Lake Ride! And Trailering Issues...

Desire and I met our riding buddy, N, at Lake Oroville this morning for another trail expedition. The morning itself didn't start smoothly, Desire was beyond jazzy from the minute I pulled her and promptly decided she didn't want to load into the trailer. Nope. Nada. Not happening. Its pretty funny how often horses will hop into a trailer fine the first time but the second or third time they suddenly decide its maybe not such a good idea. The first time I led her up to the trailer things seemed like they might work out, she stuck her head in the trailer and snuffed the floor, but from there it became swing-butt-left-and-right, pull back, etc. It took me about 30 minutes and an assist from my husband to get her in and when I got to the lake, which is a 20 minute drive that I cruise along at 40 mph or under, she came out of the trailer a dripping sweaty mess. I don't know WHAT hair was across her butt this morning but she was definitely out of sorts. N was just parking when I arrived and we pulled our grey Arab mares out at about the same time so Desire relaxed when she saw a buddy was nearby. For the piss and vinegar she was exhibiting in the morning she was surprisingly quiet under saddle, which was fine with me. N and I both had our share of spooky-horse moments but nothing too dramatic. By the end of the ride we were joking that Desire was definitely a true desert Arabian as she eye balled any and all wood/logs/sticks along the sides of the trails with deep suspicion. She also concentrated fixedly on the left side of the trail and would have left the trail altogether (and...gone bush hogging???) a couple times if I weren't steering her around to keep on it. I'm not sure why she is so convinced that she knows a better way to get wherever we may be going but it seems to be a pattern with her so far. Riding out from home she also hugged the left side of the road and had to be steered in the direction I wanted. Interesting. Anyhow we did about 13 miles in just over 3 hours, with a couple of water and short grazing breaks. It was a GORGEOUS day on the trails, bright blue skies and sunny, maybe 60 degrees in the sun but certainly chilly in the shade of the wooded trails. I am love love loving how smooth miss Desire is, its so fantastic to be barely posting or even sitting as we jog down the trails. Oh that was the other revelation, she has quite a nice jog that she maintained on the trails today, which is a good speed for N and her mare too.

We got back to the trailer around 3 and went through the trailer loading issue again, with Desire lleaanningggg into the trailer but not lifting one of her front feet to get IN it, I swear she looked like she was going to face plant into it as gradually all four feet got closer together and she leaned forward without actually stepping in. N went to her head and I put pressure on her from behind and she hopped in. Soooo. Some work to be done there.

It was a wonderful day on the trails and I'm tired and HUNGRY!

My First Horse Photos

Here are some photos of my gorgeous first horse, Mystique (Misty), an Appendix mare. I rode the bus past her in her paddock for years and one day heard she was for sale. I promptly broke the cardinal rule and begged my parents to buy her, the first horse we looked at. My mom said it would spoil me and my step-dad, of all people, stepped in and said I should have her. Thanks for that, B! We had a blast together and showed at the County Fair (for fun, with no lessons or trainer and were totally on the wrong lead for cantering but the other snooty girls were so jealous of my pretty mare) --as well as completing my first endurance rides with her as a 14 yr old junior rider. She had never completed an endurance ride because she was "too high strung" and wouldn't pulse down. We were a team though! Unfortunately I had to sell her to go off to college. She was a beauty!

 

I'm Baaack!

Well my faithful doggie companion Georgia and I survived the holiday madness. More importantly, my sister gave birth to a healthy 9 lb baby boy on Wednesday night! It was great to be around and be able to meet and hold him while he was "fresh" since I missed out on it with her first son's birth (away at school and such). We had a great Thanksgiving feast on Saturday afternoon with the whole gang, minus my husband who was here tending the animals and my brother and his family who live in southern California. Today was my mom's birthday and we had a celebratory breakfast and present session this morning before I hit the road. It was a great little trip but the dog and I are glad to be home and I can't wait til the husband gets home this evening too!


