Still Riding!

I am still riding, even though it probably looks like I am playing with my dogs more! I went on two trail rides last week. My sis and I went on one together. Brandy and I had a battle at the creek, again! This time she started freaking out a lot sooner than last time. I also think our battle was worse than before. But in the end, I won the battle. From now on, every time we go this way, I will be taking Brandy in the lead to continue her "creek" training. I am not sure what has gotten into her. But I know it will all work out in the end. She also gave me trouble on a trail we take on every ride. We were on a trail in the woods and were about to head around a corner, and the sun was coming through the trees. I know horses eyes have a hard time adjusting from dark to light, but she has never acted this way before. She did the whole "I am going to turn and run" act on me. It wasn't a very wide trail, so we had very little room to work. Plus we were trying to find a spot for my sis and her boy to get off the trail and out of our way. Brandy came close to almost smashing my knees into some trees, that would not be good, considering the condition of my knees. But we battled, and I won again. I have not had these kind of problems in a couple years, just spooking. So I don't understand what could be causing her to give me trouble. I am not doing anything different or using anything different. Plus we have been going on the trails a lot, so I would think that she would be getting better. But our whole ride isn't this way. She just is reacting to certain things, on certain trails. We will get through it, just like we do with everything else. So I am not worried.



We had a pretty good ride, beside the battles, until we had an encounter with some strange creature. To see the story, please go here, to my sisters blog. I have never laughed so hard in my life. Yes, laughed. Now why would I laugh after a strange creature jumps out in front of us? I don't know. Probably because we weren't sure what it was, and it actually was a very funny event, considering it should have been very scary. I do think the people that we ran into a couple minutes after the incident, probably regretted ever talking to "those 2 crazy women on horses"! And I am sure they probably thought we were on some serious drugs! Nope! We don't do that around here! Just a couple girls, seeing things in the woods while riding their horses!!



The next day we were going trail riding again. This time my OH was coming along. So we waited for him to get home from work. Last summer, he hardly got to go trail riding because of working around 70 hours a week. Since the economy literally sucks, he is only working the normal 40 and can now spend more time on horseback, which is good in a way because he gets to ride, but than again, I am unemployed so it is not good. I wish he was working 70+ hours again, than maybe I could retire for good! Not gonna happen Paint Girl! I need to really quit thinking of retiring at 35! I can dream right?

So we get on the trails. I take the lead since Brandy has been having her issues in the lead. She slowly walks along, than finally picks up the pace. She spooks at a couple things and I have to talk her through a couple scary areas. We even tackled the claustrophobic trail, that I hate taking Brandy on. It is a very narrow, switchback up a hill trail. A lot of knee knockers, if ya know what I mean! Brandy has almost taken me down a cliff, too many times to count on one hand, on this trail. So, I cowgirled up and said lets do it! She was very nervous, but we made it! I had to really relax, and breathe! I sometimes forget to breathe, and I know this makes it worse for Brandy. So instead of concentrating on Brandy and her fears, I concentrated on my fears, relaxing and breathing. Once we get out of the scary trail, we head up to another trail I wanted to take. We stop for a minute, we hear something crashing through the woods. Not again! My OH says it is just a deer. How do you know its just a deer, OH? Huh? Then my sis points and screams, "Look at that"! Uh, sis, has anyone ever told you, that after you hear something crash through the bushes, that you shouldn't scream and say "Look at that"!?! You scared the living daylights out of me! Seriously! After seeing a mutant monkey on the last ride, than you do this to me? But there was a reason for it. Check out this beehive, hanging not too far from us. It was the size of a basketball. We decided to get out of there in a hurry! Sorry the picture is blurry, I had to zoom in to get a really good look at it, and I wasn't about to ride up any closer to get a picture!



Once we get away from the beehive, we decide to try another new trail. We have no idea where it is going to take us. I believe there are over 4,000 acres of trails where we ride. That's a lot of trails! Someday we will ride them all. Someday.



The new trail gives me the opportunity for some pictures of the sun coming through the trees. It is early evening. Hopefully we don't get lost, because if we do, the only one prepared to stay overnight is my sis!



The trail leads us to freshly cut roads. I am not sure what they are doing, maybe they are going to clear cut this area next. There were ribbons tied to trees, so we followed them, thinking that is where the origional trail was. Than my OH veered off the ribbon marked path. Uh Oh. Now why would he do such a thing? I think he has a thing for the unknown. But we were still on the freshly cut "road". We ended up winding back up the direction we started.



It ended up taking us right back to the same "new" trail we started out on. Good thing, now we know we aren't lost. So we decided to head back to one of our favorite gullies, I call it that, my sis calls it a wash. I don't know what the proper terminology of it is.



Last year this trail was actually visible. Now it is becoming overtaken by the trees. We wonder what will happen when the trees get big? Will there still be a trail here? I hope so. We love this trail. I will take you down to the bottom, than I have to put my camera away for the uphill climb.



I have already taken you down here before, when it was just my OH and I. But I didn't take pictures all the way down. This time I had my camera out the whole way, downhill. This is so much fun!



Now we are hitting the dusty part of the trail, you know what that means, I will be covered in a couple inches of it. Oh well, it's part of trail riding!





The dust becomes even thicker that it is causing me to lose sight of that spotted butt.



Check out the drawing on this picture. We obviously haven't gotten all the way down the hill yet. On the left where the pink line starts, is where we will be eventually. Than follow my pink line through the trail that we have to ride through. I actually covered the trail with the line, but there is a trail there. I might be a little off course on the trail on the right side of the upper hill, I lost sight of it and was going off my memory. Now the circle with the X means you don't want to go there, or fall down there. That area is off limits, like scary land, land where the mutant monkeys, dinosaurs and bears are. Seriously! Ok, maybe not dinosaurs!



We are getting closer to the bottom. I told you I took pictures the whole way down, and I said I was taking you on this ride with me!



Gotta sneak in a funny picture from time to time! Brandy didn't even spook at her shadow! She was probably too tired at this point!



I hope I closed my mouth here!



Hey, OH, are you still back there? I can't see you!


Did I say I love this trail?



This is where I have to put my camera away. So I will see you on the "other" side!



Did I mention that we took our "lemonade" drinks with us?



Now this is what I call a ride!