Preparations...

Predicted weather for the Camas Creek Canter, looks pretty good!

Today I printed out the PNER entry form and AHA form, filled them both out, wrote out my check to the RM, printed the directions and information for the ride and started thinking about what to unload from my horse trailer to make room for the things I will have to have.

Cassandra and AVMC

Today I met Cassandra out at the barn to see her work with Sinwaan. She showed me some techniques to help him bend and flex and soften up on the bit. She was glad to see he had retained what she taught him on Monday and said he was doing much better today. Everything she showed and taught me was very helpful and I plan to apply it as soon as possible to see what kind of difference it makes for us both on the trail.

After the lesson, I hauled Sinwaan in to AVMC for his traveling papers. Dr Sarah Campbell met us for the appointment. She took his temp and drew blood for a coggins and her assistant worked on a health certificate and I was happy that it was under $100! My mom's Explorer did a good job hauling my trailer and I am really getting excited now about the Montana ride since it is looking like it will happen!! Still more details to work out but the major part is looking positive.

Trainer

Today Cassandra rode Sinwaan for the first time. I think she has some things to show me!

Early ride

It's been hot here this past week but high winds yesterday cooled everything off. All was still and calm this morning at 5 am so I headed out to the barn for a ride before work. It was chilly enough for me to wear a jacket on the ride. Sinwaan was slightly mischievous the first mile (as expected) but soon settled in and set a good pace. We did our 6 miles in 1 hr 10 min and had no trouble. Not a lot of traffic that early in the morning, which was really nice. The sun was coming up and it was a real treat to see it from horseback.

After I got back to the barn and un-tacked a breeze kicked up. Quite the timing!

I am currently trying to work out all the details to get Sinwaan to Potomac, MT for a ride the end of this month.

4th of July

Fourth of July ride! Cindy thought I was nuts for riding on this holiday but since I went out in the morning on back country roads I wasn't too worried about fireworks.

I got out to the barn later than I had planned in the morning and it was already getting quite warm.

We did encounter a large semi-truck coming at us on the first hill climb. The shoulder in that section is very soft and a drop-off so I didn't waste any time dismounting. The driver of the truck was very polite and crept towards/past us at about 5 mph. After that I got back on and we continued. At the end of Forest Rd Sinwaan spied two deer in the pea field and we watched them bound away.

We had another big truck barrel towards us at the end of Froghollow but we had ample room to get off the road so it wasn't a problem there.

We had a nice ride but I got a sunburn on my shoulders since I wore a tank top today. I hosed Sinwaan off and let him graze until he dried.

6 miles

Rode the 6 mile loop this morning and enjoyed the cooler weather. Sinwaan did great.

We had a Raccoon sighting as one ran towards us in the road a couple hundred feet but soon noticed us and scampered off into the bushes.

He is getting fat on all the growth in his paddock. Starting to develop a dimple above his tail. So my goal is to ride 2x a week up until our planned endurance ride on July 23. At the moment we have some questions about transport so I hope it all works out! Even if it doesn't, I guess the exercise will be good for him to work off some of that weight.

Thursday Morning Adventure

So this morning I decided that if I am going to get any riding done this week it would have to be before work.

I got out to the barn about 6:30 am and saddled up and decided to do the 6 mi loop on the road over there. We headed over to Forest and up to Froghollow and everything was going well despite the wind and occasional sprinklers to avoid. Shortly after we passed Locher we encountered an onion field with field workers slaving away. Sinwaan was not too sure about all that. He was not really wanting to go at all (just standing and watching), so I dismounted and led him for awhile. All was going quite well until I got too close to the edge of the very soft shoulder and I slipped down the embankment about 4 feet, I saw Sinwaan’s head go up and I lost the rein and then had to focus on my own feet. I scrambled up the slope and got up in time to see Sinwaan galloping away. Groan.

I started running and soon he was out of sight he was moving that fast. I got hopeful when I saw he had taken off through a dirt field to the left before the corner of Froghollow and Last Chance. He must have discovered a fence because he had turned around and was heading back towards Froghollow. I was still too far away but started hollering at him, well that didn’t work. He went down through the new driveway there to the house they have been working on and I hoped it was fenced so I could catch him. No dice. He popped out on Last Chance and kept going. By now there is some traffic, people headed to work and I was just terrified he would get hit by a truck, he was swerving all over the road in his floaty trot.

When it was obvious I wasn’t going to catch him I called Doug because I knew he would head straight for home (and breakfast) and I didn’t want them to be scared if he showed up without me.

After that a very nice guy stopped and asked if the runaway horse was mine (he had passed him coming the opposite direction) No buddy, I just run with a helmet on for fun :) He offered me a ride to catch up with Sinwaan and we got close, I jumped out and he took off again. Agh! So the guy gave me another ride and after Sinwaan turned down Stovall (at least he knows where to go) we were able to get around him and then Sinwaan just stopped behind his pickup and I caught him without any more ado.

I noticed his one fastener to the reins had broken, so I just clipped the other side of the rein under his chin and led him all the way home from there (2 mi) walking/jogging as I could. Shortly after I had control of him and was jogging home Doug showed up to make sure we were ok. He offered to go home to get the horse trailer and I decided no, we were out here for the exercise, I would just be getting more than I bargained for LOL He ended up following us home (at a distance).

WOW what a morning, my adrenaline was so high I was thinking I should go out and do this every day!! I felt great LOL Now I am thinking maybe not, my shins are starting to hurt pretty bad. Heheh