Hmmm I am exhausted and ready for bed and it isn't even 7 pm yet..the couch looks quite inviting and no one is here to see or hear me snoring, so adios for now internet world!

Holiday Madnessss

Okay my sister is in labor, my wiener dog just set the hook on himself and drove a fishing hook through his nose and Thanksgiving is postponed til the weekend..oh yeah and I'm driving 5 hours to the coast today..so anyway, hope everyone has a good week, I'm about ready to tear my hair out but things will be fine I'm sure. Just FYI for friends and readers who comment, I have now turned on comment moderation because I started getting random spam-seeming crap on the blog.

Okay I have to hit the road.

Happy Turkey Day to all!

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

We got some very cold weather and a good amount of rain over the last few days, the horses finally got their blankets off and a little warmer weather yesterday but another big storm is rolling in tomorrow. Not a whole lot of horsey activities happening here for me this week, just cleaning here and there and socking the feed to them in the cold!

Hope everyone has a good holiday week and gets to spend some time with their friends, family, and horses! I am heading over to the coast mid-week to have Thanksgiving with my family, though unfortunately not all of them as my husband has to stay behind and mind all the critters here. My sister is pregnant and a week past her due date so we are all taking bets on whether the baby waits to make an appearance on Thanksgiving itself! Or a few days later, on our mom's birthday. Either way it should be an exciting Thanksgiving as the baby's arrival is imminent!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and their critters!

Man the rest of this week just flew by, after my ride on Desire on Tuesday it was just working on the property, cutting and collecting firewood around here, etc. We were supposed to get a big storm at the end of the week but it blew over us pretty quickly, we got some good winds yesterday and it rained last night but the sun is supposed to return, or partly, today. This week is 2 years since I broke my leg, amazing that time has gone that fast. I probably wouldn't remember the date that well except it happened on my step-dad's birthday so its a good reminder, lol.

I've been thinking I need to create an obstacle course for Sheza in the arena, or at least collect a whole bunch of scary stuff (tarps, bags, etc). She is SO spooky and looks askance at everything, the more exposure and things she gets used to the better, as with any horse. She is just particularly spooky and spazzy, I'm really hoping she grows out of some of it but I might as well give her the best possible chance at being a sane well rounded personality to go with those flashy looks! It doesn't help that she is colored just like the horse that wigged out and broke my leg, sometimes when she is being spooky and wild my heart and mind go back to that horse and it kind of screws with my head for a while. Anyway I'll be thinking on that and of course it probably won't happen til spring, at least any real set up, since my arena is completely open to the elements.

In non horsey news, my computer and keyboard and completely losing their minds and having endless errors and weird letter switching and crap. Its SO ANNOYING. I always use full computer/internet security and don't download anything weird but my computer is so buggy and screwed up. ARGH. I have less than zero patience for malfunctioning technology. Maybe there will be a new tower (since we have a nice flat computer screen we can keep) under the Christmas tree because I have about had it with this thing.

Pulling in the Driveway with a Smile on my Face

 

That title just turned into a catchy song in my head..but honestly, this afternoon I WAS pulling in the driveway with a smile on the face. For oh so many reasons.

1. First time trailering out in two months--I know, where did the time go?! Last time I hauled out was the purse robbery incident..happy to say my truck and purse are unmolested and still in my possession after today's ride.

2. First time trailering Desire anywhere-- She hadn't been in a trailer in just shy of a year and I wasn't sure she would get in my straight load anyway, so I practiced yesterday to make sure left myself 15 extra minutes this morning to load her. Hey, I'm optomistic.
 
3. First time riding Desire w/ others-- Again, no clue how she would be arriving to the lake alone, being joined by a strange horse, encountering others on the trail (there were plenty)

4. First trail ride w/ new buddy-- I met N at the Patriot's Day at Lake Almanor ride this past July and we actually started the ride and did the few first miles together. We had since met up for her to take and try out my Equipedic pad but today was our first trail ride together!


