wood, having themselves a bonfire. Normally, it's okay to walk around the outskirts, but I noticed more broken bottles than normal, so I had to literally tell Angie where to put every foot, it was nerve wracking! I was so scared that the glass would cut the tender part on the bottom of her hoof. We continued on our trail ride, and even though Angie was walking faster, she was not tense, so I gave her a fairly loose rein. I stopped to take a sunset picture before turning back.
We descended the hill on the other side, so I could make a right at the bottom of it to make a circle for home. I made sure to lean back to help keep Angie balanced while going down the hill. She was anxious to get home so she tried to trot, but I made her walk so she didn't slide going down the hill too fast. When we made it to the bottom of the hill I did let her canter to get a little bit of her energy out. I only let her canter because I knew this part of the trail well and I knew that there weren't any ruts that she could trip into. It was nice to feel the cooler breeze on my cheeks in the warm fading dusk. The landscape blurred as Angie picked up speed. I pulled her up after a little while so she didn't get too sweaty and made her walk back to the barn. She tried to trot so she could get home to her dinner faster, but I didn't want to encourage barn sour behaviors, so she could walk back and walk back on my terms. The grass on either side of the trail was tall and I heard little animals scurrying through it.
We made it back to Kim's property and we were walking back to the barn down a long breezeway and the deer appeared again. Once again, I didn't have time to get my camera out, but they really scared Angie this time. They bounded through the pastures and all around us, I had counted about five, but there could have been more they were so fast. I pulled her up to a halt and she was shaking and throwing her head. She's seen deer before so I don't know if it was because we were in lower lighting and it was hard for her to see or if there had been a coyote stalking the deer, but I thought it better to get out of there. I tried to keep her calm by talking to her all the way down the hill to the barn. She was fine by the time we got back, her ears pricked forward. She was breathing a little heavy though so I dismounted and walked her around the barn a few times to get her to stop laboring. Once she was breathing normally I took her into the barn and untacked, then I put her back in her stall and gave her some grain. While she ate I brushed the sticky hitchhikers out of her tail (those little green things that stick to anything and everything).
I enjoyed our sunset ride, which is something I don't do very often. It was relaxing to just be out on our own away from the world for a little while.
I took her down the road and up the hill that we usually go. Angie sped up into a slow canter to help give her power up the hill and I let her, keeping a loose rein. The leaves were beautiful! When we got to the part where the high grass turns into trees on either side, I had to stop to take a picture. The leaves on the Maple trees had turned every shade of orange, yellow, and red. Some of them were still green and clinging to their branches, and some of the ones that had welcomed Autumn were also hanging on. Leaves had also flittered to the ground over the course of the last few weeks, making a blanket of leaves on the forest floor; our own personal red carpet.
 |
| I don't think you can see the colors as well because I didn't have my flash on, but Angie wouldn't stay still long enough to let me play with my camera. |
We walked through the woods, a little bit faster paced than normal, because I had taken Angie out right as the horses were about to get fed, so she was hungry. She kept trying to turn around when she thought I wasn't paying attention. But, let me tell you, tonight it happened. The moment I have been waiting to blog about for weeks happened. We saw deer. We wouldn't have known they were there until they started bounding through the underbrush, twigs snapping and leaves crunching. They ran ahead of us, blending in with the brown trees, only the white flaps of their tails visible as they ran with them straight up in the air. Angie's ears pricked forward, but she didn't spook, she just stopped to stare at them. I asked her to walk again and we followed at a safe distance, continuing on our trail ride.
We made it to the big clearing adn instead of turning right out of the treeline, we went left, which was somewhere we normally don't go. We continued up the hill and through an overgrown patch, I had to duck pretty far to the left, careful that the horn on the Western saddle didn't poke me. I trusted Angie to not bolt as soon as we had made it through the thicket, giving her plenty of rein.
Once we were up the hill we came upon the big junk pile. I don't know how else to describe it. On summer nights the dirt bike riders come up to this spot and burn old couches and pallets of wood, having themselves a bonfire. Normally, it's okay to walk around the outskirts, but I noticed more broken bottles than normal, so I had to literally tell Angie where to put every foot, it was nerve wracking! I was so scared that the glass would cut the tender part on the bottom of her hoof. We continued on our trail ride, and even though Angie was walking faster, she was not tense, so I gave her a fairly loose rein. I stopped to take a sunset picture before turning back.
 |
| The sunset. Angie put her head down to grab a few bites of grass while I was snapping this picture, but I promise she's there! |
We descended the hill on the other side, so I could make a right at the bottom of it to make a circle for home. I made sure to lean back to help keep Angie balanced while going down the hill. She was anxious to get home so she tried to trot, but I made her walk so she didn't slide going down the hill too fast. When we made it to the bottom of the hill I did let her canter to get a little bit of her energy out. I only let her canter because I knew this part of the trail well and I knew that there weren't any ruts that she could trip into. It was nice to feel the cooler breeze on my cheeks in the warm fading dusk. The landscape blurred as Angie picked up speed. I pulled her up after a little while so she didn't get too sweaty and made her walk back to the barn. She tried to trot so she could get home to her dinner faster, but I didn't want to encourage barn sour behaviors, so she could walk back and walk back on my terms. The grass on either side of the trail was tall and I heard little animals scurrying through it.
We made it back to Kim's property and we were walking back to the barn down a long breezeway and the deer appeared again. Once again, I didn't have time to get my camera out, but they really scared Angie this time. They bounded through the pastures and all around us, I had counted about five, but there could have been more they were so fast. I pulled her up to a halt and she was shaking and throwing her head. She's seen deer before so I don't know if it was because we were in lower lighting and it was hard for her to see or if there had been a coyote stalking the deer, but I thought it better to get out of there. I tried to keep her calm by talking to her all the way down the hill to the barn. She was fine by the time we got back, her ears pricked forward. She was breathing a little heavy though so I dismounted and walked her around the barn a few times to get her to stop laboring. Once she was breathing normally I took her into the barn and untacked, then I put her back in her stall and gave her some grain. While she ate I brushed the sticky hitchhikers out of her tail (those little green things that stick to anything and everything).
I enjoyed our sunset ride, which is something I don't do very often. It was relaxing to just be out on our own away from the world for a little while.
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