Lucy Goes to Ridecamp

 Long story short, Lucy went to her first AERC event at the beginning of the month. We did the intro. It was her first time camping with us. I had a blast. 

A Meeting of the Bad Girls Club

 Alternate title: Trail Rides and Tacos

Scouting with Sandy

 The week after the endurance ride, I was sitting at home, trying to decide what to do with my Sunday. Right on cue, my phone lit up. It was Sandy, asking if I was available to ride at 1pm. She was going to Deer Path Park to scout out trail for an upcoming NACMO ride that she and Emily are hosting. Diva came up lame at Rabbit Run and is going to need some down time, and Sandy was looking for company. I did some "backwards math" in my head and replied, "I'll see you at one."

March

 Why yes, it is a full week into April and I haven't done my March recap. I'm also three ride posts behind. But who's counting?

The biggest news of the month is that we have a new horse at the barn. This is Happy, a 7 year old QH who arrived with 48 hours notice. He belonged to Robin from the hunt at one point. She sold him to a family where he was a teen's show horse. Sounds like he did not hold up to that and may have navicular. Regardless, he's fairly lame up front. Those people donated him to a therapeutic riding program across the highway from us. I am not sure why the program didn't keep him, but they gave him to Fran. Reportedly he came from Montana originally and was ranch bred. I don't know that he's going to work as a riding horse for Fran any more than the last dozen she has tried, but he's a sweet kid and I don't mind having him in the barn. He is almost 16hh, so an odd choice for a woman who thinks Lilly is too tall at 15hh, but at least he didn't cost a fortune and come off a sketchy online horse auction. Oh, and he didn't bring diseases so that's a nice change of pace. What can I say? The bar is set pretty low around here. He was a little shy at first and worries about being caught/having his ears handled. Mostly, I think he just didn't want to be locked in a stall any more. Now that he has free access to come in and out as he pleases, some of that anxiety has gone away. He has good ground manners and a cute face. His feet need some serious work, but I have faith in our farrier's abilities to turn a lot of that around. He has been here almost two weeks and hasn't been ridden yet, but that's a whole lotta not-my-business. I mostly feel a little sad for him. He's basically had one home for every year he's been on the planet. With any lucky he'll fit the bill and be the last in a long line of horses, but I'm not holding my breath.

Rabbit Run 2024: First Ride of the Season

Just like that, it's ride season again. Booger and I did the LD at Rabbit Run. The short version is she has another 30 miles on her ride record, and I have a fire-breathing dragon on my hands.