Oh, and the REAL reason I was smiling away? All of the above worked out fabulously and we had a blast!

A few details. I booted and groomed Desire at home and then left the cross ties to go see what sort of trailer loading escapade this was going to be. I honestly wasn't that worried about it. As N and I discussed today, sometimes you can/should/might go into things just assuming things will work out as needed--while of course being prepared, alert, and aware. I operate this way with my horse's out of a sort of necessity. After my accident when I was fearful to even get back on a horse there were all sorts of fantastic images whirling around in my head of just how I would get bucked off as soon as I got up on that horse (even though said horse was good ole little Blaze). I had to stop the madness in the brain. So I concluded that I just had to be prepared, alert, and aware, behave as safely as possible, and get on the damn horse. Things would be well. They just would. I told myself that as the boot went back in the stirrup for the first time and was still telling myself that when I finally settled into the saddle, the crucial point where previously the horse (not Blaze!) had exploded out from under me and shattered my leg. So anyhoo, I approach things with as much awareness and safety as possible, but with a positive assumption nestled in my heart. I think it prevents self-defeating prophecies and useless mental whirling. SO preparation maybe didn't figure so much into the 15 minutes I left myself to see if my horse loaded into my scary dark coffin 2 horse straight, but my positive thinking did figure in and Desire took a couple sniffs, some slow hesitant steps, then popped up into the trailer. Ta da! She was definitely antsy and was tap dancing around in the trailer quite a bit but I can't blame her since good ole Sheza and Blaze were galloping around and Sheza was screaming like a banshee. It was a first for her too of course, first time mommy loaded up and left her! All was well once I got the rig moving and I cruised slooowwww to the lake, not breaking 40. Its windy back roads anyway but most people fly on it. I wanted to make sure Desire had the most comfortable, quiet trailer ride to the lake as possible so I just took my time. I also hadn't used up all my 15 extra minutes I left for loading so I could afford to cruise! Desire came out of the trailer sweaty on her neck and chest despite the slow ride but she didn't seem too perturbed about being at the trail head alone, I walked her around and let her sniff and graze and was just starting to tack up when N pulled in.

D christening the trailer, "I mark you mine to scratch on and destroy!"

We chatted for a while and got the horses ready; N has a really cute fine boned little grey Arab mare so we were on a pair of grey Arab mares! Funny. N had emailed me previously that she had a brand new bright green Biothane halter she could send my way since I am now smitten with the color for Sheza. Bright green against fiery chestnut, yeah baby! Anyhow N brought the halter along today which was cool! Its regular Arab size but I adjusted it all the way down to the smallest size and I bet I could use that sucker on Sheza pretty soon! Her current halter is on its last hole at the end of the strap with no room for more holes. So, of course the true color doesn't exactly translate but I think this will look awesome on filly brat:

 

its more of a bright grass green than lime

Cool that while N and I are just getting together on riding we've both already had some tack the other wanted/needed. She used the Equipedic pad she got from me on her mare today and said it is working out, and I am looking forward to seeing that green on Sheza!

All tacked up and....asleep?

 The trail ride itself went really well, Desire led the whole way and was in total power walk mode. I am in love with her walk, it reminds me of my dear old mare Angel's giant walk only Desire is bigger in all ways so its even more powerful and fun! I think 14.3 is my definite height of choice in a horse. Hopefully Sheza sticks around there, I swear if she goes 16 hands like her grandpa I will have a heart attack. Desire is just right. What's that fairy tale? Goldilocks I think it is, where one is too big and one is too small and one is just right. Well my Foxtrotter was too big, Blaze is too small (though treasured and ridden plenty), and Desire is just right. She had a couple of spooky moments, mostly at logs, but nothing beyond reason. We encountered 3 other groups of riders and passed them all without incident. Also saw this beauty, chasing girls:

 

 

