Easter Saturday at Round Valley

 On Easter Saturday, Sandy and I had an absolutely lovely eleven and a half miles at Round Valley via Pickell Park, me on Booger, her on Tot. For once there was no drama, only miles.

Hiking: Hackers Falls et al

 In which Bonnie sees her first (and second) waterfall.

First NACMO of 2026

 The NACMO season is off to a slow start this year. 

I was planning to host a ride in the pines in February, but my permit was delayed. It turned out for the best because we got a massive ice storm on that date. 

Sandy was also planning to host her Spring Shenanigans ride, but it never happened.

Unfortunately, it's not likely that things will improve. Dodie is retiring and moving south. While I am toying with the idea of taking over as the regional director in her stead, I'm not sure I actually have room on my plate for anything else right now. I worry that without Dodie, the sport will die in our region.

With that said, we did have the first ride of the year at Dodie's annual Awards Ride at Leaser Lake. 

Fording the spillway because I learned nothing from Oregon Trail.

Bonnie Goes To Round Valley

 My Friday night ride with Hannah left me curious about the rest of the Cushetunk trails so Mike and I went back the next day for a hike with Bonnie.

As you may remember, Mike spent a lot of time hiking at Round Valley as a kid. The reservoir also holds special meaning for us as a couple. Bonnie hadn't been there yet, so this felt like the perfect excuse.

There isn't much to report, but I left these photos out of the March recap so here they are now.

Golden Hour at Round Valley

 I have spent a lot of time riding with Hannah in the last month or so. It has been delightful. I am particularly grateful that there's enough daylight to trailer out after work these days.

The Friday after the CTR, Hannah and I met up for an evening ride. We were originally going to meet up at Deer Path Park, but Hannah texted me while I was retrieving Lucy to let me know that she and Terra had attempted to ride there and the trails were impassable. 

At the last minute, we decided to meet at Pickell Park and ride in the back of Round Valley instead. I'm really glad we did. The sunset that night was downright magical.

It also ended up being our first accidental night ride of the year...

It doesn't get much better than this.

Bunny Hop 2026

 This first competition of the season has come and gone (three weeks ago, in fact!) It was mostly a non-event in the very best way possible. This was also Bonnie's first time camping!

Photo by Mike.

Doggies

 The nice thing about having a dog-friendly dog and neighbors who foster is that we've had an endless supply of lunchtime play dates the last few weeks.

I was originally going to do a post about Ruthie, who was available for adoption, but I'm soooo far behind. 

In fact, Ruthie has gotten adopted since I took these photos. I am delighted for her, but sad for us. We are not in the position to have a second dog right now, but I would have taken her in a heartbeat. She was basically a yellow, slightly less timid version of Bonnie. 

They were an amazing match. Both about the same age and size. They also had a very similar energy level and play style. This led to lots of chase, followed by some tug, and finishing with some snuggling.

Ruthie was so good with cats, dogs, and kids that the Trenton Animal Shelter was actually using her as their "test dog" to evaluate other new arrivals. 

Ruthie also loved Mike. I don't miss juggling two dogs, but it was sweet to have his and her pit bulls back in the day...

Sweet Ruthie.

I was hoping Ruthie would go to someone local so we could have visitations, but no such luck.

Once Ruthie went to her new home, the neighbors picked up their next foster, a sweet two year old boy dog named Thor. I admire their fortitude. They've fostered 90+ dogs in the last five or six years and have not kept a single one. Those are the people we should put in charge of the war department...

Anywho... Thor is also dog friendly and a real sweetheart. He also has a perfect cartoon-style arrow on his chest and the cutest white spots on the backs of his feet. 

I love all dogs, but I did not have the same instant attachment to Thor that I did to Ruthie. Bonnie apparently feels the same way. Don't get me wrong, the two of them are enjoying playing together and Bonnie actively checks the road to see if he's coming over whenever we're in the yard.

But his play style is a little to rambunctious for our soft gal. Don't get me wrong, he's not rough by any stretch of the imagination, but he is mouthy.  When he gets tired, he just sort of chews on Bonnie or puts her head in his mouth, which she finds somewhat offensive. 

Basically they play really well for about fifteen minutes, then do parallel activities in the yard for a while longer before saying goodbye. 

There are some really strong points about Thor though. Where Ruthie would fixate on squirrels and wanted to chase the horses/chickens, Thor is curious but neutral about all the livestock on the road. He doesn't lock on to anything, though he gets distracted sometimes. 

I don't understand how a sweet teddy bear of a dog like Thor doesn't have a home yet. As you know, I have soft spot for black bully dogs. I guess the world doesn't agree. What's extra sad is he knows all about couches and beds and cries to be with people. He clearly had a home at some point...

It has been a long time since I photographed adoptable animals and posted them on the blog. It's one thing I miss about my past life. This has been a nice little side project. 

The rest of this post is just a photo dump of Bonnie romping around with her friends...

Black Tie

 Quick photo dump before I run out the door! Hannah has a five year old DHH for sale. His name is Black Tie and I've known about him for a while, but didn't pay much attention.

The short version is that he was a nationally ranked driving horse. More recently, he has been ridden by a boarder of Hannah's. The boarder is an eventer. It turns out Black Tie has a ton of scope and will jump just about anything. (For example, he went to the Assunpink last month and jumped everything out there, including the enormous coops and monster hedge that leave me quaking in my boots just by looking at them.) 

However, Black Tie was missing "professional photos" for his sale ad. You can have the nicest horse in the world, but if you don't have good pictures, they don't seem to sell. Conversely, I see lots of garbage horses selling for way more than they're worth because of marketing gimmicks. (And they all seem to end up at my barn because the marketing works on my BO.) 

When Hannah and I rode together last month, she mentioned that she was looking for a photographer to take sale photos. I chimed in and volunteered myself and Mike to do it. After all, I enjoy meeting new ponies and taking pictures. 

We ended up having a beautiful evening after work one day. I would have ridden, but I was still feeling a little bit salty at Lucy, and Booger was resting leading up to the first competition of the season. Spending a golden evening on Hannah's lovely farm sounded magnificent to me. 

This was my first time meeting Black Tie and I was surprised at how much I took an instant liking to him. He is surprisingly sweet and snuggly, and he certainly is flashy! Apparently he doesn't have enough chrome for the DHH people, but has too much action for the dressage/eventing people. But he is honestly such a nice, young guy with a good brain. I'm surprised he hasn't sold yet.

We started by getting body photos and head shots next to the pond. That didn't take long so we moved to the arena to get some photos of him in action. We even had his rider come down and hop him over some fences bareback. Over all, it was a fun evening in good company.

I figured you guys wouldn't say no to seeing some pony pictures, so here they are!

So handsome!

March 2026

 I feel like I spent the entire month of March in Richmond for work. It was really only six days, but because they were spread out (and because I got sick for a week) it felt longer.

Some things I still have to blog about:

• Photographing a horse for sale
• Bonnie's adorable BFF (now adopted)
• First CTR of the season (in the cart)/Bonnie's first time camping
• First NACMO ride of the season (first place)
• First accidental night ride of the year
• Hiking Round Valley

Meanwhile, here's the monthly photo dump.

We walked every chance we got between trips.