Saturday was spent taking my broken-down car up north to Joe's mechanic to have it diagnosed, and ultimately repaired (I'm slated to pick it up tomorrow). Then it was dinking around the house getting small projects and various things done.
I untangled the electric fencing I had brought home from H's when we initially set up the fence so that we'd have some extra to use. Loaded up the truck with tack I was going to need to go riding the next day and all the other various "sundries" I'd need.
Took Austin's car for a good wash and a vacuum to get pictures.
Let me just say, it's kind of therapeutic in an odd way to take a car to one of those self-wash places with the sprayer and wash a car. Now, why that is, I simply can't say, and yet, I was enjoying myself so much that I was loathe to leave as the light started to fade.
Sunday morning I slept in until about 7:30, got rolling and was on the road by 8 am to go grab my trailer and load up Socks and Strider to take to H's.
The plan was to work on the fence for another 2 hours and then run to Granger to go ride for a few hours.
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| Rare moment when the mystical Strider-beast stood still. |
I got to H's around 10ish where we drove in 2 more T-Posts (it really IS easier with the tractor. Not sure about faster, but easier, most definitely!) and strung more rope. Puzzled out where to hang the charger and where to put the gate.
And then called it a day. Grabbed the horses and ran to the lake.
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| Not sure if this photo really conveys how windy it was and causing waves on the lake. Trust me, it was windy! |
Video of Strider and I going
FYI; my friend H shot this from the back of her TWH Jolie. As you can see, Strider doesn't exactly go in a straight line and he HATES to lead. And my hand waving is just to encourage him to keep going.
For the most part, except for a few times we had to stop for H to adjust and tighten up her cinch, we rode for about 2.5 hours.
And I made a conscious and deliberate choice to NOT turn on Endomondo. The minute I turn it on, I start driving and pushing hard for that 5-6 mph minimum. I stop having fun and focus on the stats. That isn't my goal this year.
I had utterly and COMPLETELY lost all track of 'fun' while riding when I was hard-core focused on conditioning and moving Strider up the distance. It was ALL about getting on and getting my minimums met. Days AND time/mileage. And if I fell short, I pushed harder next time.
I had lost track of how to have fun at my sport of choice. And Strider was starting to show signs of being sour while conditioning. Boredom. Not enjoying our time together.
Look, I know that there will be times when my horse and I "hate" one another. Differences of opinion abound when you have two different brains, never mind two different SPECIES with different ideas about what the team should be doing. I'm okay with that.
But when the entire ride feels like my horse is just bored and sick and tired of doing the same thing over and over and riding the same trail over and over, I might just be pushing too hard and being unfair.
Hell, when -I'm- bored and sick and tired of doing the same thing over and over and riding the same trail over and over, maybe I need to step back and find the fun again.
So, while H and I rode, I refused to turn on Endomondo. I know she wanted to know how far we went, and I made a best guess based on time out, speed we were going and factoring in stops. My best guess is in 2.5 hours we went 8-10 miles. She thinks 10-12.
Ultimately though, I still can't bring myself to care how far I went. I got on my horse and we boogied down the trail. He was eager and ready to go. Bunny bucks and all. Even at the end of the ride as we came back to the trailer.
And I had fun. He had fun.
Heck, there are even loose cows at the lake, and I let him chase a few. That was a BLAST for him! The minute I turned him on a cow, those ears slicked back against his head and he went after that cow. Little bit of guidance and he was turning for it. It was so much fun!
I think in our off-season, I might let him go try penning for fun.
Overall, it was a great ride. Sun didn't really come out, yet it was warm (in FEBRUARY!), but with the wind, it wasn't too bad.
We just knew we were riding to beat the storms that were SUPPOSED to hit during the day. But not a single drop of rain all day on us.
So, after loading up just Strider (Socks is now living in semi-retirement again with H for a while), I had to run and get bulbs for "my" pet lizards. Let me tell you how UNPLEASANT it is to haul a truck and loaded trailer into a shopping centers and through traffic.
However, after two stops (when am I going to learn to STOP going to Petco when the lizards need something? Petco NEVER has what I need for the lizards!), I got both bulbs from PetSmart and then headed for the barn.
Dropped Strider, but opted to take trailer home. After MM told me about some meth heads showing up at the barn looking to "buy horses; the big ones!", I figured, better to take my trailer home until I can get a ball lock for it. I don't have much, but if someone steals my trailer, they've stolen thousands of dollars worth of "stuff" (not my saddle, I next to never leave my saddle in there!) and my trailer!!
Plus, H let me borrow her husband's power washer, so the plan is to power wash the roof of my trailer and then get some Kool Seal and repaint the top of the trailer. I also need to clean out my tack compartment. It's still a disaster from River Run when I just chucked everything inside and left.
So, dropped Strider and still had MORE stops. My saddle pad is a disaster. I've washed it once in my machine at home and once by hand with Euclan, but it never really seemed to "fluff" back up again and always felt a little "crunchy". And someone once suggested taking it to the car wash and power washing it with just water.
So that's exactly what I did with it and my cinch.
Didn't notice a huge difference on my cinch, but that saddle pad went from this dingy brown to ivory. And it's soft and fluffy again!! Suffice to say, it's a genuine incentive for me to get my own power washer for the house. Good for cars AND tack! Well, maybe not so much, but still...I was incredibly impressed.
Sadly, got a little oil on the top part, so that's annoying. I'll take it to a different car wash next time, but seriously! It looks great. I then took it home, tossed it in my machine again and set it out to dry yesterday and when I grabbed it last night, well, it's not as good as new, but I'm happy!! Ultimately I'd like to grab another saddle pad or two to have as back ups for multi-day rides. But that's down the road. You know, that mystical "someday".
Overall, while it was a long day, it was a good day. A fine day!
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| One of my favorite views in the whole entire world. |
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