This afternoon I got off work at three and headed home. Matt wanted to work out so I figured it would make more sense if he went right away and I waited to ride until he got back. I made dinner (a new recipe that was so-so) and after eating still didn't feel much like riding. It had been in the mid-90s and was still pretty warm at six. So I waited a bit longer.
On the drive over I stopped at the new Triangle L since I noticed they were open even though it was almost 7 pm. I bought a red riding crop for $8.99. Dave was behind the counter but I don't think he remembered me. We had bought our '59 flatbed from him.
Continuing on my way I suddenly felt like I needed to pee really bad which I thought was weird since I went right before I left the house. I pulled up at the barn and noticed three new horses in the front pasture and two more rigs with their trailers parked in the drive. Then I remembered that Dale & Kittee were doing their ride to Minam Lodge this weekend and those must be friends attending with them. I ran some stuff into the house for Kittee and then Dale came out and chatted with me for about 10 min. Then I felt an urgency indeed to use a restroom, so I hightailed it for the barn (port-a-potty). I made it just in time. Perhaps this is too much information for a blog LOL I was in there about 10-15 minutes but it felt like forever, esp since it had been such a hot day, it was like a sauna in that toilet. So by this time I am wondering if I am even up to riding since I am now all weak and sweaty. I thought about just doing an easy grooming and then tending to Ollokot too.
Well I went out to get Sinwaan and he actually came up to greet me. Maybe he had noticed my arrival and wondered what took me so long to come get him. It was pretty cute, he was ready to go.
I groomed him and decided what the heck, I had made it that far, I might as well ride. So I go to get my saddle and notice...yep...I forgot my darn saddle pad at the house again! I take it home to wash it and there it sits for a week until I can remember to return it to the barn again. So once again I had to steal one of moms for my ride.
No HR monitor tonight, just my single water bottle holder, and new accessory, the red crop to match his red bridle. :)
We headed out and he did pretty well but I was glad I had the crop the first mile. I hardly had to use it, maybe a few taps to keep him going away from the barn. We did some walking and then some trotting and about 1/2 in we are trotting along and I am encouraging him to speed it up and I hear a funny noise and then my left stirrup is lower than my right one! What the heck!? I look down and realize it has come completely detatched. So we pull over to the side of the road and thankfully for the cage I didn't loose it entirely and have to dismount, I was able to put it back on after a brief struggle. In the meantime a truck comes up the road and passes us and as it drives on by I see two dogs in the back that start barking at us, and not in a kind way. So I was glad to have a distraction as to not follow them up too closely.
We made it 1 mile and I was feeling ok by then so decided to go ahead and do two. We did more trotting the second mile and made it to our turn around point with no trouble. We took a short rest and I took a drink of water. Then we turned around and here he goes, wanting to trot all the way home. I again had to slow him to a walk a few times for rocky or steeper parts of the trail. He really only lost his hind end once today which was nice. Well shortly after we started down we came across a truck headed up. He was going pretty slow as he had four dogs following that he was "exercising." I stopped and waited and one of the first dogs (a little shaggy black one) came over and started growling at Sinwaan. That made me uncomfortable and I wasn't sure what to do. As the truck passed us the dogs moved on and I was relieved. However there was one dog at the back, who upon seeing us, turned tail and ran the other direction. He was obviously scared of the horse. Well now what do I do? We started on down the mountain again at a walk. Then the dog disappeared so I let Sinwaan pick it up to a trot, thinking at some point the dog could always jump out of the bushes and cause an accident :-P
Well then I came across two ladies walking. I thought maybe the dog was with them and followed the truck up because of the other canines. They said to me "What a beautiful horse, what do you call that pattern?" I stopped and told them he was a flea-bitten grey, an Arabian. They had a little chat with me and I asked about the dog. They said they were all together, the truck and the dogs and them, and the dog would be ok. They called her and I could see her ("Ginger") and she stood and listened and wanted to obey but was just too scared. Ginger took off running and again went out of sight. Not wanting to chase her all the way down and out into the road, I told the ladies I would go back up the mountain the other direction so they could get her. Sinwaan by this time was getting impatient. He started pawing a hoof and tossing his head, wanting to GO. I was not sure how he would handle going away from home yet again. Not to mention back UPhill. He went into a fast trot and then a canter and I just let him go, we ran along the trail probably half a mile. He was letting off steam and it was a good time for me. Coming around a bend we almost ran into the man in the truck. By this time he had his dogs up in the cab. I let him know Ginger was afraid and that the ladies were hoping he would come back down. He said ok and drove onward. I took Sinwaan up just a bit further at the trot and he didn't even seem winded.
On the way down we did mostly trotting and then at the quarter mile from home I made him walk the rest of the way. What a great ride, and even more than I bargained for. We probably went 5 mi today and I don't know the time but I would guess not much over an hour.
The sun was setting as we pulled back into to the barnyard. I grained Sinwaan, checked his feet, brushed him a little and put on his flyspray and mask. I was glad I went ahead and rode afterall.
**Sidenote, I missed my Wednesday ride because Tues. night I had some horrible cramping that really knocked me down. I still wasn't feeling 100% so canceled my mid-week ride.**
No comments:
Post a Comment