Not Many Summer Weekends Left...
....so what'll you and the horses be doing to take advantage of them? It'll be autumn before we know it; I've seen geese flying south the last few days, and our horses have just started to shed their summer coats. Darkness is falling sooner now, so there already are fewer riding hours left in a day.
I'm going to ride as much as I can, even if it's just around home. That'll be good news for the horseless friends who love invitations to come ride our tried-and-true extra horse. That's something else I want to take advantage of while I still can. The extra horse is 29 years old, and this could well be his last summer under saddle. (I've been saying that for each of the seven years we've had him, but still--he's just not going to last forever.)
The blooms are off my backyard roses, so it's high time to take advantage of the last summer-in-the-saddle weekends. And with this kind of right-from-home land to ride on, what excuse could I have not to do so?Summer's last official weekend includes the Labor Day holiday, and I have plans to push the season out for at least one more weekend after that. A year ago, two friends and I booked a private pack trip up in the Bitterroot Mountains, near the Idaho/Montana border. The Labor Day tourists will all have gone home, and we'll get to pretend we have that great high country all to ourselves. Does that sound awesome, or what? (Cover your keyboard with a drool rag, then check out our outfitter here: http://tripleo-outfitters.com. I've taken two other trips with Barb and Harlan Opdahl of Triple O, and absolutely can't wait to go again.)
OK, so the end-of-summer countdown's underway--whatcha got ticking?
posted by Juli Thorson @ 11:03 AM
14 comments
14 Comments:
I'm spending the next few days riding my appy gelding to keep him in shape for our district barrel racing finals. They're on the long weekend at the end of the month.
On the 13th I fly to Halifax and my friend takes over riding my guy.
From the 13th to the 27th I'm with my family for my dad's kidney transplant (thankfully his brother is his donor).
Then I get home, work ONE day and go to our district finals.
Competition is pretty much done for the season after that so my horses just get ridden "for fun" and to keep them in decent shape.
Hoping to get up to the forest for at least one trail ride this year.
Trail riding just starts here in Mississippi around the first or second week in September, depending on the heat. After the end of June, you just can not stress your horse, even if it cools off during the evening. Have a trail ride scheduled for September 27 and a horse camping trip for the last weekend in October. Otherwise, just riding with friends.
Oh, you are so right.
I have two special "horsey" weekends planned for summer/fall. One is a local horse show. Ride as many classes as you want for about $15. I consider it a schooling adventure for my "colt".
In September, a group of us girls is getting together at the High Country Guest Ranch (near Rapid City, SD). We are roughing it in a cabin with 7 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms! We will ride trails on the ranch and also plan to ride the trail(s) behind the Black Hills. We bring our own horses and have a great time. I can hardly wait!
Let's hear it for girlfriend time!
Speaking of which: I just saw an ad in Newsweek for a new magazine--called GIRLFRIENDS GETAWAY.
Sure sign of a very big trend.
I saw that picture and had a flashback to several summer and lovely fall evenings (let's see if this rings a bell) Wine in the garden while Woody and friends were "hanging" out in the field...with schipperke protectors in use!
;-]
Cheers,
Betsy
Betsy,
You are still missed in these parts, and I will put up the Camp Betsy sign in your honor when I get to the ride.
Ed was just talking last night about how he still misses Rebel.
Cheers!
Beautiful enticing riding area as the photo shows, but you're talking about autumn and shorter days in the middle of August?! It was 107 here over the weekend which is swimming -- not riding -- season. My horses are wet with sweat just grazing in the pasture. Ask again in October about planned autumn rides when those of us in the southlands get under way.
Northwest, and south--two different places!
It was 39 degrees here the other morning.
Kinda explains the south-traveling geese I've been seeing the past few days. Not to mention the shedding horses.
Yep, riding season is definitely not over here in Arizona! Besides that, when has winter ever stopped me from riding? My daughter will be old enough to come along in a year or two, and then NOTHING will stop me! I won't let it, because I haven't ridden much in a couple years now. First I got a boyfriend (and my priorities changed), then my horse got hurt, then I got pregnant, and lately my daughter has been too young to ride, and this summer I have been busy training a mustang, who still isn't allowing me to get in the saddle. So, by the time I have the time to ride again, it will be getting cooler, but that won't stop me.
Camp Betsy...and Rebel...good times, good memories! Have fun this weekend, I hope your weather is better than ours...we are having flash floods and growing webs between our toes up here in VT. Still can't believe I just started year 9 here! I have a warm puppy belly next to me, sending good dog-vibes for your event!
Betsy and Greta
Summer has been a let down in my neck of the woods. The fall seems to have brought in some decent weather. I was thinking about taking some time to ride with my dad, he is 70+ and I am moving. I was planning on taking advantage of the good weather, to spend some quality time with him.
Horse back ridding has always been our thing. His old gelding turns 25 this year I don't see him taking up ridding another horse.
Mollie
This is my partner's favorite time of year, I think. He's just a little bit sharper, a little bit quicker, a little bit more playful.
Good weather to be a horse!
sj
My horse is starting the summer shed too....seems like it's winter fur around here most of the year.
Like you, I hope to get in as much riding as possible, because we don't have a covered riding area and once it starts getting dark at 6, I can only ride on the weekends. And then the arena gets muddy and slippery so there is barely any riding. Sigh. I love summer and will miss it dearly.
But before it goes, we have our first annual family ranch trip next week, we are all taking our horses and riding together for 4 days, can't wait!
As summer departs and fall approaches, it's a bitter-sweet time for me. Childhood riding accidents had shattered my confidence. It scared me to death to put my leg over the saddle. But there is something in your gut that pulls you back to riding and it was in the fall that we brought home what was to be the best friend I've ever had. He was wildly heard bound, stepped all over you, wouldn't lead, load, tie, etc. A whole year went by as I tried everything (stupid) I could think of to work and bond with this horse. That next summer I bought a John Lyons Leading/Loading video. Every day I ejected Cinderella and watched that video, then practiced what I'd seen, over and over and over again. At first it was pretty wild - my husband wouldn't watch - told me if I didn't come in for dinner it would be because I'd been killed. But by this time of year - late summer, something special happened to this horse and I that bonded us as trusted friends for the rest of his life. I successfully got him to quietly load, to the point where he'd walk into anything, tack rooms, etc. And as fall approached, I just had to ride. So with hands shaking and my heart racing I climbed on. Ha! The first few times we just sat there while I shook. Then just a few steps, then a few more and the rest is history. As the days got shorter and the harvest moon rose, I was out riding a horse like I'd never known - who trusted me to do anything I asked of him. I remember walking back to the house waving my arms over my head and dancing, I was so thrilled. Well, all things come to an end and after many great rides, in a fall years later, I lost my best friend. I then bought the wrong horse. He stripped my confidence and with the advice of our trainer, I sold him to a good home down the road. But I've gotta ride, so a few months ago, with the help of our trainer, I found an older "kids horse". At 54, my confidence is shaky with a 'new' horse, but this time of year has brought back all the great memories and I've stared riding again, every day, one step at a time. It's this time of year that gives me the strength and courage to climb on and KNOW that if I can just get on every day and go a small distance, the distance will increase and as it does so will our partnership. That is how I'm spending every day, rain or shine.
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