Quick Ones

Sunday, June 29th  approx. 20 minutes
Monday, June 30th  approx. 15 minutes
2 Block radius from the house

My son was home from the Army this week, so I didn't want to spend a lot of time away from the house.  I managed to squeak in two quick rides "around the block" before we ate dinner both nights.

The small dogs near the neighbor's house slipped under the fence and came yapping at us and Morgan froze. I started talking softly to her and rubbing her neck, while letting her stand as long as needed to work the situation out.  With minimal encouragement, she moved forward and made it safely beyond the yard on Sunday.  She hustled by the property on Monday without any hesitation.  Another neighbor mentioned that a load of nails had been spilled in the street, so we should be careful.  I checked Morgan's hooves, but didn't see anything.  We'll find a new street to go down until that one gets cleaned up.

March 30, 2014

Trying out the new George Lawrence saddle that arrived that day

Was so excited, I didn't even change into riding jeans/boots

* Zoltar passed away June 30, 2014.  Miss that greyhound like crazy.

Dunes & Fire

Saturday, June 28th  about 90°  Left @ 8:05 pm, Arrived home 9:08 pm
Rode with T & Red, T's Mom and Neighbor
Some dunes, mostly middle of the street

Nice and sunny at 8:00 pm

Was headed out by myself, but as I was in the tack shed getting a headstall, I heard T & Red coming down the driveway.  What a pleasant surprise and fortuitous timing!  She was headed to the dunes with her mother and a neighbor and stopped in to see if I wanted to join them.  Tossed on a headstall and headed down the road to catch up to the leggy Thoroughbreds.

Following T & Red

We started out in the dunes, but quickly lost the Thoroughbreds.  No matter.  T & I had been in these dunes dozens of times and felt comfortable playing around until the sun started slipping behind the mountains.  We did see the other two in the distance when we came out of the dunes, but they were too far away to catch.

Um, not so sure about this fire stuff, but OK

We headed to my house to let Bill know we were alright ... I know he worries when I'm out in the dark.  He had started a fire and invited T to join us for some hot dogs and marshmallows.  We decided to follow T & Red home since it was getting dark and then I would ride home by myself.  I'd swap the Morgan for a car and pick up T so she could join us for "dinner."

Wait ... did you hear something behind us?

No incidents on the way to T's house; just a pleasant ride down the middle of the street.  Once she was safely home, I turned Morg around and let her trot home.  Didn't have any trouble at all after her initial nervousness.  Made it home in no time, untacked her, and took a few quick pictures before turning her out.

I was surprised by the amount of sweat she had worked up, but trotting two miles in the dark can do that to a girl.  All in all, a great evening.

First Ever Night Ride

Friday, June 27th. 95° with a slight breeze. Left at 8:20 pm, Arrived home at 9:30 pm
Rode with T/Red
Arena, then took Red home

Had a rotten day at work. Texted T and asked her if she wanted to ride. Let her know I wasn't going to be home before 8:00, but she was OK with riding at dusk.

Heading out

We headed to the neighbors arena to work on jumping .... Morgan's second attempt at jumping poles.  We rode around the arena to work out nerves, then circled back to a low pole (1 ft off the ground). Had her step over it a few times before asking for more speed.  Initially she lifted both fronts, but continued to step over with the rears.  Tried stepping over poles laid out at evenly spaced intervals, then stepping over a double stacked pole before returning to the jump.  After two more attempts, she was jumping quite nicely. So proud of her!

T & Red

It was getting dark, so we rode to T's house.  Going down the middle of the road was odd as cars coming towards us blinded us with their headlights for a few paces. No street lights at all. Used my camera to take a few pictures ... The flash caught the horses by surprise at first, but they handled it quite well.

Playing with the flash

Made sure T got Red put away before heading home. It was really dark (no street lights), we had never ridden in the dark before this evening, and now we were on our own. Sounded like a grand adventure.

Headed home ... at a quick pace

We rode down the middle of the street until I heard a car behind us, then I moved to the far right side of the road. We were fine until the car got closer ... Morgan wasn't fond of the way her shadow stretched out and moved in the headlights.  She snorted but kept moving along at a nice pace.  I slowed her down towards the edge of the asphalt, and she balanced herself quickly when she got to the packed sand/dirt of our street.  Once she knew where she was, she began a panicked pace.  Made her slow down and she held it all the way home.

Made it home safe & sound

Exhilarating and a bit scary, but overall it was wonderful! Wouldn't have attempted that with any other horse but Morgie!

