July was about Muckleratz and August has been about my NACMO ride, and every day I question why I feel the need to even continue telling the entire universe about all my rides ad nauseum. But here we are. For now.
Last year, I took Booger to the endurance ride at Muckleratz, then turned around and did the CDR with Lucy. I had a lot of fun doing it that way, so I decided to repeat the performance this year. It has been a month already so some of the details are fuzzy by now.
| Good girl, Lu. |
While we were all out on our moonlight escapade last month, the Amwell Valley Hounds hosted a hunter pace on our home trails. As I've lamented repeatedly, the state of the home trails is dismal. In fact, I have stopped going to the Amwell Valley hunter paces because they are often three miles or less (and quite pricey to boot).
Imagine my surprise when Michele posted on FB the next day saying that the pace was eight and a half miles! I messaged her right away to get her GPS track for recon purposes. I noted that much of the course was on land that probably involved special permission for the pace, but there were a few segments that looked promising if I could get over there.
I put a pin in it for a potential after work adventure one day.
A few weeks later, I was trying to get Sandy to commit to a Tuesday afternoon ride. Her work schedule was not cooperating. At a certain point, I told her she could borrow one of my ponies and sneak a ride in on her way home. My barn is conveniently located halfway between Sandy's work and home. Sadly, she declined.
Then, just as I was accepting my fate as a solo rider for the afternoon, Sandy texted me back to say she could ride after all! Two u-turns and some scrambling later, I had spare clothes, two trusty mares, and two full sets of tack ready to go. Sandy reciprocated by picking up a hoagie from an excellent deli for us to share on our ride. (This is how we discovered that a hoagie will conveniently fit in the thigh pocket of Kerrits Ice Fil breeches. May this knowledge empower you in your journey through life. You're welcome.)
Sandy and I set off on a mission to see if we could get to the far side of the valley. (And back, ideally, but we had the Rescue Wagon™ on standby just in case.)
The short version: mission accomplished. Rating: moderately sketchy at times.
| Sandy dressed as me and Lucy at the far end of our loop that day. |
I am about to run out the door to set up the course for the second annual Horse Days of Summer NACMO ride. I am also admittedly procrastinating because it's going to be almost a hundred degrees and the long course is twelve miles and I am going to be getting on and off the horse a million times.
Which reminds me... the last NACMO ride was almost a month ago and I still haven't gotten around to blogging about it. What can I say? Life has been a whirlwind lately (not that I'm complaining).
I missed Melt Your Popsicle last year because it's the same weekend as Moonlight in Vermont. My original plan for this year was to enter Booger in the 100 in Vermont. The wheels fell off the bus when she popped her splint in January. Then I sort of fell out of love with endurance and just haven't been thinking about it. Still, it was bittersweet to be available for the NACMO ride. It turned out to be a kickass day for team What the Foxtrot, and I'm glad I went.
| Michele on Mira, me on Lucy, Sarah on Chance, Sierra on Promise. |
As I type this, I am sitting in a hotel in Richmond, VA. I am here for work training. I have spent this week getting to know my new boss better, meeting some people I've worked with remotely, and catching up with some folks who we know well but haven't seen in a while. (Funny story: my old boss is Mike's current boss and vice versa.) I am also learning a ton about the industrial side of the food industry (the whole reason I am here.) The short version of today's lesson is as follows: I can now name four types of label applicators. My favorite one is the slappy. It is not called that professionally. No, I will not elaborate.
All of this is to say that I am looking forward to being home and going back to the riding routine. In the meantime, I'll enjoy sharing photos from a ride I had with Sandy and Hannah a few weeks ago.
There was a moment in July where I thought I might actually catch up on the blog. That did not happen.
This post is about a Thursday evening that would make twelve year old me do a cartwheel from sheer joy.
Last month, I took Chip on his first serious off property trail ride (second formal field trip). It was the first time he'd meet other horses away from home. In fact, there were several first. Baby's first biting bugs. Baby's first time breaking a sweat. Baby's first bridges. Baby's first rocky climb. It was such a good day that I'm still beaming just thinking about it.
| Cheesin' so hard! |
This will mostly be Chip photos and memes. July was packed as usual. I am nowhere near caught up. I still have to blog about several riding adventures, including swimming at sunset, exploring the valley for the first time in eons, and Chip's first field trip to Horseshoe Bend. Plus we did a NACMO ride and a CTR.
| This cute guy is growing up way too fast. |