 We did the shorter loop around the horse camp but it was a perfect length for the day and the horses, we did some nice stretches of trotting but only went about 7 miles and had lots of good chatting time. We also ran into a mutual horse friend who has a gorgeous house right ON the lake trails (jealous!) and stopped and chatted with her and her riding buddy. Desire wouldn't stand still for the first few minutes but she settled eventually. Our friend's mare had a filly about a week after Sheza was born and she and her friend were headed out the opposite direction but she told us to stop by her house and take a look at the filly. We headed out and took the little shortcut trail over and spied on her horses; her filly is very dark, born a smokey grey as I recall but I'm not sure what her technical color is. Her dam is a Mustang and sire an Arabian and it's quite a nice cross! She's a pretty little filly, very leggy. It was hard to tell how she compared to Sheza size-wise since we were on a little hill above the paddocks looking down, but she looked about the same general height. Sheza is MUCH thicker built, that's for sure. After admiring the baby we were back to the trailers in no time and then just a short drive home.


It was a great ride, a beautiful day, a blast on Desire, and fun to ride with a new friend. I look forward to riding more with N and hopefully we will be seeing each other at some endurance rides next season too!

Trail Time!

Well I've got myself a nice last minute (my fault) plan to get together for a ride with a newish endurance buddy. I met her at the Patriot's Day at Lake Almanor ride this summer and it turns out she only lives about an hour away from me and often rides at the same spots I do. She is also the new owner of the nice green Equipedic pad I bought that was too long for Blaze. OH and speaking of green, tack, and exchanging, she has a brand new bright grass green endurance halter that would look snazzy on Sheza in the future. Its fun buying and selling and swapping between friends so we can all eventually get what we want and need, since I know I so rarely get it right the first time! Sad but true.

Anyhow I am packing up Desire, the western saddle, and the Easyboots and trailering out of here tomorrow morning for the first time in ummm 2 MONTHS! What the heck how did that time pass. Should be a great day, forecast of mostly sunny, high of 65 degrees. Can't wait :)

I bartered!

Okay it may seem strange that I'm excited enough to title my post that, but I have ALWAYS wanted to be able to barter for horse items and I finally had the chance. So basically I had two older but still good condition waterproof turnouts that are always too big for any horses I own and I traded them for hoof work on Sheza and Desire this week. It gave me a little thrill, call me a dork. Desire's hooves are recovering nicely. She grows hoof like its going out of style. Sheza is having a MAJOR growth spurt and her hooves had grown an insane amount in 4 weeks. Like, she was overgrown and should have been trimmed at 3 weeks! Amazing. I had no idea that much growth that quickly was possible. So I will be keeping a closer eye on that. Sheza did really well for her hooves again, she tried pulling away a couple times but D the trimmer is very gentle but firm and there were no shenanigans allowed. She also made a really interesting point about Desire that I am still mulling over with delight. We were talking about how tense Desire is in the cross ties and she said "clearly Desire has never been a little girl's horse" I asked her to explain because I couldn't quite wrap my mind around that and she said that Desire was obviously trained and did everything she was asked but wasn't very sure about things and didn't know how to be spoiled..yet. Key word yet, because as D and I acknowledged she will definitely become a "little girl's horse" here with me. Its such a GREAT point because Desire does exactly that: what you ask, but isn't sure of herself and always retains some low level of tension/anxiety. I think and hope that she will settle down here and really bond with me and maybe find another level of relaxation, but as it is I am enjoying her and she is at worst an interesting new challenge to deal with. But really at best, a fun, forward, slightly nervous mare! I feel like I ramble on about her a lot but I've just become so used to Blaze in the last few years that discovering a new horse, and a mare again at that, is exciting to me. I always have my closest bonds with mares, my highest highs and lowest lows. Here's to some exciting years of highs with Desire!

