Invited to Ride~

Michael, Samantha & Ruth

Cassandra & I had been attempting to meet for a couple weeks.  I've been on restriction - since my eye surgery & with these sunshine days - I wanted nothing more than to ride.  (One day early?  Has to be OK!)  Cassandra was coming this way to meet & trail ride with two young clients.  After checking with them, I was invited along!  I was driving up 59th slowly - looking for the driveway to the farm where we planned to meet - when I saw someone riding along the side of the road.   Introducing ourselves - Ruth said;  "You must be one of the people I'm riding with today!"

Ruth & her Arab ~

Sure enough - we were both heading to the same place!  Michael welcomed us & directed me to a spot to park that would be out of the way.  With a background in Rodeo - he explained that there would be big rigs coming & going all day.  Soon, Samantha pulled in - she boards her off-the-track Thoroughbred at the farm.

Trying a different saddle pad~

Shortly after - Cassandra arrived, making the drive down from Anderson Arena/Snowy Mountain Stables near Mt. Vernon.  Her ride today was a beautiful half Arab, half Friesian.  She also brought a SaddleRight saddle pad for me to try.  My Woolback is just too thick under the Stonewall & Jackie recommends a thin pad.  This one has good reviews, is made in the USA & only 1/2" thick.  It was nice to mount up without the saddle slipping.

Farah makes friends~

I am sorry to admit that I don't remember the horses names - but as you can see - Farah was totally enamored of Cassandra's gelding.  While the two girls galloped away - Cassandra & I took it a bit easier, her boy was barefoot & Farah had started the ride galloping in place.

Ruth, Cassandra & Samantha - adjusting her saddle~

I was amazed that Farah was willing to stay with her new friend & watch the other two horses take off!  We all really had a fun time - the girls would double back to check on us & we got a chance to swap stories :-)

Whitehorse - Three Fingers~

Farah kept me too busy to take many photos.  She gets out so seldom with others - especially a group going fast!  It was almost funny to see how surprised she was.  The day was plenty warm enough for me - the horses all worked up a good sweat in no time.  As I told Cassandra, nothing like seeing the gold girl in action to get an idea of what areas we need to work on :-)

Farah watching as we get our photo taken :-)

We had several interesting moments - it was fun watching how an experienced horsewoman & retired jockey deals with a horse that wants to take off.  I'm sure that if he'd had shoes, we'd have given the girls a run for their money :-)

Our ride route~

It's a small world - Cassandra had purchased a horse from Charles - we ended the day with a tour of Dean's farm.  Swapping more stories & admiring the most beautiful horse farm in the state.  Going our separate ways - now friends & planning more riding!

Glorious Day to Ride~

At the Morgan Horse Club

We spent the weekend working at home - & what a beautiful weekend it was!  So darn beautiful - that we stopped mid-afternoon - pulled out the chairs & sat in the sun drinking root beer!  But - today, Joyce & I planned to ride & Joyce wanted to do some exploring on the west side of the tree farm.

Whitehorse & just the top of Three Fingers (with the zoom)

Joyce took us over to an area that we hadn't been on for probably close to a year - when we'd had Lynn with us.  Both of us were surprised to find rock going down everywhere & a new logging road going in here too...

No zoom - where we were~

If you can't tell already - Butch bought me a new camera for the saddle, the little Canon SX600HS that's been getting good reviews.  When I tried it out in the store I liked the stability of the zoom.  Both the Nikon's I'd been using were older cameras.  The technology both of the camera & the high speed cards have improved a lot.

Target & Joyce are both busy :-)

We trotted, we galloped - we even trotted & galloped side-by-side!  Anyone who's been out with me knows that Farah finds this difficult!  :-)  Today we were so proud of both horses!  Galloping along on a loose rein doesn't happen often when you're riding two pretty darn fit & competitive horses!

View of Victoria~

We were out for almost three-hours & it was chilly enough that we had our coats on for most of the ride.  The grass is growing though & we did stop to let the horses graze & soak up the sun!   As Joyce said so well;  "Once an Endurance Rider - always an Endurance Rider - at least at heart!"