One tired Morgan

P.S. That was the quickest I had ever made it home from T's house :)

Windy, with a Side of Watermelons

Thursday, June 26. Evening ride, 15 minutes, temperature over 95°
Just Morgan and I
Rode around the house to the beginning of the pavement

Too hot to seriously ride, but with the wind it felt cooler. Took Morg on a quick ride within three blocks from our property.  German Shepherd came after Morg again, but she challenged him and he scurried back within his property boundaries.

Took the same path as we had been working on the past few days, but instead of turning right and heading home we turned left and rode an additional quarter of a mile. Once we reached the pavement, we turned and headed home. No issues whatsoever. Stretching her boundaries a little at a time seems to help with her anxiety of going out alone.  Thrilled with her progress!

Came home and untacked. I had slices of watermelon ready for her after ride snack.  She loves to eat the red portion and then spits the rinds on the ground.  Interestingly enough, the mustang prefers to eat the rinds.  So there was treats for both of them!

Dune Riding

Wednesday, June 25  89°  Left at 7:00 pm  Arrived home at 8:00 pm
Rode Morgan, with T & Red
Dunes

Sent T a text to see if she was riding this evening. She said she would saddle up and meet me at the house.  She arrived just as I was putting on Morgan's headstall.  Used my Texas saddlery saddle and Mullen mouth bit. Had to try three times to get Morgie to take the bit - which is highly unusual.

We headed out towards the sand dunes, with Red in the lead. Morg and I hadn't been down that road since Easter Sunday. We saw two riders we knew, but it looked like they were headed home so we continued on towards the dunes.  No hesitation from Morg as we hit the road to the dunes and we took the first dune at a trot. She was panting by the time we reached the top.  Poor dear, she is really out of shape.  She started down the steep embankment until she sunk in the sand to 1/2 way up her legs, then she turned and bounded back up the dune.

April 20th. Easter Sunday.

Last time we were in the dunes!

From there we followed Red over a few smaller dunes, back to our old area, but followed a new path they had been cutting.  Smooth, easy path with plenty of room for trotting (loping for Red), and enough twists and turns to keep them stimulated.

We cut back to the road to my house as the sun started slipping down. We had about 30 minutes of sunlight left, so we ambled through the brush. We saw two riders ahead of us following the street by my house and thought one might be Bill, so we cut our path short and angled towards them.  They turned away from us so we figured it wasn't anyone we knew.

Rode past my house, stopped to chat with a neighbor, and rode with Red half way to their house before turning back and riding solo. Held a nice pace and mostly straight line for the half mile to our driveway.

Great ride! Hadn't realized how much I had missed the dunes until we were in them!

Tuesday Trotting

June 24th  92° at 8:00 pm; 15 minute ride
Solo with Morgan
Around the block

Hadn't planned on riding but when I went outside to feed the goat, Morgan kept following me around. Grabbed the treeless and hackamore and was tacked up in 4 minutes.

Did a quick lap around the block as the sun was sliding behind the mountains. Little kids were outside playing and making noises ... Morgie kept looking towards the noise but kept moving forward at a trot.  Seems she shares my feelings on kids.

Back home, untracked, fly mask back on, turned out, and me back in the house by 8:24 pm. Bill didn't even notice our escape!

May 6, 2014

This is what happens when you try to put the cell phone in your pocket ... 

Odd shoulder shots

Monday Morning Rides

Monday, June 23rd  60° 6:15 am; about 20 minutes
Solo with Morgan
2 blocks

Quick ride around the block because the weather was delightful. Less hesitation upon leaving the property. She chose to stick to the fence line rather than use the driveway to exit.  German Shepherd came out of the neighbors property, but she didn't seem worried about it and continued down the road smoothly.

Didn't bother with a saddle pad, used treeless and hackamore headstall.

May 6, 2014

Trying out the new saddle pad

Birthday Ride

June 22nd 101° Left @ 6:40 pm Home @ 8:20 pm
Rode with Bill & Majesty and T & Red
Went to country corners on the flat road

First time since late April Bill was in the saddle. Majesty was good as gold, but they turned back after about 30 minutes. Still too soon ... Bill needs more recovery time.

Morgan has only been ridden for 20-30 minutes at a time and usually only two or three blocks since we returned from vacation. She was definitely tired after 1.5 hours in 90+° weather, but she was a trooper.  She followed Red for most of the trip, and this seemed to be OK.  Had a little bit of anxiety when Bill turned back, and we had "discussions" about it for a few minutes. We stopped in the shade and let them rest for 10 minutes, but Morgie doesn't do standing still well so we headed back through the open desert.

Dropped T off at her house and headed home. Got to watch the sun set from the saddle. Exactly the ride I needed! Morgie didn't want her treat when we got home and stood perfectly still for a quick rinse - which is unusual, but expected.

I have missed riding SOOOO much!