In other news, I mailed the saddle back yesterday. I'll be getting my deposit back and waiting to order the whole kit, probably til mid December. The saddle prices have gone up and while I could squeeze the money out now I think it was good I got a chance to trial the saddle with some (mostly) decent weather and now I will wait for another few weeks to order it when finances are more comfortable. I'm going to order the Eurolight with a bigger seat size than the one they sent me, western fenders, 2 shim kits, 2 different fitting cushions, and the suede seat. In the spring I will order the fleece seat and fleece fenders for summer riding. I also want to order one of the pads like the one they sent with the trial saddle, I assume its the standard fleece Specialized pad. Or I might try a Haf pad if GETC recommends that higher, I haven't used either but I really like the shape and ease of use of those pads in what I've seen and heard.

Horses got de-wormed this week as well, the vet said I could switch Sheza to Ivermectin especially with the bot eggs out and about. So far Sheza still takes her wormer better than Desire does! Hopefully that lasts. I'm thinking I might start getting a flavored wormer so Sheza takes a liking to it which I'm sure her little piggy self will. The more she likes the experience the better and I know she likes anything tasty. It might be to my benefit to get her hooked on it, LOL. Leading youngsters astray with apple wormer addictions, what would my mother say.

My husband just walked in and said he had run a bath for me! How random and nice! Or maybe I just smell..

Desire in the Specialized

Like my sophisticated photo-taking method? "Stay horsey!"

This morning was our first frost of Winter 2011. The time changed yesterday which unfortunately makes it dark early but also makes it light early too which I do enjoy. It was too weird when the sun wasn't breaking the crest of the hill til 8-8:30 in the morning. Having some sunlight at 6:30-7 is just fine with me. Anyhow none of my trail buddies could meet to ride today after getting rained out on the weekend so I put on the Easyboots and fit the Specialized saddle to Desire and away we went up the ridge, just riding from home. The saddle sat nearly perfectly on her back with just the basic 3/4" fitting cushions which was a relief after the gappy insanity that was setting it on Blaze's back.

We did just over 5 miles in our usual hour and 20 minutes, thanks to the couple miles of walking along pavement/side of the road to reach our dirt road/trotting area. By my GPS we did about half a mile of circling/back tracking while working on not trotting towards home like a spazz. Desire walks out eagerly on the trail and at a great forward speed but when you turn for home hooooo boy that forward speed becomes the fastest walk you've ever sat (that speed walk that kind of gives you a stomach ache from so much hip action following it, ya know?) and generally progresses to a snotty little jive jog multiple times on our journey home. We are working on that.

Today was a great day for a ride as it threw a couple of unexpected things at us as well as testing the saddle and getting more trail time in the Easyboots. About 2 miles out when we were finally onto the dirt road and starting to do a slow trot I saw what I thought was a big round shouldered dog jogging around the corner down the road in front of us. It didn't quite move like a dog so I sped Desire up down the mini hill and around the corner to see what it was before it vanished. Sure enough it was a big ole Bobcat jogging down the road and we followed it down the road for a little while only 20 or 30 feet behind it before it swerved off and disappeared into the bushes. Desire wasn't perturbed by it and in fact was much more alarmed by the random guy walking down the road (just stopped and stared, moved on with encouragement) than she was by trailing the Bobcat. 3 miles out and heading up the steep hills for the ridge there was a big orange "Road work Ahead" sign and half of the road had been graded, creating a dirt mound running down the middle of the road which made a convenient barrier we later utilized. After convincing Desire to sniff the orange sign and moving on at a trot, sitting a big spook around a giant horse-eating rock the grader had uncovered in the road, and reaching as near the top of the ridge as we could without encountering any road work machinery, we turned for home. This was the time that her hot, homeward-bound self immediately asserted itself but that grader-created impromptu dirt barrier running down the middle of the road was pretty helpful as it made her have to LIFT her feet and LOOK when I made her turn back around and head back up hill in answer to her trying to trot/spazz downhill. She is agile enough that when I turn her around sometimes she just brainlessly spins a circle and then continues trying to trot toward home, its not even challenging for her! With the dirt barrier the first two or three times she actually tripped over it and then figured it out and started paying attention to what she was doing and lifting her feet over it, which got her mind back on business, and me, and we could move on towards home at the walk. A couple miles from home a gorgeous very red fox ran across the road in front of us too! That first sunny day after a storm the animals are certainly stirring. As usual about 3/4 of a mile from home after climbing the last of the hills she finally settled to a comfortable loose-reined walk. When we got home I decided not to spray her off, even with warm water, as its just not warm enough for comfort. Her sweat marks were fairly even from the saddle though I think I need to put a slim wedge shim under the pommel of each side for a better fit. I also didn't recheck my girth enough from the shims compressing after first being ridden in, so my saddle slipped forward on the steep downhill home. I got off and fixed it and tightened the girth, I am so guilty of riding with a loose girth quite often. Anyway I think it was as pretty fun and successful test ride on D with the Specialized. I am getting all the details on final pricing if I do order one when I mail it back at the end of this week. I'm almost wondering if I want to go to one size bigger in the seat, its quite comfortable and feels like it fits but I almost feel like its on the edge of being slightly too small in the seat and I prefer a little more room in general. Its hard to tell because I've been riding the same saddle for 3 years so its hard to judge what is just different in sitting the Specialized and what is actually something that needs to be corrected. If I do order one I'm going to order it with the western style fenders as well, the English style leathers are a little pinch-y for my taste.


