Sunday, August 24, 2014

A typical Sunday right (not)

I am dictating this story and I find that I actually tell a story better than I write a story.  I will make an effort to check for typos. However, I am dictating it to my android tablet I mostly expect what I say to come across. The Android is much better at dictation van is Siri.

I decided to go riding today. I had to go alone because maggie is at her fathers and though I had tried a bit to find someone to ride with I didn't try very hard.  Everyone is always telling me that I need to ride alone more often. The fact that I have not ridden anyone alone since 2008 is probably an indication of this. The only time I have ridden alone that wasn't in competition was when I took Liberty to Bismarck, Arkansas while maggie was there at camp. I spent several days riding him alone in the woods.  He was very good back then but since Maggie and I ride together I just have never really ridden by myself.

Liberty up just fine. In fact, he didn't seem to realize that he had no company until we arrived at Joe pool lake and he saw some other horses. I had intended to ride about 10 miles at a five mile an hour pace. He was eager to head out on trail and forgot that he was alone.  He did not call to anyone else and we were alone with Bailey running down the trail. I use this day to try out some renegade hoof boots. I really liked them for the first 22 minutes of the ride. They stayed on at a trot and a canter and he did not seem to even notice that they were there. We went through some deep mud and they were still intact afterward. When I gave Bailey a break to drink I was so pleased that they were still on his feet after the speed and the mud. However, things went wrong after that. At 44 minutes I discovered that we had no hoof boots at all.  I am assuming that they came off in the deep but that we went through on the second time around. Joe Pool does not have a lot of trails but they are conducive to making many loops.

When I realized they were missing immediately turned around and went back to the spot that I had assumed they fell off in.   I this is the place where they came off then it would take a shovel or a bulldozer to find them.  I made 3 extra loops and covered all the trails again 2 times and never saw a sign of them. Of course there is black gumbo and the boots that I purchased from eBay are, you guessed it, black.

But this was not the only adventure I had today. It became very warm while we were out and I worried that Bailey would overheat. There was also no water on the trail and no good to get down to the lake. All of the bank was very steep and dangerous to go down. At one point I found a bank that I thought would be suitable  Liberty to go  down.  Bailey got down with no trouble so I dismounted and began to walk toward the wire. I like Lake Whitney which has quicksand there is no quick sand at Joe pool lake. However there is clay. I took a couple steps down the hill and probably fell on my butt all the way down the hill. I almost landed in the water. How was completely shocked because it looked totally benign. I quickly told me to stand still. I had already unclipped his reign and had one and in my hand and he had stood perfectly still during my descent. He continued to stay right where I put him and I tried to climb back up the hill to him. I did not want him to slide down the hill and into the water. I had seen that the water was not be there but after I fell down I wasn't sure she be able to get back up the hill later. We were completely alone on the trail. Earlier we're probably long gone as they had already scared coming around the corner as we work answering and I had fallen off. (But that's another show). I tried very hard to climb up the bank every time I put my foot down further and further toward the water. I was starting to panic and I tried to call Lloyd Park main phone number but Siri told me that no phone number existed. After standing patiently for quite a while Liberty decided he was thirsty and proceeded to come down the bank. I about full on flipped out at that point I yelled at him to stand back and back up the hill but he did not. Meanwhile Bailey is having the time of her life. She is drinking water and playing in the filthy muck . She is completely oblivious to the fact that I am stuck.  Liberty charged into the water completely tacked up. He went down his belly immediately and began to Waller.  I got him out of the water and back on dry ground. I was really shaken up as I had no idea how to get out of this mess. I was completely muddy from my head to my toes. I decided the only way and hope that the fabric of my tight would not slip out of my boots have done.  I told Liberty to whoa and he starts very still I began to climb up the hill on my hands and knees.  I found that I had traction to get up the hill this way and I was able to reach a vine that was attached to a tree and did not come. However I was getting out for him to get out as well. I was still holding and he was instrumental in helping to pull me up the hill and out of the mud.  When I was back on solid ground I was very shaky & I was thirsty. I ended up feeling like I must have had a panic attack at the bottom because when I try to eat and then. I was going to throw up. Liberty seems fine and we watch for a while so I can catch my breath. I have never go down to the water along the trail and Joe pool lake ever again.

So, I fell off today. But I hated that since it has been almost two years since I had come off liberty. We try it and cancer most of our ride. The first 22 minutes we're done at a six point eight miles an hour paste that was very comfortable for both of us. The second 22 minutes were almost there why did slow down because it was hot and Bailey needed to drink.  We work answering down a big wide open trail and saw the two men riding  toward us. They were in the shadows and we were in the daylight so I imagine he didn't see them until it was almost too late. I didn't either so I can't really blame him. They stopped and asked me if I was ok wish I was. I almost did not fall off and I landed on my feet. It was one of those moments where you just don't quite catch yourself in time. Then we went on to the muddy part where I think. I wish that I had looked when I remember to see if he was still wearing them.

When it was all said and done, including the time I spent almost falling into the water we still went 4.2 miles per hour. We did about 13 miles so  really not a bad day all in all. When I got back I disconnected the trailer and started to turn for home. When I got to the gate and looked up and discovered that the trailer was still attached to my truck even though I had crank it off the truck. The new truck holds so well I hadn't even noticed the trailer was still attached. I backed up and put the trailer back in its place making sure this time that it was going to stay there. It was a much longer day than I had intended but now I am tend to spend the rest of the evening watching some television and crocheting. Bailey is a very tired dog.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Epic weekend fun!

This was the weekend of Juggs, the epic fun weekend put on by Kate Love and Nancy Williams.  As they called it...it was a weekend full of horse recess.  I took Fiera because Liberty has been complaining about his back. She was so wonderful. We even went on the night ride.  She never took a misstep and she reminded me why I have hung on to her all this time. 

I'm having a hard time believing that summer is already coming to a close. I'm happy because of the heat, but I will miss the schedule.  During the summer I can be home at night and during the school year I do most of my work from 3-8 in the afternoon.  However, this year I have gotten Monday mornings clear so I can work a little longer on Tuesday-Thursday, but have an extra morning to recover from my weekends.  I can get to the store and do a little cleaning and just feel like I have some time to breathe. I can help Maggie with school work more on Mondays too which will be great.

I have enjoyed a quiet morning catching up from the weekend. I should have been writing an assessment, but I didn't do that either, just have rested and watched some TV. I like it. I like it a lot.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Red box

I went to red box and got DVD's tonight. I remembered when my dad bought us a membership to a local vhs club in Liberty. We had to pay a lifetime membership fee and then still rent the movies. And you couldn't touch the movies as they were behind glass. I remember how cheated we felt when movie companies came along with out the fees.