The last couple of Weekends...

End of September first of October was a warm weekend- unfortunately the following weekend was already booked up or we would have moved weekends- however we camped out at Prague lake and overall it was a nice fun weekend. Friday started out rough- I was going to bring a green horse with me that I needed to start working with if she were to stay but I couldn't get her to load. She is one that is around 12 yo per teeth and not broke- She was starved and neglected by original owners- then my friend got her but said "since I am no colt starter, You can see what she can do and if she works out then you can keep her" So we took her on. This mare was supposed to be for my husband since Opal is now 22 and doesn't have many big rides left in her, I was looking for a horse he could step up to- Now I myself am no Colt starter either and will never claim to be but I did start both Mia, my buckskin from a weanling age and my 2 coming on 3 yo, Denali from a yearling and both have turned out amazing- (course Nal's is still in training and only has had like 7 small rides on her lol.

Anyway- Tessa, the unbroke 12 yo- has some demons she needs worked out and it isn't necessarily that I cant do it as much as I just don't have time and my husband has lost interest along with he is far by really ready for a green horse anyway-So after fighting Tessa for over 20 min to get into the trailer- I finally let her win that battle because it was getting dark and we needed to get to camp. So that whole ordeal honestly set me in a grouchy mood because I felt a little defeated because prior to this trailer loading incident- she had been loading perfectly fine and we hadn't gone for a trailer ride yet due to heat and the price of gas LOL.

We get to camp and the person (who i found out is a guy named Forrest) had taken the spot next to us and the pen set up is a little weird- his pens are nicely set up the hill (we are in spots 12 and 13) and our pens are down in the little bottom. I had half the mind to move them tbh because it was a little dumb they were so far down the hill side- but I didn't end up having enough water hose length so off to town we go to grab dinner (already planned to do) but a quick stop at dollar general to grab an extra hose so I can run water down to the horses. We call it a night after dinner, take showers and some melatonin and hit the hay. Slept in longer than expected but it was so nice and cool from the AC I didn't want to get out of bed. I get morning chores done, get dressed and around 9:30-10 we are saddling up to go ride. A nice surprise pulls in as i hear the turbo on that diesel ford whistle- i know that truck anywhere. My mom pulls in with one of her friends from work and join us on our ride. We complete a nice little 9 miles ride and get back to camp. It got pretty toasty midway around the lake. The horses were ready to be done!

We get horses taken care of after that long ride and grab ourselves something to eat after running back into town for more ice. After lunch we jump in the nose to lay down for a few- both of us had sinus headaches from the allergies in the air. Little caffeine and a excedrin and a cat nap will knock it right out though. The next morning we start picking up what we know we dont need after our ride to get a jump start on leaving after we get back from riding. I feel this is a great hack because once you get back from a long ride (or even a short one from a long weekend) you are just ready to go home. Given the heat and poor Opal already having a thick winter coat that a normal horse would have- (she's out of colorado...) She needed a shorter ride until I could get her body clipped. We ride about 4.5 almost 5 miles to the dam and back then grab the last few things and head out.

This last weekend, October 7th we were going to ride both saturday and sunday... but that changed... and not really for the best. See we broke down and bought the hoof boots for the horses that way we could go ride rocky places any time we felt like it- We had just gotten these boots in and only had one chance to ride in them and that was only for about 30 minutes.

Because the weather was going to be so nice we decided to go to sportsmans because we are super close to that lake and it is the closest to "mountain riding" you will get in this area to condition your horses to actual mountain riding. We initially intended on riding about 7-10 miles each day because our horses aren't in the greatest shape since the summer was so hot (and once again mia cut the same foot so she was off for 3 months again) so we wanted to get in a couple of rides that were more challenging so we knew how many miles we could get away with when we went to idle nook.

We rode 1 then took 2 to the dam crossing at beaver pond- cw to the flats-2c to Traveler's T- tried going down traveler's T to the dam but we couldn't get passed SBC with it being grown up with briars that were chest high- so we went back onto 2 towards NBC past the cattle guard then took 2a down - missed 1C somewhere and ended up back at the flats when trying to take 1c down to the switch backs instead- took switchbacks to lookout point then when we got to lookout point we noticed we were missing 2 front boots on Opal... We double....or well triple back our way... we rode switch backs like 3 different times- rode 2a and 2 and 2c, 3 different times as well to only find one boot... After 6 hours in the saddle, 16 miles ridden and the sun setting- we had to start heading back to the truck- So if anyone finds a size 2 black Cavallo Trek with a insert...its mine LOL

That evening in panic, I am messaging my farrier asking if I can get Opal in to get a set of shoes on her because we leave for Idle Nook the 11th. My farrier is a saint, he gets me in first thing and gets her taken care of. We get back home and chill for a few with some relief. That evening I decided to saddle up my youngster and see how she would do since it had been a couple of weeks since I rode her last. We rode by ourselves down the rode to mom and dad's and then rode with 2 "new" horses with her buddies hollering for her across the pastures- She did very well for her 2nd ride from home- rode right off as if she had been doing this for years. She was goobery but nothing dumb- just feeling herself and was in high gear. She did respond well to stopping, backing, and changing direction when I asked her to stop getting so far ahead and collect her thoughts. Because of a hurt ankle a year ago- I cant mount from the ground because pushing off of it with a lot of force pulls it wrong and then it will swell up for a couple of days so I use a mounting block or whatever I can find to mount with and she did great with that as well even with everything new going on. She as always been good with getting on her- but with giving her a new test of boundaries- she passed that with flying colors.

The last couple of weekend have been full of adventure for sure but we aren't done yet- Only a couple of days of work and then off to Idle Nook Wednesday morning! I am super excited to post many pictures with a review, create a fun memory and just enjoy a nice long camp trip at a new place I've never been!

Happy October and Happy Trails! 🐴🎃🕸👻🍁🍂🍃🧭🏕