Horses are all blanket free and creatures great and small are out enjoying the sunshine coz its COLD in the shade!

Rained Out

I had a plan to hit the Lake Oroville trails with Desire, the trial saddle, and two riding buddies this morning at 9 am but it poured all last night and the forecast says 50% rain today so we decided to collectively cancel the ride. The saddle trial ended up going down right as the rain rolled in so my 8 day trial is basically a 2 or 3 day trial but sometimes that's just the way the cookie crumbles. Tomorrow is forecast to be mostly sunny so Desire and I will be heading out to try the saddle then. My riding buddies can't make it Monday as one lives an hour away and has to wrangle kids during the week and and the other hangs out with her husband on his day's off at the beginning of the week. I'm thinking I'll just ride Desire out from here to try the saddle and do as much mileage as I can, since I've never trailered her out for a trail ride before and I don't think its a great idea to go on my first trail ride away from home on her alone, on a trial saddle, in the mud with my new Easyboots whose fit I'm not confident in. Basically doing all that alone away from home sounds like a clusterf* waiting to happen so I'll probably be smart and just head out from here. I can still get 6-8 miles done in the trial saddle with good hill work so she will certainly work up a sweat and I'll be able to check sweat marks etc. I need to mail the saddle back by Thursday and there isn't more rain forecast til the end of the week so hopefully I can get 2 or 3 days of riding in it in before making my final decision. I'm also waiting for GETC to let me know a remaining balance if I decide to go forward and apply my deposit to buying a saddle. So its still all up in the air but the next few days will have to decide it! As for today, its a very soggy wet Sunday, the horses are still blanketed and eating their extra rations to stay warm. I'm drinking hot tea and hiding inside in my sweat pants..a book is nearby calling my name, what better use for a rainy Sunday?

 These are the happiest creatures right now, they've been parading around in the rain having a ball

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Saddle, Shots, Blankets

 The crew

I spent all morning yesterday playing with the Specialized trial saddle, trying to get it to fit nicely on Blaze's problematic little back. He has a high wither and then a significant hollow in behind the shoulder, as well as a very short back..oh yeah and his left and right side are totally differently shaped, as the Specialized dvd predicted. At 15 yrs old his top line, which was never fantastic, is certainly starting to sink a little, though I do a good amount of low level dressage at home in the arena to work on his collection etc. Anyhoo, the saddle sat quite nicely on his right side but on his left there were gaps everywhere, and I ended up using about every darn piece of wedge and velcro they included to get it to sit nicely. It would have been easier if I was able to cut the strips into the shapes I needed but since the paper that came with it said mail everything back in 8 days I'm guessing I'm not supposed to be getting crazy cutting things and making it all truly fit to my horse. I'm confident that its doable though. I haven't stripped it back apart and tried it on Desire yet, I'm planning to ride her in it at Lake Oroville on Sunday with a couple of friends so I will put it together on her on Saturday. I did manage to get a brief test ride in the saddle on Blaze yesterday before the vet showed up to give Sheza her vaccinations. The saddle is really comfortable and I love how light and minimalistic it is while still having a nice deep seat and feeling like a secure, comfortable ride. At this point I'm really leaning towards mailing it back with the "Yes, apply my deposit to buying a saddle" option checked on the sheet, but I won't decide for sure until I test ride Desire in it this weekend.

