Warm Up Ride

Yesterday was the WarmUp Ride. It's the official start to this year's trail riding season.

I'm glad I had the chance to do a bit of riding before hand. Otherwise I'm sure I would have been even more sore than I am today. I'm sure King and Rain are a bit sore too.

I woke up about 5am and thought I heard rain. A storm passed through about 5:30 so I listened to the rain before I fell back asleep. I ended up sleeping in longer than I wanted. I caught both of them and got Rain saddled up. It wasn't raining or misting when I loaded the two into the trailer but not even half way to mom and dad's and it started to mist.

It was misting/drizzling when we got to mom and dad's. So I pulled King out for dad to saddle and threw Rain back in so my saddle wouldn't get too rained on. We loaded King back in and headed out to the trail head.

Not as many people showed up as I thought would be there. I guess only the diehards showed up this time. We headed out about quarter to 1pm. My favorite part of this ride is riding through the creek that runs under Hwy 34. The creek wasn't too bad when we rode through the first time. It wasn't even up to Rain's belly and he's a short horse.

Rain also got a compliment from one of the saddle club members. Rain has really come a long way. I need to start working on Chaos so that he too can start receiving compliments. I'd like to start showing him off and telling people he was a rescue. What can I say, I like to brag about my "kids."

We rode up to Johnson's Point and then headed back. We only took one half hour break and one quick potty break. Otherwise it was riding all the way. Unfortunately about the time we saddled up and headed out it started to mist. It misted/drizzled the entire time we rode.

When we turned around Rain started throwing a hissy fit. He definately knows where that trailer is! We finally got back to the pasture area where we got to cross the creek a couple of times. By the time we were back into the creek under Hwy 34 I thought the creek had risen. I wasn't sure if it was just me or not but the water was up to Rain's chest and lapping at the bottom of my stirrups. Least to say I took my feet out of the stirrups. I was wishing I had Bob about that time! I wasn't the only one who realized that the creek had risen about a quarter foot in the hour plus we'd been gone.

By the time we got back to the trailers everyone was soaked, from crossing the creek and the mist/drizzle. It was a pretty good ride. Everyone seemed pretty well beat. As I looked around, almost every horse had their head hanging down practically snoozing on three legs. Wish I would have gotten a few pics. We didn't sit around like we normally do since it did start to rain at one point. But we stood around for a little bit and then it stopped misting all together for a little while.

We decided to load up and head back to mom and dad's for supper. We pulled the saddles off and I blanketed the boys. I figured they might catch a chill what with sweat from the trail ride, the water on their legs, and the constant drizzle. I think they were happy to be blanketed. King and Rain stood around while we had supper. I was pretty well beat by that time.

We'd made plans to go pick up Sam the Belgian Sunday late afternoon/evening but it was already 7pm by the time we headed out of Madison. We didn't figure that we would get home until way past dark. I don't really like dealing with new horses in the dark and then leaving them to stand in a pen for an extra 24 hours while I'm at work. I prefer to be at home to keep an eye on them and get to know them right away. Maybe next weekend we'll be able to pick Sam up.

While I was standing in the barn looking at Bob this morning, I saw a mouse race across the rafters. We are in desperate need of more mousers. Having only one cat who prefers to dine on rabbits means we are being overrun by mice. I've seen three mice in the last two days. It's time we get more cats. And these mice are in the barn where a cat lives! Makes me wonder how many more mice we have in the place (and in the house)! I stocked up on Senior Feed this weekend too and I dont' want those darn mice getting into Bob's senior feed. There will be one ticked off "Big Momma" if I catch any mice in that senior feed. I'm hoping to bring home some more barn cats next weekend.

All in all, it's been a busy last couple of days. I'm ready for some rest and relaxation but I don't think that's going to happen. I'd like to pull Chaos out tonight and start fiddling with him. He really needs miles put on him.

Maverick will also have been at the trainers for a full week now. I'm half tempted to call tonight and see how it's going! There's always something going on at Borderlands!