As for Sheza's shots, it all went really well! I walked down into her paddock to catch her when the vet pulled in and wasn't sure whether she would be her gracious "yes, catch me!" self or her bratty touch-me-not self, especially since she was hanging out at the bottom of the paddock next to mom on the other side of the fence. Happily she stuck her nose right in the halter and away we went. The vet and I agreed we should do the shots inside her paddock since it was her first shots ever and in case she got away from us she would be safe and contained. I had the full set of shots done so she had to endure two syringe loads of goodies. My vet is a tiny blonde woman, shorter than me, so Sheza took quite an interest in her and wasn't worried about her rubbing and pinching her neck. Well then the needle got stuck in there and things weren't too kosher for a minute but it wasn't uncontrollable, just some squirting around on her lead rope until I quieted her again. After that first shot she didn't think the vet should be anywhere near her so we took a few minutes to hang out with her and ease the vet back into Sheza's comfort zone. The second shot went perfectly until the end, in fact I didn't even realize the needle was in and it was happening because Sheza was standing so quietly--until the very end when she suddenly erupted away from us but the shot was already delivered which was good. The vet and I hung out with her some more until she was relaxed and sniffing us both again and then it was done! Verdict was it was quite a manageable set of first shots for a foal and Sheza also got lots of compliments on how pretty she was and what good bone she had. Huzzah!

 Today its cold and windy and rain is forecast so I just pulled Desire and Sheza and stuck their new winter turnouts on. Sheza's second blanket attempt fits her but only just, I doubt it will fit by the end of winter..sigh. Desire looks so snazzy in her deep purple blanket, I really wish my camera would accurately capture the color!

Actually after adjusting contrast that's just about the color the blanket is!

We did some roof work and clean up yesterday after the 40 mph gusts we had on Monday and I cleaned out Desire's paddock this morning which I had been meaning to do before the rain came today. So we are pretty well caught up today and should just be a quiet day at the homestead. Supposed to be cold tonight, looking forward to our first fire in the wood stove!

Saddle has Arrived!

 Can you read the box?

My trial model of the Specialized Eurolight arrived here yesterday afternoon. Its a gorgeous light saddle and the fit kit came with the whole shebang--stirrups, girth, pad, etc. I thought I had more like 30 days to try it out but turns out I've only got 8 days then I have to mail the whole shebang back and put my deposit toward a saddle or get it back. I'm really hoping for the former but we'll see. Not much time to see if its really going to fit Blaze and Desire and me, especially since rain is coming tomorrow and the next day. There is a low chance of showers this weekend and my husband finishes work so the truck will be around so I'm hoping to get out and do some miles at Lake Oroville on the weekend. I'm going to watch the fit cd right after I post this and mess around with it today but at the most I'll be able to get 5 or 6 miles on it from home today, as the vet is coming at 2 to give Sheza her shots. I'm more worried about it fitting Blaze than Desire but we'll see!

Starting to plan ahead for the 2012 AERC season, making up my ride calendar in one of the many windows I have open at the moment...I know time flies and before I know it will be mid April and time for my first endurance ride with Desire--plus that same weekend Sheza will be 1 yr old already! Ahh! Well we have a long wet winter before that happens but its good to be prepared.

Off to mess with the snazzy new saddle!

 

Had to include this shot of my pretty Desire, she is really losing her baby gut finally!